On Wednesday, November 6, Marion’s Finance Committee met in the Music Hall downtown. The meeting was planned to go over general business as well as subcommittee assignments. Due to other meetings going on in town that night such as the Select Board and the Capital Improvement Planning Committee, the meeting started off a few minutes late.

            They began with a discussion on the committee’s overall role and any streamlining that could be taken while waiting for other members to arrive. They stated, in agreement, that their role is to be a representative of the people and their interests to the town executive. The executive branch being the Select Board and Town Administrator. In order to do this and to ascertain the financial state of the town, the committee would benefit from a “detailed presentation on what happened last year and where we are this year.” They also discussed transportation issues and budget increases and the need for that information before moving into planning for next year.

            Shay Assad, Committee Chair, spoke about the great increases in efficiency seen by the Finance Committee currently, though they find difficulties from some lack of communications with other facets of town governance. Meeting with department heads more frequently and more regularly, Assad said, would greatly better the committee’s ability to carry out its job.

            With their main business done, the committee said they would strive to meet with more department heads and are prepared for January as that is their “busiest month.”

            The next meeting of the Finance Committee will be Thursday, November 21 at 7:00 at the Marion Music Hall.

By Sam Bishop

Rochester’s Zoning Bylaw Review Committee is already moving beyond the bylaw changes it was formed to create for the January 2025 special town meeting.

            Committee Chair Richard Cutler began the November 7 meeting by noting he recently met with town counsel, who made a few minor changes to the panel’s current bylaw proposals. Now these articles, which regard new regulations for accessory dwelling units and short-term rentals and revised regulations for Use Variances, are being forwarded to the Planning Board for that panel’s public hearings on them, he said.

            He then quickly pivoted to what the Review Committee will do now. It will not fold up shop after the January 27, 2025, special town meeting, he said.

            “Our next task will be what is and what is not permitted in our bylaws,” he said. He told the board members who were present, Davis Sullivan, Mary McCann and Mark Wellington, that he would like each of them to make a list of what zoning bylaw uses apply either for a special permit or ‘by right’ within the town’s Residential/Agricultural districts and bring their lists to the next Bylaw Review Committee.

            “We want what should be permitted and should not be permitted at all,” he elaborated. He added that the committee will tackle the categories of permitted by right and by special permit in the business districts separately.

            As board members discussed what kind of ‘uses’ should go on the list, the priority of discarding the old and making room for the new emerged. Cutler recited a list of some possible new and old uses to consider or reconsider, such as a wireless communications consultant, a hospital or a sanitarium. “They don’t call them sanitariums anymore,” he remarked.

            Later, Cutler suggested that pickle ball courts, as an example, should be put in as a special permit not by right. “Pickle ball courts can get noisy,” he said. “We don’t want neighbors to be disturbed.”

            He later added as another suggestion, “We have to consider uses involving future technologies.”

            Cutler and Wellington noted the urgency of the new task, noting use regulations have not been revised for over 25 years.

            The special town meeting that will review the committee’s current proposals will be January 27, 2025, at 7:00 pm in the Rochester Memorial School cafetorium, 16 Pine St.

            The next Zoning Bylaw Review Committee meeting will be December 5 at 6:00 pm in the town hall conference room, 1 Constitution Way.

Rochester Zoning Board

By Michael J. DeCicco

A strategy for revitalizing the town’s Point Road Bike Path, as well as ironing out the purview of the town’s Marine Resources Commission, were items discussed at last Wednesday’s Select Board meeting.

            The Select Board, which also oversees the town’s water and sewer services, also attended to items connected to those services. This includes water abatement requests.

            Jeff Doubrava, the CPC chairman, met with the Select Board.

            Doubrava, representing himself as a concerned citizen, said the bike path is only half the size originally proposed and has encountered other issues impacting its use in town. Doubrava said there is $600,000 available in CPC funding and through a “sunset provision” the town can access funding to extend and fix issues with the path.

            “The Point Road Bike Path has been troubled,” Doubrava told the Select Board at the November 6 meeting.

            Doubrava proposed an article at the next Town Meeting that would “claw back all monies” meant for the project

            As The Wanderer reported in weeks prior, residents in October complained that the sand along the path has snakes, often less than seven feet off the road. Storm water runoff is also damaging homes and yards.

            Doubrava told Select Board members on November 6 that the path’s length is only half of what was originally intended.

            In 2019, a town meeting approved a plan for the path using $268,000 in funds allocated by the Community Preservation Act.

            Select Board members agreed to allow Doubrava to craft an article for the Town Meeting.

            Marine Resources Commission (MRS) Chairman Vincent Malkowski Jr. met with the Select Board about funding, staffing, and the general governing purview of the marine resources department.

            The commission falls under the police department, but commission members often clean up trash and are responsible for Island’s Wharf’s maintenance. That area has also had parking issues and problems and the MRS is unsure how to handle such issues.

            The commission also had three full-time employees and now only one – a personnel issues Malkowski wants to revisit.

            The Select Board agreed to hold a special meeting with the MRC at a later date with to discuss these issues.

            In other business, George Morton, Jill Pitman, and Merry Conway were appointed to the Historic District Study Committee. Elizabeth Dowd was appointed to the Scholarship Education Fund Committee.

            It was also reported that the Department of Public Works building is ahead of schedule and the Marion Skate Park is now open.

            Town Administrator Geoffrey Gorman announced the town received a state grant of $206,000 to refurbish the Marion Town House, bringing the building up to American with Disabilities Act (ADA) Compliance and correcting other safety issues.

            In sewer and water business, the board agreed to talk further with Building Commissioner Bob Grillo about a once-denied sewer hookup on Bass Road, a waterfront property. The property owner said similar beachfront properties have received sewer hook-up approval. Select Board members expressed concern that the area is in a coastal flood zone and cautioned that any home built there needs to be built high to avoid a potential disaster.

            They agreed that similar properties have received sewer approval and will be revisited.

            The Select Board met with Rocky Knoll Lane resident Greg Silva, who seeks a water bill abatement. Silva contended that his older water meter, from 1985, might have been inaccurate, leading to him being overcharged over a three-year span.

            Since the town now can read the water meter from the street, his bills have decreased. Board members agreed to have staff further analyze his meter for inaccuracies.

            The board also received a request and will further analyze whether businesses within Sippican Business Park are eligible for a water bill abatement.

            The Select Board will meet again at the Marion Town House on November 19 at 6:00 pm. The board will meet with assessors to set the tax rate for next year. That initiative was planned at the November 6 meeting, but assessors were not available then to meet.

Marion Select Board

By Jeffrey D. Wagner