Pittsfield ConCom Gives Approval to Fix Brattle Brook Road
 The road to Brattle Brook Park is a bumpy one. |
Resident Alexander Bertelli has been asking the city to fix the road, which has massive ruts making it nearly impassable and washes out when it rains.
"I tried everything to get that road fixed," Bertelli said. "It's the worst I've ever seen it. It's a safety issue. It's bad."
Commissioner of Public Services Bruce Collingwood, however, said the property is under the Conservation Commission's jurisdiction. Collingwood said city workers couldn't do anything to that road without the commission detailing what they could do there.
On Wednesday, the Conservation Commission gave Collingwood the authority to fix the road and added "with urgency" to speed up the process.
It was just on Monday when Bertelli appeared before the City Council's public services subcommittee asking for help. That subcommittee didn't have any authority to allow for the grading to be completed but did say they hoped to move it along quickly.
Bertelli, a longtime steward of the park, said the issues this year are caused by poor road material that was not well laid. He is looking for a skilled grader operator to fix the road and even offered to be a consultant on the project free of charge.
In other business, the commission also came to terms with Amerigreen Recycling. The company opened a nursery and reclamation business on Churchill Street and the commission put an enforcement order in place halting business. The concern was that the business was intruding on vegetated wetlands.
Brent White, of White Engineering, represented owners Don Davis and Scott McKnight and crafted a plan to mitigate hazards. The commission questioned the flow of water in the north end of the property and a vernal pool on the south end.
White determined that the north end was vegetated wetlands and proposed to back the operations of the recycling company off by 65 feet. He also suggests planting 18 sugar maple trees to protect the wetlands. On the south side, the vernal pool will have a 45-foot buffer zone.
"There never has been nor will there be a hydraulic connection between the system on the north and the vernal pool," White said.
He also submitted a plan to grade the property to keep those systems intact. Additionally, the company is planning on building a retention pond in the rear of the property that would likely catch more rain water.
The company's operations first caused concern from neighbors Ray and Geralyn Jones. The couple live on the north end and felt the business was disturbing their home. On Wednesday, the couple asked some questions but overall seemed to accept White's plan for mitigation, which backs the operations off from the property line.
Also on Wednesday, the commission gave the approval for Mold Master to demolish a small storage shed and replace it with a block one. The block one would be small and take up less space, causing no impact on water runoff and wetlands.
Tags: conservation commission, public parks, road work, wetlands,
