2026-10-15 - Conservation Commission

00:01[music]

00:07[music]

00:11[music]

00:14>> I'm Jackie Gee, Arlington's conservation

00:16administrator. The October 15th, 2026

00:19public meeting of the Arlington

00:20Conservation Commission will be

00:22conducted in a remote format consistent

00:23with state legislation that extends

00:25remote participation in public meetings

00:26until June 30th, 2027.

00:29This meeting is being recorded and the

00:31recording may be made publicly

00:32available.

00:33All materials for the meeting will be

00:35available at the link which I will share

00:36in the chat. Please note that the Zoom

00:38chat feature may be used for questions

00:39and comments that contribute to the

00:41commission's procedures. If it is used

00:42otherwise, it may be disabled at the

00:44chair's discretion. A public comment

00:46period will follow each hearing. The

00:48Conservation Commission encourages

00:49attendees to ask questions and offer

00:51comments during the public comment

00:52period.

00:53Chuck Tarony, the commission chair, will

00:55facilitate the meeting. Each vote taken

00:57during the meeting will be conducted by

00:58roll call vote.

01:00Chuck, can you please review the agenda

01:01and take attendance?

01:04>> I'm sure.

01:05Jackie, I don't know if you're giving me

01:06co-chair uh

01:09commissioner Sarah.

01:10Um

01:11so, the agenda. So, it's uh 7:01 on uh

01:14Thursday, October 15th and we're going

01:16to start out with the administrative

01:18review of our minutes and um going to

01:22correspondence

01:23and then our discussion items uh

01:27with our liaison reports, but we have a

01:29couple of new discussion items for 66

01:32Hutchins. It should be a request for

01:34certificate of compliance

01:36and a request for a minor mod on 103

01:39Thorndike.

01:40And then, that's going to be followed up

01:43later on on the agenda with a um

01:48uh a kind of an updated request for an

01:51allocation of funds for Nathaniel

01:53Stevens tree. And then, uh we're going

01:56to hear from the Spy Pond,

01:58um

01:59uh Spy Pond bank restoration and the

02:03allocation of funds. Um but that's the

02:05Friends of Spy Pond are I believe.

02:09Then we have a hearing uh later on

02:12in the agenda and that is uh with

02:18Wellington Coal and Lumber, but the

02:20address is 53A

02:22Park Ave.

02:23And so with that, I'm going to go back

02:26and take the attendance. We have um

02:28Mike Gildersleeve.

02:36Yeah, okay, great.

02:38Um

02:40and uh let's go to uh David Kaplan.

02:43>> Present.

02:44>> Brian what Brian, sorry I was starting

02:47on you already on David White.

02:49>> Yes.

02:51>> And you know, really that's it and Chuck

02:53Cronin

02:54um And so

02:56um

02:57for associate members Sarah Alfaro

02:59Franco and Eileen Coleman. And so absent

03:02tonight are Nathaniel Stevens, Susan

03:04Chapnick and Brian McBride.

03:07It sounds like uh

03:09and associate members Sarah Alfaro

03:12Franco and Eileen Coleman.

03:15Okay. So we're going to move on from

03:17that to our first topic which is the

03:20review of the 10 first

03:22uh

03:23meeting minutes.

03:2510 ones.

03:39>> They were reviewed by Susan Chapnick.

03:43Who is not here right now, but

03:46>> So we're not seeing uh

03:48on the screen at this moment. You're

03:49probably still working.

03:50>> Yeah, I'm just I'm still trying to pull

03:51them up.

03:58Minutes are from October 1st, which was

04:01the last meeting.

04:03>> Jackie, your video your audio is very

04:05low.

04:07>> All right, I'll

04:08I'll try and be louder.

04:10Um can you hear me?

04:11>> Yeah, that's good. Yeah.

04:12>> Okay.

04:14Here are the minutes and the changes

04:16were made by Susan

04:19um

04:19I think without track changes mode. So,

04:23this version

04:26is the revised version.

04:28And I don't know if anyone else made any

04:31edits.

04:32>> No.

04:35>> Yeah, I looked at it and no changes.

04:42>> Did anyone want me to go through it?

04:49>> Yeah, it doesn't Any uh any comments on

04:52the minutes?

04:55Seeing none, uh can I get a motion

04:58to accept the minutes of August

05:00>> I'll move to accept.

05:01>> 10-1.

05:02>> Yes.

05:02>> Second?

05:04>> I'll second.

05:05>> Oh.

05:06>> I'll give it to Mike.

05:07>> Yep, let's go with Mike Gasman.

05:10All right, so we'll start with uh

05:12Dave Kaplan.

05:14>> Yes.

05:16>> And David White?

05:17>> Yes.

05:19>> Mike Gildersleeve?

05:20>> Yes.

05:21>> And Jeff Tyrrell he says yes. Okay.

05:24So, the minutes are finished. Uh we

05:25received um so, correspondence uh

05:29if you have all the correspondence I

05:30receive um

05:32at the conservation office uh for

05:34different projects is available.

05:36>> [clears throat]

05:37>> Uh there's a link um

05:39and if

05:41if you're having trouble with that link,

05:43you can reach out to Jackie and Jackie

05:45will help you find

05:47the correspondence on whatever

05:49particular project or whatever the

05:51latest

05:52uh

05:53item is. We did receive correspondence

05:57about 103

06:00Thorndike and um

06:03And that had to do with some flooding

06:05some flooding issues and we I just want

06:08to let you know that we passed that on

06:09to the engineering department saying

06:11that we had already discussed it at our

06:14last meeting on

06:1810/1.

06:20So, moving on from that,

06:23I did want to

06:25ask I guess the commission members are

06:27here my last time item number one.

06:30So, we usually pick someone to kind of

06:32review the minutes. Is anyone available

06:35to do that? David, David, or Mike to

06:38Mike David Kaplan says yes. Sorry, thank

06:40you.

06:42All right, so Dave, we'll get those from

06:45um

06:45David and when he's finished and we'll

06:48review those for our next meeting. So,

06:52moving on to item number three, we have

06:54a certificate of compliance request for

06:5766 Hutchinson's. Is

07:01Jackie do you have any information on

07:03that you'd like to share with the

07:04commission um

07:06prior to opening it up?

07:08>> Um

07:09so, 66 Hutchinson Road, um

07:15I visited in the spring and determined

07:18that there were not enough plantings

07:20based on the prior plan.

07:22Um I returned

07:25um

07:27a few weeks ago and it looked like the

07:29planting areas were filled in and I

07:32thought it looked good now and suitable

07:35for a certificate of compliance.

07:37Um this was for some work including like

07:39a patio and

07:41planting beds at at different kind of

07:44like like a terrace in the in the

07:46backyard. I have photos if anyone wants

07:48to see.

07:49Um

07:50but yeah, it it looked like it had been

07:54much improved since the spring. I know

07:56they worked with

07:57a gardener to improve the site.

08:01>> Okay, thank you, Jackie. Uh so we have a

08:04um recommendation from our interim uh

08:07conservation agent, Deb,

08:10she recommends moving forward with this

08:14uh certificate of compliance request.

08:16So, any questions or motions from

08:19commission?

08:26Would you like to see the pictures?

08:28You want to back up a little bit?

08:31>> Let's see pictures. That's always nice.

08:42>> These kind of terrace patios, and they

08:44the shape of the patio and um

08:48stone walls did match the plan.

08:51Uh it was just the plantings that needed

08:53to be filled in, especially um

08:57like a lot of the

08:59the smaller plantings I think had died.

09:02Um

09:03but I accepted them substituting some of

09:06the species that didn't survive.

09:08Um

09:09but this was like the rain garden area.

09:12Um

09:14that

09:16it it kind of was graded to absorb some

09:19water from uphill, which is behind you

09:22if you're taking this angle with the

09:24photo.

09:26Um

09:28and then this is up

09:30at the kind of high point in the back.

09:34You can see the

09:36um like the

09:37and goldenrod and

09:40this this place was more natural and the

09:43others were more landscaped, but

09:45I I checked and saw lots of native

09:47plants in all the areas.

09:54>> Thank you.

09:58So, it looks like from your checklist,

10:00there's

10:01um

10:02you know, a non-compliant check for the

10:043-year monitoring report for the

10:07I guess I assume that's the growing

10:09season and for plant acceptance. So,

10:11we're just

10:13you know, based on existing conditions

10:16today, we're making the recommendation

10:18that the the planting plan has been

10:21um, fulfilled and we're issuing a

10:24considering issuing a certificate of of

10:26compliance.

