Marion Harbormaster Isaac Perry made his first appearance before the Marion Resources Commission since he recovered from a winter back surgery. Perry began with “a huge thank you to Adam (Murphy) and Dave (Wilson) for keeping the ball rolling while I was out.

            “(Their efforts) really made the transition from surgery and recovery back to working quite a bit easier than I thought it was going to be,” said Perry.

            Perry’s summary of Harbor Management and Capital Projects included a report that the town had collected $121,000 in revenue as of the MRC’s April 17 public meeting and estimated that with fee increases, there is another $400,000 left to collect.

            The Marine Center, he said, will be on the Special Fall Town Meeting warrant. The town hopes to get it out to bid sometime in the summer, at which point Marion will have concrete numbers to put before voters.

            Deputy Harbormaster/Shellfish Officer Adam Murphy is taking a conservative stance this year on oysters.

            After reporting that shellfish is coming in for propagation specific to what is owed to Marion, he told the MRC he is not doing oysters, noting that Tabor Academy still has 150,000 continuing to grow, MRC member Scott Cowell asked Murphy about buying scallop seed.

            Murphy said he has not.

            “My goal would be to meet with the town administration and figure out, one, the propagation permits and the fees and where all the money’s going and work to figure out what we can spend on buying larger seed so that we can put out,” he said. “It costs more money to buy it, but I’d like to not waste money on smaller seed or scallops or oysters, whatever we decide, and use the money that we’re generating for propagation and actually buy the animals larger that we can put out with a better survivability and more of an abundance.

            “So instead of just throwing money away, if you will, I figured we’d take a step back this year and figure out how many permits we’re selling and kind of study it a little bit, figure out what kind of revenue we’re bringing in, and then figure out what’s the best course of action as far as spending that money on what’s appropriate for the community.”

            “You should start looking,” said Cowell, “because they usually don’t become available until back of July.”

            “I’ve got to figure out how much money we can spend,” said Murphy. “We have $6,000 that we usually spend, so we have the up-waller, we have the quahog seed coming, but like I said, I didn’t want to buy oyster seed just to spend the money. We’re walking across oysters at this point.”

            MRC Chairman Vin Malkoski referenced the winter appearance of Finance Director Judy Mooney and suggested it’s time to revisit the subject of indirect expenses, especially with the new revenue resulting from increased fees.

            MRC member Peter Borsari addressed the controversial matter of indirect costs to the Harbormaster Department, asserting that the town unfairly holds down the Waterways Account.

            Malkoski acknowledged that the town can legally take 50% of excise taxes. “But where it gets fuzzy,” he said, “is the discussions we had about the dinghy slips because those are bottom-anchored. And some of the other things where money’s being withdrawn that again, we contend. … Where that money comes from is part of the discussion.”

            “We were told that the money never left,” said Borsari.

            “That reality is, it’s not in the Waterways Account, and it’s being shown on the town record as being used for these other purposes,” said Malkoski.

            “A portion of the indirects are costs that are generated by the (Harbormaster) Department,” said Perry, rattling off insurance policies, fuel and electricity as examples.

            Borsari insisted he had been instructed that those monies are not taken away from the Waterways Account and said the matter remains confusing.

            Murphy clarified that he had spoken on the matter at the MRC’s last meeting and said he is still seeking answers “on where, why, when and how” of indirect costs that also left him confused.

            The dinghy dock revenues of $48,000, said Murphy, go into the general fund rather than the Waterways Account. “But the Waterways (Account) is supporting that through our budget to maintain it, so there’s a lot of things on there that I don’t think the town understands what goes into supporting that general-fund money.”

            Murphy suggested it’s the MRC’s mission to make the town understand the Harbormaster Department’s plight.

            “The floats in particular, that’s a 10-A permit, all day just like anyone’s mooring permit out there. There’s no difference,” said Perry. “So how that revenue goes toward the General Fund versus the Waterways Account is beyond me. I know the Finance director is going to look into that. That’s another thing we have to make sure of because, like you said, that’s a big chunk of change.”

            Vice Chairman Greg Houdelette noted that the FY24 budget has been finalized for the May 8 Town Meeting, so there is no great rush to iron out the matter.

            “Let me be clear, none of us are suggesting that the money is going someplace it shouldn’t go. It’s being used (by the town),” said Malkoski, who also noted that by state law, the harbor cannot serve as a profit source for the town.

