Mattapoisett Expands School Choice

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With a fiscal year 2019 school budget increasing by a mere 1.1 percent, the Mattapoisett School Committee chose to more broadly share the benefits of the quality education they provide by expanding the School Choice program. After hearing from a few supportive residents, and one Finance Committee chair opposed to the notion, the committee voted unanimously to expand the program at the public hearing on April 23.

The Massachusetts Department of Education asks that every town hold a public hearing on School Choice each spring. School Superintendent Doug White outlined how the School Choice process works, indicating that if a school district decides to provide School Choice, it then must determine how many slots to provide and in what grades.

Mattapoisett currently has three slots available, with two of them filled. The student in the third slot left the school system last year. The Mattapoisett School Choice program is a lottery-based system and applies to Kindergarten through Grade 6.

School Committee Chairman Rachel Westgate opened the public hearing by reading a letter sent by town residents Jerry and Cindy Johnson that spoke strongly in favor of School Choice. The Johnsons’ letter stated that School Choice enriches the experience of the school community and provides opportunity to increase the diversity in the classroom by bringing in students outside of Mattapoisett.

Pat Donoghue, the Mattapoisett Finance Committee chair, rose to speak against School Choice, saying that the tuition provided by the state of $5,000 per student doesn’t come close to covering the actual cost of $15,000 to educate a student. Donoghue also cautioned the committee that while the student population continues to decline, with the attendant reduction in class sections “… [We are] on the cusp to keep students at twenty or less, so adding School Choice can throw that off.”

Later in the meeting, committee member James Muse clarified that each additional student does not cost the town the full $15,000 as costs are built into what’s already budgeted, and the $5,000 tuition reimbursement from the state is a big help.

David Anderson of Pine Island Road spoke vociferously in favor of providing School Choice to “[Those who] have close ties to the town but live elsewhere.” Anderson, who pointed out that his family has been paying taxes in town since 1838, takes great pride in Mattapoisett schools, saying, “Each student has something unique to add to the class.… [The committee] should welcome it, not fight it … and take a broader view…” of School Choice.

“I have some skin in the game,” said Anderson, whose father Hayden Anderson was principal at Center School 90 years ago, when he said it was the diversity of population in the schools that made the schools excellent, adding, “If it means increasing my taxes again, go for it!”

Resident Kimberly Ward refuted Donoghue’s contention that the finances of School Choice don’t work, indicating that at ORR Junior High School, where there are 30 School Choice slots, there was a balanced budget.

After closing the public hearing, the committee discussed further the merits of School Choice. With the student population declining from a high of 487 in FY12 down to 438 this past October, and the subsequent reduction of a kindergarten and 4th grade section, the committee had to weigh the benefit of increasing School Choice slots with the fine balance of keeping the class size down below 20 students per section.

White observed that research shows that it is beneficial to start a School Choice student as early as possible so that there is a continuity of curriculum as they move through the district. Based on Mattapoisett’s School Choice policy, siblings of current School Choice students would be given priority for open slots.

School Principal Rosemary Bowman said the greatest concern of parents who inquired about School Choice was that their child would need to enter the lottery transitioning from 6th grade to junior high school. The committee agreed that providing slots in the earliest grade possible was best for the student, and Bowman recommended kindergarten and second grade for the slots.

Patrick Spencer, the school business administrator, reminded the committee that the School Choice program is a lottery-based program, saying, “I’m not trying to persuade or dissuade. The student [filling the slot] could need services … and it takes time to get the funding for that student above and beyond the tuition.”

Muse suggested that the committee continue the School Choice program and increase the available slots from three to four. Committee member Patrick LeClair proposed a slot in kindergarten and a slot in second grade, where there is the smallest cohort of students. White clarified that there could be two kindergarten school choice slots filled, or one second grade slot and one kindergarten slot filled, but in any case, not more than one second grade slot would be filled.

The vote to continue School Choice and to expand the program was unanimous.

In other important business, the committee held a FY 2019 budget public hearing. White and other staff went through the budget, $6,994,224, which is an increase of 1.1 percent. Highlights of the budget were the reduction of two teaching positions due to reduced student enrollment, the out-sourcing of the custodial services, and the shifting of the school nursing staff to provide a full-time nurse at each school. The committee voted unanimously to approve the budget as presented.