10:30>> Yeah, so that checklist was from the

10:31spring. I didn't get a chance to update

10:33it, but they did tell me which plants

10:36they put in. Um

10:38I don't know if I have that here. I

10:40think it was just an email, but

10:43I thought

10:44there's no reason to require 3 years of

10:46reports if we don't have the information

10:49what was there during each year at this

10:51point. Um, it's been so many years.

10:54So, I think the fact that it looks like

10:55it's planted now is probably as good as

10:58we can expect.

11:00>> Right. And were you able to cross-check

11:03I guess the original planting plan for

11:05what was there now just to see if the I

11:07mean, I know you said it was sort of

11:08filled in. They were native plants, but

11:11do they more or less I guess honor the

11:13intent of the original planting plan?

11:16>> Yeah, I think it honored the intent in

11:18terms of the amount of plants. I did

11:20approve

11:21them making some changes based on the

11:23fact that a lot of them didn't survive.

11:26Um

11:27>> Okay.

11:27>> But, there were definitely a few that

11:29were cultivars, but

11:31um

11:32a lot of native plants.

11:35>> Okay.

11:37All right, motion to issue a certificate

11:40of compliance if there are no other

11:41questions.

11:43>> Second.

11:44>> Seconded by Michael this game. David

11:47White.

11:48>> Yes.

11:51>> David Kaplan.

11:52>> Yes.

11:53>> Michael this game.

11:55>> Yes.

11:56>> And Chuck Cheney says yes.

11:58So we've issued the certificate of

11:59compliance for 66 Hutchins

12:02Hutchinson's Road

12:04and we're going to move on to a request

12:06for a minor modification for 103

12:08Thorndike Street

12:1091

12:12364.

12:13Is anyone here for that tonight?

12:18Request for a minor modification for 103

12:21Thorndike Street.

12:30Okay.

12:33Let's

12:34want to table that until

12:39Who's

12:41>> It looks like

12:42>> Lynn Hood is here.

12:45I don't know if

12:47I don't know if you're available to

12:50speak on this one.

12:54>> Who's that?

12:57I thought that was

12:59Arlington calling in number.

13:00>> Oh, sorry. I mixed it up. All right,

13:02that's true.

13:03>> Okay.

13:04>> Yeah, as no one's here, if if you want I

13:07can share it, but we could just wait and

13:10hope that someone shows up.

13:12>> Yeah, so let's get a motion to continue

13:13this

13:16to

13:18after item 14, so we'll just move it to

13:21the end of the meeting.

13:23Everyone agrees.

13:25Can I get a motion?

13:26Yep.

13:27>> I'll move.

13:29>> Can I get a second?

13:31>> I second.

13:33>> Uh David White.

13:39>> Yes.

13:41>> And Michael is game.

13:42>> Yep.

13:43>> And David Kaplan.

13:45>> Yes.

13:45>> And Chuck Gerani says yes. Okay, so now

13:47we're going to move on to

13:49um

13:51So I'm going to say there's nothing for

13:52the fishing line working group unless

13:54Jackie has something.

13:56Okay, and and then CPA would be the same

13:59thing cuz Pan Am Prize not here. Tree

14:02Committee also is uh Sarah Alfaro

14:05Franco.

14:06And Sims conservation restriction

14:09uh we'll be talking about Nathaniel's

14:11tree later on.

14:13And then

14:14we've moved all the way up to item

14:17number nine, which is the

14:19administrator's report. Jackie, do you

14:21have anything um you wanted to talk

14:23about under the administrator's report?

14:26>> Um

14:27no, that's all right. We can can keep

14:29going.

14:30>> Okay.

14:32Uh so now we have a request for

14:35allocations of funds for the Spy Pond

14:37Bank restoration.

14:39And I believe that would be Karen

14:41Grossman, and Karen, do you want to uh

14:44turn your mic on and introduce yourself

14:46for the record and let us know who else

14:47is with you tonight?

14:51>> So I am not the presenter. Hi, I'm Karen

14:54Grossman, and I'm the president of

14:57Friends of Spy Pond Park. I think most

14:59of you know me.

15:01And uh

15:03lead steward at this point in time is

15:07Christopher Wilson, who has been

15:09volunteering with us

15:11for the year, and um

15:14he's done a lot of research and has come

15:18up with a plan for next year

15:21that um we approve and I may be

15:26interested in making some comments at

15:28the end of his presentation.

15:30So, thanks Chris for representing the

15:33Friends of Spy Pond Park.

15:37>> Thank you, Karen.

15:38Thank you, everyone. Sorry. Shall I

15:40proceed?

15:41>> Uh yeah, sure. I guess you could start

15:43out again and just introduce yourself

15:45for the record.

15:46>> Yep, my name is Christopher S. Wilson. I

15:48am the lead steward for the Friends of

15:51Spy Pond Park.

15:52Um and I My presentation is on Google

15:55Slides, so if I can share my screen,

15:58everyone is okay with that.

16:00>> Yeah.

16:01>> All right.

16:02Looks like I'm allowed to.

16:05All right.

16:09There. Oops.

16:10Did not mean to do that. I meant to do

16:12this.

16:13All right. I should be able to do this

16:15in 4 or 5 minutes. I'm going to skip

16:17over a few things cuz I did make it a

16:18little too long. Um yes, we are talking

16:21about

16:22some erosion control planting for Spy

16:26Pond Park.

16:27Um

16:28just a quick overview. This is primarily

16:32about shoreline erosion control,

16:34especially the coir fascine,

16:36uh which was installed in 2019 and I

16:39believe David Morgan said there had been

16:41a plan to plant it and it never

16:44happened. So,

16:45uh starting to fall apart and

16:47[clears throat] we want to remedy to

16:48that remedy that and I'll show you some

16:50pictures of that.

16:51Uh

16:52doing a little bit of species

16:53diversification, all 100% natives, no

16:56cultivars, and a little bit of

16:58beautification.

17:00Um

17:01uh we are only asking for $730 and the

17:04friends will match it with another 730

17:06for a grand total of 1460. I'll show you

17:09the breakdown at the end.

17:11Uh I will skip over my sources and lists

17:14just to save us some time. Uh these are

17:16some photos Karen provided me of the

17:19installation in 2019. So, we have the

17:21coir fascine logs, and then there were

17:23also some mats installed as well.

17:29Uh just running through the beds really

17:30quickly, I took some photos the other

17:32day um kind of an order of priority. Bed

17:35one, which So, this is the the

17:36southeastmost or most uh bed. Uh these I

17:40I don't think there were logs installed

17:42here. I think these were just mats, but

17:43they are starting to really fall apart,

17:45and there really hasn't been much plant

17:46infiltration here to hold up the uh

17:49shoreline.

17:50Uh bed two, these are logs. Uh they are

17:53starting to loosen up. I think the sort

17:55of hemp or jute nets that were holding

17:57them together have have uh mostly fallen

17:59apart. Uh and there's not a lot of

18:01plants growing out of these either.

18:03These are directly um uh facing the uh

18:06the the waterline.

18:08Uh bed five is kind of similar. It's a

18:10mix of um logs and mats, uh and those

18:13are starting to come loose as well. Uh

18:16bed six, uh there's a little more um

18:19plant growth and infiltration,

18:21um but could use a little bit more

18:23planting. And then uh bed four, there's

18:25just a a little bit there. Um there are

18:28there is some plant growth occurring

18:29here, you can see. Uh we don't need any

18:31in bed seven, three, or eight cuz I

18:33don't think any coir was um installed

18:35there, at least none that's still

18:37visible.

18:39Uh and then this is what it looks like

18:41to plant a plug into the in the coir.

18:42So, this is what we're going to be

18:43doing.

18:44Um mainly focusing on graminoids, so

18:47we're talking grasses and sedges, uh 60%

18:502/3 of what we're looking to do. Um

18:52these are what are most recommended for

18:54the uh erosion control for the deep

18:57fibrous roots, and uh you know, also

18:59providing support for insects and other

19:02species. Uh they're also self-sowing, so

19:04once they're in there, um hopefully they

19:06will grow on their own. And then we

19:07would be doing uh 20% other uh flowering

19:11plants directly upslope, so kind of a

19:13budding where the logs are to provide a

19:16little more structure, a little more

19:18aesthetic variety, and pollinator

19:20support, and then some woody plants, and

19:22a few plants that have kind of

19:24more specific wildlife support.

19:27Everything I'm looking at is low-growing

19:30here, so we're talking 3 ft or less, so

19:33it won't interfere with any of the

19:34vistas

19:35in the park, and we're looking at a nice

19:37diversity of species to ensure higher

19:39rates of survival. The wish list I've

19:41created

19:42is is longer than we will actually have

19:46just to account for

19:49what's available at the local nurseries.

