MONSON CONSERVATION COMMISSION
MINUTES AUGUST 27, 2014
MEMBERS PRESENT: Glenn Colburn, Leslie Duthie and Davis Johnson.
MEMBERS ABSENT:
7:00 155 Brimfield Road Request for a Certificate of Compliance. Donald Frydryk, Sherman & Frydryk met informally with the Commission to discuss the issuance of a Certificate of Compliance for work performed under Order of Conditions DEP 228-200. Mr. & Mrs. Fernandez performed the work but it does not comply with the plan approved by the Commission. The location of the driveway is different, the permanent bounds have not been installed and the driveway that is there is not in the correct location. The driveway was supposed to be constructed between the permanent bounds but as constructed the driveway goes around the proposed location of the permanent bounds. Fill has been placed in the yard area and that has stabilized but the replication still remains to be done. Donald Frydryk
stated he would set the stakes along the new lines and proposed that the replication work be moved closer to road where it is wet and use a wetland seed mix and allow it to return to wetlands. He questioned if the Commission would be willing to do a site visit and issue a partial certificate of compliance once the permanent bounds are put in? The property is under contract to sell and the issuance of a partial certificate would allow it to proceed. After a full growing season the Commission could check the replication area and then issue a full certificate of compliance.
Glenn Colburn stated it would appear there is no real loss or gain.
Leslie Duthie stated the Commission would do a site visit and if the bounds are in would issue a partial Certificate of Compliance.
348 Lower Hampden Road. Robert and Joanne Fortier met informally with the Commission to discuss a system that they have set up on their property to pump water out of Temple Brook into a pond on their property to supplement the water in the pond during a dry summer spell. The pond is over 50 years old and the yard is landscaped and planted with trees. Mr. Fortier stated he runs the pump approximately once week and it is set up so that nothing siphons from the brook. He gave the Commission information pertaining to the Department of Environmental Protections’ administration of a registration and permitting program for surface and groundwater withdrawals under the Water Management Act.
Glenn Colburn questioned the size and depth of the pond?
Robert Fortier stated it is 75 feet by 35 feet wide and approximately 8 feet at the deepest part of the pond.
Davis Johnson questioned if there were any fish in the pond?
Robert Fortier stated no, but there are frogs and turtles. He stated that he minimizes the amount of water he takes from the brook and has expended a great deal of money on the property and spends a lot of time in the gardens.
Glenn Colburn stated it would appear from the information that a registration is required with DEP but the necessity for a permit is based on the amount of water withdrawn in a three month period.
Davis Johnson questioned if the brook flows separately from the pond?
Robert Fortier stated yes there is no interface from brook to pond.
Leslie Duthie stated that she believed the brook is regulated under the Wetland Protection Act and that the Commission has jurisdiction under the Act.
Robert Fortier stated the information does not specify any sources.
Glenn Colburn stated at first glance he would say there is no way to allow withdrawing water from a perennial stream that is also in an area that is under the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program without review by NHESP and the Commission, but he knew nothing about the Water Management Act and suggested that the Commission contact DEP for its input and take this up at the next meeting.
7:50 NOI Lot 38 Heritage Lane Assessors Map 114 Lot 81P Sergey Savonin. Peter Levesque, Pioneer Environmental stated based on the discussion with Heather Comee at the last meeting the plan has been revised to show an anti-tracking pad; a depression area has been added to collect run off from the swale; clarified specifications for the rear slope that includes using the existing rock on site, a maximum 1.5 to 1 slope, and pressing the rock into the slope.
Leslie Duthie questioned what happened to the fabric?
Peter Levesque stated it was removed on the advice of the engineer because there would be more opportunity for the rock to slide if it was left on. Gary Weiner advised that the slope would be more stable if large rocks are used and pressed into the slope.
Glenn Colburn stated at times there is a significant amount of surface water on the lot even though there is not a wetland above and questioned what was happening with the sheet flow?
Peter Levesque stated a lot of stormwater design has gone into this design even though typically single family homes are exempt from stormwater regulations. At the tow of slope there is a 4 inch swale with a perforated pipe and footing drains around the foundation outlet to the swale.
