[0:10] Uh good evening everybody. Welcome to
the conservation uh commission meeting
[0:15] for Wednesday, February 18th, 2026.
Uh this meeting will is being cablecast
[0:22] by Area 58 Community Access Media
Channel 15 and will be posted by Area 58
[0:26] on YouTube as soon as possible. Um, all
of our continued public hearings tonight
[0:32] have been continued. One more meeting to
March 4th, which looks to be a pretty
[0:36] busy meeting. [clears throat] Uh, so we
have a very light schedule tonight. Uh,
[0:40] first order of business, I would like to
uh introduce our new conservation agent,
[0:45] Olivia Prior. Olivia comes from us from
uh to us from Marian. Do you want to
[0:50] introduce yourself somewhat a word or
two
[0:53] » about what you did? So, yeah, I used to
work for the conservation commission and
[0:58] planning board in um in Marian. Um and I
just started this month and I'm excited
[1:03] to work with you all and um learn more
about the projects going on and see what
[1:09] I can bring for each of those.
>> Welcome aboard. Yes.
[1:14] » Great. Um okay. Uh we only have three uh
issues tonight for uh on discussions.
[1:20] Um, and we'll start with Sarah Hans.
>> So, this is a uh a bit a discussion on a
[1:29] warrant article for the annual town
meeting.
[1:32] [clears throat]
>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, I I don't have
[1:36] anything to give you because I plan for
this discussion to end with my telling
[1:41] you I'm going to withdraw the article.
[laughter]
[1:46] » [clears throat]
>> Um, so I had originally um put a put an
[1:50] article in to the select board and it
read something like this uh to see if
[1:55] the town will um prohibit the building
of any any the approval of any house lot
[2:03] that has more for construction, single
family home construction that has more
[2:08] than 30% wetlands on the lot, including
Cranberry Box
[2:14] And um [clears throat] so it sounded
great, you know. So then um we got to
[2:19] the select board meeting and it's it is
true. Our town council reminded me um
[2:25] that I had foolishly forgotten this is a
zoning article. So it really needs to go
[2:30] to the zoning board first. Uh I wanted
to come to you guys with it and I plan
[2:35] to at some point. It'll be in some some
shape. Maybe not this particular form
[2:41] that it's in now. Um, I do want to run
it by the planning board and I also
[2:46] would like to run it by the um,
uh, the growers association because it
[2:53] this article is really designed to
prevent form A lots from being built
[3:00] um, with pieces of cranberry bog on them
that really probably aren't going to be
[3:04] worked anymore as cranberry bogs. Um,
and then but they're going to be sold to
[3:11] homeowners. And now there's a question,
who who owns that piece of that bog? Do
[3:16] I'm the homeowner. Do I get the berries
or does the guy who owns the bog still
[3:20] get the berries? It's on my deed. But
it's it's just too complicated.
[3:26] » And so it's to prevent that sort of
complication. It's also, but I don't
[3:31] want it to exclude the possibility of
cranberry uh farmers who have um s
[3:38] children who they might want to give
house lots to um and they're in the
[3:43] family. So, they may continue to farm
those same cranberry bogs um with 30% of
[3:49] that
um lot being in cranberry bog. That's
[3:54] kind of a different situation because if
it's in the family and they they want to
[3:58] continue to to run run the cranberry box
and harvest, that's kind of a different
[4:03] situation. I don't want to exclude that.
The way I proposed it would exclude
[4:07] those kinds of um
those kinds of lots and I don't want to
[4:12] do that. And plus, I'm running out of
time with planning board. They need they
[4:18] need to schedule a meeting to talk about
it. Then they need to schedule two
[4:22] consecutive
uh runs in the newspaper ad so the
[4:26] public can hear about it. And the way it
is now, we're going to run out of time.
[4:32] » Okay.
>> So that's why I'm saying that I'm going
[4:35] to withdraw the article,
>> okay,
[4:37] » for this year's war. But I I do plan to
bring it back in some form because I
[4:41] would like to
um protect the cranberry box without
[4:46] hampering those in the agricultural
commi community who are trying to do the
[4:50] right thing and also preventing people
who are aren't doing the right thing.
[4:56] They just want to make a house lot and
who cares about the ownership and the
[5:00] berries and the agriculture.
>> Mhm. Um, so that's those those were my
[5:06] concerns and I hope I haven't wasted
your time.
