Roger and Emily Tenglin were issued an Order of Conditions so they can build a new, single-family house at 88 Indian Cove Road. The vote of the Marion Conservation Commission came during its April 12 public meeting at the recommendation of commissioner Shaun Walsh.
Elevation of the base-flood level was key in the commission’s approval, and Walsh added special conditions, including 20 feet of additional silt fence or 10 hay bales for the purposes of storm-damage prevention and flood control. Walsh added a continuing condition of 13 boulders measuring at least 3 feet in any dimension for the purposes of a permanent wetland boundary protection.
In a rare, in-person appearance before the commission, representative Dave Davignon of Schneider, Davignon & Leone, Inc., explained that the Tenglins, in partnership with another family, bought what 11 years ago was the old boatyard. There are two barns on the lot proposed for demolition.
Some time ago, Davignon explained, the Tenglins went before the Conservation Commission with a plan to drastically shrink the existing boat-facility footprint and restore a remaining portion as a boat-storage building.
The towns of Marion and Mattapoisett are connected on the property by gravel roads. The lot was developed as part of a two-lot subdivision that can access Marion and Mattapoisett, though the address is in Marion.
The plan is for the house to face due north toward Indian Cove, with a detached garage in the northwest corner of the property, and a driveway will be built off an existing crushed-stone driveway off Aucoot Road.
There are bordering vegetated wetlands on the east and west sides of the property, as Davignon pointed out on his site plan. The BVW is 44 feet from the closest point of construction. The proposed septic system will be a gravity-based system with denitrification technology.
Davignon said the top of the foundation will sit “quite a bit above base-flood elevation so (we’re) planning for the future.”
With the floor opened to the public, abutter Mike Popitz of 64 Indian Cove Road said the Tenglins have been “excellent neighbors” and have what looks like a “great project.” He requested a copy of the site plan and was invited by Davignon to pick up a full-size copy at his office the next day.
With that, the commission voted to close the public hearing.
The Town of Marion was also on the agenda with two heard proposals that were both rewarded with Negative 2 and 3 determinations of applicability.
The first was Marion’s plans to lay out and excavate an ADA-compliant walkway at Silvershell Beach.
In explaining the request during the public hearing, Facilities Manager Shaun Cormier said that approximately four to five years ago, former Town Administrator Paul Dawson started a town-wide ADA-improvement plan as required for the town to receive ADA-improvement municipal grant funding. Former Town Administrator Jay McGrail filed the grant application, and Cormier reported that the $49,060 in grant funding has been received.
Cormier told the commissioners he has received quotes for $39,400 to install the 320-foot-long, 6-foot-wide walkway made of concrete with a base made of 3/4-inch, compacted, crushed stone.
“Silvershell Beach is the hot spot in the summer. They have handicapped parking with mats that give you access to the beach, but there’s no access to the facilities or the playground so this was a priority for us,” explained Cormier. “We already have it all laid out…”
Commission Chairman Jeff Doubrava estimated that, at most, construction would take a week.
“We’ll have a stockpile on the side, we’re not really worried about erosion,” said Cormier. The sand removed for the construction will be used to support the area surrounding the walkway.
“It gets a little steep as you get up by the beach house, but we’ll maintain that ADA grade,” said Cormier. “With whatever money I have left over, I’ll purchase a couple of ADA tables for (access.)”
“It’s a great project, it’s in an appropriate area, right from where the handicapped parking spaces are,” said commissioner Shaun Walsh. “Kudos to you and Jay … not here anymore, we’re still reaping the benefits of his leadership, so thank you guys for applying for the grant.”
Without anyone from the public interested to comment, the public hearing was closed.
The commission also issued Marion’s Department of Public Works a Negative 2 and 3 Determination of Applicability to complete four test pits to determine the condition of subsurface soils in preparation for a water main replacement project.
Attending the meeting remotely, DPW engineer Meghan Davis explained that the tests will be taken in the vicinity of the Creek Road Pumping Station and will require digging at 6 feet in depth. At the completion of the testing, said Davis, the holes will be backfilled with the excavated material and pavement installed.
Although the work proposed is inside the 200-foot buffer zone to wetlands, close to a body of water and in the flood zone, the job will make no direct impact or permanent alterations to resources areas, Davis said.
Doubrava said, five or six years ago, the commission issued the town an Order of Conditions to repave Creek Road. “The question that came up at the time was … a lot of discussion that that road was built upon substandard fill,” he said, noting that the road was wavy. The solution at the time, he recalled, was that the town was going to “put enough road base down that you could put this on top of mattresses and you’ll still get a nice, smooth road.”
Davis acknowledged that the town will be excavating the same area of the roadway.
“So, just to be sure we’re covering all bases with the type of soils that could potentially be under there, we just wanted to do some … testing to make sure we know what we’re dealing with before we do any type of excavation,” she explained. “And after the water main is installed, we will be paving the patch of the water main, not the full width of the roadway. Just to make sure the pavement will be structurally intact as well.”
Davis said the hole will be opened and closed the same day, leaving no stockpile of material.
The public hearing was voted closed.
Regarding unauthorized activity taking place at 21 East Avenue, Walsh said he observed a piece of heavy machinery at the base of the driveway and some indication that work had been done at the site. “It’s in a resource area for sure, whether it’s an impact on the resource area (is the question),” said Doubrava.
Noting the conversion of grass to other plantings, Walsh said there is an exemption but suggested the commission or Conservation Agent Doug Guey-Lee write a letter to the property owners acknowledging that the work being done on the site is in a jurisdictional area (flood zone, buffer zone to coastal bank) and that any work should be accompanied by a RDA filing with the Conservation Commission.
Guey-Lee agreed to draft a letter to be reviewed at the commissioners’ next public meeting.
In separate votes, the commission voted to issue the Jeffrey J. and Elizabeth M. Doubrava Revocable Trust and John A. and Carol F. Whittemore certificates of compliance for work performed at 47 and 51 East Avenue, respectively.
As applicant in one of the cases, Doubrava recused himself and Emil Assing served as chairman for the matter. Assing, together with Walsh and associate member Millie Seeberg, visited the site, noting that the docks and floats were out of the water.
Requested to comment to the Zoning Board of Appeals regarding property owned by Theodore Duncan at 17A Pine Grove Lane, the commission determined that the land is non-jurisdictional.
After discussion regarding the governor’s extension of the right to include a remote aspect of public meetings, the commissioners agreed to continue meeting in a hybrid format used on April 12.
The next meeting of the Marion Conservation Commission is scheduled for Wednesday, April 26, at 7:00 pm at the Police Station on Route 6 and accessible via Zoom.
Marion Conservation Commission
By Mick Colageo