Salem Conservation Commission
Minutes of Meeting
Date and Time: Thursday, May 22, 2008, 6:00 p.m.
Meeting Location: Third Floor Conference Room, City Hall Annex, 120 Washington Street
Members Present: Chairperson Kevin Cornacchio, Michael Blier, Keith Glidden, Amy Hamilton, David Pabich, David Summer
Members Absent: Joseph Furnari
Others Present: Carey Duques, Conservation Agent
Recorder: Andrea Bray
Chairperson Cornacchio calls the meeting to order.
1. Approval of Minutes – May 8, 2008 Meeting
Pabich: Motion to approve the minutes, seconded by Blier. Passes 4-0. Voting members are Cornacchio, Blier, Pabich, and Summer.
2. Continuation of a Public Hearing – Notice of Intent – DEP #64-475 – City of Salem, 120 Washington Street, Salem, MA 01970
Cornacchio reads the legal public hearing notice which states that the purpose of this hearing is to discuss the proposed remediation and construction of a park at 15 Peabody Street located within a Riverfront Area, land subject to coastal storm flowage, and buffer zone of a coastal bank.
Blier and Hamilton recuse themselves from this issue. Cornacchio states that Summer listened to a recording of the last meeting on this issue and signed an affidavit so he will be eligible to vote on this item per the Mullin rule.
Susan St. Pierre from Vine Associates describes the park, which has a concrete plaza at Peabody Street and a walkway leading to the pile-supported harborwalk on the river. She states that there will be an elevated lawn and a tot lot, and a half-mosaic, half-green wall along the outer edge of the property, and the contaminated areas of the parcel will be remediated.
Cornacchio asks about the hot spots and the remediation methods.
Matt Robbins from TRC Corporation speaks about the remediation of the contamination issues, and distributes material detailing the history of the site and plans for the clean-up. He makes the following points:
· The property was a coal fire and electricity generation facility.
· Three studies of the material on the property found low levels of petroleum related materials.
· Area 1 has some collapse in the retaining wall.
· There are some areas with contamination levels exceeding excavation standards, and some capping might be done.
· TRC will oversee the clean up to ensure compliance with the EPA standards and the commission’s conditions.
· For the remediation, the area will be closed with a chain-link fence.
· A backhoe will remove the contaminated material and load it into trucks or stockpile it on one end of the property near Peabody Street.
· To control the dust the area will be sprayed with a minimum amount of water. By limiting the water there will be no runoff.
· They will then backfill with clean material.
· The volume estimate for removal is 850 yards.
· All of the groundwater on the wells has been tested and is below the state clean-up standards.
· The monitoring wells will be removed.
· Fuel tanks were removed in 1990. That is a closed environmental clean-up project.
· While drilling to obtain soil samples some layers of concrete were discovered.
Pabich asks about the seaward side of the walk if there will be tidal action bringing contaminated materials into the water.
Robbins states that there are impervious materials at the wall and these materials do not lend themselves to leaching, so he sees no opportunity for contaminated materials to leech into the water at this point.
Robbins states that these procedures will be submitted to EPA and there will be a public comment period and the board can review this report and ask any questions they may have.
Civil Engineer Paul King of Vine Associates distributes the erosion control plan and states that the land is flat and they will be able to contain the water within the site. He says there will be a security fence around the perimeter and they may put siltation fabric on the fence.
Pabich asks how they will manage the truck access with the erosion control on site. He suggests they install a clean gravel berm to keep the water on site.
Blier says that the sidewalk will enclose the entire area of contamination.
Pabich suggests placing a berm on the outside of the sidewalk.
Cornacchio asks if the 8-inch drain will be undersized.
King states that this may not be the main outlet, it might be just an overflow pipe.
Pabich asks the depth of excavation in area 3.
Williams states that the depth will be 4 feet.
King states that they will locate the pipe and encase it.
Cornacchio asks if there will be an LSP on site and King says that there will be.
Pabich states that the 8-inch pipe should not be in a contaminated site.
