Souvenir China Donation in Marion

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There’s something new at the Sippican Historical Society’s museum on Front Street. Thirty-six pieces of souvenir china that depict various scenes in Marion were recently donated by Pete Smith, Museum Curator.

“The first piece I purchased when I was young, and the second piece was given to me by my mother,” Smith said. “I would pick up an odd piece here and there, but later really got into it and started going to shows and dealers.”

An anonymous donor gave a lighted china cabinet to house the collection, which includes creamers, plates, ashtrays, cups with saucers, matchbook holders, porcelain shoes, pin dishes, toothpick holders and candy dishes.

All have scenes of Marion, including Bird Island, Tabor Academy, Town Hall, Gilder Hall, Stone Studio, Sippican Casino and Bathing House, and the Universalist Church and parsonage, which is now the Marion Art Center. Various houses and harbor scenes also appear on the pieces.

On the underside of each piece is the maker’s mark. Most were made in Germany, Austria, England and Japan. A circle or square mark states “Made in Germany for William R. Luce, Marion, MA” and “Made in Austria for Steven D. Hadley, Marion, MA.” Hadley was the owner of what is now the Marion General Store. Luce owned a store on upper Main Street.

Originally, the pieces came from Germany and Austria starting in the 1890s, but World War I cut off the sources and production shifted to England.

“The English pieces are of a much higher-quality porcelain,” Smith said. Many of those pieces have intricate gold leaf motifs of diamonds, flowers, and other designs, which are missing from the earlier pieces.

Smith says the pieces range from cheaply made to premium quality. A sketch would be drawn, transferred, layered and colored on the piece. The original cost of the pieces is unknown. The collection is valued at more than $2,500.

“I’ve been collecting for over 50 years, and some cost around $25 and some much more,” Smith explained. “I passed up on some great pieces, because I’d go to the show with a certain amount of money and maybe there’d be something great, but I didn’t plan on spending that much … or I’d go and there’d be nothing of interest at all.”

When asked about how the tradition of purchasing souvenir china by a visitor went out of favor, Smith offered a theory.

“I think it all ended when the camera came on the scene,” he said. “People would rather take home a photo than a piece of china.”

Smith said he is happy to make the donation.

“I was born and raised in Marion and have always had an interest in local history, and I wanted the collection to stay in Marion. It’s all Marion, from Marion and for Marion.”

The Sippican Historical Society’s museum is located at 139 Front Street and is open Tuesdays through Fridays from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, and Saturdays from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm.

By Joan Hartnett-Barry

Solar Bylaw Boosters Regroup

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Fairhaven, Carver and Dartmouth have one, and the Energy Management Committee wants Marion to have one, as well: a solar bylaw that would allow for a community solar garden on the town’s capped landfill via a Municipal Solar Overlay District.

The proposal would also formalize the process for installing residential solar arrays on parcels of one or more acres in town. Just last week, Mattapoisett agreed to propose a solar bylaw for their town.

The Marion EMC met on Monday evening at the Marion Music Hall to discuss their presentations for the Annual Town Meeting that starts on May 13.

“We don’t want to be left behind,” member Jennifer Francis said. “Our job is to explain to town residents the levels of oversight and the importance of our town accomplishing this important energy-saving initiative.”

The Committee agreed that the complex subject required public education on the technology and permitting process involved.

“We will bring it to the public at town meeting and let them decide,” member David Pierce said.

At issue is the Marion Planning Board, which has objected to many aspects of the policy.

Because the warrant issue of a solar bylaw doesn’t involve a fiscal issue at this time, the Committee wondered if its placement on the warrant would be later in the evening when the ranks thin out as people depart the town meeting.

“We need a quorum to understand and vote on this issue, which is vital to Marion’s future,” Pierce said.

“We support our proposed solar bylaw as it stands,” Chairman Bill Saltonstall said. Both Saltonstall and Francis spent a part of the day in Fairhaven with town officials discussing the success of their solar installation, to be built within the next three to six months.

The EMC has been working to get facts and figures of how much energy the town uses and how to make it more efficient with technology. Committee member Norman Hills noted that the town spent approximately $125,000 in gasoline costs, excluding diesel fuel, last year. Hills noted that the Committee’s purpose is to examine energy use by the town and find ways to reduce energy costs.

