Rochester Republican Town Committee

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The Rochester Republican Town Committee will be holding its monthly meeting April 4, at the North Rochester Congregational Church, 289 North Avenue Rochester. The meeting will begin at 6 pm lower level of the church. On the agenda will be a discussion and planning for Rochester’s Town Meeting, May 22, and town elections to be held May 24. Also on the agenda will be our fundraiser on May 2, increasing membership and school concerns. All members of the community are invited to attend. You do not need to be a member of the committee to participate in discussions. Should you have any questions, you may contact Bill Chamberlain at 508-272-6793 or by email pauln75@verizon.net.

Pileated Woodpecker an Optimistic Spectacle

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            The Pileated Woodpecker is one of the most high-profile birds on the North American continent. It is nearly as big as a crow in color, black with bold, white stripes down its neck. It is named pileated because the dictionary derives from the term “pileated,” meaning capped top of its head covered with a flaming red crest.

            With a razor-sharp beak carving a nesting hole in the hollow trunk of a dead tree, it drums a loud, startling tattoo into the air while laughing with a whinny sound that is unforgettable.

            As in my illustration, the Woodpecker tail is held tightly against the trunk of the tree for a better grip on the bark of the limb, while the hole is drilled to find and eat ants. The Woodpecker makes good use of its tongue to extract live insects out of deadwood. My drawing shows both parents with freshly caught insects in their bills to feed them by regurgitation for about a month until they can supplement their own diet with fruits and nuts and wood-boring beetle larvae that comes into season.

            In recent decades, the population of Pileated Woodpeckers has increased greatly to about 2,600,000 over most of the northern continent. This is when their former farmlands grew into more mature habitat, and the complete territory suddenly came alive with renewed drumming and laughing, loud enough to be witnessed and appreciated by bird lovers’ enjoyment and awareness that a modern miracle in the dead woodlands was coming about.

            With much else going wrong in nature with global warming and climate change disrupting many years of avian seasonal migration, the Woodpeckers’ recent success record is suddenly giving hope to the increased future of our wildlife and wild birds.

            The good news is getting even better because this habitat is becoming classified as a “keystone environment,” and their industrial drumming, laughing and drilling is providing no less than 38 additional species of animals, birds and other wildlife to be used as chambers for future living quarters.

By George B. Emmons

EMC Needs Green Light on Solar

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            The Marion Energy Management Committee wants to build a solar farm on a 1.4-acre patch of land at Benson Brook that eight years ago had been vetted by the Conservation Commission for the purpose of a leaf dump.

            In his research, committee member Bill Saltonstall discovered that hay bales bordering the site against the adjacent wetland area were the result of an Order of Conditions issued by the commission in response to a Notice of Intent filed by the town.

            Saltonstall figures that a solar farm located safely inside the area would be able to supply approximately two-thirds of the approximate 500 megawatt hours it takes to run the Wastewater Treatment Plant’s electricity.

            He told the EMC during its public meeting on Monday that Department of Public Works Director Becky Tilden told him the DPW has no plans for the site, which was briefly considered as one of the options for the DPW’s new operations center planned to sit a quarter-mile west on the opposite side of the Wastewater Treatment Plant.

            Committee member Tom Friedman, an engineer newly out of the solar business, advised Saltonstall to seek 1.5 to 2 acres of land. “That’s with contingencies for all of the space and switchgears (changing of electrical equipment),” he said.

            “I think we could take this to the Conservation Commission for their approval,” said Saltonstall. “I’m at the point where I need to learn what this project might cost, and I think I need to develop a list of solar developers who could give us a proposal on the site.”

            Committee member Eileen Marum shared concern over getting a developer interested in such a small parcel.

            According to Saltonstall, the Sippican Lands Trust and a private party own parcels between the targeted lot and Route 6. “There’s no house anywhere near there, but a house could be built close to it,” said Saltonstall.

            The whole push to power Marion’s municipal buildings with electricity has proven complicated, partly because the town’s contract with Future Generation Wind (the large turbines visible from Route 25 in Wareham) has over the past four years inclusive provided 93%, 91%, 75% and approximately 80% of the town’s electric power.

            “It’s a difficult moving target. … I’m not sure what size project we ought to build exactly. We ought to define more exactly what that 100% (threshold constitutes),” said Saltonstall.

