The Marion Capitol Improvement Planning Committee met Thursday, October 18, at Music Hall in Marion. The meeting was attended by Chairman Norm Hills and members Casey Barros, Dick Giberti and Ham Gravem.

A Phase 1A design plan by CDM Smith to renovate South Street and Ryder Lane  has been completed. There are not yet any plans for phases 1B, 2, 3, and 4.

 The total costs for the Phase 1A proposal could reach about $4.7 million, Hills said, but added “There is no fair estimate until we actually have a final plan and a bid to do the work.”

Hills also said that about $2 million could be covered by potential grants.

Committee members expect there will be some discussion before the Phase 1A design plan is approved by the town.

“People are not going to just take in the plan and swallow it. They are going to ask questions,” Sanz said.

If the town approves the Phase 1A design plan, it would then go out for a bid before any work could actually get done.

In other matters, Hills participated in a maintenance inspection of various town buildings including the beach house, Music Hall, the public library, the main fire station and the Point Road fire station, and a water pumping station.

The water pumping station appears to need some maintenance work, he said.

“Structurally it looks fine, but it’s certainly in bad shape and it’s like you can throw basketballs through it in some places,” said Hills, while adding his pleasant surprise by improvements being made at the main fire station.

 “I went to the main fire station yesterday, and there is a lot of work going on there. They’ve done quite a bit of stuff. Everything has been painted and they cleaned the electrical room, and they are moving cabinets around,” Hills said.

By Scott A. Giordano

Murphy’s Junkyard and Used Tire Warehouse were back before the Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals on Thursday night, October 18, in a continued hearing regarding the use of the junkyard’s single lot for both businesses.  They have been sharing the land owned by Michael Murphy on County Road, but had not acquired authorization from the town to hold two businesses on that one lot.  It’s listed as an agricultural-residential district.

The Board agreed not to shut down the business, but to come back and start from scratch so they could render a decision that could work with their present arrangement.

“The Applicant’s intent is to use the lot for the sale of tires,” said ZBA chairman Richard Cutler, as he read from the appeal.  “The welfare of the public will be served by having available the services offered by the business.”

The junkyard operated prior to the implementation of zoning by-laws in the town of Rochester.  The ZBA issued a special permit, but felt that there have been enough changes at the site to merit a new application for the use of the land.

The proposal before the Board called for the moving of lot lines in order to create two lots for the businesses, with an empty lot left over for a proposed building.  That application has been pending for weeks, pursuant to a decision by the ZBA on the changes to the lot delineations.

Given the residential area of the businesses, the application includes the name of several abutters, but only one, Patricia Fillippini, was present at the ZBA meeting.

She was concerned about the proliferation of small animals such as rats in the area and the visual impact because of the junkyard.  “From my kitchen, I could see all the junk.  I could see the building, I could hear the [construction] trucks at four or five in the morning,” said Fillippini.

Part of the proposal includes moving the location of the contents of the junkyard away from her lot.

Owners of both businesses were present, as were their attorneys, who argued in favor of a plan that would change the lot delineations of the land allowing for the creation of a third lot and for each business to occupy one lot apiece.

“We occupy some space owned by Mr. Murphy.  As I indicated the last time, we were asked to get a Class 3 license, and we did get that license before coming before this board,” said Gregory Koldys, an attorney representing the tire business.  Some of the services they’d like to offer, such as large truck repair, may not be covered under that license.

“We’d like to know which sort of things the Board would allow them to perform and which they’d have issues with,” he said.

“The plan that we’re looking at here seems to be different than what the operation appears to be when we drive by it now,” Cutler said.

“What we’re considering doing, and we haven’t brought this to the Planning Board yet, we want to move the line at 37 [County Road],” said Robert Perry, the attorney who represented Murphy at the meeting. As a result, they would be reshaping the residential lot owned by Murphy next to the businesses.  “The intent is to put the used tire company on the newly configured ’37.’  We’re happy to work with the Board on any modifications you see fit.”

“When all is said and done, we’ll have two lots with two entities running businesses on each,” Cutler said.  “In my mind this would be easier if we had two businesses on two separate lots.”

He said, based on the history of the lot, the more that can be defined about the area, the easier it will be for the ZBA to make a decision.  The Board requested that Murphy submit plans for the extra lot that would be created by changing the current delineations.

“Our goal here is to clean everything up to make everybody happy,” he said.

Cutler then asked the applicants to list some of the proposed site improvements for the area of the property from the roadside.

“This whole plan helps us better organize and use the space we have now.  We’d be able to lose the trailers that are closest to the road.  Landscaping, parking lot safety, improve the fascia of the building,” said Aaron Bates, who runs the tire business.

