On June 9, the Mattapoisett Finance Committee met with Town Administrator Mike Lorenco to transfer funds, an annual process of balancing accounts just ahead of closing the books on FY22 and to receive updates on various grant-funded projects.

            The committee voted unanimously to transfer $136,000 from the Reserve Fund to the following accounts to balance several departmental budgets.

            Receiving $30,000 was the fuel account to cover escalating costs, which Lorenco said were “100 percent” more than originally anticipated. Accrued liability associated with employees departing municipal employment received $50,000 to cover unused sick and vacation days. Staff salaries in the Building Department required and received $5,000 to cover overages, and $7,500 was needed to cover additional engineering costs associated with Old Slough Road and the Police Department parking lot.

Lastly, $3,500 was transferred to cover heating costs for keeping the public bathrooms open year-round at the harbormaster’s office and for municipal grounds and building needs.

            In a sidebar, Lorenco commented that at the present time there are 17 open jobs with the Town of Mattapoisett that he is seeking to fill. The positions range from the Police Department, Town Hall Accounting Department, Library and Highway Department. Employee openings are posted at Mattapoisett.net, he said.

            Lorenco touched on the recently awarded fiber grant that will allow the town to establish better communications between various town departments. The town will need to pony up $8,108 for its share. He noted that the new optic fiber installation will not connect the schools, but added that a federal grant will be sought for that portion of the overall plan. Lorenco added that due to material delays, the anticipated interconnect start date will be sometime in March 2024. The committee voted to transfer the matching grant money.

            Lorenco said the town has the potential for being $800,000 under budget when all data is tallied and that as much as $1,000,000 will be available in free cash once the FY22 books are closed. He said that another sum of approximately $1,800,000 is anticipated from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and that the Select Board has not made any decisions on how those monies should be used. He pointed out the ARPA funds were to be used primarily for infrastructural projects such as the replacement of the sewer line over the Eel Pond breach.

            The Mattapoisett Finance Committee will now suspend meetings until late August or early September pending a possible Fall Town Meeting in November.

Mattapoisett Finance Committee

By Marilou Newell          

            The 13,500 acres off Acushnet Road dubbed The Bogs is a Buzzards Bay Coalition property that has become a favorite place to recreate. It has been the BBC’s plan since obtaining the former cranberry bogs to restore some 64 acres to a more natural state and then let Mother Nature take it from there.

            On June 13, members of the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission met with BBC’s Restoration Ecologist Sara Quintal and Natural Resource Specialist Adriene Dunk of GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc., who gave an in-depth, hour-long presentation highlighting the design and water flow planning that will be employed this summer when restoration work begins at The Bogs.

            Central to the design are water features that will return naturally, the engineers explained, once the manmade ditches, dikes and flumes are replaced with habitat-friendly islands. Historically, the bogs were watered using regulated water flows from Tubb Mill Brook. The plans presented on Monday illustrated that water reaching the site from Tubb Mill Brook will be absorbed in a naturalized process via recharging into swamps and other woodland features, Quintal and Dunk explained.

            The elaborate engineering plans drafted by GZA revealed the removal of barriers so that fish and other wildlife can move freely and that there will be no change to flood-flow hydrology, eliminating downstream impact. The restoration is planned to enable greater habitat for the Eastern Box Turtles and other wildlife, maximizing natural freshwater wetland structures, restoring the natural hydrology, and encouraging native-plant diversity and trail linkage for enhanced visitor recreational experiences, the team stated.

            The presentation also showed the vast number of regulatory agencies that will have oversight of the project along with local permits that Quintal hoped to receive during Monday’s meeting. Those agencies include Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, Clean Water Act, U.S. Army Corps, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for stormwater pollution control, and MassDEP Waterways Regulation Program.

            Brandon Faneuf, Mattapoisett’s consulting environment agent, pointed out the commission’s oversight would be informed by not only conditions they would impose on the project but also the other agencies’ purviews, and that such controls would aid in protecting public and private water supplies, groundwater protection, storm-damage protection, protection of shellfish and fisheries and wildlife-habitat protection.

            “You are checking all the boxes,” Faneuf said. Quintal emphasized the point saying, “…our goals are for a self-sustaining site that can do its thing.”

            Both Select Board member Jodi Bauer and abutter Bruce Cobb expressed concerns that Tinkham Pond water levels would be impacted. It was explained by both Quintal and Dunk that water flowing into the 64 acres of former cranberry bogs in question were not watered by Tinkham Pond but by Tubb Mill Brook, a deviated stream. Cobb said several times that it was his hope the natural beauty of the pond area would not be harmed by draining into the BBC property. He was assured that Tinkham Pond is not part of the project and would in no way be negatively impacted.