Westgate reported that she met with members of the School Department to discuss school safety and said, “I feel confident the [school district] is doing what’s needed to keep our kids safe.” New security vestibules and new technology have been installed at both Center and Old Hammondtown schools for added school security.

The next meeting of the Mattapoisett School Committee is scheduled for May 21 at 6:30 pm at Center School.

Mattapoisett School Committee

By Sarah French Storer

 

Old Rochester Girls’ Lacrosse Starts Strong

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Old Rochester girls’ lacrosse has wasted no time establishing its dominance. The Bulldogs improved to 5-0 (3-0 South Coast Conference) on the season after blowing past Mansfield 13-9 on Monday, with Madison Cooney scoring six goals as she continues to lead this offense.

But the success is not solely a result of her scoring.

In fact, Old Rochester head coach Scott Tavares expressed that face-offs have been crucial to the team’s success. That’s where Megan Shay and Maggie Carroll have dominated.

“We’re well-balanced. We’ve been playing well in all phases of the game,” Tavares said. “A lot of it starts with winning face-offs, and we’ve been able to pretty much control and dominate the draw. You score a goal and you win the face-off, you can go right back on offense. So that’s been helpful.”

Winning games by 17 goals, like Old Rochester did in the 18-1 win over Bourne, displays the firepower this team possesses. Katherine Tracey had three in that one to go with her two assists, while Cooney had five, Carroll had four, and Shay finished with three.

But the defense has been just as dominant, limiting shots from going toward goalie Gates Tenerowicz, who had 11 saves against Mansfield and five against Bourne.

“Our defense … we’re young back there,” Tavares said. “But we’re very athletic. Mary Butler and Caroline Thomas have been playing extremely well, causing turnovers and overall being in charge back there.”

After hosting Fairhaven on Wednesday, the Bulldogs will visit Apponequet on Friday at 4:00 pm. They then have a quick turnaround when they visit Falmouth Academy on Saturday at 11:00 am.

Old Rochester boys’ lacrosse has not had the same start, losing three of its first four contests (1-1 SCC), most recently at the hands of Bourne in an 8-7 loss. Pat Kiernan scored four in the loss and had an assist. Alex Lorenz scored twice in the Bulldogs’ loss.

Old Rochester hosts Apponequet on Friday at 4:00 pm.

Old Rochester baseball had a big win over non-league opponent Coyle-Cassidy on Monday, with a 4-1 final.

Mike Kennefick scored twice and had himself a triple. He was knocked in both times by James Dwyer, who finished with three RBI and a double.

The Bulldogs host GNB Voc-Tech on Friday at 3:45 pm.

Old Rochester girls’ tennis remains undefeated on the season, having beaten the always impressive Apponequet 4-1 and following that up with another 4-1 win against Stang.

Danielle Nutter won the second singles match 6-0, 6-2 and Grace McCarthy won third singles 6-1, 6-1.

The Bulldogs (6-0, 4-0 SCC) finish their week with a home match against Dighton-Rehoboth on Thursday at 3:30 pm.

Old Colony

Old Colony girls’ lacrosse won its first four games of the season, with the last one being a 15-4 blowout against Norton.

The offense was spread out, with five Cougars scoring in the win. Raquel Rodrigues led the way with four, while Rachel Baker, Mya Medeiros and Elana Sargent each had three to their name.

Following Wednesday’s road matchup at Bristol Plymouth, the team is back in action at home against Upper Cape on Monday at 3:30 pm.

Old Colony baseball has continued its strong start with a 5-2 record (3-0 Mayflower Athletic Conference).

Freshman phenom Reese Vandal continues to tear the cover off the ball, hitting .522 with a .593 on-base percentage and 11 RBI. He only trails senior Lucas Ferreira (.667) in on-base percentage, but leads the team in average and is tied for the lead in RBI.

He is tied in RBI with senior Drew Sullivan, who’s hitting .458 with a .517 on-base percentage. He also leads the team with seven doubles.

Freshman Ryan McGuiggan has been most dominant on the mound, being one of three Cougars – sophomore Mikias Noyce and junior Jacob Worden being the others – to pitch in three games.

