Conservation Commission 03/04/2026

(Episode Description is AI generated and may be errors in accuracy)

A crumbling bridge and a living river rarely play nice, but they have to. We sit down with the project team rebuilding the Old Colony Avenue crossing over the Taunton River and unpack how a superstructure replacement, scour protection, and safer sidewalks can move forward without harming a protected waterway or getting lost in red tape. From emergency repairs and new load ratings to half-channel coffer dams dewatering, we walk through the engineering choices designed to keep flows moving, protect habitat, and restore the streamed above riprap once the work is done.

The conversation gets real where policy meets practice. The City of Taunton partners with MassDOT, qualifying the bridge work for a transportation bond bill exemption from the state Wetlands Protection Act—hence no DEP file number—while still honoring local wetlands bylaws, 401 Water Quality Certification, and Army Corps Section 404. We talk through what “within the footprint” actually means, why essential approach work is included, and where the line gets drawn when projects creep into unrelated corridor upgrades. Along the way, we address stakeholder oversight from the Division of Marine Fisheries due to Atlantic sturgeon habitat and the National Park Service for the river’s Wild and Scenic status.

Listeners will hear how dredging limits were set, how sediment will be tested and managed, and why a minimum 2.5 feet of natural substrate will cap the scour protection to support benthic life. We also cover practical street-level gains—new sidewalks, pavement markings, refined drainage, and revegetation—and the strict field rules that matter most: staging on the Raynham side, no refueling near the water, and layered erosion controls to hold fines back from the river. The commission presses for clarity on the exemption and public notice language, and the team agrees to return with written confirmation and continued coordination with Taunton’s hearing.

If you care about how communities keep vital crossings safe while respecting rivers and local authority, this one’s for you. Subscribe, share with a colleague who works on water or transportation, and leave a review telling us where you think the balance between speed and safeguards should land.

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:06

What do you call uh March fourth? Conservation commission meetings order. Uh please be advised all these meetings are recorded.

SPEAKER_01 0:15

Uh while we would read it simply. Oh, public hearings and meetings for Veterans Conservation Commission on Wednesday, uh March 4th, 2026 at 530 p.m. in the Veterans Memorial Town Hall.

SPEAKER_04 1:27

General Wall, Chapter 131, Section 40 in the town of Rangium local firewalls, the Radio Conservation Commission will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, March 4th, uh 2026 at 530 p.m. in the McDonald L. McGinnis meeting room in the Radium Breath Memorial Town Hall, located at 558 12 Main Street Ring on the notice of attendance filed by the city of Town the application for purpose of the application for public uh superstructure reconstruction uh at the location of the old holiday uh just map uh uh uh property owned uh by the town of Rango. Uh copy of the application meeting at the Random Conservation Commission during the normal business office.

