Approved at the Aug. 7, 2003 meeting
Marlborough Conservation Commission
Minutes
March 27, 2003 (Thursday)
Memorial Hall, 3rd Floor
Marlborough City Hall, 140 Main St.
Present: Ed Clancy-Chairman, John Skarin, David Williams, Alan White, Dennis Demers – Associate Member, Priscilla Ryder- Conservation Officer
Absent: Lawrence Roy, Donald V. Rider, Jr.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
Request for Determination of Applicability
123 Farmington Circle – Mr. & Mrs. Monty
Mr. Donald Monty presented a plan to add an addition and deck to the property at 123 Farmington Circle. The pool shown on the plan is not proposed at this time. The construction proposed is within the 200 ft. riverfront area, but more than 50 feet away from the edge of Mowry Brook. The addition will not have a foundation, but will be built on sona tubes. Any soil removed will be used to backfill areas on the site. The Commission required that erosion controls be installed if necessary prior to construction. The hearing was closed and the Commission voted 4-0 to issue a negative determination with standard conditions.
Request for Determination of Applicability
I-495 MassHighway
Ann Sullivan of MassHighway was present. She explained that MassHighway would like to apply herbicide treatments along the guardrails in areas where they cannot mow on the edges of I-495. This is the same work proposed in 1997. Ms. Ryder noted that in 1997 the only area that was treated was Berlin Road, which is not corresponding with plans presented in this request. Ann Sullivan agreed that the guardrail along most of the section of I-495 was wide enough to allow mowing and therefore MassHighway would agree to only spray along the Berlin Road section of the highway. Ms. Sullivan will provide a new set of plans showing the restricted spray zones. The Commission voted 4 – 0 to issue a negative determination and will attach the new plans to be
provided by Ms. Sullivan.
Notice of Intent
Donald Lynch Blvd. – Upper River Rd. LLC on behalf of the City of Marlborough
Sewer pump station
Atty. John Twohig of Goulston & Storrs, Brenda Bahatti of ENSR, and Arthur Towne of Dewberry Goodkind were present. Atty. Twohig explained that as part of their construction projects on Donald Lynch Blvd. they would be installing a pump station to accommodate the sewer needs of this section of Donald Lynch Blvd. New England Development will run the sewer pump station until it is proven to work correctly and then will transfer it to the city. The sewer pump station will have capacity for the office park at the corner of River Road and Donald Lynch Blvd. and will provide capacity for the T & T parcel, and the restaurant parcel.
Brenda Bahatti discussed the location of the pump station that is within the 100 ft. buffer zone and 200 ft. Riverfront Area. Only a small portion of the project will be impervious. Because this is a utility project, the project is exempt for the Riverfront Regulations and is permissible. Arthur Towne noted that the pump chambers are all below ground including a grinder pump. The system will include an electric control panel, which will be the only facility above ground. The facility will be entirely fenced in. The system is designed to contain all the sewage and will include an alarm system. The existing landscape plans were provided with the restaurant site and provides plantings around the pump station fence. The Commission discussed the dewatering plan that
would be necessary since the excavation will be quite deep. The hearing was closed and a draft Order of Conditions will be drafted for the April 3rd meeting.
Notice of Intent
Crane Meadow Rd. – FF Development LP (Fairfield Green at Marlborough)
Atty. John Twohig of Goulston & Storrs, Brendan Quigley and Steve Papowich of Rizzo Associates, and Andy Montelle of Fairfield were present. John Twohig explained that the access from Crane Meadow Road through the Boston properties to their site would be built as part of this project. Boston properties is not ready to proceed with their project. Fairfield will therefore, put in the main roadway utilities. They are currently going through the Comprehensive Permit process with the Zoning Board of Appeals in both Southborough and Marlborough.
Andy Montelli provided an overview of the site location orientation as outlined in the Notice of Intent. He explained the project will include 11 buildings with 306 units on this 18-acre site and will include walking trails. A 4-acre portion of the site will not be developed and will provide a sound barrier from the highway. Boston Properties has indicated they would only provide a secondary access to this site and would not entertain a primary access. The site already has a legal access easement from Southborough that goes with this property.
Brendan Quigley of Rizzo Associates reviewed the wetlands impacts from the project. On the Marlborough section of the site there are no new wetland impacts and no impacts to the 20 ft. buffer zone. Work in the 100 ft. buffer zone is associated with the wetland along I-495 Interchange and along the red maple swamp on the Southborough side near the main access point. There are some wetland impacts in Marlborough on the Boston properties facility for the road crossing and utility installation, which were approved by the Conservation Commission under DEP 212-906. The access roadway will be gravel surface and not paved, therefore drainage issues are less. All work is to be conducted for the Boston Properties as previously conditioned without detention basins.
Steve Papowich of Rizzo Associates explained the grading and drainage plan. Three prominent soil types are found on the site and 24 test pits were done. Ledge was found on a majority of the site and groundwater was found to be 9 to 11 feet below the surface. There are drainage divides, which have been maintained in post development. The project is intended to meet the 80 % Total Suspended Solids (TSS) removal rates. The first basin will remove 82% TSS; the second basin will remove 95% TSS. Everything is designed to clean the first inch of runoff since it drains to the Sudbury Reservoir.
