On the eve of what many broadcasters were calling “snowmageddon,” the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission met for their March 13 hearings to consider applications for beach nourishment along Goodspeed Island’s coastal barrier.

Representing two clients, Dave Davignon of N. Douglas Schneider & Associates presented the plans to fix erosion problems on two abutting properties.

Fred Schernecker and Caroline Kearns, new owners of 1 Goodspeed Island, and Andrew and Jennifer McIntire, of the adjacent property, submitted Notice of Intent filings.

Schernecker’s filing as described by Davignon included elaborate shoreline repairs.

“There is an eroded bank … they want to rebuild this with filled envelopes, burlap and coconut fiber bags filled with sand,” Davignon explained. “There has been substantial erosion over the years … there is fifteen feet worth of erosion,” he said. The total area requiring beach repair will be 275 square feet, he stated.

Davignon said that sands used in the nourishment process will be of the same size and quality as existing beach sand, and that American beach grasses would be planted to help stabilize the area.

Also on Schernecker’s property, Davignon detailed extensive landscaping plans that included relocating more than 30 trees from one side of the property to another and adding as many as 500 native species plantings. Stones on the property will be repurposed as terraces and stepping stone pathways, he said, and the plan also includes a three-hole putting green covering 1,000 square feet.

On the McIntire property, Davignon said beach nourishment is also needed, but not to the same scale as the neighboring property. In this application, the area in question is 110 square feet, he said.

Chairman Bob Rogers asked Davignon to check into an existing Order of Conditions for the McIntire parcel, saying it might be better to close that out rather than having it left open while a new Order of Conditions is drafted. Davignon said he would discuss the matter with his clients.

Rogers said he could move to have both applications conditioned, but given the complexity of the jurisdictional area and the need to ensure that conditions are accurately and thoroughly stated, he asked Davignon to request continuances until March 27 to allow time for Conservation Agent Elizabeth Leidhold to draft the documents.

Both hearings were continued until the next meeting.

Also coming before the commission was Jason Braz for property located in the Brandt Point Village sub-division off Brandt Island Road. The Request for Determination of Applicability application for Nantucket Drive didn’t involve much in the way of jurisdictional areas, Rogers said.

Braz explained that he is a developer who buys single lots within this sub-division, constructing and selling one home at a time, but residents of the community came to voice their concerns.

Denis Demos said that developers have come into the development and “torn up” the place.

“No one is checking up on what they are tearing up in Phase 1 and they are tearing up Phase 2,” Demos said. “It’s a mess in there.”

Rogers said, “There is very little buffer zone on this lot. We have a few special conditions, but otherwise he can build his house.”

Rogers did say that if Demos believed things were being done that shouldn’t, he could call the office.

Gail Carlson, another resident of the development, said she had called several times to complain during Phase 1 but to no avail. Rogers said, “All I can say is call again.”

Braz received a Negative 3 determination, meaning no Notice of Intent filing is required.

The final hearing of the evening was for a 15.5-acre parcel on Long Plain Road owned by Paul and Lori Valiquette. Their RDA application was for certification of the wetlands delineation witnessed by Leidhold. They received a Negative 2 determination.

The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission is scheduled for March 27 at 6:30 pm in the town hall conference room.

By Marilou Newell

Mattapoisett’s Bike Path Committee has spend over two decades working through requirements set by state and federal agencies, local bylaws, wetland concerns, easements and, of course, funding – a true labyrinth if ever there was.

Now in March of 2017, all that hard work and persistence is very close to making the next phase of the bike path connection between Fairhaven and Marion a reality.

But not without a few more bumps in the pavement.

On March 9, long-time member and current chairman Steve Kelleher told those in attendance that easement issues were close to resolution. He said that state conservation agencies, the Department of Environmental Protection and Coastal Zone Management had reviewed the path’s wetland crossings and mandated that it be moved 20-feet closer to the Mattapoisett River away from marshlands. That small design modification, Kelleher said, now requires new easement negotiations with the three property owners – the YMCA, the Reservation Golf Club, and the McIntire family.

Kelleher said that Town Administrator Mike Gagne was handling those negotiations but had assured him the plan modifications were “minor” and should not hold up the project.

Kelleher said that plan changes would be brought before the voters during the upcoming May town meeting.

In a follow-up with Gagne, he stated in an email response to the question of what will appear on the town meeting warrant regarding the bike path easements, “It’s premature, legal is working on it, it is in the process.”

            In the good news category, Kelleher said that 100% design of Phase 1B was now in review by the Department of Transportation – a process that takes up to 90 days – but that T.I.P funding (Transportation Improvement Program) was committed. The amount awarded to Phase 1B of the Mattapoisett Bike Path is $4.5 million.

Now that the plans have been completed, Kelleher said it was time to work more closely with both the building department and conservation commission to ensure full compliance with those governing entities.

Long-time advocate, committee member and organizer Bonne DaSousa updated the group on safety issues at the intersections of Mattapoisett Neck Road and Brandt Island Road.

DaSousa said an ad hoc committee set up by the selectmen to review safety issues and solutions at those two intersections had uncovered yet another “very complicated” process. She said that in the absence of a fully engineered plan – one executed by a “traffic engineer” – the state would not consider or allow the town to make changes.

“Any changes have got to comply with the uniform traffic control division … it’s more confusing than you can imagine…” DaSousa said.

DaSousa explained that the federal government oversees all manner of traffic safety signage to ensure national uniformity. “We have to spend the money to do a traffic study then get it blessed,” she said.

The selectmen had hoped to provide motorists and bicyclists with additional safety measures at the two intersections based on concerns that both categories of users were at risk.         The speed limit on Mattapoisett Neck Road is 40 miles per hour and 35 miles per hour on Brandt Island Road. Ad hoc committee member Police Chief Mary Lyons had investigated various types of traffic signs from lighted portable speed displays to new paint colors on crosswalks. And while both the committee and the selectmen were eager to provide new visual safety measures, changes cannot be made at the local level without first receiving federal permission, DaSousa stated.

DaSousa also shared that the Friends of the Mattapoisett Bike Path, a private group supporting the town committee, was planning fund raisers to help finance the bike path where it crosses through the Mattapoisett Industrial Park acreage. “We are not ready for a public discussion on this yet,” DaSousa said, “…but are committed to paving…” a half-mile stretch in this area.

DaSousa emphasized in a follow up to the meeting that, “People think of bicycling as recreation, but in Boston it is critical for getting cars off the road.” She said, “Our young people are going to be moving to urban areas … they need to know how to share the road … road safety is critical.”

The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Bike Path Committee is scheduled for April 13 at 7:30 pm in the town hall conference room.

By Marilou Newell