===PAGE 1=== Town of Lunenburg Conservation Commission   Mary Wilson, Chair Tel: (978)582-4146 Bob Pease, Vice Chair Richard Tremblay, Clerk 960 Massachusetts Ave R i c h a r d B u r s c h Lunenburg, MA 01462 J e f f r e y V i v i a n o Ashleigh Denio Michael Larouche Conservation Assistant Chris St. Germain   December 20, 2023, 7:00PM, ZOOM REMOTE Minutes Roll Call: Bob P., Rich B., Mike L., Chris S., Mary W., and Sophie D. (Administrator) Absent: Jeff V . Call to Order at 7pm Announcements & Public Comment – there were none. Minutes of previous meetings – 11/15/23 and 12/6/23 Motion: Bob P., Second: Mike L. To approve the minutes from 11/15/23. Roll Call Vote was unanimous to approve. Motion: Bob P., Second: Chris S. To approve the minutes from 12/6/23. Roll Call Vote was unanimous to approve. Mary thanked Jane Ranley for her work on the backlog of minutes. Appointments/Hearings- Update on Town Beach by Lunenburg Parks- Ana Lockwood praised the Commission on all their good work done during some very long meetings and extra work performed when short staffed in the office. She noted that they had requested during the summer to add more sand to the beach, which was approved along with a request to recover some sand during the process. The beach is open 7-8 weeks and this year they had 2,700 visitors. The addition of the sand did improve the enjoyment of the beach. Ana read Chris Ruth’s (Facilities) report that Lakeview Landscaping came in with their bobcat to scrap the sand from the water’s edge and re-deposited it on the upper part of the beach. They then added new sand to the beach and used their rake attachment to smooth and grade the beach. This process allowed them to use less sand and to make it smooth to help prevent runoff from the road. The DPW added a higher asphalt berm on the edge of the road to prevent erosion and oil/water contamination from running into the lake. Ana screen-shared pictures of the work on the beach. She added that Lakeview came back during the week of December 12th to scrape more sand from the water’s edge, which is now 1 foot lower, and deposited it at the top of the beach, to be spread in the spring. Chris S. told Ana he appreciated seeing all the pictures of the work done. NEW 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 John Potter for a garage addition at 22 Fairview Rd. (DEP 208-1314)- Matt Marro, representing Mr. Potter, screen-shared the site plan, and noted the Notice of Intent is for a proposed attached garage to a single-family home. It was issued a DEP ===PAGE 2=== number without any comments. Matt flagged the bordering vegetative wetland as noted in the site plan. There is a pre-existing shed in the 30’ no touch zone and the 50’ no build line is noted also on the plan. He said Mr. Potter originally wanted a detached garage but it would not have worked on the lot. Instead he is proposing removing the existing carport and enclosed porch and adding a 30’ x 36’ new attached garage. There will be no structures in the 50’ buffer zone and there will be erosion protection set up to allow work to take place without any further intrusion. Mary and Chris walked the parcel and she noted there was a large trailer parked right up next to the wetland. Matt noted the trailer will be removed once the garage is built. Rich B. asked if they would be going to the ZBA for the setback. Matt replied the Building Commissioner said the side-setback does not require a variance but requires a special permit with a finding, but he did not think it would be a big deal. Mary asked what they will use for erosion control and Matt replied a minimum 8” wattle compost sock. Motion: Bob P., Second: Rich B. To approve the Notice of Intent, with Standard Order of Conditions. Roll Call Vote was 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 an Abbreviated Notice of Resource Area Delineation by Kevin O’Brien at 390 Howard Street. (DEP 208-1304) (Continued from 12/6/23)- Kevin O’Brien (applicant) and Matt Marro present. Mary noted that they did a site walk a week ago and noticed a lot of concerns. Bob said he, along with Mary, Jeff, Brian Gingras (Building Inspector) and Matt Marro (Mr. O’Brien’s representative) did the walk on the prior Tuesday. They were looking for the wetland flags from the 2008 Delineation that Jamie Rheault assured were survey located and rehung. They found wetland flags hung on blades of grass and goldenrod and there were large areas with no wetland flags at all. Since the 2008 delineation, a lot has been happening there and some of the wetlands have been disturbed. Some of the wetlands from 2008 are no longer there and new wetlands have been created. They also saw evidence of some pretty dramatic erosion. Bob