Conservation Commission

Minutes of the Taunton Conservation Commission October 21, 2019 All present, except Commissioner Marla Isaac. Motion to approve the minutes of the September meeting, MH, second RE, so voted. Motion to go our of order to hear from Margaret Travers from Friends of Boyden, MH, second DB, so voted. Ms. Travers has provided the TCC with some recommendations for the Arthur Bent Award. One in particular is Beth Lambert, instrumental in the removal of the dams. ST said MR will forward them all to the TCC members and they will look through them. Ms. Travers was hopeful they could plan a reception in the Spring and present them then. The last one done was in 2013, given to Brian Marques. Boyden looks great. ST told her the gate was coming soon. She asked how they people get in and out of the park? ST said it will be open from dawn to dusk. She asked what if someone is locked in? ST said there may be a number to call or a buzzer to use connected to the police station or something. They will figure that all out. She wanted to also let everyone know there will be a turkey presentation on 11/2/19 at 1pm if anyone is interested. The TCC thanked Ms. Travers for coming by with an update. Motion to revert to the regular order of business, DB, second MH, so voted. Continued Certificate of Compliance: 1. 59 North Walker Street Lot 4C, Lima, (COC), SE73-2651 ​Motion to issue COC, DB, second LF, so voted. Certificate of Compliance: 1. 195 Princess Kate Circle, Brennan, (COC), SE73-2475 ​See field report. Motion to issue COC, DB, second MH, so voted. 2. 155 Misty Lane, Hackett, (COC), SE73-2673 ​See field report. Motion to issue COC, MH, second DB, so voted. 3. 285 King James Blvd., Matos, (COC), SE73-2580 ​See field report. Motion to issue COC, RE, second LF, so voted. 4. 837 Glebe Street, Garanito/Hawthorne Dev., (COC), SE73-2591 ​See field report. Motion to approve, DB, second MH, so voted. 5. 70 Phyllis Road, Malloch Construction Co., Inc., (COC), SE73-2685 ​See field report. ST doing nothing out back? No not now. There was an issue but all re-done. Motion to issue COC, DB, second MH, so voted. Public Meeting: 1. 862 Caswell Street, Fevrier, (RDA), DSE1207 ​See field report. Present Wichelet Fevrier, John Zimmer, Joe McQue, and Mr. Ivers. They are requesting a determination of applicability, to find out if there is an ILSF. The wetlands scientists Mr. Fevrier has hired have each, separately, done testing and investigating on the site. They state the area in the back, there has been disturbance out there, pretty much open fill. All three found hydric soils, up to 6 inches going down into the native soils. They could not determine vegetation but there is definitely hydric soils, historic flooding on the property too. DEP shows the wetland wraps around to the front but several feet of fill has been put down so they couldn’t dig down that far to find out. DB 3 separate companies found this? Yes 3 different companies looked at the site separately and did separate reports. They only met for the first time tonight. RE hyrdic soils? These types of soils develop with high amounts of rain? No over years, not from high amounts of recent rains. The water table here is 40.7 inches, then in the spring the high rain events and flooding occur. Fevrier said on 10/17/19, MR wrote a field report specifically for this property. MR said it was not for his property. MR said she did not see glade soils. ST asked them how far down they dug? About 20+ inches. MR said she stands by her statement. John Zimmer asked if perhaps they could hold a site walk? Maybe schedule it and they can all come to a consensus. MR said they could always appeal it. MH asked if the TCC moves forward on this with MR’s decision they can appeal it and DEP will go out, correct? Yes. Fevrier said MR has not been out on his property. MR disagrees, they house was built in 2017, there was flooding in 2019, high groundwater yes, not necessarily wetlands. Fevrier said his wetlands scienctists all found hydric soils, it would be very simple for them all to go out there and see. DB thinks they should all go out there. ST what would MR do out there? Dig a hole? Yes more than 20 inches, there is 4 feet of fill there. MH if hydric soils found then what? It becomes wetland? Zimmer said well then we delineate and determine what it is. ST how did they dig? Sharp shooter spade, dutch auger and it brings up the soil intact. They found original A and a couple of B soils, found O as well. They could smell the O and A. It has a smell of processed manure. Motion to continue to 11/18/19, MR and whoever else can go out, test the soils, DB, second RE, vote taken 2 yes DB, RE, 3 No LF, JR, MH. Motion does not carry. In 2017, MR was out there for permit on house. She saw no wetlands there and was confused as to why the GIS said there was some. Patnaude’s were out there too. Some of MR’s other peers went out too. They did