Don’t forget to join us on April 19 at 7 pm at the Museum at 355 County Road for Rochester’s Past Celebrations.
May 7 at 2:00 in front of Town Hall where we will be joining the Rochester Historical Commission in dedicating our town’s new Revolutionary War Memorial.
With just a few weeks to go until the May 8 Annual Town Meeting takes place in Mattapoisett, the Finance Committee and financial offices in Town Hall continued their review of the FY24 budget on April 6.
Giving a summary report to the committee was Town Administrator Mike Lorenco. At the top of the summary list was the town budget coming in at 3.1% over last year or $967,674 for a total of $31,686,847.
Lorenco commented that this figure is “the lowest levy increase in total dollars since 2015.” He stated that the figure includes savings for such expenses as $160,000 for the School Stabilization Account and $175,000 for the town’s OPEB liability. Another cost-savings strategy is lowering the reliance on available funds by using the Ambulance Revolving Fund and the Capital Debt Stabilization Fund both by $50,000.
Under the title of Investments in the Budget, Lorenco called out increases in both the Fire and Police Department budgets.
Coming in at 9.6% over FY23 or $80,053, the explanation for the increase included the need for a third staff member during morning shifts for public-safety reasons. Equipment and clothing costs were also mentioned.
The Police/Paramedic budget rose 3.71% or $94,000. The increase represents union contract increases and leaving room for leadership promotions under the chief. The Paramedic budget also climbed by $44,000 or 9.75%.
At least one new staff position impacting the General Government sector by $8,220 will be in the Assessing Department, while the still vacant Planner/Conservation Agent at $44,700 will remain in the budget as the Select Board continues to try and fill that slot.
New to the Town Hall is a Human Resources director. The town has had a benefits coordinator in the past but never a Human Resources professional. Lorenco said the position’s salary is pegged at $70,000.
The Council on Aging is looking to add one, part-time staffer to assist with community outreach and other programs for $20,930.
Healthcare costs are up $97,280 or 4%, which includes a small buffer for unanticipated increases in FY24.
The retirement contribution calculated by the Plymouth County Retirement Board is up 10.50% or $169,516. The figure is based on actuarial studies with full funding mandated by 2029.
Some of the Capital Requests planned for the voters’ consideration are $170,000 new backhoe/loader, $250,000 roadway repairs and improvements and one police cruiser $50,000. Not to be forgotten is $1,437,000 in Debt Exclusions for the Oakland and Pearl Street roadway improvements.
School budgets stand at local schools $7,845,807, Old Rochester Regional $6,353,695 (down $34,191) and Old Colony Regional Vocational-Technical High School $852,328 (down $23,391.)
On Thursday, April 20, the Mattapoisett Finance Committee will meet with the Select Board in a public meeting to review the budget in its entirety one more time.
Mattapoisett Finance Committee
By Marilou Newell
For any adventure seeking young man growing up in the 1800’s in Rochester, the idea of crewing on a whaling bark was enticing. Over the years, many a Rochester resident of a certain age went off to try his luck at sea. In the files at the Museum, there are many articles donated by area residents. One of these is a lengthy interview of 74 year old Frank Rounseville. In this article, he reminisces about his four years as part of the crew on the maiden voyage of the Wanderer.
Frank was eighteen when he left school and made the decision to sign on to the crew of a whaler. His parents weren’t happy with that career plan, but since his father had done the same thing at about the same age, there wasn’t much they could say. At the Museum, we have copies of the letters his mother, Roxanna Rounseville wrote to him while he was at sea. The letters are also reprinted in Rochester Journal #4 which is on sale at the Museum.
When Frank signed on to crew under Capt. Andrew Heyer, he had a good idea of what to expect. His father’s stories of his whaling days let him know as he said that “the cap’n didn’t give you pies whenever you wanted them.” The Wanderer was a new ship built in Mattapoisett in 1878 and began a four year voyage from Mattapoisett Harbor on June 4 of that year. They headed out with a crew of 32 and stopped at Fayal in the Azores to pick up the captain’s young wife. They then headed south of the equator and for the four years at sea, Rounseville said that he never saw the North Star until they crossed the line on their way home.
