Weymouth Conservation Commission Clears Path for Level Field Bridge Installation

WEYMOUTH -- October 29, 2024, Weymouth Conservation Commission clears final regulatory hurdle for Level Field pedestrian bridge. The commission voted unanimously Tuesday to authorize a one-day incursion into a time-of-year restriction so a prefabricated bridge span can be lowered by crane onto prepared abutments before March 30, 2024, weeks before herring typically appear in the affected waterway. The Division of Marine Fisheries had already approved the waiver window; the next available installation date if the deadline is missed would be a 10-day opening in July. The board also issued a unanimous partial certificate of compliance for a reconstructed single-family home at 59 Lakeview Road on Whitman's Pond, and a unanimous final certificate for an addition at 105 Trefton Ave near the Four River. Mill River resident Kathy Swain, 134 Mill Street, told the commission that Whitman's Pond outflows have failed to meet Division of Marine Fisheries minimums for two consecutive years, that state records show the pond's fish are contaminated with PFAS and DDT, and that development at the former Naval Air Station may soon draw an additional 450,000 gallons per day from an already stressed watershed, all questions the board committed to investigating before its November 19 meeting.