Leslie Duthie stated she personally has seen the water that runs through this property and believes that future property owners are going to have problems with water running around the house and are going to have to deal with it. Gary Weiner is a licensed professional and has designed the plan and she would bow to his expertise, but when the vegetation is removed on the site for construction it will bring it closer to how it was in the photographs that show an enormous amount of water running through it. Ms. Duthie stated she believes the Commission has made every effort to protect future owners of the property and it is now up to the developer and his engineer to ensure that the work complies with the plan, and that the plan performs as they have assured the Commission it will.
8:05 Leslie Duthie moved to close the hearing and issue an Order of Conditions.
Davis Johnson seconded the motion.
It was so voted, unanimous.
8:05 NOI Lot 39 Heritage Lane Assessors Map 114 Lot 81N, Sergey Savonin. Peter Levesque stated the plans for Lot 39 Heritage Lane have been changed similar to those of Lot 38 Heritage Lane and include an anti-tracking pad; a depression swale; extension of the siltation fence; a 1.5 to 1 slope at the rear of the house with boulders pressed into the slope and no fabric and a cross culvert added to the driveway. A correction has been made to the 100 foot buffer zone to clarify the line. NHESP has responded that the work as proposed would have no adverse effect and would not result in a take.
Leslie Duthie stated all of the work on this lot is within the 100 foot buffer zone.
Peter Levesque stated not quite all there is a small area that is not in the buffer zone.
Leslie Duthie questioned the time period to construct the back slope?
Peter Levesque stated a week with a full time excavator and loader.
Leslie Duthie expressed concern with the stability of the slope and while this is a 1.5 to 1 slope the same as Lot 38 it is a longer slope. She questioned the plans to control erosion from the slope during its construction?
Peter Levesque stated nothing is shown on the plan but they would not be opposed to a condition included in the Order of Conditions that erosion controls be installed at the tow of the slope and once construction starts on the slope the construction shall not be interrupted. He stated they took the plan that Charles Dauchy and Joseph Ward submitted back in 2006 and reduced the slope, created swales on each lot and added stone in the swale. Based on discussion with Heather Comee at the last meeting further additions to the plan include an infiltration basin at the tow of the slope; stone swales and a culvert. Peter Levesque stated he believed the plans address the stormwater management, it would require a huge water shed analysis to further address the issue, and as previously stated it is a
non-jurisdictional issue.
Glenn Colburn stated the Commission has worked with Gary Weiner in the past and knows that he is a very competent engineer, but because the Commission has even more concern regarding this lot than Lot 38 he believed a peer review to look at the way it is proposed to stabilize the slope is needed
Peter Levesque stated stormwater management for a single family home is not jurisdictional under the Wetland Protection Act.
Glenn Colburn stated he was not asking for a review of the stormwater management, he wanted a review of the manner it was proposed to stabilize the slope and if in the opinion of the reviewing engineer it was adequate.
Peter Levesque stated it is the same as Lot 38.
Leslie Duthie stated it is not the same, this slope is longer.
Peter Levesque stated the pitch is the same but it is twenty feet longer.
Glenn Colburn stated the developer is cutting in and creating a twenty foot bank.
Peter Levesque stated they do not want to get into a peer review for something that is not jurisdictional. If the Commission choses to deny an Order of Conditions Mr. Savonin will appeal to DEP.
Glenn Colburn stated he felt comfortable voting on Lot 38 but not on Lot 39.
Leslie Duthie stated the Commission is asking for an opinion from another engineer that this design will work on this slope with this amount of water. The Commissioners are not engineers and do not have the expertise needed to determine if what is proposed will work. Are the construction techniques proposed adequate to maintain the slope?
Peter Levesque asked for a moment to confer with his client and to be clear that the Commission is only concerned with the stabilization of rear slope.
Sergey Savonin questioned if he chose the engineer to perform the peer review or if the Commission chose one?
Leslie Duthie stated the Commission could give Mr. Savonin the names of three different companies to perform the review who would be acceptable to the Commission. The Commission stated Tighe & Bond, Sherman & Frydryk, and Almer Huntley would be acceptable to the Commission.
