State of Emergency the new law authorizes all members of a public body to continue participating in meetings remotely the open meeting law is requirement that a quorum of the body and the chair be physically present at the meeting location remain suspended for this meeting the hopkington Conservation Commission is convening by
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 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 this meeting will be conducted via roll call of the members I will now confirm which
commission members are present Ed I'm here Jim here Janine present Ted Ted is present Heather we are not expecting Heather
tonight okay and Matt I think is we are anticipating him potentially late so Matt and Heather are not here yet and I myself Melissa am here I will now confirm staff that are present Judy
present Anna present and Joe all right that being said Judy I think I gave you sharing ability right yep does that look okay yeah now we got it
sorry my computer's running real slow tonight okay um so we have quite a few hearings that have been crossed off our agenda tonight so just so everyone's aware I'll run through those first um
Ravenwood LLC zero Wood Street 495 Interstate off-road 495 abbreviated notice of resource area delineation has been continued based on the applicant's request to March 25th the Wall Street development 12 North
Mill both of those notice of intent applications have been continued to March 25th and Lee 30 West Main Street zero West Main Street zero Elm Street notice vent has also been continued to March 25th so we won't be
discussing any of those tonight um so moving down to the work session items um we did cross off the June 25th because it didn't that Marathon meeting did not quite get wrapped
up um to present to the commission for tonight's review but we do have the February 25th 2025 does anyone on the commission have any comments on these or need additional time to review no no okay
so that being said we'll go ahead and vote or can I get a motion to approve the February 25th 2025 minutes so move and I'll make a second well where Ed
will all in favor Ed I Jim I Janine I Ted Ted is an i and I am also an i we're all set there next up we will go to Toll Brothers Elwood Farms 3 notice of violation from
March 5th 2025 storm um I guess I'll have a go ahead and let Judy or Anna talk through this one this was the rain event we had last
week or through the chair yes um yep so Anna and I witnessed uh ter runoff again leaving the site on March 6th after the heavy rains um on the 5th uh we did know that the off-site basins on blueberry
have been silty um from the previous violations in December but hadn't seen new silt entering the basins prior to uh the 6th so there was new silt coming off the site entering the basins um continuing Downstream past blueberry
so the pictures I have up here um the roadway on Fitch was pretty filthy um silty water kind of surrounding that problem catch Basin that was causing issues in December um this is the first sort of
Inlet pipe into the First off-site Basin so that was coming in silty um silt new silt deposited in the Basin uh Basin looking pretty silted out um this is the second smaller one further down blueberry and then the outlet that comes out of
that last Basin and continues past blueberry um we didn't follow it Way Back Into the Woods this time but it was coming out silty um the applicants so Ted had said they weren't able to clean the silt out of the basins while they were Frozen um
so that's why we were kind of trying to see if new silt was entering the First Basin which it did it seem that it was um so again Fitch was looking pretty dirty lots of loose Sil on the roadway and a lot of the Waddles lining the roadway were in disrepair so ripped up
um not continuous along the full extent of the disturbance and yeah happy to answer other questions or if Anna has anything to add thanks Anna for going out and checking that out um I walked around
there also on Sunday and it was um disappointing so I believe we have Rich and Ted on the line here um and I'll give them an opportunity to
to speak for the commission weighs in thanks Anna if uh if I could share my screen um that would be great uh Rich Kirby from LEC environmental on the line tonight Ted Merchant from Toll Brothers
uh obviously we were very disappointed to see the turbidity coming off the site after the overnight rain last week Wednesday into Thursday I was out there first thing Thursday morning uh to take a look at things as was uh par the uh the commission's
consultant there um I talked with the contractor and um it seems there are a number of items that led to the offsite discharge of turbid water but the the primary one was the um the outlet control structure at the uh the offsite
Basin which was you know intended to retain all of the runoff coming from this site if the commission recalls after the release at the end of December in early January we met with you and implemented a number of measures to um
try and prevent this from happening again uh they included blocking up the outlet control structure um spreading seed straw and tackifier over large sections of the site that uh that had been opened up uh or the the areas of the site that had been opened up um
installing flock logs in some of the uh catch Basin the downstream pipes in some of the catch Basin and installing um silt fence and compost sock along portions of Fitz Road since then we implemented additional items including
installing temporary basins um and temporary diversion swells along the pavement intended to collect and capture any runoff that that was coming off the site this particular uh storm came pretty much at the worst time it could
have um we had just experienced um some obviously the rain with the snow melt and and warmer temperatures with still frozen ground so we have basically an impervious ground surface with rain and snow melt uh coming off the site um and
talking with the contractor after the um the property this pavement rather was swept the day before the rain event um on Wednesday after noon and the outlet control structure was the um the the
seal and the the board that was covering that um that structure was inspected unfortunately the water level within the within that storm water basin was below the opening of the outlet control structure so while we observed the seal um it wasn't possible to see that the
seal was not functioning and I think that's ultimately what happened if I could share my screen I can let you know what we've um what we've implemented I think you should be able to now okay yes let me know if not
sure so in working with uh with Ted we've we've implemented um a program here to address the issues um I think part of the the main reason was the um the failure at the outlet control structure
um and other some on-site practices that are being addressed um namely you know we had installed dedicated stabilized construction entrances for each of the lots that were um that are being constructed or being
prepared for construct construction unfortunately the uh equipment operators were not utilizing those constructing construction access um pads they were just driving over the land onto the pavement which tracked a lot of sediment onto the
pavement so um th those are some of the reasons that the uh the pavement had sediment on it with respect to the outlet control structure the contractor removed the OSB which is basically a wood board and replaced it with a uh
