A plan to establish a portion of bike path on Point Road that had fallen by the wayside appeared on the agenda of the Marion Open Space Acquisition Commission on February 1.

The plan to construct a bike path on Point Road between Jenna Drive and Joanne Drive was one of five proposed plans that was approved by Town Meeting back in 2005, said MOSAC Chairman John Rockwell, but after years of other more urgent projects crowding the MOSAC agenda, the project was never taken up by MOSAC or any other town entity.

“This plan was the only plan of the five plans that could be done without moving the roadway over,” said Rockwell via phone during a follow-up interview, which made this project more feasible and affordable.

With this approved plan, Rockwell said MOSAC has taken the initiative to apply for Community Preservation Act funding to get it started next year. According to Rockwell, MOSAC would have focused more attention on seeing the project through had it not been bogged down for years by Grassi Bog.

The property along the proposed strip of bike path is, for the most part, controlled by MOSAC.

“Regarding the CPA grant application that we’ll be submitting to build it, or build as much as we can, there’s a limited amount of money in CPA funds,” said Rockwell. “We’re (MOSAC) working on a [fiscal year 2019] budget so we don’t have a budget yet,” he added, so the amount of money that would be made available for this project would determine how much of it MOSAC could tackle. “It might not be able to be done at one time,” said Rockwell.

MOSAC is exploring estimates for the relatively small bike path project, which Rockwell said would likely be stone dust at first to keep costs lower.

“And then if it gets a lot of use and we get all the way to Jenna Drive, we’d pave it. We’d come back and ask [Town Meeting to fund it].”

The main goal with this bike path project is safety, Rockwell said.

“We just want to get people off the road,” said Rockwell, specifically that stretch of Point Road that he described as a bad turn. “People come pretty fast down the road and we don’t have a lot of visibility.”

Rockwell hopes the project will be granted CPA funds to allow for the permitting process to begin in June of this year. There are some sparse wetlands near the site, he said, so a filing with the Conservation Commission is imminent.

The next meeting of the Marion Open Space Acquisition Commission is scheduled for March 1 at 6:30 pm in the 13 Atlantis Drive conference room.

Marion Open Space Acquisition Commission

By Jean Perry

As the members of the Mattapoisett Finance Committee gathered on January 31 to begin the fiscal year 2019 budget process with various department heads, the bad taste left behind from the January 24 Old Rochester Regional School Committee meeting lingered.

During that meeting, Massachusetts Department of Education Program Manager of Governance and Facilities Program Christine Lynch and Associate Commissioner of the Center for School Finance and District Support Jay Sullivan had been invited as guest speakers to the ORR School Committee as it began the FY19 budget process.

Colby Rottler, a Mattapoisett FinCom member, said of the state presenters, “I wasn’t impressed … there wasn’t a lot of substance.” He thought that at times Lynch and Sullivan neared a state of being “argumentative” saying, “They didn’t understand and didn’t provide relevant data that might have been helpful. They were ill prepared … it was rather embarrassing.… The selectmen were rolling their eyes.… It’s unfortunate, I didn’t get a lot out of it,” he stated.

Mattapoisett Town Administrator Michael Gagne said that after speaking with other town administrators and finance managers he believed, “We need to drill down … [and] get some additional information for the school committee on various funds.” He said that budget and statistical analysis for a deeper dive was critical and that he would continue to push for that.

FinCom member Gary Johnson said, “We did learn to review the Tri-Town [regional school district] agreement.” It was disclosed during the school committee meeting that that defining document had not been reviewed since the early 1980s. Both Lynch and Sullivan urged the three towns to take a look at it since the state’s rules and regulations had changed significantly over the years.

Gagne agreed, saying, “It’s time to dive into it.… It’s an exercise we should do.”

In other matters, Mattapoisett Library Director Susan Pizzolato gave a state of the library presentation that included a forward look at the library’s FY19 budget needs. Pizzolato began her presentation by saying, “We provide more services and fewer things over the counter and the state is starting to let us count those as checked out items.” She added, “A dynamic library adapts to the needs of the community.”

