Wayland Conservation Commission clears Snake Brook Dam rehabilitation

WAYLAND — August 30, 2023 — Wayland Conservation Commission clears Snake Brook Dam rehabilitation after six years of design. The commission unanimously issued an order of conditions Wednesday for the 80 Rice Road project, which the state Office of Dam Safety has ordered completed by March 2024 after a September 2021 storm overtopped the structure. Engineers Matt Dunn and Lauren Gluck of PARE Corporation detailed plans to slip-line the 18-inch outlet conduit, install a knife gate valve operable from the dam crest, reconstruct the spillway with a permanent beaver-deceiver pipe, and flatten the downstream slope. The project will permanently impact roughly 2,900 square feet of land underwater and 150 square feet of bordering vegetated wetland, replaced at a 3-to-1 ratio. Conservation Administrator Linda Hansen, the filing applicant, said prior funding applications have been "unsuccessful" but permitting must proceed. Commissioners also re-elected Sean P. Fair as chair and Barbara Howell as vice chair.