The most recent testing of Mattapoisett beaches by the Board of Health has cleared the water for swimming lifting yesterdays closings.

A fairly brief but efficient meeting of the Rochester Conservation Commission was held Tuesday night, with the Commission’s ruling against the purchase of a Chapter 61B property in town being the most notable.

The town has Right of First Refusal for a property off High Street (which is currently owned by Scott and Felicia Morse) because the land falls under Chapter 61 Legislation.

Properties falling under Massachusetts Chapter 61 Legislation generally cover forest, agriculture or open space designations, and they are eligible for lower taxes because the towns favor those types of activities, according to Commissioner Rosemary Smith.

“From a conservation point, it doesn’t have a lot of value,” said Laurell Farinon, the town’s Conservation Agent.

Next, the Commission approved minor work to be done at both the Covanta SEMASS facility and at NSTAR electrical station 718 on Route 28 after both were determined to be reasonable and minor projects.

The Commission’s only recommendations were that they’d be notified before each and every phase of the construction on both sites.

At SEMASS, workers will replace a temporary power line with a permanent one, and at the NSTAR facility, a new enclosure to accompany a pre-existing structure will be built.

By Nick Walecka

After two hours of public hearing and Planning Board debate, Johnson Family Investments got the last green light it needed to break ground on the redevelopment of the Frigate Restaurant property at 806 Mill St. The new business, Fieldstone Farms, will include a produce market and ice cream window.

Johnson – along with his architect, Anthi Frangiadis and Associates and GAF Engineering – overcame protestations from various members of the Planning Board during the sit plan review, notably Ted North.

“The abutters have absolutely no recourse, and this is going to have an impact on the quality of life, as well as resale value of their property,” North said. “The ice cream window shouldn’t be permitted, and the project’s too big. It needs to be scaled down, otherwise there’s going to be a detriment to the neighborhood.”

North lamented that the project would end up at more than 5,000 square feet, exceeding original plans, but included the roofline in that estimate. Johnson disagreed with North’s measurements, and he didn’t stop there.

“The building will end up occupying 8 percent of the lot,” Johnson said. “It is measured by the exterior walls, not by roofline – that’s in your own bylaws. As far as a detriment to the neighborhood, that’s absolutely ridiculous. That place is a dump, and I’m going to go in and clean it up.

“This represents a significant investment in the neighborhood,” he continued. “A produce market with or without an ice cream window is not going to affect property value in a negative way.”

Johnson reminded the Planning Board that the abutter on each side of the Fieldstone Farms site supports the project. While an abutter across the street expressed concerns about the size and traffic issues, the public input throughout the proceedings was largely positive.

In approving the project 4-2, the Planning Board: limited the business hours to 9:00 am-7:00 pm for the produce market and 9:00 am-9:00 pm for the seasonal ice cream window; stipulated that no outside seating be installed; and amended acceptable market sales to “produce and grocery-related products.”

Johnson said that construction will begin soon, as he’s aiming for a spring of 2014 opening.

Elsewhere on the agenda, the Planning Board and the Energy Management Committee resumed discussion on the Solar Bylaw, which passed in part at Town Meeting in May and will see another vote at Fall Town Meeting – if the two sides can work together to craft a revised policy on residential installations. The Planning Board continues to seek more oversight in the process, while the EMC dug in its heels on resisting a special permit. The EMC did, however, add a requirement for abutter notification.

“We came away [from Town Meeting] very enthusiastic, very close to a sweet spot between people in the town who want to do what they want with their backyards and people who want to regulate,” EMC member Jennifer Francis said. “We came within four votes. It makes no sense to me to start all over again. We think you ought to consider the changes that we made to address criticisms and comments.”

As the meeting had exceeded three hours at this point, Planning Board members heard Francis out, but continued the discussion until Aug. 5.

“I don’t want you to waste your time,” Chair Pat McArdle said, “because I don’t even know if we’re in the same place as you right now.”

In other news, the McArdle reported that the Board is in communication with Cumberland Farms about its location at 406 Wareham Rd. Marion is asking the gas station and convenience store to add four parking spots, improve safety conditions, and increase its operational efficiency.

By Shawn Badgley

New state regulations concerning the water supply for the town of Rochester led members of the town’s Water Commission as well as representatives from Tata and Howard, a water and wastewater consultant, to the Board of Selectmen meeting Monday evening.

According to Tata and Howard Vice President Patrick S. O’Neale, the new regulations will have an effect on 200-plus homes in town that have public water.

“Probably in the long run, [the new regulations] will affect the town itself,” O’Neale said.

According to O’Neale, re-permitting that is set to take place in 2015 for towns who purchase water will eventually put restrictions on the amount of water used by homes that have public water.

