===PAGE 1=== Town of Lunenburg Conservation Commission Bob Pease, Chair Tel: (978) 582-4146 Richard Bursch, Vice Chair 960 Massachusetts Ave. Jeffrey Viviano, Clerk Lunenburg, MA 01462 Catie Childs Michael Larouche Mary Wilson Richard Tremblay Sam Welch, Associate Member November 16, 2022 7:00 PM Minutes ZOOM REMOTE Roll Call: BP, JV, ML, MW, RT Absent: RB, CC Call to Order at 7pm Announcements: No Announcements. Public Comment: No comments. Minutes of previous meetings – November 2, 2022 ML/RT M/S to approve as drafted. Roll call vote, unanimous to approve. Appointments/Hearings – none NEW PUBLIC HEARINGS Pursuant to MGL ch 131, s 40 as amended and the Town of Lunenburg Wetlands Protection and Municipal Bylaws a public meeting on a Request for Determination of Applicability by David Blatt for the proposed removal of large pine trees within the buffer zone at 411 Goodrich Street. ML/MW M/S to continue public meeting until later during the public hearing. Roll call vote, unanimous to approve. Later during the meeting, Dave Blatt presented the plan. DB said that he would like to remove some trees at the back of his property to replace them with more ornamental and shorter trees. There is one tree within the 30’ no touch zone. DB said that he would also like to remove some debris, and that he would replace the trees as requested by the commission. MW asked if the construction debris was removed. DB said that some of it was removed, but some still remains. RT asked if any of the trees were dead or dying. DB said they were not, but that he is hoping by removing the trees he can better manage some vines that are prevalent in his yard. DB also said the trees sway significantly when there are strong winds ===PAGE 2=== RT asked what kind of debris DB is proposing to remove. DB said it was asphalt that is surrounding the tree that was previously left there during prior construction. MW asked if the commission generally lets people take down trees within the 50’ buffer zone. BP said they usually will approve it within the 50’ and not typically within the 30’ unless there are safety concerns. BP also mentioned that there is a tree replacement schedule in the local bylaws. JV rose a concern about the stumps being grinded and it falling within the 30’ zone. He also recommended that they be replaced with oak and maple. ML asked if there was a plan to replace the trees being cut. DB said that he would follow the regulation to replace 4 trees for every 8 inches of diameter, but he would replace with more if needed. DB also said that he would be happy to keep the stumps in place. BP recommended that DB reach out to the new administrator for advice on where to plant the replacement trees. MW/RT M/S to give a negative determination with the condition that the debris be removed, the stumps be left, and 5 native replacement hardwood trees are planted. Roll call vote, unanimous to approve. Pursuant to MGL ch 131, s 40 as amended and the Town of Lunenburg Wetlands Protection and Municipal Bylaws a public hearing on a Notice of Intent by Jason Martin on the proposed construction of a replacement septic system at 45 Parmenter Road (DEP #208-1276). BP watched the selectman meeting from last week where the applicant requested to cross their property, and it is currently under review. Jack Maloney from Dillis & Roy presented the proposed plans. JM stated that the existing leach pit that was installed 20-30 years ago is currently on town property. They have proposed a new leach field on the property. There is also an existing artesian well on the property, the proposed leach field would be outside the 30’ radius of the well. JM said the plan for the septic was previously approved by BOH. JM said the applicant requested that they access the property through the adjacent town property so that they could pump, crush, and take out the old tank and install the new pump tank and chamber. JM said the work on the rear tank would be surrounded by siltation devices and wattles, and they would not start the project within the 100’ buffer until the project was approved by the Selectman. BP noted that he took three photos on site. One photo from outside the fence that goes along the border, another photo of where the septic tanks would go down towards the lake, and another photo of the fence that the previous owners put on town property. JV noted he was on a site walk about a year ago and they put in a breezeway with a half bath, and he didn’t have any questions or concerns. RT asked if the existing leach field on town property would be removed. JM noted that the top would be pressed, it would be pumped, and filled with sand. He said that after the chamber is filled, there should be no issues with collapsing. JV/ML M/S to approve with a standard order of conditions with the condition that the rear tank cannot be accessed until permission is granted by the town. Roll call vote, unanimous to approve. Pursuant to MGL ch 131, s 40 as amended and the Town of Lunenburg Wetlands Protection and Municipal Bylaws a public hearing on an Abbreviated Notice of Resource Area Delineation by JMC/TBG Lunenburg II, LLC for 400 Leominster-Shirley Road. ===PAGE 3=== Chris Anderson for Hannigan Engineering presented the