Conservation Commission approves manual beaver dam management at Wake Robin Road home

SUDBURY — April 8, 2024 — Sudbury Conservation Commission clears Wake Robin Road homeowner to manage beaver dam by hand. The commission voted unanimously April 8 to issue an order of conditions allowing Doreen Neal of 75 Wake Robin Road to remove sticks and debris from a dam on the abutting Bonnie Brook parcel after ponded water reached two to three feet deep within 40 feet of her house. Chair David Henkels said he measured roughly two feet of water 12 feet behind the 10-foot-wide dam during a March site visit with Conservation Coordinator Lori Capone, and that a beaver deceiver device was infeasible because the depth fell short of the roughly four feet such devices require. Parcel owner John Derdarian consented, saying he was "trying to be nice without exposing myself to liability." The commission also issued an enforcement order at 33 Union Ave., where a severed water line during septic-tank installation 85 feet from wetlands sent a large volume of fill into the resource area; the contractor has 30 days to complete remediation.