From the strategic plan she developed in concert with the Board of Trustees – a plan that is geared towards guiding the library through 2023 – Pizzolato reported that floor space review and modification planning was underway to ensure the interior spaces of the library were adequate and appropriate for side-by-side learning experience and 21st century library users.

Included in that study is storage space and needs, children’s department condition, functionality and comfort, facility maintenance, and prioritization of items for capital planning consideration.

Pizzolato said that the speakers series was very successful and that she would continue to promote the library as a civic space for community and regional meetings.

Of the nearly 100,000 items circulated by the library, Pizzolato reported the importance of keeping materials vital and current to user needs.

In her presentation materials, she included a ‘year in review’ page that included the following details based on FY17 statistics: 75,000 visitors; 67,000 items in the collection; 425 programs offered; 89,000 items circulated; 5,000 e-books; and 20,000 website visitors.

For FY19, Pizzolato is projecting an increase in salaries and wages of $12,391 and library materials of $5,000 with an overall projected budget of $468,716 – roughly a 3.8 percent increase over FY17.

Of the library, Gagne said, “It’s a high focal point in town and a gem in this community.”

Also coming before the FincCom on this night was Administrator of Assessing Kathleen Costello. She said that 2018 was a recertification year by the state making FY19 a year for full measurement of personal property.

Costello also reported that since 2009 abatement applications have plummeted from over 400 in 2009 to just 18 so far this fiscal year. Further, she reported that in FY12 there were over 40 pending cases at the Boston Appellate Tax Board. Today there are none. She attributes part of that reduction to more accurate collection of property owner contact information.

In her report she wrote, “This ensures clean accurate data, the cornerstone of accurate and equitable assessments.” She told the committee members, “An educated tax base is a quiet tax base.”

Costello continued to extol the benefits of having ‘chapter lands’ put into productive use via the construction of solar farms that allows cities and towns to establish P.I.L.O.T (payment in lieu of taxes) programs that produce positive tax flow over a 20-year period.

“The money is great for the town and it doesn’t pull any services,” she said. “Great revenue producer.”

On this theme she said that two additional sites – one on Tinkham Hill Road and the other on Crystal Spring Road – would most likely be the last the town will see as tariffs have been imposed on imported solar panels.

Costello also reported that the average home sale in Mattapoisett stands at $440,000 per unit, with 600 residences in the second home category. Second homes fall into a personal property category she said, allowing an additional 3% surcharge over real estate tax bases. She said she is currently conducting a study for the Department of Revenue on second homes in Mattapoisett.

Regarding her projections for the FY19 budget, Costello is currently in negotiations for a salary of $6,000 under a category titled “IT Coordinator.” She said that she and several of her staff perform this function for all town departments rather than outsourcing a more expensive service.

Her budget worksheet also shows several decreases in line items for software and hardware categories.

The next two meetings of the Mattapoisett Finance Committee are scheduled for February 7 and 8 at 6:30 pm in the town hall conference room.

Mattapoisett Finance Committee

By Marilou Newell

Selectman Steve Gonsalves stormed out of the meeting of the Marion Board of Selectmen on February 6 after a shouting match that escalated after Gonsalves interrupted Town Administrator Paul Dawson’s update on the town’s search for an interim Department of Public Works superintendent after Rob Zora’s December retirement.

When Dawson mentioned that current Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent Frank Cooper and former selectman Jonathan Henry had expressed interest in the interim position, Gonsalves confronted Dawson and accused him and the two other selectmen of keeping Gonsalves out of the loop.

When the selectmen first held a special meeting on December 14 to discuss Zora’s seemingly sudden retirement, Dawson told Gonsalves he had to recuse himself from voting on the DPW position because Gonsalves has a son who works for the DPW and that would be a conflict of interest.

Although at the December 14 meeting Gonsalves abided by Dawson’s advice, Gonsalves disclosed the night of February 6 that he had contacted the State Ethics Commission on his own, which issued him a “favorable response,” Gonsalves said, saying he could take part in the superintendent discussion because there is a supervisor between Gonsalves and his son at the DPW; therefore, there is no direct conflict of interest.

