MEMBERS PRESENT: Betty Warren, Barb Kelly, Audrey Delnicki, Carol Heffler, Tim Appleton, Jack Phillips, Mario Marrero, Anthony Duarte,
ALTERNATES PRESENT: Roy Szoka sat for Richard Muller
John Blondin
STAFF PRESENT: Jeff Folger, Environmental Planner/Conservation Officer
Kathy Middleton, Recording Secretary
Chairperson Warren called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM
ITEM: CORRESPONDENCE & REPORTS
Warren stated that she received an invitation for the Board and Commission Volunteer Recognition on Sunday, June 8, 2008 from 4-7 p.m.
ITEM: CONSERVATION COMMISSION
Folger handed out pamphlets about snakes in Connecticut and stated that the information was found on the DEP Website. Folger also stated that the parking lot at Wapping Park is finished and the trail creation will start soon. Eagle scouts offered to help with the project. Folger stated that the scouts assisted in putting bails of Barley Straw into the pond at Donnelly to act as an algaecide and stated that it is a good alternative to herbicides.
Folger stated that they are reconstructing the bridge at the Podunk River and have raised it up about 18".
ITEM: WETLAND OFFICER'S REPORT
Folger stated that a memo of violation was issued on 430 Burnham Street, and it is pretty close to Cornell Way. There are a number of older industrial sites in that area and there is one person who is trying to renovate their property. During the clearing he entered a wetland area in the rear of the property. Folger stated that he has been in contact with the violator. A Soil Scientist will be sent out to delineate the wetlands and then determine the remediation that will be needed.
Warren mentioned the issue of the Bark Park and stated that the question was raised at the Town Council Meeting and asked if permits were received. Folger stated that Town Staff was not consulted and to his knowledge permits were not applied for. Kelly stated that Witch Hazel that was planted in that area had been removed and stated that a Grant was received for the plantings and asked if it had to be reported. Folger stated that the procedure needs to be reported more so than the results.
ITEM: NEW BUSINESS
Commissioner Heffler read the legal notice into the record and stated that there was an error with the application number and read the correction into the record.
08-17P - 5 & Diner Restaurant - 274 Buckland Road - IWA/CC application for the construction of a commercial dining establishment, parking, stormwater structures and associated improvements located on property east of Buckland Road. Gateway Development (GD) Zone.
Attorney Joseph Capossela of Kahan, Kerensky & Capossela came before the Commission representing the applicant. Capossela stated that the owner Kevin Roalf was unable to attend due to business. Capossela stated that several revisions have been made to the plans. They had a pre-application meeting with the Planning and Zoning Commission in October 2007 and a formal staff review on March 31, 2008. Capossela stated that they also attended a meeting of the Architectural Design Review Committee on April 4, 2008. A report from REMA has been submitted. The applicant has made a significant effort to avoid wetland impacts and wherever avoidance was impractical, they have proposed significant mitigation to offset the wetland impact. The projected impact is 4995 sq. ft. of wetlands and is proposing creation
of new wetlands of 3371 sq. ft. Mr. Capossela stated that he would like to clarify that the application originally submitted stated that 1:1 mitigation would be proposed. Capossela stated that they were unable to do that and the reasons would be talked about later in the meeting. Capossela stated that in addition to the creation of wetlands, they are proposing restoration and enhancement of 12,626 sq. ft. of existing wetlands.
Al Carpenter, Engineer for CPH Engineers, Inc came before the Commission and stated that the property is 11.058 acres. The elevation difference is significant. There is a steady hill that goes down from the east side to Buckland Road. Carpenter stated that because of the elevation change from one end to the other and the hydrology, there is a swale/ditch that drains the field and comes all the way down to Buckland Road and then goes through a culvert under Buckland Road, across to L.A. Fitness and then out to Plum Gully Brook. The lowest elevation in the southeast corner is 150.
Carpenter stated that 2.04 acres will be leased by Five & Diner on the northwest corner of the property. For the overall property, the work will be concentrated on the northwest corner of the property.
Carpenter stated that the application proposed has significantly less impacts than other developments that have been proposed for this property. This plan proposes a 3,760 sq. ft. building with 79 parking spaces. The driveway will connect across from L.A. Fitness. Landscaping will comply with Zoning Regulations. There are four areas that total 12,000 sq. ft of wetland creation areas.
