Selectmen continue one, deny second earth removal permit
By Caitlyn Kelleher JOURNAL REPORTER

The Westminster Selectmen heard two requests for earth removal permits at their meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 5, and denied one while continuing the other.

They continued a hearing for a project that is part of an expansion project for Fitchburg Welding on Depot Road.

The company is looking to add on to its building and to create a larger parking area, and in order to do that they must remove 7,500 cubic yards for earth to create a flat area, said project engineer Chris Mossman.

'It's incidental to the building," Mossman said.

Mossman said the work would take about a month and there would about 400 truck trips to get the material out.

An earth removal permit must be granted by the selectmen before more than 2,000 cubic yards of earth are removed from a site, according to the town bylaws.

Town Planner Alicia Altieri said the company has already received their permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection for storm water management and stream relocation. The Planning Board has also reviewed the site plan for this building.

Selectmen continued the hearing because they wanted to determine how much they were going to require in a performance bond for the project. The selectmen said they would not waive the performance bond because they did not want to set a precedent.

The second hearing the selectmen conducted was for an earth removal permit for the Business Park at Westminster on Rowtier Drive off Route 31. Selectmen voted to deny that permit until safety issues were resolved to the satisfaction of the Department of Public Works and other issues were resolved with the Planning Board.

"There is no use coming back to us until they have straighten out those issues," board Chairman John Fairbanks said.

The owners of the property applied for the permit to remove 280,000 cubic yards of earth after the selectmen issued a ceaseand desist order on the ongoing work on the property.

No one representing TKC Realty attended the meeting.

DPW Director William Wintturi said there are significant drainage issues on site that are leading to problems with flooding on Route 31.

"It's a serious safety issue in the winter," Wintturi said. "We're probably going to do it (ourselves) for safety and send them the bill, which they probably won't pay."

The selectmen had issued a cease-anddesist order on the work on the property by TKC Realty Trust in October, because they were removing earth without a permit.

Three residents of the condominiums on Solomon Pond Road in Fitchburg attended the meeting asking the Selectmen to really take care when issuing the permit.

"We're in favor of the business park, however it needs to be done by the codes with the permits," said Dan Tocci, of 16 Saw Mill Pond Road.

The business park is already home to Pine Tree Power and Miles-Kedex. The permit would allow more removal of material from behind those locations.