##VIDEO ID:CwCVh1kDqmU## all right um this is the January 7th 2025 open meeting of the hoofington Conservation Commission being conducted remotely consistent with an act extending certain covid-19 measures adopted during the State of Emergency the new law authorizes all members of a public body to continue participating in meetings remotely the open meeting laws requirement that a quorum of the body and the chair be physically present at the meeting location remains suspended for this meeting the hopkington Conservation Commission is convening by video via video conference via Zoom app as posted on the town's web meeting calendar and the Conservation Commission agenda identifying how the public may join Additionally the meeting may also be broadcast by hcam through one or many of its channels or platforms please note that this meeting is being recorded and that some attendees are participating by video conference accordingly Please be aware that others may be able to see you and take care not to screen share your computer anything that you broadcast may be captured by the recording supporting materials that have been provided to the members of the commission for this meeting are available on the town's website this meeting will feature public comment after commission members and staff have discussed each project application on the agenda the chair will open the discussion to public comment members of the public who wish to speak are asked to identify their name and address 3 minutes will be afforded for for each public comment each vote taken in this meeting will be conducted via a roll call of the members present so I will now confirm which commission members are present Ed I'm here Jim here Ted present Matt present uh and myself I am present tonight we have absent Janine and Heather um I'll now confirm staff that are present Judy present Anna present and Joe all right thank you I just requested screen sharing yes should be all set there Judy if you want to throw the agenda up that's great got it all right can you see that yes all right so I'll just point out um the folks on the call we've had a few things um canceled on the agenda tonight so the Flores 9 Chamberlain Street notice of intent for an addition pool applicant has requested a continuation to January uh 28th and the continued hearing of Hayden r um 129 Hayden row notice of intent for the roadway widening has also asked to be continued to January 28th um in addition the Wall Street development 12 North Mill Street informal discussion is also continued to January 28th so none of those um will be discussed tonight all right so with that being said um we don't have any documents for review um we do have the draft minutes for review um did everyone get a chance to take a look at those and does anyone have any comments on the October 8th 2024 minutes no no comments on my end no comments okay so with that being said can I get a motion to approve the minutes I'd like to make that motion right can I a second second all right all in favor Ed I Jim I Ted I and Matt I all right I'm also in I right all set there um next up we have snow Pine Island Road request for certificate of compliance um Judy or Anna do you want to give us a briefing on this one sure um so this was a um cooc to close out a single family home construction by Lake Masano um can pull up the site plan I not a huge amount of comments from Lucas um so most of the erosion control barriers had been removed already in the rest uh can be removed as the site is looking stable uh Joe reported that there was a tree taken out beyond the approved erosion control boundary line um although the applicant did plant native plants in the area that I don't believe were a part of the original order so those might have kind of canceled that out um Joe did not a pile of soil um that he requested to be removed um although I spoke with the applicant who said it may have been vegetated and stable so um I'll let you know the homeowner speak to that if he's on the line um and Joe was also unable to find information on the nature of the foundation drains whether those were perforated to the uh original order conditions um so if the uh homeowner has any additional information on those that would be much appreciated but um overall pretty straightforward nothing nothing too glaring um so if either Joe or the homeowner has anything to add please feel free do we have a homeowner on the line no um Joe did you want to elaborate on any of those comments I yeah I covered them pretty well um as you mentioned I wasn't sure um if the found you know I was done the foundation grains um there is uh you know Crush Stone kind of uh put around the foundation of the house under the drip line of the roof I didn't sit down spouts going any any type of dryw or anything and there were a number of uh plants along the uh top of the bank and shrubs that were put in I think homeowner I spent the fair amount of of money on on vegetation um to put in on the bank and everything I saw was native so look appropriate okay no no major concerns no major concerns okay so in your opinion the uh the additional plantings um you know would likely be what the commission has approved in the past for tree replacement yeah I didn't count the number of plants but um you know there's probably at least 10 okay okay um does anyone on the commission have any questions or comments on this seems fairly it seems straightforward to me looks pretty stable here um anyone from the public have any questions or comments on this application Melissa I was slow to unmute myself I just have a question for you and Matt I think are you worried about the question about the um the the roof run off and and drains around the house I think Joe were you saying that the question was um you saw roof drains can you I did not I did not see roof drains okay so I don't know what was put in as far as Foundation drain I think the commission noted Foundation drains were to be installed and were to be perforated Beyond a certain distance from the house um so there's no way of knowing that you know it wasn't observed I think during construction um but the the crush F around the drip line you know kind of indicates that uh there may be drainage under that first down to to pick up and um why not any and there's no uh no down spouts no down there's no down spouts no gutters yeah okay I I think my thought would be that you know the crush Stone around the edge with the you know just running off the roof and having time to infiltrate there would would would be okay on my in my opinion okay and I guess the other thing would just be you know the the couple of items that were noted uh but on the engineer statement regarding a few things that were done that were not on the U approved plan um the shower that you're looking at that existing shower I guess was was not on the approved plan the CR stone that we were just talking about stepping stone walkway uh a landing and another step in the walkway on house I think they're all they're all within the limit of work of the proposed project okay I think I'm I'm okay with this this one okay um there's no other comments can I get a motion to um close out this or approve this certificate of compliance and get signatures from an or Judy second all right all in favor Ed I Jim I Ted I Matt I and I am also an i all right that's all set all right so what are we at 712 um if we have those on the line um for the townwide vegetation management plan I think we could probably go to that new hearing um and this is one I need to read grab my page all right poppington Conservation Commission will hold a public hearing on Tuesday January 7th 2025 at 700 p.m. virtually online to hear all persons interested in a request for determination of applicability filed by hopkington DPW for vegetation management plan location is townwide easements and right of ways um do we have someone on the call Carrie I see Carrie yep so I'm here um with Carrie Reed director of public Public Works and I have with me Stephanie hi Stephanie Hansen with CI um so I'm just going to do like a quick intro and then I'm going to turn over to Stephanie to kind of go over the technical piece of it um so this is for a vegetated management plan for rideways in town and so the biggest question that we've been getting is why you know why do we need this so the Department of Public Works is responsible for maintaining all the roads sidewalks bike Lanes um and this will help us improve and give us another tool for maintaining those areas um you know for safety for Aesthetics for operations and maintenance and all that good stuff that we're required to do and then um the other question is you know why now we've never had this before why do we need it now and the reasoning is right now we have a hard time keeping up with the demand um so we have a big backlog especially in the summertime for Resident requests or just from work orders that come in for vegetating and control you know cutting back weeds around the corner so people can see when they're trying to drive you know turn around um a road um requests to remove Poison Ivy from um sidewalks so kids don't know get a rash um removing weeds that are overgrowing and kind of forcing people not forcing them but you know if they're walking on the sidewalk they put pushed out to the road because the the reads are kind of taking over and then a ton of requests for the new downtown area um about weeds growing up the brown telephone poles and the roadways around sidewalks chaining walls things like that um so one of that is to help out with that and um the other re reason of why now is that the town's grown