Salem Conservation Commission
Minutes of Meeting
Date and Time: Thursday, July 9, 2009, 6:00 p.m.
Meeting Location: Third Floor Conference Room, City Hall Annex, 120 Washington Street
Members Present: Michael Blier, Kevin Cornacchio, Amy Hamilton, Carole McCauley
Members Absent: Rebecca Christie, Keith Glidden, David Pabich
Others Present: Carey Duques, Conservation Agent
Recorder: Andrea Bray
Acting Chairperson Cornacchio calls the meeting to order.
1. Approval of Minutes – June 11, 2009 Meeting
Hamilton: Motion to approve the minutes as presented, seconded by McCauley. Passes 4-0.
2. Public Hearing – Request for Determination of Applicability – Mrs. Harrington, 21 Fairview Road, Salem, MA 01970.
Cornacchio reads the legal public hearing notice, which states that the purpose of this hearing is to discuss excavation of a propane tank after-the-fact, located within 100 feet of Salem Harbor at 21 Fairview Road.
Duques states that she visited the property on June 25 and observed that some excavation had been done, then spoke to Danny Mackey, who did the work, and he installed silt fence. She explains that Dave Pabich said it was OK to move forward with the project, and as it is within 100 feet of Salem Harbor it is necessary to file the RDA.
Duques confirms that Mrs. Harrington came to the office on Monday and completed the RDA. She states that the work is completed and everything has been backfilled and tightened up. She explains that this procedure is basically administrative to comply with regulations.
Cornacchio confirms that Mrs. Harrington came in immediately when she learned of the Conservation issue. He recommends Duques send a letter to Danny Mackey and Dan Cody (Chief).
Mrs. Harrington states that she plans to put some trees there.
Duques states that plantings are exempt from filing regulations.
Blier questions the exemption of all plantings, stating that for large items, some big equipment might need to enter the property.
Duques agrees to get further details on Mrs. Harrington’s plantings.
Duques recommends a -3 determination.
Cornacchio opens to the public. There are no questions or comments.
Blier: Motion to close the pubic hearing, seconded by McCauley. Passes 4-0.
Hamilton: Motion to issue a -3 Determination, seconded by McCauley. Passes 4-0.
3. Continuation of a Public Hearing – Request for Determination of Applicability – Mass Electric (dba National Grid) 1101 Turnpike Street, North Andover, MA 01845
Cornacchio reads the legal public hearing notice, which states that the purpose of this hearing is to discuss the installation of one new utility pole on the corner of Robinson Road and installation of a grounding rod and anchor to existing utility poles, located within buffer zone to bordering vegetated wetlands and riverfront area along Swampscott Road.
Duques recommends continuing this hearing until the next meeting. She adds that she received an email from National Grid, which states that the poles are on private property and they received an easement so they do not need to file with the City Council.
Hamilton: Motion to continue this public hearing until July 23, seconded by Blier. Passes 4-0.
4. Public Hearing – Notice of Intent – 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 roadway improvements to Leggs Hill Road including the addition of a roadway shoulder, installation of a sidewalk on the southern side of the road, installation of a rain garden, and relocation of an existing chain link fence.
City Engineer David Knowlton states that the YMCA has opened and they were required to fund improvements to the roadway. He explains that over time the stormwater runoff has washed across the roadway and eroded the surface so they will reconstruct the Salem section of the road completely.
Knowlton shows the plan and the section of the road with the new sidewalk, stating that a swale and water garden will be installed to address the drainage issue, and that half the road will pitch toward the swale and half will pitch away from it and the rain garden will treat the water.
Blier asks about maintenance.
Knowlton states that the City will maintain the swale and the rain garden. He explains that stone riprap will be installed at the areas showing scouring.
Engineer Bill Jennings, representing the YMCA, states that some of the water has already been redirected away from that road.
Duques states that there is overgrown vegetation along the road.
Knowlton states that all of the overgrown vegetation will be cleared away. He adds that this is Beverly’s water supply watershed area so it must be protected.
Jennings states that he hopes to begin the project in late summer.
Blier asks Knowlton if he anticipates any damage to the riverbank during the construction.
