Marion School Committee Chairperson April Nye opened the committee’s January 11 public meeting with recognition of 10-year-old Sippican Elementary School student Davin Alves, whose hard work on behalf of the United Way of New Bedford raised nearly $1,000 used to buy food for needy people during the holiday season.

            “Thank you!” said Alves, who was presented a certificate amidst applause from the committee members and the ORR Central Office team.

            Nye would revisit Alves’ accomplishment during her Chairperson’s Report.

            “Seeing his fundraising efforts … it really brought it home to me and made me appreciate this young man and his family and their efforts toward our community. It just kind of made me look at things in a bigger picture,” said Nye. “I appreciate what he did and looking at it and … with everything else that’s going on with school committees and whatnot, it just made me think, you know, we all could take a lesson from that (11)-year-old about the way that we talk and the way that we conduct ourselves.”

            In his Central Office Report, Old Rochester Regional Superintendent of Schools Mike Nelson told the committee that the ORR District has received $50,000 in grant funding for its Acceleration Academy to be implemented during the February and April vacation weeks. Applications went out to district families during the second week of January.

            Nelson said the next SMEC collaborative meeting for family engagement will be held remotely on February 1 with Sarah Ward, whose clinical background will be brought to bear on executive functioning and how families can support students in bridging the gap between home and school.

            ORR heard from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and learned that the district’s audit of its English Language Services that began last year is complete and meets DESE’s standards.

            Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Dr. Shari Fedorowicz reported that the Literacy grant received by the district is in action with weekly programming, most recently developing the Literacy Action Plan. Fedorowicz thanked school leadership and faculty for moving the plan forward.

            ORR scheduled a professional-development day for Friday, January 13 and also took its fourth “learning walk” by visiting Rochester Memorial School.

            Nye asked Nelson to pass along thanks to Director of Student Services Craig Davidson, who was unable to attend the committee meeting, for his work on the Acceleration Academy.

            In a discussion about the FY24 operating budget, Nelson said that Nye and member Michelle Smith have been working alongside the Budget Subcommittee has on a draft budget, and School Committee met Marion’s December 23 deadline for department heads to submit their proposed budgets.

            The FY24 budget has been designed to maintain current levels of programming and staffing. A main budget driver, said Nelson, is inflation’s impact on utilities, needed financial literacy support accounting for a 14% tuition increase for special education and private-school tuition.

            Nelson credited Marion Finance Committee Chairman Shay Assad for his work in partnership with the Budget Subcommittee.

            A public hearing is anticipated for the one of the next School Committee meetings, said Nelson. The committee will vote on whether to recommend the budget as an article for the voting residents to decide upon at the Spring Town Meeting.

            In her Principal’s Report, Marla Sirois highlighted equity in school and recent activities around the holiday season, including Project Grow door decorations and first graders’ family events.

            “It was great to have volunteers back in the building, we’re so excited,” said Sirois.

            Grade 5 students learned about a solar-powered boat that cleans up trash in Maryland, then practiced with Lego robots. Grade 4 learned about circuits and created holiday cards that lit up, and several grades participated in an optional, eight-week mathematics challenge.

            After a visit to Sippican by members of the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra, students participated in class trips to New Bedford to work with the orchestra. The Sippican Concert Choir helped the Town of Marion kick off its annual Christmas Stroll, and the school band led the parade around village streets. Sippican students participated in an effort that accomplished the donations of 100 new toys to Gifts to Give.

            The committee approved the disposal of speech and language materials out of date or otherwise no longer usable, along with a vote to recycle tech items, either broken beyond repair or incapable of updating to the latest software.

            Since the last Marion School Committee meeting, the ORR Facilities Department has hired Cody Leonardo as the Building & Grounds Supervisor at Sippican School. He was scheduled to start on January 25.

            The School Committee voted to appoint Melissa Wilcox as the School Committee secretary and add her as a recording secretary.

            During a brief but emotional Public Comment session, Christine Legault, 508 County Road, told the committee she had exercised her rights under the federal Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) to request Sippican’s fifth-grade curriculum and received the information, only to see her access later denied.

            “It was pulled from me and stopped and ceased and never allowed to continue, and I’m not really sure why when I have a federal right … to see how and what you are teaching my child every day …,” said Legault, who added that no teachers have responded to her inquiries. “I can’t even get what the kids are even doing for gym for the next four weeks so I know how to deal with my daughter’s really long hair or what to put on her.”

