The impression that Finance Committee member Peter Winters made during his November 15 interview before the Marion Select Board and the Board of Assessors still resonated when the two boards reconvened on December 7 at the Cushing Community Center.

            Board of Assessors Chairman George T.J. Walker said all three candidates (Winters, Michael Pierre and Barry Gaffey) were impressive but agreed with Select Board member Norm Hills that Winters is the best fit. He credited Select Board member Toby Burr for asking the interviewees about their availability to meet the demands of time that further separated Winters as the preferred candidate.

            “Town Meeting will ultimately decide who will fill the vacancy,” said Walker. “We’re talking about six months. We’ve got a lot on our plate and given the (increase in property) values … a lot of hearings. For that purpose, I think Mr. Winters is qualified, and he’s going to get thrown to the wolves right away – for six months.”

            The joint vote was unanimous at 5-0.

            With the appointment, Winters fills the seat vacated with the September passing of longtime member Catherine Gibbs. The term will expire in May with the 2023 Town Election. Winters told the boards during his interview that he intends to run for the seat.

            In her Town Administrator Report, Judy Mooney announced that the state Seaport Economic Council has granted Marion another $300,000 toward the construction of the new harbormaster facility at Island Wharf.

            The town had applied for a second $1,000,000 grant from the SEC; this grant leaves the effort short by $700,000. Total SEC grant funding toward the project now stands at $1,600,000, counting the initial $300,000 grant.

            Mooney told the Select Board that she and Harbormaster Isaac Perry will go to Plymouth County as part of their effort to seek more funding. Perry has filed more grant applications.

            “Right now, the way the article’s written, we can’t send it. … You’d have to go back to Town Meeting,” said Mooney of voter approval for the project.

            “If we miss the Spring Town Meeting, the price of that building is going to go up $400,000,” added Select Board Chairman Randy Parker.

            Mooney also updated the board on the new Department of Public Works facility planned for Benson Brook.

            Project designer Will Saltonstall is putting together a team of architects and engineering services. He is working on a proposal for consulting services that he plans to submit to the town this month. Parker asked that Mooney share that information with the DPW Planning Committee.

            The search for a new town administrator yielded 28 applications ahead of the Screening Committee’s initial review on December 8. Parker indicated that it is hoped the committee can conduct interviews for two days prior to Christmas.

            The Select Board voted to extend the deadline to apply for the Historic Study Committee to the board’s next public meeting on December 20.

            Mooney estimated that 10 applications had been received as of December 7. The town has also requested two nominations from the Marion Historical Commission, the Boston Society of Architects and the state Board of Real Estate Brokers.

            The tax rate (per $1,000 in property) for FY23 is not $9.52 as previously projected but $9.44, reported Mooney. The rate is established according to actual property sales, said Assessor Pat DeCosta, who told the board she had hoped the FY23 rate would be lower because property values have continued to climb. The state certifies the rate, pointed out Walker.

            Mooney said that the state Department of Revenue says property values continue to increase across the state and in waterfront communities, even more.

            The Select Board voted to renew licenses for 2023.

            Executive Assistant Donna Hemphill explained that the 48 licenses issued by the town are held by 30 businesses. There are 12 liquor licenses (including eight on-premises consumption), the remaining fall under categories including common victualer, entertainment, etc.

            Burr recused himself from the vote, noting that Burr Brothers Boat Company is on the renewal list. Parker and Hills voted to approve the list as presented and to authorize Hemphill to use the board’s signature stamp. Hemphill said she will send out the license renewals at the end of the month.

            Also applying to the state’s Alcohol Beverage Control Commission (ABCC) was a discussion and vote on Marion’s estimated seasonal population. Hemphill said the town clerk estimates that population as of July 5, 2023 is expected to reach 6,200. The annual submission to the ABCC provides the estimate for the purposes of seasonal alcohol permitting.

            The board approved a new application for a previously approved sewer connection at 43 Dexter Road, also recommended for approval by the DPW. The correct application will be held until signed by the applicant.

            The board also approved Water/Sewer commitments of $1,097.10 (final readings December 1), $1,031.00 (new water service November 18) and $466.57 (final readings November 15.)

            The next meeting of the Marion Select Board is scheduled for Tuesday, December 20, at 6:00 pm at the Police Station.

Marion Select Board/Board of Assessors

By Mick Colageo

            The Rochester Planning Board Tuesday night brought a plan to place a large-scale, solar-panel system canopy over the Rochester Memorial School parking lot another step closer to approval.