Knowlton states that he doesn’t anticipate any problems and they will need to be careful at the bridge footing and they will use a silt fence.
McCauley asks how much water will be captured by the rain garden.
Knowlton states that he isn’t sure of the exact amount.
Cornacchio states that he would like an estimate of that amount at the next meeting.
Cornacchio opens to the public. There are no questions or comments.
Cornacchio suggests having a site visit at 4:30 pm, on July 23.
Len Faithful of 2 Victoria Lane, Marblehead, states that his back window faces the YMCA. He asks if the fence will be replaced.
Knowlton states that the fence will be replaced.
Hamilton: Motion to continue this public hearing until July 23, seconded by McCauley. Passes 4-0.
5. Public Hearing – Request for Determination of Applicability – City of Salem, 120 Washington Street, Salem, MA 01970
Cornacchio continues this hearing until September 10, 2009.
6. Public Hearing – Notice of Intent – City of Salem, 120 Washington Street, Salem, MA 01970
Cornacchio continues this hearing until September 10, 2009.
Old/New Business
7. Update on the Peabody Flood Mitigation Project
Duques states that David Knowlton is hear to inform the Commission on the status of the project.
Knowlton states that the City retained Woodard and Curran to examine this project to be sure that Salem would not be negatively impacted by these improvements. He adds that there could be minor impacts in the North River in Salem but they should be able to be mitigated. He explains that the raising of the surface water in that river could spread the flooding out into the neighboring areas, and one possible solution would be to put an isolation valve in the drainage to ensure that the water doesn’t go back up into the systems.
Knowlton states that they expressed those concerns to Peabody, and the biggest concern is what those improvements will be on the river in Salem. He explains that a hydraulic analysis showed that the upper part of the North River in Salem is so restricted it is holding the water back.
Knowlton states that the work has been separated the two projects, with phases 1 and 2 as one project and phase 3 as the second project, so the Salem project (phase 3) has been assigned to the Army Corps of Engineers (ACE), who is moving forward with a feasibility analysis to see exactly what that project entails.
Knowlton states that after the first threshold is met ACE will examine an alternative, which might involve the installation of a separate pipe to act as a conduit through the natural area (bypass pipe near Salem Oil and Grease). He offers to provide a memo to Duques when he receives further information from ACE. He confirms that Woodard and Curran is still working with the City.
Cornacchio asks about scouring at the bends in the river.
Knowlton states that they are looking into straightening out the S-curves at the RR bridges.
McCauley asks if there will be enough money to complete this project, and Knowlton says that there will.
McCauley asks about North Street.
Knowlton says there are 2 small culverts that will be examined to ensure that they are structurally sound, and they may need to consider tide gates.
Blier states that they are moving forward with phases 1 and 2 and basing their assumptions on phase 3, without it being fully designed it might compromise the City of Salem’s position or ability to respond.
Knowlton states that there is an element of politics involved and there is a desire to cooperate at the highest level.
Blier expresses concern about the peer review stating that they should consider the additional work needed in phases 1 and 2 to better enable success in phase 3.
Duques states that Peabody has tried to implement a lot of LID and rain gardens to reduce the amount of sheet flow going into the North River.
Knowlton adds that they are preparing an Environmental Impact Report.
Duques asks if the scope of the project has changed now that the ACE is involved.
Knowlton states that they will look into extending the project to Route 114.
8. Discussion regarding status of fines associated with 485 Lafayette Street, the former Chadwick Leadmills Site
Richard Bain states that they had a meeting with all of the parties involved and plans for the clean up are now going forward. He commends DEP for the shepherding of this project and states that clean up can start this fall and it will probably take two falls to complete the entire project.
Duques states that DEP changed their position on demanding that NL clean the Forest River but they are cleaning the hot spots that contribute 90% of the lead into the river. She adds that the Salem Conservation Commission land was seen as isolated and will be left as is and DEP confirmed that the lead levels were low enough.
Bain states that NL will be doing the clean up.
Engineer Paul Costello distributes a sketch of the wall, stating the wall is over 100 years old but is in very good shape. He says that he inspected the wall twice. He describes the wall as 6 feet wide and 14 feet high, weighing over 9000 lbs.
