During a quick pre-Special Town Meeting scheduled meeting, the Rochester Board of Selectmen on November 19 voted to refrain from exercising its right of first refusal for 440 Snipatuit Road.

The Chapter 61A agricultural use property consists of a house and two acres of cranberry bogs. As a Chapter 61A property, the right of first refusal must be offered to the Town before the land is sold.

Should the land be sold and its Chapter 61A agricultural use discontinued, the owner would have to pay the back taxes plus interest on the property.

The Planning Board voted during its November 13 meeting to not recommend that the selectmen exercise its right of first refusal.

In other matters, the board appointed Selectman Paul Ciaburri to act as the board’s representative for Old Rochester Regional teacher contract negotiations.

“Great,” Board of Selectmen Chairman Greenwood “Woody” Hartley commented. “It’ll be great experience.”

The next meeting of the Rochester Board of Selectmen is scheduled for December 3 at 5:00 pm at the Rochester Town Hall, preceding the annual tree lighting at 6:30 pm in the front of the Town Hall.

Rochester Board of Selectmen

By Jean Perry

School Superintendent Doug White has requested $143,817 in capital spending to provide Rochester Memorial School with security camera upgrades, a field irrigation system, and also a math curriculum materials renewal, items that White told the Rochester School Committee on November 15 are outside the scope of the regular school budget.

“We’re looking at trying to provide the [Capital Improvement Committee] with the background and support for what it would look like,” said White. He added that he hopes the Town will fund at least one, if not a couple of the proposed projects.

Security cameras were installed at RMS in 2014, said White, “But technology has come a long way.” To further security, the mutual link between the school cameras and the police department would be expanded. “The more cameras logged in the better,” added White.

During a meeting White had with RMS Principal Derek Medeiros and Facilities Director Gene Jones, the three determined that security camera upgrades at the school tops the district’s capital spending priority list.

The cost of the camera upgrades is roughly $86,817.

The irrigation system would enable better and more efficient maintenance of the fields behind the school and the area near the adjacent playground, White said, but the $56,000 price tag prompted some questions.

“It just seems like a lot,” said School Committee member Tina Rood. “Is it like an industrial grade [irrigation system]?”

Medeiros said it requires a relatively extensive installation of underground piping with pumping systems encompassing both the fields and the playground.

White also explained that the school’s “Go Math!” curriculum is up for renewal and, rather than renew the materials annually as the district has been doing, he would prefer the Capital Improvement Committee approve a three-year renewal, which is what the Mattapoisett School District does for its math curriculum.

“Whether they want to take that avenue is up to them,” White said, “But we gave them the background information to be able to put the program in place and continue for a three-year period, which means we can do it for a lot less than if we were to renew it each year.”

White said he’d already put in the request for the capital funding by the November 1 deadline.

“We’re excited that Rochester has decided to have a capital plan that has included the schools,” said White, adding that the Town last fiscal year provided the school with $25,000 in capital funding. “So, we’ll see what happens this year.”

Also during the meeting, Medeiros provided a brief overview of some of the highlights of this year’s MCAS results, expressing pride that 59% of students in grades 3-6 are exceeding or meeting expectations in ELA and 55% in math.

“So that’s great,” said Medeiros, adding that, for a number of years, there were zero or perhaps 1 percent of students meeting the exceeding expectations mark in ELA. “Now we’re looking at 6 percent.”

In grade 4 ELA, 54 percent exceed or meet the expectations in ELA, while 42 percent are partially meeting expectations and only 2 percent have not met expectations.

For grade 5 ELA, 52 percent exceed or meet expectations, 47 partially met them, and 1 percent did not.

Medeiros said a point of pride was the grade 6 ELA results, with 60 percent exceeding or meeting the expectations.

“A nice big jump here,” said Medeiros. Only one student, he said, did not meet expectations.

Overall, the average growth percentile in all grades in ELA – 68^thpercentile – exceeded the state’s average.

In math, 55 percent of the school’s students exceeded or met the expectations, 41 percent partially met them, and 5 percent did not. In grade 3 alone, 17 percent of students scored in the exceeding expectations category.

“This is a big jump,” said Medeiros. Another big jump, he said, was in grade 6 where 71 percent of students either exceeded or met the expectations, “Which is an awesome achievement,” he said.

The math student growth percentile throughout the school was 62 percent for all grades, compared to the state average growth percentile of 50 percent.

“Some great numbers here,” Medeiros commented. “Our student growth dots are headed in the right direction.”

The school will focus on identifying the struggling learners, said Medeiros, providing intervention for the lowest performing 20 percent of students in each grade.

Chronic absenteeism is also a matter that Medeiros said the school will be addressing, as the state standards for MCAS accountability scoring now looks to absenteeism rates as a factor. Medeiros said he would be working with the school’s social workers and psychologist to look at students who exhibit chronic absenteeism to provide supports that might help them attend school more regularly. Medeiros mentioned the imminent formation of a family engagement program, which is an element mentioned as an action item within the district’s new school improvement plan.

