Tabor Academy to Host Morning of Service

on

Tabor students are getting ready to engage in the second morning of service of the school year. Tabor Academy’s Morning of Service takes place on April 28from 8:00 am – 12:00 pm. As part of a larger program of community service that has become an integral part of the school’s mission in action, these service days offer “a time for the Tabor Community to come together to work side by side for our local community,” says Kerry Saltonstall, Director of Communications.

Students will engage with over 25 organizations across the South Coast, many right here in the Town of Marion. Collaborating with representatives from the town as well as our local churches, Sippican School, Sippican Lands Trust, the Buzzards Bay Coalition and the Boy Scouts, students will help with all manner of clean up and beautification projects of parks, beaches, playgrounds and roadways. They will also head to other towns on the South Coast to lend a hand with longstanding service partners such as Gifts to Give, Community Boating, Sharing the Harvest Community Farm and many others. New partners include the Message of Hope Foundation in Pocasset, School on Wheels in Bridgewater, and Youth Opportunities Unlimited in New Bedford.

Also new this year is an opportunity for the public to come to Tabor’s Charles Hayden Library from 9:00 to 11:30 am to get their technology questions answered. Students will uncover the mysteries of Facebook, Skype, smartphone settings, and share their knowledge of digital photography and photo management online. There is free parking at the library located at 71 Spring Street.

It takes enormous organization to mobilize over 500 volunteers, and co-director of community service Lauren Boucher handles it with ease. Running the overall service program at Tabor that places students in ongoing, weekly positions with organizations all year long, Boucher says, “My co-director, Amelia Wright, and I find this service morning program acts as a springboard for further action by students into some of our established weekly programs like the Young Athletes Program with Special Olympics or serving Sunday Supper at the Salvation Army in New Bedford or maintaining local trails with the Sippican Lands Trust. As students gain more experience, many initiate projects of their own creation based on their interests. Senior Chase Compson organized her peers to provide eight large bins of toys and crafts to chronically ill children at Mass General Hospital through an organization called the Box of Fun Project. And junior Kellie Navarro is, for the second year in a row, running an afternoon marine science program for girls who attend Our Sisters’ School in New Bedford.”

“It has been so gratifying to see how our service program has grown over the years from one service morning a year to a robust afterschool program that instills ongoing interest for many of our students to engage in service throughout the year. Our students are learning so much about the needs of our community and they are applying their time and effort to make a difference,” said Kerry Saltonstall, Director of Communications.

Cluster Housing Proposed For Chapel Street

on

Bill Madden of G.A.F. Engineering, Inc. came before the Mattapoisett Planning Board on April 23 to engage the members and public in an informal discussion of a proposal for cluster housing on Chapel Street off Marion Road.

Known in bylaws as a Special Residential Development (SRD), Madden said his client, David Nicolosi, sought the opportunity to discuss the project before committing additional engineering resources.

Madden’s presentation included two layouts of the 3.65-acre site: one plan with five standard lots, two of which would require massive wetland disruptions; and a second plan that also included five lots, but these lots would be very small compared to standard lot sizes and cluster the five proposed residences all on uplands area, avoiding intrusion into the wetlands.

Madden said the first plan would be a Form A submittal, meaning that existing roadways and frontages would be used. But the second plan included Form C lots, saying it was “…a better project for Mattapoisett,” given that it would offer a different style of homeownership and would not require the filling-in of wetlands.

Madden said the Form C plan would allow home seekers to purchase a smaller, more manageable lot size, potentially of interest to senior citizens looking to downsize. “This creates a different plan you haven’t seen before,” he told the Planning Board members.

Turning to the requirements of SRD bylaws, Madden said the cluster concept met all the criteria and that public water and sewer would service the homes.

Part of the cluster plan Madden described would allow for the gifting of some 2.5 acres to the Mattapoisett Land Trust for permanent conservation protection. He said low impact development practices would be employed.

But Planning Board member Janice Robbins disagreed, saying, “This is not a subdivision; it doesn’t meet the basic requirements.”

Madden countered that when the bylaw was dissected there was a discrepancy under definitions, a discrepancy that the Planning Board could fix. “There’s a little discretion on the part of the Planning Board.”