with a sheet of Steel with a rubber gasket around the edge and bolted that into the concrete so it is a much more solid and reliable um seal to block any storm water that goes into the Basin from
entering those Downstream resources and I have photographs of that that I'll show you in in just a few moments um we also had SNM Farms come out and install whoops additional um compost sock and saltation
fencing along the length of Fitch Avenue uh which would is basically going to force the contractor and the equipment operators to utilize those stabilized construction entrances um it really wasn't possible
to do that earlier uh because of the frozen ground conditions and we need to tow in the um the silt fence which is really can't be done when the ground is frozen and we had a very short window frozen ground conditions and the rain
event and we really weren't able to do that in advance of the rain event but it is done now uh we installed roughly 2400 linear feet uh along both sides of the pavement there is one 200t section that uh will be done on Friday after the contractor
installs a utility duct which parallels the one side of the pavement of fch Avenue the on Friday hydrograss technologies will be visiting site to apply additional seed straw tacka fire and
Earth stop to exposed areas on the property um most of the seed straw tackifier that was applied in early January held but there were some sections along the roadway shoulders that um the tack of fire did not take as
well as it should have because the ground was frozen at the time uh the ground is Tha at this point so we're confident that this is going to adhere much better uh we'll be tackifying all along the perimeter drains uh exposed
areas on Lots eight and N the lone pile that's out there um and and other areas on the site that are that are exposed we also installed additional flock locks uh within the drain manholes and catch basins within Fitch Avenue to
further allow for sediment Dropout before water enters that off-site Basin and lastly uh prior to the turbidity release on March 5th street sweeping typically occurred once per week uh going forward street sweeping will occur three times per week to
remove as much sediment as possible from the pavement uh below are some photographs you can see here this is the outlet control structure of the storm water basin across the street this is the steel plate with the rubber gasket that
was bolted into the concrete um we're very confident in the uh in the um Integrity of this in terms of keeping the Basin water out of the uh out of the Basin uh and off of uh and out of
Downstream storm water infrastructure and resource areas this is the uh sketch that was given to uh SNM Farms the red represents Sil fence and compost sock that was installed uh today and this last section
here will be installed on Friday um this photograph was taken today and shows the silt fence installed all along the uh pavement road again forcing contractors to utilize the stabilized construction entrances and
forcing contractors to park in their designated parking areas instead of parking half onto the road and half onto the uh the land adjacent this here is a a sketch plan that Ted
put together for hydrograss Technologies to show where the seed straw tackifier and Earth stop will be applied uh you can see it's along the roadway shoulders and along portions of lot eight and nine
and the second sheet shows the um along the perimeter drains and the uh and the Lan pile here the last page so shows the representative photographs of the additional flock logs that were installed with in the drain
manholes and um really within the in the downstream pipes of the drain manholes and catch basins along Fitch Avenue so um that kind of provides an overview of of our response to this it's
an unfortunate circumstance but um you know going forward with um with these measures in particular this blocking of the uh of the outlet control structure on the off-site Basin uh I think we're we're going to be in pretty good shape
going forward so with that I'm happy to turn it back over to the commission and happy to uh to discuss further all right so I have to just start out by saying
it's quite disappointing that that we're here again um you know three three I think this third time third time in a row um and we're kind of chasing our Tails instead of being proactive once again um I think
we're going into the worst season right now um like you said with the freeze and the thaw and the rain in the spring so you should be anticipating the worst case scenarios especially for this site knowing having
already gone through this a couple times um so I think you know the the the commission is really not going to be um very tolerant on um on what's going
on over here um we really need proactive and blaming the contractors for not using construction entrances I mean this again is a repetitive theme here where you know we blame the contractors for not following the the tree clearing line
um in the violation you know early on in the project so the oversight on this project needs to be tighter um absolutely has to be um we really can't be coming in here after every single
rain event and fixing fixing things um we need to be proactive um so that that can't be that can't be a reason um blaming the contractors for not following the rules it's it's the job of the developer um and and the
people overseeing this plan to make sure that the contractors are following and doing what they're supposed to be doing um I think that you know replacing that board with the steel plates and the seal there is is key appreciate that um I
think that'll make a big difference um did you have to pump out that Basin in order to put those put the steel plate in to get to that water level that was in that picture I believe the contractor uh did have to um pump
out the pump out the structure or the Basin but if you looked at the photographs the water is pretty clear at that point um let me go back here so the reason I ask is I just wonder um you know that Basin because it
is a detention Basin I don't think it's infiltrating much um do you have pumps you have a plan in place that when this Basin fills up that it gets emptied when the water clears
before the next storm yeah let me let me share my screen once more um this Photograph was taken today and you can see the water within the Basin is is pretty clear that a lot of the
sediment uh settled out and there is a valve here to allow for release of water once it has cleared obviously we're not going to release turbid water um but that that's the plan to allow the minimize the turbidity that
enters the Basin to the extent turbidity enters the Basin or is stirred up by way of water entering the Basin let that turbidity settle out before the clean water is released Downstream through the chair I think I
would appreciate another kind of level cuz again we're going into the spring and you can have backtack storms and this thing fills up and it's not settled out yet to release through that valve um I think it would be prudent for there to
be silt bags and pumps on site um in the case that you know this Basin does fill up and you need a backup plan um through the chair I have haven't fully explored this yet but have a
concept in mind at least of um you know recirculating pump and maybe some powdered flock in in that scenario where we've got another storm coming and um you know if the Basin remains turbid to try to circulate uh and I can formulate
