The Mattapoisett Select Board and Mattapoisett School Committee held a joint meeting on August 24 to vet candidates for the unexpired School Committee term created by the abrupt departure of Shannon Finning.
The four candidates vying for the seat were Erin Custadio, Holly Weeden, Eric Beauregard, and Carole Clifford. When all was said and done, Clifford got the nod from the joint committee. School Committee Chairman Jim Muse thanked Clifford for her previous work as a School Committee member, saying she had provided exemplary work on behalf of the committee and understood the time commitment being on the School Committee demanded. Clifford had previously served on the School Committee but had decided not to run for re-election in May. She will now complete Finning’s unexpired term, which ends in May 2022.
In other business, the board and Town Administrator Mike Lorenco discussed findings after a review of safety concerns regarding Ned’s Point Road. Lorenco said he met with Highway Surveyor Garrett Bauer and Public Safety Officer Justin King on site to discuss concerns with vehicles parking on both sides of the narrow, 19-foot-wide roadway, pedestrians and cyclists using the wrong side of the roadway, and the volume of traffic.
Another troubling matter became moot when Lorenco noted that landscape stakes, which many property owners had place along the roadway to prevent parking on grassed easements, had either been removed or replaced with stakes that are less likely to cause harm to pedestrians.
Board member Jodi Bauer was in favor of a lighted sign similar to traffic speed signals that might read, “Walk left – ride right,” to remind pedestrians and cyclists which side of the roadway they should be using. The board unanimously approved a parking ban along Ned’s Point Road on the easterly border from the intersection of Marion Road to the termination of the roadway at the park.
Lorenco also updated the board on issues regarding use of Ned’s Point Park for special events. He said that it has become extremely difficult to manage and monitor the use of the public space when families or groups want to use parts of the park for their special events. “The $100 fee doesn’t cover the cost,” Lorenco said, referring primarily to clean-up.
There arose the matter of which board or department of the town government owns the job of enforcing park rules. Board member and Chairman Jordan Collyer thought the board has the option of setting policy, but when it came to enforcing rules it was unclear who has control. The board discussed setting polices that might help management of the popular site, with rules such as limiting the number of people in any one group, segregating a section of the park as a space that could be used exclusively for special events, limiting the number of events allowed in any given month, and setting a $250 refundable deposit if the grounds are cleaned by the applicants but forfeited if clean-up rules are not upheld.
Lorenco will review with town counsel how policy for the public park might be managed and by what governing entity.
Earlier in the evening, the board members appointed approximately 85 people to a variety of town boards and employment positions from animal control officer to fence viewers, from Finance Committee members, Police and Fire personnel to library director, from Mattapoisett River Valley Water Supply Protection Advisory Committee members to Measurer of Wood and Bark.
On the matter of staff vacancies, Lorenco said that promising applications have been received for the positions of Conservation Commission agent, Board of Health agent, town planner, and operations project manager. He also noted that two consulting conservation agents have submitted requests for services applications.
Fall Special Town Meeting was also touched on with Lorenco pointing to a number of possible warrant articles. Those mentioned were the Old Rochester School District Agreement, Capital Stabilization Fund(s), allocation of free cash, new fire apparatus, and the paving of Pearl Street. The board set a warrant opening date of September 14 and closing of September 28.
Lorenco also told the board members that the state had not issued updated masking requirements with the exception of mandating face covering for students when indoors, starting with the opening of schools. He acknowledged that surrounding towns are either looking to update their masking policy or have instituted new policies, but he did not suggest Mattapoisett do so at this time.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Select Board is scheduled for Tuesday, September 14, at 6:30 pm.
Mattapoisett Select Board
By Marilou Newell