Okay, hi everyone. Welcome to the May 26 Conservation Commission meeting. Brett is away so I'll be running the meeting this week with support from the team. I don't have any comments aside from that one. Dave, do you have a director's report for us. Everybody can you hear me okay. Yes. So I think we're going to jump. I may have a couple of slides here that Aaron teed up for for me. Yeah, so just a couple of quick updates, more kind of previews of what's to come in the next couple of meetings. The first is kind of a quick update on signs or signage. It's been on my to do list for a long time is really taking a comprehensive look at our signs across town. For those of you who use our conservation lands. It's kind of a it's kind of a hodgepodge of signs out there different generations of signs. And so I'm working with Aaron and Angela Mills in my office, and we've at least reached out to a local local graphic designer to start to get some ideas on on how we might revamp our sign program top to bottom. And I won't say a lot more about it now you'll you'll be hearing about it in the in the months ahead. I don't have a lot of money for it yet, but I'm going to work on that. But suffice it to say that I would love to really kind of rebrand our conservation lands and and our trails with, you know, consistent branding from the time you approach a conservation area, you know, on take Mt Pollock's for instance. When you're traveling on Southeast Street that you know when you've arrived, you know you've arrived at a town of Amherst conservation area when you get to where you park or leave your bike or or hike to and through. There's a kiosk there that tells you something about where you're going to be, what you might see some of the rules and regulations that might might be important for you as you birdwatch or hike or mountain bike or do whatever it is you do on conservation land. All right, can I interrupt really quickly. Aaron, I don't think that we're live it still says we're in a practice session. I was like maybe that's why there's no attending. Okay, sorry, sorry to interrupt. Oh yeah. So, so that's where we're going with it it's it's, if you're familiar with some other conservation organizations like the Kestrel Trust the trustees of reservations mass Audubon. They really have a all established kind of a successful brand and, and it's not so much a marketing it's just, there's also confusion out there at a lot of our conservation areas who's, there's a lot of signage out there. Who owns the property who oversees it who manages it. There's been a little confusion over Kestrel Trust responsibilities and town of Amherst responsibilities. What happens if you have an issue out there who do you call. We've also run into some challenges through the years with the Amherst police department, helping us to enforce, you know, for instance alcohol on Monpolyx. Well, when the Amherst police gets there and somebody might have a complaint about excessive drinking at the top of Monpolyx, there's nothing really that says you can't have alcohol anywhere at Monpolyx. So the PD says well Dave, where does it say you can't drink on Monpolyx. So consistent things like that. And you'll be hearing more about that and we'll bring you some some ideas here in the months ahead it's it's not going to be anything that happens in three or four weeks but I think, I think you'll be pleased with some of the things we come up with. So on maintenance, I wanted to get a little sense from the commission tonight. If you visited Buffers Bond anytime in the last year or so you've noticed that much of the cribbage on the main beach is in desperate need of maintenance. And I wanted to gauge kind of where the commission is with regard to us kind of replacing some of that, that that cribbing you know these are the six by six timbers that have been there many of them have been there for 30 years. They have rebar some of that rebar can get dangerous if there's rotted wood around it. We've been in beach sand, and we've done this for longer than I've been with the town, but every year without the cribbing or if the cribbing is in poor condition at beach sand ends up just going right in the pond. I want to kind of gauge your the sense of the commission tonight whether whether you would like us to do that through a request, or are you comfortable with us simply doing that as routine maintenance annual maintenance that at Buffers Bond. It's not going to be, you know, it's not going to be extensive extensive redoing we're not talking about $100,000 worth of work here and, and months of construction. We're really talking about probably a day or two of ripping out the old cribbing and putting in the new. And I might look to you if there's input or feedback that I might get tonight on whether you think we should file for that. I will say that it is extremely hard working that close to the pond to actually do any kind of erosion control anyway. We're talking about a beach environment where beach sand has been brought in for the last 30 years annually. And we, we, we simply have done that but we want to, you know, we want to replace some of that cribbing. So I do know the cribbing you're talking about and I think so two thoughts are one question one thought. The first question is, so nothing will change about the location or extent of the cribbing so it's just replacing existing cribbing Yeah, replacing, replacing existing or where we pulled out the cribbing last year because it was unsafe. What's the what's the on the, as you're facing puffers from the main beach off of State Street, there's kind of a right hand beach area and a left side beach area. We pulled out all the cribbing on the left side. We pulled out here in the year before because the rebar was was becoming more evident and more dangerous. We'd like, we'd like to say, why don't you say restore traditional cribbing. Yeah, that's really what we're talking about here if you're comfortable with us restoring that maintenance operation. Yeah, we're not going to invest a lot of time or money in this because truly the beach needs extensive, you know, redoing at some point and that is a major that would be a major and I could see doing that as part of a dredging of the pond operation in the years ahead. Yeah, yeah, that was going to be my other comment was that I think safety is paramount and I have seen situations like that where the rebar becomes exposed like you're literally installing rebar in a sandbar so it gets dangerous quickly. So, you know, I'm a fan of replacing under safety and maintenance and I'm fine with that. Do any commissioners have any further questions or concerns about that? Give a thumbs up from Larry, thumbs up from Fletcher, Ana. All right, and I can't wait a minute, let me change my view. I can see you, Lurie. Leroy, I see a thumbs up, thank you. Okay, good. That was my recommendation too, so yeah, that's okay. Try to schedule that in early in the early in the summer here. Next I just wanted to I think Aaron can jump to a quick slide. We are going to you will be seeing a request come in I think it's for your next meeting is that right Aaron? It'll be on the June 9th meeting. I just wanted to give you a quick preview if you're all familiar with the Stanley Street entrance to Wentworth Farm Conservation Area, or Jump Bridge along the Fort River.  It is really kind of rough and there's manholes and you kind of take your chances there with the undercarriage of your car sometimes. And it's really kind of poorly, poorly designed and so I've been working with our actually our building commissioner who put together this design which you will see in her quest coming up in two weeks for really just bringing in crushed down reorienting the parking lot. So as you come in instead of parking to the left you park to the right. We would move some of those boulders that are there. And there would be room for 10 cars and one would be designated for handicapped visitors. And we would reorient the trail you may recall the trail there are roads right down the middle of the trail, the water all goes right down the trail and it's sandy substrate there. And so you get kind of this, this divot in the in the trail so we're going to try to reorient all of that. And I believe Aaron has been out there and indicated that we are, we are beyond the 200 foot Aaron I could you refresh my memory on that. No, so we're just outside of 50 feet and and that's not a delineation per se it's me going out and measuring from where I see indicators so like where I see indicators of skunk cabbage for example which are an obligate species so yeah. So we'll come in with with a plan completed plan in two weeks I just wanted to give you a preview it's it's kind of long overdue this parking area also doubles both for the conservation area as well as for the recreation area there. This will not be pavement it'll be crushed down. And we think it'll be a nice improvement improve the safety and actually decrease the amount of erosion that's going on there and heading heading right toward the Fort River on the Harvey Allen trail. So next slide. I think we wanted to start just again a preview of a notice of intent that is coming from the department. This is the Epstein pond down off of Bay Road that we purchased. I guess it would be in 2019. And we're now partnering with the Castro trust on some trail improvements there. And this just gives you an idea of four locations where we're trying to improve trail connections there so that we can really open a loop trail around the pond later this summer if all goes well. We've hired Art Allen to delineate the wetlands out there for this and why we've hired Berkshire designed to come up with some designs for the bridge crossings the stream crossings there. And we think in all four of these locations. Well at least three out of four we will be improving. Actually you know for will be improving the condition of the trail. That is currently there. So