The Planning Board is getting closer to closing a public hearing regarding changes to plans for an addition on a recycling facility on Cranberry Highway in Rochester.

            Shawmut Associates has proposed several changes to the Order of Conditions for construction at their existing facility, including alterations to drainage on the site in addition to others. The Board decided to continue the hearing until the town’s engineer, Ken Motta, reviewed the latest plans, and until the town’s fire chief, Scott Weigel, approved changes to the original plans concerning the new placement of existing fire hydrants on the property.

            “Kenny’s [Motta] got to review those calculations, and [they need approval from] the Fire Chief [regarding the hydrants],” said Board Chairman Arnold Johnson.

            Johnson said that he and Town Planner Mary Crain were planning on visiting the site soon, and he said that he would call Weigel regarding the hydrant situation. “We want to make sure we get that nailed down.”

            The Board also voted unanimously to support Thomas Gayoski, Jr. and the subdivision of his property on Alley Road, with the condition that approval not be required for going forward.

            “It’s pretty straightforward here,” said Johnson of the subdivision, which exceeds minimum width requirements as well as possesses the required frontage to be subdivided.

            Also on hand at the meeting was Lee Carr, who has expressed a desire to join the Planning Board, and who will join them once approved at a joint meeting of the Planning Board and the Board of Selectmen.

            The next meeting of the Planning Board is scheduled for March 11 at 7:00 pm.

By Nick Walecka

The annual tri-town herring meeting was the first order of business for the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen. In attendance were Herring Inspectors Bob Martin, Mattapoisett; David Watling, Rochester; and James Gurney, Marion. They reported that in spite of last year’s encouraging numbers, this year’s count is down by approximately 8,000. Eight years ago the count had been 150,000 but in more recent years as low as only 10,000. This year it was 20,000. A moratorium on catching herring as they swim upstream will not be lifted but will remain in place for the foreseeable future, they said. The state requires that counts be a minimum of 100,000 before fishing may be approved. There seems to be no conclusive reason for the low counts. The inspectors will remain acutely aware of any changes in water quality and levels.

Highway Department Supervisor Barry Denham came before the board to report on snow removal activities and the status of the snow removal budget. He noted that the department is $2,000 over-budget. It was felt that given snow fall levels, this was not an unreasonable sum. The overall budget is $77,000. Although it seems as if this season has been worse than last, Denham said that the snowfall total for the winter of 2012-13 was 59 inches while so far this year it has been 63 inches. Denham and Town Administrator Mike Gagne discussed putting a separate line item in the 2015 budget specifically for equipment repairs associated with snow removal equipment. The average cost for repairing damaged plowing equipment runs around $3,000 annually or 10 percent of the total repair budget, Denham said. He also said that his crew of 15 full- and part-time drivers is a dedicated group who sometimes work up to 38 hours to ensure the roadways are safe for residents. On this theme, he asked the board and Gagne to consider paying them overtime rates when they have to work through their regular shift, into overtime/overnight shifts, and then back to their regular shift without a break. “It’s kind of a kick in the pants to give them straight time when they’ve been out all night,” he added. Gagne said this would be considered during wage negotiations.

During his update to the selectmen, Gagne said that tax title land auctions would be taking place on March 7 at noon at the library. He encouraged the public to visit the town’s web site and review the parcels that will be up for sale. He said that one parcel was particularly attractive with the site already having been ‘perc’ tested, delineated for wetlands and with sufficient frontage. This lot is located on Brandt Island Road and will be auctioned off with a starting bid of $70,000.

Gagne has also been working with Rochester on the upcoming cable negotiations. The current contract ends in December 2015 and was developed with Rochester. By partnering with another town, he said, the costs associated with having a professional negotiator working for the towns is shared. Gagne indicated that Bill Hewig, an attorney specializing in municipal cable license negotiations, is interested in being retained by Mattapoisett and Rochester.

Budget reviews with department heads continue, Gagne reported and said that the Capital Planning Committee will begin meeting soon. For waterfront improvement, he said that bids for the electrical work for the town wharf will go out shortly, and that he has met with the architect doing work on the beach house. Repairs and improvement to the beach house are scheduled to be completed before the summer season begins. Gagne also said that wharf concession bid forms are now available in the administrator’s secretary’s office and must be completed and returned by noon on March 21.

