During the October 19 meeting of the Mattapoisett Planning Board, residents from the Brandt Point Village subdivision were present to have their application heard, a request for public trash collection. One of the conditions in their subdivision covenant states that the neighborhood would not receive public trash collection. On this evening, they were seeking an amendment to overturn that restriction.

The Planning Board during a previous meeting had voted to amend the covenant for a condominium complex, The Villages at Mattapoisett, allowing that complex to receive public trash collection.

Mary Carlson, a resident from the Brandt Island Road subdivision, on behalf of all residents of the subdivision, requested the same consideration the board had previously given to The Villages.

Immediately after her brief explanation, board member John Mathieu asked Chairman Tom Tucker to table the request pending town counsel review. Mathieu’s reason was concern over language in the amendment previously rendered for The Villages, saying he needed comment on the board’s last vote for The Villages to confirm the amended language.

“I’d like the language to match and to confirm that we have legal authority to make the vote regarding our action for The Villages,” Mathieu said.

“We need to make sure we did it right the first time before we do it again,” he told Carlson.

Mathieu then launched into his concern that the town’s legal counsel was nonresponsive. Tucker said the request for legal counsel review had been made weeks ago, and the board had not yet received even an acknowledgement that the request was made.

Tucker said he and the board’s secretary had made several follow-up requests to Kopelman and Paige. He too noted his displeasure with the town’s selected legal counsel.

This prompted board member Mary Crain to comment, “That’s bizarre.”

“This is the sort of treatment we get from Kopelman,” said Mathieu. “I’m very disappointed.” He continued, “I’ve been disappointed for several years.” He wondered aloud if maybe the board should ask the town administrator if they could hire their own legal counsel.

The board moved to continue Brandt Point Village’s request for covenant changes and to request legal assistance through the office of the town administrator.

Continuing on the theme of this subdivision, Highway Superintendent Barry Denham told the board that he was concerned about the ability of traffic to exit and enter onto Brandt Island Road, especially with cars lined up waiting for school buses.

But the three residents present to hear the outcome of their trash collection request were far more concerned with other problems in the subdivision versus traffic flow.

“We don’t get any responses from Joe,” said resident Daniel Scully referring to the new construction manager for the project Joe Furtado.

Carlson, Scully, and Dennis Dimos, another resident of the subdivision, all expressed serious concern over the lack of responsiveness from Furtado after his previously expressed pledge to be forthcoming to the residents.

Tucker asked Denham what the condition of the drainage was in the development, long a bone of contention for the town and the homeowners. Denham replied, “Nothing has changed … water goes wherever it wants to go.”

Denham also discussed the condition of the roadways and test borings – results of which were still pending.

“Why don’t we plan on bringing Mr. Furtado here?” asked Tucker. He said that rather than having bits and pieces of information, it made sense to have Furtado present to respond to the residents’ concerns. The board moved to invite Furtado to the November 2 meeting.

Denham also said, due to the amount of time it takes out of his busy schedule, future subdivision oversight work should be handled by a hired professional. Tucker agreed.

Earlier in the evening, the board moved to accept revised plans from The Preserve at the Bay Club for one lot and from the Split Rock subdivision, also part of The Bay Club, for two lots.

The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Planning Board is scheduled for November 2 at 7:00 pm in the Mattapoisett Town Hall conference room.

By Marilou Newell

On October 15, the Mattapoisett Zoning Board of Appeals heard several applications in which requests to allow the use of grandfathered setbacks was the main theme.

The first hearing of the evening was for 7 Fairview Drive, owned by Milton Heuberger. The property was described as having been two lots that were either intentionally or unintentionally joined. Heuberger asked that the original lots with the original setbacks – those prior to 1973 – be recognized so that his daughter could build a home next to his residence.

Heuberger had already received the green light from the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission, as well as approval from the Water and Sewer Department for municipal services.

Acting Chairman Paul Millott asked Director of Inspectional Services Andy Bobola if the application was acceptable as presented.

Bobola responded, “This is a straightforward application in keeping with the laws.” Bobola added, “The plans are in keeping with the neighborhood.”

The application was approved.

The next application also requesting the recognition and acceptance of earlier setbacks was from Corey Bizzaro for 0 Hillside Avenue. Bizzaro’s application was identical to Heuberger’s regarding setbacks and his desire to build a home in keeping with the neighborhood.