a better plan probably in writing and submit it but um I think conceptually that might work okay yep I'd appreciate that um another question I had was at the the intersection of Fitch and Myrtle
there was a big pile of dirt with that there's um there's sand there's a pile of sand that's being used as backfill for the uh utility duct that's being installed
along um Fitch Avenue and eventually Myrtle um I had instructed the contractor to install a compost sock around the base of that um fortunately that that material is comparatively coarse to some of the
really fine material that we're seeing getting through the uh the silt sacks and things so it is less of a concern although it is a concern it is a pile of material it's an active pile but it does need to have erosion control measures around
it okay um yeah I'd appreciate something around there when I was it was very windy on Friday Saturday um walking around there and it just looked like there was dust blowing off that
pile um was a little bit of a red flag um I also question the frequency of sweeping I think you said
every three times a week or every three days it was it was it had been uh once a week prior to this event and and I and I would add while you know we I understand that we're in a place that no one wants
to be but subsequent to making those Corrections in the beginning of January we did have a number of rain events where we went out to the site and inspected and and took photographs and we really we had no turbidity leaving the site the water leaving the site was
clear um so we we did feel as though we were on a good track I think it was the broken seal at that outlet control structure that did Us in this time if you will um but getting just getting back into your question with respect to
street sweeping the going forward we're looking at street sweeping three times a week as opposed to one so three times the amount um can we make sure that they're sweeping before forecasted rain event
yes regardless of the schedule yep and I think that's part of the um part of the intent there is to coordinate with the street sweeping contractor to obviously get them out there three days a week but of course to
time that as best we can with uh with forecasted R um those were my high points I'll open it up to the other commission members for thoughts and comments so the chair this is Ed yes Ed I had a quote that I was going to
read and Ted thank you very much for giving me the intro and you said try and I thought about Yoda there is no try there's do or not do this has been an
example of or management or timing um I am just dumb found it and and there's no other way to put it um that that you don't manage the equipment operators and they're allowed to go will they were I will say allowed to go willy-nilly that
is incredibly poor job site management and I'll shut up now before I get really I rate Marissa Jim yes Jim thank you for all you said first of all it's all spot on and I don't know
dumbfounded I'm not sure what the right word is but I'm no longer shocked that this stuff happening do contractors and and and developers have weather apps or any way of knowing what the weather's going to be and to be out there to look and
see ahead of time what's going to happen and then respond to it I mean it is incredible to blame a contractor yeah they should know what's going on but they only know what's going on if they're being told by the developer and the developer needs to be there um project manager on site superintendent
somebody's got to be there all the time with these contractors anyway uh sadly I'm not shocked by another one of these events but that's it thanks Jim I I would add that uh I do hear you
loud and clear and we're not solely placing the blame of this at the feet of the contractor on the site uh but you know there there were a number of practices that contributed to the uh to the problem so I'm add up something else Melissa you
start out by saying that this happened at the worst possible time I'll tell you something every time we get a violation like this it happened at the worst possible time how come nobody can predict what the worst possible time is going to be y that's called construction
management construction supervision construction oversight thanks Jim um anyone else have thoughts or comments on on this or how to proceed uh Melissa I don't know if I
have any thoughts necessarily on how to proceed um I'll Echo the other commission members that um this is maddening um Ted we and the to Brothers have had some really good conversations where we've worked together well but at this
point after the Chamberlain whan violations that we had multiple and now the three that we've had in the last three months four months uh I'm at the end of my rope with Toll Brothers I don't know that I ever want to see Toll Brothers come to
hopkington again after what we're dealing with um and I certainly don't know enough about the business operations to lay blame at your feet Ted you're the face from told brothers that we get to see and it's it's unbelievable that we're doing this over
and over and I don't think we've ever leveled a fine against Toll Brothers what we get is a whole bunch of I'm sorries we get a whole bunch of boy this was a weird weather event that we couldn't have
predicted I don't think we've ever got anything except for that and we've never find to brothers and I wonder what to Brothers has done after agreeing to the plans ahead of time which were supposed to include
certainties that this wasn't going to happen have there ever been steps to say let's give back to the neighborhood that we are destroying is too strong a word that we are harming ever get back to the town whose Water Resources we are harming
repeatedly or is the thought just to take your tongue lashing in this meeting and then move on um I'll start by saying look I I share your disappointment and as Rich pointed out I you know it's we're not here to put the blame at other people's
feet this is this is our responsibility um and our problem to manage um so I'll start with that you know in terms of you know you know have we been fined uh here
before no we we haven't um and look I I understand the frustration I understand um sort of the mindset that everyone's in I am disappointed also um and you know we would continue to
work to get things better um but I know that's not what this commission wants to hear so um we we need to make it right and you know we're we're here to you know put forth that effort and and I know there is no try um but um
we're we're going to continue to work at it I think um I think as far as moving forward the plan that you presented um makes makes sense I think there's a couple things obviously that
we talked about that still needed to be done to get that plan in place um your backup plan for the the pumping or you know if the basins are full um getting the rest of the erosion control on site the hydrograss on Friday the rest of the erosion controls in the blue
on on your map there um I think we need to hold up any permits until those things are taken care of um from the town's perspective um I think that's probably
more incentive than fines for um you know this type of a project of this scales um does anyone on the commission have thoughts on that is that make sense at this point in time Melissa I have one very specific uh thing from something
