Meeting on May 23, the evening following Bob Rogers’ announcement that he would be departing from the Conservation Commission, the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen heard from commission member Mike King.

King will soon be the most senior member on the commission when Rogers’ term ends on July 1. He told the selectmen, “I’m concerned about the commission’s ability to function with only myself and two new members.”

Selectman Paul Silva said that in the absence of a formal letter from Rogers, they couldn’t make plans to replace him, but with the departure of Mike Dubuc from the commission, at least one more commissioner was needed.

King said that newly appointed commissioner Trevor Francis is not always available to attend commission meetings, causing King to be concerned that a quorum might fail. “I take this very seriously,” he told the board members.

Anyone interested in volunteering for the Conservation Commission may submit letters of interest with resumes to Melody Pacheco, administrative assistant to the Board of Selectmen.

Earlier in the evening the selectmen met with three members of the Plymouth County Commissioners office. Coming before the board were Commissioner Dan Pallotta, Treasurer Tom O’Brien, and Administrator Frank Basler to discuss the county’s FY18 budget.

Before discussing the numbers, the three representatives acknowledged that the public had a lack of understanding as to just what the county services were, the past administration mishandling of time and resources, and current health of the operating budget.

Basler noted that the county could help the 27 cities and towns in Plymouth County with such diverse needs as procurement, tourism, fire suppression training, capital improvements, and even public health issues. The county is also responsible for the district courts and registry of deeds.

O’Brien said the county was in the process of hiring an entomologist to assist in education regarding tick-borne diseases, gypsy moths and other insect-related problems.

“Plymouth County is number three in the state for Lyme disease,” O’Brien stated. He also noted that Massachusetts is third in the nation for tick-related illnesses, with the Town of Marion ranking No. 1 in the entire state for the number of reported tick-borne diseases.

O’Brien said the county was paying into OPEB funds and had established a municipal fund with 25 other entities. “No other county is doing this,” he said.

Of accomplishments, O’Brien also pointed to the establishment of a stabilization fund that now holds $300,000.

Selectman Jordan Collyer, the town’s county representative for the past 14 years, said, “This is helpful. Some towns are hesitant to use county services because they don’t understand it.”

The BOS agenda also included a number of recognitions and citations.

Mary Scott was lauded for her 15 years of service to the Town. Presenting her with a certificate of appreciation and a bouquet of flowers was Andy Bobola, director of inspectional services, and Robin Shuffelt, building department administrator, who thanked Scott.

Bobola said, “She has been an absolute true professional and a valuable employee.” Scott, who turned 90 years of age, was alarmed when she was asked to attend the selectmen’s meeting.

“I thought I was getting fired,” she chuckled.

Henri Renauld, superintendent of the Water and Sewer Department, announced that his office had received two citations from the State for the Mattapoisett River Valley Water District that his department oversees. The district serves the Towns of Fairhaven, Marion, and Rochester, as well as Mattapoisett. The citations were in recognition for outstanding service.

Silva read a proclamation from Governor Baker proclaiming June 11 as “Race Amity Day,” a day set aside to celebrate the diversity of the state’s multi-cultural composition.

Also noted were the number of young men who have successfully completed Eagle Scout projects in the community. Pacheco read off the list of Troop 53 Boy Scouts recently achieving this rarified ranking. They are Drew Robert, Adam Perkins, Davis Mathieu, Matthew Kiernan, Justin Sayers, James Demay, and Zachariah Mooney.

On this night, Boy Scout Billy Osborne attended the meeting as a requirement for his citizenship badge. Collyer explained the role of selectmen and town meetings in what he said was the “purest form of democratic government.”

The selectmen discussed a potential “Food Truck” day at Ned’s Point and asked Pacheco to develop a plan for their further consideration. King asked if the board would consider including the farmers’ market in the discussion. King suggested that the addition of prepared foods at the farmers’ market might drive up attendance numbers and add a new dimension to the markets.

The summer farmers’ markets will be held on Tuesdays from 3:00 to 6:00 pm starting on June 6 and continuing through October 24. On June 13 during the market hours, Eversource will be conducting a lightbulb exchange program.

The selectmen voted to have Town Administrator Michael Gagne complete an application for a National Resources Protection Land grant for the Mattapoisett quarry land project, a project spearheaded by the Mattapoisett Land Trust in partnership with the Buzzards Bay Coalition.

The summer Board of Selectmen’s meetings will be held on June 13, July 11, and August 8 at 6:30 pm in the town hall conference room.

By Marilou Newell

A moratorium on marijuana retail sales, a screening fence for an RMS abutter … Voters during the Rochester Annual Town Meeting on May 22 gave approval for all 18 of the warrant’s articles, and all within an hour and a half.