“We’re excited to move forward with action research in family engagement,” said Assistant Superintendent Elise Frangos. “We hope to lessen the absenteeism that we have in each of our schools. … We want to really engage with the families so that that can change.”

Finally, Medeiros highlighted the results of the grades 5 and 6 science, which was for the first time offered online rather than in pencil and paper format. Medeiros said the composite performance index was higher this year at 88 percent compared to about 80 percent last year. Students performed particularly well in earth and space science, as well as in technology and engineering.

“Wow to everybody in the building,” said acting Chairman Anne Fernandes. “Everybody deserves a lot of credit for working so hard – parents, as well.”

“It’s been, really, a team effort,” said Frangos. “So much to be proud of. A really big achievement here at Rochester Memorial.”

The next meeting of the Rochester School Committee is scheduled for January 3 at 6:30 pm in the Rochester Memorial School music room.

Rochester School Committee

By Jean Perry

At long last, the Marion Conservation Commission, with Chairman Jeff Doubrava on speakerphone, issued an Order of Conditions for the controversial application filed by Mark Ross.

Ross, represented by Nick Dufresne of Farland Corp., was requesting to raze an existing dwelling and rebuild at 195C Converse Road. Doubrava, with other commission members, had questioned the owner’s ability to rebuild in a V zone (coastal area that is prone to storm surge) on his property if A zone (area subject to inundation by 1-percent-annual-chance flood) was available.

At issue also was whether the commission could approve a project if they were aware that another department might not approve it.

At a previous meeting, Town Counsel Barbara Carboni weighed in on the question, stating in part that the commission could approve it if the applicant had either applied to or received approval from the other town departments in question. This evening, after the commission voted to reopen the public hearing that had been closed October 10, Dufresne informed the commission that his client had applied to the Zoning Board of Appeals for a Special Permit. The permit related to a bylaw passed this summer stating that if there is construction in a VE zone that is increasing the footprint or volume of a structure, the project required a Special Permit.

Commission member Joel Hartley wondered aloud if the commission needed a decision from the ZBA to act. Member Cynthia Callow reminded the commission that they would need to wait if the project was violating a town bylaw. Associate member Marc Belanger asked why Dufresne was not applying for a Special Permit relating to the question of building in the V zone.

Dufresne stated that Building Commissioner Scott Shippey determined that the bylaw only applied to vacant lots.

Doubrava quipped that town counsel did not agree with Shippey’s apparent determination.

The commission approved the Order of Conditions with no special conditions.

Brian Grady of GAF Engineering was before the commission for two different projects, starting with Joseph Papetti of Seaside Lane, receiving a Negative determination for the work related to constructing a new house and driveway. The project was scaled back from the original application.

Grady also represented 538 Point Road Nominee Trust, which received an Order of Conditions for work to upgrade a failed septic system. A 700-foot 2-inch forced main would be pumped to a mounded leach field near Point Road. Grady described erosion control that would protect the wetlands on either side of the driveway, and assured the commission the work would be done quickly. Belanger noted that a small amount of work would occur in the 15-foot No Disturb area of the buffer zone. The existing septic tank will be abandoned, and then either collapsed or removed.

In other business, the commission discussed the Certificate of Compliance (COC) they had requested for the Cress/Stemberg parcel at 114 Point Road. An Order of Conditions from four years ago had expired, with some of the work completed. A new Notice of Intent was filed, and the commission requested a COC be issued prior to the issuance of a new Order of Conditions.

The commission signed the COC for the athletic complex, patios, and walking trails, and specifically did not include house construction.

Engineer David Davignon, representing Deborah Elfers, presented a project at 96 Mooring Road to demolish a garage and greenhouse and replace with a detached garage and guest quarters. The attached garage listed in the notice was not contemplated this evening. The site elevation is 13 by 13.5 feet, and the new structure will be at 15 feet. The owners will be reducing the number of bedrooms by one in their home to maintain the number of bedrooms on the septic system. Nearly the entire project is outside the buffer zone of the coastal bank. The commission issued an Order of Conditions for this project, and Davignon withdrew Elfers’ request for the extension of the DEP-Waterways permit.

Also during the meeting, Gregory Bongiorno received a Negative determination for an addition to a house at 21 Inland Road. Donald Simi of 56 West Avenue received a Negative determination for work to repair a failed drainage system and to install a foundation perimeter sub-drain.

The commission met with Brandon Faneuf to inquire about the status of a growth report for the Severance property at 20 Front Street. The commission had issued an Enforcement Order that required the report be submitted by October 21, 2018. Faneuf noted that he had been tasked by Severance to submit an Amended Order of Conditions, apparently strongly suggested by both member Shaun Walsh, who was not at the meeting that night, and Doubrava. Faneuf said he would provide the report to the commission by the December 12 meeting.

            The next meeting of the Marion Conservation Commission is scheduled for November 28 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Town House.

Marion Conservation Commission

By Sarah French Storer