Solar Developer Withdraws Variance Request

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Solar developer Borrego Solar Systems withdrew its application for a variance pertaining to a proposed solar array field at 75 Vaughan Hill Road, which the Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals voted to accept on August 23, allowing the withdrawal of the application without prejudice.

The variance was a request to allow a solar energy generating facility within 100 feet of the side and rear setbacks, but it was filed incorrectly, and, therefore, must be re-filed and re-advertised before a public hearing can be opened.

Borrego Solar Systems is the developer of a proposed solar array field at the corner of Mendell Road and Rounseville Road, a project that is currently in litigation.

In other matters, Heather DeSousa of 261 County Road received a Special Permit to convert her single-family house into a two-family with a one-story addition to provide a kitchen, bath, and one bedroom for her aging parents. As the ZBA considered the request, DeSousa added, “My plan is to stay there. I know the concern is always rental property. … I’m 43 years old and I have a 30-year mortgage on the house, so as of right now, I’m not going anywhere.”

As part of the approval, DeSousa is prohibited from renting out the unit at any time in the future, and at least one unit on the property must be owner-occupied at all times.

The public hearing for the Variance application filed by Jake Goyette of Snow’s Pond Road was continued until September 20 because there was no quorum. ZBA member Kirby Gilmore had to recuse himself for what he deemed a conflict of interest, and with only four members present, the board could not hear the matter.

Chairman Richard Cutler said the hearing would be held at the Council on Aging, saying, “It looks like we’ve got a lot of people interested in this particular issue.”

The next meeting of the Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals is scheduled for September 13 at 7:15 pm at the Rochester Town Hall.

Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals

By Jean Perry

 

Friends of the Marion Visiting Nurse Association

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The Friends of the Marion Visiting Nurse Association’s Board of Directors has decided to dissolve and distribute its funds to organizations that will, in turn, continue their mission “to promote community health and welfare”.

The Marion Visiting Nurse Association (MVNA) was established in 1914 and in 1990 became a division of St. Luke’s Hospital. With the merger of Tobey, St. Luke’s, and Charlton Hospitals to form the Southcoast Hospitals Group, the MVNA then became known as Southcoast VNA. The Friends of MVNA were formed concurrently with MVNA becoming a division of St. Luke’s Hospital.

The Friends began their fundraising efforts by accepting donations from grateful individuals who had received home care services from MVNA and then continued their fundraising effort until 1999 through their annual Rummage Sale held in what is now Tabor Academy’s Hockey Rink. This was a huge event that drew savvy customers from near and far. Several Board members have given their time for over 20 years. In fact, one individual’s mother served before her.

In carrying out its Mission over the years, the Board has been able to award numerous nursing scholarships, supported a generous contribution toward the purchase of an ambulance for the Town of Marion, given to the Gleason Family Y in recognition of Dr. Gleason’s many years of pro-bono work for Marion’s Well Child Clinics, sponsored and substantially subsidized a Senior Stretch program for 25 years, contributed to Tobey Hospital’s OR Suites and updated ICU, and many more programs which affected the well being of Marion’s community members.

At this time, the Board will dissolve and is able to pass the torch onto the following organizations who will continue to carry out the Friend’s mission to the young, the old, and those in need in the Marion community. The following distributions will be made within the next month:

  1. Establish an endowment at UMass Dartmouth School of Nursing for qualified tri-town applicants pursuing a career in nursing. The scholarship is to be named “The Friends of Marion Visiting Nurse Association Scholarship in Memory of Ellen Keogh”, a recently deceased Board member who was affiliated with the UMass Dartmouth School of Nursing. $100,000
  2. Contribute to the fund to expand the Emergency Department at Tobey Hospital. $100,000
  3. Fund the N.O.W. program (food distribution on weekends & summer vacations) for qualifying Sippican School students to be initiated & administered by the Mattapoisett YMCA in consultation with Sippican School personnel. $55,000
  4. Establish a fund for Marion residents to be administered by Community Nurse Home Care, creating a wellness-based program when insurance does not cover an individual’s needs. $75,000
  5. Donate $70,000 to the COA with $50,000 allocated for the purchase of folding walls for the Activity Room. The additional $20,000 donation to be used for the office renovation project presented to the Friends of the Marion COA as a fundraising challenge toward that project.

