Three public hearings were on the agenda for the Marion Conservation Commission at its December 9 Zoom meeting.
In a 7:20 pm hearing, Carmine and Beth Martignetti filed a Notice of Intent to make shoreline site improvements, including removing a vertical stone/concrete seawall, expanding an existing coastal beach into an upland area, and reconstructing a stone jetty at 71 Moorings Road.
Represented by engineer David Davignon of Schneider, Davignon, and Leone, Inc., Carmine Martignetti was also on the call.
Identifying the southern portion as the crux of the filing, Davignon outlined three components. First is removing the seawall and cutting the grading down to extend the beach area in a half-moon shape by 850 square feet. The jetty will be rebuilt, 8 feet wide with a total length over 60 feet, an exercise that Davignon noted would also require federal permitting. The last component is the removal to the north side of the property of some invasive vegetation species.
Davignon said, at 1 foot of depth, approximately 30 yards of sand will be brought in, all at a compatible grain size. Citing the potential for more shellfish, Davignon said he does not see any potential negative impact.
The Conservation Commission members mostly questioned the groin’s reconstruction, the ridge that lies perpendicular to the coastline. “I think some of the erosion is because of the vertical wall that is there,” said Davignon, who plans to remove the existing vertical wall.
Part of the project is approval for work already done. “I think I speak for the entire commission when I say that we were surprised to see that work had taken place,” said ConCom Chairman Shaun Walsh, alluding to the original NOI filed in 2004. “We really strive to make sure that folks are playing by the rules and that when people come before us, they haven’t already done the project.”
No ConCom members remain from the date of that filing, nor was Davignon involved with the property at that time.
Walsh says the work on the north side of the site may, in fact, be permittable, but he stressed that ConCom had been deprived of an opportunity to participate in the process. He asked Davignon to give his professional opinion on the potential there for erosion, but beforehand he gave his own opinion on the work already done without ConCom’s participation or approval.
“When somebody goes down to a coastal site like this, they should know that that is an area subject to protection under the Wetlands Protection Act. And before they do the work, they should ask the property owner if they have the appropriate approval from the Conservation Commission to do the work, and that didn’t happen here. And it’s a little disappointing,” said Walsh.
Davignon said he could not render an opinion, having not been a party to prior goings-on.
Walsh said a Google map view or Google Earth would reveal “a well-vegetated area” significantly different from what the commission members encountered at their site visit. He concluded that the changes had to be somewhat recent.
It was explained that the changes were motivated by the management of invasive species. Asked for their input, ConCom members concurred with Walsh’s observation. They expressed concern over the process that led to what they perceived as a lack of accountability on the part of the landscapers involved for not seeking out an order of conditions that would have been issued by the Conservation Commission. They were told that no herbicides were used in the removal of the vegetation.
Asked to address the commission, Martignetti recalled a correspondence with the town and how he was told he would be able to build a wall. He decided against the wall and chose instead to build a beach. The work that went on, he said, was part of a larger effort. In his mind, he said, “We were making a significant improvement to the coastal bank…. That’s what caused us to go forward. We thought we were making a significant improvement. For the beach we are filing now, that’s our rationale,” he explained.
Walsh said an invasive species removal is specific and not done in a wholesale manner. He suspects that not all that has apparently been removed could have all been invasive.
Marion does not have a professional conservation agent, so Walsh said ConCom would seek feedback from the state’s wetlands circuit rider. Davignon asked to be kept in the loop in case his presence is requested on site.
Per Marion’s remote-meeting policy, the public hearing was continued to December 23 at 7:20 pm.
In a 7:00 pm hearing, the Town of Marion requested a Request for Determination of Applicability for a Department of Public Works project to complete maintenance work on two bio-retention basins at Island Wharf.
Meghan Davis of the Marion DPW summarized the effort, including the removal of vegetation that would pave the way for the state Department of Environmental Management to come in and make new plantings in keeping with the ecological intent.
Per Marion’s remote-meeting policy, the public hearing was continued to December 23 at 7:00 pm to allow proper time for public comment.
In a 7:10 pm hearing, Tabor Academy presented a Request for Determination of Applicability in its plan to replace a deck on the east side of the Daggett House building at 275 Front Street.
ConCom visited the site on December 5, and Walsh said the “existing deck is in rough shape, to say the least.”
Reading from communication from Tabor Facilities Supervisor Donald Benoit, Walsh summarized the replacement plan of the steel deck and rotted-out posts with four footings on the same footprint, 88 feet from the seawall, with an all-wood frame and composite deck measuring 29 feet by 8 feet.
Per Marion’s remote-meeting policy, the public hearing was continued to December 23 at 7:10 pm to allow proper time for public comment.
ConCom voted to officially propose to the town a $2,950 level-funded budget for FY22.
Finally, Walsh recognized former member Kristen Saint Don-Campbell, who recently resigned from her ConCom and Planning Board posts. He called her “a great human being” who will be missed.
The next meeting of the Marion Conservation Commission is scheduled for December 23 at 7:00 pm.
Marion Conservation Commission
By Mick Colageo