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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-03-27 Conservation Commission MinutesMinutes - Conservation Commission, March 27, 2002 1 Minutes of the Reading Conservation Commission Meeting Selectman's Meeting Room, 7:00 PIv1O Wednesday, March 27, 2002 Lu 6 _1 11 Q A Present: Dan Thibeault, Larry Goulet, Doug Greene, Commissioners; Pat Lloyd, Acting Chair; Kelley Meier, Recording Secretary; Fran Fink, Administrator Absent: Will Finch, Chair; Thad Berry, Commissioner; Leo Kenney, Harold Hulse, Advisors. Pat Lloyd called the meeting to order at 7:06 PM. Walkers Brook Crossing Fran Fink updated us about the Landfill Closure Plan. After DEP issues their decision, she expects that there will be amendments to the Order of Conditions. Fanta Lane and Kurchian Woods Conservation Area The Commission reviewed a letter from Ed Oteri, owner. The boulders got taken out of the Kurchian Woods parking lot by mistake. The owner would like to put wooden posts where the boulders were. The letter also proposed a construction sequence for work this spring. Until grass can be established in the detention basin, the owner proposes to divert water from the roadway onto Lot 2 where there is no water. The brush that he would like to move has some invasive species. Doug made a motion to send a letter to the owner to allow wooden posts at the Kurchian Woods entry and to approve their construction sequence and temporary drainage system. Larry Goulet seconded. Voted in favor, 3-0-0. Sunset Rock Lane Fran Fink reported that she had drafted a Conservation Restriction document and sent it to the owner and all other CR lot owners with an explanatory cover letter. She has heard back from several of the lot owners already. Fran Fink went over the draft letter she proposed to send to Mr. Peter C. DeGennaro in response to a submittal by his engineer. Larry Goulet moved to approve the letter to be sent out to Mr. DeGennaro. Doug Greene seconded. Voted in favor, 4-0-0. 7:32 PM - Public Hearing, RGB 2002-8, Notice of Intent, 49 Grey Coach Road, Paul Gange: fuel leak remediation. (List of those in attendance is in Commission file.) Paul Gange, applicant, introduced himself and his wife Jean. He has lived at this residence since 1988 and has been a resident for about 20 years. They have been cleaning up an oil leak under the house for two years this coming weekend. They are coming to the end of the clean-up project. In order to decontaminate the ground, they have to dig up the driveway. They reassured the Commission that the oil is not going to affect other people's lawn or the conservation area. Minutes - Conservation Commission, March 27, 2002 Robert W. Pease then spoke on behalf of the Ganges. He is the LSP from New England Disposal Technology, Inc. He showed the audience and the Commission the site plan. The oil leak is under the house, and they are taking out the contaminated soils underneath the house. There are a number of recovery wells and their purpose is to keep the oil from going farther. They are treating the water with a filtration system and then it goes over to the storm drain afterwards. There are NPDES discharge pei7nits as well. The workers sample the wells every quarter. They installed wells down gradient from the spill.. The workers sample the wells every quarter to make sure that the oil isn't contaminating the water off site. Excavation is in the house area and the next project is the driveway. They intend not to store the soils on the yard, they are taken away by a dump truck. Hay bales have been placed to prevent erosion. After they excavate the driveway, they will sample the walls of the pit to make sure they have removed enough contamination. There are backup systems Justin case something happens. Workers are there physically everyday, holidays and all. Excavated areas will be filled with clean fill, the driveway repaved, the lawn restored. There will be two or more quarters of groundwater monitoring afterwards. Mike Robertson, the project manager from NEDT, reported that they have removed 800 tons of soils from the property. People have been working seven feet under in some areas. They have also treated a million gallons of contaminated water and recovered 1000 gallons of oil. There should be another 10 weeks of excavation under the house, then several weeks work on the driveway. - Mr. Gange showed a picture of a man next to a fairly large boulder, for the