Minutes of the Old Lyme Conservation Commission
Christ the King Church
January 9, 2008, 7:00 pm
Members: Ted Crosby (ex-officio representing Gateway Commission)
Eleanor Czarnowski
Paul Dean
Taffy Holland
George James
David McCulloch
Agnes O’Connor
Marianne Pfeiffer
Tom Sherer
Attending: Ted Crosby, Eleanor Czarnowski, Paul Dean, Taffy Holland, George James, Agnes O’Connor, David McCulloch, Marianne Pfeiffer
This is a special meeting to review three sets of plans.
1. Black Hall Club
This is a plan to build an 8,000 sq ft Maintenance building to replace the existing building. There will be a large paved area and additional parking behind the main building.
· Tom questioned whether there is a containment area for hazardous materials in case of a spill.
· Ted said there are gas and diesel fuel pumps. What happens to the wash-down?
· Tom said the lighting for the parking area is missing. We would like to see no floodlighting.
· Ted was concerned that the swale shown on the plans won’t handle overflow. All the water will go from the paved area into the swale.
The plans show a wash-down center inside the building to filter and recycle the water. The plans state (31.2.1F, page 2) that no toxic materials will be stored on the site. David will review their list of herbicides and pesticides.
2. Special Exception – Multifamily Housing on Hatchett’s Hill
Zoning turned down their original plan. They are reapplying because they believe the property was grandfathered and the old regulations should apply.
· Ted said all of the trees will come down if the planned septic field is permitted.
· Ellie said we have already reviewed these plans. We can dig up our old letter.
· Tom said normally there are at least 75 feet from wells to septic systems. These plans call for 16 septic systems and show approximately 125 feet from wells. Shouldn’t the distance be greater since there are so many septic systems?
· Tom asked whether only two 4.4 GPM wells will be adequate for 16 units.
· Tom said the street lights shown on sheet 5 are unshielded. They should be shielded since they’re on a ridge
· Ellie said the Conservation Commission said they should have a trail around the perimeter. Older, retired people will want to walk.
· Tom questioned the reported square feet shown for each unit on sheet 2. They list a bonus room but don’t show it on the plans. He said the 3,000 square foot units are listed as 2 bedroom units. The leisure room could be used for two additional bedrooms, and the loft as another, making five potential bedrooms.
· Ted said to send a letter to Ann Brown and the Building Dept. pointing this out.
· George said they should have a standby auxiliary power supply for septic pumping in case of an outage.
3. Special Exception - Old Lyme Country Club
The plans are for a gravel parking lot, two paddle tennis courts, and maintenance shed. The Corps of Engineers turned down the original plans because they required draining wetlands that were under the corps’ jurisdiction.
· The revised parking lot is within the 100 foot setback. This is in both inland and Federal wetlands.
· David said the drainage feeds into the wetlands. They have to replace the culvert under Shore road.
· Tom said the paddle tennis court lights are not screened. Also paddle tennis is noisy. It is played at night. He said plantings could help shield the neighbors.
· Tom said that landscaping plans are not shown for the eastern side.
· Ted said there is no provision for runoff. This is a federally declared wetland, and a category 5 storm will all go into the wetlands.
· The plans provide no specifics of the “less impact” plan that the Corps of Engineers and the DEP approved.
Ted, Dave, and George discussed proposing to test the groundwater unless they switch to organics.
Dave took their list of pesticides and herbicides.
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