we have one small crossing in the upper right hand corner we have a crushed culvert, which is area two area three is just a very messy crossing on a tributary. And then the last crossing is another crushed culvert that we'd like to remove. So in all toll we're going to we're going to propose, removing a couple of crushed culverts and, and really improving these crossings. Three out of four have been there for years of the area one is a relatively new trail that's kind of developing. And we want to make sure if a trail is going to be official there, we do it right. I'm just previewing a notice of intent that'll come to you in a few weeks I think we'll be ready in two weeks is that right Aaron. I think so. Yeah, right now. Well I'm, I'm at this point shooting for the June 23 meeting just because where we haven't solidified a design yet but Berkshire design is hoping to have a concept by the end of this week so this is pretty exciting we'll also be bringing you as part of this project. We'll be bringing you a new design for a parking area off of Bay Road for sweet Alice, and will include dam maintenance and the management plan for the dam there at Epstein pond so we're hoping to really bundle a lot of things in one and why. There's a lot to talk about there. And I think those were my quick trail kind of project updates. Anything else Aaron that I might have forgotten. I think you covered everything. Yeah, good. Where's the money coming from for this. We, we are actually going to be using a combination of CPA funds for some of the work as well as some of the ever source funds for mitigation. So, some CPA funds left over from the acquisition of the Epstein pond, and then we have some of the ever source funds for improving wetlands and, you know, you know, intermediate intermittent and perennial stream and so this kind of this work kind of fits right in. So many of those crossings if you've, if you've, you know, we've all hiked up in the Mount Hoyok range and some of those are 50 years old and have, you know, some are on state land some are on town land and many of them have never gotten any attention so it's kind of exciting to be doing it right as opposed to just slapping down some six by sixes and, you know, putting some pressure tree lumber over which was what was done 1520 years ago. And so doing it right hopefully for the next 20 or 30 years. And one of them is a really excellent day lighting of the headwaters of the plumbroke. It's existing to ceramic culverts which are grossly undersized and will be day lighting that so that'll be a huge huge resource improvement. I'm nifty because you write downstream from there you can see naturally reproducing the brook trout are right there in the stream and the culvert you know they want to go upstream but the culvert is or the two culverts are crushed. So there's no way for them to get up so this is going to be kind of a fun project to daylight that area and put a simple bridge over it and be done with it for for our time with the town I'm sure. I have one slightly or a tangential question and apologize over this at the last meeting I wasn't here but the Stanley Street entrance to jump bridge reminds me have what is the plan for water quality sampling has that started yet. And, or when will it start I guess. Yeah, it will start officially next week we typically start around Memorial Day we did do an early sample I was just curious. We did an April sample of the two beaches that buffers bond jump bridge or the Fort River at Stanley Street. And then we also sampled over at the mill river I just wanted to get a sample downstream of North Amherst and we got a sample over near rise the marijuana establishment on Meadow Street. Interesting the three mill river watershed samples were all extremely low jump bridge was in the crypto for. Yeah, okay. Jump bridge or Fort River at Stanley Street was higher than I would think for April it was like 315 or something like that even in April. It was a really low flow month so you don't have the dilution that we've had in past year water quality has been low across the valley. So we will continue to do what we've been doing which is weekly sampling at all those sites. I honestly, I'm not optimistic I think barring any changes in the Fort River or in. We will respond I think we will run into depending again weather dependent and temperature dependent we will run into the same kinds of things we did last year. I will say that with all the focus on the Fort River, we will be partnering with the Fort River watershed group to do as much sampling as we can. Aaron and I will be working with Beth Wilson who's now with DPW and as part of the NOI for the Fearing Brook project, we're going to actually be doing some before and after sampling as that project gets underway. So there's going to be a lot of sampling going on in the Fort and then upstream on the Fearing. The theory is that I think that the Fearing is the major contributor to our problems on the Fort. I think the jury is still out on that a little bit but there's strong indication that the Fearing is a big part of the problem. And you should see more attenuation in the Fearing with the floodplain restored. So any other questions? So NOIs coming your way from the department and RDAs as well. So we'll get some things in the pipeline here and get your feedback in the coming meetings. But I think it's going to be an active summer for us bringing you projects and then trying to get them done in a short summer season here. And get some seasonal hires. Yeah, we've, it's not been easy, but we're bringing on three seasonal summer crew staff. They should be on later this week or early next week. We're still hiring if you know anybody who would like to get their hands dirty and do some meaningful work and make a little money this summer, we can still hire. We're still waiting on whether we will have help at Pover's Pond. You may recall we are trying to work with the ambassador program that that was established during the pandemic. That program is given all the governor's, you know, announcements about lifting the emergency order. We're kind of re regrouping a little around what what do ambassadors do I would love to have if I could have full time staff ambassadors at buffers all summer I would take them in a minute. But we're not sure that the CARES Act funding the federal funding will pay for them to do that work, unless it's COVID related and so how do you fit things into COVID categories when the governor has lifted the emergency order. So we're working on that a little bit. So, so good. And I will be with you tonight as long as I can I'm actually traveling this week in Boston for some family medical issues so I will be with you as long as I can and then I'll sign off, but I think you've, you've got some interesting things on the agenda. That's great. Thank you Dave. Yeah, so speaking of the agenda. Aaron your report is next, then we have review and approval of meetings and then our 725 NOI is going to be continued again. So we have until 735 so we have about 15 minutes a little less than 15 minutes right now. So what it would be do you think that you can fit your report and then some approval of those four sets of minutes in that time, or do you want to, where do you want to start. Yeah, let's let's start with minutes, and then we'll take it from there. It's, it's a relatively relatively light meeting so. Okay, yeah. Um, does anyone need to read the minutes I, I know I sent them out very last minute because I was working on them today. I've looked at them all. Yeah, I'm here. I'm ready to move. I move we approve the 51221 minutes. Second. Hey, I'm on favor. Let's see. Sorry. It's okay. It's okay. Sandy is about to start talking back. I I So that's approved. I move we approve the 113 2021 minutes. Second. All right, let's go around. Sorry, there's something I can do about that. You're good. Okay. I'm going to do the next one. I move we, we, we accept the 122 2020 minutes. Second. I I I move we accept the 226 2020 minutes. Second. I I I move we accept the 226 2020 minutes. Nice job. Nice job team. We did it y'all. Okay. That's awesome. Okay. As long as I. That was record time for four sets of minutes. Nice work. Okay. Um, so other business, um, You know what, I'm going to just really quickly see, um, if we have. Um, I can't see part attendees. Um, yes, I'm, I'm going to just go to the ever source item first before we do enforcement because, um, this is, um, They're on the call and I just feel like it's, um, I'm just going to, I'm just going to promote them to panelists, um, so that they're here and they can kind of explain. Um, what they present, but basically we did the pre-construction meeting for ever source. Um, What day was it earlier this week? Um, I think it was yesterday. Yeah. Oh Monday. Okay.  