Town of Bellingham
Conservation Commission
North Community Building
Bellingham, MA 02019
Minutes of the meeting of August 17, 2011
Project: EC & BWP-10 Project Description:
Meeting Hartford Avenue – culvert replacement
Applicant: Representative:
Don DiMartino STV Inc.
26 Blackstone Street 321 Summer Street
Bellingham, MA Boston, MA
Plans: Letter Hartford Ave. Culvert Replacement Project dated 8/17/2011, Town of Bellingham DPW Hartford Ave. Culvert Replacement 9Bridge No. B-6-17) MA DOT, Sheets 1-10, Bridge Plans prepared by MA DOT Sheets 1-6 plus Appendix, dated 8/3/2011
Present for the meeting were Don DiMartino, and Will Allen and Marion Barth both of STV.
Cliff Matthews opened the meeting. Don DiMartino presented a letter requesting Emergency Certification for replacement of the failed Hartford Avenue culvert/bridge. The letter states that the stone arch culvert span at Hartford Avenue is failing and is in a seriously degraded condition. It states further that the road should be permanently closed until the structure can be made safe to carry vehicles. The letter states that inspections of the bridge have indicated that numerous stones at the culvert have shifted out of their original alignment and that an underwater inspection revealed a significant scour hole near the upstream abutment. Mr. DiMartino states in his letter that there is imminent danger of a culvert collapse and that the present situation is a threat to public health and safety. On behalf of the Town of Bellingham
and Mass. DOT, Mr. DiMartino has requested that the Commission issue an Emergency Certification for the immediate repair of the culvert. Will Allen and Marian Barth presented three copies of the design plans and the construction plans which were then reviewed by the Commission. Cliff Matthews stated that once the contractor is hired, they are to contact George Holmes regarding siltation controls and the proposed dewatering operations required for the installation of the culvert footings. Mr. DiMartino stated that George Holmes would be invited to the preconstruction meeting as well. Don DiMartino said that he would like to submit the plans for bidding tomorrow, Thurs. Aug. 18th and anticipates that the project would be complete by October 15th. The Commission determined that in the interests of public health and safety, the Emergency Certification should be issued. Motion was made to grant the emergency status for this project, seconded and voted unanimously
to proceed. The Emergency Certification document will be ready for signing next Wed., August 24th.
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Project: 105-615 Project Description:
CNOI Hartford Avenue / Shoppes at Bellingham Phase I
14 building, parking areas, stormwater & wastewater mgt., & new access road off North Main Street
Applicant: Representative:
Robert Frazier ERM / Ann McMenemy
W/S Development 399 Boylston St.
1330 Boylston St. Boston, MA 02116
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
Plans: Proposed Site & Roadway, notice of Intent Permit Plans, Revised 4/27/2011
Drainage Report, The Shoppes at Bellingham, Appendix A & Appendix B, rev 4/27/2011
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Continuation time: 8:00 PM
Bob Frazier of WS Dev., Ann McMenemy of ERM, Brian Potvin of TetraTech and peer reviewer, Tom Sexton, were present when the continued hearing was opened by Cliff Matthews. Brian Potvin stated that TetraTech & ERM have not yet had enough time to respond to the recent Tom Sexton peer letter of August 10, 2011. He then presented a packet of four pages of suggested categorization of the recent and unanswered Haley & Ward comments on the Shoppes proposal. The sheets include Category 1: other regulatory requirements (EPA, Bellingham Bylaw and Regulations, Water Resource Regulations). Ann McMenemy stated that they feel that they satisfy the provisions of the Wetlands Protection Act and do not feel that these questions have to be addressed at this time, but in the future changes may be necessary to meet these other requirements. Category 2: Conservation Commission input , which Brian Potvin said are questions that TetraTech would like Commission input on. The Category 3 items are technical
items that Brian Potvin said he believes would be more efficiently answered by meeting outside a scheduled commission meeting with Haley & Ward. Cliff Matthews stated that there may be issues that the Commission would input on but are not listed appropriately. For instance, TetraTech has included test pit information on the basins in Category 3 but it is imperative that these test pits be completed in order to prevent another situation similar to one that the Commission is already facing on the Pulaski Blvd. detention basins. Cliff also stated that depth to groundwater is an important factor, as it is proven that all subsurface water flows toward town well #12 which is the town’s best producing well field. Ann McMenemy stated that the applicant’s strategy is that they will not work on certain things that do not relate to the WPA. Cliff Matthews responded that many items proposed in Category 1 will require significant design changes that may render the permit (Order
of Conditions) invalid i.e. Bellingham By Law & Regulations, Planning Board issues especially addressing the Water Resource District, EPA Phosphorous, etc. Mr. Matthews then asked why the applicant would not design the project to adhere to the known requirements of these other regulations in order to avoid many major changes to the design in the future. Ann McMenemy stated that this is the applicant’s choice. After discussion, Commissioners stated that we would consider the items listed in each category for appropriateness in classification especially giving consideration to Category l. Ann McMenemy then requested that the hearings be continued every Commission meeting in order to complete the review. Ms. McMenemy also suggested that at the next continued hearing, the Commission could present its decision on the category submittal and in the meantime, TetraTech would attempt to answer as many peer review comments as possible. Tom Sexton said that he could certainly work
directly with TetraTech reporting back to the Commission if that is the Commission’s desire. Motion was made to continue the hearing to Sept. 14th at 7:30, seconded and voted unanimously.
