Back attending in person on November 3 after “zooming” into the Marion Board of Health following a hospital stay, Dr. Ed Hoffer focused his comments in two public hearings for septic-system variances on what happens after the systems become operational.

            The board, including Chairman Dr. John Howard and the recent addition of foundational member Albin Johnson, would vote to grant variances to homeowners at 707 Mill Street and 33 Abel’s Way, but not before Hoffer made sure that the systems will waste thousands of dollars minus ongoing attention as prescribed in Marion’s septic bylaw.

            “The paperwork is not incidental … a nitrogen-removal system requires testing, and it’s important that homeowners understand this,” he said, defining it as “part of their obligation.”

            The variance for variance requests made by Steve Clark at 707 Mill Street were presented by Zenith Consulting Engineers, including distance from a slab foundation from the required 10 feet to 3 feet.

            The Zenith representative told the board that the variances are needed to meet the state’s Title 5 requirements and reported that Marion’s own consultant (George Heufelder) approved the system as proposed.

            Representing the property owner at 33 Abel’s Way, Foresight Engineering’s Darren Michaelis laid out a variance request, including the reduction of the required setback from the existing foundation from 20 feet to 11 feet, the substitution of a percolation test and the allowance of one observation hole.

            Attending the meeting remotely, Michaelis explained that the variances are needed to complete a “simple septic repair” on a 1977 house sitting in a “tight area” where it became necessary to place a liner to prevent any type of problem where the sewage pipe crosses the water pipe.

            He said Marion’s Conservation Commission approved the project, which includes analysis confirming soils and depth of the water table.

            The nitrogen-reducing, MicroFAST wastewater-treatment system comes with a deed restriction that Hoffer requested certainty of the owners’ knowledge regarding the necessity of maintenance and testing. The deed restriction ensures that the IA system must be maintained into perpetuity.

            Johnson asked if the system comes with a boiler-plate series of instructions for the owner. Michaelis explained that a two-year agreement will be turned in prior to the release of the permit, and Desmarais added Heufelder’s approval. Michaelis said that once the unit is purchased, the homeowner signs the contract with the vendor. He told Johnson will send a PDF of the contract.

            Neal Balboni appeared before the board to provide a project-status update for his mother’s house at 28 Pitcher Street. He said there has been work done on the eaves to make sure animals cannot get inside the house. Balboni said that official representation is out of state.

            “I’m going to make sure it’s monitored,” he said, telling the board that the long-term plan is to totally renovate the house. “We would like to keep it in the family.” The property has been owned by five generations of their family.

            In her Health Director update to the board, Public Health Nurse Lori Desmarais characterized Marion’s 41 COVID-19 cases in October as stable but noted that most residents with concern are home testing.

            Tabor Academy held a flu-vaccine clinic on November 3, administering 117 flu shots. Marion is working on a drive-through, flu-vaccine clinic for Thursday, November 17, and 60 residents had indicated interest as of November 3. An email blast was sent out.

            Public hearings are scheduled for November 30 and December 1 for the state’s proposed amendments to Title 5 regulations. Desmarais indicated that draft regulations will address Cape Cod first, then mainland residences.

            In updating the board on Chapter 2 complaints, inspections and orders to correct, Desmarais said she was unable to contact the resident at 464 Front Street but will go back to conduct the last inspection associated with the order.

            Desmarais also reported that a generator for emergencies at Little Neck Village is not legally required, but the site does have a generator that gives emergency lighting and heat. Hoffer suggested a note to the owner suggesting an upgrade upon necessary replacement that would power up appliances so that insulin could remain refrigerated for those residents in need and similar needs.

            Desmarais reported five food inspections and five more scheduled for November.

            After meeting with Interim Town Administrator/Finance Director Judy Mooney, Desmarais reported that the Board of Health should anticipate a “level-service” but not “level-funded” budget for FY24.

            The next meeting of the Marion Board of Health is scheduled for Thursday, November 17, at 4:00 pm at the Police Station, also accessible live via Zoom.

