The Marion Board of Selectmen on September 16 approved a license for A & J Boatworks to resume using Town-owned property adjacent to the company to store boats until June of 2015.

Elizabeth Kunz, attorney for Rich Patten, told Selectmen Jody Dickerson and Stephen Cushing that for years the company had stored boats during the winter on the property once owned by the Jenney family. The Town of Marion acquired the land in 1996, and Patten continued to use the parcel referred to as Lot 41a until this past June when the Marion Conservation Commission discovered the unauthorized use of Town property.

Kunz said the letter brought the matter to Patten’s attention and requested the company remove the boats at once. Kunz stated that, luckily, it was June and boats were being returned to the water, so there was no problem with removing the boats at the immediate time. However, now is a different story, since boats are coming back out of the water for winter storage and A & J Boatworks has no alternate place to put them.

In the meantime, Kunz said the company is requesting a license to use the property until June 2015 while it looks to purchase other property, which perhaps could result in a land swap with the Town in exchange for Lot 41a.

“You know, this is not unprecedented,” said Town Administrator Paul Dawson, adding that it was a reasonable solution that could satisfy all parties. “I think it makes perfect sense to accommodate this.”

Dawson said the Town could wind up with a more desirable parcel of land – like sensitive wetlands or open space – as a result of allowing the boats to remain temporarily on the lot while Patten looks for a resolution.

“It could be a win-win situation,” said Dawson.

Patten added that there would be no boat work done on the property, just the exclusive winter storage of some shrink-wrapped boats.

“There’s been boats there for years and years,” said Dickerson, and the board approved the license to use the property until June 2015.

Also during the meeting, Planning Board member Norman Hills, on behalf of the Master Plan Subcommittee, gave a brief update on the progress of the Master Plan development process. The Town has not updated its Master Plan in about a decade.

Hills said there are eight essential parts to the Master Plan, including policies, housing, economic development, and finally, “the implementation of any action items that come out of this.” He said it is important to identify the key priorities the Town will want to address over the next ten years and how it is going to progress over time.

Hills announced a “Marion Master Plan Visioning Workshop” scheduled for September 27 at the Marion Music Hall from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm.

“The worst case is nobody shows up,” said Cushing. He said if you are a resident and you want to have a say on what direction the Town should take, then you should attend the workshop or risk “being part of something that you might not like.”

In other matters, the board approved an invoice totaling $605 to pay for the installation of a light at the entrance to the parking lot across from the Marion Music Hall, as well as a contract for a consultant to oversee the engineering management of the River Road construction project.

Dawson asked the board to table discussion pertaining to Veterans Agent William Titcomb’s announcement that he will resign from his position at the end of September.

A death in the family, said Dawson, resulted in Dawson’s absence from Town Hall and he had not had enough time to prepare the information selectmen would need to decide whether to advertise for the position or consider regionalizing the department. He also preferred Selectman Chairman Jon Henry be present for discussion, as he was absent from the meeting that evening.

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

By Jean Perry

Two brothers have sunk their life savings and every spare dollar they earn at other occupations to buy and develop a small farm that is riddled with jurisdictional wetlands. Now they must work with Rochester Conservation Commission members to find a way to not violate the wetland protection act – again.

An anonymous letter brought to the commission’s attention that the property owned by Travis and Dustin Lalli had allegedly sustained illegal environmental activities. Conservation Agent Laurell Farinon met Travis on the property and noted that a ditch had been dug and there were some other earth movements near wetlands.

The problem for the brothers is that the commission is now asking for an engineering plan detailing the full scope of work they plan to do and to remediate areas that have been disturbed near wetlands.

Present at the September 16 meeting was Dustin Lalli, who said, “We spent all our money to buy this land. We’ve lived in Rochester all our lives and we want to farm this land one day.”

Faced with a daunting estimate from an engineer to try to provide the commission with an ‘engineered’ plan, Lalli came before the board to plead his case and explain why a ditch had been dug.

Noting storm water run-off issues that were exacerbated by damage done by NSTAR’s heavy trucks using his dirt road, Lalli dug the ditch to divert water. The utility company has an easement to use the road. He was unaware that another area where some work had taken place was designated a wetland per the town’s by-laws, as it did not show up on the state mapping the Lallis were using for guidance.

Lalli said that one day, he and his brother hope to have a full-scale “old school” farming operation on the 10-acre site, but at the present time, “…we don’t have much money…” to hire an engineer.

Farinon said that she has had several properties with wetlands issues due to gravel excavation in past years, which leaves behind a topography that fills in with water followed by wetland vegetation, thus becoming jurisdictional. She said, “I can’t just ignore it.”

The commission decided to meet with the Lallis for a site visit and see the full extent of the situation for themselves. That meeting is scheduled for October 5 at 9:00 am.

In other business, the Rochester ConCom voted to issue a certificate of compliance for a filing from 1980 that had recently been requested by an attorney researching a deed. The certificate was issued to Attorney Brian Glover for 1 Stuart Road, 549 Walnut Plain Road, and 555 Walnut Plain Road.