so much so we have more sidewalks we have more roads and um like I said we just can't keep up doing it all manually um and I'm not sure if it even makes the best sense uh operationally wise or even safety wise so we are coming now today with this plan um to give us another tool and I also wanted to point out that the town did have a vegetarian management plan I was looking up earlier um that was approved from 2014 to 2018 it just wasn't implemented um so this is not the first time that the town has looked at this um so that's my little intro and at this point I'm going to turn over to Stephanie to go over kind of the noi and all those uh nitty-gritty details yeah great thank you Carrie again my name is Stephanie Hansen I'm with Comprehensive environmental and we worked with Carrie to pull together two plans um one of them is a vegetation management plan this is a Five-Year Plan um this is what was submitted through the RDA process where we're looking for a negative determination and there's also a for information purposes there's a yearly operational plan that we also included and so this is a one-year plan that's updated and reviewed on an annual basis both of them were prepared to be in compliance with the Mass Department of agricultural resources so these plans are only to be used for ride of ways these are um mdar which is short for the Mass Department of Agriculture resources has specific regulations for their ride of ways only um so these plans were developed specific to those regulations um both of them are currently in review by mdar right now the goal as sort of Carrie went over was is to Target um manage Target vegetation while protecting sensitive areas in the environment um we also hope to reduce herbicide application amount and frequency over time with this plan and then also comply with regulations so we generally list four different types of Target vegetation they could include Hazard ve vegetation and this is vegetation that can impede movement um be an issue with Public Safety um this is vegetation that can obscure signs cause um winter icing because of shading um it also targets noxious vegetation like poison ivy uh detrimental vegetation so this is vegetation that can compromise infrastructure and then it also includes invasive vegetation um so Japanese not weed frag mes that type of thing So the plan is written to Target those four types of vegetation and it it there's an explanation in there on that it doesn't necessarily mean mean that Carrie is going to Target all of those I think she has some very specific area problem areas in mind um in general the plans outline both mechanical and chemical management of the vegetation and then it also gets into sensitive area restrictions and they're um these are in table format in both of the plans and that's based directly on the mdar regulations the plans also provide guidelines for weather conditions during application um there's a remedial plan in there to address any type of spill there's a monitoring plan and a daily log and it also gets into applicator qualifications um so for example whether the applicator is um Town staff or a contractor they need to pass a core license exam through mdar they need to work for several years under that core license and then they need to pass an additional exam which is their category 40 RightWay exam um and that allows them to then oversee um any type of herbicide application um this particular this RightWay program limits herbicides allowed regardless of labeled use um I know that the town does have a number of schools and daycares with IPM programs that have been approved by mdar this is a completely separate program I'm not that familiar with it although I did look through a couple of the plans for the schools and um the herbicides that I saw listed on there are actually not allowed for use within rideways by mdar mdar has a very small list of herbicides that are allowed to be used in the right of way um currently both the VMP and the yop are within a 45-day public comment period um written comments for the VMP are due by January 24th and written comments for the yop are due on February 7th um both of these have been published in the Statewide environmental Monitor and that starts the 45-day comment period um sort of along those same lines as far as process after the public comment period ends or actually towards the end of it I should say they actually mdar holds their own public hearing that's also on January 24th at 10:00 a.m. and there's a zoom link available and I think there was a sheet as an appendex to one of the plans that has that link in it um so again that's on January 24th once that's completed and um the public comment period is deemed complete there is a rideway commission independent review um and this is a Statewide committee that reviews the VMP and provides comments um last time I look there the committee does change occasionally but there are generally eight commission members on this Review Committee and they're made up of mass D Mass DCR um UMass extension there's a weed scientist that is part of that committee um there's a representative from the mass railroad Association there's an environmental uh representative a utility representative someone from Mass do and an applicator representative um so they provide us comments we do a Redline markup submit it to mdar for their review and um hopefully approval um once the plans have been approved there is another public notification process process uh first there is a 21-day written notification and these notifications are sent to mdar the local Board of Health your public water supplier or water superintendent um your border selectman chair or town manager and also the Conservation Commission and in addition to the 21-day written notification prior to the start of the application there's a 48h hour newspaper notice in the local newspaper um finally at the time of application mdar will generally coordinate a visit on the first day of the application basically to ensure that everyone has the correct licenses um all documentation and approvals are on site and generally they'll actually collect a sample of the herbicide mixture for laboratory analysis to make sure that um it's in compliance with what is indicated in the plan so that's pretty much all that I had I'm happy to answer any try to answer any questions that you might have yeah I just want to make one more comment before we go to questions um in addition I reached out to the Hopkin and sustainable green committee because they've always been um very concerned about any kind of use of herbicides um pesticides on public property um so I I talk with them a little bit and in addition to the list that Stephanie talked about about of who we would notify I agreed that like whenever we um share information or the 21 day notice that we'd also include the Hopkin green sustainable committee I think that's the right order in addition to informing the Conservation Commission and the Board of Health and the rest of the group okay thank you thank you for that presentation um I do have okay okay so I have one question just to kind of I guess kick off questions I'm sure there'll be a couple um so when you're applying um herbicides is there there's the notification to those various groups there any notifications to Property Owners or anything that people can kind of like the mosquito spray I'm thinking um or is it just you know they would be notified during that 21-day process and through you know reviewing the plan now as it's in a comment period yep there's that and then there's also the 40h hour newspaper notice yep that goes into so it's I say 48 Hours it has to be published in the newspaper at least a minimum of 48 hours before um it could be a week before I mean we generally like to allow at least a few more days than just the 48 hours but that's the regulation calls for a minimum of 48 hour notice in the newspaper okay gotcha and it has to be a certain size as well it can't be like in you know one font it has to to be I think it's like 2x 3 in or their specifications and the regulations as to how large it needs to be and then what what section of the newspaper okay um I'll open up to other commission members um or questions comments actually before I do that um Joe you had some comments on this um I did have a couple comments I think uh I did have a chance to review the responses uh today the comments were were pretty well addressed um I had pointed out um just on the the map uh that was provided I thought there were a few things that were missing that should have been added and those included potential bur pools and uh the outstanding resource water AAL layer um from n GIS and Al it looked like some of the um uh DP mapped Wetlands uh were not had were not on the original map and it looks like all those items have been have been added to the map um just to make it a little clear um where potential resource areas or potential sensor areas may be in any area that they're going new proposing in work um I also just noted that uh the well protection act exemption that uh is referenced in the application is for work in buckers um if any workfor still occur in or propos in a in a resource area that exemption did not apply but there is another exemption um in the wp for this type of work within the resource area only if it meets certain conditions I would imagine if that was the case um that they would come before the commission to get that clarified um as was noted the education management plan is now being reviewed I think um it's in the hands of uh the uh Department of v c resources um and believe that the only thing that is