1984/01/03 OLIN 0\
• (/ TOWN OF BERLIN
0 f �1- -2 INLAND WETLANDS AND WATER COURSES COMMISSION
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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 ,
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Nancy Dubuc
Secretary
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