August 20th, 2025 um conservation and commission um hearing. And it's a hearing because we have a um NOI that we're going to be um reviewing
this evening. Um are they on yet? Maybe not. There's people on. I don't know. That's who's on so far? No. Oh, Adri. Yeah. Adriana. Oh, and Tom. Oh, and Tom. Yes. Okay.
And Naomi. Oh, perfect. Yeah. So, they've opted to join us via video as well. Yeah, I know that. Yeah. Um the um NOI um is regarding the Laughing Brook Wildlife Sanctuary Restoration Invasive
Plant Management. Um so um before we begin um our chairperson here, Tom Paige tried to contact which one? Uh the the one you had in the email? I think maybe Adriana to for a site
inspection and never got through. Nobody got back to you. I sent an email and a message twice. Oh, sorry about that. I didn't have any I'm wondering if it went to the wrong
email or phone number cuz I haven't received anything about a site visit. Well, we'll have to get out there. Yeah, I could just add I know the hearing's not open yet, but we did get our D file number today, but Heritage hasn't gotten back. So, if it's something the commission wanted to see
before closing the hearing, um, we can't close tonight because of the heritage. Heritage hasn't gotten back to us. Okay. So, it was adriana.swca.com was the email and phone number is 4134442442.
Yeah, that all sounds correct. Um, when did you send the request? Uh, one last week and one this week. Get it up out of the way. Maybe we can schedule something tonight
if that works for everyone. Get something on the books. Okay. So, you want to do your presentation or whatever? Go ahead. Okay, perfect. Um, uh, just for the record, I'm Naomi Valentine from S SWCA
Environmental Consultants here to present on behalf of Mass Audabon for the Laughing Brook Wildlife Sanctuary Restoration Project, which we are filing as an ecological restoration limited project notice of intent. Um, like I mentioned, the mass DP file number was
just issued today, um, from Mark Stinson, and I will just chug along through. Well, sorry, Tom, did you want to say anything at the top before I went into No, it's as loud as it goes. Sorry, Tom from Mass Audabon.
I'll just introduce myself. Yeah, it's picking you up. It is picking you up. Okay. No, it's not a speaker. Oh, good. Not a speaker. All right. I'm just trying to pick you up.
We're just having a little sound issue. It's Yeah, it's a little soft. We're trying to see if there's any way to make it louder, but I don't think that there is. My chat just jumped in my lap and might be muffling my microphone. No, it wasn't that.
Can you hear me now? It's not on your end. Okay. All right. I don't see any lights on. These usually light up. Yeah. Hold on one second.
No. Everything's connected. Testing. There's a light on that. Yeah. Does this sound better now? Y much better. Okay. Great. Super. Um, I'll just say I'm Tom Lenheiser,
senior conservation ecologist with Massabon and um, no, it's a a pleasure to uh, be progressing our our plans for forest management at Laughing Brook and
this important um, work in in getting this initial stage of invasive plant treatment uh, underway there. So, thanks for your uh review of our application.
And I do have a presentation. I can share my screen if that works for the commission. Yeah. Yes, sure. I just sent that request in to whoever's uh it's all set. Okay, Naomi, it's all cleared.
Perfect. Thank you. Okay, so just really quickly, we'll go over the project site, which you all might be familiar with already, and the work description briefly, talk about the regulated resource areas on site, um, what the actual proposed scope of work is, and then obviously leave time for any
questions and discussion. Um, so Mass Audabon is the applicant here. Uh, Laughing Brook is pictured there in one of the figures submitted with the NOI. The site is about 150 acres
and um the work areas were broken up first by five distinct forest stands and then separated into 15 treatment compartments. Compartments is what they're called throughout the notice of intent and the um the plan attached in one of the appendices. So, like Tom said
at the beginning, the invasive plant management proposed is necessary to improve forest health and habitat for rare species. Um, and we're excited to walk through what the specifics of that are. Um there's uh aside from the
invasive plant management practices, which we'll detail in a minute, we're also proposing a couple different structure removals, a small pavilion, and also removing flashboards from an existing weir structure at the smiling pool.
And why would those be removed? Um I'll I'll get into that in just a minute. Okay. Sorry, jump ahead. No, that's okay. Um, I just wanted to picture this here because it's zooming in on those two locations. So, this is where the pavilion is located. And if
you look up at the upper left corner, just giving you an idea of where it's located. Okay. Over the entire project area. Okay. Thanks. Um, they're very close to each other. Smiling Pool is just south of the pavilion. And I'll go into the specifics of that
work and the goals of that work in just a minute. All right. So, because the invasive plant management is going to be performed in the most sensitive way possible as if everything was being done in resource area, we didn't and because
of the project site size, we didn't do an on the ground delineation, but did do a spot delineation down here where the pavilion and smiling pool were just to verify the lines and make sure that we were more accurate in resource area.
boundaries down there, but we're not necessarily requesting for wetland lines to be approved in this permit. Um, again, everything is going to be performed as if it's happening in a sensitive resource area because this is all a conservation area.