[5:09] » No, I don't think so. So, you're
basically talking uh you know something
[5:12] like the three homes uh that were built
uh on the corner of Lake View in South
[5:16] Maine that include cranberry box would
not be allowed under your proposal.
[5:21] » Correct.
>> It's funny you should mention those.
[5:23] Yeah.
>> Unless they were,
[5:24] » for example,
unless they were family,
[5:28] » right? Okay. When whenever you rework
that. Okay.
[5:32] That would be the whole idea because I
know in the past I'm not going to
[5:36] mention any names but I do know some
growers who have come say to the
[5:40] planning board and said I want to create
a format and this is going to be for my
[5:44] son and [clears throat] yes it has a
piece of this bog but he's going to take
[5:47] over my box for me when I pass on and I
but I want him to have a house lot
[5:52] there. He's moving back to town. We're
trying to keep it in the family.
[5:56] [snorts] That's the kind of thing you
want to encourage.
[5:59] So,
>> so do you think you might make that a
[6:02] stipulation that always the vogs are
going to still be harvested if if a
[6:07] family member moves in or just they can
be?
[6:10] » Well, so and that's the problem. See, we
have to get the legal language down.
[6:15] » Exactly. and and the zoning and um I
just thought of as
[6:22] couple people have brought this to me as
a what they see as a problem and and I
[6:26] think it is kind of a problem in town
potentially.
[6:30] Um, but uh I just didn't think it
through very well. And I'd like to I'd
[6:35] like to do that and have the opportunity
to get it really framed correctly in
[6:40] terms of zoning, in terms of cranberry
industry
[6:44] in in in its good intentions and and
legally get it. Let's get it right. You
[6:49] know,
>> have you spoken to anybody in the
[6:51] growers association?
>> I have just today.
[6:54] » Just today.
>> What's the general consensus on that?
[6:57] The consensus is that we should hold off
and and let's let's think about this and
[7:03] bring it back at a future date if
possible. Um because it's it is an
[7:09] issue. They they're having issues with
that too, but they also don't want to
[7:12] prohibit the examples that I gave you
with family members. [snorts]
[7:17] » So it's it's more complicated than it
might seem.
[7:21] » Yeah.
>> Everything is
[7:23] » as everything is. Yes.
>> That sounds pretty complicated to me. So
[7:27] [laughter]
>> yeah.
[7:29] » Okay.
>> So thank you for listening.
[7:31] » All right. So we'll stay tuned.
>> Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
[7:34] » Thank you.
>> Take care.
[7:41] » Okay. Um next up uh is um there is a an
old barn on the southern a northern end
[7:50] of Savory Avenue that is on conservation
property. And for a long time it's been
[7:57] deteriorating. And uh we've had we've
had discussions about trying to see if
[8:02] there was some way to get someone to
come in and maybe um harvest some of the
[8:08] uh timber that's there, old barn boards,
things like that for reuse. And um uh 20
[8:15] ines of snow um made that determination
impossible because now the roof has
[8:21] collapsed and everything's inside it.
So, um, uh,
[8:27] I think it's a, uh, a safety hazard now.
Um, so, um, I think Olivia, if you can
[8:37] talk with, uh, the building inspector.
>> Okay. and see if he can condemn the
[8:43] building
and then um ask what steps the town
[8:50] takes
>> uh for condemned buildings. uh whether
[8:54] the town has the the wherewithal to um
[snorts] pretty much um demolish the
[9:01] building and fill in the basement or um
ask us to use our
[9:09] funding to pay for the same. Um,
I think uh I think in the near term it
[9:17] would be good if perhaps the DPW could
go out and yellow tape it
[9:23] » so no one goes in there. Um, if they
could do that, if that's something
[9:27] that's they would be willing to do. Um,
and then, you know, just card away
[9:33] what's there or shove it into the hole
and and bury it. Um, but there's glass
[9:39] and stuff like that. So, I wouldn't I
would think probably pulling the stuff
[9:42] away would be the better option. But ask
if uh ask if there's any precedent or
[9:47] protocol for uh for buildings that are
condemned that are town owned.
[9:52] » Okay.
>> Okay. Um, anybody have any comments
[9:55] about that?
>> No, I think you're right. It needs to be
[9:58] taken down.
