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1984/01/03 OLIN 0\ • (/ TOWN OF BERLIN 0 f �1- -2 INLAND WETLANDS AND WATER COURSES COMMISSION * � • * 00 S E P� .0 / TOWN HALL • BERLIN, CONN. 06037 4)PORATEj January 3 , 1984 A meeting of the Inland Wetlands and Water Courses Commission was called to order by Chairman Harris at 7:34 p.m. in Room 6 of the Town Hall. Those in attendance were : Chairman Harris , Commission- er Dobeck, Commissioner Place , Commissioner Seiner, Commissioner Wiezalis and Commissioner Paskiewicz , Agent for the Commission. Because of the large turnout of people , the meeting was adjourned to the public meeting room and reconvened at 7:39 p.m. Approxi- mately 25 people attended the public hearing portion of the meeting. The following items were discussed : 1 . Application 83-13WF. Public Hearing. Chairman Harris intro- duced the members of the Commission and read the legal notice which appeared in The Herald . He stated that the purpose of this public hearing is to consider a proposal by A . Ciammella & Son, Inc . , to deposit and remove fill in a wetlands and flood plain area on Lots 90 , 89 and 92A , Block 91 , located on the east side of Four Rod Road , 400 ' ± south of Lori Ann Court. This work is for a proposed subdivision. Attorney Dennis Kern, representing A. Ciammella & Son, explained the proposal with the aid of a map for the benefit of the public . He pointed out the wetlands area and noted that no work would be done in the floodway. Attorney Kern stated that this plan has been devised in such a way as to limit the actual amount of fill being taken and redistributed in the wetlands area and , as a result , there would be a mini- mal impact on the floodway fringe area. He further stated that the Town regulations allow for the filling of a fringe wetland area to the extent that the floodway waters are not raised by more than one inch. The total amount of fill would be 6000 cubic yards and , in order to compensate for this filling , a plan has been designed with the cooperation of the abutting property owner to allow Mr. Ciammella to deepen an area by 4500 cubic yards . Therefore , the net difference would be 1500 cubic yards of fill . Attorney Kern added that if you were to project this over the entire fringe area, the impact would be .008 or approximately 1 /10 of an inch. He went on to say that Mr. Ciammella has included in this proposal a portion of land to be deeded to the Town which would help to protect this stor- age area in the future . In regard to the flow of the water during flooding, Attorney Kern stated that in accordance with a study made by • - 2 - Hewitt Engineering, it is felt that the best approach to this use of the property is to get the water out and moving into the stream area as quickly as possible before the peak arrives three to four hours later . Attorney Kern stated that he tryed to summarize for the public the comprehensive report by Hewitt Engineering which was previously presented to the Commission. Mr. Lewis Wroblewski of 173 Lower Lane stated that he was concerned about flooding in the future if building continues higher up. He added that he has lived on Lower Lane all his life and for the first time in sixty years he had 1 ' of water in his barn. Mr. Joseph Cieniewicz of 71 Lower Lane ( Lower Lane Dairy) was concerned about where the fill was coming from and the ele- vation along his boundary line . He told the Commission that he feels that there is a great deal of excess water and no place for it to go . He added that he believes that this proposal would cause the water table to rise and result in more water for those in the area. Mr. W. Ropiak of 20 Golden Hill Street, New Britain, former owner of the property , stated that he never saw water on this property - it was never under water. Attorney Kern stated that the reason the proposed lots must be filled to this extent is that the Town regulations require that 75% of a lot must be out of the wetlands . He added that the original plan had more lots proposed but, at the request of the Commission and the benefit of the people in this area , some lots have been eleminated and a portion of land has been desig- nated to be given to the Town which would prevent future filling. Mr . Rod Hewitt marked the map to show the 100 year flood limit. Mr. Joseph Adolewski of 1224 Farmington Avenue stated that he did not feel that this proposal to deepen a portion of the area would have the proper effect. His property was flooded in 1979 and again in 1982 and he is no longer able to use his base- ment. He feels that the present problem must be corrected before we contribute to it. Mr . Charles Satkowski of 152 Lower Lane stated that the water problem gets worse every year. Mr. Henry Maino of 1260 Farmington Avenue (Berlin Welding Co . ) presented pictures to the Commission which were marked as exhibits #l , #2 and #3 . He stated that in 1979 he had 17" of water and in 1982 , 27" . He strongly recommended that the Com- mission restrict any wetlands from being filled in the Farmington Avenue valley until the Army Corps of Engineers is consulted . Commissioner Wiezalis questioned whether the charts provided by the Army Corps of Engineers used to determine the flood eleva- tions are accurate in regard to an addition Mr. Maino made to - 3 - his building less than four years ago and which has flooded more than once . Commissioner Wiezalis felt that the Town Engineer should look into these flood elevation figures . Mrs . Florence Brusick of 361 Four Rod Road was concerned about whether this proposal would affect drainage on her pro- perty. Mr. Gene Massirio of American Auto Body, 1281 Farmington Avenue , stated that when he opened his business in 1975 , he did not have a water problem but that the problem began in 1979 . He felt that any increase , regardless of how slight, would con- tribute to the existing problem. He added that he would like to continue to do business in Berlin but is hesitant to expand for fear of flooding which could result in loss of inventory . Chairman Harris noted that a letter was received from Mr. Morgan Seelye , Town Engineer, stating that he had reviewed Mr. Hewitt 's report and agreed that the impact of Mr. Ciammella's proposal would be minimal . He added that he felt that the pro- posed excavation on the adjoining Asal property should improve the flood carrying capacity of North Brook. Chairman Harris also noted for the record that letters had been received from Mr. and Mrs . Ropiak and Mr. Howard Asal giving permission to do work on their property as set forth in the application. Mr. Massirio