##VIDEO ID:ibGXKXSFy_M## okay good evening my name is Bob Connors at 6:01 p.m and I'd like to call the December 3rd meeting of the Newbury Conservation Commission to order Mason can you read the remote open meeting law Preamble and take a roll call of the members present as a preliminary matter this is Mason ferret conservation agent of the new Conservation Commission I call the December 3rd meeting to order and permit me to confirm that all members are present and can hear me Members when I call your name please respond in the affirmative Mary Rimer yes TJ KY yes Mick Brown Diane O'Brien yes Woody Knight yes Bob coners yes and Frank wet Camp good evening everyone this open meeting of the new Conservation Commission is being conducted remotely consistent with Governor Baker's executive order of March 12th 2020 due to the current state of emergency in the Commonwealth due to the outbreak of the covid-19 virus in order to mitigate the transmission of the covid-19 virus we have been advised and directed by the Commonwealth to suspend public Gatherings and ask such the governor's order suspends the requirement of open meeting law to have all meetings in a publicly accessible physical location further all members of public bodies are allowed and encouraged to participate remotely for this meeting the new Conservation Commission is convening by Zoom as post posted on the agenda of the Conservation Commission Section of the town's website identifying how the public may join please note that this meeting is being recorded and that attendees are participating by video conference applicants or the representatives may be called upon to speak and or share information to the screen if aable on the Fly we're now turning to the first item on the agenda before we do so permit me to cover some ground rules for Effective and clear conduct for our business and to ensure accurate meeting minutes the chair will introduce each speaker on the agenda after they conclude the remarks the chair will go down the line of members inviting each by name to provide any comment questions or motions for any responses please wait until the chair yields the floor to you and state your name before speaking board and committee members should be called upon in a first name alphabetical order to ease the process if board and committee members wish to engage with other members please do so through the chair taking care to identify yourself after the board and committee members have spoken the chair will afford public comment as follows the chair will seek first questions through the chat function and then the chair will seek questions from the public who wish to speak they'll be asked to identify their names address and question once the chair has a list of all public com commentators they will call on each by name and afford three minutes for any comments finally each vote taken in this meeting will be conducted by roll call vote okay yeah thank you Mason hey good evening Mick good evening Frank we uh we just got going and uh obviously you you missed the exciting Preamble and all that good stuff okay upcoming meeting dates uh December 17th is our next meeting meeting minute review October 15 2024 if you remember team we had some U I think we had some spelling errors to correct and both Mason and I ran it through spell check so right now it's going to be up to Microsoft Outlook in word uh to if we missed anything so why don't we take a minute and review those see if we have any questions Corrections or concerns okay hearing none uh I will entertain a motion to approve the meeting minutes for October 15 okay so TJ and who was the other one was at this one that's why I'm trying to remember if I was at this one or not uh you know what were you were you in Florida with your I was it was either this one or the one before that that's why I'm not sure I think I think October 5th you weren't to ask okay so then but second okay you were not at that meeting you were not at the 10:15 at least you're not listed in a minute is that the one I was trying to that's what I was trying to figure out I'd be happy to uh second or whatever okay yeah I got the TJ motion and Woody's second okay good okay okay roll call All In favor Mary yes TJ hi Woody yes Mick hi Frank yes and Bob Connor votes yes okay uh next order is a meeting Minutes review for November 15 2024 let we take a minute look at those and see what the word and Microsoft whatever missed on spell correct you know with with AI and chat gbt we're all going to become you know illiterate when we're doing this stuff because it's no one has to really pay attention to spelling anymore either autoc corrects or you have a format that cleans it all up at the end that's my excuse when I do this on my phone because my fingers are just a little too big for the keys it's it's not my ninth grade English that's shining through okay uh hearing no uh questions or Corrections uh I will entertain a motion to approve the meeting minutes from November 19th no moved all right Diane in a second second okay Mary okay roll call vote all in favor Mary yes TJ I was not here at that meeting okay Woody yes uh Mick hi Diane yes Frank I don't think I was at that meeting but um November 15 yeah was in Colorado okay I think you called in though Frank didn't you oh no you didn't that's right no we we put a letter in your file on that by the way well he's listed on there yeah he's listed on the meeting minutes oops that's the 10:15 I'm just double check okay He's listed on He's listed on the 1119 one as well y okay I I yes okay all right uh next