AG Rejects Rochester’s Cannabis Moratorium Extension

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Attorney General Maura Healey has rejected Rochester’s attempt to extend its temporary moratorium on adult-use cannabis; as a result, the AG’s Office says Rochester’s moratorium has expired and thus Rochester must immediately begin accepting applications for adult-use cannabis businesses.

Rochester Town Meeting in May voted to adopt an article extending the temporary moratorium past its October 31, 2018 expiration until June 30, 2019.

Healey had expressed in prior responses to other municipalities’ marijuana moratorium extensions that it would not honor moratoria beyond the December 31, 2018 date, saying that the time provided to municipalities in the Commonwealth was sufficient, which was stated in the AG’s response to the Town of Egremont’s adopted bylaw.

Planning Board Chairman Arnie Johnson acknowledged in a follow-up back in May that the Commonwealth would likely reject the moratorium extension, saying, “We’ll give it a shot.”

The Town’s original Temporary Moratorium on Marijuana Retail Sale Bylaw states that, during the moratorium period, “the Town shall undertake a planning process to address the potential impacts of recreational marijuana in the Town, consider the regulations of the Cannabis Control Commission regarding recreational Marijuana and related uses, and shall consider adopting new Zoning Bylaws to address the impact and operation of Marijuana Retail Sale.”

However, since the original temporary moratorium was adopted at the May 22, 2017 Annual Town Meeting until the Town Meeting vote to extend the moratorium on May 21, 2018 one year later, the Town has not presented an appropriate zoning bylaw to regulate the siting of adult-use cannabis in Rochester.

In the December 3 letter to the Town, Healey wrote, “Because the final version of the Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) regulations … were filed with the Secretary of State on March 9, 2018, it was reasonable in May 2017 for the Town to adopt a moratorium for a limited period of time to study the CCC regulations and develop zoning and other by-laws in light of the regulations. However, the Town has not provided, and we cannot discern, a legitimate zoning purpose for now extending the moratorium from October 31, 2018 to June 30, 2019.” It further states, “[T]he ‘contingency’ of no fall 2018 special town meeting does not appear to be a legitimate zoning purpose for the extension because the Board of Selectmen is empowered by statute to call a special town meeting at any time.”

“We just lost track of time, to be honest,” Planning Board Chairman Arnie Johnson said during a follow-up on December 13. After he read Healey’s letter rejecting Rochester’s moratorium extension, Johnson said he crumpled it up and threw it away in anger.

Having said that, though, Johnson summarized town counsel’s consolation on the matter, saying that the process an applicant must undergo in order to acquire an adult-use cannabis license is rigorous and relatively lengthy.

“And there hasn’t been anyone that has filed yet,” Johnson said. Town counsel has been checking and no one has filed for any permit in Rochester, so he feels pretty confident that, by the time they file and go through the state process and they approve it, that we would be close to Town Meeting (with a cannabis zoning bylaw) where the rejection of the extension of the moratorium becomes a moot point.”

Johnson pointed out that once the town clerk files the new bylaw with the AG’s Office within 30 days of Town Meeting adjournment, the AG’s Municipal Law Unit then has 90 days to issue a rejection or acceptance. The Town did not receive a response until December 3.

“Itwent way past the 90 days,” Johnson said. “Had they denied it right away perhaps we might have had to deal with [an adult-use cannabis operation] coming into town in a slightly unregulated way. We already had a rough draft, so we’re not too far off base on it.We haven’t taken [the bylaw draft] up as a board, but we will. In January, we’re going to start that process.We’re going to probably end up creating an overlay district.

“Them denying it at this point really doesn’t matter,” said Johnson. Still, Johnson continued, “We probably would’ve had the [cannabis bylaw] done, but this Green Communities thing kind of got thrown on our plate unexpectedly, so that took up a lot of our time. We’ve also got a lot of solar coming back in town that’s probably going to file in the end of January/February, so we’re going to get real busy real quick.”

In addition to Rochester’s moratorium extension, Healey also rejected similar extension attempts for Natick and Plympton.

By Jean Perry

Soup-er Thursdays

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On Thursdays for the winter at the Benjamin D. Cushing Community Center, 465 Mill Street, Marion, Johnson and Wales trained Jody Dickerson will be ladling up some savory homemade soups. Soup will be served at 11:30 am. We request reservations be made 48 hours in advance by calling 508-748-3570.

December 20– Chicken Corn Chowder

December 27– Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese

January 3– Clam Chowder with Tuna Roll

January 10– Italian Wedding Soup

January 17– Vegetable Soup

January 24– Beef Barley Soup

January 31– French Onion Soup

Claudette J. LeRoux-Bolduc

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Claudette J. LeRoux-Bolduc, 82, of Rochester, died Dec. 16, 2018 in Wareham Health Care. She was the wife of Roger N. Bolduc and the daughter of the late Jean-Maurice and Cecile (Rouillier) LeRoux.

