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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-12-16 Conservation Commission Minutes f Conservation Commission Minutes DPW Conference Room December 16, 1998 Members Present: Albert P Manzi, Jr , Chairman, Scott Masse, Vice Chairman,Joseph Lynch, Deborah Feltovic, Beth Wescott and John Mabon Robert Mansour was absent Staff Present: Michael D Howard, Conservation Administrator, Richelle L Martin, Conservation Associate, Karen A Fitzgibbons, Secretary and Richard Paquette, Intern The meeting was called to order at 7 00 p in Minutes: October 21, 1998 The minutes were not ready for approval this evening Portion of minutes of December 2, 1998 Mr Manzi stated that the Commission will not approve a portion of minutes General Business (7:00 p.m.) 242-917 COC 6 Nadine Lane (Daniel Prezioso) This Order of Conditions was issued on July 16, 1998 authorizing construction of a deck within the Buffer Zone of a BVW Ms Martin inspected the site on December 14tn , measured the deck and stated it was constructed as approved 15/25' setbacks were mandated and met as required in the Nadine Lane Subdivision OOC The bond is in the amount of$500 Ms Martin stated she has no issues and recommends the Commission issue a COC On a motion by Ms Feltovic, seconded by Ms Wescott, the Commission voted unanimously to issue a Certificate of Compliance for DEP #242-917 242-718 COC Lost Pond Lane (David Kindred)Neve Associates Mr Howard stated that Mr Kindred planted trees and the only item left was the wetland replication area Mr Howard did a site visit and recommends the Commission issue a Certificate of Compliance On a motion by Ms Wescott, seconded by Mr Masse,the Commission voted unanimously to issue a Certificate of Compliance for DEP #242-718 242-751 COC Lucent Tech(AT&T) 1600 Osgood Street, LEC Env Consultants In January of'96 an Order of Conditions was issued to Lucent Technologies In January of'97 as-built plans were submitted to the Commission Office and a portion of the bond money was released Mr Howard stated he has no issues,the replication area is doing well, and he recommends the Commission issue a COC On a motion by Ms Feltovic, seconded by Mr Masse, the Commission voted unanimously to issue a Certificate of Compliance for DEP #242-751 242-890 COC 1100 Salem Street(James Higgins)New England Engineering An OOC was issued on December 18, 1997 authorizing replacement of a failed septic system within the Buffer Zone of a BVW Ms Martin stated the 4'/37' setbacks were mandated and met, the system was constructed at 50' from the closest wetland flag and the bond is in the amount of$2,000 The Commission Office is in receipt of a letter from a P E as well as stamped as-builts certifying compliance with the Order Ms Martin stated she visited the site, has no issues and recommends the Commission issue a COC On a motion by Ms Feltovic, seconded by Mr Masse,the Commission voted unanimously to issue a Certificate of Compliance for DEP #242-890 242-818 Violation OOC Lot 59 Bridges Lane (Len Getty) An OOC was issued on August 8, 1996 authorizing construction of a home, driveway and grading within the Buffer Zone of a BVW A partial bond release was granted in 8/97 leaving a balance of$1,000 to be held by the Town because restoration efforts still needed to be satisfied There were 6 test pits that were dug in the wetland and the No- Disturbance Zone when the lot was undeveloped Ms Martin did a site inspection on October 301h and noticed that a deck had been constructed There was no deck on the Plan of Record A Restoration Plan was supposed to be submitted to the Conservation Department prior to construction For whatever reason, it was not submitted prior to the Form U sign off Ms Martin stated she wrote a letter to Mr Getty on November 2nd issuing a deadline of Monday,November 23`d for the flags to be replenished, an as-built to be submitted and a Restoration Report to be submitted Ms Martin was not contacted after the letter was sent and her deadline was not adhered to A second letter was sent certified mail on November 27th issuing a second deadline of December 141h Ms Martin stated she was contacted by Mr Getty about a week ago saying that everything was in the works, but the deadline was not met Mr Getty is not present this evening Ms Martin stated that six test pits need to be repaired and we don't know who installed the deck or if they pulled a permit The wetland flags closest to the deck were not there It was discussed whether the Commission should seize the bond to