Over McGuiggan’s nine innings of work, he’s struck out 13, though he’s walked 10. He’s almost averaged a hit allowed per inning, surrendering eight. But with his swing-and-miss ability, he’s been able to post a 2.33 ERA, best on the team among pitchers who’ve thrown in more than one game.

Old Colony hosts Cape Cod Tech on Saturday at 1:00 pm, followed by another home game against Upper Cape on Monday at 6:00 pm.

High School Sports Update

By Nick Friar

 

Panic in the Public Bathroom

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I never thought my next story idea would appear inside of a library bathroom.

Of all the places in the Universe, it’s a pretty random place to find inspiration. I was only there for a tissue, a quick hand-washing, and a one-second glance in the mirror, but in the middle of all that while wiping my hands the tiny laminated sign above the toilet caught my eye.

“If your child is troubled by the automatic flush, please see the circulation desk for a simple solution.”

Nothing was ever simple during the years my son was young. Those routine events that scaffold our every day – meals, outings, trips to the toilet – lucky are those who take for granted the ease and casual nature of these bits and bobs of life.

That little sign above the toilet took me back to a period in life I used to pray was only temporary, way back to a time when entering a bathroom with my young Autistic son – public bathrooms especially – was a complicated, chaotic cluster you-know-what that called for a steely spine, required vigilant observation of other people entering and leaving, the patience to wait for the right timing, and a prayer that nobody would hear the screaming and be concerned enough to call the cops. That and the utter urgency of a bladder full enough to make the dash into that realm of the scary and unpredictable assault on the senses to face my son’s principal antagonist: the public toilet.

I now pause for a moment and ask … What are the things in life that most frighten you? What gets your heart pounding and buckles your knees beneath you? What makes you change your mind and turn back?

If it’s bugs, then you probably skip the picnics and eat indoors. If it’s sharks, you stay close to shore. If you’re afraid of heights, you stay off of ladders. These particular solutions really are simple. And if you ever must do any of these things, you put yourself in those environments and risk exposure and when it’s over you make a mental note to limit the frequency of that particular experience in the future. If you happen to be afraid of the excessively loud swirl-suck, horrific hyper-flush, surge-spastic swooshing monster that is the public toilet, then you’re out of luck. Completely avoiding this inevitability of contemporary human existence is rare.

I bet you never thought about the toilet flush as existential before. But the struggle and the horror is (sur)real. When you think bathroom, you’re supposed to think ka-ka, not Kafka.

With autism comes a complicated set of sensory integration dysfunction, where sometimes fluorescent lights are as blinding as the sun, or perhaps senses are jumbled and colors can be tasted, or any variation of the senses. For my boy, he can hear a bee buzzing seconds before it even comes close enough to be seen. If he would see a dog, he would immediately cover his ears because of the barking and the unpredictable nature of the sudden noises. Now imagine standing or sitting – or squatting – inside the stall of a public bathroom. Footsteps, the sounds of tearing off paper towels, and locks being slid shut and open echoing throughout with random screams of automated hand dryers off and on … and then the seemingly random explosive noise of the flushing toilets from other stalls blasting out like dynamite bouncing off canyon walls sending the blasts back and forth and all around again as you sit helpless in an enclosed space with no immediate escape possible.

That’s the Kafkaesque nature of the public bathroom to the Autistic child. Couple that with the limited understanding of what exactly happens when you flush the toilet, where it goes, and whether it’s powerful enough to suck you in, and you have a dark anxiety-ridden short story straight out of Franz Kafka’s tormented mind.

But the torment was simply unavoidable, and I – the tormentor – had to drag the poor boy with me into public toilets all over the place out of absolute necessity, and it killed me every time.

The boy’s father lives in Canada, and so every now and then we would have to make the drive up there for a visit. I believe I’ve stopped at every single rest stop between Bridgewater and Ottawa, Ontario looking for the least traumatic bathroom ambience, but only ever finding ‘least traumatic,’ never ‘non-traumatic.’ But the boy was just a wee lad and he couldn’t be left alone in the car; it just wasn’t safe. Eight and a half hours of driving – even if two of those hours were without seatbelt in order to mitigate bladder pressure – still calls for at least one pit-stop.

