Meeting transcript
Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission Regular Meeting
October 3, 2022 · Watch on YouTube · All meetings
Good evening, everyone. We're going to countdown to 07:00. Just about time to call this regular meeting of the Andover, Indom, Wetlands, and Water Courses Commission meeting to order. I see that Commissioners Larson and Munro are on the call, so we have a quorum for the meeting. I also note that we have a prospective member, and we will have that on the agenda later in the meeting. Are there any proposed changes or additions to the agenda for the meeting? Okay, seeing none, I'll proceed to approval of the minutes from our 09/13/2022 regular meeting. Does anyone have any corrections or additions to the minutes which were so thoughtfully prepared by our agent Joe Wagner, who still seems to be acting in lieu of a regular board clerk? I have no comments.
Okay. Bill, have you reviewed those? I did. Okay. Then in that case I'll move to approve those minutes without correction. Got a second for that. I'll second that. Okay,
so moved and seconded to approve the minutes by, roll call Commissioner Larson. Aye. Commissioner Monroe. Aye. And I also vote aye, so the motion carries three-zero-zero. Next on the agenda would be an opportunity for public comment. Members of the public who may wish to ask questions or find out about any items on our agenda. By the way, Jan is our prospective member. Normally, would restrict public comment or nonmember participation to this section of the agenda. But since you're interested in being on the Commission, if there are questions that arise during the discussion, feel free to raise them so that you can follow the thread of the meeting more readily. Okay? Okay. Good. Okay. Thanks. Then we'll move on to old business, the first of which is IWWC twenty two number twenty eleven, the application from the Andover Lake Management Association to remove aquatic vegetation in the South Coast Of Andover Lake using a hydro rig. I don't see any representative of Andover Lake Management Association on the call. Joe, have you heard of, H. Wagner, have you heard anything from Jeff Hayes or?
I had heard that, I'm looking it up now, he sent me an email last week that said he wasn't gonna be here. He was actually out of the country.
Okay. He said I guess that's an excuse for not joining the Zoom meeting. He said somebody was gonna attend in his place, but I guess they're not here.
Okay. I know that they were, of course, anxious to get approval so that they could begin the work, about now. They want I recall from the last meeting that they wanted to do this before the drawdown.
Oh, it looks like Mr. Kevin Regan is on the call. Oh, okay. Yeah, I he's one of the people that
Okay. Mr. Regan, are you representing Alma for the in regard to the application for vegetation removal? Yes, I am. Okay.
I will ask then if there are any questions from commissioners regarding the application. First, Commissioner Larson, I know you weren't here at the last meeting, so you may need a little more depth of background fill or backfill to consider the application.
Nope, I looked through the minutes and am all in favor of trying to do what we can to preserve the life of the lake. Okay. Commissioner Monroe.
I think my questions were answered at the last meeting. Basically, he made a good point. Just rate that stuff out of there and pull it up by the roots and it's not gonna spread around the whole lake because it's so shallow. The overflow will just go right back into the bottom of the lake. Right. Like now because the characteristic of the South Cove.
Yeah, down in there anyway. So that's where they're going to be working. It was my understanding on that.
I had one thought occurred to me subsequent to the meeting. I wasn't able to raise it then, and it didn't seem to be addressed in any of the correspondence, and that is how the contractor will make sure that nothing, that there's no baggage with the equipment. In other words, the equipment has to be sanitized to prevent spread of aquatic organisms from any previous use. I mean, you'd hate to pull out water lilies and get water wheel instead.
It's my understanding that the equipment is thoroughly washed with bleach prior to use at each location.
Okay, So that I assumed that there was probably something, but I wanted it on record that that would be part of the plan.
Yeah, this is the only business they're in, so something they have to do whenever they go to a new location.
Yeah. Okay, so are there any if there are no further questions or comments, I believe that we could vote on approval of I the would like a motion to that effect.
I'll make a motion to approve the Inland Wetlands application twenty two-eleven for Andover Lake. Okay, and
I will second that. Okay, so moved and seconded. Any thought, I mean, most of our many of our standard conditions won't exactly apply to this activity. Are there any special conditions that we would want to attach to this permit? I haven't been able to think of anything. Agent Wagner, do you have any suggestions or recommendations in regarding to conditions for the application?
