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Conservation Commission issues orders agains MassDOT

Date: 5/30/2012

May 30, 2012

By Debbie Gardner

debbieg@thereminder.com

WEST SPRINGFIELD — A little more than two months before the slated completion date of a temporary railroad bridge, the town and the state continue to disagree about permitting requirements for the Route 20 CSX project.

Despite the threat of wetland violation enforcement orders — passed by a 5-0 Conservation Commission vote during its May 23 meeting — MassDOT resumed preparations for lane shifts and closures associated with reconstruction of the CSX railroad bridge adjacent to Charles Avenue on May 24.

On May 21, Mayor Gregory Neffinger had sent Interim Police Chief Ronald P. Campurciani to the construction site with a stop work order.

The project deadline, as agreed to by Gov. Deval Patrick, requires MassDOT to have the temporary bridge ready to service CSX double-stacked trains by Aug 1 of this year and the reconstructed railroad bridge completed by Dec. 31. The entire project is slated for completion by July 2013.

Neffinger said he issued the stop work orders because the project's contractors, White Wolf General of Washington and Gordon's Tree Service of Pittsfield "were cutting trees on town property, storing equipment on town property and doing work" without applying for permits from the Department of Public Works. Neffinger added that despite the fact the bridge work would occur within 100 feet of a stream, neither MassDOT nor the contractor had applied for a permit for construction in a designated wetland.

"I'd say they have a very cavalier attitude," Neffinger said, adding that the DOT had filed every required permit, including a wetlands construction permit, for the work being done along Route 5 in town "and that isn't even near a wetland."

Mark Noonan, Conservation Officer and Assistant Planner, said the DOT resumed work because they were claiming a "difference of opinion" with the town regarding several disputed points pertaining to the construction project, which will affect residents living on Charles Avenue, Gaskill Avenue and Locust Street, as well as abutters with homes and driveways along that portion of Westfield Street (Route 20).

Neffinger said MassDOT has filed to move telephone poles and close streets, but for much of the rest of the project, it is claiming a blanket exemption from the need for town permitting.

The mayor said it is his understanding, confirmed by Noonan, that the bridge itself, as well as the ramps leading to it, are exempt from permit requirements, but the work on the stream adjacent to Charles Street is not.

"We see the work going on as a violation of the Wetland Protection Act, which is what the enforcement orders are to protect," Noonan said, adding that, as of May 24, neither the contractor nor MassDOT had received the orders. He expected the orders to go out by registered mail by the end of the day.

"I give the mayor credit," Noonan said of Neffinger's move to stop the Route 20 project at the beginning of the week. "The laws should apply across the board. If I can go to a person and tell them they can't build a shed because it is too close to a wetland, why should the state be able to [build]?"

Noonan said the state can react to the Conservation Commission's enforcement orders in one of two ways, "there will be a response, or there will be no response," adding that "an enforcement order can only be appealed through Superior Court.

Noonan said. "If they ignore it, then the town may go to court as well."

Noonan noted that, prior to issuing both the stop work and enforcement orders, he had attempted to contact the state six times to discuss the town's concerns.

"The sad part of this is, had they just filed with us, we could have resolved this thing long ago," Noonan said. "They just don't want to."

Michael Verseckes, a spokesman for Mass DOT, said that by last friday, the sate had not received formal notification of the enforcement orders from the town's conservation commission.

"However we have been in contact with the commission and are working cooperatively to address some of the outstanding concerns," he said.

Verseckes said MassDOT had been in touch with West Springfield officials "several times" during the course of the week regarding the permitting issues under dispute.

"We're certainly working to resolve this," Verseckes said. "We have an Aug. 31 deadline to meet to adjust all vertical clearances on bridges to run double stacked freight [trains] along the CSX line [in Massachusetts]."



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