There are cul-de-sacs and there are “fake” cul-de-sacs, explained Mattapoisett Highway Surveyor Barry Denham on August 6, and the one proposed for Snow Fields Estates is a fake one, Denham said, taking a firm stand against what he perceives as a roadway plan that favors Snow Fields Estates while plowing past regulations.

Denham listed his objections before the Mattapoisett Planning Board and cited the regulations that require specific dimensions for dead-end roads and dimensions for paved turning circles, which, up until that point, was slated for pavement in developer Dennis Arsenault’s plan.

“This turning circle creates lot frontage and does nothing for public safety,” said Denham.

Planning Board Chairman Tom Tucker objectively pointed out, however, that the latest plan provides for a gravel turning circle, mitigation for developing within the wetlands. Still, Denham argued, the reason for a cul-de-sac is for large emergency vehicles to be able to make the turnaround. In this case, he said, the ‘cul-de-sac‘ serves no such purpose.

“Instead of a cul-de-sac, [the road] goes to provide access,” said Denham. “It’s just a circle on a piece of paper to provide frontage…

“So we don’t know how serviceable that cul-de-sac is going to be in all weather,” Denham added, referring mostly to snow plowing, which the board later pointed out would be left to the residents as the road would not be accepted by the Town.

The board’s Planning Assistant Mary Crain asked Denham to review the revised plan with her, pointing out to him various changes to allay his concerns.

Denham acknowledged the plan had changed and noted that the cul-de-sac wouldn’t be built because of the wetlands, but he maintained his position on the revised plan, saying, “To call it a cul-de-sac and use it for frontage for lots – it does not exist; it can’t exist,” he asserted.

Perhaps the cul-de-sac did not perfectly comply with the board’s regulations, commented Tucker, “But sometimes common sense has to come in,” Tucker stated. The new plan may ultimately favor the developer, he added, but nonetheless, it was a compromise to reduce the environmental impact.

“I’m with Barry on this ‘fake cul-de-sacs’,” said Planning Board member Janice Robbins, “but the trade-off is the environmental impact reduction.”

“As long as the trade-off doesn’t end up being a human life,” said Denham. For him, it’s his job to ensure emergency access to those lots, he said. “If you find that it’s not a concern, then I’ve done my job because I said it was. You’ve done your job and you said I don’t think your concern is that important.”

Tucker asked Denham to please understand that the board did not discredit his concerns, and he thanked Denham for his due diligence.

The fire chief and the police chief both signed off on the relocation of the cul-de-sac, accepting it without concern.

In order to accommodate for a peer review study of the project, the developer’s engineer, David Davignon, said he would file for a 60-day extension to the application timeline in order to extend the deadline out to November 5 for the board to take a vote.

The public hearing was continued until September 16.

Also during the meeting, residents of Brandt Point Village left disappointed after Tucker informed them that there would not be a hearing as a result of a technicality on behalf of the developer – no green cards.

Abutters must be duly notified of a public hearing, Tucker explained, and the proof of that notification via certified mail are the green cards that the post office returns to the sender after the letters are signed for and received.

“Because you weren’t notified officially with the green cards … we can’t hold the hearing,” said Tucker.

Abutters had questions and concerns they wanted aired, but Tucker was overly cautious that evening about discussing the case outside of the continued hearing, fearing possible Open Meeting Law violations. Furthermore, some of those questions concerned septic system concerns, which Tucker was reticent to talk about at all.

“I’m really treading some thin ice here,” Tucker told them. “What you’re discussing is not what the public hearing is this evening.” He advised those concerned to seek advice from the Board of Health, the entity with jurisdiction over septic matters.

That hearing was continued until August 20.

The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Planning Board is scheduled for August 20 at 7:00 pm at the Mattapoisett Town Hall.

Mattapoisett Planning Board

By Jean Perry

The Marion Planning Board listened to John Rockwell on August 6 as he presented the Marion Open Space Acquisition Commission’s proposal for a bike path along Point Road and a summary of the results of their Open Space and Recreation Survey.

Rockwell began his presentation by providing context for the bike path proposal, reminding the board of its efforts back in the late 1990s to put a bike path along Point, Converse, and Creek Roads, an attempt that “languished” except for the Creek Road portion.