The Committee discussed Fairhaven’s initiative to go street by street and replace town lighting with LED lighting, whose life span is 10 years longer than traditional lighting. Hills noted that there is a national lighting program which monitors town lighting needs and dims according to lighting needs by weather monitoring.

“The technology out there is amazing,” Hills said. “We need to educate citizens to see the savings to the town that comes with this technology.”

The Committee is looking for additional members to help find additional ways to make Marion more energy efficient. To join, call David Pierce at 508-748-2372.

The next EMC meeting will take place at the Marion Music Hall on June 4 at 7:00 pm.

By Joan Hartnett-Barry

Solar in a Proper Context

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To the Editor:

The media reports extolling the virtues of a proposed solar garden by Marion’s Energy Management Committee sited on the Marion landfill needs to be placed in a proper context.

An EMC objective is to change Marion’s zoning bylaws to allow “as a matter of right” zoning for the purpose of siting its’ private commercial solar garden on the Town’s landfill. Effectively, such zoning would allow the EMC to bypass traditional zoning protections. All commercial industrial projects designated as a permitted use by Marion’s zoning bylaws require a special permit and site plan review before they can be built. At this time, a commercial solar farm is not a zoning permitted use and therefore is not allowed in Marion without first changing the zoning bylaws by a two-thirds Town Meeting vote.

Any zoning change regarding commercial solar development in Marion should limit project siting to commercial and industrially zoned districts and require a special permit and site plan review to insure that our neighborhoods and open spaces are adequately protected. This is just good zoning public policy. Effectively, the EMC is looking to receive “favored nations” zoning privileges for its proposed solar garden not available to other commercial projects.

The EMC claims a commercial solar garden like the community vegetable garden would allow Marion resident access to solar energy not otherwise available to them as the result of geographical constants precluding roof top solar installations. How wonderful it would be to provide Marion residents access to solar power like the benefits of a community vegetable garden. A community solar garden has absolutely no corollary to a community garden.

Solar projects are incentive and tax-sheltered investments. Without state-mandated premium net metering power rates, alternative energy credits, state and federal tax incentives such as the 30 percent federal investment tax credit and accelerated deprecation, there would be no solar.

Solar garden participation would be limited to a small select group of well-heeled citizens. Most Marion residents will have no access to a solar garden. There are several reasons for this exclusion. First, it’s necessary to have a large taxable income appetite to be able to take advantage of the tax incentives. Most Marion residents will neither have the level nor the type of income that can effectively utilize the tax incentives, such as the federal 30 percent investment tax credit. Only professionally well-financed investors with access to the type of income that can utilize the tax benefits known as tax assets can effectively invest in solar projects.

Secondly, a solar garden structured to provide the maximum incentive and tax benefit returns sold as an investment interest is considered a security. The securities law regulatory environment is complex and can be very expensive. Effectively, only a limited group of Marion residence who qualify as “accredited investors” will be able to qualify to purchases shares or interests in the solar garden.

An accredited investor has to be sophisticated as to investment background and knowledge to assume and assess investment risk. Also, the accredited investor has to have a minimum net worth of $1 million or more, excluding their house, and or an annual income of $200,000. The average annual Marion household income is about $80,000.

At this point, it’s fair to ask the question of the EMC how can board-based community participation by all income levels be achieved with its proposed solar garden? Also, how can the EMC justify using the Town as a springboard, either directly or indirectly, to promote and to participate in the sale of private solar investment interests to a few well-heeled Town residents?

The commercial solar farm would be located on the environmentally sensitive landfill. Environmental incidents that may result from such an installation are extremely expensive to remediate and, generally, environmental liability insurance coverage is not available. The Town will have the liability and risk for any activity by a private developer using the site. This project is not such a good idea for our Town.

More detailed information is available in the U.S. Department of Energy’s “A Guide to Community Share Power,” www.doe.gov, and taxation of solar energy credits as income is available at www.irs.gov.