That part of the application was not a problem for the board; however, abutter Kevin Tavares told the board that Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program had designated land abutting his property and that of Bizzaro’s, questioning the wisdom of placing a new home near the line.

“I’m not against the project, not at all,” Tavares stated numerous times as he tried to argue that Bizzaro’s plans might endanger wildlife habitat.

The board wondered amongst themselves if this was an issue for their consideration or if they were to simply review the application from a zoning perspective.

Bobola suggested to the board that their purview likely should only be that of the zoning issue and that they could approve the application with the restriction that the Conservation Commission would need to review the project before a building permit could be granted. Tavares was told that the Conservation Commission was the right place to bring up his concern.

The board agreed with Bobola and approved the project with the grandfathered setbacks being accepted.

The third project of the evening looking for setback relief came from Bruce Rocha, Sr. for property located at 0 Wildwood Terrace. Rocha told the board that he had owned the property for 40 years and had made improvements in the form of a Board of Health-approved septic installation and connection to public water.

“I’m just asking for the same thing that Milton got,” he told the board. His application was approved.

Also coming before the board was Charles Van Voorhis of Nick’s Pizza, 27 County Road. Van Voorhis sought and received permission to enclose an outdoor patio space to allow for the expansion of his kitchen and reconfiguration of the restrooms. Abutters did not have a problem with the scope of work planned, although Nancy Perry of Upland Way asked if the larger kitchen would mean more traffic to the narrow side street along the eastern edge of the restaurant.

“I was thinking about adding delivery service,” Van Voorhis responded. The application was approved.

The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Zoning Board of Appeals will be November 19 at 6:00 pm contingent upon applications.

By Marilou Newell

The two scheduled hearings for the Rochester Conservation Commission’s October 20 meeting had to be continued.

The first application coming before the commissioners was filed by Joel and Caitlin Sullivan for property located on High Street for the construction of a four-bedroom residence.

Represented by Rick Charon of Charon Associates, the commissioners heard that the Board of Health had approved the septic plan and that wetlands and other jurisdictional areas had been identified.

But a critical piece – clearance from the National Heritage and Endangered Species Program regarding wildlife habitat – was missing. Charon said an error in addressing documents to the National Heritage office had delayed a response, one that stalls the application until their critical determination is received.

The commissioners were able to approve erosion controls and asked the applicant to return on November 17. They also informed the Sullivans that in the future, land clearing activities needed to be requested and approved by the Conservation Commission before commencing.

Also continued was the application for Melink Corporation of Milford, Ohio, for an abbreviated notice of resource area delineation for property located on the westerly side of Snipatuit Pond.

Conservation Agent Laurell Farinon said she had walked about two-thirds of the 4,000-feet of land requiring wetlands delineations. However, since abutters had not been properly notified, the hearing had to be continued until November 17.

The next meeting of the Rochester Conservation Commission is scheduled for November 3 at 7:00 pm in the Rochester Town Hall meeting room, at which time no voting will take place due to Election Day restrictions.

The November 17 meeting of the Rochester Conservation Commission will be a full meeting scheduled for 7:00 pm in the town hall meeting room.

By Marilou Newell

The Rochester Police Department is actively investigating an alleged shooting of a dog, possibly with a BB or pellet gun, in Rochester last week.

Noble, a 4-year-old Chocolate Labrador Retriever belonging to Mark Stack, was let outside by his owner on Wednesday, October 14 sometime between 7:00 am and 9:00 am, according to Police Chief Paul Magee during a phone interview on Tuesday, October 20. Shortly after 9:00 am, Stack found the dog at the historic cemetery on Dexter Lane.

Stack reported to police later that day that the dog appeared to have been shot eight times, with bullet hole-type wounds bleeding on different parts of its body, but Chief Magee said on October 20 that he could not yet confirm that the wounds were in fact bullet wounds. The investigation is ongoing.

Magee said Rochester Police has spoken to several people about the incident, but he could not comment on whether the police had any suspects or any leads about what actually happened to Noble on that day.

“This is certainly an open investigation,” said Magee. “But I can’t even confirm for you that the dog was shot.”

Magee said Stack has reported that Noble is recovering from his wounds and is expected to be okay.

Anyone with any information about what happened to Noble or the alleged shooting should contact the Rochester Police Department at 508-763-5112.

By Jean Perry