For the most part the Wanderer was a fortunate vessel. Just one month into the voyage, on July 4, they took in 100 barrels of oil. Early on, Seaman Rounseville watched the chase after whales from the mother ship, but before long he was assigned to First Mate Charles W. Barker’s boat. He must have acquitted himself admirably for after two years before the mast, he was promoted to boat steerer. He downplayed the promotion because he said, “Boat steerer’s the man who gets blamed for everything.” He did allow that he got “better fare at table and less duty at the wheel and less standing lookout.”
The luck of the Wanderer held for the journey with no fatalities among the crew and good luck at filling the ship’s hold with oil. Sadly, in the third year that luck did not extend to the Captain, whose wife died, leaving him with an infant daughter. He left the ship and turned over command to Capt. John S. Layton.
Rounseville describes both exciting chases after whales and daily chores. One job was to climb into the “case”, the reservoir in the head of a sperm whale in order to bail out the oil. All it took was a little warming before it liquefied enough to remove. He recounted stepping barefoot into the whale’s head and using a dipper that would hold a gallon and a half of oil. His clothes would often reek of whale oil for days.
There were exciting times. He told of one time when the second, third and fourth mates’ boats all fastened onto one whale and were towed from sunset until sunrise. After being gone for at least 12 hours, they returned with the dead whale.
Rounseville’s four years counted as two voyages and in the middle of that time, the ship’s ownership changed hands. He was prepared to sign on for another voyage, whereas a now experienced man, he would be eligible for a larger lay or share of the profits. However, when he learned they would be heading to the Arctic, he left the sea with $250.00 and souvenirs he had purchased in ports like St. Helena and Teneriffe and returned to Rochester. There he worked at the family’s sawmill, cut wood on his 150 acres of woodland and farmed his seven acres.
This article was written in 1935, at a time when Frank Rounseville and Joseph Stowell of Fairhaven were the only known survivors of the Wanderer’s maiden voyage. The picture shows Frank Rounseville with a few items from his voyage. He cut the cane out of ivory from a 100 barrel whale and carved it during down times at sea. The four teeth come from the same whale which he helped to catch.
By Connie Eshbach
Services for Elizabeth S. “Betsy” Dunn, of Marion, who died in February will be held on Saturday, April 29th at the First Congregational Church, Front St., Marion at 11 am with a reception to follow.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Betsy’s memory to: Betsy Dunn Music Fund, The First Congregational Church of Marion, P.O. Box 326, Marion, MA 02738.
Recreation Director Scott Tavares met with the Marion Open Space Acquisition Commission on April 6 to discuss emerging needs, especially where it concerns places to play lacrosse and soccer.
MOSAC Chairman John Rockwell asked Tavares to inform the commissioners on the department’s programming. Indications at the time were that the Recreation Department did not need any more space.
Primarily in the fall and spring, Marion runs its soccer program. In the fall season, there were 145 children playing on Saturday mornings at Dexter Lane fields in Rochester.
“The Rochester Parks Commission has been gracious in allowing us to use those fields, but we’re also competing against other outside programs to use the same field space,” said Tavares. “In terms of, like when we look at trying to grow our programs, last year we had four teams that went on from the fall and competing in the more-competitive league in the spring, and it’s really a battle for any type of green, field space.”
The Marion Recreation Department has access to Washburn Park, primarily a baseball facility with two fields and a small softball field in the back.
“You can fit a soccer field or a lacrosse field in there, but it’s diagonal. Usually between the two infields and if you do that, you can’t have any baseball going on at the same time,” said Tavares, who said Marion has been working with the Old Rochester Youth Lacrosse League, including “entry-level” discussions on the lacrosse league being managed or assisted by Marion Recreation.
“One of the reasons we don’t do that is because we don’t really have the field space to offer them,” said Tavares. “There’s limited amount of green field space for kiddos in Marion. We really utilize Dexter Field for the majority of our field stuff, primarily lacrosse and soccer.”
