Wellspring Farm located at 42 Hiller Road in Rochester was cited on June 7 for encroaching and altering wetlands by storing a massive manure pile – a pile that has grown to a whopping quarter-acre as high as 10 feet over the past 20 years.
Jim and Gretchen Vogel have been operating a therapeutic riding center at this location for years. The center provides outdoor activities for children and young adults with autism, as well as cognitive and behavioral challenges. The program features the use of horses and donkeys, animals whose daily output is not only companionship and positive experiences for the clients but also, naturally, manure.
Conservation Agent Laurell Farinon explained to the Rochester Conservation Commission that on Friday, June 3, she received several complaints that activity was taking place in wetlands on the Vogels’ property. One complaint came from an unnamed neighbor and another from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection who had also received a complaint.
Farinon contacted the town’s legal counsel, Blair Bailey, for guidance on how to proceed. She also explained that due to the notifications coming late in the afternoon on a Friday, there was insufficient time to list the complaint as a public hearing for the June 7 Conservation Commission meeting, so she instead listed it under new business, which Bailey advised was acceptable.
On Monday, June 6, Farinon made a site visit to Wellspring Farm and found the massive manure pile and an additional open paddock area that was breaching jurisdictional areas. In total, she estimated that 20,000 square-feet of wetlands had been affected.
“This is not to be taken lightly,” Farinon said.
Farinon presented the commissioners with a drafted enforcement order that had been penned with the assistance of legal counsel.
The Vogels were present and quietly listened to the proceedings, asking for the commission’s assistance to repair the damage that had been done.
Discussion about the best practices for removing the manure from the property while managing the ongoing hourly output of the animals was pondered. Mr. Vogel was told he needed to work with an environmental scientist to delineate and repair the wooded swampland.
The enforcement order requires that Vogel remove the offending excrement, cease and desist adding more to the pile, get the wetlands delineated, and develop a restoration plan that will return the wetlands to their original condition.
Farinon said there aren’t any regulations on the amount of manure that can be held on farm properties, and that Rochester did not have, but needed, a “manure bylaw.”
The Vogels have until July 19 to satisfy the enforcement mandates.
A public hearing was held for Jonathan Rezendes’ RDA filing for 405 County Road to remove a garage and return the area to a grassed space for family use. The request received a Negative determination.
A public hearing was also held for a RDA filing from the Town of Rochester Highway Department for the repair and installation of a catch basin located approximately at 75 Hartley Road situated within a 100-foot buffer zone. After discussions that included possible ways to manage stormwater in this high flow location, the hearing was continued.
The next meeting of the Rochester Conservation Commission is scheduled for Wednesday, June 22, at 7:00 pm in the Rochester Town Hall meeting room.
By Marilou Newell