Cohasset Conservation Commission Approves Boston College Utility Project, Sandy Beach Fund Expenditure

COHASSET -- May 21, 2026, Cohasset Conservation Commission approves utility replacement at Boston College property and commits $6,600 to Sandy Beach regulatory overhaul. The commission voted unanimously 5-0 Thursday to approve a notice of intent and variance for NOI 26-10, allowing the Trustees of Boston College to replace a leaking water line and relocate overhead utilities underground along the narrow, flood-prone Howard Gleason Road corridor, with conditions requiring at least 11 replacement native trees and prohibiting excavation within land subject to coastal storm flowage between November and May. In a separate 5-0 vote, commissioners authorized up to $6,600 from the Wetlands Protection Fund for consulting firm LEC to delineate wetland resource areas at Sandy Beach and update the joint town-Sandy Beach Association beach maintenance plan, which Conservation Agent Charlotte Pechet said must be overhauled before the beach's imminent state mapping as priority habitat under the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act triggers a mandatory Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program review. The fund currently holds just over $100,000, though Pechet cautioned that a $30,000 FY27 salary draw and modest annual NOI fee inflows of $3,000 to $8,000 limit how aggressively it can be spent. The commission also approved 4-0 an RDA for a septic system repair at 212 South Main Street, and continued five pending hearings to June 11, 2026.