suggested that Mr. O’Brien be asked to have his engineers survey re- locate all the 2008 wetland flags on permanent stakes and to have the wetlands re-delineated under today’s conditions, due to the dramatic alteration of the wetlands. Bob noted there was a sign on a tree that a stormwater permit had been issued by the EPA, in conjunction with an enforcement issue. During the staff shortage, he reached out to Richard Harris (Land Use Consultant) who gave him names of 2 companies for 3rd party review. Matt asked if he could contact one of them and Bob said yes, but he found out the consultant works for the town. Rich B. noted there has been a lot of grading on the site, but the submitted plan does not show all the work that has been done. He suggested an updated plan should be submitted. Kevin O’Brien screen-shared the plan on his iPad, indicating the flagging, crossings and areas cleared. He noted the EPA came out last December and fined him for not stabilizing his piles. Kevin asked the Commission where the flags were missing. Bob replied it was very clear when they visited that the flags were missing and they may have replaced them after their visit but before Mr. O’Brien’s visit. Bob reiterated the flags should be hung on permanent stakes or fairly large trees or shrubs – not on vegetation. If all the flags are hung, they could go back for another visit. Kevin said he put up 400 flags on the right side going into the site with the engineer from Haley Ward at the end of November. Rich (Haley Ward) went out 2 days later to finish hanging flags on the left side and Kevin wanted to be clear he did not go out to hang flags after the Commission did their site walk. He also asked why the building inspector would be going out on a site walk. Brian Gingras (Building Inspector) stated he went on the site walk because it is a potential future project and he wanted to become familiar with the site area. Also, there had been concerns from neighbors about run-off. Kevin asked Brian if there was any issue with the house he removed a while ago and Brian replied there was a permit, so they are fine. Bob stated that there ===PAGE 3=== were 5 people on the site walk and they could not find any wetlands flags on the western side of the property. He asked Kevin if all the wetland flags had been put on stakes or woody vegetation. Kevin said he was not sure and thought some may be on grass or fine twigs. He will go out with the stakes and make sure the flags are visible before the Commission does their site visit. He noted the ribbon that was put out 6-8 months ago all disappeared so that is why they used metal tags which last longer. Mary suggested that if Kevin cannot attend the site walk, he walks the property with Matt to confirm where the flags are. Bob suggested having someone from Haley Ward attend the site walk. Matt said he will work with the office to set up a site inspection date and he will go out prior to that date with Kevin to make sure everything is there. Anything missing will be rehung. The Commission discussed timing for the site walk but will pick a time later. Motion: Bob P., Second: Mike L. To continue 390 Howard Street to 1/17/24. Roll Call Vote was 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 Stefan McSweeny for the construction of a single family home and associated site work at 255 Sunny Hill Road. (DEP 208-XXXX) (Continued from 12/6/23)- Stefan McSweeney reported that they still do not have a DEP number and are seeking to not be put on the agenda until they receive that number. Motion: Bob P., Second: Chris S. To continue 255 Sunny Hill Road to 1/3/24. Roll Call Vote was 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 Steve Powell for the construction of a single family home and associated site work at 171 Arbor Street. (DEP 208-1308) (Continued from 12/6/23)- The applicant asked to continue the hearing while working with NHESP and answering their questions. Motion: Mike L., Second: Rich B. To continue 171 Arbor Street to 1/3/24. Roll Call Vote was 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 Request for Determination by Timric Realty Trust for construction of a single family home and septic tank at 20 Kilburn St-Lot 1 (Continued from 12/6/23- Applicant or representative not present. Motion: Rich B., Second: Chris S. To continue 20 Kilburn St-Lot 1 to 1/3/24. Roll Call Vote was 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 Timric Realty Trust for construction of a single family home and septic tank at 20 Kilburn St-Lot 2. (DEP 208-XXXX) (Continued from 12/6/23) Applicant or representative not present. Motion: Rich B., Second: Chris S. To continue 20 Kilburn St-Lot 2 to 1/3/24. Roll Call Vote was 