The Friends of MVNA wish to thank those Marion Visiting Nurses who served our community, the donors who filled our initial coffers, the past board members who tirelessly fundraised, and, finally, the present board members who currently serve and have cautiously watched over the funds that we are now able to pass on to other organizations serving our community.

Sippican Woman’s Club

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The Sippican Woman’s Club invites members and guests to attend our first program of the new year on Friday, September 14.

The Sippican Woman’s Club programs are normally held at Handy’s Tavern, 152 Front Street, Marion on the second Friday of the month (September – March) at 12:30 pm. Parking is available at Island Wharf parking lot. Guests may RSVP to: Info@SippicanWoman’sClub.org. For membership information, contact Jeanne Lake at 508-748-0619 or visit our website: www.sippicanwomans club.org.

On Friday, September 14, Paula Deane, owner of Cat’s Meow Antiques in Sandwich and displayer of her unique treasures in cases at The Acushnet River Antiques in New Bedford, will talk about her years of collecting treasures large and small, and her love of estate sales, flea markets, and auctions. Paula will bring some of her smaller vintage pieces that pertain to women such as sewing boxes and vanity sets as well as vintage antique and costume jewelry of which she has a long-standing fondness.

Attendees are invited to bring small items of jewelry (including costume), silver trinkets, sewing items, collectibles etc. for an informal appraisal. Paula is not a credentialed gemologist, which is required to correctly assess diamonds and precious stones for grading or evaluation.

Committee Tables Proposed Actions for Later

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On August 22 as the meeting of the Carver Marion Wareham Regional Refuse Disposal District (CMWRRDD) Committee began, committee member and Carver Selectman David Robertson passed out a page containing four motions written by Carver Town Administrator Michael Milanoski, who was not present.

It didn’t take long for several members to take umbrage that the motions were presented without adequate details, including financial impacts, that the committee could study.

Motion 1 asked the committee to approve changes in the hours of operations at the Benson Brook Disposal Facility located in Marion. Currently the facility is open five days a week – Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, and Sunday 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. The motion would change the hours to just two days – Wednesday 8:00 am – 4:00 pm and Sunday 9:00 am – 1:00 pm.

Milanoski’s rationale offered with the motion reads, “Knowing that the CMWRRDD cannot afford two facilities in the future this will allow limited operations to determine the impact going forward and preserve temporary funding to where it will have more of an impact.”

            Former Marion Selectman and Committee Chairman Steve Cushing’s reaction was, “Are we cutting our nose to spite our face?” He said he hadn’t seen any financial documents to support the motion, a sentiment echoed by Marion Selectman Norm Hills.

Marion Town Administrator Paul Dawson said, “This sheet of paper contains points of view that Michael has been trying to lead us to for some time.” Dawson said that costs associated with shutting down Benson Brook and moving everything to the Rochester location were unknown.

“We are not close enough to make a rational decision,” said Dawson. He asserted that, in his opinion, a new executive director would be responsible for vetting such changes.

Hills pointed out that before Rochester could accept more volume, the wetlands would have to be delineated, putting into question the space available at that location.

Robertson commented that the motions as presented might not be the direction the committee was willing to embrace, adding, “I’ve been here since November and I’m not sure we know what direction we are going in.”

Dawson pointed out that before Benson Brook is closed, the committee needed to understand that the property had been conveyed to the district for $1 and that if the district no longer used the facility, the property would revert back to the Town of Marion.

The other three motions offered by Milanoski were: 2) to release a request for pricing for private haulers to lease and operate Benson Brook, which would provide the CMWRRDD with a revenue stream making the facility self-sufficient; 3) close down Benson Brook effective December 31, 2018 and transfer all functions to Rochester; and 4) to authorize the three town administrators to negotiate a grant from Covanta equal to what the spend rate would be for the next two years.

Cushing asked that the motions be tabled for now, saying, “Nobody on this committee can pull all this together.”

Dawson asked about qualifications for a new executive director if the position was to be filled.

There was some discussion regarding whether or not the position would be full or part-time and where a new director’s office would be located. This prompted a discussion about closing the rented office space on Island Wharf Road in Marion and carving out office space at one of Marion’s town facilities.