The field area at Silvershell Beach, said Tavares, has been used for some youth-lacrosse programs but is not of adequate size for what those programs need. That is similarly true of spaces under consideration at Washburn.
Competition for field space, says Tavares, comes from private organizations as well as travel teams. He alluded to a situation in which Marion’s age 9-10 girls’ competitive soccer team was using a field that was bordering a softball field. When softballs were bouncing and rolling into the adjacent soccer field, it became a safety issue.
“There’s a desire, I think, to expand our programs and our offerings, but I think one of our significant, limiting factors is our field space, and then obviously there’s other limiting factors in terms of people volunteering to coach and things of that nature,” explained Tavares.
Marion, he said, has no other dedicated sports space besides Washburn Park, which is built to accommodate baseball.
Rockwell said a recent, two-field proposal was figured to cost approximately $1,000,000. He said the flat property along Route 105 in Rochester recently dedicated to farm use would have been a perfect site, also because of its water-holding capacity. He suggested searching for similarly flat land that would mitigate construction costs. Such a location would have to be “wetlands-free,” said Rockwell, who told Tavares that MOSAC would keep the recreation department in mind.
One such project, said Rockwell, was pitched by the Select Board but with the caveat that MOSAC would make the purchase. The town, said Rockwell, had earmarked Community Preservation Act funds for other projects. “That and the fact there was no real plan to bring it from ‘We buy this piece of land, and how do we get it to the end result?'”
Tavares acknowledged that any such procurement would be a lengthy, expensive project.
“Realizing that there’s a lot of kids in the Tri-Town that play soccer and lacrosse … I think a lot of kids go down to Mariner Soccer down in Fairhaven. They have a much larger complex … what I hear is that the youth soccer league used to be a lot larger out at Dexter Lane,” said Tavares. “More organizations have started to ask about and have started to use Dexter Lane, and our numbers continue to get smaller and smaller.
“Some of that could be tied to field space, and some of it could be tied to maybe different programming that Mariner has offered. But there’s always folks that reach out and ask if we can add to the soccer programming. Even lacrosse programming, I would love to take that over, but … looking at recreational space for kids, there’s not a ton to offer.”
Rockwell asked if, from a theoretical standpoint, multiple towns could be involved in creating recreation space. Tavares considers it a good idea and noted ongoing involvement with the Mattapoisett Recreation Department on particular programs. Rockwell said he’d put feelers out for the whole Tri-Town area.
“It’s a tough find,” they agreed.
Off topic, Tavares asked on behalf of adult programming if MOSAC would be aware of appropriate space for disc golf. Rockwell alluded to Washburn Park, and the two agreed to explore the park in May.
“One of the things we’ve been working on recently is … looking at our criteria for purchasing land … we redo it every once in a while, and that’s one of the things we’re doing right now,” said MOSAC member Amanda Chace, noting the struggle in past interests simply because “we didn’t know what the need was.”
Lacrosse in the Tri-Town, said Tavares, has grown over the last two or three years. Grades 1-8 are now fielding two competitive teams of 20 players each. “We have waitlists as well,” he said, explaining a lack of coaches and field space are the two major limiting factors.
Tavares said he has approached Tabor Academy, which has worked with Marion on some things, he said.
In other business, Rockwell spoke with Jim Arne about the Point Road Path, noting that the bidding threshold is $50,000. He said procurement would be easier for MOSAC if the projects can be split up at less than $50,000. He hopes Town Administrator Geoff Gorman and Select Board Chairman Randy Parker can visit the site.
MOSAC’s forestry plan has been completed, and all associated paperwork has been sent to the town accountant’s office.
The commission entered Executive Session to discuss a potential land acquisition.
MOSAC did not announce the date of its next meeting upon adjournment.
Marion Open Space Acquisition Commission
By Mick Colageo
My mother loved flowers. Not that she gardened or kept houseplants in sunny windows. That wasn’t her thing. But if you gave her a bouquet or even a wilting dandelion presented from the sticky paws of a child, she’d smile and appreciate the gift. How many water glasses filled with weeds and flowers from yards in the neighborhood did my mother lovingly display on her kitchen table? Season upon season, decade upon decade.
