Memorandum
TO: Sharon Kelley, Zoning Administrator
Owiso Makuku, Community Development Director FROM: Dennis Lutz, P.E., Public Works Director
Aaron Martin, P.E., Town Engineer / Utility Director
Annie Costandi, P.E., Storm water Coordinator / Staff Engineer DATE: March 4, 2021
SUBJECT: Review of Plans for Quarry/Construction Yard at 123 Old Colchester Road
______________________________________________________________________________ An initial review was conducted on a plan set submitted in early September 2014. Subsequent review took place in October and November 2014 as well. This revised submittal has addressed some of the older comments but further concerns, design deficiencies and requirements have been provided below.
Blasting and Processing Plans:
The approved processing of aggregate on this site has been in operation since the 2015 time frame with little to no major issues regarding blasting, processing noise and material hauling from the site. Public Works is of the opinion that the applicant continue to follow the approved blasting plan, and monitor processing operations to ensure all negative impacts to the surrounding landowners and the Town / State road infrastructure are addressed in a proper and timely manner.
Traffic:
1. The applicant has proposed a private roadway to service this industrial / commercial development. This road is in excess of 1,130 feet in length. The new private roadway would be located off of a future road, intersecting Old Colchester Road, and dead ends after extending approximately 300 feet in length. It appears this road will provide future access to the Agricultural / Residential district to the east of the project. Essentially there are two new roads proposed as part of this project. The Technical discussion regarding both roads can be found in the Plan Review section of this memo. Further discussion regarding both can be found below.
a. Future Road: The Town will require that this road be constructed as a Class III Town Road. Additional comment on a typical cross-section and lane width can be found in the Plan Review section of this memo. The Town will require a formal Offer of Dedication from the applicant to provide the Town of Essex the option to take over this Future Road as a Class 3 Town Road at a later date or when future development takes place on the lands to the east of this project.
b. Private Roadway: Public Works has reviewed the proposed road and offers the following comments. It appears that the proposed private roadway is approximately 1,130 feet in length. This exceeds the Town’s 900’ maximum for a Public Road. It is understood that the proposed project will continue to be one
continuous lot. Due to the proposed commercial / industrial use, and the private roadway essentially being a drive accessing multiple buildings on a single lot, Staff agrees with the applicants approach, making this a private road. Public Works would agree with the 1,130’ private access road with the following requirements.
i. The applicant shall provide a 100’ diameter offset cul-de-sac at the end of the proposed private road.
ii. All construction of the private road shall conform to the Town of Essex Standard Specifications for Construction as discussed later on in this memo.
iii. The applicant will provide an operations and maintenance plan for the roadway addressing winter maintenance and future repairs for review and approval by the Town.
2. Public Works has reviewed the document titled A&C Realty - Greystone, Traffic Evaluation, November 2020, and is in agreement with its findings with respect to peak hour impacts. The total PM Peak vehicle trip ends calculated for the three 20,000 SF buildings proposed commercial buildings is 45 vte. Additionally, the applicant’s engineer that the portion of this additional traffic burden generated from heavy trucks is 11 vte. 3. Additional traffic impact fees will be accessed, as done in previous approvals within the
Town of Essex, to mitigate the effects of both increased total traffic and heavy truck traffic generated by the proposed development. Public Works will be conducting a traffic study this spring to ensure the fees are calculated with current traffic data and are fair.
a. Heavy Truck Fee: The heavy truck traffic will create an additional structural impact and accelerate the deterioration of a 300 foot section of Old Colchester Road, between the proposed project accesses to VT RT 2A, principally through the weight of the truck traffic. National studies have been done that indicate the structural impact form trucks is anywhere from 7 to 10 times greater than that of an automobile. The fee will be based on a 1.5” Mill with a 2” pavement overlay, including pavement markings based on a percentage of new truck traffic.
b. Traffic Impact Fee: The traffic impact fee is associated with the impacts to the surrounding traffic systems due to the increase off additional traffic generated as part of this project. Public Works has scheduled traffic studies to take place this spring along Old Colchester Road to accurate estimate the additional traffic load, and an appropriate fee will be calculated.
Both the Traffic Impact Fee and the Heavy Truck Fee will be calculated and provided to the applicant for payment prior to the issuance of a building permit.
4. As this development moves forward, when each proposal comes in for each lot within this subdivision, the original traffic analysis will be updated to access traffic impacts and the amount of heavy truck traffic that will be generated. Public Works will use the pm
peak hour volume from the applicant’s traffic study to calculate an additional traffic volume impact fee to be used to offset pavement rehabilitation costs of Old Colchester Road based on a percent of total traffic volume currently using the roadway. This percentage will be calculated using national standards, not existing traffic flows. This must be an imposed requirement.
