Water Under Bridge Topic At Wetlands Meeting


SHARON — An application for a bridge off Keeler Road and over Macedonia Brook was the subject of a special meeting of the Inland Wetlands and Watercourse Commission Monday, Dec. 11, and continued until Jan. 8, 2007, 7 p.m.

The application by landowner Hendrick Sadi is for a 340-foot bridge from Keeler Road to a building site. The bridge would follow an existing but largely unused wooden road and replace a small wooden bridge that currently spans the brook.

Project designer Gary Organschi gave a lengthy presentation on the proposed bridge, which he said is designed for minimal impact to the environment.

The bridge would be constructed in sections, with the bulk of the assembly work done offsite, and the wooden sections brought in by truck and put in place by crane.

The planned structure’s underpinning is a series of wood piles. The entire driveway/bridge is therefore elevated, which further minimizes possible damage to the brook and surrounding marshy areas, according to Organschi.

The presentation included photographs of similar bridge projects by the designers. Audience members polled informally after the presentation afterward were favorably impressed by the aesthetic quality of those projects.

But opposition to the project from neighbors and the Housatonic Valley Association was intense. Elaine LaBella of the latter questioned several aspects of the bridge construction and concluded, among other things, that the application does not demonstrate how the project would avoid sediment buildup or pollution, and does not show how the project will avoid wetland impacts and use natural drainage systems.

LaBella also said the application does not adequately address the issue of the wild trout population in Macedonia Brook.

Neighbor Michael Herald-Marlowe added that the presenters’ photos of a placid, contained brook do not take into account the ever-changing nature of the wetland.

"When it rains, even a small amount, the brook changes completely. It can be two or three times as wide after just a couple of hours of rain," he said.

The Herald-Marlowes and neighbors Scot Samuelson and Daniel Harrison are verified intervenors in the matter. Engineer Derrick Cole, speaking for the group, raised several points but, most tellingly, concluded that the applicant had failed to submit a prudent and feasible alternative (echoing an earlier objection from LaBella).

Cole submitted a conceptual plan showing what he said was a prudent and feasible alternative. By regulation, if such an alternative exists, the commission must give it priority.

Until this point the discussion had been largely technical. Then the actual applicant, Hendrick Sadi, rose and said (with obvious dismay): "Aren’t you depriving the owner of use of 98 percent of his land here?"

(One "prudent and feasible alternative" in the application file shows a modest house with a driveway along Keller Road, with no bridge at all. The Sadi application envisions a larger and far more private and remote home at the end of the 340-foot bridge and drive.)

After 90 minutes had elapsed, and given all the questions and concerns, the commission decided to continue the hearing on Jan. 8.Paley and Savage Project

In regularly scheduled meeting action, the commission took up the Will Paley/Kim Savage Realty application on Old Sharon Road #2.

Dr. Michael Kashgarian, a neighbor, said the construction of a road and the runoff from a culvert was having a negative effect on his property, including his trout pond. Engineer Steven Trinkaus and a representative of the Walton Fishing Club added their concerns to Dr. Kashgarian’s.

With the applicants not present, the commission denied the application without prejudice, noting that the site was in violation for work done without a permit and that information and remediation plans previously requested were as yet unavilable.

Reached by telephone Tuesday afternoon, Paley said he would resubmit the application in January 2007.Rost Project

Michael Rost was on hand to submit his application for 172A Mudge Pond Road; this application has prompted a petition requesting a public hearing.

The petition was accepted and the hearing scheduled for Jan. 8, 2007, immediately after the continued hearing on the Sadi application.

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