>> Yeah. Yeah. So, we'll just figure out
[10:00] how we have to go about doing that. But,
uh, our, uh, our hand has been forced in
[10:05] this, [snorts] uh, by the snow.
Um, okay. Lot three cranberry is is, uh,
[10:12] continued till March 18th. All our
continued public hearings from the other
[10:16] day from not the other day, J from
January 7th and earlier are continued
[10:20] again.
>> Who um, just out of curiosity, who
[10:24] especially Golden Pond, was that by me
or is that who asked for the
[10:28] continuation? Uh I think it was sort of
by consensus. Uh
[10:31] » yeah, I had asked them if they were okay
with continuing because we issu or the
[10:36] enforcement order was issued. Um the
deadline for them to provide a
[10:41] delineation is March 4th and we haven't
received anything from them like any
[10:45] sort of response or a delineation yet.
So I just asked them if they wanted to
[10:49] continue because
>> like that was the next step. So I don't
[10:53] know.
>> So they got they they're in receipt of
[10:55] the the order.
>> Yes.
[10:57] » Yeah. It was certified mailed to them.
Right. But that also included surveying
[11:01] which is uh
>> Yeah. That was going to be tough
[11:02] especially
>> Yeah. [laughter]
[11:05] » Yes. Yeah. So, uh yes, continue to the
fourth and and you know hopefully we get
[11:10] something by then and uh
>> uh if not if weather prevents them from
[11:14] doing that we'll
>> right
[11:15] » move it. We'll bump it back another
week.
[11:17] » And didn't we we're going to go look at
it too, right? As
[11:20] » uh yes, but I mean there's no sense in
looking at it now. It's going to keep
[11:24] nothing look like any other meadow in
>> it's got to be warmer than average
[11:28] temperatures. That's what they're saying
for the next month.
[11:33] » Yeah, but it's going to be cold.
>> Oh, the Osprey is back at Nelson Beach.
[11:36] [clears throat]
>> Do we um do we know if the D has weighed
[11:39] in on this yet
>> on on
[11:42] » on on Golden Pond on the Golden Pond?
>> I don't know.
[11:46] » That was a topic of conversation last
time.
[11:48] » Yeah. I don't know how involved they are
because it it's uh it's pretty much
[11:52] done,
>> right?
[11:53] » You know, the project's finished for all
intents and purposes.
[11:58] Um I think that the next step if we
issue a positive determination, meaning
[12:04] it's uh I mean a negative determination,
meaning it's okay, that that me will
[12:08] take it to the D.
>> Well, I know she said she reached out to
[12:11] him and hadn't had her.
>> All right. I haven't heard anything from
[12:13] uh from them. Have you heard anything
from me about D on this issue?
[12:19] Not about this.
>> So, um, so uh All right.
[12:28] » So, okay. Um, I guess the only other
thing we have to do is the minutes from
[12:33] uh the 7th.
>> You want to talk about the
[12:36] » Oh, do you want to talk about the
conference?
[12:38] » The conference?
>> Oh, yes. The conference. The MAC
[12:41] conference. Um,
there is a MAC conference. the
[12:45] Massachusetts Association of
Conservation Commissioners in Worcester
[12:48] on the 28th of February. We have $500,
you said, in in our budget for training.
[12:54] » Yeah. For seminars and trainings.
>> Seminars and training. Um Olivia has
[12:58] indicated a desire to go. She's going to
investigate whether she can go on a
[13:04] town. Um
>> so I did talk to Elaine about that and
[13:09] would be under the
>> under the 500 for conservation. Okay,
[13:13] that's fine. Still, it's what's $120.
[13:18] » So, it there's part with the me. So
there's the member rate and then there's
[13:22] non-member rate and [clears throat]
>> all commission members all the
[13:27] commissioners are members but um like
each year when they bill that yearly the
[13:32] dues um it's like an add-on to include
the agent or any staff into the
[13:38] membership and um I'm like we're not
like Emil wasn't and I'm not
[13:44] » okay
>> a member yet. So,
[13:45] » okay.
>> I could talk to them either about if I
[13:48] would be added to as like a member or
just go with the non-member rate.
[13:53] » Okay. Well, I mean either way it doesn't
really make a difference. What's the
[13:56] cost for non-members? Do you know?
