The new law authorizes all me 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 Hopkin Conservation Commission is convening by video conference via Zoom 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 HCAN 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. Also, please keep yourself on mute unless and until called on by the chair. Supporting materials that have been
provided to 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. Three minutes will be afforded for each public comment. Each vote taken in the meeting will be conducted via roll call of the members.
I will now confirm which commission members are present. Jim Cerrilla present. Ted Barker Hook, present. Heather Burton, present. Uh, chair Melissa Reikos,
present. Melissa, I fear I mispronounce your last name every single time. Everyone does. It's actually recos. Rec. I knew it was cost but it Okay. Melissa Recos present. Ed Harrow. No. Matt Moyan.
Not yet. Uh, and that's all we have for now. I will now confirm staff that are present. Judy Day, Hopkinson Conservation Administrator, present. Anna Rogers, environmental and inspectional services coordinator. Present. And Joe Orzel of Lucas Environment.
Before passing the gavl to Melissa, I want to let members of the public know that we have a number of hearings that have been uh continued per applicant request. We will not be discussing 38 Downing Street uh Downey Street, nor 8589 West Main
Street, that's the Starbucks lot, nor will we be discussing 47 Oakhurst Road or 12 North Mill Street. nor will we be discussing the request for a certificate of compliance for PY Homes Legacy Farms
North. If you're here for any of those hearings, you're welcome to stick around, but we will not be discussing it through the chair. Um, also the uh an RAD for Zero Wood Street through Oh. Oh, is that even newer than the last email? Yes, it is.
Okay. All right. Well, a long meeting got a lot shorter. Did. Melissa, it's all you. Thanks, Ted. All right, so let's see. We're at 7:12. Um, we can talk about minutes for
review, draft minutes for review. Have Does anyone have any comments on the May 13th, 2025 minutes? No. How about the June 26, 2025 minutes? And unless I hear from anyone, I assume
we all feel comfortable voting on these. All right. Can I get a motion to approve the May 13th and the June 26th draft meeting minutes? I'll make that motion. Second.
All right. All in favor? Um Heather I. Ten I Jim I and I am also an I. All right.
Um and let's talk about the town of Hington Wood Street drainage minor project change request. Um Judy, you have a presentation on behalf of DPW or at least a discussion to go through. Correct. Yep. Uh through the chair. um happy to
present a quick summary of the minor project change they are requesting the commission to approve tonight. Um Carrie Reid can also jump onto the Zoom if if folks have questions I can shoot her a quick text. Um but I will do my best to present what they're hoping to get. Um
so they as they've been working on the Wood Street drainage project. So, this is a um order approved by the commission late last year to upgrade drainage on Wood Street over by the DPW facility. Um
they were proposing to add two deep sump catch basins and improve an existing catch basin by adding a hood. uh in digging for one of the catch basins, they ran into a gas line and sewer force main um that they were not expecting in
that area um and don't really have another great place to shift that deep sump catch basin location. So um they are proposing to remove one of the deep sump catch basins uh keep the other one and keep the improvements proposed to
the one that's already there. So that picture was the area where they aren't able to dig at. And this is the site plan. So blue is what was proposed and what they're keeping. Red is what they're proposing to take out of the approved plans.
So that's the two deep sump catch basins and this is the existing catch basin right on the um DPW driveway cut. Um there is no new disturbance with this project change request. Um they're
proposing reverting to existing conditions at this location. So there's not any new runoff resulting from not installing the steep sump catch basin. Um they're just not getting as much um improvements as anticipated, but there is still an overall improvement to water
quality treatment at this area. Um happy to try to answer questions if if you want me to try to get Carrie on the line if there's anything I can't answer. Happy to. Okay. Thanks, Judy. Um, after looking at this, I mean, I think we kind of put them through the
ringer to do as much as they could possibly do. Um, you know, during the design phase and and running into obstructions like this is can be part for the course. So, um, I think I'm okay
with personally okay granting a project change request um, not to modify that cage basin. I think overall the project is still giving us some benefit. Um, and I think it would be a major rework to try and
fit that anywhere else. So, um, does anyone else on the commission have any thoughts or questions or opinions? Anything they want to talk about on this one or disagree with me. Feel free to
disagree with me. That's just my two cents. I agree. Where's you, Melissa? I agree as well. Okay, that makes three.
All right, so project change request. Should we vote on this? Judy is more administrative. Yeah, I won. All right. Can I get a motion then to approve this project change request? So move second.
And all in favor? Jim I. Ted. Ted is an I. Heather I. And I am also an I. So we're all set there. Thanks Judy. Presenting that.
Um being that we are past 7:15, let's move up to the new hearings. um 16 Lakeshore Drive. So Ted, do you mind reading this one in to the record? Not at all. The Hopkin Conservation Commission will hold a public hearing on
Tuesday, August 5th, 2025 at 7 p.m. virtually online to hear all persons interested in a notice of intent filed by Steven Dana to construct a lakefront retaining wall. Location 16 Lakeshore
Drive. Assessor's map, L35, block 17, lot zero. Great. Um, let's see. Do we have someone on the line for this one that wants to present?
Yep. Dave Mquidan's here. Hi Dave. Hi. Good evening. Uh, Steve Dan is uh, also on the call. Uh he's owner and applicant. Um this is a very small lot uh on the west
side of uh Lakeshore Drive kind of diagonal from Beach Street. Um it was the lot was created in 33. The house was built in 1940. Uh Lakeshore Drive is on the right side of the page.
Lake Maspan is on the left side. We're here this evening to replace uh 49 ft of existing retaining wall that's falling down. It starts at about the left rear corner of Steve's property
and then goes northerly 49 ft to the intersection uh where the wall turns 90°. Uh Scottheim did an investigation uh for BVW. Uh he had found none. Uh you can see the hatched area in the middle
of the lot is our home driveways on the left planter in the middle of the house on the right. Uh right of way owned by the town of Hopkin to the right of the property. Um the because there's no BVW,
we have bank. We've created a buffer zone 1500 off of the bank. Um so the proposed wall is going to be exactly the same location. Bottom face of the wall will match existing. The
height is roughly 3.3 to 3.5 high. Um in the left rear right rear corner of the lot we have a very small area of existing trees and planters. We're proposing plantings, high bush
blueberries adjacent to that same planting area. The remainder of the lot is uh lawn. The left rear corner is a peace patio. Uh the work could be
certainly done on low water. Uh we uh got a low water well we got a water's edge in March of 25 which is roughly uh 19 ft west of the wall. Um
and we proposed a very small uh stockpile area of rock only uh used for the uh new wall. Um, we had some comments back from uh DP. Uh, we're going to rework the 100red-year flood.
Uh, it was the wrong year. They've just recently updated the map. So, we're going to adjust our plan accordingly. Um, so we have no wetlands. We're not cutting any trees. Uh, access to do the work is along the right hand side. Um,
all done offseason, if you will. um PIBs. Uh we're hoping to use the wall as a PIB. Okay. All right. Thank you. Um can you just
talk about what the existing wall is made out of and what is proposed from the material for the wall? Um it's the existing wall is concrete and the proposed wall is stone masonry with no wee bowls. Okay.
So, we're match we're matching exactly what's there for height and depth and location. Okay. Um Joe, did you have a chance to look at this yet? Uh I did. Um
I have a couple of comments um quickly. I did uh uh visit the site yesterday actually. Um uh poked around a little bit with the augur. Um, and I did see some hydra soils along the wall. So, um, I'm not
sure what Scott had had looked at as far as with his auger holes. The vegetation, uh, as was noted, is is lawn grass, maintaining lawn right to the edge. There were was very little uh other vegetation coming up in the lawn other than the grass um to try and get an idea
of of what else might be growing there if left um to its own. Um, but depending on location, I was seeing higher soils anywhere from four to eight feet. Up along the northern side of the property, a little lower elevation. Um, I was
seeing higher soils about 8 ft um above the uh the bank in that location. Um, I was recommending that uh Scott take a look at those soils um and uh delineate any BDW um as might be appropriate
there. [Music] Jim, Jim, this is Dave. Can you explain again where you think the BVW may be or the hydra soils may be on the on the plan? Is it to the right of the of the
dock or are you in a corner of the property or right along the along above in general above the entire concrete retaining wall? Anywhere most of that area is about 4 feetish. Uh some areas right in the middle of the yard.
there's a little lower dip that extends maybe 6 to 8 ft up gradient and then on the north side um the soils there extend maybe 8 ft upgrad 8 ft 8 ft you say
yeah soil and that's that's a lower elevation in that area where the where that easement comes through how far how far off the wall are you Jim with Uh, horizontally. How far off the wall are you? 8 ft.
