Printer friendly
TOWN OF OTIS
CONSERVATION COMMISSION
07/17/2018 MEETING MINUTES
Location: Otis Town Hall, One North Main Road, Otis
Conservation Commission Members present: Jeff Laramy, Bruce Wall, Roger Meyer and Domenic Battista.
Conservation Commission Members absent: Dave Sarnacki and Rene Dube’.
Staff and others present: Kristen Brown OCC Admin Secretary; John Kovich, with MA DCR; Steve Grossman, with Otis Woodlands Club; Ken Wagner, with Water Resource Services; Doug and Janet Baker, with Outdoor Services; Chris Tryon, with Berkshire Geo-Technologies.
Opening items/Introduction of Commission members and staff. Jeff Laramy, who is filling in as interim chair while Dave Sarnacki is absent, opened the meeting at 6:00 p.m. He noted that the meeting is being recorded. The deadline for applications for the August 21st 2018 meeting is on Wednesday August 1, 2018 @ 6:00 PM. The next office hours, for the August 21, 2018 meeting, is August 1st from 6:00 –9:00 PM. Jeff 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: Jeff asked if there are any issues with the meeting minutes, none indicated, therefore, Jeff made a motion to approve the minutes from our June 19, 2018 meeting; RM 2nd the motion and the commission voted unanimously to approve the minutes from the June 19, 2018 meeting.
- Public Hearing – NOI – Submitted by Ken Wagner with Water Resource Services, on behalf of Otis Woodlands Club Inc., Lakeshore Dr., map 384 lot 34, regarding vegetation mgmt. of OWL lake, incl. annual drawdown, occasional peripheral mechanical control and possible herbicide application. Jeff opened this hearing and invited applicants to address the Commission. Ken Wagner with Water Resource Services was in attendance on behalf of the applicant, Steve Grossman, with Otis Woodlands Club. Ken proceeded to explain the project to the Commission, however, Roger, Jeff and Bruce were in attendance for a group site inspection, in tandem with Sandisfield Conservation, and the group with Otis Woodlands, and their representatives. Bruce indicated that it was a very thorough site inspection, and that the Commission has no concerns, other than that our Order of Conditions, is issued in concert with Sandisfield’s Order of Conditions, so that there is no conflicting conditions and/or information. KBB agreed, and requested that when Sandisfield completes their OOC, we would like a copy, so that we can issue our OOC, and in a manner that again, is not in conflict with the Sandisfield order. Ken and Steve have no issue with this, and agree it is better, to make sure we are all on the same page. In fact, Ken asked if we could send over a copy of our Special Conditions, prior to issuing the OOC, so that they can ensure that they can meet all the conditions on their end, with reporting, monitoring, etc. KB agreed that she would email them a copy to OK, before issuing the order. Jeff asked if any other concerns, none being indicated, Jeff made a motion to approve the project and to issue an Order of Conditions, with the outlined special conditions, as well as the standard conditions issued with this OOC; RM 2nd the motion and the Commission voted unanimously to approve the project and issue an OOC with standard conditions, as well as special conditioned, specific to the work, to be issued in tandem with Sandisfield Concom OOC.
- Public Hearing – NOI/RDA – Submitted by Doug Baker with Outdoor Services, on behalf of David Healy, 633 Pine Rd., map 17D lot 20, regarding the removal of an underground oil tank, in the BZ of OR. Jeff opened this hearing and invited the applicants to address the Commission. Doug and Janet Baker were in attendance for this hearing and addressed the Commission, to explain the depth of the project, which is to remove an underground oil tank. Doug indicated that an inspector would be on site to determine if there was any contamination by any leaks in the tank, and would inform us on the official results when completed. Jeff asked the Commission if there were any questions or concerns from site inspection, and RM indicated that they only wanted to confirm that there was going to be surrounding soil testing after removal of the tank, other than that, it will be good to get the tank out of the ground; fire chief will be on site when removed to make sure no surrounding contamination. Any required EC will be installed to prevent any surrounding contamination, however, RM said it was so far from the BZ that he did not think it was necessary to disturb ground to install unnecessary EC; also, the tank will be removed from the site immediately. Also, since applicant filed both an RDA and an NOI, the Commission deemed the RDA sufficient, and therefore, we are dismissing the NOI filing, and will vote on the RDA instead. The part of the stairs that have to be moved to get the tank out, will be returned to original. That being said, Jeff made a motion for a -3 determination with the following conditions: any EC needs to be installed prior to work start, if deemed necessary at the time of removal; if EC is installed, OCC must be contacted for inspection; tank must be removed from site immediately for proper disposal, and alert OCC if any contamination in the ground; OCC reserves the right to inspect property for a period of 3 years from date of approval. RM 2nd the motion and the Commission voted unanimously to issue a -3 determination with the above conditions. *** As an addendum to this filing, another contractor was in attendance to address a filing they submit to OCC for this same property, but the RDA did not get to us internally in time for the legal notice processing, so we cannot open a hearing until paperwork/filing is processed accordingly. That being said, the Commission indicated that they would talk to the intended applicant about this again at the end of the meeting, since time was of the essence. ***
- Public Hearing – RDA – Submitted by Charles Rosenblum, 408 Hayes Pond Rd., map 9A lot 31, regarding the replacement of existing wooden dock & swim raft with removable aluminum units, in the BZ of Hayes Pond. Jeff opened this hearing and invited applicant to address the Commission. No one was in attendance, as there were no questions stemming from site inspection, removal of the old dock and swim raft will clean the area up nicely, and installation of an aluminum removable dock will be much better for the area, and is OK with MA DCR. That being said, Jeff made a motion to issue a -3 determination with the following conditions: remove the old structures from the resource and BZ areas immediately after extraction; 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.
