MASHPEE CONSERVATION COMMISSION
Minutes of June 24, 2004
Public Hearing
Mashpee Town Hall Meeting Room 1
Commissioners present: Jack Fitzsimmons, Chairman, Michael Talbot, Vice Chairman, Leonard Pinaud, Clerk, Lloyd Allen, Cass Costa 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 thanked Lori for her good work and wished her God speed in her future endeavors. All agreed. Bob praised her for her hard and diligent work and said he will miss her personally.
Public Comment: None.
Non-Hearing Agenda
Old Business:
1. “Problem trees.” Bob said in the past, the Board has given him a lot of license to make decisions. People sometimes request him to look at a tree where they want to get permission to remove it without filing. He showed the members a photo of a tree in a recent such case. Bob told the owner that he could only approve thinning the top. The members thought the tree was far enough from the home to not pose a problem. Bob said his parameter is that if a sizeable tree is 5 ft. from the house, he approves cutting it down. Usually, if it’s further, he only approves cutting off a couple of limbs. Bob’s purpose in discussing this case was to recommend that guidelines be written for his successor a year from now.
2. Approval of minutes for 5/13/04 and 5/27/04.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the above minutes.
3. Advertisement in newspaper for Assistant Conservation Agent. Bob asked the Personnel Department to place it again because they put it in the General section and it should have been in the Professional section. He introduced Steve Solvo, who has applied for the position. Bob has talked with Mr. Solvo and said he has good credentials.
4. Shields Road – mosquito problem. Bob said that a few years ago the Fire Department had to cross a ditch to get to a fire, and this resulted in water now accumulating in that area providing a breeding place for mosquitoes. He brought the mosquito control people out there and they said they do have to re-culvert the ditch to equalize the water levels so that the area isn’t a mosquito habitat. Bob asked for the authority to get some bids for a new culvert.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to authorize Bob to get bids to build a new culvert.
5. Lori wrap-up. Lori reported that the members have copies of her letters to owners regarding lawns and flood zone areas. She recommended notifying the public of Conservation land rules. Bob said we need to format the regulations of the past into two segments – a set of formal regulations and a public relations type letter.
6. MCC neighborhood notices in postcard format. Lori circulated an email from Len which contained his conversion of the letter to flood zone and buffer zone residents to a postcard format. He did an excellent job of conveying the message succinctly and with eye-catching graphics. It can be printed four cards to a page of cardstock and cut ourselves to avoid printer costs. Mailing labels and metered postage can be on the reverse side.
6. RFAA-SE 43-2250. 24 Waterline Dr. North. Bob described the request and recommended approval.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve this administrative approval.
7. Congratulations to Stephanie. Bob said Stephanie deserves our congratulations for having completed successfully the GMACC courses for Conservation commissioners. GMACC will send a notice of Stephanie’s achievement to the Board of Selectmen. Jack requested a motion that a congratulatory letter from the Conservation Board be sent to Stephanie, with a copy to the Board of Selectmen.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried for the Conservation Board to send a congratulatory letter to Stephanie, with a copy to the Board of Selectmen.
8. Digital camera. Bob said our digital camera is not working and we need a new one. He has researched cameras and recommends a Sony DSCF 717, which has 5 megabytes and sells at $548.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the purchase of a Sony DSCF 717 at a cost of approximately $620 including tax.
9. Regulations Sub-Committee. Bob said that DEP has changed the regulations. MACC has provided their comments, which he distributed to the members. He said there are some deficiencies in the changes, but he thinks the MACC suggestions are very sound, and if we want to echo them, it wouldn’t be a bad thing. Our comments are due by July 28th.
10. Regulations Sub-Committee meeting. It was decided to set a date for the next meeting at the July 8th meeting.
11. Falmouth. Jack asked if anyone has been following the fiasco with the Falmouth Conservation Commission. He said that the chairman allowed a vote from an associate member when he had a quorum of regular members. They subsequently decided that the vote was inappropriate since they already had a quorum. So the vote was thrown out and they are haggling over what they should do about it. Jack questioned if we should have anything to do with that group since they don’t seem to know what they are doing. Michael said they have some pretty good litigation regulations that they have been using over the years. Bob said the way we handle alternate members’ voting is very carefully prescribed, very carefully done.
New Business: None.
Hearing Agenda
7:00 p.m. Paul O’Connell, 99 Monomoscoy Road West and Marsh Monomoscoy Road West (continued from 5/27/04). John Sanicki represented the applicant. Bob said the only issue here was the legality of the fact that the dock went over the property of another parcel. We had invoked the new State law to get another opinion. John Fitch did a title search and concluded that the parcel did not belong to the town. Town Counsel agreed, so this problem has been resolved. Bob recommended approval, but only after confirmation that their outstanding taxes have been paid.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the plan pending confirmation that the outstanding taxes have been paid.
7:05 p.m., Bayswater Development, LLC, New Seabury Properties (continued from 5/27/04.