8 ft. I'm talking horizontal feet in and Okay. All right. Okay. So, four generally four some spots up to eight horizontal feet from the wall. Okay. Thank you. Yep. I also noted um that there really
was no project narrative provided and I think um with any of these projects a narrative is is very useful um to just uh help describe exactly what is being proposed and provide some details. So we're recommending that a narrative be submitted.
There are a couple of uh you know minor items as far as on the forms that uh we recommended be uh corrected or just uh noted that they were um not correct. The uh flood elevation was already
mentioned that was something else we had noted. I see that the stock pile is rocked. So I I don't think that there's any issue with that an erosion issue with that. So typically we want to see those as far as away from the resource area as possible,
but with it being rock, I don't think there's going to be much of an erosion issue there. [Music] I know D has raised uh some questions uh on if dewiring was going to be required. um and uh had asked for some
clarification on that. Uh I know it stated that the water line was was quite far from the from the bank and if it's done in low water, I would assume that no watering would be required. Um also clarification if any trees are going to need to be removed. Uh, I don't
think so, but I just wanted that to be verified and maybe a little more detail on the on the plantings. I know where they're proposed that there's some existing natural vegetation or landscape for a landscape bed there with a red maple
tree. I know the commission general would likes to see those plants more along the top of bank. So that may be something that the commission wants to discuss and PIBs were already mentioned was one of the other things we had uh noted. Uh
and also chapter 91 license um uh would be needed for the wall. It's any work below the the main high water line which the mean water line is on the wall. So that would need a chapter 91
permit or license. Um and as typically we say in these reviews, we don't know if the doc or the status of the doc as far as chapter 91, but also requested any information that the applicant may have on that.
I think that covers most of the most of the points. Okay. Thanks, Joe. Those are good good points. Dave, did you have any um anything you wanted to uh just Yeah, just a couple things. Uh yeah, we
picked up on the deatering that will be removed. Uh we'll clarify uh that there are no trees going to be cut. There will be no trees to be cut. Uh we are filing uh chapter 91. We're preparing those forms as we speak for the right now for the wall. Uh we haven't really discussed
the dock, but we are filing for the wall. Definitely filing for the wall. Um certainly I guess if the board has any input on the on the um the plantings, if they had any input today, we could maybe add that up in the same revision if there was any uh anything particular
they were looking for. Okay. Yeah. my my thought on the plantings and when I looked at this plan is um just the commission's overall emphasis on the properties around the lake and trying to encourage and maintain a filtering
buffer strip along the water's edge um to kind of catch that runoff that comes down these properties towards the lake um improve the water quality in the lake. So, this looks like an opportunity where that could be done. You're going to be digging up right along the wall.
So, um, not just in that corner, but along the entire stretch of the wall. Um, it would be my desire to see some proposed plantings and following kind of that
handbook that we have. I don't know if you've gotten it yet, Dave, but Judy can certainly send it over to look at um provide some guidance on, you know, what that might look like. Okay, that'd be great.
Um, Judy, do you have anything to add on this one? Uh, yeah. I think the only thing I would add is I'm not sure if a narrative could also address how the project meets inland bank performance standards. Um,
as there is bank disturbance proposed, it's already disturbed. Um, but something around that I think would be helpful. Okay. Okay. Um, does any other commission members have any questions, comments, thoughts
on this application? Yeah, Melissa, just a small thing. Yep. Um, yes, on the plantings along the shoreline, that is something we've been requesting. I can't remember, Dave, if you've been a part of one of those applications or not. Um, but and again,
I think Judy has some some illustrations to show kind of what we're looking for. It strikes me that often the plans we're getting, we certainly allow access to the dock. Um, that's kind of necessary, but I think in the model illustrations
Judy has, it's kind of a gently winding path so that there is no straight line lawn to the lake in any parts of it. And a lot of the applications we're getting back when they leave themselves a path to the dock, it's kind of a straight line which then opens up a hole in what
we're trying to establish as a buffer to the lake. So if Dave when you redraw those plantings, a gentle curve, I think will accomplish the the barrier that we're looking for. That's all I have.
Thanks, Ted. Yep. Okay. Um, anyone else on the commission want to add anything or have any questions? No. Was well said, Ted, and well said,
Melissa, and we send uh Dave some of that typical or desired kind of landscape in every way. Okay. All right. So, um, Dave, you'll, uh, respond to Joe's
comments and do do a little work here. Yes. Anything from our voters? Any comments on the public on the calls? Good call. Any questions or comments from the public on this one? You can go
ahead and speak or raise your hand. does not look like it. The chair, um, we did not receive anything from a Butters through our office either. Okay. All right. That being said, um, Dave, do you want to Our next meeting is August
19th and after that is September 9th. Um, do you want to continue out to the 19th or the 9th? Um, we have quite a few things carried over to the 19th already.
Mhm. Yeah. Um, Steve Dana, uh, do you have a preference, Steve? Um, if he's Let's do the 9th. September 9th, please. Okay,
September 9th works for me, too. Okay, great. Um, can I get a motion to continue this to September 9th? No, no move. And a second. This is Ed. I'll second. Oh, hi Ed.
Um, just wanted to make sure you knew I was here. Got it. Um, all in favor, Ed. I, Jim, I. Ted, Ted is an I.
Heather I. And I am also an I. Great. Thank you. All right. Thanks, Dave. Okay, next up we have 37 Oakhurst Road. Ted,
can you read this one into the uh record? You betcha. The Hopkinson Conservation Commission will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, uh, August 5th, 2025 at 7 PM virtually online to hear all persons interested in a notice of intent filed
by David Holmes for after the-act work on a dock, patio, shed, and retaining wall. Location 37 Oakhurst Road, assessor's map, R28, block 119, lot
zero. Thank you. You're welcome. All right. Do we have a rep um an owner or representative to present this application? Uh yes, I'm here as well. Dave McDot. Uh David Holmes is on the call as well.
Yes, I'm here. Yep. Okay. So, I think you've I think the board's talked to David once or twice already about this project. Um, so we have uh no D number yet. Uh, no comments
back from uh from D. So, uh um Judy, could you go back to the to the other plan, the black one? Yep. Please. So we had uh we had done some locations
for David back in December of uh 19 uh to January of 20. Uh this is the underlying part of that multicolored plan that we had submitted. In talking to Judy, uh we both agreed
that that was uh very confusing and she also heard from some board members that um we need to maybe submit that. Um, so we created this one in black is the one from from 1920. Um,
the uh Oakris Road is down at the bottom. Uh, the lake is at the top. Um, the house is right in the middle of the lot. Um, we had uh were quite what I would consider quite
thorough in our locations in 1920. Uh, there was a lot of obstructions. uh that we had to overcome in trying to locate some of these features. Uh the uh grounds of of the property were uh quite
cluttered uh with a lot of debris. Uh but certainly uh the retaining walls were clear. Uh the house was clear. Um the greenhouse was clear. Um there was a long shed. Uh, I don't know if you want
to if you want me to slow down a little bit and just sort of point these on a plan. Um, yeah, that would be helpful. Okay, Judy, can you move that up just a little bit
or or down? I guess more towards There we go. Yep. Um, perfect. So, uh, the house is is that rectangle in the middle. Driveways, uh, right off of Oak. Um,
pretty pretty large driveway. Um, this that little dash line from the left front corner of the house to the street is is sewer service. Um, in front of the house, we had a plantings at the left
front corner of the house. uh a wooden patio uh just a little bit there we go right in front of that a boulder to the right of that and then we had along the left hand side of the house uh actually over
the property line was a very large deck uh I want to think there was three decks at the time uh a porch in the back of the house in the middle a shed to the right of the porch I'm sorry a deck deck to the right of
the porch, another deck to the right of that deck. And underneath that deck going to the towards the right rear corner of the lot was this long skinny shed and building.
