Littleton Conservation Commission Votes $8,000 for Webster Property Wetland Engineering

LITTLETON -- April 4, 2023, Littleton Conservation Commission authorizes $8,000 for Webster property engineering at first in-person meeting in years. Voting unanimously, the commission approved spending up to $8,000 on a conceptual wetland delineation plan to support a formal appraisal of the Webster property, a parcel under consideration for open-space acquisition; the Littleton Conservation Trust has separately committed up to $6,000 for the appraisal itself, bringing the total authorized to $14,000. The commission also approved unanimously a minor modification to a permitted home at 19 Rhymes Road after engineer Mark Slager of Allen Engineering reported shallow bedrock blocked construction of the originally approved underground infiltration system, requiring a shift to a stone drip-edge design. A continued public hearing on 265 Foster Street was held over to April 18 after members pressed applicant consultant Pat Connelly of Beals Associates on unresolved questions about whether a high-volume subsurface drain pipe carries stormwater only or also receives discharge from upgradient wetlands. The commission voted unanimously to form a tree policy working group, a first formal step toward adopting internal guidelines and, eventually, a bylaw, following a presentation by Matt of the Shade Tree Committee, who said his committee's annual funding stands at $5,000 and that Trees USA designation is a stated goal.