Peter Levesque stated his client would select Sherman & Frydryk.
Leslie Duthie moved to contact Sherman & Frydryk to review the proposed plan and methodology to stabilize the slope on Lot 39 Heritage Lane.
With the agreement of all parties concerned the public hearing was continued to Wednesday September 17, 2014 at 7:45 P.M.
8:50 NOI Lot 13 Zuell Road William Jahn Assessors Map 031 Parcel 19A continued. The Commission continued the hearing because NHESP had not completed its review of the Notice of Intent. The NHESP review is complete and as proposed the work will not adversely affect endangered species habit and as proposed will not result in a take.
Glenn Colburn moved to close the hearing and issue an Order of Conditions.
Davis Johnson seconded the motion.
It was so voted, unanimous.
Matthew Guthrie 241 Silver Street received the letter from the Commission requesting that he attend the August 27, 2014 meeting. Mr. Guthrie called the Conservation Office and re-scheduled to September 17, 2014 due to business commitments.
Davis Johnson stated he believed the best course of action was to request a wetland delineation from Mr. Guthrie and establish a buffer zone with permanent markers to avoid confusion regarding the areas on his property that are jurisdictional under the Wetland Protect Act.
Glenn Colburn stated he checked out Ray’s Trailer Park and did not see a whole lot going on. A storage shed has been put near the stockade fence and directly behind the fence there is a pile of lawn clippings. At the entrance to the Park there is a truck with chipped leaves and sticks in it. It appears that people in the park are dumping their clippings and leaves over the bank into wetlands. Would it be better if there was a designated composting area for the park residents, certainly, and that is something that Mr. Lavallee should consider. There are no significant violations at this time and he would recommend the Commission take no action.
Glenn Colburn stated the Commission has not heard from Gale Howard’s consultant in quite some time and he believed it was time to contact DEP for assistance with this matter.
The Commission discussed the persistent problem of the use of motorized vehicles (ATV’s dirt bikes etc.) at the Conservation Land (Quinlan property) on Reimers Road. The Commission has previously sent letters to abutting property owners to notify them that the use of motorized vehicles in not allowed on any of the preserved Conservation land. The Commission will put their concerns in writing to the Police Department.
Old Reed Road. Leslie Duthie stated she met with John Morrell and Charles Smith on Old Reed Road to discuss the problem with the pond and discuss with Mr. Morrell what can be done regarding the roadside drainage.
Donald Frydryk has questioned what the Commission wants for a filing for this work?
The Commission stated a Request for Determination of Applicability.
Leslie Duthie stated she had a conversation with Seth Wesson regarding the boundaries of the Conservation land on Reimers Road and explained that the Commission stand by its boundaries.
9:15 The Commission signed a Certificate of Compliance for David Mill, Wales Road.
MAIL.
1, NOI from Exxonmobile maintenance of pipe line on Fern Hill Road.
2. RDA from Exxonmobile maintenance on pipe line across from Calkins Road, Boston Road Route #20.
3 Pioneer Environmental request for a Certificate of Compliance for 60 Lower Hampden Road.
4. Copy of a Cutting plan 300 Cedar Swamp Road 45 acres.
5. Various building permits.
6. Copy of the appraisal for property owned by James & Kimberly Bailey, 23 acres Cedar Swamp Road.
Leslie Duthie stated the appraisal was $37,000.00 and between CPA money, Opacum Land Trust and Norcross she believed the acquisition of the land was possible.
Leslie Duthie stated she spoke with Craig Levesque regarding the storage of equipment in an area behind his building on Main Street. Sherman & Frydryk have marked the wetlands if he is going to mow or store equipment in the Northeast corner he would have to file with the Commission.
The Commission set site visits for 155 Brimfield Road and Fern Hill Road for Wednesday September 3, 2014 starting at Brimfield Road at 4:30 P.M.
9:30 Leslie Duthie moved to adjourn.
David Johnson seconded the motion.
It was so voted, unanimous.
Respectfully submitted,
Linda A. Hull
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