MONSON CONSERVATION COMMISSION
OCTOBER 25, 2006
MEMBERS PRESENT: Leslie Duthie, Davis Johnson and Glenn Colburn.
MEMBERS ABSENT: Donald Lambert and Tom Faulkner
7:10 MAIL
1. Abbreviated NOI Clifford Holt removal of 8 x 23 shed at Main Street.
2. Daniel Cassidy, Lakeshore Drive recorded his Order of Conditions.
3. Beaver removal permit Nieske Road 12 mile brook.
The Commission would like to set up a meeting with the Board of Health, John Morrell and the Commission to discuss beaver deceiver devices.
7:15 NOI Lot 8 Bennett Road, Michael Delisle. The plan has been changed to reflect the new work limit line, the temporary limit of work around the well area and the area colored in red was removed from the plan.
Glenn Colburn stated the Commission discussed the maintenance of the field at the last meeting. The intent is to keep the field from turning into forest and that will require mowing at a maximum once a year and a minimum of once every three years.
Steven Riberdy, Baystate Environmental stated the limit of work was straightened out as requested by the Commission and permanent bounds marked.
Leslie Duthie stated the Commission would include the requirement for a deed notation in its Order of Conditions.
Glenn Colburn stated he believed the applicant had addressed the concerns of the Commission.
Leslie Duthie moved to close the hearing and issue an Order of Conditions.
Glenn Colburn seconded the motion.
It was so voted unanimous.
7:30 NOI Hospital Road Town of Monson continued. Present were Stanley Elkerton and William Finn.
William Finn stated they had received a positive response to the plans from Natural Heritage and Mass Highway. Mass Highway was waiting to hear from the Conservation Commission and both agencies wanted a copy of the Order of Conditions.
Leslie Duthie stated the Commission received the same response from Natural Heritage. Additionally Craig Jalbert, Monson Water & Sewer Department and John Morrell, Highway Department have reviewed the revised plans and have no objections. Ms. Duthie questioned the timetable for the work?
Stanley Elkerton stated he did not know it was up to Mass Highway.
William Finn stated there is a window of time that the contractor is able to work without having to completely enclose the work site with silt fence to protect the turtles. Work is allowed between November 15, and March 30, without having to enclose the site, after that the site must be completely enclosed.
Leslie Duthie stated hay bales must be installed on the work side to avoid turtles breaching the silt fence.
Glenn Colburn questioned why the swale was only 2 inches deep?
Stanley Elkerton stated he suspected in actuality it would be deeper than that. The plan is to remove the riprap and put back the natural soils.
Glenn Colburn stated he was surprised it was going to be disturbed.
William Finn stated the stone is considered fill and in order to restore the area the fill must come out.
Leslie Duthie questioned where the contractor would get the soils?
William Finn stated the contractor would have to take a boring and replicate the soil composition.
Stanley Elkerton stated if it would not violate the regulations he would prefer to leave the rock in place it would be faster and cheaper.
Glenn Colburn stated if the regulation says it must come out then take it out.
Leslie Duthie stated it is not a small area that is being discussed it is the whole ditch and she believed the bulk of the fabric and rock should be removed.
Stanley Elkerton stated ideally they would like to get a new drainpipe in and complete the paving in the spring after the road has had a chance to settle and stabilize.
Leslie Duthie questioned if the replication/restoration area was completed? The last time she was at the site it did not look as though it was and that was part of the original plan and must be completed.
William Finn stated this was not a good time of year to do that.
Leslie Duthie stated she understood that but did not want it overlooked or forgotten. It will be part of the record of this meeting that the replication/restoration area must be completed. The only question now is the depth of the vegetated swale?
Stanley Elkerton stated if the channel were too deep it would act as a conduit. The original design was to have the water spread out without channeling, it was never the intention to contain all of the flow.
Leslie Duthie moved to close the hearing and issue an Order of Conditions.
Glenn Colburn seconded the motion.
It was so voted unanimous.
