Report of the Conservation Commission 2009
The Southwick Conservation Commission’s mission continues to be to serve as the conservation conscience of the Town of Southwick, providing leadership for natural resources planning. The Commission works to protect, and where possible, enhance plant and wildlife habitat to maintain Southwick’s natural resources.
We have seven dedicated Commissioners. The Commission re-elected Christopher J. Pratt as Chair, and Seth Kellogg as Vice-Chair, for their sixth year as chair and vice-chair. One of the newest Commissioners Marian Duggan-Markos has taken an active interest in the projects that have come in front of the Commission and has provided her services and experience in the office as well as attending site visits in the field. With only a year on the Commission, Beverly Faulds has taken on the task of revising local bylaws to help close the loopholes that some developers have been using for years to bypass Conservation Regulations. Rick Solek, the most active member on the Commission, has been monitoring ongoing projects on a daily basis, reviewing the details to ensure the success of ongoing replications. Rick has been a valuable asset to the Commission with his knowledge of wetland replication, and agriculture. Mehmet Mizanoglu, a PHD, has been an active member attending almost every meeting and consistently voicing his educated opinion on Conservation issues. David Stansbury, a professional Photographer, continues to provide his photo services and objective opinion as a dedicated member of the Commission. The member who has been on the Commission the longest, Seth Kellogg, continues to add his common sense and vast knowledge and experience to the meetings. Christopher J. Pratt, an environmental science teacher, shares his knowledge with the Commission while running the meetings in an orderly manner.
The year of 2009 has been a relatively quiet year for the Commission, resulting from the economic downturn as development has slowed down. The Commissioners have been seeing a lot of smaller projects in front of them. One subdivision that filed an NOI in 2008 has continued their hearings through 2009 and into 2010. A condominium project on the Phelps Estate in the center of town proposed in 2009 does not have a proposed start date or a potential developer yet.
The Commission continues in their efforts to work with the Lake Management Committee in monitoring the annual, exceptionally successful, treatment of the Lakes for exotic invasive species. In 2009 a limnologist has been employed to test and study the Lakes to provide a management plan for the overall health and wellbeing of the Lakes. The LPP (Local permitting Program) for docks was adopted in 2009.The Commission spent another year working with the LMC and DEP in getting the Local Permitting Process in place to replace the onerous Chapter 91 process for permitting residential docks. All of the fees collected will go exclusively into a lake fund to improve the quality of life on the lakes.
In 2009 the Commission helped with the placement and removal of buoys, continuing the program to protect additional valuable ecological areas while providing information to boaters that the areas indicated are ecologically sensitive.
The Commission worked again this year with Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and the Southwick DPW, receiving a third 319 Grant to correct road storm water runoff problems that had been a major pollutant to the Lakes for many years. This year’s 319 Grant is being used to concentrate on the North Pond siltation and erosion problem areas and will start work in the Spring of 2010. In 2009 The SCC worked with the DPW to help GPS grease traps and sewer connections.
The SCC and the Open Space Planning Committee helped in overseeing the construction, through resource areas, of the recently completed Phase One of the Rail Trail. Our hopes are that Phase One of the Rail Trail which was completed in 2009 providing non-motorized access will end the unauthorized recreational vehicle trespassing that has occurred for many years in this area, destroying the terrain and environment.
The Commission was fortunate to have an environmentally friendly developer propose a project this year. The developer plans to build a CVS store while creating a brook and resource area that had been previously degraded. In the same year a renovation of the Pride Gas Station on the same corner was proposed that will move the gasoline storage tanks out of the buffer zone and also install state of the art systems to clean the runoff water that currently ends up in a resource area untreated.
The Commission oversees an eleven member Open Space Planning Committee. The Southwick Open Space Planning Committee under the Chair of John Stadnicki continues seeking and receiving grant monies to manage Conservation Commission properties.
The Commission continued to work with the Community Preservation Committee in acquiring Agricultural Preservation Restrictions to help preserve some of the remaining farmland in Southwick. In 2009 APR’s for the Nascimbeni farm on College Highway and the Coward farm on Mort Vining Road were voted in at Town Meeting ensuring that these parcels remain as farmlands in perpetuity.
Respectfully submitted,
Christopher J. Pratt, Chairman
Seth Kellogg, Vice Chair
Mehmet Mizanoglu
Richard Solek
David Stansbury
Beverly Faulds
Marian Duggan-Marcos
Jean Cass, Office Support
Dennis Clark, Coordinator