Planning Board, February 10, 2015
PLANNING BOARD
February 10, 2015
TOWN HALL MEMORIAL HALL
Members Present: William Ritter, Tina Stratis, John Michalak, David Lindberg, Otto Lies, Jeff Head, Scott Carlson
Others Present: Pam Harding, Town Planner, Elizabeth Fotos, Recording Secretary
7:00PM Meeting called to order by W. Ritter
PUBLIC HEARING
DEFINITIVE SUBDIVISION-SPECIAL PERMIT- WACHUSETT VALLEY ESTATES- Greenstone Properties 325 Bullard Street
Jeff Brem, Meisner Brem Associates and Josh Olson, Greenstone Realty were present on behalf of Wachusett Valley Estates.
W. Ritter stated for the benefit of the applicant some members of the board did not receive the packet due to the weather and had not previously had the opportunity to review.
J. Brem gave the Board an update of the plans. He stated there were no changes from the layout but were a few significant drainage issues that had been addressed. J. Brem stated that there was a small stream associated with the new wetlands area and that they had resolved the issues surrounding it by shifting lots, drainage, and sewer and pump stations.
J. Brem stated that the Zone A in question at the end of Freedom Lane had been corrected and maps had been changed to indicate the change. He stated because it was not a Zone A they were able to drain into it. J. Brem stated that they had designed a bioretention area and they were now discharging across, 25FT outside the wetland area.
J. Brem stated that all of these items in addition to other changes had been addressed. He stated that the last big change was with regards to roof discharge. J. Woodsmall, Director DPW, did not want the applicant to include this discharge into the recharge volume. J. Woodsmall stated that in the future he had no control over whether people disconnected the roof drains and therefore could not be used.
J. Brem stated all these matters were completed and reviewed and approved by Graves Engineering. J. Brem stated that last week, February 4, 2015, the Conservation Commission had met without a quorum so they had to put the applicant off until a future date. J. Brem stated that the Conservation Commission had no action items that needed to be addressed.
J. Brem stated that they are finishing work with J. Woodsmall and I. McCauley, DPW on plans that had been submitted regarding the water and utilities. He also stated that they had been in contact with White Oak and had an agreement on the Open Space.
P. Harding stated that J. Brem had provided an accurate overview of their status. She stated that there were no outstanding items regarding storm water. She stated that the peer review did not review the compliance but DPW did and they issued a letter today, February 10, 2015. P. Harding passed the letter to the Planning Board at the beginning of the meeting. P. Harding stated that there were a few detail comments that needed to be addressed but not too many revisions.
P. Harding stated that there was a pump station on the subdivision that the DPW had concerns with. The concern was that after construction there are two other pump stations that contribute to the Bullard Street sewer line. P. Harding stated that the concern was what would happen if they all went off simultaneously.
W. Ritter asked how long it would take for that evaluation.
I. McCauley, DPW stated that they had completed an evaluation and they did believe that there was enough capacity downstream however they wanted the applicant to do the calculations as well. She stated that there is a section at Bullard Street that is flat and it could create a bottleneck if high flow is going through. I. McCauley stated that DPW had requested the applicant to complete two evaluations on the matter. She stated that DPW will provide them with the data on pipe information and it should not take them too long to complete the evaluations.
W. Ritter asked if there was anything else outstanding.
P. Harding replied that there was not. She stated that White Oak was presented to the Town and they would like to construct the trails themselves. She stated that there was a portion of the land that White Oaks did not want to take ownership of and the applicant was proposing to have a Home Owners Association created to maintain that portion of the land.
W. Ritter asked if there were any members of the public that wished to speak on the matter.
Rodney Coman, 299 Bullard Street stepped forward. He stated that he had been in front of the Planning Board previously and that he had concerns with regards to the drainage issues the new construction was going to have on his property. R. Coman stated that the new home next to his was having drainage issues. He stated that while he had been assured that all the drainage would drain away from his house, he has never seen a deeper trench coming from the drainage of one home. R. Coman stated that right now water is draining out of the home and he has pictures of it. He stated that water is pouring out of the sump pump for over an hour at a time and he doesn’t know if the drainage is going to get better or worse but it seems to be an issue to him.
R. Coman showed the Board the location of his home on the map and where the house was pumping water out of it. He stated that he had previously spoken to J. Olson, Greenstone Realty, and that while he (J. Olson) seemed sincere, R. Coman thinks there is an underlying water issue happening that no one understands. R. Coman stated that he did not want to stop the applicant from doing work but that the draining into the ground is making a ditch and it is going into his driveway.
J. Brem stated that it was a city drain that the water was draining to.
R. Coman stated that while he was not a builder the amount of water draining seemed abnormal.
J. Brem stated that from the house perspective he does not know but that they have always said that it drains naturally and it will drain to the road.