needed um for the WPA regulation is a determination of applicability from the Conservation Commission okay and I just also recommended that any any work that is proposed that comes before the commission is is field verified uh because the scale and accuracy of the map that's being provided Andi verification and boundaries and sensible areas so you're recommending Joe that that be field verified at the time or like when the locations are chos chosen by the town okay um Carrie is the town amenable to to that yep okay um all right thanks Joe anyone um on the commission have questions comments on this plan and the RDA process that's being requested for it um I'm M Jim I just want to say that this is a great plan um not looking at all the finer details but to go forward with the plan for invasive control is um fantastic I appreciate all of your efforts over there at tbw car especially all right anyone else Ed do you have anything this is a wicked sensitive thing for me I know um the whole aspect of invasives um that that open space has struggled with and in our in our properties and having to fall back to using chemicals as the only way to deal with not weed um what I would like to see and I I don't know how to accomplish this is an education program um like yours truly stupid person that I am there's a stand of knotweed not too far from our house and I go out every single week and I cut it to the ground and I will say that the amount of not weed I see over several years is less so it does apparently discourage it and Bittersweet there's plenty of places where bitter street is up in trees and private property and if the property owners were made aware of the issue maybe they might get up there and cut it off so I'd like to see as much as I struggle with the use of herbicides I would like to see part of this be a a real effort to educate the residents of hopkington about the invasives that are on their property and what to do about it I know I've seen like Hopkinson Lumber has made a real effort um in the last couple years to deal with not weed on on their site um it is a huge battle that um we we we need to get our hands around it somehow and it is not going to be pretty I I don't know what else to say thank you Marissa this is Jim again um that's a great point and I think that the public education or information should be a huge part of this and while this addresses right away right of way it doesn't really address private property uh interior property so I I agree with that 100% % um education uh is something that between the two of us that is DPW and the Conservation Commission uh we should try to really um do a big job of that thank you through the chair yes yeah also mentioned the sustainable green committee did mentioned some of the same thing awareness education um they did ask and I I will do this I haven't yet is to put some of this information up on the DPW website um so at least you the the commissions the Committees have a place where they can stare people to um and then we'll look at you know other education Outreach efforts um another thing they asked about was all right so once you treat these invasives and these weeds you know making efforts that they don't come back so like how can we encourage native plantings and something like that and um I was saying how some of the other projects that we're working on that have been through this um commission like the Chestnut Street and the Hayden row which uh got continued you know we're really looking at that of how to get rid of the invasives in the right of way and what we can do to you know keep them away and maintain it early on so that we're not having this concern because a lot of people are concerned of like we don't want to just continue putting this pesticide year after year um and as Stephanie pointed out you know the intent is to use less and less and eventually weeds aren't there we replaced it with something that's stable native um that's more sustainable that's good feedback um yeah definitely we'll take a village to tackle this stuff um all right if there's no other comments from the commission I'm going to open it up to see if we have any public comment at this time so I'll take public comment if there is any can you hear me uh yes please just um just need your name and address hi everyone I'm Donald suin I'm at 205 Winter Street resident of hopkington since 1998 uh farmer I've been in touch for 13 years with mdar and the PES pesticide subcommittee as a as part of my career and also I'm a chair of the environmental working group of the H Hopkin sustainable green committee and um I'm here to make a just a comment on on this proposal um first off I want to say that DBW has done all the due diligence of reaching out and follow the book on how to apply and and follow code in terms of uh applying for this VMP and vop uh that said I I just like to make a a quick statement from our group that the environmental working group of of the sustainable green committee uh opposes the vpw application uh to mdar for uh BMP and vop as unsafe ecologically harmful unfettered use of pesticides compounding the town's toxic chemical health risk um mdar ve uh VMP uh proposed objective to manage vegetation uh within the municipal rights of way under 333 cmr1 in compliance with that uh will increase and not minimize the Reliance on herbicides by the dpw's current safe vegetation management of utilities roads sidewalks and trails unlike the current Child Health safeguarding by mdar um school and dayare um IPM U toxic chemical use under 333 cmr4 um annual updated internet public posting identifying what Pesci sides are used at locations and their reasons for use are not required under an mdar VMP or or under the bop and 333 cmr1 um rights of wave management the DPW application for mdar VMP and vop will expand the scope and scale of pesticide use to replace mechanical vegetation management with toxic chemicals not only in designated right rights of way access areas but but to those areas designated by uh by DPW for common area this is a blanket approval to expand the contamination of the community with toxic pesticides anywhere the DPW designates row hopkinton's ecological sensitive areas will not be protected from toxic harm under the proposed yop uh which relies on the p pesticides industry health and safety misrepresentation of current registered pesticides to give an example of that pesticide that's misrepresented um glyphosphate is one of the ones that D is permitting under the VMP and that is a designated carcinogen uh by the World Health Organization and uh but not by the EPA or DP D BAS we're saying that if the current vegetation management plan isn't broken there's no warrant to usher in a toxic chemical health threat to our town um car's right she has more expansive use uh need for this uh for management as the town expands but um she also mentions that she could handle it under mechanical if she had the budget okay thank you thank you for your comments does anyone else um from the public have comments that they'd like to share I I would if that's okay yep um Carol esler 16st also on sustainable green board and the environmental committee um again we oppose this it is a document that opens the door to more toxic use in the community more getting on the toxic treadmill of using these substances over and over again when other options could be made available and intent with you know we'd like to make this Less in the future what this is is a way to bring in more use of toxics into the community and we already have some plans in place I think this is a door opening rather than um allowing the restrictions already in place for dayc carees and and schools to be the guidelines and you know I I have to be amazed as we commit basde in the community um we celebrate our new pollinator Gardens while approving the very substance that kill pollinators um we need to be looking at a larger picture a picture of biodiversity a picture of human health and this is a step in the wrong direction thank you great thank you for your comments is there anyone else from the public that would like to provide comment on the plan no anyone else from the commission to Circle back who the chair this is Ed yes Ed um with respect in particular to not weed the spread of not weed has been exacerbated by mechanical cutting uh without cleaning up the residue um from the small pieces of knotweed which readily and I am sorry I'm not a biologist so I can't use all the fancy words um but the small bits of thought we pretty readily reroot and Aid the spread um and we can look at the stands that I'm most familiar with along Spring Street and how they have expanded um over time and the historic treatment has been come along and cut them down but to do it you know infrequently and which leads to the residue resprouting and blah blah blah blah blah it's it is it is a very difficult situation and what we did at whiteall um the first treatment was to cut the knotweed down close to the ground all of the pieces were picked up and bagged and taken off site and hopefully disposed with appropriately but I can get into that and then the herbicide I think GPO there was squirted into the stock of each one and we were told that this would be a minimum of three years to eradicate it um dealing with this is a huge huge problem and if if if someone can come up with a solution that's better than what we're talking about with particular I'm talking with respect to knotweed I would love to hear it thank you thanks ad um you know I'd agree that the commission this is a um it's a it's a tough spot because we you know are trying to balance different