Ted North

Marion

 

The views expressed in the “Letters to the Editor” column are not necessarily those of The Wanderer, its staff or advertisers. The Wanderer will gladly accept any and all correspondence relating to timely and pertinent issues in the great Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester area, provided they include the author’s name, address and phone number for verification. We cannot publish anonymous, unsigned or unconfirmed submissions. The Wanderer reserves the right to edit, condense and otherwise alter submissions for purposes of clarity and/or spacing considerations. The Wanderer may choose to not run letters that thank businesses, and The Wanderer has the right to edit letters to omit business names. The Wanderer also reserves the right to deny publication of any submitted correspondence.

Municipal Solar Overlay District

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To the Editor:

We’d all like to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and save money, right? Solar photovoltaic panels are a great way to achieve this, but not all of us are fortunate to have a roof that isn’t shaded and that faces the right direction, a suitable yard for ground-mounted panels or the financial resources to pay the up-front costs for our own solar system. The concept of a community solar garden is to provide “virtual” solar power for people in this situation. The area around Marion’s dump – the top of the capped landfill in particular – is the ideal location for a solar garden: it’s out of sight, sunlight is unobstructed, access to the power grid is nearby, it’s nearly level and already fenced-in, the land is town-owned and otherwise useless, and you already voted last year to allow the landfill to be leased for a solar project.

The approval of Article #31 would create a Municipal Solar Overlay District that includes about 50 acres around the capped landfill, in which the construction of solar arrays is allowed without the requirement of a special permit from the Planning Board. This does not mean, however, that any proposed projects would circumvent substantial oversight. On the contrary: not only would an applicant have to satisfy a site plan review and obtain a building permit, but the state’s Department of Environmental Protection requires a Post-Closure Permit for any project on a capped landfill. This MassDEP permit is substantially more rigorous and technical than a town-issued special permit, and even better, the engineering costs are born by the state, not the town! Adding the requirement of a special permit (in addition to a building permit, a site-plan review, and the DEP permit) is not only unnecessary, but this extra burden may deter solar companies from bidding on the construction of a community solar garden on Marion’s landfill. MassDEP has already permitted solar arrays on 40 capped landfills. The technology is mature, the risks are minimal and the benefits are substantial.

So why is the Planning Board refusing to support this Overlay bylaw unless it requires a special permit? It’s simple. They would lose the power to say “no” to a community solar garden on the landfill.

Let’s look at the benefits of a community solar garden to Marion residents. First, the town would receive a lease payment for use of the landfill; remember, right now it earns the town nothing. The solar developer would be responsible for the financing and insurance. There would be no cost to the town to construct the solar system. Any Marion resident may buy a subscription for which he/she receives solar-generated electricity over some time period. The solar garden in Brewster is a good example: subscribers pay $5,000 for five years of power from 28 solar panels, and they are guaranteed $6,400 worth of electricity – a 22 percent savings. The discount is applied directly to their NSTAR electric bill. Everyone qualifies, no taxes. The Brewster garden has been so successful that they’re already working on another. Read about it in an article at www.cape odtoday.com on October 14, 2012.

And last but not least, the Overlay with no special permit would satisfy the first criterion for Marion to become a Green Community, perhaps someday joining the now 114 towns in Massachusetts (30 percent) that have already achieved this status. Recent letters and rumors have made this program sound pretty scary, but the truth is that it’s simply a set of five common-sense actions that reduce energy use and save money in the long run. One is for towns to develop a plan – just a plan, mind you – to reduce municipal energy use by 20 percent over five years. Good idea, right? Another is for towns to buy more energy-efficient vehicles when it’s time to replace the ones they already have (excluding trucks and police cruisers). What’s wrong with that? And one includes guidelines for building new homes that are more energy efficient – using things like good insulation, efficient water heaters and furnaces, and windows that don’t leak energy. Sure, these choices add a few percent to the cost of a house up-front, but after a few years, they save the owner money for the life of the house. Ask any realtor: an energy-efficient home is worth more than an energy-wasteful one.

We on the EMC plan to research each of these criteria one by one, decide if they make sense for Marion, and if they do, bring them to you at Town Meeting for you to decide.

The Municipal Solar Overlay District is a win-win situation for Marion and its residents. A once-useless dump would provide income to the town and solar power to residents and businesses, and we as a community could take one small step toward being just a little greener. Please attend Town Meeting on May 13 and 14, and support a new sun zone in Marion.

