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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin of conservation com 03/22/2004 / ". (' C . c .. M. ~tCEWt' f \CE onservation ommlSSlon eeting ,~,: ! r I ~ P \(. S Of March 22, 20(4) '\ ..' ...... . . Present: Paul Boyden, Chair; Carole Matthew, Chris Flass, Jerry ~~aJa~$h\itm Diane Ready ~. , Richard Lewis, Conservation and Environmental Planner 1ANSt \ElO 1. MeefiDg called to order.t 7:~p.."" M~S 12. CorrespoJldence "1 Letter from Stephen CumThings re: Conservation Constable appointment. Motion: To send the Board of Selectmen a letter in support of Mr. Cumming's appointment (St. Hilaire-Smith) All in favor. PASSES Mass Audubon program at Moose Hill, Sharon - "Losing Ground" March 24, 2004; Mass Audubon vernal pool workshop at Stony Brook, Norfolk, April I 0, 2004 3. Village Labeling LLC public lteariDg tolltillued- 631 East Street --SE 211-697 The chair reopened the public hearing for the removal of existing buildings and construction of thirteen buildings with parking areas and the installation of utilities and drainage and stonnwater systems, with work within 100 feet of wetland resource areas. Mr. Lewis distributed a letter from PMP with a construction sequence. David Johnson, PMP Associates, explained he has addressed the questions from the last meeting, including the intermittent stream in the lower comer of the property; it is mostly off-site. ~ The second issue raised was the applicability and importance of the 25- and 50-foot no- disturb zone. There is no work proposed within the 25-foot zone, except some grading within 20 feet. The work in the 50-foot zone is primarily the construction of the stonnwater management system; the site has been disturbed and contains structures, vehicles and dirt piles. Staking was done to show the location of proposed buildings and Mr. Lewis has visited the site. Mr. Johnson said they have met once with the Planning Board. Three buildings have been reduced, with four units in each. Two of the three smaller buildings are around the cul-de-sac, and the comer of the building the commission had been concerned about is now outside the 50-foot no disturb zone. There are now three buildings within the 100- foot buffer, and none are within 50 feet. Mr. Bill Brown, applicant, said all the units will have two bedrooms, and 18 bedrooms have been removed. He said the Planning Board had requested the building designs be varied, which has been done. Ms. Matthew asked how far the detention basin is from the wetland flags; Mr. Johnson said it is right up to the flag. Mr. Perrault said there would be grading up to the flags to allow the flow into the wetlands. Ms. Flass said there is a large tree in the area where the detention basin in proposed; Mr. Perrault said that tree could be saved. (' 4/6/2004 Conservation Commission Minutes Page 1 of? Mr. Lewis suggested a site walk during the first week of April, which he said would be the easiest way to determine where the 25 or 50-foot buffer would be appropriate. , .;" {j '" --'. Ms. Flass said her concerns were with the drainage area and building 6. Mr. Lewis said he ~~,;glad,bnilding 6 had been pulled away from the wetland, but was still concerned the ~ing, will.go ~ up to the flagging. Mr. Perrault said there is a lot of flexibility for grading behind those trees. Mr. Perrault said the Planning Board is asking to have some of the land along the river donated to the town, which Mr. Brown has agreed to. [Ms. Ready arrived at this time.] Mr. Perrault said the town engineer wants a full set of plans for review. He said in order to do that, they have to know where the stormwater management system has to be. He said shifting a tree or other fine-tuning can be made conditions of approval. He said he would like the commission to send the Planning Board a message that it is happy with the plan. Mr. Lewis said the commission could do a site walk and set the limit of work, which would give the engineers an idea of what would be acceptable. He didn't recommend the commission sign offuntil the town engineer is satisfied. Mr. Perrault said he would go on the site walk with the commission. Mr. Boyden said the commission would not approve anything until the town engineer is satisfied. The commission will do a site visit on Tuesday, April 6 at 4:30 p.m.; the next meeting will be April 12. Mr. Lewis suggested continuing the public hearing until May 3. He said there are some outstanding issues: areas on the east side behind building 9 that may need work, the outfall from the basin of the sediment forebay and buildings 6 and 7. ~ Ms. Matthew asked about the donation of open space; Mr. Johnson said they would donate the outer riparian area and around the basin, an area about six acres. Ms. Flass asked if there would be any work within the 2oo-foot riverfront area. Mr. Perrault said there would not be, unless there is something within that area that needs to be cleaned