LONDONDERRY — Members of the Planning Board are thinking ahead by hiring third-party review consultants.

On Monday evening, board members held a special meeting to interview several candidates to assist them in upcoming hearings.

It’s part of the town’s updated Request For Proposals procedures, which have been in the works since early spring.

Aimed at outlining the selection process for third-party consultants hired during land-development applications, the RFP guidelines detail how firms can assist the town in reviewing subdivision and site plans, perform reviews of planning and design practices, partake in regular staff meetings, offer written technical reviews and offer their unbiased site recommendations.

Town Planner Cynthia May said the idea is to filter out the most qualified candidates, while keeping with the town’s Master Plan.

Things didn’t run quite so smoothly late last year, when the Planning Board decided the services of a third-party consultant were necessary before any final decisions on the proposed Woodmont Commons project were made.

In January, town officials announced they’d selected Boston-based Howard/Stein-Hudson Associates to conduct a third-party review of the Woodmont Commons master plan.

The process had been stalled several times in the months to leading up to that decision, with the board initially opting to hold off on the selection of another consultant after the board had determined one of the consultant candidates, Robinson & Cole, might pose a conflict of interest.

During Monday night’s interviews, members of the Planning Board’s RFP subcommittee interviewed representatives from CMA Engineers, Ironwood Design Group, Stantec and DuBois and King, Inc.

Committee member Leitha Reilly said the committee would rank each of the applicants based on this week’s interviews, with a final recommendation to be made to the Planning Board next month.

aguilmet@newstote.com