Jennifer Francis

Marion Energy Management Committee

 

The views expressed in the “Letters to the Editor” column are not necessarily those of The Wanderer, its staff or advertisers. The Wanderer will gladly accept any and all correspondence relating to timely and pertinent issues in the great Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester area, provided they include the author’s name, address and phone number for verification. We cannot publish anonymous, unsigned or unconfirmed submissions. The Wanderer reserves the right to edit, condense and otherwise alter submissions for purposes of clarity and/or spacing considerations. The Wanderer may choose to not run letters that thank businesses, and The Wanderer has the right to edit letters to omit business names. The Wanderer also reserves the right to deny publication of any submitted correspondence.

Eleanor (Sylvia) Roche

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Eleanor (Sylvia) Roche, 80, of Mattapoisett died April 22, 2013 after a brief illness at Tobey Hospital in Wareham.

She was the beloved wife of Paul Roche for over 55 years. Born in New Bedford, the daughter of the late Joseph Sylvia and Margaret (Hawley) Sylvia. During her life Eleanor lived in Mattapoisett, Boston, Madison CT, Sudbury, Bourne, finally returning home to Mattapoisett in 1994. Since then, she greatly enjoyed her time spent with her lifelong friends, aka “The Golden Girls”. She was a communicant of St. Anthony?s Church in Mattapoisett, and was married there in 1957. She was a graduate of Fairhaven High School, class of 1951 and Fisher College in Boston, class of 1953.

She leaves her husband, Paul Roche; their four sons, Brian Roche and wife Alison and David and wife Patricia all of Southborough,MA, Stephen Roche and wife Donna of Hollis NH, and Christopher and wife Kathleen of Westford, MA; her brother Earle and his wife Mary Jane of Mattapoisett. She also leaves 11 grandchildren whose visits she so loved, and several nieces and nephews.

Her family will receive visitors at Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home For Funerals, 50 County Rd., Mattapoisett on Friday April 26th from 9-10:30 AM, followed by an 11 AM Funeral Mass at St. Anthony’s Church. Burial will follow at St. Anthony’s Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her name to the American Heart Association, P.O. Box 417005, Boston, MA 02241-7005. For directions and guestbook, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.

Mattapoisett Neck Road Price Tag Jumps

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The re-paving of Mattapoisett Neck Road could cost upward of $43,000 more than originally planned, according to representatives from a longtime contracting partner of the town.

During a presentation at the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen meeting on Tuesday night, Ron Michalski and Pat Sheridan of Tighe & Bond – the firm handling the improvements – disclosed that the project’s price tag was underestimated at $240,000, and could end up costing closer to $273,000.

The Board of Selectmen was incredulous during a discussion that lasted more than a half-hour, with Clerk Paul Silva making mention of the L word: litigation. Officials speculated on various emergency funding scenarios to complete the long-in-the-works re-paving, none satisfactory to the Board, which expressed a conviction that the responsibility was ultimately Tighe & Bond’s.

Michalski and Sheridan said that there could be a way to split the difference, or that the estimate could be cut by $10- to $15,000, and that the firm could cover the remaining balance.

Elsewhere on the agenda, Old Rochester Regional School District Technology Director Ryan McGee presented requests as part of the Local Schools Five Year Capital Plan Needs for the Center and Old Hammondtown schools. The Selectmen agreed to find at least partial funding for improved capabilities now, but that future requests should be built into the education budget.

Allen Decker of the Buzzards Bay Coalition requested a letter of support for the grant that the organization is currently seeking.

Awards were presented to the Mattapoisett Water and Sewer Department, while Friday, April 26, was officially designated as the town’s Tree City Arbor Day.

In addition, the Seaport Ice Cream Slip at Town Wharf was approved for a Common Victualler License; Bowl More Lanes at 22 County Rd. was approved for a bowling alley license, while Rick’s Tavern’s billiard pool license was approved; a one-day special liquor license was granted for the business picnic at the YMCA; the Selectmen appointed Anthony J. Tranfaglia III to an associate member position on the Board of Appeals; a Phase III Road Improvement Question was approved for Town Meeting; and The Wanderer’s own Marilou Newell was appointed to the Mattapoisett Historical Commission.