Planning Board Administrator Mary Crain said town counsel advised that the yield plan could include Form A lots.

“SRD rules can be changed by the Planning Board,” Madden repeated. “This is the better plan, with the least amount of disruption…. Housing is needed in town.”

Robbins pondered, “You have three lots that are buildable right now. The problem I have with the cluster development premise is, is it a better overall development? …Are you premature to go to cluster development before you know whether or not the wet ones (lots) can be developed?” Madden replied that they would have to go through that exercise first.

“This project offers diversity to different age groups,” Madden responded when asked if the housing type wouldn’t be attractive to first-time homeowners versus simply senior citizens downsizing. “The SRD would not be an age-restricted program.”

Robbins remained doubtful that the project could qualify as a cluster development. “The fact that wetlands would not be touched is a positive,” said Robbins, “but basic questions of whether it is a subdivision are there.”

The discussion was tabled for further study.

Also coming before the Planning Board was David Davignon of N. Douglas Schneider & Associates for his client Dennis Arsenault for a proposed two-lot subdivision located at the end of Snow Fields Road. However, before the public hearing could begin, Davignon asked a procedural question: “Do you use the Mullin Rule?”

Davignon asked, with only three Planning Board members in attendance, would absent members be allowed to submit a Mullin affidavit? The affidavit would allow absent member(s) to watch the meeting videotape, study submitted documentation, and while present at the next meeting ask questions.

Saying it was in the best interest of his client, Davignon asked for a continuation, much to the chagrin of the six or so abutters who were in attendance. The continuation was granted until the next Planning Board meeting scheduled for May 7 at 7:00 pm in the town hall conference room.

Mattapoisett Planning Board

By Marilou Newell

 

The Earthly Woodcock

on

The American woodcock species has a fancy Latin classification entitled Philohela Minor, but it is actually a down-to-Earth ground-nesting buff-colored bird with black markings as illustrated. Slightly larger than a quail, it looks quite different with a long bill and a flexible upper mandible to probe deep into the ground to capture and extract earthworms, its staple diet. Sometimes they rock their bodies as they forage, shifting back and forth to prompt worms to move underground to make sounds helpful to detection.

The woodcock migrates to the region in spring from as far south as Louisiana, progressing northward in movement with the receding frost line that liberates access to food in the soil, which includes snails, spiders, flies, beetles, and ants. Habitat for nesting can be a shrubby forest, farm fields near abandoned orchards, or adjacent to wetlands.

To begin nesting, a spectacular aerial courtship dance by the male begins as the sun goes down. In the twilight, he takes off from the female and spirals upward in a wide circling pattern several hundred feet into the air, all the while emitting a rasping ‘peent’ (sound specific to the woodcock) to his mate below. At the very apex of his towering circular figure eight, he suddenly folds his wings and dives straight down to reunite with the female standing by to welcome him with the similar-sounding love song.

The nest itself is usually a shallow depression in leaf and twig litter just big enough for four eggs that imitate the hen’s coloring, so camouflaged to be invisible, except for the large dark oval eye watching your every move. If you get too close, she will move away, feinting a characteristic Mother Nature impersonation of a broken wing trick to get your attention away from the nest. Once she feels her nest location has been discovered, she will move each of the eggs, one by one, tightly clasped between her legs and fly low over the ground to a more secret location. I have also seen a hen similarly moving each of her four chicks across a well-traveled road for their safety.

The name ‘woodcock’ comes from across the pond in jolly old England because of their routine habit of flying from a daytime resting covert to an evening feeding covert. Seeing this out the window of a thatched cottage, it was to be called “cockshut time” to close the shutters and latch them against the spirits of the cold damp air. The name of the English cocker spaniel also comes from an ability to find and flush this game bird for hunters. In this country, recent year-end bird surveys suggest populations slowly declining, but not from hunting. Rather, the decline is due to habitat destruction by building development and accumulated pesticides from aerial spraying.

As the woodcock survives for the pleasure of our bird watching today, if you stumble upon one in your trail walks, it may suddenly startle you with a frantic wispy whistling of wing beats – but all for naught, landing a short distance away only to come back after you have gone. For the future, conservation of the Earth-bound food and habitat is critical, as important to our environmental awareness as it is vital for species survival.