interests of of protecting resources environment from these invasives and also um have the shared interest of protecting the same resources uh and ourselves from um herbicides and um you know chemicals so I think that you know DPW is in my opinion and in looking at the plan um trying to balance those two as best they can um with the budget that they have and um I think at this point in time time um I look forward to working with DPW and um getting that message out like we talked about before and communicating to the public and um you know hopefully hopefully tackling this issue um in a comprehensive way so um I think at this this point in time this is a can you just remind me carrier Christina did you say this was a Five-Year Plan you're going for approval Force there's correct it's a five-year plan and I know the RDA generally assigned for three years but there's an exception specifically for mdar Approved 5-year plans so that the RDA approval will run concurrently with the plan for the five years okay um but the annual plan needs to be updated annually and mdar does open a public comment period for that every year and and reviews it every year and that's primarily because it does list the herbicides and they do take herbicides on and off that list on a yearly basis so that's why it needs to be reviewed every year or part of the reasons why um but correct the VMP itself is for runs five years with the RDA okay thank you so definitely something we um we'll keep our eye on um going forward so I think at this time barring no other comments or questions could I can I make one more comment yes um on Southerland 205 window street through theair through the chair the DPW uh proposed uh mdar VMP and vop is not in their budget and would compound the uh community's expenditure to a a documented process that is not transparent on the internet as uh the IPM it is not an IPM and it doesn't it doesn't leave that review for the stakeholders to review on the internet as the current IPM that is in existence protecting Children and Families that's the issue protection of Children and Families um on on in part on the safety issue but the on the on the expenditure that doesn't account for the amount and estimated cost of pesticides and application fees I mean these these costs aren't documented up front right I think um if I'm hearing correctly the the commission at this point in time is looking to make a decision on um the RDA and that is you know kind of separate from the cost and how the DPW pays for it um is not part of our decision making process um and how Town's funds are spent so I think for you know the um what we're looking at or what what's within the purview of the Conservation Commission um it's really about the plan itself not um you know the how the towns spending their funds um that might be something that's more appropriate for comment through select board or town meeting or however um where those budgets are reviewed would be my thought on that um so with that can I get a motion um from a commission member for a negative determination um on this request and with that be signatures by Anna and Judy let through the chair just real quick I know at least speaking for myself I saw Joe's letter came in a couple of days ago response from CI came in a couple days I haven't had a chance to look at either of those documents so I'm not necessarily in a position to make it decision tonight personally but if others feel differently uh Melissa Jim yes Jim the only thing about that and I would um I would say that uh I'd like some some additional time too but I think the problem is we cannot we can't continue in RDA I believe that's true anybody else knows anything about it but I thought we cannot continue an RDA we could issue a negative or positive based on what we have right now an Yeah Anna or Judy do you have any uh thoughts on that through the chair we have issue we have continued other rdas a couple of times so I mean I don't know ex rules but and I think that it would be if the DPW is willing to right you know allow a continuation to have additional review time too I think right yeah I'm okay with that just um we do also have two commission members um out today um Carrie is this something that has a deadline to it or is it something that you'd be willing to um continue if that the the commission requests that yeah I'm we willing to um continue if the commission requests it okay um I think that is probably what we should do with two members out and um a couple looking for a little more time um okay do you need a motion to continue or yeah let's go ahead and do a motion Jim all right so I'll make a motion that we continue this uh hearing for an RDA um for DPW until the next meeting if that's what worked okay I'll second that all right all in favor uh Ed hi Jim hi Ted hi Matt hi and I will also give it an i all right thank you for accommodating that request Carrie Christine and uh we'll see you at the next meeting here we go thank you all right Anna we have um j9 Chamberlain continued but I should still open that yes please make it go away all right the hopkington Conservation Commission will hold a public hearing on Tuesday January 7th 2025 at 700 p.m. virtually online to hear all persons interested in a notice of intent followed by Alex and Lilia Flores to construct an addition and an inground pool with Associated site work location 9 Chamberlain Street assessors map U23 block 11 lot 0 zero Chamberlain Street assessors map U23 block 12 lot 0 um can I get a motion to continue this to the next hearing January 28th move second all right all in favor Ed hi Jim hi Ted hi Matt I and I am also an i all right moving along to Heritage properties the trails at Legacy Farms request for additional units to be released from the cease and desist this is a continuation um so do we have Mr be miss Mr gatley on the call I believe so yeah I'm here and Mr gatley I believe was going to attend okay oh yeah I see him here I am all right um do you just want to go over uh briefly the additional information that you provided since the last meeting sure um so we provided a an updated the BMP specification for the unit construction at Waterville Lane uh to make it more site specific than the generic one that we had uh done um and we also included a u a new exhibit to outline some of the other improvements we made at the site regarding the um the detention Basin number three and introduction of a new sediment Basin uh for the construction of the 10 units um the 11th unit would actually be in the Basin so that wouldn't be constructed that's unit 43 until all the other work was done and this is in the center um Island if you will uh of Waterville Lane so we showed the units where they're positioned and then the the Basin that basin's been constructed I did provide a picture of it um there's no channels leading into it yet because nothing's started until you approve it uh but we would bring a stone channel uh into the uh the Basin uh for the units I would suspect I'd have one on the on the east side and one on the West Side uh probably for the the units just to bring water down uh from the construction limits to the Basin um we were going to put perforate we we did put a riser pipe in uh we were going to perforate that and put Stone around it uh we actually have already put this based and into effect uh we had a rainstorm um which had pretty good volume and uh the Basin um in infiltrated uh within that zone so uh we're going to leave it and monitor it and see how it goes I'd rather infiltrate as much water as I can here versus having it run off run off excuse me um that pipe would overflow its top if it was to be an excessive storm so we do have the ability to manage this um if we get a real heavy storm but I have to say the capacity of that Basin is is pretty large uh much larger than the water that should be generated in this um island of of land that we're now going to disturb so um we're trying to put things in the right direction here and U this is all stabilized within the Basin limits and um the last thing that we provided you with was a construction schedule that was updated to outline the three units we're asking you for this evening so we would anticipate a construction start on those um you know in the next uh 3 weeks there would be a construction start uh for those and then um we would be finishing our Pump Station S Pump Station that is probably about a week and a half out um we've got some gas Mains that are going in they're probably about a week and a half out um and then we would be back to you in uh mid-February for the next release if we can get those three uh th ations um underway as we expect okay that's all within the same island and then there'll be a future request um sometime in April for four more units and by April we would expect to have the ability to start stabilizing um some of these areas permanently okay thank you for providing that detail and I believe you got all the all the Swip reports are in and Judy and you said that in that last rainstorm um there weren't any um yeah uh silty discharges coming from the site right B Basin 3 is is shut off again like I said we should have just done that to that previous storm but it um it wasn't uh it wasn't done so it is it is now okay um Judy can you just put up the the BMP sequence schedule what are we call it specification construction specification um so I was reading through this and I think that this um construction specification here and the level of detail in here is is really you know great and kind of is what we I was thinking of as far as scheduling and making sure that these things were in place