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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-12-17 Conservation Commission Minutes Conservation Commission Minutes DPW Conference Room December 17, 1997 Members Present: Beth Wescott, Deborah Feltovic, John Mabon, Scott Masse and Robert Mansour Joseph Lynch arrived at 7 45 pm Albert Manzi, Jr , Vice Chairman, served as chairman this evening The meeting was called to order at 7 03 pm Minutes: a There were no minutes to approve this evening General Business: Presentation"The Eagleject" Brent Baeslack Mr Brent Baeslack, Chairman of the Haverhill Environmental League, was present this evening seeking support for his project on monitoring key environmental parameters of the bald eagles Mr Baeslack stated he is seeking support in the Merrimack Valley for the testing of mercury in the whole fish,not just the fillets Back in the early 80's U S Fish and Wildlife performed testing just before the start up of trash facilities in the Merrimack Valley Mr Baeslack stated it is a proven and documented fact that 60% of the mercury released in the Commonwealth of Mass is due to incinerators He is asking the Commission for a letter of support Mr Howard asked Mr Baeslack if he was lobbying EPA or doing a grant and he replied"no " On a motion by Mr Mabon, seconded by Ms. Feltovic, the Commission voted unanimously to have Mr Howard draft a letter of support for Mr Baeslack Present this evening is Pam Merrill, who volunteers one afternoon a week in the Conservation Department Ms Merrill is in attendance because she is interested in the Eagle Project mentioned above, and at the same time she was introduced to the Commission members The members thanked her for the interest and time she is donating to the Department 242-867 COC Boxford Street Gas Main Inst (Essex County Gas) Marchionda& Assoc An OOC was issued on 8/21/97 authorizing construction of a gas main down Boxford Street for the Brookview Subdivision 25/50' setbacks were not mandated The Conservation Office is in receipt of a letter from a P E certifying compliance and stamped as-builts The site is stable and the bond is $2,000 Ms. Martin recommends issuing a Certificate of Compliance John Barrows, Marchionda Assoc , was present and stated the work is being performed on the right hand shoulder where the hay bales are stacked It was discussed that Mr Howard should incorporate into the Order of Conditions that hay bales should be removed from sites in a timely fashion On a motion by Mr Masse, seconded by Ms Feltovic, the Commission voted unanimously to issue a 1 Certificate of Compliance and release the $2,000 bond being held by the Town when the hay bales are removed When the paperwork is complete in the Conservation Office,the secretary was told to hand it off to Mr Howard until further notice 242-689 PCOC Lot 9#672 Sharpners Pond Rd(Torey Realty Trust) Gateway Consult An OOC was issued on 5/27/94 authorizing construction of 7 homes, with associated grading and paving, in the buffer zone All PCOC's have been granted except for Lot 9 as it had not yet been constructed 25/50' setbacks were mandated and met The site is stable, the bond is $3,000 and the current homeowner has signed a statement acknowledging the perpetual condition of the Conservation Restriction The septic system is> 100' from the wetlands Ms Martin inspected the site, has no issues and the Conservation Office is in receipt of a letter from a P E certifying compliance with the Order along with stamped as-built plans Ms Martin recommends issuing a PCOC Maurice Caruso was present and stated the home was completed in May 1997 On a motion by Ms Wescott, seconded by Mr Mabon,the Commission voted unanimously to issue a Certificate of Compliance and release the $3,000 bond money for the above named project 242-873 Bond Reduction 706 Foster Street(New England Eng) Ben Osgood,Jr An OOC was issued on 8/21/97 authorizing replacement of a failed septic system within the Buffer Zone of a BVW 25/50' setbacks have been mandated and met The site has been seeded, but is not stabilized to full growth The Conservation Office is in receipt of stamped as-built plans and the bond is $2,000 Ben Osgood, Jr is present this evening and is asking the Commission to release $1500 of the bond money Mr Osgood stated even though the site is not stabilized to full growth,the grass is up about 1/2 inch There is 35' from the edge of the seeding to the crushed stone where the grass line begins Mr Howard pointed out to the Commission that they should be consistent in what they give back Mr Manzi stated the Commission does make an effort to do that On a motion by Mr Masse, seconded by Ms. Feltovic, the Commission voted unanimously to retain $1,000 and release $1,000 of the bond money being held by the Town Decisions: 242-883 1635 Osgood Street(Tyler Munroe) Marchionda&Assoc Mr Howard had a draft OOC prepared for the