Commission orders consultant review and sets public hearing for Miners Bridge Road drainage-heavy proposal

Engineers and the applicant team presented significant changes to the stormwater design for a large residential project on Miners Bridge Road, and the Roxbury Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission voted to initiate outside consultant reviews and set a public hearing to allow for additional public and technical scrutiny.

Paul Samansky of Holland & Associates summarized the revisions: the design replaces smaller Coltech rechargers with multiple 4x4x8-foot concrete galleries (the team described roughly 80 galleries in total across multiple drain locations), installs infiltration and stone trenches along driveways, and phases construction to minimize disturbance and protect existing trees. Samansky said percolation rates in the project’s drainage areas ranged from about 6 to 10 minutes per inch and that the team modeled 2-, 5-, 10-, 25-, 50- and 100-year storms using TR-55 methods.

Commissioners raised questions about monitoring, reporting frequency and consultant oversight. Paul proposed weekly reporting for storm events of 0.25 inches or greater; he said the design provides multiple layered erosion controls within the 200-foot upland review area. Michael Klein and another reviewer presented fee estimates to perform an initial plan review and follow-up reviews: an initial estimate of $4,500 and additional per-meeting or revision fees were discussed. The commission agreed it was prudent to deposit funds for consultant review; commissioners discussed an initial check in the neighborhood of $7,000–$9,000 to cover the first phase of reviews and meetings and settled on proceeding with an initial deposit (the transcript records the commission’s agreement to fund consultant review and to replenish the deposit as needed).

To allow time for consultants to review the revised package and for the applicant to respond to comments, the commission scheduled a public hearing for Sept. 10 at 7:00 p.m. with remote attendance options noted. The commission also directed staff to circulate revised plans and consultant reports to members in advance of the public hearing.

Commissioners emphasized tree preservation and minimizing the limit of disturbance; the applicant said plan changes shifted the house grading to create a walkout basement and saved flagged trees previously proposed for removal.