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Conf irmat ionofConversat ion andReques tforEnfo rcementOrde rNovembe r4 2010Ms Sarah LaVal leyConservat ionAgen tPlanningDepar tmentCi tyofNorthamptonDea rSarahThankyou forth e conversat ionwe h ad on TuesdayNovembe r2 Ie lt t ha titboth clar i f ied th e procedures tob efo l lowedregarding th e cu r r en tredevelopment proposalmov ing t hrough th e Plann ingBoardand a ls ogavemeachance tovo i ce someofm y concernsI am wri t ing pr imar i ly toconf irm m y understandings result ing f r omou rconversation Itism y understanding t ha tth e Conservat ionCommiss ion has no tye tconsideredors ignedoffon th e redef in i t ionof P h a s e 1 ofth eredevelopmentofth e Fairgrounds despite th e assertion b y staf fa t th e Plann ingBoardhear ingofOctober 28 t ha t th eConservat ionCommiss ion f e l t t ha t no f u r the rdeterminationwas needed and t ha t t hep lan before th e PlanningBoardwas no t substant ia l lydif ferent f rom th e one presented toth e Conservat ionCommiss ion inMarchYou indicated tom e t ha t th e p lansare no tye t f u l l y f ina l izedand t ha t theywillcome toth e ConservationCommiss ionforconsideration af te r th e appl icat ion iscomplete A sI nderstanditConsComwillc o n s i d e r th ep lans fo r pro jectsno t inc ludedinth e vers ionofP h a s e1onwhich they ru led inMarch 2010 these pro jects inc ludeth e new proposals invo lv ing disturbanceofan addit ional200000 square fee tofl and forsuch th ingsas completedemol i t ionofallth e horse barns a longCrossPathRoad no t j u s t t he tw o l ong barnsIecal lbe ing d i s c u s s e d inMarch aconcrete walkway12 fee tacross and somehundreds offee t long a mu l t i purpose area ofconsiderableextenttobe surfacedwith t rap rockgrave l t hebu i l d ingofthree new horse r ings toreplace tw o current lyexist ingr ings and th e drainage s y s t e m s a s s o c i a t e d with those pro jectswhich imp lementpar tsofth e mastersystem t ha t isin tended todisposeofwatero n m y l andItwas ve ry he lp f u l toknow t ha t these pro jectswillcomebe fo re th e Conservat ionCommiss ion b e c a u s e a t th ePlann ingBoardmeetingofOctober28 2 01 0 a sIndicated itwas stated t ha tConsCom had dec ided t ha t no f u r the rdeterminat ionwas needed on th e p lans b e c a u s e ConsComh addec ided theywere no t substantially dif ferent f romth e p lansConsCom approved inth e sp r ing Att h e t imeIwonderedhow andwhen su chadeterminat ioncameabou t s in ceIh ad seenno ag enda i tem pertain ing toth e Fairground onConservat ionCommiss io n a g e n d a s norh adIece ivedanyabu t te rsnot ice forsuch considerationIthas c a u s e d m e considerably anxiety toth i nk t ha tadditions toth e p lans fo r P h a s e1ofth e redevelopmentofth eFairgroundofth emagni tude abovewou l dbe undertakenwithou t properconsideration b y th eConservat ionCommiss ion Las tsp r ing itwas reassur ing tohave th e open process t ha twe as abuttersand neighborswereafforded invo lv ing si te vis i ts and opportunities fort hepub l i c tovo ice concernsabou t th ema tte r a swe l las th e ve rycare fu lexaminat ionofth e p lans b yConsCommembers before approva lwas granted forth e horsebarns Iwasalso reassuredb y th e condit ions t ha tConsCom se ton th e deve lopment part icular ly condit ions 38 43 which s e e m e dtobeareasonable compromiseal lowing th e Fa i r toproceedwith someofitspro jectswhi le also protect ing th eneighborhood f rom f u r t he radverseeffects associatedwith Fa i ract iv i t iesand bu i ld ing pro jectsIam request ing t ha t t he Conservat ionCommiss ion i ssue an enforcement order basedon condit ion43ofth eOrde rofCondit ionswhich states nowork can take place o t he r than horse barn demoli t ion construction ofnewbarns andre la teddrainage improvments described fo r P h a s e1inth e Not iceofIn ten tand referenced plans un t i lanOrde rofCondit ions permit t ing offsite drainage improvementshas been issued b y th e NorthamptonConservationCommiss ion P l e a s e di rec t th e Fa i rAssociat ion tofileanot iceofin ten tandobtain anOrde rofCondit ions beforeproceedingwith anyworkorengaginginanyact iv i t iesper t inent toredevelopment inth e j ur isd ict ion areaunde r th eConservat ionCommiss ion t ha tgoesbeyond those permit ted Su ch an order s e e m s part icular lycr i t i ca linv iewofth e stated in ten tofth e Fa i rAssociat iontobeg in construction on November5 tomo rr ow as statedb y Bruce

