“I’m not trying to be a one-man brigade here … but it gives us the ability to defend ourselves in Superior Court,” began Chairman of the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission Bob Rogers on February 9 as he explained his intent for drafting a local wetlands bylaw for public review.

Rogers said a recent decision made by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection – namely, the approval of Daniel DaRosa’s large, private Goodspeed Island pier – conflicted with local community-wide sentiment. That, along with past decisions handed down by the commission, seemed to indicate the necessity of drafting a new wetlands bylaw that Town Meeting might embrace.

A local wetlands bylaw could have bolstered the commission’s vote to deny DaRosa’s application when DaRosa appealed it to the DEP. DaRosa’s appeal was subsequently upheld by the DEP.

The Conservation Commission has appealed the DEP decision on the pier, and the public hearing is scheduled for March 5 at 7:00 pm at Old Hammondtown School.

Rogers will meet with the Mattapoisett Board of Selectman on February 10 to formally request their support as the commission moves forward. (See Board of Selectman coverage in this issue of The Wanderer.)

The wetlands bylaw draft that Rogers is proposing was described as a clear one-page document intended to help the commission in its efforts to protect hundreds of acres of land now in protected status, as well as give them implementable regulations behind the Wetlands Protection Act.

Commission member Peter Newton said that a previous attempt at passing a local wetlands bylaw was fraught with difficulties due to “too many cooks.” That effort, he said, produced a document that no one was happy with, was too convoluted, and lacked goals. It was not supported by the commission nor included on the warrant.

Rogers will have the draft document posted on the Conservation Commission’s webpage on the Town website, www.mattapoisett.net, as early as February 10. He said the draft is formatted after one used in Freetown, one that does not include storm water discharge language. Rogers felt that the State’s Wetlands Protection Act covered that subject comprehensively.

The following is an excerpt of the draft:

“…Except as permitted by the Conservation Commission or as provided by this bylaw, no person shall commence to remove, fill, dredge, build upon, degrade, discharge into, or otherwise alter the following resource areas: 1) Within 100-feet of any of the following: freshwater or coastal wetlands, marches, wet meadows, bogs, swamps, vernal pools, banks, reservoirs, lakes, flats, ponds of any size, rivers, streams, creeks, beaches, dunes, estuaries, the ocean, land under water bodies, lands subject to flooding or inundation by groundwater or surface water, lands subject to tidal action, coastal storm flowage or flooding….”

Public hearings will be posted to vet the proposed bylaw.

Another matter Rogers brought to the commission’s attention was the need for full-time office and in-field support.

In commenting on the fiscal year 2016 budget currently being developed by the Finance Committee, Rogers said that the part-time secretary and part-time agent were overwhelmed.

The sheer volume of work they faced on a daily basis was reaching critical mass, as noted by the lack of meeting minutes for the commission to review, approve, and make available to the public.

Rogers said the secretary did not have time to write up the minutes as she attended to other matters for residents.

Rogers will ask the Finance Committee to review the commission’s budget with an eye towards an increase when he meets with them on February 11 at 6:00 pm in the town administrator’s office.

Rounding out the meeting agenda: Mattapoisett Land Trust received a Negative 3 determination to cut a hiking trail off Whaler’s Way; The Preserve at Bay Club sought and received conditions for two lots on Fieldstone Drive and three amended Orders of Condition for two lots on the same street and one lot located on Split Rock Lane. The commission will also request that the owners of residences located at 2, 3 and 4 Seabreeze Lane meet with them to discuss an Enforcement Order for unpermitted activity.

The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission is scheduled for February 24 at 6:30 pm in the Town Hall conference room.

By Marilou Newell

On February 5, the Rochester School Committee reviewed the preliminary Fiscal Year 2016 budget that Robin Rounseville and Tina Rood – the budget sub-committee – had prepared. Rood cautioned that the budget being presented was a “work in process” and not yet complete. A final budget will be completed in March for public review.

Superintendent Douglas White noted that the modest 2.9 percent increase was primarily due to operating and maintenance expenses. The total budget figure sits at $1.8 million.

White pointed out a decrease of $33,000 in transportation costs and an increase of $20,000 in technology, which is precipitated by the need to acquire new devices for the PARCC assessment.

A major feature of the new PARCC assessment program is the manner in which students are engaged in the art and science of reading. This was detailed by Dr. Elise Frangos, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction, during her report to the committee.

She said that students will be challenged and involved with reading and developing skills at every opportunity, not only during a reading assignment. Using a ‘transmedia’ approach, students and teachers will have a more enriched reading and writing educational experience.

Frangos also reported on the Bay State Reading Intuitive, another integrated reading program in which she strongly believes. In this program, teachers learn how to become reading coaches. She plans to attend a workshop on the program along with several senior department heads in the district to learn more.

