HomeMy WebLinkAboutCONSERVATIONminutes06152009
Conservation Meeting
June 15,2009
Present: Joe Mulkern, Chairman; Paul Boyden, Vice Chair; Jack Smith; Derek House; Carole
Matthew; Michele White; Michele Grenier, Conservation and Environmental Planner.
IJ. Meeting called to order at7:00 pm.
I 2. Nathan and Kenneth Meyers ~ Eagle Scout Project.
As his Eagle Scout project, Nathan Meyers presented a plan with pictures to the board to clean up
Corporal Robert Francis Hardy Park, formerly known as Maple Street Park
Nathan told the board he will be cleaning approximately 2.5 miles of pathway to get rid of excess
growth and trash. Paths will remain the same width and length. Any cuttings will be left on the side
of the trail to provide cover for small animals. Larger trees that have fallen will be left on the
pathways to discourage A TV and motorbikes from using the trails. Presently the trails are unmarked;
Nathan will mark the trails with different color markers (orange, blue, green and red) attached to the
right side of the paths on both sides. He will be using cans with the tops and bottoms removed for the
markers.
A new sign will be placed at the Maple Street entrance; attached to the sign will be a box containing
smaller copies of the map.
The fire hydrants on the property will be scraped and repainted under the direction of the water
department.
Nathan told the board he hopes the project will bring more attention to the area with more people
enjoying the park. In cleaning up the trails, he hopes to increase the visitors to the park and stop the
use of dirt bikes and A TV s.
Nathan will ask the DPW to install more boulders at the entrance to the park to prevent motorbikes or
ATV.
Scouts and volunteers will be using hand tools only; power tools will only be necessary for the
building of the sign. Nathan told the board he plans to build most of the sign at home and transport it
to the park. When power tools are used there will be adult supervision.
Nathan will inform the fire department where and when he will be working in case of an emergency.
Joe Mulkern asked when he would start the project. Nathan said within a week of being approved by
council, he hopes to start, completing the project within a month. He told the board the project will
take between 150 to 250 hours to complete and will cost approximately $1,200.00. Nathan will be
asking members of his church and his troop to help with the project. The project will be completed by
the end of the summer of 2009.
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Michele told him there are a considerable amount of wetlands on the property, so he will have to be
sure not to allow any dumping in these areas. She asked that he call Conservation when he starts the
project.
Derek House made the motion to approve the project with a vote of confidence and follow up with a
letter to the Annown Council.
Passed 6-0.
The board discussed additional parking for the park. The lack of parking was an issue when the park
was dedicated to Robert Hardy. The board will take a look at the parking area to see if more spaces
can be added. A site walk is planned for June 24th at 6:00 pm.
3. Extension Permit for an Order of Conditions --Stacie and Jimmy Hooper, 73 Campbell
Street- #211-0721
The homeowner came before the board May 18, 2009 for a Certificate of Compliance but because the
garage which was part of the original filing had not been completed, the board suggested an extension
of the order be issued instead. A motion was made to grant the extension at the May 18th meeting. It
was then discovered the OC had expired. The original Order of Conditions was dated December 1,
2005. Dick Keller of DEP was called; he said there is no grace period, the applicant must refile.
Derek House asked if there was any follow-up on permits after 3 years. Michele said no, it is up to
the engineers of the project or the applicant. The Hoopers were not aware the OC has expired.
The board asked why they were not made aware of this. Carole asked when the request for the
Certificate of Compliance was filed if Michele had looked up the OC and was aware it was expired;
when did we find out it was expired? Michele told her she looked up the conditions but did not know
it was expired. Michele reminded the board the Hoopers were before us for a certificate of
compliance not an extension.
The homeowner will be notified to re-file. Paul said the board would waive the cost ofre-filing.
Hearing ended at 7:25 pm.
I 4. Certificate of Compliance: Daniel Faasse,47 Marshall Avenue - #211-696
Daniel Faasse, the homeowner was present.
