The Mattapoisett Fire Department will be hosting an open house on Thursday, October 11 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. They plan to have games, pizza, prizes and of course fire engines!
Some of the activities planned include having demonstrations in the Safe House, which helps teach children what to do in case of a fire.
A Jaws of Life demonstration is also in the works where members of the department will show visitors how they can use special tools to take apart cars to get inside quickly.
At the Wednesday night meeting of the ORR School Committee on October 10, Director of Curriculum and Instruction Elise Frangos presented an MCAS update jointly with Principals Kevin Brogioli and Michael Devoll. The presentation focused on the change from Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, to the Progress and Performance Index, or PPI.
According to current PPI data, both the Junior High and the ORR School District are Level Two. The Senior High is currently Level One. Of the elementary schools, Marion is Level Two while both Mattapoisett and Rochester are Level One. About 86 percent of Massachusetts schools are Levels One and Two.
Frangos explained that the change to PPI comes from a waiver that President Obama granted to Massachusetts public schools. The waiver allows schools to set the reasonable target goal of halving the proficiency gap by 2017; without the waiver, schools would have to meet the unreasonable target of total proficiency by 2014.
“As we neared the deadline it became more and more challenging,” Frangos said. “The big shift is to focus on your high-needs children.”
The waiver eliminates the double-counting that occurred in the AYP system, as the definition for high-needs children includes the previous subgroups of minorities, special needs, English Language Learners, and free and reduced lunch recipients.
For a school to be categorized as Level One, meaning that it is meeting its goals for closing the proficiency gap, the school must receive a score of 75 out of 100. The Junior High, which was the subject of the presentation, received the score 68.
Principal Brogioli continued the presentation by presenting the Junior High’s action plan. Measures include: instituting new Common Core textbooks for English and math classes, lengthening class time from 41 to 53 minutes, guaranteeing students 30 minutes on four days of the week to engage in remedial work, instituting cross-curricular writing assignments for inclusion in student writing portfolios, and increasing the disciplines’ teachers meetings from 36 to 51 meetings per year.
Frangos and Brogioli also cited the school’s areas of success in PPI. The Junior High received “extra credit” points for decreasing the warning/failing category by 10 percent in math, and increasing the advanced category by 10 percent in both math and science.
“Science is now a big part of the calculus to determine progress and performance,” Frangos said.
In its other business, the Committee approved the location for the Class of 2013’s Senior Prom. The class officers attended the meeting to present a PowerPoint slideshow of the selected venue, Wequassett Resort and Golf Club in Chatham, MA.
The officers emphasized that Wequassett does not charge for a site fee. Other venues that the class officers had considered charge as high as $9,000.
“A nice place without a site fee is hard to come by,” said Senior Class President Abby Hiller.
Because of the extensive fundraising the Class of 2013 has already done, the officers expect prom tickets to cost $65. The officers will continue organizing fundraisers throughout the year.
The prom location was unanimously approved by the Committee.
Kim Corazzini, American Field Service Advisor, spoke to the Committee about the planning of upcoming events and trips. In November, Corazzini hopes to take the three foreign exchange students (from Italy, Thailand and Chile) to Newport, RI for some educational sight-seeing. In the spring, Corazzini has an opportunity to arrange for an AFS trip to Barker High School in Upstate New York. This trip would potentially include crossing the border into Canada to visit Toronto.
“They’re that close to the border,” Corazzini said. She assured the Committee that the students going on the trip would be in good academic and behavioral standing, as well as active members of the AFS Club.
The School Committee unanimously voted to give Corazzini permission to continue planning the trips.
The next regular meeting of the ORR School Committee will be on Wednesday, November 14 at 6:00 pm in the School Committee Conference Room, located in the Superintendent’s Office.
By Anne Smith
The Marion Conservation Commission met on Wednesday night for their regular meeting, during which they had a generous nine public hearings.
The first hearing of the night was for A. Neil Pappalardo, of Moorings Road, regarding his Request for Determination of Applicability to resurface part of an existing paved private roadway.
“It’s about a two day job. They’ll use machines to take away the existing asphalt off-site. There’s no increase in impervious. There’s a wetland system so we’ll put in erosion control for that area,” said engineer Bob Rogers, who represented Pappalardo at the meeting.