The proposal this evening, for which Rockwell was seeking the board’s endorsement for the Commission’s application to the Community Preservation Committee (CPC), was for a 4,000-foot section of Point Road, modeled after the Creek Road bike path.

Rockwell described it as a “separated path” from Point Road, with a 5-foot separation from the road, going around utility poles and hydrants.

In support of the project, board member Chris Collings remarked, “I’m terrified I’m going to hit someone [on Point Road].”

The path would be approximately 12 feet wide; 8 feet of pervious surface made up of a 2-inch gravel base, and a top layer of processed stone. Two feet on either side would be cleared of vegetation for visibility from Point Road. The path is designed for families and casual bicyclists, and safety is paramount, Rockwell said.

“We want people to feel secure and be secure – that’s why we want it to be visible from Point Road, to car traffic.”

The Commission is not proposing to pave the path at this time due to the added cost and will address any complaints of its condition in the future if necessary.

Rockwell noted that the Commission would seek input from the public as to the location of the path, saying, “We will stake out the center line and invite people for comment, including the Planning Board and the chief – both chiefs, I guess.”

Planning Board member Andrew Daniel spoke in favor of the project, saying he preferred to see the bike path paved but advocated getting kids with bikes off the road.

Board member and Selectman Norman Hills reminded the board that the Commission had previously come before the CPC and had been directed to coordinate with the Transportation and Circulation Task Force, which they did.

The bike path proposal is ranked third in the list of 15 projects included in the Complete Streets application. The path also is incorporated in the Town’s Master Plan.

Planning Board Chairman Will Saltonstall assured Rockwell that the board would consider writing a letter of support for future grant applications pursued by the Commission.

Rockwell also briefly summarized the recent Open Space and Recreation survey completed by the town.

The survey was sent to every tenth Marion voter, with a resulting 46-percent response rate.

Rockwell noted that every time the town has been surveyed since 1994, planning issues have been at the forefront of the concerns of town residents.

Based on the results, town residents support the protection of open space, and prefer using zoning rather than outright purchase to achieve that objective.

Rockwell highlighted two zoning bylaws – the Waterfront Compound and the Conservation Subdivision – as “flawed” bylaws that could be improved and utilized more effectively for open space protection.

With the Conservation Subdivision in particular, Rockwell suggested that an applicant cannot comply with the conditions of the bylaw without requesting a waiver.

Hills interjected to remind the board that in 2016 it had discussed this survey and “…asked [the Commission] not to do it.” Hills said. “[The Commission] did it anyway.”

According to Hills, the Stewards of Community Open Space were planning to hire SRPEDD to perform the survey. Hills added, “[John Rockwell] has had [the survey] for 20 years – there are no facts collected.”

In response, Rockwell retorted, “Norm has tried to ‘deep six’ the survey…” but the Stewards have accepted it for the purpose of writing the town’s Open Space plan. He urged the town to forget about disagreements over who does the survey and try to give the residents what they want – a preference for protecting open space through zoning.

Collings sought clarity on what Rockwell meant by the use of zoning over purchase, summarizing it by saying, “[The] preference of the community is to fix the rules to allow people to secure open space when they develop their land.”

Hills assured the board that the bylaws referred to by Rockwell are part of a group of bylaws to be reviewed by the Bylaw Codification Subcommittee.

In other business, the board unanimously approved an Approval Not Required application by Mark Barry to subdivide land at 18 Pleasant Street. The land is at the rear, or western edge of the applicant’s property and the property of the Marion Art Center. Lot A-1, made up of 1,354 square feet, will be retained by Barry; the 2,126 square-foot lot A-2 will be conveyed to the Marion Art Center.

Also during the meeting, Planning Director Gil Hilario reported “big, big, big happy news” of the receipt of a $94,000 Office of Coastal Zone Management Coastal Resilience grant.

The Town’s eight sewer pump stations are all currently vulnerable to coastal flooding, with two of the pump stations in the velocity zone.

The grant provides funding to compare the current and future flooding and storm surge data at the individual pump stations to help understand the impact of storm surges. This data will be used to develop solutions to protect each pump station.

Hilario reported that this was a very competitive grant with only 16 towns in the Commonwealth receiving funding.

The town is required to provide a 20 percent match, and will have one year to complete the study.

The next meeting of the Marion Planning Board is scheduled for August 20 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Police Station.

Marion Planning Board

By Sarah French Storer

Whatever Rochester residents are tossing into their recycling bins is causing a steady rise in disposal fees, costs that every month are ever-increasing as dirty recycling continues causing problems.

During the August 6 Rochester Board of Selectmen’s meeting, Town Administrator Suzanne Szyndlar pleaded with residents to please mind their recycling.

The cost of disposing recyclables last month was up to $4,200, Szyndlar reported, a number that is now the highest since amounts began teetering between $3,000-$4,000 over the past few months. What once cost the Town $30 per ton in added fees to dispose of its dirty recycling now costs $100 per ton, said Szyndlar in a follow-up after the meeting.

“I just want to stress to everybody: whatever you put into the recycling bin,” much of it dirty, she stressed, “… we’re paying extra for that.”

Dirty pizza boxes, said Szyndlar, “Dirty anything – pleas don’t put them in your recycling container. … We’re paying for those to go into the [landfill].”

Trash from Rochester is disposed of and burned at the SEMASS facility, Rochester Board of Selectmen Chairman Greenwood “Woody” Hartley pointed out, while residents’ dirty, unwashed recyclables is being dumped into a landfill.

Residents are advised to rinse off their recyclables before throwing them into the bin because, as Szyndlar pointed out after the meeting, when residents, for whatever reasons, don’t rinse their recyclables, “We all end up paying more for it.”

Also during the meeting, the selectmen appointed a new part-time police officer, Aaron Bates. Bates, an Old Colony graduate from Mattapoisett, is the town’s fifth appointed part-time officer, the preferred number of part-time officers Rochester Police strives to maintain, said Acting Chief Bob Small.

In other matters, the board approved the annual stabilization borrowing authorization for the amount of $1.2 million. The borrowing, as Town Administrator Suzanne Szyndlar explained, is something the Town does every year around this time. The board’s authorization allows the Town to dip into the Stabilization Fund and borrow money from it until tax payments are collected.

In other business, the selectmen took under consideration a proposal to restructure the hours of operation at Town Hall. According to Szyndlar, the July and August shortened hours have proven beneficial for townspeople and employees alike.

During the summer months, Town Hall closes early on Fridays at 1:00 pm, while employees either use up vacation time to make up for the shortened day or they put in extra hours on other days. Now, Town Hall is considering keeping the early Friday closure, while extending hours on Mondays until 6:00 pm to make Town Hall more accessible to those who cannot make it during the regular daytime hours.

“This would help residents to get here to be able to use Town Hall’s offices for any business,” said Szyndlar. “A lot of people can’t make the 8:30-4:30.”

Furthermore, with a shorter Friday, Town Hall would remain open until 5:00 pm Tuesday-Thursday in order to keep the number of open hours the same.

Szyndlar said right away she’s seen a positive response from both the public and Town Hall employees, saying, “Everybody seems to be in favor of it.”

The board will take a vote on the matter during a later meeting.

Many residents have inquired on social media about the sign announcing the temporary closure of the Mary’s Pond Road bridge by Leonard’s Pond, wondering about the proposed work. According to Szyndlar, the Town’s insurance company had scheduled the repair of damage caused by a major truck accident that occurred last year. That work, however, has been postponed until further notice. The work scheduled will take about a fortnight from start to finish.

The board set the date for the Special Fall Town Meeting for Monday, November 19 at 7:00 pm at Rochester Memorial School.

Hartley announced that the Town would be holding a public forum on Rochester becoming a Green Community on Thursday, September 27, at the Council on Aging. Two sessions will be held: one at 3:00 pm and another at 7:00 pm with Seth Pickering, the Southeast regional coordinator for the Green Communities program.

Residents should know that the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD) will be flying drones over the town in the coming days, and should be no cause for concern by residents. The drones are part of a traffic flow study that should not impede on the public.

The board also voted to forego its right of first refusal for the purchase of 453 Rounseville Road.

The next meeting of the Rochester Board of Selectmen is scheduled for August 20 at 6:00 pm at the Rochester Town Hall.

Rochester Board of Selectmen

By Jean Perry