Atty. Capossela stated that the access management drive has been provided to the north and south.
Carpenter stated that the wetland impact areas are:
" The access management crossing, the ditch that drains the field is impacted.
" A triangular piece of wetlands is also impacted in order to provide the parking that is necessary.
" The fringes on the wetland are also impacted but are being mitigated.
Carpenter stated that the primary area of drainage is 9.7 acres which drains (predevelopment) to the west and then goes to the cross culvert and then off the site. The proposal is to put the site between the primary area of drainage and Buckland Road. They are proposing a pipe connection through the ditch where the parking lot comes across. There is a fill area due to a water table condition that is elevated and in order to intercept the flow coming from offsite they will put rip rap along the back side of the fill area to convey it. All of the offsite areas will be collected against the site and conveyed to the ditch. There are two stormwater management areas for the onsite areas; one is split by where the ditch is. Everything on the north side goes to the north detention area and there is a forebay that
is handling 88% of the water quality volume. The south basin is handling 51% in the forebays and both discharge to the existing swale along Buckland Road. Those areas are designed to limit post development run off to pre-developed rates.
Erosion and sedimentation control: A silt fence will be placed along the disturbance area and storm water sediment traps will be installed. There are two sediment traps which will be divided by how the drainage is divided on the south side of the ditch. There is a sediment trap on the north and south side of the ditch. The conveyance areas will take the upland flow up and direct it toward the sediment traps and discharge to an outfall structure. The outfall structure will be modified for erosion and sedimentation control and will be provided with a Fair-cloth skimmer. A Fair-cloth skimmer which is a flex pipe that connects to the outfall and it floats as the water elevation rises and it discharges the cleanest water at the top of the containment area. They have also introduced flocculent polymer in the swales so that
the solids that are in the water will coagulate and dropout into the detention area before they discharge.
Warren asked Folger if he had comments from the Town Engineer, Jeff Doolittle. Folger stated that he has verbal comments and stated that Doolittle found that the water quality volumes of the stormwater basins meet the stormwater guidelines.
George Logan of REMA came before the Commission and stated that the land-use has been agriculture for 72 years. Logan stated that there has been a lot of activity in the front of the site. Logan stated that the wetlands have been delineated by John Ianni, of Highland Soils. Logan stated that in his report he noted that the front materials are a fine sandy loam and further back it becomes coarser. Geotechnical reports indicate that the groundwater within three feet of the surface in some locations. The basins are designed so that the bottom intercepts the seasonal groundwater table so that there is a saturated to moist environment most of the year.
Logan stated that the there is not a lot of wooded wetlands and it is not a highly valuable wetland but it has functions. The wetlands that are being taken are the ones that are along the fringe. There is a wetland in the front that does not have a lot of value because of its location near the road. Logan stated that after looking at other options to the 1:1 mitigation it was decided upon to take the agricultural
ditch and turn it into a wetland with 12,636 square feet of restoration enhancement, invasive removal and planting of diverse vegetation for a wet meadow habitat.
Marrero asked how the agricultural runoff will affect the proposed mitigation area. Folger stated that a number of people had brought this situation to light and the proposed mitigation area is down gradient of what was an agricultural field and part of the reason for the change in the soils in the western portion of the site is because gravity has deposited some sediment from active agriculture operation in the area. So if the project seeks to create mitigation in the form of restoration we would want it to succeed over a long period of time and if there are impacts to that from cultivated fields, which is something that we would want to have some measure of protection. Capossela stated that the owner is prepared to accept a fifty foot buffer area for no planting and could be considered a condition of approval.
Kelly expressed concerns that the proposed mitigation could be altered after the lease is up because there is no protection to ensure that the enhanced wetland remains in place. Some Commissioners felt that there should be assurance that the 12,000 sq ft of enhancement will remain and will not be mowed. Capossela stated that he is confident that his client would agree to an easement.
