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On Monday the Conservation Commission discussed a notice of violation for the Nobscot Scout Reservation. At issue is ongoing site improvement work on their Nobscot Road property. The violation involved unauthorized work within the buffer zone.
More specifically, Conservation Coordinator Lori Capone informed the commission that she instructed the relevant parties at the scout reservation not to install a drainage ditch near the entrance and parking area without going before the Conservation Commission with an engineer’s plan for approval. Capone returned at a later date for another site visit, and discovered that the drainage ditch was added anyway.
This is not the first violation at the Nobscot Scout Reservation, and commissioners were emphatic that they didn’t want this pattern to continue. Representatives of the scout reservation explained that they organized a largely volunteer-based crew for the site improvement work, suggesting that they were not familiar with the conservation restriction, Town bylaws, or the order of conditions on their work.
That didn’t get them off the hook, as commissioner Kathleen Rogers noted that this was an egregious violation and asked if there was any training being provided for the volunteer workers. (1:36:25) A scout representative responded: “It is absolutely something to look at. I really can’t speak to three years ago, unfortunately, in terms of what was put in place. But I can tell you, as of present time, we are meeting with them specifically to go through the CR [conservation restriction] and obviously suggesting and implementing that we get educated by the Town in regards to certain works that can be performed.”
An earlier phase of the proposed work on the site was completed by professionals, and Chair Dave Henkels pointed out how well he felt that work went. The scout reservation representatives noted at one point that they are considering if other aspects of the project are better farmed out to professional vendors than volunteers.
Another representative of the Scouts added “We are the Boy Scouts of America. We are supposed to be setting the example and I fully understand where you all are coming from. And I appreciate your patience as we correct this.” He went on to explain that they are assigning an executive vice president in their organization to review and approve all aspects of the project moving forward.
The discussion ended on an optimistic note, with Chair Dave Henkels setting the tone for the remaining phases of the project on the property: “As we go through the last three [phases] let’s just make darn sure that we have got stringent controls in place.”