Deerfield Conservation Commission Approves MassDOT Rotary Project With Wetland Buffer Conditions

DEERFIELD — May 28, 2026 — Deerfield Conservation Commission closes MassDOT rotary hearing, adds driveway barrier and biennial basin-monitoring conditions. The commission voted 5-0 Thursday to approve a Notice of Intent for MassDOT District 2's intersection improvement project at Greenfield Road (Routes 5 and 10) at Mill Village Road and North Main Street (Project 613708), attaching three conditions to the order: the town's standard order of conditions, a physical barrier — chain barrier with a "no entry" sign or boulders — to block vehicular access to a disputed abutter driveway constructed under permit 2-2018-0347, and a biennial stormwater catch basin maintenance report due December 31 after every two-year period following construction. MassDOT representative Robin Hunter pushed back on the basin reporting requirement, noting the agency oversees approximately 13,000 catch basins across 56 communities and that all 16 basins on this project would be brand new, but Chair Sean Libbey held firm, calling the area "the upper part of the floodplain basin of Bloody Brook coming into the middle of town." The commission also voted 5-0 to approve a timber harvest and invasive plant management request at 323 Conway Road and scheduled a June 11 special meeting to address a contested scour pad design at Frontier Regional School's 113 North Main Street parking lot project before post-graduation construction begins.