CONSERVATION COMMISSION
MINUTES 11/30/2011
MEMBERS PRESENT: Audra Staples, Leslie Duthie, Glenn Colburn, Dana Staples and Davis Johnson
7:00 James Courniotes met informally with the Commission to discuss an Enforcement Order issued by the Commission to cease and desist placing fill in the riverfront area on his property located on T. Peck Road.
Leslie Duthie stated the road where the fill has been placed is within two hundred feet of a perennial stream and it appears at the beginning of the road on the upper side about 6 inches has been placed, but on the lower side it is as much as 27 inches of material. The amount of fill generally drops under 6 inches just past the pink flag that is there. Ms. Duthie stated the Commission made a site visit and discussed the installation of a culvert where the road is washing out approximately 125 feet down the driveway.
Mr. Courniotes stated all of this work was done in July and was done as part of the clean up and repair of the damage caused by the tornado.
Leslie Duthie stated the contractor should have known that he was working in a resource area and that the Commission would require some kind of filing.
Mr. Courniotes stated Mr. Lobik relied on the information given to him by the forester who said that permission had been given for the work. Mr. Courniotes questioned what it was that the Commission wanted, because there was no way to restore the road to its previous condition?
Audra Staples questioned how much more damage would be done to the resource area if the Commission ordered the removal of the material? She stated her first inclination was to say take out the material but on reflection she felt it was better to let it stay and ask Mr. Courniotes to stabilize the slope with a seed mix.
Leslie Duthie stated she would agree with the addition of culverts in the areas that are washing out.
Davis Johnson stated he concurred. The addition of culverts would mitigate the erosion and help the stabilization.
Leslie Duthie stated three locations on the driveway were discussed at the site visit where a culvert may be necessary. She stated there does not appear to be a lot of erosion as a result of the water held on the house side.
Audra Staples questioned where the material came from?
Mr. Courniotes stated it came from the hill.
Dana Staples stated there is no evidence of root mass in the material it looks pretty clean and it is compact.
Glenn Colburn stated he liked the idea of adding extra culverts and using a conservation mix to stabilize the slope. He stated the low point of the driveway approximately 100 feet down from the existing culvert would probably benefit from the addition of another culvert.
Davis Johnson questioned how the area handled the heavy rain that fell last night?
Mr. Courniotes stated it was fine.
Glenn Colburn stated if this was a more pristine area he would think differently about manipulating the driveway, but in this instance would agree that it would cause more damage to the riverfront area to require the removal of the material.
Leslie Duthie stated it would appear the Commission is agreed that three additional locations for culverts, stabilize the driveway and use a conservation seed mix to stabilize the slope will satisfy the Commission.
Dana Staples questioned if the drainage was just from the driveway?
Mr. Courniotes stated yes. The foundation drain comes out by the existing garage.
Dana Staples stated with Mr. Courniotes’ permission he would propose to revisit the property in May 2012 to evaluate how well things are working.
7:25 RFD Levesque Properties 354 Main Street, continued. Mr. Levesque submitted a plan prepared by Ecotec Environmental detailing the scope of the work proposed, including the addition of an underground electric line.
Leslie Duthie stated the Commission discussed the project at a previous meeting and continued the meeting because it wanted everything down on a plan. Mr. Levesque has supplied the plan with everything that the Commission discussed. When the Commission was on site it discussed with Mr. Levesque what it would allow and what it would not allow. The Commission will allow the removal of the soil pile, improvements along the side of the building, minor grading on the south side and plantings along the road. The Commission will not allow any expansion of the road area.
Leslie Duthie moved to give a positive determination for the area described in the Request it is an area subject to protection under the act and may not be altered or filled without the filing of a Notice of Intent, and moved to give a negative determination for the work described in the Request, the work is in an area subject to protection but will not alter or fill the area and does not require the filing of a Notice of Intent.
Audra Staples seconded the motion.
It was so voted, unanimous.
The Commission looked at Lot 1 Paradise Lake Road and determined that construction of a single family home on the lot is not in an area under its jurisdiction.
7:50 RFD Monson Housing Authority, Colonial Village, State Street, continued. The Commission continued the meeting in order to make a site visit to determine exactly which tree stumps were to be cut level with the ground and which ones were to be removed.
Audra Staples moved to give a positive determination for the area described in the Request, it is an area subject to protection under the act and any dredging, altering or filling of the area requires the filing of a Notice of Intent, and a negative determination for the work described in the Request, the work is in a area subject to protection but will not alter, dredge or fill the area and does not require the filing of a Notice of Intent.
Glenn Colburn seconded the motion.
It was so voted unanimous.
8:00 NOI Monson Parks & Recreation Dept. Veterans field, State Street and Cushman field Washington Street continued. The Commission continued the Notice of Intent to allow time for Tim Pascale, Parks & Recreation Director to respond to comments from Mark Stinson, DEP.
Mr. Pascale submitted a copy of the table he supplied to DEP demonstrating that more material was removed from the baseball fields at Cushman and Veterans fields than was used to fill the batters’ area, pitching area, base areas and bench area.
The Commission discussed the Order of Conditions and will include a condition that requires the Parks & Recreation Department to actively manage the invasive Japanese knotweed species at the fields and to make progress in eradicating it, additionally the Commission will require that Mr. Pascale submit a list of annual maintenance activities that occur on both Cushman and Veterans fields.
Davis Johnson moved to close the hearing and issue an Order of Conditions.
Audra Staples seconded the motion.
It was so voted unanimous.
8:30 Leslie Duthie stated the State has misplaced some of the paperwork for the Flynt Quarry land and she would mail out copies to them.
National Grid contacted the Commission regarding wetland mitigation for the upgrade of the utility line. The Commission prefers the mitigation to take place on property in Monson and suggested invasive species removal and the creation of a small parking area on land owned by the Commission on Nieske Road. The Commission also discussed the need for a beaver deceiver at the culvert on Nieske Road.
Leslie Duthie stated there has been a change in the law with regard to ATV use on private property and would mail the pertinent changes in the form of a letter to the abutters of land that was previously owned by Doctor Jean Porwoll on Nieske Road.
8:40 Leslie Duthie stated the work is in process on Cushman Street, JMP Environmental, John Prenosil is cutting and removing the invasive species. Leslie Duthie stated she has checked the site and Mr. Prenosil has not completed the shrub planting.
The Commission scheduled a site visit to 82 Stebbins Road for a Request for a Certificate of Compliance Sunday December 4, 2012 at 8:00 A.M.
MAIL
- Copy of plan from National Grid showing the areas where restoration work was performed in order to repair utility line damage from the snow storm.
- Copy of APR restriction inspection at Keep Homestead Ely Road. The report was generally favorable but did ask that any further small structures be kept entirely in the parking area.
- NHESP forest cutting plan for Clifford Kruger, Lower Hampden Road. Natural Heritage is limiting wood harvesting to December 1, through March 31st.
- Forest cutting plan Bob Richardson Carpenter Road 64 acres.
- Forest cutting plan Avery Revocable Trust Upper Hampden Road, 50 acres.
- Forest cutting plan William Pegoraro T. Peck Road.
- Various building permits.
8:55 Audra Staples moved to adjourn.
Dana Staples seconded the motion.
It was so voted unanimous.
Respectfully submitted,
Linda A. Hull
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