19:51So, selection of graminoids,

19:54flowering plants. These are all plants

19:56that can survive well right next to the

19:58water.

19:59Some woody plants, and then some

20:01aesthetic variety and wildlife support.

20:03That's the

20:05choir fascine.

20:06We will be planting this ourselves. The

20:09labor is will be done voluntarily,

20:12myself and the other stewards, and some

20:14dedicated volunteers with gardening

20:16experience. We can do this in May and

20:18June during our workdays if needed. I'm

20:21also asking for just a few tools

20:23to help us with the installation.

20:26Everything else we'll provide. And then

20:27we'll be able to do a watering schedule

20:29similar to what we did this year for the

20:33the shrubs that we planted, and we had

20:35volunteers doing it all summer. It

20:37worked great.

20:38And we also have this section of bed

20:41eight,

20:42which is

20:43the more northern northerly section

20:46behind the wall. It's pretty empty.

20:49This is probably, you know, we probably

20:52worry about erosion here. There were

20:54some non-natives that we took care of.

20:57This is ready for some shrub planting.

20:59So, if we get a handful of shrubs, these

21:01are little taller, more full bushy

21:04shrubs that should fill in the space.

21:05There's There's no people going in there

21:07that I've ever seen. There's not really

21:08any anything. There's not good shoreline

21:10access. So, um this would be just to

21:12fill in that space with uh something.

21:14And then uh a few other shrubs just for

21:16various other parts of the uh park um

21:20that are kind of bare and need some

21:22attention.

21:23Um of all the species I'm picking here

21:25are stuff that I have not found ever in

21:27the park. So, it would add to a lot of

21:29the diversification.

21:31Uh local narrative will be leaning a lot

21:32on Native Plant Trust. They provided

21:34some plants last year and a few others.

21:36Uh for the budget, this is how it breaks

21:38down. Um 70 plugs. Um I was able to find

21:41prices on almost all the plants in my

21:44wish list. A few I had to make educated

21:46guesses on. A few plants for the Betty

21:49uh embankment and then a few other

21:51shrubs and tools. That brings us to the

21:53grand total. It's under $1,500. Any

21:56questions?

22:00>> Yeah, commissioners, uh

22:01do you have any questions on on this? I

22:03have a at least one or one or two

22:05questions, but um I just wanted to see

22:08if anyone else had any questions first.

22:10>> Not at the moment.

22:12>> I have some additional comments.

22:15>> So, why Karen, why don't you go right

22:16now and uh then I'll ask my questions.

22:19>> Okay. Um

22:21from

22:23speaking uh with Jackie as our liaison

22:27to the team,

22:29um

22:30to Christopher, I

22:33had heard that um

22:36we we have

22:38uh the temporary fencing

22:41that is uh

22:43completely

22:45um

22:46degraded

22:48that we had put in.

22:50Originally, the fencing that exists in

22:54the park was part of the edge control

22:59project,

23:00the erosion control project that was

23:04part of CPA money

23:08that was granted to the ConCom.

23:12And

23:13um

23:14that fencing did not go down to the

23:17water.

23:18So the ends of all the

23:23um beds

23:25are ripe for people walking into the bed

23:29at the bottom

23:30where these this coir meshing is and

23:35where people can get in and fish from

23:39standing on the coir meshing.

23:43So um I feel that it

23:47although I was told you are not

23:49interested

23:51in providing fencing money.

23:56Um I

23:58we got um

24:00an appraisal

24:02for $15,000

24:05for fencing.

24:07And

24:08um

24:09it seems like a good plan.

24:13I feel that it's very important

24:17for the control of erosion in these

24:21planting beds

24:22to have the fencing go down all the way

24:25even though I heard that you're not

24:28interested in

24:30fencing.

24:32So I wanted your feedback on that and

24:36where else we might go for the fencing

24:40so that we can ensure that people are

24:43not going to trample

24:46things that we plant there

24:48because this is kind of crucial to the

24:54um success

24:56of what has been done so far and it's

25:00very successful

25:02to control the erosion on the upper

25:04side, but the lower side really needs as

25:09you can see from the slides that Chris

25:13showed

25:14it really needs

25:16um

25:18uh

25:19safety

25:21um

25:23uh

25:24we we need to provide safety in that

25:27area because fishing line is getting

25:30caught in the trees. It's not a place to

25:33fish from

25:35and

25:36um it's a danger to wildlife and to the

25:40people who go in there

25:43uh

25:44where the fishing discarded fishing line

25:49is being collected by Lara Kissel and

25:52other people or has been collected.

25:55So, for safety

25:58and ensuring the erosion control

26:03um I am putting in

26:06a plug

26:08to go along with the plugs

26:12that Christopher is suggesting and

26:17um

26:18we

26:19do have funding

26:21to assist in doing that.

26:25So,

26:26that's the end of uh what I wanted to

26:29say.

26:31>> Thank you, Karen.

26:32>> I didn't mean to complicate the matter.

26:35>> Sure. And And I was wondering when I

26:37heard about this why it wasn't a CPA

26:39project. It seemed to meet the criteria.

26:42The first project was from CPA. One of

26:45the requirements is that if your if your

26:47project's been funded by CPA, then you

26:49have a

26:51you have a uh a line into additional

26:54grants.

26:56Um it also seems to protect the

26:58investment, protect the asset.

27:01>> Mhm.

27:01>> Uh such as

27:03um

27:03uh you know, like um

27:05you know, the the fencing will protect

27:07all the plants that are in there. I'm

27:09just wondering if if you had an RCP a

27:12person isn't here tonight, uh but I was

27:14wondering if you ran it past anyone from

27:16the CPA committee about the fencing.

27:20>> Uh we we had not

27:24we had been discussing

27:26some

27:27the possibility with David

27:30of

27:31um

27:32providing CPA funding for the path

27:35through the park.

27:38And I said, "It's just been 3 years

27:41since we redid that path.

27:45And I doubt that they would do it for

27:47the path."

27:49But we really did not he did not suggest

27:55CPA funding for the

27:58um hedge protection project.

28:01>> Mhm.

28:01>> So,

28:03um

28:03you know, that's our oversight

28:07uh

28:08that we did not do that.

28:11Uh are you suggesting

28:13um

28:15>> Yeah, I think you may have missed

28:17>> that.

28:18>> Uh no, not for this year. I think that I

28:20think the your

28:23I don't know if there's any time left. I

28:24think David, do you know

28:26what I mean?

28:26>> apply right away, yeah.

28:28>> Yeah, maybe we can

28:29>> We could apply right away.

28:32>> Yeah. Check out the CPA website, get an

28:34application. Initial request.

28:37>> Okay, that sounds good. If we could do

28:41that and

28:43>> It also seems like the $15,000 number is

28:46more of a CPA request than

28:49>> Yes.

28:49>> conservation request.

28:51>> Okay.

28:53Well, that was part of my question. Is

28:56there some place else

28:58that we could So, we'll get on that.

29:02>> Yeah, so right now we don't have a

29:03dedicated

29:05conservation administrator, but when we

29:08do, it would be

29:10probably a priority to work on

29:13all these projects. I mean, I don't know

29:15who it will be. We may get lucky. Um but

29:19um

29:20you know, if you could look into CPA

29:22this year and

29:24>> It just just apply. Yes.

29:26>> Yeah, kind of keep those temporary

29:28fences

29:29>> the deadline?

29:31>> Tomorrow for a preliminary application,

29:33but that's

29:35>> Oh, tomorrow.

29:35>> Like pretty It's the preliminary

29:37application, so you just need like a

29:39short summary of what it would be.

29:42>> Oh, that would be good. Okay, great.

29:44Thank you

29:45for the suggestion.

29:47>> Okay. So, we're going to go back to the

29:50uh

29:50>> Back to Chris's.

29:52>> Yeah, the the core fascine and the and

29:54the grasses and So, Chris, I was just

29:56wondering if

29:57the plants that you picked were native

29:59to the northeast and if you tried to

30:02keep them

30:03uh straight natives and no cultivars.

30:06>> Yes, 100%. Yeah, everything everything

30:08came I had that sources list and it it

30:11shows you where all the plants came from

30:13and they're all

30:15a lot of academic institutions and and

30:17pollinator [clears throat] support

30:18groups that are that are looking, you

30:20know, specifically at native

30:21northeastern plants. Yes.

30:23>> And did you uh

30:24>> possibly be the first

30:27of maybe needing more

30:30later and then then the following year.

30:33Is that correct, Chris?

