Aiming for a level-service budget for the next fiscal year, Old Rochester Regional Superintendent of Schools Mike Nelson told the Marion School Committee during its February 8 meeting that he had met with the Marion Finance Committee and Finance Director Heather O’Brien.

            “We are at a place where the cost of doing business is driving the overall number that we are seeing in the FY25 budget,” said Nelson, relaying a presentation from Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Howie Barber (who was not present), categorizing departmental increases according to contractual obligations (staffing, etc.), utility contracts (gas, power, electricity) student services (transportation, special needs), and technology (devices and software.) “Inflation has certainly taken a toll on the budget process thus far. … Obviously, the town has the responsibility of supporting every department’s budget, but our job here is to support what we think the kids and families need and the staff members here at Sippican School.”’

            The Budget Subcommittee had met earlier in the day, Nelson noted.

            The Marion School Committee will eventually hold a budget hearing, presumably vote to approve so that the budget can be approved by the Select Board and go on the warrant for Town Meeting.

            The bid process for the busing contract has closed, and the administration is weighing two proposals.

            In her Chairperson’s Report, April Nye talked about the 50^th anniversary of the Volunteers at Sippican Elementary (VASE.) Nye alluded to the many enrichment experiences, including field trips, activities, visits from artists of various kinds made available by the organization’s grassroots, community volunteerism.

            “It’s such an integral part of what Sippican truly is, and I just want to personally thank them,” said Nye.

            The committee took several votes during the meeting.

            The members approved the following donations: $500 from the Cape Cod 5 Foundation for Sarah Jacques’ project Sippican Snack Squad, $2,080.77 donation from Shutterfly for photos, $1,895.30 donation from Art to Remember to programs at Sippican School.

            The committee approved two grants:  an $8,321 Federal Targeted Special Education Program Improvement Grant for individuals with disabilities and $50,000 for the Math Acceleration Academies.

            “I want to express our thanks to, obviously, everybody in the superintendent’s office, especially Dr. (Shari) Fedorowicz for getting these grants. They’re so important for the students,” said April Nye. “If families haven’t signed up, take advantage of it. It’s such a great opportunity for them to do so. And we obviously thank the state for providing that $50,000 because it’s much needed.”

            Nelson added his gratitude to ORR District teachers who participate in the out-of-calendar program, citing the value of having students see familiar instructors.

            The committee voted to support the School Health Unit Application through the Massachusetts Department of Public Health as submitted by Sippican Elementary School Nurse Megan Morais. The agreement has been endorsed and signed by the nurse, school physician Dr. Steven Mendes and Nelson.

            The committee approved the READS Collaborative Agreement Amendment.

            The committee conducted an initial discussion on School Choice for FY25. Historically, Sippican is not a School Choice school district. The committee is obliged to hold a public hearing on the matter annually.

            The committee discussed the possibility of a community resource animal and voted to add one, provided all the variables line up. Sippican Elementary now has a School Resource Officer, Jonathan Tracy, and Nelson had already discussed adding a resource animal with Marion Police Chief Richard Nighelli.

            “We’ve been able to secure some of that grant funding … we’re already in a good place policy wise,” said Nelson. “I’m at a place now that, if we can figure out the resource pieces, I’m hoping you’ll take a vote tonight to say, ‘yes, we want a community resource animal here at Sippican School, if the resources are available.’”

            Nelson said the administration tracks students for allergies and is prepared to make any accommodations.

            In relaying Barber’s report, Nelson said Marion had $444,957 remaining in the FY24 operating budget, calling it a good place to be.

            A play structure donated to Sippican School by Tabor Academy has been installed and will include a second swing set. Nye publicly thanked Tabor for the support.

            The committee entered executive session to discuss collective bargaining and only returned to adjourn the public meeting.

            The next meeting of the Marion School Committee is scheduled for Thursday, March 14, at 6:30 pm at Sippican Elementary School.

Marion School Committee

By Mick Colageo

            The February 26 meeting of the Mattapoisett Select Board found its members not only reviewing several departmental budgets but also topics with far-reaching implications for the town and its residents.

            Towards the end of the agenda, Town Administrator Mike Lorenco mentioned ongoing attempts to partner with the Town of Acushnet to hire a shared municipal planner. In a follow-up, board member Tyler Macallister stated that both communities had a need for a professional planner, however, “…there aren’t many planners out there.” The two towns have not given up, he noted, and will continue in that search.

