They could have flipped a coin and still ended up with the perfect candidate for the new full-time harbormaster position, the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen commented on July 23 during a meeting interviewing the two finalists for the position – current Marion Deputy Harbormaster/ Shellfish Officer Adam Murphy and Assistant Deputy Director of the Wareham Department of Natural Resources Jamie McIntosh. But in the end, after sitting on the fence for a while, the selectmen voted unanimously to offer the position to McIntosh.

            McIntosh and Murphy were five of 13 applicants to make the preliminary cut last week during initial interviews by a panel of seven, which led to the final round of interviews that evening.

            “They’re both equally qualified,” said Selectman Jordan Collyer. “Fundamentally, if you look at it ‘big picture’, I don’t see a difference, quite frankly, at all. You could flip a coin. I’m not gonna lie, that’s where I am.”

            “It’s very, very close,” said Selectman Paul Silva.

            “At the end of the day, either candidate fills the job really well,” said Selectman Tyler Macallister, who stated that he was at that moment “leaning towards Adam,” commenting on Murphy’s slight lead over McIntosh in experience with budget assistance. “Other than that, they’re equal.”

            However, looking long-term, the selectmen agreed that it was McIntosh who had a bit of an advantage over Murphy when it comes to aquaculture and shellfish propagation experience that came in fourth on a list of five priorities. The two candidates both equally met the first three priorities, the board agreed.

            “And [McIntosh] was genuinely enthusiastic about it last week,” said Collyer.

            “Boy, this is not an easy one,” said Silva. “I hope we have as tough a position as we interview for [town administrator].”

            “[McIntosh] is the right choice by one-and-a-half percent,” said Collyer. “I mean, it’s that close.”

            Collyer admitted that he was “torn” at that moment because the two were so “equal” in their qualifications.

            Ultimately, Silva motioned to appoint McIntosh, pending contract negotiations, with Murphy as the runner-up.

            “That was a very tough one – a very tough one,” admitted Macallister, and added that the board is eager to move forward in the areas of aquaculture and shellfish propagation.

            McIntosh brings with him his eight years with the WDNR, nearly three years as an on-call Wareham firefighter, four years as a maritime captain with Hy-Line Cruises, and carpentry experience that will assist in providing in-house labor on various maintenance and improvement projects. He also holds a Bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Bridgewater State University and a long list of federal and state trainings and awards.

            The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen is scheduled for August 13 at 6:30 pm at the Mattapoisett Town Hall.

Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen

By Jean Perry

            Effective soon, all flavored tobacco and nicotine products will be banned from stores in Marion, with the exception of the flavors menthol and wintergreen. In the coming months, however, the town could add these minty flavors to the ban, including menthol cigarettes, as the board wants to revisit the matter after abandoning the notion last year.

            The Marion Board of Health (BOH) on July 16 voted to amend section 12 of the Marion Sanitary Code regulation that adds “the sale of flavored tobacco” to now read “Restricting the Sale of Tobacco, Nicotine Delivery Products and the Sale of Flavored Tobacco.”

            Essentially, the sale of these products will be restricted to adult-only stores, of which there currently are none in Marion.

            The measure aims to restrict the access to these products from children and, more importantly, to banish children’s perception that flavored nicotine products such as those used for ‘vaping’ are commonplace and acceptable by removing them from stores they frequent.

            Before the vote, several supporters of the proposed new flavor ban commended the BOH for taking action.

            By removing these products from the very places children go to buy Gatorade or candy, said Morissa Vital, the program manager for the Southeast Tobacco-Free Community Partnership, it “de-normalizes” the use of the products, thereby reducing the likelihood that they will one day use them.

            “Flavored tobacco products are considered to be starter products,” said Vital. The flavors are what attract children to the products, she said – flavors, she added, that now exist in over 8,000 different varieties.

            According to data from 2017, Vital said that over 20 percent of young people in Massachusetts use flavored nicotine products while only 6 percent smoke traditional cigarettes.

            “They know that combustible cigarettes are bad and dangerous and harmful,” said Vital, “and with e-cigarettes … these products are marketed as a safer alternative or targeted as actually not being harmful at all.”

            Most of these young ‘vapers’ do not even know what ingredients these flavored nicotine products contain, she said.

            Damón Chaplin, health director of the New Bedford Health Department, said the city would be taking up the same flavor regulations in the fall, among others.

            “So, you are not alone in supporting these restrictions,” said Chaplin.