She was born in New Bedford and lived in Rochester for many years. She graduated from St. Anthony’s High School in New Bedford.

Mrs. LeRoux-Bolduc worked as a Bookkeeper for Old Rochester Regional High School for 25 years before retiring.

She enjoyed sewing, cooking, shopping and socializing on her computer.  Most of all she loved being with her family.

Survivors include her husband, Roger N. Bolduc; her son, Robert Bolduc and his wife, Adriana of Reynoldsbrug, OH; her daughter, Claudine Bolduc of Wareham; 3 brothers, Donald LeRoux of Plymouth, Andre LeRoux of New Bedford and Richard LeRoux of Hyannis; 5 grandchildren, Daniel, Mathieu, Aidan, Julian and Kai’ana; also many nephews and nieces.

Visiting hours are from 5 to 8 pm on Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2018.

Her funeral will be held at 10:00 am on Thursday, Dec. 27th in the Chapman, Cole & Gleason Funeral Home, 2599 Cranberry Hwy., Wareham. Burial will follow in the Massachusetts National Cemetery, Bourne.

Selectmen Set New Tax Rate for Marion

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When house values go up, the tax rate goes down, and so it goes in Marion as Marion Assessor Brad Eames reported to the Board of Selectmen on December 11 that property values overall have increased by 9.4 percent.

The last time property values were assessed was three years ago.

The current fiscal year 2018 tax rate of $11.45 will decrease to $11.03 for FY2019, but that does not mean that taxpayers will see a decrease in their tax bill.

The average $300,000 home will pay $3,309 in taxes this year, and a business like the Marion General Store assessed at $574,500 will pay $6,336.

Eames also suggested the selectmen keep a single tax rate, charging the same tax rate to both residential and commercial properties, as opposed to a split tax rate that would shift some of the tax burden onto commercial and industrial businesses.

“The Board of Assessors strongly recommends that you adopt a single tax rate rather than a split tax rate,” Eames said. “The Town of Marion is so heavily residential that the impact of a SR on residential [taxpayers]…is really minimal, but the impact on commercial properties is enormous.”

Property in Marion is 92.73 percent residential.

The board approved the single tax rate and the recommended tax rate of $11.03.

Also during the meeting, representatives from CDM Smith gave a presentation titled “Assessing the Threats from Climate Change to Marion’s Vulnerable Wastewater Pumping Infrastructure,” giving a brief overview of the five phases of the study which began that day with the first task during a data collection visit to eight wastewater pumping stations in Marion.

CDM Smith Mitigation Engineer Frannie Bui walked the board and about a dozen others in attendance through the results of Wareham’s results of its own study done last year as a primer for what Marion can expect from its own study report. With the data collected from Bui and five other specialist engineers that day, it is already clear that some sites are in imminent danger of damage as sea levels rise, as early as 2030, and even some sites today showed proof of their vulnerability with damage evident and needing immediate attention.

“Three of our pumping stations can be damaged by some sort of wave or wave activity,” said Town Planner Gil Hilario, which is unusually high compared to neighboring towns, he added. “Some of them were already moist and wet. … The electrical manholes already needed to be pumped today. We discovered it unexpectedly and had to pump it out today.”

CDM Smith already recommends all equipment be replaced and mechanical components raised by an additional 1.7 feet by 2025 but, over at the Oakdale Avenue pumping station, the equipment that is at 9 feet above sea level could already be underwater during a storm surge as it is situated inside a velocity zone.

When that equipment is replaced, the mechanical components will need to be elevated by another 17 feet.

“There are controls that are out and exposed, and those controls would certainly be flooded or inundated,” said Bui. “We have a lot of chewing that we have to do at each of these locations.”

The target is for the study to be completed and a report ready in June 2019. There will be several public meetings and updates along the way, as well as several attempts to engage the public in data collection and input.

“We are not alone in this type of analysis,” said Bui. “There are certainly many other communities up and down the eastern seaboard that have to deal with this.”

The next meeting of the Marion Board of Selectmen is scheduled for December 18 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Town House.

Marion Board of Selectmen

By Jean Perry

NBSO Presents Free Community Concert

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The public is invited to a free holiday concert on Saturday, December 22, at 2:00 pm, by the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra (NBSO)’s Brass Quintet with a special guest appearance by NBSO violinist Travis Rapoza. The concert will take place at Kilburn Mill, 127 West Rodney French Blvd., New Bedford, and will last approximately one hour. Chairs will be available for grandparents; this is an indoor concert, but feel free to bring blankets and lawn chairs for additional seating.