Not that I can think of. Think a lot of the stuff I I had concerns about were was added to the to the application.
Yeah. Part of the record in in terms of the, email exchange. Yeah. So, I don't yeah, I didn't see anything.
Okay. Any further discussion then? Okay, seeing none, I'll ask for a vote on the application by Commissioner Larson. Aye.
By Commissioner Monroe. Aye. And I also vote aye, so the motion carries three-zero-zero. Agent Wagner will notify Alma of the, permit approval. And since we doubt that there will be any further need for consideration, Alma can probably work with a contractor to schedule the work at earliest convenience. Thank you. Okay,
very good. Then we will move on to IWWC 2212, a proposal for Lot 22 Lake Road by Mr. Mark Reynolds, the engineer, and Judy Connolly, the property owner. I see that a representative of the engineering firm and applicant are on the call. Now, I noticed that we just received, I hope that the other commissioners also received, an update to the plan. Okay, Commissioner Monroe received that. And Commissioner Larson, did you receive the updated site plan? Yes, I did. Okay, good.
Since it is new, I'd like the engineer to just walk us through the significant changes, what has been added, and what should be aware of in that new site plan. Sure. Can you hear me okay, George?
Yeah, I can hear you. Yeah. Okay. If you want to share a screen, work that out with Yep. Yep. That would be perfect. Yeah.
It should it should be set up for you to share now if you want. Is it working now? Can you see my screen? Yep. Yep. Perfect.
My name is Jason Jason Reynolds. Sending this application tonight. Mark with double booked. So you guys get me in today. So I'll just go through this couple of slides briefly here. This is the site. We're on the East Side of Vandelberg Lake. Small, roughly two acre parcel. It's on the other side of the road here from the lake. The slide that I think you've mostly all seen before, you can go with the rough layout,
the house, the septic, everything like that. The next one has a little more detail. Excuse me, Jason, just a moment. I'm getting some echo feedback here, and I wonder if anybody else has not muted their mic. We may be getting a little feedback, so please make sure that your mics are all muted during the presentation. So, go ahead, Jason. I'll mute myself now.
Alright. So I'll continue. On this slide here, you can see the wetlands off the left in yellow, the yellowy hatch over here, proposed rain garden, this kind of dark oval we have over here. See the house, the driveway, all the runoff flowing overland to the rain garden. Where are the new stuff starts to come in? So we have incorporated the detail here for the driveway culvert into the site plan. It's just a blow up here so you can see it larger. We're proposing a 20 foot long 15 inches HCPE, relatively flat, 3.3% slope, flared end section with modified riprap at either end. So that's just cutting right here through the driveway. That detail has been incorporated into the site development plan. It's a screen grab from the site plan, the new revised one. I'll show you some key elements here, a little bit larger view. All of the dark, heavy dashed line, this is the sill fence around the rain garden, around the limits of our disturbance here. One of the questions one of the comments was to incorporate the proposed clearing limits. So proposed clearing limits have been added, the detail for the culvert crossing, all the E and S controls around the site.
And on the high side of the plan, details silt fence, details for the rain garden, everything else that we had comments on. Incorporate that into the new site plan. So that's all ready to roll. I'm going to leave you with a slide that's a good one to have up. If anybody has any questions, just let me know if you want me to continue to share the screen. And if you have questions for me, just ask away. Okay. Any questions from the commissioners?
I had one question. And when you talked about the culvert, you used an abbreviation, I think it was HD PE, and on the plan it talks about an RCP, and I wasn't familiar with either of those. Is this the corrugated heavy duty plastic piping that you're putting in there? Yeah. So we're proposing the HEP is a high density polyethylene.
It says RCP on one of those notes. That's that's an error. It's not gonna be RCP. It's gonna be HEPE. Okay. Thank you. Yep. Okay.
