Washington Conservation Commission

Special Meeting

Minutes – June 30, 2008

Assembly time: 7:00 PM.

 

Present: Nan Schwartz, Tom Taylor, Carol Andrews, Sandy Robinson

           

1.0   We were asked by Brother Peter of St. Benedict's Center to look at the project and render an opinion about whether the trestle bridge to bring power into the property needed a wetlands permit. Apparently the Selectmen have received two complaints about the bridge.  It does appear that they neglected to apply for the necessary local permits. The Selectmen have granted the permit "subject to the appropriateness of an after the fact DES 'Dredge and Fill' permit". They want our opinion on whether they need to file a Dredge and Fill Permit with DES. A group of Conservation Commission members went out to view the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary/Saint Benedict Center property on June 25th at 9AM.

       

        Some background was supplied to the Selectmen by Brother Peter and subsequently forwarded to us:

 

Brother Peter wrote:

"While exploring a solution to bringing electric power to the Retreat Center under constructed on our abutting lot we were totally focused on the guidance of the NH Electric Co-op. and considered the utility support structures part of the power company's responsibility and authority. We believe the technical solution as instructed by the NH Electric Co-Op is proper we apparently failed to follow the permitting process. Please accept our apology for this oversight.

 

Some background on this utility project may be of assistance:

 

a.          The subject lot is very rare natural woodland, which we are committed to protect. The NH Electric Co-op provides service to the west side of the property. An extension of the power utility from the west side of the property to the Retreat would have involved clearing for power lines and extension of the utility service road for over 1300 Ft. including a culvert on Barney Brook. In the interest of preserving the woodlands and natural environment of the property, we have buried the power service with minimum impact to the woodland. This approach required two utility support structures for the power lines, (a horizontal conduit trestle "bridge", and a transfer enclosure for the transformer & control devices "shed").

 

b.         To cross Barney Brook the Electric Co-op instructed the preferred approach was to take the conduit for the lines over the brook rather then under the brook. Our independent environmental advisor Mr. Tim J. Ferwerda of Meridian Land Services Inc., counseled there would be no DES issue provided the wetland was not disturbed – which it has not and a wetland permit was not required. The trestlework timbers sit on blocks placed on top of the ground. Barney Brook was not and will not be disturbed. Further, the Electric Co-op asked for the deck type structure on top of the trestle to allow better service access to the cottages on the existing service road to the west. 

 

c.          The 8' X 8' power transfer enclosure (shed) is required for the transformers and meters before the lines are buried. The Co-op required the structure within 10 feet of the last service pole. We believe this utility enclosure while on our property sits on the end of the utility right of way. A question has been raised regarding its location being a lot line violation. Because this utility enclosure is part of the power system and technically combined with the utility pole the exception to setbacks set forth in #202 of the LUO could be interpreted to apply.

 

In response to concerns raised about the construction of the utility bridge we had Mr. Tim Ferwerda conduct a follow-up inspection on May 21, 2008 of the structure. His inspection showed only two minor issues that were easily solved:

1). A 50 lbs. rock was inadvertently moved from the bordering Barney Brook, this was replaced.

 

2.) An unsafe temporary support, this was addressed and corrected. Besides those two questionable issues nothing violates DES requirements for utilities crossing water."

 

During our discussion of what we observed on the site walk some other facts were revealed and considered:

Selectman Rich Cook had recently been out to the site for inspection and he requested silt fence be placed in a few areas along the brooks where it was missing. This was done and observed to be in place by the CC members on the site walk.

Tom thought the trestle/bridge conduit was NH Electric Co-op's design. We believe that New Hampshire Electric Co-op and Meridian Land Services were overseeing the project. We decided they should send the reports from Meridian Land Services and any paper work from the power company about the project to the Selectmen.

We discussed viewing video on the Slaves' website about the building of the conduit trestle/bridge that clearly showed construction without silt fence in place.

We discussed what we observed during the site walk. We decided that the site visit didn't provide us with any new information with which to make a determination about whether they needed a wetlands permit or not.

Carol brought a copy of the Slaves' Alteration of Terrain Permit application filed with the State and this part of the project was not included on that permit (the construction is on a separate 90 acre lot that they own).

We checked the DES Permit poster for what permits might be needed for such a project.

We decided it would be a good idea to mention putting a conservation easement on their undeveloped property when we write our letter back to them. We will also make ourselves available to them for consultation on any issue they may have in the future

Sandy volunteered to draft a letter to be sent to the Slaves and cc'd to the Selectmen using Carol's notes from our discussion. Sandy made a motion that she would do this and Nan seconded the motion. Tom recused himself from the vote. All present voted in favor.

 

Carol also brought the other two letters we are sending to the Selectmen about the Twin Bridges issue (the question of right-of-way is unclear at this time, so we feel the burden to show right-of-way should be with the land owner) and the selling of lots taken for taxes. We looked them over and approved sending them.

 

Tom brought it to our attention that there was an announcement in the Union Leader today that DES was holding a presentation in Washington at the Town Hall on July 5th, 3 PM about the new Shoreland Protection Act that takes effect July 1st. We didn't know anything about it and weren't sure who had arranged it. Carol will look into it for us and let us know. We feel it is important to have this sort of presentation available for the whole community since we have so much waterfront.

 

2.0   Adjourned at 8:15 PM, our next scheduled meeting is July 16th at 7 PM at the Town Hall.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Nan Schwartz

Secretary