##VIDEO ID:pBjjw02GlMA## e good evening welcome to the Dan Conservation Commission meeting for January the 9th 2025 Happy New Year to everybody we operate as under the Massachusetts General law 131 section 40 the W protection act in chapter 26 of after each applicant present or request to ask question discuss the project we will accept questions from the audience because this is a public meeting required by law your name and your address speak although we may disagree on issu all person during this meeting this includes MERS Stern citizens we also request question only cannot handle all problems must be taken up first Wilson isine Jonathan gar has resigned from the yeah and he couldn't make it tonight uh Mary hate present and Michael Spain yeah uh all right first item on our agenda is a request for certificate of compliance for 99 Andover Street D file number 14 went out Z the applicant is Daryl and Burnham group one Automotive Inc and it's someone's online to yes yep Neil can you hear us [Applause] um should I be unmuted here maybe that might be all right one sec okay that microphone icon for you this one yeah okay Neil can you hear me can you hear me I can now yes can we hear Neil now oh all right Neil we can't hear you one sec one sec you can't hear me it's coming out through here and all right can you hear me now good way to start all right one sec everyone everyone I went to Neil you can hear us you can hear us I can yes okay we still can't hear you I'm sorry we're we're playing around with the it here um if we need to I can give you my phone number and you can give me a call and then I think we had to do that before we had some audio issues and then just put him on speaker phone as long as we can hear yep he can hear me it's just um we can't we can't hear him for some reason [Music] see can hear yeah he can hear us but we're not AIO so okay I just gave him I just gave him my phone number number oh and Contin used to be a isn't that Water Street check check check I'm thinking you know where Port Diner is yeah you turn left is that NE can you hear us check you're going down M okay can you speak uh just so we can hear you get to the end of you can you try to say something uh can you hear me nothing nothing okay yeah just give me a call never get down to the the team all right that's right I'll ask get well anyway that could continue yeah because the butter yeah I saw the letter all right I'm calling you right now see the pictures yeah that's why I want to go by it to see which house he was taking pictures if it's to assuming that's still working on yeah and that's the 3 ft probably she said to the driveway that's how close the property is Neil your phone went right to voicemail well I know she's just concering she has an she mbnb I right yeah so what does that mean she either rents out a portion or yeah you can rent it out for a weekend a week two weeks they make good money huh hi there Neil all right I'm going to put you on speaker phone think Airbnb do yes I just turned down my speakers I can hear you on speak I think yeah I I have Neil on speaker phone my phone up here gentl on on the screen there okay all right let's see if this works go ahead please hello hi hi identify go he uh can hear us on there can you hear the commission yes I can okay and Neil could you just give us a quick overview of what the project entailed and I kind of remember we talked about this several years ago sure yes um well we're actually looking for certificates of compliance for two related projects uh the first one being 1320 uh which is a walking trail um basically we added some Stone papers and some benches uh and a little pedestal uh to the Park area if you look at the bottom center of your screen there um that shows essentially there was an employee who likes exercise every lunch walk around the campus and she passed away they wanted to do something nice for her and I don't know can I draw on this picture what was that Neil anyway uh so they put up a walking trail it was in the buffer of Crane Brook uh so we came before the board in February of 2019 uh got that approved and constructed uh later that year excuse me one second Neil whereabouts on this drawing that we're looking at is that trail is that the the the dash line to the right of the the black parking spots that is part of it that was actually a uh a purple stripe uh if you follow the dash line to the bottom of the page yeah no sorry farther further west that dash line there that's it yes if you saw that to the bottom of the page you'll see where it intersects the curb we on the left of the screen down here now that's right yeah yeah west of that little Wetland area a pass yes okay West you're almost over two parall lines little semicircle right here yes oh okay yeah no yeah yeah okay it's essentially just a little rest area for people to sit on nice days um and that was constructed according to plan I don't believe they made any changes during construction to that um there was a purple line painted on existing paved areas to delineate where the walking trail around the campus would go uh later that year we came back looking to uh remove and replace and relocate the existing Subaru dealership uh so what you're looking at here is the brand new super R dealership which opened a couple of years ago um that is significantly in to W hand buffer uh it did not increase any impervious cover anywhere on site it adjusted some of the the setbacks but by and large we were within the footprint of what was already developed um there were not any changes to the St Mar Management on site at that time um there were no significant controls