Okay. Um, and I wanted to make sure you saw the bordering land subject to flooding as well. It follows a similar path because a lot of this is um related to the streams on site. All right. Sorry, I know there's a lot
on this slide. So, um for the invasive plant management side of the proposed project, like I said, everything is broken out into different compartments. And the reason that was done was to be able to plan for what specific treatment
would be happening in specific areas based off of the habitat type, setting, etc. So the goal is to improve improve forest health and specifically in compartments 1 to four and also seven, the goal is to restore and maintain a
healthy open oak woodland community. And then in compartments 5 through nine and 12 through 15, these are all numbered on the figures included in the NOI submission. Um the goal is to establish woody vegetation, increase structural complexity and improve forest health.
And then in particular compartments 10 and 11. The goal is to establish a field comprised of native herbaceous species. The proposed project is planned out from 2025 to 2029.
And the types of management of vegetation were broken out into these categories. Um so and there's a table on the next slide that's also included in the appendix the the plan appendix in the NOI submission.
um are categorized as light chemical which is a situation where invasives cover uh less than or equal to 10% of the area. there's good access and the techniques included would be folure treatment, limited basil bark, limited
cut stem treatment and the chemicals proposed for all of these treatments um and I'll repeat them on each one are glyphosate and tricopir and the necessary surfactants and dyes uh primary species are multifllora rose
autumn olive amongst other woody invasives that's a light chemical The mechanical chemical treatment calls out includes mechanical treatment with brush hogs or chainsaws. Um low ground pressure
equipment uh and then uh chemical treatment after as a followup. The chemicals again would be glyphosate and tricopir and similar species composition. Um moderate
chemical treatment methods would be for populations that have less than or equal to 75% cover of invasive plants. Folure treatment still basil bark some cut stem treatment same herbicides glyphosate and tricopir uh proposed for the chemical
treatments and a very similar invasive uh composition. Uh the chemical difficult category includes areas where there may be poor access greater than 75% cover. Same um
herbicide application treatments folure, basil bark and cut stem. uh same chemicals except amazipir may also be used on the species present which are Japanese notweed bittersweet
dense woody and invasive plants and it's uh possible based off of access that a small UTV or ATV may be needed to transport herbicide in people and access those areas that are more difficult to control. And then the light mechanical
category involves the use of brush hogs and chainsaws for invasive plant management. Low ground pressure equipment in riparian areas and across most of these areas. And the species are similar to what was described above. Multifllora rose, autumn olive, other
woodies. Um that is a lot. This table summarizes what the plan is yearbyear for each compartment separated out on the site. Uh estimation of how many
acres is covered in that treatment of invasive plant management and the uh for each of the types. Um I can pause there for a minute because I know that there was a lot or I can keep going. I'll I'll leave a pause in case
anyone has any questions now. Any questions? Anybody? Go ahead, Tom. Um the reason for some of this language and this and this uh essentially
menu of activities is due to um the project's origin. Uh we planned this in coordination with Mass Wildlife and in particular with the natural heritage and endangered species program um and Mass
Wildlife staff uh prepared the management document um for funding through a um NRCS grant and that grant was granted and
this is the language that that that NRCS largely uses in their um in their funding. So uh program this is through funded through the environmental quality incentive program or equip.
Um so this is the schedule that that both mass wildlife and NRCS have have laid out for this project. Um I have a question on the chemicals being used. What p what
are you using to prevent these chemicals from entering the the water? So it has everything to do with following the label in terms of concentrations and also selectivity of the treatment itself. So there's no plan
for folure treatments for example to be over body of water. It would be targeted directly to the vegetation that is just that being targeted and the idea would be to use the most effective but least
impactful method possible in every situation. So that's why there's the option to do let's say a basil bark or a cut stem on woody vegetation depending on which would be most effective and least impactful in the area. Um, and
same with folure. If there were a sparse area of invasive plants, the choice would likely not be to use folure application because you would have a lot of non-target impacts. Um, so being very targeted in the application is the the
main way to mitigate any non-target impacts, including hitting ground or water surface. So you don't anticipate in in layman's terms which is the only thing I'm understanding out of this talk is that
the chemicals will not be entering the water or or within that 25 ft buffer of the water. Um they site they won't enter the water and get distributed where they don't belong. Correct. Yep. There should be no treatment above or into the water.
There's no treatment directed towards the water in the plan for this project. So there would be no there'd be no method for it to get in there based on that's what I was concerned. Thank you. Okay. All right. So the two structure removal
aspects of the project um included the pavilion and smiling pool flashboard removal. So, the goal with the pavilion removal is to prevent bank erosion and Oh, I'm sorry. No, there there was a question on the on
one of our Zoom attendants. Um, can you pull it back up? No, I think it's gone. But it was basically asking is there going to be testing of the water prior to treatments and then post treatments to see if there was any
infiltration of the water? Excellent. I so the proposed project is more selective and stringent than methods submitted in the um GIR for the state. So it's certainly within and more
selective than what's allowed to be performed for regulations. I feel pretty confident because of the size of the herbicide molecules themselves that there wouldn't be a way and the way that they interact with vegetation and soil
um with where they're being applied that they're not going to be getting into the the water. So the answer is no. So you would not be testing. The plan was not to test. I don't know if Mass Ottabbon would be interested in entertaining that if the commission felt
it was necessary, but that was not part of the plan. I I have a question um on this on the smiling pool flashboard removal. Um what exactly what was or is the purpose
of the flashboards? They I Tom, maybe I'll let you take that. I believe I know, but you'll be more specific. The the flashboards are what's holding water in the smiling pool. Uh
yeah. So by taking them out the water will go away and there will be no more pool. Well it will be a it will be a wetland. Um and then during floods it would be a pool again.
