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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-04-02 Conservation Commission Minutes i Conservation Commission Minutes Senior Center April 2, 1997 Members Present Joseph W Lynch, Chairman, Albert Manzi,Jr, Vice Chairman, Scott Masse,John Mabon,Beth Wescott,Associate Member,and Deborah Feltovic Joseph Mottola and Robert Mansour were absent Staff Present Michael D Howard,Richelle Martin and Karen A Fitzgibbons The meeting was called to order at 7 05 pm Minutes: January 8d'and January 22d, 1997 On a motion by Mr Manzi, seconded by Ms Feltovic,the Commission voted unanimously to approve the minutes of January 8t"and January 22"d, 1997 February 19"',March 12'h and March 19", 1997 No action was taken on the above referenced minutes General Business: DISCUSSION-DPW Hydroraking at Stevens Pond(M.Howard) Mr Howard stated that Bill Hmurciak,DPW Director,approached him about the feasibility of"raking" Stevens Pond "Hydroraking"is used as a means of controlling invasive, submerged vegetation that becomes extremely thick from year to year and grows to a point where swimming becomes very difficult DPW is looking for some direction with regards to the correct pernut application to file,a NOI or an RDA? Mr Lynch stated that this is quite specialized work and there are impacts, however,the benefits outweigh them When the weeds are harvested a transport barge must be used and the Commission must be sure that is done The Commission also needs to know the destination of the material raked from the pond It was recommended by a majority of the NACC that a RDA be filed FILING FEE EXPENDITURE-Expend$50 from Filing Fee Account. On March 19'h the Commission voted unanimously to appropriate money from the Filing Fee Account to purchase a pager for the Conservation Agent's use Additional money is needed since the cost of the pager exceeded the previously approved request On a motion by Mr Manzi, seconded by Ms Feltovic, the Comnussion voted unanimously to approve an additional$50 expenditure from the Filing Fee Account FILING FEE EXPENDITURE-Expend$93 from Filing Fee Account. Mr Howard stated that approximately 2,600 flyers(advertising"earthly activities"for Arbor Day)need to be copied and he is requesting an expenditure from the Filing Fee Account for this purpose On a motion by Mr Manzi,seconded by Ms Feltovic,the Commmssion voted unanimously to approve a$95 Filing Fee Account expenditure for the purpose of copying 2,600 flyers for the Trails Committee 1 1 DEP#242-143: PCOC Lot 1 Village Way(Russell&Bernard) An OOC was issued by the NACC on 4/7/82 authorizing construction of a roadway, 5 lots,utilities and associated grading Mr Howard stated the permit expired and dwelling construction on lot#1 never occurred An OOC was issued on 11/25/91 authorizing single family dwelling construction with associated utility installation and grading within the BZ of a BVW This OOC appears to supersede DEP#242-143,and Mr Howard believes this is an administrative issue and is advising the NACC to issue a PCOC for Lot#1 Village Way under DEP#242-143 only On a motion by Mr Manzi,seconded by Ms Feltovic,the Commission voted unanimously to approve a Partial Certificate of Compliance for Lot 1 Village Way Decisions: DEP#242-845: Brookview Estates(Marchionda&Associates) Mr Howard had a draft Order of Conditions prepared for the Commission's review On a motion by Mr Manzi, seconded by Ms Feltovic,the Commission voted unanimously to approve the draft Order of Conditions for DEP#242-845 Brookview Estates Public Hearings(8:00 PW ENFORCEMENT ORDER: DEP#242-705/707 Lot 3&Lot 2 Turnpike Street. Even though these are two different DEP numbers,the lots were discussed at the same time,as in the past Curt Young, Atty Jeffrey Renton,Tim Stone and King Weinstein were present Atty Renton was hired by King Weinstein because of his expertise in the environmental area Atty Renton handed out material to the Commission relative to the sites and they reviewed it Atty Renton stated that Mr Weinstein is very upset about the dumping and would like to remediate as soon as possible and will deal with finger pointing and blame at a later date Atty Renton stated that C P McDonough was hired because they are a local firm and were recommended to Mr Weinstein by several people When asked who recommended them,Mr Weinstein stated he didn't have that information with him Mr Young stated that on March 19, 1997 there was a meeting with himself,Mike Howard and Geoff Andrews in an attempt to draw up a punch list of what to remove from the site There is some encroachment into the area near flag#4 Erosion control on lots 2&3 to be extended Items 8 and 9 have not yet been done The erosion control barer is in and will work quite well according to Mr Young The Enforcement Order issues are largely complete with the exception of lot 1 Tim Stone stated that 4 samples of silt clay will be extracted and identified Area 4A on the map must be removed,following that a post excavation sample will be taken One monitoring well will be installed and if garbage is discovered,it also will be removed A report will then be prepared for the Commission A site log tracking the soil will also be provided to the Commission A representative from Stone Hill Environmental will be present on site to be sure the work is done correctly Mr Howard stated the applicant continues to demonstrate compliance and cooperation As a fourth condition,a representative should be on site at all times and remediation efforts should taken place as soon as possible Mr Howard stated he is not in favor or revoking the Order of Conditions or seizing the bond at this time Mr Manzi asked who the new contractor will be and Mr Young replied that is unidentified as yet Mr Young stated that C P McDonough will only be used for excavation of the site Mr Lynch stated that an Order of Conditions is issued to the owner of a property Mr Manzi stated that Mr Weinstein,being the owner of the property, should certainly be aware of what is going on Mr Young stated that early enforcement action by the Commission was just before the dumping Mr Manzi stated failure to comply on the early issues lead him to discover the dumping) Mr Masse stated the owner of the property is responsible for hiring the contractors When Mr Manzi asked who the contractor was at the March 19, 1997 meeting,Mr Weinstein stated he