Vernal Pool Assessment Summary Report
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June 5, 2008
Email
Northampton Conservation Commission
c/o Office of Planning & Development
City Hall
210 Main Street
Northampton, MA 01060
RE: Vernal Pool Assessment Summary Report [LEC File#: KCI107-300.01]
Assessor's Map 25C, Parcel 012 & 017
Northern Avenue and View Avenue
Northampton, Massachusetts
Dear Commissioners:
On behalf of the Applicant, Northern Avenue Homes, Inc., LEC Environmental Consultants, Inc., (LEC) is
submitting this report to summarize the results of the Vernal Pool Assessment conducted from mid-March
through the end of May. To reiterate, a portion of the 5.5± acre project site is slated for development and the
Applicant voluntarily retained LEC to conduct a comprehensive Vernal Pool Assessment to determine whether
any depressions on-site could meet the criteria for certification as Vernal Pool habitat as described within the
Guidelines for the Certification of J entai Pool Habitat, prepared by the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries
and Wildlife (dated January 1, 2001). According to the Massachusetts Geographic Information Systems
(MassGIS) data layers, no Certified (updated January 2008) or Potential Vernal (updated December 2000)
Pools exist on the project site. However, preliminary investigations by Molly Hale, Wildlife Biologist, on
August 18, 2007, revealed the presence of fingernail clams (family Sphaeriidae, also known as Pisidiidae) and
amphibious snails (from two different families: Lymnaeidae and Planorbidae) within small (dry) depressions
scattered throughout the on-site Bordering Vegetated Wetland (BVW) system. Both fingernail clams and
amphibious air-breathing snails are documented as facultative vernal pool species. Facultative species are
those vertebrate and invertebrate species that can use vernal pool habitat for all or a portion of their life cycle,
but ure able to successfully complete their life cycle in other water bodies.
While Ms. Hale's data verifies that potentially certifiable Vernal Pools exist on-site (Vernal Pool Resource
Areas protected under the City of Northampton Wetlands Protection Ordinance, Chapter 337), additional data
collection was required to determine whether the on-site depressions: 1) held surface waters over 60
consecutive days, as required under the Ordinance and defined within 310 CMR 10.04 (Vernal pool habitat) of
the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act Regulations, and 2) are indeed eligible for certification as Vernal
Pool habitat and if so, to demarcate the functional limits of the Vernal Pool(s). On March 6, 2008, LEC
submitted a Vet-nul Pool Assessment Protocol, which was ultimately approved by the Northampton
Conservation Commission at a Public Hearing held on March 13, 2008. Although portions of the site,
including the aforementioned depressions, were still frozen and/or covered in snow, the Vernal Pool
LEC Environmental Consultants, Inc.
www.lecenvironmental.com
1248 Route 28A, Unit 6
36 Cordage Park Circle
107 Audubon Road
P. 0. Box 590
P. 0. Box 778
Suite 312
Budding 2, Suite 110
Rindge, NH 03461
Cataumet, MA 02534
Plymouth, MA 02360
Wakefield, MA 01880
508-503-5357
508-746-9491
781-245-2500
603-899-6726
508-563-5358 (Fax)
508-746-9492 (Fax)
781-245-6677 (Faxe
603-899-6726 (Fax)
capeec(lecenvironmental.com
southlecMecenvironrrmental.com
northlec'3decenvironmental.com
nhlecTlecenvironmentatcom
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Assessment formally commenced on March 18, 2008. The following provides a description of the
methodologies implemented and results of the Assessment.
Methodology
As stated above, the Verna] Pool Assessment formally commenced on March 18, 2008, under partially frozen
and/or snow covered conditions (see Photograph #'s 1 and 2). In order to fully document surface water
conditions and monitor fluctuating water levels, LEC proposed to establish various: 1) fixed photographic
stations and 2) benchmark data points within the scattered depressions contained within the interior of the
BVW system (depths to be recorded at each site visit). However, due to the frozen and/or snow covered
conditions, LEC was unable to establish the benchmark data points until March 28'1'. Nevertheless, LEC
documented and photographed site conditions during site visits