Now, those those flashboards um weren't they installed? You might not know um several years ago because uh the beavers are constantly building a dam at that at that area. So, the flashboards allowed
the water um to go under the dam. Um no, that that's not exactly right. Um the flashboards are part of the original the smiling pool was created um around 1970 to the best of my knowledge and the
flashboards are were a feature that was part of the original construction of the pool. Um so they're they're part of the of the outlet we um
that that impound the pool. the beaver activity that we we Mass Ottabbon has been facing um chronic over overbank flow from smiling pool over the last several years
because of beaver activity. Um we did install um a pond level device or a beaver deceiver so-called uh at the outlet. Um but beavers have
essentially manipulated the that structure the the beaver deceiver to make it inoperable. Uh so they they've stymied our beaver deceiver efforts. Uh
we're not deceived. We they were not deceived. Not for long. So why is it that we need to remove these boards? Well, the is so it's behind Thornton Burg's house. That's what she's referring to. Okay.
Uh, no. The the pond is up behind is not behind the Burgess House. It's behind No, no, the I'm sorry. The well is the well indeed is behind the Burgger's house, right? Um but the the pond um
we were asked uh through the municipal vulnerability uh preparedness process to explore the idea for identifying flood storage improvements at Laughing Brook.
Recognizing that uh flooding of Main Street is a is a ma major concern in town and in a forested setting like Laughing Brook, there really aren't great there
isn't a wide spectrum of of improvements that we could make that would improve blood storage capacity. But one thing we could do is the water that's in the pond right now is taking up volume that could be used
for flood storage capacity if the pond weren't there. So the idea would be to allow that area to become essentially a a flood storage basin um by having it not filled permanently
as it is now. So this is essentially uh the start of a restoration of for natural hydraology at smiling pool. Um and that is also
eliminating a a management headache that we're facing right now where like I say water is over topping the pool. It's eroding the if if you've been to the site recently um just north of the trail head, the
trail is getting scoured out by blood water coming from the pond. And um so yeah, so we thought we could help the help the town out with creating this modest additional flood storage,
help ourselves out by eliminating this uh overbank flooding that's causing our trail erosion and other problems in the wintertime. Sometimes the um the field just south of the pond is just getting
covered with ice because water is pouring over the the bank on the south side of the pool. So a number of number of reasons to lower the water level in smiling pool. So, we also had a a sort of I guess a
follow-up question on that on some of the chemicals going in the river being tested or whatever that the well that's there. How would this be protected? So, that's a great question. Um Naomi,
back to the map. You may see that um there are these there are those concentric circles uh at the southern end. Those are essentially buffer zones off of the well. So there's no chemical
treatment proposed within that zone area zone one or zone 13 um be to give a that's the um that's the wellhead protection zone. So no chemical
treatment is is proposed in that area and in that wider circle that is that includes zones 2 5 12 11 etc. um
that's um only chemical application every other year. And then part of that you may notice is on town property. So like compartment five is on the lot
um that's behind the school that's town owned. And I see John is on on the call. Um we've met with the select board uh to seek their permission for this approach
and we've you know agreed there's just no herbicide application on on town land at all um in that in that zone um or on that parcel at all. And then
yeah, so no herbicide application on townland, no no herbicide application within I don't know what the can't remember what the offset is uh from the town well and only every other year in that outer zone.
So those those are techniques that are consistent with uh water quality regulation and wellhead protection in the state and town.
Okay. All right. I do think that is it. So, if there's any other questions, well, the the last element is the pavilion removal. Oh, sorry. Yeah, I didn't detail that. It's on it was on the screen for a
while, but thank you, Tom. So you may be familiar with, you know, the series of structures that had been at Laughing Brook and we removed I don't know probably 15 years ago, removed some of some of them and then
but one pavilion was left up on the bluff above the um sharp turn in the river uh in Eastbrook and that structure seems poised to fall into the river if it's
not removed if there's any, you know, additional erosion of that of the um bend in the river there. So, we want to remove that before it becomes more hazardous than it already is.
Uh so that that we're proposing to do that primarily through small equipment um or or even potentially by hand. um with access up through the um across
the bridge and then up through an old access path that um kind of cuts across the slope there that's shown on the pink line. Um the northern section of the pink line to the north of Eastbrook.
