TOWN OF OTIS
CONSERVATION COMMISSION
3/20/2018 MEETING MINUTES
Location: Otis Town Hall, One North Main Road, Otis
Conservation Commission Members present: Dave Sarnacki, Roger Meyer, Jeff Laramy, and Domenic Battista.
Conservation Commission Members absent: Bruce Wall; Renee Dube’.
Staff and others present: Kristen Brown OCC Admin Secretary; MA DCR Rep John Kovich; Don Chaffee with Chaffee Construction; Patrick Stearns; Dave Peterson.
Opening items/Introduction of Commission members and staff. Dave Sarnacki opened the meeting at 6:00 p.m. He noted that the meeting is being recorded. The deadline for applications for the April 17th meeting is April 4, 2018 @ 6:00 PM. The next office hours, for the April 17th meeting, is April 4th 2018, from 6:00 – 9:00 PM. Dave introduced the members of the commission, as well as Bob Mason with MA DCR, and asked everyone to turn off/down their cell phones for the duration of the meeting.
Minutes: Dave made a motion to approve the minutes from our March 20, 2018 meeting; RM 2nd the motion and the commission voted unanimously to approve the minutes from the March 20, 2018 meeting.
- Public Hearing – RDA – Submitted by Chaffee Construction on behalf of Richard Placek, 541 Pine Road, regarding the addition of an 18’ x 20’ deck on the back side of the house, in the BZ of OR. Dave opened this hearing and invited applicants to address the Commission. Don Chaffee was in attendance and addressed the Commission. Don went over the plans for the project and Dave asked the Commissioners if there was any questions on this project, and the only question was the type of posts being used, and they are techno posts. Dave made a motion for a -3 determination with standard conditions as follows: EC to be installed and inspected prior to work start; debris to be removed or covered daily; 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 Bill Allen Ent., on behalf of David & Holly Amanti, 98 Kibbe Point Rd., map 17D lot 66, regarding the installation of a new septic system for a failed title V, in the BZ of OR. Dave opened this hearing and invited applicants to address the Commission. No one was in attendance, however, there were no questions on this filing per the Commissioners who did site inspection. Dave made a motion for a -3 determination with standard conditions to include: EC to be installed and inspected prior to work start; debris to be removed or covered daily; OCC has 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 standard conditions as listed above.
- Public Hearing – NOI – Submitted by Stearns Corp., on behalf of James Himes, 107 Pond Blvd, map 11F lot 89, regarding renovation of existing home, and addition of a 16’ x 32.6’ bedroom/bath, as well as removal of 3 trees, in the BZ of Big Pond. Dave opened this hearing and invited applicants to address the Commission. Pat Stearns was in attendance on behalf of the applicants/owners. Dave asked the Commission if there were any questions stemming from the site inspection and per RM, one clarification: RM wants Pat to add EC where the land drops off; Pat is OK with that and the plans were marked as such. Dave made a motion to approve and issue an OOC with the standard conditions, as well as special condition that OCC can inspect the property for 3 years from date of approval; EC should be installed and inspected prior to work start; debris to be removed or covered daily. RM 2nd the notion and the Commission voted unanimously to approve and issue the OOC with above conditions.
- Public Hearing – NOI – Submitted by David Peterson, 26 N. Gate Isle Rd., map 17C lot 24, regarding the replacement of existing wood dock with new aluminum, in same (or smaller) footprint, on Otis Reservoir. Dave opened this hearing and invited applicants to address the Commission however no one was in attendance. Per Rm, the project is cut and dry with only one question about the piers, so there is really no need to have them here. Per John with DCR, and Bob Mason who spoke with applicant, they have no issues as dock will be in same footprint, and there is a chapter 91. That being said Dave made a motion to approve and issue an OOC with the standard conditions, as well as special conditions as follows: EC to be installed and inspected prior to work start; OCC reserves the right to inspect property for 3 years from date of approval. RM 2nd the motion and the Commission voted unanimously to approve and issue the OOC with above conditions.
OTHER BUSINESS:
Enforcement Orders/Letters:
Emergency Certifications:
Forest Cutting Plans:
Extensions of Orders of Condition:
Certificate of Compliance Requests:
Unanticipated Business:
- Discuss tree warden/OCC superseding authority: KB brought up the fact that even though the tree warden provides permission for someone to remove a tree, that person is still subject to the WPA regs if the tree is in the BZ, or resource areas as listed and defined by the MASS WPA. All the Commissioners now understand this, and an email will be sent to the tree warden to be sure that he understands this as well, and that applicants should be advised that if the tree is in a protected area, then they have to come before OCC.
Next office hours: Wednesday, April 4, 2018 from 6-9 p.m. at Otis Town Hall.
Next meeting: Tuesday, April 17, 2018 at 6:00 p.m. at Otis Town Hall. Meeting adjourned at 6:19 PM.