Two brothers have sunk their life savings and every spare dollar they earn at other occupations to buy and develop a small farm that is riddled with jurisdictional wetlands. Now they must work with Rochester Conservation Commission members to find a way to not violate the wetland protection act – again.
An anonymous letter brought to the commission’s attention that the property owned by Travis and Dustin Lalli had allegedly sustained illegal environmental activities. Conservation Agent Laurell Farinon met Travis on the property and noted that a ditch had been dug and there were some other earth movements near wetlands.
The problem for the brothers is that the commission is now asking for an engineering plan detailing the full scope of work they plan to do and to remediate areas that have been disturbed near wetlands.
Present at the September 16 meeting was Dustin Lalli, who said, “We spent all our money to buy this land. We’ve lived in Rochester all our lives and we want to farm this land one day.”
Faced with a daunting estimate from an engineer to try to provide the commission with an ‘engineered’ plan, Lalli came before the board to plead his case and explain why a ditch had been dug.
Noting storm water run-off issues that were exacerbated by damage done by NSTAR’s heavy trucks using his dirt road, Lalli dug the ditch to divert water. The utility company has an easement to use the road. He was unaware that another area where some work had taken place was designated a wetland per the town’s by-laws, as it did not show up on the state mapping the Lallis were using for guidance.
Lalli said that one day, he and his brother hope to have a full-scale “old school” farming operation on the 10-acre site, but at the present time, “…we don’t have much money…” to hire an engineer.
Farinon said that she has had several properties with wetlands issues due to gravel excavation in past years, which leaves behind a topography that fills in with water followed by wetland vegetation, thus becoming jurisdictional. She said, “I can’t just ignore it.”
The commission decided to meet with the Lallis for a site visit and see the full extent of the situation for themselves. That meeting is scheduled for October 5 at 9:00 am.
In other business, the Rochester ConCom voted to issue a certificate of compliance for a filing from 1980 that had recently been requested by an attorney researching a deed. The certificate was issued to Attorney Brian Glover for 1 Stuart Road, 549 Walnut Plain Road, and 555 Walnut Plain Road.
A notice of violation issued to Andrea and Donald King, 425 Neck Road, was discussed. The historic home on the site has been extensively renovated, and more recently a hot tub was installed without notification to the commission. Farinon estimated that the installation is approximately 25 to 30 feet from the edge of the wetland area. Engineer Rick Charon is working with the Kings and the commission to confirm whether or not the installation is outside the jurisdictional area.
Selective grass cutting will take place around monitoring stations off North Avenue and Hartley Road for the Mattapoisett River, Farinon reported.
The next meeting of the Rochester Conservation Commission and Town Forest Committee is scheduled for October 7 at 7:00 pm in the Town Hall conference room.
By Marilou Newell