            Marum, who also holds a seat on the Bylaw Codification Committee and the Planning Board, confirmed that there is no time in the Town Meeting calendar to make changes in the bylaw.

            Saltonstall said the Select Board supports the idea of the EMC learning more about what it can do. “Beyond that, I’m not sure what we can do,” he said.

            EMC Chairman Christian Ingerslev said the committee will need permission to initiate a negotiation with a contractor. Saltonstall suggested the EMC write the Select Board about the matter.

            Ingerslev was waiting to hear back on a Green Communities grant that would upgrade the transformer and outdated temperature controls at the Wastewater Treatment Plant.

            Saltonstall reported that Marion now has in place a new contract for electric power but said the price has gone up from 9 to 13 cents per kilowatt hour. He said the EMC had difficulty obtaining a price (9.5/KWh) from an energy aggregator. The new plan, estimated Saltonstall, could cost the town $30,000 to $40,000 for the year.

            “We need some professional advice,” said Saltonstall, citing Financial Director Judy Mooney’s agreement with his suggestion that the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD) would provide a great help to towns looking at complicated electricity. The residents’ rate also expires at the end of year and needs to be negotiated, said Ingerslev.

            Marum reported having noticed two car-charging stations in the parking lot of the new Travis Roy Student Center at Tabor Academy. During Planning Board adjudication, she recalled asking Tabor for 25 stations and after being turned down, asked that the necessary wiring be placed in the ground in anticipation of the inevitable. “They decided no, they would probably go with four,” she told the EMC.

            Having appeared with Alanna Nelson before the Select Board on March 7, Marum and Saltonstall chalked it up as a positive meeting. Marum recalled giving new Town Administrator Geoff Gorman a historical background of the EMC, including recent work with heat pumps, LED streetlights and installations, saving the town nearly $1,500,000. “For a small town, I think that was a significant amount,” said Marum.

            Saltonstall’s brother who lives in Maine has been studying ways people there can capitalize money made available for preventing inflation. He said his brother is putting together a “cookbook” to take to several communities to explain how they can use government-sponsored incentive programs. Since many of the programs are federal, Saltonstall thinks Marion will gain valuable information.

            In a switch from the traditional 5:00 pm start, the next meeting of the Marion Energy Management Committee was scheduled for Monday, April 24, at 6:00 pm.

Marion Energy Management Committee

By Mick Colageo

Wareham Garden Club

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The Arbor Day Festival will once again be presented by the Wareham Garden Club April 18 from 10 am to 2 pm at A.D. Makepeace Company, 158 Tihonet Road, Wareham. The Festival this year will celebrate the pivotal role that trees play in our environment and in our conservation efforts. It will include free tree saplings and instructions for planting successfully.

            There will be an abundance of educational events: interactive butterfly lecture with Blake Dinius, the Plymouth County entomologist; a flower arranging demonstration with flower show judge, Christine Decas; seed planting table for kids with veteran gardeners sharing their gardening knowledge; recycling education and ideas to make recycling fun for the family; Master Gardener Joyce Holster will be answering your questions on trees and your gardening questions in general.

            With a renewed effort to make this an event fun for the whole family, the club has expanded their events for kids. These will include the Plant Mobile from the Mass Horticultural Society with Children’s Programs on Pollinators; story time by Wareham Free Library’s children’s librarian Marcia Hickey; a Craft Table with face painting and an interactive information table by the Wareham Land Trust. The garden club is grateful for the funding support of the Wareham Community Events Committee which helped make this event possible. This is a rain or shine event, and the club is excited to have the community’s involvement.

New Exhibit at the MAC

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 The Marion Art Center (the MAC) is pleased to present its newest exhibit featuring the works of Evelyn Kendall with an opening reception scheduled on Saturday, April 1 from 3:00-5:00 pm. The show will include Mrs. Kendall’s traditional sailor’s valentines, shell compositions and sculptures.