Beyond Sil fence Sil sacks we did remove two untreated discharges South End of the site next sheet yes the red parking lot is where the old Subaru building was and they had a couple of pipes that were discharging directly into cran Brook uh that area was totally regraded to make sure everything everything comes back into the site and into the wet pond at the front of the site the wet pond it's on the right parallel to4 yes okay okay now have you just described both aspects of this U that we're approving tonight yeah yeah it's two separate applications second one which is tearing down the old Ro trips and building the new one it was application 2 for permit number 1325 okay so the first one was essentially for your walking path and where it correct correct okay uh okay and staff has been out to visit and everything looks good everything looks great no concerns okay uh any questions from the board Mike have any questions yeah a couple uh with regard to the walkin path um what is uh what is that composed of is that uh PE stone or gravel or uh it's it's pavers it's pavers it's effectively perious they are pervious pavers yes which is the same yeah and is is that for the public or is that for employees or both both both I'm not I'm not sure what member of the public would Ro around an auto campus well unless they're waiting for their car to get fixed okay it is it is available yeah and just super I'm sorry no go ahead what were you going to say super really leans into their brand as outdoorsy um they like to put dog parks all their new facilities so I'm sure they would allow anybody to use that walking trail that wanted to and then uh was just for staff with the vote why uh why do we have that condition 38 there um because it's the bottom of it says that this condition will not expire with the issuance of the COC so it's included so that it will be noted that it will be part of the certificate of compliance but and the applicant is aware stressing that that that continues yes yep and just so that you guys would have that language too so you would know what it was all right and it goes into the permanent yeah okay I'll set Mike yes thank any questions no this is not a public hearing right so all right let's uh someone make a Mo will grant the certificate of compliance for both or just for we'll just do one at a time okay I'll make a motion um for the certificate of compliance to be granted for D file number 14-1 32099 and over Street uh and just a quick mention that this this one condition is there's one condition that's in perpetuity within 30 days of do I just read the last sentence or because that's would you say as noted as noted as written okay is there motions been made is there a second second the motion all in favor okay there's one uh next up is a request for certificate of compliance for 99 Andover Street D file number 14132 the applicant is Daryl M bernham and of group One automotive and I think he has described already what this project entails and staff has been out to visit and everything looks good Yep looks great um okay does anybody have any questions just uh for staff was it was the work done in accordance with the order of conditions was there slight changes or there were the slight changes noted below but nothing that was of any concern and Engineering already closed out all of their permits with the site too nothing nothing of any concern all right uh no questions uh Lorraine any questions no questions Mary I'm good all set all right to make a motion I'll make a motion that we issue a certificate of compliance for D file number 14- 1325 applicant darl M Burnham group one Automotive Inc is there a second second all in favor all right uh next up is a notice of intent for 13 South Liberty Street no that's thank you sir good work around Emily oh thank you we might be doing it again with the next one when uh the next one I'm just going to read this but this is not opening a hearing is that correct so we don't have to correct we're not opening the hearing for 13 South Liberty just they requested to continue to Su summarize 13 South Liberty Street has requested that we continue to our next meeting on January 23rd uh now I just have one quick question yes is South Liberty Street different than Liberty Street yes it branches off this is um it's obrien Farm it's that area it's that property so like branches off a little bit as you're going up that hill it's a slight right okay cuz I went to look at it today I didn't as we turn left on the the Port Diner and we're heading down Liberty so tell me where we go from there it's like it's as you start to go up the hill you go over the bridge and New England home for the de is going to be on your left it's before you get to that it veers off to the right at that light it's right up in that area oh so this is totally different this is I I think I know yeah I do too all right so it's nowhere near the Liberty Street we were thinking of so it's right on the water yeah yeah okay okay but that's continued anyway so U we don't need to vote to continue uh next up is a notice of intent I'm sorry do you just need to do a motion to continue I said we don't need uh next up is a notice of intent for 30 Sherwood AB D file number 14-14 29 the applicant is Alex Shook and Alex on with us or um we have Nicole on here represent and Nicole can you please try to say something to test out yeah hi can evening commission members my name is I'm going to give you a call okay it's fine I'm so sorry everyone I don't know what's going on with the audio but we're making it work all that green oh green screen stream can hear that say it's not it's