Pepperell Conservation Commission grants ORAD extension, defers two wetland hearings

PEPPERELL — June 16, 2017 — Pepperell Conservation Commission continues two wetland hearings and approves a three-year delineation extension at its June 16 meeting. The commission deferred the Birch Drive public hearing after receiving a Massachusetts DEP comment citing Stormwater Management Standard 6, which prohibits extended dry detention basins discharging near or to critical areas, effectively requiring the applicant to redesign its stormwater system before the hearing can advance. A second hearing at 13 Field Street was also continued, pending a corrected wetland delineation and an outstanding Planning Board review of a filing received only days before the session. The sole formal approval of the evening was a unanimous vote granting a three-year ORAD extension for a Route 110 residential development site, following a same-day site inspection by Conservation Agent Bob Elliott confirming the isolated wetland boundary remained unchanged. Members also reported that a recent botanical walk on town conservation land yielded an American bladderwort, identified as a Middlesex County record species not typically expected in eastern Massachusetts.