The Town of Lincoln, MA - Minutes

Tom Gumbart gave the background on the beaver activity over the past year at Mount Misery. It is unknown how many beavers are living along Beaver Dam Brook. They constructed one large dam at the downstream end of the lower St. Annes pond. Further downstream the beavers built another dam that filled in a natural weir. This dam either washed out or was illegally dismantled in the fall but it has not been rebuilt. Flooding from the dams was detrimental to LindenTrees farm operation on town-leased conservation land. It took some land out of production and delayed planting on additional land. Ari Kurtz submitted a letter to the Commission requesting that action be taken to protect the integrity of the farmland. The connecting trail between this field and the St. Annes Field (also town-owned conservation land) is impassable due to flooding.

Mike Callahan, from Beaver Solutions Inc., walked the affected area with Tom and Sean Hale in the fall and he submitted a report detailing management options. Copies of this report are available at the Conservation Office. Options range from take no action to installation of leveling pipes to trapping out all the beavers and dismantling the dams. The use of leveling pipes would not be a cure-all by itself. The current resident beavers would still need to be trapped and hopefully new beavers who move in will tolerate the lower water levels. The current residents would probably not tolerate lower levels and they would work to restore the previous elevation of standing water. Regular maintenance is needed to keep the pipes flowing and the cost would be several thousand dollars and it is unlikely the water could be drawn down enough to open up the trail. Trapping is also not a cure-all. As long as the habitat exists for beavers they will continue to move in, thus requiring regular trapping on a long-term basis.

Frances Clark and Jim Meadors attended the hearing and spoke on behalf of leaving the beavers alone. Frances discussed that the Mt. Misery land is part of a much larger land area within the SuAsCo watershed and it serves to preserve significant biodiversity. Beavers are an important species for biodiversity. Their habitat alteration benefits a wide array of other plant and wildlife species and if they are not allowed to exist on conservation land then where can they live? She described the plant community as not being especially conducive to long-term survival of beavers in the area and there is a good chance that the beavers will move out on their own once the preferred food types are gone. Jim raised the possibility of changing the farm management to allow for the continued existence of the beavers by decreasing the number of customers and/or increasing the fees.

Matt Trombadore and Joanne Wood also attended the meeting and they abut Mt. Misery on what used to be the Kistakowsky property. They believe that the population needs to be managed to prevent excessive damage. Flooding from the lower dam has backed additional water up onto their property, within an area protected by a permanent conservation restriction. They have noted trees being uprooted because of the high water and they are concerned with trees dying off due to the flooding. They also have a well that they feel has been adversely impacted by the beaver flooding. Frances mentioned that her well has had similar problems as have many residents around Mt. Misery (far from the beaver area) and that there may be no connection between the well changes and the beavers.

The Commission remains committed to protecting natural resources and to keeping the farms that use conservation land viable. It was discussed that the previous growing season was very rainy and the brook flow remained at a very high level. In the coming year it is likely that there will be less flow. In addition the Conservation staff did install a 6” leveling pipe to help alleviate some of the flooding. This pipe continues to function but last season it had little to no real impact on the high water level. The Commissioners thanked everyone for their input and will continue to monitor the beaver situation as the ice melts.

EDCO proposes to construct an educational facility on an upland wooded section in the northwest of the property owned by Minuteman. To access this area the applicant is proposing to cross an intermittent stream that runs along the edge of the football field. There is an existing crossing at this site. Mary Lincoln started the discussion by describing the current bylaw. In Section VII of the bylaw it discusses that for the Commission to approve of work within resource areas that there needs to be no feasible practicable alternative with less or no impact to resource areas. There is a presumption that adverse impact will result from any work in or within 50 feet of wetland resource areas. Before the Commission can review the project as it is proposed the applicant must demonstrate that there is no “feasible practicable alternative”.

The Commission received letters from the Lincoln Planning Board and Minute Man National Historical Park strongly advocating for the proposed access route to the new construction. The main rationale given is that the Mill Street access would create serious traffic safety and traffic volume issues at the Mill Street/Route 2A intersection. Bill Jackson, of Jackson Associates Inc., is representing EDCO as the project supervisor and Garrett Tunison, of Sanford Ecological Services, is the wetlands specialist for EDCO. Tom Scott is the Director of EDCO and he started the discussion by giving an overview of the organization. It started in 1969 and is one of 20 Collaboratives within Massachusetts and it serves 20 communities in this area, including Lincoln which is geographically central to the communities served. Over 7,000 youngsters are served by its programs, especially at-risk youth and children of migrant workers. EDCO is involved with special education students and they conduct professional development activities for teachers.

