Ongoing Neighbor Dispute Ties Inlands Wetlands and Waterways Agency in knots

While some members of the public arrived at the Inland Wetlands and Waterways Agency meeting expecting to hear details on oil and gas pipelines planned to run to the under-construction Kleen Energy plant, the real hot topic, once again, was manure and backfill.

The public hearing on the oil pipeline was postponed until the January meeting because the pipeline construction company had not posted display signs to inform the public of the hearing. In the case of the gas pipeline, the agency voted to hold a public hearing in January.

So while little time was expended on gas and oil, a convoluted, repetitive and ultimately confusing debate ensued about a long term neighbor dispute between Brook Street homeowners Ron and Stephanie Borelli, and the owners of the adjacent Hill farm, owned by Ed and Andrea Hill.

Neither the Borellis nor the Hills spoke at the meeting, but were represented by their attorneys John Bennet for the Borellis and Richard Carella for the Hills.

At the November meeting of the Agency, based on a complaint, and inspection by Zoning Officer Bruce Driska, the members voted on a cease and desist order against the Hills for backfilling a barn foundation in a wetland. They ordered the Hills to seed, haybale and fence the area, after which time Agency members stated they would inspect the area.

The debate was mired immediately in controversy as board member Hector Bartoli stated that the agency failed to live up to its promise to inspect the backfill operation. Chairman Frank Carta said that he inspected the site, and board member Fred Terrasi said he made a partial inspection and found other potential violations in parking areas that may be within a wetland perimeter.

Other members indicated that Terrasi's findings were not germane to the debate about the backfilling complaint. Carta noted that his inspection found that the Hills had "seeded, haybaled and fenced the area. What else can we ask him to do?"

Attorney Carella asked the agency to lift the cease and desist, and put an end to the complaint.

"All these allegations are just that - allegations," he said.

Attorney Bennet rose to defend the complaint, and to insist that the agency did not have a baseline against which to make a decision. He noted that no certified drawings or surveys of the building or wetlands had ever been made, and that the Hills never applied for a permit to perform work within a wetland.

"Ask them to file an application," Bennet insisted. "These are clear violations. All we're saying is file an application. The city doesn't have as-built drawings. Let's find out what's really there so we don't have these serial violations."

Members of the agency countered that a drawing submitted as a proposal for the barn that was eventually built, clearly delineated the barn's relation to the wetland.

"That's a proposal," Bennet countered. "You don't know what's really there because the as-built drawings have never been done."

The agency members argued back-and-forth about the need to request an application, the purview of the complaint, the history of the complaint, and the need for inspection. In the end, most members agreed that the violation had been addressed, but that any further work in the wetlands would require a permit. Hill and his attorney promised to seek a permit in the case of further work.

Bennet was not satisfied with the conclusion of the board.

"This has been an experience of take, take, take. Five feet here. Five feet there. It's all well and good that you don't think this is a big deal, but the next time, you still won't know any better if you don't get an application," Bennet said.

The agency released the Hills from the cease and desist order with board member Hector Bartoli the only opposing vote.

After the meeting, brandishing a fistful of photographs which show piles of manure adjacent to their property, city vehicles being used on the Hill property, and apparent evidence of wetlands filled with manure, the Borelli's were unhappy with the decision by the agency.

"We complained about the backfilling, but our original complaint also addressed the issue of the Hills creating parking spaces within the designated wetlands," Stephanie Borelli said. "The city didn't see fit to include that in the complaint that Inland Wetlands addressed."

In other business, the agency requested that developer Glenn Russo provide additional maps of a development on the East of Newfield Street so that the agency could decide whether to grant an extension of a previously granted permit which will expire within months. Several agency members were not on the board when the original permit was granted, and wished to have fuller knowledge of the development plans. Commissioner Carta, urging the board members to grant the extension said, "Glenn and I and another couple of commission members have a long history. I think we get along fine. I think Glenn will do a good job on this and it will be something easy for the commission to approve."