This free community concert is made possible by a partnership between Kilburn Mill and the NBSO and is part of the NBSO’s Music in the City series, funded in part by the Creative Commonwealth Initiative/Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts. The NBSO is dedicated to building a community of music in the South Coast. Visit www.nbsymphony.org today!

Marilyn E. (Dawes) Alves

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Marilyn E. (Dawes) Alves, 88, of New Bedford, died Friday December 14, 2018 at the New Bedford Jewish Convalescent Home, surrounded by her loving family. She was the wife of the late William A. Alves.

Born in Hartford, CT, the daughter of the late Joseph and Jean (Surprenant) Dawes, she was raised in Rochester and lived in New Bedford most of her life.

Mrs. Alves was formerly employed by Grinnell Pajama Company for many years until her retirement. She was also a talented seamstress who owned and operated her own business, Modes by Marilyn.

She enjoyed bowling, poetry reading, writing, going to the beach, playing Bingo, rug braiding, dancing, traveling, but mostly spending time with her family.

Survivors include three daughters, Christine Kenneway of North Hampton, NH, Victoria J. Crapo of New Bedford, and Dawn E. Lacombe and her husband Edmond of Fairhaven; a sister, Joyce Wirth of Gardner; eight grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

She was the mother of the late Lance W. Alves, and mother-in-law of the late Dennis S. Crapo.

Her Funeral Service will be held on Monday December 17, 2018 at 6 pm at the Saunders-Dwyer Home for Funerals, 495 Park St., New Bedford. Visitation will be on Monday from 4-6 pm. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to Community Nurse Home Care, P.O. Box 751, Fairhaven, MA 02719. For directions and guestbook, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.

ORR Scales Down Athletics Project into Phases

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A subcommittee formed between the Old Rochester Regional (ORR) School Committee and members of T.U.R.F. (Tri-Town Unified Recreation Facilities) revealed on December 5 that it will focus on getting at least the “bare minimum” of its original $5 million athletic complex overhaul plan accomplished after the three towns expressed an inability to support the project in its entirety.

ORR School Committee Chairman Carey Humphrey told a roomful of students, parents, and other project supporters that feedback from the three town administrators indicated more of a willingness to support a pared-down project of just under $2 million that would include an artificial turf field at the main stadium, lighting upgrades, a new track, and also new lighting for the auditorium to benefit the drama club.

“This is something that, as a group of people, [T.U.R.F. has] been working on for a long time,” said Humphrey. “This is a widespread organization with a lot of support.” However, he acknowledged, “For this to ever pass, we need a lot of support in all three towns.”

Meetings with the town administrators last spring proved that support for this project proposal is a “very complex situation,” Humphrey described it.

“We started thinking about … what’s acceptable? What can pass?” Humphrey said. “What can we have confidence in our three towns supporting? It really comes down to all of us as a group working together to make this happen.”

The subcommittee’s approach is to present the towns with a “Phase I” project, which Humphrey said “meets most of the needs that we have,” and for under $2 million, “… with the understanding that the T.U.R.F. group will continue moving forward raising private funds to help with Phase II, which would be the completion of the rest of the facility.”

Although the group has hoped to acquire the “grand prize,” Humphrey said, “I think we all came away from that last meeting pretty exciting about the (Phase I) proposal.”

T.U.R.F. member Tom Flynn called the ORR athletic fields “the hub of the Tri-Town,” adding that the project has already received $100,000 in private donations and pledges.

“We know we got more work to do on that but the reality also of the project is … people want to see some movement.” Flynn hopes that town support for a Phase I might prompt private funders to pledge to a Phase II.

Phase II would include the second artificial turf field, an additional two full-sized grass multi-purposes fields and irrigation for those and the baseball diamond, a field house with bathrooms and concession stand,partial re-fencing of the tennis courts, irrigation and care for the softball field, LED lighting,spectator seating for the track and multi-use field, and a covered press box.

“When this project is said and done, it’s going to be transformative for the Tri-Town. … Everyone is going to get to use this facility” – a facility Flynn said would be “reflective of what we are as a tri-Town.”

The committee had no formal vote planned for that evening and did not disseminate the detailed proposal to the public, rather the discussion aimed at demonstrating transparency, Humphrey said, and a basic understanding of what they were proposing.

As Humphrey explained the process going forward, the School Committee will vote during its January 16 meeting and within seven days will inform the three towns of its desire to borrow the funds. The towns have 60 days to respond, which could prompt a special town meeting. “It all comes down to what each individual town decides,” Humphrey said.

“If all three towns approve it, it’s all set and the next step will be determined based on how quick that happens.” The problem the School Committee faces is, he continued, “What is the ramification if one of the towns doesn’t pass it?”

