The Site Visit

On March 15, 2000 the City of Pittsfield’s Conservation Agent, Caleb Mitchell, made a site visit to the soccer fields. He assured college officials that a Notice of Intent (NOI) would not be necessary and that they should instead file a Request for Determination of Applicability (RDA).

“I made arrangements with Mr. Caleb Mitchell, the Conservation Commissioner, for an on site meeting with Don, John Lambert and myself to walk the proposed construction site and discuss any potential problems or environmental issues. We met at 3pm on March15th and at that time Caleb stated that he didn’t foresee any problems, that he didn’t need to walk the property any more than we had because he was familiar with the wetlands in question. He instructed Don on which paperwork he would need to file and when the next meeting of the Commission would be.” (Memo: Sam Slack of BCC to James Pasquini (Dean of Administration and Finance, Berkshire Community College); Obtained from files of Berkshire Community College)

“Sam and I met with Kaleb Mitchell, Chairman of the Pittsfield Conservation Commission on site on March 15, 2000. Mr. Mitchell directed me to file for a Determination of Applicability with the Commission as he did not believe that a Notice of Intent would be necessary. John Lambert accompanied us on the walk-through. I filed the Determination of Applicability and was placed on their agenda for their next available meeting.” (Memo 4/13/00: Don Chester (Regional Engineer serving as engineer for this project) to James Pasquini; Obtained from files of Berkshire Community College)

Suggesting that the college file an RDA rather than an NOI indicates that Mr. Mitchell believed that there were no wetland issues at the site in need of the Commission’s attention. He also told the officials present that he would not need to walk the site because he was very familiar with the wetlands. Familiarity with the wetlands should have indicated that the work was within endangered species habitat and was within the jurisdiction of the Conservation Commission. This would mean that the project did in fact require an NOI.

Since the College had invited Mr. Mitchell to inspect the site, perhaps he should have done so. This certainly was not a straightforward case of a site without wetland issues.

Footnote: The Chairman of the Conservation Commission at the time was Mary O’Brien. Mr. Mitchell was the Conservation Agent, a paid employee of the City of Pittsfield.