Gonsalves lamented how he was first contacted before that December special meeting when Dawson’s assistant told him of the meeting but said that he could not participate in the vote.

“I got a little upset about it,” Gonsalves said. ”My frustration was, how can I not be a part of this decision that’s so important to the town?”

Gonsalves retold how the events unfolded, including how he had initially disagreed with Dawson’s opinion on the conflict of interest.

“I feel you’re there to guide me,” Gonsalves told Dawson. “I was a little taken aback that the decision was made for me that I was in violation.” Gonsalves added that Dawson should have taken the initiative and contacted State Ethics himself before rendering his opinion on the matter.

Before long, Gonsalves said, he had begun hearing about the matter, not from the selectmen but from the public, until he became “sick and tired” of it.

“I heard so many things on the street and so much stuff that my head’s gonna pop,” said Gonsalves. According to Gonsalves, he had proved to Dawson some time ago that he would not be in violation if he were to participate in the DPW interim position vote, so he should have been informed immediately about any information the selectmen had acquired thus far; however, he was not, he said.

“Since I’ve been allowed to participate in this process, I have not been brought up to full speed on this,” Gonsalves asserted. “When you knew I could [participate in discussions],” Gonsalves said to Dawson, “You weren’t there to let me know … so I don’t know where we are at this point.”

Gonsalves said, as an elected official, he shouldn’t have to get his information passing through the post office.

Board of Selectmen Chairman Jody Dickerson stopped Gonsalves, but Gonsalves wasn’t done yet. He had more frustration to vent.

“Now, I hear that Jon Henry is part of this,” said Gonsalves.

Gonsalves inquired about the timing of Henry’s expression of interest in the position, saying he had even approached Henry himself, and Gonsalves said Henry told him, “I can’t talk right now.”

“I want to know, what is going on?” said Gonsalves.

Dickerson shut Gonsalves down, but Gonsalves continued, even as Dickerson loudly hammered his gavel on the desk repeatedly.

“I want this discussion tabled immediately until I am brought into the loop on this,” Gonsalves shouted. “I want to be brought into this loop right now! I want it!”

Gonsalves made a motion to table the discussion.

“Do I have a second?” Gonsalves asked. “No,” said Hills. “No,” said Dickerson.

“All right, why?” asked Gonsalves. “Now you’re telling me I don’t have the right to table this?”

“That’s how this works,” said Dickerson.

Then Gonsalves asked Dickerson why he had to hear it from residents that Dickerson himself applied for the DPW interim superintendent position.

“I was showing interest in this and I have decided I did not,” said Dickerson.

The contention continued as Gonsalves pressed for information surrounding both Dickerson’s and Henry’s interest in the position, asking intensely, “Why didn’t I know this?”

“You weren’t involved at the point,” said Hills. According to Hills, this information was known to the board for “three or four weeks.”

“Nobody has approached me on this,” Gonsalves said, as Dickerson demanded the board move on from the conversation. “Moving on, really?” said Gonsalves. “Transparency, anyone? Does anyone know how to spell it?”

Gonsalves told Dawson, “I’m insulted and I’m disgusted.”

“At me? What have I done?” asked Dawson.

It soon came to the point when Gonsalves said it was only just yesterday that he had discovered Dickerson and Henry were both in the ring for the interim position. Dickerson shot back that he had simply just changed his mind.

“This was yesterday, gentlemen,” said Gonsalves. “Things change awful quick.”

The shouting continued between Gonsalves and Dawson, until Dawson told Gonsalves that town counsel also shared his opinion on the conflict of interest, and Gonsalves erupted in anger.

“You didn’t tell me that!” said Gonsalves.

After all that, Gonsalves abruptly announced that he no longer had any interest in participating in the DPW interim position discussion.

“I’m not voting on this,” Gonsalves said. “I’m gonna leave the room. I’m not voting on this. I don’t want any part of this.”

After he left, Hills disclosed that he was the one who approached Henry with the opportunity to apply for the temporary position, and Henry liked the idea, Hills said – but only as a temporary position.

