EASTHAM CONSERVATION COMMISSION
23 February 2010
MINUTES
PRESENT: Glenn Collins, David Hoerle, Steve Smith, Sandra Larsen, Lorraine Giovinazzo, Steve LaBranche, Dennis Murley.
STAFF PRESENT: Deputy Natural Resource Officer Amy Usowski.
ALSO PRESENT: Debi Crosby, Tim Brady of East Cape Engineering, Inc., Noel Beyle, Laura Schofield of Schofield Brothers of Cape Cod.
Chairman Murley opened the hearing at 7:00 P.M.
7:02 P.M. Request for Administrative Review filed by Deborah Crosby, 180 Crosby Village Road, Map 14, Parcel 209.
Deputy Usowski reviewed this request to remove three dead trees within the 100' Buffer Zone to Herring Pond. She said she spoke with the Applicant about removing the boats which are near the edge of the vegetated wetland and also about perhaps planting some vegetation and trees to replace the ones being removed.
Ms. Crosby was present and had no additional comments. There was some discussion regarding the cutting and disposal of the trees, boat storage and the planting of some shrubs in the area.
Subsequently, Ms. Giovinazzo MOVED and Mr. LaBranche SECONDED the Motion to ratify this Administrative Review.
SO VOTED UNANIMOUSLY.
7:15 P.M. Notice of Intent filed by Richard and Gail McKeown, 215 Thumpertown Road, Map 10, Parcel 206.
Chairman Murley announced this hearing. Deputy Usowski informed the Commissioners that the Applicants had requested that this hearing be held until the need of the meeting as they could not be in attendance until a later time.
The Commissioners signed an Extension Permit for Silver Springs Beach Association which had been voted on at the last meeting, but the signature page had not been executed.
7:14 P.M. Change in Plan, White, DEP SE 19-1348, 485 Bridge Road, Map 20, Parcel 072A.
Deputy Usowski explained a minor change in the plan for this project which is actually outside of the Conservation Commission’s jurisdiction. The Commissioners reviewed the plan which shows that the lot line has been re-drawn on the north side to encompass the leach field and a small deck(step) between the house and the garage will a low, two-foot retaining wall near it.
Mr. Collins brought attention to the “No Mow” Zone and Deputy Usowski said she would check on it. Chairman Murley asked Deputy Usowski to extend thanks to the Applicant for bring these minor changes before the Commission.
Mr. Collins MOVED and Mr. LaBranche SECONDED the Motion to approve the changes to the approved plan.
SO VOTED UNANIMOUSLY.
7:20 P.M. Request for Certificate of Compliance, Brothers (formerly Lecce), DEP SE 19-948, 165 Shurtleff Road, Map 10, Parcel 240.
Deputy Usowski reviewed this request for the Commissioners and that it has come before them on a number of occasions. She said she hd spoken with Mr. Brothers about the wastewater from the hot tub and they will be working it out so that it is taken off site. She said this was the issue that has been delaying the issuance of a Certificate of Compliance. She said she feels that the Applicant has fulfilled the requirements for this Order of Conditions. She said there are still outstanding issues but they do not need to be handled under this particular Order of Conditions and they can be addressed separately.
Chairman Murley asked that the other Orders of Conditions for this property be reviewed and perhaps another site visit made to insure that everything is in order. Deputy Usowski said she would speak with Mr. Brothers and put it on for next time.
7:24 P.M. Change to the Addenda to Standard Order of Conditions, Revised October 2006.
Deputy Usowski told the Commissioners that she would like to make a small change Conditions #31 Annual Beach Nourishment. She said she would like to make the sand nourishment formula a bit more specific by adding “divided by 27" to the end of the calculation so the it will read (Length of Coastal Structure x Height from bottom of toe stones to top of Coastal Bank x Annual Erosion Rate divided by 27).
Mr. Hoerle MOVED and Ms. Giovinazzo SECONDED the Motion to approve this change.
SO VOTED UNANIMOUSLY.
Deputy Usowski told the Commissioners to keep in mind any questions they still have about the NSTAR herbicide application as the Board of Selectmen would like a letter from the Conservation Commission. She said they could speak about this after the hearings are completed.
7:30 P.M. Notice of Intent filed by Richard DeVito, 265 Shurtleff Road, Map 07, Parcel 191.