I guess it was Monday, Monday morning. We had a pre-construction meeting for ever source. And one site came up, which, um, has a, I'll say it's a field change. Basically the first iteration of the plan showed gravel. The second iteration of the plan showed timber mat and they're going to use a combination of timber mat and gravel. So I'll let, I'll let, um, I'll stop there and let, um, Simon and Nick present. Hi all. Um, I'm able to show my screen or show me perhaps. We're having a hard time hearing you, Simon. Can you hear me at all? We can hear you. You just sound like you're underwater. Hmm. Let me see if I can fix that. Um, Did you see my screen? Yes. Okay. Um, I don't know if I can fix my audio at all. Uh, if I speak up, does that help? Okay. Um, well, if you could see my screen here, it should be showing, uh, a map showing a structure of one, four, one, four, seven in the middle. Okay. Um, so when we originally, uh, brought this project to the commission, we had showed an entirely gravel pad, a work pad at structure one, four, one, four, seven, um, subsequent to that GCA went back out in the field this spring or early or late winter rather to, uh, to refresh the wetland flagging out there. And they identified a couple of, uh, additional wetlands which we brought before the commission when we went for amended order of conditions. Can you hear me? Okay. Um, and, uh, so we, we basically, at that time, once we discovered this additional wetland, it's just kind of on the fringe. I don't know if you can see my cursor here, but right here it's just on the fringe of the right away. So we think we're going to get over overlapping the work pad, but casting, uh, 25 foot and 100 foot, going over a good portion of the work pad. So the thing is simple during the request for a menu order of conditions. We just, we basically went to our, we said, hey, can you map this full thing? And of course they said yes, because they do what we asked them to, and they get paid for it. Um, but it is a, it's a good smoke down to the south, basically, uh, the page is more or less oriented. just more or less oriented north south here. So we came to you with our, you know, revised map set at the last meeting where we were at and said that we were going to be matting all of the workpad within the hundred foot buffer zone. When we got the change order request for funds to actually mat that workpad, it was an astronomical rate. Because of the slope there, they would have to stack mats up quite high, which would, which would not only be a price tag that was just not justifiable for a single structure workpad, but also it would have required fall protection for the people that were working on top of it because it would have been stacked so high. So basically we're asking for this change back to more or less what we had before. So at this point, we're asking that we, for any portion of the workpad that would be within wetlands, we will use construction mats, but we would like the option to create and gravel the majority of the workpad within the hundred foot and 25 foot buffer zone. And what we discussed with Aaron Monday would be that we would within the 25 foot buffer zone there, you know, essentially the southern portion of the pad here, we would stockpile the topsoil and use that to restore the 25 foot buffer zone following construction. So the mats would again, provide us any working surface that we needed within the wetland, which is just this little sliver here. They would also be stacked up in sort of a temporary wall to hold back any of the fuel or gravel that's used to actually construct this workpad. Following completion of the line work once the structure is actually in and the lines are energized and we go back to restore the area, we would pull back the gravel so that it is not being held back by the temporary construction mat wall there and basically grade it so that it's stable entirely. And within the 25 foot buffer zone, we would remove all of the matting and all of the gravel and use the stockpile topsoil to restore the native vegetation in that area. So we use the native seed mix to restore the upland within the 25 foot. That's the gist of the change that we're requesting and also just wanna note that previously the access road that is leading to this workpad here from the west, it was proposed to be all gravel coming, we bridge across to Eastman Brook and then gravel our way, this is a slope here so we need to climb up to using gravel because mats are slippery and we had planned to gravel all our way all the way to the workpad here. This area that I've got my cursor on here was an area of moderate to high cultural sensitivity. So it was an area that we had our archeologists perform a phase one B study that meant we actually did some test pit excavations there in conjunction with Mass Historic Commission and the Wampanoag tribe who had a monitor on site when we were doing the work because there is that sensitivity there, we basically coordinated with the Wampanoag tribe to agree that we will not grade and gravel through the sensitive area and we'll use timber mats there. So we have reduced the amount of gravel we've been riverfront by about 1,300 square feet in change which will be matting this area here. And so the additional gravel that we're requesting is just within the 100 foot and 25 foot buffer zone. Again, we would restore the 25 foot. That is that portion of what I am here to present. If anybody has any questions, hopefully you can hear me. Yeah, I heard you okay, makes sense. I mean, I'm hearing net reduction in gravel, it sounds like it's such a slope that probably the best erosion control would be some mix of timber matting gravel anyway. So in terms of protecting the resource, it seems like a reasonable adjustment. Commissioners, does anyone have any clarifying questions or further comments? Erin, were you able to get out there?  I have not seen this site specifically but we met and discussed it before and my advice to them was to bring it before you just to make sure that you guys were comfortable with what they're proposing. But I had discussed with them using the mats as essentially like a retaining wall for the gravel. So it's like a combination of the two to try to protect the resource. And so I'm comfortable with what they're proposing to do. That makes a lot of sense to me. I'm seeing some nods and no major questions. So where would we go from here, Erin? Is there anything procedural? I would just make, if well, I think there might be something else that we need to talk about but I would say that we should probably just handle this isn't a minor administrative field change, however you wanna vote to approve it but that it's taken into consideration. There's an order of conditions where the impacts are, they're balancing impacts here with other gravel in the immediate vicinity of this. So I think that that's fine and we can just issue a correspondence stating that that change is approved. I'm comfortable with that. Anyone else, any objections amongst the commission? I got some thumbs up. No big questions, okay. Are you okay issuing that correspondence, Erin? Do you want us to? Yeah, I mean, I think what we should maybe do next is just let Simon, if there was anything else he needed us to talk about and then from there do sort of make one motion that encapsulates everything and then I would feel totally comfortable putting everything in writing to ever source. Great. So this piece here that I just presented to you is really the only part that has a need for a concomer view. I appreciate that. I did send an email to Erin stating the need for this and explaining what we're planning to do here. So that would be great if you can respond to that. If you have any approval or however you'd like to do it. The other thing that I just wanted to show here and let me know if the map sheet just changed. Yeah. Okay, good. So this is just an area that I just wanted to bring you to your attention where we have just determined that we need to place some additional timber mats within wetlands. This is near the Tilsey substation which is sort of the top of the UMAP campus there. Across, gosh, I went there and I forget what the street is that runs across the top of campus but it's over in that neck of the woods. So this is... Drone Street area there. Yes, it's a little structure north of Drone Street. So essentially this area I've worked of timber mats that I've got my cursor on and then this area here. We need to construct some extra beds that's where we'll be pulling the wire from. So this is not something that actually requires commission review. It's exempt from the Wetlands Protection Act but we will be submitting a self-advocation to the Army Corps and also a notification under our Administrative Consent Order and DEP and the Consent Order requires that we notify the outcome of the activity. So that's the reason I just wanted to bring up here just to let you know that that's the plan. If you have any questions or concerns by all means, let us know. Great, thank you. Could you go just back one sheet so I can reference it? Yeah, so guys, I think we're looking for a motion to approve as an administrative change, that changes to erosion control techniques on how should I reference this? It would be, thank you. Let's see, I guess. That's structure number 14147. 14147, your structure number 14147. Just to that effect. I'll make that, yeah, thanks. I'll make that motion that will do the new erosion control techniques on 14147. Thank you. Larry. Hi. Leroy. Hi. And I'm an I. Excellent. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thanks. All right, have a good night. And there's nothing else on the other one, on the other sheet, right? No. The other thing was just an adding that we, you know, don't technically need approval for, but just, it was more of a notification. Yep. Good, thank you for letting it go. A lot of Turkey's back there. They'll be here and I'm gobbled. Keep mine. Let me text too. That's what they're eating, I think. Great. Thank you very much. Thank you, Simon. Appreciate it. So, I'm not sure how to take over. Yeah, I'm not sure how to let go of it. I'll just, I'm just going to try to... There we go. So where are we at for time? Do you want to jump back? Yeah, so maybe we should open, sorry, I'm just going back to the agenda. Oh, we, yeah. So why don't we continue our 725 hearing and then handle our 735 NOI? Does that, is that okay, Erin? That's perfect. Okay. All right. So my understanding was that over at Forefarm, they need a little bit more time. And so I'm pulling up your PowerPoint presentation. It looks like we need a motion to continue the public hearing for 214 Pomeray Lane to June 9th at 745 p.m. I move we continue the public hearing for 214 Pomeray Lane to June 9th, 2021 at 745 p.m. Seconded. Thank you, Larry. Hi. Fletcher. Hi. And I'm an I. Nice, okay. Are we about to jump into business again? Oh, sorry. No, we're going to go to the Cifino NOI. Fletcher, why did you have... I guess I could bring this up. Is our next meeting going to be in person? So we... The