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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-10-28 Conservation Commission Minutes ReCE1Vt�j R��M1,K CLER Reading Conservation Commission Meeting 2019 MAR —8 AM 10: 52 Selectmen's Room,7:00 pm Wednesday,October 28,2015 Members Present: Rebecca Longley, Vice Chair; Annika Scanlon; Michael Flynn;Jamie Maughan; Al Coulliard; Chuck Tirone,Administrator Others Present: Tim Liu Algi Liu Mr. Selvakumar Shawn Armstrong Nancy Twomey,Twomey Design Associates Tim Marquardt John Ogren Respectfully submitted by Julia Rodger Ms. Longley called meeting to order at 7:01 pm Plan Change RDA 2014-18: 115 Forest Street,Alley Mr. Alley presented plan for privacy fence on left side of his property and a 4' child safety fence at back of property to make yard look more attractive. At site visit it was noted that fence proposed for back of property is close to wetland flag 7A and right next to trees that have exposed roots. Fence may damage health of trees. Board suggested fence be installed at upland side of trees and down to 25' line. Board is in agreement with privacy fence on left side of property. Ms. Scanlon suggested leaving area open since there seems to be a natural shrub line and grass. Mr. Maughan made Motion to approve Minor Plan Change to install either wall or privacy fence on west side of property, not to extend past the 25' foot line. Mr. Coulliard seconded. Vote 5.0-0. Old/New Business Belmont Street and Ivy Lane Connection Mr. Zambouras is present to respond to Conservation Commission's concerns regarding easement. The filed plan showed 19 trees to be cut. Commission and wetland scientist agreed to 19 trees being taken down. Where sewer line goes through there is an access road 12-15' wide with water main being installed on one side. If trees were in line with water main their root system would be removed. Other trees outside trench limit would be cut flush. There was discussion whether stumps were still there and whether trees would regrow next spring. . Planting plan for right of way is to let natural vegetation grow back and planting of wildlife mix. Mr. Maughan expressed concern cut stumps and logs were piled with other debris into the wetland and should have been removed. There was disagreement between Commission and Mr. Zambouras regarding the trench less construction and minimal disruption of habitat proposed forth is project. There was discussion regarding erosion controls and keeping bank stabilized. Mr. Maughan feels Commission needs to be more specific in future Order of Conditions. The Board is being asked to wait and see what grows next year. Board may ask for plantings on sides so access is only as wide as absolutely necessary. This will be reviewed as an agenda item in the spring. Mr.Tirone has a list of items Conservation Board wants done: Get rid of cement stone at access Better placement and larger stones at access Remove cut tree limbs and brush piles Remove garbage pail Mr. Zambouras agreed to remove cut tree limbs, brush pile, yard waste, garbage pail, and the two cement blocks and IBC street side removed and cord wood. Will also put in larger boulders and better placement of the boulders Beaver Dam at Walkers Brook Drive and Ash Street Mr. Zambouras reported a beaver dam is at upstream side of Walkers Brook near DPW garage. Homes will be affected if there is a heavy rain storm. There has been communication between Wakefield and Reading. Beaver dam is accessible from parking lot. Animals need to be relocated before removing dam. Board of Health would not issue emergency permit to take out beavers since the hunting season is imminent(Nov— April). Mr. Tirone went to check dam. Dam is a maintenance dam, dam in a long run of dams, has a beaver slide, about 1 foot lower than water level on downstream and 3" higher on upstream side. "Beaver Deceiver' is a process of digging through dam and putting in piece of 20" pipe. It would take approximately one day to install. Cost is approximately$3,000-$3,600 for Skip Lyle to build and install and about$300 for materials. Maintenance would be cleaning it out twice a year. Would not have to trap beavers and there would be no disruption to habitat. Mr. Maughan made Motion to remove upstream beaver dams and put in beaver deceiver to maintain habitat. Ms. Scanlon seconded. Vote 5-0-0. NO1270-0649: 99 Fairchild Drive, Liu Ms. Longley reopened hearing. Ms. Twomey, Mr. and Mrs. Lui were present. Concerns from last meeting were addressed. Their Structural engineer suggested using fewer footings,from 9 down to 5. Changed planting plan from low bush to 6-8 high bush blueberry shrubs. Plywood will be used to protect ground. Ms. Scanlon observed stick piles in wetland on site visit which need to be removed and disposed of. Going forward debris should not be placed in wetland. Mr.Coulliard made Motion to approve plan as presented tonight with additional notes that any debris be removed from site. Ms.Scanlon seconded. Vote 5-0-0. Mr. Maughan made Motion to approved Notice of Intent. Mr. Flynn seconded. Vote 5-0-0 Mr. Maughan made Motion to close hearing. Mr. Flynn seconded. Vote 5-0-0 Close out Enforcement Order; 194 Van Norden,Selvakumar Board members reported that they were satisfied with planting list, servability report, and site visit. Ms. Scanlon reported growth looked good and invasive plants were being kept out. Ms.Scanlon made Motion to close out Enforcement Order. Mr. Flynn seconded. Vote 5-0-0 RDA 2015-17, 56 Cross Street,Armstrong Ms. Kerry Armstrong,owner, made presentation. Seeking permission to remove three trees because they are unhealthy and create a safety issue. Upon site visit,two appear unhealthy, one appears okay. They are far from structure within buffer zone. Removing would not be a problem to resource area They would also like to widen driveway for more off