Conservation Commission

TAUNTON CONSERVATION COMMISSION Minutes April 12, 2021 In Person Council Chambers Present: Steve Turner, Chair, Commissioners Richard Enos, Luis Freitas, Jan Rego, Michele Restino, Conservation Agent Absent: Courtney White, Recording Secretary, Debbie Botellio, Co-Chair, Commissioners Josh Borden, Matthew Haggerty 6:00pm ST opened meeting. Motion to continue March 15 2021 minutes. LF, second RE. Steve welcomes everyone and applauds the Mayor and her administration for the work done on the new City Hall and Council Chambers. It’s a privilege to be here. Only 37 people allowed. Look at the agenda and see where you are. If you are on the second page you probably have about 45 minute to an hour and could go out for a coffee. Reviews the agenda and goes down the list to see who is here for each filing. Please stay in your seats. EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion to go into Executive Session RE, LF second. No votes taken. Motion to go back into regular session JR, second RE. Cont. Public Meeting: Winthrop St. (88-115). Continue to May 17th hearing per the Applicant’s request. Motion RE, Second LF. So voted. Cont. Public Hearing Cameron Ave. (ANRAD). Joe Correira, Tony deFrias. TD: We were asked to rotate the septic system 90 degrees by one of the Commissioners at the last meeting and we have done so. This also moved the house up closer to the street by 5 feet. The BOH did grant us approval. ST: Did you have a chance to meet with the neighbors? JC: I spoke with Mrs. Donovan and she said that her questions were answered. No issues with this project. ST read Field Report. Motion to issue ORAD LF, second JR. 66 Foxhill Dr.(NOI). This was approved at the last meeting awaiting the issuance of the DEP number. Motion to issue an Order of Conditions RE, second LF. So voted. Tremont St. (ANRAD). Applicant requests a continuance to May 17th. Motion RE, second JR, so voted. MEETINGS & HEARINGS 191 Somerset Ave (NOI). AJ Marshall, PC&PG, Bill Roth, EOCD, Karlis Skulte, Civil Env. Consult. BR discussed the grant that needs to be used before the end of June regarding the rehabilitation of Flannery Playground. Partnering with Parks cemeteries and Public Grounds to rehab the playground. AJ: background – public meetings with OECD and the park is actually on First Street. It will connect to Memorial Park and it fits into the master plan for Memorial Park. BR: we also had a neighborhood meeting – only 4-5 people showed up. KS: small BVW in the north. Discussed the project showing the existing site, much in disrepair and drainage is poor. Existing fence will be removed and replaced. Replace basketball court with 2 courts; there will be a walking path around the perimeter and 3 playground areas for different age groups. The shade structure will be reconstructed with tables. New landscaping along First St. and a decorative fence will be in front with new fencing along the perimeter. Playing up the curb appeal. Access for maintenance equipment. Stormwater management will consist of a swale in front to be directed to an underground system that will then direct treated stormwater to the drainage in the street. In the rear there will be a swale that leads to a shallow basin that may have just 6 inches of water in a storm event and will remain dry and as a play area the rest of the time. The basin will drain to a distributor that goes to the wetland. There will also be an access to Memorial Park. Exercise stations will be located along the walking path. ST: Kudos to AJ. Thank you. Will there lights? AJ: No lights, currently. Open from dawn to dusk. There was a 10” force gas main running under the park that has now been capped and abandoned. JR: What will the surface of the walkway be? KS: ADA compliant asphalt, 6 laps is a mile. LF: Great job! ST read Field Report. Motion to issue Order of Conditions with Special Conditions 1-5, 8, 9, 19, 21, 25-27, 29 RE, second LF. 44 Dean Street. (RDA) Steve Kohm, Prime Engineering. To raze 4 dilapidated buildings on the site. Two buildings are within the 100-foot buffer zone. Will also be going in front of the Historical Comm. And will be filing a Notice of Intent. Silt fence will be up to protect the wetlands during the work. The historical