not find what these gentlemen have found. MR requested Ecosystems re-flag and set a limit of where the ILSF. There were a 4th and 5th wetland scientists out there but they were hired by MLB and Ecosystems and Fevrier told them to stay off his property. Chris Coute, owns property next door, said he has had several reports with differing opinions. Brandon, Brad Holmes, the Patnaudes, Brian Dunn, and Tracey Duarte all agree with MR. DEP has been out, they have never found anything out there. Coute said no agency has issued any notices of any kind. Fevrier said Brandon is not allowed on his property to test so his information cannot be admissible. He states that Brandon said his employee mistakenly placed the flags and he wanted to correct the mistake. Fevrier said no.  Brandon said yes he did tell him that the employee mistakenly placed the flags, he was in training at the time and is no longer with Ecosystems. Brandon said the town/city agen dispatched MBL to dispatch Ecosystems to correct the mistake. MR said yes this is true, if she walks a site and disagrees with a flagging she will call them out to correct it. Brian Dunn of MBL said Brandond and MR determined the limits of stormwater and where it was coming from. They adjusted to differentiate the stormwater vs ILSF. It was already done, the flags remaining did not determine anything but they were told to leave them there by Fevrier so they did. They corrected on their end but left the incorrect flags when they were told they could not access the property. Zimmer says lets all go out and test, it’s the easiest way to solve this. Brandon said his employee flagged the edge of water but did no testing. LF asked how long this test takes? A couple of hours. ST said he stands by MR’s report, he agrees with both sides and sees there are some issues here between the owner and seller/neighbor. ST said let DEP go out there and figure it out. Zimmer said the issue is predominately under the ordinance and then would go to superior court. Fevrier said put themselves in his shoes, he has spent so much money to get to this point with more money to be spent, and it will escalate. As a resident and under the ordinance he is asking them to please see where they are coming from and what they are presenting. ST said Coute wanted to go out onto the property and see what he could do but Fevrier said no. Fevrier would like to deal man to man. Coute said we had historic precipitation, 40-78 inches since May, there is no water there as of a month ago. The historic precipitation put more water there than they have ever had. Mrs. Fevrier has 300 pictures of what occurs out there. She said for water to sit for more than 6 months, this should not happen. Water is still currently sitting out there. They offered for Chris Coute to buy the house back, and he refused. Motion to issue a negative determination, as there are no wetlands on the property outside of the newly added edges of the locally jurisdictional ILSF, which was not present on this lot in 2017, MH, second LF, vote taken, 3 Yes- MH, JR, LF, 2 No- DB, RE, Motion carries. 2. 103 North Walker Street, O’Brien, (RDA), DSE-1208 ​See field report. Motion to issue a negative determination, with special conditions 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 14, 18, and 19, DB, second RE, so voted. 3. 80 Seekell Street, Bugash, (RDA), DSE1209 ​See field report. Motion to issue a negative determination with special conditions 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8, DB, second RE, so voted. 4. 295 Constitution Drive, Turner Brothers, LLC, (RDA), DSE-1210 ​See field report. Ken Motta present. RE snow removal? Trucked off is there is a big snowfall, pulled back to the drainage system or back spaces if its only a few inches. DB how close to the wetlands will the snow be? 64 feet. ST would prefer a bigger berm if the snow is going there. Ken it is currently 1 foot high, 3 feet wide, and to be planted with vegetation. ST would like a higher berm, 3 feet high. Ken said ok. Motion to issue a negative determination with special conditions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 14, 18, 19, 20, 28- 3 foot berm/barrier will be placed at the edge of the property at site of snow storage, DB, second RE, so voted. DB was not present for the first part of the following hearing. She will not be voting on it but will be asking questions. Continued Public Hearing: 1. Caswell Street (121-10), Coute/Aspen Property Investments, LLC, (NOI), SE73-2795 Present Chris Coute, Tracey Duarte, Brian Dunn. Coute said he has spent $6500 on this report. He feels the ILSF issue has been put to bed. The stormwater change was only that the swale was removed. That was the only change. He feels it unnecessary to spend more money on a third party to review it now that the swale has been removed. Tracey Duarte said she did submit all the calculations requested. They analyzed the water