Public hearing raises storm water discharge issue
By Kate Daly Contributing Writer

Marlborough - The Conservation Commission public hearing, held Feb. 7, on repairs and upgrades to the storm drain system behind the Heights Apartments on Briarwood Lane raised the issue of the eff ect of road runoff on wetlands.

Salt, oil and other chemicals from roads and parking lots find their way to wetlands one way or another, said Edward Clancy, commission chair and selectman.

"This is one of the problems we have all over the city," Conservation Officer Priscilla Ryder said. "It's a citywide issue, it's a nationwide issue we need to be concerned about.

"I am glad you guys know about it," she said to the five people who attended the public hearing. "It's a collective issue we have to deal with."

The topic came up because the decades-old system, which lived up to the requirements of the time, is not working, and Home Properties, which manages the apartments, wants to repair and upgrade the system.

In a lengthy presentation, engineers from FST Engineers outlined the improvements they would make, including enlarging and deepening the current catch basin and replacing the separated pipe that runs below the road with a single piece of pipe.

The drainage was designed originally to run through a retaining wall and pipe into the wetlands, engineer Steve Casazza said. The pipe leading to the wetlands was put above ground, and over the years it has settled and separated, so that the drainage pools at the base of the wall. He circulated photos that showed the broken pipe.

The plan would also remove at least some of the aboveground pipe and put in a stone-lined trench directing the water to the wetlands. Because the new catch basin would be deeper and better designed than the existing basin, more salts, oils and chemicals would drop out of the drainage water before it reaches the wetlands, engineer Tom Callo said.

The commission members recommended some improvements to the plan, including clearer explanation of grading and scale and the marking of the 20-foot wetland setback that is outlined in commission policy.

At its Thursday Feb. 21 meeting, the commission is scheduled to continue public hearings on a proposal by First Student to construct a 20,000-square-foot parking garage, among other items.