Okay. Any other questions about any aspect of the scope of work? Um I just I just have a um question. And I I um received um the
office received the um um letter from the state today um from Mark Stinson giving you a file number and um in number one and I I didn't I haven't read this thoroughly but he says a prescribed
fire is mentioned please prove through pollen analysis or other methods that the area is historically fireprone and requires a fire for its routine growth. I will let Tom speak to that being um
more aware of the project as a whole. I know Tom and I discussed it earlier, but I know he'll speak to it better. Yeah. Um thanks for asking. Um, I guess I would say that this this invasive plant management
activity that is the subject of this notice of intent is part of an overall forest management project that we are planning on the site largely to restore uh a pitchpine oak heath land that's
located um to the north and west of Smiling Pool. um that area has been identified as a hot spot for biodiversity and it's kind of a vestigial plant community that is
fire adapted. Um, so the presence of the remnant pitch pines on both the townland and and Mass Ottabbon land in that area combined with the um outwash plane
gravel course relatively coarse sediment that underlies the site. um you know combination of um other other species in addition to the pitch pine kind of indicate that this is a a former Heathland community
that largely was uh fire adapted. Um fire is a management tool for those communities and mass wildlife's experience at sites like Muddy Brook and
uh Mile Standish and elsewhere have demonstrated u the Montigue Plains for example have demonstrated that uh getting fire into those landscapes just really is a um
supercharger for recovering a a whole array of rare and uh unusual species. Uh so, but fire isn't we're not necessarily going to apply fire at this site. It's
just something that we're considering um for the time being. Uh all that we're asking in this application is is we're looking at invasive plant management. We are working with a consulting
forester to develop a forest cutting plan. um that you know the commission will review that through a forest cutting practices application and and or potentially another notice of
intent or a request for an amended order depending on how exactly that lays out which I'm not we haven't settled any details on that so I don't know but fire would be something that we we're really only considering
down the line so I kind of regret that. I mean, I think that's an important element of context for this is that that wider idea of community restoration here and the potential use of fire to restore
elements of this community. But I I kind of regret that Mark zeroed in on that because it's not um it's not really part of this specific application. It's just it's just context. Yeah. broader context in one of the
appendices just for reference. So you feel that chemical use is more safe and effective than a prescribed burn more target invasive for invasive species management for sure. Yeah, the a
fire would probably end up promoting uh invasive plants more than anything else about starting over. Yeah. Um but I think the the combination of
mechanical control followed up with chemical treatment. Um we've had very good success at other sites with that approach with you know remaining within um
you know a degree of application that we feel is uh protective of of other ecosystem services and and features including water quality. I will say one of the major invasive plants that's on the site as you
probably are aware is autumn olive which forms that super dense thicket just to the north of the trail head area and around smiling pool and a fire if we're not we're not proposing again
we're not proposing to burn any of the area there but if if we or I would imagine that that plant would respond to fire with just an explosion of of autumn olive. Um
like poison ivy too. So yeah, I think you know these this uh mechanical chemical approach is intended to get to get ahead of the problem. Um to to
address it before any other you know forest management uh practices are are implemented which may not occur even this winter. It might even be next, it might be next winter before that
happens. The oriental bittersweet that's present at the site, um I know there's uh a significant amount of uh root entanglement and damage to trees and stuff. Correct.
Better sweeps present. So will a chemical application uh target the root system? That's that's in fact the reason to use these chemicals is that it is that it
they are systemic herbicides that are transllocated from the site of application whether that's the cut stem or the leaf or the foliage. And that chemical gets moved into the root uh
cells and and is able to kill the plant entirely. And that that's really the whole uh that's what these chemicals are essentially designed for. Uh and that's why they're used as opposed to other other types of
treatment, even mechanical treatment. If you're familiar at all with trying to control bittersweet, you can mow it all you like and all basically all you're doing is making a a multi-headed hydra of bittersweet over time, right?
Yeah. So the chemicals are really pretty much uh the most effective tool for actually getting getting down to to um kill and destroy the the root system.
Okay. Yeah. And I wish that weren't the case. You know, I would love it for there to be a different magic wand that we could use. Um, but that's unfortunately not the world we live in.
Yeah. And and I guess I should also say the the impetus for this this whole project is um that as you are probably aware we had uh a substantial
um spongy moth outbreak uh that peaked maybe seven years ago. and Laughing Brook. At Laughing Brook, approximately 30% of the oak trees on the site were
killed by spongy moth. And uh as those trees have really started to fall over, um I've had and my colleagues have had uh safety concerns about, you know,
whether the trails are safe during wind events and rain and so forth. So, we close the trails routinely uh based on just the amount of dead wood uh that's on the site uh kind of hanging in space. And
um when we we talked with a number of tree companies and other individuals about how to manage this issue and at this point basically uh the recommendation is that it can only be tackled through
uh heavy equipment, you know, getting a a a feller buncher in to drop to drop the trees. And so while we're doing that, it's like, well, we also have this opportunity to uh bring back this declining natural
community um to to reestablish it on the site. So that's sort of the origin of this whole project is the forest is kind of falling down by itself. It there's a a lot more
sun on the forest floor than there was, you know, 10 years ago. And we're seeing a lot of invasive plants just respond to that increased sunlight. And so rather than letting rather than letting invasives like
bittersweet, autumn olive, etc. take over that forest. We want to get in there before that happens so that the next phase of forest succession there can be native species in the forest can
can function and uh you know healthily essentially over time. So that's our motivation for doing this work. Um, and we didn't, you know, invite the the spongy mop in, but it it definitely
did a number on the forest there. Any other questions? I don't. Anybody have any questions? No. So, we're waiting to hear from NHSP. Correct. Correct. Yes. Okay.