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 Timric Realty Trust for construction of a single family home and septic tank at 20 Kilburn St-Lot 3. (DEP 208-XXXX) (Continued from 12/6/23) Applicant or representative not present. Motion: Rich B., Second: Chris S. To continue 20 Kilburn St-Lot 3 to 1/3/24. Roll Call Vote was unanimous to approve. ===PAGE 4=== NEW BUSINESS: Topics unknown 48 hours in advance of meeting -Mary noted that with Rich Tremblay leaving the Commission, they have also lost their Stormwater Task Force representative. Mary asked for a volunteer to represent the Commission on the Task Force. Bob suggested waiting until later. Legal Ad Process – Mary asked who pays for the legal ads. Bob said for over a year they have asked applicants to write a check to the Lunenburg Ledger. Prior to that, the applicants would write a check to the town but the ad cost came out of the Land Use budget. In a busy year, it could drain that account. He stated it is a mystery why they can’t place ads in the Lunenburg Ledger now. The applicants could also place ads in the Sentinel but at a higher rate and would be seen by a smaller Lunenburg group. Mary said the public is used to seeing the ads in the Ledger and they would need to let residents know they were switching. Matt said when Nadia was Administrator, she would write the legal ad and send it to the Ledger, who would send the applicant an email with a link to pay online. The applicant would need to pay by a deadline or the ad would not run. Matt said other towns are doing a similar process where the applicants pay over the phone or online. Sophie said she had no information about the problem with the Ledger. She added that Gardner also uses an online system for the payments. Mary asked Sophie to call the Ledger to propose a process similar to what she used in Gardner and request a statement showing which payments were missed. Authorization to write commitment letter for MRPC trails vision grant with up to $1000 or 8 hours GIS time – Bob noted Heather (Town Manager) has already written the grant and the 8 hours GIS time belongs to the Planning Board. He added that the last time it came up for discussion, no one was interested in participating, but it occurred to him that MRPC would be doing the work. Also it would not be happening until 2025 and they should at least participate to get benefit from the grant. Bob asked to note the agenda item as a FYI item. April Earth Day Events Planning – Mary noted last year they partnered with the Parks Department to host a month of Lunenburg Earth Events. She does not have time available to organize it this year and Anna Lockwood (Parks) time is consumed by Marshall Park project. Mary suggested socializing the request for members of the public to form a work group for 2024. 318 and 390 Howard St.- Bob stated there were complaints from neighbors about silt coming off these properties and they were going to try to set up a site walk to look at evidence of the siltation downstream. Mary screen-shared and indicated the property on the Mass Mapper satellite picture. She had received complaints about the siltation flowing off the property into the storm drains. However, the property at 318 Howard does not have wetlands so it is not jurisdictional. Bob suggested that 390 Howard should be tracked under the complainants’ addresses. Kevin O’Brien stated that 318 Howard is the house he owns and he put a septic system in the past couple months. When they were pumping out the septic area to a grass swale, some ground water went down the street but they controlled it. He followed it to the next catch basin but it did not go down to the New West Townsend Road or to Pearl Brook. Kevin said he walked down there while doing the septic to keep an eye on it. He agreed with Matt that most of the towns send ads to the paper and the applicant pays for the ad or they do not get on the meeting. OLD BUSINESS: Update on Title Searches – no update MACC and MSMCP Memberships – Mary noted she and Chris have access to the Handbook. Chris said he will look into the membership status. Rich B. stated that he had donated for memberships and the MACC handbook but received a call confirming the town had paid for the memberships, so he donated just the Handbooks for everyone. Mary said she has not been successful logging in to the educational page and she is interested in taking more classes. ===PAGE 5=== Staff Access to Munis Accounts – Bob said that it was possible that Ashleigh was submitting requisitions but they were not getting approved at the department head level, since no one is filling Adam’s job yet. There are continued issues and Sophie did not have any information. Mary said she will follow