Uh that that whole it's a kind of a funny shape. All the way uh over the lot line in the back. It goes all the way. There we go. Yep. Uh all the way up and around. Um, I kind of remember that the retaining
walls are made out of timber. Um, the we had a fire pit with a patio. Um, we had uh a series of uh
three do uh three docks, two docks. three docks and a wooden deck that ran parallel to one of the retaining walls. Uh, and in between all this was clutter and debris. I mean, significant clutter
and debris. I think David has maybe shown you folks in the past some of those pictures. Um, so then we uh uh after David contacted us after uh his visit with you with the with the commission and then we created the uh
kind of an o a red overlay. If we could go to the next one, Judy and red these we go um uh down a little bit towards um go. Yeah. So the house there's our
house. Um the driveway uh we didn't get um all of the driveway uh but it was significantly smaller than what was there originally. Um in the front of the house there's uh
some pavers and walkways uh a small retaining wall with four little pillars uh sitting right about on the buffer line. As we go to the back of the property, the the deck uh that was on the left side of the house that was over the line has obviously has been
removed. All the a lot of those all those things on the back uh and the black one in from 2019 2020 have been removed. This is what's been built today. Uh a smaller deck, a patio
underneath the deck uh right at the back line of the house, back edge of the house. Uh down a little bit, Judy, if you could. There we go. The shed, that long shed
underneath the old deck that extended to the right rear corner. Obviously, it's been taken out and David put a small shed highlighted with the hatch at the right rear corner. Um the black thickened line on the left
side off into the water is the existing timber uh retaining wall. U and then to the right of that is the a retaining wall. To the right of that is the wall
in red uh running parallel. Uh here we go. Yeah, that's a retaining wall. and then then the existing uh dock that's out uh out into the water. So David, I've done I've done kind of
done some comparisons um from the amount of kind of impervious that was there before to the best that we can to what's there now. Uh not just in the buffer but the
lot itself. Um, we're down uh we've reduced the amount of impervious uh in not including the walkways and so forth, but the house, the decks, the docks,
the patios, the shed, and comparing everything to the old, we're down 31% on impervious from what was there before. Uh certainly he did it without a permit. Uh but it's you know kind of think from
what I remember and I do remember the the clutter but it it's a great improvement to what was there. Uh but nevertheless uh a filing had never taken place. Um so those are kind
of the the the plan in black was from 19 and this one here is in 25 and it seemed to make sense to talk about these individually. it. We can look at the one together. Um, but this kind of gives you a better idea, I think, a little simpler
uh as to kind of where things are and where they sit on the property. Okay. Yeah, the two drawings are helpful. Thank you for going through that. Um, so it's always un unfortunate to be
and difficult for the commission to be looking at projects that are after the fact um coming before us. Um Joe, did you did you look at this project at all yet?
Uh yes, I did visit the site yesterday. Um, and I I submitted a report uh, but it was late today. It was after five o'clock today. So, I'm sure no one's had a chance to to look at it yet. Um, I can touch on a few of the items in the
report if you'd like. Yeah, if you could touch on the high points, that'd be great. So, I I did uh check for any uh resource area other than you know, the bank as far as hydro soils or BBW didn't see
any. Um, but I also noted that the soils were likely fairly recently disturbed. So, you know, hydrate soil development would have been probably eliminated if there was anything there, but didn't see any evidence nonetheless. Um, there is
an erosion control barrier on site remains in place. So, I didn't see any erosion issues. uh some minor erosion up at the end of the driveway where water comes off the driveway, but uh it's minor and dissipates into the grass. Um so not no sediments being carried down
toward the resource area. Um as as with the previous report, there was no narrative submitted and Dave's discussion was was very helpful. be helpful to have that in a narrative
um to be able to uh see exactly what was um there previously, what was what's changed. Um uh having the plan separated does help with that. Um I did I guess I have a question and
just hearing um the uh the existing plan of the 19 um the 2019 plan um I know looking at some of the aerial photographs on Google Earth um I don't
know if what's shown on the 2019 plan was some of that was relatively new at that time because it looks like there was less hardscape uh going before 2019 like back of 2018 while there is a lot of clutter on site that covers a lot of things up. Uh it does look like
there's quite a bit less hardcape. So I don't know if you're comparing uh what's there now compared to um what was possibly added in 201920 um maybe should be looking um before that
for the uh addition of hardscape on the site. uh I think was already uh noted previously um about the border lines have been flooding the uh the appropriate flood zone that should be
shown on the the plans. It also u request that the the applicant indicate when or which of the u no disturbed zone distances should apply to this project. Um whether it was
whether it meet that met the definition of u uh being developed under a definitive subdivision plan approved by the planning board or before November 1st 1995. Obviously, the original house was there before that, but whether or not it was part of a subdivision type
plan or not, would the uh determine whether or not there's a 25 or a 50 foot nove zone, then those should be added on the plan. [Music] The area proposed for planting of high
bush blueberry that was on the original plan, they'll have a double plan um is currently um consists of stone. So was just uh looking for some uh detail on on how that was going to be prepared for the planting of high bush blueberry
and I think as happens um some of these projects on on the lake um much of what we're looking at um is actually um shown beyond the property bound. Um I know that's happened in some other ones that we've looked at and it looks like
you know that's that's been developed since you know likely since the uh property was developed but uh as shown in the plan the northern property bound is is well inland of what is being what has been developed
and no permanent immovable barriers are indicated. Um just another uh topic for the commission to discuss and as with the previous site uh we're looking at a great con and chapter 91
license would be needed for the walls. Um and I note also that the plan does not show the existing dock that is is present. So there should be a chapter
anymore license for that also. That covers the items. Okay. Thanks Joe. That's helpful. Um Judy, do you have anything to add before we I open it up to the commission for discussion?
Uh yeah, through the chair. Y um so it looks like um through conversations with um chair and vice chairs that the beach area between the two plans is larger
in the current plan. So looks like that should be included in the tally of after the fact work um and the calculations for bank alteration and whether any fill was added here uh be accounted for. Um
and then I would again request that um a narrative specify if this work meets inland bank performance standards and if not uh what kind of restoration and mitigation is being proposed um which might be required if it doesn't
and that's that's it for me. Okay. Oh and uh no D number yet. Okay. No D number and that means no D comments. Yeah. um received yet. So obviously we
uh need to hear from them. I think um my thoughts especially with so much work being um you know kind of beyond that property line in the lake area and in the bank
area. This is not just a local bylaw concom jurisdictional request here. I think this has got a lot of state um overlay that that's going to have to to weigh in
on whether this work is permittable even after the fact. Um so we'll definitely be looking for D's comments and thoughts and and weighing those heavily. um
for for this for this consideration. Um like Judy said, I you know, I'd looked at the aerials, gone through and looked at some of the 2019 versus today, and it does look like there was substantial
work done right along the the the um lakefront there. And like you said, Dave, I mean, there's some impervious area that was removed throughout the site, but I don't know if that captures the impact along the bank.
