Mike Camara, CEO of ABC Disposal, the owning company of the Zero Waste facility off Cranberry Highway in Rochester, told the Rochester Planning Board on August 24 that after filing for Chapter 11 protection and a subsequent fire, he is unable to give the board what it wanted that night – a timeline for construction.

Chairman Arnold Johnson said a lack of communication from Zero Waste management over the past year concerns him, especially since it appears that progress with the work site is at a standstill, despite fire clean-up and a plan approved back in 2013 for an 90,000 square-foot state-of-the-art waste recycling facility.

“What the board needs is … a construction timetable. You can’t just say it’s all going to be done in a year. That doesn’t help us,” said Johnson. “And we need better communication. Stuff’s not getting done over there, but you’re operating business as usual over there…. We need a game plan. When can you give us a game plan?”

Camara was unable to give Johnson what he asked for and explained to the board why.

“We’ve been led down the wrong path by some banks,” said Camara. “They said they had our backs, and they didn’t.”

Camara recounted how the company filed on May 11, 2016 for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and he does not anticipate coming out of Chapter 11 for another two to three months. Once that is complete, the company can modify the bond, acquire funding, and finish the construction plan.

“I wish I had a crystal ball,” said Camara. “All I can say is that we’re working really hard every day, and we know that it’s coming soon.” He added that he anticipates resuming construction by the end of this year. He called the situation “a living hell.”

The good news is that all the debris from the May 13 fire has been removed from the site, which pleased the board. The Planning Board, however, maintained concern over stormwater drainage systems still incomplete, especially with the presence of sensitive wetlands near the construction site.

Camara said three of the proposed stormwater systems have been built already, and he knows he is going to finish the project, which will ultimately generate more tax dollars for the town, he said. But for now, with the financial mess with the bank and the ongoing process in Bankruptcy Court, further investing of money to make improvements at the site is at a halt.

Rochester’s Town Counsel Blair Bailey said he found it hard to believe that the Bankruptcy Court would restrict the company from spending money on improvements to a financed site. And the liability of having some aspects of the project, including those unfinished stormwater drainage systems, keeps the town “on the hook.”

“I have an issue with money being generated out there (at Zero Waste) without money being spent to at least fix it up,” said Bailey. “It’s half done and it’s operating … but it’s not, from a safety standpoint. I don’t want to be on the hook for that.”

Camara replied, “I hope nobody ever has to go through what we’re going through.” He said the state recognizes how important this facility will be for the region and the Town of Rochester, and his family’s wellbeing also depends on its success.

“But we still have to maintain the line of communication,” said Johnson. “So we’re going to be looking for that. We just can’t let it go unchecked.”

In other matters, the board granted an Approval Not Required request for Diana Murphy for Walnut Plain Road, Map 23, Lot 16.

The board continued until September 13 the public hearing for the Site Plan review for It’s All About the Animals of 103 Marion Road to build an addition to the cat shelter. The board anticipates rendering a positive decision at that time.

The public hearing for Gary Mills for a modification of an Approved Definitive Subdivision Plan for lots located at Hartley Road was continued until September 13. Mills seeks to modify the plan to combine Lots 1 and 2 into a single lot, which would reduce the total number of buildable lots from three to two. He also seeks to change the roadway from an 18-inch to a 16-inch gravel road.

The next meeting of the Rochester Planning Board is scheduled for September 13 at 7:00 pm.

By Jean Perry

The owner of the Silvershell Inn, a bed & breakfast at 460 Front Street, agreed on August 25 to allow the Marion Zoning Board of Appeals to re-open its public hearing for a Special Permit to add a third bedroom to its inn, and then promptly asked for a continuance.

Innkeeper Kate Hill told the board she was seeking legal counsel, and the board rescheduled the re-opened public hearing for September 22.

During the August 11 ZBA meeting, the board questioned Hill’s honesty about how many rooms she was currently renting, concerned that she may already be renting four instead of the two permitted. The board members visited the inn’s website and also a general bed & breakfast website and concluded that it appeared as though Hill was renting more bedrooms than was allowed. This discussion took place after Hill had left the Town House, leaving Hill unable to further address the board’s concerns.

In an email to the board handed to the chairman that evening, Town Counsel Jon Whitten advised the board that it could re-open the public hearing should it desire to seek further information from Hill. Hill said she had some pertinent information to present to the board and wished to re-visit the discussion.

“If we re-open it, then we start from scratch again,” ZBA member Joanne Mahoney told Hill.

No further discussion took place that evening and this time, Hill remained at the meeting until it adjourned and the board members left the Town House.

In other matters, the board approved a Special Permit request from petitioners Nancy and James Kiehl of 15 West Avenue to allow an expansion of an existing garage/shed into a three-car garage with game room above.

The next meeting of the Marion Zoning Board of Appeals is scheduled for September 8 at 7:30 pm in the Marion Town House meeting room.

By Jean Perry

If you have spent any time this past week anywhere near Mattapoisett Harbor, you may have taken a deep breath in, expecting the fresh salty sea air to fill your nose, but instead found yourself in an olfactory funk.

“Peeeeuuuu! What is that smell?” We have all said it.

The smell lingered for days, especially down near Shipyard Park and even all the way to the Route 6 vicinity, smelling like an overflowing septic system. The Wanderer received enough inquiries from readers wondering what stank so horribly that we went to the one person in town who could tell us what is stinking up the air so badly – Jill Simmons, Mattapoisett harbormaster.

“There is a pretty good algae bloom going on and when it gets near the town docks, the stuff collects and begins to rot,” Simmons said. “It is methane gas you are smelling from decomposition of the seaweed and algae.”

Simmons said that during her first year on the job, a similar situation transpired and she was concerned that the sewer line had been compromised and was leaking into the harbor. She asked the Board of Health for some dye to flush down the system and found that it was not the sewer line creating the stench.

“Finding out that wasn’t the problem was good, but we had to look for what the real issue was,” said Simmons. “Didn’t take long … to nail it down.”

Simmons said that on August 23, the U.S. Coast Guard notified her that there was a reported oil spill off Mattapoisett. Simmons said it turned out that the call was made by a civilian aircraft.

“It was a [half-mile] wide and ten miles long,” said Simmons, and the same shade as the Bouchard oil spill of 2003. “It was eventually discounted and apparently more algae.”

The algae and seaweed continue to decompose in the heat, and the smell will eventually subside.

“Crazy things go on all the time,” said Simmons. She hopes this information helps to explain what the nasty smell is, “but unfortunately, it won’t make the smell go away,” she said.

By Jean Perry