TOWN OF OTIS
CONSERVATION COMMISSION
12/15/2020 MEETING MINUTES
Location: Otis Town Hall, One North Main Road, Otis ** Remote Meeting Via Zoom ***
Conservation Commission Members present: Dave Sarnacki, Roger Meyer, Domenic Battista, Bruce Wall and Jeff Laramy.
Conservation Commission Members absent: None.
Staff and others present: Kristen Brown OCC Admin Secretary; Daniel Giusti; Chris Tryon with BGT; Hal Kobrin; Steven Mack w/Foresight Land Services; others in attendance unknown, as not announced, nor signed-in with a full name on the Zoom application.
Opening items/Introduction of Commission members and staff. Dave opened the meeting at 6:00 p.m. He noted that the meeting is being recorded. The deadline for applications for the January 19, 2021 meeting is on Wednesday January 6, 2021 @ 6:00 PM. The next office hours, for the January 19, 2021 meeting, is also Wednesday January 6, 2021 from 6:00 –9:00 PM. ** Office hours will be conducted remotely until further notice; in person meetings will be held by appointment only ** Dave introduced the members of the commission, and asked everyone to turn off/down their cell phones for the duration of the meeting.
Minutes: Dave made a motion to approve minutes from the December 15, 2020 meeting; BW 2nd the motion and the Commission voted unanimously to approve the minutes from the December 15, 2020 meeting.
- Public Hearing – RDA – Submitted by Dennis Aube, 71 N. Lake Ave., map 18A lot 34, regarding the removal of 3 dying trees in the BZ of Otis Reservoir. Dave opened this hearing and invited anyone in attendance on behalf of this hearing to address the Commission. Dave asked if any questions stemming from the site inspection, and per BW, no issues. BW also noted that applicant was also issued an EC for the trees in question, but since he filed the RDA, the Commission can withdraw the EC. Therefore, Dave made a motion for a -3 determination with the following conditions: bio-oil only in chainsaw(s); debris to be removed or covered immediately; no heavy equipment in the resource area; stumps cut flush with the ground; OCC reserves the right to inspect property for 3 years from date of approval. BW 2nd the motion and the Commission voted unanimously to issue a -3 determination with the above conditions. Dave also then made a motion to withdraw the EC for the same site and tree work; DB 2nd the motion and the Commission voted unanimously to withdraw the EC issued for this site and work.
- Public Hearing – RDA – Submitted by Daniel Murray, 79 D’Wolfe Dr., map 7B lot 3, regarding the removal of a dying tree in the BZ of Watson Pond. Dave opened this hearing and invited anyone in attendance on behalf of this hearing to address the Commission. Dave asked if any questions stemming from the site inspection, and per DB, no issues, very straightforward, the tree is dead/dying and needs to come down. Therefore, Dave made a motion for a -3 determination with the following conditions: bio-oil only in chainsaw(s); debris to be removed or covered immediately; no heavy equipment in the resource area; stump cut flush with the ground; OCC reserves the right to inspect property for 3 years from date of approval. RM 2nd the motion and the Commission voted unanimously to issue a -3 determination with the above conditions.
Public Hearing – RDA – Submitted by Marc & Anne Schechter, 20 McClean Beach Rd., map 12B lot 11, regarding decommission of old & installation of a new septic, addition of a 3-room 2nd floor addition over existing garage, incl. footings for support columns inside the garage, all within the BZ of Big Pond. Dave opened this hearing and invited anyone in attendance on behalf of this hearing to address the Commission. Dave asked the Commission if any questions stemming from the site inspections, since no noted on the folder, and per DB, no questions, and septic already approved by Otis BOH. Therefore, Dave made a motion for a -3 determination with the following conditions: Any erosion Controls to be installed & inspected prior to work start; no heavy equipment directly in any resource area; debris to be removed and/or covered immediately; all staging of work & servicing of equipment to be done outside the resource areas; OCC reserves the right to inspect property for 3 years from date of approval. DB 2nd the motion and the Commission voted unanimously to issue a -3 determination with the above conditions.
- Public Hearing – NOI – Submitted by Steven Mack w/Foresight Land Svc., on behalf of Harold Kobrin & Alex Morrison, Dimmock Rd., map 1 lot 48, regarding the proposed single-family house construction & related site work, within the bank & BVW associated with an unnamed intermittent stream. Dave opened this hearing and invited anyone in attendance on behalf of this hearing to address the Commission. Dave asked if any questions stemming from the site inspection and per KB, there was a file number issued, and per Steven Mack w/Foresight, the comment from DEP was to make sure that the prior delineation that was done is still valid, for surrounding wetland areas. And Foresight did in fact verify in the field, and the delineation is still valid, and he will send over the info via email on the delineation question. Hal Kobrin was also in attendance and provided an overview and some history, and long story short, this project was approved prior, back in 2006, but they were unable to complete the work on a house they were going to build, as the entire bank system feel apart. Therefore, that is why they are re-filing for this project now. BW indicated that they did not see any issues with the paperwork that was resubmitted at the site inspection, and no issue with the plans. With that being said, Dave made a motion to approve the project and issue as OOC with the standard and Otis special conditions. DB 2nd the motion and the Commission voted unanimously to approve the project and issue an OOC with standard and special Otis conditions.