you said so um Rich you mentioned that you've instructed the contractors which sounds to me like they haven't done it yet to put some some straw Waddles something around the base of that sand pile and yet Melissa when you were out there those are never going to stop the
wind from blowing the sand off places can we be tarping the piles as well can we be putting stuff around the bottom and tarping and the tarps are returned at the end of every single day um and let the
contractors have to deal with that annoyance but it's your you're the bosses of the contractors make them do what you need them to do and if that includes tarping so that the wind isn't blowing stuff away the way it was the day Melissa visited it seems like that's
a that's a pretty obvious move we we can do that I think that's a fair ask Ted and Ted both of you Melissa this is Ed I have a question y does anyone know
what the quantity of rain was that we got in this event I do not know off top of my head something we could find out though unless you know I I believe it was roughly 3/4 of an inch um there are a number of weather stations kind of
surrounding hopkington that are reliable on the Noah website and uh I think it was around three4 of an inch who the chair this is that that was my impression and the three4 of an inch rainstorm is not a big
deal yeah it's a a good point Ed and that's I think going to be key in Ted's backup plan here that I'm looking for where these basins because you should be able to kind of calculate to a degree what that volume will be and what he needs to plan
for um once that Basin fills up we can en we can enlist our engineering team to to give that detail okay great because I think it got pretty high from that 3/ quter inch I think it the I don't know what it ended up being in
that in that base obviously water was going through the seal anyway so theair hello um you guys you chose to work at this time of year this is the kind of things that you would expect at this time of year ground to be frozen
rain to come no place for the water to go and you were not prepared I'm just I'm sorry I'm I am beside myself I'm I'm done Anna did you have something to
add yeah just that um in addition to the 3/4 inches of rain there was also a lot of snow melt and ice melt so it wasn't just a 3/4 inch storm I think the volume was quite a bit higher but yeah that that Basin was Fuller than I've ever seen it and we've definitely had bigger
storms than three quars of an inch since they've been working just to clarify that no that's a good point good point thank you okay um I think you have your marching orders Ted and
Rich yes we'll uh follow up with the commission again um Friday afternoon after these items have been addressed and provide some uh some photographs uh we are also supposed to get some rain over the weekend Sunday
into Monday so we're going to be out there first thing Monday morning okay well we're going to be out there Friday and Saturday ensuring that we're in the right spot and then again Monday morning okay great that'll be a good good test
run um Anna and Judy do you need anything else on us as far as the um followup and town side of things as far as permits and whatnot
to follow this so through the chair y um I checked the building department records looks like there's eight active permits on the site four are actually under construction out of those eight and then there's one pending application
in the office okay so that's that was my calculation that I had so far okay so I want to hold up on that pending application till we're comfortable okay do you want to ask if like I don't know the timing of the additional four
Lots I know right now there there's some struggle with the amount of mud and being able to get equipment in there and getting stuff ready so I don't know if at least a friendly hold off on starting those other four until these other measures have been in place that
something the commission wants yeah that would be I think that would be appreciated all right Ted Merchant uh understood okay I appreciate your time and again sorry that we're here again all right thank
you thanks everyone all right so being that it's after 7:30 um we'll jump up to the new hearing that we have I'm going to read um read to open this
up the hopkington Conservation Commission will hold a public hearing on Tuesday March 11th 2025 at 7 p.m. virtually online to hear all persons interested in a notice of intent filed by Tyler De Wolf to raise and replace an enlarged single family house with
Associated site work location 47 Ur Road assessor map r28 block 114 lot zer hi everyone this is Andrew tibo Wetland scientist with gter Consulting and I have Tyler DeWolf the homeowner on the call as well all right the chair um
before we start um I'm going to recuse myself from this discussion and voting I am an a butter on the project okay thanks Janine sure thank you um if I permission to share my screen we actually have a colored up version of the plans that might make it a little bit easier to
read I know you guys received a plan set that had um existing and proposed conditions on one sheet yep I think you should be able to grab the screen perfect yeah I can steal it right now can you guys see this all right
yes perfect okay I will start with the existing conditions and then I will flip the screen and it'll go um over to proposed um so the subject site here is 47 oir Road in hopkington it's about a 0.17 acre parcel and it's bound by Lake
Masano to its rear a bit of an interesting case that's not so typical with these applications is it did not require a formal delineation as the commission's probably aware many of the homes in this area are bound by this concrete retaining wall that acts as the bank of lake masok and it firmly
separates the upgradient developments from the lake itself and so by surveying the top of the retaining wall and using the upgradient most portion they're able to extrapolate all the buffers zones onto the property on the site plans here so it's worth noting that the commission wouldn't have received a formal
delineation Report with this application but the notice of intend what still can entail all of the buffer zones so this property has been developed since about 1965 um currently on site is an 800 foot single family house um with about an 856
squ foot driveway off Oakhurst Road because of the small lot size layout and the proximity to Lake Masano um about the entirety of the parcel is within the 100t buffer zone so we have a total impervious surface cover on site at
present of about 3,850 Square fet which about 3,350 feet of that is within the buffer zone there's a small portion of the driveway that is located outside of the buffer zone at present since this is pre-existing property before the Wetland
protection act or the local BW um there is no storm water management on this property it's a very gradual decline back towards Lakes master and so storm water tends to run mostly untreated towards the lake and so what the notes of intent has proposed if we
can see my next page here perfect is to raise the existing dwelling on the property and to construct um a larger 1731 foot house and to relocate the driveway to the corner of the site that we see here um the applicant has already received
permission from the zba to do this they went through um the formal process and we're actually able to receive permission for a 20 foot front yard setback here the existing house is about 30t so it helps them push as far possible on the front of the lot trying to keep the limit of work um as far from possible from Lake