proposed plan. CA noted that they are only reviewing a portion of the property, approximately 120 acres on the eastern side, for this proposed plan. This portion has been used as a sandpit and other functions over the years but has recently been maintained and has returned mostly to a natural state. CA said it is mostly woodland. CM walked the site with Matt Marro previously to delineate the wetland, and walked it with Nadia Madden as well. NM had a few comments and concerns so CA said Hannigan Engineering re-reviewed the site and confirmed their initial delineation. CM noted they maintained some of the original wetland delineation flags, but expanded them for a wetland immediately across the street and a couple other isolated wetlands areas on the property. CM noted there is an isolated vegetated wetland between the powerline easements. He added that there is another larger wetland located further south of the well property that has been delineated. CA said there is also a larger bordering vegetated wetland on the property. BP pointed out that the property is near the Keating well, which supplies most of the town’s water, and there is a private-owned conservation property nearby as well. BP did a site visit and noted there was a lot of runoff currently, and there is not much dumping on the property. JV/ML M/S motion to continue hearing to the December 7 meeting. Roll call vote, unanimous to approve. Pursuant to MGL ch 131, s 40 as amended and the Town of Lunenburg Wetlands Protection and Municipal Bylaws a public hearing on a Notice of Intent by David and Leigh Sarnoski for the construction of a single- family home and associated site improvements at 680 Reservoir Road (DEP #208-1275). Brian Marchetti from McCarty Engineering presented the proposed plan. BM said the property was delineated by Matt Marro. BM said that along the front of the property there is a wetland along most of it, but there is a small opening where they are proposing to put in the paved driveway, with dimensions of approximately 15’ wide and 400’ back towards the property to minimize the impact on the nearby wetlands. BM said the proposed septic system would be outside of the buffer zones, and the roofing system of the proposed garage and house would be collected into a roof leader system and discharged into dry wells. BM noted that all the paved areas would flow to a Pistone diaphragm along the southern edge of the driveway and into two rain gardens. BM noted the total disturbance is about 1.7 acres. BP noted that he did a site visit and he did not see the wetlands that were shown on the plan at the front of the property. BM noted that the wetlands were validated. JV/ML M/S to approve with a standard order of conditions. Roll call vote, unanimous to approve. CONTINUED PUBLIC HEARINGS Pursuant to MGL ch 131, s 40 as amended and the Town of Lunenburg Wetlands Protection and Municipal Bylaws a public hearing on a Notice of Intent by Elaine Normandin for a proposed replacement of a retaining wall at 47 Round Road. Pursuant to MGL ch 131, s 40 as amended and the Town of Lunenburg Wetlands Protection and Municipal Bylaws a public hearing on a Notice of Intent by Rene Rainville, for a proposed replacement of a retaining wall at 57 Round Road. Pursuant to MGL ch 131, s 40 as amended and the Town of Lunenburg Wetlands Protection and Municipal Bylaws a public hearing on a Notice of Intent by Marc Sprague, for a proposed replacement of a retaining wall at 73 Round Road. ===PAGE 4=== JV/MW M/S to continue the Notice of Intents by Elaine Normandin at 47 Round Road, Rene Rainville at 57 Round Road and Marc Sprague at 73 Round Road to the December 7 meeting. Roll call vote, unanimous to approve Pursuant to MGL ch 131, s 40 and Lunenburg Wetlands Bylaw and regulations as listed in chapter 239, a public hearing on a Notice of Intent (DEP # 208-1265) by Fitchburg Land property Owner LLC to construct a 367,000 square foot warehouse and distribution facility with parking and storm water controls at 260 Fahlulah Road. Chris Anderson from Hannigan Engineering presented the plan. CA noted that they have received approval from the Fitchburg Conservation Commission and Planning Department and from the Lunenburg Planning Board. CA noted there have been many uses for the site over the years, but it is currently mostly open gravel and dispersed vegetation, but has also been used as a dumping site. The river on the site is significantly lower than the proposed site but there is a drumlin that effectively creates a barrier between the two. CA noted that most of the work is occurring outside of the 100’ riparian buffer zone, and some is taking place within the 200’ riparian zone but still within land that had been previously disturbed. CA noted they will be maintaining the natural barrier between the site and river, so there will be no discharge into the river. CA mentioned there are several stormwater managements features they are including. CA also presented on their restoration plans for the site. He said they are proposing restoration between the 100’ riverfront and 200’ riverfront and areas that are not proposed to be used for the project. He stated they are proposing a total of almost 39,000 square feet of