            Legault reiterated that she has gone through the proper channels and said she even contacted DESE, which she said confirmed her understanding of her rights as a parent. “I really think you guys need to come up with a policy and procedure to allow all parents, not just those that can jump through your hoops and come in during the day, to see the curriculum and know what you’re doing.”

            The School Committee approved three donations to Sippican School: 16 $25 Target store gift cards totaling $400 from St. Vincent de Paul, $2,078.58 from LifeTouch for the Fall Individuals 22-23 Program and $500 from Cape Cod 5 Educational Mini-Grant program to teacher Cathleen Furtado for securing additional reading materials for Sippican students.

            The committee voted to enter executive session and only returned to adjourn the public meeting.

            The next regular meeting of the Marion School Committee is scheduled for Wednesday, March 8, at 6:30 pm.

Marion School Committee

By Mick Colageo

            During the January 23 meeting of the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission, the owners of the Mattapoisett Boat Yard and Brandt Cove Marina, David and Ned Kaiser, finished providing details for two projects on the agenda.

            The first project heard was a Notice of Intent filing for the boatyard located on Ned’s Point Road. That location suffered a devastating fire that destroyed all the buildings on the property, along with many boats and vehicles in the late summer 2022.

            The Notice of Intent as laid out by representative David Davignon of Schneider, Davignon and Leone, Inc. includes the construction of a two-story, 10,570-square-foot metal building situated 12 feet from the south property line along the waterfront.

            Davignon said this structure is the beginning for a larger master plan still in the works but also represents a 56% overall decrease in lot coverage from the original layout. He said that the timeframe for construction is pending due to long lead times for receiving the metal building materials. Davignon also noted that a Zoning Board of Appeals approval will be sought for the 12-foot setback.

            It was further pointed out that the boatyard still has a fully compliant boat-washdown system registered with the Environmental Protection Agency.

            After some discussion on state Department of Environmental Protection performance standards, that is the lack thereof for a project of this scope, the commission’s agent Brandon Faneuf requested that the applicant provide a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) and that this request be part of the conditions imposed upon the project. The project was conditioned as noted. Next step for the applicant – the Zoning Board of Appeals.

            The Kaisers also filed a Notice of Intent for their marina located at 21 Dupont Drive in the Brandt Island neighborhood. Previously submitted in the spring of 2021, the proposed project was for the expansion of Brandt Cove Marina (Buzzards Bay Management LLC.)

            The earlier proposal had met with some neighborhood pushback, Davignon said, primarily around possible eel-grass beds and a large-wave attenuator associated with the dock field. That larger project, Davignon said, is now reduced to a mere 2,000 square feet and minus the wave-attenuating fence. The updated project also includes the installation of 39 pilings, some to aid pilings in place and some new. Approximately 10 new slips will be added with the extension.

            Conservation Commission Chairman Mike King added that the project will require permitting and oversight by the Army Corps of Engineers and a Massachusetts Waterways Chapter 91 license. The project was conditioned for construction.

            In other business, a NOI filed by Kenneth and Elizabeth Ackerman, 4 Grove Avenue, for the construction of a two-story garage with second-floor living space was continued to February 13. The filing includes the removal of eight trees with in-kind replacement and a request by the agent that a study of the mean high-water mark for a stream on the property be conducted. Faneuf said he wanted to accurately depict the stream’s activity for the file. The project will also require permissions from the ZBA.

            A NOI filed by McGrath Realty Trust was conditioned. The project includes the repositioning of boulders and a completed lot survey that was submitted for the planned 20×30-foot parking area adjacent to 7 Cove Street. The plan also includes the planting of beach grass.

            A Request for Determination of Applicability filed by Jeffrey Dunn, 0 Angelica Avenue, for the installation of 300 feet of 8-inch water line with a hydrant in the roadway for future development of house lots received a negative decision.

            During the agent’s report later in the meeting, Faneuf reported that the Board of Health has been notified and is taking action to stop the flow of raw sewage being discharged into wetlands at Brandt Point Village. “I have never seen anything like this in my 25 years,” he commented. The apparent problem, he explained, was the connection of sewer pipes to stormwater systems in the subdivision.

            King ordered a cease-and-desist letter be sent to the property owner identified by last name only (Napolitano) for lots 56 and 57 on Brandt Island Road for failing erosion controls.