5. No truck traffic from the site should be allowed to travel east on Old Colchester Road. This must be established by the developer through signs posted at the exit of the site prohibiting trucks from turning left. The Town may elect in the future to process a Town Ordinance change prohibiting trucks on Old Colchester Road. Old Colchester Road is a relatively quiet residential street with moderate to low traffic levels; truck traffic does not belong on this street, east of the site entrance other than small delivery trucks. This signage and condition of approval must be an imposed requirement.
6. Old Colchester Road will be free of dust, gravel or other materials from the site at all times. Additionally, the applicant has proposed that the existing access drive will remain in use until the paved private drive is constructed at a later phase of the project. Heavy construction equipment and trucks carrying stone products will travel this unpaved access road, and it is anticipated that significant amounts of dust will be generated. If determined to be needed by the Town, the applicant shall wet sweep paved surfaces as often as needed to maintain a clean road surface and provide adequate dust control during dry weather as needed. Failure to comply may result in shutdown of all haul operations until the required maintenance is performed. This must be an imposed requirement. 7. The applicant will be required to provide a phasing plan for this project due to the
continuation of the quarry, as the project begins construction. The applicant will need to coordinate the construction of underground utilities around the blasting operations of the quarry. Furthermore, the applicant will be required to construct the proposed roadway in its entirety prior to the issuance of the first building permit. This must be an imposed requirement.
Water:
1. The water connection application with associated fee shall be submitted for processing and approval prior to the issuance of a building permit for each of the three buildings proposed for this phase. The water connection fee associated with one of the three buildings is as follows.
a. 20 employees X 15GPD = 300 GPD
b. Water: 300 GPD x $5.73/gal + $1000 = $ 2,719.00
2. Further comment regarding the proposed water and sewer infrastructure can be found under the Design Drawing section of this review memo.
Sewer:
1. The 57.8 Acre parcel owned by A&C Realty is bisected by between the Agricultural / Residential zoning district on the eastern portion of the lot and the Industrial zoning District on the western side of the lot. The Town of Essex Sewer Core boundary follows this zoning boundary line with all of the 26 EU, (5,200 GPD) within the Industrial Zoning District.
2. The sewer connection application with associated fee shall be submitted for processing and approval prior to the issuance of a building permit for each of the three buildings. The sewer connection fee associated with one of the three buildings is as follows.
a. 20 employees X 15GPD = 300 GPD
b. Sewer: 300 GPD x $10.30/gal + $1000 = $ 4,090.00
3. Further comment regarding the proposed water and sewer infrastructure can be found under the Design Drawing section of this review memo.
Storm water:
1. The proposed storm water system will require a State storm water permit and General Construction Permit including erosion control. A copy of these permits, once obtained, must be filed with the Town.
2. The project is located in Indian Brook which is an impaired watershed. The applicant must take all efforts to mitigate all storm water runoff on-site.
3. The EPA has issued the Lake Champlain TMDL Implementation Plan which calls for higher levels of phosphorus removal for all storm water discharges to the Lake or its tributaries. The applicant will need to provide further design calculations for the proposed storm water system as well as the pounds of phosphorus to be removed by the proposed system for review by Public Works.
4. Further comment regarding the proposed storm water can be found under the Design Drawing section of this review memo.
Design Drawings:
1. Sheet 1: (Title Page) No Exception Taken 2. Sheet 2: (Site Plan)
a. Roadway
i. The access road to the proposed Town owned sewer pump station shall be paved. The access road will be used by septic haulers at times and must be
constructed to meet these weight requirements. Refer to Detail A-XX of the Town of Essex Standard Specifications for Construction.
ii. Public Works request that a gravel access road, centered on the sewer and waterline easement, beginning at the proposed pump station, and terminating at the new road at Sta. 19+00. Steel access gates shall be provided at both ends of the access road.
b. Water
i. The connection to the existing 8” water main on Old Colchester Road shall be with a wet tap on the west side of the existing hydrant. The applicants engineer shall provide a detail to Public Works for approval. ii. At Sta. 18+80, LOS, provide three 8” gate valves on the proposed TEE.