Um, and the additional, you know, impacts that were done there. I think the lakefront, like we've talked about to other applicants, um, is really a big focus for us. this
area that's between the W's edge um and a little bit upland and trying to restore that to natural conditions to really address water quality um in the lake. You know, converting imperous area to
nice lawn sounds good from an impervious perspective and some water uptake, but that also means that there's nutrients that are coming off that nice green grass and washing right down over these patio
surfaces um across this expanded beach into the lake. really, you know, I think what has been done here is quite the opposite of what we're looking for. And this is why
it can be really frustrating to the commission to get these after after the fact um applications that we're supposed to consider because if we have a chance to weigh in on this um from the get-go, then
you know it can be a better project um from an environmental perspective and for the overall health of the lake that you're ultimately trying to enjoy. Um obviously you you know buy a house on the lake for the reason for a reason you
want to enjoy the lake. Um but you know we need to prop we need to responsibly um maintain our properties here. So um I guess I'll give
a chance. Mr. Holmes, do you have anything that you want to add? um at this point. Well, yes. Um it's it sounds like uh I'm being accused of doing something wrong
back in 2020 when I bought this house. And yet, you know, I met with the building department numerous times. I actually met with con uh conservation in the office with Mike and Chuck at the desk and that individual thanked me
tremendously for all the trash I removed that was in the lake itself. The previous owner had a shopping cart of golf golf balls and was hidden them in the water. I can still find some today. The walls that you've seen, there's no
encroachment from what was pre-existing. Um the beach we don't know exactly, you know, when I hired Mark on it was more to determine whether I was going to do a um tear the house down. So we were doing
a building envelope. So everything we we discussed is not 100% exact as as best it can be it is. But um that beach I'm pretty sure I did not encroach and I was under strict rules with Mike and Chuck
never to expand or um build out on. So all I did was always remove everything possible and clean up that lake. That was my sole intention. now and when the lake water fell uh lake wall caved in
the spring I didn't even think about going conf because I thought was falling under uh repair major uh emergency repair which caused also the sinking of the patio stone so in doing that I also removed 275 ft of
additional rotted deck and ramps and things from the left over from the previous owner and removed more trash, which I think I so showed pictures of Judy of the trash that was there back then. So, every thing I've done for this
property was to the betterment of it and to the betterment of the lake. You know, I don't use phosphates along my grass along I use them in the front but not in the back. Um, you know, I've been uh doing nothing but trying to improve the
quality of the lake. It was horrific when I bought this. And so, you know, it's it's tough to to hear. You say, "Oh, I I did this without anyone's uh permission or approval." I had more eyes
on this property than anyone, including the zoning board member that lived right next door to me. I had the water department driving by all the time because he lives on the street. I I was in constant conversations with Chuck and Mike because the property was so questionable at the time. And if anyone
want said, "By the way, David, you have to go through conservation, including the conservation member that I met back in 20120, I would have done so." Okay? I've done nothing but the right thing for this property and I've been in this town for 29 years and I've done so much
for this town. This comes from events from building the high school float for them and everything else, coaching, you name it. It's it I don't I'm not like my neighbors who just decide to build a bar right down on the water and add things.
You'll notice nothing was expanded. Everything was taken away. In my own calculations, I took 1,983 ft of exterior structures. I removed those from the property.
So, this is with all eyes on including the town. And I understand I'm trying to work with you and you guys know I am. I'm allowing on the property. I've been talking to you quite a bit and I'm I'm
agreeing to this uh NOI, but I really am struggling with um being accused of doing something I shouldn't have 5 years ago. So, I guess that's
Sorry. I hope I'm not being rude, but it's it's tough to hear after everything I've done for this property and how much how many expenses I've incurred. the oil tanks and car engines and propane tanks and carpets and everything else I've
removed. You know, I'm just kind of I don't know, guess speechless at this point in time. And I obviously default to you guys. Whatever you recommend, I do I am for planting more shrubs.
that previous one where the excuse me the blueberries were going along that rock there and that was way back because when we were making all the changes that side
had um some erosion going on so I I put that there to prevent it from going into the lake so that's kind of remnants of the old it doesn't do that anymore and I can remove it put blueberry plants there but as you can tell it's kind of half on my property, half not. My suggestion
really, and it's up to you guys, is to put more plantings along where I removed that dock and the ramp on the right side. And where I had it had a patio going to the to the ramp, I no longer need it. And it would look even better if that
was plants and shrubs and wildlife. So, um, I'm definitely willing and able to work with you, but as you could see from, I don't know, 95% of this, nothing was ever changed or altered or, you
know, built out on. And I know for a fact I, you know, I I don't know by to the foot, but I know I didn't encroach on the beach that much. So, that's all I have to say.
Okay. Thank you. Obviously, we, you know, appreciate the work of removing trash and and whatnot. And um, like I said, the maintaining a vegetated
buffer along the shoreline is really what the commission is trying to encourage and wants to see versus lawn um, and impervious surfaces. So anything like that that we can do along the edge
there is um you know would be helpful. I think just looking looking back from what we can because we weren't there in 2019 or whenever you know the work was done.
It just it appears that there was a lot more vegetation um along the shoreline at that time. Um maybe it was mixed with trash. I don't know. It was um we don't have pictures. There's no pictures in their file. there's nothing
um you know to document or show that for us other than looking at you know historical aerials and that and that's what we see is vegetation along the shoreline that's not there anymore. Um I have over 200 pictures I can forward
to you of all the trash I removed. Um yeah neighbors if you want to talk to my neighbors. No, no, I don't I don't we don't really need um other other you know that. But they were doing dumpster counts for me.
You know, it was it was insane the amount of of trash we hauled out of there. Yeah. You just would uh put like carpets and everything then bury it with dirt. Yeah. So all of a sudden you you take a shovel, you dig down six inches and
you're hitting trash everywhere. the whole back along this whole side of the the house. He buried the dirt up above the sills around the house with trash. He was a very sick person. Mhm. And in hindsight, I should have just,
you know, done the tear down, but I didn't want to go I didn't want to build up. I didn't want a twotory colonial on this property. I wanted to keep keep the feeling of a lakehouse and the looks of a lake house. Mhm. And um yeah, and then you know when this
wall which is this old wall his cuz he never did anything right caved in you know I I guess with the one hindsight is which I still didn't know because I thought I was still under I could repair my own wall.
um you know that in in hindsight that's a mistake of not con consulting you guys quickly before the water came up and allowing me to fix it but to the to the betterment of the property. I did remove 275 ft of rotted
docks at ramps. So, you know, I still feel, you know, like I did the right thing still for the property when I did this. Yeah. No, that's like I said that's appreciated. We're at this point in time
we're we're you know looking forward and trying to um you know position the the lake for water quality for longevity in the long long run. um the trash is out and that's
great, but uh protecting the shoreline um like I said with the vegetation and the um the least amount of impervious and and beach and and whatnot is what's
going to in the long run uh benefit the lake and all the properties around it. So, we're just um looking forward looking forward here, not not backward. Um, that being said, I'll open it up to
other commission members for thoughts and comments. Obviously, like I said, we we need to hear from D on this one cuz um, you know, I think it's not only in our hands. Like I said, it's I think we have some state jurisdiction here in the
act that needs to be be weighed in um for these these I don't know, improvements, I guess you'd say. Mr. Melissa through the chair. I have a a question or two. Yep. Um the first is kind of a paperwork
thing and maybe it's for Judy and Anna. Since the public hearing notice doesn't mention the expansion of a beach, do we need new paperwork or because a retaining wall according to Mr. Markon's plans was removed, can we call that
retaining wall work so we don't need new paperwork? I don't know how that works. The script I read doesn't mention a beach. It does mention retaining wall and I assume it's referring to the red retaining wall but through the chair.
Yes, Judy. Yeah, I think since we didn't notice that when we had went to the paper with the hearing notice, um I believe it was written to say with associated site work. So that kind of is a catchall for other things that may have occurred
alongside the after the fact work. um and a butters were notified, you know, with that language or at least they could look it up through the hearing not. So, we can look into it, but I'm not sure that we need to readvertise. Okay. I I just want to make sure we're
safe on that front paperwork wise. Yeah. Um and then I have a question for Joe or Mr. Mark went on. Um I've not been to the property, but I tried to look at some aerials, past, present. Um, and in
the red plan, um, it labels a nice swath of existing lawn, but from the aerial photographs, at least up by the lake, it looks like a gray lawn, like a pavement or a pavers
color lawn. Is that truly grass all the way to the lake? Because the images I saw from above didn't look that way. Are we talking between the fire pit and the um right side there? Sure. I mean, there's there's the swath
that goes from the house down to the lake and there's an existing lawn notation right up next to the retaining wall above the notation that says previous concrete walk. The aerial photographs I saw up there
all looked paved or pavered, not grass. Is this plan correct? I think if you follow his red line where it shows the existing patio and then from the right of that line, it's grass
all the way to the patio to the right closer to the shed. Um, I'm looking at I'm looking at myself, too. Um, the pavers uh start. Oh, I can see that. That looks better
than the one I saw before. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. The chair. This is the lawn. So, this is the grass. Okay. All right. So, so what I thought I was seeing before, I I either misremembered or I misunderstood the photo I was looking at before. So, that would mean
that the red plan is pretty accurate. Um, okay. And then could you remind me please, Mr. Holmes, what happened with the expansion of the beach? Uh you you mentioned a couple times that you'd never added
anything, but it looks like from Mr. Mark wenton's plans that the beach is significantly expan, excuse me, expanded. You know, it's it's hard. I don't think I did. Um whatever was there, if that was removed, it was because it was in
the water and had to be removed. Um, and I know just from what I've done on that property everywhere, I did not uh expand for my own betterment of the
things. I kept things as is. So to my knowledge that what was there is is not accurate in my mind. But I I'd hate to say 100% because I you know 5 years ago I could pull up
pictures um find old pictures and try to show you that you know where where it was. Maybe I should ask Mr. because there's, you know, it's highly unlikely that I
expanded that much now with everything going on on that property and the removal of so much trash that that whole area where you see the blueberry plants and the pre this is previous mulch planter bed packed literally packed with
trash three feet above the water table. Um, so if we kept digging and pulling it out, then putting the wall back, you know, I don't know whether it's foot this way, foot that way. All I do know is that we just kept removing more and more debris out of there.