order of business uh request for determination of applicability 14 Pine Island Road the applicant wants to construct and add a mudro and a twocc car garage to existing dwelling property we haven't heard from the applicant I think he's pretty clear that he really needs to come back with an noi so Mason I think what we'll do is we'll just drop this from the from the agenda as an RDA at this point you know for inactivity what the minute said that he's coming in in December I think it said today yeah continued at the applicant's request to 1119 meeting oh this was this meeting yeah we can leave it on there as well I mean it's it's this doesn't require no action as okay I I can reach out to him to try and get a to see if he's coming well you know what why don't we do this I'll why don't we move to continue this to the U 12 it 127 yeah 127 okay it doesn't require a vote because it's not a public hearing okay uh enforcement orders 108 Main Street 30 Riverview Drive just going to read these because they require no action 6 2 Middle Road uh none of these require action um we have a plan for each one of them so doesn't require any action by the board tonight extension request we have none certificates of compliance we have no request for certificates of compliance okay public hearing D file number 0501 443 37th Street applicant is submitting a notice of in to renovate their existing home including additions decks plans include a mitigation planting plan project narrative and site plans U Mason give us an overview on this there was Mason had informed me that there was a a butter question on the notice that it did not have uh the correct time didn't have the zoom link and it was showing was being held in person at 25 High Roads so Tom Hughes was notified that um we would only continue this meeting tonight am I correct on that Mason is that yep correct and he said he'd be like uh he'd like to request a site walk too so I don't know if um we'd like to try and figure out maybe a couple days that work for everyone and then we can can reach out to Tom with those dates I mean I think we need the presentation before we can schedule a site walk so sure a s sidewalk is needed for this one I drove in the driveway tonight just to take a look at it and it's pretty pretty explanatory yeah yeah okay uh all right uh I will entertain a motion to continue the public hearing at the applicant's request to the 121724 meeting moved second okay motion CJ and Diane okay roll call vote all in favor Mary yes TJ hi Woody yes Mick hi Diane yes Frank yes and blob Conor V chers okay uh continue public hearing the EP file number 0501 1436 286 high road to construct an addition to an existing single family dwelling with Associated utilities and expanded driveway within 100 foot buffet to the Salt msh area Mason can can you give us an overview on this and as that recall you mentioned this was also going to be a request to continue yeah Bill had reached out um earlier this week requesting to continue um to the first meeting in January okay what's the what's the date on that is that believe it's the sth it's the first Tuesday in January okay January 50 okay so okay uh the applicant has requested we continue this public hearing to January 7 um I'll entertain a motion to continue this to the at the applicant's request to January 7th 2025 second okay is a second DJ hey roll call all in favor Mary yes TJ hi Woody yes Mick hi Diane yes Frank yes and Bob Connor's votes yes okay we have a continued public hearing de file number 0501 1439 268 Middle Road Governor's Academy applicant is submitting a notice of intent for an ecological restoration project the applicant proposes to remove the damage and nonfunctioning celv on a stream that is on the campus property outside and student research has been done to measure the pre-existing impacts of the damaged calt they proposed to remove the damaged celv repair the surrounding MH and install a wooden foot Bridge across the stream to access the island and other parts of the M Mason can you give us an update on this and I I see Wendy is on the call yeah so uh I uploaded to the Dropbox some of the conversation that Wendy had with um Alicia G um sorting out or ironing out some issues there um and besides that I think Wendy wanted to schedule a site visit with everyone um so kind let Wendy take over with any updates that she has yeah so Wendy I was reading the communication that you had sent off to Alisia at D and you're you're submitting a form 3A uh on this project so why don't you take it from there and and give us the update because it also looks like that we're going to have to do something um what was the form that our order of conditions is going to be a form 5A but you know when we get to that point yeah so I at the last meeting um there were some questions about whether it was a limited project or not and um and and it was listed as such on the d uh portal um which was a mistake um and the emails that I provided to Mason show that um and then also the the question of the fee I I really don't know what to do about that the check was cashed on November 10th um and they can't seem to find it the person that's in charge of the website I can't get to reply to my emails so I'll keep working on it but at least there's a DP number so I'm I'm hopeful we could move ahead and schedule a site walk and you know start the technical conversation about the project the D number means they got the check yeah it mean so they so then they were able to release it release the number because they have the check they just haven't issued