[Music] n [Music] good evening everyone tonight uh today is April 25th the time is 6:00 p.m. and this is the accuset planning board uh this meeting is being recorded for future viewing on the aishan YouTube channel I think we're on the cable channel right now and um we are also being we are also live via Zoom can I get a motion to open the planning board meeting motion to open the meeting second all in favor uh can we please introduce ourselves Peter guy member Mark Francois chairman Brian damps member thank you uh uh all right uh let's get get some minutes out of the way gentlemen Paul emailed you the minutes from March 21st uh we were all in attendance for that meeting do do you have any comments questions concerns I have yeah I mean I read through them it's there it was both of these meetings were were light were very uh quick meetings um I don't have any issues or comments for any of these can I get a motion to approve the March 21st 2024 meeting minutes I make a motion to approve the minutes on March 21st 2024 got a motion second it all in favor thank [Music] you okay um next are the meeting minutes from April 4th uh the three of us were in a attendance uh Rick Ellis was not and he's not here tonight anyways this is also a really quick meeting this meeting was to kind of vote in uh the secretary clerk um Brian here um relatively simple and self-explanatory can I get a motion I make a motion to accept the minutes from April 4th 2024 I'll second that all in favor I thank you all right mov right along can I get a motion to open the public hearing portion of this meeting I make a motion to open the public hearing on the storm water management bylaw and second that all in favor I fabulous this meeting is being held in accordance with chapter 48 Section 5 to consider the following warrant to see if the town will vote to delete all present language of article 9 storm water management bylaw of the town of Acushnet General bylaws and replacing said article in its in in its entirety with new language the accompanying documents are available for inspection at the town clerk office parting ways building 1:30 Main Street first floor during regular business hours okay gentlemen um just a little background on this um I had a meeting with all department heads so the uh chairman of conservation Ryan rendes the chairman of the board of health David thean the building inspector Andy goola and myself all had a um Zoom meeting to discuss the storm water bylaw um we we went over it literally word for word sentence for sentence we did make a few changes which I guess I can note some of those changes um you all have a copy you both have a copy right um well what you see highlighted so basically page three um we added uh certified in U we added certified professional in erosion and sediment control cpes CS excuse me um on page seven we added um that the stor Water Authority is the town of aush the Town Conservation Commission or its authorized agent as outlined in section 4 a um and I'm going to Ryan I see you're out there if there's anything that you want to comment on uh please just feel free to interject whenever you wish um moving on to page eight there was a couple of places that we wanted cuz you know that we've been having issues with our solar uh fields and we wanted to make sure that it was well written in here that um solar Fields didn't apply for waivers solar Fields didn't get any kind of exemptions or anything of that nature so uh just to kind of cover the town's butt regarding um the solar Fields uh regarding storm water so you'll see in here that we added a lot of uh storm water authority uh wait a minute where is it it just highlights the um solar Fields um section 4A States the storm water authorities shall administer Implement and enforce this bylaw any duties imposed on the storm water authority may be delegated in writing by the storm water author authority to its employees or its agent um and again you'll see we added number four where it says not involving any permits associated with large scale ground mounted solar photovoltaic installations um oh we also uh if you move to page nine uh letter B right up there on the top we orig orally was um to have one public hearing uh regarding any changes the following approval at the two public hearings the proposed regulations must be approved at a public meeting of the acis select board before becoming officially adopted by the town so if we make any changes to this there has to be two public hearings uh before it gets adopted um and gets sent to the v a select before it was one we added two um another thing that that's um sorry sorry the regulations excuse me the the two public hearings are for the regulations okay perfect um any any regulations imposed by the storm water authority would would require two public meetings before adoption and approval of the by the select mate gotcha so this this this bylaw sets the ground you know the ground rules for storm water and then they uh uh Kevin mugh has a a copy of regulations that correlate with this and you know we'll have two public hearings to adopt them make changes whatever it may be got so it's not it's not the byar it's the regulations the two meetings but sorry to interrupt no please do and thanks for the clarification uh we also added that any action by the agent must be ratified by the storm water authority within 15 days or such action shall be considered null and void so basically what we all agreed upon was that no one person should be king so it has to go in front of the board and the board has to vote the conservation board has to vote on it um so it's you know unanimous vote uh let's see let's see there wasn't much more uh uh I'm going to come back to page 14 uh there was um uh a small change to the minimum design criteria um on the very last page page 17 section two minimum design criteria uh um basically in a nutshell I think it fits all right the minimum the minimum depth of the seasonal water table bedrock and or imper imparable layer for 2 fet from the bottom of the Basin instead of 4T we took out the 4 feet and that is for uh five Lots or less that for all um for all large scale solar mted photovs all new