record. Conservation Commission Comments and Questions Fran Fink went over the memos that she wrote on March 21 and March 26, including data that she found in the file for the original construction of the subdivision and the house. She raised questions about the wetlands delineation, the existence of the lawn beyond the subdivision limit-of-work line, and how the site should be restored Steve Eriksen, Norse Environmental discussed his wetlands delineation. One boundary line on the subdivision plan was a zoning district and the other flagged by IEP. He based his delineation on the presence of wetlands plants - red maple, clethra, skunk cabbage, and on the old stone wall. He saw little wetland vegetation on the north side of the stone wall, but agreed that much of the lawn area would have hydric soils. Recommendation would be not to worry about the wetland boundary quite yet and worry about the spill instead, and to prohibit use of chemicals on the lawn in the future. Doug Greene asked whether he had found any ferns in the lawn. Mr. Erikson said no, but he did find mosses. Mr. Greene said that the hydric soils seem to indicate the lawn is wetland, but he would consider the prohibition on chemicals. Pat Lloyd asked whether there had been any filling to create the lawn. Mr. Gange said that when the lawn was created, fill was brought in. Part of the fill was clay, and in that area of the lawn, it takes a while for the water to infiltrate the ground. Minutes - Conservation Commission, March 27, 2002 The applicant was given a copy of the Commission's site visit report. Ms. Lloyd stated that the proposed oil removal work is clearly permittable and necessary. Her question is whether the lawn was put in under proper pennitting or not. The area is wet. Any future work would require a permit. Mr. Eriksen responded that the wetland boundary on the subdivision site plan was a zoning boundary. Mr. Gange said that he had checked with the town officials and that he thought the limit-of-work line was for structures, not lawns. He pointed out that the Commission did issue a Certificate of Compliance for his lot. Ms. Fink stated that Mr. Eriksen had delineated the wetland boundary much closer to the house than the old IEP boundary on the subdivision plans, and had agreed that the lawn has hydric soils. The question is what to do about the lawn at this point in time. Comments from Public Dau Basal, Grey Coach Road - Does this mean that everyone would be able to expand their lawns? The Commission responded that they would have to determine the wetlands boundary and submit a permit application showing the proposed work. Ms. Lloyd asked him what he had understood about the limit-of-work line at the time the subdivision was built. He answered that he had understood that they could not extend their lawn past it. David Carol, 33 Grey Coach Road, asked about the timing to complete the project and commented on the noise that it generates. Mike Robertson answered that will take about 2.5 months to finish the house and then the driveway. They expect to be done in July or August. There were no other comments from abutters. Mr. Greene asked why the NOI did not include wetlands field data forms to support the delineation. Mr. Erikson said that he did not use them if the delineation was based only on vegetation. He did not examine the soils in the lawn in order to save time and money. Ms. Lloyd said she thought the Commission should issue the OOC soon to keep the oil removal work moving, but that the BVW delineation needs to be finalized and then the Commission needs to examine the consequences for the lawn area. Mr. Gange stated that he had the Fire Department down at his house to make sure that everything was done correctly when he installed the oil pipe. The contractor didn't do the job correctly. The Fire Department signed off on everything. When the floor was poured, it cracked the pipe. Pat responded that this was not the Commission's area of jurisdiction. Mr. Gange said that he does not want to give up the lawn if it is not necessary and that -the lawn was put in shortly after he moved in. Mr. Eriksen recommended that the " Minutes - Conservation Commission, March 27, 2002 4 Commission issue the OOC for the oil removal work and delay findings about the wetland delineation and the history of the lawn. Doug made a motion to waive the 25 feet zone of natural vegetation requirement for the purpose of the project. Larry seconded. Voted in favor, 4-0-0. Doug made a motion to have Fran draft an Order of Conditions to permit the oil removal work for RGB 2002-8. Larry seconded. Voted in favor, 4-0-0. Lary moved to continue the public hearing until April 10, 2002, at 7:30 PM. Doug seconded. Voted in favor, 4-0-0. Mr. Gange asked whether it was okay to continue the oil removal work before the OOC is issued and the Commission gave permission. 