MONSON CONSERVATION COMMISSION
MINUTES JUNE 5, 2013
MEMBERS PRESENT: Glenn Colburn, Leslie Duthie and Davis Johnson.
MEMBERS ABSENT: Audra Staples
7:00 Leslie Duthie stated she spoke with Joseph Bolduc, consultant for Raymond Lavallee, Ray’s Mobile Home Park, Palmer Road regarding attending the meeting this evening.
Leslie Duthie moved to accept the minutes of May 15, 2013 minutes as corrected to read Order of Resource Area Delineation.
Glenn Colburn seconded the motion.
It was so voted unanimous.
7:10 MAIL
- Request for determination from Tim Shepard to remove three structures from property on Reimers Road.
Glenn Colburn stated there is a fourth structure on the property that is on the other side of the dam. He asked the secretary to call Mr. Shepard to see if he would like to include the demolition of that structure in the Request for Determination of Applicability.
Leslie Duthie stated she spoke with Tim Shepard about a conservation restriction to protect the family land.
- Exxonmobile recorded the Order of Conditions for Fenton Road.
- DCR recorded the Order of Conditions for Dean Pond, Sutcliffe Road.
- NHESP has made changes to the notification system for vernal pools and you can now report on line.
- Permit to trap beavers issued to the Monson Highway Department for a culvert on Waid Road near Upper Hampden Road.
- Notice to treat Dean Pond, Sutcliffe Road vegetation control.
- Forrest Cutting Plan Wood Hill Road Thomas Harrington 100 acres.
- Cutting Plan Hovey Road Cheryl Pereira 37 acres.
Leslie Duthie stated she checked the Milne property on State Street and they are all set to construct the shed.
7:15 NOI for Cornerstone Power Monson LLC Macomber / Upper Palmer Road continued.
Glenn Colburn stated the Maintenance and Construction Phasing Plan was discussed at the May 15, 2013 meeting and the applicant agreed to submit the documents prior to this meeting. Mr. Colburn stated he was upset that the Commissioners only got the documents the day before this meeting. It is not enough time to read and absorb the information. He stated if Donald Frydryk, Sherman & Frydryk, Land Surveying & Engineering had not indicated that he had read the documents and was prepared to comment the hearing would have been continued to the June 26, 2013.
Bryan Reiser, Whitman Engineering apologized stating he understood how the Commissioners felt but it took time to develop the documents and then they had to be sent to his client for approval before being sent to the Commission. He assured the Conservation Commission that it was not intentional.
Bryan Reiser stated he consulted with a contractor who has experience with this type of project to get a clearer understanding of the time involved in each step of the operation. The wooded area in Phase I would be cleared, the fields would be disked (churn the residual material in the fields) use a bulldozer to grade and then temporary seeding or mulch depending on the time of year to stabilize. A crew would then come in and put in the posts for the racking followed by another crew to construct the racks for the modules. The contractor would start at the point farthest from the construction entrance and work back to the entrance going North to South. Within a few days of the racking being installed the electricians begin to install the solar modules and all of the associated wiring and trenching. When the electricians finish in an area the site crew would return to perform the final re-grading and the site would be seeded with the seed mixture specified to provide permanent
vegetative cover underneath and around the solar arrays. Mr. Reiser stated Phase II would be done in the same manner. The gravel entrance and gravel access drive off of Macomber that serves Phase I and Phase III would be done at this time. Phase I is approximately 26 acres in area and that includes part of the 2 acre gravel drive access. Phases I and II are predominantly cultivated fields within which are small wind break wooded areas that would have to be cleared. The majority of wooded area which will take longer to clear is in the northern portion of Phase III.
Leslie Duthie stated at the May 15, 2013 meeting discussion took place about the amount of area that could cleared at any one time.
Bryan Reiser stated the applicant did not want to be limited to less than the acreage in Phase I which is 26 acres. It is not cost effective to have machinery sitting idle, once the clearing starts they want to keep going.
