GFA looking for approval to build
By Caitlyn Kelleher JOURNAL REPORTER

GFA President and Chief Operating Officer Tina Sbrega said the credit union has started the review process for a new branch office in Ashburnham

Representatives of the credit union met on Nov. 1 with the Planning Board for a site plan review of 35 Main St., the proposed location of the new branch. They have a series of meetings scheduled with the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Historical Commission.

"It has been many years that we have earmarked Ashburnham as a branch location," Sbrega said.

The credit union, which has nine branch locations, has a purchase and sales agreement with the owner of the Main Street property that is dependent on the credit union receiving the need permits and approvals, Sbrega said.

"We have a lot of members that live in Ashburnham that continually ask us for a branch location in their community," she said.

"Our desire is to take the (existing) building down and replace it with a building that is very similar in appearance and character," Sbrega said.

She said new construction is easier then renovation would be because the existing building is "older. It would require an extensive amount of not only cosmetic renovation, but also structural renovation."

"It would be a full-service branch location," Sbrega said.

The branch would be similar to other branches the company has recently built in Rutland and in Ridge, N.H.

The building is proposed to be two-story, 3,100 square-foot design with the traditional teller lines, and offices for loan, deposit and financial planning services. It would include a 24/7 automatic teller machine and a drivethru window, Sberga said.

The building is also designed to have a community conference room. She said the room would be available for different groups in Ashburnham and so that the credit union can hold seminars.

The interior of the branch will have the more modern look, including a café area.

"It's a relatively new look," Sbrega said. "We have done it with our two new branches and Hubbardston's renovated one."

The credit union representatives are scheduled with the Zoning Board of Appeals for Wednesday, Nov. 14. The credit union's representatives plan to ask for a variance to allow a drive-thru, to ask for a shorter setback from the property line and to allow the continued existence of the second building (the video store) on the property.

The credit union representatives also need to appear before the Historical Commission at their meeting on Monday, Nov. 26.

Sbrega is not ready to commit to an opening date for the proposed branch because of the different approval processes in town.

"It is really too early to make that prediction. It will all depend when conditions and approval are met," she said. "From the day we break ground it is probably a six-month process."

Selectmen are supporting a proposed bylaw that would put a one-year moratorium on building and substantial renovations in the Village Center area of town. The moratorium, if passed at town meeting, would not effect the proposal by GFA.

"They filled all three of their requests a day before (the ad) was first published in the newspaper," said Town Planner Eric Smith.

Any proposal submitted after the advertisement for the public hearing regarding the proposed bylaw change would be held to the moratorium if it is passed based on state zoning law, said Smith.