Fresh off the good news of another $500,000 to support the nearly complete lagoon project at Marion’s Wastewater Treatment Plant, the Select Board voted at Monday night’s public meeting to approve a letter of support for the grant application for Coastal Zone Management funding of $250,000.

The money would fund the design of the parallel force water main that will run from the Front Street Pump Station to the Marion Water Pollution Control Facility (WPCF.)

According to Town Administrator Jay McGrail, Aqualine Construction will be in town and will put the Front Street Pump Station offline for eight hours sometime around June 14. A pumper truck will be used during that period to deliver wastewater to the WWTP.

A preconstruction meeting was held including representatives of Tabor Academy where the station is located.

McGrail and Select Board Chairman Randy Parker publicly thanked Representative William Straus for his role in securing the $500,000 via the Environmental Bond Bill. The money will help offset sewer costs for ratepayers in Marion.

The lagoon project is in a holding pattern waiting on engineering firm CDM Smith for modifications on a submerged aeration system. The new deadline to complete all work is the end of the summer.

A Department of Public Works Facility Building Committee has been established. The town sent out a letter of interest to residents and received 11 applications. “We had some really tough choices so we tried to look at people not typically involved (in town politics,)” said McGrail.

The members will include Parker, Andrew Daniel of the Planning Board, Dana Nilson of the Zoning Board of Appeals, Casey Barros, Dan Crete and Sherman Briggs, plus town staff including McGrail and three DPW staffers including Director Nathaniel Munafo and Becky Tilden.

With the Select Board’s unanimous vote, Damien Amaral was appointed to the job of full-time Marion Police officer for a one-year probationary period effective June 8.

In the absence of Chief of Police Richard Nighelli, who was attending to an emergency and could not be present, Police Lieutenant Jeff Habicht advocated for Amaral, a graduate of the police academy in New Braintree and who serves in the Army National Guard with five years’ experience as a police officer.

“This is the biggest thing I’ve ever wanted to do in my life,” said Amaral, a Fairhaven High School graduate whom Habicht said has met all the requirements for the position.

Fireworks Committee Co-Chair Wendy Rocha and committee member Derek Tiago were asked to appear before the board for proper recognition in the wake of what McGrail called “an amazingly successful fundraising campaign.” He said when the committee was originally formed, the focus was on next year, but thanks to the work of the committee, the town will be holding fireworks on Friday, July 1, at 8:00 pm.

In an effort to more closely match the benefits in contracts offered nonunion town employees to those enjoyed by union members, McGrail announced tweaks to the town’s Personnel Policy.

The Police Department will get a full-time administrative assistant, eliminating the part-time position in the operating budget.

The board voted to approve Building Commissioner Bob Grillo’s request to increase the wages of daily inspectors from $25 per inspection to $30. The rate had not increased since 2011. As a local electrician, Parker recused himself and left the room. Hills and member Toby Burr voted to approve the increase.

The Select Board voted to approve the institution of a $25 fee to hang banners, a lower permit fee than for the $150 charge for permanent signage. At the suggestion of member Norm Hills, approval of size and position will be a condition of any such permit.

McGrail reported that business in the Food Bank operated out of the Cushing Community Center has increased. Last month, 93 households were served and 152 people including 104 in the 65-plus age category. The effort is 100 percent staffed by volunteers.

McGrail reported that work on staff reappointments, which are done either annually or every three years, are almost complete and will be on the board’s June 21 agenda.

The Independence Day parade is working on a June 27 deadline to submit applications to participate.

The board voted to approve two one-day liquor licenses for the Friends of Jack Foundation for June 24 and June 26 at the Music Hall.

Burr abstained from an abatement request filed for 11 Main Street. At the DPW’s recommendation, Parker and Hills voted to abate $727.25 (50 percent of the sewer portion of the bill.)

The board also voted to follow the DPW’s recommendation of an abatement for $1,764.82 at 8 Pie Alley, citing the fact that the water never entered the system.

The board also approved three Water/Sewer commitments: $155 for a sewer reconnection on May 19; $1,083.83 final readings on May 24 and $3,200 for new water services on May 24.

The board had scheduled a June 2 public hearing after the Marion Animal Control officer filed a report alleging an attack by a dog owned by David and Jennifer MacDonald, 40 Spring Street, but that hearing was continued at the applicant’s request.

The next meeting of the Marion Select Board is scheduled for Tuesday, June 21, at 6:00 pm.

Marion Select Board

By Mick Colageo

The Rochester Conservation Commission met on Tuesday night with the founder of a group dedicated to protecting mother nature in ways that go far beyond what Wetlands Act regulations can do.

Michelle Kirby introduced herself as president of the Snows Pond Association, which is dedicated to slowing the aging and deterioration of Snows Pond and the town’s other natural “kettle” ponds.