building just south of this area will remain at this time. ST read Field Report. Where does the material go? Following all local federal and state regulations regarding disposal and had an asbestos test done and two of the buildings came back hot. Material will be taken off site.ST: talk with Michele regarding where the material will be disposed and submit copies of any paperwork. We will be talking to you about testing the ground when you come back for the NOI. If you could keep us informed as to where the material goes, how much and when. RE: Make that a Special Condition. Motion to issue a Negative Determination with Special Conditions 1-3, 14, 18, 19, 20 JR, second LF. 985 Glebe St. (ANRAD). John DeSousa, Northcounty Group. Spoke about the wetlands at the Burt St. portion of the property. Buffer zone shown on the plan. 160 feet to barn from the wetlands. Access for lot is on Glebe St. with about 50 feet of frontage. RE: Is this the one with the flags in the wrong place – no, that was another property. Abutters: Richard Park 960 Glebe St. What is the purpose of this? ST: Mr. Berube has asked for a delineation of the wetlands but there are no plans as to what he is planning. All we’re doing is approving this line tonight. Steve Sherman, 421 Burt St. The dots are the wetland? Where do you want to put the houses? JD: no house plans yet. SS: It’s always been wet over there and we need to keep as many wetlands as we can. In heavy rain our yards are filled with water. It’s wet there all the time. Yvette: my questions were answered. Daniel: my questions were answered. LF: has this been perked? JD: There is a house on the property at this time. Just establishing the wetland line at this time. ST: Read Field Report. Motion to issue an Order of Resource Area Delineation (ORAD) RE, second LF. So voted. Mass Coastal RR ROW (RDA). Applicant requested a continuance to May 17th. Motion to continue to May 17th JR, second RE. So voted. RR Three Mile River Bridge Replacement (NOI). Jessica Rebholz, Jacobs Eng., Peter Cruz, Jacobs Eng. JR: A portion of the project is within Norton with a smaller portion within Taunton. Temporary impacts are associated with the straw wattles and laydown area as well as the widening of the track. Area in pink is associated with the widening of the track within the Riverfront Area. The temporary disturbance is within Riverfront and Wetland Buffer. ST read Field Report. ST: When do you think you will be starting and finishing this job? JR: Not sure. ST: Within 2 years? JR: Yes. We will also be in a small section of NHESP. Motion to issue an Order of Conditions with Special Conditions 1-5, 19, 21, 25-27 JR, second LF. So voted. 70 Malibu Drive (NOI). Scott Faria, Eng., Sam Delgado, applicant. SF discussed the project of a SFH of Lot A after 70 Malibu is divided into two lots with the original house on Lot B. Not able to honor 25-foot buffer zone. Has a silt sock within 10 feet. Within the ten foot zone we plan to plant blueberry bushes. Hoping that the plantings will act as a buffer. SD plans to live here. ST read Field Report. LF: You are going back to the ZBA? SF: Yes we originally received a variance for 10,000 sq. ft. but this plan has only 8,800 sq. ft. so we need to reapply. ST. Feels two lots are better designed than the 1 lot. I think this project is fine. I disagree with Michel on this one. Motion to issue an Order of Conditions LF, second RE. So voted. 26 Oakridge Place (NOI). Brad Fitzgerald, SFG Assoc. This is for a septic system repair. This has a large leaching field due to the perk rate. Proposing a septic tank and pump chamber. 120 feet from the riverbank. No BVW. Erosion control just outside the 25-foot WPZ and this will be a raised system. ST read Field Report. Motion to issue an Order of Conditions with Special Conditions 1-5, 8, 17, 21, 25-27 RE, second LF. So voted. 726 Dighton Ave. (RDA). Brad Fitzgerald. SFG Assoc. This is for the construction of a driveway and installation of water and sewer connections. BF: discussed the project, house #726. House taken down and now they are proposing a new house. The wetland is across the street and a portion of the driveway and the connections are within the 100-foot buffer zone. Driveway will be about 82’ and the water and sewer would be 75’ and 70’ from the BVW. ST read Field Report. Motion to issue a Negative Determination with Special Conditions 1-4, 18, 19 RE, second JR. So voted. 