complete the test pits and fine Mr Getty Ben Osgood, Jr , happened to be in attendance and stated that his firm did the as-builts Mr Manzi stated he is in favor of beginning bond seizure proceedings and assessing fines Mr Masse stated the fines should go back to 11/23/98 and feels bond seizure is appropriate Mr Masse made a motion, seconded by Ms Wescott,to institute a fine of$100 a day beginning 11/23/98 to resolution, and to begin proceedings to seize the bond Ms Wescott is not comfortable with revoking the bond Mr Howard stated he would like the Commission to not seize the bond yet, to try the fines first The vote on the motion was as follows Mr Manzi yes Mr Masse yes Ms Wescott yes Ms Feltovic no Mr Mahon no Mr Lynch abstained As the vote was 3-2-1 the motion passed 242-830 COC Sewer Line Abbott Street(Mesita Dev ,, MPG Realty) Ms Martin stated Ken Ahern came into the office about a month ago looking to be on our agenda for a COC Mr Howard and Ms Martin did a preliminary review of the as-builts and told Mr Ahern that some clarification was needed For example, the pipe size under Salem Street on the Plan of Record differs from the as-built although there was not a proposal to replace those pipes Mr Ahcrn wrote a letter that is in the Commission's packets clarifying the issue Mr Hmurciak had stated to Ms Martin that he didn't think the pipes had been replaced since the 60's and that the Plan of Record was incorrect as prepared by Merrimack Engineering Another issue was that the connection to the homes was not depicted on the as-built The as-built now depicts the home connections The final issue was that a portion of the sewer line near lot 4 was constructed closer to the wetlands without a modification Mr Ahern addresses this issue in his letter stating his reasoning was that it was a judgement made in the field at the time of the sewer line construction They had to keep it a certain number of feet from the water main that they were also installing, but the installation of the water main was not proposed in their filing Furthermore, not only did they not request a modification, and it does encroach into the No Disturbance Zone in one location, and there is a letter from a P E certifying compliance with the Order and approved plan Mr Manzi and Mr Lynch stated their recollection is the pipes were replaced, contrary to what DPW thinks Steve Stapinski did the proposed design, began doing the sewer and stopped Mr Manzi seems to recollect something about a failure in the road Bob Parker, Metcalf&Parker, was present on another matter and was asked if he had any recollection of the project He stated the sewer was re-located, the pipes were not where designed and a water line was added The conditions at the time were unstable, the side of the road and the trees would have been lost if continued Mr Ahern stated that around late November a decision was made to add a water line Mr Parker stated the Town wanted itl Mr Manzi asked who was the Town official that authorized the water line and Mr Parker stated Bill Hmurciak Mr Lynch stated this should have been brought to the Commission's attention Mr Manzi wanted to know who was the responsible person at the time and Mr Ahern stated probably Dick Pelletier Mr Lynch asked does that really matter, it was Mesiti Development Mr Manzi stated that four homes are now on water, correct9 Mr Howard replied yes Mr Howard stated the contractor should have called him Ms Wescott stated she doesn't feel it is appropriate to blame DPW Mr Parker stated he was not told to call Conservation Mr Howard recommends removing the sewer line from the no disturbance zone Mr Lynch stated there will be no motion from me and recognizing that the sewer line is in after the fact, we need to put some level of information up on the property to educate the public as to how valuable the resource area is Mr Manzi stated he is very frustrated by this, but he is not in favor of taking four houses off line and digging up especially in December) He thinks maybe fines are appropriate Mr Lynch questioned the wetland line and Mr Howard stated we are assuming it is accurate Mr Manzi stated, for the record, the date of record will be December 15, 1998 Mr Mabon made a motion, seconded by Ms Feltovic,to DENY the request for a Certificate of Compliance The vote of the Commission was unanimous Mr Howard will look at avenues of resolution Mr Lynch made a motion to reconsider which was seconded by Ms Wescott Mr Lynch stated cases can be made for both dates 11/11/98 and 12/9/98, but 11/11/98 is the benchmark for