Work
Session
Members present; Alec
MacMartin, Selectmen’s Rep. Dan Donovan, Neil Faiman, Chairman Matt Fish, Brian
Sullivan, Andrew Fairbank, Jeff Kandt, NRPC Representative Steve Wagner and
Alt. David Holder.
Jim Tuttle and Tom Herlihy
were present to represent the Water Department.
They showed a booklet
produced in 1993 that illustrated the wellhead protection area on the
cover. The booklet was produced by Doug
Heath who now works for the DEA in
They also showed another
map that showed the Lorden land that was sold.
Mr. Tuttle presented maps
1.
Figure 1: Designated WHAP and Tax Maps near
2.
Figure 2: Monitoring Wells located near the
Proposed Gravel Excavation Area,
3.
The Wilton N.H. Wellhead Protection Area Pilot
Project by Douglas Heath dated Oct 1993 (on file at town hall and the Water
Dept.)
Ground
water management section U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Reg. 1,
Joanna Eckstrom was
present and reviewed the maps.
Mr. Fish explained that a
lot of the land was excavated prior to the Excavation District being
established. The majority of the land is
not in the excavation district.
A letter dated
Discussed the trade for
material from the blue area on the map for land near the wells. After the excavation the area will end up
with more land and will be 4 feet higher in the water table. Mr. Tuttle’s concern is that with more
permits and no control that we can’t be guaranteed things will be done
correctly.
What is going on now even
though it is in the zone, the information of the water in Mike Davidson’s land
and the Quinn’s lots, with the excavation and where they are working now the
flow of the water is going away from the wells and ledge and the water is going
to the
Mr. Fish commented the
Board does not have any intention of polluting the water.
Mr. Tuttle and Herlihy
were informed the ordinance has not added anything or changed what can be done
there. This is a work in progress and if
the Water Commission has concerns or would like to recommend standards that
they would like to see incorporated in this zone to protect what is there, for
example; depth of water table, they can certainly be incorporated to make sure
there is no detrimental effect. Every
application goes through a review.
Mr. Tuttle felt that the
focus in on this area now but the Board felt there was limited excavation areas
left in town.
Mr. Faiman mentioned there
are changes to amend the ordinance or to change the regulations. In the past we have not done a lot with those
regulations the Board would be happy to get a list of recommendations from the Water
Commission to go into the town’s gravel operation.
On the map, the blue line
is wellhead protection area or water recharge area. The difference is the wellhead protection is
best management practices. 400 foot
radius.
From Town meeting in
February 2004 the land was swapped and that was before the Gravel Excavations
ordinance was in place.
Ms. Eckstrom asked if what
was voted at town meeting was to only do excavation in this area? The answer was the new operations maybe a
very small section if any could be excavated here. (Referring to the wellhead
protection area). She also said she
lives on
Tom Quinn said he
recognizes the maps presented by Jim Tuttle as the maps made by Emory and
Garrett when New Spartan came in for the Davidson excavation application.
“Water Department spent
$30,000 to pay for the test wells because this was put here”, said Mr. Tuttle.
Dan Donovan apologized if
the water commission is offended by lack of specific notice. Abutter notice is not required for an
ordinance. This Board is well in tuned to the issues. The status that regulate at the state level,
155-E, states the regulator should not give a permit where the excavation would
damage an aquifer or would be at risk to the public. The Board said even if they wanted to grant a
permit could not do so with this protection in place. Mr. Donovan said he would be happy to be a
member of a committee to work with the water department to protect this area.
Mr. Tuttle said that the
Souhegan Valley Engineering and Mr. Quinn’s engineers were well under way
before this was in place so he feels the permits were on the table. The Board stated that the landowners can have
their engineers working on the projects way before it is ever submitted to the
Planning Board so they may not be aware of the applicant’s intentions until it
comes before the Board, just like other Boards or Commissions would not know
about it either until it is made public.
Andrew Fairbank wants to
clarify and separate two areas of concern.
First, is the concern with the Excavation District, that they can excavate
in this area? Second, that they are
grandfathered and part of the permit process to take more gravel would be
studies that they don’t disturb the recharge area and that would further
restrict the gravel being taken from
Discussed that the Water
Commissions are joined as necessary partners for this and then the Town and or
Water Department goes out and hires independent engineers at the expense of the
applicants. The applicant has to know
this could be an expensive project. The
Water Dept. can recommend who they would like to conduct the engineering
review.
Steve Wagner found
research online: Commonly used methods for Wellhead Protection Areas
Delineation, dated Feb. 2004
VOTE: Mr. Faiman moved the Planning Board establish a joint
committee with 2-3 members of the Planning Board and 2-3 members of the Water
Commission to draft proposed additions to the Town’s Gravel Excavation
Regulations or ordinance with specific attention of the ground water
research. Mr. MacMartin seconded.
Mr. Donovan said he must
disclose that he is friendly with all three members of the Water Commission and
he has provided legal services prior to being elected as selectmen and asked if
they felt he should recluse himself. No
one present in the room stated they felt he should recluse himself.
Motion passed unanimously to the vote.
The Board asked if the
Water Commission members would participate and they said yes.
