MASHPEE CONSERVATION COMMISSION
Minutes of January 11, 2007
Public Hearings
Mashpee Town Hall Meeting Room 1
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Commissioners present: ~Jack Fitzsimmons, Chairman, Ralph Shaw, Vice Chairman, Len Pinaud, Clerk, Lloyd Allen, Jeffrey Cross, and John Rogers.
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Staff present: Drew McManus, Assistant Agent, and Frances Wise, Board Secretary.
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Jack Fitzsimmons called the meeting to order at 6:55 p.m.
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Public Comment:~ None.
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Non-Hearing Agenda
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Old Business:~ None.
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New Business:~
1. SE 43-2440, 58 Monomoscoy Road, Mr. and Mrs. David Hufnagel request for administrative approval. Drew described the project and recommended approval.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve SE 43-2440.
2. AmeriCorps. Shane Jordan, Program Supervisor, Bourne Residence, AmeriCorps Cape Cod, said this is his third year with AmeriCorps in various programs throughout the country. Jessica Staubach and Rebecca Wolfson introduced themselves. Mr. Jordan said this is AmeriCorps 8th year on Cape Cod, and this year they have 26 members in two houses – one in Wellfleet and one in Pocasset. They are funded by Barnstable County, the Massachusetts service lines, and the federal government. The Bourne house is donated by the town, and the Wellfleet house is provided by the National Seashore. They get a lot of help from county organizations. AmeriCorps is most often compared to a domestic Peace Corps. The members come from all over the country and they give ten months of their
lives to live and serve on Cape Cod. Their service is in four areas: Environmental Conservation Projects, Environmental Education, Disaster Preparedness and Response Activities, and Community Education and Events. In the past seven years they provided $5,362,354 of free service to various towns on Cape Cod. They would like Mashpee Conservation to get a piece of that pie and do more projects with us than in the past. Lloyd asked who pays for the cost of materials. Mr. Jordan said usually the Service Partner. All the members this summer have a college degree. They are here by choice and they are very committed to what they are doing. Two years ago he helped to run some shelters during the blizzard. Lately they have been rescuing a lot of dolphins. This year four members are serving with the Red Cross – they have a community partnership to increase the Red Cross’s ability to serve people on Cape Cod.
Drew said he filled out AmeriCorps’s application and they are going to do some repairs in the Mashpee Woodlands Conservation.
Jeff asked if AmeriCorps works with schools on projects. Mr. Jordan said they are always interested in that. They usually partner with someone from the school who will supervise the students. AmeriCorps merely provides the education, tools, safety equipment and the opportunity. High school kids usually only want to work 4 hours a day, whereas they usually put in an 8 1/2 hour day. Jeff said some students are finished with classes at noon but for some reason they stay in school until 5 p.m. He feels they would be better off working outside with a group like AmeriCorps. Mr. Jordan said if their teachers feel that way, he’d be happy to have the students’ help.
Lloyd asked if they could help with a dam. Mr. Jordan said they are not structural engineers, but they can work with any partner who has a plan but just needs the muscle. They can drop trees, groom trails, and remove trash, but he doesn’t know if they could do anything with a dam.
3. Approval of minutes for 12/14/06.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the minutes for 12/14/06.
4. Blue Ribbon Committee. Jack said the next meeting will be on January 18th and he plans to attend it. He assumes they will have another meeting two weeks after that. We will discuss at our meeting on January 25th who will attend the following Blue Ribbon Committee meeting.
Hearing Agenda:
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7:00 p.m., Edwina Brooke-Petit, 131 Timberlane Drive (demolish and rebuild existing dwelling on same foundation with associated appurtenances). Timothy Bennett represented the applicant and described the project. He said a previous contractor began working on a significant remodeling and his work was found to be substandard, not up to code, so the entire structure is to be torn down and reconstructed. The applicant now wants to add a deck. She believes there was once a deck in one corner. However, there are no photographs or posts as evidence that there was such a deck other than a door there that steps down 3 ft. The major issue is an overhanging deck that is newly constructed and is already pulling away from the house. The plan is to remove the existing brick piers and
posts and put in sono tube holes and standard wood posts.
Since they filed this application, they found that the garage is also rotted, so they would like to include in the application reconstructing the garage, whether it be jacking it up or taking it down to the foundation.