fines now Public Hearings (8:00 p.m.) q Request for Determination of Applicability Lots 1, 2 & 3 Rea Street (Maureen Joyce) Christiansen &Sergi cont_from 8119198 The applicant sent a written request to the Commission asking to be allowed to withdraw, without prejudice, the filing Mr Manzi read the letter into the record and it also stated how very helpful and professional Mr Howard was during the process On a motion by Ms Feltovic, seconded by Mr Mabon, the Commission voted unanimously to allow the applicant to withdraw without prejudice Lot#14 Candlestick Road(Mark Rea) New England Engineering cont fr 1212198 Mr Howard stated the applicant is looking for a Negative Determination of Applicability Mr Howard met with Mr Osgood and the calculations for ILSF were simple, the regs call for a one year storm event and he was able to re-affirm the applicant's position that it was not ILSF Rick Paquette and Ms Martin visited the site on 12/3/98 to determine if it qualified as an ephermal pool, and using the guidelines, it was determined that it does not qualify as an ephermal pool Mr Howard stated the Commission has no jurisdiction over the lot and he recommends issuing a Negative Determination On a motion by Mr Lynch, seconded by Ms Feltovic,the Commission voted unanimously to issue a Negative Determination of Applicability for Lot 14 Candlestick Road Bill Davidson, an abutter who lives behind the lot, expressed concern regarding flooding in the back where the septic is proposed Mr Howard tried to explain how the talcs do not support jurisdiction Mr Howard suggested that Mr Davidson write a letter expressing his concerns and he will forward it to the BOH Before the Public Hearings continued, Mr Masse made a motion, seconded by Ms Wescott, to return to 242-830 for reconsideration Mr Masse stated he feels the Commission should order the applicant and Bill Hmurciak to appear before the Commission at the next meeting for the purpose of discussing the sewer line on Abbott Street The vote of the Commission was unanimous Notice of Intent(s) 242-931 Lot 4N Berry Street, east side (One Hundred Fourteen Trust) cont fr 11118198 Patrick Garner and Peter Hingoram are present this evening Mr Howard stated that John Chessia needs a few more days to complete his review There are no abutters present and on a motion by Mr Lynch, seconded by Ms Feltovic, the Commission voted unanimously to continue the public hearing until January 6, 1999 242-943 1 Clark Street Lots 14, 15 & 45 (Hancock Engineering Consultants) Julie Parrino and Brad Mezquita are present on behalf of the applicant There are no abutters present,therefore,the applicant waived the reading of the legal notice Ms Parrino stated the site is the former Borden Chemical site and the applicant is seeking a permit to expand the parking lot, upgrade stormwater management structures, including the construction of a wetland, all of which is located within the 100' buffer zone to wetland resources Ms Parrino stated she spoke to Mr Howard on Monday and he had several issues for her to address He has put his concerns in writing and Ms Parrino will have them addressed for the next meeting Mr Howard stated the applicant owes $137 50 more in filing fees, and Ms Parrino stated she will have a check sent to the Commission Office Mr Howard stated the Commission needs to establish an escrow account and the applicant needs to choose an outside consultant On a motion by Mr Lynch, seconded by Ms Wescott,the Commission voted unanimously to establish a $5,000 escrow account The applicant chose to use Coler and Colantomo as the outside consultant On a motion by Ms Wescott, seconded by Ms Feltovic,the Commission voted unanimously to continue the public hearing at the January 20, 1999 meeting Decisions: 242-942 Bradford Street, Map 62/Lot 23 (Robert Brown) Graham Boston Group Mr Howard had a draft Order of Conditions prepared for the Commission's review On a motion by Ms Feltovic, seconded by Mr Lynch,the Commission voted unanimously to approve the Order of Conditions, as drafted, for DEP #242-942 242-792 Enforcement Order Woodlea Village Subdivision (Jim Grifoni) Atty Dom Scalise, Steve Stapinski, Jack Masterson and Jim Grifoni are all present this evening Mr Howard stated he was mandated by the Commission to issue an Enforcement Order on December 3, 1998 and to have the applicant appear before the Commission this evening Merrimack Engineering is no longer the environmental monitor The resource area restoration plan was due in the Commission Office December 7, 1998 and a$36,650 fine was