The committee decided to make decisions relevant to office space and storage needs at the next meeting.

“We need somebody who knows what they’re doing,” said Cushing.

Dawson said a new executive would have to develop a strategy plan. A grimmer reaction came from Wareham’s Maintenance Director David Menard, who said, “We are on a sinking ship.”

Cushing’s reaction to that comment was, “We are meeting: we are paying our bills.” He went on to say that financial liabilities will linger into the future … “whether this thing folds up or not.”

“We sit here wondering about the finances,” said Dawson, “but we represent the people of the community and each community is different.”

Back to the matter of searching for a new executive director, the committee decided to meet again on August 29 to begin interviewing candidates.

The new executive director would replace former executive director Ray Pickles who, along with his wife Diane Bondi-Pickles and former Carver Health Agent Robert Tinkham, Jr., has been accused of defrauding the district since at least 2012 and faces a number of tort claims in Superior Court.

The next meeting of the CMWRRDD is scheduled for August 29 at 4:30 pm in the Marion Police Station community room.

Carver Marion Wareham Regional Refuse Disposal District Committee

By Marilou Newell

 

Henry David Thoreau’s Southcoast Visit

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The eminent naturalist, essayist, and author of Walden, or, Life in the Woods, was also a transcendentalist who believed that he could glean from nature the true meaning of God. To do this, he built a one-room cabin at Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts on property owned by his transcendentalist friend Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Henry David Thoreau’s book was based upon the diary he kept at Walden from 1845 to 1847. It turned out to become the leading forerunner of environmental writing and exploration of the natural world. It also became the most revered expression of moral idealism and intellectual standards of his human purpose of existence. His moral intellect went on in time to inspire future readers and philosophers such as Gandhi and Tolstoy.

In 1862, Thoreau was visiting his friend Daniel Dickerson in New Bedford and happened to see a portrait of Martha Simon, the last full-blooded Native American in Fairhaven. It was painted by the renowned Albert Bierstadt, who had a studio and artistic following in New Bedford in 1850. Bierstadt gave it to win the favor of Henry Huttleston Rogers, founder and benefactor of many present-day landmark Fairhaven structures, including the Millicent library where the painting can be seen today.

Thoreau wanted to meet Simon to ruminate about the natural lore of native observation compared to his own. However, such a meeting such was not, in any way, going to be helpful.

When he went to visit her hut, even smaller than his at Walden, it was situated on the shoreline of the narrowest part of Sconticut Neck. She had a tawny Indian face, broad with high cheekbones, black eyes, and straight hair. To judge from her physiognomy, he said she might have been King Philip’s own daughter. But she had a very vacant expression, could not speak a word of Indian, and knew nothing of her race, in spite of being nearly 70 years old. She was indifferent to Thoreau’s presence and kept looking out the window to enjoy the view more than their meeting.

The main focus of their conversation was her asking about the flower Thoreau had tucked into the band of his hat. She told him it was a husk root, as in my illustration, which is intensely bitter, and used to put into bitters for weak a stomach. At that point Thoreau wished he had brought a hat full of plants to embellish their mutual interest. But the intention of the visit was futile. Thoreau went away, undaunted, to continue a collection of writings including one on civil disobedience. It became a forerunner of the concept of social conscience to personally demonstrate against cultural and social injustice.

Thoreau died in 1862 and is buried in a section of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord entitled “Authors Ridge,” laid to rest beside Emerson, Hawthorne, Alcott, and Channing, all followers of a social movement to pen progressive ideals to shape the direction of national thought.

Martha Simon died in 1858, and her death certificate said she was buried in Woodside Cemetery. However, in 1907, historian Franklin Howland said she was buried in the Sconticut Neck Simon family Indian burial ground, a stone’s throw from Wampanoag Road that runs at right angles to Indian Road and Wigwam Beach Road. She had been born near that spot and now lies there with her elders, William and Abigail Simon.

This burial site is just a short stroll from the back porch of my seaside residence on Little Bay. There are only a handful of weathered head and footstones laid out in a family configuration. My afternoon walk can take me around the shoreline bend of a prominent point looking out with an ethereal view, like many burial grounds I have visited.

Thank you for joining me on this trail back in time to share a tale of local history with you.

