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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-12-10 Conservation Commission MinutesMinutes, Reading Conservation Commission, December 10, 2003 7: Q E Minutes of the Reading Conservation Commission Selectman's Meeting Room, Town Hall December 10, 2003 Present: William Hecht, William Finch, Doug Greene, Rebecca Longley, Jamie Maughan, Commissioners; Fran Fink, Administrator The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. Old/New Business Walkers Brook Crossing, DEP 270-352, RGB 2001-14 Ed Shaw of Dickinson Development, Jim Bromley of RMLD, and Randy Christensen of Dufresne-Henry were present to discuss a proposed revision to the approved site plans for connection of electric lines from Lakeview Avenue into the site. Mr. Bromley stated that the revised pole locations had been chosen to avoid having to remove several large trees at the stream crossing. Also, the proposed pole location at the top of the retaining wall within the WBC site had been changed due to a change in the driveway configuration. The pole will be set in a sleeve and the cap will be sealed around the sleeve and shown in approved design details. The line will run underground into the buildings from the on-site pole. Proposed poles will be installed on the Lakeview side with a truck= mounted augur to minimize soil disturbance. A temporary pole will be needed on the WBC site near the stream until the retaining wall and adjacent land are brought to final grade. Mr. Finch moved to approve the proposed revisions as an insignificant plan change under the Order of Conditions. Ms. Longley seconded. Voted 5-0 in favor. 7:15 Public Hearing, Notice of Intent, 40 Harvest Road, RGB 2003-53 Procedures read, attendance sheet circulated, Commission introduced. Richard and Jillian Kenney presented plans to demolish an existing house and build a new house and above-ground swimming pool. Work will take place in the Buffer Zone and in the Floodplain. Compensatory flood storage is provided. The configuration of the house has been revised to conform with the house previously approved by the ZBA, and the Building Inspector has found it acceptable. The Kenneys asked that they be allowed to store the crated prefabricated house sections in the buffer zone on the existing lawn across the paper street. These materials would only be present for a day or two, and would then be installed on the foundation. They will avoid damaging the existing trees. The Commission reviewed and amended draft Findings and Conditions. Mr. Hecht moved to close the public. hearing. Mr. Finch seconded. Voted 5-0 in favor. ---Mr. Finch moved to issue- the -Order of Conditions -with the Findings and Conditions as - - - amended. Ms. Longley seconded. Voted 5-0 in favor. Minutes, Reading Conservation Commission, December 10, 2003 7:30 Public Hearing, Notice of Intent,, 40-42 and 70 West Street, DEP 270-412, RGB 2003-46 Ms. Fink reported that the applicant, Archstone-Smith Operating Trust, had presented a revised site plan to the ZBA on December 4, and that the ZBA had approved the plan with certain conditions. No one was present to represent Archstone, and revised site plans had not been submitted. Thus, the Commission continued the public hearing until January 14, 2004 at 7:45 PM. Old/New Business Pondview Lane Subdivision, Order of Conditions, DEP 270-345, RGB 2000-52 The Commission had not received any response to recent letters concerning the status of work on the site. The Administrator will continue trying to contact the developer. Adams Way, Order of Conditions, DEP 270-333, RGB 2000-8 The Commission had not received any response to recent letters concerning the status of work on the site. The Administrator will continue trying to contact the developer. 115 Charles Street, Order of Conditions, DEP 270-367, RGB 2002-3 The Commission reported that the owner had mulched the front yard but had not seeded or mulched the back yard. Given the recent snow storm, it is not practical to mulch the back at this time. The Commission will monitor the site next spring. 1498 Main Street, Order of Conditions, DEP 270-379, RGB 2002-21 Ms. Fink reported that she had inspected the site. Work had been completed and the site was stable. She had obtained a copy of the as-built site plan from the Health Administrator. Work conformed to the approved plans. Mr. Hecht moved to issue a Certificate of Compliance for the project. Ms. Longley seconded. Voted 5-0 in favor. 7:45 Public Hearing, Notice of Intent, Barrows Elementary School, 16 Edgemont Avenue, DEP 270-414, RGB 2003-49, Procedures read, attendance sheet circulated, Commission introduced. Patrick Schettini, School Superintendent, Josh Alston, Project Engineer, and Robert Pierce, architect, were present along with several abutters. Mr. Alston presented soils test results and a proposal to install an underground infiltration system under the playing field in the northwestern portion of the site. This will reduce the volume of runoff entering the Garrett Road drainage system and provide on-site groundwater recharge. A swale and catch basin have been added just below the tennis courts to direct flow from that area. The underdrains at the tennis court will be piped to the proposed infiltration bed, rather than to the Stewart Road drainage system. A little more runoff will be directed to the Edgemont system, but a by-pass manhole is provided to ------capture excess flow and divert it into-the Shelby system: - - - - 2 Minutes, Reading Conservation Commission, December 10, 2003 Mr. Alston proposed several changes in the routing of the southeastern site runoff to Garrett. Road in response to the Administrator's comments dated December 10. A new plan revision will be submitted to follow up. Bill Kennedy, 4 Garrett Road, asked for clarification of the proposed change in runoff to Garrett. Mr. Alston described the details. Mr. Kennedy that asked whether the flow from the Swale east of the school was being changed, and Mr. Alston said no. Work in that area was beyond the budget allowed. The DPW does need to clean out and uncover the existing drains in this area. Tom Parr, 22 Garrett Road, asked how deep the test pits were in the proposed infiltration area. He wondered whether the