SHUTESBURY — Residents who pushed to get a new wetlands protection bylaw into place in Shutesbury are asking the Conservation Commission to adopt an updated associated set of regulations to ensure the bylaw can be enforced.

“No regulations means we are left very vulnerable,” says Sharon Weizenbaum, a member of the Smart Solar Shutesbury. “Our current bylaw is basically unenforceable.”

On Thursday, the commission, in a virtual meeting with more than 30 attendees, discussed section-by-section with town attorney Donna MacNicol portions of the draft regulations, first presented more than a year ago.

Though no votes were taken on adopting the regulations, getting them into place is in progress. The commission could dedicate its Jan. 2 meeting, at a time and place to be determined, to going over the regulations, according to Commission Chairwoman Beth Willson.

The Conservation Commission in October 2023 approved new wetlands bylaw regulations to protect the “community’s sensitive wetland resource areas, water quality and quantity, and wildlife habitat.” But those came before the new bylaw was passed, and also with concerns that, in their draft form, they might put Shutesbury at legal risk by possibly prohibiting new septic systems and any sort of development in and near vernal pools.

Those regulations remain in place, but the commission is aiming to determine where those regulations conflict with the bylaw. More work on this will continue to take place over the winter, generally a slower time for the commission.

For those concerned with the potential ecological impact of large scale solar projects proposed by PureSky Energy, on 190 acres of mostly forested land owned by W.D. Cowls, Inc., the regulations should have been in place long ago and there is some urgency to having them on the books.

Weizenbaum said the town’s zoning bylaw, too, could help to control the renewable energy developments that might affect groundwater and runoff. But the Planning Board is in mediation with PureSky, after the company filed a Land Court lawsuit against the town contending its zoning bylaw is overly restrictive.

“We the people of town, are quite concerned that they don’t have our back,” Weizenbaum said of the Conservation Commission and how it has yet to adopt the regulations. “It’s very important to people of town, and they’ve just been avoiding it.”

“We don’t trust them at all,” she added.

Tom Siefert, who serves on the town’s Planning Board, said he was pleased to see progress on getting the new regulations in place, as without them the new wetlands bylaw is incomplete. Siefert said there has been an implication from members of the commission that the 2023 regulations can be used with the updated bylaw.

The bylaw adopted at a special Town Meeting, meanwhile, was approved without a sentence that some interpreted as giving developers veto power over certain conditions set by the Conservation Commission.

“If we don’t have a Conservation Commission interested in upholding the bylaw and creating wholesale regulations, that puts us in a very precarious positions,” Weizenbaum said.

One of the concerns that came up during the meeting was whether MacNicol was in conflict to offer input, as she has recused herself during similar discussions in the past. In this case, though, MacNicol said she is in compliance with state law.

“The law is clear: if it’s a general bylaw or regulation for the entire town, it does not create a conflict,” MacNicol

“I don’t think the perception of a conflict of interest has been resolved,” Siefert said, adding that it’s poor practice to allow MacNicol to offer input.

Meanwhile, members of Smart Solar Shutesbury are also concerned about who may fill a vacancy on the commission, which typically has five members. The commission interviewed three candidates, lawyer Mare Fox, Erin Jacque, who is the wetlands administrator for the town of Amherst, and Siefert, recommending that either Fox or Jacque be appointed by the Select Board, Weizenbaum said.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.