30:34>> Uh I mean, we can assess in another year

30:37if if this works out and then you know,

30:39things are, but yeah.

30:42Potentially.

30:42>> Yeah, I think we need a greenhouse. Um

30:45>> [snorts]

30:45>> so

30:47>> Another project.

30:48>> Yeah, I mean

30:49>> It's an interesting idea.

30:50>> Yeah, so I don't I don't know what we

30:53what fund this would come out of. Um

30:55I know that um

30:57our

30:57>> What about the water bodies fund as a

30:58possibility? We've used that before, I

31:00think.

31:01>> The water bodies fund?

31:03>> Mhm.

31:04>> And I think in order to take a vote, we

31:06would have to know which fund it is.

31:07Jackie, did you look into this? Do you

31:09know if the water bodies fund is

31:11appropriate? If there's another fund?

31:13Um

31:14>> Well, you paid for half of previous

31:19plant things. So

31:21the question is what were that what was

31:24that from?

31:25>> Right.

31:26>> I think water bodies. I think it may

31:27have been water bodies.

31:28I'm not totally sure.

31:31>> So David, you know that you know that

31:32budget. So do you do you feel

31:34comfortable enough for us to have this

31:37discussion and if it works out to have

31:39that to to vote it in?

31:41>> It's a small amount of money. I think

31:42it's reasonable.

31:43And we

31:44it's water edge.

31:47>> I think it supports the original CPA

31:49project of uh you know, bank erosion,

31:53which was

31:54I mean, the core fascine log is falling

31:56apart. And um

31:59it looked like it needed more work than

32:00you guys actually uh

32:02uh

32:03you know, had on the screen. But uh

32:04hopefully this works.

32:06And um

32:08you know, I I think it's it's great that

32:10you guys are looking into it and I I

32:12appreciate the effort. So I'm not sure

32:13if there's any other commissioners that

32:15wanted to

32:16uh say anything about this project or

32:19anything about the request for $730.

32:24>> Uh other than that, it sounds like a

32:25great project and appreciate the work.

32:30>> Mhm.

32:31>> It's all right.

32:32>> Well, that's it's what they didn't do

32:37at the beginning. They were they said

32:39that they were going to do this.

32:41>> It was the first uh

32:43>> of the project.

32:44>> It was out of the first round of CPA,

32:46so.

32:47>> Yes.

32:47>> That was a while ago.

32:49>> Yeah, and and if things don't come

32:50through on the fencing funding, I'm

32:52wondering if there's just like something

32:54that

32:55um

32:57something a little lower tech that you

32:59could put in to the

33:01people, you know, if we're talking about

33:03people versus animals that you know, if

33:05we're if we're not concerned about brows

33:08and it's more just people trampling the

33:10plants, then you know, maybe you could

33:12get a buy with something a little lower

33:14tech.

33:15>> Well, we tried that and it

33:18it deteriorated pretty quickly.

33:23It's it's um plastic.

33:26>> Right. Okay.

33:28Yeah, that's what I was thinking like

33:30wooden wooden stakes and some mesh and

33:33see if see if you can at least kind of

33:35deter people from going into those

33:37planted areas.

33:39Um maybe at a lower cost.

33:41>> Mhm.

33:42>> We would put signs on that fencing to

33:45warn people about why it's

33:47>> Yeah, definitely.

33:48>> Yeah, I think educational signage is

33:50always good, you know, the why, not the

33:53you know, why not.

33:54>> There's there.

33:55>> There is a lot of signage already there.

33:57Uh in fact, we picked up some new signs

33:59just this year, but you just I mean,

34:01this the beds would be full of signs if

34:03we had to

34:04>> [laughter]

34:04>> sign every single every single entry

34:07point

34:07>> Sounds only get you so much, I

34:08understand.

34:09>> But no, yeah yeah, thank you for the

34:11suggestion.

34:11>> We said

34:12uh QR codes were suggested, you know,

34:16referring to something on our

34:19website, which we could post. We could

34:22post the little QR code.

34:25But not everybody uses that.

34:29>> Right, or just something simple, you

34:30know, restoration area, give plants a

34:32chance kind of just some

34:35quirky fun stuff to try to deter people

34:37from

34:38going in there at the moment while the

34:40plants are trying to establish.

34:42>> Yeah, these are revegetation signs that

34:45we have up near the other black fence.

34:50>> Okay, but

34:51>> when did planting take place?

34:54Where did our previous

34:57>> to when did

34:58>> did when did when did it take

34:59>> It should be like May and June and yeah,

35:01so like so like late spring early summer

35:04before it's hot, but

35:06you know, after everything is thawed.

35:10>> So, Chuck, are you looking for a motion

35:12at this point?

35:14>> Yeah, no, I one more question then I

35:16then I had a motion. So, Chris, it looks

35:17like you looked into this. I know that

35:18sometimes when we cast seed, you have to

35:21cast it over the

35:22and have it have it freeze over the

35:24winter or it won't pollinate and it

35:27won't

35:28grow. So, I was

35:30wanted to make sure that everything

35:32you've picked, you understand when the

35:34planting season is and you're not going

35:35to miss anything

35:37>> Right.

35:37>> that needs to kind of get a blanket of

35:40snow over it.

35:41>> Yeah, there's no winter stratification

35:42here cuz we're we're we're purchasing

35:45plugs and plants. I'm I'm not doing any

35:47seed sowing for this project. This is

35:49going to be

35:50this is going to be real real grown

35:52plants from the nursery.

35:55>> All right, Chris and Mike, yes, I'm

35:56looking for a motion.

35:58>> Um well, I would move that the

36:01commission approve the requested fund of

36:04$730

36:06uh for this project and the funds would

36:10come from water bodies

36:12uh fund. Is that correct?

36:15>> That's good. Can I get a second?

36:17>> I'll second it.

36:19>> David White seconds.

36:20Uh Dave Kaplan.

36:22>> Yes.

36:23>> Mike Gildersleeve.

36:24>> Yeah.

36:26>> David White.

36:27>> Yes.

36:28>> And Chuck Towny says, yes.

36:31All right. Thank you, Karen. Thank you,

36:32Chris. I appreciate the presentation and

36:35the hard work.

36:36>> I checked out CPA funds, yes.

36:38>> Yeah, we'll do that tomorrow.

36:39>> will do that. Thank you so much.

36:43We always appreciate your support.

36:49>> All right. So, we're going to move on to

36:52item number 12, which is a request for

36:54allocation of funds for the Nathaniel

36:56Stevens tree.

36:58So, the background of this is we have

37:00taken a lot of a lot of votes, different

37:03amounts.

37:04>> Mhm.

37:05>> And so, we want to have a cleanup vote

37:08for once and for all. So, I need a

37:10motion from someone that says, in place

37:12of all the votes taken in other times,

37:15we vote $500. I don't know the fund.

37:19Jackie, do you know the fund we're

37:20taking it out of?

37:23And we need a So, we're voting $500

37:27for the purchase of a white oak for

37:30Nathaniel Stevens tree. So, this is in

37:33place of all the other votes that have

37:36been taken.

37:37Um

37:38>> See if I can find the name of the funds.

37:41Um I think it was the joint fund between

37:43conservation and the Arlington Land

37:45Trust.

37:47>> The stewardship fund. Conservation

37:48stewardship fund.

37:49>> Stewardship fund.

37:51>> Where is this tree going to get planted?

37:56>> Where? Where is it going to be planted?

37:59Oh, when?

38:00>> Where?

38:01>> Uh

38:03Yeah, we have missing everyone who knows

38:04where it is. But anyways, it's the old

38:06Sims Hospital area where the um, you

38:09know, just above

38:10uh the conservation restriction, there's

38:12like a little bit of um

38:13>> The overlook, I think.

38:15>> Yeah. As you go up there, there's a road

38:17and there's a building. I think it's

38:19between that building and the next on

38:22the same side as the building. So,

38:24it's actually the two people aren't

38:26here. It's Brian and Susan that picked

38:29out the spot who have been working hard

38:30to get this um

38:32uh tree in place.

38:34>> Perfect.

38:34>> So, yeah. All right.

38:36And Jackie, did you find a spot for for

38:39uh to purchase the white oak?

38:41>> No. The first place I contacted didn't

38:43have any, so I haven't gotten to it yet

38:46to find another

38:47store.

38:49>> Okay.

38:49>> If anyone finds one, please let me know.

38:55>> All right. Well,

38:56if we find a tree, I I move to allocate

39:00$500 from the stewardship fund for the

39:03Nathaniel Stevens commemorative tree.

