ARLINGTON CONSERVATION COMMISSION
MINUTES
SEPTEMBER 5, 2002
Mr. Stevens called the meeting to order at 7:30pm in the second floor conference room of the Town Hall Annex. Present were Nathaniel Stevens, David White, Timothy Sullivan, Catherine Garnett, and Christine Wallace. Judith Hodges of the Commission was not in attendance. Brian and Heather Sullivan of 43 Dothan St. attended along with representatives Leo Garneau of Northeastern Consulting Forestry Services. Ed Tremblay and Kristin Anderson were also in attendance.
7:30pm MISCELLANEOUS –
Sullivan/Wallace motioned to approve the 8/22 minutes with minor edits; motion passed unanimously.
The Commission is drafting its Capital Budget proposal which is due September 19. Cooke’s Hollow and the Reservoir will be proposed. The Commission scheduled a site walk for 9/11 at 6pm to look at the Cooke’s Hollow work area.
8:00pm 43 DOTHAN ST., ABBREVIATED NOTICE OF RESOURCE AREA DELINEATION
Mr. Stevens opened the continued hearing from 8/22.
Ms. Beckwith briefly described the results of the site walk conducted on 8/24/02. The members of the Commission who attended this (Mr. White, Ms. Garnett, Ms. Wallace, Mr. Sullivan and Ms. Beckwith) agreed that the wetland line comes right up to the edges of the existing dirt roadway.
Mr. Garneau presented a revised plan showing the wetland boundary following immediately adjacent to the dirt roadway on the west side. The line on the plan for the dirt road is the wetland boundary on the east side of the road. The Commission also agreed that the roadway is currently not functioning as a vegetated wetland, but only as the hydrologic connection between these two wetlands.
Ms. Beckwith consulted with Kevin O’Brien, Assistant Director of Planning regarding the floodplain. The site also is within the 100 year floodplain as calculated by Metcalf & Eddy for the Reed’s Brook project. The current floodplain elevation for the site is 186’ and should be lowered to 185.3 at the completion of that work.
Mr. Sullivan commented that the revised plan submitted to DEP should make these delineations very clear.
Garnett/White motioned to accept the wetland boundary line along both sides of the existing dirt roadway with the finding that this delineation is only good for the roadway parcel and is only an approximation for the adjacent house lots; motion passed unanimously.
White/Garnett motioned to accept the bordering land subject to flooding boundary at 185.3 feet; motion passed unanimously.
MISCELLANEOUS, cont.-
The Commission agreed to a working session with the Sullivans and Mr. Garneau on the proposed driveway at 43 Dothan St. Mr. Garneau explained more of the proposed project which would include paving a 200 foot section, approximately 12’ wide, roadbase fill of 1-2 feet and the installation of cross culverts to allow water to flow under rather than over the road surface. Mr. Garneau described that some wetland filling would occur with this proposal. Wetland recreation was only possible on the new shoulders of the roadway. He claimed that since this project could be categorized as a “limited project” that the wetland, floodplain and stormwater impact could be found as not significant. The Commssion asked that the design consultant present drawings of the
proposal in another working session with more information on square foot impact calculations and volumes of fill. The applicants agreed to return with more information.
The Commission held a site walk at Sunnyside Ave on 8/28/02 to gather information for a letter to Algonquin Gas. Ms. Anderson borrowed a copy of their Notice of Intent filing for use in her application to control Japanese Knotweed.
A member of the Commission observed more curbing placed at the Arlmont St. Conservation Land. They directed Ms. Beckwith to ask Rich Bento to have it immediately removed..
The Friends of Arlington’s Great Meadows will hold its next meeting on September 24.
The Commission will have a booth at Town Day on September 14, 2002.
The Commission voted to convene at approximately 10pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Cori Beckwith, Administrator
| 