Mr. Mark, what like one of the pictures you guys have shows a whole uh on my neighbor's sideyard, nothing but trash barrels, right? The other items there, right, Mr. Markant, you drew previous
retaining wall there, but Mr. Holmes says that wasn't there. Is there What's going on? No, the the the wall the wall was there in 19 and 20. What What you don't see is a line for the beach,
right? The beach stops at the wall. It looks like Well, I I don't draw a line on the beach on the left side of the I see a note. I'm sorry. I I'm interrupting. I should let you speak, but I do see a note that says existing beach area. You do?
And now I see a new red line that is an arc that seems to indicate the current beach area. Yeah. The the red is the beach today. Yeah. Okay. The the black one. There's no left line for the beach. I don't have a location of the beach.
Okay. Because it hits a wall. Yeah. between between the end of the wall. If you draw a straight line from there to the porch going left, I don't know where that is. Okay.
Um, you wouldn't I don't I I didn't I didn't draw a line because I probably didn't see a line. I didn't see where the beach was back in 1920. Okay. I just got the water's edge, the
extent of the beach. Um, I don't show that. Um, I'm not using the trash as a as a crutch, but the trash was substantial. A lot of these features we had to dig
out by hand to to do our best to find corners of uh patio and pavers back then. So, I I I can't answer the question. And it's also been five years, but I don't remember the extent of the beach. All right.
I think this is helpful that we do have his work from five years ago, guys, too. You know, you can see the before and after and you can kind of see, you know, hey, I didn't, you know, build a bar right on the beach. You know what I mean?
So, but you did put a fully paved patio right on the beach. Yes. But there was also patio there prior. And there was a fire pit there prior. and where I don't even remember now where the old one was or where mine
is be honest with you but it was encompassed most of that area anyways and also again I was not told to talk to you guys back then or I would have okay I I guess that's all I have for now
Melissa Okay, thanks Ted. Um, any other comments, questions from commission members? This is Ed. Yes, Ed. The aerial picture has answered one of
my questions, but my other question is this is a great pond. Am I correct? Yep. And so that's that and you've made references to state oversight. So, I I just wanted to to make sure I understood
what was going on. Thank you. Great. Um, anyone else on the commission? Well, um, I'll open it up to public comment at this point in time. If anyone from the public has any questions or comments, you can speak or
raise your hand. Okay. Public comment. Um, all right. With that being said, um, I think we need to take a look at Joe's Joe's report. um from today. So, we
haven't had a chance to look at that yet. And you as well, Dave. Um and then see what DP has to say for comments. Um through the chair. Yes.
Can I request some um current condition photos uh in lie of an actual sitewalk? I don't I don't think we need a sidewalk if we can get some quality photos. So, we're not relying on aerials to try to figure out what things look like today.
Yeah, Ted, you're um referring to photos over time or current. I I'm interested in right now. I I think we have a lot of photos of the garbage. We're well aware that Mr. Holmes cleaned things up and and that's wonderful and the neighbors are happy.
I'm trying to understand more fully what things look like right now. What the beach looks like right now. What the patio materials are right now. The aerial photographs only tell me so much. Yep. You're the chair. Yes, Joe.
Yeah, I I do have site photos. Unfortunately, we're having issues uploading to our server, so I wasn't able to get those u in today, but we will be submitting those as soon as that's fixed. I can share some photos with you if you
like screen share through the chair. Yes, Dad. Joe, that's great. Um, my own answer would be maybe once we get them uploaded, we can take some time to look at them rather than go through all of them right now. I'm pretty sure we're continuing this anyway. So,
we are. Yep. Oh, that sounds good. I think it would be good to look at them in the context with the letter as well. So from Joe. All right, I think that's it. Unless you have anything else. Uh Dave, no. Good.
No, no, not at the moment. No. Okay. So, let's continue this out if you're amendable to that. Mhm. Um, we have August 19th is our next meeting and then we have September 9th
not sure how fast D [Music] Yeah. number and comments in. Yeah. Or how long it David? Do you have a preference? Um,
I'm traveling again. Um, take care of my folks. So, I won't be back till the 15th or 16th. Uh, depends on if you need me. Um, but I think, yeah, for no, I'm coming back at 15th. So, any if if uh
whatever you need from me, I can still probably still try to do from um you know, Florida, taking care of my folks. It would be on the 9th. The 9th of of August. No, September. Oh, I'm sorry. That would be uh tomorrow
or in a few more days. Oh, September 19th. Again, my apologies. That's okay. It's either um August 19th or September 9th. Oh, 99. Okay. Uh whatever works best for you guys. I'm not inclined. I don't
really know the scope of what else you need from my involvement, but uh what whatever it takes for you guys to get wrapped get everything up sooner the better so I can try to get the uh patio work done prior to the winter. Um
so I guess that would be my only two cents and I apologize from earlier if I seem to get a little heated but I do greatly appreciate all the work you guys do for our town. Thank you. I'd like to recommend September 9th.
Okay. Can I get a motion then to continue this out to September 9th? I'll make that motion. Give it to Jim. I'll second. Okay. All in favor. Ed.
Jim. I. Ted. Ted is an I. Heather. I. And I am also an I. All right. Thank Thank you. Thank you. Thank you guys. Have a very good night. You too.
All right. Next up, we have RAC Hopington Zero Lumber Street. Ted, will you do the honors of uh reading? I gota reading this. The Hopkins Conservation Commission will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, August 5th, 2025 at 7 PM
virtually online to hear all persons interested in a note of intent followed by uh filed by Rec Hopington LLC to construct a commercial building with associated site work. Location zero Lumber Street, lot 4, Assessor's Map
R23, block 73, lot 4. Great. Thank you. Um, do we have a representative to present on this proposal? Sophie Asell with Goddard Consulting. Hello.
Hello. Would I be able to share my screen? You can, Judy, if you want to turn it over. Yeah. Let me just give you sharing permissions. All right. It should be all set. Okay. Great.
Okay. Are you able to see my screen? Yes. Okay, great. So, hello. My name is Sophia Azale and I'm a wetland scientist with Goddard Consulting. I'm representing the applicant RECC Hawkington for the notice of intent submitted for Zero Lumber Lumber Street,
lot 4 in Hoffington. So, just to orient you with the existing conditions of the site, uh the site is undeveloped and fully vegetated. It's about 3 46 acres. It's bordered by Lumber Street to the west of the property, Independence Place to the
north of the property, and undeveloped upland uh and bordering vegetated wetland to the east and south of the property. The bordering vegetated wetland boundary was delineated by Gddard Consulting on November 26, 2024.