            Cowell finds it unacceptable that the three-person Harbormaster Department is hired at will and is not under contract like every other department head. Police reform has complicated their roles.

            MRC member Cheryl Souza suggested the commissioners can appropriately plan a course of action once it’s known how things will shake out from the Police Department side of the matter.

            Perry also reported that he anticipated Tabor Academy’s “day of service” to yield assistance in preparing boats for community service and plans to freshen up Island Wharf. Floats, he said, would be in the water two to three weeks behind last year’s schedule but in time for most boaters who arrive near the end of May and the beginning of June. Channel markers were expected over the final two weeks of April.

            The Department of Public Works and the Water Dept, said Perry, will help the Harbormaster Department replace the sewer line at Island Wharf.

            The sea wall at Island Wharf requires the filing of a Request for Determination of Applicability with the Conservation Commission. Conservation Agent Doug Guey-Lee assisted in the preparation of the application.

            The new motor purchased through grant funding last year has been installed in the pump-out boat.

            “Big thanks to (Murphy and Wilson) keeping the lights on while I was away,” said Perry.

            The next meeting of the Marine Resources Commission is scheduled for Monday, May 15, at 7:00 pm.

Marion Marine Resources Commission

By Mick Colageo

The Rochester Planning Board critically reviewed rather than approved the projects they were presented on Tuesday night.

            The panel started with informal discussions over site plans for a marijuana retail establishment on Cranberry Highway and a native tree and wildflowers nursery at 157 Vaughn Hill Road.

            Megan’s Organic Market, the marijuana retail facility, will be located at 621 County Road and will be one of two stores on a 7,500 square-foot pad. It will include 44 parking spaces, a front entrance for customers and a rear entrance for deliveries, and all drainage will be underground, said project representative Phil Cordeiro.

            Board member Ben Bailey expressed concern that the marijuana shop, according to the measurement scale on the informal plan, might sit less than 500 feet away from a daycare center, which state law forbids. Board Chairman Arnold Johnson instructed Cordeiro to return with the list of waivers being requested on the project’s formal application.

            Charles Anderson said he and his wife Jennifer are from Virginia, where their nursery business started, and have recently moved to Mattapoisett. “Tree Talk Natives” on Vaughn Hill Road is his wife’s creation. On 2½ acres will sit an 8×10-foot shed, a parking area and strips of land for the trees and shrubs that will be grown in large pots. “We grow everything from seedlings,” he said.

            Board members criticized the plan the Andersons presented as not being as detailed as the panel needs them to be for a firm, formal decision. They even criticized the list of waivers presented as too vague.

            The Andersons said they were trying to avoid the huge expense of an engineered plan but agreed to create a more formal, detailed layout plan and return with it with their formal application.

            Next, the board reviewed the draft decision to approve a canopied, solar-energy array at Rochester Memorial School. Here, too, the panel stopped short of voting a decision.

            Project representatives asked if the screening of the site from abutters had to be completed by the time construction started. The board responded pointedly that this was, indeed, an important requirement. “With every one of our solar projects,” Johnson said, “we’ve required building the screen first. We’ve never wavered from that.”

            The ensuing discussion also revealed the construction may still be ongoing when the 2023-24 school year begins in September.

            The board said that means more revisions to the draft plan. A life safety plan must now be included. Johnson said that plan will be added, “Then maybe we can bring this to a vote.”

            Next, the board reviewed a complaint from Conservation Commission member William Clapp that when he met with the board on November 16 seeking approval of two 1-1 lots, he was wronged when Johnson said his lots “don’t pass muster.”

            It made him consider spending money on his plans on the assumption Johnson was right. Clapp asked for Johnson’s apology for being wrong about his lots. He recently told The Wanderer he would go to the Ethics Commission if he did not receive that apology. “If I took his advice,” Clapp said, “I would have lost out on developing a second lot that would have caused me a financial hardship.”

            Johnson apologized, but Bailey added that the Planning Board did approve Clapp’s lots that night and asserted that Clapp would have had no loss to take to an Ethics-based lawsuit. “If you made a financial decision based on a rumor, that’s on you,” said Bailey.

            Clapp said he was satisfied.

            The next meeting of the Rochester Planning Board was not announced upon adjournment.