Commissioner Monroe, any questions about the application? Or Okay. And I believe all my questions have been addressed, and I appreciate the update of the plan that reflects the discussion at the last meeting. I think we could move to approve this application with standard conditions, and I think I think we should also incorporate the special conditions that were attached to the permit in 2005. Hold on a second here. That was part of the record online, but it did include, you know, in addition to the typical conditions regarding erosion control and so on and so forth, Since the removal and planting of vegetation is part of the site plan, the conditions should certainly include prior approval of the planting design and inspection of the plantings both after planting and after at least a year in order to make sure that they become established. I don't know when the work is going to be done, but it's never certain that the conditions will be optimal for planting, and very often, of course, the landscaping is the last thought and thehow shall I say most readily overlooked component of a site design. So, again, I want to make sure that those conditions are included in the permit approval. So if I could have a motion to the to that effect.
I'll make a motion to approve Inland Wetlands Water Course Commission permit twenty two-twelve for the lot on 22 Lake Road. With standard and additional conditions as in the 2005? Standard and additional conditions as per the 2005 letter.
Okay, good. And a second for that motion? I second that. Okay. So, we've got a motion and a second. Any further discussion?
I did have question or comment, and that is when I looked through the approved conditions from the 2005 letter, there's several inspections noted in there. And I wasn't sure if those were inspections that our agent was going to do, our engineer was going to do, or if we're relying on somebody else for those. But I think you know, we should have an understanding of what the inspections are that our agent or engineer are going to do with respect to the building lot.
Quite well taken. Okay, some of these conditions, of course, would be our own agent. A planting plan and inspection of plantings would be, I think, in our purview. Other references to engineers, I think, would be a negotiation between the wetlands agent and the engineer of record for the project. For example, the one of the special conditions about dewatering. Well, if you're trying to put a culvert in a flood, I'd say wait. But, you know, those kinds of things I think are, most of those seems to be referring to the project engineer, not a town engineer. The others refer to an agent, which would be our agent.
So item three, for instance, talks about the silt fence to be inspected prior to the start of work. That should be by RH.
RH, right. And then he's a agent Wagner, you would tip that would that would typically be part of your standard procedure, right? Yeah. Yeah. For sure. Okay, is that sufficient clarification on that?
It is for me. Just know that we've not had all the inspections. We've struggled to get some inspections done on a couple of things, and I'm not necessarily pointing that at the wetlands, but there's other applications where we've had a hard time coordinating with the. People who are actually doing the work to allow it to allow the town the opportunity to come in and make the inspections that they need to do. Point well taken.
The other question I have is just, you know, we probably covered last month when I wasn't here, when do we expect the work to start in the wetlands? That would be a question for the engineer.
I I think that the the goal was Homeowner. Get the crossing done first. I'm not sure if Don is still thinking of breaking ground this year. I believe that was his intention was to get the culvert all squared away first. I'd have to double check with the contractor to be on it.
Okay, because I would think that, you know, and again, it's an engineering thing, under our purview, if we don't get that done within the next couple of months, then you get into the rainy spring and all that and you're almost precluded from doing that until next summer. So if the property owners wanted to get started on the building, it's imperative that they get that in there before much longer here when things get wet.
Yeah, I believe that was the intention of the contractor. I will double check, but I think that's what he would like to do is get moving on as quickly as possible. Okay, any further comments? Commissioner Monroe? I'm satisfied. Thank you. Okay.
I'd like to make one more comment, Chairman Elliott. That's just, I alluded to it before, but we've struggled on a couple of applications that are both wetlands and planning and zoning as well as just planning and zoning where we spent time. I think this is an excellent plan. I was really happy with the quality of the site plan that we have here and what we needed to address. What I've seen in some cases is that plan is never shared with the guy who's actually doing the work. We've seen that with the clearing areas and other things like that. And so I just like to make sure that we've got this excellent plan. I'd like it to be shared with the guys who are doing the work.
Okay, if that concludes the discussion, I think we can proceed with a vote on the motion by roll call. Commissioner Larson? Aye. And Commissioner Monroe? Aye.
And I also vote aye. So, the motion to approve the permit with, again, standard conditions and special conditions as per the 2005 permit approval passes unanimously, and again encourage the engineer to work with our agent to get the project underway.