Drew said the filing is taking the existing footprint with the addition of the deck, which will go into an area that is already disturbed where the lawn used to be, so he and Steve don’t see any problem. It’s an RDA filing because it’s taking the same footprint that already exists from the old house. They are adding a deck but there is no clearing involved, so it won’t disturb anything.
Jack asked if this shouldn’t be a Notice of Intent, and how we distinguish between an NOI and an RDA. Drew said what separates them is with the exception of the deck, they are using the same footprint, so there’s no new construction going into the buffer zone and no disturbance going into the resource areas.
Mr. Bennett said the deck will be 16” high and they aren’t doing anything to the septic system.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve this RDA.
7:03 p.m., Matthew Kelliher, 13 Sand Dollar Lane (remove cesspool and install new Title V septic system). John Slavinsky represented the applicant and described the plan. Drew recommended approval.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve this RDA.
7:06 p.m., Lynn Nobel, 190 Rock Landing Road (grade back yard, construction of dry laid fieldstone wall, installation of various trees and shrubs, and spreading of wood chips for ground cover). Brian Casey represented the applicant and described the plan. Drew said that in addition to the plan, Mr. Casey has also submitted a revised list of plants at his and Steve’s request, and he recommended approval.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve this NOI.
7:09 p.m., Kevin Howard, 20 and 22 Cappawack Road (continued from 12/28/06) David French represented the applicant and described the plan. Drew said the plan meets all the performance standards and he recommended approval.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve this RDA.
7:12 p.m., Michael Corwin, 48 Fells Pond Road (continued from 12/28/06). Norman Hayes, BSC, represented the applicant and described the existing house. It was constructed in 1962, so it predates the zoning regulation. The septic system passed inspection when the applicant purchased the house. It is currently 67 ft. from the nearest wetland and the plan is to install a Title V septic system.
Mark Dibbs, civil engineer with BSC, said the plan is to tear down the existing house and rebuild it with four bedrooms. The deck will be removed and rebuilt in essentially the same area. There will be a new garage and new Title V septic system, which will be an additional 5 ft. away from the resource area. They are proposing some mitigation for approximately 244 sq. ft. of additional dwelling and a sliver that is within the 35 ft. buffer. The mitigation will be two times that area, amounting to 336 sq. ft. in one area and removal of section of the old house.
Drew asked if any mitigation would be going in where part of the old structure will be removed. Mr. Dibbs said there’s nothing proposed for that area. Drew asked if the plan would require removal of existing vegetation in another area. He said if so, we need to know the reason why – there has to be a compelling need such as for health or safety, or need to have access. According to the record it would require mitigation, which would require a new plan.
Mr. Hayes said he’s a professional environmental scientist and a certified arborist. They will submit a revised plan showing their proposed mitigation of native Cape Cod species adapted to the area where they will be planted.
Jack asked about the upland area and the BVW. Mr. Hayes said they have to get various waivers. Since the house was built in 1962, it predates the regulations that protect the resource areas, and they have been able to get those variances in the past based on the same hardship conditions of neighboring lots.
Mr. Hayes said the dimensions of this block are extremely clear. He said there have been some issues on the easement on the left side, which are being resolved by New Seabury.
Jack read a letter from the Board of Health. Mr. Hayes said the septic system would be as far away from the wetlands as possible.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve a continuance to January 25th at 7:09 p.m., at the request of the applicant.
7:15 p.m., Henry and Elizabeth Spohr Tr., 352 Monomoscoy Road (construct and maintain in perpetuity a pier, ramp and float). John Slavinsky represented the applicant. He said last summer the applicants discovered a mooring off their property that wasn’t there before. Perry Ellis, Harbormaster, said there’s a good possibility that when we did our original visit of the site, the mooring broke off. He said they could go for a dock on each lot, submit a plan to him, and he’ll give his comments. They submitted a plan for 3x18 sq. ft. ramps, and last Thursday Mr. Ellis asked that they be cut down to 3x12 sq. ft. Mr. Slavinsky clarified that there will be two docks, not three. Ralph asked that he make a notation on the plan to that effect, which Mr. Slavinsky
agreed to do.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve this NOI.
7:18 p.m., Henry and Elizabeth Spohr Tr., 342 Monomoscoy Road (construct and maintain in perpetuity a pier, ramp and float).
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve this NOI.
Meeting adjourned at 8:09 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Frances Wise, Board Secretary
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