At the meeting of the Russell Conservation Commission Tuesday, moderator Thomas O’Brien read excerpts from a letter that had been received from Bob Kidd, on behalf of the Boy Scouts, following a presentation last meeting on changes to one of the beaches at the Horace Moses Reservation on Russell Pond.
“We left very, very discouraged by the Commission’s response,” Kidd said in the letter. “While I mentioned last night that the camp is not for sale, the Board has gotten the camp appraised. We have only been given this summer to turn things around.”
At the last meeting, the BSA representatives were told to file a Notice of Intent, and to have an engineer sign off on their plans.
In response to the letter, O’Brien said, “Tara (Church, Commission Secretary) lost the rubber stamp.”
Another member commented, “It sounds like he’s threatening to sell the place if we don’t cooperate.”
“We’ve already told him they need a Notice of Intent. Without one, there’s no project, as far as I’m concerned,” said O’Brien.
Church said that Henry Lenart, who is in charge of the project, contacted her, and has hired Levesque Associates.
Jason Boyer of the Horace Moses Reservation, said, “The Boy Scout Council is all about working with the town, and doing what they need to do.”
Boyer said a group of volunteers, led by Henry Lenart, is trying to do this for the camp. Bob Kidd is not a representative for the project. Boyer said they have hired Levesque Associates, who will take care of the Notice of Intent.
“It has to stand the test of appeal, in case it gets appealed. We have the Russell Pond Bylaw. We have to do what we have to do to protect the Pond,” O’Brien said.
Commission member Bill Hardie added, “We have no wish to hurt the Boy Scouts, or put the camp in peril.”
Wendy Thompson of the Board of Assessors also informed the Commission that the town has just received new FEMA flood plain maps. She said the biggest change is along the Westfield River by the Furniture factory.
The Board plans to compare the old maps to the new maps. The plan is to get the new map to overlap onto the Assessor’s map, to make it easier if someone comes in and wants to know if they’re in the flood plain. One resident already wants to appeal the flood plain map because his insurance rates have gone up.
In old business, the Public Hearing on James Oleksak to correct environmental damage on General Knox Road caused by two culverts that he placed in a brook on his property in violation of the Wetlands Protection Act will be closed at the next meeting on June 18.