8:45PM: Continued Public Hearing, 25 Sunset Rock Lane, DEP 270-362, RGB 2001-28. (List of those in attendance is on file with the Commission.) Colin Joharmen (engineer) is here representing Mr. Cartolano. He was last here in December. He presented a revised site plan, soils data, and drainage calculations for the infiltration system. There is one infiltration system on the side near some trees, but several trees have not survived. He has added a root barrier to protect the infiltration bed. He has changed the size of the infiltration system. Fran Fink ran through her memo. She passed out a memo from Joe Delaney, Town Engineer. Fran also spoke with the tree warden, who recommended placing the infiltrators at least 10 feet from the trees. Mr. Johannen spoke about Fran's memo. There are two choices about the water that comes down slope, either collect in backyard or keep swale as designed and allow to drain to street until the developer shares his ideas. Ms. Fink would like to wait and see what Peter DeGennaro comes up with. They need to lower the driveway or put a culvert under it to carry the water from the swale to the stream, not the road. She would like the residents to work with Mr. DeGennaro and figure out what he wants to do. The Commission will have to wait until April 5th and see what his plan is. Cynthia Rodrigues, owner of Lot 9, was present. She would prefer to lower the driveway rather than install a culvert. She is concerned about damage to the underground utility lines in the area. Ms. Fink asked her and" the applicant, Mr. Cartolano, to work with Peter DeGermaro and to find out exactly where the utilities are. Mr. Johannen said the trenches will be kept at least 10 feet away from the trees and 5 feet from utilities, except for the trench in the front yard. There is not enough room between the driveway and the TEC line, but they can provide a 4-foot setback. They will dig carefully. They will install inspection ports in the infiltrators to see whether they are draining properly and will keep the surface of the trenches clean. Minutes - Conservation Commission, March 27, 2002 Doug made a motion to continue the hearing to April 10, 2002, at 8 PM. Dan seconded. Voted in favor, 4-0-0. The Commission asked Ms. Fink to draft an OOC. Old/New Business Items Minutes Larry moved to accept the Minutes of January 9, 16, and 23, Februaruy 7, 13, and 27, and March 13, 2002 as drafted. Dan seconded. Voted in favor, 4-0-0. The Commission suggested that the minutes identify the person who drafted them, use last names to identify speakers, and put the subject of each topic in bold letters. NPDES Stormwater Phase II Plan Fran Fink reviewed a memo from Peter Hechenbleikner concerning the formation of a committee to work on the plan. The Commission discussed who might serve as liaison. Ms. Fink will report to Mr. Hechenbleikner. Community Preservation Act Ms. Lloyd reminded people that the ballot question was coming up soon and encouraged them to vote. 489 Lowell Street Ms Fink reported that the owner would request a COC soon. MHD, Causeway Road Facility Ms. Fink reported that DEP has issued findings on the hazardous waste cleanup progress. The Commission approved a letter that she had drafted to send to MHD. 33 Line Road The owner requested a waiver of the requirement to flag the wetland boundary because it is on abutting property. Mr. Goulet moved to waive the wetland boundary flagging. Mr. Greene seconded. Voted in favor, 4-0-0. 10 Cory Lane The Commission signed a copy of the original OOC so that it can be recorded. The developer had misplaced the original. Town Meeting Warrant Motion made by Mr. Greene to renew the revolving fund for consulting fees. Seconded by Mr. Goulet. Voted in favor, 4-0-0., Ms. Fink reported on recent site visits to Melendy Drive, 18 Small Street, 8 Morgan Park, 205 Pearl Street, and Governors Drive. She also reported on a heating oil leak at 59 Bear Hill Road and an upcoming CPDC workshop on traffic issues. Mr. Greene made the motion to adjourn at 10:51 PM, second by Mr. "Goulet Voted in favor, 4-0-0.