not a setting on my computer right no I mean probably not I don't know why you guys aren't able to hear hi good evening can you hear me I can hear you one second I'm just going to put on speaker phone okay okay great I'm but because we have so few [Music] people hi evening MERS my name is NI from L wait hold on we're getting a lot feed one sec we having an echo problem might be gone okay oh no there it is can you hear me better now it's just coming back twice CU she's listening I didn't do it with the other person I think he shut off his microphone oh oh Nicole can you um can you mute your computer yes that's probably it yep I'm muted there some chatter from somewhere else cuz she didn't Echo that time all right one sec we didn't do a motion Contin we never open is there a mic that she still can open 15 Contin every we all right Nicole I'm going to pull the plan up here um and we're just trying to figure out the feedback issue can you hear me a little better now yes yes yes great all right just let me know when I can we said yeah do okay hi everyone again Nicole Ferrara from LC environmental I'm representing the uh the owner Alex Shu who is also online so we submitted an noi application to pave a gravel driveway reconstruct a patio and establish a lawn associated with a single family dwelling understanding that Emily and mother staff have visited the site in December to discuss the project with the owner for those of you who have not seen the site it's located in the East central portion of town just Southwest of the Beverly airport and it's within a residential neighborhood you can see we have a single family dwelling on the property and frost fish Brook is located offsite to the West we have a gravel driveway that extends to a single family dwelling and a car garage we also have a front porch and a brick and stone patio occurs off the rear the house uh some gravel patches occur along um the sides of the house you can see this driveway extension and then there's also a gravel patch behind the uh Pao back so the the house and Associated apperances are actually surrounded by over shrub vegetation and various household and Landscape if you would mind go to slide two please they just included some photos to show what um site looks like we have that gravel driveway as I mentioned and the gravel driveway extension right along it moving to the next slide um is some photos of the overgrown vegetation in the backyard you can see there's no lawn at all within the yard the photo on the right shows the existing patio and um landscape debr surrounded by vegetation what is in those drums I'm sorry it looks like there's four 55 gallon drums there is a what was in or what is in those now they were empty when I visited the S they were left from previous owner know this house was just sure they looked like landscape you know like leaf cting and like that okay just got keep going as best you can then great to the next side please so L was out in early November to evaluate the site and Bank associated with the brook the stream within this block and Boulder retaining and it places the entire property within area go to the next side please here's the exist and proposed site plan we have existing house the existing patio off the rear you can see there's that gravel cat where those DRS were back in the last photo we have the driveway that's gravel the front and then we have that gravel extension the driveway extension just to the South um the owners are looking to sell their house hopefully in February but before they do they want to clean up the yard and do some minor interior Renovations so they are hoping to pave the existing driveway within the same footprint so they're going to just remove the gravel and then pave it over with asphal they want to uh install a patio in the backyard if you zoom in a little bit easier to see um but they the current patio is 4 5 3are ft and they are proposing to replace it with a 144 square foot paper patio so it'll be smaller than the one that's there and it'll be within the existing footprint of that developed area um so the driveway and the patio won't result in any increase in inia surface within the buffer zone um nor will any of the work be located closer to the that existing condition we're also proposing to remove some of the gravel um as part of that driveway extension that I had mentioned earlier that grav is just going to be removed and replaced uh with with lawn so moving on to the lawn um they're proposing to install it around you know the front and the back of the house as I mentioned earlier there's no lawn that currently exists and there's no proper yard to walk around the the house and um VR does contain a lot of overgrown vegetation that just wasn't maintained throughout the decades and it mainly includes sumax some B of BUN and other opportun D rugs so uh we're proposing to extend it from the house to roughly 20 to 35 ft away from the side of the yard and then the lawn will extend about 40 to 48 ft um from the from the back and the front of the house and you can see that proposed lawn Edge in cple yep and that lawn Edge um the area will be red and a layer of fresh L and Seed will be immediately applied once all the vegetation is removed and the vegetation will be removed using hand tools and a mini bob cat to get any of the bigger shrubs out you can see there are two only two existing trees there and those will be maintained we're going to keep the trees where they are and you can see we're going to put uh tree protection around them so the brook or sorry the lawn will not be any closer to the brook than 60.1 ft um and the applicant