A technical glitch that prematurely knocked the April 21 remote-access, public meeting of the Marion Board of Health offline was resolved with a special meeting called for April 27.

            In that subsequent meeting, the board officially closed unfinished business from April 21 and further developed its discussion on a strategy to replace Health Agent Ana Wimmer, who recently resigned.

            “All of us agree that it’s more than a 19-hour position,” said Board of Health member Dr. Ed Hoffer.

            Chairperson Dot Brown proposed hiring a part-time agent for all but septic-related work and contracting a consultant to do the septic work, suggesting that the applicant would pay for the consultant to look at the application. The part-time health agent would still need to help with the paperwork.

            The premise is that going forward, the health-agent position would hold the potential to grow into a full-time job.

            Brown said that Public Health Director/Nurse Lori Desmarais did “a beautiful job establishing a checklist” for such an arrangement, but Town Administrator Jay McGrail said the financial mechanism to execute it would require more information.

            In questioning whether the town can legally set up a 53G account for this purpose (as is commonly done for the sake of hiring peer-review consultants to advise town boards and commissions that adjudicate cases at the applicants’ expense,) McGrail noted that the money would go to general fund. The Board of Health, he said, has a revolving fund with a $70,000 cap earmarked for vaccine.

            Should the town opt to establish another revolving fund, it would require a vote at Town Meeting for approval.

            Meantime, the Board of Health would have to get a proposal from a consultant to verify the adequacy of a proposed fee.

            “George (Heufelder of the Barnstable County Environmental Health Division) has been reviewing Marion’s septic plans,” said Brown. “He is potentially the person who could do it, too.”

            Hoffer anticipates citizen pushback on the proposal, while Brown wondered aloud if the application fee could be applied toward an associated consultant’s fee.

            McGrail suggested advertising for the health-agent job, taking stock of the candidates and then based on that, determine a long-term strategy to shape the role.

            “We can maybe work on this too. Who does the reporting to whom?” asked Board of Health member Dr. John Howard, alluding protocols and procedures. “It’s a good time to deal with those two issues.”

            Howard said that for many years Marion had a part-time health agent and that “things did go well.”

            Hoffer disagreed, pointing to the situation at 464 Front that “stewed and festered” because it was put to the back burner and “not handled properly by our previous part-time person.”

            Howard said he does not want to look back at what went wrong but to the future.

            “I think there’s definitely a case for more than 19 hours. Things change, positions change and needs change,” said McGrail.

            Brown said Marion has not digitally recorded septic information to this point. “It’s an expense that’s there because we haven’t taken the time to do things in a better way and have that information available,” she said, noting that the town does not have a map of all the septic systems.

            Going forward, said Brown, Marion should be recording all work. I/A (denitrification) systems are followed up by Barnstable County, “but we have to make sure we give them all our information. … There’s still a lot of records there that are not updated,” she said.

            “These are reasons why we need additional hours,” said McGrail who said he would post the same part-time job by April 29.

            McGrail and one board member would screen candidates, after which interviews would be conducted.

            Desmarais said that (former health agent) Dave Flaherty is currently assisting the town but does not have time for food inspections.

            In other business, the board revoted and reaffirmed its denial of a variance at 6 Derby Lane, where applicants James and Cathy Tripp were looking to avoid the purchase of denitrification septic system contrary to Marion’s regulation as it applies to any new septic construction in town. The member then voted to close that public hearing.

            The next meeting of the Marion Board of Health is scheduled for Thursday, May 5, at 4:00 pm.

Marion Board of Health

By Mick Colageo

The Rochester Conservation Commission approved an underground connection to solar power on Old Middleboro Road and gained two new members on Tuesday night.

            Middleboro Road solar-farm developer Solar MA Project Management, LLC’s original plan was to install utility poles down the length of Old Middleboro Road to a homeowner there. Tuesday night, company representatives proposed being allowed to bury the utility connections underground instead.

            “We decided the best path forward was changing from above-ground to below, using PVC pipe and pumps for the water we will encounter,” consultant Austin Turner said.

            Turner said this is a better alternative than the homeowner being cut off from access to the street by falling utility poles in a storm and having to cut down trees in the area.

            The Conservation Commission approved this plan after receiving assurances the work will be under the road surface and will not disturb the existing culverts.

            The roadwork proposal was acceptable, Conservation Commission Chairman Chris Gerrior explained later, because Old Middleboro Road is already an unpaved dirt road.

            The board’s most impactful action Tuesday, however, came before this vote. As the meeting began, Mike Gifford was appointed as a new full member. Gifford has been a resident for 65 years, he said, and is the third of his generation to reside in the town. He is retired after working 42 years in the defense industry, for Sippican, Inc. and Lockheed Martin.

            Bill Clapp was appointed as a new associate member. Clapp said he has been a resident most of his life. He is retired from a career in the finance and accounting field.

            Ironically, associate member Clapp was able to sit at the board’s table on Tuesday, but new full member Gifford was not allowed to do so because he has not yet been sworn in.

            In other action, the commission approved the compliance certificate for work to remove a trailer and block storage at 68 Bowens Lane that had been built within the 25-foot, no-disturb zone adjacent to an intermittent stream and to restore 2,735 square feet of that land.

            The commission had tabled a decision on this project at its last meeting in order to verify the work had been done. Conservation Agent Merilee Kelly said that after visiting the site, she has seen the work has been done. “The trailer and storage are long gone,” she said. “The area is marked by boulders and hydroseed.”

            The commission also approved scheduling a site visit to the MBTA facility at Routes 58 and 28 on Friday, May 6, at 9:00 am.