By George B. Emmons

Sippican Historical Society

on

In 1998, the Sippican Historical Society commissioned an architectural survey of Marion’s historic homes and buildings. The survey was funded one-half by the Sippican Historical Society and one-half by the Massachusetts Historical Commission. Because of the limits of funding, not all of the historic buildings were surveyed, but over 100 were catalogued and photographed. The results of the survey are in digital form on the Massachusetts Historical Commission’s website and in four binders in the Sippican Historical Society’s office (and at the Marion Town Clerk’s office). Marion (Old Rochester) is one of the oldest towns in the United States, and the Sippican Historical Society maintains an extensive collection of documentation on its historic buildings. The Sippican Historical Society will preview one building a week so that the residents of Marion can understand more about its unique historical architecture. This installment features 2 Spring Street.

Spring Street started out as a country lane leading to a stone building associated with Captain Allen’s salt works. The Marion Town House at 2 Spring Street is an Italianate building erected in 1875-1876 as Tabor Academy’s recitation or classroom building. The school owes its existence to Elizabeth Taber, who purchased the rock-strewn land from Capt. Henry M. Allen in 1871. Tabor Academy opened on September 13, 1877 with 21 students.

Arbor Day Ceremony

on

In recognition of Arbor Day, the Town of Rochester will be having a brief ceremony at Hillside Cemetery on Hillside Road, off of High Street, on Friday, April 27at 6:00 pm. All are welcome to attend.

Alfred Gregg Morse

on

Alfred Gregg Morse, 94, died peacefully at home on Monday, April 23, 2018, surrounded by his family.
Raised in Easton, MA, he graduated from Oliver Ames High School in 1941, was a Sgt. in the US Army during World War II, then returned to Easton where he married Rosemary J. Bradford, raised 5 children and became president of the Crofoot Gear Corp.

He was a member of the Board of Trustees for the North Easton Savings Bank for most of his adult life. He also served as President of the Unity Church in North Easton, Treasurer of the Inc. Proprietors of Nonquitt and was a longtime member of the New Bedford Yacht Club.
A devoted husband, father and employer, he took great pride in the care he bestowed upon his family, his employees and his home.

He loved being outdoors. Raking in the fall, skating, skiing, iceboating in winter, canoeing, tending the yard and gardening in the spring, but sailing was his lifelong passion. He and his wife moved to South Dartmouth in 1982.
Alfred is survived by his five children, Ann Morse, Beth Hikade and her husband, John, Peggy Morse, Sarah Morse and Tad Morse and his wife, Mary Beth. Along with 9 grandchildren and 4 greatgrandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at the New Bedford Yacht Club, 208 Elm St. Dartmouth on April 30, 2018 at noon. All are welcome. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to: Easton Historical Society; 80 Mechanic St., N. Easton, MA 02356, Humane Society Southcoast; 31 Ventura Dr., N. Dartmouth, MA 02747 or Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust; P.O. Box 70567, N. Dartmouth, MA 02747. Arrangements are with the Saunders-Dwyer Home for Funerals, 495 Park St., New Bedford. For online guestbook, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.

Become a Volunteer Baywatcher with BBC

on

Do you love the water and want to help protect it? Volunteer as a Baywatcher with the Buzzards Bay Coalition in your community this summer! The Coalition is looking for dedicated volunteers to help monitor the health of local waterways across the Buzzards Bay region from Dartmouth to Falmouth.

The Baywatchers program is the largest volunteer-based coastal monitoring effort in New England. Through the Baywatchers program, the Coalition monitors all of Buzzards Bay’s major rivers, coves and harbors – an area covering more than one-quarter of the Massachusetts coast. The data collected through the Baywatchers program form the foundation of the Coalition’s efforts to restore and protect Buzzards Bay.

Baywatchers volunteer approximately one morning per week from May to September at a designated location in their community. Using a water testing kit, Baywatchers collect samples and measure salinity, temperature, water clarity and dissolved oxygen at the site. Baywatchers receive training prior to volunteering and do not need a science background. Trainings will take place throughout May in Westport, Dartmouth, New Bedford, Mattapoisett, Wareham and Falmouth.

