[Denis MacDougall]: Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the City of Medford Conservation Commission meeting for September 16th. We have two items on the agenda. The first one I'm going to take is condom shell lights, and I'll just read the notice. Request for determination and applicability. City of Medford for a project involving targeted pavement repairs, replacement of the same footprint, removal of existing stage lights and associated concrete foundations, and installation of new stage lights and pedestrian lights with associated footings and electrical conduit slash wire. Work will be conducted within the 200-foot riverfront area, bordering on subject to flooding and the 100-foot buffer zone to bank, and our minor activities per 310 CMR 10.22B2. Is that my cue? Thank you, Dennis. Yep, you're on.
[Alicia Hunt]: Hi, everyone, I guess I'll just jump right into presenting the project. I apologize for missing the last meeting and I hope to catch you up and answer the questions that Dennis sent along that the commission discussed 2 weeks ago. So, I have the plans here and I think I should be able to screen share. Go. All right. Can everyone see that? Yes. Excellent. All right. So this is at the Condon Hatch Shell. It's a project that's being proposed by the Recreation Department. They are looking to add path lights along this main pathway down to the shell and then new stage lights that are functional at the shell itself. Because of the various utilities that are here, there's an MWRA water line, a sewer line that runs not in our work area, but outside of that limit of work, and then a gas transmission line. The limit of work is quite limited here, and of course, Due to the nature of it being so close to the riverfront, we've worked to limit the impact to the area as much as possible. I did see a question about, so this is the existing conditions and then our proposed plan. We have a very specific path of travel over those utility lines that involves the existing walkway, protecting that walkway while machinery is being driven over it, and then coming again in a very limited way to stay outside. the buffer zones as much as possible and of course outside of the root zones of existing trees as much as possible to get around the building and get to these two lights. The only light that's in the 50 foot buffer is one of the stage lights that's being proposed and it's really just inside. I did see the question about what that lighting looks like and what the impact is. So I thought that I would show, so for these two stage lights here on the left, they would be what we're proposing must go type of fixtures and those are, zoom out here so you can see this a little more easily. Those are on poles much like sports lights. This is diagrammatic. They wouldn't look exactly like this. I think there are three luminaires on these fixtures. The advantage of these lights is that because they're on taller posts, you have a lot more control about where the light goes. I know it was a concern of where that light is going exactly. This is a photometric diagram. From the lighting manufacturer that shows foot candles in the area. So these are really be aimed at the shell. And then the request from the recreation department was to provide some level of ambient light to make it safe for people attending these concerts and so on during. like while arriving at the site and then mostly while leaving. As for the lighting schedule, these two stage lights would only be turned on for events. It would be on an as-needed basis, and the schedule is not expected to be different than what it is now. I think there are concerts at the farmer's market every once in a while, and there will not be an increase in activity. Because there's not the recommendation department doesn't expect to offer more concerts because these lights are here. It's simply to enhance the experience of the programming that already exists. Right now, I believe that performance have to bring their own lights. And they kind of have to, because you can't mount them up high, they're shining right in their faces. So with this configuration, the lights are actually aiming at the top of the shell to sort of protect, sorry, reflect the light down onto performers as opposed to shining down. And then you'll see, once you get out into this field area, the float candles reduce to one, and these would be turned off at 10 o'clock. Kevin Bailey did say that there was 1 movie night per year that he would like to leave them on until 1030, just to allow people to exit the space. And he said he could be flexible on when exactly. That is right now, I think he said it's in June and then, but he offered to move it based on. Timing if that was the preference of the commission, so that's the programming side of that. Then just flipping back here. There we are proposing 3. Sorry, 3 pedestrian scale lights, which would look like something like this. These are they're similar lights to this found throughout the city. I believe that the previous. Pedestrian scale light that was often used in Medford by Moscow was a. by a different manufacturer, but this is very similar. This light is dark sky compliant with a 3,000 Kelvin color temperature, which is what we would specify for this project. But there's no need in this area to have a 4,000 or 5,000 Kelvin light temperature, which would be 5,000 is what you would see for sports lighting. We would have something close to that for the stage lights, which again would only be used for these You know, occasional events throughout the summer, the pedestrian scale lights would be used would be. On a timer, they would go off at 10 o'clock. The intention is to have them. On, you know, at night, it would, but they would follow the same hours as most city lighting, which is 10 o'clock cut off. These we do have. 2nd, let's see here. We also have