The Marion Board of Selectmen is now considering the Marion Energy Management’s recommendation that the town lease a few fully electric cars with the help of a hefty grant. The board also executed the contracts for the two new emergency response vehicles approved by Town Meeting, and also authorized the Shea Doonan aquaculture farm to move forward, despite neighbors’ objections.

First, though, Selectmen Chairman Stephen Cushing and Selectman Jody Dickerson stepped out into the chilly November 17 night to have a look at a BMW electric vehicle acquired by the Town of Dartmouth with this same grant selectmen are now considering.

Administrative Analyst for the Town of Dartmouth, Evan Melillo, brought the vehicle to the Town House that night, and also helped the Energy Management Committee explain the grant program and the cost savings to selectmen.

The annual cost to lease one vehicle would be $800 under the grant, committee Chairman Jennifer Francis told selectmen. But considering there would be no gasoline consumption, no maintenance costs, and fully funded electric charging stations for the vehicles, there was a savings to be had.

“We’re hoping for your enthusiastic approval, and also we’d like to request funding for Evan’s time to work through all this application process,” said Francis – a process she labeled “relatively complicated.” She asked for $2,000. But neither the selectmen nor Dawson knew from where they could appropriate the money. Dawson said he needed time to look into it.

Neither selectman present that night made any sudden leaps over the electric car idea, preferring to see some real numbers on paper that would demonstrate an actual cost savings and to also talk to department heads before making any moves to possibly make the change.

Town Administrator Paul Dawson assured selectmen that a positive vote that evening to allow the grant application process to move forward was in no way a definitive vote to adopt the electric vehicles. It would simply let the committee get started. Once the grants were awarded, then and only then would selectmen have to decide.

“I’m not saying I’m against it,” said Cushing, “I would wait to … at least let [Selectman Jonathan] Henry [speak]. This is the first time I’m seeing it … Just out of courtesy [to Henry] before we allow anything.”

The selectmen both then recessed the meeting to check out the car outside. The building commissioner accompanied the selectmen, and some remarked on the compact size of the car.

Also during the meeting, the selectmen voted to allow Shea Doonan’s proposed aquaculture farm project to move forward to the state approval process before it is kicked back to the selectmen for the final approval on the project.

Ram Island resident Michael Moore had been vocal on his resentment toward Doonan for not engaging Moore in formal discussion about the project, and he also expressed concern over the project area encroaching a channel that he and others use to access the island.

This night, Moore’s wife Hannah Moore attended to speak against the project, but only after Shellfish Warden Isaac Perry told selectmen that the main issues with location have been resolved. However, he commented that he sensed the Moores would continue to oppose the project.

“Between the two site visits, I don’t think we’ve come to any agreements,” said Perry. “I don’t think we’re going to address the Moores’ concerns.”

Cushing said he went to the site, noted that there did not seem to be any further way the project could be altered space-wise, and added that he found there to be enough room for navigation with the markers placed where they are today.

“I see the abutters’ concern,” said Cushing. However, as a boater himself, “I think at least, with no ice … my guess is there’s still some room there to maneuver.”

Ms. Moore said access for larger boats making larger deliveries to the island was her biggest concern now.

“It’s not a trivial concern. It’s a major access line to the island,” Moore said.

The board gave the nod for Doonan to move forward, but he still needs approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mass DEP, the Division of Marine Fisheries, and a number of other government entities.

In other matters, selectmen executed two contracts for the two new big-ticket emergency vehicle purchases approved by Town Meeting. The new fire pumper will cost $526,135, slightly less than the appropriated sum of $540,000. The new ambulance final total cost was announced at $237,062, just under the $241,000 appropriated. Selectmen said they were happy with the price of the pumper, and they had already anticipated this particular price tag for the new ambulance.

Also that night, Dawson announced that the town’s new electricity aggregation program Town Meeting voted to opt-in to will soon pay off, now that a bid has been accepted which will save Marion electricity consumers $0.013 cents per kilowatt hour. The Town accepted the bid from ConEdison Solutions for $0.0949 per kWh.

“That’s good news for the ratepayers of Marion,” said Dawson. “It’s a savings everyone can enjoy.”

That night selectmen also voted to allow the Council on Aging to now begin holding its mini Senior Center hours on Wednesdays at the Marion Music Hall in addition to the Monday program. With continued success, the COA may increase its hours further.

The town will be posting a list of the private ways accepted for snow removal this winter. Thirteen made the list, while at least three others were rejected due to a lack of a turnaround or existing ownership issues. The town will post this list on its website by Friday, November 20.

The next meeting of the Marion Board of Selectmen is scheduled for December 1 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Town House.

By Jean Perry

Two more new solar energy facility projects came before the Rochester Planning Board on the long night of November 9, when the meeting went roughly three hours into the night.

Rochester is becoming familiar with the nature of the solar project proposal process, and residents, one by one, are becoming more knowledgeable on the subject, too.

Some abutters to a solar farm proposed by Melink Corporation off Snipatuit Road over near Quaker Lane were getting their first lesson in solar farm development and planning, raising many of the same questions abutters to other projects have had. What about screening? Are solar panels toxic? And a new one, aren’t the tree stumps left behind after clear-cutting full of toxic chemicals?