“It’ll be a heck of a lot better than what it is now,” said Commission member Steve Gonsalves.
The Commission voted in favor of the project as submitted.
Then the Commission held a hearing for the Town of Marion, regarding an RDA to restore and maintain woods roads and hiking trails, install picnic tables and benches at the skating pond at Washburn Park.
“There’s an old playground that’s back there, the trees have deteriorated. It used to be years ago, when they had a caretaker there, it used to be well maintained. It was used quite a bit. Over the years, it’s just been neglected. It’s unfortunate,” said Selectman Jonathan Dickerson, on behalf of the Town of Marion.
“I consider it to be a gem of the town, it just needs a lot of polish,” he said.
He added that security cameras will be installed in the area as well.
“It was always well-visited over the years. Growing up, it was a very active, very busy place, loved and adored by many,” said Commission Chairman Sherman Briggs.
The Commission asked Dickerson to have the site marked and staked in preparation for a future site visit.
“I think this is one giant step in getting it back to where it needs to go,” said Briggs.
The Conservation Commission then voted to grant the request.
The Commission granted a continuance until the October 24 meeting so the site could be marked.
Next, the Conservation Commission had a hearing for Gale Runnells of 17 Reservation Way. She has filed a Notice of Intent to construct a garage and breezeway to her home. The hearing was continued from the September 26 meeting because at that time, the project did not have a DEP file number.
The Conservation Commission then voted in favor of the NOI.
The next hearing was for Louis Mendes of 81 Water Street, regarding his RDA to install a water line and electric service from his home to a dock, install sprinkler systems in front of and behind the house, and to reseed the lawns.
There was no representative for Mendes at the meeting, but the Commission, seeing no issues, voted in favor of the project
The next hearing, for Sanford Russell, Jr. of 5 Main Street, was continued until the October 24 meeting.
The sixth hearing of the night was for Peter and Asha Wallace who have filed an NOI to maintain two existing view corridors near a salt marsh on their property at 167 Converse Road. The hearing was continued from the Commission’s September 26 meeting.
“I made a site visit, had a talk with the Wallaces. Some of the old trees are hollow and rotted, and some won’t even stand. I didn’t see any issues. The site was clean,” said Briggs.
“I did see the trees we had discussed were tagged, especially the diseased ones,” Gonsalves said. “I didn’t see anything there that I was concerned with them eliminating healthy trees.”
Hills was concerned that by “vista pruning” the entire area, the amount of vegetation removed would be greater than the 10% threshold allowed by the Wetlands Protection Act. But there is no system in place that would allow for the Wallaces to accurately figure out the percentage of the vegetation that is proposed for removal.
The removal of the sick and dead plants would allow for the healthier vegetation to thrive.
“I can’t think of any good mechanism we have to figure out how many we can take out,” Briggs said.
The Wallaces contended that the amount of trees removed would be less than the threshold set by the WPA, given the tree coverage over the entire acreage of their property.
“We’re here to enforce the Wetlands Protection Act,” said Hills.
“But I think sometimes common sense needs to apply,” Gonsalves said, adding that the removal of the dead vegetation would improve the ecosystem of the area.
The Commission voted in favor of the plan and issued a standard order of conditions.
Next, the Commission had a hearing for the Marion Open Space Acquisition Commission, which has filed for an RDA to maintain a grass parking area at Grassi Bogs on Mill Street, and to thin the brush between the parking area and Mill Street. The plan also calls for the relocation of metal gates and installation of wood posts to prevent vehicle access on the dikes.
“I think the intent is to create a nice entrance here, thin this out so you increase visibility, and let people enjoy it,” said Briggs.
Both Briggs and Hills were concerned that, without an adequate security gate, people may attempt to dump trash and used appliances in the area.
Then, Buzzards Bay Area Habitat For Humanity had a hearing with the Commission for their NOI to construct a single-family home and driveway at 185 Wareham Street. The project has been in the works for a long time but has received a lot of support from the community at large.
The hearing was continued from the meeting on September 26 because the project did not have a DEP file number. With no additional discussion required since the last meeting, the Commission voted in favor of the project as presented.
The ninth and final hearing was also for Habitat For Humanity to discuss their RDA to raze the existing dwelling at 185 Wareham Street, add some fill, and regrade the area. But the land is currently owned by the Town of Marion and Habitat For Humanity needs approval from the Board of Selectmen in order to raze the existing house.