photometrics on these lights. So, as you can see, the red is where there are 0 foot candles reaching and the black shows where you have. Greater visibility on from these lights and or light spread from these lights. Typically, so you see these values on the edges of like, 0.1 a typical, like, comfortable walking path. Illumination is. I want to say it's like 1 to 3, so 0.1 is quite quite a small light spills. These are pretty focused to get you kind of to point A to point B, not to provide like. And you can see that it does reach this last light over by the shell reaches a little bit. Onto this pathway, but it's the light levels are quite low. Once you get to this, the river bank here, and then on the side, you'll be reaching. Sorry, on the parking lot side, you'll be reaching the streetlights that are along the valley parkway here. Then. Let's see, I think that is oh, and. Do you want to talk about the. Installation of the footings, there was some concern or 1 of the questions was about how these lights get installed. So this is actually the pedestrian line, but back to the stage light, the way that these are installed is that there is a precast concrete base and the. The contractor uses a machine to drill to auger a hole essentially, and then place the base in, and then it's cemented in with concrete. So you can see in this cemented in, it's held in place by concrete to help keep it stable. So, these precast bases are going to be 15 feet tall, but. Half almost half of that is sticking above grade and then the way that the stage lights work is that the those poles are like a sleeve and they sleeve over the top part of that concrete base and then the rest of that, which is 8 feet would be underground. So this would be an 8 foot. Drill hole, essentially, they would place it. the base and then add concrete to stabilize. You can see in the detail here that most of this, so this is a 30 inch diameter footing and you have a little bit of concrete backfill on both sides, probably, I want to say, 6 inches or no, I think that is drill pit diameter. So that is, oh, so the overall diameter of that is 30 inches. So, you're looking at a 2 and a half foot diameter drill hole, they place the footing and then they put the concrete in so fairly minimal site disturbance. And we did, we did kind of rule out doing a spread footing part of partly because it would cause more soil disturbance, which was a concern here. Then the. Back to the pedestrian scale lights, this is similar. So this detail is a little bit more. Open ended, it is also a pretty narrow detail or sorry, pretty narrow footing. It's about 24 inches in diameter with an embedment of 6 feet below grade and you'll see here. It's it's. So, here there's a little bit of means and methods work left up to the contractor, but in my experience, these are typically. Precast footings that are set into place, it's significantly less involved than. Then doing a port in place footing with all the reinforcing and everything and in my experience with similar projects, contractors. will submit a precast footing that they then place on the site. So similar to the other ones, to the stage lights, except that these are, the posts are set with anchor bolts. So they set the bolts up and then they attach the fixture on top after the footing is set. And these have a slight reveal above grade, usually about 6 inches. Okay, and then the last question, I think, was the question about loam and seed. And, oh, well, together with that. So there was a question about the, that there was some, oops. The limit of work is okay, so there was confusion about the erosion control and the. The tree protection fencing, so what we are assuming here is that our limit of work shows the construction fencing and so to the best of our ability, we have shaped that around the tree. So they are not even within the limit of work and contractors would not be accessing the site. in those root zones as much as possible. I do realize that this could be clearer and so we are happy to provide a clearer plan to the commission and also forbidding for the contractors to understand that the limit of work shown is where we expect the construction fencing and tree protection to go. Tree protection fencing, in one to go, not that those are separate and that there's wiggle room around where this limit of work is. Then the last question was the loam and seed. We've shown loaming and seeding throughout the limit of work. It's our standard protocol to call for loaming and seeding, but I do understand the concern with that being considered a fill activity. We can certainly amend The soil there is pretty good. We can certainly just call for that those areas to be raked out regraded and then and I mean, regraded to meet the existing conditions and then to be amended and receded and not call for any additional loan unless they're like, low spots or something that would need to be filled. Just want to make sure that. Okay, I think that I covered all the questions and the scope of the project, but I would be happy to answer any questions the commission has.
[Marie Izzo]: Thanks, Kayla, very helpful. I'm sorry to be a little dense. Can you describe perhaps the area that would be reseated, just square footage generally? I'm having a hard time conceptualizing how big of an area we're talking about.
[Alicia Hunt]: Sure. So we are showing, I know it's a little hard to see, we're showing a lawn hatch kind of in Within the work here, as far as square footage, that I would have to look into.
[Marie Izzo]: Don't worry about it.
[Alicia Hunt]: I don't want to guess and be totally wrong.
[Marie Izzo]: Yeah, I can see much better now. I appreciate that. Thank you. Yeah, you can see it. Regrading to the extent that it would be required, what would be the methodology for that? I presume it would not be by hand. They would use some sort of mechanical means.