>> No, it's it's like a [clears throat] the
[14:01] members is 180 and the number of members
might be 250. But shouldn't she be a
[14:05] member anyway? It wasn't a male member
because he was on Marian. You have to be
[14:10] when you're on a conservation
commission.
[14:11] » Yeah. All the
>> So, he must have been a member.
[14:14] » Yeah. Yeah. Well, he so he would have
been a member through that though, not
[14:17] as staff for Carver.
>> Is it an annual?
[14:20] » So, yeah, it would be
>> So, he probably expired.
[14:23] » Oh, maybe.
>> So, it would be like $65, I believe, to
[14:29] add staff to the annual membership,
which I guess kind of evens out with
[14:34] that.
>> Okay.
[14:35] » The non-member rate versus the member
rate. I think you should be a member of
[14:38] it.
>> Well, I would I would see if there's a
[14:41] way that you can um even if you have to
use the $500 to become a member. Um
[14:46] still, if you could if you can add if
you can become a member now and get the
[14:52] member rate, it's going to be less than
you going as a correct
[14:55] » as a uh as a non-member and you'll be a
member.
[14:58] » Right. Right.
>> So, uh you know, two two of you each at
[15:01] at 180 is 360 and another 65 is uh 425.
So that still is went under our $500. So
[15:08] I think that that's what you should
probably look into doing.
[15:11] » Does anybody else want to go?
>> Hey, do you want to go?
[15:13] » I mean, I'm interested, but anyone else
wants
[15:16] » I have never been.
>> Okay.
[15:18] » I was aware.
>> Um, but no, I was including you as as
[15:21] being as someone who wanted to go and
the two people.
[15:23] » Sure, but I don't know if you guys if
someone else
[15:26] » you short notice. There's no way I could
pull that off. I mean,
[15:29] » I work most Saturdays, so
>> yeah, I'm going to be in New Hampshire,
[15:31] so
>> it's 8 o'clock in Worcester, so it's not
[15:34] going to be a blast, but I'll do it.
>> Take one for the team.
[15:37] » Take one for the team. [laughter]
>> Yeah.
[15:38] » Okay. Well, good. Good. I I Yeah, I um I
haven't been to the yearly the annual
[15:44] » I've never been.
>> Uh but I've been to a number of seminars
[15:47] down in Buzzard's Bay at the at the
Maritime.
[15:49] » I've been to it. It's a little uh you
know, it's huge, you know, so you got to
[15:54] sort of pick and choose what you want to
go see. Sometimes you don't know what
[15:56] you want to see cuz you're not quite
sure what we're talking about.
[16:00] » But yeah, it's interesting.
>> I mean, I'll send the agenda out so you
[16:03] can all see if there's a thing you want
me to attend. Let me know. I mean,
[16:07] there's things on vernal pools. I could
tell like some focus more on
[16:10] agriculture, which I definitely want to
go to versus like ocean
[16:15] » because we're not really that
>> yet. Yeah. Right. Exactly. Not yet. Um,
[16:20] so great. That would be great.
>> And you get food out of it, too.
[16:25] » [laughter]
>> always a bonus. I'm sure I'm sure
[16:27] there's $180 worth of food there.
>> It's not bad.
[16:31] » Okay, [laughter]
>> cool. Thank you.
[16:33] » Okay. Uh, anything else about anybody?
>> Nope.
[16:36] » No. Okay. Um, did everyone read the uh
minutes?
[16:39] » Yep.
>> Okay.
[16:41] » Uh, any um issues, corrections, etc.?
>> I thought they were fine. I make a
[16:46] motion to approve minutes as written.
>> All right. We have a motion. Second.
[16:50] » Second.
>> Give it to Jen. Um
[16:56] I the right ear here is better than the
left. Um all right. So it's been moved
[17:00] and seconded to approve the minutes as
written for uh January 7th. All those in
[17:04] favor say I.
>> I.
[17:06] » Any opposed? Hearing none. That's
approved unanimously. Um motion to
[17:11] adjurnn.
>> I'll make that motion. I'll second. Jen.
[17:14] And uh
>> that's record time.
[17:17] » That's a record meeting.
>> Uh okay. So we have a motion to um to
[17:21] adjurnn. All those in favor say I.
>> I. Any opposed? Hearing none.
[17:26] » We're done. We're out. Thank you. Area
58.
[17:28] » Thank you. [music]