Conservation Commission
TOWN OF PRINCETON
BOARD/COMMITTEE PRINCETON CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES
DATE: December 19, 2023 TIME: 7:00 PM LOCATION: Town Hall Annex
Note: this public meeting and public hearing were conducted in person at the Annex, with a remote teleconferencing option available for public participation. Public participation details were posted with the agenda.
Members in attendance:, Bonnie Hirsh, Holly Palmgren, Brian Keevan
Members in attendance remotely: Jennifer Vuona
Applicants and others in attendance: Maryann DiPinto, Bill and Judy Dino
Applicants and others in attendance remotely: Paul Kuokkanen
Votes taken in the following actions are “all in favor unless” noted otherwise.
Holly Palmgren called the meeting to order at 7:04 PM.
Item 1: Approval of minutes: Minutes from the November 14, 2023 meeting were not available at the time of the meeting and will be reviewed at the January 16, 2024 meeting.
Item 2: 7:05. Request for Certificate of Compliance for 15 Houghton Road from Paul Kuokkanen. Members described repairs needed to eroding area along driveway and to headwall on upstream side of culvert. Members approved that the silt fence be pulled from the stream at this time but be left in place behind the house until the lawn is stabilized. The commission voted to revisit in the spring after the grass grows. 7:24
Item 3: 7:24. Discussion of 184 Mountain Road. Site visit 12/16/2023. Applicants (Judy and Bill Dino) and Maryann DiPinto were in to discuss. Bonnie described what we saw. Septic system pipe needs to be routed to the SAS under a jurisdictional stream. MaryAnn said the pipe will be double sleeved where it crosses. BOH has approved the system as designed. NOI has been submitted and a file number issued (267-0456) but not in time to be advertised for a hearing. We will conduct the hearing in January. Bill Dino mentioned that the house may be reoriented but stay in about the same place, and Holly said they should submit a revised plan once they have decided. Discussion ended 7:37.
Item 4: 7:38. Request for COC 43 Merriam Road. Holly will reach out to Jen Greene and try to set up the site visit before snow comes so we can issue a COC in January.
Item 5: 7:41: 312 Mirick Road. Site visit on 12/16/2023, the commissioners met the new owners and the site was looking good. Commission voted unanimously at 7:42 to issue a Certificate.
Item 6. 7:43. Request for Emergency Certification to replace a culvert on Thompson Road. Lar Greene was in to discuss. Lazaro has been working with DPW to rebuild the road, and recent rains have washed out the road, stranding a car. MASSDOT has funded this and wants the culvert replaced before they fund any further work. The commission voted at 7:52 to issue an
emerg cert with a condition that they file an after the fact NOI for the culvert replacement. We also suggested that they consider a long term solution to controlling the level of that wetland through the beaver dam downstream via a BOH determination and working with DFW and the landowner. Lar said they would likely do the work within the next two days.
Item 7. 7:56. Continued hearing for DPW NOI. Lar Greene in to discuss about maintenance of stormwater infrastructure. Catch basin cleanouts usually occur in the spring along with street sweeping. ~300 structures in town need annual cleaning, some need reconstruction (~8) each year as well but that happens in the summer. Headwalls needing re-setting done as needed but about 1-2 per year. Sediment basins: only ones in town are the new ones on 140 in East Princeton, and the ‘peanut’ on Calamint Hill Road; these are inspected and mowed annually and cleaned out as needed. The new one by Krashes Field will come under this as well. Ditches: this year we bought a turbine blower to clean out the ditches each fall; gravel regrading usually includes reshaping the road edge at the ditch to smooth out; some roadsides have shoulders with ponding and they typically dig out material and add riprap along the edge. Culverts for stormwater (not streams) are replaced with HDPE, they do about 1-4 per year, work in dry conditions. Next month he will come in and discuss vegetation maintenance. We also discussed separating the O&M activities from the culverts and Lar agreed that that was a good idea. Holly suggested bundling several culverts in one NOI each year. Commission voted at 8:18 to continue the hearing to the 1/16/2024 meeting.
Item 8. 8:19. Discussion of proposed Zoning by-law regarding flood zone construction. Discussion of the proposed amendment and language in various explanatory emails from John Mirick. Commission voted at 8:42 to support the amendment as currently drafted.
Item 9. 8:43. Proposed FY2025 budget. Holly was asked to provide any budget requests or changes by 1/4/2024. Our current budget is $970 = level funded. Holly will ask Melissa what we have left this year so we know what we should spend each year.
Other Business/Procedures:
● Resident letter: Bonnie talked to Terri about a resident list and received a list but she is not certain if she was given property addresses or mailing addresses; she will follow up.
● Building Permit subcommittee update. Bonnie is up to date with all activities.
● Commissioner updates on current open projects: None.
● Forest Cutting plans: One received from Calamint Hill Road owned by a family trust from NH. Parcel abuts DCR DWSP land and will cross it to access land along the rail bed. Greg Buzzell has authorized and approved the access route and stream crossings on DCR land for this job.
● Mail included a letter from MACC for annual dues.
● Holly discussed that the Town is hiring someone to archive PCC and other board files in Town Hall. We plan to organize them better before they get boxed up.
Commissioners voted to adjourn at 9:15 PM.
Respectfully submitted, Brian Keevan