MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING
Thursday, September 15, 2011 at 7:30 p.m.
1st Floor Conference Room
Town Hall, 302 Main Street
I. CALL TO ORDER
Chairman, Paul Smith, called the regular meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
II. ROLL CALL
Members Present
Paul Smith, Chairman
Charles Sohl, Vice Chairman
William Pollock, Secretary
Robert McIntyre
Charles Wehrly
Members Absent
Brendan McKeown
Kimberley Gallagher
Staff Present
Sandy Prisloe, Inland Wetlands Enforcement Officer
Kathleen Noyes, Recording Clerk
III. OLD BUSINESS
A. 11-012 Classic Carriage Auto Wash, Inc.
Proposal is for conversion of an existing building to an oil change and emission testing facility.
351 Boston Post Road, (Map 42/Lot 10-1) Gateway Business B-4 District
Frank Maitland, licensed civil engineer and licensed environmental professional, presented for the applicant. Vice President of Classic Carriage Auto Wash, Inc., Patty Pytlik, was also present.
F. Maitland submitted drawing A-1, revised on 9/2/11, which addresses concerns voiced by Commissioners at last month’s IWWC meeting on August 18, 2011. Drawing A-1 illustrates the pit and it depicts how the oil goes into the hydraulic hose, under the floor and into the used oil tank in the tank room. F. Maitland explained how the vacuum pumps the oil from the pit so there’s no pressure in the line under the floor.
P. Smith was concerned about sediment and whether or not the furnace was capable of burning off the sediment. F. Maitland said some sediment will be burned and some will have to be removed from the tank.
F. Maitland said there’s a nozzle in the oil tank which will allow workers to test the interstitial space in the tank to make sure there’s no oil present.
F. Maitland said at last month’s IWWC meeting, Commissioners asked what would go into the storage space. The plans have been revised, and it was decided that there would be no storage space. The area previously designated as storage space will be converted into an emissions facility. There will be no oil stored or used in that area.
There is a 4” line going from the pit to the used oil tank which is angled down toward the pit. Where the line comes out of the floor, if any oil spills in the tank room, it will find it’s way into the 4” pipe which is impervious. Thus, if there was an emergency, the oil would go in the pit instead of out the door.
P. Smith asked if there was an alarm system in place when the facility is not manned to detect if one of the pipes or tanks leaks. F. Maitland said that while there are overfill alarms, there is not an emergency alarm for leaks.
The revised Improvement Location Survey by McDonald, Sharpe and Associates dated 9/2/11 shows changes regarding the parking. The parking has been taken away from the outlets of the building. Also, the drawing does not show where the silt fence will be while the construction is going on. The applicant proposed that there would be a continuous silt fence in the gravel where the vegetation begins. P. Smith asked that the silt fence be placed at the beginning of the gravel area, immediately adjacent to the paved area, as far from the wetland as possible.
Justin Pytlik, Patty Pytlik’s son, spoke. He said the area at the end of the gravel is a turnaround for trucks. P. Smith said an alternate route might be necessary to prevent anything from spilling from the site into the gravel and seeping into the wetland. P. Smith said that a revised truck operation plan should be developed, if necessary.
W. Pollock asked about travel to the west of the building. It is likely that there might be travel by commercial delivery vehicles, but that customers will not be traveling there per J. Pytlik.
F. Maitland noted that R. Snarski, soil scientist, issued a letter which said all of the wetland flagging on the property is still correct as shown on the plans.
F. Maitland explained the changes made in the parking plan since the last IWWC meeting. He said the applicant is willing to do away with 2 parking spaces.1 parking space on the south side of the building will be left. P. Smith noted that the space shown on the plan is misplaced if it’s supposed to be in front of the pedestrian door.
P. Smith noted that on north edge of the property, there’s a note of 6 parking spaces which are not striped. When spaces are not striped, the required 9 feet per space is not necessarily honored because people have no stripes to go by. P. Smith confirmed that the 6 spaces that have been shown are the spaces next to the vacuums. P. Smith noted that parking is not regulated by the IWWC. The IWWC can require that the parking be moved if it’s too close to the wetland, but in this situation, that’s not significant.
F. Maitland said the previously submitted drawing A-0 dated 7/20/11 remains unchanged and will remain part of the application.
The existing oil water separator will be filled with sand and left in place.
Transmission fluid will not be on site. No transmission work will be done on site.
According to drawing A-1 the number of oil fill reelshas been corrected to 6.
There’s no change in lighting to the site.
Used oil filters will be taken off the cars, drained, deposited in a Rubbermaid-like container, and carried outside to a proper oil filter container. There will be no dumping of the container on the property. Professionals will take the container away.
F. Maitland said in answer to the question at last month’s IWWC meeting about the cleaning of the floor, if there’s oil on the floor, it gets wiped up with an absorbent pad, and it will be put in a special container, or speedy dry will be used, and it will be wiped up and deposited into the same interior placed container.
C. Sohl asked about the access cover on the Improvement Location Survey. P. Pytlik said the covers used to be for monitoring wells that are no longer being monitored.
Commissioners asked about the existing trench drain shown on the weswt side of the building. J. Pytlik said the trench drain would be filled and poured over with concrete.
