On December 9, 2020, the Mattapoisett Master Plan Committee met for the first time to begin the two-year process of building a 10-year Master Plan.

            The short-range goal is to consider a variety of subject matter from school consolidation to sea-level rise, cultural enrichment and many other topics and then come up with lists of recommendations for each category in a living document with input from all sectors of the community.

            Over the past 15 months, the town’s Planning Board has striven to act as the moderator and appointed overseer of the many-handed effort to produce an updated Master Plan, but it has not been an easy task even with the expert assistance of a team from the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD.)

            Topics overlap one another. Conversations begin in one general direction and turn down unforeseen tributaries. The volunteers, a committee of 19 residents, have been participating more or less intact, attending regularly and contributing to the conversation. Probably the most delicate and difficult aspect of the committee’s work has been and will continue to be coming to a consensus, especially given the number of conversations that have yet to be concluded.

            And so, in an effort to circle back on topics that were not, thus far, fully vetted, on March 2 the group returned to sea-level rise and the associated impact on this coastline community, along with Route 6 as a barrier to future growth, opportunity and safety.

            Host and Planning Board member Nathan Ketchel opened the sea-level rise topic by sharing a FEMA map of just what might happen to Mattapoisett’s coastline neighborhoods by the year 2100. The map in brilliant color drew a dire picture of the village area completely underwater as far as 550 feet away from the current high-tide mark. Town Hall would be one of the causalities in that scenario.

            In considering school consolidation and where a new Town Hall facility might be located in the next few years, the group seemed to recognize that repairing the current Town Hall building is not fiscally prudent.

            Committee member Carlos DeSousa said that it isn’t practical to spend money on the current Town Hall building to bring it up to standard conditions. “There’s probably hazards in there we don’t want to talk about.” He believes that spending money to retrofit the town offices is fiscally ill advised. “It would cost more to renovate than to construct a new building.” DeSousa has been suggesting a new municipal complex located on town-owned property adjacent to the Police and Fire Departments.

            In discussing reuse of the Town Hall property, ideas included tearing the building down and using the space for a skateboard park or playground – sea-level rise aside.

            The conversations also touched on potential uses of the town-owned Holly Ghost Grounds including but not limited to rental for private events, outdoor sports venue, and rest area for those using the bike path proposed to traverse the acreage.

            In addressing the issue of Route 6 and the current limitations confronting residents looking to cross the busy state roadway, Committee member Mary Dermody said she has given the topic a slogan, “Let’s fix Route 6.” She asked what had become of an earlier Route 6 study that ended after SRPEDD produced several conceptual designs, all of which included a dedicated bike lane.

            It was determined that nothing more had come of that effort, but the committee left open the door to how a dedicated bike lane on Route 6 might impact current bike-path planning. Robin Lepore, committee member and member of the Friends of the Mattapoisett Bike Path, said that to her knowledge both Marion and Wareham are considering use of bike lanes along portions of Route 6 as it travels through those towns. She said she had no knowledge to plans for Route 6 in Mattapoisett.

            Dermody wondered if the town should take over ownership of Route 6 and, with it, complete latitude over its future design.

            Regarding other topics, the committee heard from SRPEDD’s Lizeth Gonzalez, who shared that the UMass Boston Collins Center, the group studying town facilities including the Transfer Station, Town Hall and public schools, had been in contact with her and that data sharing was taking place. She also said the Master Plan would include a full housing production plan.

            The next public meeting of the Mattapoisett Master Plan Committee is scheduled for Wednesday, April 6, at 7:00 pm.

Mattapoisett Master Plan Committee

By Marilou Newell

            Bob Espindola, president of the South Coast Bikeway Alliance and the Southeastern Regional Economic Development District, appeared before the Marion Select Board on March 2 looking to establish the most-feasible route for the shared-use path through Marion.

            “If other towns endorse the same route, we’ll be in a much better position to secure funding,” he said.

            Jackie Jones, the district’s principal transportation planner, said SRPEDD is endorsing a different route from the past, noting that several projects are currently under development along Route 6 incorporating bikeways. Choosing Route 6 over County Road became more feasible, she said, due to the latter’s difficult route through Wareham and its ineligibility for TIF funding (the town would have to pay for design and engineering.)