infiltrated water would cause changes in groundwater elevations and result in basement flooding in nearby houses. He said the original school construction had altered flow in the area and would like to see the problems reversed. Ms. Fink explained the limitations of the Commission's authority and that the DEP Stormwater Management Policy would be applied, but could not correct past problems. The Town is making plans under the EPA Phase II requirements to improve maintenance of drainage facilities. Mr. Parr asked whether the Order of Conditions would require the applicant to inspect all existing drainage structures to be retained and to repair them as needed. Ms. Fink said yes. Mr. Alston said that the system in Garrett Road is flowing but also needs cleaning. Mr. Parr asked whether any additional water from the site could be routed into the infiltration system. Mr. Alston said it was hard to quantify off the top of his head. Discussion continued about the DEP standards, the existing drainage problems, and possible future Town improvements. A motion was made and seconded to continue the hearing to January 14, 2004 at 8:00 PM. Voted 5-0 in favor. 8:00 Public Hearing, Notice of Intent, Reading Memorial High School, 82 Oakland Road, RGB 2003-51, Procedures read, attendance sheet circulated, Commission introduced. Patrick Schettini, School Superintendent, Josh Alston, Project Engineer, and Robert Pierce, architect, were present along with several abutters. Mr. Alston reported that he had met with the Town Engineer and Conservation Administrator to review details of the plan and issues raised at the first hearing session. He was trying to schedule a DRT meeting to hammer out some of the issues concerning parking and driveway layouts, impervious cover, and groundwater recharge. He anticipated needing a continuation of the hearing. He will not revise the site plans until the DRT meeting has - been-held-and the School Department has given further direction as to the design. " Minutes, Reading Conservation Commission, December 10, 2003 Mr. Maughan asked for clarification of the proposed underground detention systems and Mr. Alston explained how they would work. Mr. Maughan asked whether an open detention basin could be used instead, both to detain runoff and to augment wetland habitat on the site. In particular; could Castine Field be utilized? Mr. Alston stated that open basins are less expensive to construct and that Castine Field would have more than adequate capacity, but its present use as a playing field would be compromised. Would there be any other place where the Town could replace the field? The DRT should discuss this. Mr. Alston also noted that Castine Field is a 500-year floodplain on the FEMA map. Dan Ensminger, Oakland Road, asked whether the parking lot next to Oakland and the driveway there could be eliminated. This would ease traffic impacts in this area and look better to abutters. Mr. Alston stated that the design team set a high value on the driveway, and the DRT needs to discuss the parking/driveway layout. Mr. Ensminger asked whether the plan would be reviewed by CPDC. Mr. Schettini said they will carry out the DRT meeting soon, and then the School Committee will meet to discuss the outcome. The School Committee is also planning a hearing for abutters in Janaury after some decisions have been made. Ms. Longley asked about the history of Castine Field. Ms. Fink said that it had been partly filled and the inlet and outlet controls had been installed in 1977 with a permit from the Commission. The field continues to have wetlands characteristics and flood storage functions. Mr. Hecht moved to continue the hearing until Janaury 14 at 8:15 PM. Mr. Finch seconded. Y, 1 Voted 5-0 in favor. Old/New Business: 1375 Main Street, Order of Conditions, DEP 270-353, RGB 2001-1 Donald Van Dyne, developer, and Richard Morelli, contractor, were present. Mr. Morelli stated that he had cleaned all the sumps and addressed the other items in recent letters. Mr. Van Dyne stated that he had not yet received a response from MHD concerning the boulder wall in their right-of-way. If further work is needed, a separate permit application could be filed. Ms. Fink reported observations from recent site visit. Several problems had been addressed. Others (minor seeding for soil stabilization) will have to wait until spring and will be part of on-going maintenance by the unit owners. Mr. Finch moved to issue a Certificate of Compliance for the project. Mr. Hecht seconded. Voted 5-0 in favor. Ms. Fink will prepare COC forms for the January 14 meeting and will review the bond status. Minutes, Reading Conservation Commission, December 10, 2003 YMCA, Arthur B. Lord Drive The Commission reviewed a. site plan submitted to CPDC for an addition to the building. They also reviewed a draft memorandum to'the CPDC commenting on the proposed work and the outstanding issues that remain to be resolved under the Order of Conditions for the previous addition. The Commission approved submittal of the memorandum and asked that a copy be sent to the Board of Directors of the YMCA, along with other parties involved in the Order of Conditions. Home Goods, Main Street Ms. Fink reported that a truck load of pure road salt had been deposited on the Home Goods parking lot recently, along with a load of sand. After several phone calls, the manager of the store acknowledged that the store was responsible for the stockpile. MS. Fink had informed the manager that it is illegal to store salt in such a manner and had asked her to have it removed immediately. Ms. Fink will continue to pursue the matter. 29 Terrace Park, 700 Pearl Street, 57 Lilah Lane, 99 Lilah Lane, 39 Terrace Park, 82 Fairchild Drive, 1152 Main Street, 722 Pearl Street The Commission reviewed site inspection reports for these sites. With the exception of 700 Pearl Street, work has been completed under Minor Project Permits or Determinations, and the sites are stable. Work never commenced at 700 Pearl and the Determination has now expired. Mr. Finch moved to close the files on these projects and to notify the owners of 700 Pearl that the Determination has expired. Mr. Hecht seconded. Voted 5-0 in favor. A motion was made and seconded to adjourn the meeting. Voted 5-0 in favor. 5