            On an entirely different track, Lorenco shared that the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s Wetlands Protection Act is currently being updated with new regulatory impacts for those owning property along jurisdictional areas. He said that public participation is open and urged people to visit websites providing details and how to participate. He said website links will be posted to the town’s website, Mattapoisett.net.

            A quick look around the Mass.gov website, we found a December 23, 2023, press release from the governor’s office titled “Healy Driscoll Administration Proposes to Strengthen Resilience from Coastal and Inland Flooding.”

            The public-comment clock has been ticking and ends on March 1, the website noted. The release quotes Bonnie Meiple, MassDEP commissioner, who said, “We cannot continue a business-as-usual approach if we want to build more resilient communities.” She said that the new requirements will integrate science and green infrastructure techniques to mitigate climate-change impacts. The message also detailed that the coastal floodplain hosts $55,000,000,000 in structures of which half represents living units for 2,500,000 people within 87 coastal cities and towns.

            Coming before the board was Council on Aging Director Jacki Seney. Her commentary included statistics on number of people served by the agency. A stunning 1,209 individual, unduplicated contacts were made in 2023, she reported. While many of those are for social activities, many others represent either urgent, local need for services or longer-term support.

            Seney asked the board to consider removing one part-time COA position, replacing it with one full-time position in order to maintain continuity of service or for greater outreach. As she has shared in the past, letting people know the types of services available through the local agency is an ongoing effort. The requested COA FY25 budget stands at $245,651.

            American Recovery Program Act funds (also known as ARPA) were also discussed. Lorenco said that funds needed to be appropriated for infrastructure projects by the end of December 2024 and spent by 2026. The original sums received from state and local recovery funds was $1,820,122 with a remaining balance of $193,529. Since the beginning of the program, Mattapoisett has used or plans to use funding for such needs as the Oakland water line, purchase of water meters, radios and domain servers and computer servers.

            Lorenco offered for the board’s consideration of some remaining ARPA funds, an allocation of $400,000 for a new Water-Sewer building and $120,000 to complete the new generator installation located at the HUD housing site.

            The working draft FY25 general operating fund budget total is $33,167,521.

            The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Select Board is scheduled for Monday, March 4, time to be announced.

Mattapoisett Select Board

By Marilou Newell

            In presenting the FY25 Draft Budget to the Marion Select Board during its February 21 meeting, Town Administrator Geoff Gorman said the goal has been a level-services budget, the only increases of which would be related to the cost of doing business.

            “Any additional services, requests, if we wanted to hire somebody, if we wanted to make somebody go from part-time (hours) to full-time … that would be discussed separately, and we do have a couple of those items that the finance director (Heather O’Brien) and I will discuss as we get closer to a balanced budget,” said Gorman.

            As presented, Marion’s Preliminary FY25 Budget of $28,989,359 includes: $13,373,309 for education, $4,371,763 for pension and insurance, $4,358,972 for public safety, $2,676,585 for general government, $2,432,547 for public works, $857,834 for General Fund debt service, $526,253 for human services and $392,056 for culture and recreation.

            Gorman characterized FY24 as a busy year that included three collective-bargaining agreements not counting the schools, a reorganization of the Harbormaster Department and “retention support” for nonunion employees.

            Property-insurance increases of 5-7% are compounded by the requirement to provide individual-building flood insurance that presently affects the Music Hall but will also affect the new Maritime Center, Fire Station 2 and pumping-station projects. Gorman said Marion has 24 buildings in the velocity zone.

            Health-insurance premiums went up by 6.4%, reported Gorman, noting that these “nontransient” increases are probable to continue beyond FY25.

            Revenue has become a complex matter, as two large residential developments once projected to be under construction by now are not, and Gorman plainly admitted the town does not know their timelines.

            “We’re trying to be conservative and look into a very cloudy crystal ball,” he said.

            The priority, he said, is to maintain fiscal responsibility and the triple-A bond rating that Marion owns.

            Revenue growth for FY25 is estimated at $679,511, down 18% from FY24.

            Free cash is estimated at $3,060,000, but construction of the new Department of Public Works operations building at Benson Brook is “the largest unknown” that could affect the account.

            Expense increases, said Gorman, has been affected by police reform; this is the first collective-bargaining agreement under the reform act.

            Schools will eat up 46% of Marion’s FY25 budget, and increases include 4% (Old Rochester Regional), 6.02% (Sippican Elementary) and 24% (increased enrollment at Upper Cape Tech.)

Curbside collection is up 13%, and Plymouth County retirement costs are up 9%.