Emergency Repairs And Project Scope

Site Conditions And Resource Areas

Superstructure Work And Roadway Changes

Scour Protection And Dredging Plan

Coffer Dams, Dewatering, And Materials

Restoration, Floodplain Work, And Sidewalks

Erosion Controls And Construction Sequence

Permitting Path And Bond Bill Exemption

DEP Number Confusion And Legal Clarifications

SPEAKER_00 2:17

Thank you all. Uh John Nero, uh professional wetland scientist with beta group, here to discuss the project, uh joined by Chris Jones, Vice President with Beta Group, uh project manager for the project. Uh so just to give a quick uh introduction here, I think you folks are pretty well familiar with the bridge in the area. But um uh just some background of about probably four or five months ago, um, there were some emergency repairs done to the bridge uh that you may be familiar with. Um there was a new load rating posted and the bridge had to be closed temporarily. Those repairs were done both within the town, the town of Rainham and the city of Taunton under emergency certification. Relatively minor repair work, known water work, but it was able to get the bridge opened again so that we could finish the design for this project and finish the permitting and eventually go to the reconstruction of the bridge. So just to run through some existing conditions here. Um these are the highway plans I have up here just for discussion purposes. Uh, Old Colony Ave Bridge, Old Colony Ave in Taunton, South Street East in uh Rainham, south to north orientation here. Center line of the Taunton River generally is municipal boundary, so we'll just be focused today on talking about all the work uh from this green line I have highlighted north. Uh generally a fairly urbanized area with a bridge conveying the roadway over the Taunton River. Resource areas of the site include floodplain and the regulatory floodway of the Taunton River, which encompasses a good portion of the site, as well as the banks, ordinary high water of the Taunton River on either side. There are some vegetated wetlands that we have fled out of the site a couple years back, primarily on the west side here. Those wetlands are all set back from the water. I'm not opposing any direct wetland impacts on the project. So the primary work that's probably of most interest to the commission, obviously the entire project's in jurisdiction, but as far as in-water work goes, um, you know, so this project is a bridge reconstruction solely for the superstructure or what's above the piers and the abutments. So the project's going to include replacement of the bridge deck itself, repaving, sidewalk work, some minor drainage and utility work, and some minor roadway widening. Although the project itself is focused on reconstruction and rehabilitation of the superstructure, and then all the approach roadway work, as part of the design process, we prepared a hydraulic analysis of the bridge, and it was determined through discussion with Mass DOT that we would need we wouldn't need to reconstruct the piers and abutments that hold the bridge up, but we would need to add in some scour protection for future longevity of the bridge. So a majority of our impacts are associated with dredging that's going to be required directly in the Taunton River to install this scour protection. It's going to be about within town arena, about 6,700 square feet of the river that would need to be dredged, and there's going to be about a thousand or so cubic yards of material pulled out to install that scour protection. What it will look like is the work will be done one half of the river at a time so that there's always going to be maintained flow around the work area, and there won't need to be any diversion pipes or channels constructed. So the plan would be, for example, in the half that's in Rainum, the contractor would install a coffer dam around their work area, most likely large sandbags. That work area would then be dewatered, likely through a frack tank to filter it before it goes back into the river. And they would then get machinery in to dredge out this work area in preparation for installation of scour protection. There would be some temporary dredging on either end so that they can taper down to the cut, which is over five feet below the riverbed, to get to the elevation they need to install the scour protection. And then they would put in the scour protection more localized to the bridge and its piers, and that would just consist of both crushed and rib rock stone. Once that's done, the material that's dredged would be tested as part of construction for contaminants. And depending on what that comes back with, we would either reuse that material so that there's at least a two and a half foot of natural stream bed cover for the scour protection. If it comes back that we can't reuse it due to concerns of contaminants, we do have specifications for the gradation of the stream bed material, so the contract if we manufacture something to bring in. So at the end of it, it is a permanent condition having that scour protection installed, but there'd be at least two and a half feet of stream bed material put back over it to restore it substantially back to existing conditions. Moving north, getting out of the water, the remainder of the project is primarily within floodplain, buffer zone, and riverfront area. And work will continue going north to basically tie in some of the improvements on the bridge to the rest of the corridor. So there's going to be addition of some bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, sidewalks, pavement markings. There'll be some minor roadway widening at the northwestern corner of the bridge here to accommodate that new sidewalk and a slight modification to the roadway geometry, and some clearing as well to facilitate access to the river to do the work. Once the work is done, there'll be the paving of a roadway, pouring the concrete of the sidewalks, and then any disturbed vegetated areas adjacent to the roadway will be reseeded and re-vegetated. And that work continues a bit more to the north to the intersection with uh Sandy Hill Street. Work along this portion of the corridor is substantially similar to what I just described. There's some clearing for access and construction, which will be restored, as well as some drainage improvements, some resetting of catch basins, a small infiltration trench will be put in near the sewer pump station. And then the project will end just past the Sandy Hill Street intersection. Prior to construction, have a full installation of erosion controls, compost filter tubes surrounding the work, so sacks within catch basins, and any work in the water would be done behind coffer dams to prevent any sedimentation of river. That's the long and short of the project itself. I do want to touch upon the question earlier about the DEP file number. So we do not have a DEP file number. We would not get one for this project. It's a unique and admittedly odd situation. So this is a project undertaken by the city of Taunton as the applicant. They are partnered with Mast DOT on the project. So Taunton takes care of the design, retaining a consultant like us to do the work, and then MastDoT would contribute money towards the construction of the project. And as a result, the project needs to go through Mass DOT processes and standards, and one of those is that Mass DOT's bridge projects qualify for a transportation bond bill that was passed about a decade ago. What that does is provide some exemptions for permitting processes, one of which is the Wetlands Protection Act. However, given that the City of Taunton is the applicant, they are not exempt from local bylaws and ordinances. So this filing is solely filed under the Rainham Wellness Protection bylaw. And later this month, when we go before the City of Taunton, the filing will only be under the Taunton Wildlands Protection Ordinance. Other processes we're going through permitting-wise that we're not exempt from. We are going through 401 water quality certification through Mass DEP as well as a Section 404 review by the Army Corps of Engineers. And as part of all those processes, Mass Division of Marine Fisheries is reviewing the project given that it is habitat for Atlantic Sturgeon, and National Park Service is also reviewing it since it's a wild Messianic River. That is the long and short of it. I'm happy to take any questions the Commission has.