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Project: 105-686 & BWP-8 Project Description:
NOI Cross Street, upgrades to well field
Applicant: Representative:
Don DiMartino, DPW Director Eric Ford, Stantec Consulting Services
26 Blackstone St. 136 West St.
Bellingham, MA Northampton, MA
Plans: NOI & Cross Street Well Improvements, Sheets 1 through 5, June 2011, revised August 2011, Narrative & Waiver Requests, June 2011
Continuation time: 9:00 PM
Cliff Matthews opened the continued hearing for the Cross St. well site improvements. No one from the public was present. Mr. Matthews stated that the Commission has received revised plans dated August 2011 that include the materials lay down area and a snow storage area. Also included in the revised plans is a proposed perimeter fence to secure and protect the well site. Neal Standley was in opposition to the proposed fencing stating that it created more impacts. Mr. Matthews explained that the fencing is
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Minutes of the Meeting of August 17, 2011
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proposed in areas already altered and was included in the plans for security measures. As long as the fence was constructed with six inches of clearance along the bottom (for critter migration), he could see no problem with it. Motion was then made to close the hearing and issue the Order of Conditions. After the motion was seconded, the vote was 4:1 with Mr. Standley dissenting.
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Project: BWP-9 Project Description:
RDA 12 Cranberry Meadow Road – 25’ x 33’ addition
Applicant: Representative:
Carrie A. Barrett same
12 Cranberry Meadow Road
Bellingham, MA
Plans: RDA and Site Plan dated 3/17/2007, revised 4/18/2011
Meeting time: 9:10 PM
Carrie Barrett and Tony DeSilva, the contractor, were present for the opening of the meeting by Chairman Matthews. Ms. Barrett presented the proposed plans to the Commission stating that she would like to build a 25’ x 33’ addition onto her existing home. The proposed addition is approx. 65 feet from the resource area but is above the wetland elevation by about 14 feet and is separated by a yard and several terraces. She stated that the addition would have a full foundation and that the area where the addition is proposed already has a partial foundation and concrete pad housing a temporary garage. She presented pictures of the site showing the existing conditions. After discussion, the Commission and the applicant agreed to issue a Negative Determination with Special Conditions to include that erosion controls
must be placed on the site and inspected by the Conservation Commission Administrator before any activity commences, that all excavated materials must be removed from the site, and, that all construction materials must be stored within the confines of the erosion controls. Motion was made to close and issue a Negative Determination with Conditions under the WPA and local By Law. The motion was seconded and voted unanimously.
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Cliff Matthews reported that it has now been six weeks since the original meeting for the Pulaski Blvd. project took place and nothing has happened. The basins are full according to Commissioners who have looked at them driving by. We will talk to Don DiMartino for an update.
The minutes of the meeting of July 13th were accepted.
Cliff Matthews stated that the Commission has received a Wetland Mitigation Report update for
1025 S. Main Street replication.
The Commission signed:
Order of Conditions 105-686 @ BWP-8/Cross Street well field improvements/DPW
Det. Of Applicability BWP-9/12 Cranberry Meadow Road/ Carrier Barrett/proposed addition
Certificate of Compliance 105-507/ 108 Florida Avenue/Geo Gagnon/sfd
Attending the meeting were: Cliff Matthews, Barry Lariviere, Neal Standley, Brian Norton,
Michael O’Herron, and Anne Matthews.
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