Rochester conservation agent Laurell Farinon spoke the Planning Board at their meeting on the evening of Tuesday, May 8, to address many errors that plague the new FEMA flood plain maps, which must be adopted and accepted by the town in order for Rochester to be eligible for federal flood insurance assistance.  The maps go into effect on July 17 and if the town does not vote in favor of the maps, many residents risk paying much higher flood rates or losing their insurance altogether.

Farinon said that the new maps are basically enhanced versions of the older, less detailed maps, which were inaccurate to begin with.  According to Farinon, there are several instances where flood zone delineations just don’t make sense.

“Some of these issues have to do with zone lines bisecting hills, which water doesn’t do,” said Farinon.

Board member Ben Bailey, who described the maps as “fundamentally flawed,” revealed that his property is at the center of one of these trouble spots.

“The line that goes through my property goes up a 20-foot hill and back down again,” Bailey said. “You don’t have to be an engineer to see that this is inaccurate.”

He recently received word from his insurance company that they would no longer offer him homeowners insurance due to the changes in the new maps.  After inquiring about why they cannot simply raise his rate, the company said that Commonwealth law restricts them from implementing rate increases on home owners’ insurance, but allows for companies to drop a customer if they determine the area is too high of a risk.

The appeals process for suggesting changes to the maps is long gone, but residents who own property in any of these areas in question do have the option of filing for a reevaluation of their property, but would have to pay out-of-pocket for an engineering company to take measurements and make determinations.

“The onus is on the landowner to go out and prove FEMA otherwise,” Bailey said.

Farinon implored the community to check the maps, which are available in the public record, to see if they own any property in question.  She also said that there will be an engineer at the Annual Town Meeting later this month to answer any technical questions residents may have about the maps.

The errors could have far-reaching implications for the town of Rochester.

“The Planning Board, Conservation Commission, the building inspectors, they will all be using these maps,” Farinon said.  She also said she spoke to the Board of Selectmen at their meeting last night.

The next meeting of the Rochester Planning Board will be on Tuesday, May 22 at 7:00 pm.

By Eric Tripoli

The Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen gave the green light for a Launch Service program in Mattapoisett Harbor this summer. The approval was given at the board’s regular meeting on the evening of Tuesday, May 8.

“It’s something we need and we should try it,” said Marine Advisory Board member Alan Gillis.

For the past several months, the Marine Advisory Board has been working closely with Harbormaster Horace Field drafting an RFQ for the Launch Service Program, which would provide people transportation to their boats if they do not have a place in the boatyard.

The original RFQ was reviewed on April 17 and had two potential candidates, however, after careful consideration, it was deemed unfit. The Marine Advisory Board welcomed another candidate for their second RFQ on April 26. This candidate was the Mattapoisett Boat Yard.

The main concern from both the Board of Selectmen and Field was how many people would actually be using the service and whether or not it would be worth the money. According to Field, the majority of people coming into Barstow Wharf from the harbor already have dinghy boats they are using; therefore the service may not be as popular as originally hoped.

Still, the Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to start the launch service under the Mattapoisett Boat Yard, but there were certain conditions on the approval.

First, the program will be good for one year. After the season, the status will be reevaluated.  Second, the Mattapoisett Boat Yard must track on a fairly consistent basis the number of patrons using the service each week.

In other news, the Board of Selectman accepted the resignation of Bento Martin Jr. of the Council of Aging.

“I reluctantly accept the resignation of Bento S. Martin Jr.,” said Selectman Jordan Collyer.

Martin has been involved with the Council on Aging as the Outreach Specialist for many years. The Board of Selectmen presented him with two special plaques.

Selectman Chair Paul Silva gave a status update on the Aquaculture Legislation.  Silva said the bill has been passed to the Senate and is awaiting approval from Governor Deval Patrick. The bill would allow the town to collect $200 per anchor in the harbor for aquacultures. Silva said he could hear an answer in the next week.

Town Administrator Michael Gagne gave a preliminary estimate of the funding the town of Mattapoisett would receive from Chapter 90 Highway Funding in fiscal year 2013.  If approved, the state of Massachusetts would receive $200 million in funding for its highways, and Mattapoisett would see $228,701 of that figure. The decision will be made over the coming weeks.

“It certainly is good news,” said Gagne.

Gagne also informed residents that if they had been experiencing water discoloration earlier in the week, it is because a contracting company illegally opened a fire hydrant to fill their seeding truck. Gagne did not mention the company, but said that he estimated nearly 500,000 gallons of water were flushed out.  The town is investigating the incident and Gagne said the contracting company will be billed appropriately.