did not know,therefore,Mr Masse has trouble with Mr Weinstein's credibility Also,Mr Masse stated the grading did not take place at lunch time because 2 he drove by at 8 15 am and it was being done then Mr Manzi stated that he thought we as a Commission gave you enough of a warning of what would happen if you don't comply) It seems the minute Mr Howard is away something happenst Mr Weinstein stated he should have better control,and he did not have personal knowledge at the time of who delivered the fill Mr Manzi asked Mr Weinstein if he was present last fall when good soil was taken off the property and Mr Weinstein replied"yes" Mr Manzi then asked Mr Weinstein if he ever thought that was wrong There was no reply An unidentified man in the audience stated he signed a purchase and sale agreement for lot 2 and he is very concerned Mr Manzi suggested the man contact Mr Howard to review the file in the office Ms Wescott asked Mr Young to point out on the plan where the regrading took place and he complied Ms Wescott asked Mr Stone how deep do you propose to go for the samples and he replied"just superficial" Ms Wescott stated she would like to have someone other than the trucker to state the material was received and delivered Mr Manzi made a motion to revoke the Order of Conditions for DEP#'s 242-705 and 242-706 and Mr Masse seconded it Discussion followed Mr Lynch stated it is a difficult situation,but we have an unstable site that revoking an Order of Conditions would not rectify,the site would still be unstable There may be other ways to do something other than revoking the OOCs Mr Manzi stated the motion was not made to prevent remediation Ms Wescott asked if the public hearing could be continued and was told"yes" Mr Mabon asked what does revoking an Order of Conditions mean and was told by Mr Manzi the applicant would have to file a new Notice of Intent and the Commission would look at things in the current permitting environment Mr Masse stated that we are downplaying the incident that happened on Thursday,and the fact that Ms Martin was lied to when the regrading had begun Mr Young stated that Mr Andrews gave specific instructions,left Ins card with people on site,and they cannot fathom what happened and why The vote was finally taken on Mr Manzi's motion to revoke the Order of Conditions for 242-705 and 242-706 It was as follows Mr Manzi yes Mr Masse yes Mr Lynch no Ms Feltovic no Mr Mabon no As the vote was 2 to 3,the motion failed Ms Feltovic made a motion,seconded by Mr Mabon,to continue the public hearing until May 7, 1997 The vote was as follows Mr Lynch yes Ms Feltovic yes Mr Mabon yes Mr Manzi no Mr Masse no As the vote was 3 to 2,the motion passed and the public hearings for 242-705 and 242-706 are continued until May 7, 1997 DEP#242-698: Discussion Lot 1 Turnpike Street(La-Rae Strawbridge). Ms Strawbridge owns the lot adjacent to 242-705 and 242-706 and she is quite concerned about her property Mr Howard stated an Order of Conditions was issued on lot 1,but there is no compliance yet He further stated the lot would be thoroughly looked at Mr Manzi advised Ms Strawbridge to contact Mr Howard with questions regarding her lot as well as the other two 3 0 Request for Determination of Applicability: RDA: Dale Street Map 37B,Parcel 1 (Smith Property)cont from 3/19/97 At the last meeting there was some concern by an abutter,Mr McCollister,regarding the ownership of the property and Just what authority does Geoffrey Smith have to develop the land The applicant presented the Commission with deed language and a purchase and sale agreement Mr Masse has looked into the paperwork and stated that Geoffrey Snuth was appointed by the court as the guardian of Gwendolyn Smith and he is satisfied with that Mr McCollister stated that Mr Smith was appointed guardian on March 24, 1997 and he contacted Dr Ellis's office and stated Dr Ellis had no recollection of signing anything regarding the condition of Gwendolyn Smith,and she was Dr Kaloustian's patient anyway Mr Lynch pointed out these are all important points,all have meet,but the Commission has no authority to ask for proof of ownership under a RDA Mr Young submitted to the Commission a letter asking the Commission to hold in abeyance any decision regarding the Rivers Act If a site walk is done, it would be for the BVW only, not the Rivers Act,that portion of the request is being withdrawn On a motion by Mr Manzi,seconded by Mr Masse,the Commission voted unanimously to issue a POSITIVE DETERMINATION for the BVW ONLY Notice of Intent(s): DEP#242-856: #200 Chickering Road(MHF Design Consultants)Scott Companies cont from 3/19/97 Mark Gross was present representing the Renmes and Scott Construction Co He stated John Chessia submitted an additional seven comments for review,wluch are fairly minor in nature except for the drainage proposal Mr Howard is concerned about the underground stormwater systems and the long term functionality Mr Gross stated he has been using them for 8 to 10 years and they work very well There is some maintenance involved with them and if done properly there should be no problems Cleaning of the catch basins should be done once or twice a year The applicant asked for a two week continuance Tom Neve was present on behalf of the abutters and stated he submitted a letter to Mr Howard on March 3, 1997 regarding the stormwater management He feels there will be a problem with discharge of stormwater in such a small area and he stated that John Chessia reviews projects of this type in a different light than perhaps a residential subdivision Vera Curcio,423 Edgelawn Avenue,was present and stated she has problems with the company name on the plan shown versus the legal notice In one place it is referred to as Scott Companies and in another Scott Construction She further stated she is in touch with the Attorney General's Office regarding this filing Dep#242-???: Rocky Brook Est H Lots 1-6,10A,11A& 12B(Neve Assoc)S.Breen This is a continuance of the public hearing Tom Neve submitted revised plans to the Commission and then requested a continuance for two weeks On a motion by Mr Manzi,seconded by Ms Feltovic, the Commission voted unanimously to grant a continuance until the April 16, 1997 meeting Adjournment On a motion by Ms Feltovic, seconded by Mr Masse, the Commission voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting os W L ,Jr C airman 4