WASHINGTON PLANNING BOARD

Site Walk Minutes

September 11, 2013

Members present: Lynn Cook, Nan Schwartz, Jim Crandall, Michelle Dagesse and Tom Marshall

Alternates present: Jean Kluk, Steve Terani

Public present: Skip Moore

We met at the Town Hall at 1PM, and drove together to Valley Road in the vicinity of the Bartevian Property.

We were greeted by Skip Moore who thanked us for coming out to look at the problem with the road. He apologized for his past actions and attitude. Cook stated an apology is not necessary. Moore showed us pictures from an album he has kept for quite a long time concerning his various problems with the town. He said that Bob Crane (past road agent) wanted to dig a trench along his driveway for a pipe and caused a tree to fall on his deck before his house was built, he asked the town for damages and didn’t receive them. He stated a school bus ran off the road in winter and contends that it is because the road is not graded properly. He said when the town installed the catch basins Rick Niven graded the road to one side to the catch basin. Moore claims the town has since graded the road to crown in the center of the road and drain to both sides. We observed existing catch basins on both sides of the road. He stated he feels that the water runoff from the culvert is polluting his dug well. He stated his well is 150 feet from the outlet of the culvert. He gave Crandall a list of proposals that he has given the trustees of the Bartevian property. His proposal is as follows:
1. Drainage easement plan needed.

2. Drop inlet with sump@ edge of road and town maintained.

3. Roadway runoff piped from inlet to a point beyond my (Moore’s) well.

4. All work to be done in a timely manner.

We observed the conditions on the road and the condition of the culvert under the Bartevian’s driveway. The pipe is open on the inlet opening but it is clogged with gravel on the outlet end. The outlet is buried in gravel and hard to find. It drains along a stonewall on the Bartevian’s property. It seemed that this has been maintained from time to time and Marshall stated that since the last time he looked at the site, gravel had been cleared and added to the end of the Bartevian’s driveway to help with some washout due to a recent storm. Marshall measured the roadway at 42 feet from stonewall to stonewall and 29 feet of gravel roadway from the culvert inlet to the opposite edge of the road. Marshall stated the outlet of the culvert is on Bartevian’s private property and there is no existing easement, but the easement is grandfathered. Moore suggested we come up with a plan for the town to rectify the situation and send to the Bartevian’s trustees for approval. He wants the water piped 40 or 50 feet to the low spot down the stonewall. Moore stated that the road is now graded so that people will drive into the ditch.

We decided we will do some more fact finding. The site visit was adjourned at 1:30PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Nan Schwartz

Planning Board Secretary