§ 93-16. Retention of expert assistance and reimbursement by applicant.

A. 

The Town may hire any consultant and/or expert necessary to assist the Town in reviewing and evaluating the application, including the construction and modification of the site, once permitted, and any site inspections.

B. 

An applicant shall deposit with the Town funds sufficient to reimburse the Town for all reasonable costs of consultant and expert evaluation and consultation to the Town in connection with the review of any application including where applicable, the lease negotiation, the preapproval evaluation, and the construction and modification of the site, once permitted. The initial deposit shall be $8,500. The placement of the $8,500 with the Town shall precede the pre-application meeting. The Town will maintain a separate escrow account for all such funds. The Town's consultants/experts shall invoice the Town for its services related to the application. If at any time during the process this escrow account has a balance less than $2,500, the applicant shall immediately, upon notification by the Town, replenish said escrow account so that it has a balance of at least $5,000. Such additional escrow funds shall be deposited with the Town before any further action or consideration is taken on the application. In the event that the amount held in escrow by the Town is more than the amount of the actual invoicing at the conclusion of the project, the remaining balance shall, upon request of the applicant, be promptly refunded to the applicant.

C. 

The total amount of the funds needed as set forth in Subsection B of this section may vary with the scope (lease negotiations and/or review) and complexity of the project, the completeness of the application and other information as may be needed to complete the necessary review, analysis and inspection of any construction or modification.