Excellent. Thank you, George. Commission, thank you. Thank you for your time tonight. Good,
and you are, of course, excused from the meeting at this point. Again, thanks for your contribution. So, moving on, that takes care of our old business, everything pending. We don't have any new business, no new applications, but I believe we do have some information regarding previous. We asked at the last meeting, Commissioner Moreau particularly, for an update on the project at nominally Twentyon Pine Ridge Road, 26 Old Farms Road, or the driveway construction utilities, and so forth. So, that's, on the agenda. And of course, if there are other, issues that have come up, that would also be part of the deal. So, Agent Wagner, hand it over to you.
Yeah. I have, let's see. Figure out how to share it. I took some pictures, last week, and then I put a packet together with with the pictures from that and from, let's see, from the rest of them. They're on the website. I don't know if I sent them to you guys or not, but they're free of you, and I got them up on my screen now. I don't know if you can see them. There we Yeah.
So this is, we'll start with the I think we're starting with the ones from recent times, which is this one here. I'll put some captions on the bottom. So this is looking this is like standing at the wetlands crossing, looking towards Pine Ridge Drive. So that area from the crossing up to the road when I went last week on the twenty seventh, it was pretty much graded. It was seated, looked pretty stable in that area. So let's go down to this one. This is looking at the downstream side of the open bottom culvert, looking up towards Pine Ridge Drive. So that would be up in the top.
Pine Ridge Drive would be up on the top left corner up here. So that's that one.
Joe, do you know what those greenish pipe things are that you see sticking out on the sides there? I'm
not sure if they're let's see if they're going through over here. Yeah. It looks like they're looks like you can barely see them there. I'll have to ask I'm not sure what they are, honestly. I'll have to ask George what they are. There might be chains for the road. I I don't know. So, yeah, I'll make a note to ask him. I want to talk to him about, putting more silt fence in. So this is another another view of the open bottom culvert, the riprap on the end. So yeah, you can get an idea how it how it looks. Let's see. I took it the same day. Here's another view. This one's goes back to the beginning of September. So this was before it was seeded. So there's a view of the open bottom one in the foreground, and then in the background is the, the round culvert. And then you can see, I think you can see at the time he was working on putting the utilities in on the side,
which is, yeah, up in the background. And then here's another view of the round culvert that was back in August 22 when it was really dry. You can see the soil there, but that's the round bottom one with the partially buried. Again, has those green pipes. And then there's another picture from August of their open bottom one in progress. And then this is back in July, mid July when they were building the forms for the open bottom culvert. So you can see how they had to excavate to put the forms in pretty deep, but they're actually able to leave in the center here. They're able to leave the stream bottom in that part, so it kinda maintain the the level. So they left that and then just filled it in into that level. So that's all original stream bed in the center, and then the rest is filled in. But at least they could do it when they did it that way, it was it was easier to maintain the the existing stream contours and grade. And then this was previous. This was before the crossing was built, so that was July 6. So that was after tree clearing, and then when they leveled the site prior to placing all the blocks and everything.
And, yeah, that's it. So if you have any questions on it.
Okay. I I had one question, agent Wagner. Vegetation removal, was, of course, a condition of the permit. Were you able to document that part of the work being done?
No, I haven't. I've been, kind of focused on crossing right now. I can I can ask them if they've started that? Yeah, check on your
next opportunity, because, again, it was important to get that work going, because it's going to be, you know, a multiyear, well, at least two years of follow-up on that in terms of, you know, initial removal and then a cleanup removal, because this is principally barberry, and then, you know, planting at the earliest opportunity to get new shrubbery established.
So yeah, I believe that was I think the condition was that they had to start it they had to start the removal before completion of the house, if I'm if I'm not I I think that was.
Right. I realize that the condition may have given us some leeway, but at the same time, as our agent and the person who got the direct view of what's going on, I'd like you to encourage them to move Yeah, on sooner the better. So, yeah, I'll do that.
Can you go back to the picture that you took that showed the screen bed in the center of the two forms? Yeah, this one.
Yes. So one of the things that I know, you know, when we were talking about going to this pouring on-site versus the, bringing in the precast culvert was advertised as being all done in a single pour and I didn't know if you got any feel for how they poured the center span between those two things to keep it elevated up over the stream bed? Or if that just wasn't going on when you were out there?
Yeah, I wasn't. I didn't get to see that part. I was actually out at the I think this day I was there with George, the, Korea, and he was telling me about this one. I don't remember what he said. This is second piece. So I think that was, yeah, I don't know. It looks like it would have to be two separate things, but I guess that I wasn't I wasn't there for that.
