CONSERVATION COMMISSION
Town of Monterey, Massachusetts
MEETING DATE: 9/8/14
Present: Christopher Blair, Dennis Lynch and Pat Edelstein
Also present: Buddy & Cathy Rodgers, Eugene Bounous, Eleanor Bounous and John Camp
The meeting convened at 6:00p.m.
The Commission did not have a quorum so they informally discussed the following:
- The hearing for 72 Tyringham Rd was informally discussed but could not be opened due to the fact that the Commission did not have a quorum. A meeting will be rescheduled for some time before the 20th of September.
- Eugene Bounous and his daughter came in to discuss a “stalemate” he’s having with regards to the tower road and his neighbors the Rodgers. Eugene stated that since the Conservation Commission sent their letter to the tower company and the engineer regarding some issues that needed to be fixed and now the tower people have put in a new burm. The Commission stated that they did not request a burm to be added. Chris noted that any questions about the burm would have to be directed to the people/company that constructed them. On June 17, 2014 the Commission requested the following in a letter:
1. Replace dead screening tree at perimeter of machine cabin/tower base.
2. Condition #3 (what? Needs attention or needs to be completed).
3. As a Maintenance Plan exists as a requirement of the Stormwater Management Plan we would like to be notified in writing as to the organization responsible for these activities. Provide contact name, address, phone, and email information.
4. The road as designed on Page ¾ “Road Profile of Stormwater Management Plan” shall be the condition of issuing a Certificate of Compliance. At this time the road is rutted and at various places mildly eroded and moderately eroded. A crown shall be restored on the road.
5. The recently installed Water Bars shall remain in place as an element of Stormwater Management.
6. A crown shall be restored on the road using the existing dark colored material.
On August 8, 2014 the following was requested in a letter:
At this time we are adding the following items to our list of action items required prior to issuance of the Certificate of Compliance.
1. Downhill side of drainage structure is lower than uphill side. Result strong flow of water overruns structure and drains onto abutter property. Locations on aerial photo of site, attached.
2. Need verification from engineer that (3) levels of water in the drainage structure, at lowest detention pond, are lower than detention pond rim. See attached sketch.
3. Homeowner construction of ‘bridge’ of some kind over drainage swale that is likely to impede proper functioning of the existing swales. In fact this will cause the road to collapse into the hole if i) a heavy rain occurs or ii) a loaded truck passes two close.
4. The final reach of the drainage swale, ending at the road gate, is silting up and is need of cleaning and restoration to functioning level.
5. A pond overflow discharge culvert passes under the Homeowner road (lower part of tower road) and discharges a high volume of water from Homeowner pond. This discharge pushes water flowing in the final reach of the drainage swale onto abutter property. Not considered in original design.
On August 8th a 2nd amended letter was sent stating the following:
At this time we are adding the following items to our list of action items required prior to issuance of the Certificate of Compliance.
1. Down hill side of drainage structure is lower than up hill side. We think there may be potential for strong flow of water overruns structure and drain onto Abutter property. Locations on aerial photo of site, attached.
2. Need verification from engineer that (3) levels of water outflow in the drainage structure, at lowest detention pond, are lower than detention pond rim. See attached sketch.
3. Homeowner construction of ‘bridge’ of some kind over drainage swale that is likely to impede proper functioning of the existing swales. In fact this will cause the road to collapse into the hole if i) a heavy rain occurs or ii) a loaded truck passes two close.
4. The reach of the drainage swale, ending at the road gate, has has visible silt. We are unclear, absent the Maintenance Plan, at what frequency this silt will be removed. It appears that it reduces the capacity of the stone line swale to perform.
5. A pond overflow discharge culvert passes under the Homeowner road (lower part of tower road) and may potentially discharge a high volume of water from Homeowner pond. It appears this discharge has the potential to push water flowing in the final reach of the drainage swale onto Abutter property. Please advise if this was considered in original design.
You may submit evidence of satisfaction of the above five and the original six items at any time and request a Certificate of Compliance via letter. Thank you for your help and interest.
Chris stated that the Conservation Commission is not the proper place to deal with issues between land owners; this would be a civil matter.
- Discussion with Sergeant Johnson ensued about what emergency protocols are in place should the dam at Lake Garfield ever break.
- Chris went over procedural items with Pat and Dennis.
- The Commission will let the ZBA know that the request for a special permit for 30 Bidwell Rd was permitted in October of 2013 and therefore there are no objections to the special permit being granted.
- Discussion ensued about the milfoil issue at Lake Garfield.
- Pat & Dennis reported on their site visit to 20 Sylvan Rd with regards to a request to cut down 4 trees.
Meeting adjourned at 8pm
Submitted by: Melissa Noe, Administrative Assistant
cc: Conservation Commission Board Members
| 
