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State says Wetlands Permit Incomplete

November 01, 2010 - CHELSEA -- The state says Chelsea's application for an after-the-fact permit to restore wetlands along Windsor Road is incomplete.

The state Department of Environmental Protection sanctioned the town after its contractor, Marshall Swan, drained "a wetland of special significance" and a "significant waterfowl and wading bird habitat" without state permits in December 2009. The culvert project was intended to stop the road from flooding.

Eric Ham, project manager for DEP, said he returned the Natural Resource Protection Act permit application to the town and its consultant, Jim Coffin of E.S. Coffin Engineering & Surveying Inc., Wednesday.

"They didn't demonstrate proper title right or interest," Ham said Thursday. "That means some of the work actually took place outside the town's deeded right of way. In order to issue a permit, they have to either own the property" or get written permission from four abutters.

Ham said DEP does a quick prior review of an application to make sure it meets all requirements before it is accepted for actual review.

"I've been kind of waiting for it," Ham said. "It got down to the end and I had to send it back because it wasn't complete.

"As far as I know, and I'm not 100 percent sure of this, there's not going to be any fine because of this. The permitting fee is going to be pretty substantial if they choose to pay in lieu of a fee. Going that route is relatively expensive. And from the original talks with them, it seems like that's the direction they're going in."

Carole Swan, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, declined comment, saying said she did not know the application had been returned and had yet to receive the paperwork from DEP. She is the wife of Marshall Swan, the contractor.

Ham didn't have the exact figures but said the permitting fee will cost thousands of dollars.

Coffin, who was hired by the town to design a plan to restore the wetlands and bird habitat, said his strategy for restoring the damaged wetlands is to plug a hole in a berm and replace a culvert under a driveway.

"When they put that ditch in, they had to make that berm so water to wetlands didn't get in there, so they went over not more than 10 feet on abutters property," Coffin said. "DEP is making them go back to abutters and actually get signed documentation."

Coffin said he submitted the application on time, with the exception of the signed documentation from the abutters, which he said is the town's responsibility.

"We're going to write the description and give it to the town and they'll have their attorney put it in deed form," he said. "Then he'll give it back to the town and they'll get the sign-off (from abutters)."

Ham said there is no official deadline for resubmitting a completed permit, but expects the town to get it to him as soon as possible.

"If it extends over a long period of time, then maybe we'll put another requested deadline on it," he said. "...The town and its consultant are trying to get it done as soon as they can. Things just don't happen overnight."

By Mechele Cooper mcooper@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer, Kennebec Journal, Nov. 1, 2010


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