By George B. Emmons

St. Philip’s Episcopal Church

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St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, next to the Town Beach in Mattapoisett, continues their 134 year tradition of visiting clergy from Massachusetts and beyond.

Services using the 1928 Book of Common Prayer are conducted at 8:00 am and 10:00 am each Sunday through Labor Day weekend.

The Rev. Jeffrey Cave, Honorary Assistant, Church of Our Saviour, Atlanta, GA. will officiate services on Sunday,September 2.

Come visit our historic chapel by the sea in Mattapoisett! All are welcome.

Sippican Historical Society

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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. Due to 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 5 Water Street. The Shingle-style home was built in 1894 for attorney Richard S. Dow, who owned this house until at least the late 1920s. His law office was located at 27 State Street in Boston. During the early 20th century, he resided in the Back Bay area at 295 Commonwealth Avenue. This house, along with the Austin home at 75 Water Street, suffered considerable damage during the hurricane of 1938. A Wareham Courier article dated September 27, 1938 noted that “the beautiful estates of Miss Edith Austin and of Richard S. Dow suffered unestimated damage when verandahs, boat houses and garages were demolished and the first floors of the main houses were wrecked.”

Town Cleared for Wastewater Upgrades

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The Town of Marion cleared its wetlands hurtle with the Marion Conservation Commission on August 23 with approval to move ahead with its overhaul of the wastewater treatment plant’s sludge lagoon 1.

As ordered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, lagoon 1 will be drained, the sludge removed and disposed of off-site, and then lined before continuing its use to store the solid waste separated from the wastewater.

The Town of Marion had been working with the EPA and its engineer CDM Smith to find less financially impactful alternatives to the EPA’s original NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permit that called for the closing of the three unlined lagoons at the wastewater treatment plan on Benson Brook Road. Alternatively, lagoon 1 will be lined to prevent leeching of Nitrogen and other water contaminants, and the two remaining unlined lagoons will be used strictly for emergency overflow, for example, during storms, and only lagoon 1 will store the solid waste that will be pumped directly to it via a new pumping house.

Danielle Jackson of CDM Smith addressed the commission on behalf of the Town along with a wetlands specialist who delineated the wetlands.

The pumping house is slated for placement within the 100-foot buffer zone to the wetlands, and associated piping will be installed linking it to lagoon 1.

The EPA ordered the work to be completed by December 1, 2019. The project will go out to bid no later than early winter this year.

This phase of the wastewater treatment plan upgrades is part of the $2 million approved by voters during this year’s Annual Town Meeting.

The project received a Negative 3 determination, meaning that the work will take place within the buffer zone, but will not alter any wetlands areas subject to the Wetlands Protection Act.

Also during the meeting, John Tracy of 0 Ridgewood Lane received approval and an Order of Conditions to construct a single-family house with driveway, utilities, and grading.

The hearing was continued from July 25 to give the applicant time to have a qualified wetlands specialist review the wetlands delineation, which was performed in 2006, too long ago for the commission’s preference.

Engineer Bob Rogers told the commission on August 23 that the line was reviewed and, in fact, was ultimately altered to reflect data collected from soil samples.

“There was such a variation that they went ahead and made delineation adjustments,” said Rogers, “… but we’re confident in the new line.”

Rogers said he also looked at the proposed placement of the house on the plan, which was flipped to a mirror image, now placing the garage on the opposite side of the property on the “neighbor side,” which Rogers said was more agreeable to the property owner than the previous plan.

In other matters, George Tinkham of 57 Oakdale Avenue received a negative 2 determination for his RDA to repair and stabilize a seawall.

Anne and Scott Robertson received a Negative 3 for their RDA to install an 18-foot by 36-foot in-ground pool at 1 Deer Run.

The commission continued the public hearing for James Miranda’s Request for Determination of Applicability to store equipment and park vehicles behind the building at 133 Wareham Road until September 12 at the applicant’s request.

Virginia and Robert Beams received a Certificate of Compliance for 35 Holly Road.

Sue Reamer also received a Certificate of Compliance for 25 Holly Road.

The next meeting of the Marion Conservation Commission is scheduled for September 12 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Town House.