            Evelyn Way Kendall (1893-1979) was born in Ontario, Canada and married Henry Plimpton Kendall in 1926. Henry Kendall purchased a house on Water Street in Marion in 1913, where they spent every summer. A nurse by profession, Mrs. Kendall was an artist and collector by avocation. Her interests were eclectic, and among these was her impressive shell collection. She was both an artist and collector of folk artwork in seashells, and she also pursed interests in textiles and interior design. Mrs. Kendall assembled a significant doll collection (sold in 1999) much of which she displayed in the Kendall Doll Museum, as well as a collection of antique clothing. Many of these items were donated to the Royal Ontario Museum. She was instrumental in assembling the extensive art holdings of the Kendall Whaling Museum, now held by the New Bedford Whaling Museum. See Mrs. Kendall’s artwork on display at the MAC through May 6.

Harbormaster Seeks Clarity, Budget Support

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            Deputy Harbormaster Adam Murphy came away with a measure of confidence from his recent meeting with new Town Administrator Geoff Gorman, in which they and Harbormaster Isaac Perry went over “how the (Harbormaster) Department operates and how to make it better, reach goals that we’ve set.

            “I can honestly say after meeting with the town administrator … he’s hands-on, he knows what we need to do. He’s very supportive of the (new Marine Center) building,” Murphy told the Marine Resources Commission during Monday night’s public meeting at the Music Hall.

            According to Murphy, Gorman has asked the department for a three-year plan as it searches for boat-storage rental space. Sheltered space is “difficult to find,” said Murphy, who noted that even the local boat companies rent space to absorb their overflow.

            Though its day-to-day operations will not see a recognizable difference going forward, the last year has been tumultuous for a Harbormaster Department leveraged by statewide police reform into budgetary constraints, reorganization and heightened concerns as to how the department will continue to provide many customary services.

            “I can’t stress it enough that the MRC needs to dig their heels in with what they want to see. … It really has to come from you guys,” Murphy told the membership.

            In addition to the rising cost of a new headquarters construction yet to begin, the department lost its storage space when the town sold its property on Atlantic Drive. Meantime, the Department of Public Works is ahead of the Harbormaster Department in its effort to construct a new operations center at Benson Brook.

            The harbormaster hopes the old DPW site can function as boat storage and help preserve the former’s capital interests, but that scenario is three years away. The town has also told Perry that the deteriorating seawall at Island Wharf falls on the Harbormaster Department.

            “We’re trying to come up with a temporary fix until grant funding becomes available,” said Murphy, noting that “time was too short” to apply for a grant that was available in February. “The town wants MRC and (Harbormaster) Department to take that project on.”

            MRC member Peter Borsari asked Murphy if the town plans to make its front-end loader available to the Harbormaster when a storm is coming in.

            “I hope so. … I have a commitment from the town administrator … he seemed pretty enthusiastic that we’re able to use the town’s equipment,” said Murphy.

            Murphy met with the Finance Committee last week to discuss the Harbormaster Department’s FY24 budget and reported to the MRC that the FinCom raised no red flags with news that repairs on the existing patrol boat are going up.

            “Next year changes to reflect the outsourcing of stuff in the near future until we get a facility adequate for the Harbormaster,” explained Murphy. “People are sending in their invoices and paying them, no issues with that.”

            Former Chairman Greg Houdelette, who presided over Monday night’s MRC meeting in lieu of Chairman Vin Malkoski, who was unable to attend, noted that floats are an issue separate from indirect costs to the department.

            Murphy was encouraged to learn that the town has indicated it will split the cost of using its equipment to get floats in and out of the water.

            “(Gorman) was trying to explain to us how the indirect costs affect our budget,” said Murphy. “The indirect costs are an accounting exercise, so we know the cost of operating the … department. They’re not taking that money from us.”

            Murphy said he is still trying to achieve clarity on the matter. As he has understood it, the money that the Harbormaster puts into the town’s General Fund does not go into the Waterways Account. “That question should really come from the MRC so we can budget forward,” said Murphy, stressing the point of the commission’s involvement.

            MRC member Scott Cowell acknowledged that Finance Director Judy Mooney “explained some of it.”

            “(After) meeting with Judy, I was under the impression that she was going to cut some of the percentages … but the meeting on (March 22) I was under the impression they’re not going to take the money from us,” said Murphy.

            Murphy estimated there is $239,000 in the Waterways Account but with capital projects drawing upon it. Upon reviewing his spreadsheet, Murphy said there was $10,000 remaining that was going back into the Waterways Account. “Apparently that’s not the fact,” he told the MRC.