The original filing was for construction of a front porch, 2 decks, a 36x36 house-garage addition and
a driveway within the 100 ft. buffer zone; the original house is in the 25 ft. area. Wetlands were
altered; wood chips had been placed in the wetlands and small shrubs had been removed -
approximately 1640 sq. ft. of bordering vegetated wetlands were altered. Mr. Faasse told the board
because no hydric soils had been removed the replication of the altered area has done well. Even
though the house is within the 25 ft. buffer, the project was allowed to go forward because the area
had already been disturbed. The house was built in 1999.
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Mr. Faasse informed the board he was in the same position as the Hoopers-his Order of Conditions
has also expired. The Order of Conditions for 47 Marshall Avenue was issued on January 26,2004.
In the findings of the Order of Conditions the Commission acknowledged that work within the 25 ft.
wetland line was proposed but the board approved the work under the provisions of2.5 of the
Mansfield by-law. Condition #1 of the Special Conditions has been met; wood chips have been
removed from the altered area and the area seeded with a Wetland seed mix [New England
Environmental]. 6 highbush blueberry bushes, 4 cinnamon ferns and 4 swamp azaleas have also been
planted. After the seeding and planting, the area was allowed to re-vegetate naturally.
Paul Boyden asked when the replication was started. Mr Faasse said the replication was done in
2005 after construction was completed; the wood chips were removed at this time, the hydric soils
underneath were still intact and the area was planted and seeded. The wetland mix has 3 years of
growth and the swamp azaleas and blueberry bushes have 2 years growth. Paul asked if any of the
plants had failed. Mr. Faasse told the board one fern has died; all of the other plantings are doing
well.
Carole Matthew asked if any pictures had been taken before and after the project was complete and if
pictures were taken of the replication area. Michele said none were taken before but she said she had
taken some from the road 2 weeks ago - she told the board the replication area is in the back of the
house so none were taken. The board asked her to get the pictures - when she returned she told the
board the office camera's batteries were dead and she must have taken them with her own camera.
She will bring the camera from home tomorrow and e-mail the pictures in the morning. She was
asked to take additional pictures of the replication area.
Paul Boyden and Carole Matthew would like to see the original plan and minutes of the meeting
(1/12/04) along with the pictures. Paul Boyden asked Mr. Faasse if there was a reason he needed the
COC now. Derek House asked ifhe was selling the house, if the COC was needed immediately. Mr.
Faasse said no, it needed to be done and he wanted to clear the title.
Joe Mulkern asked that the old minutes be pulled, to tie everything together and have Mr. Faasse
return for the next meeting.
Derek House asked ifMr. Faasse would mind if the board went out to look at the property. Mr.
Faasse gave permission. He also told the board he may have some pictures of when the house was
built.
Paul Boyden made the motion to table the hearing until the next meeting.
Carole seconded.
Passed 6-0.
Hearing ended at 7 :40 pm.
I 5. Notice oflntent:Andrew Austin,473 Bird Road-#211-0832
Andrew Austin, the homeowner, was present.
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Notice of Intent was filed for the expansion of a deck within the 100 ft. buffer of bordering vegetated
wetlands. The property is also in an Estimated Habitat of Rare Wildlife and an ACEC, the Canoe
River. The house was built in 1998.
Michele told the board the lOx 10ft addition will be approximately 42 ft. from the wetland line- the
deck extension will not be any closer to the wetlands than the existing deck. The deck will extend
from the comer of the house and will be on existing lawn.
Derek House asked if any reports had been received from Natural Heritage. Michele told him under
the regulations (321 CMR 10.14) of MESA, a deck is exempt from a Natural Heritage filing.
Paul Boyden asked Mr. Austin how many footings would be needed for the addition. Mr. Austin said
there would be 3 new footings.
Because the project is exempt from a filing with MESA, Paul Boyden said he discussed the project
with Nick Riccio; they came to the conclusion if the homeowner agreed to do the footing at the
comer of the house by hand, perhaps the filing would not be necessary. Mr. Austin would be
required to submit an as built for the file. He felt the filing fees could be returned to Mr. Austin.
