The planning for a massive upgrade to the filtering system in the Mattapoisett Water Treatment Plant has reached its fine-tuning stages, and the Mattapoisett River Valley Water District Commission wasn’t at all thrown off by a corporate takeover of Koch Separation Solutions, the designer of the state-of-the-art system to be installed in the plant that services MRV member towns Fairhaven, Mattapoisett, Marion and Rochester.

            It was all systems go when the MRV convened Tuesday afternoon via Zoom for its monthly meeting.

            Jon Gregory, representing engineering consultants Tata & Howard, referenced the switch in name from Koch to Kovalus (the result of an acquisition by a Sun Capital Partners affiliate) and said only a final question on an electrical issue remains before the MRV should receive a final submittal from the designer for the commission’s final review. Gregory anticipates the final submittal this week, after which the skids (not just the membrane) will be pushed into production.

            One issue that continues to drag is where the project stands on the state Department of Environmental Protection list of priorities. Gregory, Water Treatment Plant Supervisor Henri Renauld and MRV Chairman Vinnie Furtado put together a written testimony and sent on January 31 to state officials, and Representative William Straus, a Mattapoisett resident, also wrote a letter on MRV’s behalf.

            In the meantime, Gregory told the commission he is working with an electrical consultant and a substructural consultant. Part of permitting for the construction phase, he explained, is in providing a bypass plan to MassDEP. Incorporated into that plan would be public outreach and sampling, duration, etc. That is all in the works.

            Tata & Howard representatives were to meet with Atlantium Technologies on Wednesday in Marlborough.

            MRV commission/committee member David Pierce asked if, beyond the filter-upgrade project, are further upgrades in store for the plant itself? Gregory noted that the initial loan will be paid off in July 2026, leaving a short overlap with debt to be incurred with the purchase of the new filtering system and equipment.

            (On Monday, Renauld went before the Mattapoisett Select Board with a proposal for a new building to house the town’s Water and Sewer Department operations.)

            Pierce also asked if the power failure at the Water Treatment Plant resulting from the August 8, 2023, tornado could have been more easily mitigated by a generator with a larger storage tank. Renauld indicated that a permanent, underground tank could be potentially dangerous.

            “One of my biggest concerns is how much fuel do we want to store in our (plant),” said Renauld. “To maintain something specifically underground … as of now a truck can park there with 2,000 gallons.”

            With the current capacity, the plant can continue operating for approximately two days during a power outage. In July and August, that number decreases to approximately 36 hours.

            For now, Renauld reported that the plant is “running fairly well.” He is participating in the effort to devise a plan to bypass the filtering system during the upgrade project later this year. Renauld was happy to report that the rooftop at the plant has been installed. A valve change required three days of work over the weekend.

            In his monthly Tata & Howard report, Gregory said he is meeting with Renauld to update the five-year capital plan, and this time went out one more additional year, finalizing and sending out the 2023 annual district report (for member towns to include in their reports to voters in this spring’s annual town meetings.)

            In his Treasurer’s Report to the commission, Renauld said a total of $77,220.34 was paid out over the prior month, including a bill of $39,512.47 to Eversource, over $12,000 to chemical distributors Borden & Remington, and Tata & Howard invoices of $6,720 and $4,543. He also noted that the rooftop heating unit for which the commission approved $16,520 has been installed. “We have heat now,” he said.

            In the MRV Water Supply Protection Advisory Committee meeting immediately preceding that of the commission, Gregory reported having transmitted October and November 2023 river-monitoring graphs to the membership and said he will soon have December 2023 information from Megan McCarthy. Once he looks through the whole year’s data, Tata & Howard will put together and present a visual summary for the year and take questions.

            Operations over the last month with river monitoring have posed no complications, and the MRV has two spare level loggers at its disposal.

            In a vote following a short discussion, the committee authorized Vinnie Furtado to write a letter recommending that the Rochester Planning Board go forward with the Approval Not Required (ANR) application filed by Walter Hartley and John Libby Consulting for the separation of a lot on Hartley Road into two buildable lots.

            In his Treasurer’s Report to the committee, Jeff Furtado announced an ending balance as of February 1 of $202,826.09. Among new invoices approved for payment by Vinnie Furtado was $2,216.49 to Tata & Howard.

            The annual notice of assessment reports that Marion will pay in excess of $18,000, Mattapoisett over $14,000 and Fairhaven over $13,000.

            McCarthy combined meeting minutes for all of 2023 into one document for committee’s and commission’s consumption.

            Citing negligible interest coming into the committee’s account via conventional banking, Pierce suggested the committee research available certificates of deposit. “It’s never been worth our while, but the interest on the CD’s is up now.” Pierce. “It’s still secure funds, but it gets much better interest.” Jeff Furtado will look into it, and the committee will review the matter with Anne Carreiro.

