SOUTHWICK — During the Conservation Commission’s meeting Monday, the commissioners continued the planning of revegetating the eroded areas of the North Pond Conservation Area, and approved supporting a bill working through the Statehouse that would fine contractors who perform work on private property without a permit.
“It’s the new proposal in a bill to hold contractors liable, just as liable as the landowners. So, what we’ve seen in the past, where a contractor comes in and a landowner thinks that they’ve pulled all the permits, [but the] permits haven’t been pulled and the contractors long gone [leaving] landowners responsible for everything,” said Conservation Commission Coordinator Sabrina Pooler about HB 3415.
If the bill makes it to Gov. Maura Healey’s desk, it will mandate “fines for contractors who perform work without a required permit and shall mandate that contractors obtain permits personally or retain copies of permits provided by a landowner for a reasonable time, to be provided to permitting authorities upon request.”