construction and industrial commercial and or subdivisions with five Lots or greater the minimum depth depth of the seasonal high water table bedrock and or imperal layer is 4T so if it's just uh um a small subdivision with four three or four houses you only have to go 2 feet above water table where if it's a commercial or a big subdivision you got to go 4 ft above groundwater um now Ryan I'm glad you're on because remember when you we were all together we we kind of had a question regarding um it was article 3 it was page 14 article 3 storm water management and land disturbance there was this and this was written by Kevin Q we read this and we kind of had um we wanted clarification on this which any activity any activity that will disturb an area less than 40,000 square ft uh wait let me rewind that the following articles are exempt from the provisions of section a number one any activity that will disturb an area less than 40,000 s ft this exemption may not be applied for continuous property is held in common ownership that may have been previously subdivided and or attributed to multiple separate owners so we were kind of um up in the air uh Ryan I actually was on the phone with selectman gasbar today and he went back and spoke to uh Kevin McHugh I was hoping Kevin was going to be on tonight but I don't see Kevin M here oh there he is sorry about that I my son's computer no no I'm glad you were here uh I was just about to read the latest version of [Music] um all right so in a nutshell we didn't want anybody that was applying for an anr a small 60,000 squ ft lot you if an average Resident was applying for an anr um lot and happened to go over the 10 no no not over the 10,000 sare ft it's all right so picture this and excuse me for not being totally clear but picture this you own a lot and now you want to cut off a couple of lots for your kids for them to build houses we don't think that that person should be obligated to hit storm water even though two lots combined are going to might be over the 40,000 ft you follow okay so we want to try to make it to where it's three lots or greater so if a contractor comes in and wants to put in say three four 56 a uhr lots which in a cush it's going to be rare because to have that much on a main road is difficult then that person would have to uh apply for the storm water Mr is is that kind of the gist of it yeah that's basically it that's um sort of the way it was explained to me too is that there's you know concerns with like you said with with property owners who want to try to subdivide you know for family housing or whatever it is um so yeah that's essentially that's that's the way you describe it the way I understood it right okay thank you um um we didn't want a a developer to be able to just come in and put in let's say 5 anr because it happens to be on a public road and not have to go through storm water because when you put in five or six or seven or eight anrs house lot side by side by side that's going to change the topography that's going to change the run of the water so then we wanted to make sure we got the contractor that was coming in to put in a lot of house Lots but yet we didn't want to penalize the average citizen that might have a decent Siz law that might want to cut off a law or two for their family members and then they're going to be obligated to uh go through this the storm water process which is an expensive and uh costly uh process so um Ryan uh any questions on that Ryan I know remember when we were together we we were kind of curious about this and I know I haven't spoken to you about this uh yet because it just came in front of me about an hour ago um any questions on it or concerns what are your thoughts no I mean this this same wording was in our original bylaw that you know that's been in place um I I don't mind the language so I know there was other people with issues with it so I could kind of go either way you know um I I think it's a protection for the town and and if it is the case of um you know uh a family breaking off a little parcel for you know I mean we do have the waiver so defin that was going to be think that's my whole thing that's the exact language that that bylaw and it was just added to this one there was a couple things that you know um that were omitted from this bylaw that were in our previous bylaw like the um creating um imp uh surface of more than um 10,000 ft that that was admitted I think we added that so I I think uh I don't I don't really have an issue with it you know that's kind of what I stand on it okay all right yeah I like I said I was going back and forth uh with the select board today and um and I and Mr M if there is an issue we can grant waivers or we or the Conservation Commission can grant waivers to say family members or uh like ownership correct yes there is a waiver provision in in the bylaw so it does give you the option or give the the designated Authority which you're right is the Conservation Commission at this point it does give them the ability to Grant the waiver um primarily that waiver is used because is you don't want to have someone who do a development who also needs to comply with the uh Conservation Commission comply with the Wetland protection act also have to file for a Storer management permit because they're basically essentially the same thing so that's really what the waiver is written for but you do have the waivers in it that you that could have them apply also to something like this to the subdivision of land especially if it's a small lot that isn't going to be that wouldn't potentially cause problems to the environment you would have the ability to issue a waiver from this perent requirment okay thank you very much uh and and again in a nutshell that's you know we This was um a lot taken from the original uh we made a few tweaks here and there but um like I said the department heads were all involved uh conserv planning board of health and uh building and everybody came to uh and with the help of Mr McHugh here uh we I think we have a pretty good bylaw here um any questions from anybody comments concerns none for me uh anybody in Zoom or here in the audience that wants