On July 17, engineer Brian Grady came before the Rochester Conservation Commission with a rather pedestrian request, a Certificate of Compliance on an amended Order of Conditions issued on April 7, 2017 for the construction of a tailwater recovery pond. However, Grady’s filing on behalf of his client, Decas Cranberry Corporation, noted several deviations from the plan on record. That did not sit well with several members of the commission.
Grady noted the deviations were “minor” and did not impact the resource area. The deviations noted in the COC filing were the placement of a pump house some 200 feet from the original plan, the construction of a concrete wall built in front of the pump house, and an 8-foot length of pipe installed through a canal versus a dike road.
Commissioner Laurene Gerrior said, “There are issues of trust.” She said that when other applicants request certificates of compliance that include deviations from the plan, they are required to give detailed explanations. She asked why the pump house was placed in a location not approved by the commission.
Grady acknowledged changes had occurred but that deviations were commonplace, saying, “You can draw lines on paper but sometimes things change – we do this all the time.” He reiterated that the changes made no impact on jurisdictional areas.
But Chairman Mike Conway was a bit more forceful in his displeasure.
“The bottom line is, I have a hard time approving this certificate of compliance.” He read one of the conditions issued back in April that stipulated any changes would be brought to the attention of the commission before being executed.
Conservation Agent Laurell Farinon agreed with the commission. She said that after a number of public hearings, a comprehensive order of conditions was drawn up that included the applicant would keep to the plan. But she also suggested that portions of the tailwater project could have been completed without any type of filing since the work was of an agricultural nature and therefore exempt from permitting requirements.
Farinon read from a list of conditions that Decas had successfully completed, including monthly reports, testing data, as build plans, continued monitoring of Snow’s Pond, and a $20,000 peer review consultant fee.
Farinon went on to explain that the commissioners might look at the applicant’s request in light of the majority of the work being eligible for agricultural exemption. But of the creation of the pond, she pointed out, “They were digging down and selling it. … It became a commercial act requiring a filing.”
Grady asked the commission to tell him what they considered significant changes from the plan because, in his estimation, nothing rose to that level.
“Whether something is significant is not your call,” Conway said, adding that any changes needed to be brought before the commission to determine if another filing was required.
Grady said there were several remedies the client could exercise to bring closure to this matter such as filing a new Notice of Intent, asking for an amended order of conditions, or asking for an agricultural exemption.
In the end, the commission tabled the matter pending a letter from the client explaining why the changes were made.
Farinon also asked Grady to instruct his clients to be aware that changes to orders of conditions needed preapproval of the commission.
Also coming before the commission was a request for tree removal on property located at 1117 Walnut Plain Road owned by Three Big Dogs Trust. Trees had suffered damage during winter storms and poised a safety concern. Removal of nine trees was approved via a negative determination for the Request for Determination of Applicability filing.
An after-the-fact Notice of Intent filing submitted by Chance Avery and Taylor Jesse received approval, with Farinon stating that conditions included the foundation of a shed would remain in place to prevent further damage to the 100-foot buffer zone.
Continued until August 7 as requested by the applicant was an Abbreviated Notice of Resource Area Delineation filed by Pedro Rodriguez for property located at 0 Walnut Plain Road.
The next meeting of the Rochester Conservation Commission is scheduled for August 7 at 7:00 pm in the town hall meeting room.
Rochester Conservation Commission
By Marilou Newell