MASHPEE CONSERVATION COMMISSION
Minutes of February 5, 2004
Public Hearing
Mashpee Town Hall Meeting Room 3
Commissioners present: Jack Fitzsimmons, Chairman, Michael Talbot, Vice Chairman, Leonard Pinaud, Clerk, Cass Costa, Stephanie Jones and Ralph Shaw.
Staff present: Robert Sherman, Agent, Lori Soucy, Assistant Conservation Agent, and Frances Wise, Board Secretary
Jack Fitzsimmons, Chairman, called the meeting to order at 6:55 p.m.
Public Hearing: None.
Non-Hearing Agenda
Old Business:
1. Algal bloom. Lori distributed to the members a memo dated 1/20/94 from Bob and her to the Town Administrator, Board of Selectmen, Board of Health, Shellfish Department and Harbormaster Department requesting a meeting with them before Spring 2004 to discuss the algal bloom problem at Seconsett Island and possibly elsewhere.
2. Change in seminar budgets. Bob reported that starting with the 1995 budget, seminars will be handled separately and will have to be individually pre-approved. He has been assured that there will be enough money for members to attend relevant seminars.
3. Regulations Sub-Committee. Bob reported that they did not meet since the last meeting. A meeting was tentatively set for Thursday, February 12th, at Jack’s home.
4. RFAA-SE-43-2190 – Monomoscoy Island. Bob said this addition had previously been approved and now the owner would like to move it sideways and further back away from the resource area, and add some stairs and an additional deck. Bob recommended approval.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve this request for an administrative approval.
5. RFAA, 29 Ockway Bay Road. Bob said this permit expired some time ago. Now they wish to redo the pool and do other extensive work. They would not be going outside of any previously disturbed area, and are asking if they can do this administratively or do they have to file an RDA. Mike thinks there should be some revegetation by the coastal bank, and he asked if they will be able to get the machinery to the work area without tearing up other areas.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to request that the applicant file an RDA for this project.
6. Candidates for Conservation Commission. Jack said he called Lloyd Allen, got his tape only and left a message on the tape that the Commission would like him to be a full Commissioner. He hasn’t heard back from him. He also called Jeffrey Cross and said the members thought Mr. Allen had the most experience in this area and had asked him to be a full Commissioner, but they hoped he would like to join as an Associate. Mr. Cross said he would think about it.
7. Invasives. Michael said today he attended a conference on controlling invasives, and one woman ask why Conversation’s regulations made it so difficult for them to go ahead and do it in the resource areas. Mike said he realized that she had a point. He suggested that perhaps we could develop a regulation that if someone wanted to remove some invasives and replace them with native shrubs, they could get permission to do so administratively by writing a letter explaining what they want to do. This would apply to buffer zones as well as resource areas. He would consider it to be a minor activity impact-wise.
Bob said the problem is that beneficial or not, we are constrained under the law, and anything in the resource area has to have a Notice of Intent. He said some of the so-called minor activities in the buffer zone might qualify under the Act to be handled this way, but anything on the coastal bank requires an NOI. He said there are ways to make an NOI less expensive for minor activities like this.
New Business:
1. Collapse of Dike/Flume at Quashnet Bogs. Bob said this is just before the golf course. He showed a photo of it, which he said doesn’t do it justice. He and Lori went out to see it last Tuesday and again today when the situation was considerably worse. He said it could have started with a small muskrat hole. He, Peggy, Lori, Brian Handy, Steve Hurley, and some Air Force people met there today. Mr. Handy lowered the water somewhat, so the water is no longer bypassing the flume and eroding the area, and he will lay some gravel next week as a temporary measure. The long, heavy-duty steel flume structure is tilted up. The area will have to be revegetated to stabilize it. Steve Hurley is concerned that quite a bit of sand has moved downstream into the Quashnet Valley
golf course area where it is threatening wildlife species habitat, so we’ll have to get the golf course to allow us to recapture that sediment. When asked who will cover the cost, Bob said that under normal circumstances such an event would be considered an agricultural emergency, for which Mr. Handy, as operator of the bogs, would be responsible. Bob gave Mr. Handy our sand bags for temporary use, and Mr. Handy said he will get some machinery there next week to plug it up.