A notice of violation issued to Andrea and Donald King, 425 Neck Road, was discussed. The historic home on the site has been extensively renovated, and more recently a hot tub was installed without notification to the commission. Farinon estimated that the installation is approximately 25 to 30 feet from the edge of the wetland area. Engineer Rick Charon is working with the Kings and the commission to confirm whether or not the installation is outside the jurisdictional area.

Selective grass cutting will take place around monitoring stations off North Avenue and Hartley Road for the Mattapoisett River, Farinon reported.

The next meeting of the Rochester Conservation Commission and Town Forest Committee is scheduled for October 7 at 7:00 pm in the Town Hall conference room.

By Marilou Newell

An unexpected increase in the student body this school year that caught administration by surprise resulted in a shortage of textbooks and some larger class sizes, specifically in introductory-level Spanish and Health.

“The school has grown,” said Old Rochester Regional High School Principal Michael Devoll. He said the old adage was that the school was “healthy north of 700.” The number is now up to 785.

“The joke now is we are morbidly obese,” said Devoll. Administration anticipated 195 students to move up from the junior high school, but ultimately the number climbed to 213.

“I think it speaks to the product we’re putting out,” said Devoll. “It’s a great school.”

Devoll said fewer students moved out of the district and a higher number moved in.

“Space-wise we can handle it,” said Devoll. He said there are enough classrooms, enough lockers for every student, and now enough furniture for everyone.

However, the two sections of introductory Spanish are full, with 34 students in each class, and the two Health classes have increased in size, resulting in four classes not having enough textbooks. Devoll requested that the committee support adding a third Spanish section to alleviate the high numbers of students.

“There was no way to predict that number, said ORR School Committee Chairman Jim O’ Brien. “It’s a good thing, but we do have to keep an eye on the high class sizes.”

New Business Administrator Patrick Spencer told the committee that there was funding in the budget to cover the cost of purchasing the textbooks and also add another instructor for a third section of Spanish to alleviate the problem.

“I can assure you that we can absorb that cost at this time,” said Spencer.

ORR and Mattapoisett School Committee member James Muse said the committee and administration should do anything and everything they can to correct the situation.

“Frankly, it’s unacceptable,” said Muse, without placing blame. “Thirty-five kids in an introductory foreign language class is not what we’re all about.”

Muse suggested the committee advocate for a third Spanish section and find the money.

Superintendent Doug White said the administration has done its due diligence, and they could likely cover the cost to resolve the overcrowded classes, but White pointed out to Muse that the district must stay within the budget the towns approved.

“We need to live within the means of that budget,” said White.

Muse replied, “If we have to go back to the towns, then we have to go back to the towns … And if the towns refuse, we did our job.”

The committee approved two budget transfers of $3,100 and $1,804 from one textbook line item to another textbook line item to purchase the new books.

Also during the meeting, the committee approved the transfer of funds totaling $11,744 back to the Athletic Booster Club since it is now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

In the past, the booster club would keep a modest petty cash account and deposit its larger sums acquired through fundraising to the School Department for it to manage. Former President of the boosters Sean Walsh said the boosters decided to seek 501(c)(3) designation back in January 2009 and manage its own bank account, calling it the best practice at this time.

“It really is a great organization. I wish there were more parents that would get involved,” said Walsh. He said the boosters have raised roughly $300,000 over ten years, “which is really tremendous.”

White pointed out that the athletics budget accounts only for salaries.

“We wouldn’t be as well-equipped and the athletes wouldn’t be as well-prepared,” said Walsh.

The committee approved continuing the “common planning time” program that teachers and staff at the high school piloted last year with success. The number of common planning mornings will decrease, though, from 19 per year to 13, since many staff members felt having two mornings per month took away too many classroom instruction hours.

Instead, there will be common planning mornings once during shorter months, and twice during longer months.

The committee approved a contract for a driver’s education course at the high school, which will bring in $6,125 in annual revenue. It also approved an extracurricular and athletics transportation one-year contract for Braga Transportation for $106,000.50, up a mere 31 cents from last year’s rate.

During open comments at the end of the meeting, ORRHS Social Studies teacher Dr. Colin Everett expressed opposition to the district’s adoption of the new Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) test.

“The PARCC testing just benefitted a multi-billion dollar company,” said Everett about the pilot PARCC trial exam last school year. “It didn’t benefit the students.”

Everett asked the committee to reconsider doing away with MCAS in favor of PARCC, which he said about 40 percent of districts have done.

“None of us have a great love of the MCAS, but it’s something we know,” said Everett, adding that he found the new online test cumbersome both in presentation and material. He argued that the curriculum is now test-driven toward the exam. “Everything is taught to the test.” He continued to say that more and more states are moving away from the Common Core Standard as well.

The committee could reconsider the decision to switch to PARCC with enough support, and the committee decided to continue the conversation at its next meeting after several members tossed around some pros and cons.

Muse said he appreciated Everett bringing his concerns to the forefront. No one showed any particular fondness for any the standardized tests, including MCAS, but some members agreed that curriculum has moved toward raising student success with the MCAS.

“We lost the ‘comprehensive’ [in Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System],” said Everett. “The ‘C’ is just an acronym now.”

The next meeting of the Old Rochester Regional School Committee is scheduled for October 8 at 6:00 pm in the media room at Old Rochester Regional.

By Jean Perry