8:05 NOI 203 Wales Road Gary Scott. Heather Commee, Pioneer Environmental was present. Ms. Commee stated the original property owner filed a NOI in 2002 and was issued an Order of Conditions for a driveway that included a replication area. The replication area was not created and Mr. Scott attempted to file a NOI but obtained DEP comments that additional information was required. Mr. Scott hired Pioneer Environmental to complete the additional information. The supplemental information has been provided to DEP and Mark Stinson stated he would not make additional comments unless the Monson Conservation Commission requested it. Ms. Commee stated she reflagged the wetlands and included the ditch as wetlands. The replication area is between the two wetlands. A pipe has been
added to the plan to alleviate water flowing over the driveway in the spring. To allay concerns that it would drain the wetland the design for the pipe is similar to a drop inlet.
Davis Johnson questioned if it would hold water?
Heather Commee stated it would not hold water but it is to pond the water in the spring so the pipe does not drain wetlands.
Glenn Colburn stated he believed the water line was artificial because the driveway acts as a dam and questioned the elevation of the replication area?
Heather Commee stated the replication area would not be as low as the rock. The bottom of the replication area is not as deep as the ponded area and at most would have three inches of water.
Glenn Colburn stated he would like to see more elevations on the plan.
Gary Scott stated the driveway is in and the less disturbance to it the better. The area has almost replicated itself and once the debris is removed the water will have a place to go.
Heather Commee stated the replication area is not proposed as a deep ponded area.
Glenn Colburn stated he still would have like to see the engineer put more elevations on the plan because it is important not to drain the wetlands.
Gary Scott stated there is a lot of standing water now and he did not want to add to that because of the problem with mosquitoes.
Heather Commee stated when there is a healthy wetland there are fewer mosquitoes.
Leslie Duthie questioned where the excavated soil for the pipe that is going under the driveway was to be put?
Glenn Colburn stated any extra fill would have to be placed outside of the 100-foot buffer zone.
Gary Scott stated he would place any extra fill outside of the buffer zone and would put rocks along the side of the driveway or along the property line. He stated he did not know how long the project would take.
Leslie Duthie stated the Order of Conditions is good for three years. Ms. Duthie moved to close the hearing and issue an Order of Conditions.
Gary Scott stated he would like to blacktop the driveway to make it easier to walk along and also to plow.
Glenn Colburn stated he did not see a problem as long as the driveway is crowned correctly so water is not running off into the brook. The driveway must be crowned so water sheet flows off along the sides of the driveway.
Davis Johnson seconded the motion.
It was so voted unanimous.
Heather Commee questioned the type of special conditions the Commission would impose.
Glenn Colburn stated he wanted a condition in the Order that would address the ponding area because he was concerned that it would be eliminated.
8:25 NOI 96 High Street Dan Levesque. Also present were: Donald Frydryk, Sherman & Frydryk and abutter Todd Canedy. The DEP has issued a number DEP 228-0292.
Donald Frydryk stated the NOI has been filed to repair a failed retaining wall and some of the repair occurs on abutting property owned by Mr. Canedy. The plan proposes a 1:1 armored slope. The existing slope is 1 ½:1 by making it a 1:1 armored slope it results in a greater setback from the wetlands.
Glenn Colburn questioned the size of the stones?
Donald Frydryk stated the stones would vary in size to interlock and would be keyed slightly into the existing grade at the toe of the slope. There is a perfect example of an armored slope at Hampden Country Club. The slope on the shoulder with the guardrail slopes toward the parking lot. There is not much run off going onto the slope.
Glenn Colburn stated at the site visit the Commission saw the catch basin was heavily eroded and questioned where it outlets?
Donald Frydryk stated he believed it tied into the footing drain and then into the town system.
Glenn Colburn questioned if the repair of the catch basin was part of the project to repair the slope?
Donald Frydryk stated yes.
Davis Johnson questioned if the abutter was satisfied with the plan?
Todd Canedy stated he was happy with the plan because last year material came down from Mr. Levesque’s property onto his property.
Leslie Duthie stated one of the goals is to take care of the invasive species they will not hold the slopes and this is a better plan than vegetating the slope.