[Alicia Hunt]: Yes, I would say it's sort of a means and methods question, but we're happy to provide if if the commission has like. specific requirements for that. We can certainly include that in the contract. This hasn't gone out to bid yet, obviously, so we have leeway to make changes or incorporate requirements that make sense to include. Usually, it is done by machine. I think that it would depend here. There may be there are areas that they'll definitely just be raking out by hand because they're pretty small, but I imagine they'll bring something back into this area in front of the stage to sort of smooth it out and then probably hand grade here and. And rake over where they're laying the conduit for the electrical lines.
[Marie Izzo]: Yeah, no, that makes sense. I don't think, I'll defer to my colleagues on the commission. I don't think I have a preference one way or another. I was just more curious than anything about the methodology. That's all I had. I don't know if other folks, oh, actually, this is more for Dennis. Dennis, administratively, I think we discussed last time very briefly whether this constitutes minor activities. Was there any more color on that after our conversation that you're aware of?
[Denis MacDougall]: Not really. And actually, I think Kayla, that was one of the things I sent you to about whether or not, because I think what it came down to is that our. chair, Heidi was like, she said minor activities are those within the buffer zone, and this is within the riverfront area, not just buffer zone.
[Marie Izzo]: Well, I think it was also, is this not BLSF, some portion of a BLSF? And so we're not just in the riverfront area and a buffer zone, we're actually in riverfront area and other resource areas?
[Heather]: A lot of areas, certainly.
[Marie Izzo]: We have, I think for the, for the purposes of the discussion tonight, it's, it's, it's probably not. Um, probably not a major issue. I just want to make sure the record's clear that, you know, we're not, whatever we end up at the end of the day, authorizing it's not as a minor activity. If that is in fact, you know, uh, true.
[EO-vAhUJAKo_SPEAKER_18]: I agree with Heidi that I don't think this could be classified as a minor activity, but I think it would be up to the commission to decide whether to proceed with this RDA, whether it would alter an area subject to protection or require a notice of intent. So maybe that's an item to talk about first and then potentially approving or conditioning the project further.
[Marie Izzo]: Makes sense. Yeah, I agree, Caroline. I think that makes sense. I think at this point in time, I'm generally of the opinion that this could be authorized as an RDA. I understand that there is a fine line between altering and not. Uh, I guess all that's to say, it's my opinion that this would not alter the resource area, but I could love to hear from the other commissioners.
[EO-vAhUJAKo_SPEAKER_18]: I would agree. I think it would be they, you know, the activity is within a resource area, but I don't think, um, it, the activity would alter, um, the area subject to protection. So.
[Heather]: I agree with Carol.
[SPEAKER_07]: Yeah, I think I agree as well. I think a minor activity, like, under I'm just looking at the state rates again. I believe a minor activity can. Be considered minor if in the riverfront area, but I guess I can't tell the plan where the. Floodplain is if I'm reading the meeting minutes correctly, I was not at last week's, but I agree that the changes in general are not. Won't have a significant impact to the resource. Yes.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, Kayla, do you have the FEMA layer on there, on your plans?
[Alicia Hunt]: I don't think that we do. So we did not, we do not have a survey for this, but we've pulled data from MASS GIS, from MWRA's recent project plans, from Medford GIS. Let's see, actually, they're all listed here in there.
[Denis MacDougall]: You know, and I actually have the FEMA map up here right now and it kind of. It's where the 100 foot line is. It's basically maybe about 30 feet shy from there. 20 feet shy from there heading towards the river. That's kind of it kind of follows along there. Okay. Yeah, I'd say about there.
[Alicia Hunt]: So you probably have sort of the similar effect of one of these lights being in that zone and one of being out.
[Denis MacDougall]: Yep. And same thing with the Dwight's along the pathway, one of them is, and the other two are not.
[Marie Izzo]: Yeah, Dennis, I'm looking at the FEMA map now, and I think that's the floodway is that area, but zone 8E extends. Oh, shoot. You're right. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. I'm a dummy. Yep.
[Denis MacDougall]: Oh, that's all right. I got so caught up with the, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[Marie Izzo]: So we're definitely, you know, I don't want to get into the weeds about the exact delineation of BLSF in this instance, but it is certainly within another resource area. So I'm quite comfortable saying that this would not qualify as a minor activity, but as I mentioned before, I don't think that's pertinent for our ultimate determination this evening.
[SPEAKER_07]: Yeah, Eric, great.