Commission to review On a motion by Mr Masse, seconded by Ms Feltovic, the Commission voted unanimously to approve the draft OOC and to release the escrow account for DEP #242-883 242-890 1100 Salem Street(James Higgins)New England Eng Services Mr Howard had a draft OOC prepared for the Commission to review The bond will be set at $2,000 On a motion by Ms Wescott, seconded by Ms Feltovic, the Commission 2 voted unanimously to approve, as drafted and corrected this evening, the OOC for DEP #242-890 It is now 7 40 pm and Mr Howard gave the Commission members a brief update on Toll Brothers Mr Howard stated that Toll Brothers has appealed their fine to the Clerk Magistrate in Lawrence (Joe Lynch hasjust arrived) Toll Brothers attorneys contacted Mr Howard regarding appearing before the Commission for discussion purposes Mr Manzi stated that once a court date has been set,nothing is usually heard Mr Howard stated a court date has not been set yet, and Town counsel strongly suggested the Commission meet with Toll Brothers in regular session, not Executive Session and it would be acceptable to discuss the amount of the fine This was discussed by the Commissioners and Mr Masse stated he feels the matter should not be discussed in open session Mr Manzi is concerned that the Commission may be helping their adversary It was decided that Mr Masse would contact Joel Bard regarding the matter and report the conversation back to Mr Howard Public Hearings (8:OOPNVI) Request for Determination of Applicability There are no RDA's this evening Notice of Intents) 242-891 282 Blue Ridge Road(Peter Tyrrell) Scott Giles The applicant has filed an NOI seeking authorization to construct a pool within the Buffer Zone of a BVW The NACC recently issued a COC to the applicant for a prior OOC which permitted re-grading within the backyard The previously approved delineation remains valid and is correctly depicted on the submitted plan Scott Giles is present this evening and stated the pool will be gumte located 53' from the wetlands Mr Giles was asked about proof of mailing and he stated it was his understanding the homeowner was supposed to do the certified mailing It was pointed out that Mr Giles signed the affidavit of proof of mailing) Mr Giles or the homeowner is being allowed to deliver the proof of mailing to the Conservation Office tomorrow(12/18/97) Mr Howard asked for details of a de-watering plan to be put on the plans, and they were No waivers have been asked for The fence was not shown on the plan Mr Giles was asked about chlorine storage and replied he did not know where it would be stored or even if the homeowner planned to use chlorine The homeowner was not present at the meeting It was pointed out that the shed is 90' from the wetlands,therefore, chlorine storage can't be in the shed Mr Mansour stated he would like to see a revised plan showing a fence around the pool Since there are a couple of outstanding issues,the Commission, on a motion by Mr Mabon, seconded by Ms Feltovic, voted unanimously to continue the discussion until the 1/7/98 meeting 3 242-894 Lot 13 Beaver Brook Rd Evergreen Est(DEC* L Basbanes cont fir 1213197 This matter was continued pending receipt of a file# from the state The DEP file number has been assigned, and, on a motion by Mr Mansour, seconded by Mr. Masse, the Commission voted unanimously to close the public hearing and issue a decision in 21 days 242-885 Forest View Sub (Mesita Dev) MHF Design Consultants coat fr 11/19/97 This matter was continued from the 12/3/97 public hearing A site walk was conducted on the 131h Mr Howard spoke with Mark Gross on 12/4/97 and reiterated the punch list to him The North Andover Open Space Committee and the North Andover Trails Committee have reviewed the proposed "open space" and trail network and forwarded written recommendations to the Planning Board Mark Gross is present this evening and stated there was a meeting with DPW and John Chessia regarding the lots to do test pits on Five lots were not done due to the use of a backhoe in the wetland A detention pond was re-located to the entrance and a house lot was given up The applicant may put a fence between the play area and the detention basin There was discussion with DEP regarding perimeter drains Mr Gross stated they will file by the 23`d for the on-site NOI Mr Lynch stated on the site walk it was noticed on the southwest comer of the project there are steeply sloped backyards present Mr Gross stated we have pushed some units forward a bit to give more room in the backyards The applicant requested a continuance until 1/21/98 The applicant was advised to re-advertise by noon on the 23`d On a motion by Mr Masse, seconded by Ms Feltovic,the Commission voted unammously to continue the public hearing until 1/21/98 and the applicant must re-advertise by noon on 12/23/97 242-892 Walnut Ridge Subdivision (Copley Dev) Merrimack Eng cont fr 