up with Ashleigh. Educational Ads for Residents – The Commission will aim for end of March for the brochure. Posting of Bylaw Brochure in Town Offices- Sophie will work on this after she clears the backlog of critical items. ENFORCEMENT: Violations (Enforcement Actions and Hearings) 711 Mass Ave – Matt Nowlan said they have hired a wetlands scientist to design a plan. Sophie did a site visit today and noted the entrance was relocated to the original plan location. There were crushed rocks to stabilize that area and mulch to stabilize near the erosion control. Sophie screen-shared pictures of the site, showing the mulching, erosion control, flagging and areas that were disturbed. She noted the erosion controls are similar to the original drawings, but somewhat changed from what she saw. The other entrance has been closed off but there has been a lot of movement in the upper right corner so she does not know how it matches up with the plan it was supposed to follow. Sophie confirmed that the erosion control is not stopping all the water from flowing off the property – it looks like it is going under the erosion control. Sophie noted the applicants have provided a detailed plan and narrative for correcting the damage to the 30’ no-touch zone. Matt Nowlan said they have a restoration plan drawn up by Three Oaks Environmental (MaryAnn DiPinto-wetlands scientist). Haley Ward went out to restake the silt fence to the correct position, all the wetlands flags were rehung and survey located. The restoration plan states how much of the resource area and wetland was disturbed and how it will be properly seeded to revegetate. Sophie screen-shared the restoration plan and Mary read the list of corrections completed and recommendations for seeding to restore the wetland and buffer strip. Mary stated they need to correct the spillway that is escaping the erosion control and Matt replied he can only correct that if he can get back to work on the site. Sophie screen-shared the original site plan and indicated where the retention basin is. Matt noted that is where the proposed emergency riprap spillway is half-way installed. There is a pipe with a valve to let the water out. Matt added in the center there is a proposed stormceptor with 4 bays and riprap. The water is escaping because there has been so much rain and they just started the site work. Matt said they have to install the stormceptor and all the drainage, per their special permit, before the building permit is issued. Mary asked if they let him get back to work and send Sophie out in 2 weeks, would there be any escapes from the silt fence? Matt replied it will be corrected. Motion: Chris S., Second: Bob P. To lift the cease and desist at 711 Mass Ave and let him install the proposed stormceptor. Roll Call Vote was unanimous to approve. Mary confirmed to Matt that the Cease and Desist is lifted and he can begin work tomorrow. The Enforcement stays open until he does the reseeding. 780 Northfield Road – Pierce’s Tree Farm – no update yet 390 Howard St -done earlier in meeting. NON 205 Sunset (Beers lot) -tracking this 10 Mass Ave- no update 1168 Massachusetts Avenue Rear – no update Update if any on encroachment issues at: 950 Chase Road – Bob reported he met with Town Counsel and the Town Manager. The next step would be to get a price for moving the shed and other materials on Conservation land. The Town Manager ===PAGE 6=== authorized him to speak to Chris Ruth (Facilities), who has already had someone out there. Bob said the cost is in the neighborhood of $9,000 and he will go back to Town Counsel and Town Manager to see what the next steps are. Bob noted in Counsel’s communications there was a stipulation that they can cross the owner’s land to remove the shed. Chris S. asked how they arrived at $9K for removing the shed and Bob replied it is a small barn that was built in place. The cost is for demolition and removal. 315 Lancaster Ave.- no update Order of Conditions: 932 Flat Hill Rd.- still tracking this-goes back to hearings in old minutes. Certificates of Compliance: 176 Elmwood Rd – no request for closure yet 81 Maple Pkwy - no request for closure yet Open Space and Land Use: Grants Update (LCC sponsored, award year 2023) – Mary reported all the contracts were signed and the Town Manager has returned them to Mass Trails. Next Mary will go online to do the Grant initiation forms. Then they can start going through the formal quote process and Bob will work on it again. Grants Update (LSR sponsored, award year 2022) – no updates. Conservation Land Improvements- Mary reported there were more trails worked on and marked in the Table Rock Conservation area by a volunteer from the National Honor Society. He