[Marie Izzo]: Does anybody else have any questions about the project itself? Dennis, did we answer? I think whoever submitted written comments, did we check all those off for Craig? Yes.
[Denis MacDougall]: There was one just about the tree protection fencing, just to ensure that it was, I think there was tree protection around one tree noted, but not It was just, I think they said it probably was a little inconsistent as to where the tree protection was versus where the work was.
[Alicia Hunt]: Yes, I agree that that was, it's unclear because we show tree protection around this one tree because it is in the zone, but really what we're showing is the limit of work we expect to also serve as tree protection fence.
[EO-vAhUJAKo_SPEAKER_18]: Is there sorry, I was going to ask, is there erosion control.
[Alicia Hunt]: Yeah, we have an erosion control there March. Oh, okay. And. And sorry, and fabric kind of throughout on the downhill. Yeah, they're there.
[Denis MacDougall]: So, it could be something that we could put into, or at least for the. for the bid that goes out, just sort of emphasize the tree protections as well.
[Marie Izzo]: Yeah, that was my question. Can we just get a, you know, at some point before work starts, can, you know, Dennis, can you get your hands on a final plan of this that shows the tree protection, sediment erosion control, so on and so forth?
[Denis MacDougall]: Yeah, I mean, that's, that's easy enough. I'll just, you know, I'll just talk to Kevin and Kayla and just make sure that when this goes out to bid, that at least I'm sort of, you know, know when that's happening. And then, I mean, I'll want to know anyway, just because, you know, work will be in the area, so I'll need to know anyway, so I can keep track on that.
[Marie Izzo]: Anybody have anything else?
[Denis MacDougall]: I think that was it. I think everything else we kind of went over. Yeah, that was RDA versus ROI, the window seed restoration, the lighting itself, and then the fencing. Those were the four points.
[Marie Izzo]: I guess. then I'm of the mindset that we should issue negative determination, negative two specifically, acknowledging that the work is in an area subject to protection under the act, but it would not alter, remove, fill, dredge, so on and so forth, those resource areas. Does anybody feel differently or? Nope. Okay, I guess with that I'd entertain a motion to issue negative RDA, negative two RDA for this project.
[EO-vAhUJAKo_SPEAKER_18]: Second.
[Marie Izzo]: All in favor, Heather. Aye. Jess.
[SPEAKER_07]: Aye.
[Marie Izzo]: Caroline. Aye. And I'm an aye. Thank you very much.
[Alicia Hunt]: Thank you very much.
[Denis MacDougall]: Thanks, Kayla. I'll get this done and get this to you in a jiffy.
[SPEAKER_07]: Excellent. Thank you. Thank you.
[Denis MacDougall]: And our next item on the agenda is a request for determination of applicability. The Department of Conservation and Recreation for trail maintenance, including drainage improvements on the section of Mustang Loop Trail close to the main Medford High School parking lot. Work is located within the 100-foot buffer zone to wetland sources. Allie, floor is yours.
[MCM00001328_SPEAKER_01]: Evening, everyone. Just sharing my screen for a second. I see the members of the Conservation Commission once again and hello, Kayla. I haven't seen you in a while. DCR is proposing some minor maintenance work on the Mustang Loop Trail, specifically the section that's as wide as a roadway that extends from the Medford parking lot. This is the Medford High School. This is the driveway that goes around the backside of Medford High School. We have a trailhead entrance right here, a kiosk in this location. And then the trail continues on into the woods. We have as many of you may have seen in the past, or may have heard from the high school or the consultant that's working on the high school renovation plan. We have some major drainage issues on this trail that are pushing water towards the parking lot at the high school and are actually plugging some of the catch bases in the parking lot of the high school. So, when we're doing a site visit for the high school renovations, we ended up looking at this area with our consultant and coming up with a plan of. adding a grade reversal over where the yellow square is on this plan. And a grade reversal looks something like this where you just contour the trail itself and you add a little hump and you allow water to drain in front of that hump so that it doesn't continue to erode the trail and continue to push some of that material that's eroding into the Medford High School parking lot. Um, we were able to get the information from the consultant for Medford regarding a recent delineation that they had completed as part of their design plan. And so there was an isolated wetland that was identified within close proximity to the Mustang trail. Um, the, the wetland is obviously protected under the Metro bylaw. Um, it's questionable whether it would be protected under the wetlands protection app, but we're assuming that it's protected and, and we will protect it with sediment erosion controls along the edge of the trail while we're doing this work. Because of the width and the existing gravelly compacted material of the trail, we do need to use a mini excavator that will travel on