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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCONSERVATIONminutes12102007-20080125105113 Conservation Meeting December 10,2007 Present: Colin Cauldwell, Chair; Carole Matthew; Cindy Ostrowski; Ben Monachino; Joe Mulkern; Jack Smith; Michele Grenier, Conservation and Environmental Planner. 1'1."~~;;-M~~m1j;;:' 2.Certific~te ,Qf C~Jllpl,att,ce: '<;harle~G'.Hughes' &_J{at~n t. ~Julmbers-HlIgbes~ .. . . 111PlainStre~t.#2l1~071~., . ...." '.', ",., " Charles Hughes and Karen Chamber-Hughes have requested a Certificate of Compliance for 111 Plain Street be issued. The Order of Conditions was issued on January 12,2005. A row of arborvitae trees was planted on the property line between 111 Plain Street and the town owned property to prevent access by motor vehicle to Dario Way. The area has been reseeded. A site visit was performed on December 3rd. Michele told the Commission all the work is in compliance with the Order of Conditions. Everything looks great and she recommends a Certificate of Compliance be issued. Cindy made the motion to issue a Certificate of Compliance for 111 Plain Street. Ben seconded. Passed 6-0. Hearing ended at 7:06 pm. 130N otic~ 'o,tniellt:St=tcey&;iv.tith#tl...roitl.n.(),J6Mill~t().l~(:611l"##2Jl~()804. "1 Michael Trowbridge of hutchins-Trowbridge Associates, Inc. was present. The Notice of Intent was filed for an addition within the 100 ft. buffer of Bordering Vegetated Wetlands and within an Area of Critical Environmental Concem(ACEC), the Canoe River. The addition, 22x17, will replace an existing deck in the back of the house. The addition is located inside the 100 ft. buffer but outside of the 25 ft. no touch. Michele would like the siltation control to be extended 12 ft. She recommends issuance of the Order of Conditions. Because of the addition of a roof in this area, Colin would like dry wells added to the plan. The Commission would like the siltation control extended to 20 ft. Michele asked that Michael submit two (2) plans showing the location of the dry wells for our records. Cindy made the motion to accept the plan for 18 Millstone Court as drawn, with the following conditions; two (2) dry wells be added on the back side of the addition (the back comers) and the siltation control be extended another 20 ft. Michael will submit new plans showing the location of the dry wells. Carole seconded. Passed 6-0. Hearing ended 7: 15 pm. m~~;g~tj~~;I~$~'.. 1. The Commission signed a Certificate of Compliance to be attached to the Enforcement Order for 40 Grove Street. A special condition was added to the Certificate of Compliance; bi-monthly reports will be prepared by a professional or certified wetland scientist, during the 2008 and 2009 growing seasons and submitted to the Mansfield Conservation Commission. 2. The draft for the Gilbert Street Restriction Order was sent to Conservation last week. A copy was given to the Commission members to review and comment on. Michele told the Commission the Restriction is at Natural Heritage, to be re-written to incorporate their comments/additions. No changes can be done to the fmal draft from Natural Heritage; they have the fmal say. A Wildlife Study has not been completed. 3.47 Lancashire Drive, #211-0800: Michele reported that the hay bale line is set and in good shape. The DEP sign has fallen down. Michele called the applicant and he will be on site and will put the sign back up. Colin wanted to know if anything has been done about the piles of dirt near the wetlands. He would like to know what the applicant is going to do with the dirt; he would like the piles moved because they are so close to the wetlands. Can Mr. Catenacci spread out the soil? Colin is concerned about the soil leaching down the bank into the wetlands. Michele will recheck the site. 4. A letter was included in the packages to the Commission that went to the residents of Morrow Street and surrounding streets with wetlands or the river in the vicinity of their property. The Commission would like a signed copy on the town letterhead. 5. A draft deed for Suzanne Estates was received on October 2nd. Copies were given to the Commission members at the meeting to review and for comments. Carole asked about the vernal pools on this site aJ1d wondered if the boulders/living fence and signage have been put in. Colin told her he believes there was a vernal pool in the front of the property that was filled in. He told her all the conditions have probably not been met because the 2 development is not fInished and the conditions are under the sub-division plan. When the sub-division is accepted and the developer applies for the road acceptance, all the conditions will have to be in place. 6. Peter Fontanini, 1301 East Street, DEP # 211-0683: at the last meeting, the Commission asked Michele to check to make sure the Order of Conditions was recorded at the Registry of Deeds and if a Certificate of Compliance was issued. The Order of Conditions has been recorded but a Certificate of Compliance has not been issued and Michele will send him a letter to remind Mr. Fontanini he needs to submit a letter requesting a Certificate of Compliance to get the Order of Conditions removed from his deed. Michele told the Commission that Mr. Fontanini's property is no longer in an Endangered Species Area; the spotted turtle is no longer considered an endangered species. $~;'~ij(~t~~I~~~cij~~~r' "'::.~~t~i;lj~'!~~~~~K. .. Colin: "Am I correct that Mr. Epstein was never notified. To me, the State dropped the ball on this." Carole: "I don't care ifhe was notified or not. I am here to apply the by-law and the state regulations. I can't drive by the property and see the vernal pool has been filled in. I would not be doing my job if I didn't do something about it. At the very least, we should have a wetland scientist go out and look at the site. It is certified and it has a number." Colin: "Here is the problem. You have something rare on your property and someone comes and tells you state law protects it and you didn't know what it is and you destroyed it. " Carole feels Mr. Epstein is very well versed in vernal pools and does not believe he did not know it was a vernal pool. Michele: "He is going to sue the town. I have heard this from two (2) different sources. The vernal pool was not photographed properly. He will take us to court and say the pictures of the egg sac and the fairy shrimp could have been taken anywhere." " Michele told Carole state regulations require piCt\lres be taken of the vernal pool, both wet and dry.: The letter does not say pictures were taken. Carole: "The letter does say pictures were taken." Cindy: "The pictures are of art egg sac and 1 fairy shrimp. They could have been taken anywhere." 