188 Run Brook Circle (RDA). Chris Moniz. CM discussed the project – most of work outside the 100-foot buffer. Small corner of the house and a portion of the recharge system are within the buffer zone. ST read Field Report. Issue a Negative Determination with attached Special Conditions 1-6, 14, 18, & 19, LF, second JR. So voted. 190 Run Brook Circle (NOI). Chris Moniz. CM discussed the project – The house is within the buffer zone while the driveway and septic system are outside the buffer zone. ST read Field Report. Motion to issue an Order of Conditions to include the attached Special Conditions 1-7, 17, 19, 21, 25-27, RE, second LF. So voted. Round Street (41-66) (RDA). Jeff Tallman, John Garanito. JT discussed the project which is part of the Chase Farm property, which is for a single family home, with the driveway within 50 feet of the wetland. All other work is outside the buffer zone. ST: How big is this property? 60,000 square feet. 400 ft from the street. ST: will there be more building out there? JG: there will be two more Form A lots. JT: we had to show the whole property and proposed lots to the Planning Board. ST: a lot of abutters here. I want you to talk with the neighbors. Not sure if I’m ready to approve this tonight. My concern is that the neighbors be aware of what is going out there. LF: Have you met with the neighbors? JG: Not yet. All we’ve done is perk tests. Haven’t had a chance to as this is our first public meeting. Just building houses along the street. ST: How many Form A lots? JG: 3 on Tremont St and 5 on Round Street. ST: Get the neighbors in the loop. JT: I’m confident we can address all the neighbors’ concerns tonight. Public Comments: Rhoda Berube, 556 Tremont St. Across from the Tremont St. property. What are you going to do to prevent water table from rising? I have 2 sump pumps and have been here for 58 years. We sit in a swamp. There’s a pond behind – spring fed. Concerned about the water. JT: not proposing any changes to the drainage out there – typical single family homes. Directing water to the wetland as it goes today. Karen Pineo, abutter on the other side of Tremont St. as well, 563 Tremont St. Looking at the whole project and water pools in the yard when it rains, basements are flooded. JG: Just developing along the street, no big project going in there. They’re all 60,000 square foot lots. Shouldn’t have any encroachment on wetlands. We are nowhere near the pond. KP: Our major concern with the neighbors is the flooding. JT: discussed perk tests. At this time of year the groundwater is at its highest. ST: 2 houses on Round and 3 on Tremont? We are here tonight for Round St. JG: one of the lots is 10 acres that could see 1 or 2 houses. JT: If you build a subdivision, there would be a much greater impact than what we are doing. We are only developing 8 single family dwellings on this 27 acre property. ST: I’m ok with this lot and the next one. It seems that Tremont St. will be a problem. Make Tremont St. not be an issue. Talk to the neighbors. RE: can you build special drainage for the homes? JG: down spouts right to the ground usually. RE: is it too much to ask for a recharge system? JT: This would create a bigger problem with groundwater – it goes directly into the ground where downspouts have it run on the surface first and then it slowly goes into the ground. LF: These are single family homes, right? They want to know if it is going to add to the problem out there. More discussion on the projects. The question is how many are going out there. JT: The 8 lots we have going out there all conform to zoning, they are 60,000 square feet. The next two lots on the street are outside jurisdiction. We’re complying to the wetlands regulations. JG: We’ll talk to the neighbors. They are all Form A lots, approval not required for the plan. This is a very modest proposal. Margo Wilson Atkinson, 407 Hodges St. I’m getting a little ahead of myself. Talked about the Chase properties. Have you purchased all of that? We purchased the Chase property that has frontage on Round and Tremont Streets. 