is going to implement a native landscape plan which includes some na of sapling trees and shrubs along the edge of the lawn uh which are really intended to mitigate for the proposed one and improve the aesthetic of the backyard as I'll discuss um in a moment so in terms of mitigation like I mentioned we're going to have that tree protection around those two existing trees we're also going to install a staked compost filter tube along the limit of work area uh to prevent any erosion or sentation from you know going into the river although the site is is generally flat then all stockpiling um if needed will occur within the driveway we're also proposing some storm water management So currently there's no storm water management on site for any of the impious areas and in effort to mitigate for the paving of the gravel driveway we're proposing to infiltrate that runoff uh by installing a stone apron along the southern side of the driveway and um the stone apron will be constructed um it'll be 2T wide and 3T deep and the driver will be pitched slightly so that the water um flows towards that apron and the will contain wash St to allow the water to to infiltrate and going on to the native landcaping plan you mind scolling down to the next slide one more slide uh so we're going to impl Native landscape plan which uh it's going to be a mul landscape bed with some native sa trees and shrubs and it's intended to enhance the riverfront area and improve the aesthetic of the backyard but also to help demarcate the lone Edge for any future homeowners so they can't expand further that'll kind of cre the natural areer um so the multitude bed will be around 817 Square ft and it'll measure about 5 ft wide it'll contain at least five sapling trees and 10 shrubs um and we included a of species that are all Native that um the applicants can select from and I think we expect at least four species from that list will be will be installed in the area in green and then just to bring it back to the site plan um the overall degraded room front area will actually decrease by 48 sare ft with that removal of the gravel as I mentioned earlier and uh the patio being um smaller than the original and all the proposed work is outside the 50t buper zone and that about covers it so I'll turn it back over to the commission with any questions uh you said that the property was going to be sold in the near future is that right um so I'm just a little concerned of you know whose responsibility would be to make sure all these plantings are are done uh you know is it going to be the new owner or the the current owner it'll be the current owner they'll be uh responsible for installing everything and I hope hope to do that within the next month or two the plings might take a little bit longer given you know it's hold out spring is is more ideal but they're hoping to start clearing this area out um to put it on the market in a month maybe not sell it but at least get it ready right I drove by today and just clearing the front yard's a big Improvement it's overall it's going to be good it's just kind a little nervous about uh proving something that promises and then it's going to change hands um okay that's all I have for right now other members of the board Mike have any questions yeah I had the same concern I mean if they're going to sell it in February and we're in January I don't know how they're going to get all that work done and um if if they're going to sell it I suppose the buyer's going to want to see a uh who's going to be looking for a certificate of compliance the new owner or the current owner um it depends if oh go ahead go yeah you could answer okay yeah I was just going to say that U the owner is going to put the house on the market in February and continue with the you know clearing if needed um throughout the month and in terms of the COC you know we typically recommend the owner cleared out um you know contract s that figure comp what what did what was the last thing you said I'm sorry I I assume that the details out certificate of comp would beer all right so so so we're here by the way um I don't know if you can hear us because um the audio is not great but this is Alex and Kathy shuck where the current owners of the property hello yeah we hear you can you hear us yes we do yeah um it the audio is not great on our end we can't hear you guys too well but um it sounds like you have some questions about when the work will be done Etc right so yeah obviously with the winter we can't really do too much so we're you know thinking probably March April is when all this is going to happen okay all right that sounds better March April March April is when you think you'd have the plan things done I'm sorry I can't hear you all right the other question um did you want to no go ahead M the other question question I had so uh we may be looking for a bond if uh the property's being sold quickly and the work doesn't get done the other question I had was uh uh you represent that there'll be uh no uh no increase in impervious surface but aren't you hot topping the driveway yes we are but we're removing the patio the back and we're removing there's a ton of gravel along the side of the house that we will be removing and restoring as okay um staff agrees that there'll be a negative net effect all right the other thing it's a question for staff too but with regards to installing Lawns where there were were not previous Lawns um is there any restriction on chemicals or use of um I'm sorry this is for she's uh I think she's mimicking what you said so that's em e em oh that was you Emily that's an echo good uh so