Needham Planning Board closes hearing on herbicide treatment permit for 636 Charles River Street pond

The Needham Planning Board on Aug. 4 closed a public hearing on a special‑permit application to apply herbicides to a residential pond at 636 Charles River Street.

Jackie Boyer of Beals and Thomas, representing the property owner and the applicant, said the proposal is for targeted invasive‑species management. "So so this is an application for a special permit as you noted. It's for an herbicide application in the Rural Residents Conservation District as well as the Aquifer Protection Overlay District," Boyer said during her presentation, describing the work as part of an ecological restoration project previously permitted in 2019.

Boyer told the board the pond—referred to locally as Ice Pond or Forbes Pond—is roughly eight acres and about three feet deep; the treatment would target Eurasian and variable milfoil and address algae as needed. She said licensed applicators from Water and Wetland are anticipated to perform the work, that annual treatment would consist of up to two targeted applications, and that copper‑based algaecides would be applied only if algae exceed about 10% of the water body.

The application, Boyer said, mirrors an order of conditions issued by the conservation commission in May. Adam Block, the board's vice chair and acting chair for the meeting, summarized written input from town departments and consultants and noted a peer review by Rick Pierce that affirmed the proposed treatment. "I think this application is straightforward. It's gone through an extensive environmental review, internally through the town departments, in addition to the Department of Health, and also through a peer review by a consulting engineering firm," Block said.

Board members pressed on downstream risk and wildlife impacts; Boyer said she was not aware of fish in the pond but noted turtles and frogs and that the neighborhood has established vegetative buffers and a 25‑foot no‑mow zone under the order of conditions. She said manual removal was not considered effective for milfoil but that occasional hand removal of other plants has occurred in the past.

With no one else present to comment, the board moved to close the public hearing and voted unanimously by roll call to adopt the motion to close. Block said the board will take up a decision on the application at its next meeting, scheduled for Aug. 25.

The record for the application includes the conservation commission order of conditions (May 11), a peer review by Rick Pierce, health‑department correspondence, and an August 4 letter from the applicant's consultant affirming that the proposal follows the order of conditions.