            The board noted it has received the project’s peer-review report from consulting engineer Ken Motta, but it discussed only the landscaping portion of the report in response to a request from project representative Steve Gregory.

            Gregory said the developers were making most of the corrections recommended in Motta’s comments but wanted to know what type of landscape screening the board needs. The issue is the need to screen the 14-foot-high canopy from the school’s residential abutter at 38 Pine Street. The property is heavily wooded and 200 feet away from the canopy’s location.

            Planning Board Chairman Arnold Johnson started his answer with the fact the developer cannot count the trees on the adjacent private property as part of the screening plan. The screening must be 100% complete from day one, Johnson said; the developer cannot use plantings that have not matured to the correct length.

            Gregory was instructed to plan a 15-foot-high and 100-foot-long screen consisting of rows of Leland Cypress Trees and to post a landscaping completion bond for five growing seasons.

            Johnson also noted Motta’s recommendation that the developers rewrite the letter of waivers to add that waiving the 100-foot setback requirement should be added to their requests.

            The board continued the hearing until its January 24, 2023 meeting.

            The plan for a canopy-mounted, large-scale solar photovoltaic system in the parking lot at the Rochester Memorial School will require a special permit and site-plan-review approval. The two canopies, measuring 222-feet long by 438-feet wide and supported by seven columns will be built on 13.7 acres in the school’s rear parking lot.

            The board came even closer to approving Connet Woods’ proposal to modify its definitive, flexible subdivision plan by eliminating a subdivision road and convert/downgrade 10 approved lots to three lots at Connet Woods and Box Turtle Drive.

            Project representative Steve Meltzer noted that Motta, in his recent review of this plan, seemed satisfied with the modifications that the developer recently performed.

            “He said it’s all set,” Johnson said of Motta’s report. “It seems straightforward now.”

            Swiftly thereafter, the board closed the public hearing, and Johnson told Meltzer that a draft decision will be prepared for its next meeting on January 10, 2023.

            Next, the Planning Board approved the Village at Plumb Corner’s request to begin Phase III, which would mean an additional 10 units. To that end, the board set the surety bond for that phase at $980,000.

            Lastly, the board reviewed a suggestion from Town Planner Nancy Durfee that its meetings move back to being held at Town Hall rather than the Old Colony Regional Vocational-Technical High School library. Durfee said Town Hall would be a more sensible meeting space because it has its own Owl-brand microphone, along with camera system and laptops and will be closer to board files.

            Johnson said the move is worth considering but requested the building commissioner be consulted as to the “real” occupancy capacity of the Town Hall meeting room.

            Board member Ben Bailey then suggested the board and the town create a bylaw regulating the use of drones. He said a citizen suggested doing so after his own experience with a neighbor’s drone.

            Johnson responded that the idea is worth exploring.

            The next meeting of the Rochester Planning Board is scheduled for Tuesday, January 10, 2023, at 7:00 pm at the Old Colony Regional Vocational-Technical High School library, 476 North Avenue, Rochester.

Rochester Planning Board

By Michael J. DeCicco

            Members of the Rochester Conservation Commission will be visiting 32 Gerrish Road on Saturday, December 17, to see for themselves if a plan to build a single-family home, patio and landscape wall within a wetlands buffer zone there requires a Notice of Intent application.

            Brian Grady of G.A.F. Engineering, representing property owners Kevin Crimmi and Christine Gagnon, said the wetlands in question are an old resource area that was a cranberry bog but is now “naturalizing.” He noted the parcel was once a tree farm that at one point was owned by Conservation Commission member Ben Bailey, who had already recused himself from commission participation during the public hearing.

            Grady said the portion of the work closest to the wetlands will be a landscape wall and erosion controls.

            Conservation Agent Merilee Kelly asked how far the landscape wall would be from the wetlands. Grady responded that the wall will be approximately 60 feet away and 6 feet high.

            Conservation Commission Chairman Christopher Gerrior noted the buffer zone is not being marked or delineated in any concrete way. Grady responded he would be willing to discuss doing this as the plan develops.

            That left only one question for Gerrior to ask: When would an on-site visit be most convenient for both the commission members and the petitioners? The two sides settled on Saturday, December 17, at 8:00 am, and the commission voted to continue the public hearing to Tuesday, December 20.

            In other action, the commission also continued until December 20 its hearing into the Notice of Intent application filed by Jon Roth at 119 Dexter Lane. Roth’s plan is to clear the land he owns that is overgrown with invasive plant species so his horses and cattle can graze there.