The next Board of Selectmen meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 7, 7:00 pm.

By Shawn Badgley

Shawmut Nearing OK for Recycling Site

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The running public hearing for construction at Shawmut Associates LLC of Cranberry Highway in Rochester continued on Tuesday evening, with Planning Board members estimating that it would take upward of another three meetings to get everything approved by the town’s various boards.

Green Seal engineers recently submitted a site plan review to the town, and they expect the Planning Board to approve it, barring any setbacks.

Town Planner John Charbonneau said that the Conservation Commission will also be issuing an Order for Conditions at the site at some point this month, and unless members take issue with the construction, they would also be ready to approve the changes when they meet on May 7.

According to Gary James, an engineer for Green Seal, there has been a lot of work including topography and controlled grading on the access road that is currently being built. He said that they also installed two drop-inlets to control water flow near the road. The drainage is one area of particular significance to the Conservation Commission.

“We’ll have public hearing one more time,” Planning Board Chairman Arnold Johnson said. “Once [approval from other boards] comes through, we’ll be able to approve everything.”

He added that things could be complete by the second meeting if all goes according to plan.

“Depending on how things work, maybe we could vote that night, and that would be it,” he said.

The public hearing is continued to May 15 at 7:00 pm.

In other news, Charbonneau said that he and others were going to get to work on zoning bylaws for the sale of medical marijuana. He said that it would fit into bylaws for the adult use district in most towns, and they would follow suit in Rochester.

He also said that towns are responsible for giving permits after applicants receive state approval.

“They have to apply for a license from the state, but they still need local approval,” he said.

He added that the final regulations from the Department of Health have not yet come out, but that they should emerge within a few weeks.

Finally, Johnson said that the town wants to form a subcommittee with the Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Board to go over and rewrite the town’s zoning bylaws. He said that they want to see if there’s repetition in zoning bylaws and, if so, necessary changes could be made.

“We want to get that going,” Johnson said. “It’s a lot easier with a couple of members from each one. You can easily get together.”

Johnson said that they’d be looking for at least two members from each board.

By Nick Walecka

Light Agenda, Valuable Decisions

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The Conservation Commission’s schedule was extraordinarily limited, but one meeting carried great importance for the residents of Mattapoisett.

Buzzard’s Bay Coalition’s Allen Decker once again was before the commission seeking its approval for a completed grant application and letter to the state for 16.5 acres the coalition is securing and, will ultimately be owned by the town’s Conservation Commission. The 2010 Fall Town Meeting approved the purchase of the land with the caveat that the price tag associated with the property would be funded from grants and other sources outside the town’s budget.

Decker said, “As you can imagine, funding for conservation from the state is very competitive … but critical to protect the aquifer.” He was seeking the commission’s approval to submit the completed grant application and letter, both of which are required to be signed by the Board of Selectmen this week. Decker has a meeting scheduled on the Board of Selectmen’s agenda for April 25. This grant is seeking $240,000 to help with the $750,000 land purchase from Decas Cranberry Corporation.

Decker detailed the land as a prime location along the river, which will be conserved for public passive recreational activities. He said that the property will not and should not be developed for more public access than it currently supports. He envisions swimming, fishing, and kayaking to be the type of activity the area could successfully accommodate. He also expressed that the commission should plan on putting use restrictions in place to ensure the uncorrupted watershed area would remain as is.

Chair Peter Newton along with commission members Tom Copps and Michael King approved Decker’s request.

A hearing with applicant Kate Marmelo was also heard. She was requesting approval for an in-ground swimming pool. This was approved with several considerations, including hay bales that will be used where necessary to protect limited wetlands contiguous to the property line during dewatering operation associated with the construction.

Two scheduled hearings were continued: one with D & B Construction regarding an after the fact notice of intent for an existing detached shed and outdoor shower located partially with bordering vegetated wetlands.

The other continuance is with David Nicolosi for property off of Fairhaven Road, Lots #33, 34, and 42B for a crossing over wetlands and an intermittent stream.

Conservation Agent Elizabeth Leidhold gave her report, which included notice of the April 25 Open Space public meeting taking place at Old Hammondtown School at 7:00 pm.