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Shallcross inth e Gazette tw oweeks ago Please pu t t h i s mat tero nth e agenda forth e Conservat ionCommiss ionas soon as possib leand please inform meofth e date t ime and place a twhich itwillbe d i s c u s s e dItwas also ve ryhe l p f u l tob e able tovo ice toyou someofm y in i t ia lconcerns abou tth e proposed addit ions toP h a s e1 A sIe c all w e discussed the fo l low ing i ssues which are mere lym y initialr e s p o n s e s toth e proposals F i r s t asindicatedabove th e project isbe ings e g m e n t e d t ha t is elementsofP h a s e2a rebe ingconstruc tedas pa r tofP h a s e1wh i ch cou ldmake th e disposalofwater ontom y pasture e i the rafaitaccomp l ioran inev itabi l i tyItwas alsom y understanding t ha t th e D PW had dec ided t ha t large scaleredevelopmentofth e Fairground si te h ad tob e coordinated with th e deve lopmentofp lans forth e roads around th e site O ld FerryRo ad C ro ssPathRoad andFa i rStree t Atapub l i cmeet ingofth e neighborhooda t th e Fa i rAssociation inth e sp r ing Te r iAnderson infac tindicated t ha tshewas going toin i t iate conversations dur ing th e s umme rwith ne ighborsabou t t he i rdesi resforth e p lann ingofth e roads so t ha twork cou ldge tunderway a t th e meeting neighbors indicated th e desire fo r pub l icmeet ings abou tany redesignofth e roads b e c a u s e these roadswereofin terest tomanymore than j u s t residentswhosehouses area l ong th e roads Iol lowed u p with aca l l toth e Ci ty Eng ineerwho conf i rmed tha titisstandardpract ice tohave pub l i c hear ingsabou tth e redes ignofroads Th e dra inageproblemsofCrossPath Roadarenotor ious af fect ing th e Bobala property especia l ly b u ta lso impact ingonallth e propert iessouthward inc lud ingmymeadow Obv ious ly th e drainage ofth e mu l t i purpose areamus t be coordinatedwith th e drainageofCross PathRoads ince t ha tproposedareaabuts th e road fo raconsiderabledistance even th e direct ion inwh i ch t ha tfaci l i ty isgraded east toward th e roadand ul t imate lym y propertyorwes taway f rom it isre la ted toth e long term plans fo rth e roads Itisnow t ime tol ooka t th e l a rge rp ic t u r eofp lanning th is areaofth e c i ty toth e extent t ha tareaswith in th e jur isdic t ionofth e Conservat ionCommiss ion are invo lvedStillano the rconcernt ha tImentioned toyou isth e proposal tou se t rap rock grave l forth e so cal ledmu l t i p u r p o s earea Ifth e proposals c la im tha t th e demoli t ionofth e barns a longCrossPath isane tga in fo r infi l tration b u t thenmuchofth e areaonwhich the barns current lysitiscoveredwith as u b s t a n c e t ha tove r t ime b e c o m e s impermeab leorresists infi l tration when itisdr iven ove r b y large vehic lesorusedasapark ing lotas proposed th e numbers andt imel inemus tbeca re f u l l yconsidered regardingabsorpt ionofwateron th e si te l ong termin f i l t ra t ion rates anddisplacementofwateroffsite These th ingsmu s tb eg i v e n close scru t inydur ing th e permi t t ingprocessand t h e ymus t b e expla ined tot h e pub l i cbefore t h eFa i rhasanOrde rofConditions to proceedwith itsplans t ha twere no tinc luded inth e p r io rOrde rofCondit ions The inf i l t rat ion rateoft rap rock grave las itbecomesmoreimperv iouso ve r t ime isqu i t e dif ferent f rom grass asI nderstandInaddit ion toth e prev ious concerns Imentioned toyou t ha ta tapub l i cmeet ingofth e neighborhood cal led b y th eFa i rAssociation a t t he i roff ice onOctober13 2010 B ru c eShallcross indicatedt ha t th e Association had du gou tsomeofth e channelsdesigned toaccommodate drainage forI91 b u twh ich have neve rbeenmainta inedb y th e Stateorth e Ci ty Ido no tknow ifh e rece ivedaD EP numbe rfort ha twork He reported t ha t th e construct ion hadsignif icant lymit igated f looding onCross Path Road dur ingalargestorm after t he i rwork andInfac tnoticed tha tt herewas no standingwatero n m y property after t ha tstorm Itmayb e t ha t t h ewo rkMr Shal lc rossdirectedwasi lle g a l b u t itss u c c e s s isnotable Itwou ld seem t ha tone ke y toasuccessfu l s t o rmwate rp lan forth e Fairground isget t ing th eI91 drainage system operat ingproper lyunder th e superv