So for the proposed construction in this notice of intent, the applicant is proposing the construction of a one-story office and retail building. It's about 2400 square feet in area and this includes associated access drive, parking, storm water infrastructure and
utilities as well as landscaping. Uh all proposed construction work is without um is outside of the bordering vegetated wetland. Uh portions of the building are within the 100 foot buffer zone uh from 75 ft to 100 ft and within
the no build zone, portions of the infiltration system and um portions of the proposed sidewalk which is a requirement of the master plan special permit decision approval criterion D30 from the Hopington Planning Board. Uh
and then lastly uh within the no disturb zone there are portions of that uh sidewalk along the entire frontage of the western boundary that are proposed within the uh no disturb zone. So for proposed uh storm water drainage
I also have John Federico on here from G&H uh to answer any questions pertaining to storm water. Um but essentially this project is proposing an underground infiltration basin uh with a surrounding infiltration trench um along
this section here. If you can see it uh it's in light purple uh surrounding the area of imperous surfaces. Uh and then portions of that infiltration system are within the no build zone due to septic system constraints uh such as uh soil,
groundwater and the system offsets. For proposed erosion control barriers and PIBs, the limit of work will be encompassed by the erosion control barrier of mulch or compost uh filter sock and silt fencing. We had previously
proposed it as straw waddle and silt fence. Uh but per Judy's comments, uh we have swapped this out for mulch or compost uh filter sock and that silt fence. Uh we've also added uh the PIBs of cedar posts along the limit of work spaced about 30 feet apart. Uh this was
not within the original site plan, but uh we've since submitted updates with those PIBs on the site plan as well. So for proposed landscaping, uh we do have some plantings that are outside and within the 100 foot buffer zone. Uh there are a few that are within the no
build zone. Uh these native plantings include six red maple plants, five white spruce, uh seven service berries, and 20 creep creeping juniper, which are all native plants. Uh we previously had Norway spruce, um as opposed to white
spruce, uh which was uh not in the approved list of species planting for Hoffington. Uh and then we also had dwarf nugo pine, which is also not in that list. So we swapped that out for white spruce and service berry.
So for proposed impacts as previously mentioned no portion of the building is proposed within the no build or no disturb zones only within the 75 to 100 foot buffer zone. Uh work within the no build zone includes portions of the off-site sidewalk extensions, the
infiltration system and utilities. And then work within the no disturb zone includes portions of the off-site sidewalk extensions. And also just for some brief uh numbers of the area that's being impacted up the
buffer zone. So from 75 to 100 ft of the buffer zone about 13,461 square feet are proposed to be impacted. uh from um within the no build zone about 7,754
square feet is proposed to be impacted and within the no disturb zone about 1,02 square ft um is proposed to be impacted through that off-site sidewalk area. So I would be happy to answer any questions from the commission at this
point. Good. Thank you. That was a good presentation. You Um, so we don't have a D number yet and we're waiting on par
for the storm water review. Is that correct? Yes, that's right. Okay. So, we need those couple things to come through. Joe, did you have a chance to look at this? I don't remember seeing a letter. Uh we did submit a
letter this morning. This morning. Okay. I will say um we were just about to send that that out when we saw the revised uh information come through. So our letter does not include any of the the newer
revised information that was received uh today from the applicant. [Music] I did get out this site yesterday review the entire wetland delineation. Um most of the line looks pretty good.
There's a few spots where um I have some questions primarily um the area from about flag A2 to A51 which is the southwestern portion of that wetland
delineation. Um I felt a number of those flags were generally low from 8 to 15 feet. Um, from there the flags are are accurate, you know, with the exception of a few
scattered flags. Um, no no stretch of the the deliation I uh thought was was off, but there were a few scattered locations where I thought it might have been low by um anywhere from four to to
10 or 12 feet in a few locations. Um, I'd be happy to meet with the uh with GD that decide to review any of those that they would like. Um, also note that the um first flag A1 um
in the southwest corner that was I couldn't verify that one. It was on the ground that was in tattered in shreds. you know, and so that would need to be replaced and would recommend that line get extended um to the the property line
along the lumber street. Uh also note that invasious species there are federal count on the site. um bittersweet muscle rose uh Japanese notweed along lumber street and along the existing um
gravel access or dirt access path into the uh into the site. Um and also uh glossy buff is very common. So recommend a construction and post construction invasious species management plan.
Um, I'll make a comment now. There's there's a there's a note in our review letter regarding um notifying the voters in house and you can ignore that. That's nothing too. Um, that's an error on our part.
But we just verify that all voters have been notified accurately. uh a couple of minor clerical typo issues that we'll pointed out. Nothing significant. Um uh you had mentioned uh uh the change in
the species. Uh we that was something that we had also noted. I don't know if there's any idea if the FN has any idea of how many trees um will be cut from the buffer zone or from the um
no build or no disturb zones um that might be something the commission is interested. But I know that's been asked for in some other sites and noted that PIBs were noted on the indicator of the plan. So we recommend
those will be shown and I don't know if that's something that was added in the revised plan or not. I think that that pretty much hits most of the points in our review. Okay. Thanks, Joe. Appreciate that. Um,
through the chair, can I ask Joe for one clarification before we move on? Sure. Joe, I I thought I heard you say flags A2 to A51. Did you mean five? No, it's uh A2
to flag A5-1. So, there's a five-15 and there's an A5-1. Okay. So, it it's less than I I feared it was that Yeah, it's not through 51. I know it's 85. Okay. I I didn't hear the dash. I assume
that you flipped the five and the one. I didn't say I didn't say the dash. That's my That's on me. Okay. Thanks. Sorry, Melissa. That's okay. Those little things can make a big difference. Yeah. Um but yes, regarding the the the flags, it
is a tight site, so I'd say that's important to get those um squared away. If you can coordinate with Goddard uh before we look at this again, um that'd be great.
Um, I don't have any particular questions, comments on this one. Um, I think it's presented pretty well. Um, it looks like you're meeting all the performance standards. Judy, do you have anything to add that
I'm missing? Uh, yeah, through the chair. Um, just two comments. Uh so this is part of a previously larger commonlyowned parcel that stretches from Lumber Street all the way over to Chamberlain Whan. Uh in
the past the commission has asked for a cumulative impact exhibit showing how much buffer zone been proposed to be disturbed um through proposals and past developments. So we did ask that they update this exhibit and it is uh in the public folder. So that's available to
see um cumulatively how much has been disturbed and is now being proposed to be disturbed on this one parcel that had been commonly owned. Okay. The other thing I would mention I received some verbal comments from in a
butter um who is concerned about uh excessive tree removal um in the areas closest to the street as well as lighting at the street level. Um, lighting, not so much a conservation issue, but just a heads up to the applicant that those were concerns
brought to me. Um, so, you know, as much as trees can be preserved along the street, um, and lighting, you know, not be directed into neighboring properties, um, you know, that might come up during the planning board process. But, yep, that's it for me.
Thanks, Judy. Um, does anyone on the commission have any questions, comments on this at this time for the chair? Yes, Ted. Uh, this is relatively minor, but as long as we're here and we're
talking about it, I'm just curious why the PIBs are as far away as they are from the edge of the pavement. Why is that extra space within the no disturb zone allowed to be disturbed?
I don't think the slide we have up right now shows the PIBs, but I think the plan I'm looking at on my iPad shows it. Yes. So, we place the PIBs along the limit of work. Um, if that's not optimal
to the commission, we can make that um minor modification. Well, I don't want to speak for the commission, but yeah, I would love to once the work is completed, I would love for those PIBs to be closer to what's the pavement and let the rest of it
return as best as it can, maybe with some assisted plantings or something. It's a relatively small piece for this whole project, but I figure I threw it out there as long as we're here right now. Yeah. No, that that's a good call, Ted.
I think if they're closer, especially if there's some new plant. This one doesn't have the proposed plantings on it. Um, so it would be interesting to see the PIB line compared to the landscape plan. And um
yeah, so the the PIBs are um right sorry if um it's a little bit zoomed out um but the plantings are right along here and then the PIBs are kind of surrounding them. Okay. Through the chair, um, just for
visibility, might make sense to pull the PIBs in front of the plantings and that gives them extra protection as well. Mhm. Yep. Okay. Any anyone else through the chair? This is Ed.
Yes, Ed. For those of us with old tired eyes and small monitors, are proper drawings available at town hall to be looked at? Yes, they are. Um, in regards to the tree count, that was
one of Joe's comments. Um, I can't remember if we've required that I mean I don't think it's a requirement in our regulations. Correct me if I'm wrong, Judy.
Um, I can not sure if it's a requirement, but you have been asking it for um previously undisturbed sites. Yeah. Did we have a uh or Joe um do you have a size of tree that you'd
recommend? Is it like 6 in DBH or I'm trying to remember what was uh previously asked when I'd have to double check on that and Okay. But
well, I don't want to say because I want to only go was previously requested. Yeah. So maybe we can look into that and and let you know um Sophie because I think I mean we have a butter with a concern on the the trees too. I think it would be helpful to know
what we're talking what we're looking at here. Sure. Um are there any questions or comments from the audience? You can speak or raise a hand. do not see any. So
the chair Melissa can y maybe you can help me out with this one. Um so again just trying to build a little bit of understanding about past work that's been done in the no build zone. So it looks like off-site sidewalk infiltration system and utilities.
