Marion Appoints New Police Officers

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The Marion Board of Selectmen held their first meeting of the month on Tuesday, October 2. They began by hearing from Lt. John Garcia of the Marion Police Department, who requested the appointment of Robert Hoey and Scott Cowan as Special Police Officers. Their appointment would be for a one-year probationary period.

“These are just additional positions, part-time special officers,” Garcia said.

The Board of Selectmen then voted unanimously in favor of their appointments.

“Welcome aboard, gentlemen,” said Chairman Stephen Cushing following the vote.

The Board’s second hearing of the night, with John Ludes to discuss the parking lot of the Marion General Store, was cancelled. According to Town Administrator Paul Dawson, Ludes had called the Town Hall indicating that he was withdrawing his request for the painting and striping of the parking lot.

Then, Dawson submitted his Town Administrator’s report to the Board of Selectmen.

“You may recall we received correspondence from Verizon regarding the upcoming expiration of our existing license. We received correspondence from Comcast along the same lines,” Dawson said.

The licenses expire in two years, but the negotiation process for new licenses can take that long. Dawson requested the approval from the Board of Selectmen to advertise for a cable advisory committee to head up the licensing process. He said the committee should be either five or seven members and include a member of the Board of Selectmen.

“It really needs to be thoroughly thought out and negotiated to get the best deal possible,” said Dawson.

“Better start now than to try to play catch up later,” Cushing said.

Dawson then briefed the Board on the Town House Advisory Committee meeting from a few weeks ago.

“As you’ll recall, the Committee’s ultimate goal is to present a plan for what to do with this building. The sense of the town meeting last year was to narrow down the possibilities. I think the Town House Advisory Committee did a good job in its presentation in laying out how we got here today. There were 40 or 50 in attendance at the meeting,” Dawson said.

The majority of the voices from the meeting were in favor of renovating the existing Town House, rather than constructing a new facility.

“I attended the meeting and I thought they did a great job with the presentation they brought to the table, about five or six different possible scenarios,” Cushing said. “Kudos to that committee.”

In other business:

• The Board voted to table the review the Water Department rules and regulations due to typographical errors. Dawson said the changes made to the regulations would be non-substantive.

• The Selectmen re-signed the Handy’s Tavern Preservation Restriction Agreement.

• The Board signed the State Election warrant.

• The Selectmen received a letter, submitted by Building Commissioner Scott Shippey, denying the County Road solar farm proposal because the project is not a permitted use for a residential area.

The next meeting of the Marion Board of Selectmen will be on Tuesday, October 16 at 7:00 pm at the Town Hall.

By Eric Tripoli

Michael A. Renahan

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Michael A. Renahan, 69 of Chilmark formerly of Mattapoisett, passed away Friday September 28, 2012 after a long and courageous battle with cancer.

Michael was born February 10, 1943 to Thomas A. Renahan of Mattapoisett and Pauline [Perry] Renahan of Mattapoisett.

He is predeceased by his wife Joan Faith [Gagnon] Renahan and his stepson Michael W. Rossi.

Michael was a graduate of Mount Saint Charles Academy in Rhode Island. Shortly after graduating he joined Mattapoisett Police Department and then went on to work with the Massachusetts Department of Natural Resources for the Marine Division..

Michael, his wife Joan and stepchildren Michael Rossi formerly of Edgartown, William Rossi of Chilmark, Patricia Rossi of Chilmark, David Rossi of Edgartown and Daniel Rossi of West Tisbury all moved to the Vineyard in 1973.

Shortly after moving to the Vineyard he changed careers and became a Contractor. He truly loved everything the Island had to offer, such as hunting and fishing and enjoyed teaching his grandchildren all that he knew. He was the Chilmark Dog Officer for 35 years and served on the Board of Health, which he truly enjoyed.

His brother Thomas Renahan of Maryland and his stepchildren William, Patricia, David and Daniel along with 9 grandchildren and 2 great children survive Michael.