“We’ve been informed by [Town Administrator Paul] Dawson what is required, the name of the company that is doing the demolition and their insurance. We’re supplying that information to Mr. Dawson and as soon as that’s received, we should get the license to demolish,” said George McTurk, on behalf of BBAHFH.
The Conservation Commission then voted to grant the RDA.
The next meeting of the Marion Conservation Commission will be on Wednesday, October 24, 2012, at 7:00 pm at the Town Hall.
By Eric Tripoli
As September changes to October, it’s time to look at the fall sports teams of ORR and how they have performed, as most teams have reached the midway point of their seasons. Except for football, whose season continues into late November, all teams are approaching the home stretch for their regular seasons, and their performances from here on out will determine whether or not they advance to state competitions.
Both the boys’ and girls’ soccer teams have performed admirably considering that they lost several seniors to graduation. The girls have been led by seniors Hannah Walsh and Alison Francis. Freshman midfielder Sarah Beaulieu has also shown she is varsity material and has been a key asset to the Lady Bulldogs. The girls’ win-loss-tie record now stands at 4-5-2. Teddy Costa and Robbie Magee have led a young boys’ team, and Goalie Mikey Pruchnik has been a key component. However, the boys’ record is 3-6-1, and they will need to win the next several games in order to make the state tournament. Both the boys’ and girls’ cross country teams are currently undefeated, with records of 3-0. Mike Wyman has been a consistent first place finisher for the boys, as has Sammie Barrett for the girls. However, in order for both teams to be undefeated SCC Champions, they will have to get by rival Seekonk on October 10.
ORR girls’ volleyball has led a disappointing season so far but is starting to gain some momentum. Senior captains Abby Robinson and Bre Meuse have played well, as has junior Juliana Nicolosi. The girls’ record is currently 2-8. ORR field hockey has had a great season so far, led by top scorer Ally Saccone and fellow classmate Abby Offringa. Defender Erica Boulay and Goalie Hannah Cormier have provided key defense for the Lady Bulldogs, whose record stands at 6-1-3. However, the girls lost a tough 2-0 game against SCC rival Apponequet that essentially stole the SCC crown from ORR. However, if they keep playing consistently, the girls should make the state tournament.
Nolan Bergeron and Richie Phillips have led the ORR football team to a great start, and their record is now 4-1 thanks to a 21-8 win against Case on Friday. Coach Henry Quinlan’s new offensive strategy seems to be working well, and Bergeron has been one of the top scorers in the SCC with an impressive five touchdowns. The boys look to win a tough home game against the Wareham Vikings on Friday, October 12 at 4:30 pm.
The ORR sports team may not win the incredible amount of SCC Championship teams from last year, but the teams have so far looked overall promising, and if they play well, they should advance to the state tournament and possess winning records by the conclusion of the season.
By Michael Kassabian
The Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen voted to open the recreational Bay Scalloping Season two weeks earlier in order to take advantage of the upcoming weekends for shell fishing. The decision was made at the board’s regular meeting on Tuesday, October 9 in Town Hall.
The original start of the 2012 Bay Scalloping season was scheduled for November 1 for both recreational and commercial fishers. November 1 is later than the traditional mid-October start, but Shellfish Warden Kathy Massey had several reasons for delaying the season.
Massey said because the scallops reproduce in the summer, they need the month of October to grow. Also, water temperatures are not quite cool enough to yield the highest amount of scallops. Right now the water temperature is around 55 degrees.
‘The cooler the water is, the better,” said Massey.
Despite Massey’s reasoning, the state’s Department of Marine Fisheries has granted the town access to open the season now, so the town is granting limited harbor access for recreational scalloping two weeks early.
For recreational bay scalloping in the inner harbor, the season will begin on Friday, October 12. Commercial scalloping in the outer harbor can begin on Monday, October 15. Commercial scalloping in the inner harbor will begin on Thursday, November 1.
In other news, the board is looking to meet with the Financial Committee to discuss a repaving of Mattapoisett Neck Road. A project to relay sewer lines is nearly complete, and with the potholes existing in the remainder of the road, the town feels it is the perfect time to repave.
