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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-10-23 Conservation Commission MinutesDEN Of Rr�� Town of Reading RECEIVED�?TOWN CLERK Meeting Minutes READING, MA. Board - Committee - Commission - Council: 1625 MAR 20 PM 4:21 Conservation Commission Date: 2024-10-23 Time: 07:00 PM Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Select Board Meeting Room Address: 16 Lowell Street Session: Open Session Purpose: Hybrid Meeting - Conservation Version: Final Commission Meeting Attendees: Members - Present: Brian Bowe, chair, Martha Moore, vice chair, Tony Rodolakis, Walter Talbot (remote) Members - Not Present: Chirag Sthalekar Others Present: Chuck Tirone, Conservation Administrator, Siona P remote, Andrew Cole remote, Jessica Wall (Anderson& Krieger) remote, Bill Sullivan, Nancy Docktor, Mike Rivers remote, UJval Shah remote Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Martha Moore Topics of Discussion: This meeting was held in person and remotely via Zoom. Chair Brian Bowe called the meeting to order. Public Hearings 1. 0 Cedar Swamp (North Cedar Swamp) Continue the Public Hearing on a Notice of Intent, filed by Andrew Cole, New England Power Group Company (NEP), Pursuant to Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 131, Section 40-the Wetlands Protection Act and/or the Reading Wetland protection By-law, Section 7.1, The applicant is proposing general maintenance activity and improvements along the 339/349 transmission line. The activity will include the replacement and relocation of one of the caisson -supported structures, and tree removal within the BVW. All of the work is within the Buffer Zone to Bordering Vegetated Wetland and Wetland Resource Area. The application and plans can be viewed during regular business hours at the Town Hall Conservation Office, 16 Lowell Street Reading, MA 01867, and on the Conservation Division page under the project by year, Assessor's Map 54 Lot 1 Dep File No. 270-0785 Siona presented the background. This is a 17 mile long right of way from Tewksbury to Saugus. 1000 feet of it is in Reading. They plan to remove one tower, replace it with a larger tower nearby. They will use matting because it is all withing the BVW. Trees on the North side are growing too close to the power lines. They will do selective removal of trees on the south edge of the easement. They estimate 550 trees will be removed. They will count the stumps after the tree removal for the exact number. Page 1 1 Chuck Tirone asked whether everyone working in the field will be qualified to determine which trees are to be cut or saved. Andrew Cole said that the lead forester will mark the trees individually. Snag trees will have the tops removed AND be girdled at the bottom to kill them and left to become habitat. Chuck Tirone asked whether Siona will be out in the field Siona replied initial walk through would be with Siona. All the conditions will be covered during training of the Field Crew Environmental Monitors with BSC group will work throughout the project. Spray paint trees NOT to be cut Limbs and trunks will be removed from the site, Branches Chipped and left on upland area outside of Reading or hauled off -site. In situ restoration and monitoring after matting removed. Quarterly reports. Seeding as necessary where <75%regeneration. Contractor will clean the matting before installation. Survey will be done to document existing invasive species. 2 — 3 years of invasives monitoring. In this wetland, target buckthorn with cutfdab or foliar spray this coming spring. Also Russian Olive, Autumn Olive. Chuck asked if the monitoring will happen where the trees will be cut. Siona said that that area can be monitored, too. Chuck wants not to lose any more ground to invasives. Brian asked where the herbicides will be used to control invasives. Chuck asked whether herbicide use has already been approved by Natural Heritage along the powerline. Andrew said that the application would be foliar spray by backpack, only when no standing water. Cut and stump also done with a backpack. Chuck asked for the name of the herbicide that will be used. Siona showed photos of Matting used to provide access road, and an example of a snag. And the area after a year of recovery. Brian asked referring to the email we received about fees. Could the commission use some of the $58,000? We'd like to shift $24,750 of it to an account improve habitat in the wildlife corridor in other parts of Reading. Chuck Tirone showed a map of how this area is connected to other open space in Reading and in the Ipswich and Saugus river watersheds. We'd like to mitigate in those areas for the displaced birds in the project area. Brian said that we would be willing to reduce the fee to $0.50 per square foot vs bylaws. To do so would require a vote tonight. He referenced the Superseding Order of Conditions issued by DEP for the Lowell Gas Project. It has a number of special conditions that are pertinent. File # 206-0804. Andrew Cole asked which special conditions we are looking at? Chuck Tirone said that the commission is savvy enough to know which fit and which do not, but getting the language right might be important. Andrew Cole asked the commission to provide a draft. Chuck Tirone said that if we leave it open, you would get a draft a week before the November 13 meeting. Brian suggested that we vote on the fee reduction. Andrew