Rochester Planning Board

By Michael J. DeCicco

            The Rochester Select Board made a significant, last-minute change to the Annual Town Meeting warrant, as they reviewed the draft articles on Monday night. The board followed member Brad Morse’s recommendation to combine all the measures on the warrant related to withdrawing from being a designated Green Community into one article.

            Article 29 proposed rescinding the Town Meeting’s previous vote to adopt the Stretch energy codes that tighten the base building codes in the name of more energy-efficient construction but are an expensive part of being a Green Community.

            Morse said he wanted to rescind the town’s Stretch codes and withdraw from the Green Communities program in one article. Town Administrator Glenn Cannon said he felt the town should rescind the code itself first. Morse wondered aloud what would happen if one article passes and the other article fails. This is the better way, Morse said, and the board agreed, combining both measures into one article.

            As the Select Board and the Finance Committee voted to recommend the warrant articles, their discussion revealed that another highlight will be a move to change the town clerk’s position from elected to appointed.

            Select Board member Paul Ciaburri asked if the town would be able to go back to an elected town clerk if it so chose after the Town Meeting vote. Town Clerk Paul Dawson, attending the meeting remotely on Zoom, said he did not know, and the town would have to refer the question to Town Counsel.

            Discussion of Article 4, the FY2024 budget, featured Select Board member Brad Morse questioning why an executive assistant was being upgraded to a higher salary. He said this is a position under the Select Board office’s jurisdiction and the board should have been a part of the personnel decision. Both the Select Board and the Finance Committee approved this article but hinted they may re-address this concern at Town Meeting.

            The town will be asked to fund $100,000 for the first year of a reconstruction plan for Old Colony Regional Vocational-Technical High School. An article to fund a new storage shed for the Highway Department will be removed, as will a move to purchase 15 acres of land on Mendell Road, a measure tied to plans to build a new fire station.

            In his report following the review, Cannon announced that childcare services will be available at Rochester Memorial School during the Town Meeting, which is scheduled for Monday, May 22.

            In other action, the board approved Police Chief Robert Small’s recommendation to appoint Daniel Allende, a resident of Fairhaven, as a new part-time Rochester Police officer, and it reappointed Sharon Cruz to the Old Colony School Committee.

            The Select Board then approved raising building inspection fees and instituting new ground-mounted, solar-project inspection fees. Prior to this vote, Cannon revealed the state of these fees last July was the reason a town building commissioner resigned quickly after taking the job last summer. “The building commissioner resigned because we hadn’t raised our inspection fees and pay in seven years,” Cannon said. “We lost a good building inspector because of this.”

            As recommended by current Building Commissioner Paul Boucher, the building inspection fee will climb from $25 to $50. The new fees for ground-mounted, solar-project inspections will be $12 per 1,000 square feet of a building and $6 per 1,000 square feet of electrical work.

            Next, the panel approved Rochester Country Fair president Kelly Sullivan-Morgado’s recommendation that structures and other property remaining at the Country Fairgrounds on Pine Street all be declared surplus.

            “We’ve closed the fair,” Sullivan-Morgado said with some regret in her voice. “I had to list all of the fair’s assets. It was a large list I had to narrow down to small.”

            She said the Select Board must vote what to do with all or most of it. The ensuing discussion revealed that sheds on the site that were donated by private parties will go back to those people. The Fair Committee will donate a tractor and a monitoring board to the Westport Fair. Money in the town’s Fair Account totaling $18,000 will likely be dispersed as scholarships. The town owns three box trailers at the site. These are among the items that will be declared surplus for Cannon to dispose as he sees fit.

            For the rest of these surplus items, Sullivan-Morgado said, “we’ll soon get a big dumpster down there.”

            The Select Board then appointed a Steering Committee for the new Master Plan project. These members will be: Arnie Johnson and Nancy Durfee to focus on Land Use; Brad Morse, Economic Development; Matthew Monteiro, Historic and Land Trust; Andrew Daniel, Services and Facilities; Jeff Eldridge, Transportation; David Hughes, Open Space and Recreation; and Jordan Latham, Natural and Cultural Resources.

            The board will next meet on Monday, May 1, at 6:00 pm at Town Hall, 1 Constitution Way, for an agenda that will include signing the warrant for Town Meeting.

Rochester Select Board

By Michael J. DeCicco