The plan has been in the works since 2009, but after starts and stops over the past eight years, the sub-division planned for Old Mill Way and Hartley Road was back on track.

Gary Mills and DBA Southeastern Realty Development’s engineer Don Bracken met with the Rochester Conservation Commission on February 21 with five separate applications.

Bracken sought partial certificates of compliance covering the sub-division’s roadway and clearing that had taken place on the proposed three lots. In total, Bracken needed closure with the issuance of four certificates of compliance and approval to move forward with one notice of intent.

Commission member Daniel Gagne questioned how the commission could issue a COC for the roadway and stormwater management systems when the plans submitted did not give clear details on exactly what had been completed and what was pending.

Bracken said, “We can have a disagreement, but I think you have all the information.”

Chairman Michael Conway said, “If you want a partial, we need to know exactly what has been done and what is not complete.”

There was back-and-forth discussion on whether or not a new order of conditions, which Bracken would be seeking in the notice of intent application the commission would also be hearing, was the way to handle incomplete work on the road.

But both Conway and Gagne wanted everything on the plan before moving forward with the issuance of a certificate. Bracken said, “If I knew this commission better and knew that was what you wanted, I would have added that.”

Conservation Agent Laurell Farinon helped to shepherd a compromise to settle the stalemate.

Farinon suggested to the commissioners that they could accept a request for a continuance on the COC request for the roadway, but still move forward with the other three COC requests for the individual lots. After consideration, that was agreed upon unanimously.

Regarding the new notice of intent covering the completion of the roadway into the future sub-division, that too was continued pending small plan modifications to reflect engineering details. Both the roadway COC and NOI were continued until March 7.

Also coming before the commission was Charles Adams, 5 Bennett Road, with a request for determination of applicability for the eradication of invasive Japanese knotweed up to and including areas designed as no touch zones.

Adams said that a contractor will dig up affected areas and asked for guidance on locations within jurisdictional areas.

Commission member John Teal advised the process of hand digging to remove unwanted vegetation in the buffer zone and then application of weed killing chemicals through a process of individually painting the plant stems with weed killer.

Farinon said it would probably take more than one application to completely remove the weeds. Adams received a negative ruling that allows him to move forward.

The next meeting of the Rochester Conservation Commission is scheduled for March 7 at 7:00 pm in the town hall meeting room.

By Marilou Newell

Despite icy patches and hard packed snow mounds surrounding Mattapoisett’s town hall, inside was warm and the conversation inspiring as Recreation Department Director Greta Fox met with the members of the Mattapoisett Finance Committee on February 17.

Fox said it had been an exciting year that included an expanded basketball program. She described a program that brought together school age children from the Tri-Towns, partnering not only with adults to referee games but also sharing facilities at Rochester Memorial and Sippican Elementary schools. Fox said that Rochester does not have a recreation department, which makes Mattapoisett’s program all the more important to the children in the surrounding area.

Fox spoke to the organization her department has brought to the town beach in ensuring lifeguards are fully engaged while on-duty. Also, a study of parking lot usage at town beach on Water Street found that demand for parking passes – a revenue source – was highest Friday through Sunday. With this is mind, Fox believes that staffing could be trimmed at the beach during the weekday for economic efficiency.

Fox complimented Program Administrator Jane Finnerty who manages the beach staff, improving services and operating the summer camp program with excellent results.

Regarding the summer camp program, Fox said that approximately 100 to 120 children are served and, with a newly secured grant from the Mattapoisett Cultural Council planned, field trips would not be funded from the department budget but would be supported by the grant of $600.

The camp program generates approximately $22,000 in revenue.

The list of programs now offered by the recreation department spans such activities as basketball, drama, flag football, gymnastics, Legos-2, nature camp, volleyball, and fencing to name a few.

The FY18 budget estimate Fox presented showed level funding at $32,757.

Also meeting with the Finance Committee was Police Chief Mary Lyons.

Both the police and ambulance departments were presented as level funded for FY18 in the spreadsheet Lyons prepared.

Of the ambulance department, Lyons said that the SouthCoast Health Care facility now fully operational in Fairhaven has increased billable ambulance runs by about 60 trips. Total ambulance runs were 625 in FY17 versus 540 in FY16. Mutual aid transports are a revenue source to the town, Lyons said.

Lyons also discussed capital planning needs, saying that two new cruises are on the list along with the possibility of having to purchase medication pumps for three ambulances.

She said the State may pass a new requirement mandating that all ambulances have medication pumps, but that hearings on the matter are ongoing at present. If, however, the State does require the new equipment, each pump will cost $7,000 and will have to be added to capital plans.

The ambulance budget for FY 18 stands at $372,797 versus FY17’s $368,619.

The Police Department budget for FY18 is pegged at $2,171,337 versus FY17 at $2,067,026.

The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Finance Committee is scheduled for March 1 at 6:30 pm in the town hall conference room.

By Marilou Newell

With one of the largest projects ever untaken by Mattapoisett about to begin, the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen met the winning engineering team on February 16. It didn’t take long, however, before the gauntlet was thrown into the middle of Main Street.

The project is the 25% design of the town’s historic village streets. With both state and federal funding weighing in the balance, the 25% design will allow the Town to advance through Mass DOT’s process as it vies for TIP funding (Transportation Improvement Program).

VHB, a large corporation whose offices span the eastern seaboard from Maine to Florida, made the cut after vetting by Highway Superintendent Barry Denham, Town Administrator Michael Gagne, and the Town’s peer review team of Bob Field and Jon Connell of Field Engineering.

