Auburn Conservation Commission Votes to Hire Consultant on Stalled Rockland Road Project

AUBURN — October 8, 2025 — Auburn Conservation Commission votes to hire consultant on a Rockland Road project delayed 19 months. The commission voted unanimously at its October 8 meeting to retain an independent consultant to review drainage plans for a proposed development at 47 and 49 Rockland Road, a notice of intent first filed in March 2024. Chair Michael Garland said he had "never seen a project be extended for this period of time," and commission administrator Tom Fallon told engineer Michael Marinos of Inside Engineering that the town had received six rounds of comments on the storm water plan between February and September 2025. Abutters Dick Chandler of 35 Rockland Road and Tim Daily of 25 Brooklyn Road called the proceedings a "complete joke" and urged the board to set a hard deadline. The hearing was continued to either October 22 or November 19 pending updated wetland flagging and DEP comment responses. The commission also closed a public hearing for an Auburn DPW wastewater pipe relining project covering Goddard Drive and Sword Street — estimated at roughly two months of construction — and issued certificates of compliance for a National Grid transmission-line project and a Recommerce Drive property.