MASHPEE CONSERVATION COMMISSION
Minutes of September 2, 2004
Public Hearing
Mashpee Town Hall Meeting Room 1
Commissioners present: Jack Fitzsimmons, Chairman, Michael Talbot, Vice Chairman, Lloyd Allen, Cass Costa, and Ralph Shaw.
Staff present: Bob Sherman, Agent, and Frances Wise, Board Secretary.
Jack Fitzsimmons, Chairman, called the meeting to order at 6:55 p.m.
Public Comment: Jim Ryder, 99 Bayshore Drive, said last spring he inadvertently trespassed onto Conservation land and cut some small saplings, a couple of trees and general vegetation. He showed photos of the area taken recently which show that some of the growth has grown 5 ft. high. Bob said he sent a violation to the Association that owns the land, and Mr. Ryder is asking for some relief from our mitigation requirements. Bob told him only the Commission could do that. He said we wouldn’t normally permit a path this wide, but only 4 ft. wide, and if the Association wants a path, four feet of the present path would not have to be revegetated, but the Commission would have to make that decision. Bob said we normally require a plan and evaluation by a qualified person as to what was taken
out and what can be done to the recapitulate the wildlife habitat in as near a timeframe as possible. He said there were some sizeable trees taken down. Jack said we need a letter from the Trustees of the Association confirming that they have approved of the plan submitted by Mr. Ryder. Bob said the Association has said that they will comply with whatever we decide, and he will submit the plan to them. In summary, Mr. Ryder was told that he must have a qualified person prepare a plan that indicates what was done, a proposed mitigation plan, and the Association’s approval of the plan.
Non-Hearing Agenda
Old Business:
1. Approval of minutes for 06/24/04, 07/08/04, 07/22/04, 08/05/04 and the minutes of the 07/29/04 meeting to interview the three top applicants for the position of Assistant Conservation Agent.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the above minutes.
2. RLS – Erosion Problems. Bob said we recently had a 4” rainfall, which caused a couple of serious erosion problems, and he’s sure there are more than those he’s aware of. He’s been thinking for some time about sites that have erosion problems which could impact resource areas, and while they don’t constitute a violation, there ought to be something done about them. So he has asked Town Counsel if under the Wetlands Act we can perhaps get some improvement on such problem drainage situations. If the erosion is worse because of a violation, we certainly can ask for resolving the problem. But if it’s strictly an act of God and/or an accident or vandalism, he’s not sure how much authority we have. Bob has discussed this with Joyce Mason. No decisions
have to be made by the Commission at this point.
3. Emergency Certificates.
a. Bob said he prepared one Emergency Certificate for a washout at Great Neck Road. It has been temporarily patched and he spoke with Cathy at DPW who agreed that a long-term remediation needs to be worked out.
b. Also Trout Pond was abnormally high. He called Mashpee Commons and they called in Ready Root in Sandwich who found a rug in the culvert. Bob gave them an Emergency Certificate. He also gave them a report from Don Liptack giving his suggestions for some long-term work. They will have to file with us within 30 days for the emergency work, but the long-term work is certainly merited there.
4. COC: SE 43-374. Cass stepped down on this issue. Bob said at some point in time the float was reconfigured. No additional area was permitted, but they made it narrower and wider and they set it parallel to the access to the dock instead of perpendicular. The problem is that the bottom of the float now is in so far at low tide. He suggested to the owner and their attorney that they configure it according to our sketch plan to rebuild the walkway out and reorient the float so it isn’t going in. This would be reconfiguring it pretty much as it was like before. Perry Ellis also thinks this would be a good idea.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve this plan to achieve a Certificate of Compliance SE 43-374 requiring a prepayment for the approved modifications to the dock.
5. Bright Coves Village Association request. Bob met with representatives from this association. He will mail to the members Nikki Descoteaux’s report in which she raised a lot of issues with which we will have to wrestle.
6. RFAA SE 43-2144. This is a request to change some aspects of a blue stone patio within the work limit. Bob doesn’t have a problem with it, but he feels the request should come in the form of a letter. He will request this and present it at the next meeting.
7. RFAA – DPW. This is a request for approval to resurface the Briarwood area.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the DPW to carry out the proposed resurfacing work with the provision that there be potential location of hay bales.
8. New Seabury ANRAD. They have requested a change in the wording of one of the conditions. Bob has no objection to this request
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve this revised language.