Humphrey explained, if only two of the three towns vote to support the plan, the third would still be forced to contribute its share of the funding. Each town can individually decide how to fund the project, which could spell uncertainty for the school district if any of the towns chose to fund it in the budget, possibly diverting funds from other budget areas.

“And we as a school committee have to think about it,” Humphrey said. “I’m assured … that we will get support from the three towns, but we still have to think about the worst-case scenarios.” He continued, “Each town has their own agendas for what they need and want … and it might not be this.”

Superintendent Doug White further explained the process, saying the project must pass Town Meeting and, if it passed, advance to a ballot vote for voters to decide on whether or not to acquire the new debt.

School Committee member Heather Burke said, while she is sensitive of the financial constraints of the towns, “I want to make sure that we’re not missing an opportunity to really transform the Tri-Town and what they offer their citizens. My concern is, if we go forward with Phase I, which, in my opinion, is a bare minimum … and if we go forward and ask for the money, are we missing the opportunity to do more by limiting ourselves at this point?”

Burke pointed out other towns making school and athletics-related improvements such as Dartmouth, Carver, and Westport, she said.

“I think this is a bare minimum we need to do for our students and our schools, but I want to make sure we’re not missing the opportunity to really give back to this community by improving the recreation facilities.”

Burke’s comments elicited applause before she could continue: “On the other hand,” she said. “Although this is a bare minimum, it’s better than nothing.”

The message, Humphrey said, is this: “If we go too far with this … we may get nothing. I want something.”

Burke addressed the students and residents present in the room and asked if they would be at Town Meeting to support the proposal, urging them to attend.

The topic will be discussed and subject to a committee vote at the next meeting.

The next meeting of the Old Rochester Regional School Committee meeting will be on January 16 at 6:30 pm in the junior high school media room.

Old Rochester Regional School Committee

By Jean Perry

Tinkhamtown Chapel Annual Carol Sing

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The Tinkhamtown Chapel on Acushnet Road in Mattapoisett will hold its annual Christmas Carol Sing on Saturday, December 22at 5:00 pm. Join your friends and neighbors in singing the old favorites in a 19th century chapel, lit by kerosene lamps. Children are encouraged to volunteer to perform a song or recitation, either as a solo or with members of the family, and to join in the children’s chorus. For more information, email peggsmom@gmail.com, or call 508-758-9559.

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 137 County Road. The Cape Cod cottage at 137 County Road was built in 1762 and, in 1855, was owned by G.W.K. Pierce. In 1867, it was owned by Rufus L. Savery, a mariner, who by the early 1900s conducted a vegetable market and fruit stand on this property. By 1903, Rufus L. Savery was living here with his sons, Rufus H. and Charles. Savery’s obituary in the Wareham Courier (April 23, 1909) notes that Savery was the town’s herring inspector. He was an attendee at town meetings where he represented the interests of his North Marion neighbors. He was active in the Marion Methodist Church. Charles L. Savery, a gardener, inherited this house, where he lived with his wife, Iva, until 1930.

John M. Silva

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John M. Silva, 67, of Fairhaven, died Thursday, December 13, 2018 in Fall River unexpectedly. He was the husband of Karin M. (Stack) Silva.

Born in Wareham, he was the son of the late Rudolph and Hilda J. (Barros) Silva. A graduate of Old Rochester Regional High School, Mr. Silva attended Bentley University.

Mr. Silva owned and operated Silva Trucking for many years. After he sold his business, he worked as dispatcher and manager for Cape Cod Gas. Mr. Silva was also co-owner of JMS Realty and Trust.

Mr. Silva was a Vietnam era veteran of the U.S. Navy and served in a construction battalion better known as the Seabees-RMCB-12. He was a Teamsters member Local # 59 and a heavy equipment operator for various companies through the years.

Survivors include his wife, Karin M. (Stack) Silva of Fairhaven; his children, John M. Silva, Jr. and his wife Kimberly of New Bedford, Syreeta Amaral and her husband Philip of New Bedford, Zachariah Barros of Fairhaven, and Marcus Barros of Fairhaven; his sisters, Gloria Swingle of Marion, Philomena Gilbert of Falmouth, Georgianna Silva of Wareham, and Liana Silva of W. Wareham; his granddaughter, Jenna Silva of New Bedford. He was predeceased by his brother, the late Rudolph Silva, Jr.

His funeral will be from the Chapman, Cole & Gleason Funeral Home, 2599 Cranberry Hwy. (Rt. 28), on Wed., Dec. 19, 2018 at 11 am followed by a funeral Mass at St. Anthony’s Church, 22 Barstow St., Mattapoisett at 12 Noon. Interment will be private. Visiting hours will be Tuesday Dec. 18, from 4 – 8 pm at the funeral home.

For directions and on-line guestbook visit: www.ccgfuneralhome.com