- Public Hearing – NOI – Submitted by Cara Hunt with BGT, on behalf of Brian & Robin Fierston, 0 Pease Rd., map 11F lot 14, regarding retaining wall installation, a dock, patio, 3-bedroom home w/attached garage & screened porch, driveway and landscaping, all within the BZ area of Big Pond. Dave opened this hearing and invited anyone in attendance on behalf of this hearing to address the Commission – Chris Tryon with BGT was in attendance. Dave noted that we did receive a file number from MA DEP, and there were several comments included by Mark Stinson, to which KB added that we only just received this info from DEP yesterday, so these questions were not verified in the field. Dave asked Chris if he can speak to the comments made by DEP, as follows: 1st question from DEP was about if there is a Chapter 91 license for the docks. Per Chris: they are getting the NOI squared away, and will be filing the application for the Chapter 91 license with DEP, and the decision from this NOLI, will go along with that filing, as per required by MA DEP. Dave then asked about the bank alteration, and per Chris, he spoke with Mark today about the bank, and they resolved the issues by making a couple changes as follows: one issue was they had the area labeled wrong as mean high, and should have been labeled “top bank”, so that was corrected and updated plans were sent to OCC and added to the file, and KB confirmed that the revisions were received. Item 3 was referencing the biggest issue of alteration of 58’ of bank, to which DEP was not happy about, so per Chris, they removed the stonewall outside of the top of bank area, so that they are not altering the top of bank. They are slightly moving that first lower retaining wall so that it is not in the bank area, and that change was made on revised plans – that again are copied t the folder. Long story short, with the revised plans, all work now falls within buffer-zone and no work is in the “bank” area, and DEP is satisfied with that change. KB asked what the closest distance of work to the resource area is, and per Chris, that is one foot. Per Dave, that covers all comments made by MA DEP, and thanked Chris for handling the comments. One last question was that there were a couple trees flagged for removal, and did the Commission have any issues with the tree removal, and per DB, he saw no issues with the tree removal, since there is a ton of canopy in the area. Therefore, Dave made a motion to approve and issue an OOC with standard conditions and Otis special conditions. DB 2nd the motion and the Commission voted unanimously to approve and issue an OOC with the standard and Otis special conditions.
- Public Hearing – RDA – Submitted by Dave Wheeler, on behalf of Nicole & Marc Maddalena, 29 Bay Point Road, regarding the installation of a foundation and frost wall for existing home, within the BZ of Otis Reservoir. Dave opened this hearing and invited anyone in attendance on behalf of this hearing to address the Commission. RM recused himself from this matter since he is an abutter to the applicant/location. Dave noted that MA DCR has claimed that this project falls within state land, and therefore, they have denied both the proposed foundation and frost-wall. Therefore, as the assumed landowner in this matter, Dave made a motion to issue a +2 determination, that denies the work project, due to boundary issues, which in this case is property lines. DB 2nd the motion and the Commission voted unanimously to issue a +2 determination for this project.
- Public Hearing – NOI – Continued from November Meeting – Submitted by Daniel Giusti, 1555 West Center Road, map 6 lot 172, regarding the installation of a WLC device, to mitigate beaver dam flooding, in the resource area of Benton Brook. Dave opened this hearing and invited anyone in attendance on behalf of this hearing to address the Commission. Dave opened this hearing to update applicant in that we expect MA DEP to issue a file number for this NOI within the next month, so that the Commission can move forward with the intent of the NOI. As a quick overview, MA DEP would not issue a file number until unassociated and unauthorized work observed on this site was addressed. The unauthorized work was completed before this applicant even owed the property, so he is working with the Commission to address, as requested, and required by MA DEP, and the Commission appreciates his cooperation. The 3rd party peer review will be conducted when the site can again be accessed without snow cover – an April timeline is anticipated at this time, and may be adjusted to accommodate an earlier review, weather permitting. Therefore, Dave made a motion to continue this hearing until the January 19, 2021 meeting; BW 2nd the motion and the Commission voted unanimously to continue this hearing until the January 19, 2021 meeting.
OTHER BUSINESS
Enforcement Orders/Letters:
Emergency Certifications:
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- Public Hearing: EC Issuance 11/25/2020: Dennis Aube, 71 N. Lake Ave., regarding emergency permission permitted to remove 2 dying trees within the BZ of Otis Reservoir. Stumps cut flush with the ground, bio-oil only in equipment, debris removed from resource area immediately and OCC reserves the right to inspect for 3 years from date of approval. No other work permitted under this Order. Dave opened this hearing and per the discussion and vote from earlier in the meeting, for the same site and work, Dave noted that a motion was made, 2nd and unanimously passed to withdraw this EC. Withdrawn as ordered.
Forest Cutting Plan
Extensions of Orders of Condition:
Certificate of Compliance Requests:
- Public Hearing – COC – Submitted by White Engineering, Inc., on behalf of William and Lynn Wood, 779 Stebbins Road, map 1 lot 60, regarding the request for a COC for work completed under Order of Conditions issued under DEP File number 254-0269. An inspection was completed by staff @ White Eng. On 11/20/2020, and is purported to be in excellent condition. Dave opened this hearing and asked the Commission if there were any concerns stemming from the site inspection for this COC request, and per BW, the site looks great, and they did a very nice job, and the Commission has no concerns with issuance of the COC. Therefore, Dave made a motion to issue a COC for this OOC under DEP file 254-0269. BW 2nd the motion and the Commission voted unanimously to issue a COC for this project/OOC.
Unanticipated Business:
Next office hours: Wednesday, January 6, 2021 from 6-9 p.m. at Otis Town Hall.
Next meeting: Tuesday, January 19, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. at Otis Town Hall.
Dave made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:26 PM. RM 2nd the motion and the Commission voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting.