Mattapoisett Road Race

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Thank you to all the individuals and groups who made the 2018 Mattapoisett Road Race such a huge success, including the road race committee, the sponsors, the highway department, the police department, the student volunteers, the volunteers from the community, and the runners and walkers who braved the heat and humidity. The Kassabian Family has won the prize for having the most enthusiastic house on the road race route. We hope they enjoy their Rustico Pizza gift certificate. This year’s recipients of the Mattapoisett Road Race Scholarships are: Samantha Ball, Ainslee Bangs, Alice Bednarczyk, Emily Bock, Chase Guard, Madisen Martin, Caroline Murphy, Hannah Powers, Madeline Scheub, and Robert Harrison Smith. Evan Tilley is the inaugural recipient of the Robert Gardner award, which was awarded for his essay, academic achievements, and service to the race. It takes a great community to make such a wonderful event.

Mattapoisett Recreation Bake Sale

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Mattapoisett Recreation’s Seahorse Explorer Program will be hosting a bake sale on Thursday,July 19from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm in Shipyard Park to benefit the Wounded Warriors Project. The sale will be put on by the Counselor’s-in-Training as part of the Seahorse Gives Back week. Campers spend the week learning about public servants and volunteers in the community and about the importance of giving back on both local and national levels. Local businesses – Uncle Jon’s, Shipyard Galley, and Emma Jeans – will be donating baked goods for the sale.

Jane D. Roderick

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Jane D. Roderick, 51, of Marion, died Friday, July 13, 2018 at the Tobey Hospital in Wareham.

Visiting hours will be Thursday, July 19, 2018 at the Chapman, Cole & Gleason Funeral Home, 2599 Cranberry Highway (Rt. 28), Wareham from 5 – 8 pm.

Funeral service will be Friday, July 20, 2018 at 10 am at the funeral home.  Interment will follow in Evergreen Cemetery, Marion.

Sippican Hotel Lecture By David Pierce

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Back by popular demand, David Pierce, vice president of the Sippican Historical Society, will give a PowerPoint lecture on the history of the Sippican Hotel onJuly 26at 7:00 pm at the Marion Music Hall. This elegant, turn-of-the-century hotel and casino catered to visiting clientele who wanted to rest, relax, and enjoy the waterside activities in this beautiful seaside town.

The original section of the hotel was built in 1794 by Timothy Hiller as a farmhouse. Hiller’s grandson, Joe Snow Luce, was the first proprietor to let rooms to visitors. In 1864, an additional story was added, and the property became the Bay View House. By the mid-1880s, the hotel was operated by Charles W. Ripley. He added a three-story center section, as well as a casino across the street for events and social gatherings. The last addition was built in 1901 and the Sippican Hotel could then accommodate 150-200 summer guests.

Come hear about the rich and famous, who delighted in the charms of the Sippican Hotel in Marion. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Alewives Anonymous Herring Counts

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This year’s count of herring in the Mattapoisett River was 5,241, approximately 65% less than 2017. 2018 was the fourth year of declines since the recovery of the herring population in 2014 to 55,429 from the low of 5,000 in 2004. Few herring were observed at the Mattapoisett ladder area, nor were they seen during any of the brush and tree clearing activities in the river during the Spring. Counting conditions were ideal this Spring and the counter appears to have functioned without errors.

A counter was also installed on the Sippican River at Leonard’s Pond this year. It recorded 96 fish. The counter that the Buzzards Bay Coalition operated at the Hathaway Pond Dam recorded 598 herring.

The moratorium against the taking or possession of herring from the Mattapoisett River and the Sippican River, as well as many other rivers in Massachusetts, remains in effect. Over the years that the moratorium has been in effect, the herring population in the Mattapoisett River had increased from about 6,000 to just over 55,400 in 2014. The counting effort will provide the necessary information to manage a future harvest in the Mattapoisett River; however, continued improvements in the counts are needed to support a sustainable fishery plan and to justify an opening. Once the herring population reaches a point where a sustainable harvest plan can be formulated, filed with Division of Marine Fisheries, and approved, harvesting could be resumed.

Tri-Town Early Childhood Program

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The Tri-Town Early Childhood Program, located at Old Rochester Regional High School, is accepting applications for the 2018-2019 school year. The preschool program serves three, four, and five-year-olds and follows the school calendar. It is unique in that it provides a high-quality early childhood education opportunity to preschoolers, while also offering high school students a chance to learn about working in the field of early childhood education. A licensed early childhood teacher and a rotation of high school students staff the classroom.

A limited number of spaces are available. Applications will be accepted on a first come, first serve basis. The enrollment policy is based on a balance of three and four-year-olds, a balance of boys and girls, and a balance among residents of the three-member towns.

For an application or for more information, visit our website at www.orrhsprek.weebly.com or contact Aimee Fox at 508-758-3745, extension 1612.

Annual Marion Town Party

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The Annual Marion Town Party will be held on Saturday, August 25(rain date is Sunday, August 26) on the grounds of the Marion Town House, 2 Spring Street. Festivities begin at 4:00 pm.

            New this year: Marion Firefighters Association will partner with the Marion Harbormaster Department. All proceeds are for local community needs as well as the Bird Island Lighthouse Fund. Next year will mark the Bird Island Lighthouse Bicentennial so we are looking forward to kicking off the celebration a little early at the Annual Town Party.

            Free inflatable fun for the kids, a free rock climbing wall, music & dancing – PLUS – a huge bonfire! A great night of fun for the entire family! There will be food and beverages for sale.

            Once again organizers are seeking corporate sponsors. We will have different levels of sponsorship. Also, we will be selling advertising space in the Town Party booklet. This is a great opportunity for local businesses to get the word out and advertise their businesses.

            Donations from the community are needed to help underwrite the event. Food, services, cash or any other in-kind donation would be greatly appreciated. All contributions are tax deductible.

            Please “Like” our Facebook page – Marion Town Party.

            For further information, or to make a donation, please contact: Chris Berg, 508-776-1615; Steve Gonsalves, 508-264-5852; Donna Hemphill, 508-748-3515 or email dhemphill@marionma.gov; or you may send a check (made out to Town of Marion) to the Marion Town House, c/o Marion Town Party, 2 Spring Street, Marion, Massachusetts, 02738.

Thank you for your support.

Dispute Over Gravel Road Ownership

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A question over the ownership of a private gravel road slated for paving caused the continuance of John and Roger Gibbons’Notice of Intent during the July 9 Mattapoisett Conservation Commission meeting.

Neighbors who lay claim to ownership of various parts of the 658-foot long road had legal representation contesting the Gibbonses right to pave the road, and also defended the wetlands against “oils and chemicals” that he says could leach from the asphalt.

“I do not agree with the statement that this would be an improvement,” said Attorney Robert Feingold. “From a real human point of view, as well as a wetland value point of view, I believe it’s a step backward instead of a step forward.”

Feingold said Foster Street has been a gravel lane forever, given the “rural orientation” of that neighborhood. Feingold passed out photos and described the street as “rustic, bucolic, undeveloped”.

The main concern for Feingold’s client, Laura McLean, was the leaching components of the asphalt into the wetlands from stormwater runoff, but Conservation Commission Chairman Mike King argued that asphalt no longer contains the same unsavory host of ingredients it once did, adding that he knows this because he works in this field. Furthermore, according to King, even the Department of Environmental Protection, which has already issued a file number for the paving, prefers a paved road to a gravel one.

“I certainly can respect the rural character of the neighborhood,” King said. But as for gravel, any amount of rain, he said, sends sediment into the wetlands while a paver road does not. “As counterintuitive as it may seem to all of you, it is better from a resource perspective that it be paved, because there’s actually less filling in of the wetlands from the materials that continually get added to a gravel roadway.”

And from the DEP to the highway surveyor, King said, “They don’t like us to have gravel roadways. They would rather see paved road surfaces. … It’s kind of difficult, really, for us from a resource management perspective to be opposed to it based on those basises {sic}.”

But it was another neighbor’s concern over right of way ownership rights that continued the hearing for another two weeks, saying the deeds are “very clear”.

“I certainly don’t want to create a conflict if it’s not within my legal right to do so,” King stated, suggesting the commission seek an opinion from town counsel.

However, Attorney Peter Paul, on behalf of the Gibbonses, said the issue at hand that night was the effect on the wetlands, adding, “[The law is] overwhelmingly in our favor as far as our right to pave the road, but if you’d like to submit it to town counsel that’s fine.”

In other matters, the board gave a Negative 3 determination for a Request for Determination of Applicability for Susan and Leo Giguere, 15 Shore Drive, to install a 10’ x 15’ shed.

The commission approved a Notice of Intent for Dan Bungert, River Bend Lane, to constrict a single-family dwelling with driveway, utilities, and site improvements.

The commission issued Certificates of Compliance for: James Babbitt, Jr., 40 Marion Road; Judith Yard, 67 Wolf Island Road; and Michael Amaral, Harbor Road.

The RDA filed by Chris Jaskolla for a new dwelling and deck at 58 Crystal Springs Road was withdrawn.

The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission is scheduled for July 23 at 6:30 pm at the Mattapoisett Town Hall.

Mattapoisett Conservation Commission

By Jean Perry

 

Rochester Democratic Town Committee

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The next meeting of the Rochester Democratic Town Committee is July 14at 10:30 am at the Rochester Town Hall. Candidate for Plymouth County District Attorney John Bradley will be speaking and answering questions.

All are welcome to attend and participate.

Mattapoisett Historical Society Walking Tour

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The Mattapoisett Historical Society presents Walking Tours of Historic Mattapoisett by Seth Mendell. The tours will be held on three Saturdays: July 21at 2 pm; August 18at 2 pm; and September 15at 2 pm. Learn about historic buildings, the electric rail, the saltworks on Goodspeed Island, the Charles King Mansion at the mouth of the river, and “The Dude Special”. Visualize the building of whale ships in the park, and how the British attempted to burn the shipyards during the War of 1812. The duration of the walk is approx. one and a quarter hours. Members free; guests $5. Walks begin at 5 Church Street, Mattapoisett. For more information call 508-758-2844 or email info@mattapoisetthistoricalsociety.org