In other business matters:

• The approval of the town’s annual Teen Wharf Dances, which will begin on June 21 and be held every Thursday from 7:30 to 10:30 pm through August 23.
• The board approved the resignation of Watie and Patricia Akins of the Recreation Committee.
• The board voted to appoint Catherine Heuberger and Donald Fleming to the Tax Relief Fund Committee.
• Programs and documents for both the Annual Town Election and Town Meeting are available at www.mattapoisett.net.
• Spring water main flushing will begin on Monday, May 14 from 8:00 pm to 3:00 am and will continue through June 22.  Discoloration of water may be expected as well as low water pressure.  The most affected areas will be south of Route 6 extending from Main Street east to Aucot Road including Crescent Beach, Point Connett, Hollywoods and Peases Point.

The Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen’s next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 22 in Town Hall at 7:00 pm.

By Katy Fitzpatrick

The Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen honored the resignation of Bento Martin Jr. from the Council on Aging Tuesday evening at their regular meeting. Photo by Katy FItzpatrick.

After a lengthy discussion of the plans for a subdivision of a 4.6 acre lot at River Road, the Marion Planning Board decided at its regular meeting on Monday, May 7 to have the project representative, Gregory Morse, review the plans with Town Council and meet with the Marion Board of Health regarding the septic system setbacks.

Mr. Morse came before the Planning Board with the plans for the subdivision with the intent of obtaining four waivers, which would: reduce the lots’ right-of-way, create a drainage parcel on one of the proposed lots, relax the three percent grade at the intersection of River Road and Route 6, and reduce the setbacks for the septic systems on the proposed lots.

“We’re looking forward to moving forward with the development of the property into three lots,” Mr. Morse said.  “[The owner] would like to divide [the 4.6 acre lot] into two definitive lots.  Without the waivers, it may make this project unfeasible.”

The first waiver would reduce the right-of-way width from 50 feet to 40 feet.

“I don’t think granting that down from 50 feet to 40 feet is jeopardizing public safety,” Mr. Morse continued.

Board member Tom Magauran found the request reasonable, although he did have some reservations.

“Conceptually, I don’t have a problem with it,” he said.  “It’s just that we’ll need to look at the conditions of what needs a variance.  We’ll need to make sure you adequately present why you qualify for a waiver … This waiver sounds reasonable to me, but this waiver gets more technical than we deal with every day.”

The second waiver would place a drainage easement on one of the proposed subdivisions.  The members of the Planning Board did not have any questions about the plans for this waiver, but agreed that the plans needed more detail.

Next, Mr. Morse asked for Planning Board approval to reduce the three percent grade for the landing from 100 feet to 50 feet.

“It makes it so that the wall isn’t so high,” Mr. Morse explained the importance, referencing the property line between the subdivisions and abutting properties.

Finally, Mr. Morse presented a case for using state regulations rather than local ones for the setbacks of the septic systems and drainage requirements.

“With this development,” Mr. Morse said, “we won’t add any water to River Road.  We hope to collect the water in the cul-de-sac,” he explained.

The plans called for installing storm-water components on the proposed lots, running them into catch basins.

“You [the town of Marion] have a regulation of 100 feet for the setback from septic,” he said of the setbacks, “but we meet the state regulation of 50 feet.  We would require a variance for that.”

Chairman Jay Ryder articulated the Planning Board’s concerns.

“We have an engineering issue and a legal issue with each of your four waivers,” he said.  “The next step is to get back to you and say, ‘We can work with you,’ or ‘No, this cannot work, there is a legal issue.’”

Mr. Magauran explained that the Planning Board needs more information on the legalities of the subdivision since it isn’t a common procedure.

“We address subdivision issues once every three years or so,” he explained.  “We haven’t seen one in a while.”

“What you’ve proposed here is a substantially less dense proposal from anything we’ve seen in the last six years, to give you perspective,” Mr. Magauran continued.  “We want to help you achieve this.  I don’t think you’re going to get a negative response from the board; there may be some legal hurdles.”

Chairman Ryder asked Mr. Morse to “get the ball rolling” by meeting with the Marion Board of Health regarding the setbacks for the septic system, and to send a brief memo to the Planning Board outlining the four waivers.