            Select Board member John Waterman said that the Massachusetts Department of Transportation is looking at resurfacing Route 6 from Point Road to the Weweantic River.

            While Jones said that the DOT is in strong support of the bikeway, Waterman is concerned with the timeframe given the construction activity planned on that stretch over the next couple of years. Projects potentially include two residential developments and a new watermain.

            Jennifer Francis, chair of the Transportation & Circulation Task Force, said the plan puts the bike path on the village side of Route 6 and said it would make sense to keep it on that side.

            John Rockwell, who chairs both the town’s Open Space Acquisition Commission and the Pathways Committee and said he has been working on bike-path issues since 1994, told the meeting that he supports a bike lane on Route 6 but that the town is mistaken to assume that connection would negate expenses.

            Rockwell stated that the bike-path connection from Point Road to Route 6 is not on DOT property. “To say it won’t cost the town any money is not correct,” he said. “I do think we have to do a connection to Wareham on Route 6 … but I don’t want to confuse that with a Class 1 facility from Marion to Wareham.”

            In highlighting the differences between three classes, Rockwell described Class 1 as a separate path, Class 2 as a 4-foot bike lane along streets that he says “makes cars go faster,” results in a “higher fatality rate” and offers “no pedestrian way – might as well put in a separate path,” and Class 3 as the least-safe scenario, biking on the street.

            Wareham selectman Alan Slavin, sitting in on the meeting, said the connection to Wareham, “if not on Route 6 might be a path to nowhere.”

            While Waterman said, “Even if we don’t do the County Road connection, it makes sense to do Route 6,” Rockwell called the presentation a misrepresentation of costs.

            “None of us are the Mass. DOT designers … it would be premature to say that this is not going to work. … How we get there, we’re not deciding that tonight,” said Select Board Chairman Norm Hills.

            Select Board member Randy Parker said he has no issues with the proposed Route 6 connection.

            A frustrated Rockwell asked, “Should I not finish?” He said the Select Board is the decision maker and that he doesn’t care what SRPEDD thinks.

            “We’re only being asked one question tonight: Do we support having Mass. DOT putting a bike path on Route 6 … DOT-funded … I want to see a bike path in my lifetime,” said Waterman.

            Jones clarified that the South Coast Bikeway Alliance is the entity that was seeking the Select Board’s support.

            In his Town Administrator’s report, Jay McGrail told the Select Board that once the FY23 budget work is wrapped up with the Finance Committee, its recommendations will be made and then McGrail can put together the draft warrant for the May 9 Town Meeting.

            Waterman stressed that the town needs to enforce committee attendance.

            McGrail was happy to report that Marion was recently rerated by S&P with a favorable result. He said he, Finance Director Judy Mooney, the town treasurer, collector and financial advisor fielded “a million questions” and produced “a ton of documentation … It felt like a job interview,” said McGrail. In the end, Marion was assigned a “1-plus” for short-term rating and a “AAA” for long-term borrowing. The report, said McGrail, concluded that Marion presents “a strong financial team.”

            The board voted to grant the Elizabeth Taber Library a one-day liquor license for an event the library will host on April 29 at the Music Hall, pending proof of insurance to the state ABCC.

            The board voted to approve Water/Sewer commitments of $1,948.99 (final readings on February 14) and new water service for $1,538.00 (February 16) and $4,531.00 (February 18.)

            The board held a special, in-person meeting with Hills and Parker present at the Town House on Tuesday morning to vote on and sign the renewal of $8,006,287 in bonds for ongoing projects including: the first and lagoon projects, the recently completed $2,700,000 lagoon liner project, Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrade and water mains on County Road and Mill Street.

            The bonds, payable from March 16, 2022 to March 16, 2023 come with an $82,000 premium (.97133 percent.) The vote also authorized the town treasurer to enact and update notes.

            The next meeting of the Marion Select Board is scheduled for Tuesday, March 15, at 6:00 pm.

Marion Select Board

By Mick Colageo