MONSON CONSERVATION COMMISSION
MINUTES JULY 27, 2011
MEMBERS PRESENT: Leslie Duthie, Dana Staples, Audra Staples, and Glenn Colburn
MEMBERS ABSENT: Davis Johnson
The Commission signed the bill schedule.
7:25 Stafford Hollow Road, Mark Pekala and David Roberts.
Leslie Duthie stated she made a site visit with Mark Pekala and Roger Woods and certainly there is significant flow in the intermittent stream in both sections of the crossing. Ms. Duthie stated the Commission spoke about the history of the parcel of land at the last meeting and the manner in which the land was broken out into lots. The Commission has checked its files and minutes of a meeting held on March 4, 1998. The Commission wrote a letter to Mr. Pekala dated March 6, 1998 stating that he had upland access to the entire parcel of land from Cedar Swamp Road and under DEP Policy 88-2 the Commission would not allow a wetland crossing for Lot 8B (estate lot) in the future.
Glenn Colburn stated it is evident from the minutes of the meeting and the letter written to Mr. Pekala that the Commission discussed the way in which the land was proposed to be sub-divided and expressed concern that a wetland crossing would be needed. The Commission made it clear that upland access was available to the property owner from Cedar Swamp Road if he sub-divided the property differently and that it would not allow a wetland crossing or impacts to the vernal pool and wetlands.
Mark Pekala stated the Planning Board approved the lots and estate lot.
Glenn Colburn stated the wetlands are the jurisdiction of the Conservation Commission and it was clearly stated that the opportunity was there for the applicant to reconfigure the lots. It is the responsibility of the Conservation Commission to protect the wetlands and maybe the applicant would have had eight lots instead of nine.
Leslie Duthie stated the applicant is asking for two crossings, additionally the fact that the vernal pool is connected to the wetlands is another concern. The Commission must also protect the vernal pool.
Glenn Colburn stated not every piece of land is a building lot. It is up to the developer to configure the land to avoid a wetland crossing. The Commission did make Mr. Pekala aware of the problem that he was creating for himself in 1998.
Mr. Pekala stated he was told that he would be able to obtain one wetland crossing per project that was the policy in the past.
Glenn Colburn stated that to the best of his knowledge the Commission did not say that with regard to this project. He questioned if Mr. Pekala had that in writing?
Mr. Pekala stated he did not.
Glenn Colburn stated the Commission wrote a letter to Mr. Pekala on March 6, 1998 stating that it would not allow a wetland crossing and because the circumstances have not changed he believed the Commission should abide by its decision.
David Roberts stated the stream crossing standards have changed significantly since then and they are not proposing a small culvert. He stated he believed he could design something that would have negligible impact to the wetlands and could avoid the vernal pool. They would propose a 2-1 replication area that would provide a better buffer for the vernal pool. Mr. Roberts stated the purpose of the informal discussion was to see if the Commission had changed its opinion with regard to the crossings and it is evident that it has not.
Leslie Duthie stated a 2-1 replication is recommended to increase the chance of the replication taking, but the proposal is still crossing wetlands associated with a vernal pool.
David Roberts stated they could do number of things with engineering to avoid the area of the vernal pool.
Glenn Colburn agreed that stream crossing standards had changed over years with the purpose of protecting stream function. Having said that it is still the duty of the Commission to work with a developer to avoid a crossing and the Commission did that by issuing the letter to Mr. Pekala.
Leslie Duthie stated the Commission is not looking to increase the wetlands it is working to protect what is there.
David Roberts stated he was sure his client would be agreeable to placing monuments around the area to protect the vernal pool and would consider a Conservation Restriction to allow the Commission access to the property.
Leslie Duthie stated in the experience of the Commission even with monuments and a restriction encroachment is still a problem. The property transfers and the new owners either are not informed of the restrictions on their property or feel they are not bound by the restrictions. Leslie Duthie stated she was in agreement with Mr. Colburn, the Commission had cautioned the developer that the manner in which he was configuring his 37 acre parcel of land would result in a wetland crossing that was not necessary because there was upland access from Cedar Swamp Road. The developer caused his own hardship. In addition to the wetland issue this lot would require an exceptionally long driveway; would the utilities be overhead or underground?
David Roberts stated it would be overhead, underground would be too costly. The driveway would be approximately 15 feet wide with a hard pack base.
Leslie Duthie stated an additional 10 feet would have to be cleared for the utility poles resulting in clearing a driveway 25 feet wide. The disturbance caused by the clearing could also have a significant impact on the wetlands. Not all land is developable and the discussion was held with Mr. Pekala in 1998 about avoiding a crossing. Additionally this property would require review by Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program because it is identified as rare species habitat.
David Roberts questioned how this would affect the real estate taxes?
Leslie Duthie stated that is not an issue for the Commission, the property owner should contact the Board of Assessors.
8:18 RFD Monson Developmental Center Hospital Road.
Leslie Duthie stated the Commission has discussed the Request for Determination but is waiting for payment for the legal notice that appeared in the paper.
Glenn Colburn stated he believed it was a good project and moved to give a negative determination for work in buffer in zone. The Determination would be signed by the Commission once the Commission received payment.
Audra Staples seconded the motion.
It was so voted majority vote.
Voting aye: Leslie Duthie, Audra Staples and Glenn Colburn.
Dana Staples abstained.
The Commission discussed National Grid’s request to locate the mitigation area for the disturbance caused to wetlands by their project to upgrade the utility between Palmer, Monson and Hampden. It is a relatively small area 400 square feet and National Grid would like to incorporate it with the mitigation they must do in Hampden. They propose to mitigate on property they own which is the site of the new sub-station.
It was the consensus of the Commissioners they would prefer to see something done in Monson.