any comments yet it still says waiting for a fee though on the but they issued the fal number so that made correction and they didn't until they issued technical comments they take which they may or may not do that will stay okay as long as all right it's been paid you have if you won't you wouldn't have gotten a file number if they didn't get the fee so okay okay very good so conditions okay so the form 5A will be our order of condition format um based on your current filing when we get to that point yeah the way I understand it I mean I I attended a webinar that the D put on on EnV you know ecological restoration projects and and the 3A is a full ecological restoration it's comparable to a general permit you know and the nities world right um where there's just set conditions and um they felt like that was an appropriate uh form of Permitting for this project you know rather than a limited project which would have more restrictions and and things to follow through on so I'm I was proceeding based on their recommendation on that okay would I hold you there and see if there's any questions and then we can talk about scheduling a site pres Mary any any questions uh to to Wendy has there been any new information submitted since the last me me um right before the last meeting I received the uh reply from DMF and I had forwarded it to Mason but I don't know that it was put up in the Dropbox in time for the last meeting so that they just confirm no time of year restrictions and no diagramas fish run requirements okay and remind me are you in uh priority habitat no okay no I I included a map um in the application that shows that we're not just yeah trying to refresh my memory and and how about AC does that we are we are in the the great Marsh AC y okay it's also an outstanding resource water but because there's less than 100 yards stretching we don't need the the 401 um certification yeah I'm getting mixed messages about that 401 certification because now they're saying any amount of dredge in AC triggers it so but but I guess really we're not even dredging that's not you're not you're just taking out the covert just picking it up yeah yeah and there is there any stream Restoration in the once you take out the old cover just the stream um redefine itself in its Channel there's been some conversation with uh the um Mosquito Abatement um folks that are going to do the work that um I wouldn't call it stream restoration but if there's any native material removed with the cover they want to just push it back on the bank where it's all scoured out okay um but that's something I think I would hope that Mason would be able to be on site when the work's being done and provide you know agreement or Guidance with on that and then what what time of year are you anticipating now that you don't have a time of year restriction we're shooting for January um just because the ground will be frozen they'll be less impact yeah okay but that's dependent on on getting this um completed and you need to get um do you need to bring equipment out onto the marsh to do this uh it's just to the very edge of the marsh it'll go over the playing field fields for the most of the trip and then there's just a short distance um in the kind of the border of the marsh um that the equipment will have to run up to are you planning on using Timber mats or or anything on that or no because it's it's it's pretty solid okay um yeah so as long as it's low ground pressure equipment and you're okay hopefully Frozen conditions but the marsh isn't really freezing much these days so right there's there's kind of an established cart path there isn't there yes there is yeah okay great and what kind of equipment are you bringing out just rubber tired equipment or yeah he said he was planning on a just a backhoe um you know the the equipment they use to do most of their work so um yeah I did speak with him and he would like to attend the site visit so I have some dates when he's not available hopefully we can work around that because I think his input would be helpful to the commission okay thank you Mary anything else no that's all good news okay uh t J any questions for uh Wendy I'll set there okay Woody any questions no I'm good with questions now thank you Bob okay Mick any follow-up questions no followup uh thanks Bob thanks Wendy okay Diane any any questions on this matter did our last meeting scare the students away no no you're not here this did a great job they did a great job last yeah that was really um I really appreciate you you know allowing them to do that it was a it made a big impact on them so yeah experience they get making presentations like that the better oh yeah for sure are we still talking about a board I'm sorry to interrupt um a boardwalk over this um Crossing or is that not part of the plan now it that's what we're proposing um okay you know I understand that that technically that's not a restoration but it allows us to not reinstall a culvert I mean that's a historical access to that area of the marsh and D's aware of that and they're okay yeah and there's a plan I'm sure that you have Wendy you're familiar with the aluminum ramps with the side rails very easy cheap well 20 22,000 is for an aluminum ramp yeah for for aluminum Bridge yeah with because it would have to have the railings on the side I mean I did look at that that's one option if we we have applied for a grant if we receive the grant you know perhaps we would you know propose that instead but I i' shop that around a little better that that seems pretty pretty pricey there's a PL