The Rochester Board of Selectmen breezed through a brief meeting on June 6, starting with the acceptance of the retirement of Jana Cavanaugh from the Board of Assessors, effective June 30.

Cavanaugh, a schoolteacher employed by the Town of Rochester, will retire from her teaching position this year and, as Cavanaugh explained, will also be retiring from the Board of Assessors as an essential act to collect her pension.

“In order to receive my pension, I would have to retire (from the Board of Assessors),” said Cavanaugh.

Selectmen Chairman Naida Parker explained in a follow-up interview that Cavanaugh, in order to collect her teaching pension, cannot continue as an employee of the town in the capacity of a compensated member of the Board of Assessors.

“To collect her pension, she has to break employment with the town,” said Parker. “You can’t retire and still be an employee of the town.”

Parker furthermore stated that Cavanaugh, once effectively retired from her teaching position and Board of Assessors position on June 30, will likely seek appointment to the Board of Assessors on July 1. At that point, Cavanaugh’s membership on the Board of Assessors would no longer be a position that pays into the retirement fund. Upon the next election cycle, Cavanaugh would again have to run as a candidate for the Board of Assessors.

Although Cavanaugh has not formally stated this intention to seek appointment or run in the next election, Parker said the move would make sense.

In the meantime, said Parker, anyone else in town interested in an appointment to the Board of Assessors, which pays a stipend of just over $6,000 annually, should submit a letter of interest to the Board of Selectmen. Selectmen, as well as the Finance Committee and the other members of the Board of Assessors, would approve the appointment of the new member.

The next meeting of the Rochester Board of Selectmen is scheduled for June 13 at 6:00 pm at Rochester Memorial School before the Special Town Meeting at 6:45 pm.

By Jean Perry

It has become a recurring theme – residents from the Brandt Point Village subdivision coming before the Mattapoisett Planning Board seeking help to get Phase 1 completed before work on Phase 2 begins. On June 6, residents Gail Carlson and Dennis Dimos once again sat in front of the board members to air their concerns and seek assistance.

Carlson said that a planned mail kiosk is in the wrong location and that the former developer, Joseph Furtado, had promised it would be moved. The current location will create a driving hazard, she said.

But before they could finish that line item in a long list of promises that have been made yet not satisfied, Dimos said work on Phase 2 – referred to as “the back” – has been taking place for the last three weeks while little or nothing was being done on Phase 1.

Chairman Tom Tucker appeared unsatisfied.

“They are not to do anything in the back!” Tucker stated with controlled frustration.

Tucker said that he had not been able to participate in the May 16 meeting, at which time the new development team of Mark Marcos and Armand Cortellesso appeared before the board. At that meeting, they agreed to provide as-built plans and to work with the town’s engineering team headed up by Ken Motta of Field Engineering, but they were not given permission to move forward with Phase 2. Also weighing in the balance is a previously negotiated tri-party agreement. However, with the withdrawal of Furtado from the project, that agreement is most likely null and void.

“Mark Marcos refuses to speak to anyone,” Carlson said. “He’s playing hardball and saying he’s going to go by the plans, but Joe (Furtado) said he’d fix things.”

Carlson said that Marcos is moving forward executing work to an old plan that doesn’t take into consideration incorrect construction that has already taken place on Phase 1.

Dimos inserted, “They were out there at six o’clock in the morning! Suddenly, a contractor came up to us and said, ‘We need to put conduits through your front yard.’”

Carlson said Marcos had commented to her that, “We are done with the Planning Board.”

Tucker said, “Oh yeah? I spoke to Mark Marcos on the phone and he said he knew not to go back there.”

Highway Surveyor Barry Denham told Tucker, “I didn’t know they weren’t supposed to start working on Phase 2.” He said they needed to get answers from Field Engineering regarding confirmation of work completed and incomplete on Phase 1, but that Motta was having a hard time getting answers.

“We are on our third ownership. This is getting ridiculous!” Tucker said. “These guys are jerking us around.”

Dimos asked, “Is there anything we can do to stop this so they will meet with us?”

Tucker instructed board member Nathan Ketchel to contact the town’s attorney to request a cease and desist order. He said he would not be able to attend the next meeting due to his work schedule.