            The next meeting of the MRV Water District Commission/Water Supply Protection Advisory Committee is scheduled for Tuesday, March 12, 2024, at 3:30 pm (committee) and 4:00 pm (commission.)

MRV Water District Commission/Water Supply Protection Advisory Committee

By Mick Colageo

            A new municipal building is being planned for the Mattapoisett Water and Sewer Departments. During the February 12 meeting of the Mattapoisett Select Board, members heard from Henri Renauld, Water and Sewer superintendent, regarding the new building plans.

            Renauld stated that a combination of revenue sources will be used to offset the early construction estimate of $3,600,000. He explained that for years the two departments have rented space around the community for offices and for equipment storage. Now with the pending sale of two lots in the Bay Club and the sale of 33 Church Street, costs including possible borrowing will be offset.

            Renauld said design of a new building was nearly complete and may include pump-testing areas, which will lessen the impact of paying to have pumps repaired and/or tested. He said there would be a Spring Town Meeting article for voters to consider any necessary borrowing for the building.

            Budgets were also reviewed for the FY25 cycle. The combined increases equal 2.6% over FY24; the FY25 Water/Sewer operating budget stands at $2,721,489.

            Also meeting with the board was Gail Joseph, health agent. Joseph and the board discussed a number of revenue-producing activities that might help in Joseph’s continued efforts to right this enterprise’s troubled financial past.

            One immediate action planned is the raising of fees at the Transfer Station. With the high costs associated with both solid and recyclable materials, reducing tonnage was critical, Joseph stated. Now available at the Transfer Station are recycle bins for clothing and books. But food waste, which adds to the weight issue, was tougher to tackle.

            “People don’t understand how important it is to compost food waste,” said Joseph, adding that people who bring their household trash to the Transfer Station are actually incurring double the cost to the town, since residential pick-up has already paid for that service. And regarding food waste, she said that there were future state regulations being discussed for removing food waste from the solid-waste stream altogether.

            In discussing the need for a scale that could accurately calculate fees for construction debris, Joseph said that there were small portable scales available. The board asked her to look into that option. When asked how much construction debris was currently being captured and paid for, she responded, “35 percent.”

            The board also asked Joseph to look into electronic devices that would allow the town’s cell phone at the transfer station to process credit-card payments. Currently, the department is only able to process cash transactions.

            The FY25 operating budget draft for the Transfer Station stands at $174,980.

            Recreation Department Director Greta Fox also met with the board. They discussed at length the various programs offered ranging from basketball to pickleball, summer camp, lacrosse, flag football and kayaking lessons. She said that Mattapoisett residents were considered first for openings in summer camp and that staffing for the beach looks promising for the season. The draft operating budget for the Beach and Recreation departments is $69,650.

            The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Select Board is tentatively scheduled for Monday, February 26, at 5:30 pm.

            Capital Planning has also been meeting with department heads for their capital needs. The list for FY25 has as its number-one priority $360,000 for a new ambulance. Other items include: $40,000 for ambulance stretcher; $11,000 new Fire Department helmets; $18,000 hose replacement; $75,000 Highway Department pickup truck; $300,000 annual road improvements; $32,900 paging server Old Hammondtown School; $32,900 paging server Center School; UTV with stretcher $25,000; $8,000 replace pump forestry Fire Department vehicle; $50,000 Town Hall exterior-trim painting; $10,000 Highway Department exhaust fan; $18,000 Old Hammondtown water heater; $25,000 library elevator upgrades; $130,000 Pine Island culvert-design engineering; $18,000 Center School water-heater replacement; $26,000 fire door replacement; $20,000 Center School window seals and $25,000 Old Hammondtown VCT flooring.

Mattapoisett Select Board

By Marilou Newell

            Reconfiguration of the intersection of Front and Spring Streets at Brew Fish restaurant from its present fork design into a hard turn is one of two changes coming to the stretch of Route 105 seaward of Route 195.

            The entry to Washburn Park off Front Street just southeast of the 195 interchange will also be altered to better accommodate safe access to the Marion Shared Use (bicycle) Path.

            Representatives from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation visited the Music Hall on January 31 to update residents on the progress and vision of the Shared Use Path (Phase I) and to solicit feedback from attendees.

            Participants in the meeting included: Joe Yoo, MassDOT project manager; Alex Lamarche, MassDOT environmental analyst; Marion Town Administrator Geoff Gorman; Paula Meere, member of the Marion Pathway Committee; Kevin Slattery, project manager for HDR; Scott Farmelant, HDR’s environmental outreach lead; and Jeramy Packard, PE, Foth Infrastructure and Environment LLC.

