Richmond Conservation Commission Approves Dublin Road Culvert Replacement With Extended Monitoring

RICHMOND — January 12, 2021 — Richmond approves Dublin Road culvert replacement with extended wetland monitoring conditions. The Conservation Commission voted unanimously January 12 to issue a Notice of Intent approval for a MassDOT-grant-funded replacement of a deteriorated double culvert on Dublin Road carrying Skate Brook, a designated cold-water fishery. Chairman Ron Valette and the commission added special conditions requiring post-construction vegetation monitoring reports at the end of the third and fifth growing seasons — extending beyond the two-year standard proposed by applicants Dan Holmes and Mary of the project's engineering firm — with reports to be prepared by a qualified third-party wetland scientist at the town's expense after the contractor's one-year warranty expires. In a separate 6-0-1 vote (Associate Agent Shep abstaining), the commission approved a certificate of compliance for a Central Park Road residential project after reviewing drainage analysis showing roof leaders and driveway runoff directed to a rain garden, which members called the first such feature seen in a Richmond application; credit for the design went to landscaper Winona Webster and builder Mike Shields of Shields Builders. The commission also reported DCR enforcement citations for unauthorized Lenox Mountain work are approaching $2,000 with no restoration plan yet received from the state agency.