Robbins states that it will have no impact during the excavation, but they must be aware of it so they won’t break it.
Pabich states that this pipe was probably not engineered.
King agrees to look into that.
Cornacchio asks about the trees on the property.
Letitia Tormay of Landworks states that the trees on the property will stay and outside the property there will be lower plantings.
Summer asks when the project will begin.
Robbins states that the remediation will begin in October or November.
Cornacchio asks if the DEP has any comments, and Duques says they have “No Comment”.
Robbins states that they would not have the trucks back over contaminated areas.
Cornacchio states that they could use a truck wash within the bermed area.
Cornacchio opens to the public. There are no questions or comments.
Pabich: Motion to close the public hearing, seconded by Glidden. Passes 4-0.
Summer: Motion to issue and Order of Conditions, seconded by Pabich. Passes 4-0.
Duques read the special conditions for the Order:
· There will be a 4-inch gravel berm on the Peabody Street side for trucks to go over but allowing the water to flow through.
· Vine Associates will confirm the depth of the PVC drain pipe.
· If a truck wash is necessary, Vines Associates will submit the details to the commission.
3. Public Hearing – Notice of Intent – DEP #64-474 – Jean and Doug Karam, 25 Winter Island Road, Salem, MA 01970
Cornacchio reads the legal public hearing notice which states that the purpose of this hearing is to discuss the installation of riprap and re-grading to reduce erosion occurring along a Coastal Bank, Land Subject to Coastal Storm Flowage and buffer zone to a salt marsh at 25 Winter Island Road.
Rich Williams of Hayes Engineering describes the project, which involves the installation of riprap to stabilize the city-owned property on Winter Island Road owned. He states that the existing riprap is failing, causing the erosion. He says they will make a 1/1 slope with quarter-ton boulders lying flat, backfilling with pervious material.
Cornacchio asks if they will need to be anchored and Williams says that they will not need to anchor the boulders.
Duques states that David Knowlton signed the NOI because this property is owned by the city. She adds that Knowlton has visited the site to review the project and he approves of the plan.
Glidden asks if there is ledge under the edge.
Williams states that the ledge will be anchored by the first boulder, and they will not need to go into the ledge.
Cornacchio states that he would prefer they used something better than iron.
Williams states that they have coated steel which lasts a long time. He states that they intend to follow that slope and there is a bowl in there and it does flatten out in that bowl. He says that the top of the wall will meet with the grade.
Pabich asks how the boulders will stay on the ledge at the north end of the right-of-way.
Williams says they will have to find boulders that will fit into that rock. He adds that they are working with Ken Steadman.
Cornacchio expresses concern about not having the boulders adequately anchored.
Williams says they can either get the right rock to fit in there correctly or they can have a mechanical means to fasten the boulders.
Cornacchio asks if they will cut into the bank.
Williams says there might be some need to removed some of the bank to place a stone in there, but there will be no mass excavation. He states that they will have to do it with a thumb to do it correctly.
Cornacchio opens to the public. There are no questions or comments.
Cornacchio suggests scheduling a site visit on June 12, at 5:00 PM, and the members agree.
Hamilton: Motion to continue this public hearing until June 12, 2008, seconded by Glidden. Passes 6-0.
Old/New Business
4. Request for a Certificate of Compliance – DEP #64-388 – Lionel Pelletier, 7 Brook Street. Construction of a single family home, driveway and associated utilities.
Duques presents the permitted plans and explains that the driveway differs from the plans because it is curved instead of straight. She adds that they did use pavers. She states that instead of using bituminous pavers in the back yard, it is all lawn.
Duques states that this project was permitted in 2005.
Pabich expresses concern about the driveway, which is larger than permitted.
Duques offers to request as-built plans.
Cornacchio agrees that there is a substantial change. He states that he would like to ask them why they made the driveway wider.
Duques agrees to ask them for as-built plans.
…
Pabich: Motion to adjourn, seconded by Glidden. Passes 6-0.
The meeting is adjourned at 7:31 PM.
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