Glenn Colburn agreed.
Donald Frydryk stated the amount of fill is substantially less because of the steeper armored slope. There are portions of wall that are falling and must be removed but the amount of fill required does not trip the earth filling permit requirement in the Zoning Bylaw. The plan reduces the amount of disturbance in the buffer zone.
Glenn Colburn stated the Commission saw a problem with the material on its visit it is like fine beach sand.
Donald Frydryk stated the slope was designed with filter fabric between the stone and the fill and the fill must be compacted to a certain point.
Leslie Duthie stated the Commission was concerned when it saw the sand because it does not want to make the situation worse. The fill material looked too fine.
Donald Frydryk reiterated that it must be compacted.
Dan Levesque stated it was in his best interests to make sure that the bank does not erode onto abutting property.
Glenn Colburn stated the Commission’s concern that the sand would erode if any water got under the fabric.
Donald Frydryk stated it is filter fabric and specifically made to allow water to go through but stop soils from washing out. The fabric is there to prevent soils washing out into the stone.
Davis Johnson questioned if there was any opportunity for plant growth?
Donald Frydryk stated it is a rocky slope and over time leaves and debris will fall in and there will be some growth but he would advise cutting down any woody growth.
Dan Levesque stated he suspected that the trees growing there now contributed to the degradation of the hill.
Leslie Duthie moved to close the hearing and issue an Order of Conditions.
Glenn Colburn seconded the motion.
It was so voted unanimous.
8:45 ANRAD Ayers Road Windmere LLC. Donald Frydryk, Sherman & Frydryk was present to represent the applicant. DEP has issued a file number DEP 228-291
Donald Frydryk stated based on the site visit with the Commission they have revised the plan to show the changes to the location of some of the wetland flags. There is a new BVW line and two flags were changed at the high water mark. The corresponding buffer zone in the river area changed but it did not change the overall impact to the river area.
Leslie Duthie stated she did go back to look at the brush that has been cleared for the driveway entrance.
Donald Frydryk stated this was a field and the entrance was cut in sometime ago. The previous owners had horses.
Leslie Duthie agreed stating it looks as though the field has been maintained with periodic mowing.
Glenn Colburn stated he thought the line looked good and even though the high water mark was moved 10 feet it does not change anything. He stated as one Commissioner he could agree to the revised wetland line shown on the plan.
Donald Frydryk stated for the record they were only dealing with the wetland line on one side of the stream.
Leslie Duthie moved to close the hearing and approve the wetland line on the easterly side of the stream shown on the plan dated 10/10/2006 revised 10/25/2006. The wetland line on the westerly side of the stream is not confirmed under this resource area delineation.
Glenn Colburn seconded the motion.
It was so voted unanimous.
9:00 Leslie Duthie stated she called Mr. Cranstoun and told him the Commission saw the wetland delineation done by JMP Consulting but they only did the wetlands in the back of the property. The driveway is approximately 25 feet from wetlands and the wetlands at the front of the property must be delineated. Leslie Duthie stated she urged Mr. Cranstoun to consult with JMP Consulting as to the type of filing he needed.
Leslie Duthie stated the Commission received information regarding a pond that has been created on property on Silver Street. The Commission checked the GIS maps and believes work has occurred too close to a wetland and a pond has been created without filing with the Conservation Commission. The property belongs to Christopher Magill.
Glenn Colburn stated he had a conversation with David King and Carol Guthrie and Matt Guthrie 241 Silver Street. They were clearing out trees in the wetlands and had not filed with the Commission. Mr. Colburn stated he asked them to stop the work because it required a filing under the Wetland Protection Act. A letter will be sent to document the visit.
The Commission set a site visit for Thursday November 2 at 5:00 P.M.
9:45 Leslie Duthie moved to adjourn.
Glenn Colburn seconded the motion.
It was so voted unanimous.
Respectfully submitted,
Linda A. Hull
Clerk
Cc: BOH, BOS, Building Dept., Highway Dept., Planning Board, Town Clerk & ZBA
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