New Business: None.
Hearing Agenda
7:00 p.m., Bayswater Development, LLC, 73 Seanest Drive (continued from 8/5/04). No one was present to represent the applicant.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to deny the application for lack of sufficient information pursuant to 310 CMR and 10.056 C, and Chapter 172, Section 78 requiring submission of necessary information plans.
7:05 p.m., Brian Kanter, 36 and 40 Great River Road (raze existing dwelling and shed, construct new dwelling, septic, deck, stairs, porch, driveway, retaining wall, clearing, grading, utilities and landscaping). Chris Costa represented the applicant and presented the plan. They will be working in the salt marsh and on the coastal bank.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the plan subject to verification of a revised mitigation plan and with the stipulation that there will be a filing in the future to address the cement block wall and salt marsh issue.
7:10 p.m., Matthew Mase, 11 Pontiac Road (construct single family dwelling, porch, deck, Title V, clearing, grading, utilities and landscaping). Chris Costa represented the applicant and presented the plan.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the plan subject to approval of the revegetation plan.
7:15 p.m., Arthur Pagani (Sarakumitt Corp), 108 Hollow Road and 149 Noisy Hole Road (verification of a resource area delineation). Bob said we received a petition and there was an error regarding the Commission’s role in this. It’s an ANRAD that applies just to a resource area, so it’s under the By-law. It does not permit any work, and there is a Planning Board covenant for the whole area that there can be no new development until they have an engineered plan for drainage because there had been severe flooding.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to grant a continuance to September 16 at 7:35 p.m., at the request of the applicant.
7:20 p.m., Arthur Pagani (Sarakumitt Corp), 217 and 221 Noisy Hole Road (verification of a resource area delineation).
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to grant a continuance to September 16 at 7:40 p.m., at the request of the applicant.
7:25 p.m., John and Kathleen Bibo, 58 Captain’s Row (remove existing porch and replace with new three season room). Dave Newton represented the applicant and presented the plan.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the plan pending receipt of a revised plan indicating the native plantings to be added by the wall.
7:30 p.m., Ken Marsters, 12 Wintergreen Road (continued from 8/19/04). Brian Madden represented the applicant and presented the plan.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to grant a continuance to October 7 at 7:05 p.m., at the request of the applicant.
7:35 p.m., Willowbend Development Corp., LLC, 37 Shoestring Bay Road (continued from 8/19/04).
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to grant a continuance to September 16 at 7:30 p.m., at the request of the applicant.
7:40 p.m., Alan Meltzer, 51 Sunset Circle (continued from 8/19/04).
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to grant a continuance to September 16 at 7:25 p.m., at the request of the applicant.
7:45 p.m., Lawrence Werrick, 10 Wheelhouse Land (continued from 8/19/04). Cass stepped down for this hearing. Brian Casey represented the applicant and presented the plan. Michael said he went to the site with Mr. Casey. There had been a couple of illegal cuttings. Three trees have now grown up to have a canopy, and they found two windows they could open between the three reviving trees. So basically they are talking about two 3 ft. by 3 ft. windows, which Michael feels are justified. Jack wanted to be sure their proposal is followed to the letter.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the plan and issue an Order of Conditions specifying that only two small windows be allowed over the next two years and that they be reevaluated in two years.
7:50 p.m., Meetinghouse Partners, LLC, Meeting House Road (install buried utility lines --gas, cable and electric conduits). Joe Bally, Partner of Meetinghouse Partners, was present. Jack Vaccaro represented the applicant and presented the plan. Bob said it was a minor project and he recommended approval. He also thanked Mr. Vaccaro for his efforts in moving hay bails around on the property during the recent heavy rains.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the plan.
7:55 p.m., Frieda Ramaswamy, Trustee, 18 Cross Tree Way (addition including garage, master bedroom, closet, porch, changes to driveway, walkway, landscape and septic system). Michael Grotzke represented the applicant and presented the plan.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the plan pending verification of the staking on the salt marsh and with the recognition that if we find a dichotomy, the hearing would have to be reopened.
8:00 p.m., Gary and Judith Tavares, 40 Crescent Road (vista pruning with maintenance in perpetuity). Gary Tavares presented the plan.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the plan pending receipt of the revised plan.
Meeting adjourned at 8:25 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Frances Wise, Board Secretary
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