mpano the actual project itself only results in about a 230q foot total impervious surface increase on the lot about 381 square feet is increased within the buffer zone with a net reduction outside of the buffer zone and they were able to do that by working
over significant areas of the previous dwelling the previous driveway um and as we can see here the much of the property is landscaped and hardscaped all the way to the bank of lake mpano at this point we received our DP file number um DP had a few comments
surrounding the existing Dock and the potential for the commission to review mitigation plantings for the increase in impervious surfaces with this project I know the commission's peerreview consultant is still working through the field review and the notice of intent review um and Judy day has given us a few
comments so far in the application I think most important to note tonight um is that Judy had noted that a lot of The Hardscape that we see in the rear of the property um appears to have been done without a permit around 2020 uh my notice of intent included
some permanent history on the project so back in the fall of 2020 it was in November um this this property came forward to the commission for a minor project exemption there were cracks in the concrete wall acting as the bank of lake lake Masano that needed repair and
at the time the homeowner was looking to repair the concrete wall and to rebuild a bit of a retaining wall in the property from reviewing the old meeting minutes and the old footage it seems like there was some pretty good discussion back and forth on the work proposed but there was some more information requested before the
commission wanted to issue a vote and it seems like that work was carried out around 2020 um and now in 2025 it's here but we don't believe it was under an active order of conditions um so I've been talking to Judy and with the homeowners as well our hope at least at this point with the preliminary comments
from Judy and pending the remainder from the commission's peer review consultant is to revise the notice of intent application to include all of the previous work the The Hardscape work that's been done in the rear of the property as well as all of the proposed improvements and um redoing the
single family house so far for mitigation of what we have proposed is the installation of extensive storm water management um we can see that there's two drywells two pairs of drywells in the front of the property and in the back so the new project has proposed to hook up all of
the gutters the front gutters are serviced to the pairs of dryw in the front of the property and the back gutters to the drive in the rear DP had also mentioned mitigation plantings as a potential for uh mitigation and improvements over existing conditions
and so at this point this is what we have for our proposal so far where awaiting comments from your peer riew consultant but we plan to come back with a revised letter addressing Judy's comments and to look to work with the commission to bring all the previous work and the work proposed under one um
notice of intent application but if we have any preliminary questions on the work proposed or what's to come I'm happy to answer them all right thank you for that presentation um I guess we'll start by
um I'm going to have to go back and review the meeting that you're referring to with the discussion on The Hardscape um I remember the retaining wall I remember talking through that and that it was just you know we're fixing
it in place it wasn't going to encroach in the lake or anything like that um I remember Tak of the retaining walls I I really would be surprised as a commission if we approved all that Hardscape without any
type of a a filter strip buffer um being Incorporated you don't have any plan you're saying that all of this was just discussion in the meeting with the commission I don't know the extent of The Hardscape discussion in that meeting
I know the meeting itself was focused around the retaining wall and then there was sort of a handdrawn plan with some discussion of work that was requested but I don't know how much of it was reviewed um in detail which is why we certainly want to include it in this
notice of intent now as sort of a separate item and look to to permit that after the fact okay through the chair yes Judy yeah I just wanted to confirm that we don't have an exemption letter on file for the request made to do the
work on the retaining wall um and I would also point out that at the time the commission had asked the applicant for more information on whether the stairs in the retaining wall we're going to be extending past sort of flush with the retaining wall or not um and I don't
believe that information was received so I think that would be good to know where that stands yeah I think um to just jump to the conclusion that this is existing Hardscape that we you know obviously it
does need to be reviewed and and after the fact viewed as part of this notice of intent um but I don't know that category you know putting that in the category of existing and then saying that you're
actually decreasing impervious area by replacing this building is a valid point um to the commission [Music] so um do you have that meeting date
handy either Judy or Andrew I 10th yeah yeah November 10th 2020 um Judy and I did review the minutes and rewatched the hcam video um and the sketch that was provided was only
talking about um an exist I think the wall that you can see kind of um individual rocks that's kind of at the edge of the pink here and then repairing the wall along the lake along the bank and
the stairs were discussed um and the commission did not want them extending into the water and asked for more detail before they would be willing to approve it um and I was not able to find any further correspondents after that
meeting um and a formal approval was not given and the sketch plan doesn't show any of The Hardscape um the existing deck off the shed was not on there the bar wasn't on there it was just the two walls and the set of yeah do you have that handy either Judy
or Andrew I I looked at it in the application package the sketch the original sketch that was provided in there Judy I don't know if you can grab it it's in the 2020 exemptions yeah did you say that was November 10th 2020
correct of 2020 right November 10th thank you yeah feel free to share the screen to steal the screen share if you want to pull up that old plan um I think it's important for the commission to look at that old plan if that's what we're basing our assumptions on as far as what you know we approved
before versus what we're looking at now for the current in way another thing we will be able to do although I don't believe there was a full survey plan available at that time there are some some pretty high quality Aerials that were available so as we look forward we're going to obviously continue this meeting and come back so as part of the
effort to permit this after the fact we can provide some some graphics and some measurements on Old Aerials to see what was there previously what's there now and discuss it from a storm water management standpoint as well that would be helpful um are you familiar with what the commission has been