Carole Matthew said if an OC is not issued, she would like a letter to be added to the file stating there
would be no further encroachment within the 25 ft. Mr. Austin told the board he would be digging all
the posts by hand but questioned the no work order; does that include the whole property? Michele
told him no, only the comer of the house where the new addition to the deck is. She told him he
would have to re-file for any work in that area. Michele reminded the board the wetlands are the
issue here; the project is outside the 25 ft. area but only 42 ft. from the wetlands.
Joe Mulkern made the motion to accept the plan for 473 Bird Road, plan dated August 2, 1999, and
to issue an Order of Conditions with the added conditions: no encroachment within the 25 ft. no
disturb zone, with any additional work requiring a new filing; the post holes will be dug by hand; an
as built is to be submitted. No siltation barrier is required.
Paul seconded.
Passed 6-0.
Hearing ended at 7:55 pm.
16... Notice of Intent: Keith. and Kelly.Wells~3()FredricL1lne..#211..0833
Keith Wells, homeowner and David Hobaica of Easton Pool and Spa.
Notice of Intent was filed for the installation of an 18x36 Freeform in-ground pool with concrete
decking. The pool will be located on the existing lawn. Site is within an Estimated Habitat of Rare
Wildlife and an ACEC, the Canoe River.
Michele told the board Natural Heritage has been notified but they have not responded. She told the
board the pool will be approximately 140 ft. from the back property line; the wetland line is well over
100 ft. away. The plan does not show abutting properties or the wetlands.
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Joe Mulkern said this goes back to our request that plans submitted show surrounding properties;
Paul had asked that the board not accept plans without abutting properties on plans because there
could be resource areas or other concerns such as vernal pools on the properties. Carole Matthew
would like a measurement from the wetland line to the pool instead of from the property line.
Dave Hobiaca said there is an existing above-ground pool on the property. Michele said the in-
ground pool will be closer to the house but out ofthe 100 ft. buffer.
Derek House asked if the board can issue an OC without the MESA report. Michele said Orders of
Conditions have issued before the reports from MESA have been received because a lot of times a
report is never issued from MESA. Derek said he did not want to issue the OC and then find out
there were Natural Heritage issues. Dave told the board not to issue the OC until the report has been
received.
Carole Matthew wants the OC to stipulate no more encroachment in the 50 ft. area.
Derek House asked if siltation would be required. Michele said siltation fence and hay bales would
be necessary.
Derek House asked about the above-ground pool; how will it be taken down? Was it a chlorinated
pool and how would the pool be drained? Dave told him it was hydrogen peroxide not chlorine and
the pool would be removed before the installation of the in-ground pool. Derek asked if the siltation
fence and hay bales could be put in prior to the disassembling of the old pool and if the water could
be filtered through the hay bales.
The board asked Dave Hobiaca about the filtration system for the new pool; it will be a salt pool or
hydrogen peroxide.
Derek House made the motion to accept the plan for an 18x36 Freeform in-ground pool with 1,000
sq. ft. of concrete decking at 30 Fredric Lane based on the following provisions: the filing can be
withdrawn if MESA issues a negative report; no further encroachment within 50 ft. of the wetland
line; siltation fencing and hay bales be installed prior to the disassembling of the existing above-
ground pool to allow the drained water to filter through the hay bales - siltation fence/hay bales to be
placed so the water from old pool will drain in front of the siltation barrier.
Joe Mulkern seconded.
Carole Matthew was concerned about the 50 ft. wetland line. She feels there should be a point of
reference because of the rare species. Joe Mulkern asked if the board wanted the applicant to flagged
the wetlands; should he hire someone or can Michele do the flagging?
Derek House added as a final condition that the applicant be required to submit an as built plan for
the pool with the markings of the closest wetland area; applicant will have 2 reference points.
Michele said there should be a couple of flags. Paul Boyden asked that an engineer be hired to flag
the wetlands.