up from the current use. The ublic he' will be continued to Ma 3, 2004 at 7:45 .m. 4. Notice ofllltent Pub6e Bearing - Route 106 Reeonstn,adion - Jon Sullivan, Town Engineer - SE211-698 The chairman read the public hearing notice for the installation of new paved surface on portions of Route 106, with bridge and drainage work, with work within 100 feet of certain wetland resource area. John Sullivan, Town Engineer, presented the certified mail cards. Mr. Lewis said there is a DEP file number, SE 211~98. Mr. Sullivan said he has submitted an application to Natural Heritage because the site just barely touches the estimated habitat map. He said he has not heard back from Natural Heritage on the application. '\ 4/6/2004 Conservation Commission Minutes Page 2 of7 , ~ t~ Mr. Sullivan introduced Mark Bertencini and leffPeterson from VHB. r Mr. Sullivan explained the plan for 1.9 miles of roadway reconstruction; the work is outside any wetlands, but falls within the buffer zones of seven different wetlands. The DEP letter questions whether the Canoe River Bridge replacement had to be included in this notice. He said the bridge funding up in the air, so he has left it in the notice. Mr. Sullivan said the project may be exempt under Section 2.2, paragraph 6, which talks about maintenance and repair of roadways, but it requires the commission be notified of the work. He said the project falls under limited project provisions because it is maintenance. The work has been reduced because of a waiver from MassHighway on road width requirements, so the work will remain within the existing roadway except in a couple of intersections. The pavement will be ground; new vertical curbs and new sidewalks will be installed, as well as the replacement of Canoe River Bridge. Mass Highway felt the full replacement is necessary. Mr. Sullivan said the existing abutments would be used for the new bridge. The plan is classified as a redevelopment project because the drainage conditions will be improved; the catch basins and curbing will be replaced. No work will be done within the wetland areas; hay bales will be placed in areas adjacent to wetland areas. There will be some bridge work within 100 feet of the river. There will be about 26,000 square feet temporarily impacted, which is primarily for the repair of the r existing roadway. There will be 350 feet of permanent change for the sidewalk. Mass Highway will be bidding and constructing the project; if it is bid by September 2004, it could be done by the end of the year. The town will continue to maintain the roadway when the work is complete. Ms. Flass asked if the roadway over the Canoe River Bridge is salted; Mr. Sullivan said he didn't know, but the salt would not effect the bridge's construction. Mr. Lewis said he thought the bridge would be a no-salt zone. Mr. Boyden asked if the weight limit would change; Mr. Sullivan said the load design will be increased. Mr. St. Hilaire asked if the existing abutments limit the flow through the river; Mr. Sullivan said the flow will not be impacted by any of this work. Mr. Boyden asked about the curbing; Mr. Sullivan said it would be vertical granite. Mr. Sullivan said the road width is 36 feet. There will be curbing and sidewalks added, as well as some turning lanes and a light at the East StreetJ Route 106 intersection. Mr. Sullivan said they are not planning to have a detour; there will still be two travel lanes over the bridge. Mr. Lewis said the hearing would have to be continued until the Natural Heritage letter arrives. The hearing will be continued to April 12, 2004 at 7:45 p.m. (' 4/6/2004 Conservation Commission Minutes Page 3 of7 '. s. Request for Determination of Applieability - Memorial Park, Hope Street- John Sullivan, Town Engineer The chair read the public hearing notice for the construction of a skateboard park with grading and construction activity within 100 feet of a wetland resource area. ~ Mr. Sullivan explained the site work, which will be done by the DPW and the Engineering Department. The area will be 120 feet by 60 feet, paved and fenced, with the structures on top. Some of the existing wetland flags from the tennis court expansion were found; the engineering department has reshot the remaining flags. There is a 20- foot buffer line from one wetland and a l00-foot buffer from another. No work is proposed within 50 feet of the wetland. An erosion control fence and hay bales will be installed at the top of the slope. The pad for the skateboard park will nearly match existing grades, with slight fill on one end and a slight cut on the other. Test pits and permeability tests have been done; calculations show the water will go back into the ground using stone and a piping system under the pad. The pad will slope slightly toward the path with a trench drain to pick up the water and a piping system to take it back into the ground. With this, all the additional water from the new impervious surface