Wendy Carreau of the Marion Conservation Commission announced her resignation at the Marion Conservation Commission’s regular meeting on Wednesday, July 25.  She will be stepping down to an associative role with the Commission effective immediately.  She did not indicate the reasons for her resignation.

In the first public hearing, James Turschmann from CLE Engineering spoke on behalf of Sam and Theresa Barrington of 22 Point Road, who would like to install concrete access panels from the shoreline to mean low water to ease swimmers’ access over the intertidal cobble.

Commission Clerk Norman Hills brought up the issue of how they intend to get heavy equipment to the site, as access from Point Road is inadequate.

“You’re going to have to access across the beach.  That means you’re going to have to cut across two jetties,” Hills said.  The Commission referenced the notice of intent but it did not detail that aspect of the project.

“They are going to have to make sure they don’t disturb any of the vegetation,” said member Joel Hartley, sighting the appearance of plant life close to the site in the aerial photos supplied with the plan.

The Commission voted in favor of the plan, to which they added an order of conditions concerning the length of the walkway and the disturbance of native vegetation.

The Conservation Commission also heard from Dave Davignon of Schneider and Associates on behalf of George and Lois Graboys of 95 Holly Road, who would like to install a boardwalk on their property with a storage platform for kayaks or canoes.

“We’ll be using portable machinery [for installation]. It’s essentially a tri-pod with the drill in the center,” said Davignon.  There would be no heavy equipment required, allowing for the vegetation around the marsh near the property to remain undisturbed.

Most of the questions from the Commission dealt with the types of materials used to construct the walkway and storage platform, which will be largely made out of pressure-treated wood, but environmental contamination would be kept at a minimum.

“All of the timber we’re using is going to be above the waterline,” said Davignon, though there may be some wood drilled into the land nearby.

“We can change those supports to a more green material,” Davignon said.

The hearing was continued until the next meeting of the Conservation Commission on August 8.

The Commission also held a public hearing regarding a notice of intent filed by Sanford Russell, Jr., of 5 Main Street.  Russell would like to replace a carport with a garage, remove a retaining wall, relocating and expanding a boulder retaining wall, reconstruct part of the driveway, and install a trench drain.

Dave Davignon represented Russell at the meeting and was met with several concerns about the plan from abutting residents.

William Rogerson, of 9 Main Street, said that more residents in the neighborhood should have been notified.  He also said that the storm water drain under the proposal is actually on public land.

“You have a drain for a private residence located about six or seven feet into the public way,” he said.

He did not believe that the drain should be covered under any special provisions because it would not be located on private land.  Rogerson was also worried about the possibility of flooding due to the lack of gutters on the proposed garage.  He was also concerned that the plans didn’t include details about the vegetation that may have to be removed or the material used for the foundation of the garage.

Hugh Dyer of 6 Main Street also took issue with the plan for the drainage system.  He said that he believed it would negatively impact local flooding.

In response, Davignon assured the audience and the Commission that they would review the list of notified abutters and make sure that all required notices are sent out.  He also agreed to develop a leaching system for emergency overflow of rainwater.  The Commission voted in favor of Davignon’s request that the hearing be continued until August 8, 2012.

In other business, the Conservation Commission voted to continue the fourth hearing on their agenda, regarding a notice of intent filed by Investors Fund Trust to construct a roadway, cul-de-sac, and storm water management systems to service two single-family houses on River Road.

The next meeting of the Marion Conservation Commission will be held on Wednesday, August 8, 2012, at 7:00 pm at the Town House.

By Eric Tripoli

Just before 11am the Marion Police Department received a call regarding a possible breaking and entering on Ichabod Lane. The suspect in the break, who fled the scene on foot, is a white male with long blond hair pulled back in a ponytail.

Soon after receiving the call the Marion Police set up a perimeter to the neighborhood and assisted by the Rochester and Mattapoisett police Departments started to search the nearby areas for the suspect. A canine unit was requested to assist in the search.

The police spent almost two hours searching for the individual but in the end the search dog lost the scent near Blackmore Pond Road.

The Marion Police Department issued the following release on Wednesday afternoon:

On Wednesday, July 25, 2012 at 10:52AM, the Marion Police Department responded to a reported house break at a residence on Ichabod Lane.

The caller reported that she heard noises in the home and upon checking, found a male subject as he was preparing to leave the home.  The male subject fled the area on foot, headed in the direction of Route 105.  A search of the area was conducted with the assistance of Rochester and Mattapoisett Police Departments, along with a K-9 unit from the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department.  The subject was not located.

The subject was described as a white male, late teens to early twenties, long blonde hair, in a ponytail, wearing a brown t-shirt and brown pants.

At about the same time, a caller on nearby Pinewood Drive had observed a male subject, matching the description, exiting a vehicle, just prior to this incident.  The male subject went towards the direction of Ichabod Lane. The vehicle was described only as a navy blue sedan, being operated by another person. There is no description available on the driver.

