The momentum felt earlier this year by the Town of Marion in its quest for a new harbormaster’s headquarters facility has been obscured by a dark cloud of doubt.

            In introducing initial budget projections for FY24, Harbormaster Isaac Perry told the Marine Resources Commission during its November 21 public meeting that he had yet to hear back from the state’s Seaport Economic Council, the agency that granted the town $1,000,000 on top of $300,000 for its design and construction of the new Marine Center at Island Wharf.

            Months ago, then-Town Administrator Jay McGrail began prefacing any comments on the final $1,000,000 grant applied for as being subject to change amidst concern for the potential dissolution of the SEC when Governor Baker leaves office.

            Without that final grant, the town would need to raise $1,000,000 via other means in order to build the harbormaster’s new headquarters as designed, revised and approved by a 2022 Town Meeting vote.

            “And they don’t have any meetings scheduled,” said Perry. “They haven’t kept to their timeline in the past, so this isn’t out of sorts for them, especially with this current administration on its way out. But we’re still waiting to hear yay or nay on that before we take the next steps toward securing another grant. As you all know, we still need $1,000,000 to get this project up and running.”

            Perry’s opening remark only introduced his discussion on the FY24 budget he will need to submit by the end of December.

            He told the MRC that he and Deputy Harbormaster and Shellfish Officer Adam Murphy had been away for two weeks prior to the meeting to engage in police-reform training.

            Per Marion’s town-employee policy, Perry said staff (including Perry, Murphy and Assistant Harbormaster Dave Wilson) will see a 2% wage increase for FY24.

            Perry said the town made an error in placing Murphy into the town’s employee policy for FY23, and the result was a $12,800 expenditure in overtime. Perry said the $12,000 estimation would see a $1,000 bump in the FY24 budget.

            Longevity increases estimated to be worth approximately $200 in annual salary will not affect FY24, but in FY25 Perry said he will go over the 20-year mark and Murphy over the 10-year mark.

            Perry explained that the FY24 budget will become subject to recommendation from the Finance Committee and the Select Board and be voted upon at the Annual Town Meeting to be held most likely in May 2023.

            The most drastic operational increase in the Harbormaster Department for FY24 is boat maintenance. Perry reminded the commission that he had bumped that figure up to $10,000 for the current fiscal year but has already exceeded that mark, so he plans to bump it again for FY24 to $15,000.

            Beyond that, most of the department’s operational costs will remain the same for FY24.

            “I don’t see any changes at this point. The police reform is the elephant in the room,” said Perry, indicating that full-time wages could be impacted but not through his department’s budget, rather the Police Department’s budget.

            Overall, he projects a 3.6% increase in the FY24 operating budget.

            Capital projects such as the hydraulic trailer are at least for now not feasible, given the town has no maintenance facility.

            “What’s going on with the Maritime Center, are we going to take over the old DPW? Again, those things are probably going to take a few years to shake out here,” said Perry. “We kind of backed off on a lot of the stuff that we were working towards.”

            Asked if he projects revenues, Perry said no, the department relies on the recent past because revenues tend not to vary beyond $10,000 annually. Off the top of his head, Perry estimated $468,000 in annual revenue for FY22.

            MRC Chairman Vin Malkoski suggested the indicators are somewhat in place, but Perry said he has been told the “indirects” (revenue sources not directly controlled by the department) are going to be rolled back for FY23.

            MRC member Scott Cowell asked about the progress with the new Department of Public Works facility and how that might positively impact the timeline for getting the harbormaster’s boats under shelter at the old facility on Route 6.

            Perry said stress cracks are typical, but the cabin in the patrol boat is beginning to separate from the hull. “That gets exponentially worse for a foam-core boat when you leave it outside for the winter, but we just don’t have an option at this point,” he said.

            Cowell said he would like to see the line item for shellfish increase for FY24. Perry said office space is always a challenge, but the space for storage of shellfish cages has become “incredibly problematic.”

            “We find ourselves getting rid of more and more stuff that we typically would have held onto just because of space,” said Perry. “We’re kind of homeless when it comes to the maintenance side of things for the next couple of years, I would guess.”

            Radio equipment, he said, will be funded through the Police Department, which is looking to switch over to digital technology.