shed for 1 year storm as required but came up with 0 cubic feet of storage for the 1 year storm. Coute said only change was the swale removal. Not it is back to the original plan. ST said we went with this company because they were cheaper. Now they are penny pinching. LF why is she not here to speak about her reivew? MR said if Amy was here it would cost the applicant even more money and she did not get the report until thursday. ST 6:05pm is not an appropriate time to send this email though. MH said this is now back to the original filing, he would like Mike Patnaude to go out and take a look, they asked for a peer review which was done, they are not adding anything new. MH lets vote on it and move forward. Motion to approve with special conditions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 9, 11, 17, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27, and have Mike Patnaude go out there and take a look at the site, MH, second LF, DB present. (LF out) Public Hearing:d 1. Harrington Avenue (47-204), Rose, (NOI), SE73-2808 (WITHDRAWN) 2. 273 School Street, Rose, (NOI), SE73-2809 (WITHDRAWN) ​Mr. Rose wishes to withdraw without prejudice. Motion to accept withdrawal without prejudice, DB, second RE, so voted. (LF back) 3. 390 Winthrop Street, Uva, (NOI), SE73-2817 ​Motion to approve order of conditions, DB, second JR, so voted. 4. 0 Hamlen Street, Sullivan, (NOI), SE73-2818 ​See field report. Present Brad Fitzgerald and Greg Sullivan. DB snow storage? Plow to the front of the yard. LF since its a duplex, can they cut it back a little? MR recommends single family but they can ask them to cut it back smaller. Brad said its 44ft x 42 wide. Sullivan said it might be difficult to sell as a single. It won’t fit in to the neighborhood plan. MR keep it as far as possible from the WPZ, single it can be put in different to fit better. Motion to continue to 11/18/19, DB, second JR, so voted. 5. 113 Dean Street, PB & C Series, LLC, (NOI), SE73- ​Motion to continue to 11/1819, DB, second MH, so voted. 6. 0 & 2318 Bay Street, Gulf Resources, Inc., (NOI), SE73-2819 ​See field report. Present Jamie Bissonnette and John Rockwood. Jamie said they will have double walled above ground tanks, and a special set up to a spill would be 100% contained. DB snow storage? The landscaped and grass areas will be snow storage? Salt and  chemicals used? Yes. ST that is a concern, they prefer sand. ST if 100 gallons spilled, 100 gallons would be stopped from spilling out of the tanks? Yes. LF so these tanks would contain a spill, 100%? Yes. DB what about spills on site? There are spill stations and actions for spill sizes. DB would prefer a peer review for this. MR better to have an expert on this. Send to three and go with the best price. MR will let Jamie know. Motion to have a peer review for this project, DB, second LF, so voted. Motion to approve the lowest bid and ST can sign off on it, DB, second JR, so voted. Motion to continue to 11/18/19, DB, second MH, so voted. Public Input: Mark Lincoln 2368 Bay Street, this is a very fragile area, wetlands, flood plains, acec, aquifer, drainage to the lake, zone 2 well protection area (dever wells), 7 of the 9 families around this have their own private wells. The ordinances/bylaws for conservation, he noticed a section that says the protection zone should be greater than 25 feet if it is a large project, an area in or near endangered species should be protected (MR has no letter from NHESP), and areas prone to flooding or excessive runoff should be protected. These are all his concerns with this whole project being in this area. Kim Ryan 6 Samoset Street Norton, they have had well problems in the past, it comes back to the wells on Winnecunnet. She said it is something to do with the watershed there. She has concerns with the light pollution, the flooding that occurs behind this property, and if there is ever an emergency such as a fire, they are the furthest location from both Taunton and Norton Fire Depts. Kerry Cummins 32 Samoset St, Norton. She directly abuts this property. The lake was failing, they spent $20,000 to be hooked into town sewer. Tons of money was spent to bring this lake back to what it once was. It is in great shape now and the fear of what this will do to this area is a major cause for concern. 7. Lot 3 Run Brook Circle, Run Brook Development, LLC, (NOI), SE73-2820 ​Motion to continue to 11/18/19, DB, second MH, so voted. 