The Town of Rochester has received $310,000 in federal grant money to make safety improvements to areas of High Street, and in light of this road improvement, Highway Surveyor Jeff Eldridge asked the Rochester Board of Selectmen on February 27 to approve placing a debt exclusion vote on the April election ballot to fund road resurfacing.

About $750,000 would go towards paving High Street, and the remaining $250,000 towards asphalt resurfacing on Hartley Road.

Eldridge initially asked for an article to be placed on the Annual Town Meeting Warrant for a $1 million override, but Selectmen Chairman and Town Clerk Naida Parker advised Eldridge that a debt exclusion on the ballot would be the way to go.

However, should voters approve it, an article would also have to be placed in the town meeting warrant for voters to allocate the funds.

“You’re talking a million dollars,” said Town Administrator Suzanne Szyndlar.” You’re talking about $88,000 a year in debt service.”

The average tax impact on a single family home in Rochester valued at $350,000 would be $40 a year.

The wording for the ballot will be crafted by the next meeting so that it can meet the ballot deadline 35 days before the election.

The next meeting of the Rochester Board of Selectmen is scheduled for March 6 at 7:00 pm at the Rochester Town Hall.

By Jean Perry

With one of the lightest agendas this group has seen in months, the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission discussed a big question – big in terms of acreage, that is.

Alan Decker of the Buzzards Bay Coalition met with the commissioners on February 27 seeking support for the acquisition of a 53-acre parcel at the corner of Mattapoisett Neck Road and state Route 6. Decker asked the commissioners to sign a letter acknowledging their support.

Decker explained that the property in question, known simply as “the old quarry,” could be the “front door” in Mattapoisett to the Nasketucket Bay State Reservation.

“The Town, in partnership with the coalition and the Mattapoisett Land Trust, has the opportunity to apply for a Massachusetts Land and Water Conservation grant in the amount of $300,000 towards the purchase price,” Decker said.

Decker said the coalition would seek to have a conservation restriction placed on the property as part of the deal, ensuring protection of the property into perpetuity.

Regarding other funding sources, Decker said that the Massachusetts Land and Water Conservation fund has already committed $250,000 to the effort and that fundraising activities by the MLT have begun.

Other funding sources may also come from the Town’s Community Preservation Act fund, Decker said, and that an application had been submitted to that committee. Decker said the plan was to go before Town Meeting in the spring with the support of the selectmen. Decker said that he’d be meeting with the selectmen on March 1.

Chairman Bob Rogers said of the letter, “So this puts our best foot forward in seeking this grant.” Decker concurred.

Decker described the parcel as being contiguous to the bike path and other MLT properties linking them with the state reservation east of this parcel and that nearly half of the monies needed could come from this one funding source.

The commissioners unanimously agreed to sign the letter of support.

In other business, a thrice reviewed Notice of Intent application submitted by Donna McCaffery, 16 Cove Street, finally received an Order of Conditions, clearing one more hurdle as she seeks to build a single family home on a barrier beach parcel. New plans that noted the use of concrete paving blocks versus poured concrete were submitted. Representative Richard Charon of Charon Associates said that the DEP had not commented further on the revised plans.

The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission is scheduled for March 13 at 6:30 pm in the town hall conference room.

By Marilou Newell

On February 28, the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen met with local members of Alewives Anonymous, Inc. for the annual Tri-Town herring report and meeting. In attendance from AA were Arthur Benner, Jim Gurney, and David Watling.

Speaking for the group, Watling said, “Runs have been a mess in 2016.” He said that the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries would keep a moratorium in place as he said the 2016 count was only 18,540 river herring.

Watling also said that trying to establish exactly what is happening to the fish is difficult to pinpoint, with theories ranging from acid rain poisoning fresh water ponds where the fish spawn to climate change.

Board of Selectmen Chairman Tyler Macallister cited sea trawlers taking both sea herring and river herring as being a major problem. He said efforts to keep fishing vessels that employ net fishing further out to sea had not been completely successful.

Macallister said, “It’s a big uphill battle with commercial fishermen.”

Data shows that during 1998 through 2000, counts were as high as 130,000 fish. More recently, however, numbers have plunged as low as 6,000.

Also meeting with the selectmen was Mike Huguenin, president of the Mattapoisett Land Trust, to discuss a grant application for the Massachusetts Land and Water Conservation fund to help fund the acquisition of 53 acres located at the corner of Mattapoisett Neck Road and Route 6.

Huguenin asked the selectmen to sign a letter that would allow the town to pursue the state grant. A joint effort between the Buzzards Bay Coalition, MLT, and the town’s community preservation funds as well as private fundraising efforts are needed, Huguenin said, to collect sufficient monies for the purchase price of $600,000.

The site is a former granite quarry from which granite was used for local sidewalk curbs and the building of wharves along the harbor. Huguenin said the granite was highly prized for its attractive rose coloring. He said the site today still shows signs of the quarrying activity and is a thickly forested parcel.

Town Administrator Michael Gagne said, “This is rather exciting … three or four avenues of potential funding for a good acquisition.”

The selectmen voted to move forward with the grant application.

During the meeting, the selectmen also discussed using remote open meeting as a means for allowing appointed members to boards and commission to participate when unable to attend meetings in person.

During the last selectmen’s meeting, Selectman Paul Silva had voiced concern that this had the potential for allowing appointed board members to stay home rather than actually attend meetings. But after further consideration and the town’s ability to modify employing the ROM process, he acquiesced to the idea.

They discussed placing local restrictions to the state recognized open meeting method with Selectman Jordan Collyer saying, “Putting a restriction is prudent.”

The selectmen agreed that no more than two consecutive remote open meetings should be allowed, but that the boards and commissions themselves should be allowed to monitor participation and any action necessary if a member was found to exceed the restriction.

In other business, Gagne said that in the coming weeks a public meeting will be held so that residents could have the opportunity to hear from VHB, the consultants hired to design the village roadways.

“The engineers will go through all the steps so they’ll know what to expect,” he said.

On another topic, Silva asked Gagne if the Marine Advisory Board had submitted their edits to the long-awaited update of the waterways rules and regulations. Gagne said that they had, and that Harbormaster Jill Simmons along with town counsel will review them before posting for public review. That process, Gagne said, should be completed in the next week, thus allowing time for public vetting before an April implementation.

The selectmen also voted to approve a one-day beverage license for the Tour De Crème Event on May 21 to be held between 1:00 and 5:00 pm at the MLT Munroe Property on Water Street. The event is a partnership between the MLT and Friends of the Mattapoisett Bike Path. Monies raised from the bicycling event will help fund the two organizations activities in the community. Huguenin said that people can elect to take an 11-, 19-, 25- or 50-mile route and 75 riders will be permitted to ride. He said that the registration would open on March 15.

The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen is scheduled for March 14 at 6:30 pm in the town hall conference room.

By Marilou Newell