The Buzzards Bay Coalition, along with their engineer and contractor working on The Bogs restoration project off Acushnet Road, came before the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission on January 16. The meeting was to discuss recent flooding of the site now fully under construction, which led to the transmission of soils beyond the scope of work, namely the woods surrounding the site and the Mattapoisett River.

            During the nearly two-hour discussion, the commission heard from the on-site management team of the contractor Luciano of Taunton, the engineer Stephen Leeco of GZA, and Sara da Silva Quintal, restoration ecologist for the Buzzards Bay Coalition, owners of the property.

            Commission Chairman Mike King stated that he had been notified by a concerned abutter that something was wrong at the former commercial cranberry-bog site. What he found was the remains of flooding from recent storm events where water had breached manmade canals, pushing soils into jurisdictional, wooded areas beyond boundaries noted in the Order of Conditions issued by the commission. Soils were also present in water samples provided by the town’s agent, Brandon Faneuf, flood waters he said had reached the Mattapoisett River.

            During the meeting, each involved party was given time to explain their part in the project, offering reasons why the storm waters overtopped the canals and later sharing their part towards assuring it wouldn’t happen again.

            Luciano staff members spoke to the actual on-site, earth movement and why they had believed erosion controls in place were sufficient. Faneuf submitted photographs and a video of the site, which clearly demonstrated erosion controls failed. It was noted by the contractor that the rate of storm water flow was simply much greater than the rate of water emptying into storage quadrants; King felt such a possibility should have been anticipated.

            King was candid, saying that because the partners involved were the BBC, USDA and Massachusetts Department of Ecological Restoration, the commission, “…didn’t ask enough questions,” before conditioning the project. Now he and all the members of the commission wanted more details and a restoration plan for the flooding.

            Immediate plans, include having pumps available during future weather events to divert water away from possible flooding locations. GZA is to prepare restoration plans, and Luciano staff will monitor the weather and be prepared to react as needed.

            Quintal said several times that this bog restoration project, which has been in various stages of acquisition and restoration since 2011, was designed to keep soils on site. Faneuf explained the danger to wildlife when sediments cloud the water, making it clear such issues held dire consequences for fish and other forms of wildlife.

            But a far greater threat became a topic when commissioner David Nicolosi asked if the BBC tested the soils of the former bogs for chemicals used historically by the cranberry industry. “No testing was done,” Quintal replied, while stating again, “…the sediment wasn’t to leave the site.”

            Nicolosi said not testing for chemicals was a gross oversight and that the BBC, “…owed it to the citizens of Mattapoisett.” Nicolosi expressed concern over freshwater wells along with the town’s water supply.

            The commission issued a cease-and-desist Enforcement Order. Plans were made for the commissioners to visit the site in staggered rotation on January 17 and that the matter will return as an agenda item on February 6.

            The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission is scheduled for Tuesday, February 6, at 6:30 pm.

Mattapoisett Conservation Commission

By Marilou Newell

Rochester’s Conservation Commission Tuesday agreed to keep pursuing the town’s rights to the water on Red Brick Farm East land that is part of a 241-acre Conservation Restriction giving Rochester no rights to the groundwater that the property might produce.

            Commission Chairman Christopher Gerrior told the board Tuesday that he expected the issue to be on the agenda of the recent Tri-Town Select Board held January 9 in Mattapoisett, but the item was not discussed, he said, and he doesn’t want to let the issue continue unresolved.

            When they first heard of the CR plan months ago, commission members complained that Rochester has lost the right to use its own water resources too many times over the decades.

            The regional Conservation Restriction agreement that nonetheless became reality proposed giving Mattapoisett the water rights to the Rochester parcel, including possibly digging up to four new wells, under a co-ownership agreement with the Mattapoisett Water and Sewer Authority. However, the Rochester Conservation Commission was able to prod the authority to agree in writing it would “make every effort” to transfer the conservation land in Rochester to the town for $1.

            That promise has yet to see reality. Gerrior said he would like to see the issue become an agenda item at the next Tri-Town Select Board meeting, which he said will be held the first or second week in June.

            This prodded board member Carl MacDermott to note, “If we wait till May, we’ll only kick this problem further down the road.”

            The ConCom, as a result, approved sending a letter to the Select Board requesting its assistance with addressing the issue with the Mattapoisett Water Authority sooner than that.

            Board member Ben Bailey said he wanted to know, “Will the Selectmen work with us? Can we pursue this on our own? Ask them what they intend to do and that we want to address this soon.” Gerrior agreed to draft and send the letter.

            In other action, the commission agreed to the Notice of Intent for BWC Snows Pond LLC’s plan to build a 2.39 megawatt, solar-energy array on 12.55 acres of a 31.23-acre parcel at 0 Cushman Road to include work within the 100-foot buffer zone. The commission will now draft the plan’s Order of Conditions that it will vote on at its next meeting on February 6.

            The commission approved a request for a three-year extension of the Order of Conditions for a housing development planned for 22 Cranberry Highway. Its original OOC, which was issued in January of 2021, will now expire on January 16, 2026.

            The commission continued its hearing into the Notice of Intent to build a 15-acre, self-storage facility at 25 Cranberry Highway and 0 Kings Highway, upon the petitioner’s request, until February 20.

            The board approved a request for a Certificate of Compliance for 433 Neck Road filed by Matthew Magalhaes, certifying that work on the single-family home there has been satisfactorily completed.

            The board also voted to issue a Certificate of Compliance for a portable dock on the pond at 536 Snipatuit Road filed by commission member Matthew Bache.

