Conservation Panel Continues Element Materials Cooling Hearing to Sept. 16
Conservation Commission · Meeting of September 2, 2026
Boxborough Conservation Commission continues Element Materials cooling hearing, orders tree-clearing stop. Acting Chair David Koonce ran Wednesday's meeting after Chair Elizabeth Markiewicz and member Rich Grady were absent. Ron Strohsahl of Oxbow Associates outlined a plan to replace 25-year-old chillers at 1146 Massachusetts Avenue with a 60,000-pound "Connex box" system, cutting wetland-buffer impervious surface by about 30 square feet and ending 20 years of runoff into the wetland; the commission voted unanimously to continue the hearing to September 16.
"That's a pretty small project in the overall scope of things, but it does reduce impervious in the buffer zone," Strohsahl said. Separately, staff reported significant unpermitted tree clearing in the buffer zone at 104 Massachusetts Avenue, and the commission authorized an enforcement order requiring the owner to cease and desist, citing a Certificate of Compliance that bars buffer-zone alterations without approval.
In the full story:
- Who Was There
- Organizations And Documents Referenced
- The complete report — 2,311 words
Source: the Conservation Commission meeting of September 2, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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