will be taken care of, including the l00-year storm event. Mr. Sullivan said the intention is to have the facility done by the time school gets out in June. There will be a few trees removed, but the two largest will be saved. A sidewalk will eventually be added from the tennis court to the skateboard park. Some new trees will be planted; no lighting is proposed. Mr. Sullivan said the work will remain 50 feet away from the wetlands. ~ Mr. Boyden asked how much maintenance the system under the pad would require; Mr. Sullivan said it would simply be a stone system with perforated pipe to let the water out. Ms. Flass asked about trash; Mr. Sullivan said there would be a 10-foot fence around the park. Mr. Lewis said there are trashcans in Memorial Park that are maintained by DPW. Mr. St. Hilaire said this facility wouldn't be open all the time. Pat Byrnes, Skateboard Park Committee, said it would be supervised with set hours. Mr. Lewis said he has visited the site and is satisfied. Motion: To issue a Negative Three determination with erosion control shown on the plan and notice prior to the start of work (Smith-Ready) All in favor. PASSES Motion: To close the public hearing (Smith-Ready) All in favor. PASSES 6. Request for DetenniDation of Applicability - AageD Street fro. North Main Street to Morini Street and. portion of Morini Street - John Sullivan, Town Engineer 1he chair read the public hearing notice for the reconstruction of Angell Street and a portion of Morini Street with portions of the drainage work within 100 feet of a wetland resource area ') 4/6/2004 Conservation Commission Minutes Page 4 of? .' Mr. Sullivan explained the plan for the reconstruction of Angell Street, which had a water ( line installed two years ago. The road is in bad shape, and has a poor drainage system. The request is for work within the buffer zone, mainly within the right-of-way of the existing street. One drainage outlet pipe will be removed and replaced. The pavement will be ground and the street repaved, a drainage system will be installed with catch basins and four-foot sumps and a tormentor in place of an existing stormceptor to improve water quality. The drainage and trench work will be contracted out, and the DPW will rebuild the roadway itself. The work will begin at North Main Street, loop around Angell and Morini and back to North Main Street. There is an existing pipe discharging into a ditch with a 2-foot pipe under the railroad tracks; the ditch is the wetland area. There will be a drainage system installed for 1,100 feet of Angell Street. The new stonnceptor will have a 24-inch pipe. The pipes along the line will be of varying sizes. Mr. Sullivan said the flow will not be increased. He is proposing to put hay bales at the area of the flared end outlet pipe. Mr. Sullivan said he began looking at this issue when a resident requested he clean out the ditch, which begins at North Main Street, runs over private land and is fed by catch basins on North Main Street. Mr. Lewis said he has visited the area, and most of it is existing lawn. Motion: To issue a Negative Three determination with siltation control installed ~ (Ready-Smith) All in favor. PASSES Motion: To close the ublic hearin ead -Smith) All in favor. PASSES 7. Correspondenee 1. Discussion of Order of Conditions for Fairfield Green, West Street Ms. Ready suggested eliminating the last sentence of Condition E. Mr. St. Hilaire suggested leaving that sentence in; Ms. Ready suggested amending it to read '~s work will be limited to remedial grading and revegetation to protect and enhance adjacent wetland areas." Ms. Ready said Condition I should read "there have been communications." Ms. Matthew said #3 should note the wetland replication and buffer zone work should be done before construction. Mr. Sterling Wall said that was their intention. Mr. Boyden suggested adding that to the end of condition #3. Mr. Lewis said the crossing to get to the south part of the site will have to be completed to get equipment to the back of the site; he said there may be some replication work done in phases depending on its location on the site. Ms. Matthew suggested addinKthe replication work would be done ''to the extent practicable." Mr. Boyden noted the replication will not be all in one spot, so the replication would have to be reasonable. Mr. Boyden ask~ about condition #4; Mr. Lewis said "erosion" should be added to the end of that sentence. (' 4/6/2004 Conservation Commission Minutes Page 5 of? , " Ms. Plass asked about reports; Mr. Lewis said he would like weeldy updates. Mr. Lewis suggested adding a sentence to #3 to read: "to the greatest extent as reasonable and practicable... constructed either prior to or coincidental with foundation grading and prior to any framing work." ~ Ms. Flass asked about Finding H, which she said seems to be the crux of the approval/denial. She suggested adding a reference to Section 2.5 because the grading work