P. Smith asked about the “express detail” services being offered which could be interpreted as anything from washing windows to touching up painting on the side of a car. P. Smith asked if there would be paints. F. Maitland said there would be no paints or steam cleaning. P. Pytlik said in the express detail area, the window cleaning supplies would be only Windex and rags for customers who would like to have their cars vacuumed for them and their windows cleaned for them.
P. Smith asked about the sludge disposal container facility on the southwestern part of the site. With the new containment system the DEEP is requiring, he asked the applicant whether or not there would be any need in the future for anyone to use the area in the southwestern quadrant (the container with the roof on it) for disposal.
J. Pytlik said that the need for the 201 square foot disposal shed has been greatly diminished, but that it still may be used for disposal of sand from the car wash.
P. Smith said because the shed is 38’ from the adjacent wetland, he would like to stipulate that the shed be moved approximately 60’ toward Route 1 so it would be as far away from the wetland as possible. He was concerned that the sand may contain petroleum products and heavy metals that could contaminate the wetland. He suggested that the shed be moved to the southern side of the property that is farthest from the wetland.
P. Pytlik said that during the remediation process with the IWWC, when her attorney John Bennett was present, she was told she could leave the shed in its existing location. P. Smith said that he felt that the situation with the storage should have been remediated long ago, and that he would like to correct this error and ask that it be moved now.
P. Smith explained to the applicant that although she was told at that time that she could leave the shed in its current location, he felt strongly that this condition should have been corrected a long time ago, and that the applicant could either choose to move the existing facility or build a new one in a different location.
B. McIntyre suggested that because the shed has been at its current location for a long time and because R. Snarski has been out to the site, and he said it is not leaking out into to the wetland, perhaps the applicant could leave it where it is especially if it’s use will be greatly diminished. He asked if there was a compromise that could be reached to take some of the burden off of the applicant.
P. Smith reiterated that it’s a waste disposal area adjacent to a wetland, and he feels strongly that it should have been addressed when the previous issue was remediated. He did suggest that although the existing facility needs to be abandoned, a new facility could be built in a different location. It does not need to replicate what currently exists.
MOTION to approve application #11-012 Classic Carriage Auto Wash, Inc., Proposal is for conversion of an existing building to an oil change, express detail and emission facility; 351 Boston Post Road, (Map 42/ Lot 10-1) Gateway Business B-4 District with the following stipulations: the silt fence be installed toward the west end of the pavement where the gravel begins, the sedimentation container (sludge pit) be relocated to the area the Chairman specified to the applicant, however, a DEEP approved or staff approved container may be used in lieu of the current container. MADE by R. McIntyre; SECONDED by W. Pollock; VOTED IN FAVOR: P. Smith, R. McIntyre, C. Wehrly, C. Sohl, W. Pollock; OPPOSED:
none; ABSTAINED: none.; APPROVED: 5-0-0.
V. REGULAR BUSINESS
S. Prisloe visited the Egbert property on Trask Rd to check on the status of the remediation. He said the stone was removed, and the plants and grasses are very overgrown. According to Mr. Egbert, someone removed the blueberry bushes he planted. According to Richard Snarski, soil scientist, the proposed plantings are not appropriate for the site. P. Smith said that the purpose of the bushes was to block the previously cleared path and to prevent trucks and construction vehicles from using that as an access road or a parking area. However, plantings may not be required. Boulders would be fine as well because they’d block the entrance. P. Smith asked S. Prisloe to give the owner the option of using boulders instead of plantings.
- Representative & Subcommittee Reports
P. Smith asked Commissioners if they had any updates regarding The Preserve. He said he spoke to Town Attorney Mike Cronin who suggested that all commissions should be sure that any applications they receive are truly complete before they’re accepted.
P. Smith discussed the conversation he had with M. Cronin regarding land use permits and whether they run with the property or with the landowner. According to M. Cronin, permits do run with the property, but there are provisions in the regulations for permit transfer from landowner to land owner.
Commissioners received a flyer on the upcoming “Build a Rain Garden” presentation, information on the DEEP Segment 3 IWWC training program in late October, and information on 2011 Legislation and Regulation Advisory from the DEEP which will require changes to the current regulations.
D. Approval of Minutes – August 18, 2011
MOTION to approve the minutes of August 18, 2011 as presented; MADE by R. McIntyre; SECONDED by C. Sohl; VOTED IN FAVOR: P. Smith, R. McIntyre, C. Sohl, C. Wehrly, W. Pollock; OPPOSED: none; ABSTAINED: none.; APPROVED: 5-0-0.
VI. ADJOURNMENT
MOTION to adjourn the meeting at 9:05 p.m. until the next Regularly Scheduled Meeting of the Inland Wetlands & Watercourses Commission scheduled for, Thursday, October 20, 2011, 7:30 p.m., in the 1st Floor Conference Room, Town Hall, 302 Main Street.; MADE by W. Pollock; SECONDED by C. Sohl; VOTED IN FAVOR: P. Smith, R. McIntyre, C. Wehrly, C. Sohl, W. Pollock; OPPOSED: none; ABSTAINED: none.; APPROVED: 5-0-0.
Respectfully Submitted,
Kathleen Noyes
| 