The hearing was continued until November 29 so that Murphy could have building plans drawn up for the empty lot created by the new proposed delineations.

The next meeting of the Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals will be on Thursday, November 1, 2012, at 7:00 pm at the Town Hall.

By Eric Tripoli

Residents concerned that the historic Marion Town House might be demolished in the coming year can rest easy.  According to the Marion Town House Advisory Committee, that is not a likely option for the old building.  The committee discussed various alternatives at their meeting on Thursday, October 18.

“Once it’s ripped down, you can’t bring it back,” said Committee Member Rico Ferrari.

The committee was formed in January in order to explore options for the aging Town House that would best suit the financial needs of the town without destroying the history of the building.

On September 20, the committee held a public hearing and presented various recommendations as put forward by the Durland-Van Voorhis Architect Firm.  After hearing the eight recommendations, residents sounded off on their concerns, most of which centered around the preservation of the building.

Now, the committee is tasked with the challenge of narrowing down the recommendations, some of which included the complete demolition of the historic building.  From there, they will present them to the Board of Selectmen, and then a Project Manager and Architect will be hired to conduct a feasibility study for each of the recommendations. It would cost the town somewhere between $50,000-$70,000 to hire the two for the feasibility study.

“I don’t think that’s outrageous,” said Committee Chair Jay Ryder.

After the public hearing, and other meetings held with town offices to determine the need of office space, the committee started to pave the way for the project.

Of the eight recommendations, the committee unanimously voted on three of the options to present to the Board of Selectmen.

The first would be to repair, renovate and reorganize the existing structure and keep the existing 18,000 square feet.  After reorganization, the building could accommodate other town departments, such as the Council on Aging, who might need more office space.

The second option would be to renovate, repair and reorganize the older and historic front half of the building and tear down the back portion of the building.  Major upgrades would be needed for the 140-year-old building, such as the implementation of an elevator shaft to make it handicap accessible. After the front part of the building is restored, the town can assess whether or not a small addition needs to be constructed in the back for additional space.

The third and final option would be to construct a brand new structure at another location in Marion, and rent out the existing Town House to other departments in town who need the space.

“I think we understand what we have in our minds, we just have to see if the plans will jive with that,” said Town Administrator Paul Dawson.

After two hours, the committee adjourned, saying that they will look into dates in the near future to reconvene and further discuss the three options.  The committee hopes to have a formal project ready, complete with feasibility study, by the Spring Town Meeting in 2013.

By Katy Fitzpatrick

The Marion Board of Selectmen approved and closed the warrant for the Special Town Meeting to be held on Monday, November 26 at 7:00 pm in the Sippican School. The Board approved the warrant at their regular meeting on Tuesday, October 16 in Marion Town Hall.

The warrant is comprised of five total articles. The first two articles were recommended by the Community Preservation Committee. The first article asks for $84,300 to be distributed among the Open Space Committee, Community Housing and Historic Resources. The second article proposes giving $30,000 to the Buzzards Bay Area Habitat for Humanity from various accounts in town.

The third and fourth articles propose changes to the wording of certain bylaws in town. The fifth and final article is asking for $26,500 of the town’s free cash to perform mold remediation services in the basement of the Marion Town House.

In other news, Selectman Jody Dickerson voiced concerns about special privilege stickers given to residents in the town of Rochester. According to Dickerson, the residents are purchasing their beach stickers through the town of Rochester in order to access beaches in Marion, however, Dickerson claims the town of Marion is not seeing any of the revenue from those stickers purchased.

“I understand why they’re doing it, I just think some of the revenue should come back to Marion,” said Dickerson. “I just wish they helped us out a little bit more.”

Town Administrator Paul Dawson said that in years past, Rochester had paid money when they received invoices, but the town of Marion has not issued invoices in a few years. Dawson recommended bringing this issue up at a joint Selectmen meeting in the future.

Dawson updated the Board on the status of both the Marion Natural History Museum ceiling collapse restoration as well as the replacement of the lights outside of the Marion Music Hall. Both projects will be open to bid on October 23, and Dawson hopes both projects will be ready for the selectmen to make recommendations for contractors at their next meeting.

“We’ve had a lot of interest for both buildings,” said Dawson.

Lastly, Dawson recommended a change in the town employee schedule due to the upcoming holidays. Historically, town employees have worked half days on both the day before Thanksgiving and on Christmas Eve. However, Dawson proposed working a full day the day before Thanksgiving and having all of Christmas Eve off this year, since Christmas Day falls on a Tuesday. The Board voted in favor of this change.

“I think it will be better for the town employees in general and better for the heating of the building,” Dawson said.

The Marion Board of Selectmen will meet again on Tuesday, November 6 at 7:00 pm in the Marion Town House.

By Katy Fitzpatrick