Needham Conservation Commission Issues Forbes Pond Herbicide Permit, Advances Pollard School Wetlands Review

NEEDHAM — May 7, 2026 — Needham Conservation Commission clears wetland boundaries for Pollard Middle School and approves Forbes Pond herbicide plan. The commission voted unanimously at its May 7 meeting to issue an Order of Resource Area Delineation for the two Pollard Middle School parcels — 200 Harris Avenue and 380 Dedham Avenue — after consultant Greg Hockmuth of Epsilon Associates confirmed that a stream near the tennis courts on the site is intermittent, not perennial, removing the most protective regulatory buffer from the school rebuild's permitting path. The commission also issued an order of conditions for a three-year aquatic management program at Forbes Pond on Charles River Street, authorizing applications of the copper-based herbicide Nautique at up to six gallons per acre to control Eurasian milfoil and filamentous algae, with no single treatment to exceed four of the pond's roughly eight acres. Commissioner Clary accepted both findings but told the applicant, "When the project does come forward, I want to know more about the hydrology of that and how it is being addressed as the project as a whole." The commission also voted unanimously to support an Eagle Scout project by Needham High junior Duncan Alexander to install approximately 180 feet of bog bridges and an outdoor classroom at Mitchell Woods, and approved a minor modification at 665 Central Avenue substituting a walkout basement for a previously approved walkout first floor.