Minutes of Meeting
April 26, 2012
To: Town Clerk
cc: Members
File
Present: A. Tolland, J. Fournier, R. Willis, M. Allen, J. Livingstone, R. Ballantyne P. Stolfa, Associate Member
Absent: M. DePoto, A. Riordan, Associate Member, Nick Alfieri, Conservation Agent
There was a motion to accept the minutes of the March 29th, 2012 meeting with 2 corrections. The motion was seconded and accepted with a vote of 6-0-0.
Mr. Nick Alfieri’s Agent’s Report has been appended to the minutes.
Enforcement: 860 West Central Street
The Commission Chairman stated that the site has been cleaned up. There was a letter submitted from the applicant to the Conservation Department stating that an environmental company has cleaned up the site and the issues have been complied with. The letter and invoices for this work have been added to the Conservation file.
There was a motion to close the Enforcement Order on 860 West Central Street per the letter read into the record. The motion was seconded and accepted with a vote of 6-0-0.
Enforcements: 31 & 39 Peck Street
The Commission Chairman stated that a site walk was conducted and the homeowners were visited. The 3 trees in the rear were cut; the homeowners claimed that they did not conduct this work. The area behind the house is not a wetland according to a letter received by the homeowner from Ms. Judy Schmitz, a wetland scientist, who previously delineated the property for a swimming pool. There is no Conservation jurisdiction located on these 2 properties.
The homeowner of 31 Peck Street had access given to him to the Town land by the DPW and used the Town land to dump the soils from excavation of his pool.
There was a motion to withdraw both Enforcement Orders for 31 & 39 Peck Street without prejudice. The motion was seconded and accepted with a vote of 5-1-0; 5 Yes, 1 No, 0 Abstentions.
Discussion: 26 Beech Street
The Commission Chairman informed the Commission members that a question has arisen last week about what happened on this site regarding the plantings. The homeowners were given authorization by the Commission for an extension to have the plantings completed by April 1st, 2012. The question now is was the mitigation planting done and what is the best way to make this determination?
The Commission members will conduct a site walk to see what the site conditions are. The Chairman will contact the homeowners to schedule a site walk.
Public Hearing – Notice of Intent – 18 Island Road – Unkauf – CE159-1032
Mr. & Mrs. Unkauf, the applicants, appeared before the Commission for the installation of sewer lift station and Town sewer connection at their home.
The Commission Chairman informed the applicants of 8 items to be addressed in the Agent’s Report in Mr. Alfieri’s absence.
Mr. Unkauf gave the Commission members a detailed overview of the plans for the project, which includes the replacement of the driveway. The entire project falls in the riverfront of Mine Brook.
The Chairman informed Mr. Unkauf that the Commission prefers burlap compost socks as opposed to haybales as they do not carry seeds from invasives and at the completion of the project they do not need to be hauled away.
A Commission member stated that since the entire site is located in the riverfront area as well as the buffer zone, there is no need to expend funds to have the wetlands of the site delineated.
The Commission members will conduct a site walk on Thursday, May 3rd, at 6 p.m.
There was a motion to continue the public hearing for 18 Island Road until May 10th. The motion was seconded and accepted with a vote of 6-0-0.
Public Hearing – Notice of Intent – Mass. Bay Commuter Railroad – TRC - CE159-1033
Mr. Jon Fournier, Conservation Commission member, recused himself from this public hearing.
Mr. Ryan Hale, a representative of TRC, appeared before the Commission for the replacement of the culvert in the right-of-way. The project falls within the riparian zone of Miller Brook where it flows under the railway line into Pond #1 in the DelCarte Conservation Area.
Mr. Hale gave the Commission members an overview of the existing site conditions as well as the work proposed for the site. The present culvert has collapsed and needs to be replaced.
A silt curtain will be placed across the stream to filter the sediment as it runs through. This entire operation will take 24-48 hours. The entire project will take approximately 1 week. The train service will be interrupted during this project.
Haybales are depicted on the plans and the Commission Chairman informed Mr. Hale that burlap compost socks are preferred for erosion control purposes. They must be adequately sized.
A Commission member informed the applicant of 11 items to be addressed in the Agent’s Report in Mr. Alfieri’s absence.
A calculation supporting the size of the pipe was requested by Commission members as the standards are changing.
The Commission members will conduct a site walk of the project on Thursday, May 3rd at 6:30 p.m.
There was a motion to continue the public hearing until May 10th. The motion was seconded and accepted with a vote of 5-0-1; 5 Yes, 0 No, 1 Abstention.
Continued - Public Hearing – Notice of Intent – Emeritus at Franklin Assisted Living – 656 King Street - CE159-1029
Mr. Andy Tolland, Conservation Commission Chairman, recused himself from this public hearing.
Mr. Donald Nielsen, Engineer of Guerriere & Halnon, appeared before the Commission for the construction of a 2-story, 81 unit assisted living facility. Mr. Nielsen presented revised plans as well as an alternatives analysis for Commission review.
Mr. Nielsen gave a detailed overview of these plans as well as the alternatives analysis. There is a straight access road into the site depicted on the plans.
The Zoning Board of Appeals approved the layout of the fence depicting the junipers that will be planted around the site and there will be fence at the rear of the property of Mr. Michael Davis at 670 King Street. The fence will be constructed so that the animals will be able to pass under it.
The alternatives analysis has 2 parts addressing access to the site off of King Street.
A Commission member questioned the wetland replication areas for the site and how they will function. Large caliper tree size was requested rather than height; i.e., 2½ inches in size.
Ms. Debbie Murphy, an abutter of 17 Forest Street, expressed concerns regarding the shrubs screening her property from the site being eaten by deer. Also, she had concerns regarding snow being pushed from the site in the wetlands and had snow storage concerns as well.
Mr. Michael Davis, an abutter of 670 King Street, requested that the dust coming from the site be controlled so that it does not blow onto his property. Mr. Nielsen informed him that water will be used during construction in order to control the dust.
Mr. Peter Bemis, Engineer of Engineering Design Consultants representing EMC Corporation, was present at tonight’s meeting. He submitted a package on April 12th regarding the isolated wetland on EMC’s property. It was determined by a wetland scientist that there is no resource area on EMC’s property.
Mr. Bemis requested that this area be deleted off the plan for the Emeritus site. Mr. Nielsen will remove this from the plan for future reference.
Mr. Alfieri has provided the Commissioners with 71 proposed special conditions for review.
There was a motion to close the public hearing for Emeritus Assisted Living facility at 656 King Street. The motion was seconded and accepted with a vote of 5-0-1; 5 Yes, 0 No, 1 Abstention.
GENERAL BUSINESS
Enforcement: 880 West Central Street
The Commission Chairman stated that since Mr. Alfieri is not present at tonight’s meeting, the Commission will continue this Enforcement matter until the next meeting on May 10th.
There was a motion to adjourn. The motion was seconded and accepted with a vote of 6-0-0.
The meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Kathleen Celorier
Conservation Secretary
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