Just as Hills made the motion to hire Henry, followed by Dickerson’s second, Marion resident T.J. Walker asked how long the interim position would last. Dawson told him roughly six months or until the DPW study results are ready for review.

The two selectmen in the room then appointed Henry, and Gonsalves returned shortly after.

In other matters, Alan Minard and Rob Lane on behalf of the Subcommittee of the Town House Building Committee asked for guidance on how to proceed now that the committee’s study on a Mill Street administrative building is wrapping up.

Dickerson said he would prefer to see the numbers from the study, but Minard asked him why that would be necessary when it would be up to the public to decide on which option it would prefer to pursue and ultimately fund.

With tension still in the air from the outburst, the selectmen agreed to hold a public meeting to present the subcommittee’s findings, along with the option the original Town House Building Committee came up with last year.

Lane said once the subcommittee holds its next meeting next week and reviews all the final data, he would contact the Board of Selectmen to schedule a public meeting.

After a second brief discussion with Planning Board Chairman Eileen Marum and Town Planner Gil Hilario that preceded the board’s quarrel, the board voted to adopt the Complete Streets Policy with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Planning Board had discussed and been working towards this point for some time now.

Gonsalves at first was hesitant, saying, “I don’t know, I’m kind of a little bit on the fence about it.” He wondered if it was worth it for the Town to engage in an agreement such as this, but Marum, Hilario, and Dickerson convinced him it was fine.

“It’s not a mandatory thing,” Dickerson said. “It’s a guidance. I do not personally see any downfall to it.”

The Complete Streets Policy would make the town eligible for up to $400,000 annually in state grant funding for street, sidewalk, and bike path projects.

“It opens the door to more grant money, and the government and the lieutenant governor are behind this agreement and the community compact,” said Marum. “I think that lends credence and support and credibility to the program because you have the top manager in the state – the governor – who is behind this program.”

With that, the vote was unanimous.

Also during the meeting, the board approved a $2,400 contract to hire Land Stewardship, Inc. to provide the town with a management plan for Sprague’s Cove.

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Marion Board of Selectmen will be February 20 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Town House.

Marion Board of Selectmen

By Jean Perry

Craig Canning’s farmer’s market he had hoped to establish on Marion Road was officially erased from the Rochester Zoning Board of Appeal’s slate on January 25.

Canning, developer of the proposed Rochester Farms, LLC, received his Special Permit from the ZBA last year to proceed with his project, but was halted by two lawsuits filed by Maryann and Kenneth Cutler of 223 Marion Road, abutters who opposed the agricultural/commercial establishment being built across the road from their house.

In his attorney’s December 13 letter to the ZBA, Canning stated he was withdrawing his application for the Special Permit with regard to the project.

“Unfortunately, projected litigation costs make the project economically unfeasible at this time given the two lawsuits filed … coupled with the administrative appeal to the Zoning Board,” states the letter.

Town Counsel Blair Bailey guided the board through the two motions it needed to make that night: the first being the acceptance of Canning’s withdrawal as well as the rescinding of the ZBA’s prior approval, and the second being the remanding of the Cutlers’ appeal of the Planning Board’s Site Plan review approval over to the Planning Board to take action.

The Planning Board received a similar letter from Canning on December 13 also requesting a withdrawal of his application for Site Plan Review.

“Mr. Canning is no longer going to move forward with what he wants to do,” said Bailey, explaining the board’s task to accept the withdrawal and vacate its prior decision, while also remanding the appeal to the Planning Board. “And that would end the matter as it relates to this board.”

Acting Chairman David Arancio asked Bailey if this withdrawal would act as one “without prejudice,” meaning Canning could reapply for another project in the future without having to wait the mandatory two years. The Cutlers’ attorney who was present that night stated that having to wait two years before returning with an application for another project was not stipulated within the court-filed agreement between Canning and the Cutlers.

“So he could,” said Bailey.

The public hearing for Catherine Mendoza’s appeal of the Planning Board’s Site Plan Approval for Wellspring Farm, LLC was continued until the next meeting at the request of both parties.

The next meeting of the Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals will be February 8 at 7:00 pm at the Rochester Town Hall.

Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals

By Jean Perry