Glenn Colburn stated the Commission understands the reasoning but the Commission has the responsibility of protecting the wetland areas and having a large area open at one time could very quickly get out of control.
Bryan Reiser stated when the farmer cultivated the fields he was not limited on area open at any one time.
Glenn Colburn stated that is an agricultural use, fields are being cleared of the wooded wind breaks with a greater potential for erosion but the terrain is in the applicants favor.
Leslie Duthie questioned if the final seeding mix was the one Jeff D'Arrigo, Sage Environmental proposed?
Bryan Reiser stated he thought so.
Donald Frydryk stated at the last meeting it was stated the cross section would be changed back to the original detail, he questioned if that was done on the plans that were submitted?
Bryan Reiser stated yes and apologized for not sending a copy of the revised plans to Mr. Frydryk.
Donald Frydryk questioned if all of the gravel access drives would be completed first?
Bryan Reiser stated no first Phase I.
Donald Frydryk stated at the May 15th meeting he voiced his concerns with having a large area open at any one time and 26 acres is a significant area to have open. The disking is not an issue it is when the bulldozer goes through to grade, the area will be flatter with a lot more run off and if the weather does not cooperate heavy rain will lead to erosion because even if the first seeding is down it may not have had time to germinate. He reiterated his recommendation to the Commission to put a limit on the acreage that could be open at one time and suggested 5 acres disking, 5 acres bulldozing and 5 acres seeding.
Andrew Boggs stated they do not want to limit the open area, the seeding would go fairly quickly after the grading.
Leslie Duthie stated she understood that it depends on the construction company and how many resources they want to put to this project but she would not want to see more than 5 – 7 acres bulldozed and unseeded at any one time. She stated it would be up to the contractor to make sure the bulldozer does not get too far ahead of the seeding.
Andrew Boggs stated he could live with the compromise of not having more than 7 acres of land open without seeding.
Donald Frydryk stated it would depend how many crews the contractor provided, time of year etc. and suggested the Commission add a condition that they receive a copy of the actual construction phasing and operation plan once the contractor is on board.
Leslie Duthie stated this has been helpful and the Commission is able to get a better understanding of timeframes etc.
Donald Frydryk stated the applicant would like the option to schedule Phase II and Phase III concurrently would the same construction sequence be followed?
Bryan Reiser stated initially the concern was to finish Phase I before going onto Phase II.
Andrew Boggs stated he believed Phase I would be complete before starting Phase II and III because of a million to two million dollar connection that would have to be built before Phases II and III.
Glenn Colburn stated he would like to see some green vegetation on each phase before going to the next.
Donald Frydryk stated Phases II and III are separated by wetlands.
Bryan Reiser stated Phase III has a large wooded area that must be cleared and that takes significantly longer than the disking and grading. He stated he could see Phase II and a part of Phase III starting together.
Leslie Duthie stated mulch could be used instead of a green crop or a combination of both. It will depend on the time of year and weather patterns.
Bryan Reiser stated the Construction Sequence address that depending on the time of year.
Leslie Duthie stated she was satisfied that this gives the applicant flexibility and the Commission some control.
Andrew Boggs questioned if the Commission would meet with the contractor before work starts?
Glenn Colburn stated yes a pre-construction meeting will be a condition in the Order of Conditions.
Donald Frydryk stated the Commission may have to address Phase III with regard to open area, clearing the trees does not pose a problem it is grubbing out the stumps and having 13 or so acres open that could cause problems.
Leslie Duthie stated she agreed.
Andrew Boggs stated that could be noted and something agreed on with the Contractor.
Leslie Duthie stated the Commission could make a condition of the Order of Conditions that there would have to be a pre-construction meeting before starting on Phase III.
Glenn Colburn stated he agreed with Ms. Duthie and the Commission always has the option to stop work if it feels the site is unstable.