place in Gloucester that does a lot of these Yeahs yeah Wilson Wilson Welding right up here in Salsbury has oh yeah we've used them yeah so do you think that would have less impact than a um 4x4 post it would be it would be considered temporary wouldn't it I mean it would just be resting on the grade think they're going to want to have elevated somehow with he something anchored to the marsh would it be removed seasonally so you don't want to have something that I don't think it's removed seasonally right that's not the intention that wasn't the plan it's got to be something that's not GNA popped out with ice um and stuff so well you'll figure it out y y okay Frank any questions uh on this one no not at this time okay and Wendy the only question I have is a followup to to Mick on the uh are they are they visualizing a mini excavator on tracks that would be low pressure for for actually equipment on site I I'm not sure exactly I think probably it would be best to ask Stephen okay and he'll be at the site he'll be at the S okay yeah I mean because typically what we're looking for is you know what what what are you going to use for IM mobilization area what you what are you going to use to store materials and if they're removing any materials from the site or whatever it just having that having that kind of predetermined and we can incorporate it into the order so the the plan is any materials they move will just go into a dump truck and be brought up to our facilities area you know where we store materials so there won't be anything going offsite other than be you'll be live loading then into a track okay yeah okay uh any other questions uh for for Wendy at this time okay are there any raised hand from the public at this time okay seeing none all right why don't you tell us what days are we looking at for a potential site inspection that will work for everybody um you're asking me yeah you said there was a couple of days that what was the gentleman's name that was a stepen uh I can't pronounce the last name so Steve from mosquito control how about yes yeah um so apparently they're going to a conference next week Monday Tuesday Wednesday they don't work Fridays um you know this week the 6th is a possibility um that would be Thursday um Friday yeah they don't they don't work on Friday so just the six this week NE next week the 12th and then fth this week this week is the Thursday is the 5ifth correct sorry about that yeah I don't know if that's too soon for the commission to um I don't your next meeting is December um 17th 17th so yeah well if you want to get a January start date then we we have to kind of get this rolling for you right right how does how does December 5th work for members that want to go to the site inspection which is this Thursday good for me it ideally it I think would the tide make a difference here and it would be best to see it at low tide so you can see the channel or does it make a difference here well the C's still in place so we can probably cross over it but but I think the photos that I submitted with the application are at dead low tide um I don't know what the tide looks like this week but the the tide doesn't overtop the covert or or the banks so you'll still be able to get a 7 AM or 8 AM low tide okay um on Thursday so 8 o'clock is typically when we do it that seems that would probably work than Mary if it was if flow tide was at 7 [Music] am all right so how does uh Thursday December 5th at 8 o'clock work for the commission Diane does that work for you I can't I can't do it but I mean I'll defer to you guys okay TJ any how does that work for you that's good for me hey what how sorry I'm sorry I'm just going by my screen here you're down in the lower left-and corner are and it's no disrespect from your rank on this commission keep jumping in I'm just I'm just wanted to point out that I'm looking at the weather and there's 95% chance of rain on yeah Thursday morning's going to be nasty snow Inland and rain so I I think both Mick and Mary have convinced us that we're going to move to the following week and well you know what it we're going to be trudging out there so I I got I got wet gear I can I can do anything Bob okay Thursday works Thursday works I can be there where where all volunteers and dry cleaning is expensive so how about the following Thursday the 12th are they are they back that day yes okay okay all right so December 12th what Mary can you check the tide on that I don't know if you uh if you could do that and see if it yeah it's G be low yeah that'll be it that'll be a high tide but that'll be good that should be I don't think that should make a huge difference okay if somebody wants to go back and look at it at low tide we can be that too yeah that that's why we have a conservation agent he can check the uh low water issues on this okay so why don't we schedule a site inspection for December 12th 2024 at 8: a.m. what would be a good meeting area Wendy is there a particular address or a parking area that yeah I think the lower parking lot next to the tennis courts um would be the best I can send a map to Mason with a x on it where I'm talking about if that' be helpful that' be great okay and it's a just a kind of short walk from there across the field out to the marsh okay talking well all right and so you're going to request a continuance to our December 17th meeting yes please okay I will entertain a motion uh to continue this public hearing at the applicant's request to the December 17 2024 meeting moved all right so Diane Woody great thank you guys okay roll call