As a child, our family home was located at 9 Longwood Avenue, the corner of Longwood Avenue and Ninth Street in the heart of the former Victorian village – Onset. By the time we lived there, a great deal of the area’s former glory as a summertime colony for the upwardly mobile was already fading from shabby chic to just shabby. But for me, the filter in my mind, was one of adventure filled with old New England coastal beauty full of summertime highs and winter lulls.
Once schools closed for the summer, carloads of returning families would fill up the cottages, and the sounds of summer played in the background of my days. I’d have the summer kids to play with until the mosquitos chased us inside each evening. Summer foods, watermelon, juicy ripe tomatoes, grapes and melon, ice cream and pizza. Things we take for granted today were seasonal delights in the 1950s. I loved it all and remember it well.
During the school year when all the “summer people” who owned these second homes were hunkered down in Boston and in suburbs where their children attended private schools and played organized sports, worshiped in cathedrals and spent winter vacations skiing in Vermont or sunning themselves in Florida, I was sledding on the bluffs that buttressed Onset beach or rode my bike up and down the empty village streets, fantasizing about life within those cottage walls.
Yet one season above all others remains my favorite, and that is spring. The silence of a spring afternoon in the village was a balm from generational cares and concerns that seeped into my revery. Spring meant that yards I peddled by would soon be filled with flowers. My world both imagined and real would be joyfully colored with blooms, if only for a few weeks.
The cottages’ tiny, landscaped lots were abandoned in the offseason. The summer people who filled Onset to overflowing in the summer were primarily first-generation, white-collar folks who had done well owning a shop or business and in keeping with the post-WWII boom years were ready to enjoy the fruits of their labor. But rarely if ever did these folks with their second homes in my empire spend more than June, July and August in Onset. In spring, I became a thief seeking out floral plunder in yards with white picket fences.
Spring flowers popped open in profuse abundance from forgotten gardens. Every shade of yellow and white filled flowering beds with daffodils. Wild purple pansies skirted the elegant spears of the daffodils like petticoats. Soon the harvesting would begin.
Of course, I had always been told to stay off other people’s property. Of course, I knew it was wrong to take that which was not mine. But so strong was the urge to steal, the urge to bring armloads of flowers home to my mother, I succumbed. I needed the reward of her poorly concealed smiles.
The adrenaline rush of stealing is very real for the natural-born thief. First, you have to case the area where the crime will take place, then you have to make sure you have the ability to grab what you want and carry it off to your lair, then you have to hide your ill-gotten gains so no one finds out. Well, that last part didn’t apply to my thievery. I wanted these treasures on full display in my mother’s kitchen.
My methods were crude: Grab a handful as much as a six-year-old’s hand could hold and pull with all my might. The stems and roots put up a good fight.
Mission accomplished, I’d hasten home through backyards so as not to be spied by an infrequent car passing by. Bounding up the back kitchen steps breathless and exuberant, I’d call to my mother. Upon seeing me standing there with a mitt full of daffodils, she’d try to hide her smile. What came out of her mouth was something along the lines of, “Oh no, I told you to stop stealing flowers. You are going to get caught, and I won’t help you!”
As she took the flowers from my wet hands, she’d fill a water glass and place the bent and mostly broken daffodils on the kitchen table beside a half-dozen others she’d been gifted by the Daffodil Thief. As she returned to her cigarettes and soap operas, she’d give me a little squeeze around my shoulders. All was well with my thieving soul.
This Mattapoisett Life
By Marilou Newell
The Sippican Lands Trust seeks applicants for its Helen A. Arthur Scholarship. The applicant for this $1,000 award must be a Marion resident in their last year of high school or enrolled as a freshman or sophomore in college elsewhere. A preference will be given to applicants who are majoring in or plan to major in environmental studies or a related field.
The scholarship is made available through the Sippican Lands Trust Scholarship Fund. This award was created and named after Helen Adams Arthur (1940-2008), who was a beloved resident of Marion and, alongside her husband Richard I. “Dick” Arthur, a long-time volunteer for the organization. Helen held a deep interest in the preservation of the beautiful open spaces in Marion.
