The special Thursday, April 19 meeting of the Rochester Board of Selectmen was a time to test the persuasive argument skills of department heads promoting their Town Meeting Warrant capital spending articles hoping for positive recommendations from selectmen and the Finance Committee.

There were a number of articles for capital purchases that night, but the heftiest price tag of $497,000 went to the Fire Department’s proposal for a new pumper.

Fire Chief Scott Weigel said the pumper is probably the most important truck for the RFD given that Rochester severely lacks fire hydrants in most sections of town, and the 30 or so year-old pumper they have now is beyond any sustainable repair.

Weigel said with the town expanding and with larger houses built, he needs to increase the water capacity and, as for the pumper, “I can’t patch the truck anymore.”

The new pumper would be “nothing fancy,” Weigel said, just a work truck with no custom cab.

“I just find it to be very expensive,” said Finance Committee Chairman Kristian Stoltenberg. “Your position is there’s no alternative. This is what we have to get?” he asked Weigel.

Right, he said, and the one he’s proposing meets the needs of his department.

Selectman Greenwood Hartley, voted as chairman that night, said he’d explored cheaper pre-owned options on the Internet and said the Town could spend $200,000 less on a used pumper only two or three years old.

Selectman Brad Morse and Weigel both adopted the position that buying another used pumper would be “buying someone else’s problem,” and that there must be a good reason why a pumper would be up for sale only after such a short time.

But Hartley insisted one could fine “gems” on the Internet as alternatives.

“I know it’s a big item, but it’s something we don’t replace very often,” said Weigel. “And the amount of manpower that I have off the bat, to be able to get the equipment there … set up a water supply,” he said, a new pumper with an additional 1,000-gallon increase in capacity is what the job calls for, given the precariousness of getting water to a fire fast enough with limited firefighters.

“From a Finance Committee view,” Stoltenberg said, “I need to get educated because this is one heck of an expensive piece of equip… I’m trying to think of how we’ve been fighting fires all these years without this.”

“We have one. We’ve always had one,” stated a number of people inside the room all at once.

“If you don’t show up with a reasonable amount of water … a thousand gallons can sometimes mean the difference between you knocking [a fire] down or not,” said Selectman Paul Ciaburri, who once was a firefighter.

During the meeting, Weigel also advocated for $70,000 for a new truck and plow for the Highway Department to assist in bad weather , an article that came up just after one from the School department asking for $25,400 for technology upgrades at Rochester Memorial School to replace computers, many of which are eight years old, prompting Finance Committee member David Arancio to comment, “If we’re talking about RMS using eight-year-old computers and we’re talking a $21,000 article, I’d like to be fair to every department…”

Hartley thanked Weigel for bringing up the new pumper back in October instead of springing it on the Town later. Before Weigel left, Hartley suggested one last time, “But don’t give up looking for a gem. You might find one!”

The Police Department was looking for a recommendation for $31,000 to arm the department with Tasers and provide related technology and training, and another $17,000 to be spread over five years for participation in an assurance program to insure and protect the new equipment, which seemed to garner the support of FinCom and the selectmen.

“It’s a good investment,” said Police Chief Paul Magee, advocating on behalf of the assurance program. “I think when they’re used, they’re used in usually very bad situations so the likelihood of damage is certainly there.”

Other articles presented included a generator for the Town Hall to keep computer servers and sump pumps working during power outages. Facilities Manager Andrew Daniel said extensive flooding happened back in March, and Magee added that official emails and alerts couldn’t be sent or received via official town emails when the servers are down, creating a problem. The natural gas-powered generator will cost $12,000 and another article to waterproof the basement was proposed for $31,000. The selectmen and the FinCom also considered a request from Weigel for an extractor to properly wash and decontaminate firefighter gear at $20,600 and $4,000 from the tax collector for an automated mail stuffer machine.

Another article discussed but not particularly appealing to the selectmen or the Finance Committee was $12,500 proposed by the Board of Assessors for the five-year review that Assessor Jana Cavanaugh said is currently undertaken in-house, but five years from now, “The likelihood of us having to do this is very high.”

Most towns do outsource their re-certification review because they don’t have the staff qualified to do it in-house like Rochester currently does, Cavanaugh said.

After some discussion, the FinCom and selectmen agreed that the Town could probably take the risk and address it later if needed.

Other articles included creating additional stabilization funds for various departments and areas of spending.

The next two regular meetings of the Rochester Board of Selectmen were scheduled for Monday, April 23 at 7:00 pm, and Monday, May 7 at 6:00 pm, both at the Rochester Town Hall.

Rochester Board of Selectmen

By Jean Perry

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