If I was lucky, the entire bathroom would be empty. We avoided those ‘visitor welcome center’ rest stops intentionally. But whether there were others in there or not, there was always screaming. I remember one time when the boy was five. Man, I just had to go. There was no alternative. The rapid walk leading up to the door was an uninhibited screaming and flail-a-thon as I tried to hold onto him gently and reassure him it would be a fast trip in, which turned into begging for him to please just come and hold his hands over his ears until it was over. My preferred stop had one of those separate family bathrooms with only one toilet in it, and he would stand there, his ears covered desperately with his small hands, his face mangled in fear, trembling as he coped with the surging adrenaline in his bloodstream. I would relieve myself with a velocity that could rival any racehorse, and we would rush out of there before that automatic flush had the chance to say anything. A quick stop at the vending machine would usually smooth over the experience like a cartoon character Band-Aid would soothe a skinned knee, and soon we’d be on the road again with the accompanying aromatherapy of a Christmas stocking stuffer mini bottle of hand sanitizer – for there was never any time to use the sink.

When we went to Disney World, to our horror, every single toilet in the park was an automatic flush. With manual public toilet flushes at least there was some small degree of control; automatic flushes had a way of going off whenever they felt like it, literally. If they thought you had gotten up, even if you hadn’t, they would go off. I really think the person who invented those things really was a shameless sadist more interested in scaring the crap out of people (no pun intended) rather than simply attempting to save humanity from toilet germs.

Disney’s visitor services office had no real alternative either, except a sheet of Disney World stickers that we could stick onto the sensor. If Pavlov’s dog was conditioned to adapt to punitive reinforcement and you rang a bell and held out a bone instead of a baseball bat to the face, chances are the poor little dog would still run away and hide.

It just didn’t work that way.

But the only option was to either leave – a non-option – or use the ‘family’ restroom and employ the sticker and the promise of an immediate treat post-trauma.

It did the trick, of course – sort of – but it wasn’t perfect. It required consistent positive outcomes and loads of trust – more trust than one should have to invest in a caretaker.

What finally ended up lessening the degree of the fear was gentle indirect conditioning. We started watching public toilets flushing on YouTube. (Yes, people actually video record toilets flushing and post it to YouTube. You can find anything on YouTube – both a positive and a negative fact for humankind.) We would turn it up loud, or I would randomly play it during the day, only startling him slightly but reinforcing the gradual desensitization. We added a goal to his occupational therapy plan at the therapy center, and soon the boy was enjoying the thrill and anticipation of the loud, scary flush that he himself could control.

Today I’m confident that it’s as close to pain-free as possible for him to go into a public restroom without any permanent damage. And all those times I dragged him in there, God forgive me please, while traumatic and seemingly cruel at the time, have left no obvious scars. And thankfully, no one ever called the cops on me thinking I was torturing or trying to kidnap the boy, although I’ve received my share of disapproving looks from others as we struggled to get through the everyday act of going to the toilet.

And now, now there is courage. A courage in the child that emerged from such a deeply-felt fear that didn’t just cause emotional panic but actual physical pain. Those flushes are loud! And sometimes I’m shocked and flinch at how loud some automatic hand dryers are to someone without audio hypersensitivity.

Oh, and that simple solution at the library? It’s a Post-It note over the sensor. And why didn’t I ever think of that before?

If only there were more little laminated signs along the way to tell us what to do, offer us simple solutions to mitigate the scary, to flush away the fear and make the world an okay place for our kids.

And P.S., Mattapoisett Library – on behalf of all Autistic children, adults, and their parents, thank you. You have no idea how huge that little sign is to us.

This Imperfect Life

By Jean Perry

 

Mattapoisett is Special

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To the Editor:

Firstly, I’d like to thank Mr. & Mrs. Planning Board member very much for your help on my petition. Thank you again. We are moving forward very well, getting ready for town meeting on May 14. Article – Recreational marijuana establishment ban, will be Article # “One” on the agenda at town meeting this year, making it possible for seniors or others to go home early. But will have a chance to vote first. We need your help. Thank you.

“Mattapoisett is Special.” Let’s keep it that way. We need to take action now to prevent commercial pot trade from moving into Mattapoisett.

We should not legalize an industry that has commercialized a drug that is devastating to our kids, teens, and young adults.