all in favor Mary yes TJ hi Woody yes Mick hi Diane yes Frank yes and Bob Connor votes yes thank you Wendy yes thank you all right 628 where're I almost beat Mary's record for the shortest meeting but uh not not gonna happen you were cruising and then screeching halt yeah well trying to ask a lot of questions so I could well you know that you know next move King of the Hill okay uh General project discussion 170 Orchard Street in tend to cell chapter 61 the commission is to investigate provide feedback to the select board on any potential development constraints relating to a WPA inight ecological significance to determine it be suitable for acquisition as open space uh or Recreation so team as a refresher uh D file number 05143 uh we issued an order of conditions on May 4th 2023 and as I recall there was a site inspection done at that time Diane I think Diane Diane Mary I think you both attended that yep now I'm remembering yep and it the address kind of threw me off at first so the the statement of the proposed use of land a portion of land is proposed to be used for four single family houses the balance of the land is to be proposed the balance of the land is proposed to be conveyed to the Essex County Green Belt uh there was an attached subdivision plan the location and acreage of the land the land consists of 20 .57 Acres located 170 Orchard Street Newbury Mast and again the map was enclosed uh Mason had a discussion with Tracy blae on about site access so from a chapter 61a perspective if we wanted to get back out on site uh we would need to get permission from the owners uh specifically for chapter 61a but I think we're we've already done all of this um I mean I'm comfortable with it it's 16 out of 20 acres seems to be left for agriculture which is great for a right to farm community but why don't I stop there Mary what are your thoughts no I'm I'm good no I remember the site so i' I've been there um any comments okay TJ any questions on this one oh good okay Woody any questions no I'm good I I think it's good okay Mick any any question no I remember the conversation seems pretty like a good move so I'm good okay thank you mck Diane any questions nope Frank how about yourself no I have no questions I'm not familiar with this one okay uh so what we need to do team is to generate a communication from the board to the select board so I will entertain emotion to authorize the chair to send a communication to the select board indicating that the proposed statement of use prioritizes ecological preservation for majority of the 20 acre area and that is the pleasure of the select board to proceed as it sees fit on this matter that that would be the flavor of the communication I would like to send but it requires a motion in a second and then a vote for me to be authorized to do that don't move okay second okay Diane is a second okay roll call all in favor Mary yes TJ hi Woody yes Nick hi Diane yes Frank yes and Bob Connor's votes yes all right uh General project discussion lock and R dam removal there was a communication uh that was in the Dropbox uh from Gomez and Sullivan and that is the update on this Mason we were talking about trying to coordinate a site a site visit where where does that stand with the applicant yeah I'd reached out to Jill at Gomez and Sullivan um I haven't heard back from her yet I was going to try and collect some dates that might work best for her um but maybe if we want to do it kind of backwards if you guys want to propose some dates that would work I can um reach out to the dam removal team to see when they'd be available well we have a site visit coming up on 12:12 and uh maybe if if we have the time that day it's what going to probably go from an hour probably go to about two and a half three hours um for 1212 but just throwing that out there uh thoughts Mary what are you what are your thoughts on this uh I can be available you know just I can be flexible so let me know works okay does it seem does it make sense team to try to piggyback these on the same date as the governor's yes y all right so why don't we do this why don't we tentatively consider a 1212 site visit for the Lock and Dam removal uh if we're meeting at 8:00 at uh Governor's uh why don't we talk about a 915 or a 930 site visit let's do 9:15 site visit at um lock andam does that make sense I think the big thing there Mason is we have some flexibility in the time it really couldn't be any earlier than 915 but it could be a little bit later but just knowing everyone's busy schedule it it it can it couldn't really be Beyond 9:30 a quarter or 10 okay sounds good that and if you could uh coordinate who will be there and then where we're going to meet that would be great yep we'll do okay staff reports and updates Mason anything else to uh mention any updates that's all okay well this is that time uh of the meeting where that we all get final comments Mary any any words of wisdom you want to share with us any no wise words family recipes and cooking turkeys or anything like that or DJ any any final comments uh no just that I'm I'm away on the 12 so I won't be at either one of those site visits but no no words of wisdom here okay Woody how about yourself no I'm good for today Bob thank you okay thank you Woody Mick any any comments uh no sir I am good Dian any any comments before we not tonight okay I have no comments and I will entertain a motion to adjourn so moved so mov second okay a second okay uh roll call all in favor Mary yes TJ Woody hi mickan yeah Frank and Bob Conor roers meeting is officially adjourned at 6:36