governor hasn't signed that yet. What was that MACC thing we got on June 15th? The governor has got to take away his emergency act before they could do that. And I think the general court is thinking about changing it. Okay. Didn't mean to jump in so much there. Sorry. That's okay. I think it's just in Fletcher, whether we're going to be required to be in person or not. And so we have, even if that does go through, we still have another meeting on the 9th before that would go into effect. But if we want to discuss it, I think that's okay. Let's just go through our agenda items and then hit it in other business. Because I think it would be worth hearing from everybody, kind of where we are on going back to in-person or staying remote. Jen, can I just add that? Because you may lose me in a few. Yeah. You may lose me before you get back to all of that. But I think your assessment is kind of spot on. We have one more meeting before the 15th. So we will at least have one more remote meeting via Zoom. I think there's a lot of discussion out there. I'm part of some of the discussions with the town manager. This is happening obviously of concern across the state. It's an open meeting law. The governor's emergency order included the ability for boards and committees to meet the way we're meeting now. Once he lifts the emergency order, then there is no more ability for committees and boards to meet the way we're doing over Zoom. So the concom or the planning board or the town council, there would be no individual choice. Like boards couldn't decide, oh, we want to stay remote and we don't. It would simply be across the board a blanket. People need to come back to in-person. So we don't know that's the case. I think the legislature is looking at it as Larry hinted. So I'll have more for you. I think right after Memorial Day, we should be able to get more information out to you all. But I think that's what we know at this point. And believe me, there's concern across the state. Yeah. And just the only thing I was thinking, Dave, was just, I mean, I'm sure everyone, it would be helpful just to get a feeling from everyone whether they're for, if we should get to a point where we can decide if we want to be hybrid or in person or remote, we can just talk about it as a commission just so everyone can kind of be heard. And then we'll totally see what happens with the state legislature. That was the only point just to have a short discussion as a commission. Makes sense, yeah. Awesome, thank you. Okay, so let's go to the Tafino NOI. So this is a continuance all the way. I guess we've been continuing this for a while. If it was first opened in October of 2019, it's possible. But it looks like we have, is Kristen here for this NOI, Erin? She's in the attendees. Are you asking? Yeah, yeah, I'm just asking. I'm gonna remote you to a panelist, Kristen. So you can talk to us. There she is. And I think you're muted. Hi. Hi. So the WCA. Hi, thanks for coming. So Erin, do you want to catch us up on the recent activity for this NOI? We know if everyone has a chance to open the, Erin's sharing it already, the email from Art. That's kind of the issue that we'll have to discuss I believe in this meeting. Yes. So basically Art went out with Ted Parker and reviewed the flagging around the vernal pool. And he did indicate that he recommended some changes to the vernal pool delineation, which he sort of spelled out in his findings here in this letter. I think that based on my conversations with Art, that him and Ted kind of had some back and forth with regard to methodologies for the delineation. So Art was using first and foremost federal and state regulation to delineate the boundary and applying our bylaw. So generally how it works is that, state and federal law covers certain territory. And then our local bylaw is basically intended to be more restricted, more restrictive as far as what is done. So for example, if there was a delineation under state and federal regulations and then something under our bylaw said, this delineation needs to extend further to protect more area, then that would be applicable. But if our bylaw is less restrictive than state and federal law, then it wouldn't necessarily apply. So that was the discussion that they were having. So that's basically what the conversation was because according to Art, Ted's understanding was that we should be following our local bylaw only for the delineation. And he had used state and federal definitions to delineate. So I guess there was just some, they wanted from what I understand a read tonight as to whether the commission was comfortable with changing the flag locations to where Art suggested that they should be placed. And I assume that that would be the case since that's why we sort of hired him to do the review and give it a second look, but definitely want to give Christian an opportunity to address that. Yeah, Kristin, do you want to introduce yourself and just give us a brief history and add any comments to the, given the latest information from Art? Sure, I don't know if I've received Art's report, but we'll get to that in a second. Hi, commissioners, I'm Kristin McDonough. I'm with SWCA. I've been working with Ted Parker on this rental school since I think 2013. We have piles and piles of data on this pool. We know it's a productive vernal pool. We've done a delineation of the vernal pool boundary and the commission has hired their own consultant for a third-party review to check the delineation that SWCA did back in 2019. And I believe your third-party consultant completed that review in May, 2021. So a little bit of time between the 2019 and the 2021 delineation. I actually went out last Friday and picked up the three new flag locations. So there were three flags that your consultant relocated. And I did plot them on a figure. I'm not sure if Ted has shared those figures with you, but I'm happy to share my screen with you and share them with the commission. It's really up to Ted. It's his data. But it doesn't seem terrifically different, in my opinion, since the original delineation was done so long ago. Honestly, I went out there on Friday expecting to completely agree with any relocated flags. And the first one, I think it was 26R. I did agree with 27R and 28R. We're a little bit harder to agree with since there wasn't any leaf staining. And there was even T-Berry downgradient of the flags. But again, in the interest of saving time, I don't wanna create waves. I did take photos. I don't wanna make this more complicated than it should be. Really, the flags are just as much as five to 20 feet back. So it's up to Ted. What do you want us to do? And I'm happy to share what I collected in the field last Friday with the commission. Do you have the figure that shows the revised flag locations that you could do? I do. And I should just warn you. I mean, I slapped these together really quickly on Friday as an internal draft, just for Ted. So they haven't been really QAQ seed. But let me at least just share what I have right now with the commission. And then, can you see my screen? Yeah. Okay, so this is the whole vernal pool boundary, which is in the darker blue. And this outline with the points is the original 2019 delineation. This orange, this represents the three new flags that were recently relocated about between five to 20 feet further to the west. And then I have another figure that shows a close-up of just that one lot. So, and I should also preface, these lot lines are from the town of Amherst Assessor's data. So I'm not, sometimes the town data are a little bit funky. But this is the lot line in yellow here. This is the street. This is the Berkshire Design Group delineated wetland boundary. This is the original 2019 vernal pool boundary. And then in orange is the three relocated flag boundary. This blue line is the 100 foot buffer from the 2019. This yellow dash line is the revised 100 foot buffer from the 2021. So, you know, this is basically what we're talking about in terms of a difference right there. And is that lot eight in the, do you know what like the Tofino calls that lot? I think it's lot eight. I'm not sure. There was a sign when I parked on the side of the road over here that said lot seven, but I don't remember if it was like right there or right there or right there. One of those threes is lots of it. Can I ask a question about this? Cause I know there was some confusion the last time around on this, but I'm looking at this and the, is the boundary off of the vernal pool or is it off of the BBW that we're looking at that line? Is that the? Yeah, that's a good question. So there is another shape file that I'm not showing on this figure that's a hundred foot boundary off the BBW. This is just off the vernal pool. So I can turn that on and turn that off and create a figure for the commission as you want. Yeah, I just, this is an issue I have as, you know, somebody who's familiar with GIS is the arcs that are being used for this. I'm not sure that that's giving an accurate representation of the buffer off of the vernal pool.  