It doesn’t matter until it matters, then it’s too late to matter.

Seniors can call the selectmen’s office for a ride to and from town meeting.

Opinions lead to facts, facts lead to reality. The reality is very plain and simple. We do not need recreational marijuana in the town of Mattapoisett. What we do need is for the registered voters of Mattapoisett to show up at town meeting to vote and support Article One. The character of Mattapoisett must be protected at all cost.

We must spend some quality time on this issue before it’s too late.

Thank you,

George Randall, Mattapoisett

The views expressed in the “Letters to the Editor” column are not necessarily those of The Wanderer, its staff or advertisers. The Wanderer will gladly accept any and all correspondence relating to timely and pertinent issues in the great Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester area, provided they include the author’s name, address and phone number for verification. We cannot publish anonymous, unsigned or unconfirmed submissions. The Wanderer reserves the right to edit, condense and otherwise alter submissions for purposes of clarity and/or spacing considerations. The Wanderer may choose to not run letters that thank businesses, and The Wanderer has the right to edit letters to omit business names. The Wanderer also reserves the right to deny publication of any submitted correspondence.

 

Elizabeth Taber Library ArtWeek Events

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Join us at the Elizabeth Taber Library on Tuesday, May 1as we celebrate ArtWeek with two special events. At 3:00 pm, New Bedford artist Catherine Carter, www.catherinecarterpainting.com, will lead a multi-medium workshop to help you create an image of undersea life and/or an abstract image based on your name. Also, throughout the day, we invite patrons to contribute to our first annual community art project by creating a ceramic tile for the Elizabeth Taber Library. For more information or to register, please call the library at 508-748-1252.

Rochester Council on Aging

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Volunteers are needed to help in the Breakfast Program one morning a week in several capacities, or to help with special monthly meals (set-up, serving, or clean-up, etc.). Call Sharon or Lorraine if interested.

May 2018 Day Trips:

– Sunday,May 6: Tower Hill Botanical Gardens, Boylston, MA & Lunch

– Monday,May 14: The Butterfly Place, Westford, MA & Lunch

– Thursday,May 24: “Meet the Clydesdales”& Budweiser Brewery Tour, Merrimack, NH

– Thursday,May 31: Naval Submarine Base & Nautilus, Library & Museum, Groton, CT

New Program: Senior Bowling League – Mondays, 8:30 – 11:30 am; Ryan Family Amusements in Bourne. Leave Rochester at 8:30 am; return approx. 11:30 am. Call for a ride or drive yourself.

Monthly Programs at the Rochester Senior Center:

Monthly Senior Book Club – meets at the Senior Center on Tuesday, May 15 at 10:15 am. Anyone is welcome to attend. Rochester’s Library Director facilitates the group. For questions, call Gail Roberts, Library Director, directly.

Mike & Ann’s Special Lunch – Monday, May 21, 12:00 pm. Mike & Ann Cambra & team prepare a delicious meal. Suggested donation of $5 is appreciated. Please sign up in advance by calling 508-763-8723.

Weekly Programs at the Rochester Senior Center:

– Painters & Art Group: Mondays, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

– Chair Yoga: Mondays, 1:15 – 2:15 pm & NEW! now also on Fridays, 12:00 – 1:00 pm; suggested donation of $3

– Scrabble: Tuesdays, 9:00 am

– Cardio Dance-Fit: Tuesdays, 10:00 – 11:00 am; $3

– Stepping & Stretching Exercise Program: Mondays & Thursdays, 2:30 – 3:30 pm

– Line Dancing Class: Tuesdays, 2:30 – 4:00 pm & Fridays, 9:30 – 11:30 am; $2

– Ballroom Dancing Class: Wednesdays, 10:00 – 11:00 am; suggested donation: $4

– BINGO: Wednesdays, 12:30 – 3:00 pm & Mondays, 5:30 – 8:30 pm

– Zumba: Wednesdays, 7:00 – 8:00 pm; $5

– Blood Pressure Clinic: Wednesdays, 10:00 – 11:30 am

– Busy Bees Craft Group: Thursdays, 9:00 – 11:30 am

– Hand & Foot Card Games: Thursdays, 9:00 – 11:30 am.