Chairman Murley announced this hearing. Tim Brady of East Cape Engineering, Inc. was present for the Applicant. He told the Commission that this Notice of Intent is intended to be the same as was originally approved for some repairs and ongoing maintenance. He said that at present there is no active Order of Conditions or Extension Permit in effect. He said the site sustained some minor damage to the Toe of the Bank and the sandbags, but the sand-drift fence got more damage to it and that is what he would like to repair. He presented a revised plan for the sand-drift fence and Deputy Usowski reminded him that it is the Commission’s policy not to review revised plans at the time fo the hearing so it is their decision as to whether or not they will consider it.
Mr. Brady said this project was approved a number of years ago, maybe 2005, and he got approval for what Mr. DeVito calls a “debris guard” and he would now like to remove all the damaged debris guard which is there and replace it as it was before. He said the house is only about 9' from the top of the Coastal Bank and the bank is pretty steep.
Deputy Usowski said she re-calculated the nourishment amount and wasn’t sure how many sandbags they needed to replace. Mr. Brady said the sand bags are in good shape. He said they will need to have some sand put back on them, but it would only be the chain-link debris guard which they would need to replace. He said the debris guard will be taken entirely off and new one put on.
They discussed the construction of the sand-drift fence, Deputy Usowski said there should be no storage of any beach equipment or anything else behind the fence.
Noel Beyle spoke from the floor about a chain-link fence that Mr. DeVito has installed 10' seaward from the Toe of the Coastal Bank. Chairman Murley said they never have and never would approve a facing for the sand-drift fence of chain-link fence. He said the use of that is not doing anything to prevent erosion and it was not approved by the Conservation Commission. He said there is no problem with the sand-drift fence. Mr. Beyle said the fence prevents beach access to the people of the Shurtleff subdivision who have deeded rights to the beach.
Deputy Usowski said the chain link on top of the bags was approved but a chain-link fence on the beach was never approved. Chairman Murley asked Deputy Usowski to speak with Greg Berman at WHOI about the chain-link fence on the beach.
There was discussion about the condition of the site with hoses, and sprinklers and other various apparatus all over. Mr. Brady said he would speak with the Applicant about this.
Mr. Brady requested a continuance until 09 March. Ms. Giovinazzo MOVED and Mr. Hoerle SECONDED the Motion to continue this hearing until 09 March 2010.
SO VOTED UNANIMOUSLY.
8:00 P.M. Request for Amended Order of Conditions filed by Patricia Voke, DEP SE 19-1362, 235 Shurtleff Road, Map 07, Parcel 193.
Chairman Murley announced this hearing. The Applicant requests amendment to include the installation of a sand-drift fence and debris guard over the sandbags.
Tim Brady was present for this Applicant as well.
Mr. Brady said that he thinks a continuance of this hearing would be in order since it is right next to the DeVito property and a site meeting can be held for both at the same time.
Deputy Usowski said she had some questions, one about how far back the abutter’s bags went into the bank and the difference between the originally-approved plan and the revised plan which Mr. Brady submitted for the Amended Order. Mr. Brady said it was the intention to meet the DeVito structure in height. He said the DeVito structure goes up to elevation 20'. He said this is another matter that can be discussed when the
on-site meeting happens. Deputy Usowski said she wants to make sure that everyone is on the same page.
Mr. Brady formally requested a continuance of this hearing until 09 March 2010. Ms. Giovinazzo MOVED and Mr. Hoerle SECONDED the Motion to continue this hearing until 09 March 2010.
SO VOTED UNANIMOUSLY.
8:02 P.M. Notice of Intent filed by Richard and Gail McKeown, 215 Thumpertown Road, Map 10, Parcel 206.
Chairman Murley announced this hearing. Laura Schofield of Schofield Brothers of Cape Cod was present for the Applicants and explained the proposal to repair and replace the existing stairway and maintain same.
Deputy Usowski said it seemed pretty straight forward to her and asked Ms. Shofield if the Applicants wanted to move the top platform back a bit. Ms. Schofield said it would be moved back so that it would not be overhanging as it is now.
There was some conversation about the use of non-treated lumber, at least for the posts which may come in contact with the water and that any maintenance work on the stairs would need review by the Conservation Commission.
There were no additional comments and Chairman Murley closed this hearing and asked for a motion. Mr. Hoerle MOVED and Ms. Giovinazzo SECONDED the Motion to approve this project with Order of Conditions 1018, 19, 20, 21, 22, 25, 27, 42, 33, 34 if the entire set of stairs needs to be replaced or are re-constructed differently or in a different location, a new Notice of Intent will be required.
