Conservation Commission continues child care center buffer-zone addition to December

PEPPERELL — November 5, 2019 — Pepperell Conservation Commission continues child care center buffer-zone review to December. The commission voted unanimously at its November 5 meeting to continue a request for determination filed by applicant Ken Casey for a 910-square-foot addition to the Stanley Tree Child Care Center at 26 Hollow Street, with a continued hearing set for December 3, the day after the Planning Board's expected major site plan review. Engineer Jack presented a subsurface drainage design using Cultec chambers calculated to contain a full 100-year storm event on the 710-square-foot net new footprint, with overflow estimated at just 0.04 cubic feet per second during that event. Members also discussed a planned December vote on accepting a donated 10-acre parcel off Wheeler Street for conservation, valued by a commission-funded appraisal and described as rare-species habitat connected to land the town already holds. A commission member identified as Pat was recognized for 86 hours of volunteer invasive-species removal on five acres of Division of Fisheries and Wildlife land, during which she discovered a potentially state-listed orchid; members separately reported finding an S1-ranked grape fern, Botrychium oneidense, on the commission-owned Bloodbrook Ravine parcel.