In a previous interview conducted with Douglas Kohl, the residential real estate developer and owner of Thornes Marketplace, he told me that it can take up to five years to properly certify a vernal pool because each spring is different. Apparently there can be varying degrees of snow melt and rain runoff from one year to the next. In the case of the North Street area woods, as far as assessment goes, it looks like it’s one year and done. In the video posted below you will see that Williamsburg resident Paul Wetzel presided as chairperson over the decision to close the assessment period and accept the vernal pool assessment reports as filed. Conservation Commission city staffer Bruce Young is seated to Mr. Wetzel’s left. Mr. Young also serves as staff person for the Planning Department and he weighed in too on the vernal pools. Mr. Kohl is seated in front of the commissioners and is wearing a white patterned short sleeve shirt.The audio is not great in the video below, so it’s difficult to hear some of the conversation.
Adam Cohen of the North Street Neighborhood Association provides the following:
"Last summer, Northampton’s Conservation Commission voted to request vernal pool assessment on Kohl Construction’s property off North Street. Vernal pools are rare and fragile environments that enjoy special protection in Northampton’s Wetlands Ordinance.
This spring, Kohl hired LEC Environmental Consultants to determine if his vernal pools merited certification. This work was monitored by Hyla Ecological Services, a firm hired by the North Street Neighborhood Association (NSNA).
LEC did find fingernail clams and air-breathing snails in various pools. These are "facultative" species that do well in vernal pools but don’t require them. LEC did not find "obligate" species–such as frogs–that require vernal pools to complete their life cycle.
LEC concludes that "none of the five depressions studied truly meet the criteria for certification as Vernal Pool habitat". Hyla concurs with this assessment, and the Conservation Commission accepted LEC’s report on June 12.
Click to download a PDF of LEC’s Vernal Pool Assessment
Click to download a PDF of Hyla’s review of LEC’s Assessment
Here is a Google video of LEC presenting its Vernal Pool Assessment to the Conservation Commission (22 min):"