- Public Hearing – RDA – Submitted by Donald Goss, 42 Partridge Rd., map 16A lot 21, regarding the removal of dead Hemlock tree within the BZ of Big Pond. Jeff opened this hearing and invited applicant to address the Commission. No one was in attendance for this hearing, as there were no questions stemming from the site inspection, applicant was advised that they did not have to be present at the meeting. Jeff asked if any questions stemming from the site inspection, none being indicated, Jeff asked John with DCR if he had any issues with the tree removal, and they do not. Therefore, Jeff made a motion for a -3 determination with the following conditions: bio-oil only in chainsaw(s); debris removed immediately; no heavy equipment in the resource area; OCC reserves the right to inspect property for a period of 3 years from date of approval. RM 2nd the motion and the Commission voted unanimously to issue a -3 determination with the above conditions.
OTHER BUSINESS:
Enforcement Orders/Letters:
- 20 Pine Road Extension, Gary Belanger, applicant did work over and above the extent of the issued Order of Conditions in January 2018. Jeff opened this hearing and invited owner or representative to address the Commission. Sara Gapinski with SK Design was in attendance on behalf of the Belanger’s. Apparently, the owners did extra work, a second tier stone wall, as they had leftover materials, and decided to “clean up” the upper yard area with the extra material, which was done without approval and in the BZ of OR, and on state property. Upon discussion, it was decided to continue this matter until the next meeting in August 2018, so that pictures and materials can be reviewed and prepared for discussion at the next meeting. Jeff made a motion to Ratify the EO, and continue this enforcement order until the August 2018 meeting, for review of materials on hand for this specific project.RM 2nd the motion and the Commission voted unanimously to continue until August 2018 meeting.
Emergency Certifications:
Forest Cutting Plans:
Extensions of Orders of Condition:
Certificate of Compliance Requests:
Unanticipated Business:
- 98/100 Kibbe Point Road, Jeff Amanti, discussion of previous RDA approval: Jeff opened this hearing, and invited owner to address the Commission. Jeff Amanti was in attendance as the owner. Jeff outlined to review their approved and still open/valid NDA project, and propose the following amendments: 1. Remove part of the stone wall, and put in a vertical stairway; 2. Addition of a retaining wall (about 14’) to support and stabilize the leach field area. JL asked for clarification of the position of the leech field; 3. Adding a light post with power, outside high water mark area, not an issue; which may or may not be done, but applicant wanted to address anyway; 4. Propane fire pit just above high water mark, fire pit already existing, but want to convert to propane; 5. Replace disintegrating existing seawall; 6. Adding pavers beneath the deck, way at the top, away from resource, not an issue. After review of plans, and discussion of each point, and locating of HWM elevations, BW indicated that he did not see an issue with the proposed amendments, with concurrence from the rest of the Commission, and that we could approve via the meeting minutes, since official amendments cannot be made to NDA approvals. Jeff made a motion to accept the aforementioned changes, provided nothing goes against the position of MA DCR. It is their call on areas at and below HWM elevation. RM 2nd the motion and the Commission voted unanimously to accept the above changes to plans on valid open approval.
Next office hours: Wednesday, August 1, 2018 from 6-9 p.m. at Otis Town Hall.
Next meeting: Tuesday, August 21, 2018 at 6:00 p.m. at Otis Town Hall. Meeting adjourned at 7:28 PM.