The Rochester School Committee met briefly on August 19 for the purpose of approving changes to the Student Handbook for the 2024-25 academic year and approved changes.

            Committee member Robin Rounseville had requested language be included that spells out the “opt-out” option that parents/guardians have regarding their children’s ability to check out any library book similar to the language used for opting out of photographs.

            The new procedure would be for parents/guardians to send an email to the librarian with the title of any book a child is not to check out, and it will be recorded and managed at the school, according to Old Rochester Regional Superintendent of Schools Mike Nelson.

            Committee member Anne Fernandes, attending the meeting remotely, requested the phase “check out” be revised to “access” to prevent the child from viewing the book irrespective of checking it out. Rounseville asked Fernandes how that would be accomplished from a practical standpoint.

            Rounseville strongly disagreed with Fernandes’ recommendation, asserting that denying access altogether would be too cumbersome a duty for staff to carry out given all their responsibilities. Chairperson Sharon Hartley agreed with Rounseville’s concern that education would be difficult to conduct amidst a constant watch for unauthorized book access.

            Member Josh Trombly took issue with a subsequent statement saying the absence of such an opt-out email would be taken as an assumption the child may access a book. He suggested making opt-out language more specific. The members agreed with his suggestion and to include a link to the opt-out procedure.

            Fernandes said she understands it’s impossible to follow children around the library but reemphasized her concern about certain books’ accessibility. Fernandes would make the lone dissenting vote against acceptance of the Student Handbook as written and revised at the August 19 meeting. Hartley, Rounseville, Trombly and Kate Duggan voted to accept the Student Handbook.

            Introducing the topic, Nelson referred to the committee’s last meeting in which the committee requested review of certain policies.

            “There were some questions around whether the fees were going to be updated around technology replacement or damages. We opted to keep our fees the same for this year,” said Nelson.

            The next meeting of the Rochester School Committee was not announced upon adjournment.

Rochester School Committee

By Mick Colageo

Rochester’s Select Board Monday postponed the Special Town Meeting, previously scheduled for October 21, to January 6, 2025, because of the interim town administrator’s workload.

            Suzanne Szyndlar, who is also the town’s finance director, noted that because of her dual role for the town, she hasn’t had adequate time to put to together a Town Meeting. “I’ve been behind the eight ball of late,” she said.

            Cameron Durant, the human resources director for the Town of Fairhaven, was unanimously chosen last week by the Select Board after he and two other finalists conducted final interviews for the job of town administrator. As of Monday night, Durant’s contract had not yet been finalized.

            The Select Board granted Szyndlar’s request to postpone the Special Town Meeting and also extended the deadline for submitting warrant articles to November 1.

            “Luckily, there’s not a lot of warrant articles yet,” said Select Board Chairman Brad Morse.

            Next, the board eliminated the need for one of the articles already proposed for the Special Town Meeting by using the town’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.

            To build a new children’s playground at Gifford Park, the town’s Park Commission had planned to ask voters in October that the town contribute $40,940.85 to the town’s share of the $81,881.70 construction cost. The other half of that price tag will be borne by the local nonprofit Tri-Town for Protecting Children.

            On Monday, the board approved spending $60,803 of the town’s ARPA funds to include the $40,940 for the playground. The rest of that money will go toward an Assessors Department mapping and imaging project ($7,500) and Police Station HVAC upgrades ($12,362).

            Park Commission Chairman David Hughes thanked the board for spending ARPA funds for the playground, eliminating the need for Town Meeting action.

            The board’s other important move was to officially sign the contract for new Police Chief Michael A. Assad Jr., whose contract will be valid until June 30, 2027.

            “I’ve been waiting for this for a while,” Select Board member Paul Ciaburri said with a smile, as Assad shook the board members’ hands. Assad will be the full-time replacement for Robert Small, who retired as chief on June 28.

            In other action, the board continued until September 9 its public hearing into plans for 29 new Eversource and Verizon utility poles in the area of 280 North Avenue and on Snipatuit Road between numbers 722 and 865, 655 and 694, 500 and 610. The Eversource representative attending the meeting said he has not yet spoken to Highway Surveyor Jeff Eldridge about the plan.

            The Select Board instructed him to do so before the next meeting.

            The board announced the resignation of Mary Bessey as a member of the Council on Aging and accepted the COA Board of Directors’ recommendation to appoint Johann Forand as her replacement.

            The next meeting of the Rochester Select Board will be held on Monday, September 9, at 6:00 pm at the Rochester Council on Aging, 67 Dexter Lane.

Rochester Select Board

By Michael J. DeCicco

            Several days before Tuesday’s announcement that a mosquito in Marion had tested positive for Eastern Equine Encephalitis (prompting cancellation of the August 24 Town Party), the Marion Board of Health was already recommending precautions in light of a prior discovery that a Marion mosquito tested positive for West Nile Virus.

            Publicly thanking Marion Health Director/Nurse Lori Desmarais and Health Agent Shallyn Rodriguez for their work, Marion Board of Health Chairman Dr. John Howard opened the board’s August 15 meeting by introducing discussion of the positive testing that had occurred to that point in town and in “most of the other towns” around Marion.