Selectman Paul Silva said the project would cost approximately $220,000 to repave Mattapoisett Neck Road as well as several other side streets. The repaving would keep the roads in good condition for 15-20 years.
The board hopes to meet with the Financial Committee within the next week so they can come up with an estimate to put on the Special Town Meeting Warrant. If approved, the town hopes the project would be completed by May of 2013 before the busy summer season.
The board met with three committees in town to get status updates on their departments. The Police Department, Fire Department and Council on Aging all gave progress reports.
Police Chief Mary Lyons is urging residents to continue to call in any suspicious activities in any neighborhood due to the increased volume of home invasions. Since the weather is getting cooler, Lyons is also encouraging residents to remove any window air conditioning units as most of the culprits from recent break-ins have entered through the windows.
Lyons also informed the board that the new Mattapoisett police cruisers will be Chevrolet Tahoe SUV’s. Since Ford is discontinuing the production of their Crown Victoria model, the station had to choose another vehicle for the department’s use.
Fire Chief Andrew Murray expressed the need for a new facility since quarters in the current station are extremely tight.
“Every square inch is being utilized,” said Murray.
Additionally, the town will need to purchase a new engine in two years after buying a new one just a few months ago to replace Engine 1. A series of upgrades were made to the current station, including new windows and doors, as well as new landscaping and new parking lot pavement. Still, there is not enough space for the department.
Murray’s second priority behind the new building is to increase the number of firefighters. Both Murray and the board cited busy schedules for residents and lack of financial incentive. Murray said he is allotted $80,000 each year to pay 36 community firefighters. Some firefighters can receive as little as $18 a run, he said.
Another hurdle in bringing on new firefighters is the cost to conduct physicals for each new employee the department hires. It costs approximately $240 for each new hire to be examined, and that does not include the cost of tuition to the academy. Last year, the department hired six new firefighters and spent $1,500 on their physicals. Murray said he has lost nearly six officers out of the department since then for various reasons.
Mattapoisett Council on Aging Executive Director Jacqueline Coucci informed the board of the group’s new Outreach Coordinator Kathleen DeMello. DeMello began working last week.
“We are looking to enhance outreach services and target those who are homebound,” said Coucci.
The council has also increased transportation services, making all rides that stay within Mattapoisett $1. The council also added additional trips to the Dartmouth Mall and Wareham Crossing.
“We have had a lot of great response from that,” said Coucci.
The Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen will meet again on Tuesday, October 23 at 7:00 pm in Mattapoisett Town Hall.
By Katy Fitzpatrick
The Rochester Planning Board met for their regular meeting on Tuesday, October 9 in Rochester Town Hall. The only public hearing on the agenda for the night was in regard to the site plan review for the proposed ground-mounted solar panel array for the Little Quittacas Pond region of town off North Avenue.
Last week, at the project’s technical review meeting, the plans came under fire because the construction of a drainage swale would extend into the public roadway. TRC Engineering agreed to redesign that part of the plan.
The property on which the proposed array would be located is owned by the City of New Bedford. The array would draw solar power that would be routed to the power grid in order to offset the electricity used by New Bedford’s water department.
“We’ve been looking at this project now for a period of months and we’re very grateful for the many opportunities we’ve had to talk to with the Planning Board and other officials in Rochester, as well as people from the neighborhood. I’m now happy to say we’ve submitted our site plan and we think what we’ve put together here is a design that achieves the purpose and need of our clients, and even more importantly, is a design that’s well suited to the environment where we want to put this project,” said Steve Moffett of TRC Engineering.
The plan calls for slight re-grading of the area, removal of some trees, and the installation of several storm water basins that would maintain all local precipitation within the site.
“There are two wetland systems we’ve identified in the area and we’ve maintained a very wide separation between our project and those resource areas. That’s been confirmed by the Rochester Conservation Commission,” Moffett said.
There is also a proposed berm as part of the project, which would shield abutting residents from seeing the site. Moffett said there are two options for the style of the berm and would let the abutters choose which they felt was best. One would be a plain 12-15 foot earthen berm that would not require maintenance, while the other would be three feet high, planted with native grasses, trees, and shrubs, and would require maintenance.
“I’m wondering why you’re proposing to seed it with grasses that would need to be mowed. It seems counterintuitive to have a solar panel array that requires fossil fuels to be used for maintenance,” said Planning Board member Susan Teal.
