The Rochester Board of Selectmen voted on Tuesday to authorize Town Administrator Richard LaCamera to enter into a contract with the Southeastern Regional Planning & Economic District, opening the door for the organization to provide planning services to the town in the wake of John Charbonneau’s departure.

Charbonneau, who had worked as part-time planner for Rochester and Wareham, recently accepted a full-time position in Raynham.

Board of Selectmen Chairman Naida Parker said that SRPEDD will charge the town for planning consultation, but that upward of the first 40 hours would be free. In addition, Parker said, grants and other funding could pay for more.

Parker, LaCamera and Planning Board Chairman Arnold Johnson recently met with SRPEDD Executive Director Steve Smith.

Selectman Bradford Morse said that is there no timetable for a permanent replacement for Charbonneau, and that the arrangement with SRPEDD will “buy us time.” Morse added that sharing a planner with Wareham – which Parker called “informal regionalization” – has worked well for Rochester.

Elsewhere on the agenda, the Selectmen signed off on annual renewal of the “Dog Warrant,” giving the Rochester Police Department greater enforcement powers against residents with unlicensed dogs. Parker estimated that there are as many as 100 to 200 unlicensed dogs in the town, and that while Animal Control’s enforcement ability is limited, the police can “take whatever legal action necessary.”

The next Board of Selectmen meeting is scheduled for September 23 – when there will be more discussion of dogs during a public hearing – with future meetings taking place on October 7 and October 21.

By Shawn Badgley

The items to be discussed and voted upon at the fall Town Meeting scheduled for Monday, October 28 were discussed at the Marion Board of Selectmen meeting on Tuesday evening.

After much discussion, the 11 warrant items were approved with some minor adjustments and requests to Town Administrator Paul Dawson for additional information regarding several items. Article 4, addressing the loss of the town’s ability to operate an ambulance operation, dominated the discussion.

Articles 1 through 3 involve requests from the Community Preservation and an Open Space Acquisition item.

The fourth generated a vigorous discussion, which included input from Allan Minard of the Finance Committee. At issue is the fact that the town will lose its license to run an ambulance service after early November due to not meeting state regulations regarding its operation. The question, to be posed at Town Meeting, is whether to hire an outside firm to run the ambulance service at an undetermined cost or do it in house by the Fire Department and EMS at a cost to be borne by town, which would raise taxes.

Minard spoke and said that this quickly approaching deadline left little room to explore the options. Minard said that he and the Finance Committee had little time to discuss and explore the issue due to lack of communication with the Fire Department/EMS, Town Administrator and the Board of Selectmen.

Selectman Dickerson noted that an ambulance was always on call at the Sippican Health Care Center, and perhaps a deal could be made with that vendor. Another option offered was to hire personnel who would be not eligible for health or vacation benefits, thus reducing the cost to the town. Both Dickerson and Steve Cushing struggled with the massive question before them.

Dickerson asked Paul Dawson to gather quotes for an outside service to run the town’s ambulance service.

In addition to the warrant discussion, the Board approved two appointments to boards. Jeff Doubrava is a new member of the Marion Conservation Commission, and Kristen Saint Don-Campbell was appointed to the Marion Cultural Council.

In other business, the Board voted and gave Dawson the approval to sign the contract with CDM-Smith for the repaving of River Road in Fiscal Year 14 and the repaving of Pleasant Street by the end of FY 15. The repaving is a temporary measure to make the road passable, with the underground piping work to be done according to the Capital Improvement Project, which is an ongoing multiyear enterprise.

By Joan Hartnett-Barry

Mattapoisett School Committee members discussed the Old Rochester Regional School District’s second opening for the position of principal in the past three months, as Old Hammondtown’s Matt D’Andrea will become the next assistant superintendent of the Martha’s Vineyard School District starting in November.

Moira Rodgers resigned as principal of Rochester Memorial School in May, and was soon succeeded by Derek Medeiros.

ORR School District Superintendent Doug White offered the Mattapoisett School Committee his outlook on the process to replace D’Andrea, 49, who has led Old Hammondtown for five years.

“My recommendation would be that we look at hiring someone on an interim basis,” said White, who will ultimately appoint the school’s next principal. “The primary issue is the candidate pool: When you try to fill a position in the beginning of a school year or first half, a lot of people are already committed to their contracts, limiting the possibility for candidates who can pursue opportunities like this.”

White added that the district could re-evaluate its options at a later date.

“This would give us the chance to look at what direction we’d like to go in after fiscal year 14,” he said.

Mattapoisett School Committee member Charles Motta suggested that the district look into interviewing candidates who applied for the RMS principal position.

In other personnel news, the Mattapoisett School Committee voted to install Patrick LeClair as vice-chair, replacing Gracinda Knox, who recently resigned from the committee. LeClair will also join the policy subcommittee.

The committee will seek to fill the vacancy left by Knox’s departure.

Elsewhere on the agenda, the committee approved a transfer of about $4,000 from its revolving account to its operating account to help bolster its Full Day K budget.

The Mattapoisett School Committee is scheduled to next meet on October 21.

By Shawn Badgley

The Mattapoisett Conservation Commission revisited the issue of how best to deal with invasive phragmite as it slowly but certainly is overtaking property situated at 112 Aucoot Road owned by Jay and Julie Duker. With their engineer David Davignon, the applicant came before the commission to receive approval for the removal of phragmite, sand dune development, and barrier beach nourishment.

After lengthy discussions with Davignon and Duker, during which commission members Bob Rogers, Tom Copps, and Chair Peter Newton debated various methods and possible compromises to the submitted request, a viable plan was outlined.