            King also requested that a letter be sent to Farland Corporation for issues of construction debris and collapsed erosion controls that the owner was previously asked to clean up at Martha’s Vineyard Drive lots 5 and 6.

            The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission is scheduled for Monday, February 13, at 6:30 pm.

Mattapoisett Conservation Commission

By Marilou Newell

            Thomas Bowler was voted an Order of Conditions to conduct maintenance repairs to his 165-foot existing timber dock at 17 Moorings Road.

            Meeting on January 11, the Marion Conservation Commission heard from Ben Foley of Foth, who represented Bowler with a presentation indicating plans to replace the “structural elements” supporting the residential, licensed dock. The project lists “in-kind replacement of various timber, conduit and hardwired components” and “full replacement of the timber stairs with new handrails.”

            Acknowledging the straightforward project, Town Planner Doug Guey-Lee asked the Commission to consider the fact the entire staircase was missing during his site visit. “It’s almost so specific that I wondered in the implementation of this work, you discover an extra brace gone, would we be asking you to come back for an amendment?” he asked.

            Guey-Lee directed his question more at the commissioners. In response, Conservation Commission Chairman Jeff Doubrava anticipates the applicant will come back for a Certificate of Compliance, and the Commissioners will take it from there.

            The hearing was closed, and Commissioner Ethan Gerber took the lead on a motion for an Order of Conditions, including special conditions to avoid damage to coastal resource areas at the site.

            Bracken Realty LLC was voted an Order of Conditions after filing a Notice of Intent for a proposed seawall, staircase improvement and a patio at 1 West Drive.

            Representative Dave Davignon of Schneider, Davignon & Leone, Inc., said the applicant is looking to improve on what he described as “the scary access” (an uneven, stone staircase) down to the beach. The plan proposes to remove a portion of the vertical seawall in favor of a 6-to-1 sloped, 4-foot-wide walkway.

            Acknowledging significant change in grade, the plan proposes erosion controls.

            Doubrava, who visited the site, agreed on the adventurous beach access. He said he had no concerns based on the plan, but his motion included siltation fencing, hay bales and measures to manage roof runoff. The membership concurred.

            Davignon’s plan for seawall repair and improvement at the Estate of Alexander Harcovitz at 17 Seaside Lane was not met with approval.

            Representing Harcovitz, Davignon described the project as a very old home protected by multiple seawalls that require upgrade to a consistent, 10-foot dimension with the removal of random stones and boulders.

            The state Division of Marine Fisheries sent a letter with comments that held weight with the Commission, the members of which had, as Shaun Walsh put it, “many concerns” with the project as designed. Walsh cited the vibrant marine life in the resource area.

            Town Planner Doug Guey-Lee asked Davignon to take the comments from DMF and organize alternative designs that would resolve the footprint and regulatory constraints. “I’m happy to work with you on that,” said Guey-Lee.

            The case was continued to January 25 at 7:00 pm.

            In a continued public hearing, a Notice of Intent filed by Michael Popitz and Timothy Milbert was met with an Order of Conditions for the treatment and removal of invasive phragmites within the wetland resource area at 64 and 72 Indian Cove Road.

            Acknowledging the expertise of Representative Brad Holmes of ECR, Commissioner Emil Assing expressed concerns about the methodology of herbicide treatment and mowing and sought the Commissioners’ feedback. Doubrava found more precedence in the plan, and Walsh suggested a condition limiting mowing and spraying beneficial and desirable species. Guey-Lee suggested incorporating a Natural Heritage agency letter in the decision.

            In response to the Zoning Board of Appeals’ request for comment on Don Easterday’s application to build a garage at 52 Cove Circle, it was determined there are wetlands 63 feet from the proposed structure on the adjacent site. The Commission plans to recommend Easterday file a Request for Determination of Applicability with the Conservation Commission.

            Guey-Lee discussed a recent heating-oil spill at 604 Point Road, resulting in an Emergency Order. Pads applied to the area are designed to absorb oil but not water. Guey-Lee said there is progress and no evidence of contamination of the wetlands at the site.

            The Commission discussed its budget report for FY23 and voted to approve a level-funded budget for FY24. The funds are mainly used for educational/training purposes. The Commissioners also voted to accept its Annual Report.

            The next meeting of the Marion Conservation Commission will be held on Wednesday, January 25, at 7:00 pm at the Police Station and also accessible live via Zoom.

Marion Conservation Commission

By Mick Colageo