Inland Wetlands Commission

The Inland Wetlands Commission conducted their regular monthly meeting on Thursday, February 1^st at Goshen Town Hall and via Zoom. Present were Chair Tom Stansfield, Vice Chair Alan Kinsella, Commissioners, Lorraine Lucas (via zoom), Devin Stillson, Dante Malanca, and Enforcement Officer Martin Conner (via zoom).  Ray Turri and Brandy Summerlin were excused.

Public Hearing: There were no public hearings.

Old Business:

 Anna Bangay’s after the fact application for property located at 170 North Goshen Road for replacement of a culvert and driveway improvements was formerly reviewed at the January meeting. The contractor may have misinformed Anna Bangay about the Inland Wetlands requirements ultimately resulting in the enforcement action.  The work was completed by the contractor in good fashion. The motion to approve the after the fact application was unanimously approved by the Commissioners.

New Business:

Colby Engineering presented the application for the development of an existing building lot with a single-family home for Vance and Jeffifer Kusaila, Woodridge Lake Lot 149, 10 Buford CT. The front half of the lot was determined to be wetlands. Therefore, the house will be moved back as far as possible into the setback lines. The plan is to minimize disturbance to any wetland areas. A wetlands report was submitted electronically. The Commissioners will review the recently received report and were also encouraged to visit the property. The report upon initial review seems typical of the area. The Commissioners unanimously voted to accept the application.

Inland Wetlands Enforcement Officers Report:

Enforcement Officer, Martin Connor met with the Town Engineer and Highway Supervisor regarding the culverts on West Hyerdale. The culverts are large and need to be lined. They are in a protected area where Inland Wetlands have an easement. Dave Batista is working on that plan. An application should be completed by next month.  Dave is trying to achieve minimal disturbance of the wetland area. Pipes are eroding and need to be replaced or repaired. Martin also met with Bill Colby, Engineer, and Michael Cegan, Architect for Lot 6 on 411 Milton Rd. They have a restoration (landscaping) plan for trees that were removed within 100 ft of Woodridge Lake. Lastly, Martin has been checking on the silt fencing for several houses under construction.

Chairman Stansfield mentioned that he was disappointed that the recognition of Martin Connor’s 30 years of outstanding service was not mentioned in the Goshen News. (Note: An accounting of that award was given in 1/16/24 meeting of The Board of Selectmen where the award was presented and can be found beginning on p.3 of this edition.)

Correspondence:

Lori Clinton mentioned that several pieces of correspondence were provided on 1) a Wetlands Training & Networking session for March 7^th; 2) The Connecticut Federation of Planning and Zoning agencies quarterly Newsletter (Note: a private, state listed  as having only 1 person (Steven Byrne) writing and giving seminars for which the town is charged fees);  3) Permit Application for the Use of Pesticides in State Waters. There is a budget line item on training for interested Commissioners.  

A Freedom of Information request was received and forwarded to the Town Attorney. (Note: no mention of who made the FOI request or what it was about was presented at this meeting.)

Martin Connor mentioned that email addresses for Town Officials were communicated in the Goshen News.   He stipulated that applications can only be discussed at meetings.  (Note: This piece of information is disputed in the Freedom Corner with information directly from FOIA.)

Commissioner Stilson noted that after watching the Board of Selectmen and Planning & Zoning meetings that Scott Olson’s application for 777 North St. may require modifications or depending on circumstances a new application.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:47 PM.