West Bridgewater Conservation Commission Votes to Support Fish Passage Permit Push at Zero River Street

WEST BRIDGEWATER — October 21, 2025 — West Bridgewater Conservation Commission backs fish passage project and flags three wetland violations. The commission voted unanimously Tuesday to authorize a letter of support for the Zero River Street Fish Passage Improvement Project, allowing engineers from Fuss and O'Neill to include the letter in a forthcoming Notice of Ecological Restoration Project to the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act office — the next required step before a formal permit application can be filed. Water resource engineer Nils Weaver, who has worked on the project since approximately 2008, presented a nature-like boulder weir-pool fishway designed to replace a deteriorating 1990s fish ladder, targeting blueback herring, alewife, and American shad across a seasonal flow range of 23 to 150 cubic feet per second; the project also addresses a 16-year liability for dam maintenance the town carries on the structure. The commission issued a negative three determination with conditions for 119 South Allen Street, where a contractor cleared roughly 6,300 square feet of wetland buffer during new home construction, and separately approved a standard order of conditions, a 50-foot buffer waiver, and a general stormwater permit for 321-323 Manley Street after multiple hearings. Enforcement letters warning of pending fines were ordered for 245 North Elm Street, where a new homeowner placed a chicken coop inside a marked wetland buffer, and for 53 Brewster Road, where more than 5,000 square feet of unengineered regrading and dry well installation triggered a stormwater bylaw violation with no response from the property owner.