            “We generate $12,000 in shellfish permits; $6,000 we propagate, the other $6,000 goes back to the General Fund,” said Murphy, noting that the department’s annual operating budget comes out of Waterways Account. He said the General Fund gets half the money generated by water-related taxes and revenue, but he admitted to confusion as to whether the Harbormaster Department is being charged or if those operating costs are only isolated as an accounting exercise for informational purposes.

            The Harbormaster has increased boat-related fees to generate $150,000 in general funds for the Marine Center construction project.

            Cowell said the department’s last increase was in 2015. “That was supposed to keep carrying over … so we weren’t in a predicament when we went to buy a boat … then ‘indirects’ went up,” he said.

            According to Murphy, the Waterways Account was charged $186,000 in indirect costs and after budgeting, had $10,000 remaining in the account.

            Citing almost $60,000 for a new dinghy dock, Murphy said that many boat owners are selling larger vessels and replacing them with smaller ones.

            “We’re the ones building the floats, we maintain the floats … but all the revenues that are made from that go to the General Fund,” said Murphy.

            Cowell said a cement float requires insurance and any benefits derived “should come back to Waterways (Account) because the Waterways paid for that float,” he said. “Who rebuilds those floats but us? They’ve got to have some responsibility somewhere.”

            Murphy encouraged the MRC to seek a meeting with Gorman.

            “We not only need to get this laid out and (arranged by) line item, but we want reasons. I feel a lot of times like we’re being treated like an enterprise account and we’re not,” said Houdelette, who said he will discuss next steps with Malkoski and set up a schedule. “We may sit down with (Gorman) for a couple of hours to get this straightened out.”

            “I can assure you he will take everything you have to say and process it, and he will definitely have an answer for you,” said Murphy.

            Meantime, the Marine Center, which fell $700,000 short of its grant-funding goals compounded by spectacular inflation over the past two years, is in a holding pattern. Murphy indicated the next presentation to voters would occur at a Special Fall Town Meeting, not the May 8 Annual Town Meeting.

            Houdelette introduced the former sporting goods store across Front Street as a potential Plan B. “Really this is just an exercise … we won’t know what we want to do with this until we know about the main building,” he said.

            Architect Will Saltonstall, who attended the meeting, said the fire has left a shell of a building.

            “It’s in the flood zone, it’s too low, encumbered by the same rules down here (at Island Wharf.) Steel structure, needs a lot of work, had a fire, in pretty rough shape,” summarized Saltonstall, who noted property owner Frank Fletcher will put it on the market at some point.

            Tabor Academy’s athletic fields are immediately adjacent to the store, but Murphy doubted its viability as a parking lot for Old Landing. Murphy said the Select Board allowed use of the Cushing Community Center parking lot but also said that lot is full.

            Murphy told the commissioners that Perry, who had back surgery during the winter, will soon be returning to his duties as harbormaster.

            Tad Wollenhaupt was recognized as a full member of the MRC, and Houdelette noted that Ray Cullum becomes the first alternate.

            The next meeting of the Marine Resources Commission is scheduled for Monday, April 17, at 7:00 pm.

Marion Marine Resources Commission

By Mick Colageo

Marilyn Kinney Lee

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Marilyn Kinney Lee, age 88, of Mattapoisett, passed away Tuesday March 28, 2023 peacefully at home surrounded by her family. She was the beloved wife of 52 years of the late Daniel C. Lee, Jr., and the daughter of the late Police Chief Alden S. and Mrs. Doris L. (Perreault) Kinney.

            Born in New Bedford on June 4, 1934, Marilyn’s roots in Mattapoisett were strong and deep. She attended Center School and Fairhaven High School and graduated from Dean Academy in 1953, where, as a cheerleader, she cheered on Dean’s Basketball Team on the parquet of the old Boston Garden. Marilyn received her Associate’s Degree from Endicott College in 1955 and continued her studies at Rhode Island College and Bridgewater State University. As an early childhood educator, Marilyn started a Kindergarten on Cape Cod, taught at Sacred Hearts Academy and the Anthony School in Fairhaven, and Center School in Mattapoisett, where she retired as a Special Needs Teacher. She was passionate about providing area children, particularly those who needed a little extra help, the opportunity to learn and achieve.

