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Town of New Sharon Takes Land Owners to Court

August 06, 2008 - NEW SHARON -- A couple from Massachusetts who own property on a rural road in New Sharon violated environmental laws when they bulldozed a stream bed, built barrier dams and constructed a road near the water without a permit, town officials say.

Violations against Melissa and Richard Deleskey, who own property at 255 Swan Road in New Sharon and also in Salem, Mass., date to the summer of 2006.

A phone call this week to Melissa Deleskey was not returned.

In 2006, an inspector from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection determined approximately 150 feet of Kinney Brook had been cleared and an area within 75 feet of the stream had been graded. Also, heavy equipment was used to build a road near the water, according to a complaint filed by the town of New Sharon in Farmington District Court.

"The Deleskeys implemented no erosion controls and no permit or approval was obtained by them from the town," said New Sharon's municipal attorney, Frank Underkuffler.

Underkuffler said he has been in contact with the family and is drafting a consent agreement that includes a fine and also an order for a professionally-prepared restoration plan showing how the disturbed shoreland will be returned to its previous condition.

The agreement will be negotiated with the Deleskeys and selectmen will vote on it later this month.

He anticipates the Deleskeys will make a good faith effort to comply with the town's shoreland zoning ordinance.

"A lot of people are unaware that they cannot alter a brook or stream," Underkuffler said.

A town's shoreland zoning ordinance regulates the removal or clearing of vegetation along a waterway and also filling or earth-moving within a Stream Protection District. The state's Natural Resource Protection Act, overseen by the DEP, covers dredging, bulldozing, removing or displacing soil, sand, vegetation or other material in and adjacent to a river, stream or brook.

According to the New Sharon complaint, the Deleskeys were ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and $400 to cover the cost of attorney's fees and enforcement. They were also ordered to install adequate erosion controls including a silt fence, to mulch all exposed soil, and submit a restoration plan.

The plan was to be reviewed and approved by Code Enforcement Officer James Fleming and the Planning Board.

"The Deleskeys failed to take any of the ordered actions," the suit states.

Minimal remedial actions taken by the Deleskeys "have not abated the environmental problems caused by (their) shoreland zoning violations," according to the complaint.

New violations this year include barrier dams in the streambed that pooled and slowed the flow of water. The complaint also states that a woods road adjacent to the stream had material removed.

In 2006, DEP issued a notice of violation to the Deleskeys for the stream and shoreland disturbances.

After lengthy negotiations, the Deleskeys signed a consent agreement and paid a $3,000 fine, according to DEP spokesman Scott Cowger.

A restoration plan was submitted to the DEP that included replanting of trees and some work was done. However, many of the trees have since died, he said.

New violations found during a DEP compliance inspection in May included the small rock dams. A second Notice of Violation was issued to the Deleskeys on June 9.

The agency is pursuing a second consent agreement that could have more stringent penalties including submission of a professionally-prepared restoration plan and additional fines.

"Consent agreements have to go before the Board of Environmental Protection to be approved. Clearly, having a second (Notice of Violation) may impact the board's decision," Cowger said.

BY BETTY JESPERSEN
Staff Writer Kennebec Journal Friday, August 01, 2008


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Regions: Rangeley


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