Alec MacMartin, Dan Donovan and Neil Faiman will be on the
committee while NRPC will provide services.
The first meeting will be June 7 at
100% of the water of the
well comes from across Rt. 31 to the Everett Well.
The Everett Well captures
all the best material that is across the street.
Ms. Eckstrom asked what was approved at town meeting. She was told the vote created a district in
which all excavation in the areas will happen and they increased the
regulations on the detrimental effects not harmonious to living in
Jim Tuttle discussed how
the aerial photo indicated the best area to develop the current wells. Both wells are 52 feet deep. It is the purest water also.
Discussed water treatment
plants and why it is cost prohibitive to build one. They would like to protect the wells all the
way up to
Tom Herlihy read from page
22 under “
Mr. Herlihy presented a
map titled Wilton New Hampshire Well Head Protection Area Delineation Pilot
Project dated
Leighton White -
Gravel pit inspection
Alec MacMartin is off the Board.
Mr. White was not present at this time.
Matt Fish made a site
visit and reviews the photos and what was found on-site.
Mr. MacMartin said the
stumps were going to be chipped and used to reclaim the area. Suggest if it is an issue to write Mr. White
a letter. Mr. Tuttle reported the
incident at a recent meeting and was questioned on what he saw.
The ZBA permit expires in
Nov. 2006. It is controlled in the
special permit. Page A-48 Prohibited
Uses.
Leighton White arrived at
Mr. White stated that he
was not burying stuff and will get anything that does not belong there out of
there and clean it up.
Mr. White said the bond
was at the office since around
VOTE: Mr. Sullivan moved to grant a 90 day permit renewal that
can extend contingent on the solid waste being removed from the site and
keeping the same bond in place. Mr.
Donovan seconded the motion. Motion
passed.
Alec MacMartin is back on the Board.
Elected Officer
David Holder offered to be
available at request when he is in town to aid in some of the responsibilities
of the chairman.
VOTE: Mr. MacMartin made a motion to appoint co-chairs Brian
Sullivan and Andrew Fairbank. Mr.
Donovan seconded the motion. Motion
unanimously passed.
VOTE: Mr. Sullivan moved to approve a subcommittee of Jeff Kandt,
Neil Faiman and Brian Sullivan to form an IT Committee (Information
Technology). Mr. MacMartin seconded the
motion. Motion passed.
VOTE: Mr. Sullivan moved to adjourn at
Respectfully submitted,
Kathleen Humphreys
_______________________________
LETTERS ON FILE THAT WERE
READ DURING THIS MEETING:
Note: Mr. Tuttle didn’t leave the secretary a copy of the letter
the night of the meeting but this was handed in. This was read by Mr. Tuttle.
To: Wilton Planning Board
From: Water Commissioners Tom Herlihy and Jim Tuttle
Date:
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Wilton Water
Commissioners Tom Herlihy and Jim Tuttle wish to strongly disagree with
Planning Board’s Article 2 as passed at the March 2006 elections.
At no time were the Water
Commissioners consulted on this article prior to it being put on the ballot
even though several Planning Board members were well aware that the affected
area is part of the recharge system for the Town’s two production wells. This information was widely distributed
during the latest Quinn Bros./Davidson hearings and approvals.
Apparently all of the
engineering work done by Emery and Garret Groundwater and paid for by the Water
Commission and the findings of the Doug Heath EPA report were disregarded by
the Planning Board when they crafted their article.
We feel that no
more permits should be issued beyond those already approved until a comprehensive
study of the entire aquifer replenishment area has been completed.
Further, while the Water
Commission will contact New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services and
the Federal Environmental Protective Agency for their input, it should be incumbent
on the Planning Board to sponsor and pay for a complete assessment of the
potential aquifer recharge damage that may result from further gravel removal
in the so-called “gravel removal district.”
Anything less amounts to gross negligence on the Planning Board’s
part. This study should have been
performed prior to the article being voted upon, but since the deed is done, a
moratorium should be placed on future expansion until all parties are satisfied
that no harm will come to the Town’s water supply.
There has been some
mention, by a Planning Board member, that the Water Commissioners favored
expanding the gravel pit in this area and were in favor of Article 2. Nothing could be further from the truth
regarding the feelings of Commissioners Tuttle and Herlihy. We objected to the most recent Quinn
expansion from the outset and only set up the stringent rules now in place as a
last resort because it was apparent that a permit was going to be issued
despite our misgivings.
We are not now nor will
we, in the future, be in favor of expanding the gravel mining operation in the
area described in Article 2 until and when a thorough investigation of
potential harm to the Town wells has been completed and we are convinced that
no harm will come to our public water supply.
To do otherwise would betray the confidence that the voters have placed
in us and the competence the water users expect.
Commissioners Herlihy and
Tuttle will consider legal action if the Planning Board does not honor the
above request to any further actions to expand gravel removal in the Wilton
Grave District.
Respectfully submitted
Tom Herlihy, Jim Tuttle
____________
Tom Herlihy read from page 22 under “
Permeable stratified drift covers 5.2 mi. or about 20% of
The most important
aquifer available for additional development is along the