Hearing Agenda
7:00 p.m., George Dubin, 31 Fiddler Crab Land (continued from 12/18/03). Dave Sanicki represented the applicant. Bob said Perry Ellis has reviewed the revised plan and said it appears to be accurate. Bob recommended approval with an Order of Conditions that includes our standard provision on the mean water depth and the option that the applicant can file an amended order if they want to have any watercraft other than a jet boat.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the project with an Order
of Conditions that includes our standard provision on the mean water depth and the option that the applicant will have to file an amended order if they want to have any watercraft other than a jet boat.
7:05 p.m., Babette E. Liebman, 86 Summersea Road (continued from 1/8/04). Bob said we are arranging for a wildlife habitat study. Hopefully it will be completed by the next meeting.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to grant a continuation to February 19 at 7:40 p.m., at the request of the applicant.
7:10 p.m., Edward Herbert, 147 Shore Drive (proposed deck to rear of house). Dave Sanicki represented the applicant and presented the plan. Bob recommended approval.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the plan.
7:15 p.m., Albert Mullin, 123 Tide Run (install Title V system). Dave Sanicki represented the applicant and presented the plan. Bob recommended approval.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the plan.
7:20 p.m., Dan Collins, 59 Bucaneer Way (remove pine tree and replace with shrubs).
The applicant lives in Vermont and no one was present to represent him. Bob said this applicant had done some limbing of a very large white pine tree without a permit. The tree is about 15 feet from his house and deck, and still has more than 70% of its canopy. Now he wishes to remove it and would replace it with a total of six plants from among the following: bayberry, beach plumb, black chokeberry, high bush blueberry, vibernum, plantatum or shadbush, which are all appropriate. Cass said he also had limbed a second tree. Bob said we would allow the amount of limbing he did under an RDA. The reason he wants to remove it is that he’s worried that in a northeast storm it could fall in the direction of his house. Mike asked if it has any lean that would indicate that such is a probability. Bob said not that he can see, but this is in a buffer zone 60 ft. from the coastal bank, so it’s a doable project. Mike said six little shrubs are not going to replace the value of a big
white pine. Bob said he’d be planting them in a better place (close to the top of the bank) and he thinks that if it meets the performance standards, we should approve it. Perhaps we should develop a more coherent criteria for how many shrubs must be planted to mitigate for what size trees. Mike thinks we should ask for another tree. It was decided that Mike and Bob will visit the site and decide what we will require the applicant to do.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to grant a continuance to February 19 at 7:55 p.m.
7:25 p.m., Mark White, 425 Monomoscoy Road (enclose existing patio). Mr. White described his plan. Bob recommended approval.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the plan.
7:30 p.m., Kathy Cramer, 214 Waterway (continued from 1/22/04). Norman Hayes represented the applicant and described the plan. Bob recommended approval.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the plan.
7:35 p.m., James and Anne LaGrippe, 15 Ocean Bluff (continued from 1/22/04).
Bob said this will have to be continued because Mike has not been able to visit the site regarding the mitigation plan.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to grant a continuance to February 19 at 7:45 p.m., at the request of the applicant.
7:40 p.m., Kenneth Marsters, Trustees, 10 and 14 South Sandwich Road (continued from 1/22/04). Bob said this has to be continued because we informed them that they couldn’t record two different properties under the same filing, so they have to readvertise, etc. They also have to make some improvements to the landscape plan.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to grant a continuance to February 19 at 7:35 p.m., at the request of the applicant.
7:45 p.m., Town of Mashpee DPW, South Cape Beach/Great Oak Road (beach nourishment). Norman Hayes represented the applicant. Bob said we have had so many storm events in the past year that we have given to Lucy Green, DPW, the right to pre-nourish in anticipation of a storm. Sometimes we have an unexpected meteorlogical event that takes away quite a bit of sand and we don’t have a provision and permit for a post-storm. He thinks it’s appropriate that we do so. It would be under the same constraints of the original permit in terms of time frames and beach profiling. Mr. Hayes said they make an analysis of the replacement sand to ensure that 95% of it is compatible with what’s underneath.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve an amendment to the Order of Conditions for SE 43-1611 to allow nourishment sand for post storm events at South Cape Beach.
7:50 p.m., Michael Corsi, 34 Sandy Way (construct house, driveway, water service, Title V). Bob described the plan and recommended approval.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the plan.
Meeting adjourned at 7:55 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Frances Wise, Board Secretary
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