to discuss anything to do with the storm water management bylaw okay well is there a motion to recommend this article to the board of selectman for the spring town meeting I make a recommendation that we I mean I send it over to the S we have a motion to send this over to the selectman can I get I you got a second all in favor all right thank you very much Mr McHugh thank you for attending I appreciate your help on this matter and Ryan thank you thank you have a good night you too thank you thank you thanks Ryan all right guys have a good night you toight thank you thank you all right uh moving right along all right is there a motion to close the public public hearing portion of this meeting I make a motion to close the public hearing I will second it all in favor I thank you discussions and other topics uh Robinson Road solar project construction work hours so uh as you all know that Robinson Road uh project is well underway the proponent is asked to extend the contractor's work hours on Saturday from 8: to 12 to 8 to 4 the special permit requires that 8 to 12 they they can only work from 8 to 12 on Saturdays um I guess they're trying to wrap this up as quick as they can they want to work a few more hours on Saturday we have to approve do you gentlemen have comments or concerns on that I have none as far as I'm concerned I wouldn't want it started any earlier obviously especially on a Saturday um and to allow them to go from 12: to 4: I don't think it's out of the question uh the only question I have for you guys is how long do we allow this to happen do we give them two weeks 3 weeks what do we give them how far we how far are they into the project how much how much longer do they have before the Project's completed I don't know I wish somebody was here to answer that but they're not so why don't we just put a timeline on it let's give them a let's give them four weeks would I just not knowing how far we're into the project I agree let's give them four weeks and then after solar project this is a solar project they're way they're way into it yeah I know it's quite it's quite into it but yeah they still could yeah they could be two months away we don't know so why don't we just give them um well it's up to you but we can make a motion to give them four weeks from this weekend starting this weekend and then if they need more they can come back and ask ask for the couple of days I'll make a motion that we um allow for four weeks for Robinson Road solar project um they can go from change their hours on Saturdays from 8 to 12 to 8 to 4 we have a motion I get second down can we all in favor all thank you very much I'll have Paul notify them that they can start this weekend from 8: to 4: and they have four weekends and until then then they if they don't finish by then they can come back and ask for more and there is no issues with that which nobody has complain so far we'll go four weeks next we have Robinson Road solar project screening since the construction has begun and a butter has come forward questioning the Project's screening has notified the planning board that they will be attending at the meeting um okay so this started before I was on the board this project came in front of this board before I was on this board uh but a little bit of History um in the first half of 2021 there was a public hearing that was held for this special permit and at the June 3rd 2021 public hearing the board made a motion to issue the special permit for this project uh at the 20 April 20th 2023 meeting it was agreed that additional screening was going to be needed for this project uh at the at the May 25th 2023 meeting the proponent showed an additional uh the additional requested screening that the board had required the proponent explained how they the method of assuring that the growth and periodic review um I brought a set of plans just so I can kind of give everybody an idea of how many trees they're actually going to put up so all these circles all the way around this is Robinson Road this is cushan Lane and this is the back half that I think AB buts the butter So what had happened with me and I'll talk to you personally when had happened since I'd been on the board they were approved to cut down some more they had come in requesting to cut down some more trees which is on the I'm not sure if this is the west side or what side it is this is Robinson Road krushing Lane West West Side so they had came in and asked to have permission to cut a few more trees on the west side we had given them permission to cut down a few more trees on the west side then we went out there and I I personally went out there noticed that not only did they cut trees on the west side but they cut trees along this border as well the southide more than I had wanted we called them in and told them that you know we shouldn't have cut down all those trees but they did it because that's where the sun comes in on the south and they wanted more solar on their more sun on their solar some of them were on my side excuse me they cut on my side of the St they cut on your side of the wall I wasn't did aware of that I wasn't aware of that um we did tell them to plant more trees so [Music] um I I I'm not even going to stop to try to pronounce the names of these trees but there's 20 of these trees that get a height of an average height of 25 ft there's 21 of these white Spruce that get an average height of 30 ft 15 ft wide there's 21 of green Giants also 25 ft in height 15 ft wide there is 77 of these Mountain Laurels that get to an 8T height with an 8T width and there's 73 of these Roseberry red dendrum which get to 8 ft High 8 ft width so there's um there's couple of hundred trees that we had requested that they put in um when these are all in and there will be a um cash shity uh in place before they complete to make sure that none of these die and they all grow and survive and we hold on to that for a couple of years and um replace any that do with that being said um please if there's anything that I haven't um answered for you please go to the podium uh introduce yourself your name and address and ask whatever question you may have and I will try to answer it I'm