questioned whether there were any future plans concerning the brooks in Town and was told that the Army Corps of Engineers was contacted but that nothing had been done . The Public Hearing was adjourned at 9 :02 p.m. 2 . Discussion. Proposal by Mr. Robert DeMaria of 1165 Edgewood Road to build a bridge across a brook located on Percival Park Road . Mr. and Mrs . DeMaria attended the meeting and pointed out the location of the brook on a map. He stated that the pro- posed bridge would be five or six feet above the brook level and would have no impact on the water. Mr. DeMaria purchased approximately ten acres of land which he would like to manage as woodlot. He added that he has been in contact with the Soil Conservation people and that they would engineer the bridge which would be constructed from timber. Commissioner Paskiewicz made a motion that no application be required at this time for this application in view of the fact that no work is proposed in the brook. Seconded by Commissioner Dobeck. All in favor. Motion carried. 3 . Application 84-1WF. Application by the Mattabassett District to deposit material in a wetlands and flood plain area on Lot 2, Block 75A , located north of Route 72 and west of main line rail- road track to Hartford . Mr . Gregory Abrahamian, Executive Director of the Mattabassett District, attended the meeting and stated that the District has an option to purchase a 22 acre site situated in the Town of Berlin, bounded by the railroad - 4 - tracks on the east, Route 72 on the south, New Britain Machine on the west and Edgewood Avenue on the north. The access to the site would be from Edgewood Avenue , New Britain. He stated that 90% of the project would be funded by federal and state government and 10% by New Britain, Berlin and Cromwell, charter members of the District. One of the conditions of this project is that a disposal site be found for the final solid product, which is incinerated ash. Mr. Abrahamian explained the process of the treatment at the plant, as well as the proposed upgrading , and stated that the various commission members involved in this decision and both mayors were invited to the plant to view the treatment process . He stated that the final product is a non- toxic , nonhazardous ash and presented a sample of the ash to the members . Mr. Joseph Cermola, President of Cardinal Engineering Associates , Inc . , attended the meeting . His firm prepared an elaborate report evaluating the ash disposal site and has work- ed with the DEP, both solid waste and water compliance . He explained the proposed plan for the development, operation and management of the disposal site . He presented maps and noted that the proposal is to grade the site relatively level with a slope toward the pond . A berm would be constructed approximately 3 ' high and 12 ' wide around the site except at the access road and at a 200 foot wide strip adjacent to the pond . The berm would completely isolate this area from any outside runoff and would protect the site from a 100 year flood . He added that approximately 14 acres out of the 22 acres would be filled and out of that approximately 11 acres would be diverted to the pond . The pond would remain for .purposes of flood retention and leachate retention. The level of the pond remains fairly steady at elevation 45 . Mr. Cermola stated that this area is in the floodway fringe ; however, the effect on flood levels would be immeasurable . He went on to say that the application proposes for the future (20-40 years). approximately twenty to twenty-two feet of fill . The fill would be no higher than Route 72 . Mr. Cermola stated that the wetlands area exists along the northern and western boundary lines as indicated on the map but do not appear to be of any significant value to wildlife and appear to be trashy . Mr. Steve Trettel of Goldberg-Zoino & Associates , Inc . , Geotechnical/Geohydrological Consultants , presented engineer- ing sketches to the Commission and explained the geohydrologic impact of this proposal . He stated that the purpose of this study was to investigate how groundwater flows across the site and what the impact of storing ash on this site might have on the quantity and quality of the groundwater. He noted that two groundwater observation wells were -installed at different levels as well as several borings ranging from 60 ' to 80' in depth. These studies indicated that there is approximately 12" of top- soil, 3 to 4 feet of silty sand , 25 to 35 feet of clay, 20 to 30 feet of glacial till, followed by bedrock. Mr. Trettel stated that it was found- that the groundwater level is essen- tially just above the clay. He added that a very important . - 5 - factor found was that any water infiltrating into the ground in this area cannot continue downward by gravity because of the relative imperviousness of the clay deposit and the de- posit underneath it is under pressure and would in fact tend to flow upward (artesian condition) . Mr. Cermola stated that the grading would be flat and , therefore , should prevent any movement of the fill . The berm would be 3 ' above the top of the ash at all times . Mr. Trettel stated that the ash is relatively impervious and 50 to 60 per- cent of the rain would run off the surface to the pond and 40 to 50 percent would infiltrate through the pile into the gravel subdrain and laterally also into the pond . A sketch entitled "Concentrations of Priority Pollutant Metals in Pond" was pre- sented and discussed . Mr. Trettel stated that there would be no impact on the pond or Willow Brook nor would the Town aquifer be affected. A comprehensive report by Goldberg-Zoino & Associates was presented to the Commission. Due to a significant impact on a wetlands area, the Com- mission felt that a Public Hearing should be held . Commissioner Selner made a motion to hold a Public Hearing on Application 84-1WF. Seconded by Commissioner Place . All in favor. Motion carried . The Public Hearing will be scheduled in conjunction with the Zoning Board on February 8 , 1984. 4 . Commissioner Dobeck made a motion to table Application 83-13WF by A. Ciammella & Son, Inc . , and it was seconded by Commissioner Place . All in favor. Motion carried . 5 . The minutes of December 6, 1983 were approved as presented . 6 . Chairman Harris noted that the terms of Commissioner Place and Commissioner Wiezalis expire at the end of this month and that the vacancy left by Commissioner Pentore must be filled . Meeting adjourned at 10:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted , / l Nancy Dubuc Secretary 447~ , - TOwa (T4