Conservation Commission, February 4, 2015
HOLDEN CONSERVATION COMMISSION
1130 MAIN STREET
FEBRUARY 4, 2015
Members Present: Matt Kennedy (7:37PM), Anthony Costello, Kenneth Strom, Mike Krikonis, Michael Scott
Members Absent: Luke Boucher, Robert Lowell
Others Present: Pam Harding, Conservation Agent, Liz Fotos, Recording Secretary
Others on Sign in: Mike Andrade, Graves Engineering; Mark Popham, Greenstone Realty; Jeffrey Brem, Meisner Brem Corp; Paul McManus, EcoTec, Inc; Josh Olson, Greenstone Properties; Keith Glenny, Greenstone Realty; Scott Morrison, EcoTec. Inc; Kimberly Petulas, The Landmark; Phillip Guerin, City of Worcester DPW
Meeting called to order at 7:12 PM by M. Scott.
M. Scott stated there was a quorum for the meeting however there was not a quorum for Wachusett Valley Estates as some members present had missed previous hearings. The Commission moved forward with remaining items on the agenda.
NOTICE OF INTENT- Fisher Terrace Phase II-Fisher Terrace Phase II-
Construction of 12 additional condominium units
P. Harding stated that comments were forwarded from the peer review and they still had not submitted revised plans. The applicant requested a continuance.
Notice of Intent; Fisher Terrace Phase II was continued until March 4, 2015 by a unanimous vote of the Commission.
NOTICE OF INTENT-Stonehouse Hill Road-City of Worcester Solar Array Panels
Scott Morrison, EcoTec, Inc and Phillip Guerin, City of Worcester, DPW were present on behalf of Stonehouse Hill Road. S. Morrison stated that they wished to put solar arrays on the existing facility.
S. Morrison showed the location of the reservoir and the wetlands. He stated that the proposed project consisted of solar arrays with electrical connection. S. Morrison stated that there was no way to avoid the 25FT no disturb zone for the wetlands. He stated they were unable to go through the existing roadways because of three large water mains.
S. Morrison stated they will be removing stumps and boulders and then putting down geo fabric and stone on top. He stated the panels were placed on top of stone and balanced with concrete blocks. S. Morrison stated that fence and straw will be staked until the area has been stabilized and that they were trying to keep the scope of the project within the existing disturbed area. He stated the lawn will be maintained post construction.
M. Scott asked if the shape was to avoid grading work. S. Morrison replied that it was.
M. Scott asked if there was any additional excavation work besides stump removal. M. Scott replied no.
K. Strom asked S. Morrison about the stream. S. Morrison showed the location of the stream and that culvert where it connected to the reservoir.
K. Strom asked about the watershed analysis. S. Morrison reviewed a copy of a report and replied that it was about .01 SQ Miles.
M. Krikonis asked if they were using the same photovoltaic’s as already existed. S. Morrison replied they were.
M. Krikonis asked if it was from the same vendor. S. Morrison replied he was not sure of the vendor.
M. Krikonis asked if there was any hazard to the drinking water given the proximity to the drinking supply. S. Morrison replied none that he was aware of and that there had not been any previous problem associated with that.
S. Morrison replied that the only difference between the two would be that the first one used existing conduit.
M. Scott asked if any members of the public wished to speak on the matter. No members from the public stepped forward.
Motion by M. Krikonis, seconded by K. Strom, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE NOTICE OF INTENT FOR STONEHOUSE HILL ROAD; CITY OF WORCESTER SOLAR ARRAY PANELS.
Motion by M. Krikonis, seconded by K. Strom, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO ISSUE THE STANDARD ORDER OF CONDITIONS FOR THE NOTICE OF INTENT FOR STONEHOUSE HILL ROAD; CITY OF WORCESTER SOLAR ARRAY PANELS.
M. Scott asked if they had a time frame for the project. S. Morison replied that they wanted to do the work as soon as possible depending on the weather and that they were currently working on the permits.
NOTICE OF INTENT-Bond Road Lot #3 J. M. Soucy Contracting, Inc. – Construction of Single Family Home
P. Harding stated that the applicant requested to continue the matter until the March 4, 2015 meeting.
Notice of Intent; Bond Road Lot #3 was continued until March 4, 2015.
CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE- DEP File Number Preservation Lane
DEP File #183-555 Lot 5 BK 49759, Pg 229
DEP File #183-556 Lot 6 don not have recording information
P. Harding stated that there was nothing new submitted on these matters. She stated that lot 6 had grading issues and lot 5 was required to put a barrier at the 25FT no disturb zone but they wanted a waiver for that because it is an odd location.
P. Harding showed the plans for lot 5 to the Commission. She showed them the corner below the wall and stated they did not want to clear more to put the barrier up. M. Scott stated he thought they wanted to do a second retaining wall in the corner. M. Krikonis asked about the flags.
P. Harding stated she did not think there would be anything new until the spring on these items.
NOTICE OF INTENT- Wachusett Valley Estates, Greenstone Properties, LLC- 36 Lot Subdivision
M. Scott told the public that the Chairman, M. Kennedy was about ten minutes away. He reiterated that because two Commission members present (himself and M. Krikonis) had missed two previous public hearings, both M. Scott and R. Lowell needed to be present in order to have the hearing and vote. Both members were anticipated to be present at the meeting.
P. Harding left the meeting at 7:29PM.
P. Harding returned to the meeting at 7:30PM.
A woman entered the meeting to let the Commission know that R. Lowell had been called to a conservation meeting at Watertown and would not be present this evening (February 4, 2015).
M. Kennedy entered the meeting at 7:37PM.
M. Scott updated M. Kennedy on the status of the meeting thus far.
M. Kennedy asked if the Planning Board had acted on this matter yet. She stated not yet but it was on the calendar for the next meeting.
M. Kennedy asked for an informal update from Wachusett Valley Estates.
J. Brem stated that the Planning Board was waiting on a report from the Commission.
M. Kennedy asked M. Andrade, Graves Engineering if all their questions had been addressed. M. Andrade replied yes with three small notation corrections that needed to occur.
J. Brem stated that they would not be able to go to the Planning Board without Conservation Commission’s sign off.
P. Harding replied that the Planning Board wanted all outstanding conditions met; they were not waiting on the Conservation Commission to take action.
P. McManus, EcoTec, Inc. stated that all his outstanding issues had been addressed. He stated that he did not know if the Commission was up to date on the issue of maintaining the hydrology of the internal wetlands. He stated that M. Andrade and J. Brem looked at the matter and then he looked at it and gave a different perspective with respect to the ground water. He asked M. Kennedy if he knew the matter he was speaking about.
M. Kennedy replied he did not know what P. McManus was speaking about but that he agreed ground water was important.
P. McManus stated that looking at the service hydrology that it is clear there is prolonged ponding. He stated that he could infer that a significant component of the hydrology is groundwater. P. McManus stated if that was the case, what was the project going to do with respect to groundwater. He stated the biggest issue is pipe conduits draining the water away. P. McManus stated that any effect of the sewer would bring as long as the wet well is tight the utility trenches will not remove the water. P. McManus stated that M. Andrade had also reviewed and he believed it was in his final letter to the applicant.
M. Andrade replied that he had spoken to P. McManus and agreed with his assessment; the sewer funnels groundwater to the lowest point.
M. Kennedy stated that with regards to the water budget analysis; it needed to incorporate ground water into it. You were not able to use an average curve numbers for one season but should evaluated storm by storm. He stated if you looked at the report presented none of the water was accounted for.
M. Kennedy stated that it did look as though all the issues had been addressed however because there was no quorum, it could not be acted on at tonight’s meeting (February 4, 2015).
J. Olson, Greenstone Realty asked if there was not a quorum at the next meeting, March 4, 2015, how long the matter would be continued.
M. Kennedy stated that the Commission would hope to have a quorum; he stated that some of the issue was the length of time that the matter had taken to come to fruition.
The Commission discussed what would happen if any additional members missed a meeting or if a quorum was unable to be present for a hearing.
Notice of Intent; Wachusett Valley Estates, Greenstone Properties was continued to March 4, 2015.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Approval of Minutes moved to March 4, 2015; no quorum.
Motion by M. Scott, seconded by A. Costello, it was UNANIMOSLY VOTED TO ADJOURN THE FEBRUARY 4, 2015 CONSERVATION COMMISSION MEETING AT 7:55PM.
APPROVED: ______________