39:05>> Uh so, but in place of all the other

39:07votes, uh

39:08>> In in place of all the other votes.

39:10>> Yes.

39:11Thank you.

39:12>> I have a question about the maintenance.

39:14Is going to be water? What's the plan

39:15for maintenance of it?

39:16>> It seemed like that the uh the um

39:20the grounds maintenance crew would be

39:21taking care of the tree.

39:23>> Okay.

39:25I'll second that.

39:29>> Uh yeah, yeah. Last night place. Mike

39:31Gilfix game.

39:32>> Yes.

39:33>> David Kaplan.

39:34>> Yes.

39:35>> And David White.

39:37>> Yes.

39:38>> And Chuck Terranova says, yes.

39:41All right.

39:42>> Good.

39:43>> And so that I I wanted to put in front

39:45of

39:46this commission and it's I I know it's

39:49Mhm. Uh so, we have been

39:58Okay, so um so we've been I've been

40:00called I have been contacted by Vision

40:03Arlington

40:04uh standing committee. Uh then they

40:06reach out to the chairs and liaisons of

40:08boards of the committees to determine

40:11your group's wishes to include questions

40:14in the upcoming annual survey. So, we

40:17wanted you to think about any questions

40:20that you wanted to um

40:22have in the annual survey for water

40:24bodies, for uh fishing line, for

40:27conservation.

40:29And just to just to bring that up and

40:32then what we would do is discuss those

40:35um

40:36uh questions. And uh submit them I think

40:39we have to do it the following day, but

40:41Jackie would be able to do that and get

40:42those in into the into the committee.

40:45And so, they would be on

40:48Typically, they say that they put in all

40:49the questions, but if there are too

40:51many, they will start choosing

40:53between the questions that they that

40:55they receive.

40:56But, um it's a community to get

40:58something that you're interested in

41:01and finding out what's what's the uh

41:03pulse of the community on um

41:06for the annual town survey. So, that'll

41:09be on our agenda for the next meeting,

41:11so think of your think of your

41:12questions. I think David White, you

41:14should come up with a few from water

41:16bodies working group for sure, and I

41:17think Susan

41:19should come up with something for the

41:20fishing line working group.

41:24That's a

41:25All right. Let's move on uh from that.

41:29And

41:38I still don't see anyone here for uh 103

41:41Klondike, so not that I was going to

41:43bring it up at this point. So, our first

41:45hearing tonight is a notice of intent

41:48uh for 53A Park Ave, uh

41:511337, 1339,

41:541341, 1347, and 1349, and 1357

42:00Mass Ave and 0 Park Ave. Continued from

42:049/17/2026.

42:06The Conservation Commission holds a

42:07public hearing to consider notice of

42:09intent for paving of the existing

42:11parking area with the addition of

42:14on-site stormwater recharge for roof

42:16runoff at 53A Park Ave.

42:211337,

42:231339, 1351, 1347, and 1349, and 1351

42:28Massachusetts Ave, and 0 Park Ave. Areas

42:31proposed to be altered include bordering

42:34land subject to flooding, riverfront

42:36area, Millbrook,

42:38buffer zone, and adjacent upland

42:41resource area.

42:43And I think that we talked to Lim Hu the

42:46last time,

42:47and I know I wasn't here, but I did

42:51um

42:52um fill out the form,

42:54and I know that David Kaplan also

42:57reviewed the meeting and filled out the

42:59form. So, we do have a vote-eligible

43:01quorum here tonight. So, with that, uh

43:04Lim Hu, if you could introduce yourself

43:06with the meet um

43:08for the um if you could introduce

43:10yourself um

43:12for the record, and then update us on

43:14any changes to the plans, and then we'll

43:17take some questions from the

43:18commissioner and everybody in the

43:19audience tonight. So, take it away.

43:22>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh for the record,

43:24my name is Lim Hu I'm an engineer at

43:26Goldsmith Preston & Ringwall, GPR for

43:28short.

43:30I'm here as a representative for uh the

43:32owner at Earnest & Cole Lumber,

43:35um

43:36Bob McNamara, uh who's unfortunately is

43:38not here uh tonight. He's uh on vacation

43:41in Italy. Um

43:44So, following the last meeting, and as

43:48well as the subsequent site walk, uh let

43:51me see here. Do I have permission to

43:53share my screen?

43:55>> Yes.

43:59>> All righty. Can everybody see the uh the

44:01plan okay?

44:02>> Yeah.

44:04>> Fantastic. All righty. So, um following

44:07the the last meeting the last time that

44:08I was here, um we had done a site walk,

44:11but I'll just try to kind of go over um

44:14some of the um questions and comments

44:17that we had discussed during the last

44:19meeting as well as some

44:21um some of the discussion items that

44:24were had during the site walk um

44:27itself. Um

44:29you know, one of the first thing that,

44:31you know, we talked about was the

44:33potential to

44:34um

44:36maybe swap out these subsurface chambers

44:39for something that is more on the uh

44:43biofiltration side,

44:45uh such as a rain garden,

44:46or, you know, some sort of proprietary

44:48system.

44:50The primary concern with the bio system

44:53is that

44:54um we really don't have the vertical

44:57separation between, you know, the ground

44:59water, shallow depth of ground water,

45:02um as well as, you know, we don't really

45:05have the luxury to

45:07change existing grade due to the fact

45:09that we're within regulatory

45:12uh flood plain.

45:14Um

45:15that being the case, I did take a look

45:17at, you know, potentially doing a rain

45:19garden, but again,

45:21was not able to do it due to the grade

45:22change needed to actually lay out um

45:27you know, a swale, a sediment forebay,

45:29and and and so forth for that rain

45:31garden.

45:32Ultimately, it just kind of let me back

45:34to

45:35you know, I believe what we have on

45:37site, which is the subsurface chambers.

45:39Um they make the most sense for what

45:41we're looking to do

45:43as um a general improvement to the

45:45existing area.

45:48Um

45:49during the

45:50site walk itself,

45:53we also went to look at

45:56the

45:58riprap {slash} stone armoring area over

46:01here. We talked about how

46:03the outlet from these

46:05chambers are, you know, outletting the

46:08the overflow into a stone diaphragm and

46:11ultimately having the water pond up and

46:13having trickle over the stone armoring

46:17to get back to where

46:19the existing drainage plat pattern

46:22currently flows.

46:23Um there was also request for us to

46:27designate an area for the snow storage,

46:30which I've done over here.

46:33And much of the on-site discussion were

46:37about the restoration area shown over

46:40here.

46:42Previously when I was here, I think I'd

46:43shown five planting

46:46um not really designating whether

46:49they'd be shrubs or trees or you know,

46:51one way or the other.

46:52Um we have gone back and spoken with the

46:56landscape architect and he had provided

46:58design

46:59for the planting

47:01um in this restoration area.

47:05Additionally, let me just scroll over

47:07here.

47:11We have dropped it up a general

47:13restoration note as well as general

47:14sequencing for what work has to occur

47:18for the restoration area.

47:20We also talked about introducing

47:22the biodegradable erosion control

47:25blanket,

47:26you know, coconut matting,

47:28um as well as providing a restoration

47:30seed mix. Um

47:32we went with the New England wild flower

47:34mix

47:35per um

47:37the wetland scientist recommendation.

47:39Um

47:40additionally, we're also providing a

47:43substantial, you know, a lot more

47:45uh plantings in this area.

47:4725 dogwood,

47:50two of the bigger tupelo,

47:53as well as three cypresses.

47:56So all in all

47:59the post planting

48:02um

48:04covers a substantial amount of the

48:06restoration area

48:07in comparison to what we had last.

48:11Um

48:12and I believe

48:15the only other thing that's worth

48:16mentioning was that we had a discussion

48:18regarding the um

48:21the minimum schedule for street sweeping

48:25which I've updated in our O&M

48:28and that has been revised and submitted

48:31as part of the uh

48:33revised submission.

48:37Um we have also gotten a couple comments

48:40back from the town engineer who is

48:42reviewing the drainage.

48:44Um the first comment is in regards to

48:48the

48:50stone.

48:51Um I believe they wanted a double washed

48:53stone specifically, um

48:55which we have updated our detail.

48:58And

49:00I believe the second comment was in

49:01regards to the you know

49:04water rise within the area which you

49:07know, we're in a flood plain.

49:09Um obviously that can happen.

49:11But

49:12we generally believe that

49:15the subsurface chambers the way we've

49:17laid them out

49:18the removal of the impervious area

49:21as well as the restoration planting

49:24um

49:25all that we're doing

49:27um is a general improvement to the

49:30existing

49:31uh riverfront area.