street parking. Driveway is outside of 35' buffer zone. New driveway drainage would flow toward street. Board had no objection to proposed plan. Mr. Maughan made Motion to issue Negative Determination with stipulation for drainage toward street. Ms. Scanlon seconded. Vote 5-0-0. NO1270.61: 61 Whitehall Lane, Marquardt Mr.John Ogren, Hays Engineering, made presentation. Proposing 24 x 26'foot addition off rear of house which is 36 feet from edge of wetland. Impervious area being decreased by approximately 595 square feet. Roof runoff from addition will be tied into recharge chambers. There will be erosion control at 25' no disturb area. Requesting one oak tree be removed. Stairs are being reconfigured with new walkway. Access to lower area is front facing. There is no door out to the back. There is a slider out to patio. Board members suggested including the following in the Notice of Intent: mitigation of planting two smaller native trees to offset loss of oak tree; no construction equipment or stockpiling within 35'from wetland; Activity in this area needs to be limited; staging and stocking piling should be kept in driveway;l no cutting of healthy trees between new construction and resource area. Maintenance plan #required, file#required. Ms. Scanlon made Motion to continue until next meeting on November 18,2015. Mr. Flynn seconded. Vote 5-0-0. COC 270-0628,303 Salem Street, Cumberland Farms At site visit it was noticed one dead tree was left. Certificate of Compliance was held up until Cumberland Farms removed dead tree. Mr Tirone to make sure grass is not cut beyond 25' and that no grass clippings are dumped in wetland. Ms. Longley made Motion to issue Certificate of Compliance. Mr. Maughan seconded. Vote 5-0-0. Landers Road Ms. Scanlon gave update on Landers Road oil release. During a 4" rain storm in August, a transformer fell onto paved road. Material washed into storm drain to swale in residential property. Vacuum truck removed 3- 6" of soil from two 10'foot wide areas. Mr.Tirone received report 10/2/2015 with update on process. A variety of samples have shown oil, soil from culver and area since vacuuming show oil. Results for CSl and CS2 show petroleum carbon above that allowed for risk standards. It needs to be proved that there are "no significant risks to human health and environment" . Ms. Scanlon commented that more excavations should be done near the Cl and C2 areas. If risk is to be evaluated, and leaving soil in place then it is in contact with surface water and habitats. It is not an emergency for wetland, but would like to see follow up sampling. Mr.Tirone reported Joe Gemello will come to a future meeting to answer questions and advise Commission what the plan is going forward. Testing shows 2.4 and 3.4. Standard reading is below 2.0. This site on the verge of being closed out. 364 Lowell Street DRT Discussion Mr.Tirone reported that the Applicant did not attend DRT meeting. Lots originally had three car garages and now have been changed to two car garages. Nothing is before the Commission right now on this project. 28 Oak Street, Stop Work Update Owner will be submitting RDA and planting plan which includes several trees. Mr.Tirone lifted the Stop Work Order. 2016 Draft Meeting Schedule January 131h January 27th February lot" February 20 March 9th March 23rd April 1311 April 27th May 11th May 25th June 8th June 22nd July 13th July 27th August 101h August 241h October 12th October 26th November 911 November 23rd December 14th December 28"' Ms. Scanlon proposed striking November 23'^ and December 2811 from the schedule. Ms. Longley made Motion to accept 2016 meeting schedule as revised. ???????????seconded. Vote 5-0-0 Site visit schedule was discussed. Site visits cannot conflict with Town Meeting which takes place on Mondays. Changed next site visit to 9:00 on Sunday 11/15. The topic of Sunday site visits will be kept open. Administrators Report: Storywalk in Bare Meadow Conservation Area 11/2 to 11/16/2015 Conservation Commission got request from Ms. Baumgartner from Reading Public Library to bring groups to Bare Meadow for Storywalk Project. Mr.Tirone approved the request. Mr.Tirone would like to discuss Matera Cabin uses at a future meeting. Mr Tirone received offer from DPW to perform work at Matera Cabin. Mr. Tirone proposed building a deck for classes or meetings. Home Depot will donate material and the Town of Reading Engineering Department will prepare plans. Mr. Tirone shared his plan on enlarging parking area,creating handicap parking and ADA access to Kiosk. 25 parking spaces are needed. Ms. Scanlon suggested working with Engineering to determine number of spaces possible,traffic pattern, etc. Mr. Keating, DPW, would have to approve removal of any trees. This work will not cost Conservation Commission since work is either mitigation from Engineering for bus stop or by donation. Mr. Maughan is opposed to accepting mitigation at Matera Cabin for Walker's Brook Drive bus stop. Mr. Flynn offered to look at the site and develop a more detailed plan. Austin Prep Gale Associates, engineers for Austin Prep, are proposing putting down asphalt on the lower field road. Ms. Scanlon indicated the natural gravel walkway cannot support asphalt paving. Commission is willing to explore options. There would be restrictions of use. Board would like to know why Austin Prep want to do this. Possibility of Board requesting larger culvert and better access for habitats. This work would require a variance before ZBA. Ms. Scanlon proposed inviting reps from Austin Prep in for discussion. Bare Meadow Ms. Honetschlager advised Mr. Tirone Trails Committee permit was approved. Minutes for Approval Mr. Maughan made Motion to accept 9/23/2015 minutes as amended. Ms. Scanlon seconded. Vote 5-0-0 Ms. Longley made Motion to adjourn meeting at 10:40 pm. Mr. Maughan seconded. Vote 5-0-0