SLT’s Scholarship Committee will review all completed applications and will award the scholarship to the student(s) whose pursuits most closely reflect Helen’s wishes, as mirrored by the mission of Sippican Lands Trust: to acquire, preserve, and provide access to open space throughout Marion for the benefit of the public today and for future generations.
Requirements for the application include:
-A completed Helen A. Arthur Scholarship information sheet
-A personal statement highlighting the applicant’s educational goals and interests. Please include information about environmental course taken, community service/volunteer involvement, or jobs as applicable.
-Two letters of reference with contact information (examples: teacher, guidance counselor, coach, employer, Scout leader, community leader, etc.)
All forms will be available in guidance offices and on the SLT website at www.sippicanlandstrust.org.
Completed applications should be postmarked by May 1, 2023 and mailed to: Sippican Lands Trust, Attn: Scholarship Committee, P.O. Box 848, Marion, MA 02738.
All applicants will be notified of status by email by June 1, 2023.
Jeanette Rosenthal King, 60, of Marion passed away peacefully on April 10, 2023 at home surrounded by family and loved ones.
Born in Long Beach, CA on June 16, 1962, Jeanette was the eldest of nine children of Judith and Henry Rosenthal and graduated in 1980 from La Serna HS.
Driven to help the vulnerable, Jeanette studied biology at UC-Irvine where she met her husband, Dave, in 1984. Upon graduating in 1986, Jeanette moved with Dave to Fort Collins, CO, where she earned her BS in Nursing at the University of Northern Colorado in 1989. Jeanette accepted a position as a labor and delivery nurse at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NY, which granted her the special opportunity to be closer to Dave’s family. In 1989, she and Dave married and in 1992 welcomed their son, Jonathan.
Determined to make a greater impact on patients, Jeanette joined the inaugural midwifery program at the University of Rochester, and graduated with an MS in Nursing in 1996. Jeanette then began practicing midwifery at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Towson, MD, where they happily resided for ten years, and welcomed two more children: Isabella in 1998 and Nathaniel in 2001.
Sadly, in 2003, Jeanette was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. With the support of thousands, deep faith, exceptional care at Johns Hopkins, and a strong desire to raise her children into adulthood, Jeanette beat that cancer in 2007.
Empowered by this victory, Jeanette accepted an exciting opportunity to practice midwifery at Tobey Hospital in Wareham, MA and moved with her family to Marion, MA in 2007, where she happily resided until her death. During these years, Jeanette delivered thousands of babies at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Falmouth Hospital, Cape Cod Hospital, and Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, and taught medical students at UMass. Her specialty was employing methods she’d developed to release anxiety and overcome cancer with other cancer patients and women in labor, with phenomenal results.
A devoted mother, Jeanette loved attending her children’s sporting events, concerts, and academic competitions in the Towson and Old Rochester school systems. An All-State Junior Olympic swimmer, she especially enjoyed relaxing by the sea with loved ones at Silvershell Beach, the Thousand Islands, Martha’s Vineyard, and her beloved Pacific Ocean.
Jeanette’s most important journey was growing ever closer to God. She was active at First & St. Stephen’s Church in Towson and South Coast Community Church in Fairhaven and put all her energies into enthusiastically loving others.
Jeanette’s faith, strength, and ability to love sustained her when she was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer in October 2020. As always, Jeanette wildly exceeded expectations and joyfully spent her final years hiking along Buzzard’s Bay, inspiring others, and enjoying good times with loved ones. She loved to smile and laugh. Whether dancing wildly to the B-52’s or walking into a dinner party with a colander on her head, Jeanette brought light into every room she entered. She will be deeply missed.
Jeanette is survived by her loving husband Dave; sons Jonathan and Nathaniel; daughter Isabella; mother Judy Loconte; siblings Shelly, Michael, David, Cynthia, Eric, Leah, Brandon, and Lindy; and dozens of nieces and nephews.