8. Lot 3 Run Brook Circle, Run Brook Development, LLC, (NOI), SE73-2821 ​See field report. Present Nick Dufrene Chris Moniz and Chris Coute. LF said he was out there today in March under new business, they said any applicant that comes in should be properly surveyed and the lots are to be marked. MR went by wetlands prior to this and makes a report by that. MR doesn’t remember that being said. LF said if we are not going to follow that then he is not going to participate. Coute said the typical process is to post after it is approved. ST wants them with DEP number, lot number and side boundaries, put it on the expectation list. Coute said 27 lots, done over 100 perc tests. They all came back excellent. DB does not want to see houses being done bigger than what is on the plan. Motion to approve with special conditions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 17, 19, 21, 25, 26, and 27, DB, second MH, so voted. Public Input: Michael and Danielle Costa Tremont Street. They are asking for some barrier to block the view of this. There were more trees before the construction started and they would like some kind of a barrier for more privacy. ST asked Chris Coute to go over and meet with them and work something out. Chris Coute agreed. 9. Lot 5 Run Brook Circle, Run Brook Development, LLC, (NOI), SE73-2822 ​Same presentation as Lot 3. Motion to approve with special conditions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 17, 19, 21, 25, 26, and 27, MH, second JR, so voted. Violations: 1. 208, 218, & 228 Berkley Street. ​Brian and Alexandra Estrela present, owners of 201 Berkley. Their property has sustained damage from runoff coming from the property owned by Fisher and Tardanico. They had said the plan was to remove the siltation. They did the banks but no soil was put in. Mr. Estrela asked him to put dirt over it and he didn’t want to but did. Tardanico told Estrela he was going to have a guy come back and throw some seed down, nobody ever showed. Varley, who owns the houses just built out front, came and threw down some seed, he saw that it was going to erode again and did it to help the Estrela’s. Nobody from Fisher or Tardanico’s business ever came over. ST asked if soil over the rocks was wanted? MR said at the time when they were working on the rip rap, they had put soil, they were placing it from what she saw. Estrela said Tardanico told him he was done, he asked for the soil and he gave him a hard time, finally did do it. ST wants a meeting set up with ST, MR, Tardanico, Fisher, DPW. Estrela said they also never lifted the sidewalks which was talked about at one of the meetings. The road is an absolute mess. DB’s concern is that with winter coming, they have lost land and there is damage now to their house. Motion to have MR contact Jeff Tardanico and Brian Fisher, they are to meet with MR, DPW, and ST this week to go over the issues out there, if not corrected up to TCC standards, violations will begin, they will continue this to 11/18/19, Brian Fisher and Jeff Tardanico are to be present at the TCC meeting on 11/18/19, JR, second RE, so voted. 2. 1337 Bay Street. ​Motion to continue to 11/18/19, MH, second DB, so voted. 3. 238 Maple Leaf Drive. ​Mr. Bryan present. He has lived there for 20 years and has been dumping there for the whole 20 years. He is not going to clean anything up. MR could ask the management to take as much out as is feasible now. ST asked if he was dumping on his property or common area? Its in a common area. Mr. Bryan said its been 20 years and he honestly wasn’t sure if it was his area or theirs. MR said this is not in the wetland but in the buffer, about 25 feet away. ST told him he cannot dump there anymore, now MR contact Josephine to contact the landscapers to remove what MR deems needs removal, could be none or some. MR in summer it does smell. MH is there anything he can put on it to break it down without harming the wetlands? No, it would just be more work for Mr. Bryan. ST told Mr. Bryan, no more dumping there ok? Mr. Bryan said yes. Motion to remove the violation, MR will go out and speak with management about the removal, JR, second MH, so voted. Other Business: 1. 110 Country Way. ​Fred Abraham, Kim Zimmerman, Tom Gaye present. Complaints have come in that the river was filled in now, no channels between the island out there and his property. Drainage pipe is hidden under the fill, drainage from the street goes into the river. DEP and the City Engineer mentioned fill was there. DEP and the city can  get an emergency cert to take care of the drainage issues and then remove the fill put in. If the DEP does it, fines are involved. TCC or DEP is the options. ST the fill, how close to the river? MR it is in the river. ST if they go the route of TCC, it must be done to MR’s standards. DB asked if they are acceptable to working with MR on this? Yes. Motion to have them work with MR, work with the city engineer, meet back here in 2 months on 12/16/19 with a status report, DB, second JR, so voted. Abutter Tom Bernier spoke for the property owners. He said he has not noticed a lack of flow, he said they clean and take care of the river, and always have. He even uses vegetable oil in his chain saw when removing branches because he knows motor oil is so bad for the environment. 2. Bent Awards. ​They will discuss next time. Motion to adjourn, DB, second JR, so voted. Meeting ended at 10pm.