we would put a restriction on herbicide use yeah I think this cuz the Brook's right there so you know that to in that regard just take it a step further and you did mention it but just want to make sure we're all on the same page that you know we're bringing in Phil uh erosion control is very important yes just control and one other question uh is the is the property flat level I mean is there a flow to the land it is a very flat land there is a drop off right at the edge of the property the western edge of the propert property drops to the brook but before that it's all flat all right that's all my questions thank you all right line no questions um my only question is with the planting if you're selling in February um March April I don't know how like saplings and things like that to me the ground is still going to be cold and potentially depending on our climate conditions it may still be frozen so I would just want to put in the um condition that those plantings go in even if you know let's say we have a really cold April and they can't get those saplings and trees in or get the lawn properly put in um that that's done maybe after the sale of the property because I know some sales take six months some sales take two months if I could into Che uh just um what would be an appropriate bond amount if that work didn't get done property um there was I believe $2,000 um I wouldn't suggest really going above that given the size of the property and yeah more or less saying 2,000 would I wouldn't go about that all right all right I wanted to get your input on that yeah my concern is that it's going to be cleared and they'll destroy all that vegetation and then somebody comes in and buys it and they haven't put in the the newly seated plants or the the lawn well we'll have a bond to ensure that it get now all right the applicant is comfortable with posting a bond hello hi Alex are you okay if there's a bond if the work is not done to pay it's a small Bond 2000 a $2,000 is that what you're saying it's hard to hear yes yeah okay okay okay uh good that's I mean overall I just uh applaud what you're doing because that lawn is uh I mean that that whole piece of property is falling to quite to disrepair so and I'm sure the neighbors like what you're doing as well um okay all the board members questions have been answered is there any public comment or questions seeing none uh okay are we comfortable is order conditions U okay if someone can make a motion and make sure that the bond is is part of that I'm going to get nervous with the bond piece okay you'll help me out with that yeah go ahead all right so I make a motion to issue an order of conditions for 30 Sherwood a d number 14-1 1429 with additional conditions as discussed so no herbicides and post and a motion we need a separate motion for the bond or we just make it a condition you can do it can do it yeah and well they they mention as part of U but just uh to further elaborate on the bond when certificate of compliance is issued is when the bond will be repaid so that way it protects us to make sure that the planting says promised are done M okay okay that's a motion I second a motion okay all in favor I okay you're all set thank you and good luck with good luck with your project have a good day thanks you too I'll give you a call tomorrow okay next up is uhk you old or new business uh the first one is the minutes from our last meeting on December 12th I'm presuming everyone has read the minutes uh it's nice that we're now having minutes prev said catch up uh so if we are all on the same page as far as having read the minutes if someone can make a motion that we approve the minutes can I'll make a motion we approve the uh minutes for the Conservation Commission meeting of December 12th 2024 I'll second it all in favor I all right uh next up is a Wetlands Crossing violation which Emily is going to give us an update on yes um so this all started or it was first reported to us I believe back in January of 2023 it's the stretch of the rail trail in between Nicholls and Maple Street um it was reported to us that some residents had constructed some um unpitted Wetlands Crossings to get from their property onto the rail trail um letters were sent out at that time we weren't quite sure who had constructed them so was a letter that was sent out to all of the residents in the area saying essentially these are unpermitted please remove them if you know who built them please please help how many how many different Crossings were there um at that time I believe it was one but now there are at least two in that strategy pict there's three three what are the crossings look like is somebody throw a log over a br one sec I'll pull them up for you here that's that rail trail that portion of the rail trail is not active yet either no it stopped short of Maple Street on the other side of Maple Street right yeah give me one second this is one of them so are the The Crossings associated with certain Property Owners that's what we're trying to figure out um yeah this backs into fox fox runroad or Fox Hill Road y um so we're in the investigation stage at this point um more letters were sent out again it was reported to us that the um the crossings were back again in March of 2024 letters went out again we thought the issues was resolved it's still ongoing uh we made D aware of it as well um so they're helping us out with some guidance on that other the pictures too Emily share those um I believe this is all see that this is all the same one oh yeah right through the wetlands yeah that's testing it out what's that Crossing used for to go from