Conservation Commission Seeks To

Split Its Duties Between Two Agencies

By Andrew Gorosko

To better handle an increasing workload, the Conservation Commission is proposing that its existing duties and anticipated new duties be split between two municipal agencies — one of which would retain the name Conservation Commission, with the other called the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission.

Conservation Commission Chairman Sally O’Neil on October 5 explained to the Legislative Council the commission’s desire to split its various functions between two agencies in the face of an increasing workload. The subject is slated for discussion at an upcoming Board of Selectmen’s meeting.

Ms O’Neil said October 7 that the appointed Conservation Commission, which was formed by the town in 1963, has accumulated many duties over the years beyond its original charge.

The current six-member group, which is authorized to have up to seven members, also handles applications for wetlands permits and for forest practices permits, she said.

The panel also is the town’s aquifer protection review agency, reviewing what measures would be taken in development projects to protect the Pootatuck Aquifer, which is the source of two public water supplies. The commission makes aquifer protection recommendations to the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z), which acts on proposed aquifer protection measures.

Also, the Conservation Commission is now slated to become the town agency authorized to deal with administering the upcoming state aquifer protection regulations. Those state aquifer regulations have been in the planning stages for more than a decade.

Ms O’Neil said Conservation Commission members propose taking the agency’s many functions and splitting them between two agencies to improve how the town handles those duties.

A new Conservation Commission would focus on resource protection. It would protect natural and scenic resources; protect streams and water supplies; conserve wetland areas; preserve and index open space areas; create opportunities for public recreation; preserve historic sites; implement the 2004 Town Plan of Conservation and Development; and promote “‘smart growth,” according to Ms O’Neil.

The agency to be known as the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission would serve a regulatory function. The panel would regulate development in and near wetlands; oversee the town’s aquifer protection regulations; handle the municipal duties stemming form the state’s upcoming aquifer protection regulations, and oversee local forest practices.

Splitting the Conservation Commission into two agencies would serve multiple purposes, according to Ms O’Neil.

Such a division of duties between two appointive agencies would lead to a better functioning town land use system, ensuring that land use is locally controlled, rather than being shifted, in part, to the state Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) jurisdiction, she said.

Currently, the Conservation Commission has “too much to do,” Ms O’Neil said. “We’re just kind of spread too thin right now,” she said.

Also, splitting the commission into two agencies is viewed as a way to eliminate possible legal conflicts of interests posed when one agency holds many different functions.

Such land use reorganization could be created through passage of a new town ordinance or through a town charter revision. The Legislative Council enacts ordinances. Town charter changes are subject to voters’ approval.