It looks like it was a pretty massive engineering project.
Yeah. Yeah. I think the end result, I mean, looks like it was pretty looks like it went pretty well at the end. I was happy that they were able to kinda maintain the I was I was a little worried about being able to maintain the, you know, proper stream bed level. So it was nice to see that they didn't have to excavate the whole thing. Yeah.
Okay, well, any questions or comments on, you you know, following up on this fairly significant project?
George, I just have one. Just thank you, Joe for getting those photographs to us. Let us know what's going on out there.
Yeah, no problem. This was a bigger project for it seemed like a bigger one for the Commission, so I figured I'm kinda keeping an eye on it. I usually go there once a week, and it takes pictures for a record to note the progress and. There's some issues with the erosion on the other side now that it's starting to get get back into a rainy season. It's actually raining now. So, you know, so I had, I had emailed the applicant Last week, I think asking him to put some silt fence in, so I have to go back there and check and and see if he did.
Yeah, I'd like to, you know, just agree with what Commissioner Monroe was saying. The photos are great. It is certainly much more significant than I was expecting to see, and it's nice to see the end product, well, close to the end product anyhow, but that's a pretty massive structure. Yeah.
Yes, indeed. Okay, any other questions or comments? Okay, I had one question. At the last meeting, you mentioned that the owner of Andover Auto Parts, the property, had said that tires and wheels, I guess, you know, spare parts that had gotten removed from the wetland, from the rural pool area. Were you able to to, check on that, verify? Or
Oh, I haven't yet. I think, I think Jim was over there, but, yeah, I don't know. Doubt he looked at it either because it's just not his area of concern. So, yeah, I haven't yet. Okay. If you'd like me to, I'd I'll I'll try. I'll contact them and try and go over there. Yeah. See if you could see if you can work that out. You know? Okay. Not
a not a huge concern, but, again, it's always good to follow-up, and, you know, because if they just pull the tires off to the side, that's one thing. If they entirely remove them, that's another thing.
Yeah. Yeah. It's I did spend some time over there with Jim within the last week or so, and you know, when you talk about a project that a plan and the plan's not followed, you know, we, a year ago you were talking about how the whole excavation plan was not in accordance with the plan we all went out and agreed to. And then we worked very hard to get a restoration plan where both Chairman Elliott and Agent Wagner were out there with us going through that. We came through, came up with what we thought was a good restoration plan and they were supposed to get ahold of Jim a couple of, forty eight hours before starting any work, it was running late. Next thing we know, they're out there going on. Jim had no idea that the work was started. It's not graded in accordance with the plan that we came up with. So we have really struggled. We went out and talked to the guy who was doing the work and he said he didn't know anything about playing, he was just told to go out and spread the dirt around. And so, you know, we're continuing to struggle to get that to a satisfactory finish line, but that's the classic example of my mind where both commissions worked very hard to come up with a good plan and then we paid no attention to it. So, that's, I know that's not what any of us were looking for.
Certainly not. And you're right, there was obviously a lot of problems with the excavation to begin with, both from a point of view of communication with the relevant boards, but also evidently the Landover himself and, you know, aggregating responsibilities, you know, the contractor not doing what even the landowner expected, much less what the Commission's expected. So yeah, that's it. It was a good object lesson for us and a reminder of the need to provide for adequate follow-up. But unfortunately there's very little we can do once, you know, once the contractor is there and pushing dirt around, as you say, it's difficult to back up and restart to get it done right.
Well, was a pile of tree stumps, some old tires, and that laying around just by the edge of the property would be the western side back by the auto parts place there. And I think they're just going to have to, we're going have to go in and have it regraded. We ended up agreeing that it would kind of form like a detention basin with a low spot in the center. And right now the, it appears to me that you know the grading slope towards Katherine Hutchinson's property, and I know that she won't stand for that. There'll be plenty that we will hear before that's all said and done. We're gonna have to do some work on that one over with planning to show me.