1213197 This matter was continued from the 12/3/97 public hearing A site walk was conducted on 12/13/97 with the NACC John Chessia has initiated his review of the project and Mr Howard submitted a 2nd letter to Merrimack Engineering Services, Inc dated 12/10/97 requesting additional information John Soucy, Merrimack Engineering, is present this evening Mr Howard stated that he received information at 2 30 pm today for tonight's meeting' Mr Soucy was given a few minutes before the Commission tonight and stated they met with Planning last night and the offset of the road was accepted by the Planning Board The wetland delineation and topography on the Town land must be done The wetlands will be delineated this week and hopefully a pedestrian walkway established on the Town land A meeting with John Chessia will be held soon Mr Lynch stated that on the site walk it was noticed that on the right side of the property there appear to be steep slopes Mr Soucy replied we've done some terracing to ease that The applicant is looking for a continuance until the 1/21/98 meeting The applicant was instructed to re- advertise by noon on 12/23/97 On a motion by Ms Feltovic, seconded by Mr Mansour, 4 the Commission voted unanimously to continue the public hearing until 1/21/98 and to re-advertise by noon on 12/23/97 242-871 Berrington Estates Subdivision (Wetlands Pres) cont fr 11119197 This matter was continued in order to afford the applicant more time to collect additional data for the proposed headwall On 12/3/97 Mr Howard witnessed the subsurface work and explained to Ken Grandstaff what information the NACC was looking for Eric Heyland was present this evening Mr Lynch stated he received a report on the soil borings and found it to be what he suspected Mr. Lynch stated he feels what the applicant is proposing will work and the geo-tech report will be submitted as part of the hearing tonight There was some concern regarding the de-watering due to the 6' to 8' depth of digging involved Eric Heyland stated that groundwater pumping can be handled Mr Mabon asked if the retaining wall is still 1' outside the wetlands, and Mr Howard replied"yes"the applicant has submitted proof it can be done Dan Takesian, an abutter, expressed concern regarding the wall being constructed so close to the wetlands Mr Heyland explained a temporary support structure will be built to prevent erosion into the resource area Kerry McCollister, an abutter, asked if the project gets shut down if the water at the great beaver dam rises? He was told "no",the beaver dam has no bearing on this project' Mr McCollister stated that he doesn't feel anyone in this room feels safe that the beaver dam won't rise) Mr Lynch and the Commission members stated,again, that the beaver dam doesn't effect this project Mr Howard explained that an OOC can be appealed to DEP by an abutter Mr McCollister stated when the project is underway we won't know what goes on, and Mr Manzi explained that he is always around Mr Howard explained that when a complaint comes into the office, he, or Ms Martin are always responsive. Richard O'Toole, an abutter, expressed concern about the Town water supply, beaver fecal matter and feels homeowners should apply for abatements from the tax office' He further stated that when Bear Hill was constructed he spent a lot of time at Planning Board meetings and now all"our" basements are flooded) Mr Mansour stated that Bear Hill was built under different regulations (1980's) Phil H?, 133 Dale Street, lives across from where the road is going in and wants a guarantee that his cellar will still be dry after the project is build? Mr Manzi stated there are no guarantees given, only Sears gives guarantees' Bob Kingsley, Coachman's Lane, asked if the project is on sewer and was told"yes"there is no septic allowed in the watershed Mr Howard stated that he is somewhat frustrated that the applicants still feel there will be impacts on their property, this project has gone through a very rigorous review and the Town has been trapping the beavers outs Mr Takesian stated that no matter where they put the roads, there will still be water all around the property Dave Rand was present and stated he appealed to the Town and received an abatement from the State—but it took four years) Mr Howard offered his help to the abutters in writing letters for abatements Mr Rand suggested to the abutters present that they take pictures or cam cord the goings on at the project On a motion by Mr Masse, seconded by Ms Feltovic,the Commission voted unanimously to close the public hearing and issue a decision in 21 days 5 01/06/1998 02 30 5089752181 ALBERT P MANZI PAGE 02 x �•- F•.Tn n��+r l� Y( i3A -as-9g� s 4A North Andover Com_ OQv. 508 686 9542 P.O6 .. y Ott ftiffift!by Mr Mabon,seconded by Ms Wescott,the Commtsmon oted ' anarilhowlY to adjourn the meeting. 4ftff,MOt w,Jr Vice Chauman i M t t it r r i l (r t 6 s' r