Facing a roomful of concerned abutters voicing their concerns, Rochester’s Select Board Monday approved a Class II Used Car Dealers License for Briggs Hobby Barn, which stores and repairs collectible automobiles, trucks, and other motor vehicles at 618 New Bedford Road on land within the historic district.

            The expansive, two-building business owned by Mark Briggs received a special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals in May 2024 and a site plan review permit from the Planning Board in June 2024. Town Administrator Cameron Durant began Monday’s hearing by invoking this fact. He said Town Council has given granting this license the green light because the business will have to follow the strict stipulations placed on it by its other town permits. Briggs is limited to selling no more than two cars per year. He may not display vehicles for sale or advertising signs at the front of his property.

            Before the Select Board’s approval vote, however, abutters expressed concerns that this was the wrong business for their neighborhood. The first questioner wanted to know if the special conditions of this permit could be passed on to a new owner. A new owner would require a new license, Chair Adam Murphy responded.

            Matthew Monteiro of the Historic District Commission said the property was not zoned for business. “I fear what this property could become,” he said. Another resident worried what noise will come from the car work there. Mark Briggs assured residents that once his building construction work is done, car repairs, not manufacturing, are all he will be doing.

            Historic District Commission member Sarah Johnston said being a car dealership means the town is losing the excise taxes it could be getting for all the vehicles Briggs possesses. She wanted to know how this business being allowed benefits the town. Murphy responded that the business’s property taxes will benefit Rochester and so will Brigg’s expected good stewardship of the property. Durant added the tax value of a property that is utilized over an empty lot is a net gain for the town.

            This permit will be based on the permit conditions of other town boards, Murphy emphasized before the unanimous vote.

            The board’s next biggest decision of the night came when it approved a new three-year Inter-municipal Agreement with the Regional Old Colony Communications Center (ROCC) that since 2017 has located the town’s public safety dispatching services in Duxbury, MA.

            In its previous meeting on the new IMA, board members asked what the town police and fire departments would do without ROCC’s services or ROCC-level funding, given that Rochester does not have its own dispatching equipment. They reviewed new language regarding the town’s responsibilities should the regional system go down or lose funding.

            Durant said Monday he has been informed by ROCC officials that the town will not be on the hook for funding without Rochester town meeting approval of that expense. Regarding the lack of equipment, the new contract language will state ROCC’s responsibility for assisting if this is a problem arises. Dispatching calls will always be responsibility of the ROCC network.

            ROCC, located in Duxbury, handles the 911 calls, police, fire, and EMS dispatching for the Towns of Duxbury, Plympton, Halifax, Rochester, Hanson, and Hanover. Rochester joined the center in January 2017.

            In other action, Durant reported that Eversource soon will be going door-to-door across town replacing residential electric meters with smart meters.

            The board approved promoting Rochester Police Department Sgt. Zachary Dupere to the position of Acting Lieutenant.

            The board appointed Renee Duffy as a new member of the Historical Commission.

            The board appointed Dennis McCarthy as a full-time member and K. Douglas Sims as a new associate member of the Zoning Board of Appeals.

            The board appointed Joe Ziino as a new member of the Conservation Commission.

            The next meeting of the Rochester Select Board is scheduled for Monday, July 21 at 6:00 pm at town hall, 1 Constitution Way.

Rochester Select Board

By Michael J. DeCicco

The Marion Finance Committee at its June 25 meeting approved three Reserve Fund transfers to help three different departments pay for unexpected expenses in Fiscal Year 2025.

            With a winter that did not bring much snow, a request from the Department of Public Works for $3,495 for snow removal drew some questions from Finance Committee members.

            Finance Director Heather O’Brien said the snow removal and ice maintenance budget is based on different line items and is difficult to predict. She said that at the last special Town Meeting in spring, participants agreed to close the books on last season’s winter road maintenance with a $27,000 appropriation. However, officials later learned that an additional $3,495 would be needed to pay all bills for the 2024-25 winter.

            The Finance Committee approved the Reserve Fund transfer.