Is that typically something that's approved by the conservation commission? I'm just trying to again kind of learn and and and build an understanding of the history as we go along here. Yeah, I think those are all things that we've
Okay, we've allowed um trying to through the chair. Yes, Judy. Um generally, if work is proposed that doesn't meet those uh performance standards, we ask for an alternatives analysis, which we do have for this
project. um and any mitigation or offsets that prove the work isn't going to have an adverse effect on the resource area um through not meeting the performance standards. Uh so those are things that the commission can judge
whether that's been met. Okay. Thanks. Yeah, I can find that clip in the um rakes too and send it to you. Um, anything else?
Um, so our next meeting is September 19th or August 19th and then September 9th. Um, Sophie, what would you like to continue out to? Uh, August 19th would be great.
Okay. Can I get a motion to that effect? So move and a second. Second. All right. All in favor? Ed I. Jim.
I. Ted. Ted is an I. Heather. I. And I am also an I. All right. Thank you. and um we'll see you at the next hearing.
Great. Thank you. Um all right, so that was all we had for new hearings. Next up on our continued hearings, we have 27 Jamie Lane notice of intent continuation. Um, do we have anyone here representing
the projects? I am here. Hi Joe. Good evening. Good evening. What do you have for since we we met last uh the applicant has um made a a major change in
direction. I think uh market forces the the cost of supplies uh the delays associated with this have caused him uh a great concern. So what he has asked me to do is scale back the
project dramatically. You may recall that uh the plan that uh Judy has put up along the southerntherly edge through the lawn, we had an access to a 20x 24 edition uh that involve relocating those
plant materials and then replanting those. So we had stockpiles, we had RO controls. Uh that addition has gone away. That will no longer be built. All we are really talking about is um fixing
the issues related to the two areas where construction started out of sequence a little ahead of schedule. That being the removal of the rotting deck in the rear and the front entryway, the stairs uh and the entry into the
front of the home where the excavation sits now. So, what we'd like to talk to the commission about is rebuilding those stairs in the front, uh, filling back filling that area, and then, uh, building the deck in the rear. Um
DJ uh the applicant uh DJ has been asked by Michael Sevard at the building department to move that proposed deck 6 ft southerntherly uh 6 feet closer uh to the resource area. So what we're talking
about associated with that is a couple of new sauna tubes, couple new deck footings. So hand digging the deck footings, pouring the concrete and then putting the 6x6 supports for the deck which will be uh 6 7 ft in the air. So
minor hand work in the back and then the construction of those new stairs in the front. Um dramatically different with regard to site impacts than what was originally proposed. Okay. So this this is looking like a pretty
minor um pretty minor project then at this point in time. Um there were some calculations I forget on one of the plans. So now
we're looking at what was it a net increase of like five square ft of impervious area. Uh I I guess the thing would be that the the portico roof. Okay. There was 65 odd square feet of
disturbance in the riverfront area. Some of that inside the 100 foot buffer. Um, and the only thing was the little roof over the portico in the front. Okay. To the chair. Yes, Judy. Uh, Joe, I think we were just a little
confused by the revised bylaw supplement form. Now it's saying um five square feet of buffer zone disturbance. Um, but if that's the whole back deck, even though there was deck there previously, we would think that the whole thing should be included in the form. Um,
we were talking on this end, uh, the site work was the digging of the post holes for the for the deck footings. Uh, the deck is was 12 x 14 before, now is 12 x 12 now. So, that is a net
reduction. So it appeared to me the focus would be new work and the only new work proposed were these footings. That's the reason we went that direction. Okay. Yeah, it's it's minor still, but um I think looking at disturbance, you
know, the old deck was pulled out. Um is it a covered deck or uncovered deck? Uncovered, I believe. Okay. Yeah, then I think the footings is the only impervious. So, yeah, I think that makes sense. Okay.
All right. Um, yeah, I don't I don't have any questions or comments. Does anyone else on the commission have any questions or comments on this one to the chair?
Yes, Joe. Um just wanted to make a couple of comments. Um u although the project has been substantially reduced um there were a couple of items um that I just wanted to point out um may remain for the
commission's consideration or okay maybe not. Um, one of them was the um extensive area huge pile of uh grass clippings that was located um
roughly 20 25 ft from the wetland boundary. Um and the commission may want um that to to be addressed. Um although no work is happening in that area um it it is a massive pile of grass
probably from a number of properties. Um the uh work uh that is proposed is still in the riverfront area and as was discussed it is pretty minimal. Um generally uh we recommend that there's
some narrative provided uh regarding how the proposed work meets the performance standards for uh redevelopment. Um and in this case I think that would be a pretty easy hurdle but I think for the
record it would be recommended. Okay. And just a question on the PIDs. I think there's two on the plan. Um and whether the commission feels that any those are sufficient or anymore will be needed. And I think
that's all the remaining comments really that we had. Okay. Thanks Joe. Yeah. I apologize. I forgot you had a couple things there, but they're important things to the chair. Yes. Um the most recent item first um
the group may recall that this was the subject of a certificate of compliance request u back in uh November. So at the request of the commission, three PIBs were added behind the home and we proposed two more on the southerntherly
side. So there will be five across the back of that site. Um with regard to the performance standards, uh the area within the riverfront is less to be disturbed is less than 1% of the area uh on the site.
Uh well below the threshold, 5,000 square ft or 10% of the area. The site doesn't appear to have the look of a degraded property. No junkyard, no gravel put, no gravel pit, no commercial
operation. Sure seems like the revised plan uh certainly is well under any of the thresholds and doesn't warrant that extra scrutiny with regard to perform standards and the applicant is still willing to remove that leaf pile and let
that area vegetate naturally. Okay. Um, Judy, do you have any uh thoughts on the performance standard narrative? Uh, yeah. Through the chair, I think I would agree with Joe. Um, good to have
it. You know, even though common sense says it it's below the threshold, good to have it spelled out. Um because there is still work being proposed in riverfront and I do believe impervious you know under
houses driveways count towards it being considered degraded. So um you know just be good to have that documented. Yep. Okay, that makes sense.
So, I think Joe Maron, if we can if we can get a short narrative put together for our file, um, that would be appreciated. Okay. To close this one out. Um, does anyone else on the commission
have any thoughts they want to share? Questions? Anyone in the audience? No. Okay. So, can we continue this out one more time just to get that narrative to complete the file?
Um, if I could get a motion to that effect. So, moved through the chair. We should um specify a date for Uh yes to August uh 19th.
We revise the motion to August 19th continuation. I will move August 19th continuation. Second. All right. All in favor? Ed I. Jim. I. Ted.
Ted is an I. Heather. Hi. And I am also an I. Um, next up we have so we continued Ravenwood LLC. Um, we're up to 109 Winter Street amended notice of intent continuation.
So this I believe is Mr. Markant again. Yes, it is. Okay. Do you want to share your updates? Sure. Since we met last um we were able to get locoate the uh wetlands
delineation that Joe Orzell mentioned u north and west of the property. Uh you can see it highlighted there at the top of the page on the other side of Winter Street curls back southwesterly before heading over to Whiteall. that pushes
the associated buffers down southerntherly and about 520 additional square feet of buffer zone is impacted by the the driveway reconstruction. Then also in the file we uh fixed uh WPA wetland protection act form three the
notice 10 form. So that is now correct. It was inadvertently checked last time. Those are the the two changes from the last time. Um our applicant is currently traveling in China. Um contact has been
has proven to be very difficult. I believe they have part on uh have a relationship with those folks but I have not seen anything with regard to the invasive mitigation plan to date. Okay. So we're waiting for that piece.
