TOPSFIELD — Jonathan Peabody doesn't know what the mass resignations on the Topsfield Conservation Commission will mean for his efforts to repair a century-old bridge over Howlett Brook.
The town is still searching for its own answers.
Town Administrator Virginia Wilder said the town is waiting to hear from lawyers about how the commission, which protects the town's wetlands, will function now that the seven-member board has only two people, appointed this month. Three members resigned Monday and the other two on Tuesday, stripping the board of 33 years of experience.
Yesterday, the two remaining commissioners, Holger Luther and Judson Pratt, met with Conservation Administrator Lana Spillman. They were not available for comment yesterday afternoon. The commission meeting scheduled for last night has been postponed to Aug. 27.
Peabody said his initial experiences with the Conservation Commission and staff — beginning in the fall of 2006, after the bridge was damaged in the Mother's Day floods — were positive, and the commission rushed to let him make emergency repairs. He was frustrated, he said, by months of red tape later on and by different federal and state regulations, though he said the town's commission made it easier.
"When I called them, they responded very, very quickly and were very helpful," he said yesterday.
Similar comments are sprinkled through sometimes anonymous feedback forms in the commission's office, suggesting that most people doing business with the board were pretty happy with the way the board operated.
Not everyone was satisfied. Roger Howell complained late last year that one meeting's worth of work took three meetings, that homeowners were treated like criminals and that the "only aspect that occurred quickly was unnecessary fines for petty details."
Tom Warren, a seven-year veteran of the commission who resigned Tuesday, said like others he quit because of two "strong personalities," Luther and Pratt, whom selectmen appointed to the commission this month. The commission has to interpret complex laws and judge competing viewpoints, which strong personalities can overturn.
"It's not clear-cut, it's always gray area, and so you really need to have an open mind, listen to the facts and have a lot of back-and-forth on the board. Very strong personalities don't tend to facilitate that," Warren said.
John McArdle, who also handed in his resignation Tuesday, said yesterday the commission could not rebuild overnight. A former corporate leader and physicist, McArdle said after one year on the commission he found he still had plenty to learn — and had one of the best teachers, then-Chairman Walter Harmer, who quit Monday after 14 years on the commission.
In his resignation letter, McArdle said, "The actions of the Board of Selectmen toward the Conservation Commission and its chair denigrate the efforts of the commission. Remarks made by a member of the Board of Selectmen show a serious lack of knowledge and understanding of what it takes to be a useful contributor."
Warren said the commission had tried to find ways to meet the needs of property owners and the Conservation Commission, which enforces wetlands laws. That was echoed in a feedback form by Carl Nelson, a Rowley Road homeowner who worked with the commission to minimize damage to wetlands just 38 feet from his home.
"Our thanks and appreciation for the volunteers and staff on the important town committee," Nelson wrote on a feedback form.
Pratt and Luther are both former selectmen who served together on the Town Management Committee, which helped switch to a five-member board of selectmen and hire the first professional town administrator. Luther helped write the town's first wetlands bylaws years ago and has also served on master planning, planning, water and zoning boards. Pratt served on the Planning Board and is interested in water quality, mapping of wetlands and other issues.
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