Inland Wetland and Watercourse Commission
40 Old Farms Road, Willington, CT ~06279
July 8, 2013
Corrected date
Meeting Minutes
Members Present:
Dave Schreiber – Co-Chairman
Tess Gutowski
Mark Drobney
Evan Brand
Members Absent:
Heather Dionne – Alternate - excused
Greg Blessing – Alternate - excused
Regular Meeting
D. Schreiber called the meeting to order at 7:38.
New Business
W2013-24 Application for Timber Harvest at 258 Village Hill Road (Map 47 Lot 11 Zone R80) Owner: Jennifer Avallone Applicant: R & J Harvesting, LLC (Received July 8, 2013 Public Hearing or decision by September 9, 2013)
Joseph Theroux, a Professional Forester, was present for Richard Labbe of R & J Harvesting. He said Mr. Labbe is harvesting approximately 15,000 board feet on the property. Mr. Theroux said the size of the property is approximately 10.9 acres and R & J is going to be harvesting 5 acres of the property; the remaining acres are wetlands. Mr.Theroux presented the map submitted and said Mr. Labbe was not aware he had to do a wetland crossing to get to the remainder of the property. Mr. Theroux conducted a site walk and said the crossing will be 75 to 100 feet in length and will consist of log corduroy and portable bridges. He showed the landing area and the woods driveway on the map and said there is no other possible route in or out.
Mr. Theroux said the wetlands are not accurately mapped on the WINCOG GIS mapping and he is going to draft a more accurate map. He said he was also hired to rectify the boundary lines so he will have them flagged on the site. T. Gutowski asked if any cutting has been done and Mr. Theroux said no. Mr. Theroux said the timber has been marked by Hull Forest Products but the applicant ended up going with Mr. Labbe of R & J Harvesting instead.
Mr.Theroux said R & J Harvesting will do a 14 inch and up harvest. He said he see the application as a permitted use as of right but the commission may want to view it as a regulated use because of the crossing. A discussion was held on the wetlands and the area the applicant will be cutting. Mr. Theroux said the area is very flat so there are a lot of perched water tables and the wetlands are not contiguous, they are spotty.
S. Yorgensen said she would email the revised map to the Commission prior to the next meeting. T. Gutowski asked the date of the next meeting and S. Yorgensen said not until September. A discussion was held on remanding the application to Staff. S. Yorgensen said, if remanded to Staff, she would make it conditional on Mr. Theroux overseeing the job, since he is a licensed forester. Mr. Theroux said, because of the long wetland crossing and the amount of interspersed wetlands, this job absolutely has to be done when it is bone dry or frozen solid. He recommend the project be done in August when the area is much dryer rather than September, assuming the rains let up. T. Gutowski asked if anyone has looked at the National Diversity Data Base and the Commission looked at the map. S. Yorgensen said there
is nothing in the area.
T. Gutowski motioned to remand application W2013-24 to Staff. M. Drobney seconded the motion. All in favor. Motion carried.
Correspondence
Minutes
T. Gutowski motioned to approve the minutes of June 10, 2013. E. Brand seconded the motion. All in favor.
Staff Report and Discussion
The Commission reminded S. Yorgensen to write a letter to the Board of Selectmen regarding Hockla Farms Road because it is obvious there is a water problem.
Discussion was held on the newspaper articles regarding the Zombie Run application that was withdrawn.
Meeting adjourned at 8:02.
Respectfully Submitted,
Michele Manas
Recording Clerk
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