Folger stated that the Town Engineer approached him with comments on Wetland Creation Area A which is adjacent to Buckland Road and stated that a portion of that wetland is within the twenty foot proposed sewer easement. Carpenter stated that the area that they are not creating and create there with the 1:1. Logan questioned the way the water was conveyed from the detention basin and stated that a swale still needs to be created to get down to the pike and stated that if they can't create the wetland in that area then the water cannot discharge the same way. Folger stated that the sewer easement will seriously impact the size of the viability of that area for a wetland.
Kelly stated that she feels that this plan is a better plan than the previous plans. Warren stated that the Town Engineers comments and the mitigation need to be addressed and feels this meeting should be continued. Folger stated that the 1:1 policy is something that is strived for and stated that in this case there are opportunities for creating wetlands and because the environmental consultant stated that it is viable enough right now and should not be destroyed to create a wetland. The other area has some engineering constraints that would prevent them from creating what they feel would be their full square footage of desired wetlands. Some commission members have asked what the relative value of that is. Folger stated that they try to find a net benefit for proposed mitigation. Given the constraints of
the site, additional amounts of restoration might be a more viable alternative than just focusing on 1:1 creation. Folger stated that he agrees that restoration is a viable alternative but also agrees with the commissioners concerns that if the restoration is the product of an approval that allows for permanent removal of wetlands then there should be some protection to remain enhanced and intact.
Capossela stated that he would like time to review with the property owner to see if there is a way to resolve the concerns of the commission.
Folger stated that a no-till planting practice would be good in the 50 ft buffer area if it would effectively prevent the migration of sediments into the area. Folger stated that no-till is not commonly practiced in this area. Heffler stated that there should be a planted buffer in that area to control the runoff.
Warren asked for public comments.
Anna Mae Davis of 9 Ridge Road came before the Commission and stated that runoff is a problem on the site and she came down to support the application because the Gateway Zone was planned to allow businesses like this application.
Motion to: continue public hearing to May 21, 2008 on appl. # 08-17P for revisions- 5 & Diner Restaurant - 274 Buckland Road -IWA/CC application for the construction of a commercial dining establishment, parking, stormwater structures and associated improvements located on property east of Buckland Road. Gateway Development (GD) Zone.
Was made by: Commissioner Phillips
Seconded by: Commissioner Heffler
The motion carried
The vote was unanimous
ITEM: OLD BUSINESS:
Fuss & O'Neill & FLB Associates - Discussion ensued regarding the proposal to remove part of the riparian buffer at Evergreen Walk. Frank Hubenhy of FLB Architecture opened the discussion and gave a brief background of the property. Hubenhy stated that the riparian line was approved and established on land record. DEP requested a programatic permit and established a no touch zone around wetland areas.
Jeff Shamus of Klienfelder stated that the riparian buffer is not providing buffering capacity to the brook. There are no tall grasses and no meadow or shrub area. Shamus stated that they would like to discuss the possibility of removing part of the riparian buffer and replacing it with one that has effective functioning capabilities.
Commission had concerns that approving an application as such would set a precedent to make it easier for other applicants to do the same and some Commissioners said that they were not in favor of moving the riparian buffer line but agreed with improving the riparian buffer.
ITEM: OTHER BUSINESS
Determination of Public Hearing on Appl. #08-22W - Town of South Windsor - Graham Road - Inland Wetland/Conservation Commission application to replace an existing road culvert and
associated improvements on property located on Graham Road northerly of Ayers Road and southerly Mark Drive. Rural Residential (RR) Zone.
Folger stated that the application requests to build a culvert under Graham Road and also to restoration of an eroded area downstream of the culvert.
Phillips stated that there have been public hearings for similar applications.
Motion to hold a public hearing on Appl. #08-22W - Town of South Windsor - Graham Road - Inland Wetland/Conservation Commission application to replace an existing road culvert and associated improvements on property located on Graham Road northerly of Ayers Road and southerly Mark Drive. Rural Residential (RR) Zone due to the potential impact to the wetlands and water courses and for the potential for public interest.
Was made by: Phillips
Seconded by: Appleton
The motion carried
The vote was unanimous
ITEM: ADJOURNMENT
Motion to: adjourn the meeting at 9:47 PM
Was made by: Commissioner Heffler
Seconded by: Commissioner Delnicki
The motion carried
The vote was as follows: unanimous
Respectfully Submitted,
Katherine J. Middleton
Recording Secretary
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