Marion Board of Health

By Mick Colageo

            The Town of Rochester held an Interdepartmental public meeting on November 2, allowing the department heads to put their heads together in a rare setting to discuss several key topics and issues facing the town.

            As the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) looks to expand into Rochester with the South Coast Rail, the state is looking to leverage towns into providing multifamily, affordable-housing communities near rail stations.

            With assistance from Representative William Straus and Senator Michael Rodrigues, Rochester’s pushback against the drafted guidelines reduced amount of required housing, according to Town Administrator Glenn Cannon.

            “We believe that the zoning for that 40R (residential/commercial development at the corner of Routes 28 and 58) will meet the MBTA requirement,” he said.

            The Feasibility Study for a new public-safety building(s) awarded by the Select Board to Cambridge-based Ted Gallant Architectural Studio (TGAS) is still in contract negotiation. The Select Board considered all three finalists to be qualified firms but went with TGAS because of its exclusive commitment to public-safety structures.

            The town’s Hazard Mitigation Plan is also part of the feasibility discussion, and a presentation is expected to go before Spring Town Meeting.

            The agenda started off with the Prioritization Preservation process to be informed by resident rankings for Rochester open space according to agriculture, forestry and water-supply protection as yielded by an online survey.

            Cannon says, as Rochester purchases preservation land, the Planning Board wants to have some type of idea in what types of land the taxpayer is most interested.

            Visit townofrochestermass.com and navigate to Government, then Planning Board, then on the left margin “Ranking Land for Preservation Value in Rochester.”

            Also discussed was Rochester’s interest in improving its voice in the Assawompset Pond Complex Climate Action Plan (Rochester not a full voting member.) Since the complex has opened up to recreational uses, the potential for unlawful and/or hazardous activities is also higher. Hiring environmental police would come at a high cost.

            As of now, Cannon said, town residents are only allowed to vote on Rochester-specific matters. Town officials disagree with the notion that they should be left out of votes on regional issues.

            “It’s hard to sit back and say these issues don’t affect Rochester. You’re drawing down the water table,” said Cannon.

            Finally, the subject of an updated Master Plan is on the table. Cannon believes the town last produced a Master Plan in 2009, and it was crafted in house.

            The town recently received a $100,000 Rural and Small Town Development Fund Grant and is working with SRPEDD to get the Master Plan updated on a two-year window.

            The next meeting of the Rochester department heads has not been scheduled. The gathering was posted as a public meeting, as the Select Board was in attendance.

By Mick Colageo

            At the recommendation of ORR Superintendent of Schools Mike Nelson, the agenda to the November 7 public meeting of the Old Rochester Regional Joint School Committee/Superintendency Union #55 was rearranged to put Open Meeting Law complaints at the top.

            Two complaints filed relative to the Joint School Committee, one was against Anne Fernandes, a member of the Rochester School Committee and the Superintendency Union #55 side of the JSC, and the other against Joe Pires, a member of the ORR School Committee and that committee’s side of the JSC.

            Both complaints, noted Nelson, cite the members’ roles in the Joint School Committee. As a result, explained Nelson, the JSC is required to follow procedure outlined in the attorney general’s Division of Open Government.

            Those requirements include that the respective chairpersons share the complaints with all committee members and that the committees respond to the complaints in writing within 14 business days. Since the JSC was not to meet soon enough to comply with that requirement, Nelson told the JSC he sought and got an extension from the state that would encompass the November 7 meeting of the JSC.

            Nelson recommended the JSC sides vote to delegate/authorize attorney Peter Sumners (in attendance via Zoom) to respond on behalf of the JSC to the complaints. Sumners is already representing the ORR School Committee in the matter, while the prior complaint filed against the Rochester School Committee was delegated to Rochester Town Counsel Blair Bailey.

            As noted in recent ORR and Rochester school committee articles in The Wanderer, the allegations filed by Rochester resident Rhonda Baptiste stem from Facebook posts made in a public forum discussing sexual content in books in the high school and junior high libraries.

