Rochester’s Select Board Monday approved Fire Chief Scott Weigel’s request to increase his department salaries by 2.5% for FY25. Compounded atop the town’s 2.5%, across-the-board, Cost of Living Adjustment for its employees, the net 5% raise is designed to help Rochester lose fewer call firefighters to surrounding towns paying more.

            Weigel’s request came in the wake of the Finance Committee’s effort last week to realize departmental budget cuts to achieve one half of the $600,000 in spending decreases needed for a balanced FY25 operations budget.

            Town Administrator Glenn Cannon told the Finance Committee last week that the Select Board could alter its 2.5% COLA proposal for FY25 salaries before the May 13 Annual Town Meeting warrant is finalized.

            Weigel’s request was based on the difference that would realize a net 5% increase for firefighters. He won the Select Board’s approval of the 2.5% departmental increase after repeating his argument that a part-time firefighter can earn $31 or $32 per hour in surrounding towns as opposed to $26 per hour in Rochester.

            “We’re trying to retain the people we have,” Weigel explained.

            The three Select Board members swiftly agreed. “We’re trying to stay competitive with surrounding towns,” said Adam Murphy after the vote.

            In other action during the brief meeting, the Select Board, in tandem with the town moderator and the Old Colony Regional School District Subcommittee, reappointed Shirley Bourque to the Old Colony Vocational-Technical High School Authority.

            The board approved an employee-retirement citation for Karen Walega, who is retiring in June after serving as the Marion-Rochester Health District Director for 31 years and Rochester’s Health Director for four years.

            The board signed the letter of support for the Wareham waterline extension project and its funding.

            The board tabled an agenda item that would have appointed John Walcek, who retired as Wareham Police chief in 2021, as interim Rochester Police Chief. Rochester Police Chief Robert Small has announced his retirement.

            The Select Board scheduled its next meeting for Tuesday, April 16, at 6 pm at the Senior Center, 67 Dexter Lane.

Rochester Select Board

By Michael J. DeCicco

Coming before the Mattapoisett Planning Board on April 1, this time with a filing for an Approval Not Required petition, was applicant Colin Labrie, represented by Chris Vandenberghe of Civil and Environmental Consultants.

            During an informal meeting in March, Labrie and Vandenberghe met with the board to propose an eight-lot subdivision in a 9-acre parcel in the Holly Woods neighborhood.

            That proposal met with some resistance from homeowners in the area, giving voice to concerns over traffic and stormwater runoff, along with changes to the character of the area. Labrie was encouraged by the board to meet with his neighbors to discuss the project and discuss their concerns. Waivers requested before a formal filing included the requirement of sidewalks and the allowance of a 650-foot, private roadway.

            With a formal ANR filing before the Planning Board on Monday, this time for a three-lot plan, board members noted they were compelled to grant the filing, as the proposal met all requirements, and it was the applicant’s right to develop the property in this manner.

            When asked the difference between the original proposal, a Preliminary Subdivision, and an ANR, Planning Board Chairman Tom Tucker explained that a Preliminary Subdivision required the creation of frontage, whereas with an ANR, due to adequate square footage, frontage was not an issue.

            The request was approved with Tucker commenting that, “We can do nothing (to prevent it).”

            The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Planning Board is scheduled for Monday, May 6, at 7:00 pm.

Mattapoisett Planning Board

By Marilou Newell

            There is no controversy inside Marion town government as to the need for a new patrol boat in its harbor, but arguments on how to fund the boat bloated Tuesday night’s Select Board meeting well beyond three hours.

            The concern brought to the board by Shay Assad is that voters are likely to reject an article on Town Meeting floor if they feel it represents a broken promise.

            “I think that’s a mistake. I think the Waterways Fund needs to fund the boat. Period. I fear that if it goes forward as presently structured, you’re not going to get a vote. And we need a vote. … It’s not that I don’t support boating, I’ve been a boater for 50 years,” said Assad, who stressed that he was not representing the Finance Committee that he chairs but was speaking as a concerned citizen and long-time boater. “I’m suggesting you consider some kind of requirement that the Waterways reimburses the town.”

            As originally proposed, Article 16 of the warrant for the May 13 Town Meeting would avoid debt in paying for the patrol boat by evenly dividing the $800,000 cost between the Waterways Account ($403,250) and the Treasury aka Free Cash ($400,000).

            The ramifications of tapping into free cash, a strategy recommended by Town Administrator Geoff Gorman and Finance Director Heather O’Brien on the basis of fiscal responsibility, became a matter of controversy when it was pointed out by Assad that the town had assured taxpayers that the much-needed patrol boat would come entirely out of the Waterways Account, an enterprise fund supported by harbor-related fees.

