The Conservation Commission at its meeting Tuesday voted 5-0 to appoint Judy Day as the town’s new conservation administrator.

Day’s most recent position has been with the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization, where she has managed its climate resilience and air quality programs for more than two years. Her focus has been on environmental planning in relation to transportation. She has a background in geoscience and environmental studies.

“I’m excited to broaden the scope of my work and have more of a local impact with Hopkinton and do work near where I live,” said Day, a Westborough resident.

Day is replacing Kim Ciaramicoli, who announced her resignation on Aug. 20 after more than three years in this role to take a position in the private sector. She has been helping the commission on a per diem basis to help bridge the gap while the town searched for her successor.

Anna Rogers, the town’s environmental & inspectional services coordinator, noted that she was part of the first team that interviewed Day. Conservation Commission chair Melissa Recos participated in the second round of interviewers, along with Principal Planner John Gelcich and other members of town staff.

Added Rogers: “We are super happy that Judy decided to accept our request to become the new conservation administrator.”

Board members welcomed Day and praised Ciaramicoli at her final meeting for her work over the past few years. Ciaramicoli spoke about her “great respect” for the board for “volunteering to make your neighborhoods a better place.”

“I just wanted to say for the record that this board is amazingly talented and resilient,” said Ciaramicoli. “The work that you do is so important and undervalued.”

She added that she “will be providing on-call advisement and review of legally binding documents” for the commission as Day transitions into the role.

Commission approves plan for replacement of trees

The commission approved of a plan to replace twice the amount of the trees that were cleared up to the 50-foot buffer area by a contractor for the Elmwood Farms III subdivision now known as Newbury Glen off Blueberry Lane.

At its Aug. 20 meeting, the commission chastised Ted Merchant, the director of land development for Toll Brothers, for allowing this to happen. Ciaramicoli and Merchant had agreed that the contractor could remove trees from a 15-foot work area to allow for the installation of a French drain, but the contractor removed trees from double that area.

Merchant presented a replacement plan for the planting of 30 trees to replace 15 that were cut. Tree species proposed included tulip poplar, white oak, scarlet oak, pin oak and American linden. Ciaramicoli said the species were appropriate for the area.

Merchant also explained that the pipe will be installed within the next two weeks, which would delay the planting of these trees until the spring.

Recos questioned Merchant about the indication on the plan that the homeowners association would have a proposed 15-foot easement. Merchant explained that the pipe would be running behind the homes at Newbury Glen. All plantings would be outside of the easement. The homeowners association would maintain the pipe, which also runs into land donated earlier this year to the Open Space Preservation Commission.

Conservation Commission member Ed Harrow, who also serves as the OSPC chair, said he was pleased with the tree species selection, as it reflected what he remembered there. But he pointed out that he previously asked about four trees that were removed that were not within the Conservation Commission’s jurisdiction. Merchant said he is “open to” planting replacement trees there.

“I need to report back to the [OSPC] more than that you’re open to it,” Harrow said. “I need a commitment.”

At that point, Merchant said he was “happy to commit” to the replanting. He will adjust the plan and forward copies to the Conservation Commission and the OSPC.

Harrow added that the OSPC had been “a little antsy” about taking the land in the first place because of the pipe.

Said Harrow: “There’s some dissension in the ranks about this.”

Ciaramicoli noted that “the applicant has been cooperative with us.” A vote was not needed to confirm acceptance of the plan because it did not evolve into an enforcement status. She advised Rogers and Day to draft a memo to keep in the file to document the acceptance of the plan and forward it to the OSPC.

Recos and Merchant agreed to a June 1, 2025, deadline for the completion of the tree planting, although this may be modified if Merchant encounters problems in the spring.

Merchant added that a new contractor would be performing the wetland replication work on the site.