The Planning Board met jointly with the Select Board on Monday to discuss the steps it needs to take to provide informed recommendations for accepting private ways as town streets.

Planning Board chair Matthew Wronka prepared a comprehensive presentation on the number and type of private ways in town, as well as the potential cost for their plowing and maintenance.

Two main themes emerged. One was whether all of these roads would seek town street status. The second point was whether the town was willing to entertain acceptance for them, given current budgetary constraints.

Current road status outlined

Wronka noted that there are about 400 named ways in Hopkinton. Seventy-seven would be affected by the town’s acceptance policy; they encompass just over 14 miles. They include 51 private ways and 26 ancient ways that have no record of town acceptance.

“If we would accept all of those, it would lead to about a 13% increase in milage in town,” he said.

There are 92 named ways that were outside of the discussion’s purview. They included condominium, apartment and private property roads, as well as six common driveways and 15 discontinued ways. Their total length is 11.73 miles.

By contrast, the town has 234 public ways equaling about 109 miles.

Wronka said the ancient roads usually are maintained by the town. The main issue was the potential maintenance of the 51 private ways and the process through which they could gain town acceptance.

Eighteen private ways were created before 1954, when Hopkinton instituted a subdivision control law, explained Wronka. The owners would petition the town, and then “there is a cost split between them and the town.”

There are 26 “restricted subdivision streets,” he continued. The respective subdivisions they are part of were approved by the Planning Board on the condition that they remain private. The Planning Board would need to lift that condition for the approval process to move forward in those cases.

Acceptance process discussed

Currently, every proposed street layout goes before the Planning Board, Wronka said. The board then gives an advisory report to the Select Board for review. After a public hearing, the Select Board can vote on the layout. Town Meeting must vote on whether or not to accept the street.

Wronka’s aim during the meeting was to learn what information the Select Board seeks from the Planning Board in its recommendations. He suggested the potential grouping of roads based on how easily they would move through the acceptance process.

An analysis of each road could be provided, but the expense likely would fall on the town, he added. Wronka questioned whether the Planning Board was supposed to tell the Select Board if the town could afford to accept a road.

He requested that the two boards come up with a structure to help prioritize which roads would benefit the most from acceptance given their condition.

Cost heavily influenced the discussion. Plowing snow from the 77 private ways previously was estimated to cost $113,00 per year. To maintain and plow them would cost about $433,000.

If they were to be brought up to current standards to achieve town acceptance, the “really conceptual ballpark estimates” range from $1.27 million to $28.2 million, according to Wronka.

Concern expressed over cost

Select Board members agreed that because of the expense, private ways would have to be accepted in blocks over several years.

Select Board vice chair Matthew Kizner complimented both chairs on their collaboration.

“It sets a really high bar in terms of what we expect when we actually make an ask to some of the other boards,” he said.

Select Board member Amy Ritterbusch said the Department of Public Works needed to be involved in the prioritization process. She added that some condo residents have been “very upset” that they don’t get town services even though the private road was a condition of the development’s approval.

“I think we need to look inside the budget and figure out ways to provide additional services as opposed to bringing roads up to public standards,” said Select Board member Joe Clark.

Clark added that the Select Board will discuss this issue at its meeting Tuesday when it sets the budget message for fiscal year 2028.

He acknowledged that the DPW is underfunded. That needs to be addressed before converting the private ways to public roads, he stressed.

Kizner agreed, saying the DPW has been “chronically underfunded.” He questioned whether the town was open to pursuing private way acceptance on a large scale.

Mannan suggested that road acceptance be addressed in the town master plan.

Added Mannan: “Unless you know the town and the residents absolutely want to do it over other immediate and long-term priorities, it’ll be hard to justify that.”