top of the existing trail surface. So it's not going to go in the woods. We don't need to do any tree clearing in order to help us manipulate the existing material that's on the trail to create that hump to get water to drain. In this particular location, water would drain towards the buffer of this wetland, but there's more than enough catch area for that water to percolate before actually entering the isolated wetland resource area. And that's that's pretty much all that we're proposing at this location at this moment. We continue to work on the other projects that the many other project that have gone in front of the conservation commission between and the friends of the fellows. So, if there's any questions, I'm happy to answer questions. I do also have photos that were included in the filing. So this is the entrance to the Mustang loop trail from the parking lot. This is what the. Um, trail slash road looks like in this particular location, it keeps going as you can see all this material is what's washing towards the parking lot. So, installing the great reversal will definitely help sustain some of this material. We would also like to improve the trail tread. I just haven't gotten to determining what kind of material to use here. It's probably going to have to be a. combination of half inch with a more silty top dressing and really compacted so that it actually holds. Uh, we do have an old culvert here, so this road used to be elevated. It's it's gullied right now. And so there's 2 catch. There's 1 catch basin right here. That is above the current elevation of the trailhead, the trail tread. And so what we're thinking is that water used to drain on this road, enter the catch base and go into this culvert. This is completely non functional. However, it's a great base for a great reversal. So we have no intentions of removing or excavating this culvert. We're going to use it as. The base of the hump, because that's kind of like armoring. We would do that with rocks. Anyways, here, we're just going to use this this pipe to help us retain the material. So, this would be generally the area where the lower level of the hump would happen with the hump happening right above the culvert water draining towards the left side on this photo.
[Marie Izzo]: Can you go back to the first plan that you had up that showed the resource area? So the boundary of the resource area shown here is from the high school's consultant?
[MCM00001328_SPEAKER_01]: Yes.
[Marie Izzo]: Do you know who that was that did this?
[MCM00001328_SPEAKER_01]: I would have to look it up. I do not want to share my email with you.
[Marie Izzo]: And my other question, just because I'm nosy, is this, I think we, you guys are doing some trail closures in this area as well, or is that further north?
[MCM00001328_SPEAKER_01]: That's further north from here. And the trail related, the closest closure here related to the Vernal Pool, I mean, has already been restored and closed.
[Marie Izzo]: Yeah.
[MCM00001328_SPEAKER_01]: Okay. Trying to figure out who, do I have that information on here? No, I don't I, I need to follow up with you in terms of getting you the information as to who the consultant is.
[Marie Izzo]: I'd appreciate that.
[MCM00001328_SPEAKER_01]: Thank you. I can, I can look that up.
[Marie Izzo]: I don't have any questions. Glad to see this work getting done. I know it's a persistent issue in this area, and I was always curious about what that pipe was in this section of the trail. So, appreciate that you guys are reusing that in place. I think that's a great idea. I don't have any other questions. I'll turn it over to my colleagues.
[Heather]: No questions.
[SPEAKER_07]: Yeah, well, sorry 1 clarifying question. So. The there's gonna be more runoff, like you said, pitching now towards the isolated wetlands. Yes. And. Are you concerned about erosion control if you're directing runoff to a new path?
[MCM00001328_SPEAKER_01]: I don't think it's that much water coming here. And there's enough area outside of the buffer zone, like within the upland, for it to actually disperse. It's like a giant bowl in that entire area. So I think there's enough catchment for it to be. And lots of boulders and rocks. I should have included a photo of what that looks like. So I don't see water actually moving fast beyond that edge of the trail into the woods. There's definitely enough even vegetative cover to really slow it down.
[Marie Izzo]: Sorry, did you have somewhere that the limit of work on.
[MCM00001328_SPEAKER_01]: 1 of your plans, the limit of work would be the actual, whether the trail just the trail, just the trail, including the great reversal is going to just be within the expose rubble within the trail. We're not going beyond into the woods for any reason.
[Marie Izzo]: So, so, meaning. Trying to, sorry, I'm thinking out loud here. So maybe it would just be buffer zone only, correct?
[MCM00001328_SPEAKER_01]: Correct, yes.
[Marie Izzo]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_07]: I guess I'm trying to visualize. I think I trust your methodology, but I'm trying to visualize how, I'm visualizing the way that would happen, that you would kind of create a bit of a low point along. Here, like, the northern edge of the path that then would create ponding. Right, because you're holding sorry.
