Charlton Conservation Commission approves several minor amendments, grants pavement and drawdown requests, continues items needing septic plans

The Town of Charlton Conservation Commission met Jan. 28 and took action on a string of development and resource‑management requests, approving several minor amendments and permitting determinations while continuing projects still missing septic or disturbance approvals.

The meeting opened with approval of the Jan. 14, 2026 minutes and a continuance: the commission moved DP128‑193835 (North Main Street) to May 27 at the applicant’s request.

In one of the larger items, the commission closed the public hearing on DP128‑1998, a proposal to replace roughly 60 wooden utility structures along Line U‑173 with steel poles between the Carpenter Hill and Snow Street substations. Jim (S5), the project presenter, told the commission the team had addressed prior comments, a consultant conducted a site visit and the project includes a wetland replication plan; Natural Heritage approval remained pending. Chair (S1) closed the hearing and the commission voted to issue order conditions and close the matter.

Engineer Eric Bader, with Topolancer, presented DP128‑2002186, a plan to convert an existing garage on Burlingame Road into a four‑bedroom single‑family home and install a septic system. Bader said the Board of Health had approved the septic layout and state comments were addressed; the commission moved to close the hearing and issue order conditions.

Carmen Dancy, appearing for the New England Power Company, described an RDA for 134 Carpenter Hill Road to pave existing access routes inside the Carpenter Hill substation. Dancy…