Article 1 to accept the annual report of all town officers and committees passed, Article 2 to fix the salaries of the elected officials passed, and Article 3 to amend Part IV of the Classification and Compensation Plan to fix minimum and maximum amounts for employee steps also passed.

When it came to the budget, a few residents shouted out “question” to hold certain line items of the budget for further discussion, including the treasurer’s salary line items, the administrative assistant line item in town hall expenses, the fire department, communications dispatch, and the building inspector’s budget, but in the end the $20.8 million fiscal year 2018 budget passed.

One resident asked why the budget still contained a fully-funded emergency dispatch budget when the Town had already decided to regionalize its 911 dispatch system beginning this year.

Finance Committee Chairman Kristian Stoltenberg explained that the Town needed to keep a level-funded dispatch budget intact for FY2018 because there is no guarantee as to when the system will switch to regionalization, and if it even will this year, although Stoltenberg emphasized that the switch should occur sometime this summer.

”If, for some reason it doesn’t happen, in order to be on the safe side we need to fund the emergency dispatch … while it still resides in town,” Stoltenberg said. “We simply took last year’s budget and put it into this year’s, not knowing when the change takes place. Until any of this happens,” said Stoltenberg, “we need to have a funded emergency dispatch budget.”

Voters approved Article 5 to establish various revolving funds: library materials, $10,000; recycling program, $20,000; hazardous waste recovery, $10,000; Rochester Country Fair, $65,000; Local Cultural Council, $6,000; COA programs and activities, $10,000; flu and medical clinics, $25,000; tax title, $2,500; and Fire/EMS equipment, $50,000. Also passing were Article 6 to fund $300 for the planting of shellfish in Marion, Article 7 to authorize the Board of Selectmen to appropriate Chapter 90 funds from the State for road repairs, Article 8 to compensate assessors for becoming “certified” to their office, and Article 9 for $15,000 for the Town’s OPEB (other post-employment benefits) fund.

Resident Hal Rood questioned whether this amount was enough to cover the Town’s OPEB liability, and Stoltenberg told him it was not, and not by a long shot.

“Fifteen-thousand dollars is a start, it’s not an end,” Stoltenberg said. “You do what you can…. It’s a good faith attempt on this town’s part to address that we know what’s out there.”

Town Meeting approved Article 10 to put $50,000 back into the Special Education Cost Stabilization Fund, money that was used this fiscal year to cover unexpected special education costs.

Article 11 established a School Assessment Stabilization Fund to moderate annual fluctuations in costs associated with the town’s assessment based on student enrollment.

Article 12 transferred $50,000 into the newly established School Assessment Stabilization Fund, and Article 13 transferred $67,000 into the Stabilization Fund. Selectmen Chairman Brad Morse said that $67,000 was used to cover the cost of snow and ice removal for the prior fiscal year, and was now being returned after FEMA reimbursements.

Article 14 established a Special Injury Leave Indemnity Fund to appropriate funds for the payment of injury leave compensation or medical bills for injuries to firefighters or police officers in the future.

Article 15 amended the Town Bylaw to delete restrictive language to allow for more timely collection of past due taxes by withholding issuance or renewal of permits and licenses from various town departments until the taxpayer is in good standing.

The phrase “annually” was replaced by “a twelve-month period.”

The moratorium on marijuana retail sale (Article 16) passed with minimal discussion, although one resident wanted to confirm that the bylaw would not affect the private use and personal cultivation of marijuana.

Town Counsel Blair Bailey emphasized that the moratorium was only to allow the Town ample time to craft an effective zoning bylaw to restrict marijuana retail sale locations. Municipalities in the state are adopting similar moratoriums until the state can provide some legislative guidance.

Article 17 amended the bylaw regulating water withdrawal to a fine of $100 for the first violation and $300 for each additional violation. The bylaw that Town Meeting had passed last year included a fine of $500 for subsequent offenses, which the Attorney General’s Office found excessive.

Article 18 to appropriate $6,800 for a fence was the most discussed article of the evening.

Kelly Morgado, a Pine Street abutter to the Rochester Memorial School parking lot, said she was promised a screening fence long ago by the Town, and even had a letter from former Town Administrator Richard LaCamera guaranteeing Morgado a proper fence.

Stoltenberg said the Finance Committee would not support the article, believing that it was the school’s responsibility to address the matter with Morgado, and any fence should come from the school’s budget.

Other town residents took to the microphone to support Morgado, saying it was a Town project overseen by the Town; therefore, the Town should make good on its promise.

