The Mattapoisett Conservation Commission capped 2020 by using its December 28 remote-access meeting to issue two negative determinations of applicability, award two Orders of Conditions, withhold a Certificate of Compliance, and continue four public hearings.
Engineer David Davignon of Schneider, Davignon & Leone, Inc. left the meeting with two negative determinations and an Order of Conditions.
Davignon’s first Request for Determination of Applicability (RDA) was in representation of Charles Howard III and Jane Howard, 10 Third Street, for a Title 5 compliant septic system for a four-bedroom house with a detached garage that will be downsized to three bedrooms with the fourth becoming an upstairs apartment.
The house sits on 20 square feet of upland, not in a flood zone. A 1,500-gallon septic tank will replace a cesspool with a 1,000-gallon pump chamber and a 2-inch force main to a leaching field. A small portion of the leaching field is located inside the 100-foot buffer zone. The closest activity will occur 80 feet from the wetlands, including tree removal and a gentle slope.
Seeking a negative determination for minor work within the buffer zone, ConCom unanimously voted to issue a Negative 3 Determination stipulating notice to the town office before the commencement of the work.
The second RDA, filed by Aucoot Properties LLC c/o Charles Cedarburg at 98 Indian Cove Road, requested that the state Department of Environmental Protection Waterways Program issue a new Chapter 91 Waterways License legalizing a long-standing, floating dock at the Marion town line. No Notice of Intent was filed because no work has been proposed. Davignon had already brought the request to the Marion Conservation Commission, where a small portion of the dock exists. Mattapoisett ConCom unanimously voted to issue a Negative 2 Determination with no paper filing.
In a continued public hearing under Case SE 44-1415, Davignon had filed an NOI on behalf of Craig and Elaine Bovaird, 2 Oliver Street, for work including a deck to be rebuilt and expanded with new stairs and a new propane tank at a residence on a coastal beach in the velocity zone. There were no comments from the Department of Environmental Protection. The public hearing was closed, and ConCom voted to issue an Order of Conditions requesting that the site be cleaned daily due to its “extreme proximity” to the ocean.
Bob Field of Field Engineering filed an NOI on behalf of Raymond Hanks, 18 Crystal Spring Road. Under DEP File No. 44-1417, Field is proposing a two-car garage addition measuring 28-by-30 feet and a slightly expanded driveway with incidental grading within 50 feet of the wetland. The work is close to a disturbed area. Field told ConCom he would be happy to walk the site with Conservation Agent Elizabeth Leidhold, who had asked prior to the meeting if they used soil analysis. Field confirmed that they had, and King said Leidhold would be in touch should she decide on walking the site with Field. The hearing was continued two weeks out to January 11.
In a continued public hearing, Bart O’Brien of Whitman Homes, 36 Prince Snow Circle, filed an NOI to build a single-family house with utilities, as represented by Stephen Wry of Land Planning, Inc. Wry explained that the project includes 8,600 square feet of work within the buffer zone and reported that the DEP says the work will not have an adverse effect. There will be an erosion barrier with fences in the front and sides and a hay bale in the back. Wry told ConCom he had prepared an NOI for the adjacent lot, and O’Brien said the erosion had been addressed.
After voting to close public hearing SE 44-1412, ConCom requested that no less than two and no more than five 4-by-4-foot posts be used to identify the wetland area. The comments from the NHESP will be incorporated, and the commission voted unanimously to issue the Order of Conditions.
A Certificate of Compliance per Case SE 44-1352 was withheld from The Preserve at Bay Club, LLC for work at lots 122 and 123 Split Rock Lane after Leidhold requested an as-built on a 1:30 scale, citing unstable ground. There were no 4-by-4-foot posts, and the soil, lacking sufficient grass, was reported to be running down the hill. ConCom requested that a letter be sent to the applicant advising of the deficiencies in the conservation agent’s notes that must be addressed by January 11, when ConCom will consider a Certificate of Compliance.
Two public hearings, both NOIs, were continued to January 11 per the meeting agenda: SE44-1404 by Alexander Bauer at 7 Nasholina Road, and SE44-1409 by Randall Lane Solar, LLC at 29 Randall Lane.
King thanked his fellow commissioners for all they’ve done during a very challenging year, at which point a dog barked as if to acknowledge the comment. It was a welcome moment of Zoom meeting levity to close the business of ConCom on 2020.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission is scheduled for January 11 at 6:30 pm.
Mattapoisett Conservation Commission
By Mick Colageo