            The restoration project application by the BBC was conditioned by a unanimous vote of the commission.

            In other business, a Notice of Intent filed by Emmjay Realty Trust, 13 Industrial Drive, for the construction of concrete pad supports, stormwater drainage features and restoration of eroded slopes was conditioned.

            Requests for Determination of Applicability receiving negative determinations were granted to: Andrew O’Shaughnessy, 88 Aucoot Road, for the expansion of a patio; Michael Prestileo, 3 Indian Avenue, for the construction of deck and patio as well as outdoor shower and new stoop with steps; William and Debra Poutsiaka, 4 Maple Road, for the construction of raised timber planting boxes and Randolf Alexander, 7 Wolf Island Road, for the renovation of a single-family home and landscape features.

            Commission Chairman Michael King asked for an Enforcement Order be sent to the property owners at 16 Harbor Beach Road with the installation of an unpermitted storage tank. An Enforcement Order was also ordered for unpermitted landscaping at property located at the corner of Harbor Beach and Shore roads.

            King also asked Faneuf if he was willing to spend two half-days per week in the Conservation office until such time as a replacement can be hired for retiring employee Maryann DeCosta. Faneuf said he would, adding, “Glad to help the town.”

            The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission is scheduled for Monday, June 27, at 6:30 pm.

Mattapoisett Conservation Commission

By Marilou Newell

Marion Affordable Housing Trust Chairperson Terri Santos encouraged attending members Nancy McFadden, Tangi Thomas and Minhtram Tran to take a spin on the housing page of Falmouth’s website for some ideas to consider as the Marion committee broke for the summer on Tuesday night.

            Santos acknowledged that the cape-side town has “different housing needs” but felt it beneficial to pour over the site, read Falmouth’s mission statement and display in order to perhaps incorporate some aspect into Marion’s website.

            The members received the advice favorably and even mused about a visit over the Bourne Bridge to look around the Town of Falmouth.

            Marion’s Affordable Housing Trust is very much under construction, having gone through significant changes in its membership and leadership over the past year, and a major portion of the effort has been in establishing a housing production plan.

            Santos had hoped that the trust would have received the final report on the plan from the Barrett Planning Group for Housing Community Engagement Services and Community Engagement Services Focus Group in time for Tuesday’s meeting, but the agenda was limited to housecleaning items.

            The trust voted to pay a $16,000 bill related to the report, along with $151.47 to the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD); Santos said there is still a contract balance for SRPEDD to finish out the plan.

            By September, she said, she hopes to have that information and know more about the Lockheed Martin property, which is integral to the long-range development plans in Marion.

            Due at its next meeting for reorganization, the Affordable Housing Trust scrapped its July 15 meeting in favor of reconvening on Tuesday, September 13, at 6:00 pm. The meeting will be held in person with a possible hybrid component.

Marion Affordable Housing Trust

By Mick Colageo

It’s been two weeks since the post-Memorial Day summer boating season started, and already the Marion harbormaster and staff are keeping very busy.

            “It’s just been super busy since the season began,” Assistant Harbormaster Dave Wilson reported to the Marine Resources Commission at its June 13 meeting in the police station conference room. “It’s been an absolute slam.”

            He told the board that at one point the department received seven telephone calls for assistance in a six-hour interval. “And we’ve had two mayday calls back to back,” he said. “But we are handling it.”

Commission Chairman Vin Malkoski asked if Marion Harbor’s fleet of fishing boats has diminished, considering the current rising cost of fuel.

            Wilson said no. He also said there were no reports of gas being stolen from a harbor boat or facility this season, at least not yet.

            The good news Wilson added is that Andrew Miller, a Massachusetts Maritime Academy graduate, has once again signed on to assist the department during the summer.

            The report highlighted a meeting shortened by the fact Harbormaster Isaac Perry and Deputy Harbormaster/Shellfish Officer Adam Murphy were unable to attend.

            “They usually run the meeting,” Malkoski remarked.

            The MRC set its next meeting for Monday, July 18, at 7:00 pm, changing its venue to the Music Hall.

Marion Marine Resources Commission

By Michael J. DeCicco

            The 44-minute, June 9 public hearing was held via Zoom video conferencing, but evident was the heaviness with which Marion Select Board Chairman Randy Parker sought a motion that board member Norm Hills would deliver and board member Toby Burr would second to order humane euthanization for a Marion dog named Stella.

