Admonishment, praise, and perplexity—a typical night at the Cons Comm?
A horse paddock will have to be moved, a riding ring altered, and a wood chip path removed to comply with wetland protection regulations, the Conservation Commission advised property owner Lauren Slater and Christian Boysen of Land Solutions, in an informal conversation at last week’s commission meeting.
The ring and paddock came to the commission’s attention when someone mentioned the work to Conservation Commission Chairman Paul Willard. Boysen, representing Slater, apologized that the work at 95 Depot Road was undertaken without first filing a notice of intent. Boysen agreed they would file plans by Nov. 1 to correct and remediate intrusions into the wetlands buffer.
“I can’t emphasize this enough. We have rules about horses in proximity to wetlands,” Willard said.
In the same meeting, Dan Wolfe from David E. Ross Associates got praise for plans for a sewage disposal system and rain water management plan at 55 Turner Lane, owned by Sarah Porter. The Porters intend to build a new house on an existing footprint for which a new septic system will be required. While examining the property, Wolfe noted significant rain water runoff from Turner Lane, across the property, and into the pond. “What was evident was that an incredible amount of water surges through here,” he said.
Wolfe sought permission from the commission to address the runoff with a slight grade change to Turner Lane that would direct water to the west side of the unpaved road and with infiltration trenches to disperse the water into the ground. Changes were expected to also benefit abutters and keep runoff from the pond.
The plan received a “well done” from Willard and a “poster child” designation from Commissioner Wendy Sisson. Wolfe credited the owners’ willingness to do the job right.
Calling another plan “straightforward,” the commissioners quickly approved a notice of intent to decommission a septic system at 15 Lovers Lane before connecting to the town center sewer.
In other business, the commissioners crowded in for a look at prints laid out on the Town Hall meeting room table that showed proposed changes to a house on Under Pin Hill Road, adjacent to Bowers Brook. “I don’t understand any of this. What does it mean?” said Willard, with perhaps a little exaggeration. Would the rain water runoff increase, decrease, or stay the same? Without a representative to clarify the unobvious implications of the proposed structural changes, the commission agreed to postpone the discussion.
Another night with the Conservation Commission, who won some, lost some, and knew when to hold.
