WESTFIELD – The Conservation Commission approved conditions related to expansion of a Delmont Avenue business which is located in the Westfield River flood plain.
Jon Goddard of R. Levesque Associates presented detail of the Lecrenski Brothers, Inc. project Tuesday night. The transportation company, which operates a fleet of school buses, is seeking to demolish its existing office facility and construct a facility with a slightly larger footprint.
The fact that the renovation is occurring in a flood plain requires the petitioner to provide compensatory storage for flood water being displaced by the new structure.
Goddard said that the petitioner is using “banked” compensatory storage created in 2007 when another structure was demolished to make way for a communication tower at the business.
The use of “banked” compensatory storage has created a philosophical rift among the board members, several who oppose that approach because of the difficulty in proving that the “excess” compensatory storage even exists.
That was again the focus of discussion, a rehash of the debate between board members when considering conditions for the Walmart expansion at 141 Springfield Street earlier this year.
Goddard said that the new office, a wing to the bus service garage, will displace just under 2,400 cubic feet of water and that the 2007 removal of a shed structure created 2,375 cubic feet of surplus compensatory storage.
Goddard said that delta, between the two required volume and the banked compensatory storage, will be addressed by removing soil from the bus parking area where a tenth of an inch of soil will be saved off the top of the 3,000-square foot parking area, creating an additional 270 cubic feet of compensatory storage.
Commissioner Tom Sharp requested time to allow the city Engineering Department to review the numbers presented by Goddard.
“I’m not ready to jump into this, to use something they think they have from 2007,” Sharp said. “I’m very uncomfortable. Has the City Engineer reviewed all of these numbers? We have a responsibility to protect the neighbors who will be getting water if the (compensatory storage) numbers are off.”
Karen Leigh, the city’s conservation coordinator, said that the surplus compensatory storage from the 2007 demolition project was not documented in the board’s order of conditions.
“So we don’t know how much was used (to construct the communications tower) and how much was left over,” Leigh said.
Henry Bannish said that historically the commission members have assessed projects in terms of significant environmental impact or insignificant impact.
“This project is not of great significance, so I don’t have a problem with it,” Bannish said.
Sharp argued that the board required Walmart to provide data supporting its project and the environmental impact “so we had a comfort level.”
Bannish responded that was required because the Walmart expansion project “was significant” in its environmental impact.
Commission Chairman Dr. David Doe agreed with Bannish.
“The impact (of the Lecrenski project) is minimal,” he said. “The data shows unused compensatory storage, so it’s still there, was not used and did not disappear.”
Sharp continued to argue for a peer review of the numbers presented by Goddard by the Engineering Department.
“This numbers should be verified by the city engineer before we approve or disapprove this project,” Sharp said.
“Why don’t we just vote on it and the majority prevails,” Bannish said.
“I’m square with that. Make the motion,” Sharp replied.
The project, as proposed, was approved by a 3-1 vote, with Sharp the lone dissenting vote. The order of conditions, which sets limits and requirements for the project, was approved by a 4-0 vote.