            The subsequent vote was conditioned at the advice of Town Counsel Jon Witten to take place no sooner than 14 days after Tuesday’s ratification of the decision in another special meeting of the board.

            The “dangerous dog” hearing was the result of a complaint filed by local Animal Control Officer Susan Connor alleging a May 17 attack by a dog owned by David and Jennifer MacDonald on a small dog in Watertown, Connecticut, during a visit to the Taft School campus.

            Based on an October 16, 2018, order of the Marion Select Board following a prior incident resulting in the death of another dog, Stella was already deemed dangerous, and conditions for her being kept by the MacDonalds included the stipulation that she be muzzled when off their 40 Spring Street property.

            Hills’ motion and Burr’s second were based on their conclusion that the conditions set in 2018 were “not being followed,” that “the owner had a responsibility” and “failed to comply.”

            “I will say that none of us here on the board in all of our terms have had to deal with any of these decisions. It’s just not easy,” said Parker.

            Upon opening the public hearing, Witten laid out for the Select Board three basic options: 1. take no action; 2. “amplify conditions” (increase the insurance requirement, plant a microchip in the dog or other steps such as install an enclosure); 3. order the dog to be humanely euthanized.

            Testimony at the public hearing came from David MacDonald, Maura Quatrano of Watertown, Connecticut (owner of the dog injured on May 17), Quatrano’s attorney Robert W. Galvin and the Marion Police.

            Given the floor, David MacDonald expressed regret for the May 17 incident and noted that Jennifer MacDonald shares in that regret. He said she has cared for 10 animals in her life, having adopted several.

            Transitioning into the matter of the town’s complaint and the impounding of Stella on May 20, David MacDonald took issue with what he considered one-sided information in the police affidavit. He acknowledged that Stella bit Quatrano’s dog Milo but said comparing the incident to what happened in 2018 is “just inaccurate.” He said testimony of a witness to the 2018 incident indicated that Stella may not have been the aggressor.

            Regarding the May 17 incident at Taft School, David MacDonald argued that since Connecticut does not have a dangerous dog statute and because the incident occurred there, it is out of any Massachusetts town’s jurisdiction.

            Describing the parking lot where the incident occurred as “nearly vacant” and maybe twice the size of that at the Tabor Academy hockey rink, David MacDonald did not consider Jennifer MacDonald letting Stella sit under a tree without a muzzle to be a reckless much less defiant act.

            He said that upon the attack of Quatrano’s dog that was walking by where Stella was sitting, Jennifer MacDonald immediately tried to restrain Stella and jumped on Milo in an effort to protect the smaller dog from further harm. He said Jennifer MacDonald reached out to Quatrano afterward and arranged to pay half of the veterinary bills.

            David MacDonald further stated that in the aftermath, he and Jennifer MacDonald had been looking into solutions at their home and at the possibility of moving the dog out of state to other family members.

            “We were trying to come up with a solution, but it seemed like decisions were already made,” he said. “We ask you to reconsider … we’re comfortable with very strict conditions.”

            Witten assured David MacDonald that no decision had been made prior to the “first substantive hearing” and that this was the Select Board’s first time addressing the May 17 incident.

            Witten also clarified that no Marion representative is claiming jurisdiction in Connecticut but that the conditions established in 2018 were that Stella remain muzzled when off the premises of the MacDonalds’ Marion residence. Therefore, he advised the Select Board that it could accept the police report emanating from Watertown, Connecticut.

            David MacDonald did not dispute the facts of the case that Stella was not muzzled at the time of the incident, but he reiterated his jurisdictional argument. He also stressed that a veterinarian’s written statement indicates that Stella is of no danger to people. Witten instructed him to submit that statement to the Select Board’s office. As of last week, Stella remained impounded in Dartmouth.

            Given the floor, Quatrano told the board that her dog will never be same after the attack that nearly took his life and emotionally asked Jennifer MacDonald why she ignored the restrictions placed on Stella.

            Galvin told the board that Quatrano by the time of the public hearing had accumulated $2,800 in veterinary bills with more still due and that his client has documentation of $2,600 in lost wages.

            David MacDonald said that he would provide proof that he acquired the insurance required of the 2018 order.

            It was not known on Tuesday if the MacDonalds planned to appeal the Select Board’s decision.

Marion Select Board

By Mick Colageo