Conservation Commission

CITY OF CHICOPEE CONSERVATION COMMISSION Minutes of Meeting February 5, 2025 Pursuant to Mass. General Law Ch. 131, Section 40 and the Chicopee Wetland Ordinance Ch. 272, the Chicopee Conservation Commission held a public hearing on Wednesday, February 5, 2025 at 6:15 PM in the RiverMills Senior Center, Classroom 30, First Floor, 5 West Main St., Chicopee, MA 01013 Celeste Donovan opened the meeting at 6:18 PM and announced that the meeting was being recorded. Conservation Commission attendance: Member Present Absent Excused Celeste Donovan X Charles Payne X Meghan Balakier X Richard Valcourt X Bianca Thomas X Barbara Chamberlain X Sharon Balcom X Planning/Conservation Staff attendance: Member Present Absent Excused Lee Pouliot, Director X James Dawson, Development Manager X Nick Kiser, Associate Planner X Patrick Collins, Assistant Planner X Item 1: Request for Certificate of Compliance. On August 7, 2024 the Commission approved an Order of Conditions (NOI 24- 004) for upgrades to existing utility ROW. Soil borings within Bordering Vegetated Wetland. Buffer Zone and Terrace Escarpment (TE) Soils in preparation for structure replacements. The work has been completed, and the area has been stabilized. Location: 363 Prospect St., Chicopee, MA Applicant: David Askew, NSTAR Electrical Co. DBA Eversource Energy Service Co., 107 Selden St., Berlin, CT 06037 Notes: John Furman of VHB, and Applicant David Askew were in attendance to present the request to the Commission. Mr. Furman presented photos from the January 15, 2025 site visit with Staff. Staff was satisfied that the site was stabilzed to the best it could be considering the winter season. Erosion control jute mats were in place and the service roads were very well constructed with crushed stone and underlayment of fabric to prevent the stone from becoming compacted into the soil. Staff recommended approval of the Certificate of Compliance which closes out the first phase of the project and enables the Applicant to submit an NOI for the next phase. Motion to approve and issue the Certificate of Compliance was made by Charles Payne and seconded by Richard Valcourt. Vote was 6-0 to approve and issue the Certificate of Compliance. Member Approve Deny Table Abstain Celeste Donovan X Charles Payne X Meghan Balakier X Richard Valcourt X Barbara Chamberlain X Sharon Balcom X Item 2: Minutes from December 4, 2024 Motion to approve with noted corrections was made by Barbara Chamberlain and seconded by Sharon Balcom. Vote was 6-0 to approve with the noted corrections.  Member Approve Deny Table Abstain Celeste Donovan X Charles Payne X Meghan Balakier X Richard Valcourt X Barbara Chamberlain X Sharon Balcom X Item 3: Sign Bills – There were no bills to sign. Item 4: Upcoming Projects/Discussion/Communications • Implementation of fines for Enforcement Orders 23-E002 and 23-E003 on McKinstry Avenue. Enforcement Orders were issued by the Commission in September 2023. To date we are not aware of any progress toward resolving the Enforcement Orders. Notes: Ryan Nelson of R. Levesque Associates presented an update on the status of the Enforcement Orders that were issued in 2023. R. Levesque has been retained by both landowners and recipients of the Enforcement Orders (Gramntad, LLC and R. Ducharme, Inc.). Mr. Nelson explained that Gramntad, LLC had applied for a zone change on their property to eliminate a split-zoned property and allow for full Industrial use of the entire property. He explained that once the zone change had been obtained the Applicant would be able to pull back from the TE Soils and buffer zone on the property. Mr. Nelson also noted that an NOI was being prepared in response to the conditions of the Enforcement Orders. The Commission has reiterated that the property owners must cease and desist all activity within the TE soils and respective buffer zone areas on the site or possibly face fines. The Commission also requested a site visit to determine if any erosion was occurring within the TE soils areas of their buffer zones. The Commission tabled discussion on this issue until March 5, 2025 at which time they expect another update as to compliance with the Enforcement Order and a site visit will have occurred. The Commission noted that the ONLY exception from the Cease and Desist would be allowance of the new access road to be utilized. Motion to table discussion on the issue to March 5, 2025 was made by Charles Payne and seconded by Richard Valcourt. Vote was 6- 0 to table the discussion to March 5, 2025. Member Approve Deny Table Abstain Celeste Donovan X Charles Payne X Meghan Balakier X Richard Valcourt X Barbara Chamberlain X Sharon Balcom X Item 5: Adjournment – Next meeting is scheduled for February 19, 2025. Motion to adjourn was made by Barbara Chamberlain and seconded by Sharon Balcom. Vote was 6-0 to adjourn. Member Approve Deny Continue Abstain Celeste Donovan X Charles Payne X Meghan Balakier X Richard Valcourt X Barbara Chamberlain X Sharon Balcom X Meeting adjourned at 7:20 PM.