Engineer Rich Rheaume addressed each abutter’s concern, including abutter John Hall’s concern over the size of the rocks the excavators will surely encounter, he said.

“They’re gonna find icebergs,” said Hall, concerned mostly about the amount of heavy truck traffic that would ensue after enormous rocks – too large to keep on the property – would be removed down the 18-foot gravel drive right against his property line. “There’s no space to store rocks,” continued Hall. “I’ve been very vocal about this … my property line, you don’t mess with that.”

Rheaume suggested the method of affixing the panels to the rock would be sufficient, screwing the panels into the rock with what he called a “fairly narrow screw, like a sheetrock screw,” to which Hall scoffed. Rheaume assured Hall that the project would undergo a thorough geotechnical review before construction.

The site plan, as Rheaume described it, calls for eight acres of a 16-acre parcel to be cleared for rows of solar arrays, which will abut a roughly 100-acre parcel of land Melink offered to the Town as a donation for open spaces, which the town recently accepted.

The plan calls for a no-touch 50-foot area of the eastern perimeter of the site, plus an additional double row of Leyland cypresses, with a 6-foot chain-link fence surrounding the site for security. All work will be kept outside the 100-foot wetlands buffer to avoid certain filings with the Conservation Commission.

The project has received approval from the Mattapoisett River Valley Water Supply Protection Advisory Committee and, due to the presence of eastern box turtles, has filed with the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program and is awaiting approval.

One resident was not happy about the project, saying she never would have purchased her house 11 years ago if she knew a solar farm would eventually be built behind it.

Other neighbors had concerns over the length of the gravel drive and the gate that would be placed 100 feet down the road, which might be just long enough to appeal to those engaging in unsavory nighttime activities. Because the Town insisted on having the entry down the gravel road to accommodate a few public parking spaces for access to the newly acquired conservation land, the gate could not be put at the entrance on Snipatuit Road. Planning Board Chairman Arnold Johnson said 24-hour video surveillance might deter trespassers, even those trying to use ATVs at the site.

Johnson gave Rheaume a short list of what he wanted to see by the next meeting, which included things such as a more detailed landscaping outline and some simple “housekeeping” of paperwork. The hearing was continued until December 8, allowing enough time for the board’s peer review process and to ensure all members of the board would be present.

In other matters, a familiar player in the solar farm field was again before the board, this time for an informal review of a proposed solar farm to be located at 268 Mattapoisett Road, near the corner with New Bedford Road.

Clean Energy Collective, developers of the Clemishaw property solar farm, is interested in developing seven acres of a 12-acre lot for solar arrays. During this informal meeting with Clean Energy Collective Project Manager Greg Carey, the board granted a few waivers the developer requested, such as waiving the requirement to flag every tree of a 12-inch caliber or greater. Three utility poles will be allowed within the first 100 feet of the entrance, and a waiver for open space requirements was granted, but the board chose to hold off on granting a waiver for stormwater management.

“We’re getting more and more familiar with solar,” said Clean Energy Collective’s engineer Bob Rogers as he moved ahead into the minutiae of the project, similar details he has presented to the board before for other solar projects.

Also during the meeting, the board approved a request for an amendment to the site plan review approval for Rochester Crossroads at the intersection of Routes 58 and 28. The company recently acquired an abutting property and will now grade the land instead of having to build a retaining wall. All other details remain unchanged.

The board ratified the written decision for the Clean Energy Collective proposed solar farm at the Clemishaw property in Marion, with the access road to the facility located at 99 Perry’s Lane. After a number of continued hearings over the past few months, the project finally received Rochester’s official approval after bouncing back and forth between Marion and Rochester.

There was a lengthy discussion over the current draft of the sign bylaw the Bylaw Subcommittee has been working on. Although in the end the board voted to move forward with deferring the new language to the selectmen, one resident was vocal about government taking away residents’ constitutional right to free speech.

“I don’t like clutter,” said David Ecker. Some signs are ugly, but he does feel strongly about people’s absolute and total right to express their views.

Ecker specifically opposed language addressing political signs, which mandates that political party/candidate signs must be removed within 48 hours of an election. Ecker opposed restricting any resident’s rights further with this bylaw, but did not realize that the 48-hour rule was already written in the current bylaw. The new language simply tweaked language about not allowing campaign signs before one month leading up to an election – a change, said Johnson, “that riled some of the town officials.”

The new limited commercial district bylaw was also slightly changed as it pertains to solar energy installations after some trial and error with the proposed solar farm for a plot of woods between New Bedford Road and Dexter Lane.

Johnson said the new language includes a provision that would mandate an absolute no-touch 20-foot buffer around the perimeter of the project, and the landscaping section of the bylaw would be amended to further mitigate the cutting of trees of a 12-inch caliber or greater.

The public hearing for the Renewable Generation LLC solar energy project slated for New Bedford Road was continued until November 18.

The next meeting of the Rochester Planning Board is scheduled for November 18 at 7:00 pm at the Rochester Senior Center on Dexter Lane.

By Jean Perry