            Marilyn’s interests were many and included sailing, history, genealogy, music, reading, and crewel work. In her youth and young adulthood, Marilyn and her sister sailed their Beetle Cat, Dixie Cup, to victory in many Mattapoisett Yacht Club races. In addition, she played the violin in the New Bedford Young People’s Orchestra and was a Girl Scout who achieved Mariner status. As such, she acted in Warner Bros. Pictures’ film Women of Tomorrow.

            Marilyn proudly traced her roots back 11 generations in the region and was a key member of the Mattapoisett Bicentennial Committee, celebrating America’s 200th anniversary in 1975-1976. She designed the logo for the town’s yearlong event, which became the centerpiece for commemorative plates, t-shirts, and sweatshirts, among other items. Marilyn also served as an appointed member of the town’s Recreation Committee and the Mattapoisett Historical Commission.

            No role was more important to Marilyn than that of wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She was devoted to her family and was a kind, loving, and guiding presence to her late husband and two children. Her three grandchildren enjoyed summers at “Camp Marilyn,” and her two great-grandchildren loved playing “stuffies” and trucks with her.

            Marilyn is survived by her son, Daniel C. Lee, III and his wife Tracey (Robert) Lee; her daughter Darcy H. Lee; her grandchildren Casey (Lee) Rogers and her husband Adam Rogers, Owen Kinney Lee, and Madeleine Olivier Lee; her great-granddaughter Alice Carole Rogers and great-grandson Andrew Emerson Rogers; her sister Jocelyn Kinney Baylow, nieces, nephews, and cousins, and many, many friends, including Table 48 and the Fairhaven High School Class of 1953 Lunch Group.

            The Lee family invites you to Marilyn’s visitation, Funeral Mass, and burial on Wednesday, April 5th. Visitation will be held from 9 am – 10:30 am at Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home for Funerals, 50 County Road, Mattapoisett, with the Funeral Mass at 11 am at St. Anthony’s Church, 26 Hammond Street, Mattapoisett. Burial will follow at Cushing Cemetery, Mattapoisett. For directions and guestbook, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.

From the Files of the Rochester Historical Society

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            Pretty much all of Rochester’s early settlers began as farmers. Even the owners of the gristmill and smithy had gardens and kept chickens and probably a cow. Like the original Pilgrims, many of these settlers had not been farmers in their former lives. While Rochester’s fields were good for pasturage, they weren’t as fertile as those in other areas. This made farming more challenging, so many industrious settlers who had been mechanics or had plied other trades took on other jobs to supplement their incomes.

            Many of our residents came from the area of Kent in England, an area known for its shipbuilding. Also, some of the “first comers” came to town by way of Scituate and Marshfield where shipbuilding had been going on for 30 years. Given the poor quality of the early paths and roads and the proximity of the ocean, it made good sense to turn to boatbuilding, both because there was a market for selling ships and also using them for trade.

            Early on, the boats were both worked on and jointly owned by a group. Working during the winter, when farmers had more free time, each man’s skills and abilities were used to do mechanical work, to furnish timber, to do iron work or to contribute money. William Barstow who lived to be over 90 before his death in 1891, said, “vessels were built here as early as 1740 or 1750, sloops and small schooners. There was no science, they were built by sight of eye and good judgment.” In other words, there was no preconstruction drafting.

            First, a keel would be put down and then the “stem and stern” would be attached. Next, midship a frame or rib would be fastened to the keel with several more ribs between the midship frame and both ends of the vessel. The next step was to run “rib bands” or thin strips of board from bow to stern at varying heights.

            With no models to work from, some strange ships resulted. To again quote Barstow, “Mr. Hastings was put in a towering passion by being told his starboard bow was all on one side.” One locally built sloop was christened “Bowline”, “because she was so crooked.” Another old whaling ship named “Trident” and built in 1828 was so much out of true that she carried 150 more barrels of oil on one side of the keel than the other. According to those who sailed her, “she was logy on one tack, but sailed like mischief on the other.”

            At first, builders of the sloops or schooners made money by selling them in Nantucket or Dartmouth and splitting the money amongst themselves. Others, like the sloop, “Planter” built in Rochester was run as a freighter from there, prior to the Revolution.