            Much has changed over the past few years, and on this night the Select Board was charged with the closing of the Town Meeting warrant.

            Select Board Chairman Toby Burr agreed that despite the changes in the town’s financial circumstances as affected by post-COVID inflation exasperated by delays in major municipal projects such as the new Harbormaster headquarters and new Department of Public Works operations center, a promise is a promise.

            Select Board members Randy Parker and Norm Hills made comment, as did Harbormaster Adam Murphy.

            The result of the lengthy debate is that voters will see two articles with an opportunity to choose between them. One is to fund the patrol boat according to Article 16 as originally prepared, and the alternative is bonding the entire purchase ($803,250) to be paid by harbor receipts.

            Another article of interest was Number 31, a placeholder for a potential public hearing that could result in Marion’s opting out of the state’s Stretch Building Code.

            Building Commissioner Bob Grillo alerted the board as to changes in the Stretch Code that are scheduled for July 1 and some of the ramifications facing the town. He told the board about the HERS (Home Energy Rating System) that scores homes based on components, including energy efficiency, window seals, leakage and appliances.

            Grillo explained there is a Base Code and the Stretch Code, and both are becoming stricter in a lower-equals-more-efficient system. Since its January 2019 adoption, the HERS (55) and Base Code (66) requirements, which to this point have only been applied to new construction, have already become more challenging, as HERS has gone from 55 to 52. On July 1 it will go down to 42, while Base Code will go down to 55.

            The Stretch Code, as it affects residential construction, will no longer only apply to new buildings but to additions over 1,000 square feet in space and to renovations exceeding 50% of the house. Either threshold could trigger the code’s requirements and not only for the work area but the rest of the existing home as well.

            “You can see that there are going to be a lot of ‘workarounds’ on these things,” said Grillo, who anticipates homeowners breaking projects into small groups so as to avoid triggering the Stretch Code. “Ultimately, that might cost a homeowner more money to do things that way, but people are going to find their way around it. … The Stretch Code was an opt-in; it’s changed, rather dramatically, in my opinion.”

            The HERS Rating four years ago, said Grillo, is the same as the Stretch Code now.

            Concerned that this could mean an opt-out by Marion of the state’s Green Communities program, Christian Ingerslev and Bill Saltonstall of the Energy Management Committee appeared to discuss many of the advantages of Marion’s designation and the money saved through energy-related incentive programs.

            Earlier this year while crunching numbers for its proposed fire station and police renovation, the Town of Rochester became the only municipality in Massachusetts to resign from Green Communities and the Stretch Code.

            The Annual Town Meeting will be held on Monday, May 13, at 6:45 pm at Sippican Elementary School, and a review of the articles on the warrant will be conducted on April 25 at the Music Hall.

            Along with the closing of the warrant, the board approved Rules and Regulations for the Benson Brook Boutique Swap Shop that the DPW wants to open this month and receive goods as soon as possible. Volunteers are lined up and will be trained, some through the community tax-work-off program.

            Four Water/Sewer commitments featured a $1,110,902.38 in quarterly billing dated March 15.

            On March 28, the Select Board held a special meeting to discuss a dog complaint filed by Fairhaven resident Miles Grant against Verena Hultsch, 20 Vine Street.

            Town Counsel Gregg Corbo of KP Law explained a three-part public hearing in which, first, the person (Grant) who filed the complaint would testify, along with Animal Control Officer Susan Connor and other witnesses involving potential discussion with members of the Select Board. Secondly, the dog owner (Hultsch) would testify and bring forward any witnesses supporting her testimony, and finally the Select Board’s deliberation.

            Grant reiterated previously delivered testimony about the St. Bernard “Georgie” being off leash and unattended when it attacked his dog Harry, who has recovered from the incident at Silvershell Beach.

            One of the letters supporting the complaint read into the record by Gorman requested that the town order that the St. Bernard be kept fenced in on its owner’s property and away from any dog gatherings and, if off property and in the public, she be muzzled.

            In its decision, the board granted those requests and added that the dog must be trained weekly for six months. Should the training succeed and there be no further incidents after one year, the board will dismiss the complaint, make no finding for one year providing the conditions are met. The board will also consider removing the muzzle requirement, but the dog will be required, when in public, to remain on a 3-foot leash.

            The board noted that Animal Control Officer Susan Connor visited the dog owner’s property and reported that the fence is adequate. Mr. and Mrs. Hultsch confirmed their acceptance of the conditions.

            Should the conditions prove to be unsuccessful, then all of the complaints are back on the table with the potential for further sanctions.

            The next meeting of the Marion Select Board is scheduled for Wednesday, April 17, at 6:00 pm at the Town House Annex building.

Marion Select Board

By Mick Colageo