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

  After Rochester Finance Director Suzanne Szyndlar said the town needs to cut $300,000 from FY25 to end up with a balanced budget, that goal has been reached and in fact exceeded. At the conclusion of Rochester’s Finance Committee on Monday, Szyndlar said, “$327,921 has been reduced from the FY25 budget, so we are able to make our budget balanced.”

            The town’s overall budget represents a 2.15% increase over FY24, but the town must also deal with a 5.08% increase from the Old Rochester Regional School District. Szyndlar said the Rochester Finance Committee cannot formally approve the town’s budget number for the May 13 Annual Town Meeting warrant until ORR approves its final FY25 budget number this week.

            “The good news is, if the school’s number stays the same, we can balance the budget,” she said.

            To get to that balanced number Monday, Szyndlar and the Finance Committee reduced various previous budget requests: from the registrations account, Szyndlar said, $3,182 was eliminated by reducing 16 hours requested for the town clerk assistant down to 12 hours.

            A Town Hall line item was reduced by $20,000 to a total of $569,970 because some of the hours laid aside to employ Old Colony Vocational-Technical High School students for Town Hall work were not used in last year’s budget.

            The Police Department budget was reduced by $112,491 to $1,705,000 by eliminating a request for a patrol vehicle and several other expense requests, Szyndlar said.

            The Fire Department’s most significant cut was $23,229 to eliminate a request for a part-time, day-time firefighter to work Saturdays and Sundays. The department also cut approximately $9,000 from Red Alert Mobile Dispatch, $4,908 to equipment maintenance, oil heat ($1,000), and medical services ($1,000), totaling a reduction of $42,071.44.

            The Highway Department cut a salary request for an additional worker.

            The Board of Health budget was reduced by $11,025 by shaving off 10 additional hours requested for an administrative assistant.

            The Council on Aging budget was reduced by cutting van-driving hours from 15 to 10 after Szyndlar discovered there had been less usage this year than what the department had anticipated.

            The Rochester Finance Committee will meet next on Tuesday, April 16, at 7:00 pm at Town Hall, 1 Constitution Way.

Rochester Finance Committee

By Mike DeCicco

            The Rochester Finance Committee made significant headway on Monday night in its effort to achieve the town’s half of $600,000 in requested FY25 budget trims, the other half to be made by the Old Rochester Regional School District.

            The committee was not able to nail down the $300,000 in cuts that it seeks, in part because Finance Director Suzanne Szyndlar was unable to attend the meeting. Finance Committee Chairman Kris Stoltenberg has been discussing revenue assumptions for the FY25 Budget with Szyndlar, but some of the details of departmental budget discussions still need clarification.

            “We have been out of whack almost every year, but it’s never been quite that dramatic,” said Stoltenberg of the $600,000 correction prescribed by the committee. “Suzanne has the numbers and they’re pretty hard numbers. Then we fix the budget. She’s done as much as she can on the assumption side for the revenue, so now we work with the departments.”

            On the ORR side of the equation, Town Administrator Glenn Cannon said that the school district, which also includes Marion and Mattapoisett, has already made some recommendations but has yet to “come to the ($300,000) target, so it’s something they’re still working on.”

            According to a Wanderer report on the March 11 public meeting, Rochester Memorial School’s FY25 operating budget proposal represents a 6.63% increase over FY24, and ORR’s proposal represents a 4.84 increase. According to the report, Rochester is sending five fewer students to ORR this fiscal year.

            Stoltenberg was reportedly met with dismay upon letting ORR officials know there is still work to be done to the tune of $300,000.

            “They were a little shocked and surprised at what we were looking for,” said Stoltenberg, acknowledging that, “in the end, we’re part of the Tri-Town community. Any mismatch, we have to look at (Rochester Memorial School). It wasn’t a great experience because they were kind of downtrodden when we left that meeting.”

            During the ORR District’s budget presentations to the school committees, level services have been emphasized.

            The Finance Committee needs to have the FY25 budget ready for the Select Board’s approval by mid-April. The Annual Town Meeting in all three of the Tri-Towns is scheduled for Monday, May 13.

            On Monday, the Finance Committee verified plans for FY25 budget cuts with the Police, Fire and Highway departments.

            The most complex of issues brought to the committee by a department head on Monday was Fire Chief Scott Weigel’s plan for a 5%, across-the-board net increase in wages for his employees, who are all part-time workers on a call basis. His department request is variable, based on 5% minus the town’s cost-of-living adjustment (COLA).

            Cannon confirmed that the Select Board last week voted to approve a 2.5% COLA for FY25, but he said the board could still alter that number before the warrant for the Annual Town Meeting is finalized. A 2.5% COLA would mean that Weigel wants a 2.5% in-department increase to achieve a net 5% increase.

            Weigel explained that as it currently stands, 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 be competitive; you have to be competitive in order to keep people,” he said. “We’re trying a dollar and change (increase) just so I can be competitive and keep people we have. I’m just trying to be in line with everybody else.”

            Stoltenberg told Weigel he will follow up on the matter with Szyndlar with the understanding that no agreement has been made.

            Weigel’s most significant cut ($23,229.44) was a request for a part-time, daytime firefighter to work on Saturdays and Sundays. He confirmed other FY25 departmental budget cuts, including approximately $9,000 related to the red-alert mobile dispatch (computer system), $4,908 in EMS-related equipment maintenance, oil heat ($1,000), medical services ($1,000) and other areas totaling $42,071.44.

            “We asked the chief to cut $40,000 from his budget so he exceeded (the request),” said Cannon.

            Highway Surveyor Jeff Eldridge confirmed plans to cut to forestry and snow/ice-removal areas. He also canceled several requests to bring his budget back to FY24 levels. He had requested a full-time mechanic in FY24 ($62,000); that request was cut before it reached voters, and plans to add it this year were scrapped.

            Eldridge indicated that a $5,000 cut from a $20,000 request for the replacement of equipment and a $17,000 cut in snow/ice treatment may steer him toward the Capital Planning Committee.

            Stoltenberg suspects that a canceled $79,000 request from the Police Department for a replacement vehicle will succeed as a capital item.

            Other departments helping reach the $300,000 goal include the town clerk (removing a request in clerical hours from 12 to eight, a $3,408 cut); Planning (removing $500 clerical and $300 cleaning costs); Town Building (down $10,000 – Cannon said that Facilities Manager Andrew Daniel is in the loop); Health (insurance was overbudgeted, according to Stoltenberg, a $46,000 cut, and $10,500 more after a plan to increase administrative hours was scrapped).

            Stoltenberg said that with Monday’s agreements, the bottom line adds up to $275,358 in FY25 budget cuts. He didn’t necessarily consider the figure to be short of the goal, considering there is still work ahead in finalizing revenue estimates and ironing out details. The exact shortfall is not known.

            A much larger matter is the question of how much of the $300,000 to be cut from the schools budget will affect Rochester Memorial School as opposed to Rochester’s share of the ORR Junior or Senior High School budgets.

            The next meeting of the Rochester Finance Committee will be scheduled for Monday, April 1, at 7:00 pm at Town Hall, 1 Constitution Way.

Rochester Finance Committee

By Mick Colageo