So, um we're going to have to um continue this meeting um probably until our September I believe it's the 17th is the third Wednesday. Maybe not. Let's see.
I think it is. Yes. Yes, it is. It is. And so, um, why don't you make a motion to continue until Are we going to schedule a site visit now? Yeah, we can do that. If you want to
since the email and phone don't seem to be working. Is there anything to see? Um, yeah. I don't know the area been there. So, you might want to go in and look. Okay.
Did you want to schedule one be? Well, you'll definitely schedule it before September. Yeah. So, either sometime next week or after the 10th because I'll be gone after. Is there a day of the week that the commission usually schedules?
No, any day is fine. U any time of day that somebody can't be there. Uh the afternoons I'm available. Afternoons work better for me. The afternoons are better. mostly.
Maybe Tom, do you have any dates that you want to propose that would be good for be available? Looking at next week that if we want it to be before September. Yeah. Is that what the commission was saying? Either next week or after the 10th, but before the meeting
before September 17th, Monday, next week, Monday afternoon, Tuesday afternoon could work for me. uh before 3 on Wednesday afternoon. Uh no, I take that back. That probably
wouldn't be a good time. Um potentially Thursday afternoon. Yeah, I'm pretty good in the afternoons next week. Any of those days? Yeah, Tuesday is better for me personally. Sounds like Tuesday is probably the best. Okay, which day? Tuesday when?
Tuesday the 26. Tuesday the 26th at 3 tonight. If if that works for you. Works. Yeah. I can meet the commission on Tuesday at three at Laughing Brook. Yes. In the parking lot. Okay. Yeah. Super.
Sounds good. I will look forward to that. I really appreciate uh um you know, people's your your attention, you know, to the work we're doing here. Yeah. Thank you all for your time. My calendar. Um, I'm going to make a
motion to continue this to our September meeting on the 17th. Second. All in favor? All right. Thank you all very much. Enjoy the rest of your night. Thank you. Good night. Thank you. Take care.
Thank you. Who seconded? Greg. I'm not going to be here on the 17th. I know. I'll check with Lauren. Maybe she can do. I don't know. She can get She is looking She is I did let her know we work on
trail. I don't But it's nice being able to chat with them. I know. Are you We don't have to lock the whole thing in. At
least up to that pavilion would be ide. Did you want to um go over the minutes? Um yeah, sure. Let's do the minutes from last time. Have other stuff to do, but might as well get those out of the way.
[Music] Yeah. July July 16th means everybody has a copy. Yes ma'am. [Music] Sign in over there if you stay in. I'm sorry. What?
You sign in if you're going to stay. Okay. Did he open up the back door? Yeah, she said they're open. Oh, good. Good. Will the um close open? Yeah, the um people that do the the play.
Yeah. Make a motion to accept this. We're having a meeting. Oh, okay. [Music] Yeah. Anybody? I don't think you want to be not Sounds like everything. All right.
I make motion to accept the remaining minutes from last meeting. I second. All in favor? I I I have a lot. Okay. Not on mute. All right. The next thing I'm just going
to um let everyone know that I met with the selectman um on Monday at their meeting. And um u before that I had sent them a little um memo saying that um the commission um
would like them to consider putting Eric and and Joe on as um full voting members. Um and uh I I went to the meeting and and the selectmen um uh I mean it was fine with them, but they
want to do it in person. So, um they've asked for um Eric and Joe to attend their meeting on September 2nd. That's their next meeting. And um what time do they meet? 6. 6.
And they meet at 6:00. So, I'm going to try to make sure that they that they address you guys first and then I'm I'm going to see if Eva Yeah. will hang hang around long enough to then um uh what would you
swear them in? Yeah. Just swear you in and you'll get some kind of paper. You want to go? Cuz I won't be here. Yeah, I'll be here to go with them. Yeah. Yeah, I'll be here. I won't be here on a second. Yeah. I don't know where Joe is tonight,
but Yeah. If you can't make it, Bonnie, let me know. I'll go. Okay. Um, next thing, um, is, uh, Mr. Basile, um, lot two, Scantic Road. Um, I sent him an email today.
Saw that. Yep. Very nice. and um letting him know that um uh there was going to be a conservation um site inspection tomorrow at 300 p.m. and that all we were interested in was
the um permanent markers um designating the resource area on his property. And um that's it. That's that is what we're going to be uh looking at. So, um
I don't know. I haven't checked my computer tonight whether or not Miss Mr. Bile did get back to me. I don't know, but he has been notified that you're coming. And um Okay. I mentioned uh another time that you would be in your vest. So, just wear
your um I would suggest for those of us that have them, if you your town ID, bring that with you, too. just in case. So if as reported in that
notice that we got about this a couple weeks ago about this what about the Scantic Road. Oh yeah. Doing some work of some kind. Yep. What if he his do we need some sort of a No, he violation notice to give him or
No, I checked with um building Uhhuh. today and um he has um he's jumped through all the hoops and um as far as um all you know planning board and building are concerned,
right? so that um he uh he's he's good to go um as long as the markers are there. Now the um well well that's what I'm asking. Well well Wendell was out there um and
Wendell thought that he saw um several markers out there and um did I give you a map on Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And you have a map in your folder, right? Yeah. Showing where the Yeah.