            O’Brien discussed revenues, noting that property taxes account for 79% of Marion’s estimated revenues for FY25. This is the first municipal budget process for O’Brien, who worked in the private sector before taking over for the retired Judy Mooney at the end of December.

            Select Board member Randy Parker asked if the town should increase its annual $200,000 investment in Infiltration/Inflow (I/I) projects, a source the town had projected income from the two Route 6 residential developments yet to break ground.

            In an appointment with the Capital Improvements Planning Committee, CIPC Chairman Dave Janik presented to the board. Attending with Janik were CIPC members Casey Barros, Steve Nojeim and Debra Watson. Janik also credited Mandy Givens, who was unable to attend, for her work on the committee.

            In explaining the two-fold purpose of the CIPC, Janik defined capital projects for FY25 as departmental needs costing at least $10,000 and having a lifetime of at least five years.

            One objective of the CIPC is to go through capital needs with each town department, assemble that information and then work to achieve a consensus on how to rank them in order of priority. Mitigating factors could include urgency, funding source, if the project is being done to comply with the law, a consent decree or a court order, etc.

            The worksheet used by the CIPC to interview department heads is under an annual evaluation.

            Of the 36 projects presented during departmental interviews with the CIPC, 18 (half) of them were related to the Department of Public Works.

            “We used to rank them all together, but the reality is when you do that the DPW projects sometimes have certain qualities about them such as they’re for public health and safety, they’re paid for by fees, they’re under court order; they would always tend to completely outrank the other non-DPW projects,” explained Janik.

            Therefore, a couple of years ago the CIPC decided to present all DPW requests within a separate category.

            Janik said the total funding requested for FY25 capital projects is slightly less than $9,500,000, approximately $7,600,000 of which accounts for the DPW subtotal.

            The CIPC charted rankings of 18 DPW projects and 18 non-DPW projects.

            At the top of the DPW list was a $160,000 regulatory-compliance sewer project; at the top of the non-DPW list was a $95,000 Fire/EMS request for cardiac monitor and defibrillator replacement.

            The three most-expensive FY25 capital requests were all DPW projects: $3,213,000 to replace the             Creek Road Pumping Station (ranked fourth – DPW/Sewer), $1,787,000 to repave the Cushing Community Center Parking Lot (13th – DPW/Highway) and $1,200,000 for emergency generators (third – DPW/Water.)

            The three most-expensive FY25 capital requests not related to the DPW: $804,000 to replace the Harbormaster’s patrol boat (ranked fifth – Marine), $250,000 for town records digitization (seventh) and $182,000 to refurbish Fire Engine 2 (third – Fire/EMS.)

            Gorman said half of the $250,000 for the town records digitization would be covered by grant funding. Janik said that the CIPC was not aware of grant funding when it went through its review and ranking process.

            “If we were to rank that project again, recognizing the $100,000 grant that was obtained for it, it would probably move several spots up,” said Janik, who also summarized the CIPC’s 10-year plan.

            Out of season, usually before September, the CIPC also conducts site visits to be better informed regarding capital projects.

            The board thanked the CIPC members.

            In his Town Administrator’s Report, Gorman said the footings have been poured and are complete on the Harbormaster building under construction. The project is on schedule, and plans are being made to organize a groundbreaking ceremony.

            In his DPW building update, Gorman reported that bid documents have been completed and have been available since February 22; sub-bids are due March 21 and general bids on March 28. Once the bid process is complete, Gorman said the town will know what the building will cost.

            A lively Community Garden discussion did not include Select Board Chairman Toby Burr, who abstained from participation.

            The garden group sought and eventually received authorization to use the ground north of the Cushing Community Center to create raised, planting beds. The area will be cleared without the use of town resources.

            Parker said it’s a great idea and recommended for efficiency’s sake that the board pass its authority to the garden group, but Hills was dissatisfied with the lack of detail in the plan and criticized the choice of location because of the distance to water. “I just don’t think that you’re setting yourself up for success,” he said.

            The group was eventually voted permission to use the location that the members would clean up, including the removal of invasive species, then come back to the Select Board with a detailed plan.

            Cynthia Callow was appointed temporary election warden.

            The board approved the warrant to hold the presidential primary election on March 5. The board approved a Water/Sewer commitment of $263.96 (final readings February 12.) The board authorized Gorman to dispose of two old phone systems, some of which have recycling value. The board approved the minutes from its February 6 meeting.

            The next meeting of the Marion Select Board is scheduled for Tuesday, March 5, at 6:00 pm at the Town House Annex building.

Marion Select Board

By Mick Colageo