Littleton Commission Clears Path for Forge Pond Herbicide Application

LITTLETON — April 8, 2025 — Littleton Conservation Commission sets Memorial Day deadline for Powers Road container and advances Forge Pond herbicide filing. The commission voted unanimously at its April 8 hybrid meeting to give property owner John two weeks to relocate a storage container at 15 Powers Road to outside the 50-foot wetland buffer and to remove it entirely from the property by May 26, after the originally ordered April 1 deadline was missed when Building Commissioner Henry rejected a front-yard location. On Forge Pond, the commission voted 4-2 to direct the Littleton Clean Lakes Committee to file an amended order of conditions — rather than a new notice of intent — under DEP file 204-0872 to add herbicides, algaecides, and diver-assisted suction harvesting as management tools; committee member David Barr told commissioners that warmer winters have undermined drawdowns and a new DEP dredging-permit requirement has blocked mechanical harvesting for this season. A land use permit for a brush burn on the town-owned Yap property passed unanimously after steward Rick Finley confirmed fire department involvement and the use of an existing burn pile. The commission also declined to accept two proposed changes to the Foster Street road project as minor modifications, directing engineer Aaron Keegan of Fuss and O'Neill to submit a formal amended order of conditions covering both an invasive-species herbicide treatment plan and a reduction from five leaching catch basins to one.