[MCM00001328_SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so so what we would be doing is. Because the hump is going to be so, so we're, we're actually building up the trail 1st, right? The trail tread, then shaping it to have a hump. So, water's going to naturally flow off the trail just sheet flow at that location into the wooden section.
[SPEAKER_07]: Does it have it, and you'll be regrading it slightly to create a cross pitch? Or does it already have enough of a cross pitch to so the water gets off?
[MCM00001328_SPEAKER_01]: No, when we elevated it, we'll have a cross pitch and then the hump is essentially a method of protection just to make sure that all the water goes that way. In the direction that we're pushing it towards.
[SPEAKER_07]: Is there a minimum cross slope of half a percent or a percent?
[MCM00001328_SPEAKER_01]: That we try to keep our trails at a 5% cross slope as much as possible, just because that's kind of like the angle that is most comfortable for hikers. Also, we don't want to be, you know, creating an unstable surface. That's going to throw people off. So, it would be if we, you know, the cross would be a maximum of 5%.
[SPEAKER_07]: Maximum yeah. Okay. I just want to make sure there's no areas. Where it starts to get so flat that now, instead of water parking lot, it's going to sit at the edge. Okay.
[Marie Izzo]: Um, I apologize. I'm not an engineer, but I'm curious. So where the water will sheet into off the trail in the new location. Presumably, you would want that sheet flow to be spread across as much area as possible, right? So you're not creating a point, a discharge point. How do you maintain that grade? I mean, presumably you'd have to use rocks or something to stabilize that edge so that that sheet flow is maintained over that distance, right?
[MCM00001328_SPEAKER_01]: With the 5% cross slope, the maximum even we even see it with like a 7 and 8% cross slope material won't move so long as it's a good mix with binding. So there's got to be some fines within the material so that when it's installed and compacted, it actually kind of congeals together. That's that's how we build our accessible trails and we try not to include retention because the retention that ends up stopping the water and then we end up getting a backflow of water. So, so long as that we have a good mix of material, which, like I said, is typically a lot smaller than what we have here right now. We have a lot of larger rocks in this area. So this is going to look a little different because we're going to be using half inch to 1 inch stone. With stone dust mix into it, it should not erode towards the side. We can leave a section of erosion controls in this section. For 1 growing season, just to make sure that we're keeping an eye on how the drainage is flowing and make sure that the wetland is protected. That wouldn't be an issue at all. I mean, we're going to be installing controls. Anyway, we can just leave a section of it right in this location just to protect the buffer.
[Marie Izzo]: That's a great idea. I appreciate that. Dennis, could you... Sorry, go ahead.
[MCM00001328_SPEAKER_01]: No, I was going to ask Dennis if he could write it in the RDA.
[Marie Izzo]: Yeah, same. I think you're right. I think a single growing season would be totally appropriate. And if it doesn't seem to be working as designed, which I suspect will not be the case, then we can revisit a solution at that time.
[Denis MacDougall]: I know I was sort of asking, but yes, I can do that. Sorry. I wasn't sure if I actually said yes, but I nodded along vigorously, but did not actually speak. So this is just something that is completely irrelevant to most of the discussions. I find it very interesting. So I was, you know, when this was first created, I was the person who actually got a GPS unit and walked the trail to get the distance. And the distance is actually one mile, but everyone said one mile was unbelievable. So let's make it like we did. It was an average. We did three or four ones and 0.97 was the closest to like one mile. So it was like 0.97, 0.95, 1.03 and something like that. So we decided to actually go with Because people were like, one mile is just not believable for a trail that was sort of created out of cloth. This is what it kind of was. So just a little bit of how the sausage is made sometimes in decisions like this.
[Marie Izzo]: Maybe we could get one mile in parentheses on the sign.
[MCM00001328_SPEAKER_01]: Oh, there's opportunities to extend it. I mean, there's a lot of little side trails that could be incorporated into the loop if we wanted more mileage out of it.
[Denis MacDougall]: Because I remember I took an afternoon and clearly walked three miles to get it done. More than that, because you had to walk back to the start. Now that I think about it, I should have actually gone backwards, but I kept on starting at the same spot at the north part and do it going around. I literally just remembered it when you put up the thing and I saw the sign that said 0.97. I'm like, oh my god, I forgot about that.
[Marie Izzo]: So Dennis, unless I'm mistaken, and we all agree, we would be issuing, again, another negative determination. But in this instance, it would be a number three, because the work is in a buffer zone, but would not alter the area subject to protection.
[Denis MacDougall]: Is that correct? Correct. And that's the one that actually allows us to put conditions in anyway. So I think that is ideally correct.