restoration on the site. CA said there will be spot treatment of invasive species, which will be physically removed or treated with a chemical treatment, with this work subject to review by Conservation prior to being conducted. CA said they are proposing a total disturbance of 6,500 square feet of new alternation, which is well below the 10% riverfront maximum. Based on previous comments from the Commission, CA said they are proposing restoration for the entire100’ to 200’ riverfront area. BP commented that while on a site visit, there were several trucks that had dumped in the area, so this would be a great improvement. BP noted that Graves had no comments on the wetland delineation. ML/JV M/S to approve with a standard order of conditions. Roll call vote, unanimous to approve. NEW BUSINESS: Conservation administrator start date BP gave a short bio of Anna Petrie, the new Conservation Agent, and mentioned she starts on November 28 th. Topics not known 48 hours in advance of meeting BP mentioned he received an emergency tree removal request through Adam Burney. RT/JV M/S to approve the administrative determination for the removal of a pine tree at 242 Sunset Lane with the condition that the stump remain in place. Roll call vote, unanimous to approve. OLD BUSINESS: Update on encroachment issues at: 192 Townsend Harbor Road BP said he has not stopped by again but he will. He said he will give it another couple times but if not, it will need to be taken to court. Budget Update BP presented the budget report. He said there is currently $21,061 in the Timber Rights Fund and an expected $6,000 from the Hawes harvest and expected $21,000 from the Rayno harvest, minus Gary Goldrups fees, will be coming in. BP said the balance on the Hollis Road revolving fund is at $60,000. Hollis Road Residence: Update on maintenance work, exterminator ML presented updates. He called Paul Visconti regarding exterminator contracts, and ML reported that the pest control company will be able to handle the work at Hollis Road. ML reported that he mostly completed an equipment list for Hollis Road. He said that all the appliances inside the residents belong to the tenant, ===PAGE 5=== so the commission does not have to worry about maintaining them. He was unable to acquire any information on the boiler expect for the serial number, and the last service done was in 2019. ML mentioned that most heating systems are serviced yearly, and he will reach out about servicing it, if that’s alright. ML said the windows will likely be serviced in the first week of December. ML said that Signature Kitchens measured the kitchen area. ML said that they received permission for the storage of the lawn mower in the shed, and Nick Puro repaired the riding lawn mower and he and NP removed all abandoned lawn mowers on the property. ML reported that NP would do the lawn mower repair for free. ML noted that the floor in the shed was essentially dirt, so he raked the soil, and partnered with a volunteer to repurpose some lumbar on the property for the ground of the shed. ML said they would require screws and plywood to restore the shed flooring, the cost would be approximately $128 total. BP/MW M/S to approve the purchase of 2 pieces of pressure treated plywood and fasteners for the Hollis Road property. Roll call vote, unanimous to approve. ENFORCEMENT: Violations (Enforcement Actions and Hearings) EO 48 Oak Ridge: BP said he received a letter that there is a family illness and they requested more time. EO 54 Pine Grove EO 23 Cove Road: BP could not review the video from the 8/18/2020 meeting in time for the homeowners to be present at the meeting. He mentioned that in the video there was no resolution or acceptance of the shed. EO 336 Arbor St NON 205 Sunset, Beers lot EO 411 Goodrich St Open Space and Land Use Howard Street Driveway BP spoke with Bill Barnard. BP reported that BB said a contractor would need to be hired. BP will be in contact with BOH and the Board of Selectman about funding for the driveway Timber Sales BP said Mr. King who is doing lumber harvesting behind the water district, has taken all of the trees out, and afterwards he will move on to the Rayno property. BP said he received a question from Bill Bernard if there was an area on Conservation land that he could run a chainsaw safety class, and cut down 13 of the trees. BP said the class will take place on the Rayo property. Conservation land improvements MW presented updates on repairing the bridge on the Cowdrey Conservation Area. MW said the Snowrider volunteers were able to almost complete the repair of the bridge. MW said they still need to remove the old wood, which they have a plan for, to finish the banding, and to add one more transition board. MW said the work should be complete by the end of December Committee Reports – Any Update MW said there was no quorum for an open space meeting, so there was no formal meeting. BP mentioned that Sam Welch is interested in land acquisition, and there is an at-large member opening for open space. Communications /Public comment None. JV/MW M/S to adjourn meeting. Roll call vote, unanimous to adjourn. Adjourn 8:39pm Meeting schedule: Next meeting is December 7, 2022 at 7:00 PM by Zoom platform