Glenn Colburn suggested the property owned by the Conservation on Nieske Road maybe a little invasive species removal and a small parking area. The rocks the Commission put in has not stopped the ATV problem, someone has cut down some little trees and is accessing the land about 20 or 30 feet up from where the access was before. It really is a problem because they are damaging to the land and wildlife.
8:30 Leslie Duthie stated she met with Mr. & Mrs. Monette the property owners of 45 Waid Road regarding their request to remove trees from the wetlands that were damaged by the tornado. The house takes up most of the usable land and there is a large wetland area directly behind the lawn area. Mr. Monette would like to remove the trees behind his lawn. Leslie Duthie stated she agreed to allow him to remove the trees that are down but asked him to leave the brush, as it provides some habitat. No filing or fees would be required for the removal of the trees, as long as the property owners adhered to the conditions stated in a letter to them:
- The property owners shall not remove any tree stumps.
- There shall be no mowing of mowing of this area and no expansion of the lawn area.
- The property owners may remove the trees that are tipped up or have fallen.
- If the trees are salvaged a route shall be planned through the wetlands this area shall be re-vegetated after the trees are removed.
Leslie Duthie stated while she was at the site Mr. Monette pointed out an area in the front of the yard near his shed where water pools, he would like to dig a trench to direct water back into the wetlands. Leslie Duthie stated that would require a filing with the Commission. Mr. Monette should come up with a plan and file.
Leslie Duthie stated she has issued several emergency certificates to Brian Tetreault to clear the storm damage trees from properties located on Ely Road, Cote Road and Wilbraham Road with Special Conditions such as implement best management practices; cranes and winches to remove the trees, slash laid to prevent erosion and stumps left in place.
Leslie Duthie stated she received a request from Brian Tetreault for property on Waid Road owned by Suzanne Markham. They want to use the forest cutting plan to clean up the land and clear cut so that a riding arena can be constructed. There is a pond on the property and anything within 100 feet of the pond would require a filing, a riding arena is not storm damage. Ms. Duthie suggested the Commission make a site visit on Monday August 1, 2011 around 4:30 P.M.
Leslie Duthie stated she has been working with Carmine Angeloni the State Forester to expedite emergency certificates to clean up the storm damage as quickly as possible. Jim Thompson Upper Hampden Road has had a difficult time dealing with FEMA and MEMA with regard to the clearing on his land. He has been talking to J. D. McKinney Logging but does not have anything in place yet. Ms. Duthie stated she explained to Mr. Thompson that an emergency certificate is only good for thirty days and the best way to handle this was to get the company on board who were going to do the work and then call her and she would make a site visit with the contractor. Certain conditions would be attached to the emergency certificate to ensure that the work complies with best management practices.
Audra Staples stated she did not know if the Commissioners were aware that DCR is looking for volunteers to clean up in some of the parks that are closed.
Leslie Duthie stated she talked with Peter Church he is cleaning up part of Flynt Park.
Leslie Duthie stated she had sent in the grant application for the Quinlan Memorial Conservation land. More than 75% of the land is identified by Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program as habitat and the land abuts 150 acres of open space. It is the type of property that the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs likes to see protected. Melissa Cryan from EOEA is going to make a site visit on Thursday August 4, 2011.
Leslie Duthie stated the trees are all gone at Cushman field on Washington Street and Tim Pascale would like to do some clean up. It is pretty wet there and he would like to do something with drainage. Ms. Duthie stated she would like to see some invasive species removed and maybe there was an opportunity in both areas. The Commission could do a site visit and invite Tim Pascale to go along. Norcross is interested in doing some kind of wetland restoration project this site may work. Ms. Duthie stated Tim Pascale had talked about relocating the skate park that was damaged by the tornado to the tennis court location on State Street and moving the tennis courts to Cushman field.
9:20 MAIL
- Bumstead Road Erosion Control driveway plan from JMP Environmental for Ray Wallach.
Glenn Colburn stated the Commission is still waiting for the construction sequence. Mr. Prenosil made it clear that he would have no oversight over the project and the Commission must be sure the property owner understands the difficulties of this project.
- Forest cutting plans for Cote Road, Courniotes, Ely Road, Lindsey, T. Peck Road, Fisher, Wilbraham Road, Garner and Upper Hampden Road, Avery. NHESP has issued a determination that for the cleanup of Chicopee Brook is would be allowed to work in brook.
- As Built Plan for Lamcotec from JMP Consulting
The Commission will make a site visit on August 3, 2011 for the Certificate of Compliance. The work was for restoration of a degraded area that included removal of debris and elimination of run off over the river bank. The area subject to erosion was to be loamed and seeded. The truck turn around area was enlarged but it would come no closer to the river than the most westerly point of degradation.
- Request for extension of one year for Lakeside Drive from Richard Courchesne 228 – 249.
The Commission had mixed feelings regarding the request for an extension because they have renewed the Order at least twice before with nothing having been done on the property. However in light of the tornado the Commission would like Mr. Courchesne to come in and discuss his request.
Audra Staples moved to accept the minutes of June 15, 2011 as presented.
Glenn Colburn seconded the motion.
It was so voted by majority vote.
Voting aye: Glenn Colburn, Leslie Duthie and Audra Staples.
Dana Staples abstained.
Audra Staples moved to accept the minutes of July 6, 2011.
Glenn Colburn seconded the motion.
It was so voted by majority vote.
Voting aye: Glenn Colburn, Leslie Duthie and Audra Staples.
Dana Staples abstained.
9:45 Leslie Duthie moved to adjourn.
Audra Staples seconded the motion.
It was so voted unanimous.
Respectfully submitted,
Linda A. Hull
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