The Conservation Commission on Tuesday approved the restoration plan for the disturbed area at the Charleswood School site off Briarcliff Drive in a 4-0 vote.

In April, conservation administrator Judy Day noted that staff had observed “high volumes of runoff that has sometimes been turbid” coming from the Charleswood site over a few weeks. It ran into a property off Briarcliff Drive owned by the Conservation Commission.

Claire Hoogeboom, a wetlands scientist at LEC Environmental Consultants involved with the project, provided the commission with an update on its restoration efforts. In response to an email from Joe Orzel, the town’s wetlands consultant, she visited the site Monday to observe vegetation regrowth over the past several weeks.

“You  can see that there is a good amount of herbaceous regrowth already occurring within the last one-and-a-half months,” she said as she shared a photo of the southeastern portion of the stormwater restoration area.

She also noted the growth of black huckleberry shrubs, and some black birch seedlings have started to grow. The contractor will not remove the crushed stone or silt bags from that part of the site until the commission provides its feedback.

Hoogeboom proposed that the restoration plan for the 1,500-square-foot restoration area include planting five trees and 10 shrubs in the tire ruts from construction vehicles as a “compromise there” because of the disturbed soil.

Orzel noted that the total restoration area would require the planting of 10 saplings, 22 shrubs and 154 herbaceous plants. Hoogeboom’s plan was to distribute them between the tire ruts and the currently gravel-covered area. Three trees already were proposed for that area.

Orzel and Hoogeboom agreed that spreading a seed mix could wait until the spring, given the promising vegetation reestablishment they observed.

Chair Melissa Recos said Hoogeboom’s ideas “make sense.”

Co-vice chair Ted Barker-Hook asked for an update about the area that was impacted by the water flow. Hoogeboom said she had performed some soil testing and did not observe any soil saturation or standing water. This area will continue to be monitored post construction, she said. Barker-Hook called this “encouraging news.”

Recos asked that an updated restoration plan be provided to the commission with the information discussed. Conservation administrator Judy Day said she would draft a letter with the specifications to include in the file, which the commission authorized in a 4-0 vote.

Chris Eberly, the owner’s property manager for the Charleswood School project, asked if the crushed stone could be removed over the next 30 days so that natural regrowth could occur before the colder weather sets in there. Orzel recommended removing the material “as soon as possible.”

The commission will review the updated plan at its next meeting on Sept. 29.

Commission reviews Baypath request

After discussion, commissioners agreed that a project change request by Baypath Humane Society for its work at 66/66B Fruit Street needed to be reviewed with the applicant present at a future meeting if it decided to pursue the project. Members agreed that it may cause unintended consequences.

At the Aug. 11 meeting, the contractor working on the animal shelter building was reprimanded for not responding to Day’s outreach about stormwater management violations and not taking actions to resolve the issues in a timely manner.

In response to feedback given at that meeting, the contractor submitted an erosion remediation plan. Day explained that it included a request to regrade a portion of the area where a water connection was installed from the building to Pratt Way to direct water away from the impacted wetland. The plan also proposed installing a 3-foot-wide earthen berm 6 inches in height along Pratt Way to divert runoff from the paved roadway into this area disturbed by construction.

Recos pointed out that this change request was proposed by the applicant’s contractor and was not required by the commission as part of the previous enforcement order.

Co-vice chair Matt Moyen told members that the plan is trying to overcompensate for the previous violation.

“My feeling of this proposal here is that they’ve gone too far the other way trying to make right an unfortunate situation,” he explained. “I don’t think it’s necessarily changing things better near- or long-term.”

Moyen said the berm should be temporary. Otherwise it would “concentrate flow” and cause “erosion over time.” A filter sock would be more effective.

On closer inspection of the plans, Moyen said the proposed grading away from the current depression would either make that area more “soggy and wet” or “create a scenario where water is going to come to the edge of the grade, run north and then get into the wetland.

“If you’re going to have runoff that’s potentially going to be sediment-laden in the near term,” he continued, “I’d rather [it] go to an isolated wetland than to a bordering vegetated wetland.”

Barker-Hook suggested that the applicant appear before the board for a discussion.

Day said she will notify the applicant that it either can proceed with its previous plan to regrade the area or discuss a plan change at a future meeting.

Hearings continued

As the meeting began, Barker-Hook announced that the hearings for the proposed dam repair work at the Agilitas Energy property off Frankland Road and the Masumeen Charitable Trust’s request to raze and rebuild the mosque at 115 Wood Street were continued at the request of the respective applicants to Sept. 29.

Due to the lack of a quorum, the hearing on proposed improvements to the Sandy Beach parking lot at 4 Lakeshore Drive was continued until Sept. 29. Recos recused herself from this hearing due to her employment with Tighe & Bond, the firm that has been working with the Department of Public Works on town projects.