Not that one, but that one. Yeah. Where the marker printed? Yeah. Where the marker should be. Well, what I'm asking was a couple weeks ago, we got a He got an email or something a res another resident with
if he is violating the wetland border, we would have to stop him. That's something. Yes. Is there some paperwork or something that we would need um for that? I mean, hopefully he's not and he's only working on the approved area.
Right. Right. But yeah, if he if the um I mean these markers go back to Bonjourney when when they owned the property. Um and uh if indeed he's beyond
where the silk fence and the markers are, then yeah, you're going to have to um uh issue him just that just on your site inspection thing that you have even just write on there that the markers are
not where are not all there or there should be 10 of them when I counted on there or he's Yeah. And then he has to um stop until the mark. Okay. Whatever markers are left should be put in there. Okay. All right. I think he'll do that. He's he's pretty
right now anyway. He's okay. Pretty easy. Um so that was taken care of. Um then we have the violation at South Bridge Estates. Mhm. Um
Russ Russ's violation of their Well, it's Russ's property. Yeah. He says he didn't do it. Um so I sent, as you know, I sent all of the abutters um a certified package. And in that
package, it had the original orders and conditions. It had um the pictures that you guys took when you were um on the site inspection of all that land being cleared. The state got involved. They sent 2019 where it was all all wooded
and then recently where that whole section was cleared. Um, and I I sent that entire package to all of the abutters letting them know, Muaga copies, but letting them know that um
the commission would be hiring um a wetland specialist to go out there and to remark um that resource area that is supposed to remain um in a natural state forever. And that's in the original orders and I
sent them all that. Okay, I got one package back with a big big writing all across the front moved. Okay, I got another one back or the green card back and um and they were
fine and it was people towards the beginning of South Ridge so that they're not really affected because they never cut and the people before them, David Anzel or he never cut anything back in there. So, they really weren't affected.
The rest of the people I haven't heard anything from. I haven't got any green cards back. Um, but they it was certified, right? Yeah. Oh, yeah. They're all certified. That's what the cards are for. Okay. So, um I had called Heather Comey
a few weeks ago and at that point she was um going in to the hospital for a procedure, but she said that within 4 weeks she would be back in the field again. Well, it's already been close to 3
weeks. So, um I'm going to uh recall her on um Monday and um um give her the information and any mapping that she may need. And then um um when she when she schedules it, then I'll let
you guys know and then you know, you can whoever is available can meet her on site while she um refs it. Okay. And then Mark sent me I I gave you pictures of that pictures of several signs to put up.
Yeah. Um you know conservation area whatever um along that whole um area. So um that's where we are with that with that violation.
Um not not done. Then we have um the Forbes property. Um and um we had uh just for people that might not know
sitting over there, we had um Russ Morton in for that and Russ Morton said that that wasn't his property, it was his daughter's property. So, um, on July 23rd, right after our meeting, I, um,
sent, um, Sarah, um, a letter from the Conservation Commission. Um, and, um, I will quickly read that so that they'll know what it's all about. Dear Miss Morton, several weeks ago, the Hampton Conservation
Commission was notified by the East Law Meadow Conservation Agent, Alex Grigle. Gregor of a possible wetland violation on your Hampton property. The property is located at the Hampton Eastlaw metal line with limited access
off Anzel and Brimoir in East Law Meadow. Yeah, I don't have my Yeah, there we go. The commission thought the property was in your father's name, but he informed them that the property is owned by you. Included
in the packet is a GIS map of the area in question. The parcel appears to contain a significant amount of resource area. Those areas are protected by the Mass Wetland Protection Act as well as the Town of Hampton Wetland Protection bylaws. The commission asks you to cease
all activity in the area and file a request for determination with us which is included. The form can be found also be found online. In the request, please spec be specific describing your future use for the property. Once the request
is received, we will publish it in the local paper. It needs to be into the commission at least 2 weeks before a scheduled meeting to allow the allotted time for publishing. Our meetings are held the third Wednesday of each month and begin
at 6:00 p.m. And um from from what I understand, and maybe some of you are here, um I did hear that um Russ was um putting up his own barriers
um at the end of uh a how do you pronounce Anley. So it's actually not even at the end of a road. Um there's a cut off that's like an unofficial road. There's that's the one off of Binmar. Yes. Brimar extension. And um he b that was one of the first
things that he did was clear like an unofficial road. Right. It was down to Van Meadow that put up barriers. I think it last week when I sent the email uh with pictures. Uh my wife happened to notice it. Approached him and said, you know, do you have permits to do this? And he said, no, and I don't
care. Um, and they up they fence up with gate and chained it and cleared actually more land around it so they could get So he took the jersey barriers down. He didn't. He moved I think he moved them and then moved them down. Wow.
Okay. Last week there was some men in pickup trucks at the bottom of Anley. Okay. With weed whackers clearing a path. Um, I have dirt bikes. Yeah. So I don't I don't know if that was that
gentleman. Well, that's part of the property down there. Okay. So the the barriers um where were they the one he was talking about is right here. Right there at the end of
BMAR extension. This is Aninsley over there. Yeah. And Anley is Anley had a fence there. Correct. By saw me. Yes. a full fence with like a an area nice and it was kind of falling down in parts. He added fencing there too, but it
didn't look like he put in fence. Looked like he took like a a wood panel fence and just kind of put it up against reinforcement. Now the question is, is he doing any work on the property in conservation land?