            “I don’t see anybody opposed at this point,” said Board of Health Chairman John Howard as he looked around the room. “I think it speaks loudly that there is no one here in opposition.”

            Board of Health member Edward Hoffer said he thinks a regional effort to ban flavored tobacco and nicotine products would prove more effective, given that a ban in Marion would simply drive young people to seek the products in neighboring towns.

            As Wareham has now decided to take up the matter of banning all flavored tobacco and nicotine – including menthol cigarettes – the Marion Board of Health has also decided to reignite its own efforts to do so.

            “There’s no question that we’re going to rethink it,” said Howard. “I can assure you there will be another public hearing on that issue within a year. That is definite. It will come back.”

            According to Joseph Carvalho who was present to support the new flavor ban, at least 10 other municipalities are in the process of trying to ban menthol cigarettes from stores, restricting them to adult-only stores.

            The Board of Health was enthusiastic in October 2016 to become the first municipality in the nation to succeed in banning menthol cigarettes, despite letters from “Big Tobacco” that threatened a lawsuit against the board, but then changed its mind and focused its efforts on the other flavored products that contain nicotine. At the time, the board gave no specific reason for its game plan change, but during several past meetings a number of Marion storeowners, civil rights activists, and other organizations spoke against a menthol cigarette ban, cautioning the BOH that passing a ban on menthol cigarettes would potentially affect commerce in town.

            The next meeting of the Marion Board of Selectmen is scheduled for August 6 at 4:30 pm at the Marion Town House.

Marion Board of Health

By Jean Perry

            No one ever said it was easy to find ways to secure state or federal grant monies, but no one is probably better suited to try and understand the process and then explain them in terms the average taxpayer could understand than Bonne DeSousa of Mattapoisett.

            Well known around the Southcoast for her efforts to bring recreational pathways which may become a continuous link of bike paths from Providence to Provincetown one day, DeSousa is continuing that work with the Complete Streets Program. This national program asks cities and towns to look deeply into how their transportation systems are currently functioning, including public transportation services, sidewalk conditions, roadway shoulders, trails, crosswalks, and recreational pathways.

            “It’s part of a much bigger intuitive,” DeSousa told the members of the Mattapoisett Planning Board on July 15 when she sat down to explain what a new town committee’s objectives were relative to Complete Streets.

            DeSousa is the co-chair of Mattapoisett’s Bike and Pedestrian Committee charged with pulling together information from all the neighborhoods in town, how current travel infrastructures are working, and where improvements could make moving around town easier and more pleasant.

            The Complete Streets Program also has a war chest of grant money. But to unlock those funds and have them pour into Mattapoisett, the first step is a formal plan.

            “We’ve been working with a consultant who will assist us,” DeSousa said.

            Since last fall, the committee has been gathering neighborhood information and scoping out how to approach a plan.

            DeSousa further explained that Complete Streets grants could not be used for any ongoing roadway improvements or other large-scale projects, but instead focuses on smaller pieces that would fit into a larger overall plan. The objective, she said, was to give people of all abilities and ages the ability to safely cross a street, walk to a store, or bike to work.

            The types of projects a Complete Streets grant might fund are such things as roadway markings, radar speed feedback for traffic calming, intersection design improvements, roadway shoulder easements and improvements, and sidewalk improvements.

            “We need at least 15 projects prioritized by importance,” DeSousa told the board. She said that she is meeting with various boards and committees throughout town to begin developing the list and hopes that residents would also take the time to participate in meetings and offer their suggestions.

            “The town has never had a committee before to help,” DeSousa said, but now Complete Streets plans could be developed, presented to the state for approval, and money pursued for prioritized projects.

            DeSousa asked the public to send their comments to the Selectmen’s Office.

            In other business, the board spent about 45 minutes proofreading documents related to the Eldridge Estates subdivision planned for Prospect Road. Developer Scott Snow, flanked by his representative Richard Rheaume of Prime Engineering, once again where admonished, albeit mildly, for submitting necessary documents in a belated fashion.

            “We’ve talked about this for over a year,” said Chairman Tom Tucker.

            But Tucker also acknowledged that all requested materials were now, for the most part, in order and he asked the board for a motion.

            The project was approved with final endorsement withheld until all documents were 100-percent corrected, and until counsel representing the Water & Sewer Department had an opportunity to review the plan of record and easements.

            The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Planning Board is scheduled for July 29 at 7:00 pm in the Town Hall conference room.

Mattapoisett Planning Board

By Marilou Newell