when found ations were done um putting down you know stump grindings and and stone and things like this so um I think at this point in time um and I'll speak for myself but I'm comfortable with releasing the next three lots um and including you know the schedule but I in my mind the schedule incorporates you know this BMP key specification those two documents kind of work together and live together um as far as sequencing and scheduling of how these lots are um constructed and brought online before you know you would go to a next phase so um I would you know I basically my thought would be um we could release these Lots um on the condition that the schedules followed including um these construction BM P specifications as part of that scheduling sequence um does anyone on the commission have anything that they want to add or comment on here I can speak to that we had a hearing back um December 23rd which was uh roughly a week or so after the last hearing with this board and they at that meeting on the 23rd of December did release these same three units that we're talking about here and of course their approval was conditioned on getting the same approval by this commission tonight okay all right anyone from the public have any comments anyone else on the call okay um that being said I'll just go ahead and put it to a vote um if I can get a motion to release these three lots on the condition that um the schedule including this BMP sequencing um you know be a condition of that approval so moved second all right all in favor Ed hi Jim I Ted Ted isn't I Matt hi and I am also an I so thank you for getting those last pieces in thank you and working to get the site all squared away thank you good night all right next up we have um Toll Brothers um Wood Farms three Newberry gland violation discussion um Anna and Judy do you want to give some background on this one sure um yep so Hannah and I um on December 30th observed sediment beyond the limit of work originating from the Elmwood Farms 3 development I know again um observe the sediment in the two offsite storm water on blueberry um and then walking up onto the development saw sediment laid in water pooling around um one of the catch basins towards the middle of Fitch see if I can pull my pictures up um so the basins were silted out the um contractors had placed a sort of temporary be barrier at the outlet of the First Basin to try to limit some of that water flowing out um but since the pipe the hole where the pipe is in the outlet if there's gaps around it it it doesn't work super well so water is still kind of flowing freely through there um and this is sort of the flooded area around the catch Basin so there is you know a silt sack but I think the the silt is so fine that it's it's going through there um we did meet rich on the site um and they had a lot of the same thoughts on you know this pooling causing the downstream sedimentation so they did since then add waddle and silt fence in 100 feet in both directions of this catch Basin um we went out a couple days later after the New Year's Eve rain and didn't see any of this pooling um the basins were still super silty but the water coming into them was clear at that point um but we did walk about a mile Downstream and did observe sediment beyond what we would consider the storm water system so past the Basin uh all the way back through under Ash Street and then behind Carriage Hill Road for about a mile um all still silty through last Thursday um so I believe rich and Ted were planning some other mitigation besides the wadle and the silt fence um I think they added flot locks to some of the catch basins um and are considering a temp Basin as well but I believe they're on the call if they want to speak to some of those additional improvements uh thanks Judy Rich Kirby fromc here and of course Ted Merchant's on the line if I could share my screen I could sort of overview with the commission the uh materials that we had provided to you uh I was on the site uh the morning of the 30th when um uh Judy and Abby were showed up and I was on the phone with Ted talking about how we can better address the um the runoff if the commission recalls we had Pro installed Sil fence and compost socks along the edge of the pavement here um increased the diversion sale and did some other things as a result of the prior rain where we had about 2 inches of rain this is about a 1in storm and we thought we had it covered but there's a slight low point in the pavement here with these two catch basins where water was was ponding so um later that day I had put together a um a correction plan and this is the it was implemented um later that day and on December 31st and this is the uh the um results of of what we had done so basically we add added flock logs to the catch basins in this area here we installed the compost sock and silt fence along the pavement Edge and cleaned up the sediment on the pavement and that's really to capture any runoff that's coming off the hillside in this area um we also added Stone to a a small Gully that had was forming along the erosion controls here and um that that was that was done you know within within 12 to 24 hours of uh of of the the morning of the 30th longer term we plan on um installing a temporary Basin in this area here um we're going to add straw and have added straw I'll get to that in a moment to uh expose subgrade soils uh we modified this diversion sale to get more water to go into to this temporary Basin and we added uh sandbags to block the lower storm water um control Outlet that's for the off-site Basin here so some photographs to show you what that means here's where the uh the pavement was cleaned up for reference you can see the um the pile of stone uh near the pavement right there this is where the water was coming off the Hillside and entering into this entering into the pavement and ponding in this low spot when there's a cat hat Bas in here and another one across the street the sil fence and compost socks were installed um as the street rounds to the north and to intercept Blueberry Lane Stone check dams were installed intermittently to again slow the water and try and capture some sediment and this is the off-site Basin on the 31st and they blocked off this um orifice and with sandbags and wood so this would um rise the water level could rise up and it could contain and retain more storm water on the site you can see the storm water cleared out pretty quickly after the rain stopped um can everybody see the the plan now okay this is the plan that's put together showing areas that were um were seeds drawn TF fire and flocculant was at added the green areas are IND indicative of areas that have been complete the yellow areas are are scheduled um hydrograss can only it's it's sort of a balancing act between having frozen ground conditions where the equipment can drive over the land to uh access these areas to to spray uh but it being warm enough so that they can actually spray it and that the the water doesn't freeze so they're able to actually implement it um but so far the the slope um over by the storm water basin the offsite storm water basin that's been sprayed and stabilized these two lots here have been sprayed sprayed and stabilized along with the roadway shoulder these two lots are are under construction or or will be excavated next week um so we got the uh the roadway edge here and this area adjacent to the lone pile this is where the uh the two c basins are and then the the opposite end the the southern end you can see what we were able to spray along the roadway edge here and then uh more will be will be provided uh in this area so uh I think Ted is on the line and Ted you had indicated that was early next week that they were going to get out there or later this week I think it would depend at someone on the uh temperatures yeah sounds like weather is not going to allow it until early next week um but that that's the current plan with hydrograss right well that's good news because we really don't have um much rain in the forecast really for the next 10 days it seems so that'll give an opportunity for us to further stabilize um the site and of course the plan going forward is as additional lots are opened up and the the top soil is stripped and stockpile those would also be sprayed with the same uh mixture of of seed straw tackifier and flocculent so we are more confident now with this plan and the things that we've implemented thus far based on you know what we saw after the uh the roughly one inch of rain that prompted the violation okay and if if I can just uh chime in also you know like to say that we realize that you know the the evidence and some of the pictures that Judy showed are are not acceptable and and we're committed to uh correcting those uh issues and we'll work um as much as we need to to to get it complete so I I we realize that that's you know not what the town wants to see certainly not what we want to see um and we'll get it until we get it right okay thank you um appreciate that and share that that sentiment for sure um appreciate the efforts I know that um so there were two there were two rain events one you know that caused the pictures that were shown I believe and then there was another day of rain I think maybe after you had um installed some of these measures and I think it did improve um there was still sediment making its way down stream but as Judy had said coming off the site it was cleaner so or it was clean um so I appreciate and thank you for for taking care of that cuz it seems like you did as evidence of that second rain event um take care of what was coming off of