levied $2600 has accrued since then Atty Scalise was present at the last meeting Mr Howard presented pictures of the violations Mr Manzi asked Mr Howard if violations were being corrected and Mr Howard stated he received plans today and the applicant seems to be on schedule with trying to come into compliance Mr Lynch stated that regarding the as-built plan, there were some real solid statements by Mr Howard and the Commission wants to say, for the record, the as-built plan was correct and accurate Mr Howard distributed pictures showing the cul-de-sac built 7' to 10' from the no disturbance area Restoration remains an outstanding issue Mr Masse asked who the new environmental monitor is and was told Steve D'Urso The work will be done through an Enforcement Order instead of an Amended Order of Conditions Atty Scalise stated he is happy that Mr Lynch made remarks regarding the as-builts Mr Stapinski stated that all his inspection reports are sent out the day after they are done and he has a folder full of them and he reports any problems in his inspections Mr Stapinski stated that in summary the April work was corrected and the site contractor and road contractor were violators Mr Grifoni stated that in 1998 the erosion line started to creep and hay bales were replaced and sometimes maybe a foot or two different because of rain and degrading may the hay bales didn't get replaced back in the original area The flags were moved because Mr Stapinski re-surveyed the area Mr Howard agrees the flags were moved Mr Manzi stated that when hay bales are replaced, the Commission requires removal and replacement exactly. Mr Stapinski stated he is happy not to do the environmental monitoring and every decision he made he's not taking back He's just sorry he didn't have the flags re-set by survey Mr Stapinski stated that Jeff re-set flag#238 which was in the wrong spot Mr Howard stated in the spring of'98 a lot of this happened and he read a portion of a status report dated May '98 The error seems to be made when the flags were not re-set Mr Manzi stated when you cut through all this, it is a constant violation out there' Mr Lynch feels the Commission should check to see if the date they put in place is correct Mr Manzi stated it seems a chronic failure of non-compliance and during the compliance process the Commission should be looking at their paperwork to see if the benchmark date is correct Mr Stapinski stated he once found a campfire at the end of the cul-de-sac and all the hay bales were missing, Mr Manzi stated Mr. Grifom is slower than any other contractor we have, Mr Grifom stated that when Mr Howard or Ms Martin instructed him to replace the bales,he did it himself The site is very small and since the day the bales were installed Mr Grifom stated he never moved a single one During the ram event of 10 to 12 days back in June, Mr Gnfoni stated he was at the site taking care of things and every Monday hay bales would be missmgl Mr Howard stated when he receives a call from an applicant he and Ms Martin expect the applicant is ready and the intent of the visit is not to verify the 25' every time) Some bales looked too close and Mr Howard stated he wrote a letter to Mr Grifom about it An applicant does not begin work until a Form U is signed and Ms Martin pulls three tapes at the site Atty Scalise stated he would like to see the Commission re-consider the fine after they see the new information brought forward Mr Manzi stated the Commission will review the information, but he is not saying the fine will be reduced Mr Manzi urged the applicant to request an appeal, things can be changed if an agreement is reached Mr Howard stated the applicant and the new environmental monitor should appear at the January 6, 1999 meeting The applicant should comply by the 23rd Mr Manzi strongly urged Mr Grifom to be sure and get the work done by the 23rd The Commission will be looking for a status report at the January 6, 1999 meeting On a motion by Ms Feltovic, seconded by Ms Wescott, the Commission voted unanimously to continue the Public Hearing at the January 6, 1999 meeting Ms Feltovic addressed the Commission regarding the Carter/Renshaw property As a member of the Open Space Committee we need to be updated on the status of the property and need a meeting with Mr Howard Ms Feltovic is asking the Commission members if they would like to be on a committee for the Carter/Renshaw property Adjournment: On a motion by Mr Mabon, seconded by Ms Wescott, the Commission voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting