MASHPEE CONSERVATION COMMISSION
Minutes of February 19, 2004
Public Hearing
Mashpee Town Hall Meeting Room 3
Commissioners present: Commissioners Present: Jack Fitzsimmons, Chairman, Michael Talbot, Vice Chairman, Leonard Pinaud, Clerk, Lloyd Allen, Cass Costa, Jeffrey Cross, 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. He welcomed Lloyd Allen as a full Commissioner and Jeffrey Cross as an Associate Commissioner. He then commended Bob for the excellent annual report he wrote on the Commission.
Public Hearing: None.
Non-Hearing Agenda
Old Business:
1. Thornton Burgess Society. Bob said we had a request for children, ages 9-11, to stay on the Mashpee River for two days as part of the nature center classes and he recommended that we approve this provided they leave it as they found it. All agreed.
2. Approval of minutes for 12/04/03, 12/18/03, 1/8/04 and 1/22/04
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the above minutes.
3. (A) Bob recommended extending the vista pruning to March 15th.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve an extension of the vista pruning period to March 15th for this season.
(B) Bob said today he and Lori visited a site where the owner had requested vista pruning, and found that the owner had already done so. Our regulations don’t cover that contingency. He thinks we should establish a policy tonight in the Regulations Sub-Committee that if an owner already has an existing vista pruned area that equals or exceeds what we allow, that is their vista pruning area, and they can’t have a second one. New cutting is not legal. Some areas have been cleared for a long time, so are grandfathered. This is the policy he’d like to follow until we formally adopt this regulation. There was discussion about the pros and cons of requiring the vista pruning areas to be contiguous.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve this policy proposed by Bob.
4.. Regulations Sub-Committee. A meeting was scheduled for 7 p.m., March 2nd at Bob’s home.
5. Vista pruning request from Gary Locarno. Michael Grotzke represented the applicant. Bob said Mr. Locarno had done some pruning after his previous permit had expired, and in addition had cut lower than the allowed five foot height. Bob told him that he would be restricted from any additional vista pruning until the shrubs have grown back to the 5 Ft. height. Mr. Locarno has now asked to move the vista corridor to another section, and Bob told Mr. Grotzke that he would ask the Commission to decide. Michael Talbot said that based on a discussion earlier in this meeting regarding this topic, he doesn’t think we can issue a second corridor to the one that exists. Bob read from our 7/30/03 approval, “….pending a site meeting with Michael Grotzke and the Conservation Agent to
further define mitigation planting. Any further violations will engender a permanent prohibition of any vista pruning by the owner of the property.” Bob said he has done some restoration, but now the plantings have to grow. Bob stated that Mr. Grotzke said that Mr. Locarno will accept the current permit for which he originally applied.
6. DMF letter. Bob distributed a letter to this Commission from the Division of Marine Fisheries dated 2/12/04 regarding the Duncan application for a pier, ramp and float (now under review by us) and its potential cumulative effect on shellfish life. He said under Article 172 we can address cumulative effects. Since we are now getting more advance information from DMF than ever before, how are we going to integrate it into our deliberation. From a regulatory standpoint they can’t impose conditions, but they know more about shellfish than we do. It was agreed that Bob invite Vin Malkoski from their Pocasset Office and Steve McKenna, CZM, to meet with our Regulations Committee.
New Business:
1. None.
Hearing Agenda
7:00 p.m., Paul O’Connell, 99 Monomoscoy Road West and Marsh Monomoscoy Road West (continued from 1/22/04). Bob said this has to be continued because he is working on having a title search done by a lawyer.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to grant a continuance to April 15th at 7:00 p.m., at the request of the applicant.
7:05 p.m., George A. Darcy III, 57 Waterline Drive South (vista pruning). Mr. Darcy was present. Bob recommended approval.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the plan.
7:10 p.m., Alan Brenner, 95 Popponesset Island (addition, garage, modify septic, driveway, landscaping). Michael Grotzke represented the applicant and presented the plan. Bob recommended approval pending verification that the staking is correct.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the project subject to Bob’s verification of the staking.
7:15 p.m., Thomas Duncan, 33 Shoestring Bay Road (construct and maintain timber stairs boardwalk, pier ramp and float). Bob said they went to the site and asked that it be restaked and a change be made in the stairway down to the coastal bank so it will have less impact in terms of erosion, which they have agreed to.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to grant a continuance to March 18th at 7:00 p.m., at the request of the applicant.
7:20 p.m., Richard W. Mark, 45 Santuit Pond (license and maintain existing walkway and dock). Bob said some more work needs to be done on the plan and asked that they remove a considerably large section of the existing structure which runs over the bank.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to grant a continuance to April 15th at 7:05 p.m., at the request of the applicant.
7:25 p.m., Louis Dimeo, 75 Popponesset Island Road (landscaping plan). John Slavinsky represented the applicant and described the plan. Michael requested some changes in vegetation.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the plan contingent on plan with law in green and square footage the owner making the recommended changes in revegetation.
7:30 p.m., Kenneth Marsters, Trustee, 14 South Sandwich Road (vegetation, driveway and mitigation plantings). Brian Madden represented the applicant and presented the plan. At Bob’s request, Mr. Madden will write a methodology of the plantings. Michael asked that the white birch be replaced with a gray birch or river birch.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the plan with the condition that the applicant provide a methodology of the plantings and replace the white birch with a gray birch or river birch.
7:35 p.m., Kenneth Marsters, Trustees, 10 South Sandwich Road (continued from 2/5/04). Brian Madden represented the applicant and presented the plan.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the plan with the condition that the applicant provide a methodology of the plantings.
7:40 p.m. Babette E. Liebman, 86 Summersea Road (continued from 2/5/04).
Bob said the consultant who has been retained to do the wildlife habitat evaluation has not been able to do it.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to grant a continuance to March 18th at 7:05 p.m., at the request of the applicant.
7:45 p.m., James and Anne LaGrippe, 15 Ocean Bluff (continued from 2/5/04). Michael Grotzke and Mary LaBlanc represented the applicants. Ms. LaBlanc described the plantings. Michael Talbot said it’s an excellent mitigation plan.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the planting plan and the vista corridor.
7:50 p.m., Martin Wolff, 5 Keel Way (landscaping plan and driveway). Cass Costa stepped down for this hearing. Mary LaBlanc represented the applicant and described the plan.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the plan.
7:55 p.m., Dan Collins, 59 Bucaneer Way (continued from 2/5/04). The applicant lives in New Hampshire and Bob sent him our request for additional plantings. The applicant asked if he could plant two or three 5 ft. trees instead of one 7 ft. tree.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the mitigation plan, which would include the planting of two or three 5 ft. white pine trees instead of one 7 ft. tree.
8:00 p.m., Cape Southport Associates, LLC, 3 Southport Drive (wall, clean fill and plantings). Ronald Bonvie represented the applicant and described the project. He stated that the pine trees in question will remain, and he will add an addendum to the plan stating that if either of the big oaks have to go, he will replace it with another oak of at least 4” caliper.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the plan with the addendum that if either of the big oaks have to go, it will be replaced with another oak of at least 4” caliper, and contingent on Bob’s verification of the new hay bail line.
8:05 p.m., Kenneth R. and Susan Loden Konikowski, 95 Whippoorwill Circle (addition, garage, landscaping, walkway to dock and upgrade septic.) Michael Grotzke represented the applicant and presented he plan.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve this project.
Meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Frances Wise, Board Secretary
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