            Wilson provided the Harbor Management update, telling the commission members that the season equipment including floats, channel markers, moorings and the patrol and pump-out boats, was removed from the water on November 1 and put through prescribed maintenance routines. The barge was due to be removed the day after the meeting.

            The pump-out boat is up to 1,700 hours and is running well, but Perry said the unavailability of parts is preventing an upgrade that has been fully funded.

            Perry publicly thanked Andrew Miller for his time helping the Harbormaster Department. Miller took a job opportunity out of the area.

            The Marion Marine Resources Commission set its next meeting for Monday, January 23, at 7:00 pm, at the Music Hall.

Marion Marine Resources Commission

By Mick Colageo

            It took substantial discussion, but the Marion Planning Board voted on Monday night to continue the public hearing on a two-lot definitive subdivision plan filed by Danielle Realty Trust, Wareham Street, with the confidence that a conditioned approval will be forthcoming on December 19.

            According to project representative Bob Rogers of G.A.F. Engineering, the only substantive change to the site plan as of December 5 was an increase in the pavement rift around the cul-de-sac, expanding the width of the pavement from 18 feet to 22 feet.

            Rogers told the board he received an email from Fire Chief Brian Jackvony stating that the applicant’s revised site plan was reviewed and that Marion’s ladder truck would be able to enter and exit without restriction.

            Test pits were also added on the hill on the property and displayed on the site map, and more could be added based on need or desire.

            Erosion-control will be supported by soil-stabilization practices during construction.

            Planning Board member Andrew Daniel posed the question as to snow potentially clogging the “beehive” at the front side of the cul-de-sac as opposed to the center or the rear. “Because all the snow from Danielle Drive is going to be pushed into that first,” he said.

            Daniel, the Facilities manager for the Town of Rochester, explained that a snowplow would clear the straightaway first, pushing the lion’s share of snow at the front of the cul-de-sac, leaving the rear with the least amount of snow.

            Rogers acknowledged that the center catch basin can be moved 5 or 6 feet toward the center of the cul-de-sac but maintained that plowing would tend to push to the right side and not push snow directly at the front of the island as Daniel suggested.

            “It’s not really a beehive; it is a standard catch basin,” said Rogers.

            Daniel insisted a storm could result in an 8- to 10-foot pile of snow at the center of the cul-de-sac and stuck to his suggestion that the center basin be moved 5 feet backward toward the center or even the rear of the cul-de-sac.

            Town Planner Doug Guey-Lee asked if relocation of the catch basin poses ramifications for access for maintenance purposes. Rogers said no and agreed with board member Eileen Marum that the two homeowners would be responsible for the maintenance of the road.

            Marum talked about increased rainfall due to climate change. Rogers said the systems being proposed are designed for 100-year storms.

            When the floor was opened to comment from outside the board or town staff, self-recused Planning Board member Chris Collings, 13 River Road, identified himself as an abutter and asked if a marking at the downslope property line on the site plan is a vegetative barrier.

            Rogers identified the marking in question as a tree line vertical and a no-disturb line horizontal below. Collings suggested the board request such a barrier to give abutters “the privacy they want.”

            Daniel asked if the board faces liability charges should the plan prove damaging to the abutters.

            “I have no worries whatsoever about this runoff going across the road,” said Rogers, but he did state that maintenance is an issue for the two drains on River Road at the bottom of the swale. Failure of those drains could impact the area, he acknowledged.

            “We are used to screening solar farms from residential areas, screening a single-family house from another single-family house. That works both ways,” said Rogers.

            Referencing the covenant he filled out and submitted to the town, Rogers said that before the board’s December 19 meeting, he would revise the site plan to move the catch basin in the middle of the cul-de-sac. “My expectation is that we’ll be drafting a decision with conditions for the board’s review,” he said.

            As Daniel proposed tweaks along the tree line, board member Tucker Burr sought clarification on the drainage network. Rogers explained the catch basins on the perimeter of the cul-de-sac move the runoff to what begins as a 12-inch pipe that finds a low point near the beginning of River Road.

            Citing that the board was moving toward approval of the project, Guey-Lee recommended any substantive issues “be brought to bear now rather than later.” He said he would like the board to be talking at its next meeting with a draft decision in hand.

            Rogers said the waiver requests have not changed since being submitted.