In a final item, Selectman Paul Silva asked what the process was for reporting street light outages. Melody Pacheco, Assistant to the Town Administrator, said that people can report outages to the police or to herself, and she in turn contacts the utility for repair. The town has a maintenance contract with NSTAR for such repairs.

The next meeting of the Board of Selectmen is scheduled for March 11 at 7:00 pm.

By Marilou Newell

It is what it is, is how Selectman Bradford Morse put it, after hearing that Rochester’s snow and ice removal budget, as it stands now, is about $20,000 to $30,000 over budget.

“And that doesn’t include last week’s expenses at this point,” said Town Administrator Richard LaCamera, “so, hopefully it stops snowing soon.”

LaCamera commented that the Town has to do what it has to do to remove the snow and ice from the streets, to which the selectmen concurred.

Transferring surplus money from different accounts in the budget will likely fund the over-expenditure of the snow and ice budget. If there is not enough money from these areas to cover it, then the Town will likely have to withdraw from the reserve fund.

In other matters, he was two days too late to appear on the ballot for the open seat on the Planning Board, but Lee Carr wrote a letter of interest on February 20 to the Selectmen, asking for their endorsement as a temporary appointee to fill Bob Francis’ empty seat on the board, while running as a write-in candidate for the two-year seat.

Selectmen Chairman Naida Parker said it would be a good way for Carr to “get his feet wet,” and expressed her support for Carr, adding that she will attend the February 25 Planning Board meeting in order to do so.

“I don’t have a problem with it,” said Selectman Richard Nunes. “It’s fine.”

The board will recommend Carr to the Planning Board, and then vote during the Planning Board meeting to formally appoint Carr.

Also during the meeting, LaCamera gave a brief overview of the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) fiscal year 2015 budget, saying there was a bit of relief now that revenue is picking up and revenue projections are getting closer to the projected numbers for FY14.

“It’s moving in the right direction,” said LaCamera. He added that they are averaging 20 ambulance transports for projected revenue, which is a conservative number, but better than overestimating.

The Board of Selectmen will meet on March 3 for executive session only. The next public meeting is scheduled for March 24 at 6:30 pm at Town Hall.

By Jean Perry

Mattapoisett’s Zoning Board of Appeals members Tony Tranfaglia, Gene DeSlandes, Susan Atkin, Coly Rottler, and Norman Lyonnais heard only one application on February 20th.   The parcel located at 14 Barstow Street is part of Bruce Rocha, Sr.’s plan to re-develop this site and the abutting now vacant site into two single-family dwellings. Rocha’s first application for the lot situated at the corner of Church and Barstow Streets sailed through various boards including the ZBA with no resistance. However, his plans for 14 Barstow met with negative responses from abutting neighbors south of the site on Barstow and north and south of the site on Mechanics Street.

The vacant building in question during this hearing was built in 1912, had been zoned for mixed use commercial enterprises and has been empty for several years. Rocha’s first site plan called for a dwelling that would front on Mechanics Street and have a long driveway on Barstow.  Neighbors voiced their concern that the plans were not only too large for the long narrow plot, but also not aesthetically appealing. ZBA sided with the neighbors during that hearing and sent Rocha back to the drawing board. After reducing the size of the dwelling and re-imaging the garage(s) and driveway options, Rocha returned to the Planning Board where the modified plans were accepted clearing the way for him to return to the zoning board of appeals. The need to receive a special permit given that the site has historically been zoned commercial versus residential also warranted the hearing.

The new plans call for a dwelling that will be 19’ wide (originally designed at 38’) with a 29’ ridgeline. The home will either be concrete slab on grade or a combination of slab on grade and a small crawl space. Taking into consideration that the location is within the flood plain the structures on the site are planned to be 18” above grade (no basement) and all utilities will be situated in the attic spaces of the two garages planned.  One garage will be attached to the dwelling and the other positioned beside it fronting on the Mechanics side of the parcel. Between the garages there is a proposed inner courtyard maximizing the ease of using the parking structures.

During his previous hearing neighbors had come out in force to voice their concern over the scope of the proposed design. On this there was an absence of resistance or pushback.  The board unanimously approved the project as submitted with a stipulation that the structure’s legal address remain 14 Barstow and that no living spaces be allowed in the garages unless vetted by the town’s departments for such use.

By Marilou Newell