agreed to that fee as long as the total is unchanged. Jessica Wall said that they will write a single check for the $58,750, where the town allocates that money is fine. No letter of agreement is needed. Town council has received a letter to this effect. Page 1 2 Walter Talbot (remote) asked will the town direct those funds to us? Chuck Tirone answered that the Town Manager and Town Council support that money going to our fund. It may require going to Town Meeting to appropriate that money to Conservation Commission. Tony Rodolakis asked if we can get a copy of the PowerPoint. Chuck Tirone asked Andrew if he wants to close tonight. Do we have permission to continue? We need to close before voting on the fee reduction. Andrew agreed to continue to November 13. Martha Moore moved to continue to November 13. Tony Rodolakis seconded. Approved by roll call vote 4-0-0. Brian Bowe, YES, Martha Moore, YES, Tony Rodolakis, YES, Walter Talbot YES 2. Town Forest Cutting Plan Bill Sullivan presented a PowerPoint showing that the red pines in the Town Forest are all dying. Tonight we are discussing areas 5, 12, and 13 shown in orange. We hope that this will be the last major phase. The gray area is an isolated, closed trail. We will not clear it. Scouts have planted hundreds of trees. Three big parts to the project: 1) Removal of dead trees 2) Control of invasive species 3) Replant Phase 4 covers 5.1 acres areas 5, 12, and 13. DCR approved this project. They have done Four phases of invasive plant control. He is going to Town Meeting for more funding for this tree cutting, plus invasive control. Some trees within 50 feet of wetlands will be topped and not felled from the base. Forest Type 2 is Area 5, the Pine Ridge Trail, those trees will be dropped parallel to the ground. The trees across the slope will discourage mountain biking. Chuck asked how the limbs will be removed if they are not in contact with the ground. How close to the ground should the trunks be when done. Bill said that they should be touching the ground and will be cut up if they are crossing each other. Chuck said that the trees will not be dropped where people will be walking. Brian said that it will still be a shock to look at all those horizontal logs. Bill said they will decompose more quickly because they are already dead. Town Forest Committee has already replanted in areas 2,3,4, 7, and 10. Invasive plant control has been conducted along the trails. Tony Rodolakis asked how much work will occur withing the buffer zones. Bill said that the snags will be left in the buffer zone. Bill says they will climb the dead trees to top them. Chuck wants everything to fall upslope, no material in the wetland. Martha quoted the forest cutting plan that trees within 50 feet of the wetland will be topped. Some trees within 5 feet from the wetland were marked with blue spots. We didn't understand on our site visit that blue spots higher on the tree indicates that the tree will be topped. Tony asked them to avoid compacting the soil. Bill says they will drive on the forest road and use a long arm to reach in where possible. Cutting will be done when soil is hard or frozen. Chuck Tirone asked for no driving within 25 feet of a resource area. Tony Rodolakis asked if there is compaction where trucks drove, and no growth a year later, that they go back and loosen the soil. Bill Sullivan responded that in Area 1 you can't see where the trucks drove. Chuck Tirone said that you need to tell the contractor right away if they need to fix it. It is OK to drive on a road or a trail, but not OFF ROAD within 25 feet of a wetland. If they leave a rut, they need to smooth it out. Page 1 3 Walter Talbot asked do we require planting replacement trees in our jurisdiction? There are also trees in Area 12 close to the resource area. Brian asked how they will approach area 12 to get to those trees? They will go up the northern face of area 12, and come down the southern face. Area 5 will be cut by hand. Martha asked about trees in Area 5 that are within the area without marks. And why are some trees marked with 3 stripes as the comers but not red pines. She asked to confirm that height of blue mark not shape, indicates how high to cut them. Martha asked about the trees the scouts planted, she only saw 4 trees surviving. Bill said he expects 50% survival. Martha asked at what point do you remove the cages from the surviving trees. Walter asked if we require replanting of dead trees in our jurisdiction. Chuck Tirone replied that dead trees are not replanted. But when cutting a whole area, we need to think about planting. OK if trees come in slowly as long as it is not buckthorn. Walter Talbot asked if a Boy Scout plants trees in our area, do we put a condition of watering the trees to increase survival? Chuck Tirone said that it is appropriate to ask for some replanting. We should ask for all the replanting in our area, because the water is there. He referred to a letter from Dave Williams, former Parker MS Science Teacher and avid birder, that on August 12 he noticed a number of birds in the area cleared of dead red pines. 