To insure the jurisdictional resource, the salt marsh, would not be compromised by outsourced sand and other off site materials, the commission agreed to allow sands that have migrated into the marsh be removed and returned to the barrier beach and/or the dune that will be built up to help protect the beach. The dune would be planted with native beach grasses. They also voted to allow the removal of phragmite with the caveat that these plants are very hard to completely remove and may return. They conditioned the work so that no off site material will be allowed during the project.

The night’s agenda also included a request by Anna Simon of 2 Shore Street to build a new shed. An existing shed that had not been previously permitted was not part of the work the commission was required to review. The building department will be visiting that issue at a later date. The request was approved with the condition that the shed will be tied down to insure that during storms it won’t damage surrounding spaces and structures.

David Nicolosi was again before the commission to discuss the roadwork and wetlands crossing he needs for property located off Fairhaven Road near Deerfield Road (Assessor’s map #21, lots # 33, 34, and 42B). Nicolosi must cross an intermittent stream and plans on using precast concrete bridge structures to do so. There were questions regarding the proper calculations for drainage and storm water runoff , which commission member Bob Rogers offered to discuss with Nicolosi’s engineer. Nicolosi’s request to the Natural Heritage regarding compensatory mitigation plans have been accepted and were shared with the commission.

The Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program (NHESP), part of the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, is one of the programs forming the Natural Heritage Network. NHESP is responsible for the conservation and protection of hundreds of species that are not hunted, fished, trapped, or commercially harvested in the state. The Program’s highest priority is protecting the vertebrate and invertebrate animals and native plants that are officially listed as Endangered, Threatened, or of Special Concern in Massachusetts.

Nicolosi will purchase land to offset disturbances caused by subdivision of his property. The commission granted another extension for this phase of his projected site development. When he returns he will have recalculations of drainage, construction sequencing plans, and 100-year flood data for review.

In other business: ratification of enforcement order for Leisure Shores Marina; the Conservation Agent’s report; and a vote to move the October 14 meeting, which falls on Columbus Day, to October 16.

By Marilou Newell

During a two-plus hour meeting that saw members talking out issues facing Rochester Memorial School in Fiscal Year 2014, the Rochester School Committee issued a blistering response to recent criticism from the Board of Selectmen about the district’s budget.

Chair Michelle Cusolito read from an “Open Letter to the Residents of Rochester” that she wrote on behalf of the Rochester School Committee. In, Cusolito chided the Selectmen for “continu[ing] to disrespect our committee by discussing school business at BoS meetings and airing complaints through the press instead of talking to us directly. Since the BoS has no authority over the School department, we contend that discussing school business at a BoS meeting, especially when no school officials or School Committee members are present, is inappropriate.”

Cusolito referred specifically to Selectman Richard Nunes, who blasted the Old Rochester Regional School District’s budgetary practices and RMS’s decision to fund a tuition-free Full-Day K – which he called “disturbing and shocking” – at a June 17 meeting.

“If we had required an additional funding sources for tuition-free Kindergarten, we would have spoken to town officials,” Cusolito wrote. “The fact is that we are able to fund the program within the budget already approved at town meeting. Therefore, Mr. Nunes’ stated concern that the kindergarten change was not brought before the town FinCom or Town Administrator to determine a funding source is irrelevant.”

Cusolito addressed the concerns of Nunes and others at Town Hall about the Rochester School Committee’s transparency.

“Our discussion about full day Kindergarten happened over a period of months, always in open meetings,” she wrote. “We will continue to work with town officials to create a mutually respectful environment that will best serve all of the citizens of Rochester. Members of the Board of Selectmen, like all members of the public, are encouraged to attend school committee meetings, especially if there is an issue that should be brought to our attention. Meetings are held at Town Hall on the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 pm.”

Later in the meeting, ORR School District Superintendent Doug White, also a target of criticism from Nunes, told members that the District would continue to provide all documentation – including contracts, invoices, purchase orders, and reports – to Rochester and its residents by standard practice or upon request.

Elsewhere on the agenda, the Rochester School Committee approved intra-budget transfers totaling $76,733 to help fund tuition-free Full-Day K. In addition, White announced that the District and Committee would have to monitor a roughly $17,000 spike in the transportation budget, as Rochester’s responsibility for its students at Bristol County Agricultural High School would include the need for an upgrade from a van to a bus. Students from Rochester who study at Bristol are funded via the RMS budget.

Member Sharon Hartley initiated a discussion about charging the YMCA a building-use fee for its afterschool programs taking place at RMS. Currently, YMCA pays nothing to Rochester for use of its facilities, while such towns as Marion receive significant fees, according to White. Hartley said that it is only fair Rochester receive payment, as well.

Most members agreed, and White told them he would begin exploring a solution.

As its current agenda drew to a close, the Rochester School Committee charted out those big-ticket items that could potentially be included on upcoming ones:

November/December: MCAS results; January: Initial Budget Review; January/June: School Lunch Statement; February: Approval of Chair’s Annual Report, Interim report on School Committee progress toward goals, Approval of School Calendar, Budget Approval (public hearings); May/June: School Committee Reorganization; May: School Choice Public Hearing, Internet Safety Public Hearing, Administrator Contracts; June: Approval of new School Committee goals.

But the school year has only just begun. The committee also congratulated new RMS principal Derek Medeiros for his first week on the job. Reports from students have been positive, said several members, as well as parents in the meeting audience.

“The school year did open very smoothly,” Medeiros said. “There were no issues or concerns. There was a good energy.”

The next Rochester School Committee meeting is scheduled for October 3.

By Shawn Badgley