During White’s central office report, he reminded the members that snow days have to be made up at the end of the year as mandated by the state. He also told them about mobile fingerprinting units that will be on-site for teachers and other staff members. This is part of new state regulations for more intensive background reviews.

In his printed newsletter White states: “All school employees, including educators, maintenance staff, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, and employees of contractors who work in the schools and may have direct and unmonitored contact with children are required to complete the new national background check by the end of the 2016 school year.” Volunteers will still be required to submit to state CORI checks at least once every three years, but will not be required to submit fingerprints for national screening.

The mobile unit will visit each town in the district at the following locations and dates: ORRHS/JR – February 13 and March 6 between 8:00 am and 3:00 pm; Sippican School – March 20, 8:00 am and 3:00 pm; Center and Old Hammondtown Schools – March 27, 8:00 am and 3:00 pm; and Rochester Memorial School – April 17, 8:00 am and 3:00 pm. The fee for non-licensed employees is $35 and for license-holders is $55.

Principal Derek Medeiros reported that PARCC testing would take place between March 16 and April 10.

The next meeting of the Rochester School Committee is scheduled for March 5 at 6:30 pm in the Town Hall meeting room.

By Marilou Newell

Although the meeting was for departmental fiscal year 2016 budget review, everyone at the Mattapoisett Finance Committee meeting on February 4 felt Highway Superintendent Barry Denham’s pain.

Fresh from many days of plowing and managing the snow removal activities of the Highway Department, Denham shared some of the backlash he has received. Specifically, he said the problem was with private roads that are not part of the Town’s private road maintenance program.

Of the approximately 60 miles of roadway in Mattapoisett, 16 miles fall into the category of private.

Town Administrator Michael Gagne said that in order for the Town to provide snow plowing and grading services to private roads, those roads must meet certain criteria established by both town bylaws and state regulations.

Many private roads in town do meet the requirements, and the residents living on those roads have submitted the necessary documents that allow the Highway Department to perform maintenance work; however, the scope of that work is limited.

“Private roads are driving us absolutely bonkers,” said Denham.

Denham’s office had received numerous calls and some emails from residents whose roads are not included in the program but who still demand that plowing be done. Several of those who have complained about lack of attention have insisted that they need the Town to plow for safety reasons.

Denham said in situations when the Police or Fire Department is dispatched to a residence on a private road that has not been plowed, the Highway Department is also dispatched to clear the road for the emergency vehicles. He said that many private roads are really nothing more than long private driveways with a single home at the end, clearly making it unacceptable to the private road maintenance program.

The program requires that the road have at least three people living on it and that the road remains open to the residents of the community, not just those residents living on the private way. A qualified private road also requires that the majority of the residents living on the road agree to the terms and conditions set by the Town, and the road must meet certain dimensions for accessibility by town vehicles.

Finance Committee member Pat Donoghue said that in several private beach areas – areas where the Town is providing road maintenance services – large signs declaring the area to be private seem to conflict with the rule that the road remain open to the public. Gagne said he would look into where those signs are located and find out what can be done about removing them.

“We simply don’t have the manpower or money,” Denham stated regarding the limitations of providing service to private roads. “They are relentless,” he said of private road residents demanding the service.

Denham said that of the $70,000 snow removal budget the Highway Department started with at the beginning of the season, only about $10,000 remains. Gagne and Denham both commented that snow removal was the one budgetary line item that may exceed its denoted figure.

In other matters, Chief Assessor Kathleen Costello, during her Assessor’s Office report, noted that the new GIS mapping system (geographical information system) has been useful to her office as well as other departments at Town Hall.

Used for mapping all the buildings in town among other things, it will also be used by the animal control officer, Highway and Sewer Departments, and harbormaster, thus making it an integral resource tool for diverse areas of responsibility.

Implementation of the GIS system will also allow residents to view maps on the Town’s website, including FEMA map overlays.

Costello applauded the work done by Highway Department employee Nick Nelson whose computer skills have aided in implementing the GIS program.

Earlier in the evening, Gagne praised the work done by Brenda Herbeck, treasurer/collector, in assisting the Town in tax title property sales garnering $300,000 in land sales. He said there would be another sale before the end of 2015, which he believes will have a value of approximately $150,000. Those funds will be earmarked for extensive roadwork that is being planned.

All departments meeting with FinCom on this night presented level-funded budgets, except where necessary to meet retirement packages or health care coverage.

Those budgets were: tax collector – $190,000; town accountant – $137,000; Highway Department $540,000; assessors – $154,700; Building Department/Inspectional Services and Zoning Board of Appeals – $207,000.

The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Finance Committee is scheduled for February 11 at 6:30 pm in the town administrator’s office.

By Marilou Newell