50 birds seen, 12 species in 10 minutes. The area behind the council ring is now shrub habitat where birds are feeding and can overwinter there. It will grow up to an oak forest eventually. Bill says he has been working with Mike Hannaford, the tree warden, to choose the species of trees that the scouts will plant. Town Meeting member Martha Moore was asked to propose an amendment that any money left if the bids come in low, spend the remainder on bare root saplings to plant. She agreed to do so. Chuck said we would work together on an amendment. Brian pointed out that there are many other invasives besides buckthorn. Brian asked about how much slash will be allowed to remain after the cutting. Bill said that the height of slash allowed should be specified. Brian Bowe stated that his issue has always been cutting without the rest of the equation. They don't say what percentage of the money will be spent on replanting. He doesn't like the fact that it is piecemeal. Not a concrete plan for replanting. Is 50% survival enough? We often require 80 — 90% survival. He is still concerned about cutting so many trees with no plan for replanting. Bill Sullivan replied that $100, 000 for invasives is to address just that. Doing everything we can to address that issue. Brian said that they are cutting trees, invasives are growing in hope that the money will be approved, replanting is dependent on volunteers. Tony Rodolakis said that if the project does not go forward, trees will blow down, invasives will take over. No action alternative is the worst scenario. They have a record of getting enough plantings in to provide habitat. Bill says the Trees for Reading program has money ready to go. Chuck is wondering why next to the road is the area that the invasive money will be focused on. DPW could cut that area down yearly and keep them at bay. Bill replied that most of the buckthorn is located near the road. Martha says that she would hate to lose a good project in search of a perfect project. We need to vote in a way that this project can go to Town Meeting before our next meeting. Nancy Docktor pointed out that the Town Forest Committee are relying on experts to tell them what areas to target for invasives. Martha Moore moved for a Negative Determination Tony Rodolakis seconded. Approved by roll call vote 4-0-0. Brian Bowe, YES (reluctantly), Martha Moore, YES, Tony Rodolakis, YES, Walter Talbot YES Conditions: Fill in the ruts Page 14 Aerate any compacted areas No closer than 25 feet from wetland without approval in advance from Chuck Slash height per DCR standards for conifers Do Areas 5, 12, and 13 In Area 5 cut trees into sections so they touch the ground No trees in the wetlands. Some trees are topped not cut at ground level. Frozen or dry ground, work can start with approval of the conservation administrator during the DCR dates of May 15 through Feb. 28. Tony suggested adding a plan for a few years out. Chuck said that there will be pressure from residents to start replanting. Tony asked if replanting plan could put pressure on the town to approve future funding. Brian suggested that we stick to conditioning THIS project. Old/New Business 445 Pead Street. Mike Rivers reports that he has cut back the multiflora rose and buckthorn and has started to do hand work along the retaining wall along the south bank. He will expose the rest of the retaining wall and bring a machine in in 2 weeks to do the bulk of the work. Coconut coir logs and base. Willow saplings will be ready in mid -November. Martha Moore requested completion by 12/9 for a site visit in time for the 12/11 headng. 29 Green Meadow Drive Ujjval Shah (remote), stated that he purchased the home in 2022. Plan put together after talking to Miles from Parterre. Invasive plants are killing the trees in the Zone of Natural Vegetation. If left unchecked they will also invade ROLT land. He would like to remove the invasives, use herbicide to control them, plant new native plants, loam and seed, the area will be maintained by the resident. Johnson Woods trustees have approved the plan. The applicant showed a map of the site in question, with the conservation markers shown. The Concord Grape vines shown in summer spreading all over the area. Plan is for Parterre to manually hand pull the invasive plants, use herbicide. Not touch the native plants. They will plant some native plants in a 5 foot buffer strip, plus a bench and birdbath outside the markers. Martha noted that during the site visit they saw that the concrete bounds were marked with blue salamander labels on top. There was trash in the Wetland buffer zone. Steve Kievan was there from the Homeowners association and he pointed out some trees with damage at the base that he is concerned about. The group also noticed some trees wrapped with bittersweet on the left side of the property that should be cut. She noted Elderberries, Arrowwood, Ferns, etc. in the area behind the conservation markers and is concerned about putting in loam and seed there. Chuck Tirone stated that the restriction marked by the blue salamander on stone bounds is an easement in the deed that requires a Zone of Natural Vegetation. It is not a conservation restriction. Chuck asked how much of the backyard is covered with invasives and how much is lawn. The applicant stated that the new lawn would be in the area behind the markers. Tony Rodolakis stated that he couldn't find the license for the applicator, Miles, from Parterre, who would be doing the work. He requested a copy of the license of the applicator. Miles himself will not be doing the work, his company will employ people who will be licensed. Martha pointed out the the rules for Zone of Natural Vegetation does not include lawn, it does