            Regarding the covenant being reviewed by the board, Guey-Lee asked how the median in the case of a private way is split up between the two prospective property owners. “I’m just wondering who would mow it, etc.,” he said. Rogers explained that both owners would be responsible for the common land.

            Hills indicated that Rogers can expect a decision to be written for the board’s review, and the members voted to continue the case to December 19 at 7:05 pm.

            In other business, Marum volunteered to produce an initial draft of the board’s annual report due February 1, 2023.

            The board voted to approve a 2023 meeting schedule that due to holidays falling on Mondays will include six Tuesday meetings.

            The next meeting of the Marion Planning Board is scheduled for Monday, December 19, at 7:00 pm at the Police Station, also accessible via Zoom.

Marion Planning Board

By Mick Colageo

The November 17 meeting of the Rochester School Committee was a straightforward and streamlined one, mostly spent covering recent MCAS test results and how the Old Rochester Regional School District measures up to the state. As with other recent committee meetings, it was announced at the beginning that there would be no open public comment section due to recent concerns over safety.

            The meat of the meeting was taken up by Principal Derek Medeiros’ presentation regarding the results of the most recent MCAS tests.

            “The MCAS is not new to us, but we do know that the last two and a half years of school have not been typical,” said Medeiros.

            The committee noted that the Covid pandemic made a large impact on recent MCAS scores compared to prepandemic times, but that the overall comparison to scores across Massachusetts still indicates the ORR District’s commitment to excellence.

            “The good news and what the committee will hear tonight is that our students and their families should be proud of the MCAS results produced here at Rochester Memorial School. Although MCAS is one of the many pieces of information to help inform the teaching and learning experiences of our students, we can use this information to assess areas of strengths and also opportunities for our students,” said Medeiros. “Tonight, you’re going to hear many of those strengths that our data shows and more importantly, some action steps on how our team plans to move forward. From a big-picture standpoint, we will use this data to help inform future academic programming and needs in conjunction with all available data points for MCAS.

            Medeiros reminded the gathered members that 2022-23 is the first normal year of school for Rochester’s third-grade students.

            “We know that there’s been learning loss, and we’ve done a lot here in our district that we’re very proud of to help our students close those gaps. But you’ll see throughout this presentation that our students are performing above the state in almost every category. So we’re very proud of that,” said Medeiros, who pointed out consistently higher percentages of students performing at or above the expected level compared to the state. “And then again, the average scale score of 498 for our students, like I mentioned, right, they are so close to that 500 average scale score, as we’re typically seeing, but (it’s) 493 for the state.”

            In his financial report, Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Howie Barber told the committee that the annual budget maintains its course. He said meal participation continues to grow, as simultaneous, nationwide supply-chain issues continue to disrupt and impact the food program. ORR School Nurse Beth Oleson was credited for the training she provides on kitchen first aid, EpiPen use and choke safety.

            At the beginning of the meeting, Chairperson Sharon Hartley publicly aligned Rochester’s with other district school committees that have taken precautions in the wake of threatening conduct at the November 7 Joint School Committee meeting.

            “As a result of the threatening, disruptive and disorderly conduct of a few members of the public during the open comments’ portion of the Joint School Committee meeting held on Monday, November 7, which forced the abrupt adjournment of that body before the business of that meeting even began, I have made the decision not to allow public comments at tonight’s business meeting of the Rochester School Committee,” announced Hartley. “A school committee meeting is a meeting at which school committee members must transact portions of their business in public. There is no requirement for public comment. It is entirely at the discretion of the chair.

            “Each member of this elected body has been and will continue to be open to hearing or reading public comments from our constituents or any kind of comments from our constituents and our citizens. However, when members of this committee need to be escorted to their vehicles for fear of their physical safety due to the hostile, disorderly conduct from members of the public … I am forced to prioritize not only for our safety, but also so that we can conduct the business of this body. Is my sincere hope that respectful, civil discourse will soon return to the Tri-Town.”

            ORR Superintendent of Schools Mike Nelson took time towards the end of the meeting to remind those gathered about meeting conduct and regulations, reading directly from the handbook as he did so. Nelson emphasized that respect is a two-way street, and committee members need to treat community members with the same respect they themselves expect and deserve.

            The next public meeting of the Rochester School Committee is scheduled for Thursday, January 5, at 6:30 pm at Rochester Memorial School and accessible via Zoom.

Rochester School Committee

By Jack MC Staier