um asking of applicants along Lake Masano lately as far as I mean we've been doing it for years now looking to improve the water quality of the lake and the conditions by having homeowners incorporate a buffer strip a planting buffer strip not
lawn um something that is from like the the wall or the Lake Edge toward the property to filter out runoff um I actually wasn't familiar with that um off the bat but I upon the's comment
and then um Judy's preliminary um I did actually meet with the home owners last Friday and we had a discussion about the potential for some some good mitigation plantings to be used on this property and um they had expressed being absolutely open to that and so I think that that's definitely a proposal that we can come back with okay that'd be
great through the chair Andrew can you stop screen sharing for a second because it's pulling it up strangely like you can either pick Judy screen or screen thank you oh yeah no problem okay okay yeah so this just talks about
the walls exclusively yeah that's right I remember this plan it provides reference to an existing patio but it doesn't show its coverage and so I think that might be something that we can try to measure using at least approximating using aerial photography to see what was there at this
time the chair Joe yes go ahead Joe yeah I think some of the uh uh photos that were provided in the application also show the uh prexisting conditions uh at the time what they requested the initial work on the in the
walls okay yeah that's right I did see something it looked like a lot of grass to exactly home owner had a few photos I also did have a chance to get out to the site this morning um okay and take a look at it um I know there was a
comment made about not having to delineate any Wetlands above the retaining wall but say the Commissioners aware there have been other locations along the lake where we've had we have
had BBW Fringe above that wall uh I did do some moders this morning the water or the soil was still fairly Frozen but I can get some Ms through and uh there is hydric soil above that wall so there's not much for well and vegetation at this
point because of the season and because it's m low but there is hydc soil so I would recommend that the applicant have that it also as far as what the edge of the W okay and then Melissa may I just ask you
a quick followup yeah go for it would that then mean that the buffer lines need to move closer to the road if we have those soils inside of the the retaing wall that is correct okay so I think I'm not sure who has a
screen Judy or Andrew but I think if you scroll up a couple Pages there's um the old pictures keep going yeah yeah so that looks quite different it doesn't look like a ton of Hardscape at
all no um okay does anyone else on the commission have any uh feedback at this point in time through the chair this is Ed I'm I'm looking at an aerial but unfor unfortunately I have no idea of the date
except that this app is [Music] usually semic Curren and it shows um pretty heavy vegetation and I I can't tell whether it's you know a tree or a bush or whatever um across the whole lak
front of the property um like I said I do not know the age of of the picture so it may not be relevant okay thank you Ed and I think it's worth noting um as we had said we're going to come back with a revised letter looking
to analyze and permit this after the fact and that's going to include dated aerial imagery approximate measurements timelines of work that was done and we will we will have our Engineers take a look at this from a pre and post um Hardscape installation for storm water management and some of these calculations so we can provide
clarification on all of this being discussed right now okay that would be great um Mara you I just want to say that I'm sure Goddard has a copy of that um sort of
Ideal plan for the lakefront um because they've done work on other properties there and I think I would think that we've produced that for them if we have a copy of it can we send it to to them through the chair um I I did send over the healthy Lake Shore
landscaping um but send it again if needed well if they don't have it but thank Judy yep we have it we will absolutely take that into account so thank you for providing that um does anyone in the audience have any questions or comments on this
one can raise your hand or speak I don't see any SOA yes Ted um I would just say before Andrew we go away um the commission's been burned a bit on lake mpano with
with some other plans we've seen where people don't follow through what we've asked so I for one as a commission member um am very much going to want to see robust plantings along the lak shore um that 50 foot buffer is going to be
sacran for me so if we have to redraw it already the proposed initial proposal for the the new building goes inside the 50 Foot buffer and if that line is going to shift um I'm going to need to see the new building shrink pretty uh
impressively for me to to be able to entertain this just to let you know off the bat I I appreciate the feedback absolutely um I am happy to take a look at the the um bordering vegetated Wetland comment and I'm sure that will be in the peerreview Consultants letter I do know this
property was developed prior to the Wetland protection act or local bylaw so there there is a possibility that it was fully lawn and maintained up to that area prior and there may be hydric soils due to the proximity but it wasn't going to meet the criteria for a wetland but having not done a delineation on the site um I will certainly take a look at
it and we will address that in our response I would also expect um to had a planting plan that comes through from us to include supervising and monitoring post installation to make sure that anything you guys do approve is adhered to as well
thanks so do you think that continuing out to our next meeting gives you enough time to get all that together or um the next meeting is March 25th after that is April 8th I believe so I think we should
continue just to that at this point if we find that we need more time I'll try to reach out in advance and request a continuation but I think to keep this fresh and moving along we'll definitely aim for that meeting okay can I get a motion then to continue this out to March
25th this is it so move a second Ted will second all right all in favor Ed I Jim hi Ted Ted is an I uh Matt I
and I am also an i of Janine abstaining all right so you're all set we'll see you on the 25th sounds good thank you all we'll see you then yep um so next up we have 12 Maple Street
extension this is a continuation notice of intent folksy from Gard Consulting on behalf of the applicant Nick and Kathleen D'Angelo and if we don't mind I will go ahead and share my screen I think at the
oh yeah we can work with that that looks good at our last hearing well I suppose just to recap a bit uh we are proposing in a new single family dwelling here at 12 Maple Street extension with a subdivided lot we have essentially a total
encircling of wetland resources here and that 50 foot buffer zone encompasses a good portion of the site and the entire site is located within the 100 foot buffer zone we've so far managed to reorient things and get that house out
side of the 50-ft buffer I do just want to note again that this is all over existing lawn area so in any case that house is outside of the 50ft buffer we've implemented some vegetated pavers in the driveway in the area where we are