In the next order of business, the representative of Cumberland Farms, Thomas Moriarty, requested that the Planning Board grant a field change for the project.  Mr. Moriarty began by explaining that the previous approval of the project by the Planning Board had granted a special permit.  Conditions for the site plan approval required Cumberland Farms to replace 115 feet of drainage on Front Street, as well as to replace the sidewalk along Route 6 in front of Eastern Bank.

Mr. Moriarty added that the town of Marion recently found that Cumberland Farms must also install 12-inch pipe to replace the existing 10-inch pipe in the drainage system.

“Considering that down the road the town has a lot of work in changing the sidewalks to make them AD8 compliant, it made sense to have Cumberland Farms do the drainage work instead of doing what they were supposed to do,” Chairman Ryder said.

In other business, the Planning Board unanimously approved that no comments would be given to the ZBA regarding the properties of 294 Front Street and 12 Hartley Lane.

“This board feels that the ZBA is doing a good job doing what they do,” Chairman Ryder said.

The Planning Board’s last business was to discuss the recent offer made to the town to sell energy garnered from windmills located outside of Marion.  Board Secretary Terri Santos said that she had received no word from those who had proposed the contract.  All board members expressed skepticism of the contract, believing that it sounded like a good idea in theory but might not be practical.

“We know very little of who these fellows are who are offering these transactions to the town,” Clerk Ted North said.  “I just hope that we understand [the contract] before this goes to town meeting.”

The board members hypothesized as to how the contract would affect Marion and the total cost for its supply of energy with subsidies potentially decreasing from turning to alternative energy sources.

The next regular meeting of the Marion Planning Board will be on Monday, May 21 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Town House.

By Anne Smith

On Monday, May 7, 2012, the Mattapoisett Planning Board met and voted 2-2 with no abstentions on a motion to require a minimum of one resident of or over the age of 55 to occupy homes at the new Mattapoisett Landing retirement community.

According to Brian Porter, who spoke on behalf of the project builders, they wanted to put a moderate age restriction in place in order to maintain the atmosphere of an over-55 retirement community, though it was unclear whether or not further restrictions would violate federal and state housing laws.

The requirement that at least one occupant be 55 years or older was suggested in order to account for occupant spouses that may be slightly younger than 55.  This was the first tie vote for this Planning Board, and Chairman Thomas Tucker said that they would need the Town Council to address the situation.  Meanwhile, the Planning Board has encouraged Porter to draft more specific language for the restriction so as to prevent federal and state law violations.

The Planning Board also signed previously approved plans for property at 2 Pine Island Road, submitted by Dave Davignon of Schneider and Associates on behalf of Greta and Timothy Fox.  The Board resigned the plans to certify that they had not been modified or amended since original approval in March of 2011.

The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Planning Board will be Monday, May 21, 2012, at 7:00 pm, at the Town Hall.

By Eric Tripoli

The Mattapoisett School Committee voted 3-2 to not participate in school choice at the elementary level for fiscal year 2013.  Superintendent Doug White recommended that the committee vote against the program, which allows out of town students to fill available slots within Center and Old Hammondtown Schools.

Committee members Gerald Johnson and James Higgins argued for the proposal, citing benefits such as diversity and upward mobility opportunities for parents who want to move their child into a better school system.

White stated that teachers who live outside the town have the right to enroll their children in the Mattapoisett schools and that if school choice were approved and there were more applicants than slots, those children might be subject to the lottery.  Class size was also discussed, with Chairwoman Grace Knox saying that the schools are reaping the benefit of lower class sizes due to declining enrollment.

The committee agreed to study the issue and put it back on the table for fiscal year 2014.

The committee was treated to an 18  minute YouTube video featuring Kahn Academy founder Salman Khan who was a hedge fund analyst who gave math lessons via video to his cousins several years ago.  The videos worked and he put them up for free to anyone on YouTube. Mr. Khan described the incredible response that students, parents and teachers had to his teaching method.

Khan’s videos have been a spectacular success in teaching students basic and advanced math concepts.  Bill Gates has funded Khan’s efforts to bring the videos into a classroom setting.  To view the video, go to YouTube and type in “Salman Kahn Talk at TED 2011.”

The committee discussed the video and agreed to study the possibility of incorporating the videos over time.  Elise Frangos, Director of Curriculum, said that one of the summer school courses will use the Khan videos and that several teachers in the district were familiar with the videos.

Mr. White congratulated the top five senior high students who were honored at the South Coast Conference Academic All Star Inductee Banquet held in Assonet.  The students included: David Friedman, Megan Merlo, Anne Smith, Rachael Reints and Michael Stellato.