Karl Smith represented the applicant. Bob said he has no disagreement with the wetland lines and Mr. Smith is going to give us a couple of tables that reference plans of record and the fact that some of the delineations have been previously depicted and approved. Also, a little bit of the language has to be straightened out regarding some of the wetland flagging in case they come back to us in the future with plans for development, at which time we will take another look to see if there are some other resource areas. I.e., we are locking ourselves into what has been delineated, but we are not locking ourselves into what may exist on one specific parcel. We are only being asked to approve any flagging shown, not for any work.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve and issue this ANRAD with the understanding that the final language will be worked out between Mr. Smith and Bob, and Mr. Smith will submit a table which lists all plans and a table which will render previous filings which are integrated into this application
7:10 p.m., Charles Mirak, 14 Wheeler Road (construct boardwalk and handicapped access to pond). Dave Sanicki represented the applicant. Bob recommended approval with the agreement that the applicant will do some mitigation planting as prescribed by Bob.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the plan.
7:15 p.m., Fran Reavy, 42 Cayuga Avenue (construct a three-season porch). George Ryan represented the applicant and presented the plan. At Bob’s request, he wrote on the plan that the porch will not be insulated.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the plan.
7:20 p.m., Warren and Marie Marshall, 11 Crow Road (construct a shed). Marie Marshall was present. Bob said he observed some work done by the pond which needs a permit, i.e., a tree has been taken down and sand around that area has been disturbed. He suggested that he meet with her and discuss a revegetation plan. He said there is no problem with the shed, but it cannot be approved until a revegetation plan is carried out. Also, Bob must ascertain exactly where the shed will be.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to grant a continuance to July 8th at 7:55 p.m., at the request of the applicant.
7:25 p.m., Paul Cononi, 101 Edgewater Road (construct an addition). Ann Cononi was present. Bob described the plan and recommended approval.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the plan.
7:30 p.m., Charles Talanian, 29 Ockway Bay Road (repair existing driveway and lawn). Mary La Blanc represented the applicant and presented the plan. Bob recommended approval.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the plan.
7:35 p.m., Willowbend Development Corp. LLC, 37 Shoestring Bay Road (continued from 6/10/04). Bob said the plan needs to be refined and the applicant has requested a continuance.
This will be the third continuance.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to grant a continuance to July 8th at 7:35 p.m., at the request of the applicant. A fine will be levied.
7:40 p.m., Marty Bloom, 17 Taffrail Way (remove and replant shrubs, replace railroad ties, walkway). Dave Consalvi, Jr. represented the applicant and presented the plan. He said the project does not involve removal of any existing vegetation. Bob will meet with Mr. Consalvi to refine the plan.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to grant a continuance to July 8th at 8:00 p.m., at the request of the applicant.
7:45 p.m., Ken Marsters, 12 Wintergreen Road (continued from 6/10/04).
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to grant a continuance to July 8th at 7:50 p.m., at the request of the applicant.
7:50 p.m., John Nahigian, 14 Little Neck Lane (continued from 6/10/04).
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to grant a continuance to July 8th at 7:40 p.m., at the request of the applicant.
7:55 p.m., Anne LaGrippe, 15 Ocean Bluff (continued from 6/10/04). Michael Grotzke was not present. Bob said this has been held up because we were not going to issue until they corrected their violation, and he has no indication they have done this. The hearing date was 4/15, then continued to 5/13, then to 6/10, and then to 6/24. It was agreed to deny the application on the basis that they have not corrected the violation and no one was present.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to deny this application under the Wetlands Protection Act for insufficient information pursuant to CMR 10.056C and under Chapter 172 Section 7A-12 for failure to avoid and prevent unacceptable significant cumulative effects upon the wetlands, and the Conservation Agent was requested to issue an enforcement order.
8:00 p.m., Paul and Helen Zammito, 4 Spoondrift Circle (continued from 6/10/04). Cass reclused herself from this hearing. Tom Bunker represented the applicant and said the application to the Board of Health has now been filed.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the plan with the understanding that it will be a three-bedroom house.
8:05 p.m., Duco Associates, 115 Popponesset Island Road (continued from 6/10/04). Margaret Fitzgibbon was not present for this hearing at 8:05 p.m. However, she arrived shortly thereafter and the hearing was reopened at 8:18 p.m. Bob recommended that the plan be approved with the condition that he meet with Ms. Fitzgibbon at the site to work out an agreement for more plantings.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the plan contingent on a planting plan approved by the Conservation Agent.
8:10 p.m., James DeVincent, 122 Old Brickyard Road (replace dock and expansion, repair pier, patio). John Sanicki represented the applicant and presented the plan. The dock will be light-weight, aluminum sections which will be taken out of the water each year – a one-man operation. Each section is 10x4 ft. We will condition that it be stored on the owner’s sandy beach.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the plan.
8:15 p.m., Steven Belkin, 50 Triton Way and Coastal Beach seaward (rebuild existing revetment). Cass reclused herself from this hearing.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to grant a continuance to July 8th at 7:45 p.m., at the request of the applicant.
Meeting adjourned at 8:23 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Frances Wise, Board Secretary
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