your site um so I think that's very appreciated and positive um a little bit concerned that there's still sediment that even if it's not coming from your site it um I don't know if you have on any thoughts on that Richard had that um it's if it's still making its way down the stream mile away um it originally was on your site and that's still a problem um do you have any thoughts on resuspending sediment that's now in the Basin um Downstream of your site um yeah it's a valid concern and I think that's what happened on the second on the second uh rain event that we had the water coming off the site was clean but the the velocity of the water was churning up some of the sediment that had been deposited in the Basin um we again blocked the orifice of that offsite Basin so the water has to rise about another 2 feet foot and a half 2 feet before it'll over over top um the outlet structure in the back of the Basin where some of the grout had given way where when it was installed that'll be repaired as soon as soon as conditions allow I'm I'm told that it was repaired um we see whether that's functional or not but I'm told that it has been completed that that was repaired Ted oh that's great news okay so that I think that will help um slow the water down and especially at that low point the sediment will drop out before it over Toops that um that sort of level spreader that's above the orifice that was that was blocked I think also the flocculent as that dissolves and gets into the system too that's also going to help um the flocculent getting into the uh to the water column and and uh keeping the sediment from helping helping to keep the sediment not get resuspended into the water column but uh we're we're going to as soon as we get any amount of rain I think you know any meaningful amount of rain that's going to result in some runoff you know tenth of an inch Point 0.15 point2 Ted and I are going to be out there to take a look at it okay and um can you just remind me I know that Toll Brothers um doesn't own those basins off of blueberry is that the do we ever establish if that's the town those basins belong to the town or um some other Association or homeowner on blueberry for my understanding is that the town um is responsible for the maintenance of them however you know the the primary Basin um we have a permit to modify and and at least in my opinion or how I think of it it's we need to continue to maintain it through the completion of our project so any sort of Maintenance within there um while this Project's going on in my opinion is is ours okay so as far as um you know as you go go through the process of developing the site and leaving you know everything clean and done at the end is there would you anticipate you know getting that sediment out um so that's it's not left in the Basin to resuspend into the future I I think it's worth look it's it's really hard to evaluate right now because it's Frozen Frozen um but once we're able to sort of see what it's like in there um we can evaluate whether that needs to happen or not and I'll I'll um rely on rich and we can probably get together with with Judy and Anna and discuss um whether that's necessary or not okay yeah I think that's the only thing uh or that's the thing that I would just you know keep in mind going forward or that I would look for as the project continues and the weather um makes that possible to evaluate a little farther um we have I'm going to open it up to other commission members I also see Carrie still on the line from the town if there's anything on her end that um wanted to bring up well Melissa I this is Jim I think I'll go first sure good you know given the number of enforcement actions and violations and runoff and storm water issues on so many projects in town I can't even say I'm shocked anymore but I do not understand why site developers Builders Engineers are not more proactive in these things and everything seems to be reactive as if as if nobody's thinking about it so I'm very disappointed again um and frankly I'm inclined to to have them make everything's right before they do anything else when it comes to storm water that's it thanks Jim this is Ed and I don't have to say anything because Jim said everything I was going to say thank [Music] you um I think the tool in our pocket there is we've used another development projects is is the ceas and assist on um Foundation permits um is what that translates to um and this commission definitely has used that as evidence in the last um discussion item yeah we have we have and for good reason and I think it's good reason here and by the way just you know uh for some for some reference um I've done a lot of site work I've been out of the business a long time engineering and site work and I would never be able to get away with this or something like this y we have an so is there is there going to be discussion of a of whether it's a season assist or some other kind of hold on this until they get things in order I think we can have that discussion Jim I think the question is so they what was presented did just now um their plan of action with the the establishing the seating and the sequencing of the Lots there that has all been completed other than the seating that you said needs to be done at the beginning of the week pending the weather correct that that's correct that's correct um and then my other concern was just about the existing sediment in the Basin you know going forward which again we're Frozen right now um so Jim I think the discussion on that point and we can certainly have it is with these new measures that were put into place um are we comfortable letting them con continue knowing that they made improvements since this last violation um and them being on notice um cuz I I don't know if there's much more they can do because of the weather um at this point in time um I think what I I think some of what I heard was we've done this we can do this additionally but we don't really know until we get some significant event uh we don't really know whether this is is going to be adequate or not is it is that what I heard I think well just from having been out been out there and walked the site myself um what I meant when I was talking about between those two rain events they implemented changes and I could definitely see that the as Judy had said the water coming off the site after they implemented these most recent changes was clear um so I would say there's evidence that they made the improvements that they needed for the site at this point in time that was a decent storm however my concern was you know the stuff that gets resuspended that's what we were seeing is the stuff that was already in the base and getting resuspended and that's still a violation in my mind um I believe well in anybody's my I think that you know per the bylaw that's still a violation because it you know started on their site now just cuz it exists in this other Bas and it's still Toll Brothers violation um so whenever that gets resuspended Downstream even if the water is clean coming off their sight once it hits that sediment it's going to be another violation and I think um once it's Frozen right now so it's not going to happen but once it does rain and and and that that's that's where we're going to have our next hiccup I think um and would like to get that taken care of before it becomes another violation I think is what you're getting at JY um one of the things that we were discussing was uh installing flock logs at that outlet control structure in the um in the pipe that exits the structure um if we can get some flock logs installed in that I think that would help alleviate some of the turbidity Downstream it does take some time for the um for the flocculent to work um but I think that by the time it reaches the second sediment Basin the grass one that's next to that next to the house there I think by that time it the flul should be should be working better and hopefully that will alleviate some of the um deposition you know t or turbidity in the downstream resources because we have a sediment Basin with a drainage ditch to another sediment Basin then it goes through some pipes and then eventually discharges into some some wetlands and Ted I don't know what your thoughts are but maybe even on that Downstream grass sale or the downstream grass Basin installing a couple of flock logs and over the flowing water in there too might be an option um those basins there are dry periods too where you could pull that set it because the uh the flock is going to sit at the bottom once it settles it out it's just going to sit in the bottom of the Basin right yeah that's that's generally how it works um so I think once once the weather permits it should be part of the plan to get that out of there the sediment out rather than Chase it Downstream yeah meliss I think we we can certainly commit to doing that I think it's probably worth evaluating um in the field with with LEC and town staff to make sure that that's The Prudent action but assuming that we decide that it is I have no issue in in doing that okay how do you feel Jim um uh that's a really tough question how I feel I know I guess it all depends on what we're going to be voting on um I think we I don't think we vote on anything quick quick item on on my end I me all these all these downgradient measures are great great um I think we're we're we're talking and thinking about the right things here but there's I don't think there's enough thought and appreciation being put into the control of the source right we're talking about seating in January that's that's not going to do anything