trying to provide a turnaround for the fire department and Fire Prevention in hopkington has confirmed us that those papers are sufficient to support their vehicles so we're looking good on that front the I believe the last two remaining comments that arose at the
last hearing were a providing a rip wrap pad or Crush Stone sump or something of that sort at the sump pump discharge point in that Northwestern Corner which has been added to the plans here it's a little covered up under some of those sweet pepper bush circles there but we
are adding that rip wrap pad to prevent any scour from that from that some pump discharge the second comment that we've gone ahead and addressed was to match our planting strip along that Northern property line to what was
approved at uh 7 and a 9 Montana road immediately to the north so we had maybe a little bit of a miscommunication at first had shown that as a 10- foot planting strip which I think had been submitted to you folks I don't know if it had actually been disseminated to the
commission yet but we uh on Judy's notation we did realize we were looking at an outdated version of that plan from Montana road to the north so we did go ahead and increase that planting strip now the area that we're planting is 15
feet wide and that actually is 15 ft from the tree line so we end up with a vegetated buffer along that Swale ranging from more like 20 to 25 ft uh pushing 30 in a couple of those Corners there so that is the overview of the
changes we've made so far really that uh RI wrap pad at the sun pump discharge and expanding that planting zone along the northern property line and those were really the last two comments that the commission had at our last meeting so if there's any questions I'm happy to entertain those um and yeah I think that
covers it okay thank you um I think that that covers what I remember we were looking for as well um Judy and Anna did you get a copy of this plan here with the 15 feet and the ri pad yes we did yeah
okay um do either you or Joe have any last thoughts on this one through the chair um I guess my only comment was the footprint of the planting area looks very similar to the
old plan um so I'm wondering if the addition of the 15 foot scale is is the only change that was made um and if so if the commission is you know comfortable with that serving as you know confirming that that buffer is 15
ft because I'm not totally sure if the shape was physically changed between plans but I think that's my only sort of outstanding comment there is through the chair if if there's a desire to see it uh I can this is a scale drawing I can pull it up and
measure it real quick in real time if if we'd like to see that it's so the line is measuring to the the or the greenish gray back correct yeah that that green polygon right there is the 15t strip uh and we
end up with with closer to 20 or 25t if you measure it to the actual blue line which is that bank of that stream gotcha okay um yeah I I think that's clear to
me I see the black dash line continuing on to the south of the page so I think that's the limit of disturbance or work during construction I assume the dashed right yeah that that is the proposed
erosion control here in the interest of not revising the plan for the eenth time we did go ahead and just kind of draw our planting area on top of what we already had rather than adjusting that that small section of the line there so if the commission would like to see an
updated version just making those two things consistent we'd be happy to provide that okay um does anyone else have any questions or comments on this one from the commission I would just like to say really quickly I would like to to see
the updated plan I'd love for it to be as perfect as we can get it it's not like we're handdrawing these anyway so just y clicks on the keyboard I think ought to fix that and make it proper absolutely yeah we can get that submitted for you folks
um oh sorry just want to comment I did look at the uh the proposed plantings and the density and and the species look appropriate I might have missed it um I know my notes from last time there was going to be some uh Stone added at the
some pump discharge and was that done yes that is uh I did mention that earlier it's covered up under a couple of sweet pepper bush circles there but it is shown there yes okay yep and Janine
yeah so um just looking for the pibs I see one reference to a pib at the bottom of that green that grayish green section but I don't see any others is it along that black dotted line so yeah they're they're shown along this black dotted
line here on the Civil plan that we have up in front of us yeah that uh that kind of cuts off some of the the important information here in the interest of being a more usable scale but y the Civil plans do show
those pibs along the entire perimeter there yeah I see them thank you y absolutely and what are the pibs are we talking about offense are we talking about Stakes there's a note if we scroll up just a tiny bit they're 4x4 PT post sunk into the ground with conservation
plaques okay okay so yeah I think especially looking at this plan um for consistency like you said Ted that line will come down down straight to meet the 15 oh so it's not just shown on the planting plan but shown on the Civil plan as well and
those pibs will come down um to be along the bushes absolutely yeah we'll we'll get that change made for you folks and get that submitted to you okay um on the commissioner are we comfortable voting on that P
um issuing our vote contingent on receipt of the plan I'm good with that Melissa are you looking for a motion I'm good with that yes I am if everyone's good with that sounds like they are so I'll take a
motion and we should include with signatures with signatures yep and bana or Judy so I don't want to rephrase the motion if it's understood that that's the motion I'll make it all right thanks T that motion
and I will second that understood motion all in favor Ed I Jim you there Jim you're muted if you are come back uh Janine I
Ted uh Ted is an I I guess I Matt I I am also an i Jim one last chance all right it'll carry with those votes beautiful we appreciate you working with this guy and we'll get that
updated plan to you shortly thank you absolutely have a good night all right um next up we have 18 Falcon Bridge Drive request for COC
um Judy or Annie do you want to go through this one yep happy to just pulling up the [Music] plans there we go so this was an original order issued back in 2022 for septic replace
um installation of a pool house outdoor kitchen patio and site grading um the changes reported by the applicant were a pool house larger than what was proposed um that
is right here um chain link fence was added between the fireplace and the pool housee and between the fireplace and the house um which we do have on the the plan now and a foundation drain had been added to the the pool house foundation
that wasn't on the original plan um Joe had had a couple of comments that um have since largely been resolved so he had mentioned the erosion controls should be removed um except in certain
areas so west of the pool house and southeast of the septic um we are waiting for confirmation of of the erosion control removal prior to um recommending or prior I guess we're waiting to hear from the homeowner that
those have been pulled out um but he is aware that they should be pulled out prior to receiving the certificate um Joe had also noted that there's a 4in drain pipe that discharges to the lawn in this area past the deck um so that