The applicants engineer shall provide a detail to Public Works for approval.
iii. The end of the proposed water main at Sta. 21+65, LOS, shall be redesigned to allow for proper flushing and maintenance of the main. The applicants engineer shall coordinate with Public Works to redesign the locations of the service taps and the fire hydrant.
iv. The current design has two dead end lines along the new road, served by a single 8” water main connected to Old Colchester Road. The applicants engineer has discussed this with Public Works and explained that this is due to the phasing of the project. Blasting operations will continue and could potentially affect utilities in close proximity. Public Works agrees with the phasing of the waterline construction. When the blasting operations have ceased, the applicant will be required to loop the water main, installing a connection from the end of the Old Colchester Road main, up to the temporary dead end at Sta. 16+80, LOS. The applicants engineer shall provide a detail to Public Works for approval.
v. An additional fire hydrant shall be located at the end of the proposed water main located at Sta. 16+80, LOS. This is required to provide adequate fire protection and to properly flus the temporary dead end portion of this new water main.
c. Sewer
i. An additional sewer manhole will be required on the proposed sewer run from SMH #2 and the proposed sewer pump station. The current design has one manhole proposed. Public Works will allow a maximum of 300‘ between structure to ensure sewer lines are accessible to maintenance. d. Storm water
i. All drive culverts proposed shall be a minimum of 18 inch in diameter or larger as required by design flows.
ii. The storm drain from CB#7 is labeled as 15 inch. This should be a minimum of 18 inch in diameter.
iii. There is some confusion with what type of outlet structures are proposed for each pond between Sheets 2 and ST1. POI 1, 2, and 3 are mislabeled between sheets 2 and ST1. Public Works has an issue with the proposed outlet structure for Pond #3 or Detail POI 3. A precast concrete structure as proposed for Ponds #1 and #2 is the preferred alternative for all pond outlet structures.
iv. On Sheet 2, please label where grass swales are to be installed. There is a detail for grass swales on ST2 and it is not clearly depicted on the plans where these are located.
3. Sheet 3: (Landscaping Plan) No Exception Taken 4. Sheet 4: (Lighting Plan)
No Exception Taken 5. Sheet 5: (Roadway Details)
a. The detail labeled Access Road Cross-section shall be constructed in accordance with Detail A-4 of the Town of Essex Standard Specifications for Construction. The only change to this standard ill be the lane width. The lane width shall increase from the 12’ wide noted on the Town’s detail, to 15’ wide.
6. Sheet 6: (Water Details)
a. Hydrant Detail: The detail show a 5” Storz connection on hydrant.
b. Water Trench: The note provided for the insulation layer states the minimum cover is 4’ in depth. This is not acceptable. The minimum cover in grassed or unplowed areas is 5’ and the minimum cover in paved areas is 6’. No Exceptions.
c. Thrust Blocks: All concrete thrust blocks shall be poured in place, No Exceptions.
d. General Water specifications: Item 1.9 A, all testing of water infrastructure shall be witnessed by the Town of Essex. This will include but not be limited to the following; wet taps, service connections, pressure testing, chlorination, bacteria test sampling, etc.
e. General Water specifications: Item 1.9 E, please edit water main cover specifications to reflect the response in 6 b above.
7. Sheet 7: (Sewer Details)
a. General Sewer Specifications: A note shall be provided that requires all sewer infrastructure to meet or exceed the requirements within the Town of Essex Standard Specifications for Construction.
b. General Sewer Specifications: A note shall be provided that all testing of sewer infrastructure shall be witnessed by the Town of Essex. This will include but not be limited to the following; taps, service connections, air testing, etc. c. The applicant will be connecting the proposed 4 inch sewer forcemain into the
existing 6 inch forcemain on the east side of Colchester Road, (VT RT 2A). This will require the installation of additional valves and system monitoring. The applicants engineer shall provide further detail on this connection for review and approval.
8. Sheet 8: (Pump Station Details)
a. Public Works will work closely with the applicant and the applicants engineer through the final design phase, shop drawing process, and construction of the proposed sewer pump station. Staff reserves the right to make changes to the plan submitted as required to ensure the sewer pump station and its performance is maximized before it is turned over to the Town of Essex for operation and maintenance.
b. Additional requirements for the station are as follows,
i. A Mission 850 shall be provided for communications.
ii. An outside emergency generator connection with ATS switch shall be provide for emergency stand by power.
iii. Additional equipment may be required as the final design of the pump station is completed.
9. Sheet E1 thru E5: (ESPC Plan)
a. As this project will require a State storm water permit and general construction permit, the applicant shall provide documentation that the permit application has been approved, provide a copy of the approved application and any changes to the ESPC Plans referenced as part of any State review and approval.
b. On Sheet E3, it implies that there is supposed to be a detail for the Wetland Berm Protection. No detail has been provided.
10. Sheet ST1: (Storm Management) No Exception Taken
11. Sheet ST2: (Storm Details)
a. Please provide details for the proposed storm water manhole, infiltration pond, and forebay.
