Dover Conservation Commission Backs Trustees' Noannet Brook Dam Study Grant

DOVER -- March 26, 2026, Dover Conservation Commission unanimously backs Trustees of Reservations grant to study five Noannet Brook dams. The commission voted 4-0 Thursday to send a letter of support for a Massachusetts Rivers Alliance grant application, due Friday, that would fund an early-phase assessment of five non-jurisdictional dams along Noannet Brook, a state-designated cold water stream where a 2023 DFW sampling found just seven pickerel in a 100-meter stretch. DA Hayden, regional vice president of the Trustees' Metro West region, and project manager Kate Conlon told the commission that dam removal projects typically take five to 10 years and that "Noannet could be a really amazing example" of a multi-barrier restoration. The commission also voted unanimously to extend an order of conditions for 4 Bridal Path Circle by three years and approved minutes from January 2025 and February 2026, while separately directing its agent to push for closure on the long-stalled Red Robin project certificate of compliance, which has been unresolved for roughly a year and a half.