49:33I'm more than happy to answer any

49:35additional questions.

49:37Thank you.

49:39>> Yeah, thanks uh

49:40thank you Mr. Loot. Um

49:43so I was I when I reviewed the last

49:45meeting uh a few things came up and one

49:48of them was invasive control. Did I miss

49:51uh that you were you you seemed to say

49:54you would look into it. What was the

49:56result of that um

49:58discussion with the applicant on

50:01invasive control?

50:03>> So, the invasive in question

50:05is actually just within this area of

50:07restoration.

50:09As part of the restoration effort, all

50:11that invasive would have to be removed

50:14and properly treated.

50:15Um

50:17to bag them. Um

50:19I don't have the full detail. We have

50:20reached out to the wetland scientist to

50:23see if we can get some recommendation of

50:25how we can actually remove them and

50:27properly store them.

50:29Um

50:31but we are clearing out the invasive

50:34within this area and replace them with

50:36new plantings.

50:39>> Okay, so um

50:41and you'll be talking to a um

50:45an I guess a invasive control expert or

50:48a qualified uh

50:50applic- applicator and treating those

50:53with some something. Is that what your

50:56thought is? I heard it was Japanese

50:58knotweed.

50:59And the best way to go with that is some

51:02sort of treatment. I mean, unless you

51:04feel like you want to dig 15 ft down

51:05into the ground.

51:10>> Yeah.

51:10>> So

51:11it sounds like we don't have that part

51:14kind of fully thought out.

51:17Um if I'm if I'm hearing you correctly

51:19cuz it sounds like some of your uh

51:21you've reached out, but you have don't

51:22have a plan at this point.

51:27>> That's correct. Yep.

51:31>> Okay, so one of the other questions that

51:32came up is

51:33um

51:37did you change the operation and

51:39maintenance plan to sweep four times a

51:41year?

51:42>> Yes.

51:43>> Did that Did that come up?

51:44Okay, I think you talked to the Engine

51:46Town engineer, and you

51:49um um

51:50no snow in the snow in the stream, and

51:53that was kind of the list from the last

51:55meeting. So, just wanted to start with

51:58start with that. At least that's what I

52:00got. Um

52:01so

52:03any questions uh from from Lam Who about

52:06this project uh from any of the

52:08commissioners, just uh let me know. Uh

52:11David Kaplan has his hand up.

52:12Commissioner Kaplan.

52:14Yeah.

52:15>> Thank you. Um just looking at that

52:17restoration area um from the sidewalk,

52:21if I remember correctly, there were

52:23Jersey barriers that were buried

52:26in in that bank that you're going to be

52:28removing as long um

52:30so, I just want to try to get a visual.

52:31If you can help me visualize what

52:34that slope is going to the planted slope

52:36is going to look like behind the new

52:38curb line. Is it going to be

52:41just sort of a steady slope down to Mill

52:43Brook with a blanket over the top of it

52:46that'll be planted, or will the will you

52:49tear it? You know, how how is that

52:51What's that detail? What is that going

52:53to look like?

52:56>> Once the uh the barrier has been

52:57removed, um

52:59new fill has to be brought in

53:01in order to um tie back into existing

53:04grade.

53:05Obviously, again, we can't really change

53:08too much of the existing grade

53:10um being in a flood plain. So, what

53:13we're going to try to do is bring in

53:14clean fill to actually

53:16make up the uh the void essentially once

53:20that barrier has been taken out, and

53:22then trying to tie it back as best we

53:23can into existing grade with the

53:26addition of the erosion control blanket

53:28to stabilize it.

53:30>> So, it'll be like um are you thinking

53:32it'll be just like sort of a steady

53:33slope down to the

53:36um the stream, or you're just

53:38backfilling from the point of

53:40disturbance where you remove

53:43So, it'll be more like kind of a

53:45you know,

53:47I guess like a a straight slope or

53:51>> Well, the the Jersey barrier, I I

53:53believe when we're looking at it,

53:55um you know, it's not

53:58a slope

54:00Uh I vaguely remember thinking that it

54:02was about at most 3-ft drop.

54:05>> Okay.

54:05>> Peeling back about 8 ft in in width for

54:08that strip. So, we're peeling back 8 ft

54:12with the erosion control blanket. Now,

54:14you can get pretty close to a 3:1 slope

54:16going down to the bank itself.

54:19Um to me, that's a pretty steady slope,

54:21especially with the um erosion control

54:23blanket density.

54:25Um

54:26so, that that'll be the plan.

54:28>> Okay. Great. Yeah, I mean, I would just

54:31um

54:32you know, it's I don't know where the

54:35if you are in the flood plain and where

54:37high flows are in the spring, I'm just

54:39not sure

54:41how much you're going to be fighting

54:42flows in Mill Brook

54:45in that restoration area. Um

54:48do you have a sense that it's going to

54:49be

54:52it's going to be high enough where it's

54:53not going to be impacted by, you know,

54:56high flows from Mill Brook in order for

54:58it it to get established?

55:00>> I can't say with a guarantee, obviously,

55:03you know,

55:04any given storm event could potentially

55:07raise the the water in the brook.

55:09Um obviously, if this restoration work

55:12has to wait

55:14um or be done during the wintertime,

55:18uh which, you know, we're trying to get

55:20that accomplished as soon as we can,

55:22so that, you know, this restoration work

55:24can at least get the slope established,

55:27and then planting can come at a later

55:29date, you know, preferably in the

55:31spring.

55:32Um

55:33generally, that's that's the goal. Um

55:36because like you said, springtime could

55:38mean that, you know, we're dealing with

55:40high water.

55:41Um, so it could be problematic to try to

55:43get fill and slope established during

55:45springtime.

55:47So, it may be that we establish the

55:49slope first.

55:50And then general planting may come

55:53during the spring where things can

55:54actually grow.

55:58>> Okay. Um, well, maybe I would

56:01you know, suggest that these are the

56:03three-year establishment and monitoring

56:06period kind of include any, you know,

56:09that damage from any high flows

56:13is included in that.

56:15Um,

56:17and considered, I guess, when we're

56:20you know, three years, four years from

56:22now when we're trying to say that stable

56:24and you're looking for a certificate of

56:26compliance, we have a nice

56:29um, stable slope.

56:31Um, but I I I think the planting plan is

56:33good. Thank you for bolstering that.

56:36Um,

56:38and I did have another question, too. It

56:39was,

56:41you know, I guess the way some of the

56:43language was written in the long-term

56:45O&M plan,

56:46there's, you know, I think the language

56:48was, you we recommend four sweepings per

56:52year and year and we recommend having a

56:55spill kit. I mean, I would like to see

56:57that language a little bit tighter. Um,

56:59maybe that's a condition from the

57:01commission that

57:03that the recommendations from the

57:05long-term O&M will be

57:08met as conditions or we change the

57:12wording in the

57:13long-term O&M. But, I I just want to

57:15make sure that we're all on the same

57:17page about what needs to happen versus

57:19what's recommended to happen.

57:24Other than that, I think, yeah,

57:26no other questions for me.

57:30>> Okay. Uh,

57:32Commissioner White has his hand up.

57:36>> Yes. Um

57:38in terms of the flooding, check the

57:40elevations.

57:41I think the flooding might actually flow

57:43over the lumber yard rather than over

57:46this area.

57:48It's happened in the past. So, check the

57:49elevations on

57:51where the water might flow in case of

57:53flooding event.

57:55It might make it easier for this area.

57:58>> Uh

57:58let's see here.

58:05I don't have it in front of me, but I

58:06believe uh the flood plain encompasses

58:10>> And look at look at the elevations. Do

58:12look at the elevations cuz the um

58:14the the lumber yard

58:16slopes down towards the bike way.

58:22>> Okay. I I can take a look.

58:25>> Yeah, check it out. Yeah.

58:30>> All right. Um

58:32any other questions from commissioners?

58:36Any questions? I don't think there's

58:38anyone here, but any questions from uh

58:40anyone sitting tonight's meeting for

58:42this um

58:44notice of intent hearing at Holly and

58:46Colburn Lumber.

58:48The address is I stated prior.

58:50Um

58:51seeing none,

58:53back to the commission, uh

58:55any other

58:56uh questions, comments?

59:01The

59:01conditions you want to talk over or

59:03motions?

59:06>> I I would just uh emphasize what David

59:09Kaplan said. I think that's an important

59:11point

59:12to make it very clear what those

59:14specific requirements are rather than

59:17recommendations.

59:23Or at least distinguish between in two.

