NEW VINEYARD – Members of the Planning Board are looking for volunteers to help develop a new comprehensive plan to guide the town.

Those interested would work with the board to write a plan reflecting the goals and the wishes of the community, Planning Board Chairman Richard Hargreaves said.

A former Comprehensive Planning Committee, which consisted of board and community members, submitted a draft comprehensive plan to the State Planning Office in 1992, Hargreaves said.

The draft was adopted at the annual town meeting in March 1992 and submitted to the state for review and recommendations.

“Because of a lack of state funding, the committee was unable to follow up with the implementation process that would have led to a land use ordinance,” Hargreaves said. “Meanwhile, back in New Vineyard the draft, or part thereof, was put on the shelves as the New Vineyard Comprehensive Plan.”

The Planning Board became aware of the situation while working through a subdivision last year, Hargreaves said.

When the final permits were issued to the developer, the board had agreed on two major conclusions: New Vineyard would benefit by having its own subdivision ordinance and residents should have the opportunity to write their own comprehensive plan, he said.

At the March town meeting, voters adopted the newly revised subdivision ordinance that was presented by the Planning Board.

The board has already reopened the chapter on the comprehensive plan situation and have begun to gather pertinent documents, which include the State Planning Office’s guide to update a comprehensive plan under new state rules.

Staff members from the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments are available for consultation, Hargreaves said, and the next step is getting volunteers to help write the plan.

Anyone interested in helping may call Hargreaves at 652-2366, or any other member of the Planning Board for more information and/or to volunteer. As soon as a group is assembled, the board will announce the time and place where a public informational meeting will be held.