Andrew Boggs stated they hoped to submit a phasing plan to address these issues when they apply for a Building Permit and he reiterated his belief that Phase I would be done and complete before Phase II and III start.
Donald Frydryk stated he would not comment on the legal part of the Maintenance Service Agreement that is going to be used to hire a contract but would recommend to the Commission that it requests a copy of the maintenance logs be submitted on a regular basis to the Commission. Additionally he recommended that the Commission specify when the inspections are made twice annually once during the growing season and once during the non-growing season.
Leslie Duthie suggested March and September.
Donald Frydryk stated that makes sense.
Glenn Colburn stated he would agree with March and September and also felt it was reasonable to request copies of the maintenance logs on a regular basis.
Leslie Duthie stated if a problem develops it is expected the Conservation Commission would be notified at once and similarly if the Commission has an issue it will notify the applicants.
Glenn Colburn stated he felt the Commission has enough information on which to issue an Order of Conditions.
Leslie Duthie moved to close the hearing and issue an Order of Conditions.
Davis Johnson seconded the motion.
It was so voted unanimous.
8:30 RFD Route 32 MassDot Highway Div. Work involves the milling and resurfacing of Route #32 from Maple Street to the Connecticut State Line.
Robert Natario stated the existing roadway is milled down approximately 1¼ to 1½ inches and the new pavement laid over that. He stated he looked at the approximate 4 mile corridor to assess if a Notice of Intent was required but all of the work is within the roadway and there are no washouts or washing away of side slopes.
Leslie Duthie questioned if any work was proposed on the road shoulder?
Mr. Natario stated they are only milling and re-paving everything that is already paved. The process they use would be to do a lane at a time with the machine that mills the roadway followed by a machine that reclaims the material that is milled and then the new pavement.. There is no lose gravel material, this is strictly a resurfacing job.
Glenn Colburn questioned if they would raise the catch basins at all?
Mr. Natario stated anything that is not right in the road would not be done. The catch basins would be a different project and would be a different filing.
Glenn Colburn questioned if the contractor would carry anything for hydraulic spills?
Mr. Natario stated anything like that it would be contained right away Mass Highway would be right on the spot.
Leslie Duthie stated she believed this was a fairly straightforward project and would move to give a negative determination for work in an area subject to protection but does dredge or fill a resource area and does require the filing of a Notice of Intent.
Davis Johnson seconded the motion.
It was so voted unanimous.
8:40 NOI King Avenue Quaboag Riders Club Inc. continued. Work proposed is the alteration of a stream crossing and relocation of an access path.
Heather Comee, Pioneer Valley Environmental stated they were here tonight to discuss the enforcement order the Commission issued to the Club. She stated they would like to discuss the resource area impacts and how they could move forward with the NOI. Ms. Comee stated she walked the site and noticed boulders that looked different from the remaining areas on the sides. She stated the existing crossing was going through a lot of boulders on the sides and in the middle and it did not look as though the material over the stream itself was brand new. If that is the way the Commission sees it the wetland impacts are on the side slopes where fill has been put in the wetlands. To remediate the wetland impacts the stones could be manually removed. In terms of resource areas she stated she did
not observe a channel the stream is flowing through the stone. The ultimate goal is to bring up the driveway to meet the grade on the upland side by adding material over the stream.
Davis Johnson stated there has been so much alteration in that area over time that it is not surprising the things you would expect to see are lacking.
Ray Mansfield stated the road has been there a long time.
Glenn Colburn stated there is a bank up stream and a bank down stream the work that has been done in this particular area is the reason there is no bank. Leaving the stone that is in place and putting more on top is not a good solution for the Club.
Heather Comee stated she would not suggest adding more stone because that could block the overland flow and cause more flooding up stream. She stated she would not change the existing stream because if the stone was pulled out the water will flow through and affect the hydrology up and down stream a crossing could be put in and an area provided for an emergency overflow, maybe a culvert or something on blocks.