– New Release Movies: Fridays, 1:30 – 3:30 pm

Daily Programs at the Rochester Senior Center:

– Ye Olde Breakfast Shoppe: Daily; 7:00 – 9:00 pm; prices on menu

– Congregate Lunches: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, & Thursdays, 11:30 am – 12:00 pm; $2.

– Fitness Room Program: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday, 8:00 am – 12:00 pm; Tuesday, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm; Membership Fee: $10/Month, unlimited use

Blacking Out Around the White

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Morning clouds split the morning sun,

the stream was clear and shallow,

grassy and

worms underneath.

Ellen Flynn, Mattapoisett Library Trustee, found this poem within the text of an old page torn from a book using a method of extracting poetry from the mundane, pre-existing visual word chatter of a random selection of writing. It’s an activity that she, along with Mattapoisett Librarian Sue Pizzolato and me, engaged in on April 21, a Saturday morning, as a way of indulging in a month dedicated to poetry.

 

I have my exposed, ridiculous and troublesome accidents,

Set me down close.

I must need him and the trees

I was walking under, a dozen apples

each came tumbling at my desire,

the provocation left me, a violent shower of hail struck the

ground,

I was down, my face a border of lemon-thyme,

bruised.

Pizzolato, like Flynn, is a poet in her own right. She is particularly skilled at seeking out the right words to stitch together the fabric of a feeling, a response revealed beneath the veil of another something entirely different conveyed by someone entirely different, distilling down a diluted page of paragraphs until all that remains are potent pinches of white space surrounding the allowed articulation, a divine dissection, poetic inception.

“People are discovering this little playful way they can react to words and with no pressure, create poems,” said Pizzolato.

The art of tearing out pages of text and extracting meaningful words and phrases is called “blackout poetry” or “erasure.” Guided by both instinct and intent, even an instructional manual on how to kayak can yield a poignancy that reveals an inner spark of the blackout poet’s pathos or creative ethos.

Flynn and Pizzolato set up a blackout poetry lab for guests to experiment with the art of found poetry, but as the time passed three women – and only three women – found themselves staying well past the allotted time, lost in the realm between black and white.

 

Dependent upon the mind, you exist.

We shut our eyes, also they are open.

Must I think so many pictures if I understand the

divine mind, the copies of existence,

of God, the infinite God,

belonging to them and contained in them?

We are shadows and

God’s a philosopher,

But in the abyss of boundless imagination

I do not know how to understand God or

conceive of His immensity.

As for the notions too fine for my gross thoughts

I cannot convey whatever the matter is.

The longer I think of them the more they

disappear and dwindle into nothing.

            – Jean Perry, courtesy of Samuel Johnson

By Jean Perry

 

Fire Chief Advocates Hard for New Pumper

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The special Thursday, April 19 meeting of the Rochester Board of Selectmen was a time to test the persuasive argument skills of department heads promoting their Town Meeting Warrant capital spending articles hoping for positive recommendations from selectmen and the Finance Committee.

There were a number of articles for capital purchases that night, but the heftiest price tag of $497,000 went to the Fire Department’s proposal for a new pumper.

Fire Chief Scott Weigel said the pumper is probably the most important truck for the RFD given that Rochester severely lacks fire hydrants in most sections of town, and the 30 or so year-old pumper they have now is beyond any sustainable repair.

Weigel said with the town expanding and with larger houses built, he needs to increase the water capacity and, as for the pumper, “I can’t patch the truck anymore.”

The new pumper would be “nothing fancy,” Weigel said, just a work truck with no custom cab.

“I just find it to be very expensive,” said Finance Committee Chairman Kristian Stoltenberg. “Your position is there’s no alternative. This is what we have to get?” he asked Weigel.

Right, he said, and the one he’s proposing meets the needs of his department.

Selectman Greenwood Hartley, voted as chairman that night, said he’d explored cheaper pre-owned options on the Internet and said the Town could spend $200,000 less on a used pumper only two or three years old.

Selectman Brad Morse and Weigel both adopted the position that buying another used pumper would be “buying someone else’s problem,” and that there must be a good reason why a pumper would be up for sale only after such a short time.

But Hartley insisted one could fine “gems” on the Internet as alternatives.