Costello describes the physical characteristics of the wall and the forces at work with the structure, and the 5 possible issues that might be affected when tampering or moving or changing the wall. Those 5 things include; (1) overturning, (2) sliding, (3) global failure, (4) discrete elements of the wall, and (5) seismic forces. He explains that altering one of these things might have negative consequences on any one or more of the other issues.
Bain states that the clean up must be done in a way that preserves the structural integrity of the wall, and DEP will monitor it throughout the project.
Cornacchio states that the Commission now has a better understanding of all of the forces with the wall.
Costello states that, upon inspection, he discovered that, at one point, there was grout in the wall.
Blier states that this method of taking a step backward and looking at the big picture with this wall has been helpful.
Cornacchio thanks Bain and Costello for coming in to provide the information.
Duques states that there is the issue of the outstanding fines.
Cornacchio states that he is comfortable with waiving the fines because they responded immediately.
Blier states that in other situations there have been sudden collapses and he agrees with Cornacchio about waiving fines.
McCauley asks if they discussed redirecting the fines into the repair of the wall and the other Commissioners don’t remember that.
Hamilton agrees with Cornacchio about waiving the fines.
Blier: Motion to waive the fines based on the prompt response from the property owner, seconded by Hamilton. Passes 4-0.
9. Discussion with Commission about allowing mountain bikes on trails in Forest River Conservation Area and inclusion of the trial in the citywide bike circulation master plan
Duques states that the City is compiling a bike trail master plan and they would like to allow mountain bikes in Salem Woods. She adds that Chris Burke is in favor of allowing bikes in Salem Woods.
Duques reads a letter into the record from Ward 7 City Councilor O’Keefe, expressing concern about the use of mountain bikes in the Salem Woods and requesting a meeting with all involved parties.
Blier expresses concern about the destruction of the trails from mountain bikes.
Duques states that David Pabich is in favor of allowing bikes. She adds that the Salem Conservation Commission owns this land. She suggests having a site visit. She says that there is a “No Biking” sign and they could put a plaque over it for one year and then evaluate that trails to gauge the extent of the any damage caused by the bikes.
Duques states that if the Commission allows mountain biking it would be included on a citywide master plan.
Cornacchio suggests checking with the City of Lynn to see if there is much damage in the Lynn Woods, where mountain biking has been allowed for years.
The members agree to a hold a site visit after visiting Leggs Hill Road.
10. Request for a Certificate of Compliance, DEP #64-392; 31, 32, and 35 Cedarcrest Avenue
Duques states that the members had questions about the retaining walls.
Duques reads a letter into the record from Robert Griffin of Griffin Engineering. She recommends issuing a full Certificate of Compliance.
Blier: Motion to issue a full Certificate of Compliance, seconded by McCauley. Passes 4-0.
11. Discussion of violations at 40 March Street
Duques states that she has been in discussion with the property owner, and she visited the site with the building inspector and the harbormaster. She explains that the lot must be cleaned up and there are unpermitted floats out there. She adds that sent the owner a letter a year ago requesting that the owner remove the floats from the water and store them upland, but nothing was done. She states that the shed in the water is not permitted.
Cornacchio recommends that Duques have him come in.
12. Miscellaneous Items
Suffolk Downs: Duques explains that Saturday is Salem Day at Suffolk Downs and passes are available.
Chapter 40B: Duques states that she has a letter from the Massachusetts Slow Growth Initiative, which speaks against Chapter 40B (affordable housing ordinance). He explains that if a city does not meet the percentage quota for affordable housing, a developer can build in that city without any regard to permitting requirements, or any need to go through the permitting processes. She adds that the organization is requesting support from the Conservation Commission in opposing Chapter 40B.
Stop n Shop, Peabody: Duques explains that a fueling station might be installed at this location, in an area as far from the North River as possible. She adds that they haven’t come before the Peabody Conservation Commission yet, and this project is not is Salem’s jurisdiction, but it is located within the flood zone, and the area is already paved.
The members express concern about the environmental impact that this would cause.
Duques agrees to follow up.
Hamilton: Motion to adjourn, seconded by Blier. Passes 4-0.
The meeting is adjourned at 7:30 pm.
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