The Revere Conservation Commission held its regular monthly meeting last Wednesday evening, October 5, in the City Council Chamber.
Nicholas Rudolph chaired the meeting in the absence of chairman John Shue, with fellow commissioners Joseph LaValle and Brian Averback also on hand.
The meeting was of the short and sweet variety. It lasted for less than 25 minutes and included a recommendation for the acceptance of a donation of six lots of land on Naples Rd. to the city by John Festa for conservation purposes.
The Conscomm first took up the continuation of the public hearing regarding the Notice of Intent (DEP File #061-0786) that had been filed by Irving Oil for the maintenance of its Irving Marine Terminal at 41 Lee Burbank Highway.
The commission had been unable to act on the Notice of Intent (NOI) at its September meeting because the Mass. DEP had not issued a formal file number for the project, which is a prerequisite in order for a local commission to take action on an application.
The engineer and biologist for the project were on hand for the meeting and the members recollected the lengthy presentation they had made in September. The duo answered some general questions from the commissioners and briefly summarized the scope of the work that will be done, which essentially will encase the pilings for the dock, which will last for about 30 years.
The commissioners unanimously voted to approve the issuance of the NOI with the usual conditions.
The commissioners then took up a Request for Determination of Applicability by Boston Gas Company (National Grid) pertaining to the installation of a 1740 foot underground natural gas main pipeline within existing paved roadways in Malden and Revere along Lynn Street.
An environmental scientist appeared on behalf of National Grid. He told the commission that the project will entail the installation of about 525 linear feet in Revere in a trench about four deep and two feet wide. He said the trench will be back-flilled at the end of the day and any excess fill will be removed.
The project will not get underway until April 15, 2023.
Although the new pipe will be located in a flood plain, inasmuch as there will be no further impact on the public roadway (Lynn St.) that already is there, National Grid is seeking a determination that it does not need to file a Notice of Intent.
The commissioners asked questions about traffic flow and the staging of the equipment.
Rudolph noted that the work that is being done is exempt from the Wetlands Protection Act and the commissioners unanimously voted to determine that the project does not require an NOI.
The commission then took up the matter of the donation by John Festa of the Festa Construction Co. of six lots of land on Naples Road to the City of Revere for conservation purposes.
Rudolph said he had walked the land in question and reported to the commission that there is “no significant dumping” on the site and “no considerable reason why we shouldn’t accept this.”
The commissioners then voted unanimously to recommend that the city accept the donation of land.
The final matter before the board was the NOI filed by Target, 36 Furlong Drive at Suffolk Downs (DEP File #0610787), to replace the existing asphalt parking lot.
Caycee Hart, an engineer with Kimley-Horn, presented the project to the commission. She said the majority of the project will entail the milling of the existing hardtop, leaving the base intact. There will be no additional impervious areas and the drainage patterns will remain the same.
The only areas of land disturbance will be portions of the parking lot where a low spot will be regraded. There will be the usual erosion and sediment controls because the lot abuts the nearby wetlands.
Rudolph had walked the site with Ms. Hart and recommended to her that the engineering firm increase its environmental protection barriers, which she agreed will be done.
Averback asked whether the adjacent Stop and Shop parking lot will be repaved as well, “because that’s a disaster,” he said. However, Hart said that her project only addresses the Target lot.
The commission unanimously voted to issue the NOI.
In the general discussion portion of the meeting, LaValle mentioned that the old pilings at the former Captain Fowler’s site are still standing, even though the commission had made the removal of the pilings a condition of the issuance of the NOI for the project
Rudolph said he also sees them every day on his way to work. The commissioners agreed that the matter should be addressed at a future meeting for a possible enforcement action.