59:27>> And David, I'm going to ask uh David

59:29Kaplan, I'm going to ask you for a

59:31condition, so you can think of that. I

59:34only wrote down street sweeping or

59:37parking lot sweeping four times a year,

59:39but you want to remove

59:42the word recommendations from the O&M

59:43plan.

59:44Um and just say that that's an

59:46established uh

59:48method that needs to be met each year.

59:52So,

59:53if there are no other questions, we can

59:56have a motion to close the hearing.

1:00:00>> So moved.

1:00:01>> So moved.

1:00:03Uh second.

1:00:04>> I'll second.

1:00:05>> Yeah. Uh

1:00:06Um David White seconds, and uh so David

1:00:09Kaplan?

1:00:13>> Yes.

1:00:14>> Sorry.

1:00:15>> And Mike Gildersleeve?

1:00:17>> Yes.

1:00:18>> And David White?

1:00:20>> Yes.

1:00:21>> And Chuck Cerrone says yes.

1:00:24All right, so since we don't have some

1:00:25of our here tonight, we can

1:00:28talk about conditions and then issue

1:00:33or we can just wait until our next

1:00:35meeting because I think that's within

1:00:36the 21-day limit and then get this out

1:00:40after that, but I wanted to ask Jackie

1:00:43what she thought of that. And I saw her

1:00:44start to smile. She seems to be excited

1:00:47about having hardly any time to

1:00:49get this out the door.

1:00:51>> So, our next meeting I think is in 3

1:00:54weeks, which is the 21-day limit. So,

1:00:56>> Mhm.

1:00:57>> I don't think we can get it out then.

1:01:00>> Uh

1:01:00>> on that day.

1:01:03>> Uh Lynn Who, would you uh allow us an

1:01:06extra week to um

1:01:09extension? Uh and we should have the

1:01:11date, Jackie,

1:01:12um

1:01:13so that we could get this out the door

1:01:15and have the full commission here to

1:01:16discuss uh conditions

1:01:18>> Not a problem.

1:01:19>> at our next meeting.

1:01:20Okay.

1:01:24So, does is that satisfy everyone? We

1:01:26have an extra week. We can

1:01:28and Jackie, what's that

1:01:30date?

1:01:32>> So, that would give us until

1:01:36um

1:01:37November

1:01:3912th.

1:01:41>> And does that work for you?

1:01:44>> Um

1:01:47Yeah, it's it's tight. I have to

1:01:48basically do it on the 6th, but I think

1:01:52I think I can do it.

1:01:54>> You could possibly do it

1:01:57all now.

1:01:58>> I can I can start drafting it now.

1:01:59>> Yeah, you can probably get it done. I

1:02:01think you can get it all done and up

1:02:03except for whatever we're going to throw

1:02:05in for conditions.

1:02:06And

1:02:08and and I have a list of conditions and

1:02:10um

1:02:11All right. So, anyways, I was just going

1:02:14to throw that out. It's just That was

1:02:15one option. We talked it over. We We did

1:02:17get the permission, but if you guys want

1:02:19to talk about uh conditions tonight and

1:02:21issue tonight,

1:02:23I'm also okay with that.

1:02:25Um

1:02:27Any any comments on any of that?

1:02:31>> My guess is that Susan is going to have

1:02:34some thoughts about conditions.

1:02:37Um

1:02:38>> It's always best to have the, you know,

1:02:41full commission if if that's what we're

1:02:43going to have at the next meeting. Susan

1:02:44would have I mean, she was in charge of

1:02:46the last meeting. I wasn't even here.

1:02:48So, I think that she would I know that

1:02:50David Kaplan had a lot to say, also. So,

1:02:53and David's here, but

1:02:55um

1:02:56it's it seems like it's okay for

1:02:58everyone if we just continue. So, maybe

1:03:01that's the motion that we're going to go

1:03:02with. So, that continuation would be

1:03:05um to the 5th, right?

1:03:08November 5th.

1:03:10So, can I get a motion to continue

1:03:14this hearing to November 5th? I'll move.

1:03:18I get a second.

1:03:20>> I'll second.

1:03:21>> Mike Gildersleeve, David Kaplan.

1:03:24>> Yes.

1:03:26>> Mike Gildersleeve.

1:03:28>> Yep.

1:03:29>> Yes.

1:03:29>> And David White and Chuck Terranova says

1:03:31yes.

1:03:33And that we are also

1:03:36going to extend the deadline to

1:03:40the 6th, right?

1:03:42Is that what the date you said?

1:03:44So you said

1:03:46>> The 12th.

1:03:47>> The 12th.

1:03:48>> For issuing that order of conditions.

1:03:52>> It would otherwise be the 5th.

1:03:54>> So Lim, Lim who, one more question. I Do

1:03:59you Do you mind if we push this one more

1:04:00day? Jackie only works Friday. We have

1:04:03We lost our full-time conservation

1:04:06administrator. That would give her two

1:04:08full days to work on it. So it would be

1:04:10the 13th.

1:04:12>> Not a problem. That's fine.

1:04:13>> Just one more day. Is that Hopefully

1:04:15Jackie, you're happier now.

1:04:16>> Yep.

1:04:17>> Okay.

1:04:18>> Thank you.

1:04:19>> I do want to ask a clarifying question.

1:04:22I understand that we

1:04:24I guess close the meeting. Should I

1:04:26still aim to attend the next meeting for

1:04:28the discussion for the conditions or or

1:04:31are my inputs just not allowed at all?

1:04:33>> It continues, I think.

1:04:35You can only have clarifying questions

1:04:37with um

1:04:38if you if you're here. Um

1:04:41and sometimes that comes up, but you

1:04:42might want to hear what we're talking

1:04:44about. But otherwise, you'll hear about

1:04:45it as you read the order of conditions.

1:04:49>> Understood. Thank you.

1:04:51>> I did want to spring one on you, and I

1:04:53don't want to be surprised. I don't know

1:04:55if you're coming on to the next meeting

1:04:57or not, but um

1:04:59I was thinking about our conservation

1:05:01property. And I know the meeting's

1:05:02closed, so this is not really official,

1:05:04but I just was going to add this to

1:05:07what I thought might be

1:05:09a

1:05:12that piece of property out there that's

1:05:14called, you know, conservation land.

1:05:16It's pretty small. There's nothing to

1:05:17it. But, one of my conditions and,

1:05:22you know, actually not even the

1:05:23commissioners can, well, they can I'll

1:05:25I'll, you know, whatever. Tell me what

1:05:27you think, commissioners, also. So, the

1:05:29applicant and the property owner, this

1:05:31is the uh condition I would think I

1:05:33wanted to put in there. The applicant

1:05:34and the property owner explicit

1:05:36explicitly recognize the limits of the

1:05:38conservation area as

1:05:40uh delineated on the approved project

1:05:43plan. No construction equipment,

1:05:45vehicles, or material shall be staged,

1:05:47parked, or stored within the designated

1:05:50conservation area at any time. This

1:05:53would be a condition in perpetuity.

1:05:56>> That's That sounds fair. Um, I believe

1:05:59that I already had a conversation with

1:06:01um Bob following the site walk anyway.

1:06:04Um, about explicitly not leaving

1:06:06vehicles or stored equipment um at that

1:06:09piece of land. Um,

1:06:12just because we we've talked about it

1:06:13during the site walk itself and um in

1:06:16addition to that, um I still would like,

1:06:19you know, Bob would still like to pursue

1:06:22the option of potentially acquiring that

1:06:24piece of land from the town, provided

1:06:26that the commission is agreeable to

1:06:28releasing it um and it's going to be

1:06:30done through, you know, obviously town

1:06:32vote. So, uh it's not going to happen

1:06:35right away, but it is something that

1:06:36he's going to continue to pursue um you

1:06:40know, provided that we can get paving

1:06:42and work done

1:06:44on the rest of the parking area first

1:06:46and that might come as a later piece uh

1:06:49once everything's all the paperworks and

1:06:52and

1:06:53that can be released.

1:06:55Um, so you might see um

1:06:58a separate request for

1:07:00um

1:07:01you know, work as an NOI for that

1:07:04particular piece of land later on.

