Conservation Commission continues Conant Road compost hearing to November

WESTON -- October 22, 2024, Weston Conservation Commission continues Conant Road compost hearing after Cambridge Water raises stormwater concerns. Engineers Lee Koska and Megan Kearns presented a notice of intent for a 3.5-acre leaf and yard-waste composting facility at 300 Conant Road on behalf of applicant Joe Venneria, with roughly 13,860 square feet of work in the 200-foot riverfront area and 59,000 square feet in the 100-foot buffer zone. Cambridge Water Department's Jamie O'Connell, in comments received hours before the hearing, told commissioners the proposed infiltration basin appears to sit within a Zone A protective area for a tributary to Cherry Brook, where state Stormwater Standards 3 and 6 prohibit infiltration BMPs. "It seems like the work in the riverfront area is kind of only degrading it without any benefit," O'Connell said. Chair Rees Tulloss raised invoking M.G.L. Chapter 44, Section 53G to retain an outside consultant at applicant expense. The commission voted 4-0 to continue to Nov. 19.