SALEM TOWNSHIP – State land-use staff people are recommending a $1,000 fine and an agreement on remedial measures to address violations associated with reconstruction of a dam, as well as clearing, filling and grading activities without a permit.
The Maine Land Use Regulation Commission will consider its staff’s proposal for a Salem Township property at its meeting Wednesday, which begins at 8:30 a.m. in the Knights of Columbus Hall in Eagle Lake.
The dam was built in the 1960s, before the commission’s 1971 inception. It was done as a small impoundment in the event of a fire at a camp on the property. The owner of the property is the Tassinari Family Trust, overseen by trustees Roy R. and Mary N. Tassinari of Auburn.
In 2005, Tassinari conducted filling and grading activities adjacent to and below the normal high-water mark of an unnamed stream. This was done to reconstruct an existing small impoundment and to channel stream flow below the impoundment, according to staff documents.
In the process, Tassinari placed gravel fill across the stream channel and removed rocks from below the stream’s normal high-water mark of the stream below the dam. The rocks were placed along the banks of the stream, vegetation was cleared along the stream banks within 75 feet of the stream and an area upstream of the impoundment was graded near a water-intake pipe serving one of the camps on the property.
About 100 feet downstream of the reconstructed dam are three improperly installed water crossings. One was installed by Tassinari before land-use regulation rules applied, and two others were installed by a neighboring property owner in 2004. Those culverts are being taken up in a separate enforcement settlement.
Fish biologists determined that the improperly installed culverts hinder fish passage in the stream. Biologists are recommending that they be reinstalled based on commission standards.
They also are recommending that the dam’s water-control gate be opened daily for several hours between July 1 to Oct. 30 annually to allow for the free passage of fish seeking spawning habitat.
The state biologists also recommend that trees and other vegetation be planted around the cleared area of the impoundment. The trees would shade the stream and reduce water temperatures. They also want several small rock deflectors placed in the stream between the dam and the water-crossing culvert to provide fish cover and replace small pools and backwater eddies that were eliminated when rocks were removed from the channel.
The staff is recommending a $1,000 penalty, which is a reduced amount from what would ordinarily be assessed, because Tassinari has agreed to replace the legally existing, pre-commission water-crossing culvert.
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