SPEAKER_02 12:53

So the exemption in the transportation bond bill is specifically four bridges that are being reconstructed in the footprint of its existing location. So if you have a project that goes well beyond the bridge and includes other elements, that would not be subject to the exemption of the bond bill. The bond bill is specifically for work just related to a bridge that's being replaced with its footprint. So linear projects would not qualify for this exemption. Right, that's a good point.

Examples, Precedents, And Documentation Requests

SPEAKER_04 13:25

So if our project, it's part of the whole project, you're widening the road on the approach to the bridge. So I mean you're not doing work just on the bridge per se.

SPEAKER_02 13:43

That's that's correct. The the the the under uh the understanding is that you need to do approach, you can't just replace the bridge without doing some approach work. So the approach work that's incidental to um to the bridge is um uh is considered exempt. But if you go beyond what's needed to replace the bridge, then that would come.

SPEAKER_00 14:04

Right. So if you have a very long corridor of like a stretch of highway where you're replacing a bridge, but you're also doing substantial off-ramp work, drainage improvements that that could be done completely independent of the bridge and have no bearing on the bridge, then those are those kind of projects where you will still see a file in this.

SPEAKER_03 14:23

Well then if then the the question is you filed a notice of intent. Correct. So are you then acknowledging that you were not aware of that, of that of a bond bill that you're filing under? No. Or if you file a notice of intent under the Wetlands Protection Act. And then filed under the local wetlands bylaw. When you file a notice of intent under the Wildlands Protection Act, if you have said the project is in set, then you wouldn't need to file the notice of intelligence.

SPEAKER_00 14:54

We didn't file under the uh Wetlands Protection Act, we're only filing a notice of intent under the random wetlands by law.

SPEAKER_03 15:01

Well, according to your application. And then the ad that you ran on the gate in the newspaper. The ad that you just ran in the newspaper.

SPEAKER_00 15:14

Uh our application says the project is not subject to the act, but it's filed only under the bylaw. But you did the act. Yeah, we were provided uh uh the template ad from the town that also state so the act so you guys are responsible for the act.

SPEAKER_03 15:38

We don't do the the commission doesn't do the odd. So if you did the odd, and you said under the Witness Protection Act, and the Town of February Marina Witness Byl, then that tells me that you, at the time, well not you personally or what I mean, your team did the uh uh the ad.

SPEAKER_00 16:02

Do you have a copy of the ad with you? So I'm ready to I mean the one you gave me. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 16:08

And that's as well as according to the Mass General Law, Chapter 131, Section 40, which is the Web Water Protection Act, in the Rainham, the town of Rainham local bylaw. The Randham Conservation Commission will hold a public hearing. Further on, you do say that um uh the notice of 10 filed by the city of Toronto.

SPEAKER_00 16:46

Um so would the best solution be to rerun an ad that only states bylaw? Or are you looking for something also in writing for Mass DOT confirming that this exemption applies?

SPEAKER_03 16:58

Yeah, and provide and provide the commission where the the bond bill that you referenced, that says it's exempt.

SPEAKER_04 17:11

You know, to his point, if it was exempt, we really didn't even need to hold this hearing. It's just kind of should have been informal, you know, we're gonna abide by your your bylaws. Well the bylaw requires the project.

SPEAKER_00 17:26

The bylaw requires submission of a notice of impact.

SPEAKER_03 17:28

Yeah, but it can it can't you know if you did this strict impact and bylaw, then you can't really comply with the bylaw. You know what I'm saying? With all the uh why is that uh with all the uh uh the one of uh uh quality, you gotta get the water quality first. And uh um because we we try to look at what the EP does to see how far we you know, so I'll call uh uh Davis tomorrow.

SPEAKER_00 18:00

Yeah. And we can get in the meantime, we can get you some correspondence, something from Mass DOT in writing that reference provides a reference to the exemption.

SPEAKER_03 18:12

But I'm um well I'm just curious. So Mass DOT all these years for the last five, six years they did doing work on um on 495? Yeah, we did before we did the whole re 24 exchange and coast corridor.

SPEAKER_00 18:33

Yeah, so that I know it's so is that the uh 24, 140 or 44, sorry.

SPEAKER_04 18:40

We did that whole intersection just a few years ago.

SPEAKER_00 18:42

Yeah, so that's all intersection work, so that wouldn't be fully.

SPEAKER_04 18:45

But it's it crossed river across streams and wetlands and then mill stream bridge. Yeah. So yeah, it's kind of it's kind of odd the way you're you know, you don't have a DEP number. DEP numbers come with everything. Everything that we do, you know, we have that DEP number. It's just kind of odd that you're you know, you're referencing the Wetlands Protection Act, but with no with no number to go with it.