1:07:07>> Sure. That that um

1:07:10That sounds good. I I've actually heard

1:07:12a little bit about this piece of

1:07:14property and some other properties

1:07:15around town being discussed

1:07:18about their value, their, you know,

1:07:20uh environmental value and whatnot. So,

1:07:23um

1:07:24okay. That sounds good. I appreciate uh

1:07:27your your thoughts and um

1:07:29and the way you handled uh some of these

1:07:31surprise conditions. So, appreciate it

1:07:34and we'll see you at the next meeting

1:07:36and so,

1:07:38that's it for tonight on this one. So,

1:07:40we have uh it continued

1:07:42and um

1:07:46So, there's a citizens open forum time

1:07:49now. I don't know if anyone's here at

1:07:51tonight's meeting that would has

1:07:52anything to uh bring up for the

1:07:54Conservation Commission and the

1:07:56procedure is that um

1:07:58>> [snorts]

1:07:58>> you know, we will not uh vote on it, but

1:08:00if it sounds uh like something that

1:08:02we're interested in talking about, if

1:08:05it's under our purview,

1:08:07we'll decide tonight whether it should

1:08:09be on the next agenda or not. So, if

1:08:11anyone's here that has anything that uh

1:08:14including commissioners that we we want

1:08:16to bring up under citizens open forum.

1:08:23>> I don't know if this is

1:08:24better new business, but I

1:08:26I meant to mention the CPA proposals

1:08:30and it escaped my mind during

1:08:32administrator support. So,

1:08:35>> You could do that now. I don't think we

1:08:37have any other

1:08:37>> good time.

1:08:38>> Yeah. Yeah. And we'll go on from that.

1:08:40Yeah.

1:08:41>> Um

1:08:42I mean, David White could could also

1:08:45speak on this if he'd like to, but

1:08:47um I and I met with David White, Brian

1:08:51McBride, and Susan Chopnick on Monday

1:08:55and we're planning to submit

1:08:57or work on two preliminary CPA

1:09:00applications, one for

1:09:02um

1:09:0321 Pond Lane

1:09:05um which would be through the planning

1:09:09department.

1:09:10And then one for Cook's Hollow

1:09:13uh as the Conservation Commission

1:09:17as the applicant.

1:09:20So

1:09:21um that will hopefully be done

1:09:25tomorrow.

1:09:26>> Yeah, and basically the Cook's Hollow

1:09:28was funded to small amount last year,

1:09:30but the state funding. So looking for

1:09:33town funding to move that project along.

1:09:39>> Yep.

1:09:42>> All right. Uh so I see Christopher has

1:09:44his hand up. Hi Chris, is this under uh

1:09:48citizens open forum?

1:09:49>> Uh yes.

1:09:51>> Sure. Uh

1:09:52are you finished Jackie and with that?

1:09:55>> With the the short amount of time.

1:09:57>> Yeah.

1:09:59Go ahead Chris uh just you have to

1:10:01introduce yourself again.

1:10:02>> Yes, of course. Christopher Wilson uh 30

1:10:04Hamilton Road. Um uh this is just a

1:10:06question because I heard it uh brought

1:10:08up earlier. Uh the fishing line working

1:10:11group. Um I didn't know the Conservation

1:10:14Commission had any

1:10:16um connection to it. I have been to all

1:10:20of two meetings this year that they've

1:10:21held and that's all that's happened and

1:10:24there's some very eager citizens myself

1:10:28included. In fact, how I got started

1:10:29with the Friends of Spy Pond Park is

1:10:31they saw me cleaning up fishing line in

1:10:32their park and asked me to come join

1:10:34them.

1:10:35Uh and there's a number of us who were

1:10:37um

1:10:38you know, pretty passionate about the

1:10:40issue. Um I know you're all very

1:10:42familiar with Laura Castle especially.

1:10:44Um she lives very close to me, but um I

1:10:47I was just curious if you have a

1:10:49connection to it. If you know anything

1:10:52that's happening

1:10:54>> Well,

1:10:55our commissioner Susan Chapnick is on

1:10:56that group and has not been meeting

1:10:59recently.

1:11:00>> Yeah.

1:11:00>> Yeah.

1:11:01So that yeah, so there hasn't been too

1:11:03many meetings. The latest update on the

1:11:05fishing line working group is because

1:11:07David Morgan left.

1:11:11Natasha, who is the uh

1:11:14recreation administrator, reached out to

1:11:16myself.

1:11:17And then Susan reached out to Natasha

1:11:19and we had a Zoom meeting

1:11:22and talked about some of the fishing

1:11:24line issues, some of the other issues

1:11:28that came up around town.

1:11:30And so

1:11:31she did say that it was tough to get the

1:11:33group together.

1:11:35They've been working through that, but

1:11:36they do expect to get another meeting

1:11:38coming up. I think this would be a

1:11:40better question for Susan when she gets

1:11:41back because she's our liaison to the

1:11:44fishing line working group. But

1:11:48if you

1:11:49have any questions and I'm not sure you

1:11:52can't attend those meetings. I'm not

1:11:53sure

1:11:54if the public can or can't attend those

1:11:56meetings, but um

1:11:58>> Yeah.

1:11:59>> I think reaching out to Natasha would be

1:12:01would be perfectly okay.

1:12:02>> Possible, yeah.

1:12:03>> Yeah.

1:12:03>> Yeah, I was just trying to kind of

1:12:05connect some dots because it's been very

1:12:06confusing for for those of us. There's

1:12:08there's maybe

1:12:10you know, six or eight of us who've been

1:12:11to those meetings and and people get

1:12:13excited that things are going to happen

1:12:15and then and nothing happens, but you

1:12:17know, I I can always reach out to them,

1:12:19but I'm just trying to

1:12:20>> Yeah, six or six or eight

1:12:22residents that aren't on the working

1:12:24group?

1:12:24>> Those that are. They they all and have

1:12:27been consistent. I mean, maybe it's even

1:12:28more. The first one there might have

1:12:29been 10 citizens. I can't remember

1:12:31exactly what the number was. They were

1:12:32less at the second one, but they're you

1:12:34know, I just I just wanted to see if

1:12:35there was any

1:12:36>> Public citizens, good. Good.

1:12:37>> Yeah.

1:12:38>> Yeah, no, very much so.

1:12:39>> Yeah, so

1:12:40Natasha had an open invitation to give

1:12:42her a call about anything that that came

1:12:44up. I know that we're we're not throwing

1:12:45this on to Jackie, but I would

1:12:47mind reaching out and asking

1:12:50so you get an answer prior to um

1:12:54uh I guess 3 weeks from now. So that

1:12:57might be the best thing. So I could

1:12:59give her a call and then get back in

1:13:01touch with you. And I can get your email

1:13:03I guess through Jackie or

1:13:05>> Nope. It froze on the screen.

1:13:07>> Oh, there you go.

1:13:08>> I said I can get your email from Jackie.

1:13:10I'll reach out to Natasha and I'll find

1:13:12out if I can push this along for the

1:13:14next meeting.

1:13:15All right. Great. Thank you, sir.

1:13:18All right. Chris.

1:13:20Okay, with that uh

1:13:22let's uh you know, I I apologize. You

1:13:25see Seth's here. Seth is our other I

1:13:27didn't have it on my list, but Beth is

1:13:29actually our other I don't know if he's

1:13:31been voted in. Seth, are you there? Did

1:13:33you get uh approval from the select

1:13:35board yet?

1:13:38So Seth is our uh third associate

1:13:41member.

1:13:43And

1:13:44um

1:13:46I guess he's waiting for approval uh or

1:13:51his official work here with the

1:13:52conservation commission.

1:13:55Jackie.

1:13:56>> Um I did send the letter

1:13:59recommending Seth last week, but I think

1:14:03as far as I understand, the select board

1:14:06hasn't met yet to

1:14:08appoint. I'm not sure when they're

1:14:11planning to. I didn't hear back, so

1:14:13we'll see.

1:14:15>> Okay.

1:14:16Okay. Well, keep us informed and

1:14:19specifically Seth, let him know when

1:14:22he he needs to go.

1:14:24All right. With that, I'll take a motion

1:14:25to adjourn.

1:14:27>> So moved and seconded from 103.

1:14:30Thorndike, nobody showed up.

1:14:32>> No, I recognize Well, Christopher Oh,

1:14:34Chris, we just talked to him. So no,

1:14:37there's no one new here. Jackie, anyone?

1:14:41>> No, I'll tell them to come to our next

1:14:43meeting. Maybe they didn't understand

1:14:45that they should show up. So.

1:14:48>> Okay. And with that, motion to adjourn.

1:14:50>> I move to adjourn.

1:14:52>> Uh, do you second that?

1:14:55Second. I'll second it. Everybody just

1:14:57>> Everybody has agreed.

1:14:58>> See you later. Everybody agree. All

1:15:00right. Bye now.

1:15:01>> Good night.

1:15:01>> Bye everyone.

1:15:02See you at the next meeting.

1:15:04See you Jackie. Thank you.

1:15:06>> Thank you.

1:15:09>> [music]

1:15:16[music]