10 acre parcel is part of the Chase property, not on Hodges St. I’m trying to get the whole picture. On Hodges and Round, the road floods like crazy. How can you help us not have further water issues. AJ Williams, 565 Tremont St. My land abuts Chase’s land. No argument yet. He just wants to put two houses on Round St. That land is pretty good there. Talked about Tremont St. land. ST: Anything you would like to speak to further? JT: Not asking for any waivers or anything. ST read Field Report. LF: wants to know if the abutters are satisfied with the presentation tonight. They said yes. Motion to issue Negative Determination with Special Conditions 1-5, 14, 18, 19, LF, second RE. So voted. Round Street (41-65)(NOI). John Garanito, Jeff Tallman. JT: Discussed the project. Single family home and is south of the previous house discussed. This will have to be set back the farthest due to the ILSF. The house is outside the buffer zone of two wetland areas. The driveway, grading, and leaching field will be within the buffer zone. This will be next to the existing Chase house. ST read Field Report. Motion to issue an Order of Conditions with attached Special Conditions 1-6, 17, 19, 21, 25-27, RE, second LF. So voted. Cranesbill Road (105-130)(NOI). John Garanito, Jeff Tallman. JT: this is for a single family home which will be on City water and sewer. Majority of work in the buffer zone will be grading. Driveway is outside the buffer zone. ST read Field Report. Motion to issue an Order of Conditions to include the attached Special Conditions 1-5,7-9, 17, 19, 21, 24-27, JR, second LF. So voted. Hodges Street (42-46)(ANRAD). John Garanito. JT: On the south side of Hodges St. 29 acre parcel. Looking for acceptance of the delineation. The wetland line was brought out to the street to complete the line. Abutters: Mike Lucas, 430 Hodges St. There is a vernal pool behind his lot. The gravel pit area sees a lot of dirt bikes and ATVs. They’ve done a lot of damage. Putting houses out there will make it quieter. There is a burial ground on the property and is shown on the plan. Neil Clinch, 393 Hodges St. Street will be directly across from his driveway and I’m not happy with that. The plan is conceptual at this time. My other concern is traffic. Hodges St. is so narrow. ST: I’m sure this will be addressed at Planning and Zoning. Margo Atkinson, 407 Hodges St. Concerned with the wetlands. Measured the poles. Passenger side mirrors are on the ground. A lot of people hit those poles. Road is very narrow. Petition DPW to widen the road. Debbie Michaud, 379 Hodges St. I’m concerned with the number of houses. I don’t like the idea of 14 houses. ST read Field Report. Motion to issue an ORAD, JR, second RE. So voted. 396 Winthrop Street (NOI). Jeff Tallman. JT discussed the project. This is to reconfigure the existing parking lot. It is on the corner of Cohannet and Winthrop Streets. Owner has a shipping business. We are decreasing impervious area. Adding vehicle storage space and parking for employees. 10 total spots. RE: what about snow storage? JT: it will go in an additional customer spot. RE: not going to use any chemicals? JT: no. RE: please add no chemicals to be used to the Special Conditions. ST read Field Report. Motion to issue an Order of Conditions with Special Conditions 1-5, 7, 17, 19, 21, 25-27, and #33 No chemicals to be used, LF, second JR. So voted. 2 & 8 Galleria Mall Drive. (ANRAD) Request by Applicant to continue to the May 17th hearing date, RE, second JR. So voted. CONTINUED VIOLATIONS 50 Partridge Circle. Dan Lima, owner. ST: you’ve been on this for a while. I went over there the other day with commissioner Rego. You have an agreement with Wildlands Trust to acquire the land. DL: They are waiting for me to get a Form A plan. ST: you’ll need to go to ZBA for that? You will probably need the violation removed to go forward. There is a pol, driveway and deck not on his property. And they are near wetlands. Michele and I had a conversation with Karen Gray from the Trust. She said that they are working with Mr. Lima. We are looking for removal of the violation. I walked out there by the pool and you can see the wetland. Mr. Lima will do whatever the commission asks of him. My recommendation is to remove the violation and have Mr. Lima work with Wildlands Trust and then go to ZBA. Motion to remove violation JR, second LF. So voted. 