It's like a estimated rounded arc off of the buffer. And so I'm not sure that it's actually picking up the hundred foot line. Like it doesn't, if that was a straight line that the buffer would mimic the jagged line of the vernal pool. They're running an arc full point. Yeah, which is to me not an accurate representation of the buffer zone. It's a algorithm, an estimate. Literally the GIS like buffer tool. When you get to it, you can literally say like you want a linear distance from the points and then linear interpolation versus like a cubic interpolation between the points. Exactly. So I'm sure you or your GIS person knows how to handle that. I'm sure you deal with us all the time, you know, whenever you're dealing with buffers, whether it's in AutoCAD or GIS, it's the same algorithm. So I mean, that's how we make buffers in computers. There is a setting though that will make it near the vernal pool boundary in both CAD and GIS. Which I'm sure you know, people know. And that just might address like some of what Erin is saying where it looks like it's smoothed and therefore less restrictive where the boundary is. That's what you're saying, Erin, right? Well, it's tough to tell because it's not accurately representing the 100 foot buffer. It's a rounded arc. Okay. All right, so I think that issue here is really more for the commission because we don't have a formal report from ART yet, right, Erin, so we just indicate whether we're comfortable with him using the more restrictive or more stringent delineation for the vernal pool or the town by law definition. So that's really kind of what's on the table here. And I think we'll have to continue to the next meeting when we have a final report from ART to then potentially approve this delineation. So, Kristen, I feel like we cut, Erin and I cut you off the questions. Did you have anything else to share or add? No, like I said, I haven't even officially reviewed his report. And like I said, I acknowledged that it's been a long time since the original delineation. So I look forward to reviewing it. And if I can help in any way, I'm available. Thank you. Commissioners, any questions? And then if you guys could weigh in on whether or not you're comfortable with ART using the more stringent, whichever is the most stringent vernal pool definition. In this case, that would be fantastic. I think precedent is strong that we would use a more stringent, more restrictive, more protective of the resource definition. But if anyone has any questions or thoughts on that, please let us know. I got a thumbs up from Larry. Yeah, we've gone this far. I mean. Yeah. Yeah. Good job fitting it in though. I mean, we went from abnormally dry conditions to like a moment of normal conditions to now we're gonna be back in abnormally dry again. So I think we got it in when we could. All right. So it sounds like we have no questions. Erin, are you comfortable relaying our feelings about this to ART so that he can issue his final report? Yes. So then I think, unless anyone has any other comments, I think we just need a motion to continue this public hearing for the Tiffino properties. To when would that be June 9th, Erin at... Well, can I just, I guess one question is how long it would take to incorporate the revisions into any plans for the applicant. And then the other question is, as long as they're incorporating those revisions, do we want to ask them to revise those buffers to more accurately reflect the flag points? Survey grade, you mean? I'm assuming that the flags were already survey collected. The wetland flags were already survey collected. What I'm talking about is just making sure that the buffer offset from the flags like we had talked about was just to make sure that there's a straight line in between points on the buffer. Because as long as they're doing a revision, it makes sense to incorporate those to make sure that the buffers are correct before we approve a final plan. That makes sense. And I can share the data with Berkshire Design Group. Okay. It's up to Ted. I'm not sure if Ted's here tonight. He's not on the agenda list. I did send him the notice about the meeting though. Okay. And I'm not sure what his contracts are with Berkshire Design and even with SWCA at this point, but I'm happy to share my, as far as between us, I'm happy to share my data. Okay. So I'm just looking at the calendar, that's only the ninth is two weeks away. So I'm just not sure that they're gonna be able to incorporate all the revisions like if we should continue to the 23rd and give them a little extra time. That's no longer, that perhaps is every kind of week. Sorry, Larry. That's perhaps a different kind of a meeting, maybe at house. It may be, but we would still be posting it legally once, you know, 48 hours ahead of the, we just need to continue it to a time and date certain so that. Gotcha. Yeah. Well, it's hard telling not knowing since Ted's not here and I don't want to put Kristen in a position to speak for him on that since there are other consultants involved. Should we conservatively continue to the 23rd? Is that probably the wise move? I mean, once we continue to the 23rd, we can't revisit it on the ninth. Good. I mean, that's kind of my gut feeling just because we got to get the report back from art and they've got to make the revisions. So that just gives a little extra time and it's only two weeks from tonight. So. Yeah, totally. Good call. Okay. So we're looking for a motion to continue the Notice of Intent for Defino Associates Inc. for construction of single families homes at lot one Concord Way, lot two Concord Way, lot five Concord Way, lot six Concord Way, lot seven Concord Way, lot eight Concord Way to the Conservation Commission meeting at on June 23rd at 7.30, Erin? So moved. Yep. So moved. Seconded. Okay, Fletcher. Aye. Anna. Aye. And I'm an aye. Thank you. Thank you for coming, Kristen. Thank you very much. It's good to see all you again. Have a good one. I'm going to move you back to an attendee. Good night, guys. Good night. All right. So our last like hearing on the agenda, I think is also a continuation, right, Erin? We're still waiting on response from the railroad for their representative about the spray zone. Yeah, they haven't even, they haven't even approved the peer review yet. The applicant said that the person in charge at the railroad is actually on vacation right now. So they've requested another continuance. Okay. And are we okay doing that one to June 9th at eight or 7.50? That's a good question. I mean, I would actually be inclined to continue that one to the 23rd too. And the reason being, because we've already requested a peer review and should they come back with a check, we would have to set up a contract and get out there and do the peer review before we could even discuss it. Or they're just going to say no and issue a negative or issue a positive determination, basically not approving the boundary. So it's another kind of tricky call. Does anyone have any wisdom here? I think I'm comfortable waiting till the 23rd, especially since they've been pretty slow to respond anyway. And we're like moving into vacation season. So I think that's probably the right move. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. Makes sense. I think we're all correct. We're not going to get much of a response. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I'm gonna check. Yeah. Okay. So we're looking for a continuation for the request to determine, request for determination for New England Central Railroad for terming whether the sensitive area boundaries Delaney and I have submitted plan are accurate for spraying. And that would be continued to the June 23rd meeting at 740. Erin? Sure. Yeah, that sounds fine. Don't move. Okay. Oh, sorry. So, liberalize second to that one, Anna. Hi. Larry, I am an I. Fletcher's in. Hi. Great. So that's the end of our formal hearings. So now, Erin, we can go back in whatever order. Makes the most sense to you. Yeah. Okay. So I'll just start with enforcement. So I got a call. 16 Eames have was a previous enforcement situation and they did all their plantings and they basically want to kind of close out the enforcement issue and get a consensus or a letter issued to them, basically stating that they did what was asked of them. So there's a, Intermittent stream that flows north to south. And I guess previously they, there was a garage being constructed on the property. They were doing renovations and I'm not entirely sure what, what happened here, but basically that material washed down into this swale. And they were required to restore it and plant it. And so. Yeah, I remember this. They built the garage and then you realized what was going on and had to go out and approve kind of their, I mean, it wasn't, they were done building the garage by the time we got out there, but we basically approved like how they had armored a swale. It was the summer of 2018 when it was like really, really wet. So it sounds like that. But what we thought was an intermittent system is maybe more of a perennial system now. It was completely dry when I was out there, but again, you know, it's, it's been a very dry. I mean, it's, it's been. Washy, I guess you could say there's been dry times and wet times, but when I was out there, it was dry. Yeah. Okay. So it was stable. There was a solid vegetation growing in the swale when I was out there. I didn't, I mean, there was no, no stability issues or resource issues that I could detect from going out there. So I don't really have a problem with closing out the enforcement issues. If you guys think that it's been adequately addressed and stabilized. That's good to me. Stable. Yeah, garlic mustards hold sympathy then. Yeah, but it's fine at this, it's green. They have a path that it looks like they marked it with some stones. Yeah. As long as they're not mowing it, they're not mowing it. Yeah. Exactly. As long as they're not going to be tempted to weed, whip or mow it, I think we're in good shape. So I'll make sure that that's noted in the letter that they get that there's no mowing or weed whacking in there. Sounds good. So would anybody feel comfortable making a motion just to close out this enforcement order? Sure. I moved to. Is that right? I say close the enforcement order. Yeah, essentially closing it out. I moved to close the enforcement order. Was that 16 aims have. Yep. Okay. Hey, Anna. Hi, Roy. Hi. Hi. Hi. Can I ask a question about the mowing and weed whacking? If there were, um, if there were in like, um, aggressive invasives, I mean, I know garlic mustard is invasive, but I'm curious if that rule is always present or like where the balance is between controlling invasives and not mowing or weed whacking in the, in the wetland area. I think that's a great question in this sense, since I would say no