[Marie Izzo]: Unless anybody has anything else, I think we should entertain a motion to issue negative three.
[EO-vAhUJAKo_SPEAKER_18]: Eric, just one question. Is it a negative three or a negative four? Because this isn't even buffer zone under the Act. It's just under our local, right?
[MCM00001328_SPEAKER_01]: We didn't do the calculations, but based on the size of the wetland, I would assume, again, an assumption that this doesn't meet the ILSF standard.
[EO-vAhUJAKo_SPEAKER_18]: Okay.
[MCM00001328_SPEAKER_01]: But you can, I have no issue with you considering it both. I don't think it makes a difference. We're protecting it regardless.
[Marie Izzo]: What's your preference, Caroline?
[EO-vAhUJAKo_SPEAKER_18]: Um, I don't know. I don't think this form is good for this exact scenario. So, um, all right. Three is the work described in the request is within the buffer zone as defined in the regulations, but will not. I think I would prefer for, cause I, I tend to agree that it doesn't look like it, the size of it, but. So far as the work described in the request, it was not within an area subject to jurisdiction under the act, including the buffer zone. Um. Is everyone else okay with that?
[Marie Izzo]: Yeah, I sort of goes back to my 1st question. I'm just. The, um. Applicant is in the right word, but the. The proponent here did not flag the bells. I think functionally either works just fine in this instance, but I'll defer to you.
[EO-vAhUJAKo_SPEAKER_18]: I mean, yeah, I guess it's error on the side of three that let's include it as meeting the size requirements and I think all parties are happy anyway, so that works.
[Heather]: Negative 3, I think that's good.
[SPEAKER_07]: So, is that a motion today?
[Marie Izzo]: Oh, go ahead and make it.
[SPEAKER_07]: Okay. I make a motion to issue a negative determination for. Number 3. 2nd.
[Marie Izzo]: All those in favor, Heather?
[Heather]: Aye. And I also just want to say, Alexandra, I just walked with the other day and I really appreciated your clarification of what you were planning to do to change the direction of the water there. And I am familiar with the problem also in the parking lot. So thank you. I thought you did an excellent job.
[EO-vAhUJAKo_SPEAKER_18]: Thank you.
[Marie Izzo]: Caroline? Aye. Jess? Aye.
[Heather]: And I'm an aye.
[MCM00001328_SPEAKER_01]: We're all so agreeable and I do have a response, so I don't know specifically who delineated it because we weren't provided with that information, but I can say that the company is called left field. They're the project managers for the Medford High School project, and I'm happy to share the contacts that I have with Dennis if the commission needs to reach out to them, or I can ask them for additional details and clarification specifically about this wetland.
[Heather]: I would suggest that you do provide that information to Dennis, since there are many questions regarding the entire high school renovation project, and we might as well be on the side of having as much information as possible.
[MCM00001328_SPEAKER_01]: Okay.
[EO-vAhUJAKo_SPEAKER_18]: And I did see that name, I think it was left field PM was mentioned in your cover letter actually. delineated by left field PM.
[MCM00001328_SPEAKER_01]: Oh, that's good. I didn't even remember.
[Marie Izzo]: I presume they're the, they are, I know they are the OPM for that project, but I presume they have a sub on board for well and stuff.
[MCM00001328_SPEAKER_01]: Yep, I have two main groups. So I have left field and I have SMMA and SMMA has been. the group that has been coordinating all the meetings with DCR and the Friends of the Fellows. What I could do is if we ever coordinate another meeting with them, I could say, hey, can we invite the Conservation Commission as well?
[Marie Izzo]: That'll make them nervous.
[MCM00001328_SPEAKER_01]: Well, I mean, it's all pretty high level still, I believe, in terms of what they're planning on doing. They just wanted to have conversations with us in terms of what it would take to have an additional ingress egress access, which would be an article 97 transfer. Um, and what our plan is with the parking lot in the back, because it may not be accessible with the new design.
[Heather]: I rest my kid. Yep. Has anyone beside me read the 52 page proposal? Interesting. Well, I think this sounds like a great move forward and as a hiker in the area, I really appreciate it.
[MCM00001328_SPEAKER_01]: Thank you. All right, well, I just sent that email to Dennis, I guess have a great night and then it's just feel free to forward me the RDA when it's ready.
[Denis MacDougall]: And actually, while you're on this is more just I just literally got another filing for more like working the fells by. Do you know about this?
[MCM00001328_SPEAKER_01]: Is it the Cross Hills Trail? Yes. So that is the project that I have been reaching out to you, Dennis, about the order of conditions. Oh, that's the one.