            Rochester could also lay claim to small sailing vessels. While the information on many have been lost to history, we know the sloop “Defiance” was a Rochester ship that began its voyage in 1771. Part of the reason that the vessels are hard to track is because Rochester at this time was not a “port.” A “port” at this point in time was a “place from which merchandise could lawfully leave or enter the country.” It was at these ports where records were kept and where proper papers that were carried on ships “to provide protection as a regular British craft” were handed out.

            Some records kept in Nantucket prior to the Revolution give information on ships built in Rochester. One was the “Rochester” which was purchased by Nathaniel Macy of Nantucket and which sailed from there in June, 1774. Unfortunately, the “Rochester” struck Great Point Rip and both ship and crew were lost at sea. This was not an uncommon fate with all the dangers that came with storms, privateers and the lack of navigational aids like charts, buoys and lighthouses.

            The ship, pictured here, the” Niger” was built in 1844 toward the end of the area’s shipbuilding days. The “Niger” weighed 437 tons and was built at “Holmes’s yard east of Long Wharf, at the south of the post office” in what was then the Mattapoisett section of Rochester.

By Connie Eshbach

Rochester Lions Easter Egg Hunt

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The Rochester Lions Easter Egg Hunt will be on April 1, 8-10:30 am. Egg hunt by age group, Bunny leaves at 10:00. Bingo style Egg Hunt. The hunt will be at the Arch at the Meadow on Mendell Road, Rochester. Proceeds to Lions charities. For info, call Lorraine, 508-728-7767.

RMS Drawing Closer to Solar

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            The Rochester Planning Board Tuesday night took the proposal for a large-scale, solar array at Rochester Memorial School several steps closer to approval.

            The board approved the requirement that the developer, Solect Energy Development, post a five-year, $38,000 bond to ensure that proper landscaping and other maintenance will be paid for, should the developer walk away from the project within the five years.

            Planning Board Chairman Arnold Johnson noted, however, that the developer is still on the hook for maintaining the project for life. Other measures will be taken, should something requiring emergency maintenance occur past the five-year mark. The town, he said, would tax-lien the property and go out to bid for someone to fix such a problem.

            Additionally, the panel voted that Solect Energy Development post a $270,000 decommissioning bond. But it also approved all five waivers the developer was requesting with approval of the project’s Special Permit and Site Plan Review application.

            The board will now work on a draft decision, Johnson told project representative Jose Pacheco of Green Seal Environmental, Inc. The panel will discuss the draft at its next meeting, then render a decision at the meeting after that.

            The canopy-mounted large-scale solar photo-voltaic system will be built over the rear parking lot of the Rochester Memorial School. This installation will measure 222 feet long by 438 feet wide, be supported by seven columns and will be built on 13.7 acres, Pacheco said in a previous hearing.

            The work will take place within a Residential/Agricultural District, a Groundwater Protection District and inside the Mattapoisett River Valley Watershed. Pacheco said he has yet to receive a letter of endorsement from the MRV Water District. Johnson noted that letter will likely be received before the board’s decision vote.

            The board began the public meeting by approving the amended special permits for two solar, photo-voltaic system installation permits for projects on Featherbed Lane and Braley Hill Road. It then reappointed Gary Florindo as its representative on the Soil Board.

            The subject of the town’s evolving Access to Town Counsel policy led to a suggestion from board member Ben Bailey, who has vocally objected to the policy language that only the chairperson of a board, not its members, are allowed to pose questions to Town Counsel through the town administrator.

            Johnson noted the next interdepartmental meeting that will talk on the policy won’t be for another six months. Bailey, nonetheless, aired his current proposal. He said the new Town Counsel, Mead, Talerman and Costa, LLC, should submit regular accounting of the costs of its legal service to see how much the law firm’s legal advice is costing the town.

            “We pay the $8,000 a month,” Bailey said. “I want us to see what we are paying for.” He then reiterated his main complaint against the current policy as written, that Town Counsel attorney Jay Talerman said allowing board members such access to legal opinions would “create chaos.”

            Bailey likened Talerman’s response to treating board members like himself like children. “I want to know where our money’s going now,” Bailey said. “And I’d like to see an accounting monthly.”

            The Rochester Planning Board’s next regular meeting, which will feature a hearing on zoning bylaw changes, will be held on Tuesday, April 11, at 7:00 pm at the Town Hall, 1 Constitution Way.

Rochester Planning Board

By Michael J. DeCicco