The Rochester Conservation Commission Tuesday night said no twice, but in a very positive way.
In two public hearings, the commission issued determinations that projects to build an agricultural storage shed at 0 Pierce Street and replace a failing septic system at 213 Walnut Plain Road will not impact nearby wetlands.
The 96×60-foot agricultural building being planned for Pierce Street will be a metal structure constructed with slab-on grade, said Rick Charon of Charon Associates, representing petitioner Bayside Agricultural, Inc. Charon said the location is near the staging area for a proposed solar facility, so it is mainly sand and stone. The building will not need a water supply or septic system. It will be used to store bog-related equipment such as sand barges. Silt socks will be placed on one side at the limit of the buffer zone.
A failing septic system and cesspool at 213 Walnut Plain Road is being replaced with a new system that will require a new leaching field, said George Ayoub of GTA Engineering, representing petitioner Jacob Galary of Fairhaven.
The result will be a new system with 40 percent less of a leaching area, said Ayoub, who was appearing via Zoom. No work will happen within 100 feet of the wetlands buffer zone except minor grading, he said.
For both projects, the commissioners’ questions were few and the Negative Determination votes unanimous.
The brief meeting ended with a vote to set the Rochester Conservation Commission’s next meeting for Tuesday, November 1, at 7:00 pm at Old Colony Regional Vocational-Technical High School library, 476 North Avenue, Rochester, accessible remotely via Zoom.
Rochester Conservation Commission
By Michael J. DeCicco