3 Michele: "If you read the regulations for vernal pool certification, photos must be taken of the pool, wet and dry. It wasn't done right. It would not hold up in court. Mr. Epstein will say the pictures could have been taken anywhere." Carole: "The letter from Lisa Plagge of Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program (NHESP) to Kyla Bennett, Ph.D., J.D., states the vernal pool (CVP #1968) on the Epstein property on Maple Street in Mansfield, MA, was properly certified in April 1999. The file shows photographs of two egg masses (an obligate vernal pool species) and a fairy shrimp. Michele, you are putting the burden of proof on the Commission and me. It is not up to me or the Commission to prove it was properly certified. It was certified and according to Kyla Bennett, who is a lawyer, it was properly certified and under the Strict Liability law, it will hold up in court." Ben: "Under the Strict Liability Law, the law does not care what your intent was, if you performed the act that caused the damage, you are in trouble by the mere fact that you performed the act. But if the certification was not done properly, by the regulations, legally it is not certified." Michele: "It was inappropriately certified, without proper information and it won't hold up in court. It was certified by the state because they know Kyla. They certified it without proper information." Carole: "That's your opinion, Michele. That is slander. You should be careful about what you say." Michele: "Marea Gabriel from Natural Heritage sent the file to me. There is only a picture of a fairy shrimp and one of an egg sac. It does not show the vernal pool, wet or dry." Ben: "What matters is what is in the file because that is what will be presented in court." Cindy: "Why can't we do the same with this situation as we did with 40 Grove Street? Why isn't it the same? Why can't a wetland scientist be hired?" Colin told her the vernal pool is gone. There are no vernal pool species left. Cindy wanted to know why the Commission doesn't hire a wetland scientist to dig and find evidence of the vernal pool. Michele explained in order to certify a vernal pool you have to find 2 egg masses of an obligate species. Fairy Shrimp alone are not going to certify a pool. This is a different situation. On 40 Grove Street, wetlands were fill~d in not a vernal pool. You can dig 10 years from now in wetlands and find species. Once a vernal pool is destroyed, you can't bring it back. Ben said the file and letter mean nothing if it was done improperly. 4 Michele said it could void the certification because regulations state you need pictures of 2 species and pictures taken of the vernal pool in a wet state and a dry state. This is on the form for certifying a vernal pool. She said she was told by DEP, because there are no endangered species in the vernal pool at this time, DEP or Natural Heritage will not do anything about it. She told the Commission she has called another person at DEP and is still waiting to hear from them. Colin feels the Commission needs to fmd out if the application was done correctly. Michele reminded them the form states the owner must be notified ifknown. Mr. Epstein was not notified. Carole: "Then they (Natural Heritage) should not have certified the vernal pool." Michele: "They should not have." Colin: "If they made a mistake, we can't depend on the paperwork. We are relying on their ability to back our contention this was a certifiable vernal pool." Michele: "If they are saying they are not going to do anything about it because there is no obligate species in it, that's another thing they are falling down on. Why certify a vernal pool if there is no endangered species in it." Carole: "Between that file, this letter and the other letter and the fact the owner was not notified, we have to have this clarified." Colin would like aletter sent to DEP asking them to analysis this application. Then ifit was done correctly, if it is a defendable application, Conservation is right in going forward with this. "We need to know if it was done properly, can DEP defend this in a court oflaw? We need to get DEP's opinion on this as soon as possible." Cindy would like an outside party to say if the certification is right or wrong. Carole suggested that a soil scientist be retained by the Commission to look at the soils beneath the fill to confirm the vernal pool was filled in. Carole said Kyla Bennett agrees with her suggestion. Cindy: "Michele, are you going to follow up on this?" Michele will submit all files and letters to DEP for their legal department to look at. Carole wanted to know why the Commission doesn't go to Town Counsel for his opinion. Cindy would rather have the file submitted to DEP for a ruling first before getting Town Counsel involved. Ben agreed. He feels, after the DEP ruling, Town 5 Counsel can tell the Commission what can be done if the vernal pool was not properly certified. Michele will contact DEP before she involves Town Counsel. Colin would like the larger vernal pool in the back of the property certified as soon as possible. Michele told the Commission she is updating the Open Space and Recreation Plan. She would like to set up a workshop for January 14th to review the plan with the Commission and the public. The workshop will have to be advertised. 8 Patriot's Way: The Commission asked if the letter had been sent to homeowners in the sub-division of Patriot's Way in regard to the wetlands in the area. Michele will check to see how many of the houses have wetland concerns. The Commission had asked Michele to contact the Nature Conservatory. She told the Commission she had called and asked that information be sent. Cindy called the Conservatory and received brochures on the Taunton River Watershed. She gave each Commissioner a copy and asked if the Commission would like more information from them. Carole made the motion to accept the minutes as written. Ben seconded. I. ' Passed 5-0 with Colin abstaining. ~ Cindy made the motion to adjourn at 8:20 pm. Ben seconded. Passed 6-0. Next meeting will be 1anuary 14,2007 gl.~ Colin Ca dwell, Chairman /- J) - 0 Y Date 6