            The commission’s next meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 17, at 7:00 pm at Old Colony Regional Vocational-Technical High School, 476 North Avenue.

Rochester Conservation Commission

By Michael J. DeCicco

            Monday night’s final public meeting for Chairman Will Saltonstall and member Joe Rocha as members of the Marion Planning Board was a marathon lasting nearly three hours and addressed a key vote to be taken at the May 9 Town Meeting.

            The discussion on a Request for Determination of Eligibility pursuant to House Bill 40, Section 5, for 0 and 78 Wareham Road would end in a 5-1 vote recommending that a simple majority vote would be needed to approve the zoning change that developer Matt Zuker seeks so he can build his “The Cottages” townhouse-style residential development near the Weweantic River.

            Board member Norm Hills sent the members a summary on the background, law and discussion on the measure that allows town officials to vote for a simple majority.

            Hills cited the density planned by Zuker, the resultant open space and the maintenance of the riverfront as one piece of property that “won’t be chopped up into little pieces.” Acknowledging no bus or train service, he pointed out Route 6 improvements such as the bike path and pedestrian destinations within three-qaurters of a mile in both directions.

            “In my opinion, this checks off enough things that we should be able to approve this as a simple majority vote,” he said.

            Planning Board member Eileen Marum echoed the sentiment and at the suggestion of Town Planner Doug Guey-Lee, read into the record her statement of the eligibility of the location and its suitability for a residential multi-family district.

            While Rocha and Planning Board member Jon Henry also approved the project for a simple majority vote, member Alanna Nelson did not.

            Nelson said she approved of Zuker’s project but citing what she interprets as an unintended fit vis-a-vis the state’s intentions to use the tool for population growth around public transit, was the lone dissenting vote. Nelson articulated concern that future projects would target the tool to sidestep the super majority regularly required for a zoning change.

            Chris Collings, a River Road resident and neighbor to Zuker’s project, recused himself the vote.

            During public comment, Tucker Burr, who is running for Planning Board in the May 13 Town Election, voiced his objection to the measure, as did John Rockwell.

            Rockwell, the chairman of the Open Space Acquisition Commission, stated that zoning changes should be difficult. He quoted television host Geraldo Rivera to say, “Marion is great, there’s nothing here.” Rockwell also pointed to last year’s failure of the zoning change on Town Meeting floor. “Where’s the respect for Town Meeting?” he asked.

            Guey-Lee said the project’s eligibility is a tool for the Planning Board and not a hidden loophole. “It’s out there in the open, it’s state law,” he said. “Even with the eligibility tag, it could still be voted down at Town Meeting, by a simple majority.”

            Town Administrator Jay McGrail appeared at the meeting seeking a non-binding endorsement of a Preferred Development Plan for 7 Barnabas Road currently owned by Lockheed-Martin.

            McGrail said Lockheed-Martin is planning to put property on the market in the next few weeks. Having worked with the Affordable Housing Trust, using a Community Preservation Act grant to contract consultants to make recommendations, the intention is to send the plan to Lockheed-Martin as a marketing tool with the support of the Planning and Select boards.

            Peter Flinker of Dodson & Flinker, Inc. made a presentation on the subject, displaying a “cottage community” in the undeveloped part of the site with a central clubhouse. There would be open spaces with parking off to the side. Flinker compared the design to the Red Mill Village in Norton.

            The town, clarified McGrail, will never own the property, but if it can work in partnership with developers to realize the kind of growth that officials believe Marion needs, then it’s a worthwhile endeavor.

            Collings asked about the adjacent Cushing Community Center as part of the campus rebuilt to meet the needs and modernized. McGrail said that idea is “on the table. … That Community Center is going to be a linchpin of that entire area.”

            “My qualifier is what is the appropriate scale for the project. I want to see Marion maintain some industrial (space) for when they need it in 20 years. We don’t want to force this development on the town, but we want to advance it in a thoughtful way,” said Saltonstall, who was part of the taskforce with McGrail.

            Henry chimed in slowly, “Build a casino.”

            During public comment, local developer Sherman Briggs suggested the board ought to think about building to the contours of the property and “build so they really fit into the land,” he said. “You’ve got to be creative with your stormwater or you’re going to clear every tree. … That land has got a lot of contours to the area.”

            In a continued public hearing, a proposed zoning change to Section 230-8.2 Water Protection District, Zoning Map updates, was approved by the board.

            During public comment, Briggs said he would like to see documentation on the testing of water at the town’s old landfill. Citing a stream that abuts the old dump, Briggs asserted that the board’s priorities are in the wrong place.

            A presubmission conference with applicant Varut Phimolmas, who owns Cilantro Thai Restaurant, ended with a plan to continue gaining information on the premise that the applicant’s dealings with the Zoning Board of Appeals will yield more guidance for the Planning Board.

            Phimolmas plans to change usage of the building at 290 Front Street from retail sporting goods to a new location for his restaurant. Sitting in a residentially zoned district, sporting goods is considered an existing nonconforming use, and Phimolmas already applied to the ZBA. The ZBA next hears the case on May 26.

            Saltonstall advised Phimolmas to “really dig into the flood-zone issue” because the base value of the building is very low. Saltonstall said the critical issue is elevation relative to the flood zone and that the building may not be compliant.

            Board members publicly thanked Saltonstall and Rocha for their many hours of service to the board.

            The next meeting of the Marion Planning Board is scheduled for Monday, May 16, at 7:00 pm.

Marion Planning Board

By Mick Colageo