Planning Board member Ben Bailey said that if it were a private project such as a solar farm developer, one could bet that the Planning Board would have made sure proper screening was provided.

“It’s a shame that it hasn’t been done as of this date,” said resident Sean Crook. “I think we should give what’s due.”

Rochester Annual Town Meeting

By Jean Perry

On May 23, Mattapoisett Conservation Commission Chairman Bob Rogers announced that he would not seek re-appointment when his term ends on July 1.

Rogers has been a vocal advocate of the Wetlands Protection Act since his appointment to the commission in 2011. But long before that, Rogers was a member of the Planning Board, subsequently being named as the Planning Board representative to SRPEDD (Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District). Since 1998 until May 2017, Rogers has served on that board.

With two decades of public service under his belt, Rogers said that life had changed.

“It’s basically because of the baby,” he clarified with a smile. Fourteen months ago, the Rogers family welcomed Victoria to the clan. “I’ve enjoyed my service to the town,” he said in a follow-up, but that it was time to concentrate on family.

On this night, accompanied by commissioners Chapman Dickerson, a recently appointed commissioner, and Mike King, a veteran commissioner, along with Conservation Agent Elizabeth Leidhold, Rogers settled in to hear 12 applications. A very long night of commission business ensued.

One public hearing got rather heated when neighbors came out to complain that a small two-lot subdivision located off Pine Island Road has been creating stormwater problems in the area.

Representing Timothy and Greta Fox, owners of Pine Island Estates, David Davignon of N. Douglas Schneider & Associates explained the Request for Amended Order of Conditions for the two parcels.

Davignon noted that the Foxes’ plans to build two homes had been scaled back, reducing the size of both proposed structures. But abutters complained bitterly that a subdivision roadway created water runoff onto their properties.

Rogers explained that the plans as originally submitted had been permitted and that the DEP took control of the roadway project when the subdivision had been appealed through that office. He said an open Order of Conditions from the DEP for a replication area was in place and had to be completed by fall. It was not within the jurisdiction of the local commission, he said.

Molly Giordana, 24 Holly Lane, said, “I’ve got $10,000 worth of damage to my basement.” She said when she purchased her home, the basement was dry.

But Dickerson interjected, “You bought your home during the drought.”

King added, “That’s already a resource area. The whole area has water issues, as does most of Mattapoisett.”

But the neighbors pressed on, believing that additional construction in the area will only add to water shed onto their property. One neighbor asked that the house construction be held up until the replication area had been completed.

King said, “The matter before us is a reduction in scope,” repeating that the roadway was, “with the state; we have no jurisdiction.” He said no work had taken place anywhere on the parcels in the last three years.

Dissecting the issues and possible solutions, Rogers suggested that since the replication area was planned for Lot 1, the amended Order of Conditions being sought could include language mandating its completion before an occupancy permit was granted.

“That would give you plenty of time to reach seventy-five percent growth,” he told Fox while giving the neighbors what they seemed to have asked for as well.

Fox said her plans were underway to build the replication area this growing season and noted that long, drawn-out legal actions had slowed plans to a halt and had thus far cost her $250,000 on what she dubbed “the most engineered road in Mattapoisett.”

Fox pointed to decades-old problems and poor drainage designs by other developers as the main reason for stormwater issues and not the newer roadway servicing her lots.

The commission ultimately agreed to place a condition on Lot 1 that an occupancy permit would not be issued until the replication area reached 75 percent growth, but that Lot 2 would not be equally encumbered and approved the amended Order of Conditions.

Davignon also represented Frederick Miller, 7 Pine Island Road, who received a Negative Determination applicability for the construction of a shed; Peter Lafreniere, 12 Snow Fields Road, whose RDA request for a septic upgrade was granted, received a Negative Determination; and Thomas Pierce, 17 Third Street, for an upgrade to a cesspool and reconfiguration of a paved driveway received Notice of Intent conditions.

Also coming before the commission were William Lannon, 3 Brandt Island Shores Road, with an RDA for construction of a garage; Christopher Mahoney, 145 Brandt Island Road, to replace a deck; Elizabeth Parker, 7 Bay View Avenue, for landscape work. All applicants received Negative Determinations.

Steven Wye of Land Planning, Inc. representing Whitman Homes, 54 Prince Snow Circle, received an Order of Conditions for the construction of a single-family home. Wye also requested a continuation for a NOI filing on behalf of Clifford Lange, 4 Split Road Lane, for tree removal.

Jeff Youngquist of Outback Engineering received an Order of Conditions for repairs to a cart path located within the Reservation Golf Club.

The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission is scheduled for June 12 at 6:30 pm in the town hall conference room.

By Marilou Newell