Moffett said that part of the original plans suggested planting clover, but the idea had since been abandoned. The main concern was providing landscaping that would also act as erosion control in the event of precipitation.
“My concern is whatever you put there has to be appealing to the neighborhood. I feel as though it should be maintained to some degree so it doesn’t get out of hand,” said Board member Gary Florindo.
“I’m not liking the location of the berm. I think it needs to be pushed back. With the amount of snow coming in, that’s a snow fence,” said Planning Board chairman Arnold Johnson, who felt that it was too close to the edge of the road.
Florindo then suggested that the company mark the dimensions of the berm, followed by another site visit by the Planning Board.
“We don’t want to look at a pile of dirt. We want to look at trees,” said Donald Loader of North Avenue, who said that he had a list of 17 other abutters who were in favor of the shorter berm planted with vegetation.
Johnson then recommended a third option be available in the form of a tiered berm, with a shorter front section near the road that would be planted with trees, and a taller section behind the vegetation to help cut down wind speed through the neighborhood.
The hearing was continued until the November 13 meeting of the Planning Board so the engineers could stake out the dimensions of the berm suggestions.
In other business, the Planning Board voted in favor an Approval Not Required application for the combination of two lots that are part of the Porter Bog property on Hiller Road. No area or frontage changes would occur.
The next meeting of the Rochester Planning Board will be on Tuesday, October 23, 2012, at 7:00 pm at the Town Hall.
By Eric Tripoli
The Maconchu Club of the Mattapoisett Congregational Church will begin the fall season with a potluck dinner at 6:00 p.m. on
Saturday October 20th at the church. Please bring a main dish or salad for 6 to 8 people and your own place settings. Coffee and dessert will be served by the committee.The speaker for the evening will be Judy Kennedy who went to China this past summer with her son and his wife, who is from China, and their two sons to visit her parents in China. Judy has much to tell us about living there which we would never learn about if travelling on our own.
All are welcome to join us at the meeting on the 20th.
As the days get a bit colder and the air more crisp, the leaves tumble down from their loft perches and blanket the ground. It’s autumn in New England, a time when our thoughts turn to apples, pumpkins, Halloween, and mushrooms. Wait, mushrooms?
On Saturday, October 6, the Rochester Land Trust led their first “mushroom walk,” where residents were invited to join local mushroom expert Wesley Price for an afternoon of exploration and education on fungus.
Price, a construction field supervisor, first became interested in mushrooms while on a walk through the woods one day.
“I was just out taking a walk and I had one of those epiphanies that everything is connected,” said Price. “Fungi, at the base ecological level, are what’s necessary for nutrient cycling in the forest. They are what connects everything in a lot of ecologies.”
He joked that his real obsession with mushrooms began with a fondness for Smurfs when he was younger.
The woods by Church’s Field on Mattapoisett Road served as the ecological stage for Saturday’s walk. Over 20 people attended, many from surrounding towns like Middleboro, Marion, and Mattapoisett.
“I love mushrooms. I don’t know much about them, but they’re really cool,” said Zane Ham, a youngster who went on the walk. “I love being outside. I’m all about nature.”
Ham had collected about thirty seemingly different varieties, but with over 5,000 species of mushrooms in the United States alone, and many of which look similar, identifying them can be a trick.
After the walk, people took the mushrooms they’d collected back to the roadside to learn about what they had found. Over 100 samples were laid out on the tailgate of Price’s truck. He also brought with him over a dozen different photo-identification books, but still hit a wall with naming a few mysteries species.
“The better understanding everybody has about the ecology around them, they more likely they are to treat our environment better,” he said.
Norene Hartley of the Rochester Land Trust was very pleased with the turnout for the day.
“This was a good year for mushrooms,” she said. “We wanted people to feel free to come out, take a walk, and enjoy being outside.”
She added that the Church Field property is always open to the public for walks and exploration.
With such a strong attendance, Hartley said that there’s the possibility the Rochester Land Trust will be having another mushroom walk in the spring.
“If you guys have one, I’d love to be here to do it,” said Price.
By Eric Tripoli
Back when she was a student at ORRJHS, Marion resident Nina Batt played a concert with the jazz band for an auditorium of deaf children.