            In summarizing the situation to the members of the JSC, Sumners said, “Neither I nor Attorney Bailey identified any Open Meeting Law violations, based on our reading of the attorney general’s determination concerning social-media posts.”

            After both sides of the JSC voted without dissention to authorize Sumner to respond on behalf of the JSC, Sumner told the meeting he would provide the membership with his response.

            In the Open Comment session that immediately followed the committee’s dealings with the Open Meeting Law complaints, Baptiste, attending in person, spoke in her role as director of Community Engagement for the citizens’ group Tri-Town Against Racism.

            She shared a discriminatory act that was reported to TTAR, stating that “There were members of the (school) committee didn’t believe there was an issue in our community or that there wasn’t any change necessary or any action that needed to be taken.”

            In response, said Baptiste, TTAR “created a mechanism where community members could report discriminatory incidents that happen throughout the community.”

            Baptiste reported 14 incidents, 12 of which she said were school related. Ten of those, she said, happened since the 2022-23 school year began at the end of August. Five incidents occurred at the junior high school, five at Old Hammondtown Elementary School (Mattapoisett), and two at the high school, she stated.

            Nine of the incidents, she stated, involved racism – Baptiste reported three incidents of racial epithets – and two involved homophobia and transphobia. Two incidents involved disability and two involved general appearance, Baptiste stated.

            More than one discriminatory category can apply to the same incident in TTAR’s reporting mechanism, according to Baptiste.

            Baptiste concluded her remarks by announcing her intentions to report those incidents and any subsequent discriminatory incidents to the Anti Racism Subcommittee when it meets in January.

            Art Leclair of Mattapoisett spoke next about the content in books in ORR schools, comparing his experience long ago and suggesting that while he has a problem with the content in some of today’s books, he qualified his remarks as against the banning of books, putting the onus on parents to raise their children and guide their decisions.

            Alison Noyce, a member of Tri-Town Against Racism, spoke about a meeting she attended billed as “What Are Your Children Learning in School?” a meeting that she said did not match its billing. Instead, Noyce said she encountered a list of books apparently disapproved by the meeting’s organizers.

            Noyce then read a letter previously shared in recent school committee meetings that expresses citizens’ concerns about the efforts of some to censor materials that they believe support principles of inclusion and “underrepresented” children, including those of color, who are indigenous or with diversities in sexual orientation or identity. The letter was signed by 631 people, including over 500 community members.

            Noyce reminded those listening into the meeting that parents have the option to request that their children not read certain books.

            Vanessa Miller of Marion, who described her ethnicity as Mexican, said she has a problem with the books containing sexual content in the school libraries. “My heritage, my culture, does not go with that,” she said, stressing her approval of racially diverse subjects.

            Kate Hartley of Marion said, “This book ban is not about protecting our kids from data, documents, images (or) pornography, what this book ban is is an attempt to (promote) fear literature and to pull BIPOC literature out of our schools, which is one of the only places that some kids can access literature that may be the only (source) they have that represents how they’re growing up.”

            Hartley gave many examples of the content in required reading already on the shelves in public schools when she was interrupted by an attendee, at which point ORR School Committee Chairperson Michelle Smith instructed the person that any comments must be made toward the committee chair.

            “The thing is, if your kid is looking for that information, if your child is queer, they are going to find it. Would you not rather they find it in a place that is safe?” Hartley asked.

            LGBTQ youth, asserted Hartley, are more than four times likely to attempt suicide than those not in those categories, reaching 45%. She said one of the things that combat those tendencies are affirming places.

            At the conclusion of the Open Comment session that reached its maximum, 15-minute time limit as governed by statewide policy, another outburst occurred, causing commotion to the meeting, which was hastily adjourned.

            There will be no school across the district on Thursday, November 10 (professional-development day) and no school on Friday, November 11 (Veterans Day.)

            The next meeting of the Joint School Committee is scheduled for Thursday, January 19, 2023, at 6:30 pm at the ORR Junior High School media room and accessible via Zoom.

ORR Joint School Committee / Superintendency Union #55

By Mick Colageo