Marion Conservation Commission

By Jean Perry

Old Colony Football Looks to Defend MAC Title

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Old Colony football had itself a memorable regular season in 2017, finishing as the Mayflower Athletic Conference Small Vocational Division Champions under head coach Brandon Mendez, and winning the league for the first time in 20 years.

Though they were bounced in the first round of the MIAA Division 8 South Sectional Tournament in a 20-8 loss to Sacred Heart, the Cougars continued to make major strides under Mendez, also tying the school record with eight wins on the year.

But that season won’t be easy to replicate. Especially not when the Cougars graduated nine seniors, including Brad Plisseyand Jarred Gagne, who were both major fixtures in Old Colony’s offense.

“All nine seniors played both sides of the ball, the whole game,” Mendez said. “They all played both ways, so it’s a substantial amount of guys to replace.” Mendez continued, “We expect to be competitive this year and expect to continue to be competitive going forward.”

Still, Mendez does have a few players back from 2017.

Mitchell Wilsonwas a strong linebacker for the Cougars in 2017 and is expected to be the same. He’s also making the move from tight end to running back, where he’s expected to be the featured piece.

The Cougars also have Matt Bumpusback, who emerged as the team’s quarterback in 2017. Working primarily as a running quarterback, Bumpus won’t just line up behind center in 2018. He’ll be taking on other roles within the offense with Kyle Scholz, also emerging as an option at the quarterback position.

“I think they’re both going to have some chances to run and throw,” Mendez said. “Scholz is a big, athletic kid. He worked really hard in the off-season to get bigger and faster. …

“Bumpus is a proven guy for us,” Mendez continued. “Bumpus will put his head down and pick up the extra couple yards, not that Scholz is afraid to do that because he’s impressed us with that kind of stuff so far.”

Mendez said he doesn’t foresee either player “coming off the field on the offensive side of the ball very often.”

“We want to play to each of their strengths,” said Mendez.

Scholz provides Mendez with an arm for the first time since Jack Murphywas the quarterback in 2016. That will likely open up a few new wrinkles in the offense, but it’s hard to imagine the Cougars offense without a dominant ground game.

“It’s a very similar base (offense) to what we’ve done in the past,” Mendez said. “But we are doing some different things with it. A little more focus on play-action.”

Mendez said, with Murphy, the team was pass-heavy, 50-50, 60-40 pass to run.

“Last year we were 80-20 run to pass,” said Mendez. “We’re going to balance back out a little bit more.

“But because we’ve established a power run game, we feel we should focus a little more on play-action. Moving some guys around in motion should help us create some matchups and try to find the areas to exploit.”

Old Colony still expects teams like Blue Hills, Upper Cape, and South Shore to create problems for varying reasons. But the Cougars fully expect they’ll finish towards the top of the Mayflower Small Vocational Division standings.

“We have a lot of young talent,” Wilson said. “If we can get it all together and find a way to use it the right way, we should be all set.”

As for Cougars volleyball, the team is also coming off a Mayflower Athletic Conference title-winning season. Though they did lose setter Mikayla Murrayto graduation, the Cougars are returning junior middle hitter Kat Kirbyand junior setter Jordyn Dexter, who’s expected to fill Murray’s shoes.

The Cougars also have returning seniors Allyson Bertoldo, Hannah L’Heureux, Lauren Patnaude, Mackenzie Vieira, and Tori Santos. Old Colony has also added senior Lauren McGowan, juniors Molly Lankowski, Hope Bagnell, and Lauryn Macomber, and sophomore Savannah Halle.

High School Sports Update

By Nick Friar

 

Classic Film Series

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The Classic Film series begins this fall with a showing of Good Will Hunting on Friday, September 14at the Marion Music Hall beginning at 7:00 pm. This series is sponsored by the Sippican Historical Society and the Marion Council on Aging. A young MIT custodian, Will Hunting, turns out to be a mathematical genius of the first order, but his South Boston background makes it hard for him to break away from a troubled upbringing along with his loyalty to his buddies keeps him fixed in Southie. A MIT math professor, a psychologist, and a girlfriend try to their best to save him. Do they succeed? Come and find out. No charge and free popcorn.

Come early and listen to pleasant music provided by Truman Terrill on the piano, Bob Sanderson on clarinet, and vocals by Michele Richardson.