Yeah. I don't know where the conservation land is. Well, all of it. Well, here I can um all of it is most of it. Yeah, most of it not. He has some he has some navigation room at the end of that little extension resource area.
Yes, so this whole the gate issue is not No, it's not. I can't tell you. He's the one that was in the lead or the No, it's not because that's on me property that the end those streets are. But if
he's allowing access into that property to this is where are Yes. When I even walked up to it, you can see where the markers are. He did write them along there. So where's his does he have machinery in there? I think it's still down here where we
put the fence in. Um there was like it was like a dump truck or an excavator. I didn't like walk down there. Um but that was when he initially did. So this would fall off the extension here. check this all woods, not woods, but overgrown. Um,
he cleared that a day and then that was July 3rd. Yep. And that's when, as far as I know, his stuff is still down there. How's he getting in? Well, when we were there, stuff's already down there.
He's getting he does another entrance. He has entrance. Yeah, he has property over there on Milro. off of off of Milro. Did legal authority go through there? But there's power line in there also. So, who knows
what what are his intentions to do back there? We're not sure. Yeah. We don't know. His daughter owns the land, so it's being deferred here. Exactly. Exactly. Because they're playing KY back and forth. Who owns what? We can't ever get them. We can't ever get them to own up
to When we were there, there was no machinery in there. No, there was no machinery. None. There's evidence of clearing, but it was evident. Super recent. I mean, it wasn't any in there, right? So, it sounds to me like we should to be
honest, the the the weed whacking and the gates and all of that is not to be honest, the g the gates and the weed whacking and the dirt bikes and all that is is not our Yeah, there's nothing we can do about that. That's that's not our authority. But if they create a path,
I understand. Yes. Yes, but if he's in there and he's doing work in restricted area, that's us and we can work on that. Well, you consider work. Well, we we sent the notice. Yeah, but it's not in there. That's a violation.
He's within this is where it's happening. He's got that resource area. There is area in there that he's allowed to work in. He did a road or he extended this. She's saying
and then there's another one that goes this way kind of onto the power line. That's that the power lines and stuff. Yeah. This part is actually one
over here somewhere. This end. Mhm. that part and the river is right here. What do you guys usually? This is the river. Wow. Would you guys want a respons I think?
No, I mean I sent her a nice letter. Well, yeah. I should send her a violation violation. Well, yeah, I don't have a problem this way. We should extension do a drive by. Yes. Always look if there's anything in there. They end up taking off
if you can see. We may have to go in there. Yeah, I know. Because it's it's I understand it's probably not conservation, but I'm assuming that there's some issue with creating an unauthorized roadway off of the road and extension. That's not a conservation issue. No,
not. So, what would be that part of the property is actually okay for him to be on be on? Yes. Or can he create a roadway there? I don't know. He can do anything with what he wants to. It's not it's not under our jurisdiction
because that's probably the only part of the property that's not because of it's on Hampton Town property or Hampton over the Hampton line. Yeah. Is that it? So I I it might be probably has to go to a planning board
or something. Yeah. For that. But but I know Eon Meadow denied him access from there at Yeah. And that's what Eong Meadow said is that since it's in Hampton, they can't Yeah. really do anything, right?
It sounds like he doesn't he doesn't go and obtain permits for anything. Doesn't sound it. That's all under handy. Sneaky coming in. Can't get this entrance. Go around. Get in through here. bewack here to make
the road open. So that previous item we were talking about is also him when you were talking ma'am. Um I didn't I didn't know you were already on the subject of this um gentleman but you
said um I don't know if it's the same you said natural state forever. What did you mean? Oh that's the previous that was the other Sure. That's the other project. That's the other pet. Oh, he also owns that property. I'm sorry. He also owns that property.
The other property that we were talking uh South Ridge end of South Ridge Road in Hampton, but it's it's all protected land and protected land and it was when the development first went in that land was way back then it
was um so behind Bidenar not protected land. There is some Here's a uh we got the map. Yeah, the river flows through there. The Scantic River is back there.
My property is up 17. Oh, yeah. Here it is. [Music] Is that where you're talking about building? No, this one here. Remember we had this enforcement order for him in the house. That's where Islam put up their
barriers. Correct. Yeah. Okay. Do you know where and right there is absolutely clear what he can do? Yeah. that little piece and and more of it over here too. Well, right. This is we do one of these and
washing the side. Has it been Yeah, I remember thinking walking this way and then that way at some point to the post. Yes, exactly. Yep. We walked right along this edge right here. And we're on that road. Yep.