Um Joe Orzelle, do you have any outstanding comments you want to go over? Uh well, the innovation system management plan was one. I was going to point out that they did add the delineation and the buffer zone which includes a small portion at the
end of the driveway. um acknowledging that the cohort um does meet the um general stream crossing standards. [Music] See,
uh the project describes um performance standards relative to impacts to BDW and to land underwater ways, water bodies and waterways. Um it does not describe um the impacts to inland bank although
those would be temporary I believe. Um we recommend just again a short narrative on the bank performance standards and how those are met for the record. Uh and I had a question um I don't know if this was answered previously um on
sheet two of the project plan that included a note um to refer to box filter plan by escorpated uh 51817 for details and temporary stream bypass protocols. Um would just
uh request um that the uh the applicant indicate whether that reference still applies after the revised um streamion plans had been submitted or if that needs to be updated to the newer plans
and that was that was it for our remaining comments. Okay. All right. So, Joe Marco and I got another um narrative narrative there. Couple planned things. Did we get all of the PIBs
around on the other? It's at the It's off page right now on the screen. Um on the other side of the house. Oh, no. We did not. My apologies. Okay. Okay. So, while we're taking care of the
other things, um, if we could get those added, Absolutely. that'd be great. Get a chair. Um, might also recommend them around the replication area since you've got a another house right in front of it. Mhm.
Yeah, that makes sense. Okay. Um, anything else to add, Judy, besides that? Nope. Okay. Anyone on the commission have any questions or comments?
Anyone in the audience? Uh yeah. Hi. Uh my name is Steven Zoo. I'm the son of the uh homeowner. Um and just a quick update regarding the invasive um uh plans plan. our um our
guy uh said he he told us today that he no longer has time to work on this project. So, we're kind of uh back to square one for for the invasive uh plans. So, that's just an unfortunate update. And uh it sounds like this
invasive plan is uh a must before we can move forward. Is that correct? It is. Yes. Yes. Okay. Yeah. So, sorry to hear that, but yes. Um hopefully hopefully you can find another one.
Yeah, it's it's unfortunate. I think uh Joe is already uh working on that. He's uh he's getting us in contact with another group. Okay. Okay. Thank you for the update. Yes, through the chair. This is Ed. Yes, Ed.
Is that part that you've been working with? Art was originally contacted Ed uh and then uh we shifted to Dave Burke because he gave us the impression he could deliver a little bit more quickly but um
workloads and issues in his personal life have made that impossible. So we are back firming up things with part. Okay that's fine. I mean I just you know I have done work with part and I've been very impressed with them so far. Sorry hang on my phone is extremely me. Um
anyway good luck. Thank you. Okay, thanks everyone. Um, so with that being said, uh, Joe Marqu, does it make sense to continue this out to September to give a little more time for the invasives or do you
want to do August 19th? That is our next meeting. I prefer to do August 19th. Um, okay. I think part is quite frankly ready to roll, so we just have to give them authorization. Okay. Yeah, I think my parents would agree with that date. They would like to move
forward as soon as possible. Okay, we'll do that then. Let me uh I'll ask for a motion to continue this out to August 19th meeting. Can I get a motion? This is that I'll make that motion.
And can I get a second? I'll second. All right. All in favor? Ed I. Jim. I. Ted. Ted is an I. Heather. I.
And I am also an I. All right. Thank you. Great. Thank you. Thank you everyone. Mhm. All right. I think we did it. I filter through all the crosses crossouts.
I don't think I missed anything. No public forum requests or anything else, Judy and Anna, that nope, we need to cover. That's it. Okay. Thank you all for your understanding,
for my tardiness. Yeah, no problem. Well done. Well done, Melissa. I love to hear you read the opening, Ted. Well, I'm here for you. I'm here for Melissa. No, you definitely got a good radio
voice. See you all. Um, can I just really quick before we go, um, Jim and Ed, I think you've been at the farmers market every weekend. I'm just curious how you think that effort's
going. Is this worthwhile for us? Is it Are you still here, Jim? Speaking Jim's Jim's complaining. I'm speaking for myself, I I found it interesting, and I would like to I mean, the the
first time I went, I came to to also do open space. And I would think that it would be in our interest to maybe try to also get halt or someone. Not so much that, you know, we want to promote them,
but I think that will bring more people in and I think it will be more useful. I also want to point out that Melissa did a great job with lollipops and things like that. And she trapped a whole bunch of kids which then brought their parents. And so the whole concept that
we've kind of touched on that by by capturing kids interest, you also manage to capture the parents. Yes. Um, that's absolutely true. And we've got books out like bird guides and all that stuff because the kids are the
ones that are going to sort of be attractive first and then you can try to get the grown-ups in. But I'll say this, there have been very few Hopington folks there. Largely Upton, Grafton, Oxbridge, and all these other Milford. So, you know, maybe one out of five are
Hopington. Um, I think it's been good. Um, I think it's been good and I think Melissa's suggestion or we already booked family day, that's probably going to be a better place uh to spread the word too. I agree. Open space hall uh
would be great as additions to that sort of corner and uh bring more people in for a number of things. And by the way, Ed brought some s some cutings of invasives to the last one that's two times ago which was very good. got to
show those around to people. But anyway, you know, I think it's been good. Um, I'm not available for September's or October's, maybe September, but I'm definitely not available for October. So, but I'll be around for the
Okay. I was going to say I think September because family day is in in September. I think I want to say it's September 13th or 14th. 13th. 13th. Um, so I'd be in favor of just, you know,
because just it's a lot of time commitment for people to volunteer their weekends to do these things. So I think if we skip the farmers market for September and we just do family day instead. Um, that would be my that would
get my vote. Okay. Can I put up a sign that says we'll be join us at family day? Yeah. Cut out of Ed's face. That's right. We can put all of our
faces there. Everybody take a selfie and print it off. Send it to Judy and then we'll put them on stakes and we can just p them in the ground there. I like it. Or on a rope. You can hang them from a rope. There you go. But no, that's good. Family day is going
to be good. And then at some point maybe some out outreach at the library. But it's been kind of fun. It's been fun watching the llama guy across the street. That's for sure. Those those who haven't been there can't appreciate that. And the other thing
from my pers the other thing from my perspective seriously is I find this Zoom meeting to be unfriendly and getting to touch base and see people in the flesh um is a big
improvement for me. Yeah, good point. I like it. I like it. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I'll also mention the um vacancy went up or is currently being voted on
at select board. So, as of tomorrow, people can apply for it. So, spread the word, anyone you know who might want to apply. Okay. Yeah. By the way, very point. I think Melissa, you saw this, too. Um, uh, my wife looked online and we're we
apparently have three vacancies, which mean Ed, me, and Melissa aren't on the roster on the town website as of Sunday. It's a glitch. We're fixing it. Okay. Well, because I was really afraid we weren't going to have a quorum
tonight if the three of us weren't here. So, Jim, that brings up an interesting thing. And I've emailed Connor twice and I haven't gotten a response. But I did whatever it is that I have to do to tell everybody I know how to deal with bad
situations and conflict of interest and stuff. And somehow or another seemingly the state has lost that, but yet I filed it with Connor. So I need to follow up on that. Thanks for the reminder. Man, you got to swear in. You got to bring that piece of paper
says. Yeah. And I and I did that. I swear. I swear I did that. Did you swear in? I swore. That's That's not the same thing. Did you raise your right hand when you swore?
Yeah, I think so. Oh, well, maybe you're covered then. Join Ed and Jim at the farmers market and you can listen to these conversations for four hours. That is absolutely true. You're right. You're right.
Okay. I got one piece of trivia and then I'm going to go. I want to talk about a unique capability of many fish. Not all fish, but salmon specifically and other fish smell in
stereo. Their oldactory senses work in stereo. Think about that. I'll get back to you. Yeah, it's too late for that one.
I did not read that online. Okay. Can Can they sense natural disasters like mosquitoes can apparently? I don't know. But Ed, maybe we put you on trivia cards for family day. Um You can work on that.
Melissa, you can put me on for anything. Okay. Yeah. Our list of ideas. We had probably too many. So, once we got closer to family day, I'll shoot out some emails about what we're thinking.
Okay. Yeah. That'd be great. That's when. Great. September. September 13. Saturday. Yep. All right. Um, can I get a motion to adjourn the meeting?
I'll make a motion to adjurnn. Can I get a second? I'll second. All right. Favor Ed. I. Jim. I. Ted. Ted is an I. Heather. I. And I am also an I.
All right. Thank you everybody. Thank you everybody. Good night. Good night everyone. Thank you again.