            The Rochester Conservation Commission will meet next on Tuesday, February 6, at 7:00 pm at Town Hall, 1 Constitution Way.

Rochester Conservation Commission

By Michael J. DeCicco

            The Joseph H. Plumb Memorial Library needs an up-to-date, easier-to-use website and to make its lower-level entrance more accessible to people with disabilities. Both concerns were the feature of the Library Board of Trustees’ meeting Monday.

            The January 22 Special Town Meeting will be asking voters to spend $3,000 from Capital Improvement Funds to install an accessible walkway to the lower-level, side-door entrance. Library Director Kristen Cardoso told the board Monday that Facilities Manager Andrew Daniel considers the walkway an accessibility issue because otherwise, the door leads to a sharp drop from the floor inside to the ground outside. She said Daniel had to convince the Select Board against dropping the expense from the Jan. 22 meeting warrant.

            The trustees indicated they were fully behind the project. Trustees Chairperson Kelley Medeiros said it’s a project that has needed to be done ever since the basement was renovated to host programming and a new entrance built. “It’s a project that’s we’ve waited to be done a long time,” she said.

            Cardoso also reported that she recently asked the company that donated the library’s original website to the town at no cost, how much it would cost to redesign the site so that the library staff can rewrite its components on its own. She said she was told the cost would range between $5,000 and 6,750 to redesign the site. The cost would be $8,000 for a totally new website.

            That led the trustees to consider other options. Medeiros asked what about a donated effort from a local school or college? She noted the board has received no response after reaching out to Old Colony Regional Vocational High School. But what about Old Rochester Regional or any of the local colleges, she wondered aloud.

            “It could be a special project for a student,” trustee Michael King said.

            But we’d also love to simply get a volunteer, Medeiros added.

            The trustees decided to share the responsibility for each member to email a local school or college with a plea for volunteer help. (Medeiros also asked The Wanderer reporter attending the meeting to spread the word that the library needs volunteer help creating a new website. Consider it done.)

            In other business, Cardoso noted in her report to the board the flattering results of the recent Master Plan Update public survey. The survey revealed that 40% of respondents were “satisfied” with town library services and 35 percent were “very satisfied.”

            The Joseph H. Plumb Memorial Library Board of Trustees will meet next on Thursday, February 8, at 6:30 pm at the Plumb Library, 17 Constitution Way.

Joseph H. Plumb Memorial Library Board of Trustees

By Michael J. DeCicco

            As it faced a roomful of abutters concerned about the installation’s effect on their neighborhood, Rochester’s Planning Board Tuesday continued until February its public hearing on the Special Permit and Site Plan Review application for BWC Snows Pond LLC’s plan to build a solar-energy array on 12.55 acres of a 31-acre parcel at 0 Cushman Road.

            Abutter Melinda Sherman-Morris asked engineering consultant Andrew Hamel why the developer needs to take out approximately 2 acres of trees in the area and much of a stone wall to fit his project. Hamel said these steps were needed to squeeze the installation into the area of the parcel that the developer is being restricted to use.

            Abutter Claudette Tobin noted her grandfather sold the Cushman Road property to the parcel’s previous owners. She said she now has concerns about how the installation would “scar” the area and have a serious environmental impact on the neighborhood. She wanted to know what will happen to groundwater quality should the industrial batteries that will be installed leak.

            The installation is expected to include a 2.39 MW DC single-access tracking PV array and associated battery energy storage. Hamel said no study he has ever seen has indicated a solar installation will impact groundwater in any way.

            Tobin was then asked if these batteries have ever caught fire. Hamel said that hasn’t happened with any project he has been involved with.

            He added that the developer will not know what type of batteries he will use until later in the planning process, considering the permitting process for such an installation will take over a year, out of a concern over changing technologies.

            This response led Planning Board members to raise their own concerns. John DeMaggio said he did not like approving a solar installation plan that includes not knowing that factor.

            “I don’t like not knowing that,” he said. “Should we ask them to come back when they know?”

            “We’ll need more specifics before they start construction,” board member Lee Carr said.

            Board Chairman Arnold Johnson prodded Hamel to agree to state the type of batteries the developer will use on the plans the panel approves but would be allowed to change, with approval, at a later date.

            Johnson noted the board is now awaiting the developer’s full response to the town’s engineer review of the plans. He said the Planning Board will likely make the decision on February 27.

            Hamel said that, because of delays from Eversource’s part of the permitting process, installation may not begin until 2027.

            In other action, the board endorsed an Approval Not Required application for a 14-acre parcel on Mendell Road filed by 15A Mendell Road Realty Trust. It then reviewed a Special Permit Application for a residential back lot at that Mendell Road address for a plan to subdivide the lot for residential use.

            Johnson concluded this review by telling project consultant Walter Hartley that Town Planner Nancy Durfee would immediately draw up a board decision.

            The board continued its review of the Site Plan Review application for JPF Development’s plan to build a 15-acre self-storage facility at Kings Highway and Route 28 until January 23, in response to the applicant’s request.

            The board voted to recommend Zoning bylaw amendments regarding revising the Cranberry Highway Smart Growth Overlay District at 621 County Road to include an additional 1.3-acre parcel at the County Road end of the district at the January 22 Special Town Meeting.

            The board approved releasing $771,500 of the performance bond for The Village Phase III project, leaving $208,500 remaining.

            The board extended the Route 495 40R housing development project by 18 months due to planning delays caused by an appeal filed in 2021 by the Buzzards Bay Coalition.

            The Rochester Planning Board will meet next on Tuesday, January 23, at 7:00 pm at Town Hall, 1 Constitution Way.

Rochester Planning Board

By Michael J. DeCicco