not go to podiums you can sit right there just give me your name address I just want you know for the record that we wouldn't even be here if we were give your name and address kathle Massy first house on the linke Kathleen Matthew first on the L first house on the right correct I am going up Cushing Lane yes I just jump over the fence and I'm in the so yep well we wouldn't even be here if we were notified of this whole project we would have nipped it in the butt a long time ago again I wasn't here when this first happened but do they usually notifi they when it's a public hearing and they have to put it in the paper and they have to send uh notifications I think it's I think it's 300t 300 ft around the entire um site every butter with a certified letter and there's there are green cards that we get that show that that the letter was delivered um that's what was missing I the past but that's missing yeah it does it does happen uh we we try as a board we try to make sure that we don't do anything until we get those green cards in our hands again I can't speak to it cuz I was wasn't here back in 21 uh so I can't tell you what happened and didn't happen um what I can say is before this gets their final approval we will go out for inspection the the inspector which is U the building inspector is the final inspection before he gives the final approval I'll make sure that the trees are adequate now now are these trees going to replace the 60t Pines that got taken down no they're not uh and unfortunately they're down and I can't we can't put them back um but we can make sure that the trees that they do put in especially the ones closest to your house here are the are the 25 ft uh trees that will have maturity that's the 25t first at maturity right so my name is David vonz and I'm the next househ over 15 chushan so one the first thing is it's just to be able to be acknowledg that it the notification process didn't go the way the protocol would have it go it's just have it acknowledged okay we're not changing the past obviously okay I don't live in the world to tell somebody else what they should shouldn't do on their property they're paying the taxes on it they have the right to do what they want to do on you know if they got approval no problem the sh the the the shock part of not knowing but when you look at all of the other solar fields in town at least that I notice except the ones that are set way back you know some of the fields that are set you know the ones that are against the road especially like at the gulf you know where the ring Rangers there's a privacy fence that goes around them so you're not staring at the the structure right right that you know it's a it's a little especially on the you know Rob road is 105 it's like it's just a St a lot of people that travel that road and it is like obnoxious for the town to be looking at that now I got cuz I'm in the world of horiculture they're putting a lot of plant material in and I'm thankful for that okay personally I'm thankful for that but that's 10 years away because you know they're 3 to 4 foot when it comes to the roading on the uh right we required them they're five bigger trees in now from the get-go yeah okay so they're 5-footers when it comes to the sprues and the AR the Green Giant arbites the Green Giant arities after 3 years will grow almost a foot a year after 3 years so in 10 years they'll be 16 ft tall no problem you know that from you know Keith tree farm right the size when you drive by you can see the size of it right like that so no problem the sprues are like 3 to 5 Ines a year and yeah they get to 30 ft okay in 30 years you know in 35 years like that so it was the question was is there any privacy like anything that actually block the the hard structure of the you know um well it sounds like not but that's what the concern was at least for me so is there any way they can put a fence on our side of the the field if they don't want to fence in the whole thing can they just fence where we are well the whole thing will be fenced in but it'll chain it's fenced in with a 6x6 open we saw right an open deer fence that's what it's for okay so when you look at it from Kathy's property or from my house I'm looking you when to look at both straight right at it all we have is the structure up the metal structure and the panel I just like you know it's it's a shot going from I mean even if they were allowed to just p a privacy fence on our side I mean the other side we can deal with but but right there I mean is that you're after this he's right behind me yeah but I'm I sit back so we're both both right got um I mean I've got this much to go to get into that so from here to all right what I can't say is I don't know I don't know if I can go back and tell them to change what's already been approved but I'm thinking there's going to be some kind of loophole in here see how we were never notified because that would have been the first thing we would have told you guys is just put up a fence we're good with this old field i' like it better than houses but there got to be something there I might not be here in 10 years looked at the green cards I need a fence know what would s is there any way to look at that yes there is um and Paul's going to has been looking into it so what happened um when Doug Our Town Plano was here the they they did like a the office was getting over cluttered from many many years of plant and many many years of paperwork many many years of a lot of stuff the the file cabinets were overflowed everything was overflowed so what they did is they basically went into the file cabinets they went into everything and they said okay we're going to go back about four or five years we're going to keep that and then anything that's four or five years older gets put in a box gets it goes into the into the basement so we had to clean out the office um those green cards might be in those boxes gotcha um because they're not in the office Paul looked and they're not in the office so I'm going to have Paul and you're trying to verify the size of the plant material no I'm trying to verify that you got notif maybe you didn't get the card but the card the