In other committee news:

• Grade three students will participate in the Mathematics MCAS assessment during the week of May 14.  Students will take a practice test on May 14.

• Grade 4 and 5 will take the Mathematics MCAS assessment on  May 8 and 9.  Grade 6 will take the math MCAS on May 15 and 16.  The Science MCAS for grade 5 will be taken on May 10 and 11.

• The Old Hammondtown School Jazz Band won a gold medal for their May 3rd performance at Stoughton High School.  The jazz band will play at the OHS Spring Concert to be held on Thursday, June 7 at 1:30 and 6:30 pm.

• The summer school program, Summer Sail brochure has been printed and will be sent home in backpacks this week.  The 28 courses offered will help students keep up with skills over the summer.  Parents should register their child by May 18 to be guaranteed a space in a course of their choice.  The brochure can also be viewed on the district web site at www.oldrochester.org

• For the first time, incoming kindergarten students and their parents have been invited to visit the kindergarten classrooms and meet the teachers on Wednesday, May 23 from 2:15 to 3:00 pm at Center School.  On May 31, the kindergarten teachers will meet with small groups of new students and have them play, draw and name the letters of the alphabet that they know.

• The last day of the school year will be Monday, June 18, 2012.

By Joan Hartnett-Barry

The Rochester Board of Selectmen OK’d the 17-Article Annual Town Meeting Warrant, which includes a $17,750,036 request for the town’s fiscal year 2013 budget. The board met with the Finance Committee to review and finalize the warrant one last time before the May 21 annual town meeting.

LaCamera said the budget reflects no department increases or standard of living wage increases for non-union employees. Rochester Memorial School’s budget increased from $5,490,438 to $5,573,114 to reflect increases in special education and utility costs (due to building addition). Old Colony’s expenses jumped from $608,465 to $707,698 to account for higher enrollment, LaCamera said.

He said the budget reflects revenues at a marginal increase of $229,000. “This is not significant. Things have been pretty flat with state aid and local receipts,” he said.

The warrant remained untouched with the exception of a small change, requested by Town Moderator Greenwood “Woody” Hartley, to show that certain Board of Assessors monies are not for another position, but for overtime the Assessors themselves may incur.

The Selectmen voted to reject a request from the Assessor John Mello to add hours to their part-time clerk position. That individual had also worked for the Town Clerk’s office as well, but those hours were recently downsized. The assessors wanted to bring that individual on for more hours (at a cost of $7,553) to compensate for the eliminated hours from her schedule at the Town Clerk.

“I don’t think that it’s appropriate at the last minute,” said LaCamera, noting that other departments wanting more hours for their staff were denied that request during the budgeting process.

Selectman Richard Nunes pointed out that such issues require review by the Personnel Board, and granting that request would overlook their authority on the matter.

“We have vacancies on the Parks Commission and the Planning Board. If we leave the Personnel Board members out, we’d be looking for Personnel members too,” he said.

Other articles reviewed included the appropriation of $307,023 in Chapter 90 funds for repair, construction and maintenance of roads (Article 7), the creation of a revolving fund account for summer school programs (Article 8), a deadline extension for Old Colony towns needing to authorize new debt (Article 9) and a housekeeping article to fix a typo in the industrial district zoning bylaw (Article 10).

Also, two articles would authorize the Selectmen to enter contracts – the first being for a power purchase agreement for solar/wind energy that LaCamera said could potentially trim the town’s electricity costs by 25 percent (Article 14). The other would allow the Selectmen to approve and enter into a 20-year Payment in Lieu of Taxes agreement with New Bedford Waterworks, which is seeking to install a solar panel farm in the northwestern section of town, owned by the city of New Bedford.

The new bylaws for FEMA’s revised flood plain district maps also are on the warrant (Article 12). The maps go into effect whether or not the town approves them; failure to approve the new maps would prohibit town residents from purchasing or renewing National Flood Insurance. Laurell Farinon, Conservation Agent, said anyone who needs to double check if their property is affected should contact her office.

For a complete look at the warrant, visit www.wanderer.com. The Town Meeting is scheduled for May 21 at 7:00 pm at Rochester Memorial School.

In other matters:

• LaCamera said that anyone interested in the senior workoff program should visit the Town Hall office for an application.

• The Rochester Memorial School’s Miles for Memorial Walk is scheduled for May 30.

• The Second Annual Joe Monteiro Memorial Tractor Ride is scheduled for July 14 (July 15 rain date).

By Laura Fedak Pedulli