Glenn Colburn stated he would prefer to see some type of bridging.
Heather Comee stated the width cannot be expanded something would have to be designed to allow the Club to drive over it to maintain the hill and move material up the hill easier. Whatever is designed it would have to meet the Clubs’ needs with regard to weight and cost.
Leslie Duthie questioned if Ms. Comee was proposing new stones outside the wetland areas?
Heather Comee stated no in the wetlands. She stated she was not designing the crossing just trying to outline some options.
Ray Mansfield stated a spillway made more sense for the club because it would be a smaller area to bridge and a more reasonable cost.
Leslie Duthie questioned if it would be a bridge or I-beam, and gravel or planks over the top?
Heather Comee stated she was not proposing anything right now but just wanted to get an idea of what the Commission would require from this point and what is acceptable.
Leslie Duthie stated the restoration would be done under the enforcement order and the crossing addressed in the Notice of Intent.
Heather Comee questioned the type of restoration the Commission was looking for?
Glenn Colburn stated the Commission would need something on a plan it was not necessary to delineate the wetlands but the fill that has been placed there must be removed and the area restored.
Leslie Duthie asked Ms. Comee to calculate the impacts.
Heather Comee stated she would measure the existing roadway, measure what was filled, and delineate a small portion of the wetlands.
Leslie Duthie stated that would need to be done anyway for the crossing.
Heather Comee questioned if the Commission wanted a stamped plan or if an accurate sketch using a GPS unit to flag and locate was sufficient?
Davis Johnson stated a simple delineation was sufficient.
Heather Comee stated the issue then is if it is a perennial or intermittent stream Ray Mansfield has a video for documentation.
Glenn Colburn stated other issues are how much new road will be built and the distance.
Heather Comee stated she would run stream stats to see the size of the water shed area contributing to it.
Leslie Duthie moved to continue to July 17, 2013.
Davis Johnson seconded the motion.
It was so voted unanimous.
9:15 RFD 220 Lower Hampden Road Patrick Shea. The work proposed is the construction of an accessory structure in the buffer zone.
Pat Shea stated they are proposing an open shelter that would be close to the house so he could walk out of the basement to get wood in the winter. It would have a roof but open sides and would be used to store wood, bicycles and toys etc.
Leslie Duthie questioned if it was attached to the house?
Mr. Shea stated it was close to the house but not attached. It would be 24’ x 24’ cement pad with a roof.
Glenn Colburn stated his concern that there is a permanent buffer on the property and without a plan it was hard to determine the impacts. He moved to issue a negative determination for work in the buffer zone that would not alter, fill or dredge an area subject to protection and would not require the filing of a Notice of Intent.
Leslie Duthie seconded the motion.
It was so voted unanimous.
9:25 Joe Bolduc acting as consultant to Raymond Lavallee met informally with the Commission to discuss the enforcement order that was issued to Mr. Lavallee for violations at his property on Palmer Road.
Mr. Bolduc stated silt fence and hay bales have been installed and he would estimate that approximately 60 to 80 yards of soil would have to be removed and there is an approximate 30 yard soil pile.
Leslie Duthie stated another place should be found for the soil pile that is not in the wetlands or buffer zone to wetlands. She stated she wanted the wetland line re-established wherever that may be and a wetland seed mix used. Ms. Duthie stated this has been going on for too long and the Commission wants this taken care of, all the work would be done under the Enforcement Order.
Mr. Bolduc stated he would give the Commission a narrative detailing a replication plan and a plan to stop future dumping.
9:45 Leslie Duthie stated she had received the Conservation Restriction for the Quinlan property on Reimers Road but the signature needed to be notarized.
Davis Johnson stated he was working on a NOI to lower the dam at Pulpit Rock Lake.
9:50 Leslie Duthie moved to adjourn.
Davis Johnson seconded the motion.
It was so voted unanimous.
Respectfully submitted,
Linda A. Hull
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