“I know it’s a big item, but it’s something we don’t replace very often,” said Weigel. “And the amount of manpower that I have off the bat, to be able to get the equipment there … set up a water supply,” he said, a new pumper with an additional 1,000-gallon increase in capacity is what the job calls for, given the precariousness of getting water to a fire fast enough with limited firefighters.

“From a Finance Committee view,” Stoltenberg said, “I need to get educated because this is one heck of an expensive piece of equip… I’m trying to think of how we’ve been fighting fires all these years without this.”

“We have one. We’ve always had one,” stated a number of people inside the room all at once.

“If you don’t show up with a reasonable amount of water … a thousand gallons can sometimes mean the difference between you knocking [a fire] down or not,” said Selectman Paul Ciaburri, who once was a firefighter.

During the meeting, Weigel also advocated for $70,000 for a new truck and plow for the Highway Department to assist in bad weather , an article that came up just after one from the School department asking for $25,400 for technology upgrades at Rochester Memorial School to replace computers, many of which are eight years old, prompting Finance Committee member David Arancio to comment, “If we’re talking about RMS using eight-year-old computers and we’re talking a $21,000 article, I’d like to be fair to every department…”

Hartley thanked Weigel for bringing up the new pumper back in October instead of springing it on the Town later. Before Weigel left, Hartley suggested one last time, “But don’t give up looking for a gem. You might find one!”

The Police Department was looking for a recommendation for $31,000 to arm the department with Tasers and provide related technology and training, and another $17,000 to be spread over five years for participation in an assurance program to insure and protect the new equipment, which seemed to garner the support of FinCom and the selectmen.

“It’s a good investment,” said Police Chief Paul Magee, advocating on behalf of the assurance program. “I think when they’re used, they’re used in usually very bad situations so the likelihood of damage is certainly there.”

Other articles presented included a generator for the Town Hall to keep computer servers and sump pumps working during power outages. Facilities Manager Andrew Daniel said extensive flooding happened back in March, and Magee added that official emails and alerts couldn’t be sent or received via official town emails when the servers are down, creating a problem. The natural gas-powered generator will cost $12,000 and another article to waterproof the basement was proposed for $31,000. The selectmen and the FinCom also considered a request from Weigel for an extractor to properly wash and decontaminate firefighter gear at $20,600 and $4,000 from the tax collector for an automated mail stuffer machine.

Another article discussed but not particularly appealing to the selectmen or the Finance Committee was $12,500 proposed by the Board of Assessors for the five-year review that Assessor Jana Cavanaugh said is currently undertaken in-house, but five years from now, “The likelihood of us having to do this is very high.”

Most towns do outsource their re-certification review because they don’t have the staff qualified to do it in-house like Rochester currently does, Cavanaugh said.

After some discussion, the FinCom and selectmen agreed that the Town could probably take the risk and address it later if needed.

Other articles included creating additional stabilization funds for various departments and areas of spending.

The next two regular meetings of the Rochester Board of Selectmen were scheduled for Monday, April 23 at 7:00 pm, and Monday, May 7 at 6:00 pm, both at the Rochester Town Hall.

Rochester Board of Selectmen

By Jean Perry

 

Elks Student of the Month

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The Elks of Wareham and New Bedford, Lodge No. 1548 sponsors the Elks Student of the Month and Student of the Year Awards for students enrolled in local area high schools. The criteria used in nominating a student includes a student who excels in scholarship, citizenship, performing arts, fine arts, hobbies, athletics, church, school and community service, industry and farming.

We congratulate Mia Quinlan of Marion, a junior at ORR, for being named as Student of the Month for March. Mia is honest, responsible, and mature. She sets high academic and civic goals for herself, taking full responsibility for her own learning. She participates in music programs, teaches music lessons, and teaches sailing lessons. She is also training with G.R.I.T. for the Providence marathon this May. Mia is able to balance all of these activities with a positive attitude while maintaining an admirable GPA.

Make Some Art

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Visit the Mattapoisett Free Public Library anytime between April 27 – May 6to participate in a special Spring ArtWeek Program. Use a variety of supplies in a special Makerspace in the Children’s Department to create your own one-of-a-kind masterpiece. Share your work of art in our gallery and be entered to win a raffle prize.