Anyone with further information may contact Det. Scott Smith at (508)748-1212.

The Marion Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to approve a Wind Power Purchase Agreement that would save the town approximately 20% on energy costs annually.  The decision was made at the Board’s regular meeting on Tuesday, July 24 at the Marion Police Department.

“We think it’s a very good arrangement for the town,” said Project Manager Bill Saltonstall.  “I’m really pleased it’s coming along this way.”

The Board received the green light to start looking at renewable energy sources at the Annual Town Meeting.  Since then, the board has been meeting with a variety of wind and solar energy companies in order to find a renewable source of energy for the town.

The proposed wind energy source would be located in Plymouth on a third-generation cranberry bog visible off of Route 25 East. The bog is owned by Keith Mann who is also a Project Manager. The town of Marion will not be paying for the operation of the power source, but will just be purchasing the energy provided.

“We are simply buying the end result of this wind driven power,” said Town Administrator Paul Dawson during a Power Point presentation outlining the project.

The estimated cost of energy for the year would be $398,511, however NSTAR agreed to allocate money each month towards the bill, projecting the amount of money Marion would pay out of its pocket annually at $318,809, which is a 20% savings rate.

Dawson said the biggest trepidation of the project was the contract length, which is 20 years. However, Dawson cited that over that 20-year period, the town could save as much as $1.7 million on energy costs.

“There’s no way we can lose on this,” said Saltonstall.

The project will also serve other municipalities in the area; however, if something were to go wrong with another town’s involvement with the project, it would not affect Marion’s energy supply. Dawson said that the project would most likely begin in January of 2014.

In other news, the Board of Selectmen voted unanimously for the town to apply for a grant that would help repair County Road stretching through Marion, Rochester and Wareham.

“Anyone who drives County Road knows it’s in deplorable conditions and it’s getting worse,” said Selectmen Jonathan Henry.

The grant would allow the town to hire a company to research the possibilities of fixing the road long-term. The grant will be issued by the South Coast Rail Technical Assistance Fund.

The Board of Selectmen will meet again on Tuesday, August 7 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Police Department.

By Katy Fitzpatrick

The Rochester Planning Board continued their discussion of the Right-to-Farm by-law drafting process at their regular meeting on Tuesday, June 24, 2012.  The purpose of the town bylaw, which echoes state law, acts to emphasize that all citizens of the Commonwealth have a right to farm on their land.  Though the draft is a long way from being ratified, its progress seems promising.

“I think there are two tweaks to this. One pertaining to notification and the other for the ground water issue,” said Planning Board Chairman Arnold Johnson.  Their hope is to bring the issue to the table at the Rochester Town Meeting scheduled for the autumn.

There was also some discussion about offering information regarding the by-law to the public during the Rochester County Fair in August, as a way to touch base with the residents on the progress.

“We don’t want people to think it’s a done deal, we want people to know it’s still open for discussion,” said member Susan Teal.

The next meeting of the Rochester Planning Board will be on Tuesday, August 14, 2012, at 7:00 pm at the Town Hall.

By Eric Tripoli

Nobody was injured on Monday morning when the second floor ceiling of the Marion Natural History Museum suddenly collapsed.  The cave-in occurred around 11:00 am and did not involve the roof of the building.

“It was the whole ceiling,” said Marion Building Commissioner Scott Shippey.  He estimated that the ceiling measured about 50 feet by 50 feet.

“It could have been due to excessive weight on the ceiling,” Shippey said, but a cause has yet to be determined.

Shippey and Town Administrator Paul Dawson said that the last major construction project at the building was the addition of the new wing over 30 years ago.  They could not confirm whether or not any renovations took place in the years following that construction.

“When I got there yesterday, I sobbed,” said museum director Elizabeth Leidhold. “I’ve been here 23 years and this was devastating.”

The clean-up effort, which began yesterday, is expected to extend into the latter part of the week.  In the meantime, the library on the first floor will be closed until further notice. All children’s programs will be held in other locations around town.

“Then the insurance company will come in, investigate the cause, and figure out a cost,” said Dawson.

As luck would have it, damage to artifacts and displays was less than expected.

“On the southern side, the glass of the display cases is broken, but the cases are still standing,” said Dawson.

He also said it looked like most of the damage was concentrated on the south side of the building, closest to the Town Hall.

“We’ve done a lot of packing up of items and we brought them to the Marconi building,” Leidhold said.  “Funny enough the butterfly display was intact.  The fish tank along the back wall was fine, too.”

One casualty of the accident, she said, was the loss of the original gas lamp fixtures that hung from the ceiling.

The summer programs offered by the museum will continue as scheduled, Leidhold said.  The new rain location will be the Marconi building at 13 Atlantis Drive, Marion.  While the interior of the museum sustained a massive amount of damage, it seems likely that the museum will eventually open to the public again.

“It’ll be back,” said Shippey.

By Eric Tripoli