“With re-permitting, there’s going to be pressure on the water suppliers to limit withdrawals,” O’Neale said. “If you limit water use, and you have the same expenses, then the water rates will go up. There will be some trickle down effect when that happens.”

According to O’Neale, the state had already extended water permits from 2011 until 2013, and then again in 2013 until 2015.

The potential limits could involve limitations involving droughts, when the state can limit the use of water. Currently, when there is a drought, someone with public water can water his or her lawn every other day. Under the new standards, they would only be permitted to water once a week and not between the hours of 9:00 am-5:00 pm. There would also be a list of other potential changes to accompany the new water restrictions.

“That change is coming in the form of a new bylaw,” O’Neale said. “It’s a pretty big change when you’re coming to communities that are used to watering their lawns.”

Town Officials and the representatives on hand said that they would continue to meet with the town to determine what changes they need to make in the future regarding the re-permitting and subsequent changes.

In other news, Finance Committee Chair Kristian Stoltenberg was on hand to discuss the potential proactive hiring of a full-time Assessor for the Town for Fiscal Year 2015, something that he says that the Board of Assessors has been unwilling to discuss with the Finance Committee up until this point.

“There is no attempt on our part to tell the Board of Assessors how to run themselves,” Stoltenberg said. He said that they were merely asking for a meeting to discuss the potential for a full-time assessor, but so far, they have not cooperated.

“We just want to have a free-flowing discussion,” Stoltenberg said. “All I’m asking is for a little bit of consideration.”

According to Massachusetts’ general laws, the decision to hire or not hire someone lies with the Board of Assessors themselves.

Diana Knapp of the Board of Assessors was on hand to represent them, and she read a letter from the Board basically stating that at this point, they were unwilling to consider hiring someone new, though they were open to having members of the Finance Committee attend their next meeting.

“I was a little amazed that I got this response,” Stoltenberg said, “but I’ll take the challenge. If they say I can come to this meeting, then I will.”

“I think it’s always been a goal of the Assessors to have a full-time assessor,” Selectmen Chair Naida Parker said. “I would hope that the Assessor would take the opportunity to meet with [the Finance Committee]. I think that now is the time – as you get further along in the budget process – the amount of available monies that you can allocate must shrink.”

All in all, Stoltenberg seemed pleased that some progress had finally been made in the communication between the two groups.

“The fact that [Knapp] was there was a good show on their part,” Stoltenberg said. “This is an opportunity for the town. It’s a great opportunity.”

By Nick Walecka

Heavy rains have contributed the high bacteria counts at many Mattapoisett Beaches causing the Board of Health to close those beaches to swimming. The beaches affected include Antassawamock Beach #1, Shining Tides, Town Beach, Ned’s Point / Veterans Park, Crescent Beach, and Harbor Beach

All the locations are being retested and will be updated on Wednesday.

There was only one agenda item for the Mattapoisett Planning Board but one that touched a nerve with some of the residents who believe in the beauty and necessity of keeping North Street a designated “scenic byway”.

Walter and Cecile Callahan, 86 North Street appeared before the board along with Tree Warden Roland Cote and Highway Supervisor Barry Denham to present their reasons for requesting the approval to remove 11 locust trees from the property.

Cote noted for the board, who deferred to his expertise on this topic, that a cluster of natural growing locust trees were problematic for the homeowners and represented a safety hazard for them and other motorists.  He said that exiting the driveway of the property was particularly difficult because the trees didn’t allow a clear line of sight for motorists on North Street or the residents as they attempted to exit.

Denham offered that in his view many of the trees could be removed, as many as 9 which would allow for the best specimens to grow to their full glory accomplishing both what the residents want, which is better access to their property and what the scenic requirement is, keeping trees along North Street.

Cote said that many of the trees, which are presently tagged and several sprayed painted, should be removed so that the best ones could flourish.  Denham said, “They are just shading other trees.”  Both experts said that four trees should be kept but the rest harvested.  The wood could be recycled.  “It’s a pruning operation,” Denham stated.

However, Ruth Bates of Abbey Lane who is a former member of the tree committee felt she would be remiss if she didn’t come forward and question the sheer number of trees slated for removal.  “I agree that some should be culled”, she began, “but I find it troubling, I don’t like the persistent cutting down of trees…” She noted that the power utilities are in constant pruning mode along North Street and also said that unlike the village, North Street’s status as a scenic byway doesn’t seem to be as well respected.  She opposed the number of trees slated for the ax.  “I’m an advocate for the scenic bylaw that we have put in place.”

She went on to note that those trees were in fact honey locust some of which had been planted and not occurring due to natural causes.

The Board postponed their decision and continued the public hearing until August 5^th, at 7 pm at the Town Hall conference room, giving them time to make a site visit before voting on the request.

After review and accepting of the minutes from the last meeting the board adjourned.

By Marilou Newell