            The project achieved 100% design in December 2023, and MassDOT provided advanced notice in January about the pending submission of its Expanded Environmental Notification Form (EENF) form to the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA.)

            The plan is to pave a 3.8-mile path that will connect to Mattapoisett’s bike path near Industrial Road and end at Point Road on the Wareham side of Marion. Overall, Marion’s stretch is but a small piece of an emerging network of bike paths forming a course known as the South Coast Bikeway, part of a 50-mile system that spans from Rhode Island all the way to Cape Cod.

            In recognition of Marion as a state-recognized, Environmental Justice community, Lamarche explained that the process will follow Environmental Justice guidelines including, within a 1-mile radius of the project to EJ populations-related criteria for minority income or limited English speaking via an enhanced outreach programs in cooperation with community organizations and programs.

            Farmelant said the project exceeds thresholds requiring outreach protocols and that high-level outreach is triggered by difficult-to-reach populations to ensure they have meaningful involvement in keeping with the statewide, legal standard.

            “When people are put at the center of projects who are impacted by those projects, the project is always going to be better,” he said.

            Since the June 2016 kickoff presentation, there have been public-feedback meetings in September 2017 regarding traffic along Route 105 and Spring Street and in July 2019 on project design.

            The current estimate for funding of the project is $5,500,000, 80% of which Yoo says will be paid for by the Federal Highway Administration and the remaining 20% by the state.

            The 100% design was submitted in December 2023, and MassDOT is presently working through comments culminating in a February 29 meeting with a 30-day public-comment period.

            The Environmental Notification Scope (ENS) on abandoned rail and sparse and uninhabited areas will ensure that Environmental Justice community populations are identified for all environmental impacts.

            The design recognizes 2.14 acres of wetlands impacted, 9.4 acres of impervious surface and a 5,000 square-foot replication area to offset those impacts. There are no impacts from the project on rare species or air quality.

            Mitigation will include a 1/1 ratio of replication, a protection plan featuring ADA compliance, stormwater-management improvements, erosion control near wetlands, the use of crushed stone in trenches, swales and grass depressions to minimize erosion sediments.

            Traffic concerns, especially for pedestrians including children, were aired.

            Among other concerns articulated during the public meeting were potential cost overruns – longtime resident Joe Zora anticipates needed repairs of unmarked culverts along the path – and plans for a paved passage near Washburn Park that could impose hardship on a horse farm.

            Also attending the meeting was Bonne DeSousa, president of the Friends of the Mattapoisett Bike Path. DeSousa has long been advocating for the growth and connection of municipal bike paths from Rhode Island to Cape Cod.

            “I support connecting the Mattapoisett Rail Trail to Marion via this route. I loved hearing about the old trails because this trail will make so many of the old trails accessible,” said DeSousa, who has family in Marion and would love to see the kids bike back and forth to each other’s homes.

            According to Yoo, the right-of-way process consists of a mix of permanent and temporary easements. “At this moment, we do not have right-of-way plans,” said Yoo, noting that state regulations must be followed and that abutters will have the opportunity for review and proper compensation. Yoo also noted that the project is at the mercy of the Select Board vote.

            “One more thing: As mentioned before, we call it 100%, but design is not finalized,” said Yoo, anticipating further tweaking. “This is technically still a draft, a very comprehensive draft but still a draft.”

Marion Shared Use Path

By Mick Colageo

The Old Rochester Regional School District and Massachusetts Superintendency Union #55 announced on their Facebook page today that ORR District schools will be closed on Tuesday, February 13, due to the anticipated winter storm that is predicted to bring unfavorable conditions to the area.

ORR District schools include ORR High School, Junior High and the four elementary schools, Center School and Old Hammondtown in Mattapoisett, Sippican Elementary in Marion, and Rochester Memorial School.

Earlier this afternoon, the Town of Mattapoisett relayed the National Weather Service’s issuance of a Winter Storm Warning for Plymouth County in response to a storm that will hit the community from 1:00 am Tuesday morning and will continue to 1:00 am Wednesday.

Heavy snow is expected with accumulation of 4 to 8 inches and winds gusting as high as 50 mile per hour. The heaviest snow is likely to occur Tuesday between 10:00 am and 3:00 pm; snow is projected to end between 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm.

The Tuesday morning commute could be difficult with snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour at times (predicted after 7:00 am). Areas of blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility. If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food, and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency.

Coastal flooding is possible during the afternoon with the projected high tide.

Wet snow and low temperatures could make travel difficult from Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning.

Power outages are possible given the expected heavy snow and high winds.

Trash pickup in Mattapoisett will be delayed by one day in response to the storm.

The Town of Marion has announced in anticipation of the storm that the Marion Town House, Benjamin D. Cushing Community Center, Music Hall and other non-essential municipal buildings will be closed on Tuesday, February 13.