letter still went to your house I that's we had to sign it do we was there anything to sign it's a certified letter some me what have had to ass for somebody that I got nothing location okay I S I'll I'll look into that that's one section the second thing I'll look into is whether I can go back to the proponent and ask them to change the fencing on this back half cuz this has already been approved yeah so to go back and tell them they have to do something on something that we've already approved I don't know if we can do that but he can need that just add something to the front of it you just want to you want a privacy F you want he can leave what he has there that's fine with it makes here's a I'll say it this way from I'm a contractor as well so I don't expect you can have them go backwards okay because approval is approval that's why people come to get approvals and they get stipulations and you know follow the dot you know cross the do y the plant material the size of it isn't normal for for commercial planting right it's the you would you would call for 3 to 4ft Ries and you know 4ot aelas or whatever you know and 5 to 6 foot uh when it came to you know the Evergreens it would be no bigger than that you wouldn't otherwise the be off the chart right you got they got to be able to buy it off they're required for the for the eastern red seeders they're required to be 6 to 7 feet when planted the sprues are required to be 5 to 6 feet the green Giants are required to be 6 to 7 ft and the mountain Laurels and the and the rose Bay are are between five four and 5 ft when planted and then they say what their average maturity height will be uh down the line it's a it's kind of a whether they are whether they're not you know you're talking this so let me let me so the question is this let me finish on sure there it's possible that there's an easy way they make for the fence that they put up which is a 6x6 grid right so they make a uh it's like a yeah it it weaves in between talking about and it just breaks up the you know it's not a full privacy fence like you have you know a wooden thing like big money but it would at least allow allow it okay be bro broken yeah second question to that was for me is if they were refusal to that if they were like no we don't need to because we got approvals and we're you know we're doing what you know we got approval like okay we're not looking for to be you know okay can I put it up after they're all done can I go get the viny and weave it and and put it up yeah I I I wouldn't want you to do that um not that I wouldn't want you to do it I wouldn't want you to have them question if they did not because they have the right because they have they did their job you know they came in they went through the process and all that stuff it would still be of value for me to take day with my guys and weave it but I just can't walk over there and do that you know I I totally understand before that's that's that's the other question and you know I totally understand where you're coming from let me reach out to them yeah just let me let them know cuz they're not aware I wasn't aware let let me make them aware that the abutters have issues with this Back Fence we're not going to ask them to do the entire the trees up front and the trees the side will grow in we want some privacy on back half that a but you guys let me reach out to them let me tell them that we have issues and I'll I'll give them some options and we'll see what they say yeah it's a reasonable not it's not a unreasonable if it's not if yes and if it goes into no you know we're not interested in fighting in court all just ask I don't think they're going to say can we can we put it up I don't think I don't think they're going to say no yeah I don't think they're going to say no we've uh we've gone round and round they've and they it it's like you're in business one handwashes the other yeah I understand and we're going to ask them for something they come back and they ask us for stuff and we ask them for stuff and one hand washes the other so let me go to them let me see what they say I'll have an answer for you maybe by next meeting which is next Thursday I'll have it on the agenda and I will give you the answer just reason you know it's reasonable it's not absolutely not whatever it is we just want to know what we can do not unreasonable at all and it will probably last long enough until those trees grow to somewhere where it does the rest of it yeah I'll have an answer for you next because we were never invited so and I'll try to get an answer for you regarding those green cards as well okay because uh since I I've I've been trying to when I became chairman of this board I've been trying to do my best to make sure that all the te's are crossed and all the eyes are dotted I want to make sure that um in the past I'm not going to I'm not going to say negative things towards the previous board members or chairmans but not you know some things that maybe slip through the cracks let's just say that so I'm try to make it my you know mission to try to make sure that less Things fall through the cracks appreciate that it could have happened that know you weren't notified of the cards I have a hard time believing that they weren't sent out but I will look into that but I'll have an answer I'll have an answer for you I'll have an answer for you on the fence hopefully by next Thursday I mean we want to work re like that they they don't need any more issues they don't want and and that's a small expense for something of that magnitude okay thank you I'll have any answer for you next week thank youate your time you're very welcome thank you have a good night thank you for being on the board all of you thank you um well let's move on uh current town planning there is nothing long range planning there is nothing other business that have come in in the last 48 hours there is nothing our next meeting happens to be next Thursday a second gentlemen anything else that you want to discuss or bring up while we're here nothing if not can I get a motion I make a motion to close the meeting I'll second that motion all favor hi have a good night [Music] he [Music]