EASTHAM CONSERVATION COMMISSION
13 February 2007
PRESENT: Glenn Collins, Steve Smith, David Hoerle, Dennis Murley, Leah Dower.
STAFF PRESENT: Deputy Natural Resources Officer Katelyn Merrill, Conservation Clerk Kay Stewart-Greeley, Natural Resources Officer Henry Lind.
ALSO PRESENT: Shawn E. Shea of Misty Hill Landscaping, David E. Hale, Noel W. Beyle, Linda Pinto of Bennett & O’Reilly, Inc., Dan Elliott, Sam Holland, Terry Ryder of Ryder & Wilcox, Inc., Mark Burgess of Coastal Engineering Company, Tim Brady of East Cape Engineering, Inc.
Chairman Collins brought the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M.
Mr. Hoerle MOVED approval of the Minutes of 23 January 2007. Mr. Smith SECONDED the Motion.
SO VOTED UNANIMOUSLY.
7:07 P.M. Request for Certificate of Compliance, Willard, DEP SE 19-1095, 1405 Samoset Road, Map 13, Parcel 119.
Chairman Collins read a letter from Russell Holden, Jr. of Ryder & Wilcox, Inc. requesting this Certificate of Compliance. Deputy Merrill showed photos of the site and said that everything was good and her only concern was that the hay bale material be removed. I said we would include that in the letter accompanying the Certificate.
Mr. Hoerle MOVED and Mr. Smith SECONDED the Motion to issue a Certificate of Compliance for DEP SE 19-1405.
SO VOTED UNANIMOUSLY.
7:15 P.M. Notices of Intent filed by Donald Colburn Trust, 270 Salt Works Road, Map 04, Parcel 005 and 290 Salt Works Road, Map 04, Parcel 005.
Chairman Collins announced this hearing. Linda Pinto of Bennett & O’Reilly, Inc. was present for the applicant and explained that the proposal for 270 Salt Works Road is to remove and replace the existing sand-drift fence which is all broken and has holes. She said they want to replace it with the same type fence but with a cross brace.
Deputy Merrill showed photos of the site showing that the existing fence is doing a good job, but there are some holes which need to be repaired. Mr. Murley said this location seems to be a good candidate to perhaps put another fence in front of the existing one at some future point. He said he doesn’t think the existing fence should be removed in whole and only the broken parts should be replaced. Mr. Smith agreed that it should only be repaired and not replaced entirely.
Mr. Hoerle MOVED approval for selective repair of the existing fence with Conditions 1-18, 19, 20, 21, 33, 36 repair of only the damaged area. Mr. Smith SECONDED the Motion.
SO VOTED UNANIMOUSLY.
Ms. Pinto explained the proposal for 290 Salt Works Road for the installation of a
1500-gallon H-20 Septic Tank, a 1000-gallon UV treatment tank and two leaching chambers. She said when the cesspool is located they will snake it and fill it by hand.
Deputy Merrill said the important thing is to make sure it gets revegetated and to minimize the disturbance of the vegetation. Mr. Murley said it looks like Beach Plum will be the best replication.
There were no further questions and Mr. Hoerle MOVED approval with Order of Conditions 1-18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 26, 27, 28, 29 beach plum in the front, 32 would have to be staged, 33, 36. Mr. Smith SECONDED the Motion.
SO VOTED UNANIMOUSLY.
Deputy Merrill presented some Administrative Reviews for approval.
The first one was for Feldman and Snader at 325 Goody Hallet Road for a septic system where only a portion of the pipe connecting the existing septic tank and the proposed pump chamber will be within the 100' Buffer.
Mr. Hoerle MOVED to ratify and Mr. Smith SECONDED approval with the addition that the applicants install a limit of work.
SO VOTED UNANIMOUSLY.
The next review was for Neidel, 1355 Samoset Road. Deputy Merrill said they are
re-doing the inside of the house. Mr. Murley said it doesn’t look as if this project even needed an Administrative Review. Deputy Merrill said that the applicant just wanted to be sure and cover all his bases.
Mr. Hoerle MOVED and Ms. Dower SECONDED the Motion to ratify this Administrative Review.
SO VOTED UNANIMOUSLY.
Deputy Merrill told the Commissioners that she met with Paul Smith of Ecology & Environmental, Inc., regarding the wind turbine site and had written him a letter of
non-applicability. Mr. Murley said he also had spoken with Mr. Smith about establishing a bird protocol.
Mr. Hoerle said it is his understanding that the rpms on a wind turbine are slow so that it doesn’t bother birds and also said he had heard of a sonic warning deterrent. He said it seemed logical to him to deter birds from going through the area.
Mr. Lind said that they had been investigating something of that sort to deter the Cormorants.