is ion e i the rofth e Stateorifne cessaryth eCi ty Because th eCi ty isaj o in tapp l icantwith th e Fa i rAssociat ion forth e redevelopmentofth e property itd o e sno t seem unreasonable forth e Ci ty toundertake an in i t iat ive toge t th e State tomainta in th eI91 drainage s y s t e m ortoundertake th is responsibi l i tyand expense i t se l fifn e c e s s a r yIfth eI91 system isoperat ingproper ly itmay obviatewater sheet ingdownCross Path Road onto th e Fa i rproperty and thenon tom y property Ifth is isth e case th e calculationsoff low rate f rom th e Fairground ontom ymeadowwillhave tobe reconsideredand recalibrated N ew observat ionsandmeasurementswillhave tobeundertaken and th e ent i re s tormwaterp lan recalculatedF ina l ly I aveaconcern t ha twe d id no tspeakabou t Ithas beensta tedinsevera lpub l i c contexts t ha t th e newproposed horse r ings and th e new proposedmu l t i purpose faci l i tywould havedra inage s y s t e m s t ha twouldeventual lyfit into th emasterp lan evacuat ings tormwaterontom y la n d b u t th a tinth emeantime noth ingwouldchange as these drainswillempty into th e eastern detent ionpond and thence be pumped in to th e westerndetent ionpondwhere th ewaterwillf low in to t heWi l l i ams StreetBrook system Ido no t bel ieve t ha t th is proposalrepresents no change tocu r r en tdrainage condit ions Atpresentmuc hofth e stormwater ru n o ff f rom th e areaof

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th e o ld barns and th e new horse r ings actual ly r unsoffontoCross Path Roadors h e e t s down toward Fa i rStreet T odi rec tasignif icantamoun tofth i s water tot heWi l l i ams StreetBrook po t en t i a l l yasmuchasaone third i n c r e a s e into ta lru n offf rom th e Fa i rproperty b e c a u s e present lya t leastaquar te rofth e s tormwaterdoes no tgo into th eexist ing l ine willimpac tadverselyallth e propert iesabut t ing t heWi l l i ams Stree tBrook storm water l ineItiswe l lknown t ha t th eWi l l iams StreetBrook l ine isove rcapacity and cannot absorb anymorewa te r Th i s isth ereason t ha t th e engineershave designedasystem tocar ry th e storm wa te r associatedwith new deve lopmenteastward ra ther thanwestw ard inth e p r o c e s s propos ing toal te r the natu ra ltiltofth e la nd T he presentproposaltotemporar i lydirect s tormwater into t heWi l l i amsSt ree tBrook l ine and henceincreasewater f l ow in to t ha t l inewillcer tainlyadversely impac tm y l ower lotnearestm y house t hroughwhich theWi l l i ams StreetBrook l ine r unsB e c a u s e ofth e surchargeoft ha t l ine a t present there iscur ren t lyahugewash ou tofth e l ine o nm y propertywhichIbrought toth e attent ionoft h eDPW inth e sp r ing Workers came and p u t u p stakeswith hazardtapearound th elargeho le s o as topreven tm ymower f rom fa l l ing in toitwith h is mowingmachine promis ingtofixth e wash ou t inth e s umme r Noth ing has beendone torepai r th e damage todate Inave ry immediatew ay a nymorewa te r sen tin to t heWi l l i ams Stree tBrook l inewillerodem y propertyInconclus ion letme say t ha tI elieve itisimportant tohaveave rydel iberateapproach toredeveloping th e Fa i rproperty so t ha twe havearesu l t t ha t issatisfactory forth eCi ty forth e Fa i r fornearbyneighbors and propertyowners and forth e env i ronment Th i s ou tcomeneeds tob e durable fora t leas tfiftyyears The re isnowatw o yearper iod inwhich th e 4mi l l ion gran tcan b e used Th i s gives t ime tobeg in construct ionalreadypermit tedb y th e Conservat ionCommi tee tomee t th eOrde rofConditions t ha t th e Conservat ionCommission has alreadyissued and tof ind an a d e q u a t e p lan foroffsi te drainageofth ewaterofth e FairgroundInth e shor t termI ertainlyreques tmore t ime forconsideration ofth e proposalsnowwith th e Planning Boardbefore theyare implemented Iam inth e processofengaging an engineer toindependent ly rev iew th e p lans andIwillneed t ime toundertake t ha t rev iew b u thope tohave itdone b y t h e t ime t heConservation Commiss ion takes u pth ematterAga in t hank you ve r ymuch foryou r consideration ofalltheseconcernsSincerely yours

Mar ia Tymoczko28PomeroyTerraceNor thampton MA0106 0arc c Conservat ionCommiss ionmember s S te ph enGi l son Cha i rofth e Plann ingBoard NedHunt l e y JamesLaur i la DougMcDona l d Michae lPill E sq