248 Tremont St. ST: We should continue this – no one here. Michele, did you go out there and meet with him? MR: No, never got a call but I have been out there several times. ST: Please send him a letter saying was continued to May 17th. JR: He was on at the last meeting. Discussion regarding the issues. Motion to issue a continuation letter certified LF, second RE. So voted. 19 Old Colony Avenue. ST: MR and I went out there. He is working on a plan. Let’s continue this to May 17th. Motion to continue to May 17th RE, second JR. So voted. VIOLATIONS 9 Old Colony Avenue. Debbie Aruda. ST: read violation letter regarding cutting trees and clearing the wetland area. We were out there with the Amaro property and saw this small wetland area behind your house. MR: I talked to Nick who didn’t realize there was an issue because he saw Amaro doing the same thing on his property and so thought he could as well. It looks as if I should work with both parties to coordinate the replanting of shrubs and putting up the fence. ST: Can you work with the Amaro’s? DA: Yes. From my understanding, my property doesn’t have wetlands. ST: It looks as if there is just one property and we saw what looked like wetlands. Contact Michele at the office and she’ll work with you. Motion to continue to May 17th RE, second JR. So voted. 41 Lillian Terrace. Justin Monsini and Linda Monsini. ST: Read the violation – dumping tires, car parts, trash, rubbish and steel drums within 100 feet of a wetland resource area. MR: Board of Health was out there too. ST: So what did you do? JM: There is no dumping out there, everything is moved out of there weekly. My main goal is to recycle everything. I distribute the tires to wholesalers who melt down the rubber. I was renting a unit but with COVID, that changed. Car parts are in the barrels. MR: I was out there with BOH and you can’t store this stuff in a residential area. Not sure this is considered running a business. JM: I was working out of W. Bridgewater, but cancelled it due to COVID. ST: we aren’t out there on Lillian Terrace looking for trouble so somebody called. JM: I agree and I’m in the middle of filing a harassment claim. ST: Tell me where the wetlands are located. MR: I could see behind the house where the piles of tires and barrels were. Showed an area that was wetland right behind the piles and barrels. ST: so describe the unit. JM: about a 16x20 unit. ST: Was there a pod out there? MR: No everything was on the ground. JM: It’s why I have the steel drums to hold the car parts to protect them from the rain. MR: Were the barrels empty? JM: 3 empty but the others were filled with parts. We had a dumpster there as well. MR: The barrels et al are a health risk. Did you receive the letter from the BOH? JM: No. MR: I would recommend that you talk with BOH. ST: We want to work with you. Reach out to the BOH. Contact Michele. LF: you’re in a residential area. Are you planning to go back to W. Bridgewater? JM: Yes. LF: I’m surprised you haven’t been shut down. ST: I recommend continuing to May 17th. Be in touch with Michele as you may or may not have to come to this meeting. Motion to continue to May 17th RE, second LF. So voted. Other Business: 43 Hart St. MR: I met with Mrs. Cleaves and her daughter regarding their concerns about the stream and flooding. Water is just standing there and not dissipating. Looking to get Bristol County Mosquito Control out there to help clear the channel to get it moving better. The wetlands do extend into her property and when it rains it goes farther into her property. It’s a large marshy area. Her yard is spongy. Her concern is that it is getting closer to her house. There is a lot of Japanese Knotweed. She wants the city or Bristol County to clean it like they used to. ST: I would recommend that they call and ask them to clean it out. Motion to have MR work with the homeowners and Mosquito Control and DPW to work together. 10 Mineral Street. Continue to May 17th. Motion to continue to May 17th RE, second JR. So voted. Motion to continue minutes to May 17th, RE, LF. So voted. Motion to adjourn JR, second LF. So voted. 9:15pm.