Wonder if in the future we could look into, like certain applications requiring a bond, as a part of the approval process to kind of give a little more motivation to the to the applicant to do it according to the plan in order to get their bond money back. Might be something to consider
with And there were supposed to have been a bond on that project. Whether or not it actually got done, we'll have to check where we stand on that. Specific
to a wetlands application, guess, is what I was thinking about in the future.
That's a good point. You know, obviously, we have provisions in the regulations and bylaws to do that. It's just never arisen as a condition as long as I've been on the condition, and I don't know, you know, when the last time it actually occurred. That would have been, you know, sometime in one of your predecessors.
Yeah. Yeah. And I'm not really familiar with the whole with the process, so I would have to I would have to make sure we did it right if we were going to do it at all, that it would actually work the way we wanted it to. Mhmm.
Yeah, there's legal obligations all around when you get into that kind of situation. Okay, well, further discussion on agent activities, agent report?
I had one other comment, I guess, it has to do with the online, I think it's an online application for our permits now. And when I looked at the permit for the 22 Lot on Lake Road, my first cut was, wow, this is pretty nice. This is pretty easy and straightforward for the applicant to fill out. And then I went back and looked at our regulations and what our regulations require with respect to an application. And there seems to be a significant disconnect. You know, regulations have like six pages of requirements for what needs to be in the application. And
when it's not there, that makes it very difficult for the applicant to provide to the commission what we need to see. So I wasn't convinced that while it makes it easier for the applicant, easier to get filed maybe, I don't think it makes it easier for the commission to review it.
That's an important point you've raised, Commissioner Morrison, and I think it would be helpful, not necessarily for discussion right at the moment, but certainly for further consideration and review, perhaps at our next meeting, if you could enumerate some of those, some of the disconnects. I'll take a look at it myself as well, And, you know, if we can all put our heads together on that, I think it would be helpful to see what might be added to the online application form if there's, you know, if there's information that we're not getting.
Yeah, I was looking I looked at section seven of our regulations, which I think are the applications starting on page 13. In in a lot of this stuff is very easy. There might be some stuff in the regulations that we say all that not necessary or something. Well, then you know it ought to not be in the regulations.
I think. Some of that stuff I tried to address because it was. Yeah, I mean. The. The online application form was pretty. Pretty limited with what you can do for it. Think, honestly, I think the program was kind of designed more for building permits, then they added on this zoning and wetlands thing. There's some issues with like the Andover Lake application. Like when the when you go to permit link to fill out the application, there's there's a spot where you have to, you know, you have to start you have to click an address and then overlay doesn't have an address. So you can't really do it into the program. So I made a separate PDF copy for ones like that you can see on that on the online, that one's filled out by hand for that reason. And then to account for all the stuff that's in the application requirements, like you said, Jed, because yeah, you need a site plan, you need drawings, you need statements of this and that. I put on the town website. So you click on apply for a permit, I think it's apply for wetlands permit. And then there's a big write up of what you need to provide along with the application. So you scroll through that. And then at the bottom of that, you get to the actual link where you can go into permit link and do it. So hopefully, an applicant reads all the requirements, when to submit it, what to what to put in there, and all that kind of stuff before they actually start the whole process.
Okay, I'll take a look at that too. I just Yeah, yeah, take a look please and then let me know if you need, you know, if it it's hard because I wrote it. You know, sometimes it's hard to. See if it makes a lot of sense, but yeah, do you have any feedback?
But sometimes we're trying to, you know, put the round peg into a square hole and, you know, as you mentioned, we probably piggybacked on the building application there. But, you know, in, I saw a lot of the information that the application had to have on the site plan, you know, like the big write up on the erosion and sediment controls and all that kind of stuff. But I do think it's important that we have written down in writing all the things that the application needs to have, and some of it can be in the site plan. I know back, probably just before you were getting here, we were trying to upgrade the checklist that we used to make sure that the application covered all this stuff. So now instead of making the application bigger to include all those things on the checklist, we made the application shorter. And so, you know, it just doesn't seem, it seems to be a disconnect more than we should have. And I think we're seeing by the fact that property owners often don't, you know, we come up with a good plan and then, you know, the execution is, you know, there's a wide spectrum of how well the plan is followed in execution. So the more detail we can actually have and what we agree to,
the better off we are. Another example of that is, you know, when we had the Sandy Beach on the lake over, I guess it was 3 Lakeside Drive and you know, we had some detail in the plan on restoring the previous beach area, you know, and the property owner didn't have any intention of doing that, he went back over and said, hey, it's here in the plan, know, this is what you agreed to. And we were able get him to do that at that point. So I think the more detail that we have, the better in trying to end up with what we think we ought to get.