            Finance officials also approved the harbormaster’s request for $13,000 to replace floating concrete dock landings.             O’Brien, referencing a letter from Harbormaster Adam Murphy, said this work is an unexpected expense that cannot be covered through the Marine & Fisheries operating budget.

            The Finance Committee also approved a request from the Police Department for $6,058 to replace information technology and other equipment damaged after an air conditioning unit failed. O’Brien said she was told that some of this equipment is important for police communications. She also said the overall expenses surpassed $9,000 but that the department covered some of the replacement costs, bringing the total bill down to $6,058.

            All told, after the June 25 meeting, the Reserve Fund was cut by approximately $20,000 from its initial $65,000.

            The Finance Committee discussed a Citizen Petition that passed on the May Town Meeting floor to raise taxes through a Proposition 2 1/2 override to repair town roads, ways and sidewalks.

            That project, approved at $2,700,000, will rely on $500,000 in certified free cash from the general treasury and a temporary tax increase to fund the remaining balance.

            The town will form a subcommittee to determine which roads and ways are in greater need of repair, and Finance Committee member Sean Healy agreed to join the group.

            Finance Committee member Tom Crowley questioned if the town was paying too much in road repairs, especially with an accelerated pavement plan that allocates funding toward these repairs.

            O’Brien explained that this $2,700,000 project is based on a Citizen Petition, which passed at Town Meeting, so officials must honor the request for the funding.

Marion Finance Committee

By Jeffrey D. Wagner

Rochester’s Conservation Commission began its meeting Tuesday by swiftly endorsing the Notice of Intent application to build a single-family home within the 100-foot buffer zone at 28 Marion Road with a Positive Order of Conditions. This first agenda item of the night was approved quickly because the commission had received what it lacked from petitioner Nelson Bernardo at the last meeting, a Department of Environmental Protection file number.

            Next, concerned abutters looked on as the commission approved an abbreviated Notice of Resource Area Delineation for High Street Solar’s proposal to build an array at 0 High Street. The applicant’s representative, Andrew Gorman of Beals and Thomas, appearing on Zoom, asked for and received the board’s approval of the bordering vegetative wetlands and isolated wetlands lines that his firm has determined are on the property.

            Before this vote, abutter Tish Ciccotelli of Engel Nook Farms said she was concerned about the protected box turtles in the area. Abutter John Dvorski of Shakey Acres Cranberries said his bogs are in that area and water from there supplies his bogs. “I don’t want to see the topography change there,” Dvorski said. “This is the dry season, and there’s a tremendous difference between the dry and wet season there. I don’t want to see my water cut off.”

            “We’re not there yet,” commission Chair Christopher Gerrior answered, explaining the decision before the commission was solely about approval of where the wetland lines are located. No specific project plan has been submitted yet. The commission is aware of box turtles residing in the area, he acknowledged. But that will be the petitioner’s concern when a project is being proposed. He encouraged Dvorski to continue to attend Conservation Commission and Planning Board meetings as the petitioner’s plans develop.

            Gorman clarified why the wetland lines were being drawn in the dry season. He said his firm looks for “legacy indicators” that tell them the land is sometimes wet.

            In other action, the commission continued to its next meeting both the Notice of Intent hearing for work within wetlands for a ground-mounted solar array in the area of 600 Snipatuit Road and the Notice of Intent hearing for work within the 100-foot wetlands buffer zone for the construction of a floating and ground-mounted solar array at 53 Dexter Lane.

            Conservation Agent Merilee Kelly reported a resident has noted grass growing in Snipatuit Pond. She said it is no doubt Mill foil, an invasive species. Commission member Ben Bailey said the DEP needs to be contacted to help the town eradicate it.

            Bailey reported word from the DEP confirming his belief regarding the Dexter Lane project that regulations allow floating solar arrays only on man-made water. But a natural river runs through the Dexter Lane bog pond. The petitioners should change their design, he said. “They should come back with something else and not waste their time appealing to DEP,” he said.

            The next Rochester Conservation Commission meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 15, at 7:00 pm at Town Hall, 1 Constitution Way.

Rochester Conservation Commission

By Michael J. DeCicco