Mark Rasmussen and Brendan Annett from Buzzards Bay Coalition attended the Mattapoisett River Valley Water Supply Protection Advisory Committee’s Tuesday afternoon Zoom meeting, where they proposed that the MRV member towns and Acushnet share in a $6,025,000 conservation restriction of the 240-acre Mahoney Lands.
The property is situated mainly in Mattapoisett and also on 100 acres across the street running into Acushnet. The Mahoney Lands include Red Brick Farm and Longplain (Winterbottom’s) Field.
A state-sponsored grant would fund $4,500,000 of the purchase, and the BBC would raise $1,000,000, leaving $525,000 to be funded locally. Acushnet and MRV member towns Fairhaven, Marion and Mattapoisett would each contribute $85,000, and Rochester would contribute $35,000 under the proposal.
Annett told the committee that since almost all of the land is in Chapter 61, a limited amount of property tax would be saved by the committee’s rejection of the coalition’s proposal. A positive vote would most affect Mattapoisett at an annual loss of $7,596 in estimated property tax. Acushnet would lose an annual $1,665 and Rochester $417.
All parties would hold the conservation restriction, and the committee’s approval would preserve the towns’ right to have future wells on the property.
Annett explained that the decision is subject to each municipality’s Town Meeting so the article would be included in the budget.
To comply with the grant deadline, letters of support would have to come from the committee and from each of the purchasing towns.
To expedite a decision and potential action, the MRV members agreed to meet on Tuesday, April 26, at 3:00 pm.
That meeting is one of two special meetings that were scheduled by the end of Tuesday’s MRV Water Supply Protection Advisory Committee and Water District Commission meetings. Those are in addition to the regular May 10, back-to-back meetings now on the schedule.
A Friday, May 6, 10:00 am meeting of the MRV Water District Commission will take place in person at the Fairhaven DPW office, where MRV members will authorize the Water Treatment Plant Upgrades Project that legal counsel Blair Bailey drafted for Town Meeting warrant articles.
Jon Gregory of Tata & Howard said the draft will be updated with finalized language and will go out as a draft to the members in advance of the May 6 meeting.
Under time pressure to meet the deadlines of the member towns with a hard schedule to close their Town Meeting warrants, the May 6 vote will be accompanied by letters addressed and ready to mail to the select boards in each member town. In response to Marion DPW Director Nathaniel Munafo’s question, Bailey said Rochester must be represented at the May 6 meeting.
In his Tata & Howard Report to the MRV Water District Commission, Gregory said the engineering firm is continuing work on preliminary design report and reviewing it internally. Tata & Howard is also incorporating state Department of Environmental Protection information gleaned from a recent meeting. Ultraviolet disinfection is part of the project, and Gregory said he wants to make sure UV manufacturers are on board.
Nick Nicholson noted that Wareham’s Maple Springs Road water-treatment facility is the only four-log, UV-approved disinfection plant in the state.
In his Treatment Plant Operations Update, Henri Renauld said the MRV plant is running “fairly well” but that age is also catching up. Recent replacement of valves cost $1,000 to $1,500 depending on the size of the valve. There have been power surges during storms, and it takes a citrus soak to clean manganese and iron that cannot be eradicated by regular cleaning.
It its meeting, the Water Supply Protection Advisory Committee determined that an Approval Not Required plan for 253 Hartley Road on the north side of the street in Rochester will make no impact to the MRV District. Seeing it as a basic lot-line adjustment, the committee voted to approve a letter from John Levy Consulting to Walter Hartley declaring no issues for the MRV.
Approvals to contract an auditing service and outside bookkeeping in general were briefly discussed by the committee. Proposals on both items will be sent out to the members to be addressed at the committee’s May 10 meeting.
In her Treasurer’s Report to the commission, Wendy Graves itemized $181,073.85 in invoices paid in April. Those included two invoices over $9,000 each from chemical company Univar Solutions, the Town of Mattapoisett at $45,871 and Tata & Howard at $12,971.
MRV Facilities Manager Henri Renauld explained that several invoices owed Eversource dating back to November 2021 had not been paid due to a billing problem with the parent company and the MRV’s association with solar. Renauld took action to call and learned that the utility company was soon to send the MRV a shutoff notice.
Bailey asked if Eversource had attached penalties or interest to the current billing. Renauld said no such surcharges were on the bills.
In his Treasurer’s Report to the committee, Jeff Furtado announced a total balance of $275,627.83 as of April 1. He reported in excess of $73,600 in total income. He reported invoices paid to Tata & Howard at $2,803.29, $251.72 to Dave Watling for data collection, $68 to Megan McCarthy for graphs and $50 to Bailey for legal services.
Renauld said that since April 7, Matheson Gas has begun charging the MRV an additional 14 cents for oxygen.
Vinny Furtado sought and got the committee’s approval to pay invoices of $2,778.36 and $2,479.52 to Tata & Howard, plus $238 to McCarthy, $251.72 to Watling and $50 to Bailey.
The next meeting of the MRV Water Supply Protection Advisory Committee is scheduled for Tuesday, April 26, at 3:00 pm. The next meeting of the MRV Water District Commission is scheduled for Friday, May 6, at 10:00 am in person at the Fairhaven DPW. On Tuesday, May 10, the committee and commission hold their regular meetings beginning at 3:30 pm.
MRV Water District Commission/Water Supply Protection Advisory Committee
By Mick Colageo