Bill Jackson started his discussion by saying the project was originally designed to use the Mill Street access but that this proposal was opposed by the Planning Board, Minute Man N.H.P., and the residents on Mill Street. He said that EDCO took these concerns seriously and explored the possibility of accessing the site through the existing traffic light that serves Minute Man High School. The Minute Man Administration was receptive to this change in the proposed development and so EDCO developed this revised proposal that is now before the Commission for wetlands review. At this time EDCO submitted a letter from the Chair of the Minute Man School Committee stating that the Committee fully supports the current proposal.

The Commission asked questions regarding the actual impacts of the two potential access routes to both current and future traffic scenarios. What are the levels of regular staffing? How much traffic will be generated by special events? Bob Domnitz spoke on behalf of the Planning Board and as a resident on Mill Street. He said that traffic on Mill Street and at the Route 2A intersection is unsafe now with and any additional routing of vehicles onto Mill Street will only exacerbate the situation. The Commissioners asked about actual data how many accidents occur at the intersection? How will traffic at the light in Lexington on 2A be affected by the increase in volume? Forrest Lindwall, from Mistry Associates, was retained by the Planning Board to prepare a traffic study and this was submitted to the Commission prior to this hearing. However, it did not address all the concerns of the Commission and he was not able to attend this meeting. Other concerns included the lack of discussion in the report about the western access to Minute Man School, about the increase in traffic heading north on Mill Street from Route 2, and the impacts of increased traffic within the school campus itself. Bob Domnitz recommended continuing the discussion to another meeting to allow Mr. Lindwall to present his findings and respond to the additional questions.

Oakdale Lane resident, Keith Hylton, and another area resident spoke to their concerns about the Mill Street access. They believe the increase in traffic would make the road even more unsafe for children and adults who walk, and bike on Mill Street. The Commission also inquired as to whether or not the athletic coaches and parents of students were aware of the proposal. Mr. Jackson responded that the football field is only used for occasional Saturday games and there is no track program at the school now and he was not aware of any opposition to the proposal.

The “Lab Collaborative” is a second group that is expected to construct a facility on the 5.2 acre site where EDCO is building first. The Commissioners want more information about the final buildout scenario. Data is really needed for the maximum amount of traffic that will be generated, not just for EDCO itself. Also, if the use changed over time how would such a change impact traffic projections. Ultimately there will be about 20,000 square feet of new space. The Commission also asked for input from the Fire and Police Chiefs regarding the various access alternatives. Bob Domnitz said he would help gather this information for the next meeting.

Although the Commission still needs more information regarding the alternative access points to make an informed decision as to whether or not the Mill Street access is a feasible alternative they agreed it would be good to have Garrett Tunison quickly review the wetlands issues involved with the crossing proposal. He described the wetlands vegetation as a mix of purple loosestrife, cattail, grasses, and rushes. The intermittent stream was described as a drainage channel and it holds no standing water in the late summer. Wetlands replication will be needed for the alteration resulting from the crossing. It will use native herbaceous plants and hydrology to mimic the existing wetlands. The question was raised as to whether or not the wetlands qualified as Outstanding Resource Waters and whether or not Water Quality Certification was needed for the project. Mr. Tunison contacted David Ferris at DEP about this issue and because it is an intermittent water body it is not subject to the above regulations, although the waters ultimately discharge into the Cambridge Watershed.

One article for the Commission will be to revise the language in the bylaw regarding consultant fees and eliminate the revolving fund. The revised state statute regarding consultant fees now includes Conservation Commissions thus negating the need for a revolving fund. Two articles are proposed for transferring the remaining funding in the Ricci Land Purchase and the Flints Fields Land Purchase accounts into the Conservation Fund. This will allow the money to be used for future land acquisition projects.

Elizabeth Frumkin, the Commissions representative on this Committee, and Jim Henderson attended a recent CPC meeting. The Commission is seeking to have a substantial amount of funding placed in the Conservation Fund for helping with upcoming acquisition projects. There should be approximately $480,000 available this year with State matching funds. About half of this will likely go to housing this year. From last year there is $42,000 already dedicated for open space acquisition. The Commission is interested in maximizing the amount of money available for open space since it will help leverage other funding when opportunities present themselves in the near future.