Charlton panel orders pipe work, asks owners to address beaver dams after runoff complaints

The Town of Charlton Conservation Commission voted to require changes to a private drainage pipe and to send letters to two property owners after a resident complained that runoff and raised pond levels are flooding his land.

Rosa, a town staff member, told the commission she conducted a site inspection May 1 and met with the property owner, whom she identified as Mr. Gauthier. "I conducted that site inspection on May 1. I met with mister, Gauthier," Rosa said, describing a pipe that runs "from the pond at the rear of his property" down to the road, where a swale channels water onto Old Spencer Road.

The action followed a complaint from the owner of land behind 77 Old Spencer Road and a subsequent inspection that also identified apparent runoff from other parcels along the Spencer line. Rosa said she located additional pipe and swampy areas near 62 Old Spencer Road and 138 East Charlton Road, and that she had arranged a meeting with Spencer DPW and Charlton DPW to pinpoint where runoff originates.

Why it matters: Commission members were presented with evidence that stormwater currently discharged onto the public roadway and into a culvert, and that the pond behind Mr. Gauthier’s property has a higher water level that he attributes both to upstream runoff and to beaver dams on private parcels. The commission moved first to reduce direct road discharge and then to notify private owners about beaver dams…