Looking at Carlson and Dimos, Tucker said, “Lip service needs to stop.” He also told Dimos to “Call the police” if construction resumes before 7:00 am.

In other business, Alan Decker from the Buzzards Bay Coalition and Doug Schneider of N. Douglas Schneider & Associates, Inc. came before the board to request Form A determinations on several parcels, all part of land acquisitions recently made by the town and the coalition for protection of the Mattapoisett River aquifer, along with text changes on the plans to ensure protection of the lands into perpetuity. Those requests were approved.

Also seeking a Form A not required determination was Mike Esposito, 18 and 20 Ned’s Point Road, to convey an unbuildable parcel from number 20 to number 18, putting legal access to a pier into number 18 exclusively. Esposito owns both properties. His request was approved.

The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Planning Board is scheduled for June 20 at 7:00 pm in the Mattapoisett Town Hall conference room.

By Marilou Newell

A number of parents have proposed to fundraise over the coming months to raise enough money to pay for the reinstatement of a part-time physical education position at Sippican School, a position that was cut in the FY2017 budget and will result in less PE time for students.

Sue Shannon, a parent and member of the Sippican School Council, approached the Marion School Committee on June 1, hoping for a nod to move forward with a community-driven fundraising effort, which Shannon called the “Sippican Student Initiative,” to raise $30,000 before September 2016 to hire a part-time gym teacher for a “Healthy Marion Kids Campaign.”

Shannon said Sippican School parents know “the value of playing and movement and exercise,” so they went to Town Administrator Paul Dawson looking for the Town’s blessing and a little guidance as to how to go about the process.

“And he (Dawson) saw no impediment from the Town in terms of that,” said Shannon. “It seems like a do-able thing.”

Shannon said the goal is to form a subcommittee of parents and community-at-large members to initiate the fundraising campaign via a GoFundMe account, as well as a proposal and “talking to Tabor,” as Shannon put it. She also mentioned a sports “promotion day” to introduce students to sports and physical activities as a side project and to also get the community involved.

The question, however, is how does the group continue to fund the position annually and what will happen next year?

School Business Administrator Patrick Spencer advised Shannon that the group would have to set up a special fund with the Town, and all money must be raised before an employee is hired for the position.

“You have to have the money in place,” said Spencer, including a contingency for Unemployment benefits. “The total number that we’re looking at is more like $40,000.”

And, if the total money raised falls short of that amount, Spencer said, “If we don’t reach our goal, you have to return the money back to the donors.”

Shannon asked if there could be a Plan B of sorts, stipulating that if not enough money was raised, could the money go towards a recess program offered through an organization called “Playworks.”

“I think you’re better off going out, seeing what you can do, and then come forth and say, ‘We’ve got this amount of money, what can we do for the schools?’” said Superintendent Doug White.

School Committee member Christine Winters, concerned about the ramifications of the fundraising logistics as well as the hiring of an employee covered under collective bargaining, preferred White’s suggested path forward. She added that the School Committee could hold a special meeting in August to review the progress of the fundraiser.

“That way we’re not taking a vote tonight that ties your hands, either,” said Winters.

School Committee Chairman Christine Marcolini thanked Shannon and the other parents for their efforts.

“We so appreciate it. We really do,” said Marcolini. “You really stepped up as a member of the community … and I really applaud you.”

In other matters, Mike Feeney of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health gave a detailed presentation on the air quality testing performed in April at Sippican School.

“We’re within parameters where we would say, ‘Improve the ventilation,’” said Feeney. The measurements, he said, all were below the national standards.

Although no noxious gasses or environmental irritants were found in any significant amounts, one major concern was a crawl space below the floors of one of the wings of the school built in 1954. Feeney said condensation was present back in April so, in summer, he said, “I would not be surprised if this thing was just dripping with moisture…. It’s because air can’t get down there to help get the moisture out and to increase the temperature of the floor.”

Feeney recommended, among other minor things, turning off the air conditioning during summer vacation months and ventilating crawl spaces. Blocked air vents within classrooms should also be cleared and the ventilation system further assessed.

This was the last meeting of the Marion School Committee for this school year. School committee meetings will resume in the fall.

By Jean Perry