Conservation Commission

The Conservation Commission meeting on October 7, 2024, opened with elections for leadership (Amanda Jones as Chair and Jaime McCarthy as Vice Chair). Commissioners reviewed several permit actions: a revised BVW delineation for 27.5 and 29 Clarks Road was approved as an ORAD with a finding that only the flagged BVW is recognized and that any future Notice of Intent must include bank and stream flagging. The commission considered a septic replacement application on Market Street (motion text referenced 75 Market St), approving both a waiver for disturbance within the 25-foot no-disturb area and the NOI; the work is largely within the 100-foot and 50-foot buffer zones and the Board of Health is reviewing a separate well-setback waiver.

Multiple Certificates of Compliance were acted on: the seasonal dock at 51 Lake Attitash Road was found to be installed in accordance with its Order of Conditions and a COC was issued; the single-family project at 12 Pinewood Road received a COC contingent on installation of five No-Cut/No-Disturb placards as mitigation for an existing patio; and the city elementary school project at 193 Lionsmouth Road had its $200 COC fee waived, though commissioners noted some buffer plantings in poor condition and discussed permanent no-mow markers and additional plantings. The commission approved an amendment for 39 Poplar Street adding a requirement to use appropriate measures to mitigate invasive species (Japanese Knotweed), authorized use of WPA funds to pay for MACC training, and ratified an Emergency Certification for tree pruning at 2 Pleasant Valley Road. Significant discussion focused on wetland/bank flagging, permanent measures to protect buffer plantings from mowing, and appropriate (non-chemical) methods and required mitigation for invasive-species control. No public comments on specific items were recorded in the minutes.