A visitation will be held on Tuesday, October 2, from 6:00 – 8:00pm in the Chapman Cole & Gleason Funeral Home, Edgartown Road, Oak Bluffs. His funeral mass will be celebrated on Wednesday, October 3, 11:00 am in St. Augustine’s Church, Franklin St., Vineyard Haven followed by burial in The Abel’s Hill Cemetery, Chilmark. A celebration of his life to follow after the burial at the Chilmark Community Center.

In lieu of flowers please make donations to the Menemsha Fisheries Development Fund, P.O. Box 96, Menemsha, MA 02553.

Planning Meeting Cut Short

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The regular meeting of the Marion Planning Board on Monday, October 1 was the shortest meeting on record at only 11 minutes. The celerity resulted from the postponement of the only public hearing for the evening, which was the continuation of a hearing for the River Road definitive subdivision plan represented by Gregory Morse of Morse Engineering Company.

Morse had written a letter to the Board asking for more time and a further continuation. The Board voted to continue the hearing on Monday, October 15 at 7:10 pm.

In the remaining 10 minutes of the regular meeting, the Board approved an ANR plan for property at 185 Wareham Street. The applicant was not present.

“There is no change to lot lines or size,” Vice-Chairman Patricia McArdle said. “There is a clerical error for bearings and distance.”

Also, the Board approved the sending of a letter to the proprietor of Cumberland Farms in Marion. The letter expresses the Board’s concern about the increased traffic on the property, which the Board cites as bothersome and unsafe, and the continued parking violations of delivery trucks. The Board’s letter asks for an associate of Cumberland Farms to meet informally with Chairman Jay Ryder to discuss these concerns as a first step to alleviating them.

The next meeting of the Marion Planning Board will be on Monday, October 15 at 7:00 pm at the Town House.

By Anne Smith

Cell Tower Continued Indefinitely

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Industrial Wireless requested an indefinite continuance of their plan to build a cell tower off the end of Jane Lane in Mattapoisett.

“That’s what Town Council said they were going to have to do,” said Chairman Thomas Tucker.

Construction of the tower would require a special permit, which would normally fall under the jurisdiction of the Planning Board. But the tower’s proposed location is in a residential area, which, according to Town Council, means the permit must be granted by the Zoning Board of Appeals. The Board voted in favor of the continuance.

The Planning Board then heard from Brad Saunders of DNE Engineering on behalf of the Bay Club.

“We submitted an application for four lots such that abutting property owners were going to share in dividing up [an abutting parcel],” he said.

Saunders said that since the last meeting, some of the abutters made a few changes to adjust the total amount of square footage allotted to them. As a result, there will be more open space created by the plan.

After very little discussion, the Planning Board voted in favor of the plan.

The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Planning Board will be on Monday, October 15 at 7:00 pm at the Town Hall.

By Eric Tripoli

Bethany A. Clickner

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Bethany A. Clickner, 35, of Marion, died Saturday, September 29, 2012 at Tobey Hospital in Wareham unexpectedly.

Born in Boston, Bethany was the daughter of Rita L. St. Germaine and Steven A. Briggs of Marion.

Besides her mother and father, she is survived by her brother, Jacob G. St. Germaine of Marion; three sisters, Stacia L. Briggs and Stevi A. Briggs both of Marion and Kari D. MacRae of Bourne; her maternal grandparents, James L. & Ida R. St. Germaine of W. Wareham; her nieces and nephews, Emma, Abby, Bella, Tori, Brandon, Sydney and Ryan.

Her funeral will be from the Chapman, Cole & Gleason Funeral Home, 2599 Cranberry Highway (Rt. 28), Wareham on Thurs., Oct. 4th at 9:00 AM followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at St. Patrick’s Church, High St., Wareham at 10:00 AM. Interment will be in St. Patrick’s Cemetery, Wareham. Visiting hours will be Wednesday from 5 – 8 PM.

Donations in her memory may be made to the Kennedy-Donovan Center School, 19 Hawthorn Street, New Bedford, MA 02740.