“We did a concert at the Rhode Island School for the Deaf. I thought it was a horrible idea. Why would you play music for deaf people?” Batt said.
But then she noticed something unexpected. The students sat on the floor. Some had water bottles sitting in front of them.
“They could see the vibrations in the water bottles. They would put their hands on the ground to feel the music.”
Though she had learned to sign the alphabet in elementary school, this concert was Batt’s true introduction to deaf culture.
While attending high school, Batt was a member of the drama club. Through special arrangement, members of the Rhode Island School for the Deaf drama club came to see the ORR production of “Evita.”
“We had translators on stage signing during the whole production,” said Batt.
Later, a friend introduced her to the basics of American Sign Language, which acted as a catalyst for Batt’s interest in the deaf community.
Now, she is a student at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts where she is continuing to pursue her passions.
“At the moment, I’m an English major. I’m in the Teacher Education Program at the college. What I’m going to try to do is incorporate deaf studies in order to create a deaf education minor,” she said.
In addition to being a volunteer for Big Brothers Big Sisters, Batt is also a member of her college’s American Sign Language Club, which sponsors events geared toward raising awareness for the deaf and hard of hearing community.
“Last year, we ran a program called “Deaf Deaf World” which is a 24-hour period where you can’t speak. You go into a designated room and there are all sorts of activities to do without speaking.”
Over the summer, Batt worked as an intern with DEAF, Inc., a non-profit in New Bedford which serves the deaf community. While much of her job was administrative, she had the unique experience of using ASL from nine to five every day.
“It’s a very small office, so sometimes people would be waiting to be seen for an appointment and I’d sign with them and chat. One of my bosses was deaf and one was hard of hearing. It was really cool to have that dynamic with the both of them. I would have to sign the entire internship. It was definitely a full-immersion [situation].”
Since then, her mother, Sarah, has begun taking ASL classes at the DEAF, Inc. office in Alston, Massachusetts.
“She just wanted me to have somebody else I could sign with,” said Batt.
After the internship was over, her family began discussing the possibility of taking a vacation. Around the same time, Batt had been considering running a half-marathon, something that has been a goal of hers for some time. Her step-father pushed for a trip to Vancouver and happened to find a local race.
“My step-father has been out there and he loves it. He found [a half-marathon] in Vancouver, so we thought, when we’re there, why not take a mini-family vacation and hang around for a couple days?”
But Batt saw an opportunity to turn the race into something bigger than a checkbox on her bucket list.
“I wanted to make something good out of it, not just for myself but for the people who helped me out during the summer,” she said.
So she, her family and her friends sent out pledge letters to everybody they knew, including the ORR community, colleagues, co-workers and the Holy Cross women’s field hockey team, of which Batt was a member during her freshman year.
But it was not only Batt who ran. She was joined by her mother, step-father and family friend Sue Sullivan. Sullivan is also a Holy Cross alumnus, having graduated in 1985.
“In the end, we had raised close to $16,000 for DEAF, Inc. They can do a lot with that money,” said Batt, who hopes that the funds can be spread out to help all of the offices.
Batt may not be planning on running another race for the deaf, but her work with the hard of hearing is far from over. Her focus now is to finish college and eventually get her Master’s in education. Her ultimate goal is to teach English literature to deaf students.
By Eric Tripoli
Rochester Memorial School PTO has cancelled all after school activities for the autumn, with no guarantee that they will resume for the spring semester.
When asked during the public comments portion of the October 5 meeting of the Rochester School Committee, White deferred until after the meeting to answer questions.
According to White, the PTO made the decision to cancel the teacher-run after-school activities program the week of September 17.
“We didn’t have the personnel to run the activities,” he said. White was unable to comment on whether or not the activities cancellation was an effect of the current contract negotiations between the Rochester Teachers Association and the Rochester School Committee.
“We’re working to make sure we can provide the best support for our kids both during the school day and afterward, and we continue to look for opportunities to help the kids,” White said.
Tina Rood, PTO treasurer, did not return a phone call requesting a comment.
Dr. Moira Rodgers, Rochester Memorial School’s new principal, did not respond to questions during the recent school committee meeting nor did she return phone call seeking comment on the situation.
White encouraged members of the community seeking after-school programs to register at the local YMCA.
By Eric Tripoli
