The Rochester Conservation Commission approved an underground connection to solar power on Old Middleboro Road and gained two new members on Tuesday night.
Middleboro Road solar-farm developer Solar MA Project Management, LLC’s original plan was to install utility poles down the length of Old Middleboro Road to a homeowner there. Tuesday night, company representatives proposed being allowed to bury the utility connections underground instead.
“We decided the best path forward was changing from above-ground to below, using PVC pipe and pumps for the water we will encounter,” consultant Austin Turner said.
Turner said this is a better alternative than the homeowner being cut off from access to the street by falling utility poles in a storm and having to cut down trees in the area.
The Conservation Commission approved this plan after receiving assurances the work will be under the road surface and will not disturb the existing culverts.
The roadwork proposal was acceptable, Conservation Commission Chairman Chris Gerrior explained later, because Old Middleboro Road is already an unpaved dirt road.
The board’s most impactful action Tuesday, however, came before this vote. As the meeting began, Mike Gifford was appointed as a new full member. Gifford has been a resident for 65 years, he said, and is the third of his generation to reside in the town. He is retired after working 42 years in the defense industry, for Sippican, Inc. and Lockheed Martin.
Bill Clapp was appointed as a new associate member. Clapp said he has been a resident most of his life. He is retired from a career in the finance and accounting field.
Ironically, associate member Clapp was able to sit at the board’s table on Tuesday, but new full member Gifford was not allowed to do so because he has not yet been sworn in.
In other action, the commission approved the compliance certificate for work to remove a trailer and block storage at 68 Bowens Lane that had been built within the 25-foot, no-disturb zone adjacent to an intermittent stream and to restore 2,735 square feet of that land.
The commission had tabled a decision on this project at its last meeting in order to verify the work had been done. Conservation Agent Merilee Kelly said that after visiting the site, she has seen the work has been done. “The trailer and storage are long gone,” she said. “The area is marked by boulders and hydroseed.”
The commission also approved scheduling a site visit to the MBTA facility at Routes 58 and 28 on Friday, May 6, at 9:00 am.
The commission’s next meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 17, at 7:00 pm at Old Colony Regional Vocational-Technical High School, 476 North Avenue.
Rochester Conservation Commission
By Michael J. DeCicco