And then there was another one coming in. So unless he's moved instruction down toward the the weapons anywhere, there's nothing we can do. from this part, but he has cleared. This is all cleared down here, too. You should notice this. Okay. So, so I'm about right here, you
know. And again, we were walking in this. We were walking in there. We walked to the edge of the water over here. We crossed over this little brook right 200 foot. Father Russ, right? Yeah. So, that's questionable as
well. He can or not, right? His name at 100 ft. 25 foot miltar crap, right? But until they still intentions there, I
understand they need they make their intentions. Yes. How can we Well, I don't know. We'll see what he's doing. We heard a rumor at the beginning of this that he wanted to put
some houses in there and that's why he was building extension. I mean maybe there's a whole lot of people if we do on site and he's not doing anything
I think once they sign for you know I mean those packets were yes she did so what do we do now we're going to do well we can't we can send official another letter Not a letter
to the state to serve. Yeah. Well, not even that, but just a Didn't stop working until you have a She just wrote it in a letter. It wasn't official.
It was just a letter. They can find 25,000. So, yeah, but we need that they're doing something that is not right. I know. I was at unfortunately many of the contentious, but nobody's showing us that they're legit. I mean,
so if we go on the property and they're not doing any more expansion into conservation land, there's nothing we can It's okay. Okay. Well, I Well, it's not okay, but there's nothing Well, there's nothing visit again. I'm going to recommend that we go there and take another impromptu visit. I
think so. Eviction. We don't need any of the neighbors because last time he never showed up, right? What? You were supposed to meet with him and didn't show up. That was not this property. That was That was the other one. This is his daughter's property. Okay. I'm confused. All right. Have you guys decided what you want?
What you want to do? Go look at it again. Look, and see if there's anything in there. If you got machines in there, then we need to do something. Okay. Don't go by yourself.
I can't do it tomorrow. Can't do it tomorrow. We got the other one tomorrow, right? Video call and I looked it up when you saying Thursday the other day. You available Friday. Just Friday. Yeah. Uh I believe we want to just
morning. You know what time? No, the morning. No, I'm picking a brand this week. Do the afternoon if you have not till I come until Saturday, but I'm okay. I we'll just go over and look. Yeah, I can I can go in the afternoon. Okay. I'm available. Friday afternoon, we'll go over there and just take another
look. We'll go to that Binmar extension and go in from there. We don't need any of the neighbors to You may go through my yard if you'd like. That's okay. We don't need to anymore. Okay. We've been there. We don't Thank you.
Can we see if I can I get my grandm at the last meeting? Oh, hello. Oh, no. That would be upstairs. Oh, it's here. Yeah. at the last he got really upset. Yeah, I know. So, um it would be better um
just let him know. Let him know that we're doing it. Yeah, that's I'm not saying ask him to be there or anything. Just tell him that we're going to go look and Friday afternoon this Friday. Yeah.
I don't care or not. Which property is this? the one we went to extensions notified. Well, last time he got really upset because he wasn't notified. So, we're just going to tell him that we're going to tell him that we're going. He can do what he want. Wants to go. He
can go. If not, but he's not the owner anymore. We have to notify his daughter. Yeah. I would send it to her, too. But And you can't um I can do research. I'm taking tomorrow off. You can't do it next week. Well, we'll get the other one
next week, Tuesday. All right. I'll um I'll I'll pull his address um before I leave here and then I'll Yeah. Just I can do it from home. Send it to her, too, though. The daughter. Yeah. Just email or whatever.
Right. It doesn't matter when we send it. He's still going to complain about it. Yeah. Didn't get enough notice. Blah blah blah. Right. Doesn't matter he gets it or not. We sent it right. But I will um
I'll get his I will get his email. I think I have it on my desk. Oh, that must be what that other guy was in here for. Yeah. Does anyone have anything else? I don't. Anybody anything? Um
the uh the property on Wolverham Road where the garage was destroyed and rebuilt. Have you noticed they put in like a separate driveway to the right of that garage next to the waterway? Is it paved?
You think so? I don't know. It looks kind of permanent. It It was there and there they used that for parking. It was a driveway to the right of the garage. Yeah. to the right of the river. Yeah. When you're looking at the the river to the left, there's a drivingable
right part that he's I didn't notice that before. No. Yeah, it's always been there. It was just dirt. Yeah. And it's probably been chewed up because they brought in the hip equipment to pour the foundation. All right. I'm just As long as they don't pave it.
Yeah. I mean, I've been keeping an eye on it. Yeah. I think we all have. We all drove right by there every day. Yeah. Right. What time are you blowing on Friday? So 3:00. Okay. Friday. Yeah, that's fine. 3:00.
Do we ever hear from uh Hampton Auto Body about those tires next to the water? Oh, Pelier. Yeah. Yeah. Um, I called him and he said that uh he has a new company coming in to um rent
that back half of his um garage and that they have equipment that could move those tires cuz he has nothing that can move them. I mean, when's that going to happen? I mean, well, it's been a couple months, hasn't it? Have you Have you gone by? Have you noticed? Yeah, they're there. They're still there. Oh,
I keep forgetting when I drive by them. Anything else? Do our guests have any more questions or comments or Thank you guys. Appreciate Thank you for coming in. We will look into it tomorrow, Friday. Doing what we can. I know.
We appreciate your concern. Great. Thank you. I just want to make sure that's okay. Yeah. Did you want to make a motion? I guess. Anybody have anything else before we close?
Make a motion to close the meeting at What time is it? 7:16. 7:15. Second. All in favor? I 95.