that's We're not gonna get any growth until April May so when it starts to warm up and we get the mud season and there seed down great it's all just going to wash away or it's going to get it's going to just get pushed elsewhere we should be thinking more about appropriate winter control measures not spring summer fall control measures and I didn't hear much of that today so I'm a little dissatisfied that you know these temporary stabilization measures on each of these sites aren't really appropriate for the time of year we're talking about and seating will be great in the spring not great in the winter well I can appreciate that um the hydrograss is and correct me if I'm wrong Ted but they they're applying mixture of straw tackifier flocculent and seed that that's correct Rich do you have any of those pictures because I we used a pretty ample amount of straw in in that application while we're uh while we're talking here I'll see if I can get those up while you're looking at that I'll um I'll say that's a great Point Matt and um that's sort of part of being reactive and being Downstream and not really addressing what's upstream and what's causing it h I think those are on my phone [Music] well sorry sorry guys if we don't have uh pictures to show but I I think the point is we we are trying to address the The Source now uh and granted it is not a great season to be addressing the source but we're using um you know the the methods that we think are appropriate at this time of year um to try to get water slowed down um to try to cut down the erosion at the top uh of a site and uh hopefully address you know as it as it enters the system um okay do we know um on the the the plan you had up for the recent work that was that was done the Lots with the different seating and Foundations um how many I don't know if you can bring that back up yeah rich I was just curious how many Lots you have Foundation permits for I don't know that answer off the top of my head Melissa I think the number is somewhere around six but I don't know that for sure but we we have not started six this one's under construction and that one to be excavated next [Music] week here the chair Richard Ted can you refresh my memory these other Lots where work's not occurring what what's the current condition of the ground so the ones that we're looking at now the the two green lots are temporarily graded and and they have seed and straw placed on them recently the of the two Orange lots one has a foundation dug the walls are poured but not backfilled yet and the call it top of the screen Foundation is um not yet dug but will be dug next week uh the Lots on the right hand side uh the sell holes are dug however the remaining portions of the lot are remain loomed and not stripped um to try and mitigate any kind of any runoff issues so the the call it the right hand side of the paper have actually uh reacted fairly well to uh the storms and we haven't seen any kind of sedimentation on the right hand side it's all sort of on the left hand or the upper side of of the site a question so uh Melissa can you put that map back up sure sorry I'm trying to share the photos but I'll put the map back up just guess two quick questions one is the lot that you said is is um scheduled to be excavated what's the condition of that now is it all been cleared and grubbed yes uh and and not stabiliz in any other way and then uh also I I can't really see on the plan that I'm looking at but can you just give me what's the elevation difference between the top of foundation and uh the existing grade roughly oh boy I'm not sure that information's on this plan but we can look oh yeah actually it is I mean we talking about foot but we're talking 10t well none none of there's only one foundation in the ground and that Foundation hasn't been backfilled yet um so I mean in a in a finished condition yeah that that's maybe a foot or a two foot differ I guess what I'm what I'm thinking about is that excavation of that parcel without knowing how things are going to um uh you know take place in a significant storm event the hous is on the right side the ones that have developed you said that you've you've left what in place the the native the the original vegitation so those haven't been grubbed or what so they've been grubbed but the LOM has not been stripped off of those lots okay but the but on the on the The One schedule to be excavated it has been correct the ones on the left hand side were cut lots and the ones on the right hand side fill and the um the the grade the grade the grades have a tendency to push run off toward the street and and to the north yeah so we have we have you know good sediment control on this side of the pavement now and I have some photographs of what this area looks like here just as an example okay um if you'd like to see them I'll stop share and reshare Y uh let's try this I'm on a network so things are uh a little slow here I'm just getting that The Hourglass waiting for the waiting for the photo to Judy you don't have those photos do you uh no I don't believe so my most recent pictures are from the second okay um bear with me yeah these are they're they're 10 and 12 megabyte photos and I'm on a network so it's it's struggling to um open them up but it's a significant amount of material that's on the ground it's not just a sprinkling of straw it's a it's significant amount okay thank you all right did did the image the there you go did you see the image now yes all right so that's that's toward uh the sort of Swale that you see is one of the is the perimeter drain on the um western side and nor Northern side and then rounding to the western side the school is on the other side of the the tree line there um here's uh another image this is this is Fitch at Avenue here um with the uh with the with the straw this is the temporary Basin with the stone overflow that would direct overflow water to the um to the uh perimeter drain and here's one of the lot signs I think that's the first lot sign and then this straw continues up here's here's another one oh no that's the uh that's closer to the street uh with the with the house next door there so you know you can you can tell it's a pretty significant amount of um material that's been put down and while I agree we're not going to get any seed germination certainly the straw and when we do get some rain that will activate the tacka fire and the and the flul uh that was that was applied to these areas yeah through the chair yeah I mean I mean the picture is worth a thousand words right so rich this is this is definitely helpful to give me a better appreciation as to what's been done out there not having had an opportunity to see it in person so I have in my head when I hear you say seed so this this is helpful yeah there there's a significant amount and in fact hydrograss did as much as they could before running out of material but they were unable to resupply in time before the cold snap so um you know early next week daytime temperatures are supposed to be above freezing so um just looking at Weather Underground now um even Friday daytime temperatures are 38 uh Monday 37 so there's there's a there's a window of opportunity Friday and Monday before things get cold again great through the chair rich I see it looks like it's Stone check Dam on the left hand side of this picture you have on the screen that's correct do those check dams continue along the back side of the sil fence and straw waddle yes there's another one up here I think there's maybe five or six of them along this we were finding that even after we installed this that we were getting some gullying of rainwater you know it would hit the the silt fence and then start running down gradient so we have these um the stone check dams in place to help slow that down and and we did observe that that's working you see the sediment accumulating behind the check dams great and and Matt there's also a cut off trench maybe call it 30 feet into the lot that takes all the water from these Lots into this temporary sediment Basin as well so the the check the mgc sort of take care of the leftovers um if you will right so all of all of the water it's hard to tell it in this Photograph but where my arrow is there's a temporary diversion soil that also has Stone check dams in it it's probably 150 feet long that discharges or directs some of the storm water runoff into this temporary Basin and then we have the uh rip wrap overflow that would direct overflow from this Basin into the perimeter drain great in terms of orientation if you can just help me out here obviously the roads on the left are we looking upgradient or are we looking downg gradient we're looking upgradient so if I I'm I'll stop sharing and share the plan again and show you where the photograph was taken from so that photograph was taken standing let's see probably right in this vicinity looking in this direction so standing here looking in this direction and this is sort of the field of view that you would have thank you all right um yeah so thank thanks for bringing those up rich the pictures um you know as we've mentioned I think the commission is not opposed to doesn't have any hesitation with um you know working with the building department on Foundation permits and limiting those if sites are not um out of compliance or having repeat issues so obviously we take it really seriously you guys know that um I do feel like there was a significant effort put forth here um to stabilize the site at this point so you know I think I I think I'm feeling comfortable I just again would reiterate in what Jim said about being proactive um with