S. Carlson stated that if they were discussing a sump pump they were not speaking about surface run off. J. Brem agreed.
W. Ritter asked if Graves Engineering had reviewed the plans with regards to the existing homes.
P. Harding replied that J. Woodsmall had looked at it.
J. Woodsmall stated that they had looked at it but that what was being described was sump pump not surface runoff. He stated that it was a legitimate concern and that sump pump run off needs to not be directed into the catch basin. J. Woodsmall stated that corrections can be made to the drainage but the concern is that they need to make sure that the ground water is not taking up capacity in the drainage pipes. He stated that he believed those catch basins discharged to Bullard Street.
J. Woodsmall stated that you wouldn’t connect to an existing draining system if you didn’t have to.
J. Brem stated that they were not connecting.
J. Olson, Greenstone Realty, stated that what R. Coman was discussing was a sump pump in the basement of the new home. He stated that is why it would run for a certain amount of time and then stop. J. Olson stated that it was running towards a catch basin and he did not feel as though it was going to R. Coman’s property at all.
R. Coman stated that he did not know how the applicant could say that as his driveway was lower than the property and the water was pouring out and making a ditch. He stated that while his driveway was showing water damage before, he believes it is getting worse.
J. Olson stated that the run off goes to the drain, it does not saturate. He stated that they were asked by the Highway Department to clean the swill and they did.
R. Coman stated he is concerned that the water issue is just not understood. He stated that he doesn’t think that J. Olson can guarantee that the water is not and will not go onto his property.
J. Woodsmall stated that they can look at it further and as a worse case scenario can look at the draining.
J. Olson stated they could do that.
W. Ritter asked for the applicant to show the Board the locations of the catch basins; J. Brem showed the Board.
J. Woodsmall stated that the Town has an informal drainage policy. He stated that they would like to avoid it but it could be tied to the drains. He stated it would be his preference to do something else such as a hard pipe connection.
S. Carlson asked how old the catch basins were.
J. Woodsmall stated that he did not know the history of the catch basins however they had completed a drainage investigation and there was nothing about it that indicated it was in bad shape.
R. Coman stated that he knew it was not a part of the subdivision but he wanted to know if everyone understood that his problems were as a result of one new home and did not even touch on the issues that the whole subdivision could cause him. He stated he believed the 37 other new houses were going to magnify his issues.
W. Ritter replied that was why the engineers were looking at it. He stated he was hopeful and would presume it was going to be done correctly.
R. Coman stated that there was also going to be a detention basin close by.
W. Ritter stated that he was mindful of the impacts on Mr. Coman’s home from the new subdivision.
J. Brem stated that the buyer retention is being proposed however there would be no standing water except during a storm. He stated that he also wanted the Board to know that the site was going to have sewer. He stated that it was surrounded by plastic pipe and stone and it tends to act as a natural conduit for water to run.
S. Carlson stated the stone was really there to protect the pipe not to help the drainage.
J. Brem stated that yes; it was there for the pipes protection but that it also acted as a conduit for the water to run.
W. Ritter asked if there were any other issues besides drainage.
P. Harding replied the sewer capacity analysis.
W. Ritter asked the Board for their thoughts.
S. Carlson stated that as a Board they have never approved a development with a sewer issue. In addition, while the applicant is stating that the Conservation Commission had no issues, the Planning Board had nothing in writing confirming this.
W. Ritter stated that the Conservation Commission is having a meeting on March 4, 2015 and that at their previous meeting (February 4) there was not a quorum for this particular hearing.
J. Michalak stated that while it sounded as though most of the items that needed to be addressed could be completed, it was not 100% and he was hesitant.
J. Head asked if they knew if this land was a situation where there was a high water table.
J. Brem stated it was not unusually high and that they had completed soil testing.
J. Head asked if there would be sump pumps in all the buildings.
J. Olson stated that some will have them but most they will be able to do without the drain.
J. Head asked how the applicant will determine which will have pumps and which will not. J. Olson replied that once the road was build it would be determined by elevation.
J. Head asked what parcel X was. J. Brem replied it was the open space plans.
J. Head asked who owned it. J. Brem stated that it was access to the sewer pump station and that it was going to be open space so the town has access.
O. Lies stated that he agreed with S. Carlson. He also stated that he wanted the engineers to take another look at the property as it pertained to R. Coman’s property and have a report issued to the Planning Board. O. Lies stated that he thought this should be done as soon as possible so that the Conservation Commission could also review it.
O. Lies asked about White Oak’s involvement in the project as well.
P. Harding replied that there is a memo from White Oaks that outlines the agreement between the developer and White Oaks. P. Harding stated that it was included in the packet.
