Pepperell Conservation Commission approves Walcott Drive native-habitat restoration project

PEPPERELL -- March 7, 2023, Pepperell Conservation Commission approves native-plant restoration in wetland buffer, names CPA rep. The commission voted unanimously Tuesday to issue a negative determination of applicability for a project by property owner Ronald Carr at the corner of Walcott Drive and Elm Street, clearing the way for removal of buckthorn, Oriental bittersweet, and burning bush from a bordering vegetated wetland buffer zone and replacement with native shrubs, grasses, and perennials. Landscape designer Susan Flink presented detailed planting drawings showing proposed winterberry, swamp azalea, clethra, serviceberry, and blueberry viburnum among the plantings, with a small bank-resting footbridge over the intermittent stream. Member Tim Josephson cautioned that wheeled equipment should be kept out of the wet buffer zone, and member Patricia Rice urged a multi-year buckthorn monitoring plan, noting "you not only have the roots coming back, but the seeds, plus birds carry all sorts of goodies." The commission also unanimously appointed member Rob Rand as its representative to the newly forming Community Preservation Act committee, following Town Meeting's adoption last year of a 1 percent CPA surcharge, and issued a certificate of compliance for completed dam-removal and culvert work at 31 Oak Hill Street, the Kyes Park and Conservation Area. Administrator Paula presented a cost-of-community-services analysis finding the town spends just 19 cents per dollar of open-space revenue on municipal services, compared with $1.09 per dollar for residential land, figures she framed against a potential $20 million to $40 million PFAS water-treatment system and a school-budget increase of roughly $2.5 million.