SPEAKER_00 19:16

Yeah, so because ultimately, you know, the bylaw, you folks' bylaw as well as other communities are promulgated under the Wetlands Protection Act as your own way, a home rule, your own way to regulate wetlands above and beyond. So since the exemption only applies to the Wetlands Protection Act, but not those bylaws under it, we're only filing under the bylaw. And I can only speak from my own experience, but previous life working as a conservation agent, we would often get filings only under our local bylaw because of either exemptions or they um were only working in a resource area that was covered under our bylaw, but not the Wellness Protection Act.

SPEAKER_04 19:59

I've been here 21 years now, and every filing I've had is a DEP level.

SPEAKER_00 20:06

Yeah, we can we can provide um so we can do twofold. I know you mentioned you're gonna reach out to Mass DEP, but we can provide you uh with something from MassDOT that explains the exemption and gives you more concrete information. And we can also reach out to um mass DEP and and maybe get something in writing confirming their understanding of the way we filed this. Uh, because we have we did a pre-filing site walk with them, we reviewed the plans with them, so they're well aware of it and our approach to filing. Um, but we can get that in writing for you if that's helpful.

SPEAKER_04 20:43

One of the questions, when's the topic meeting date, you know?

SPEAKER_00 20:46

Uh March 30th. It was supposed to be two nights ago, but they had to cancel and push it out.

SPEAKER_03 20:53

Because very often the Uh even the water quality certification will incorporate the order of conditions.

SPEAKER_00 21:01

Yeah, and I I've been through this on other projects. We've gotten water quality certs, but not uh words of conditions under the Wilds Protection Act. But um, we can we can provide you something in writing that explains it.

SPEAKER_04 21:13

My biggest concern is what you've got to dig up when it starts wretching down there.

SPEAKER_02 21:22

As long as there's no human record. Anybody uh got any other questions?

SPEAKER_01 21:28

I do not have any other questions.

SPEAKER_04 21:30

The uh river alliance been involved in any of this? Do you reach out to them?

SPEAKER_00 21:36

Uh no, not directly, but we have been in communication with National Park Service because of the river, because it's wild and scenic. Um so they they did issue some comments just asking some questions to confirm uh our plan for work, but we haven't seen uh we haven't communicated with the alliance now.

Staging, Refueling Limits, And Logistics

SPEAKER_04 21:57

Okay, so one other further question. Uh-huh. When you're getting ready to start construction, where is the staging going to be on the top side or the range of side of the product?

SPEAKER_02 22:07

Um that that's gonna be a decision for the contractor, but my anticipation. Um anticipation is that most of it will be staged from the ranger side. Uh the bridge, the roadway will probably be closed at 7 Hill Street, and the contractor will use all of that just to stage his okay.

Continuance To March 18 And Votes

SPEAKER_04 22:28

Just one thing we've always insisted on is if there'll be no refueling, um refueling as far away as possible. So it's station we're out of like uh no refueling machines, right? Right, um what is your next meeting once for months or twice? Yep, uh next meeting is March 18th. Yes. So this is a notice of attempts, so I have to ask you uh would you like to continue the meeting until the 18th? Yes, please. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 23:19

Okay, motion motion to continue the notice of attempt to local the average for the detox revenue uh switch reconstruction to the March 18th meeting.

SPEAKER_01 23:30

I will second that motion.

SPEAKER_03 23:32

Motion again, second it. All in favor, aye, opposed, unites. You send out an email to um confirming your first motion.

SPEAKER_00 23:43

Yes, absolutely. I'll send that on. Thank you, gentlemen. Thank you. Thank you. Good night.

Minutes, Admin Items, And Adjournment

SPEAKER_04 23:52

All right, uh that's it for no informals. Uh did everyone get a chance to read the minutes of February 18th? Yes.

SPEAKER_01 24:02

I will make a motion to accept the minutes of February 18.

SPEAKER_04 24:29

There's quite a few pages here, so I couldn't do the new thing.

SPEAKER_01 25:00

I'm gonna give this one back, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 25:04

Yeah, no, actually, just fold them in. Okay. Yeah, it'll be no, just flip them over as you go. All right. Um this time I don't have any sight business. As soon as you finish filling those out.

SPEAKER_01 26:22

I'll make a motion to adjourn.

SPEAKER_04 26:24

Second. All signed. Yes. All right, motion made in second is all in favor? Aye. Aye, opposed, opinion.

unknown 26:31

Uh