The water ban, initiated not due to drought but due to the treatment plant’s reduced pumping capacity, limits residents to 780,000 gallons per day, nearly half of the previous 1.5 million gallons. Scal highlighted the necessity of constructing a clear well storage tank to alleviate the issue, a project anticipated to commence in the following year, with the Army both designing and expected to fund the construction. The board acknowledged the criticality of water conservation and deliberated on the implications for future town developments.

Further discussions centered on the site plan revisions concerning stormwater issues, with a particular focus on the S layout plan and utility plan. Board members scrutinized changes including the addition of a snow storage area, building layout modifications, and the potential risk of debris movement and invasive species in a conservation area. Moreover, concerns regarding erosion, maintenance, and appropriate stormwater management surfaced during the review of the plans, especially in relation to the proposed landscaping wall and catch basin maintenance.

The board also engaged in an in-depth review of waiver requests related to the site plan regulations. Notable among these were waivers for a detailed landscape plan, a traffic impact analysis, and a photometrics plan, all of which were eventually approved after thorough deliberation on the potential impacts on local traffic, business operations, and the site’s specific conditions.

Another subject of importance was the site plan application submitted by ABS Inc for the change of use of a property on Fitchburg Road from a car dealership to a light industrial manufacturing facility. This change is expected to have minimal impact on local traffic and employment. An accompanying public hearing was opened, with discussions including a modification proposed by the fire department to add a driveway on Oakhurst Street. Deliberations also touched upon the need for ADA parking space, with the applicant noting its non-necessity due to the absence of retail or customer traffic.

The meeting also covered a request from the Public Safety department for a new driveway to facilitate access for emergency services and delivery trucks to a building slated for metal fabrication and manufacturing of hot zone insulation materials. Traffic concerns were raised due to this new access point on a previously low-traffic street. The board decided to continue the discussion at their next meeting on July 9th.

Updates on ongoing projects were also on the agenda, such as the Air Solar 2 project, where the board reviewed a recent site visit that addressed outstanding issues including erosion concerns. Additionally, the board conversed about community issues related to a neighborhood development at Shaker Mill Pond and the inadvertent mowing of conservation restriction areas by residents.