Rather than have the Marion Conservation Commission possibly issue a Positive determination on November 28, Sippican Lands Trust (SLT) Executive Director Jim Bride requested a continuance so that he may rework his Request for Determination of Applicability proposal.
At issue is a path from Delano Road to Brainard Marsh, which the SLT owns and maintains for public access to the beach.
Bride proposed to the commission that the SLT install .5-inch to .75-inch gravel to the existing 3-foot wide path for approximately 320 feet of its length. This would make the path more reliably useable for the many members of the public who walk this path, Bride said.
The contractor is donating his labor to the project.
Commission Chairman Jeff Doubrava expressed his concern that the SLT would be filling wetlands, and that the wetland line had not been delineated. Doubrava also suggested using woodchips instead of gravel.
Bride countered that the stone would be permanent and make the path more user-friendly.
While Doubrava acknowledged that the property was well-used and the project well-intentioned, he said he would be more in favor of a temporary solution, that if left alone “would heal itself.”
Commission member Shaun Walsh inquired whether the SLT had considered a raised path or boardwalk. Bride thought the tides and weather could wash the structures away, and said he felt the water would pass through gravel better. Walsh noted the lack of a site plan describing the project, which he said “gives me pause.”
“If we don’t have something in writing, then in the future we won’t know if it’s gone beyond,” said Walsh. “It sets a precedent, and as fine as Sippican Lands Trust is, we can’t treat the land trust different than a private landowner.”
Member Joel Hartley observed that any project that fills a wetland requires a Notice of Intent, and questioned if this was a good project in any case.
Walsh suggested the land trust consider designing boardwalks for the wettest spots, which would be less impactful to the wetlands.
Member Cynthia Callow said she believed in the public access provided by the path, but hesitated allowing the SLT to permanently alter wetlands when there were possible alternatives.
Doubrava summarized his feelings, saying, “Rules have to apply to everybody, or they apply to nobody.”
Bride requested a continuance to explore alternative solutions.
David Davignon, of N. Douglas Schneider & Associates presented a Request for Determination of Applicability for a parcel on Oakdale Avenue. Davignon was seeking a determination that the parcel, owned by William Knight, did not contain any jurisdictional wetlands. Davignon asked that the commission refer to a report he provided by LEC Environmental which stated that the parcel was a jurisdictional resource area, “land subject to coastal storm flowage,” but there was no other jurisdictional wetland.
There was a brief discussion regarding a pipe that may connect the isolated wetland on the parcel to a retention pond off the property, which Hartley thought could make it a jurisdictional wetland. It was unclear where the pipe, which the commission did not see but was mentioned in the report, drained.
Davignon assured the commission that the new structure contemplated on the parcel, which was not part of this application, would be pushed back out of the V-zone and that a Notice of Intent would be filed for any work on the parcel.
As the commission contemplated their determination for this proposal, Walsh stumbled over the semantics of the request. The report by the applicant’s consultant stated there was a jurisdictional resource area, “land subject to coastal storm flowage,” which covers the whole parcel. But Davignon was making the case that there were no jurisdictional wetlands, since land subject to storm flowage is not a wetland per se.
After some back and forth, the commission issued a Positive determination that the entire parcel was subject to the Wetlands Protection Act due to the wetland resource area, but that there were indeed no other jurisdictional wetlands on the property.
In other matters, at Doubrava’s urging, the commission decided to lift the Enforcement Order with the Town at the Washburn Park skating park, which has “healed itself,” Doubrava said.
The commission also decided to reach out to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to ask someone to visit the site at Indian Cove Road to sort out the discrepancies in the Chapter 91 license. They are attempting to determine if a Chapter 91 license exists for the stone revetment and floats and ramps that exist at the site, both in Marion and Mattapoisett.
Doubrava also suggested the commission issue an Enforcement Order to Mark Ross at 195C Converse Road for the mowing in the wetland area that Ross admitted to doing, and his intention to continue to do. Walsh was hesitant to do so, with no direct knowledge that the area had been recently mowed. He suggested that instead the commission issue a letter putting Ross on notice and that the commission should monitor the property.
In other business, the commission issued a Negative determination to the work proposed by Bret and Deborah Bokelkamp to upgrade their existing septic system at 50 Old Knoll Road. However, the commission issued a Positive determination regarding the wetland line, saying the line must be reevaluated if there is future work contemplated on this parcel.
The commission issued a Negative determination for the proposal by Mark Rodriques at 1 Holly Pond Road to replace a failed septic system, provided the proponents install siltation barriers along the edge of the road.
Michael Variejka, represented by Brian Grady at GAF Engineering, filed a Notice of Intent to remove trees and shrubs in preparation for future work on the parcel at 122 Register Road. Depending on the location of the mature trees to be removed, the commission may ask the stumps to be ground down instead of removed. The hearing was continued due to a lack of a DEP file number.
The next meeting of the Marion Conservation Commission is scheduled for December 12 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Town House.
Marion Conservation Commission
By Sarah French Storer