mowing, but if you want to whack, we'd whack a little bit. I know it's a good question. And I was, I was, do a good question. I asked a lot of bad ones. So, you know, it was time. I know the invasive thing is so tricky because in one hand, they're providing stability and better than a manicured lawn. But on the other hand, you're propagating invasives. And I just don't really have an answer. Like, are we, we kind of, I don't think science has an answer to that. That's a good point. Yeah. I mean, Fletcher, unless you think otherwise, I don't know. I mean, yeah, especially the garlic mustard, just flower. The seeds are about to blow up in any day. Um, yeah. And I don't think we, and this, it's, it's, and also I don't think, can we even. Yeah. Ask them to like treat. Like, take care of their invasives in this instance. Well, I think. I think it was like erosion control. And they did it. But now we have invasives. I do think though. Well, you know, this is from my perspective and other commissions I've worked for that have been very supportive of removal of invasives. And I think like everybody's making excellent points, but if invasives can be safely removed and disposed of offsite and that. Areas that might be disturbed by pulling them are seated. I think that that's not necessarily a, a bad suggestion to make if they do annual pulling of garlic mustard. I mean, I know a lot of cities and towns organize almost like a day to go out and pull garlic mustard all over town just to get it out because it's so prolific. So that, and like, I was thinking about some places I've seen with knot weed and, you know, just how quickly it spreads and how, yeah, I was, this was kind of a curiosity, but it related. Yeah. I just, yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think. The procedure early, we handle it on a case by case basis. Like two meetings ago, they wanted to go in and handle it. Yeah. Yeah. So I think we just have to, yeah, handle it as it comes. Okay. I think. Now it's tough, especially the knot weed when it actually does stabilize banks. So like, what do you do? Yeah. When you do take it out, you have to destabilize the bank to get that really, you know, to really get it out. So yeah, it's a tough, right? It's tough. Yeah. I feel conflicted about it. From a science standpoint. So I feel like that plays out and how we have to handle it on a case by case basis. That makes sense. Do you guys want me to say anything about it in the letter that I'm issuing them to. Yeah. I mean, I mean, you can mention that there's a lot of invasives because they probably don't know what that is. They're probably like, Hey, what a cute flower. I think that's a great idea. I mean, use it as an educational opportunity to say, just so you know, this is garlic must, you know, this is what it is. Right. Aaron, do you have like links? Maybe there are. There's, I mean, maybe I could help you find it. There's like homeowner links, like information out there for homeowners to. You know, I mean, I mean, aren't they just going to come back and say, but okay, we want to weed whack it and we want to mow it, like, and get rid of it. Right. And we're saying they can't do that. So, so I mean, I'm not saying we shouldn't send the education. Consider, consider hand pulling and replanting. Yeah. I think that's what you have to say. That's not good. Keep the, keep the rider out, the rider lawnmower out of there. No more zero, no more zero turns. You're right. They were. Yeah. So. Yep. Yep. Okay. All right. Great. Great session out of here. And then the next one was, okay. 121 pond view. So this one's kind of tricky and I know Dave and I are. Making some recommendations on this as well. So. There's a gentleman. 121 pond view who we got a complaint call about. And so we went out to take a look. This is a perennial stream that flows in his backyard. And on either end of the lot. He has a different kind of approach to managing the land, which is, you know, pruning the trees. He's been pulling invasives. He's been putting in these. With pathways. There's definitely some issues with what he there. He's been cutting some trees in the riverfront. There, there are brush piles, which are okay for wildlife. There also were some trees that were downed in storms. Like this, this tree came down in a storm. There was another large tree that came down in a storm. And there, you know, some of the, one of the pathways goes through a BVW, another pathway. Here we go right next to the, right next to the stream with gravel. So there's some things that need to happen out here. As far as recommendations to have him restore some areas. And he's, you know, he's been cooperative with us. He, he's. You know, been stating that he didn't know and, you know, that he was unaware that there was any restrictions for what he could do as far as this type of management out there. This is one of the trees that came down in, in a windstorm. But a very different kind of management, you know, much more hands-on management, I would say. And then obviously there are some issues here. That we need to address with him. So just to give you an update on that. And Dave and I have kind of been trying to. I'm in the process of writing some recommendations. For how we could improve the situation, but it's, what's tricky is like some of the management he's doing, for example, removing understory saplings.  So it's, it's tricky. It's tricky to respond to this. There are definitely some violations on the subject. But we're definitely trying to encourage him to be less intensive. As far as management of the land and also prevent further. Intensive management of the land. He's an eager beaver. He likes to work. Yeah. I think that's a little COVID lockup right there going on. Yeah. Yep. Definitely. So just as by way of an update that we've been, I mean, like, did you like literally gravel the bank and then lay wood chips down for. Yeah. That's amazing. Yeah. He said that there was some erosion happening there. And he was trying to kind of stabilize it. Sure. But I'm going to. He owns the whole property. He owns the whole property. He's been there about two years when he, one of the things he did when he came in, he. He's a stone mason. And he came in and he completely replaced. The, the garage floor, which was broken up in his, in his house. He's putting in stone things out in front. I mean, he. And he's working for neighbors. So he does a good job at what he's doing, but he's just, he's, you know, I don't know. He's a guy that's got to keep on doing things. Yeah. Erin, one approach on that might be just to point out that it's a pretty low gradient system. So in that system, like some amount of low bank erosion is like completely expected natural and like that for the system. You know, you could point out that like a braided stream system in this. Not steep setting is a natural stream system and kind of best for the. Vegetation. Native vegetation that lives there. Yeah. I think by the way, I think this is bear country. So you think the bears enjoy the path. Oh yeah. Oh yeah, I think, oh yeah. You should show them the pictures of the rest of this thing, but this thing, this thing, this brook here goes all the way from, from a pomeroy. All the way, effectively all the way up to Hampshire County, Hampshire college, but it stops at the end of the property where the pond view for the Echo Hill and Echo Hill, but all along here there's this thing. And when my kids were young, we used to track all on here all the time. This is a great little spot down here. And this was this particular area. There's a two or three areas in here that are taken care of real well.  You should show the other pictures that are on this thing, because he's not a lot of things. We talk about invasive management, right? Yeah. You know, in contrast, for example, what he's done here is a lot like what's happened over on pomeroy, who I notice you don't have a response yet from. Yeah, so I'm meeting with them there. They were away on vacation, but I'm meeting with them on June 2nd. So that's when they're doing things the same way as this, except they're doing it differently. And they've actually got a vernal pool. He doesn't have a brutal pool. So Aaron, what do you, how can we help? Or was this in kind of an FYI and you and David working through it? Yeah. So like with single family homeowners. Yeah. Unless it's a very egregious violation, we try to, you know, work with them on improving sort of their management strategy and telling them, Hey, pull the wood chips out of here, pull the gravel out of there. You know, you need to put some plantings in or some, some seeding, some stabilization.  I haven't had a chance to send them to Dave yet, but we're just trying to work with him because. He's, he's very, you know, he, he considers himself an environmentalist. He's like, I don't think that I'm doing anything wrong here. And so we're trying to work with him to, you know, just be amicable. And show the pictures off to the left. This property, another 40 feet ends up in Hadley and the farm fields and he's got some things up there that he, what he's trying to do, I think is getting this path here to over to the left where he's got a little play area and so forth. It's, it's been constructed. That's a way away from the wetlands, but it's over close to the farmland. I mean, it's, I can't, I can't, you know, I can't share them. Well, it sounds like maybe he has energy to be harnessed for a little bit more stream friendly management, but it sounds like it's an educational opportunity. I'm sure there's deer in there and I know there's raccoons, et cetera in there. And this is a real wildlife place through here. Cool. So I'll give you an update at the next meeting. These are ones that were kind of continually working through. And there's, there's definitely no shortage of violations right now. So. And then this is 25 lantern lane. They had. I don't know what exactly they were doing in here, but. They, they came off of the town sewer easement and it was an access to conservation area back here. And I actually was notified about it from.  