where to where um it's to get from private property onto the rail trail without going down to Nickel Street or to Maple and and and there's a there's regular access to the rail trail otherwise right yes yeah yeah who's whose property are those little things on is it Town property or private property that's what we're trying to figure out um some of it does We Believe cross the line into town property um so we're working on um mitigation efforts for that and that's part of our investigation is determining where these property lines are yeah trying to figure out who built them is a challenge but regardless of who built them they aren't permitted Crossings um let me just pull up a couple of others here straightforward though to find who whose property they they so here's another one this one word this one I don't believe was before to be continued right to we get more information yes yes so we're Gathering more information um if the commission if you guys want to do a site walk together we can check it out it's I mean just it's a short stretch of Trail you can easily walk it on your own they're very easy to see especially in the winter I think this is pretty much just for informational yes yeah this is just to let the commission know what's going on and that we're working with d and following their guidance um to get this resolved so would those be considered um like if it's on their property but they're going into Wetlands do you know what I mean without a a build permit like exactly because whether it's on toown property or private property it still is an unpermitted crossing over so it's a violation regardless it's just us determining if it is on Town property the commission could ask the town to just remove it um but we're we're still working that stuff out um there's one more here I just want to pull up for you at some point I'd like to how would you find if it's on toown property can't you just look at the property line that's what we're looking yeah pulling up GIS maps and then pulling up older Maps too try to figure out when they were actually constructed we're trying to build a timeline Maybe the Boy Scouts could construct something like they did uh at the Agway where they made that Crossing it worked out very well okay so absolutely but this is just informational for us tonight yes absolutely us up to date on any any happening yes yeah as as things develop I'll keep everyone in the loop this is just just to let you know what's what's going on one other thing I do too go ahead mate oh so Emily what can you tell us about uh what you call the Deep dive topics uh that you sent out oh so those are um those are trainings that are being offered by D specifically for staff and um commission members and no cost no cost yeah no cost just log in through the link um but they did ask that these these are not public trainings it's for staff and commission members okay Y and I'll send out reminders when those dates pop up because I know it's eight months of trainings um the day of the trainings I'll be sending out reminders to everyone and it's you're not obligated but if you have the time and You' like to attend all virtual all virtual and they don't they don't record it so if you missed yeah they're not recorded they're not record there no tests and there's no tests no no test I'm a teacher I don't mind a test thank you no test so my question is Emily the last meeting you know when Jonathan told us he was uh not going to be with us any longer we talked about the um the role of alternates have you had a chance to find out how the alternates work with the other boards yes um yes so I spoke with staff about that and basically if if the commission is full if we have five full members then the alternate would not be participating in the voting if that person was at the meeting they would be attending as a resident if there were if we had a four to five there were four members here that person could come and join the board as an alternate for that meeting V in terms of voting and they could vote if there are five full members here then that person wouldn't be voting but if there's only four that alternate could vote Yes they can fully participate a that's different than what was first explained to us a coule years ago but is it it assume that the applicant would have reviewed the information or gone on a site visit or the alternate I me the alternate yeah the alternate still gets all the email so like Jonathan as an alternate he is still getting all the emails and everything so that if he does um attend a meeting or if he needs to so that we have a quum he's fully versed on the applications he's stilling all those emails I think I can live with that that that person if we're down one member that alternate could vote and do we have an all tonight no no well Jonathan I did reach out there was someone who had sent in his information through the through the website there's the talent pool form that you can fill I believe you all have filled it out at some point um I reached out to him today hopefully we'll hear back soon and he can come in you chat and we'll get him on the board hopefully but we got our ears to the ground on that one okay yeah just and yeah it takes a a special person you have to have J life's responsibilities yes absolutely yeah it is it's a commitment for sure okay good so keep us posted on that I will absolutely um anything else any of the members any of the public all right let's someone can make a motion to adjourn we will do that make a motion to return I second the motion all in favor I all right okay great thank you all we not running down the cape tonight e