Next was an Administrative Review for the Town of Eastham Beach and Recreation Department to replace the existing floats in the swimming area at Wiley Park with floats of the same size and specs. Chairman Collins asked if it might make sense for them to be replaced with untreated materials at this time. Deputy Merrill said that she has not been able to find any literature which says that the leachate from ACQ is so great as to create a problem. Chairman Collins asked how they would be constructed and said perhaps it would be possible to construct them with pressure-treated tops on floats. Deputy Merrill said she will talk to Mark Powers about options. Mr. Murley commented that he didn’t think that pressure-treated wood would be the best material because of splintering etc.
7:45 P.M. Continuation of Hearing on Notice of Intent filled by David E. & Teresa Hale, 75 Bay View Drive, Map 13, Parcel 013.
Chairman Collins announced this hearing. Terry Ryder of Ryder & Wilcox, Inc. was present for the applicant. Commissioner Hoerle asked that the record show that Mr. Hale had at one time been a landscaping client of his. Mr. Hale was in the audience and also present was Shawn Shea of Misty Hill Landscaping who did the landscape plan for the Hale property.
Mr. Ryder explained the proposal to remove the existing house and build a house landward of the existing house and utilize the space where the existing house is for a deck. They also propose to remove the existing deck and put a small patio, to eliminate the driveway on the north side of the house and replace it with a walkway, and to upgrade the septic system and construct a new driveway and garage outside of the buffer.
Mr. Ryder went on to explain that they propose to do a little bit of filling around the new deck so they would be bringing the grade up on the west and north side which will be pretty heavily planted. He said that the proposed new house will be outside the 50' buffer.
Mr. Shea explained to the commissioners that he proposes to plant everything which gets disturbed and stabilize everything which needs to be. He said this area would be planted with Beach Plum, Beach Grass, Austrian Pine and Bayberry and the pathway is to be seeded with Ryes and Fescues. He said he will also plant Hydrangea, Red Cedar, Viburnum, Inkberry and Winterberry.
Deputy Merrill said she met on site with Mr. Ryder and Mr. Shea. She showed photos and explained the grading. Mr. Shea said that there is a pretty substantial slope so vegetation and perhaps some erosion control matting will be used. The excavated material will be used for regrading. Ms. Merrill said there will be a lot of area that will be reclaimed and the proposal is for a small lawn area outside the buffer zone.
Mr. Ryder said there may be a small wall around the perimeter of the patio which will be pervious and dry laid. He said the amount of fill will not be tremendous.
Mr. Hoerle asked Mr. Shea about the type of Winterberry he intends to plant and Mr. Shea said the type he has chosen can take a drier climate. Mr. Hoerle asked how old the cultivar was and Mr. Murley said he heard about it ten years ago so it’s at least that old.
Ms. Dower asked about the purpose for the grading and Mr. Hoerle said he thinks it makes good sense to try to keep the water from going toward the bank. Mr. Murley said it is a good thing that they are losing a driveway and upgrading a septic, but asked about the limit of work on the south side and if it should be tightened.
Deputy Merrill said the timing of the grading and planting needs to be discussed.
Chairman Collins said it appears that there is probably some latitude to move the structure back a bit from where it is currently proposed and asked what the increase in square footage would be. Mr. Ryder said the increase would be about 1,000 square feet, but everything will be pulled back.
Chairman Collins commented on the landscape plan and that a lot of the materials listed on the landscape plan are not at the site now and look as if they will need a lot of water. He reminded the applicant that the Conservation Commission does not allow irrigation systems. He asked how the plants would be kept alive.
Mr. Shea said that initially they will put in a drip irrigation system and use a root-promoting organic fertilizer. He said that once this is put in they will pretty much be left to grow wild. He said it Mr. Hale’s hope to keep things as natural as possible.
There were no further questions and Chairman Collins closed this hearing. Ms. Dower MOVED approval with Order of Conditions 1-18, 19, 20, 21 to include all plans, 23, 24, 26 root-promoting organic fertilizer one-time application, 27, 28, 29 reference landscape plan, 32 all excavated material shall be used on site for grading, 33, 35, 36 area will be stabilized if not planted. Mr. Murley SECONDED the Motion.
SO VOTED UNANIMOUSLY.
The engineer for the next hearing was not present yet, so time having come, the Commission moved on to the last-scheduled hearing.
8:25 P.M. Continuation of Hearing on Notice of Intent filed by Frank & Margaret Vangelli, 27 Longstreet Lane, Map 10, Parcel 333.
Chairman Collins announced this hearing. Mark Burgess of Coastal Engineering Company was present for the applicants. The revised plan is for two rows of sand-drift fence behind the existing fence with the removal of the portion of the existing fence to the north of the property line. The plan eliminates the previously-proposed fiber roll protection of the dune face as the applicants have proposed and received approval for re-location of their well.