            “First and foremost, there are no patients that have the disease. It is a disease that you don’t want to get, especially if you are older. There is really no treatment for it,” said Howard. “The way to avoid getting it is avoiding mosquitoes, and the simplest answer to that is don’t go out after dusk unless you are very heavily protected against the mosquito bite.”

            Given the floor, Desmarais noted that the local Health Department was notified of the single positive mosquito for West Nile Virus and subsequently contacted the board members and Plymouth County Mosquito Control. As a direct result, the county conducted a spraying in Marion on August 15 between 2:00 am and sunrise.

            Desmarais sought the board’s recommendation or comment.

            Dr. Ed Hoffer, a board member, recommended warning signs for the Town Party and “an ample supply of DEET,” the active ingredient in mosquito repellent. “I don’t think it’s at a level where we want to cancel it. If it was Triple-E, I’d be a little more proactive. West Nile is nasty. People are adult, they can make up their own minds the level of risk – it’s a risk to them, it’s not a risk to others.”

            Member Albin Johnson asked where the infected mosquito was trapped.

            “They won’t tell us,” said Desmarais. “You can ask them, (but) they won’t tell you where the traps are. So there’s traps strategically located around the town, but they won’t give you the location. They’ll give you … a section but not exactly where those are because I think they’re trying to protect where the traps are. No one knows where they are in their towns.”

            Desmarais reported that one Marion homeowner used the “opt-out” to decline spraying of property.

            Desmarais said the Health Department has a few cans of mosquito repellent available to the public, along with treated bracelets that children can wear for the same purpose.

            Given the August 20 revelation of the positive test for EEE, another spray was scheduled for August 21 between 2:00 am and sunrise.

            In her Public Health Director Update, Desmarais reported that flu vaccine has been ordered and that the state supply has arrived. The tent used for drive-through vaccination clinics will be going up during the second week of September and will be up through the end of October. The UMass Dartmouth School of Nursing has indicated it is eager to once again assist in Marion’s drive-through clinics.

            The town has pre-ordered 50 doses of Moderna Covid-19 vaccine.

            An oral rabies-bait distribution will be going out on Monday, September 9.

            Marion Animal Control Officer Sue Connor reported a bat in a house with people and pets. The captured bat tested negative for rabies. Residents are urged in the case of a bat in the house not just to let them out but to call Animal Control and get them captured so they can be tested.

            All is going well with Beach testing, which will have two more weeks before ending around Labor Day.

            Marion has conducted 142 Community EMS visits in 2024 (up from 111 in 2023), and the state Department of Public Health has granted the program its approval through 2026. That does not include financial support.

            Citing only seasonal usage of a home in Marion, the homeowner wants testing for its I/A septic system to be conducted once a year instead of the minimum twice as required by town regulations.

            It was noted during discussion that seasonal residents shutting down denitrification systems while away from Marion come back to encounter complications, as a blower having been shut off causes odor and sometimes does not come back online right away.

            Johnson noted that this problem has been common in I/A systems and once again recommended the board revisit the town bylaw requiring a septic upgrade to include denitrification technology with any new construction.

            Desmarais said Marion requires that maintenance and testing for nitrogen is conducted twice per year. Howard said he’s not opposed to cutting the requirement to once a year, but he advised that homeowners keep the blowers running to avoid problems with the system.

            The board voted to allow the testing on an annual basis.

            Septic updates were approved at 66 Piney Point Road, where engineer Rick Charon said multiple pipes in the crawl space were “ganged up” to achieve compliance without the need for variance requests.

            Following a Public Hearing for a Variance at 3 Tucker Lane, the board voted to approve relief from Title 5 of the state Environmental Code where it concerns depth to groundwater from the required 5 feet to 4.2 feet.

            Brian Grady of G.A.F. Engineering, the applicant’s representative, explained that a recently purchased home’s leaching pits failed a March inspection. Grady said septic consultant George Heufelder considers the variance an acceptable solution.

            Howard, who lives near the project, recused himself from the discussion and vote.

            Allure Lash & Beauty Artistry, 119 Wareham Road Unit 101B, is looking to downsize from two workspaces to one, but the result will reduce the business’s two practitioners (lashes and microblading) to within 62 square feet of floor space. The town requires 80 square feet for new establishments, but the business was established when the town’s regulation was 45 square feet.

            Health Agent Shallyn Rodriguez told the board there will be just two beds for the practice and that clients waiting for their appointments can wait outside. She suggested the board set as a condition that privacy is ensured via partitions and a limit of two clients inside the building.

            The board voted to approve.

            In her Health Agent Update, Rodriguez discussed a collaborative effort to address an issue at Cumberland Farms. An additional inspection required at the store will result in a $50 charge. Rodriguez said the corporate office responded with a check and also sent a representative work with the store in making corrections.

            Marion conducted two housing inspections relating to mold exposure. Rodriguez said the occupants of the properties emailed the town. One of the situations has been corrected, and its HVAC system has been serviced. The other Rodriguez said the owner has been making corrections.

            The next meeting of the Marion Board of Health is scheduled for Thursday, September 12, at the Town House.

Marion Board of Health

By Mick Colageo