New beginnings and one farewell were the theme of last Wednesday’s Select Board meeting.

            One police officer was promoted, and another joined the ranks. Meanwhile, Select Board member Carleton “Toby” Burr Jr. announced that he will not be running for re-election this year.

            Select Board members applauded Burr for his service to the town.

            Burr will complete his first and only term on the board before the start of the next election cycle in spring.

            Alexandra Glew, who was appointed as a Student Police Officer last year, was named the town’s newest police officer.

            Police Chief Richard Nighelli noted that Glew worked as a regional dispatcher and won two awards for life-saving work. For one call, she directed family members how to give life-saving CPR to an elderly resident.

            For another call, Glew helped direct a caller how to manage an emergency childbirth, as well as post-delivery instructions, according to Nighelli.

            Officer Tyler Paquette was promoted to police sergeant as well last week. Paquette has worked as an officer in Marion since 2022. Prior to that he worked as a Fall River Police officer, as well as work within the Bristol County Sheriff’s office, according to Nighelli.

            Town Administrator Geoffrey Gorman reported last week that progress is being made on the new Department of Public Works building, as well as the new harbormaster building – the latter having a working elevator.

            Gorman and the Select Board also praised Harbormaster Adam Murphy and other safety departments, including the fire department, for their efforts on January 20 to save a duck hunter, who fell out of his boat 200 yards from Silverstein Beach.

            The 19-year-old hunter managed to pull himself back on the boat, but Murphy reported to the scene and placed his own clothes on the man who was experiencing symptoms of hypothermia, according to reports.

            Once on shore, the fire department provided the man with warming blankets and warming IV fluids, before he was transported to Tobey Hospital in Wareham.

            The Select Board will host a waterways regulations hearing on January 30 6:00 pm at the Marion Town House conference room, 2 Spring Street.

Marion Select Board

By Jeffrey D. Wagner

            Rochester’s Special Town Meeting Monday approved most of its warrant proposals, with notable exceptions and strong resistance to even some of the articles that did pass.

            In a meeting highlighted by the new feature of a large screen hanging from the stage to visually present the articles, the crowded 250-person quorum began by easily approving transfers from available funds for a variety of needs around town. Voters endorsed $120,000 for new, safer sliding cell room doors, $3,225 for the town’s share of the Plumb Library’s plan to purchase a new more water-resistant and air-tight library book depository with an hydraulic-lift floor, $26,500 to fund costs related to post-closure landfill engineering, monitoring and surveying work, $175,000 to renovate the station’s second floor to create additional office, meeting and storage space, and $30,000 to install new commercial grade kitchen flooring and replace the deteriorating in-floor grease trap at the senior center.

            Voters then approved spending $100,000 of Capital Improvement Committee funds to replace the 1999 Highway Department sander truck with a used model that Highway Surveyor Jeff Eldridge said he will outfit himself to make it more usable.

            However, a request for $55,000 from available funds for site work at the former Rochester Country Fair grounds on Pine St. where the new fire station will be built, sparked opposition before being ultimately approved.

            Resident Timothy Fields led that push back by suggesting $55,000 of site work there will lead to a $30 million building according to a prior consultant’s feasibility study. Resident Jeffrey Costa added the town does not need a $30 million public works project that would raise property owners’ taxes.

            Several town firefighters reacted strongly, noting that a new station safer for firefighters to occupy and closer to medical and fire emergencies that can house important equipment now left outdoors is what the town needs. “When seconds matter, we would be wasting valuable time getting to your emergency,” one town firefighter said. “We’re talking a safer building for us and for you.”

            Town Administrator Cameron Durant responded that this is a ‘not-to-exceed’ amount that will allow the town to design the right facility for the town. The measure passed by a strong majority voice vote.

            The meeting approved a move to change the Town Clerk from an elected to an appointed position, which would send the measure to an election ballot question in the spring, after push back from residents noting the town has voted down this proposal before. Durant argued the job of town clerk has gotten more complicated of late and it takes a full two-year term for a new town clerk to do his or her job. Electing a town clerk for a simple two-year term is not enough for such a professional position so important to running the town.

            Voters then soundly approved allowing the treasurer to invest town trust funds such as for scholarships and the library in ‘prudent’ investments and a major revision of the town’s Personnel Bylaw that clarifies the bylaw’s scope, evaluation and grievance process, Family Medical Leave Act compliance, and adds a sick leave bank and a family leave policy.

            Voters exempted town municipal buildings from a new state law requiring that no firearm, even a legally licensed one, may be brought legally into such facilities.

            Turning to zoning bylaws, meeting members approved an amendment to the town’s Battery Energy Storage Systems regulations to ban them from being built in the town’s Groundwater Protection District and the Mattapoisett River Valley Watershed. They added to the bylaw governing Visual Screening of Solar Arrays in residential districts that said screening needs to be 100 percent, and they deleted ‘Use Variances’ from what is allowed under zoning bylaws.

            The meeting, however, voted down proposals to add the regulation of short-term rentals and accessory dwelling units (ADUs). Proponent Richard Cutler, whose Zoning Bylaw Review Committee created both, argued these would impose some regulation of these residential uses. Residents argued back that the short-term rental amendment tries to solve a problem that does not exist. Planning Board chair Arnold Johnson said his panel has voted not to recommend the ADU bylaw because the new state law it is reacting to keeps changing. That state law allows ADUs by right on residential properties. The state, he said, keeps changing its regulations whenever it hears how MA towns and cities are writing its own rules in response to it. “The state keeps moving the goal posts,” Johnson said. “It’s a moving target.” He said once the state regulations are in place in early February, then the town can tweak its own bylaw.

            The town meeting adjourned after a record three hours in session.

Rochester Special Town Meeting

By Michael J. DeCicco

The Marion Finance Committee met on Wednesday, January 15, to deliberate on the town’s financial strategies and budgeting plans for the upcoming fiscal year. The committee emphasized the need for precise forecasting of revenue and expenditures to avoid conservative estimations that could hinder financial planning.

            One committee member remarked, “I don’t think there’s any written guidance in the town,” highlighting the challenges faced in budgeting without formal instructions. The committee discussed the importance of collaborating with the select board and other committees, including the school committee, to gather accurate estimates of expenditures and revenues early in the fiscal year.

            The primary focus of the meeting was to enhance the committee’s efficiency in advance planning and organization. This initiative aims to provide timely and relevant financial recommendations to the select board for their consideration. The committee pledged to improve their processes to better serve the community’s financial interests.

            “Our job is to recommend to the townspeople what we think is best and in the best interest of all of us, at large,” stated another member, underscoring the committee’s commitment to making informed decisions that benefit the entire community.

            The next meeting of the Marion Finance Committee will be on February 19 in the Town Hall’s conference room.

Marion Finance Committee

By: Sam Bishop