If you’re interesting in becoming a Baywatcher, contact Director of Monitoring Programs Tony Williams at 508-999-6363 ext. 203 or williams@savebuzzardsbay.org. For more information about the Baywatchers program, visit savebuzzardsbay.org/baywatchers.

Author Talk with Jill Farinelli

on

Please join us at the Elizabeth Taber Library on Thursday evening, April 26at 6:30 pm for an author talk with Jill Farinelli. She will be discussing her book: The Palatine Wreck: The Legend of the New England Ghost Ship. A book signing will follow.

Jill Farinelli graduated from William Smith College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies and English. Determined to live near the ocean in a city steeped in history, she moved to the Boston area where, for the past 25 years, she has worked as a freelance writer and editor, primarily in educational publishing. This is her first work of historical nonfiction, on a subject that captured her imagination after spending a week with friends on Block Island ten years ago.

Jazz Jam Session at the MAC

on

There will be a Jazz Jam Session at the Marion Art Center, 80 Pleasant Street, on Friday, April 27at from 7:30 to 9:30 pm. All improvisers are welcome: pros, students, young, old. The rhythm section is: Matt Richard, piano; Dave Zinno, bass; and Gary Johnson, drums.

Those planning on “jamming” with us should call 508-538-1240. Those planning on attending ($12 for spectators) should get tickets at www.marionartcenter.org/events/jazz-jam-mac/.

Planning Board Cautions ZBA on 324 Front Street

on

As anticipated, Peter Douglas’ appeal of the building commissioner’s denial for zoning enforcement of Christian Loranger’s 324 Front Street condominium construction was continued until May 24.

Zoning Board of Appeals member Bob Alves, acting as chairman in Marc LeBlanc’s absence, read a statement announcing the public hearing would be continued without any testimony from Douglas or the public.

“This case is going to be continued without testimony,” Alves read. “We do not have enough voting members of the Zoning Board, town counsel could not be present, and the building commissioner, Scott Shippey, could not be present.”

There were about 15 people present for the hearing apart from Douglas, including Planning Board Chairman Eileen Marum and Planning Board member Steve Kokkins.

According to Douglas, some data submitted on Loranger’s building permit application was incorrect, including the total volume of living space inside the demolished structure, leading the way for a new structure that is greater in livable space volume than what should have been allowed. Loranger, asserts Douglas, has converted attic and basement space into habitable “below-grade” volume space that was not part of the original structure’s habitable space.

Douglas, during his two presentations to Planning Board members on April 2 and 17, asked the board members to give this recommendation to the ZBA: “The Planning Board believes that the only possible rational interpretation of the term ‘volume’ in Zoning Bylaw 6.1G is above-grade volume [(not basement)], since any other interpretation of the term … would clearly contravene the obvious purpose of that Bylaw and make a completely perverse nonsense of that Bylaw,” as Douglas wrote in a typed submission to the Planning Board.

The Planning Board responded to the ZBA’s request for comment in a letter Alves deemed too lengthy to read aloud in its entirety, but a copy of that letter displayed a strong recommendation from the Planning Board for the ZBA to halt any further construction at 324 Front Street until the alleged permitting discrepancies are resolved.

“… [It] seems clear to us that the ZBA will want to devote extremely careful attention to the accuracy, validity and professional reliability of the data submitted to the Building Department…” the letter further states. “If discrepancies are revealed in the volume calculations used as the basis for the new building, the ZBA should take immediate action and require that the developer modify the project so as to comply with the zoning bylaws.”

A letter read aloud from the Board of Health expressed no objection to the project given that it is served by municipal sewer and water, but a letter from the Conservation Commission stated that Loranger’s project still required a filing due to a portion of the work occurring inside a flood zone, which to date has not been filed.

Resident Diana Worley, 329 Front Street, stood to speak from a written statement, but was cut off and offered a chance to speak at the next meeting on May 24. Worley contended that she was the only abutter who had received notification of the public hearing, and the board told her it would explore why that would happen if it did indeed happen that all abutters were not duly notified.

“Why continue?” asked Worley. “It just seems like along way away and meanwhile the building construction continues.”

“Ridiculous…” a woman in the back of the room commented.

The next meeting of the Marion Zoning Board of Appeals is May 24 at 7:30 pm at the Marion Town House.

Marion Zoning Board of Appeals

By Jean Perry