hadn't been indicated on the original asilt but we do have it on the update as built so that's been resolved um there was a piib that had fallen off of a maple west of the septic system um so we have since gotten
confirmation that that was reattached so I believe it was this one right here so we have pictures of that back on the tree um in the sort of circular Paving area around the well this wasn't on the original plan but has since been added
to the asil um so there's not many outstanding items except for erosion controls being pulled out so I think it's it's sort of our recommendation that the commission vote to approve the COC and then Anna and I will wait to issue until we've been able
to confirm that those are out believe that's everything great that seems pretty straightforward to me does anyone have any questions or comments on this or Joe you have anything to add
I have nothing to add okay all right that being said can I get a motion to issue the COC pending confirmation that erosion controls are removed and with signatures by Judy or
Anna I'll make that motion I'm back you're back sorry that happened I lost connection at the worst possible time that's sorry never could have predicted let's see what you did there Jim I'll second all right all in favor Ed hi Jim
hi Janine I Ted Ted is an i Matt I and I'm also an i that's all sets all right um we have any public forum
requests anything come in last minute no Judy you're on mute oh nope nothing okay awesome all right it's another quick one Melissa yes uh given that it is a quick one I'm just looking at the meeting
dates at the bottom of the agenda yep and I'm wondering Melissa Judy Anna should we be talking about an in-person meeting and I think that there was um I don't I I think it was in this commission and not in Zach where there
was talk that that maybe the remote meeting law might not be extended Much Anymore um but we haven't had an I know Ed prefers the inperson 100% of the time I don't necessarily but we haven't had an inperson for a while I wonder if one
of the ones that we have coming up should be in person um is it too late to make them in person yeah I'm just looking online and it rate it looks like March 31st 2025 is the dead is the current
extension or basically ends yeah the remote meeting law extension provision but it certainly could get renewed though it could get renewed yep so
either so through the chair yes Anna with uh newspaper deadlines if it's not extended by March 24th your April 8th meeting has to be in person unless we are very careful with how we word our hearing
notices so should we plan an inperson just to say we haven't had one for a while anyway and then I mean again I I like being remote I I would do it this way I know not everyone here agrees with me but I like
remote I miss you guys but you know if you're looking at a date by the way March I'm sorry April 25 I can't be in person I could do it remotely but I'll be gone I mean April 25 March 25
meeting J no never mind when's our April meeting we have an April 8th and an April 29th that's the one 29th I can't in person I can do it
remotely um so so Anna you mentioned that if it doesn't get extended with the timing we'd have to meet in person April 8th but if it expires March 21 don't we have to meet in person March 25th like I know we didn't give notices but would we still have to it's um it's good through
March 31st through the March 31st I'm sorry about 2 y yeah yeah but it's just how we have to advertise ahead of the meetings and with our our deadlines that we have to know before the end of March so unless we
don't have any new hearings for that April 8th meeting so it's kind of up in the air right now okay um well I mean I guess we could either just
see what happens at the end of the month see if April 8th um yeah we could go either way or we could make a don't have a
strong feeling either I just thought we might especially since we have a little bit of time kind of talk about it but maybe talk is let's talk about it later I know um I don't know Anna do you have any
thoughts Melissa Melissa if if it's not extended we would have time to advertise the next meeting as not in person I mean not remote right or we would not have enough time we wouldn't have enough time to for
April 8 if we have new hearings because I I have to go to the paper prior to March 31st okay but we I mean we could just do way of knowing yeah we have no way of knowing yeah yeah sometimes they extend
them early and sometimes they wait till the last second and or they may not extend it at all I mean I I know there support out there to make it permanent but I don't know you know what the legislature is going to decide yeah so well discuss what do you all
think about having 3 pm meetings 3 pm smaller you might have a much smaller commission yeah you all got to take some time off that's all yeah I'm using my vacation time for conservation committee
meetings um so do we want to make the eth in person or do we wna I'll defer because odds are I'm not going to be able to join either way on the eth on the eth okay anded if we're in person on on the
eth will you celebrate by baking bread Ed no um no I can definitely do that but I need to let you know that I've made my third apple pie and it's conceivable it's not
likely it's conceivable I could make my fourth yeah but you gotta stop using crab apples though so I'll I'll I'll leave you with that thought so Melissa again I don't have super strong feelings but the interest
of just being nice and neat and not surprising I'm proposing we go in person on the 8th and maybe we're required to anyway and if not then we can go back remote on the 29th that makes sense to me I'm up for that Ted but we haven't seen each other in person for a while
anyway so okay we can go with that unless there's any major objections works for me okay no all
right anything else that anybody wants to throw on the table it's only yes uh we are confirmed a booth at the farmers markets for the first Sunday of each month between June and October
so when we get a little closer I can start looking for folks to sign up awesome nice work Judy yeah thank you Judy sign me up for all of them yeah I should be able to help when we get there too teacher
summertime doesn't have a whole lot going on okay well well while I claimed the floor I went to great efforts and I have written a letter in support of the Longwood
Drive um phospherous mitigation plan and I haven't gotten any feedback from anyone neither to the party to whom it was addressed nor to any from any of the parties who were copied other than one
who said that he had passed it along to the town manager so um I'm I'm very interested to to hear comments I'll get you some comments Ed just give me a day
I'll hit you up Thursday okay thank you for putting that together too you're welcome and and and thank you to the nameless people who I promised I would not um disclose who assisted me in
the project good stuff all right anyone else have anything nope hearing none can I get a motion to close the meeting don't moved and a second all
in favor Ed I Jim I Janine I Ted Ted is an i Matt I and I am also an i all right thank you list real quick before you boot everybody out Matt Hodes um COC is
all approved um Judy and I will be in contact UM tomorrow with next steps for you thanks guys good night everyone have a good one