The Commission discussed at length the need for erosion control standards, the construction sequence plan, temporary catch basins and temporary drainage structures during construction, the location of stockpile areas, and to phase the project to make sure that the entire site is not exposed at once. Mr. Williams asked for a copy of the final agreement with Boston Properties to confirm to the Commission that they have permission to do work there. Atty. Twohig said he would provide this documentation, which will also be submitted, to the ZBA.
Dick Upjohn, John Leeds, Lou Bartelene, and a woman, of the Southborough Conservation Commission were present. Questions asked were as follows: How much blasting is required and how will that affect the subsurface water flow? How will blasting affect the intermittent stream in the wetlands along the edge of the property? The Southborough Commission has limited the amount of wetland alteration allowable and has required that a bridge be placed across the wetland in Southborough to limit impact. They would prefer to see the primary access from Marlborough. The Southborough Conservation Commission will be hiring a private consultant to review the drainage and traffic reports.
The Commission set a site walk for April 5th at 8 AM and to meet in the parking lot behind the second building. The hearing was continue to April 17th.
Abbreviated Notice of Resource Area Delineation (Continuation of Public Hearing)
355 Boston Post Rd. – Boston Post Rd. 355 LLC (across from Linguini Restaurant)
Marybeth Carney of Land Planning, Inc. and Kevin Labadini of Labadini Landscaping were present. They requested that the Commission provide approval of the wetland boundary as shown on the plans. The Commission noted that the wetland replication area from the MassHighway site was not shown on this plan and needs to be shown as part of this property. The hearing was continued to April 3rd to allow the applicant to add the additional replication area on the plans.
Notice of Intent
Raymond Rd. (Lot 65) – Laurence M. Maloney
Thomas Callahan was present representing Larry Maloney, who was sick. He summarized the last meeting and said that they have agreed the wetland is Isolated Land Subject to Flooding (ILSF). He questions whether it is an Outstanding Resource Water (ORW) and disputes that it is a vernal pool. He understands that DEP has indicated that he cannot replicate vernal pools. It is his opinion that the CMR controls and DEP’s policy regarding vernal pools is too vague. In his opinion the regulations allow the replication of vernal pools.
Chairman Clancy had checked the site yesterday and the wetland flags are in the water. He continues to question whether the lot is even buildable given the high water levels, and he wonders whether the floodplain elevation shown on the plan is accurate. Tom Callahan indicated that they are operating under the assumption that the 338.7 ft. elevation is correct and the foundation is three feet higher than that. Highland Land Surveyors established this elevation with calculations during the settlement hearing process on the DEP 212-711 previous filings.
Mr. Callahan explained that once a decision is made on Lot 65 and Lot 85, with the current filings, he will need to make a decision within 21 days to elect to pursue the previous appeal under 212 – 711 or to choose to continue with the new filings. After some discussion the Commission determined that the elevations of the floodplain still need to be determined at a future date, and are not considered resolved at this time.
The Commission closed the hearing and will review a draft decision at its next meeting.
Notice of Intent
Raymond Rd. (Lot 85) - Laurence M. Maloney
Tom Callahan was present and represented Larry Maloney who was sick. He indicated that the discussion for Lot 65 is the same for Lot 85 and no additional information was needed. With the applicant’s consent, the Commission agreed to close this hearing as well and will review a draft decision at its next meeting.
EXTENSION PERMITS
§ DEP 212 – 792 Marlborough Country Club for various culvert projects. The Commission noted that this work has not been completed and voted 4-0 to issue a three-year extension.
§ DEP 212 – 790 MWRA temporary waterline. This project is complete, however the pipe will need to be removed when the entire development of the site is complete. The MWRA is seeking a three-year extension. The Commission voted 4-0 to issue a three-year extension.
CERTIFICATES OF COMPLIANCE
§ DEP 212 – 759 199 Lakeside Avenue – Dunkin’ Donuts This project has been completed, all conditions have been met. The Commission voted 4-0 to issue a Certificate of Compliance.
§ DEP 212 – 744 Briden Circle - This project was never constructed, the applicant requests a release of the Order of Conditions. The Commission voted 4-0 to issue a Certificate of Compliance noting that the project had never been started.
CORRESPONDENCE NEW BUSINESS/OTHER BUSINESS
Project Updates
§ DEP 212 – 806 Fitchburg Street Road A - The Commission reviewed an e-mail from James Mongeau, dated 2/23/2003 and 3/12/2003. The Commission agreed to invite Mr. Delli and Mr. Mongeau to the meeting on April 3rd to discuss the issues.
The remaining correspondence was reviewed and placed on file.
DISCUSSION
§ 2 Spring Lane (fence) - Allan White asked if the fence issue was resolved or if the Commission was still pursuing this issue. Mr. White would prefer to leave the situation alone. Ms. Ryder indicated that she needs to take a picture of the fence in the water and the fill that was added before sending a letter, the Commission requested in November 2002. After some discussion the Commission agreed that once the pictures are in, they would like to review the pictures and the draft letter before it is sent.
DRAFT ORDER OF CONDITIONS
§ DEP 212-912 Concord Rd. Hemenway St. Sewer Project, City of Marlborough The Commission reviewed a draft Order of Conditions for this project and voted 4-0 to issue the Order as drafted.
§ DEP 212-847 Devonshire at 495 Amended Order of Conditions
The Commission reviewed a draft Order of Conditions and added a condition that the pond area would be cleaned up and invasive plants are to be removed. The Commission voted 4-0 to issue the Order of Conditions as amended.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 10:15 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Priscilla Ryder
Conservation Officer
| 