Kirby said in the past 20-30 years the pond has changed “and it’s concerning.” Ponds naturally lower their water level, fill with sediment and become wet marshes, she admitted. But weeds, some invasive and some native, algae growth and nutrient pollution are speeding up the natural aging of the pond that she’s spent her entire life living around.

She said her group, which includes 13 of the 15 homeowners on the pond, has invested in efforts to research how fast Snows Pond is aging and what is causing it. The biggest culprit aging it faster than normal is nutrient pollution, something that human behavior can help slow down the progress of, she said.

Snows Pond, she pointed out, covers 57 acres and has the highest water level of all ponds in Rochester. She asked the commission to help the association with its mission to preserve it.

“We need more stewardship and education,” she said.

“The pond does have a lot of nutrient pollution from a lot of sources,” commissioner Ben Bailey responded. “But it’s not something you can change. Can’t eliminate it. Eliminating it means draining, dredging the pond to make it like it was in the past. It will be an uphill battle to get some things done.”

Kirby reiterated that slowing the pond’s aging process through public awareness is her most important goal.

“Everyone here on this board agrees with you,” Commission Chairman Christopher Gerrior told her. “Something needs to be done.”

Gerrior said the commission will find ways to help Kirby, perhaps tapping into town funding sources to that end.

In other business, the commission approved issuing the Certificates of Compliance for a new home construction at 179 Burgess Way filed by Angela DeMelo and a garage construction at 7 Ginny’s Way filed by John and Michelle Vinagre.

Also, the commission agreed to send an amended enforcement order for Wetlands Act violations to 89 Box Turtle Drive to include a $100 per day fine until the panel hears from the landowner or a restoration plan is met. Board members complained of not hearing from the landowner since the first enforcement order had been issued.

The next meeting of the Rochester Conservation Commission will be held on Tuesday, June 21, at 7:00 pm.

Rochester Conservation Commission

By Michael J. DeCicco

During Monday’s meeting of the Mattapoisett Capital Planning Committee, Chairman Chuck McCullough asked the members to think about what sort of data they will need moving forward.

McCullough also asked the members to think about whom they should be meeting with during FY24 planning and subsequent forecasts.

            McCullough’s efforts to have the Capital Planning Committee more deeply involved in planning strategies, namely projects and purchases costing $10,000 and greater and with at least a five-year lifecycle, began in earnest during the FY23 planning process.

            The committee asked town department heads to prepare more in-depth details, especially those related to vehicle usage, and all associated costs both immediate and proposed for subsequent years. The members spend time learning about facility needs and capital purchases from the viewpoint of the department heads and plot those expenditures over a 10-year master plan.

            McCullough told the members, “Let’s take a look at this year’s process and maybe tighten up processes for next year,” a process that will begin after the summer break, at which time planning will begin for the FY24 spring Town Meeting.

            The wide-ranging discussions also touched on the need for a computer-tracking tool that would allow department heads and the town’s financial oversight committee’s access to data-driven analysis for planning purposes. McCullough noted at several points in the general discussion that understanding how expenditures would be funded is critical to the work of the committee.

            Bylaws governing the work of Capital Planning Committee were also discussed. Posted on the town’s website are the bylaws. Included in those directives is who should be seated on the committee. The bylaws note a member of the Mattapoisett School Committee, Open Space and Recreation, three citizens at large, a person with business or financial backgrounds, another person with construction management experience and someone from the Finance Committee and/or the town’s Accounting offices.

            The town administrator’s role is described as a person who shall act as an ex officio, non-voting member who can charge the committee with a variety of responsibilities. Those include: study of projects and purchases with a five-year lifespan costing $10,000 or more; inventorying of town facilities; equipment, machinery and other capital assets; study of request to determine relative need; impact and timing of expenditures; producing an annual report for the Select Board and monitoring the execution of authorized projects.

            On that last point, McCullough has asserted that the committee needs more precise review of grants awarded to the town for various projects and purchases as well as appropriations. Tying the funding to capital expenditures had not in previous planning seasons been fully attempted, now such data would be included. Town Administrator Mike Lorenco, who attended, said he would provide funding data.

             Lorenco also shared that presently there are 13 open positions within town departments that he is trying to fill, openings in such areas of responsibility as police, clerical administrative and highway department. He also said that he would be meeting later in the week with members of the MassDOT team associated with the Bike Path Phase 1b to learn the status of test planking on the bridge over the barrier beach at Good Speed Island, testing necessitated by defective planking earlier in the construction. He said grants would be sought for repairs to Long Wharf now estimated at approximately $5,000,000 and that a Complete Streets grant has allowed the improvements to the bike path crossings at Mattapoisett Neck Road and Brandt Island Road now under construction.

            No meeting date was scheduled upon adjournment.

Mattapoisett Capital Planning Committee

By Marilou Newell