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2020.07.23 Staff Report Conservation Commission Staff Report 1 July 23, 2020 To: Conservation Commission From: Sarah LaValley RE: Staff Report, July 23, 2020 Commission Meeting 5:30 PM – Request for Determination of Applicability to determine if resurfacing an existing parking area is subject to the Wetlands Protection Act or Northampton Wetlands Ordinance. Northampton Office of Planning & Sustainability, North Farms Road/Broad Brook Greenway - Fitzgerald Lake. Map ID 07-035 Application Overview: The application proposes paving the gravel parking area at the North Farms Road entrance to Fitzgerald Lake/Broad Brook Greenway. The lot has not been improved since it was first created 20+ years ago. Much of the gravel has been scraped away during winter plowing, and there is a sizable gap between the lot surface and buried granite curbing at the entrance, creating a hazard. The parking lot is approximately. 2,600 sf in area. The work will include removal of unsuitable base material, installation of up to 8" depth of processed gravel, and a hot mix asphalt surface of 4" depth. The existing 100 linear feet of granite curbing along the road will be removed and reset as necessary, and a small area adjacent to North Farms Road will become a no parking area to increase safety without eliminating parking spaces. The tops of the berms comprised of scraped gravel at the northern and southern edges of the lot will be lowered, but will remain in place to prevent sheet flow from entering resource areas. The ADA parking area will be striped. Straw wattles will be installed around the perimeter of the lot during construction. Staff Recommendation: Staff assisted application, no specific recommendation. If the Commission agrees that the work will not impact any adjacent resource areas, issue a negative determination by checking box 2, to indicate that the work is within an area subject to protection (buffer zone to wetlands and the riverfront area to nearby Broad Brook), adding standard conditions and any other conditions the Commission deems necessary to protect nearby wetlands. 5:45 PM – Amended Notice of Intent for dumping ground remediation within bordering vegetation wetland and riverfront to unnamed stream. Work to include landfill closure and capping, and restoration and stabilization of wetland resource areas. MassDOT. 155 Locust Street, Map ID 23B-013. DEP File 246-730 Application Overview: This amended application proposes a shift from removal of buried solid waste at the former Mass Highway garage on Locust Street and restoration of the area to capping due to discovery of unforeseen contaminants onsite. The Commission previously issued Orders of Conditions for this work in 2014, 2018, and the current Order in 2019. The current Order allowed for a temporary roadway for access, removal of waste with heavy equipment, screening and backfilling of clean soil, and creation of a restoration area with hydric soils and native plantings. The amended request includes a more traditional landfill closure approach by capping the landfill with an 18-inch low permeability soil layer and 6 inches of topsoil. The landfill cap will be installed within the 100’ wetland buffer but will terminate at the wetland boundaries surrounding the stream and west of the Conservation Commission Staff Report 2 July 23, 2020 landfill. The limit of work for the cap will be the same limit of work that was proposed for the topsoil cover in the original drawings. Restoration of the on-site perennial stream and wetland areas, including the seeding and planting plan, have primarily remained unchanged. Also proposed now are replacement of a damaged stormwater pipe, installation of two groundwater monitoring wells, and streambank stabilization. Consistency with the Wetlands Protection Act and Northampton Wetlands Ordinance The work is presented and was previously permitted as a limited project, which allows disturbance notwithstanding performance standards. Although MassDOT is not subject to the local ordiance, this work would be permitted within the Protected Zone. Staff Recommendation: Staff have requested that the applicant consider alternatives to both the bank stabilization and stormwater pipe replacement work that could incorporate plantings and reduce the amount of riprap and hard engineered solutions proposed, such as joint plantings or vegetated soft blocks. The current planset proposes granite curbing and large rocks, and there should be an opportunity to improve existing conditions in this area and create a more natural area, despite limitations on the rest of the site.