Mr. Hoerle MOVED approval with Order of Conditions 1-18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 29, 33, 26, 37 equipment used to install the well shall be of the minimal size required to accomplish the job. Mr. Smith SECONDED the Motion.
SO VOTED UNANIMOUSLY.
8:40 P.M. Continuation of Hearing on Notice of Intent filed by Daniel Elliott, 100 Ellis Road, Map 22, Parcel 013.
Chairman Collins announced this hearing. Tim Brady of East Cape Engineering, Inc. was present for the applicant. Deputy Merrill recused herself from this hearing and Mr. Lind took over.
Mr. Brady said that after the last hearing he went to the site and field located the existing pier and took soundings to where the pier is proposed to be extended. He reviewed the new plan with the Commissioners and said the proposed pier extension will be 36'. He said the main reason for the extension is that the applicant will gain over a foot of water at low tide. He said the pier does need some work, but Mr. Elliott has had some health issues. He said that he is OK now and will be doing the work himself.
Mr. Brady went on to say that the bottom is basically sand out to the end of the existing ramp and at the end of the float there is some muddy bottom. He said the applicant would like to keep it the same height and the proposed extension will bring this pier out to the same length as another pier in the area.
Mr. Lind said he cannot support the extension of a pier to gain a foot of water. He said this is a prime scallop area and the incursion of the pier will also affect boating in the area. Mr. Lind said that the bylaw states that pier construction shall not impinge on any navigable channel and this is not a good trade off.
Mr. Hoerle said he agreed with Mr. Lind and he is concerned about piers’ incursion into habitat.
Ms. Dower asked what the extension would be made of and Mr. Brady said it would be the same as what is there now.
Mr. Smith said he was curious about the negative impact of shellfish underneath such a pier, other than the diameter of the posts. Mr. Lind said it is difficult to identify or quantify but any of the shellfishermen will tell you that anywhere that a pier goes in there is no shellfish and the preservatives will also affect the habitat.
Chairman Collins said there is a pre-existing pier here and he doesn’t see where adding six more posts to gain more water to create less turbulence and not changing the size of the float system would be that large an impact. He said he completely agrees with Mr. Lind in dealing with a new float system, but this has been there for a long time and he would look more toward approval if they are just asking to extend it.
Mr. Brady said that he thinks that without impacts on navigation and channels and such they will get the advantage of getting out to some deeper water. He said the floats will be removable and typically, scalloping is done when the floats aren’t there. He said he doesn’t think there will be any huge impacts. He said they use metal pipes for the floats and they will put stops on the floats if the commission wants them to.
Mr. Hoerle asked Mr. Lind how the commission should use the information that the extension of piers has negative impacts and Mr. Lind responded that the science is inexact and underfunded and nebulous to be sure.
Mr. Smith commented that there are tidal currents in this particular area, but there are wakes from boats that scour the bottom a couple of hundred time a day on a weekend in season and how much of the anecdotal information is based around the posts.
Mr. Murley said that for thirty-six more feet you do get a float that doesn’t hit bottom, a boat that doesn’t bump against the bottom; and, hopefully, a prop that is high enough that it doesn’t hit the bottom. He said he is looking at the impacts of the extension versus the fact that it will correct the float being on the bottom and shading the area.
Mr. Brady commented that the shellfish issue and the habitat issue are really vague ones.
There were no further comments or questions and Chairman Collins closed this hearing.
Mr. Smith MOVED approval with an Order of Conditions to be issued which requires that the floats never sit in the marsh, that all the specs are included for spacing for light, that float stops be included so that they stay at a given level above the bottom, and there are locator holes for the posts. Mr. Murley SECONDED the Motion.
THE VOTE WAS 4 IN FAVOR, 1 OPPOSED.
MOTION CARRIED.
Noel Beyle of 295 Shurtleff Road addressed the Commission and expressed his concern about contractors breaking through the ice on the beach. He said the ice is one of the biggest protectors of the bank and with the heavy machinery going up and down the beach there is an “Alaskan Highway” through the ice.
Deputy Merrill said other citizens have also expressed concern and thinks the situation needs to be addressed. She said that the contractors are willing to work with the residents.
Mr. Lind thanked Deputy Merrill for all her wonderful work and help with the commission. Deputy Merrill is taking a position in the private sector for an engineering firm and this was her last meeting.
The Commissioners thanked Deputy Merrill and presented her with a card and gift certificate.
There was no further business and Ms. Williams MOVED adjournment. Mr. Murley SECONDED the Motion at approximately 9:25 P.M.
SO VOTED UNANIMOUSLY.
Respectfully Submitted,
Kay Stewart-Greeley,
Clerk
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