Gagne gave a detailed report on the vetting process that included determining the capabilities of the firms in competition to complete 200 specific tasks on time and on budget. He reminded everyone that during town meeting, the voters had passed an article authorizing $300,000 in monies from free cash for this project.

But Selectman Jordan Collyer took exception to VHB’s expertise.

“You guys worked on the bike path. It is my humble opinion you did a poor job … were over budget…. To be quite forthright, VHB left a sour taste in my mouth … [I’m] less than pleased over the performance and customer service.”

This comment seemed to surprise the VHB engineers. VHB’s Jamie Pisano, director of transportation engineering, and Joseph Wanat, managing director, both stepped forward to address Collyer’s concerns.

While Pisano concurred there had been problems in achieving an on-time and on-budget program during the development of the bike path design, he said that unforeseen problems such as the Town’s right to the railroad easement could not have been built into the project scope. Both Pisano and Wanat assured the selectmen that new scheduling failsafe processes are utilized, making cost estimates and timetables easier to achieve.

Denham said oversight would be handled by Field Engineering, whose ability to analyze VHB documents to keep project costs in line was not only critical but something he trusted without question.

Denham said he was unaware of any glaring problems with VHB during the bike path project and that subsequently other firms found difficulties with the bike path site, driving costs up. He also said the finished portion of the bike path was a “good product” in spite of surrounding wetland issues.

VHB, Denham, and Field Engineering also discussed the importance of VHB’s ability to identify “non-conforming” designs – designs that the townspeople may want versus what state and or federal guidelines dictate.

Gagne said that when VHB reaches the 10% marker, they would be able to help the Town lobby regulators for acceptance of locally desired options. Given the character of the village streets, all felt that this capability was critical to the end result.

VHB ultimately received a unanimous vote from the selectmen.

In other matters, a letter received from Shellfish Warden Kathy Massey regarding the aquaculture application from Nick Wright was discussed.

In her letter to the board, Massey wrote that the proposed area would not conflict with shore activities and water depths were such that there shouldn’t be a conflict with scallop harvests.

The selectmen voted to send a letter to the Division of Marine Fisheries that would allow a survey of the area. Wright’s application is pending further review.

Also during the meeting, Gagne reported that the Town’s elected boards members may, under a state provision, allow remote open meeting participation.

He said specific reasons for participating remotely must fall in one of the following categories: personal illness or disability; emergency; military service; or geographic distance.

While Selectmen Tyler Macallister and Collyer were in favor of the provision, Selectman Paul Silva wanted more time to think about it saying, “I’m not sure.” Silva added, “I’m afraid people elected to boards might take the easy way out doing it remotely and not attend…. We’ve survived for a hundred years without it; we can survive a couple of weeks.”

The item was tabled until the first meeting in March.

The selectmen approved the use of public spaces for a variety of activities that includes Ned’s Point where a summer homecoming picnic is planned by the Mattapoisett Congregational Church, as well as summer yoga classes, summer tai chi classes, and the Mattapoisett Road Race and Lion’s Club Triathlon. Shipyard Park was approved for use by the Lions Club for their annual Harbor Days, summer movies, Easter Egg Hunt, Earth Day Clean Up and Children’s Fall Festival. Approval was also granted for summer band concerts, car shows, and a square dance for Shipyard Park. In other locations around the town, the Pilgrim Sands Trail Riders will hold events at the Mattapoisett transfer station, the Mattapoisett Land Trust will host the Tour de Crème bicycling event, and Helping Hands and Hooves will hold their annual Christmas Day plunge.

The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen is scheduled for February 28 at 6:30 pm in the town hall conference room.

By Marilou Newell

Through grant funding provided by the State 911 Department, the Mattapoisett Police Department has upgraded its 911 service to the Next Generation 911 (NG911) system, the latest in 911 service technology.

The NG911 system is an improved emergency call technology created to better handle rising call traffic more efficiently.

The new system went online January 25 and has been successfully fully operational for almost a month now.

Although 911 callers will not notice any discernable difference, Mattapoisett Police Officer Kyle Pavao said the new system runs off the Internet connection through a voiceover IP address, rather than the telephone line as the old system used.

“Within a couple of years, the entire state will eventually have the new system,” said Pavao. “It allows more adaptable features,” he added – features such as 911 text messaging and in-car crash systems. “It’ll be easier to integrate those features when you couldn’t do that with the old system because of the old telephone line.”

Although Mattapoisett does not yet accept 911 text messages, it could at some point in time. For now, said Pavao, the State 911 department has not yet made 911 text message acceptance mandatory for departments, although slowly some are adopting the feature.

The NG911 system allows for more accurate and detailed location pinpointing through the integration of the town’s GIS system.

“It’s a completely different software from the old system,” said Pavao. “It’s more reliable. We’ve become more technology-based.”

The NG911 is faster, more flexible and resilient, and able to keep up with the newest technologies used by the public, such as e-mail, text, video messaging, and instant messaging.

NG911 will allow Mattapoisett in the future to integrate these features, allowing residents who are in an emergency situation to text photos, videos, and other information through various applications to the 911 dispatchers, in addition to the traditional voice call.

“It also allows the hearing impaired to have easier access to emergency response, provide emergency responders with possible life-saving information before arriving on-scene, and will eventually allow local 911 centers to receive data from in-vehicle crash notification systems,” reads a press release from the police department.

The Mattapoisett Police Department received the NG911 upgrade at no cost to the town.

By Jean Perry