Inland Wetland and Watercourse Commission
40 Old Farms Road, Willington, CT 06279
January 12, 2009 – 7:30 ~~PM
Meeting Minutes
Members Present:
Ken Metzler
Dave Schreiber
Frank Dirrigl
Roger Peloquin
Tess Gutowski
Members Absent:
Greg Blessing
Leon Kouyoumjian
Also present:
Susan Yorgensen, Wetlands Agent
Regular Meeting
K. Metzler called the meeting to order at 7:32.
D. Schreiber motioned to seat R. Peloquin and T. Gutowski. F. Dirrigl seconded the motion. All in favor.
Old Business
Fed Ex Ground Facility: TPA Design Group submitted the final monitoring report to the CTDEP and the Town of Willington in July 2007 which constituted the end of the 10 year Wildlife Habitat Management Plan for the subject facility. Requesting release of the escrow account.
Craig Ferris, of the TPA Design Group, was present and said they prepared the monitoring report.
K. Metzler commented that prior to the construction; there was a concern about fisheries. S. Yorgensen said it was not within the management area. A discussion was held.
T. Gutowski asked if Mr. Ferris was prepared to say what they have at the end of the 10 year monitoring period. Mr. Ferris said a large part is forested with decent sized trees but not old growth yet. He said to give it time. The under story is, a lot of the forest area is dry. Areas other than forested areas were the former pastures. The idea was to mow periodically. The road way that went up the back corner is not coming in as fast as he would have thought but it will come in. He said there were a lot of wood chips left and it will take time for these to break down. He commented about an area they strip cut which did not have a lot of top soil but a lot of rock. They planted alders which survived but did not thrive. He said they modified the cutting procedure over time.
T. Gutowski asked if they did a baseline for bird species. He said they monitored spring and fall in the beginning and now they only monitor in the spring. T. Gutowski asked what happens when the 10 year monitoring period is over. Mr. Ferris said he believes they still have to maintain the areas. A discussion was held on whether or not an outside review was required.
K. Metzler asked if he thought there was an impact on deer browsing in which Mr. Ferris said he did not. A discussion was held on the evergreens and Mr. Ferris said they replaced them and they are doing fine. He also said the pond system on the right hand side seems to be working well. K. Metzler asked about evasive plants and Mr. Ferris said they did not find any.
A discussion was held on the ongoing maintenance plan and the conservation easement. A discussion was held on the permits. S. Yorgensen commented that the bond was for the monitoring plan. K. Metzler asked who was responsible for the long term maintenance of the conservation easement. S. Yorgensen said she will look into it.
F. Dirrigl motioned to release the escrow account based on the findings of the monitoring plan. D. Schreiber seconded the motion.
F. Dirrigl commented that he felt they went above and beyond with the 10 year monitoring plan. K. Metzler said he felt it was a success. D. Schreiber said he did not feel the stream was a failure because eventually leaves will come down and seal the bed.
All in favor. Motion carried.
Correspondence
1. Letter from the Willington Conservation Commission regarding the sand and silt from storm run-off that they feel is adversely affecting Taylor Pond.
2. CBA Education & Training Planning & Zoning seminar scheduled for March 28, 2009
3. State of CT DEP letter regarding the Permit Application for Lower Pelican Pond Dam.
4. Town of Windham Water Works letter on demolishing a garage in which they have no objections.
5. State of CT DEP letter regarding the Aquifer Protection Area Program, Notice of Non-Compliance.
Approval of Minutes
T. Gutowski had a question on Mr. Amedy’s comment about the wording in item #2, completed and stabilized, in which he felt was a “play on words”. A discussion was held.
R. Peloquin motioned to approve the minutes of December 8, 2008. D. Schreiber seconded the motion. K. Metzler and F. Dirrigl abstained. All others in favor. Motion carried.
Staff Report
Draft Aquifer Regulations
A discussion was held on the letter from State of Ct DEP stating they were out of compliance.
S. Yorgensen commented that there are 2 Aquifers in town and that’s what they’ll regulate. She said the DEP wants them to put the areas on the map and regulate them. And then, when Tolland completes theirs, they want the commission to do it all over again. A discussion was held on the mapping.
T. Gutowski said the only things they can change are the fees and the mapping. She said they have to take their map and overlay it onto our map. A discussion was held on the regulated area. A discussion was held on the starting and ending point. The commission agreed it started near the school and ended around Fisher Hill. K. Metzler asked if this was based on public water supply and S. Yorgensen said yes.
T. Gutowski asked if any other towns have these regulations. S. Yorgensen said yes.
The commission agreed to read and edit the regulations for the next meeting. When completed, they will send to the attorney to review and set a public hearing at a later date.
Draft Logging Regulations
S. Yorgensen said the Town of Kent’s Forest Regulations will be used as Willington’s proposed regulations but they need to be edited. F. Dirrigl said he will take a look at the definitions for consistency with the wetland definitions.
S. Yorgensen said she will get a revised draft and email it to the commission for review and editing before having the attorney review it. After which time, it will go to Public Hearing.
D. Schreiber said he did not feel they should have Forestry and Inland Wetland meetings on the same day. He felt they should be different meetings.
James Poole was in attendance and commented that he felt it may cause undue burden on the applicant if they have to attend two meetings. T. Gutowski asked if Forestry Regulations are adopted, would they come before us for a Forestry permit and then come before us for a Wetland permit. S. Yorgensen said yes but they would generally go to Wetlands first. A discussion was held on whether or not it should be 2 meetings and the fact that it would be 2 applications and 2 fees. T. Gutowski asked S. Yorgensen to find out how the Town of Kent handles its. A discussion was held on the fees.
Mr. Poole commented that 16 towns, including Willington, have the ability to write their own requirements. He said the remaining towns must follow the wetland regulations and statute says Inland Wetland should make the decision.
A discussion was held on the certification of the Foresters. A discussion was held on the clear cutting and the path followed for approval.
K. Metzler commented that it would be a burden for this commission to take this on and it would be quite a while before they were up to speed.
A discussion was held on clarifying what the commission’s choices were. S. Yorgensen asked them to think about what they want to do. The commission asked for an electronic copy of the proposed regulations.
Draft Wetland Regulations
S. Yorgensen said T. Gutowski went thru the regulations and updated them per the public acts and new model regulations.
T. Gutowski asked S. Yorgensen to send the file to the commission electronically so they can see the red lined changes. S. Yorgensen said, in regards to the fee schedule, the new regulations require an applicant to pay for additional review costs. T. Gutowski said she did not change the fees because she wanted to discuss them with the commission.
T. Gutowski explained that S. Yorgensen put together fees of surrounding towns and estimated the amount of time spent on an applicant. The commission was provided copies of these documents. S. Yorgensen briefly explained the calculations.
R. Peloquin suggested they look at the fees schedule they have but base it on re-submission of revised plans. A discussion was held on revisions and applications that are incomplete. F. Dirrigl suggested they specify that a fee is for a single review by the town engineer and anything above and beyond would be additional. S. Yorgensen said it depends on who does the review. A discussion was held on the consultant fees listing in Ashford’s fee schedule. F. Dirrigl will email working documents to the commission members.
Meeting Adjourned
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