SO VOTED UNANIMOUSLY.
Deputy Usowski informed the Commissioners about a couple upcoming conferences.
She told the Commission that the DPW has been asked by a couple of people to clean the culvert on Smith Lane near Wildcare. She said it is pretty blocked up with no flow to the other side to the marsh. She said the DPW will dig out the sides of the culvert and the excavated material will be disposed of off site. She said they will need to be sensitive to the marsh vegetation; but, the DPW Superintendent wanted to know if the Commission had any questions or comments.
The Commissioners agreed that the work should be done sooner than later as there is a lot of fresh water that tries to come through the culvert that cannot do so with the degraded condition. Deputy Usowski said the work could be done with the machinery staying on the pavement. Chairman Murley said he would like to fast track this work.
Commissioner Collins asked if the DPW had done anything further about repairing Collin’s Landing as it is “really falling apart”. Deputy Usowski said there had been discussion ab out using poured concrete or pre-cast slabs. She said she will speak to the DPW Superintendent and get this problem on their radar again.
There was discussion about NSTAR’s 5-year plan. Deputy Usowski said that Eastham has mapped every well within 100' of the right-of-way and these should become part of NSTAR’s working maps. She said that any treatment within a Priority Habitat needs written permission from Natural Heritage and she doesn’t know if they have that or not.
Chairman Murley said that if you start to use the five or six listed moth caterpillars that feed on Scrub Oak and the half dozen birds and the Box Turtle which is on the natural Heritage endangered list then there are some problems environmentally. He said that he believes there would be some problems with wide-spread spraying across a wide spectrum of time. He said when you start looking at Priority Habitat, wells, wetlands, A.C.E.C. and endangered species, he personally has a lot of problems with it.
There was some discussion about industry standards and their protocol Ms. Larsen said she spoke personally with Tim Simmons of Natural Heritage and he “can’t say enough wonderful things about this program. She said the conversation got “rather ugly”. She also referred to charges that have been brought against the landscapers who NSTAR employs. She said it is a huge concern even if the plan is followed, but by looking at all their track records it doesn’t appear that it will be followed. She said that a lot of their data doesn’t take into account new information about the chemical “soups”
Ms. Larsen said that many different people are working on this from a lot of different angles. Chairman Murley brought up the fact that Certified Vernal Pools are not identified on the NSTAR working map.
Chairman Murley asked formally, if any of the Commissioners were in favor of the herbicide spraying and none of the Commissioners answered in the affirmative. Deputy Usowski said she would put together a concise statement for the Board of Selectmen. Ms. Larsen said there are numerous alternatives which can be looked at for this project.
Mr. Hoerle brought up the Rock Harbor situation and said the problem is not with the dogs but with man. He said that if children are not allowed to ‘evacuate” themselves on the beach then dogs should not be allowed to do so either. He said that in an upland area the nutrients are taken up by plants and on the beach this would just go into the water. He said that is the simple explanation for why he thinks the Conservation Commission needs to make a pointed statement.
Chairman Murley said that although he appreciates Mr. Hoerle’s sentiments he encouraged the Commissioners to be activists themselves without putting the Conservation Commission in that role. He said that is his personal opinion and if the Commission wanted to take a formal vote on the matter. He said that when the dog beach was established the Conservation Commission was not asked for an opinion. He said there is a working group trying to come up with a solution to the problem and he would not like the Commission to step into a problem which they have not been witness to.
Mr. Hoerle said the situation is very clear to him personally, that septic systems are not allowed on the beach and septic treatment plants are not allowed on the beach, and he cannot understand why an 800-member dog association is allowed to use the beach for their dogs and create a hazard. He said he feels that the detriment is obvious.
After further discussion, Mr. Collins suggested putting this issue aside until some thought can be given to the best way to move forward, other than saying that as individuals, the Commissioners are uneasy with the situation.
Mr. Smith commented that if the dog owners took responsibility there would be no problem, and stated once again that the responsibility rests with the dog owner.
Deputy Usowski spoke to the Commissioners about the preliminary report regarding the Rock Harbor area restoration.
There was no further business. Mr. LaBranche MOVED to adjourn at approximately 10:26 P.M. Mr. Smith SECONDED the Motion.
SO VOTED UNANIMOUSLY.
Respectfully submitted.
Kay Stewart-Greeley, Clerk
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