D. Lindberg stated that he believed the applicant was close but not there and that he believed R. Coman’s concerns were troubling.
J. Olson stated that he was willing to sit with J. Woodsmall and the DPW and address all of R. Coman’s concerns.
W. Ritter asked the DPW what the time frame on the drainage issues would be.
J. Woodsmall replied that he was unsure with the amount of snow but that they would be able to look at it in the next few weeks and report back.
S. Carlson asked that if this was a new development, would the DPW require 10 inch pipe.
J. Woodsmall replied that it would depend.
S. Carlson asked if the pipe failed; who would be responsible for it. J. Woodsmall replied that it would depend and that is why they were asking for the evaluation on it now.
W. Ritter asked the time frame of the capacity issue evaluation.
J. Woodsmall replied that they were providing the applicant with all the information for their analysis. He stated that he would be surprised if it couldn’t be wrapped up within the month.
R. Coman asked how they would tell about the drainage issues with the frozen ground.
J. Woodsmall replied that they can ascertain where the water is going and what is occurring.
W. Ritter stated that he assumed calculations would be used.
W. Ritter asked how the Board wished to proceed and stated he was concerned with setting it for a month’s time.
J. Woodsmall replied that it would require the applicant to get everything to DPW at least a week ahead of time for review.
W. Ritter suggested the second meeting in March, March 24, 2015. He stated that the Board would need a written request from the developer to extend the public hearing to the 24th of March 2015 and for the filing decision to March 31, 2015.
Motion by J. Head, seconded by D. Lindberg, it was VOTED TO APPROVE WACHUSETT VALLEY ESTATES-GREENSTONE PROPERTIES- FOR AN EXTENSION OF TIME FOR THE PUBLIC HEARING TO MARCH 24, 2015 WITH A FILING DATE OF MARCH 31, 2015 BY A VOTE OF 5-2 (S. Carlson: no; T. Stratis: no).
Chapter 61A- First Right of Refusal, River Street, River Street, LLC
P. Harding stated that the owner submitted a written request to release the property for the right of first refusal. She stated that they are proposing to take it out of 61A and the offer to purchase the property was $85K. P. Harding told the Board that White Oak commented and their opinion was that the cost was too high.
W. Ritter asked if this was under the Towns new policy.
P. Harding replied that the policy was to not act on 61A for 60 days. She stated that she did not believe this was a written policy but it was voted on.
W. Ritter replied that they used to move very quickly on this type of property and he believed this was meant to slow the process down. P. Harding agreed.
W. Ritter stated that he had also received a letter from the Ag Com informing him of the request.
O. Lies stated that he believed the Planning Board should hold off commenting until they had seen other comments.
W. Ritter asked what the time frame on this matter was.
P. Harding replied that it was submitted in December and received by the Town Manager’s office January 2, 2015 so they will act on it in the beginning of March.
W. Ritter suggested moving the matter to the next meeting, February 24, 2015 to see if any other responses had been made. O. Lies agreed.
J. Michalak asked if the Board determined if there was any planning significance to the land.
W. Ritter replied that the Planning Boards role was to say if there was some benefit of the parcel/ location.
Meeting Minutes
Moved to March 24, 2015 meeting to allow all members to review packet.
Next Meeting: March 24, 2015
Other Business
S. Carlson asked about subdivision regulations.
W. Ritter stated that bylaws needed to go to the Town for approval but subdivision regulations did not.
P. Harding replied that there is no official policy about how to bond/ not bond roads but that DPW was asked to add it into their inspection process.
J. Michalak asked if it could be added to their checklist.
P. Harding stated that there was no checklist.
S. Carlson stated that he believed there were too many ambiguities surrounding road width for subdivisions. He asked how to get the regulations changed.
P. Harding stated that the Board could change regulations themselves by public hearing but that it is preferable to do all subdivision rule changes at once. She stated that the matter was on the agenda for the meeting that had been canceled due to snow.
S. Carlson stated that he believed it should be addressed as soon as possible.
O. Lies asked about the Planning Boards Goals for 2015. P. Harding replied that it was moved until the next meeting as well.
W. Ritter stated that subdivision road width, signs, goals and open space would all be discussed at the February 24, 2015 meeting. He stated any additional requests should be sent to P. Harding to add to the agenda.
Motion by D. Lindberg, seconded by T. Stratis, it was UNANIMOSLY VOTED TO ADJOURN THE FEBRUARY 10, 2015 PLANNING BOARD MEETING AT 7:56PM.
The February 10, 2015 Planning Board meeting minutes were approved on March 10, 2015.
APPROVED: ________________