Hanson Conservation Commission advances Pratt Place bridge, issues Keolis vegetation rulings

HANSON — September 17, 2025 — Hanson Conservation Commission signals support for an 18-foot, 7-inch bridge span to replace the failing Pratt Place culvert, with more than $700,000 in federal funding on the line. The commission voted 5-0 to continue the hearing to October 1 after taking an informal straw poll unanimously backing the compromise span, which falls short of the mathematically derived 23-foot Massachusetts stream-crossing standard but is the largest the town can build without forfeiting American Rescue Plan Act money that must be under contract by January 1, 2026. Town Planner Tony told the board a permitted but unaffordable design would mean "a permitted project that you can't afford to build" and losing the grant. In a separate action, the commission voted 4-1 to issue a modified positive 2A determination confirming Keolis commuter rail vegetation management maps solely for use under the approved five-year vegetation management plan, then voted unanimously to endorse the vegetation management work itself with negative 2 and negative 3 determinations — the same contested outcome that produced a DEP superseding order in 2020, with an appeal of that ruling still unresolved. The commission also voted unanimously to spend up to $6,500 from the conservation fund to complete the endowment payment for the Nathaniel Thomas Mill conservation restriction, covering a balance left after $2,346.25 in 2009 Community Preservation Committee funds are applied toward the $8,630.88 total fee.