Yeah, for sure. That's why I was trying like the hard. Thing to do is to get, you know, all that information out so that people actually look at it before they start with the application. Because I mean, whole process that kind of starts long before you fill out the the initial application coming up with, you know, a good plan.
Yep. Well, we start with the applicant having to read the regulations, you know, then here's what needs to be in the application. That would be a good place for them to start.
It seems like we can't have everything possible in the application, but at the same time, I think that, you know, the, especially with an online form, that's provided by some other vendor and you're not writing the code, and you know, so you can't really modify it. But I think that, the approach that's being taken by Agent Wagner, namely a lot of essentially preparatory material, here's what you need to know before you get going with this, and here's what else you may have to do besides what's in the application, is the only way that we can actually ensure that we get those materials. So, there may not be a part of the application form per se, that is the online application form, but, you know, how should I say, required supplemental materials or large fields for comments, you know, where people can provide that information even though it may not be, you know, again, incorporated in the online form. But, yeah, I think particularly, Commissioner Larsen, your point about reviving
that checklist, and making sure that we are in fact requiring that information up front in the application process.
Yep, and even you know we will never get to the point where everything's there, but I am surprised how often I have a vision of what I will expect to see when everything's done and how often what I see is different than what I thought it was. And so, you know, I just try to come up with enough restrictions or conditions or whatever that at the end of the day, surprises are kept to a minimum.
Indeed. Okay, any other questions or comments for the agent for agent reports?
Nothing. Nothing here. No no new approvals. Been, yeah, nothing nothing big.
Then we can move on to item number nine, other business and commission vacancy. I'm pleased that, we do have a person of interest there, Janice. And Janice, if you would kindly give me the phonetics of the pronunciation of your last name.
It's really very easy. It's just mashy. Mashy? Yep, mashy like mashed potatoes.
Okay. So, anyhow, Dennis has, expressed interest in joining the Commission, contacted Agent Wagner, and there's been a subsequent follow-up. I believe I circulated the letter that she emailed to Commission, to Agent Wagner, and again, I distributed that. And I would invite you, Janice, if you'd like to speak to the Commission about your interest in joining our work.
Sure, a little unplanned, but sure. Basically, I've been a resident of Andover for four and a half years. Prior to that, I was in Columbia for eighteen years. My background is I owned, I was the owner broker of Carriage Barn Realty on Route 6 for fifteen years. So I have a little bit of. You know, real estate background and my other jobs were in banking, so little of both. Loved real estate, though. I've recently retired. So I was looking for something to do. I had actually seen the ad in the paper for the ZBA opening. And when I went to that meeting, I believe it's Bill Monroe, asked me if I'd have any interest in joining the wetlands committee. So, sure. I mean, I have, I certainly have background being in real estate for fifteen years, I had my share of meeting with some of your committees, you know, in various towns because of, you know, wetlands issues or water or, know, so I have some background. Based on what I've heard tonight, I'm sure I have a lot to learn. But I definitely have an interest in in doing something, something for the town, something for, you know, the community, just something I can help with. So if you guys are interested, I would be interested.
Well, I can definitely state that we are very much interested in filling out our numbers and having someone with experience from the other side, as it were. At least you know what we are about. We are a regulatory commission. There are, you know, statutory obligations that we have to fulfill and make sure that when development or construction or any kind of activities that impact wetlands, that they're if they require a permit, then that they're properly presented and that the the best of our ability to make sure that the regulations are are are followed. I would say that the Connecticut Department of Environmental and Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has put together a training, online trainings modules for wetland agencies. Know And I did start that. Okay, you started looking that. Good. So, that's extremely valuable in getting a sense of what wetlands are and what the general tenor of the regulations. Of course, our regulations and bylaws are
online, and well, I think they would be heroic, to say the least, to get thoroughly acquainted with the regulations, at least having a broad overview of what the regulations cover, and you know, knowing that certain kinds of activities may require permits and that others are permitted as of right, so on and so forth. Getting familiar with those, you know, it does take time, and I don't think that it's reasonable to expect any Commissioner, even the Chairman of the Commission, to know those regulations in detail by heart, but you know we can always have them online or at hand during the meetings. I think one of our commissioners is likely to have a booklet nearby with the regulations, and that This one? Yeah, that one, exactly.