[Denis MacDougall]: OK. OK. OK. OK. Yeah, yeah, yeah. OK. Got it.
[MCM00001328_SPEAKER_01]: So this is like we're coming full circle. Dennis and I, our first project was a project that just got proposed for rebuilding the bridge. So a bridge that I worked on with Dennis. In typical DCR fashion, we never closed the order recognitions, requested a certificate of compliance. So we did include a request for a certificate of compliance as part of that filing. So we can close out the old one and get a new one for the bridge replacement.
[Denis MacDougall]: All right, this is that one. Part of me is saying, is this the same one? That's why I figured if I've got you on here, I might as well just ask you. I'm like, that one's very good.
[MCM00001328_SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, same one. All right.
[Denis MacDougall]: All right, so yeah, so that I got so that's so I'm just sort of winning commission though. That'll be on the agenda for next month. Next. Yeah. The first next month.
[MCM00001328_SPEAKER_01]: So we've got, and I believe the original filing was 10, 12 years ago. How long have you been with the concom, Dennis?
[Denis MacDougall]: I started 2013. So yeah, as I said, it was just after I started 13 years ago. And I was on the concom before that, but yeah, that was like one of the first big projects I did. And that's the point where I was like, this is a good job. I could hike through the woods, look at stuff.
[MCM00001328_SPEAKER_01]: All right, great.
[Denis MacDougall]: Thank you much.
[MCM00001328_SPEAKER_01]: Have a great night. Bye. All right, good.
[Denis MacDougall]: I'm just glad my memory is sort of half working that it was that project. So that's just another heads up. So we do have a, we do have a filing that came in. So, October 7th. I'll send out. Jess, is this you in the way?
[SPEAKER_07]: I mean, yes, because I have to go. Good luck. Dennis, I won't be here October 7th. Okay.
[Heather]: That is sad, but I'm not 100% sure, but I'll email you. I'll send out a notice tomorrow or tonight if I remember. I'm pretty sure it's just we have a. A heavy entertainment schedule. People are going to be here.
[Denis MacDougall]: So I'll send out just sort of a little. Save the date thing tomorrow and.
[SPEAKER_07]: That is, I will be available on the 7th.
[Heather]: Yeah, excellent. Something fun, Caroline.
[EO-vAhUJAKo_SPEAKER_18]: Going to Sedona. Oh, I love Sedona. Never been, so it's beautiful.
[Heather]: That's what I heard. A completely different environment. It's really fun. Yeah. I mean, but just just an aside, since all of you will have a greater stake in this than I will, you really ought to. I don't know how much you have been following on the high school, but right now it's anywhere between an eight hundred and nineteen million to one billion dollar project. And it does have impacts for the DCR land and it. It is intriguing, and I would also suggest that you take a look at the new school in Watertown for 219 million, but I believe, from an energy perspective, it is quite impressive. And they have a nice little walkthrough, and just go to their website and take a look, see. I'll be long dead by this point, by the time we get this through. Does it have the timeline? Also one other comment, Eric, you did a very nice job with this because there really were a lot of on the edge kinds of little questions that needed to get resolved in terms of procedure and well done.
[Marie Izzo]: Oh, thank you. Appreciate that. That was it, right? We don't have anything else?
[Denis MacDougall]: We're all set. Can we go? I don't know if we could do the meeting minutes if people wanted an improvement or if people had a chance to review or not. Okay.
[EO-vAhUJAKo_SPEAKER_18]: Oh, Dennis, just one item. Are the reappointments going?
[Denis MacDougall]: I saw that you would put it in, so I've already put to the mayor's office to get you on. It's in the works.
[Marie Izzo]: Thanks for the reminder. I need to do that as well. Yes, you do.
[Denis MacDougall]: I'm glad you reminded me of that because I knew I needed to remind Eric, so that's good.
[Marie Izzo]: Um, I have not had a chance to review the minutes. Um, we can do the next 1.
[Denis MacDougall]: I'll give everyone time and then which, you know. I couldn't make the meeting tonight because she has class, but she'll be going over this and doing that. So I'll say this. Like, I tried to say at the end, thank you very much.
[Heather]: I only saw the same correction that was already emailed.
[Denis MacDougall]: So, I think that's it that I think a motion to adjourn from someone and. Motion second. Second.
[Marie Izzo]: All in favor. Aye. Aye. Thanks folks.
[Heather]: Have a good night. Bye everyone. Bye bye.