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As an amendment to motion, the applicant is required to submit an as built plan for the pool with the
markings of the closest wetland area; applicant must have 2 reference points. Applicant will be
required to hire an engineer to flag the wetlands.
Carole Matthew seconded.
Passed 6-0.
Hearing ended at 8: 12 pm.
17.. After-the-Fact Notice of Intent: 69 King Street- #211-0834
Michael Donovan, Fidelity Joint Ventures, Inc. and Ralph Maloon, RIM Engineering were present.
Ralph Maloon told the board the plans are basically the same as submitted before. The foundation is
49 ft. from the wetlands. The grading is the same minus the fill pile and no further filling would be
done.
Joe Mulkern told the applicant there could be zoning issues now that the house has been moved. The
overhang was never considered. He said zoning considers not just the foundation but the overhang
and the gutters now have to be taken into consideration. The overhang is not considered part of the
existing footprint. There is a 2.2 overhang. Because of the overhang, the measurements for the
house are off. Ralph Maloon told the board the dimensions of the overhang are in the upper right
hand comer of the plan.
Paul Boyden said the footprint of the original house should have been carried over to the new
location, that's the way the law works - the house does not meet that footprint. In an early hearing,
Derek House had questioned if the house in it's present location, because it had been moved, would
meet ZBA set backs. He feels the project now needs to go before zoning. Michele questioned why it
was a ZBA issue. She said she could see why it would be a building issue but not ZBA. Paul told
her the original footprint should have been carried over - that's the way the law works. The house
does not meet the footprint.
Michele asked why the original house did not have to go before zoning. Paul told her there would
not have been any zoning issues if the original house had been tom down and re-built on the existing
footprint because nothing would have changed. Now it has been moved to a different location, the
house has changed - if you are going to move the original footprint the footprint moves to the new
location.
Joe Mulkern thinks Mr. Donovan and Ralph along with members of the board should sit down with
Nick and the Zoning Board to discuss this project.
Paul requested a postponement for 69 King Street until the potential zoning issues have been
resolved.
Michael Donovan: "I'm confused that the house got this far - it has been issued a certificate of
occupancy. I just want to expedite this as best we can. Somebody wants the house, they've made an
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offer on it and they want to close. I just want to address everyone's concerns, address what they are
and find out as best we can how to move forward. I prefer, based on that, not to wait to have them
corne in to the next meeting on July 20th."
Derek told Mr. Donovan this board does not know how this project got this far either. He said the
board is just trying to make sure, not only that we get this one right but, that in the future, this does
not happen again.
Michael Donovan told the board he would make himself available to meet as soon as possible. He
also asked if it is determined not to be a zoning issue, would it be possible to have the conservation
issues already taken care of so he doesn't have to corne back for another hearing. Joe Mulkern feels
the zoning issues need to be resolved first; the board agreed.
Joe Mulkern made the motion to continue to an unspecified date.
Derek seconded.
Passed 6-0.
Hearing ended at 8:35 pm.
I 8. .Old Business:
Each board member was given a DVD of the June 3, 2009 meeting for 69 King Street and asked to
review the meeting along with the draft of the minutes. Paul Boyden asked that they make additions
or corrections as needed and return to Jane.
Carole Matthew asked about the Maple Street vernal pool restoration; she had asked Michele for the
restoration plan - Carole has not received the plan. She thinks the board should take a look at the
restoration plan, the monitoring of the vernal pool and think about signs for the area. She thinks a
site visit should be done. The vernal pool will be part of the site visit for the Robert Francis Hardy
Park and the possibility of additional parking for the park on June 24th.
Site visits on June 24,2009 at 6:00 pm starting at Maple Park parking, than Maple Street (40-92)
vernal pool restoration.
Addendum to the Little League contract - waiting for approval by Little League; the contract has
been sent to Peter Smith.
Paul reminded the board Town Meeting is June 16th. The last article is Article 40 which is the
amendment to 2.5. He wanted to make sure the amendment that will be presented at the meeting is
worded correctly.