And so they, they were talking about putting in some. Raise bed gardens. And that's why I guess they were doing this. And so. They were, they, they seeded it and, and just. Hate it down. Or, you know, put. Material to. To stabilize it. was there was an intermittent stream on the uphill side of this, which there was no impact to it because it's up gradient, but there's also the pond down below it. And so I didn't see any indications that there was any wetland alteration as a result of this. It was more so just they needed to stabilize it and seed it down. So I don't think there'll really be much need to follow up any further with that other than to just make sure it stabilizes. Sounds good. Okay, so request for certificate of compliance. So this is 375 pot wine. And I have some pictures. This is the swale here. There, I guess, is a closing on this this week. The only real, I guess, concern I had is that, and I've been out there many times. This site has been under construction for a while. The slopes here don't seem to be vegetating that well. I know that they've seeded them down because I saw them seeded and they put some straw down. But the soil there is just not great and it just doesn't hold much down. It didn't look a whole lot different to this before the work even started. It's always been kind of a gravelly. I remember we permitted this. Yes. This is the one that Bucky Sparkville designed. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah, and this is the one where there was a, this whole area of trees was going to be taken out and basically dug out. And when I had gone out there and visited it, I was like, I don't think that's a good idea because this area here is like basically BVW already. And this whole tree line provides shading to this little water body. I don't even, it's a paved channel. But it's got BVW on either side. So, but there, but the water coming through here does empty into a BVW across the street. So, I mean, it provides quite a bit of shade. These trees provide quite a bit of shade to the water to keep it cooler. But they've done a ton of plantings.  There's Arba Vides. That they planted. They planted a bunch on the tree line. They planted a bunch of trees on the tree line. It's pretty well seeded down. They put a fence in, which I actually thought was a great thing here in particular, because now the lawn won't be expanded. Yeah. There's a question about where they were going to do things there. Exactly. So there's, there's fencing to keep the, the lawn, the lawn and the natural areas, the natural areas. This area in the front.  In sort of to the left here, there's a, I think they planted 17 blueberries in this area, which is nice. And then they put. I guess that's the end of my photos, but they did, they do have a bolder, bolder set in the back of the property. Okay. So, um, it's. Yeah. I think at this point we just recommend issuing a certificate of compliance on it. It's better than it was in my opinion. I see it. I see a pretty good effort put into it too. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm okay with it unless anyone has any lingering concerns. All right. So we need a motion to issue the certificate of compliance. For, um, What is it? 375 pot wine. Yes. And if you could just include, um, a condition to include, um, to carry over any ongoing conditions. Just. That will be in perpetuity for the, for the certificate. Move we issue the certificate of compliance with the, uh, conditions as set existing in perpetuity for 375 pot wine lane. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Fletcher. Hi. Leroy. And I'm an eye. Okay. Is Larry and I. Oh, sorry. I forgot Larry. Sorry. I. I didn't know if you seconded you are. I know. I thought, I thought so too, but you're good. Okay. So, um, the only other thing I had is that we got two requests for chapter 61 releases, basically properties where people are, um, releasing requesting to release the property from chapter 61 protection. Um, but in talking with Dave, he said he wanted to get a recommendation from town council before we proceed or move on those. So I'm not going to recommend any action on those tonight. Um, yeah. And put it in the folder. They're in correspondence. So there's one. Oh, I didn't see that. Sorry. Um, for, and I wasn't a job. It was like me remembering where I saw it. 115 market Hill road. Hmm. 5.75 acres and then there's another parcel. My PDFs don't open. And then this one is, uh, this is the parcel. This is the one that we did the. The. No, we did a, uh, and there was an anrad and we had it peer reviewed by Emily Stockman. It was early 2019. But, um, yeah, they're. They're not surprising. Not surprising. Yeah. So I was coming. Yeah. All right. Anyway, so if you guys want to read through that, we'll, we'll get a, um, recommendation from town council on that one. Thanks. And that is all that I have for you folks this evening. Wow. Thanks for sending this all out in advance and being so organized.  Remote hybrid in person stuff. So it sounds like at least June 9th is going to continue to our June 9th meeting will be remote. And then it sounds like there's debate in the state legislature as to whether we are going to be required to go back to in person or not after that. And so everything's in flocks. Um, so I just wanted to bring up that, you know, for me with little kids, it's very helpful to be able to do this remotely. Um, so I wanted to just throw that out there that if that ever became an option, it's definitely something that like, which makes a big difference for me to be able to like be effective as a commissioner. Um, but I also wanted to hear what everyone else thought and like, just so we kind of have it. So I think it's a good idea to have this as a commissioner. If you're a commissioner standing amongst the group, like if there's an inclination when we are another, if we end up having a choice, um, I just kind of want to give everyone a chance to be heard.  You could probably tell the way I work around here. So I can see everything. I bring up everything on the other monitor. You know, that are, I'm watching everything. So I find it much more efficient for me to do it this way, but the second is my son is on the conservation commission in Foxboro. And I talked to him about this. And he said they're going to go back to real time meetings, because their coordinator doesn't run things as well as ours does. And he seriously said that he said that he said that they, you know, they, they can't get all the stuff they want out of this, but our program works great. In terms of the way, the way the commission works, the way the commission works, the way the commission works, the way that the commission's got it going. And so forth. And it makes it. Everybody's able to participate. People outside can participate easily. And you can see what's going on. I think it works better for us this way. That's my comment. So I don't have an inch. I mean, my, my life is a little bit more flexible. I think than other folks on the commission. So going in person isn't. I mean, it does allow significantly more flexibility with other things that I am doing in my life to not have the, the travel time and the city, like the, you know, that all of that intermediary time. And the only other thing I will say, and this is a little bit more general and expands past conservation commission is just the level of engagement we've seen is so much significantly higher. That if it's possible from the public. And so if it's possible to have a hybrid option, that would be a lot easier to attend if you don't have to get a babysitter to come. Yeah. 100%. So. Yes. So that would be, I guess, if, if our voice carries anyway, that would be my, my strong suggestion is accessibility of municipal government through hybrid models is, is great. Some of the, some of the hybrid models don't work so great. I mean, there's people that have begun doing those. And in fact, I've got a document here for zoom meetings that is done by the rotary club. And it's complicated to do a hybrid one where you do both things. I like it like the way it is here. Yeah.  This is one of the things that I've been working on at my, my big kid job. You know, the remote work return to work hybrid work, like what are the options there? And so if that is ever helpful, let me know. I'm happy to send along the research I've done and the work I've done. It does take hybrid specifically, not fully remote hybrid, specifically does take increased tech versus fully remote. So there are ways to do it well, but it would need, it would be a deeper partnership with Amherst media and with it. Versus just staying fully remote. I'm interested in that. Yeah. I'm happy to talk more. I mean, I don't want to take up folks.  It's, it's a possibility. It's just, it takes a little bit more intentional work. Yeah. That's super helpful. Thanks guys. Fletcher. Laura, did you guys have any strong feelings or want to share any reflections. On that. I was just, I went on and said about public accessibility. And. Obviously my time on the commission has been short, so I can't speak directly to how much it's increased, but we have seen a lot of people since I've been here. So I'm happy with that. Yeah. And I think it also just comes down to the coordination, especially, you know, what Aaron's doing in January, we'll hop on. So it's nice that we have a team that can, that can work, you know, in that way. So when we're talking about hybrids, I don't care either way in person or to, you know, personally, I like in person. I feel easier to collaborate with and talk, talk to with you all about. But I do agree that there is more accessibility in terms of the public.  