This was from the Globe last week. Could someone please let me know if they plan on attending?
-- -Time flies like the wind. Fruit flies like a banana. Stranger things have - -happened but none stranger than this. Does your driver's license say Organ -Donor?Black holes are where God divided by zero. Listen to me! We are all- -individuals! What if this weren't a hypothetical question? steveo at syslang.net FUNDS RELEASED FOR WETLANDS FIGHT Author(s): Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff Correspondent Date: February 24, 2003 Page: B2 Section: Metro/Region The Framingham Board of Selectmen has released up to $10,000 in funding to fortify the battle against a proposed subdivision that the town contends would destroy wetlands far beyond state standards. Nearly four years ago, Framingham's Conservation Commission rejected the application for the Preserve at Emerald Valley, a 49-acre project located off Grove and Winch streets. The commissioners ruled that an access road for the planned residential subdivision would alter the mature, forested wetlands and have an impact on more than the 5,000-square-foot threshold set by the state's Wetlands Protection Act. In turn, the Winch Pond Trust, which owns the land and has previously violated the Wetlands Protection Act, appealed the town's decision to the state Department of Environmental Protection. Last November, the agency overruled the Conservation Commission and approved the project with special conditions. "Based upon review of the entire record, consideration of the issues raised through the appeal, and the aforementioned site inspection, the department finds that, with adherence to the special conditions imposed by the department, the project can be approved," according to a Nov. 18 letter from James A. Sprague, section chief of the Wetlands and Waterways program. In light of this ruling, the Conservation Commission unanimously voted to appeal the Department of Environmental Protection's decision. Now, the commission is seeking up to $10,000 to hire an environmental lawyer who could consult with town counsel on the appeal. On Thursday, the Board of Selectmen unanimously approved the commission's request, and the money is being released from the town's Wetlands Protection Act Fee Fund. This $52,000 account derives income from fees collected for applications filed under the state Wetlands Protection Act. Money from the fund can be used only for matters pertaining to this act. "Frankly, we can't understand the DEP's ruling," said William Merriam, chairman of the Conservation Commission. Merriam said the commission rejected the application mainly because the plan called for a 30-foot-wide, two-way bridge across the wetlands that would cause significant devastation beyond the impact discussed in the application. "Trees would be lost, the canopy would be lost," he said. "This would change the amount of light, the temperature, the type of vegetation. The amount of area to be permanently altered is significantly greater than the 5,000-square-[feet] allowed." Neither officials from the Winch Pond Trust, nor the attorney for the trust, could be reached for comment. In 1997, the landowner, Howard Fafard, was reprimanded by the town for spraying weed killer and putting filling in the wetland area, according to Cindy Dionne, the conservation administrator. The town ordered Fafard to remove any filling and revegetate the area affected by the spraying, Dionne said. According to the commission, there is much support for the town to fight the subdivision, as two abutters of the site also have personally appealed the department's decision. Moreover, when the project was originally before the Conservation Commission, the surrounding neighborhood organ ized a public hearing, where nearly 75 people attended to oppose the project. "I'm concerned this subdivision would lead to the continual decrease of wetlands," said Joseph Deignan, who lives across from the proposed subdivision and helped organize the neighborhood meeting in 1999. The Department of Environmental Protection is holding a pre-trial conference to hear the matter on March 19.