Visiting hours will be Friday, April 21st from 4-8 pm at Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home for Funerals, 50 County Rd. (Rt. 6), Mattapoisett. Her Funeral Service will be Saturday, April 22nd at 12 pm in the funeral home. For directions and guestbook, visit www.saundersdwyer.com.
In lieu of flowers, Jeanette’s family kindly requests that donations be made in her name to The Cape Wellness Collaborative. For information on how to donate, please visit www.capewellness.org.
The Mattapoisett River Valley Water District is trying to work a borrowing scheme after being denied a State Revolving Fund loan for its long-planned upgrade to the filtration system of the water-treatment facility located in Mattapoisett.
According to Mass.gov, the State Revolving Fund (SRF) loan program offers affordable financing options to cities, towns and public water utilities to improve water supply infrastructure and drinking water safety.
Without this option, a subcommittee of the MRV, including Chairman and Fairhaven representative Vinnie Furtado and representatives from each of the Tri-Towns (member towns) have been meeting with Unibank for Savings.
By way of what was described during Tuesday’s regularly scheduled MRV meeting as an Intermunicipal Agreement (IMA) that would be drafted by the MRV’s legal counsel Blair Bailey, the private-lending plan would see Fairhaven borrow all $7,200,000 and recoup all but its own $4,300,000 share.
As Furtado explained, even though the MRV borrowed and paid back SRF funding, only the Town of Fairhaven has audited statements on the MRV’s behalf.
“If we’re going to go down the path of private borrowing, that may be what we’re going to have to do,” said Furtado, fully cognizant that Town Meeting is too close to accomplish in time for May.
Over the past two days, Jon Gregory of Tata & Howard engineers has been in communication with the state Department of Environmental Protection, which he told the members carries $5,000,000 for communities in emergency situations. Earlier Tuesday, a state official contacted Gregory directly to discuss the MRV’s plight.
“We are going to go ahead and send (DEP) any information that can help them understand the district better,” he said. “This is very much a fluid situation, we just heard about it an hour ago.”
Facilities Manager Henri Renauld asked, “If we go after the SRF for $5,000,000 … can we apply for the $2,200,000?”
Bailey clarified the process, noting that select boards approve IMA’s, so only Fairhaven needs a Town Meeting vote. “There were Town Meeting votes in Marion and Mattapoisett to approve the borrowing. … They’re aware of what the costs are.”
In other business, Renauld reported that total invoices paid by the commission in March totaled $66,081.94.
Immediately prior to the commission meeting, the MRV Water Protection Advisory Committee met for 30 minutes, hearing from the Buzzards Bay Coalition regarding the MRV’s Water Supply Resilience Land Protection Project.
The project was launched to acquire and protect 240 acres of land with permanent conservation restrictions, encompassing the groundwater aquifer that supplies drinking water for MRV member towns Fairhaven, Mattapoisett, Marion and Rochester. Acushnet is also a participant in the project.
In an update to the committee, Buzzards Bay Coalition representative Brendan Annett reported that the state-review process is being completed, and local committees will meet after respective town meetings.
Coalition representative Allen Decker told the MRV he is working with Bailey on a town-meeting article and that the Coalition created a fact sheet translated into Spanish, Portuguese and Cabo Verde Creole. A site visit was held on March 26, drawing a dozen people from the different member towns.
In his Tata & Howard Report, Gregory told the membership that David Watling is on the mend after an accident and is having his son help him continue his customary water-monitoring work.
December graphs have been received from Megan McCarthy; those will be converted to PDF files and be distributed to the group, bringing together an entire year of data that Gregory will analyze and present this spring with an eye on how the area reacted to the extended drought.
Seeing that the proposed solar canopy over the rear parking lot of Rochester Memorial School creates no new impervious area and does not change the watershed, the committee voted to authorize the chairman to write a letter of approval to Green Seal Environmental to satisfy Rochester Planning Board requirements.
As reported by Committee Treasurer Jeff Furtado, total February expenditures for the committee totaled in excess of $35,000, while total income as of March 1 was $81,493.61 for a total balance of $156,900.42. March expenditures totaled $38,531.19, bringing total income to $81,687.31 with an April 1 ending balance of $154,007.17.