After reviewing and approving the previous meeting’s minutes, the commission adjourned for the night.

By Marilou Newell

Officials Discuss School Surplus

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The Rochester Board of Selectman and members of the Rochester School Committee held a brief joint meeting Monday and discussed the potential reallocation of extra funds from this year’s budget into a special education account in case of unexpected expenses for fiscal year 2014.

Ultimately, the Board approved the three articles presented by the School Committee, but the two groups decided that they would need to further discuss how much of the potential surplus funds would be switched over to the special education account.

Members of the School Committee said that there was roughly $108,000 surplus in the budget currently, and they estimated that after the school year concludes, they would probably have about $50,000 that could be rolled over into the account.

“At this point, they haven’t needed that money available,” Town Administrator Richard LaCamera said. “I recommend that we set this up to deal with any problems in the future.”

Members of the two boards discussed the possibility of having to place students in out-of-district facilities, which would be at its own expense, among other potential expenses. In the past, the school has needed extra funds for special education, but has not had the funds allocated to do so. This would keep that from reoccurring.

Sharon Hartley of the School Committee expressed her gratitude to the Selectmen for approving the articles and offering to meet with them for further discussion.

“We appreciate the idea and the effort and the action of creating that,” Hartley said. “We think it’s a very good idea.”

Hartley also said that they have not yet set an amount or discussed how much they think will be left at the end of the year, but she offered an estimate of $50,000.

After the School Committee portion of the meeting was over, the Selectmen met and reshuffled the Board, with its members ultimately deciding to nominate Naida Parker as Chair, Bradford Morse as Vice Chair, and Richard Nunes to be Clerk.

Also during the meeting, there took place a heated debate between the Selectmen and members of the Board of Health regarding the necessity of insurance liability for members of the Board of Health. The issue was left unresolved after accusations from the Board of Health and their subsequent walkout.

In other news, Parker commended groups of local students and others who helped out in the town cleanup for Earth Day. “Everybody in Rochester appreciated the effort they’ve made to improve our community.”

Parker also announced the resignation of Anna White of the Historical Commission after a long career there. White cited declining health and hearing as her reason for leaving the Commission. Parker added that she was an administrator and secretary for the Board of Selectmen for a number of years.

“It’s disappointing that she needs to give her seat up,” Parker said. “She has an amazing memory for the history of this town.”

Parker added that White would remain with the Commission as an honorary member.

Finally, the Selectmen took a moment to notify the public that members of the Plymouth County Mosquito Control Project would be spraying for mosquitoes during through April 26. The “aerial larviciding” would take place over handpicked swamps, and there will not be spraying over any homes.

By Nick Walecka

Old Rochester Little League Opening Day

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Old Rochester Little League will hold its opening day ceremony on Saturday, April 27. The ceremony will begin with a parade of all the ORLL players from Dexter Lane Recreation Area in Rochester to Gifford Park in Rochester. The Little Leaguers will arrive at Dexter Lane Recreation Area at 8:00 am and the parade will commence at 8:30 am.

Once the players arrive at Gifford Park, there will be a ceremony on the field that will include a first pitch. Michael Rock, morning show co-host on Fun 107, will emcee the festivities. Michael is a Tri-Town resident and has hosted Opening Day in Rochester for the past few years, and is now a coach in the league. Following the festivities, several of the league teams will play games at Gifford Park.

“We are very excited about our first opening day as a Tri-Town league,” ORLL President Peter Johnson said. “We believe that this will be just the first of many great events that will take place within ORLL. We have more than 400 children from the Tri-Town area passionate about playing baseball and looking forward to a great season.”

It will mark the first opening day ceremony since Rochester Youth Baseball merged with Old Rochester Little League last fall. The opening day ceremony will combine traditions from all the towns. The league also will introduce the new Snack Shack at Gifford Park.

ORLL serves the communities of Marion, Mattapoisett, and Rochester. ORLL, which was founded in 2011, allows for boys and girls ages 4 1⁄2-12 from Marion, Mattapoisett, and Rochester the opportunity to play Little League Baseball. This season, more than 400 boys and girls from the Tri-Town area participating in ORLL.