gave Mary a map indicating the Blue and green trails marked. Mary thanked Bob for all his work in putting up handrails at the Lane Property. Bob asked Mary to share the map of the marked trails at Table Rock. He just submitted to Montachusett Regional Planning GIS department the updates and changes for the Lane Property and Large Town Forest Maps. He also will do a new map for the Hollis Rd Hawes property and updates for the Table Rock map. Mary will send Bob the updates. Bob also noted he had previously shown a map of Table Rock with some proposed connecting loop trails. A local volunteer has completed one of those connecting loops and he has offered to build some stream crossing bridges. Bob will ask him to provide a map showing where those bridges are proposed, so the Commission can give permission to provide materials from their Maki account. When Bob finishes at the Lane property, he will work on the Table Rock property. Mary stated she found an old spring well off of the blue trail at Table Rock and Bob said a volunteer found a spring well in the woods, covered by 2 large rocks. Mary noted at the Lane property, she is concerned there may have been some damage to culverts when the gravel was moved. Bob stated he found grants for replacing culverts and asked Bill B. (DPW) if the culverts on Conservation cart paths are eligible. Bill said maybe, but Bob is gathering information so they can call the Grant people to determine if they should pursue it. Mary added she could put together another proposal to ask the LSR to help repair the culverts. NCLT Site Walk & CR Review – Mike L. reported they received a letter in regard to enlarging the blueprint on the shed. According to Emily Marleno, they do not have the right to do that- it needs to stay within the footprint of any building. Bob read from the Conservation restriction, stating that rebuilding an existing building in the same or smaller footprint if damaged or destroyed, would be subject to prior written approval of the grantee, which is NCLT. Hollis Road Residence: Update – Maintenance Work – Bob stated they have an existing caretaker agreement signed in 2013 and it expired in 2018, so it has been month to month since then. Currently, the caretaker, Corinne Jones, pays an amount far below the market rate for renting a single family house. The caretaker was expected to do work on the house or at a Conservation property. Two or three years ago they asked Corinne to document her work time but they never received anything. A letter was sent in May from the town attorney but still no response. Bob suggested they look at the lease and consider doubling the rent. The money would go into the Hawes Fund, which can be spent only on the Hollis Road property. Bob is researching into the Fund, to see if it could also be spent at other Conservation properties. Mary asked Corinne if she is doing ===PAGE 7=== the volunteer work and if she has a log. Corrine replied she has not made a log and cannot find a copy of the lease from 2013. She noted that she maintains the lawn and does the snow blowing. She would like to do a new lease, so she is clear about the terms and what she should be doing. Corrine said she was sorry for not responding to the attorney but she has had a rough 5 years. Bob read the wording of the lease agreement, stating the monthly rent of $ 850/month, due on the 5th, plus 30 hours each month of uncompensated work on any Conservation land. The record of work will be sent to the administration assistant. Bob noted in the lease, it states the tenant is responsible for mowing the lawn and shoveling the driveway. It needs to be clarified if the lawn and snow removal counts as part of the 30 hours. Mary asked Bob to send a copy of the lease to Corinne and she noted many tasks for trail clean-ups, etc. that would count for the 30 hours. Mary suggested creating a Google sheet for tracking work time. Bob said he would like to straighten out the potential use of the money and he would like to share the details of the lease. Mike L. suggested there are a lot of things that can be done at the Hollis Road property, such as the kitchen cabinets and other improvements. Mary suggested having an agreed upon reserve for on-going or high value repairs. Mike L. noted that Cam’s Heating was coming today to do service work on the heating system. Corinne confirmed the service was done and asked if there was a schedule for other work to be done. She noted that water came in near the chimney when it was raining. Mike will let Chris Ruth know. Public Comment: none Motion: Chris S., Second: Mike L. To adjourn at 9:35pm. Roll Call Vote was unanimous to approve. Respectfully submitted, Jane L. Ranley Minutes Clerk