The MRV plans to bring back its regional meeting of water officials in the fall.
The next meeting of the MRV Water Supply Protection Advisory Committee is scheduled for Tuesday, May 9, at 3:30 pm with the MRV Water District Commission meeting to immediately follow at 4:00 pm on the same Zoom call.
MRV Water District Commission/Water Supply Protection Advisory Committee
By Mick Colageo
Residents and town officials crowded the Rochester senior center Monday to hear input on whether to withdraw from the Commonwealth’s Green Communities program, which provides grants and technical assistance to support constructing more energy-efficient buildings and homes but also mandates compliance with building codes that increase construction costs.
Attendees ended up with only one clear conclusion. Until more information on comparative construction costs is available, the town might want to delay the vote to leave the program that will take the form of two articles on the May 22 Annual Town Meeting warrant.
Green Communities Southeast Coordinator Lisa Sullivan spoke of the benefits of being a Green Community. The town, she said, has received $425,505 in grants since its December 2019 designation as a Green Community. This money has funded energy-efficiency projects such as LED lighting and envelope improvements in the town’s municipal buildings.
To qualify for the Green Communities designation, the town must create a plan to reduce energy consumption by 20 percent within 20 years and adopt a fuel-efficiency, vehicle-purchase policy.
Senior Advisor Paul Raymer spoke in favor of the Stretch building code that the town must follow more strictly as a Green Community. He noted the code requires Home Energy Rating Scores (verifiers) that will test the energy efficiency of structures before improvements are recommended, and the state pays for that step.
Raymer’s main message: Stricter building codes that increase energy efficiency and lower fossil-fuel energy consumption are worth the cost and effort.
Attendees were not convinced, pointing out that the code mandates more expensive building materials, and electric vehicles are more expensive to dispose of at the end of their lives.
Select Board Chairman Woody Hartley clarified that because the town wants to rescind its Green Communities status, residents need to better understand how the different levels of Stretch code might make construction costs go up.
“Especially when we are facing a $15,000,000 building program,” he said, referring to the town’s current plan to build a new fire station and construct an addition to the police station.
Raymer’s other message was that there are too many variables involved to immediately determine the increase that Green Communities’ Stretch code would pose on the construction costs of the public-safety project.
A resident asked Hartley if, without solid answers to financial impact, it might be premature to decide on rescinding the town’s Green Communities status next month on Town Meeting floor. Hartley agreed the vote could be delayed if that is what the town wants.
Sullivan noted that Rochester is the only Green Communities municipality in the state looking to withdraw. She said it is too early in the planning process to know how much the town project’s costs will rise under Green Communities status.
Planning Board and Public Safety Building Feasibility Study Committee Chairman Arnold Johnson rose from his chair to dispute that claim.
“We have a good game plan right now,” said Johnson, elaborating to say the (public-safety-facilities) plan is already looking more expensive because of these Green Stretch codes and that the town should withdraw from its participation in the Green Communities program.
Johnson said the building installation will have to be stronger and thus more expensive. The new sallyport bays in the police station addition will require electric-vehicle charging stations. Triple-pane windows will be required, whereas double-pane windows would have been installed instead.
“It all adds up,” Johnson said. “These are not imaginary plans. The costs will only get higher. A tighter building means higher electric bills. It makes no sense. You’ve got to balance it out. If you’re looking at a pay back/better energy-efficiency period of five years, it’s not worth it. We have to be very careful. We have a limited commercial base in this town.”
Rochester Facilities Manager Andrew Daniel said his goal on the committee that worked on joining Green Communities was to reduce the town’s energy consumption and save the town money. He said he is not sure both goals have been realized. “I just know that this will have a ton of impacts on us,” he said.
After the discussion ended, Hartley acknowledged that the articles to withdraw from Green Communities will remain on the May 22 Annual Town Meeting warrant. One article is a citizens’ petition to withdraw; the other is an action by the Select Board to recommend the same.
By Michael J. DeCicco