Town Administrator Jay McGrail was pleased to report to the Board of Selectmen at its January 19 meeting that the state had just issued approval for the Town of Marion to repeat last week’s drive-thru COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the Cushing Community Center with the second round of shots for first responders from the Towns of Marion, Mattapoisett, Rochester, and Wareham.
McGrail called the two-day clinic held January 13-14 “a very successful two days” with no incidences, especially no safety incidences. McGrail publicly thanked Chief of Police Richard Nighelli, Fire Chief Brian Jackvony, and Public Health Nurse Lori Desmarais for the work it took to organize the effort during the two weeks after receiving state approval as a regional distribution center after January 1.
It is estimated, based on the prescribed second shot of the Moderna vaccine, for a second clinic around February 11-12, but exact dates and times are to be determined.
Noting the recent press release outlining April as a target date for the general public’s access to the vaccine, Selectman John Waterman asked what role Marion might play going forward. McGrail said there is no indication yet from the state if larger regional clinics will be held. Waterman said that the clinics at Gillette Stadium were vaccinating 300 people per day and that there may remain a need for smaller clinics to operate alongside large ones as the state moves forward into more extensive phases of vaccination.
“We continue to receive a ton of phone calls every day,” said McGrail. “It took a lot of our stuff to be able to run [the first clinic] correctly, and it would be hard to do [larger ones].”
Selectman Norm Hills said increased pressure would accompany the availability of more vaccines.
Also, in his Town Administrator’s Report, McGrail updated the selectmen on the progress of the Fiscal Year 2022 budget. The budget is due to be delivered to the selectmen and the Finance Committee by the end of next week. “We assume it’s not going to be a pretty picture,” said McGrail, who intends to have it on the selectmen’s February 2 agenda.
FinCom was scheduled to see the budget’s more stable parts in its January 20 meeting. The selectmen will decide whether to have particular departments report to them on February 16 or attend FinCom meetings. McGrail told the board he is waiting on a budget figure from the Old Rochester Regional School District and hopes to receive it this week.
Capital Improvements Planning Committee Chairman Paul Naiman will present to the selectmen at the latter’s February 16 meeting. Waterman praised the CIPC for its assistance in helping the Board of Selectmen prioritize capital projects and establish a 10-year outlook.
The 4:45 pm scheduled with Ken Steen regarding review of modifications to the Comprehensive Permit he seeks for a residential development at Heron Cove was not held. Still, McGrail reported working with Steen earlier in the day on a plan in which Steen would fund Marion’s 53G account by January 20. The plan is for on February 2 to agree with Steen on a payment to offset the infiltration and inflow to the sewer system that the town will need to treat as a result of the development.
In a 4:00 pm appointment, Marion Chief of Police Richard Nighelli introduced three promotions to his staff. Sergeant Jeffrey Habicht was promoted to lieutenant, and officers Sean Day and Larry Savory were promoted to sergeant. The selectmen voted to approve all three appointments effective January 24 and are for one-year probationary periods.
Department of Public Works Director David Willett appeared in a 4:30 pm appointment to provide an update on the Hiller Streets concept project. In response to residents’ complaints about parking violations, Willett met with then-Chief of Police John Garcia. Subsequent consultation with BHB engineers yielded a plan that would bring no structural road changes, just markings meant to primarily address what he called “the choke point” at the farthest corner of Main Street. The next step will be a public meeting with abutters that would be advertised with a graphic to receive public comments ahead of the meeting.
Under action items, the selectmen voted to approve an official name change from Board of Selectmen to Select Board, a trend across Massachusetts according to Town Counsel Jon Witten. The approval will put an article on Town Meeting floor as a general bylaw change. “Given the overwhelming pressure to change it across the commonwealth,” said Witten, it is estimated that by the end of 2021, half the state’s municipalities will have made the change.
The selectmen voted to immediately raise disposal fees at the Benson Brook Transfer Station to $45 for televisions and monitors and $35 for refrigerators, freezers, water coolers, humidifiers, and dehumidifiers. Rochester residents will be charged the same fees. The facility will officially reopen with a ribbon-cutting on Wednesday, January 27, at 8:00 am.
Parker recused himself from the execution of the Hoff Property Conservation Restriction. Selectman Norm Hills sought and got the removal of a sentence in the document connecting the restriction to the denitrification of wastewater coming from the Benson Brook Transfer Station. Hills and Waterman voted their approval with the prescribed change.
The selectmen voted to support a letter to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation regarding the Shared-Use Plan (bike path) in time for the DOT’s state’s project readiness meeting on February 9 in which SRPEDD and the DOT could accelerate the plan from FY24 to FY23. John Rockwell, who was at the meeting supporting Jeffrey Oakes’ presentation to the selectmen on behalf of the bike path, noted that he would be working with Wareham officials to figure out a route from Marion into Wareham per a line item in the transportation bond bill signed by the governor for $1,300,000 for planning and right of way between Point Road and Wareham village.
The selectmen, who are also the town’s water and sewer commissioners, will be looking to revise water regulations at the next Water/Sewer Commissioners meeting on Thursday, January 28, at 4:00 pm.
The selectmen also voted to approve water/sewer commitments in the amounts of $1,298,988.39 for quarterly billing on December 15, 2020, along with quarterly billings for $42,327.75 (December 29) and $66,754.51 (December 21), final readings for December 29 of $1,241.04 and $612.78, and $891.95 for credit.
The selectmen went into executive session to discuss Collective Bargaining, not to return to public session. The next meeting of the Marion Board of Selectmen is scheduled for February 2 at 4:00 pm. Parker recused himself from execution of the Hoff Property Conservation Restriction. Selectman Norm Hills sought and got removal of a sentence in the document connecting the restriction to the denitrification of wastewater coming from the Benson Brook Transfer Station. Hills and Selectman John Waterman voted their approval with the prescribed change.
The selectmen voted to support a letter to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation regarding the Shared Use Plan (bike path) in time for the DOT’s state’s project-readiness meeting February 9 in which SRPEDD and the DOT could accelerate the plan from FY24 to FY23. John Rockwell, who was on the meeting supporting Jeffrey Oakes’ presentation to the selectmen on behalf of the bike path, noted that he will be working with Wareham officials to figure out a route from Marion into Wareham per a line item in the transportation bond bill signed by the governor for $1,300,000 for planning and right of way between Point Road and Wareham village.
The selectmen, who are also the town’s water and sewer commissioners, will be looking to revise water regulations at the next Water/Sewer Commissioners meeting on Thursday, January 28, at 4:00 pm.
The selectmen also voted to approve water/sewer commitments in the amounts of $1,298,988.39 for quarterly billing on December 15, 2020, along with quarterly billings for $42,327.75 (December 29) and $66,754.51 (December 21), final readings for December 29 of $1,241.04 and $612.78, and $891.95 for credit.
The selectmen broke into executive session to discuss Collective Bargaining, not to return to public session. The next meeting of the Marion Board of Selectmen is scheduled for February 2 at 4:00 pm.
Marion Board of Selectmen
By Mick Colageo