Michele White originally thought the first line of the amendment should read bordering vegetated
wetlands instead of resource area but after reading 2.5 more thoroughly, she thinks it should be
resource area because it already allows for work within some resource areas not just bordering
vegetated wetland, namely resource improvement projects such as cleaning of streams.
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After much discussion, it was decided that [bordering vegetated wetlands] would be changed back to
[resource areas].
The article to be approved will read: [2.5 The following activities may be permitted within 25' of a
resource area: the creation of wetland replacement or mitigation areas, installment of drainage
outfalls, grading work associated with additions to existing single family homes, work on existing
commercial or industrial facilities that have a de minimis impact to the resource areas and their
function and value, the maintenance and construction of trails, resource improvement projects, such
as cleaning of streams or the creation of park areas. These exceptions will be reviewed on a case by
case basis.]
Bird Road Discussion:
The board inquired about the timeline of this project.
Michele: "They had a consultant up until several weeks prior to coming to the hearing when they
asked me to help them and we sent out a package to Natural Heritage when they came to me with the
Notice of Intent. They had prepared that on their own and they had come to me with the NOI to
review it. That's when we sent out the information to Natural Heritage. Natural Heritage came back
to us several weeks later saying they wanted a MESA report.
Paul: "What were they originally told; did they need to file this report or not?" Michele: "Right, I
hadn't heard from them since then." Paul: No, no, that's not my question. Were they told to file or
not to file? What did you tell them way back?" Michele: "They were told by this board." Paul: "no
they weren't told by this board." Michele: "No, no. I didn't tell them." Paul: "You didn't tell them
not to file this?" Michele: "Because they weren't sure on a site when they came to us originally."
Paul: "I'm going to repeat one more time. You didn't tell them not to file this?" Michele: "No I
didn't tell them anything when they first came. I said we had to notify Natural Heritage. And that's
what we did at that time. We notified Natural Heritage by sending them a copy of the NO!."
Paul said it appeared as if the paperwork was sent in early May to MESA. He thought this should
have gone out in the beginning. Derek asked if the Electric Department had been notified about
filing with Natural Heritage before they filed the NO!.
Carole: "Speaking ofthat now that we are talking about it, I remember Derek and I asked if you had
told-what was the woman engineer who first came before us-you told us you had sent her a letter to
tell her there was a 100 ft. buffer around a rare species area. I think we asked you 3 or 4 times if she
knew, correct? You said you sent her a letter. We have asked for that letter. I don't think you ever
produced that letter.
Michele: I don't recall that, Carole. I can go through my correspondence." Michele said she had
sent a letter reminding the Electric Department of the 100 ft. buffer around Rare Species.
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National Grid: Discussion about letter concerning the by-law and if a letter and/or phone call had
been received by National Grid.
Paul: "In the May 2008 minutes, you were asked if you had called National Grid and then you said
you had sent them a letter telling them we had a by-law. We have never seen the letter. I asked Jane
to call them and ask if they ever received a phone call and their answer was negative. And secondly,
I said could they produce a letter and send it back to us and they said they never received a letter.
They never had a letter to send."
Michele told the board that she had sent a copy of the by-law to National Grid. Paul asked her where
the letter was that went with the by-law. She told him she would produce it for the board. Paul:
"Please do, because we could not find it."
The board members were given wetland by-laws from other towns. Derek said there are many great
ideas and thinks Mansfield should incorporate some of the better ideas into the by-law. Michele told
the board you would have to rewrite the by-law. Derek said he was not looking to over-ride the by-
law; only add procedural things. Derek was asked to write down anything he thought should be
added and will present them to the board.
I 9. Adjournment:
Adjourned at 9: 10 pm
Derek House/Paul Boyden
Passed 6-0.
Next meeting will be July 20, 2009
C1~
Joseph Mttlkern, Chairman
t',/w.-
7-;10-0/,
Date
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