is within 25 feet of the wetland area under the local by-law. Mr. Lewis suggested adding that as a new second sentence to Condition E. Mr. Boyden asked about #9, which talks about a qualified specialist described in #5; Mr. Lewis said that should be #4. Ms. Ready asked about # 17; it should read "no" material shall be dumped. Ms. Flass asked if a deed restriction could be added to prevent things like salt being used on the roadway. Mr. Lewis said that could be included in any ZBA permit as well, Ms. Flass asked about snow dumping; Mr. Lewis said the plans show two or three snow dumping areas, and the decision references the plans. Mr. Lewis said #18 is a standard condition in every order the commission issues; he said the project is still before the ZBA and if there are any revisions made by that board to the plans, the commission would have to decide if there is less work in the buffer zone or less impact; the commission could then issue another order. If there is more work or more impact, the commission could decide if a new notice was needed. ~ Ms. Flass said she wished the work could have been pulled further from the wetland line and the density lowered, but she said they seem to meet the requirements of the by.law. Ms. Matthew said she didn't think the plan meets the criteria of no long-term cumulative effect because of the density, the stonnwater system and the impervious surface. Mr. Boyden said he was concerned about something happening at the ZBA meeting that would substantially change the plans. He said he was concerned about the long-term effects of this project on Hodges Brook. Mr. Lewis said he would make the above changes to the decision. Motion: To approve the Order of Conditions as amended (Smith-St. Hilaire) Five in favor. Matthew opposed. PASSES 2. Request for Certificate of Compliance - 254 Elm Street - SE211-194 Mr. Lewis said this was originally issued in 1987 for a septic system and grading work; he has visited the site and didn't see any problems. Motion: To issue the final certificate of compliance (Flass-Smith) All in favor. PASSES ~ 4/6/2004 Conservation Commission Minutes Page 6 of7 ,... ,. .' ,,-- 3. Discussion of warrant article on dirt bikes, etc. on conservation land. Mr. Lewis said this would allow the commission to post signs at each conservation area to put users on notice about what can and cannot be done on the land. Mr. Lewis said enforcement is very difficult, and hopes having this bylaw on the books would provide some level of deterrent. Mr. Lewis said he would send a memo to the Town Manager to let him know what the commission's intent really is. 4. Mr. Boyden said he had spoken with Mr. D' Agostino about the money spent on the Walnut Street issue. Mr. Lewis said he has spoken with Mr. Mangiaratti regarding the legal bill; Mr. Mangiaratti will be drafting a response. Mr. Lewis said Mr. Mangiaratti sent a letter to Mr. Clemmey's attorney requesting a response to questions the commission had asked quite a while ago. He said the soils expert the town hired looked at the wetland area and found it was at least the 7,800 square feet referred to in the VHB report. Mr. Lewis said Dr. Carr is preparing a response to that report. Mr. Lewis said Mr. Clemmey has requested a gravel removal permit to remove the berm adjacent to the wetland area. Mr. Lewis has spoken with Mr. Sullivan, who said the proposed grade lines are incomplete because they don't tie in. Mr. Sullivan has spoken with the Appledore design engineer and asked him to provide another plan showing the area being disturbed. Mr. Lewis said there is an existing Order of Conditions on the whole site, and Mr. Clemmey wants a revised order for this work. However, without seeing the revised plan, Mr. Lewis said he is not inclined to make any changes. 5. Mr. Lewis said there will be a hearing on April 15 on the Carrigan/School Street case; r Attorney Susan Jacobs plans to ask for a summary judgment. Mr. Boyden asked for volunteers for a vice chairman. Ms. Matthew nominated Mr. St. Hilaire; Mr. St. Hilaire nominated Ms. Flass. Ms. Matthew withdrew her nomination of Mr. St. Hilaire. Ms. Matthew nominated Mr. Bean. Motion: To appoint Mr. Bean vice chairman (Matthew-Ready) All in favor. PASSES 6. Minutes October 27,2003, November 17,2003, January 12,2004, January 26, 2004, February 9, 2004 Motion: To approve as submitted (Flass-St. Hilaire) All in favor. PASSES Mr. Lewis said because one of the 40B projects is under appeal, those units cannot be counted toward the town's 10 percent affordable housing by-law. He said there is an inclusionary zoning article on the Annual Town Meeting warrant, which would require a certain number of affordable units in every new development. 1.4. . Adjoununent Mono . To adjourn at 10:30 p.m. (Flass-Matthew) All in favor. PASSES Da fNext M ting: April 12, 2004 at 7:30 p.m. d~;:::;/aJ t/ Da f Approval / (' 4/6/2004 Conservation Commission Minutes Page 70f7 ,- '. ---., .~ ~