But I think as long as you know where to find them, I mean, that's what's important. Yeah, that's
exactly the level of questions you need. So, if you are interested in joining the Commission, I'll point out to the Commissioners that, you know, under the conditions of the town charter sectionI've got it up heresection six zero three dealing with vacancies on appointed commissions, since, you know, theI guess ZBA is officially an elected commission. We are an appointed commission. Normally, appointments are through the Board of Selectmen. However, in the case of a vacancy, the commission itself is responsible for filling the vacancy. So, all we have to do is vote to say, We want to appoint you to the Commission, and then I will notify the Board of Selectmen of the appointment and, of course, the town clerk. You will have to be sworn in by the town clerk
at your convenience. I was sworn in today for the ZBA. Okay, well, you know what happens, right? It's
quick and painless. It's not like an inauguration, okay? No Bibles involved or other sacred texts. Okay, so I would entertain a motion then to appoint Janice Mashpey to the Inland, Wetlands, And Water Corners Commission for a term beginning with, to be seated at our next meeting and continuing through 06/30/2023. Okay. So moved.
Okay, I believe Commissioner Monroe moved, or who moved? You moved. Okay, and a second then? But one or the other. Yep, I'll second then. Okay, and I'll, again, by roll call vote, Commissioner Larson? Aye. Commissioner Munro? And I also vote aye, so the motion carries three-zero-zero. Congratulations, Janice, and we welcome you to and look forward to working with you in the future Thank you very much.
Our next meeting is supposed to be Monday, November 7. The Commission meets ordinarily, of course, the first Monday of every month, unless there's a holiday on or adjacent to that date. Unfortunately, I've got a conflict for that date, and per kind of informal agreement we would either have to cancel well, we'd have to cancel that meeting, and what I'm looking at is the possibility of rescheduling a special meeting as soon as possible thereafter, so that if any business does arise. Right now, we don't have anything on the agenda, but if there's an application that needs commissioned attention between now and the last week of October really, it would be good to have a meeting to attend it to take care of it. When we receive an application, we need to get it on the record as soon as possible and start the ball rolling because there are deadlines. So, I propose that we can meet, well, Tuesday, the second Tuesday of the month is our usual fallback, but in this case the second Tuesday of November is election day, so that's not such a good idea. That puts us with either Wednesday or Thursday. I'm free on both of those dates. Commissioner Monroe got back to me and said that he was free
for both of those dates. So, I'll ask Commissioner Larson and the new Commissioner Mashke to look at their calendars, and of course, Agent Wagner to see if either the eighth, I'm sorry, either of the ninth or November 10 are available. So those days work for me. Okay. I think the
ninth would be better for me because I actually have Wyndham. Our Wyndham Wetlands Commission meets on the tenth. Okay. I don't know if we'll have a meeting or not, but.
Okay, well, we wouldn't want to preclude that by any Okay, so, Janice, would the ninth work for you? That would be fine. Okay, so then we will cancel the regular meeting for the seventh. And Joe, just go ahead and pencil in, or you know, have him pencil in a special meeting for the ninth.
Could I ask, like, if you had no business, would you still have the meeting, or would you just cancel it? We could probably just cancel the meeting in that case,
You know, if there's especially if there's no new business, there's nothing else pressing for the Commission to deal with, so I don't think we would lose anything by skipping a date. I think ZBA tends to work on the same principle. Yeah, that's what they said too. Thanks.
Okay, so we'reso then we're on for November 9, and that concludes the business of our agenda. So, without objection, we can consider the meeting adjourned. Thanks everybody for being here, and I'll look forward to seeing you again in a month. You can now press the little red leave button on your Zoom screen, and our agentclerk can press the end meeting button that is at his disposal. Thanks again. Have a great rest of the year. Welcome, Jan. Thanks. Thanks. I'll talk to you soon. Bye.