 

Cranberry Harvest, Rain or Shine

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Even though the weather hasn’t been cooperating, the cranberry harvest has begun.

Friends Annual Meeting

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The Friends of the Mattapoisett Library’s annual meeting will be held Sunday, October 21, 3:00 PM at the library. After a brief business meeting, guest speaker Anne D. LeClaire will talk about her work.

LeClaire is the author of nine novels, including Land’s End, Entering Normal, The Lavender Hour, and Leaving Eden, and her work has been published in seventeen countries. Her essays have been featured in a number of anthologies, among them I’ve Always Meant to Tell You: Letters to Our Mothers, An Anthology of Contemporary Women Writers; From Daughters and Sons to Fathers: What I’ve Never Said; and A Sense of Place: An Anthology of Cape Women Writers. LeClaire’s first non-fiction book, Listening Below the Noise, is a meditation on the practice of silence. In addition to writing novels, memoir, short stories and essays, LeClaire has taught creative writing on the Cape and on Maui, in France, Ireland, Jamaica and in women’s prisons.

LeClaire described herself  as “the family story-teller, not always meant in the good way. In fact, I love that while I was once punished for making up stories, now I get paid for it.” While raising her family, LeClaire worked as a broadcaster, actress, journalist and correspondent, writing for the New York Times, Boston Globe, Redbook and Yankee. A resident of Chatham, LeClaire and her husband have two children, and sixteen chickens.

Come to hear what the Friends have been up to this year, and for an entertaining talk.

 

Century Old Tower Razed

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On Tuesday, September 25, demolition of the Mattapoisett water tower on North Street began. The tower supplied water to the town for almost 100 years, but was decommissioned when the newer system near Industrial Drive was completed in 2011.

A century earlier, the Town of Mattapoisett had voted to create a committee to “take action in regard to a water supply,” according to the Town Report from 1911. On December 12, 1912, the town signed a contract with Hanscom Construction Company for a project that included erecting the 90-foot tall, 330,000-gallon tower on North Street. In addition, hundreds of feet of pipe were laid down on Depot Street and Randall Road, and almost 60 hydrants were installed. The total cost of the project came in at just over $68,000 and the tower began delivering water to the town on June 15, 1913.

The demolition of the tower was scheduled to be complete by the end of this week. Here are two photos of the tower, one from 1913 and the other from September 25, 2012.

By Eric Tripoli

 

The Winds of Climate Change

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“ The winds of climate change: are we sailing off the chart?”

Marion resident Jennifer A. Francis, PhD., Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at Rutgers University, will speak to us about the realities of climate change, the causes, short-term and long-time effects, and what we can do about it.  Her research specifically focuses on the Arctic, which is changing faster than anywhere else on the planet, and may be affecting weather patterns across the northern hemisphere.

On September 21, 2012, Dr. Francis’s Guest Op-ed piece in Washington Post ,  “Shrinking Arctic ice and the wicked backlash on our weather”, was posted.  In this article she informs  us that the National Snow and Ice Data Center announced that the sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean has smashed previous records.  The impacts of rising temperatures and melting ice extend, beyond the north, to us in the U.S., as we are poised to feel the weather related backlash.

This program will be held at Handy’s Tavern, 152 Front Street, Marion, on October 12th at 12:30 pm.  It will be preceded by a finger-food luncheon, tea/coffee and a sweet.  Guests and new members are always welcome.  For information, go to the club’s website at www.sippicanwomansclub.org.

Mattapoisett Women’s Club October Luncheon

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The Mattapoisett Women’s Club will meet on Thursday, October 18th at 12:00 p.m. at the Mattapoisett Congregational Church, 27 Church Street, Mattapoisett. Our exciting guest speaker, Maryann Murphy of the Marion Toastmasters Club, will discuss organization and time management skills in order to make the best use of our time.

New members are most welcome to attend. For more information, please contact Myra Hart at 598-758-4703 or Bobbie Ketchel at 508-758-9593