Conservation Commission — 2016-11-17
Minutes
CITY OF MELROSE CONSERVATION COMMISSION City Hall, 562 Main Street Melrose, Massachusetts 02176 Telephone - (781) 979-4312 Fax - (781) 979-4290 Melrose Conservation Commission Minutes for November 17, 2016 Present: Kate Hickey, Zachary Drench, Richard Doucette, Susan Murphy, Aaron Weieneth and Michael Paiewonsky Absent : Kevin Anderson Mr. Doucette was acting chair and called the meeting to order at 7:30 PM. Minutes: Motion by Mr. Drench to approve the minutes from October 20, 2016. Mr. Doucette seconded the motion and it was voted 6-0 in favor. Discussion Items: 229 Laurel Street- Request for Certificate of Compliance The applicant and consultant were not present for the meeting, but they had been in contact with staff and requested a possible partial certificate of compliance. Staff visited the site to assess whether the vegetation cover had improved since the consultant was there last month. Staff determined that the seed mix applied by the applicant had not germinated sufficiently and the site is over 50% covered by invasive garlic mustard (see file for site visit photos) and is not in compliance. The applicant will need to establish sufficient native cover for the restoration area before a certificate of compliance can be issued. Since the restoration component isn’t in compliance, the Commission will not issue a partial certificate. New/Old Business: Open Space Projects- Ms. Murphy and staff produced a table of privately owned parcels to identify any currently undeveloped parcels that are worth saving for conservation interests (trails, wetlands, etc…). The Commission plans to identify any parcels that should be a priority before the next meeting in December. Staff will seek input from the Parks and Planning departments on the parcels we are looking at. Several properties were discussed and staff will create a large, color coded map for the next meeting that highlights the parcels that are being considered, all parcels currently owned by the Commission, parcels owned by the parks department and lands owned by the state (DCR). Ms. Murphy will look into creating a scoring system for prioritizing the list of parcel. Conservation Commission Banner- - Staff confirmed that the banner was made and in the Commission’s possession now and ready to be used at the next event. MACC fee increase- Mr. Doucette suggested each member visit the MACC website and see if they can learn anything new or interesting from it. Leonard Rd encroachment- Staff visited the site and confirmed that one of the abutters has constructed a fenced garden area on Conservation land. Staff sent a letter to the homeowner informing them that the property was conservation land and to remove the fencing within 30 days. Staff checked on the property again on November 16, 2016 and confirmed that the fence was now in the process of being removed. 10 Windsor Street- Staff spoke with the homeowner again and confirmed that the consultant has been hired to do the spot elevations necessary to confirm that the compensatory storage area was constructed as planned. Staff is expecting the report within the next few weeks. Next Meeting: The next scheduled meeting will be Thursday, December 15, 2016 at 7:30 PM. Adjourn At 8:30 PM Mr. Weieneth moved to adjourn, seconded by Ms. Hickey and it was voted 6-0 in favor. ____________________________ _________________ Approved Date. Pursuant to the ‘Open Meeting Law, ‘ G.L. 39, 23B, the approval of these minutes by the Commission constitutes a certification of the date, time and place of the meeting, the members present and absent, and the actions taken at the meeting. Any other description of statements made by any person, or the summary of the discussion of any matter, is included for the purpose of context only, and no certification, express or implied, is made by the Commission as to the completeness or accuracy of such statements.