Conservation commission issues order for septic replacement at 70 Ridge Hill Road (DEP 3011439)

The Sudbury Conservation Commission voted April 7 to close the hearing and issue an order of conditions for a septic-system replacement at 70 Ridge Hill Road (DEP file 3011439).

The project replaces a failing system that lies within the 100-foot buffer and the 200-foot state riverfront area under the Wetlands Protection Act and the Town of Sudbury wetlands bylaw. Vito Colonna of Cornerstone Engineering said the existing system “is in failure. It needs to be replaced.” He told the commission the design uses an innovative alternative system that reduces the size of the leach field by about 40 percent and uses pressure dosing to distribute effluent across the field for enhanced treatment. Colonna said the proposed location is as far from the wetland as practical on the site and that the work will require relocation of the water service, which may require removal of several large pines near the property line.

Laurie (staff member) told the commission the plan had been modified to meet Board of Health requirements and that the Board of Health had approved the project. “I would recommend at this time that the commission could close the hearing and issue a decision,” Laurie said, referring to draft conditions provided at a prior meeting. No additional mitigation was requested.

Commission members asked technical questions about tank removal, setback distances and the portion of the system outside commission jurisdiction. Colonna said most of the existing tank would be removed to make room for the new tank and that much of the original system sits outside the commission’s jurisdictional buffer. Alice Sapienza, the property owner, confirmed she had no questions and that she had been working with the engineers.

Motion and vote records supplied at the meeting show the commission closed the hearing and then voted to issue the order of conditions for DEP file 3011439. The recorded roll-call votes for the order were in the affirmative; the meeting transcript records affirmative votes from Cook, Wolter, Severe and Inclos. The decision carries standard conditions and does not include special mitigation beyond the plan as presented.

The order allows the applicant to proceed with the alternative treatment system subject to the commission’s standard conditions and Board of Health requirements. The commission noted that relocation of the water service and any associated tree removal would be coordinated with the town and that final installation must comply with the conditions in the order.

A final construction schedule and any required permits remain the responsibility of the applicant and are subject to the conditions spelled out in the issued order.