allow natural ground cover, shrubs, and trees. Chuck said that he looked at other towns and one town does have grasses within the list of native vegetation allowed. The applicant said that he wants to support the native habitat, but he will be spending a lot of money on this but would like to be able to have his family enjoy the space. Parterre Page 1 5 suggested white clover or no mow lawn. Tony said that this is a beneficial project because invasive species are being removed, so this project can have a little leeway, compared to a construction project. Tony suggested that in the loam and grass area, we could keep it as a low ground cover area, such as a wetland grass. Martha compared it to the home with the putting green with lots of black eyed susans growing inside the zone of natural vegetation. The applicant said that is why he is suggesting a no mow lawn. Walter asked if there is a place to see what the vegetation would look like. Chuck said that maybe a landscape architect would have some suggestions. He suggested that the invasive removal could be allowed now, planting plan In the spring. Brian suggested that two year old couldn't run around out there, such as a more traditional play area. Martha suggested that they do a thorough tick check if they let their two year old run around in the black eyed susans. Tony said that vegetation that comes to our waist would look like an impenetrable forest. He said that the applicant should consider cost and maintenance before choosing his plantings. Martha said that the applicant should consider that many natives are taller, and that the applicant should be prepared to control the invasives for years. Tony said that we don't really want people walking in the buffer zone, we want it to protect the wetland. The applicant pushed that he wants the use of that area. Tony pushed back that the applicant should not expect to walk there a lot. Chuck pointed out that this is a small area and it is pretty important to get it right. The applicant may have to look for another company that just does planting to try to figure out what they know and come back to the commission with a plan. Are we ready to approve now, or have them come back in January. Discussion of whether to approve the November treatment, but not the spring planting plan. Martha said that she would like to see removal of the trash. The applicant asked to clarify if the shrubs and dogwood are fine, it is just the grass that we don't like? Chuck suggested to continue to January 22. The applicant checked to be sure he can remove invasives now, but come in January for the planting plan. Tony Rodolakis moved to continue to January 22, Martha Moore seconded. Approved by roll call vote 4-0-0. Brian Bowe, YES, Martha Moore, YES, Tony Rodolakis, YES, Walter Talbot YES 4. Violation Notices, yard waste and encroachment on Conservation Land, Follow-ups 51 Cross Street,126 Hanscom Ave, 22, 8, Oakridge Road, 38, 34 Bond, 445 Pearl Street, 1110 Main Street, 28 Willow Street nothing new on the others. 16 Beverly requested a minor plan change Martha Moore moved that this is an insignificant change, Tony Rodolakis seconded. Approved by roll call vote 4-0-0. Brian Bowe, YES, Martha Moore, YES, Tony Rodolakis, YES, Walter Talbot YES 0 Annette Lane The Contractor damaged 15-17 trees by scraping the bark off. No resolution yet. Chuck asked the applicant to get an arborist. He has not yet received an evaluation from the arborist. Talking is not working any more. Chuck suggested an enforcement order. Brian asked about fines. Chuck said not at this point. Martha asked if we can add conditions to protect the roots and trunks of the trees. He is damaging the trees, compacting the soil. Martha Moore moved to issue an enforcement order with the conditions discussed, Walter Talbot seconded. Approved by roll call vote 4-0-0. Brian Bowe, YES, Martha Moore, YES, Tony Rodolakis, YES, Walter Talbot YES Martha Moore moved to support all three articles about the Town Forest that will be presented at Town Meeting, Articles 11 (voice control), Article 12 (maximum number of off leash dogs), Article 13 (forest cutting plan). Martha will report the vote at Town Meeting.Tony Rodolakis seconded. Approved by roll call vote 4-0-0. Brian Bowe, YES, Martha Moore, YES, Tony Rodolakis, YES, Walter Talbot YES Page 1 6 Land Use Summit meeting date not chosen yet Rules for Maillett Sommes and Morgan: Add Wading to rule #3. Moved by Tony Radolakis, Seconded by Martha Moore Approved by roll call vote 4-0-0. Brian Bowe, YES, Martha Moore, YES, Tony Rodolakis, YES, Walter Talbot YES Martha Moore proposed asking the DPW to provide a trash barrel in the parking area. Martha Moore moved to approve the rules as amended. Tony Rodolakis seconded Approved by roll call vote 4-0-0. Brian Bowe, YES, Martha Moore, YES, Tony Rodolakis, YES, Walter Talbot YES DPW meeting Nov. 5 Martha probably cannot attend. Administrator's report: Symonds Way will be digging test holes. No trees will be removed. Use the same path as used in 2022. The report will be available in early November. They will be digging today, tomorrow, and maybe Friday. Martha Moore offered to type up the minutes of tonight's meeting. We did not vote on any minutes from 9/11, 9/25, or 10/9. Public service announcement, we have a budget to pay for people to write up our minutes. Tony Rodolakis moved to adjourn at 10:35 Walter Talbot seconded Approved 4-0-0. Page 1 7