Now they were going to have to do that again. But that's not me. But anyway, but I understand the flexibility and where January are coming from. And so I'm happy to do either one. And if it's a hybrid, that's fine too. Because yeah, I got home at quarter of seven tonight. So it's like, but I was able to get beyond time. Yeah, I mean, and, and I think what from, from my perspective, generally speaking to one thing is like, here we are trying to improve the environment without with what we're doing here. And here are six people who aren't having to drive from our homes to work or to the town hall and then drive back.   If they have small children to comment on a project. If they don't want to leave their kids. And so then those people are cut out of the equation as far as, you know, being involved with what's going on. So, but I mean, I think you guys are all making amazing points. And I think that there, there is a direction, the direction of the future is, you know, progress and how do we see progress and, and in terms of like, are we going to change with the time? Or are we not, you know, and that's kind of how I see it. It's like, it's a changing world. We're becoming more global and are we going to continue to, you know, restrict access or are we going to open break down barriers and encourage everybody to participate as they have been. Yeah. Access was a good idea, but with times of change. I mean, now we record our meetings, people can go in and look at it anytime they want to see what's going on in the past meetings. So they've got east access thing where it's clearly open. It's just, it's more convenient. I mean, before the open meeting, you've got to go to the meeting to get there. But now you can look at the recording. Yeah. Well, and I think the other elephant in the room is, you know, people are scared still, you know, and afraid even, even with vaccinations, you know, there are children aren't vaccinated yet. You know, there's people in the community who may be immunocompromised or, you know, can't get immunized. And so they're shut out now of the equation too. Talk about accessibility. I mean, imagine if you have a reason that you cannot be immunized, like your only way to participate is by coming in person to the meeting. Right. And so open meeting law. It changes the whole perspective on it. Is it really open to everybody now? You know, but I mean, I think you guys, it's, it's a really interesting discussion. And I think you guys all make really good points. And I guess the question is, we're the only ones sitting here right now with this, and this will be on YouTube, obviously, but do you guys want to submit comments to anyone as far as how it's worked for the conservation commission to say, Hey, it's worked really well for us. We've, you know, it's work well. It's work well. You know, just to say in support or not in support of continuing this way, regardless of, you know, because if, if the legislature approves us continuing this way, and then we're still, you know, not continuing like this, maybe it's important to communicate these thoughts to people who are leaders in town. I don't know. Yeah. Why can't Dave submit this to the town manager. Yeah. I would argue a little bit in favor of an actual letter from the conservation commission to both Paul, Dave, and town council saying that, you know, we'd like to learn from this time and we've, we've noticed that there's increased accessibility. Our commissioners are able to make more meetings and participate in different ways that they weren't able to before. I think articulating our points in an actual letter. Because, you know, I mean, there's a lot of things that we've been doing, but I think that the town council and Paul are in 27,000 meetings a week with all due respect, they're not going to come back and watch this to see what we've been doing. They're on Aaron and Dave to give them updates. And so I, I do think it's a letter that we all digitally sign would be a stronger, a stronger statement. Yeah. My only, the only thought on that is just that we don't have our chair here tonight. So what. If we were comfortable is wait until the June 9th. I mean, I think we're going to be able to hear more about what the trajectory of what's going on in the state legislature is. We'll have more information at the June 9th meeting. Get Brett's input, you know, input, because he would be the one who'd probably. Chair, you know. Lead the letter effort as the chair. But I mean, if, if you feel like that's pushing it down the road too far. We could also like draft something before that. I mean, I think the only thought that I had around drafting before it was, it would just take less time at the meeting, but I don't necessarily, um, I don't have a strong preference either way. Well, how about this? So do you think we'll have minutes to review from this meeting for the next meeting or is that like totally like not. That's, that's what I've been working towards. But I don't want to put all the meetings on you. I was just thinking of like, to like take this and put it into. No, it's been, it's been, you know, since I've, since I've been working for, you know, more full-time for the town, it's been a goal of mine to catch up on minutes. And we're really behind because it's been very busy. So I've been, as you, as you've noticed, because we've had four sets on the last two meetings. Yeah. Really pushing to get caught up in. Well, you know, something we could do also is just because we're also missing Laura, we could just do a, an email out to all of us said, Hey, we just talked about this. We're, we're, we want to hear what. Yeah. Yeah, you can't, I wish that we could, I wish that we could, but it communication amongst members outside of an open meeting is a open. Just mention that we talked about it. And then we're going to bring it up at the next meeting. Okay. I could.  We just have this. We're, we're talking about putting a letter together to voice our support or not support for. Yeah. And, and we can email you Aaron, right? So what. Yes. So would it be helpful if those of us who feel strongly just kind of jotted down the bullet points of why and what we feel send it to you. You put it on the agenda for the next meeting and let Laura and Brett know, Hey, we're going to be discussing this. And that way we have the content and we kind of just need to like push it in. Yeah. Would that make it think about what makes life a little easier? I don't know. Yeah. And I don't want to speak for the commission at all. I want the commission to speak. To. You know, the powers that be in town. So, yeah, you know, that's, that's really entirely up to you how you want to do that. I think that's a good plan. Anna. Okay. So, and I think you're right, Jen. That Brett should like spearhead the actual. Right. Right. Okay. So what we're doing just to confirm. So Aaron, you're going to put it on the agenda for our next meeting in the time from now until that meeting, we will send you, you and you only any thoughts that we have around why we want to see what we want to see. And you will let Brett and Laura know. Did I miss anything or does that cover? No, that sounds great. And in the meantime, if anyone wants to write letters, you know, if you feel strongly about it and you want to write a letter to the mayor, that's also not a bad thing to do.  It's the thunder y'all. It's we're having a time over here. I'll break out in the fair household. Yes. Point taken Aaron, we should write. I should write a letter to the. Okay. Well, I think that's all we had. I have one question. When is the end of this board year? So the end of the. Fiscal year, as I understand it is the end of June, like June 30th. And that's a great, a great and important thing for us to bring up also probably at the next meeting to talk about. For folks whose terms are ending and. People that are ending that I know Brett and me. Okay. And then the other thing on that Aaron is that we'll need to talk about if folks want me to stay as the CPA rep, or if someone else is interested and passionate about it. I'm loving it. So, you know, I'm not trying to leave, but if Fletcher really wants to spot back, he can, we know, we can like thunder dome style, fight it out. But now I'm up for it. But the other thing is if there is a lighter agenda in the future, I would love to give an update of what we did in CPA. It's not. It is not pressing because there was no conservation. There were no conservation projects in the docket, but. Or you're listening pleasure at a future meeting. I'd love to, you know, talk about it. Absolutely. I'll, I'll try to kind of weigh business. This, this meeting really surprised me. Like the last meetings have been, I mean, the weeks leading up to those meetings have been crazy. Like this, this.  So it's like, it gave me a chance to catch up, catch my breath. And I'm hoping for the summer as vacations happen, we'll have time to catch up on. Like those types of administrative details that we really need to. Yeah. That's great. Okay. Good job, Jen. Thanks. Thanks everyone. Great to you. Can I make a motion to adjourn? Okay. Did you actually make the motion pleasure? Was that okay? Yeah. I second it. I second. All right. Okay. Okay. Hi. Hi. Hi. All good. Thank you. Thanks everyone. Have a great night. Bye. My pleasure. Yeah. Have a good weekend.


The power of God isn't just for show or for status so that you can be celebrated or looked to as spiritual or looked to as someone who is great and who has all the answers. No, when you walk in the anointing, my friend, there's a death to self. Things in you have to be crushed. You know, that's how they got the oil for the anointing, is they would crush olives and out of that olive would come oil. But here's the thing, they only crushed the olive because oil was within there in the first place. Pressures don't produce the oil. Pressures reveal the oil. Pressures don't put things in you. Pressures reveal what's in you. And if you go under pressure and you're walking with the Lord that pressure will yield oil. It will yield power.