those basins the sediment in there getting resuspended so regardless of how tight your site is um just really paying attention to the weather um those basins and taking care of that sediment working with the staff um to proactively manage what's already made its way off your site cuz um I think as a commission you know that that would be the next thing in my mind beyond your site that we'd have to start talking about um you know enforcement action by the commission and that would consist of um you know holding up building foundations going forward um yeah and and uh with with the sediment being so fine you know a little a little goes a long way in terms of in terms of those photographs um you know lit literally and figuratively right uh little goes a long way but uh in in terms of making the the water appear as cloudy as it looks but also of course staying staying suspended for for a good distance um you know oftentimes you know with coarser material you'll have measurable sediment deposition within a stream channel or within a wetland um I don't think that's the case here it's just that we have you know turbid water uh flowing flowing off the site so y um anyone else have any last last thoughts again I don't think there's anything to vote on here um the chair yeah Jody um if Richard T you could send us any info on the the work done on the outlet pipe I hadn't heard about that before tonight um that would be much appreciated sure yes we'll um we'll Ted I can talk with you about when when Fenton sort of regrouted that uh around that outlet pipe and we'll we'll send you these photographs that we have too of the uh of the stabilization okay thank you thank you very much yep the chair this is Ed yes Ed you have to forgive me my faulty memory but I know that we've had several instances with with projects by this group in town I'm curious if anyone knows how many um problems we've had of things running off of their site that were not as we would like I do not have that tally um that's a great thing to find out at my fingertips but sure yeah go ahead Jud I'm seeing three in our folder um from this year two of which were the the two in December not sure site though you're talk you're saying okay I think EDS referring to Chamberlain whan oh apologies yeah but thanks for pointing out that uh there's already three here so um right I think that's something that um yeah Judy could could look at it it comes up um hopefully we don't have another um reason to come back for violations here but um it's piece of information we could look for it happens for next time so okay I think I'm I'm good um thank you for jumping on that um quickly and uh we'll look forward to seeing the rest of it go down the end of the week beginning of next week and and hopefully that's the end of it yep we'll we'll keep uh the commission posted um through Anna and Judy as well uh as we get through you know additional work um upcoming rain events Etc um and again Anna Judy happy to meet you out there anytime you like it's serendipitous that we we were out there at the same time um certainly interested in the same things but happy to happy to continue to meet you out there okay thank you all right thanks everyone have a good night yep you too all right so next up on the agenda we have the 2024 draft commission annual report and goals discussion um Anna or Judy did you want to go through just a brief overview of what you drafted up uh chair may I interrupt really quickly yes is your cleaning guy knock I I am getting the signal but I did read through this draft and uh Anna and Judy I don't know who is the primary author but I thought it was fantastic and I thank you for your work he said but I gotta go I'm coming uh see you next time everybody sorry I to skip out early okay thanks said y can mostly think probably Kim I recycled a lot of this some small tweaks though um yeah so have an overview of work that the concom did this year um numbers of applications processed minor project exemptions um work that staff did working with other boards Town departments um some pictures of Anna looking silt from Elmwood Farms this is Kim looking at the covert by Whisper way um information on how often we meet other boards that y'all serve on major projects reviewed this year turkeys from Turkey Ridge um just kind of Basics on the scope of the commission resources we protect um work with DPW um paragraph on these are kind of General goals since I I don't believe there was sort of a goal setting um Initiative for 2024 so we can sort of swap these out as we um update and have new ideas for goals um this is some information on trainings that staff and commission members have done um got some pictures of wetland replications at whisper way um updates on um Jeffrey Barnes leaving Melissa becoming the new chair welcoming Heather um thanking Kim and welcoming myself and then links to more information so kind of broad brush what we do what we focused on this year so if anybody has any suggestions um definitely happy to happy to hear him know I thought it I think thought it looks really good um I like the pictures that you put in there of the Wetland replication area like the before and after I think that's really cool um pictures um are you sure you want to put the commission phone number in there to contact with any I'm just kid well that is the land use Department Str oh okay okay there's a couple of levels before it gets to us oh okay um no I think it looks pretty good um one thing just for the others on the call talked to Anna and Judy about as far as 2025 goals just working on those over the next month or two to establish them and then those would be recorded in next year's annual report um if we establish you know the things we've been talking about about public education and and working on um a couple things over the years so we still want to do that but just not putting it in this cuz it's the 2024 report versus you know what we be looking at in the upcoming year if that makes sense um but yeah yeah anyone has feedback after tonight always feel free to reach out to me or Anna okay I think is it due the end of the month is that when they're looking for it yeah it's due before our next meeting that's why we had it on this meeting okay so yeah no that's good who the chair this is Ed hey Ed yep um former commissioner chair should it be former commission chair yeah I think you're right I'm sorry my mother had a masters in Shakespeare sometimes these things jump out at me you might even be able to take out the whole word right the because otherwise you have Commission in there pretty repetitively yes can do okay okay I'll make one suggestion Judy because this would like add some things just jump out at you on the on the second page it may be worth sliding that picture with all the lovely turkeys down a bit so your your bullet lines all just extend out in the single line might just look a little little more organized yeah I can definitely do that yeah I think it get that's my OCD screaming at me no now I'm not able to ignore it I think it I think it'll get slept into the rest of the annual reports so I I can't promise the formatting will stay nice but I can I can shift this down I was gonna say at one point I was editing it and I was like damn you were Judy take over yeah as soon as you drop a few pict pictures and where it can be a little finicky yeah a great work definitely appreciate the effort you you you both put in fullness together well yall did all the awesome stuff in this so thank you who the chair this is AD maybe I could borrow you two to write the report for open space that's on Shannon I was going to say that isn't that Shannon's job Ed well I'm looking at this and I'm again I thought it was I thought it was too much of it was my job and I was trying to Palm it off got some experts here better than me delegate Ed that's my advice to you yeah no you guys did a great job thank you appreciate it all right yeah so I guess if if anybody has any comments on that or it thinks of anything else maybe by the end of next week is a good time frame yeah okay um any public forum requests I don't think so right okay um and I think think I think it's the January 28th meeting I think Heather had emailed me that she's going to be out of town for that one correct yeah okay so I don't know if anybody else has any conflicts but that's all I have my radar right now one one quick thing um that we may want to look into ahead of the 28th yep I believe under the Reg Welling protection act and RDA determination is only valid for three years so something we may want to just confirm one way or the other um ahead of next meeting's discussions that in relation to the vegetation plan and how they were kind of automatically assuming it would be five yeah yeah yeah she referenced an exemption which we can look at I know that there is certain ones for like the um for orders for five years versus the three but um you're right man I I don't know off the top of my head for rdas the exemption I'm familiar with for the RightWay is has to do with the resource areas there could be another one um but I think that the exemption for a duration is tied to the resource areas and not necessarily the activities just just worth Maybe wrapping our heads around beforehand yeah it's so good it's a good one all right then nobody has anything else ask for a motion to close the hearing don't M you mean h you mean to adjourn adjourn you said close a journ yeah uh so moved toour in favor second no I'll second right Ed hi Jim yes Ted oh Ted's not here anymore Matt hi I'm also an i all right thank you have a good night every see you soon bye now bye