By TERRENCE S. MCAULIFFE
The Middlebury Conservation Commission (CC) at its Sept. 30 meeting approved a permit for brush and tree removal previously done on Regan Road. It also approved a cottage expansion on West Lake Road and accepted a Quassy Amusement Park application for commissioner review.
The meeting was chaired by Thomas E. Proulx, who stepped down as chairman last month. Vincent Lorusso, unanimously elected as the new chair on Aug. 26, did not attend the meeting.
A permit for Joseph Bernardi of 450 Regan Road for brush and tree removal performed early in 2014 on Lot 119 in the Hop Brook Wetlands Review Area was unanimously approved with Commissioner George Tzepos abstaining. Bernardi had been issued a cease-and-desist order Feb. 25 and required to submit plans to complete grading activities, silt removal, discharging of drains, temporary trail bridges and replanting acceptable to Wetlands Enforcement Officer Deborah Seavey. His application was not addressed at the March meeting when no quorum of commissioners was present. Bernardi failed to appear at the April and May meetings, and his application was denied June 24 due to lack of sufficient detail.
Expansion of condominium unit 26 on 2 West Lake Road owned by Veronica and Michael Hartlett was unanimously approved with Proulx abstaining, saying he had not reviewed the application. Dymar Civil Engineer Mark Lancor said the work was being done for Paul Largay of Waterbury, under contract to purchase the Cape Cod cottage. Lancor reviewed plans for expanding the house to 2,486 square feet from 1,778 square feet through the addition of a bedroom, porch, vestibule and garage. He said there would be no regrading and all disturbances would be to areas already covered by structures and driveway, calling it minimal activity. Improvements to drainage would include a new storm-water filtration system for the roof, something he called “best management practices,” with existing footing drains left in place. Lancor said updated plans answered comments from Town Engineer John Calabrese and from Seavey with drainage specifications and construction sequence details. In their approval, commissioners specified the current impervious driveway be reconstructed as a gravel driveway.
An application by Quassy Amusement Park to add a snack bar, candy store, two water slides and a new maintenance building was accepted for commissioner review. Quassy President Eric Anderson said he decided to bring in plans for multiple improvements all at once instead of coming in for approvals one at a time. The new maintenance building would update several older buildings; the snack bar, with a deck above it, would serve people enjoying the lake; and the new water slides would consist of a kiddie slide and a larger slide. All the new buildings would follow the old-fashioned train station architecture used in the recently built ticket booth, bathrooms and upcoming train terminal, Anderson said.
The next regular CC meeting will be Tuesday, Oct. 28, at 7:30 p.m. in Room 26 at Shepardson Community Center.