            Kelly reported that the town is still waiting for correspondence from the state; the Natural Heritage Foundation needs to approve the plan because the area is a designated priority habitat.

            The commission set its next public meeting for Tuesday, December 20, at 7:00 pm in the library at Old Colony Regional Vocational-Technical High School, 476 North Avenue. The meeting is also accessible live via Zoom.

Rochester Conservation Commission

By Michael J. DeCicco

            Before the Marion Capital Improvements Planning Committee can confidently sink its collective teeth into capital requests being made by the Old Rochester Regional School District, it has requested greater detail to facilitate its own process.

            In interviewing various municipal department heads, the CIPC takes in annual capital requests, each at least $10,000 in cost and with a minimum of five years of “useful life.” From there, the committee studies each proposal and prepares an evaluation, ultimately offering the Finance Committee and the Select Board a comprehensive ranking of department-submitted projects relative to Fiscal Year 2023 and on a 10-year outlook.

            Many factors are taken into the CIPC’s consideration for such a ranking, including alternative funding sources, the likelihood of bureaucratic obstacles, logistical constraints, the sustainability of the investment in a project, etc.

            On November 30, ORR Facilities Director Gene Jones met with the CIPC via Zoom to outline the school district’s capital requests. Dividing ORR’s capital requests into Sippican Elementary School and ORR Senior/Junior high schools, Jones presented several needs for the CIPC’s consumption.

            CIPC Chairman Paul Naiman noted that for purposes of the committee’s consumption, all of the school department’s requests are going to come out of general fund.

            Sippican Elementary School’s roof-top HVAC units have been servicing the building for 21 years, according to Jones, who said it’s time for units to be decommissioned and/or overhauled. He targeted the 2024-25 academic year, estimating it will cost $50,000 “to go through and refurbish them.”

            Jones categorized the roof-top units as a safety and air-quality measure, providing a safe environment that extends to Marion’s senior citizens who use the building. There are four units, so Jones recommended dealing with one per year, stating that the units will “go beyond 10 years.” The curbs, he said, “are all good” and the rooftop units “solid.” The building dates back to 1937, but the units are setting well, according to Jones. Now, he says, it’s time to refurbish the compressors and motors.

            Naiman asked Jones to go back to his application paperwork and fill in the information discussed, along with that which emanated from the questions posed by CIPC members.

            Other requests relating to Sippican Elementary included $25,000 for tile flooring to cover all first-grade rooms. Jones noted that because of COVID-19, there remains $50,000 funded from prior years. “It’s like painting the bridge, we continue on and finish it,” he said.

            The nitrogen seals in eight of Sippican’s windows have failed and will need $20,000 to repair. According to Jones, this requires window replacement. The windows, located in the cafeteria and on the wing by the tennis courts, have been in place since the 2000-01 school year.

            Sippican’s furnishings have not been changed since 2001. “Some of the teachers have duct tape on their (chair’s) arms. This has come to a point where it’s that time,” said Jones, estimating $36,000 to repair. An inventory of what is deemed usable is estimated at $12,000. “We have to address this because no one does,” he said.

            Sippican is also looking to upgrade wifi extenders and switches. When the school building needs to function as an emergency shelter, people gather for heat but also charge their phones and get their devices online. MCAS testing is also a factor, Jones explained. So are worn devices that Sippican School’s access point senses, affecting bandwidth.

            Jones also classified this as a safety issue. “If we don’t have it, there’s no communications from the school to the first responders … other than phone. … It’s our whole backbone,” he said.

            ORR is also requesting flooring, asphalt repair and a new boiler.

            The $35,000 requested in asphalt repair would address approximately 300 feet of “crocodiling” between the junior and senior high school backside entrances. The work would be a continuation of what was done last year, although Jones said that there was no money allocated last year for the asphalt repair.

            Jones said nothing passed from the district, except the track rehab via its new capital-stabilization fund. ORR Superintendent of Schools Mike Nelson told the CIPC that ORR always shares its 10-year capital plan with the Marion Planning Board.

            CIPC members Casimiro Barros and David Janik helped clarify the request with their questions.

            Jones told the CIPC that ORR’s Hawk Boiler “was already obsolete” in 2000 due to its combustion controls. “I want to go to Johnson controls (fully automated),” he said, noting that Sippican is under the new Johnson control system. The committee asked Jones to buttress the request by including an estimate of savings.

            It still has flooring from 1961; it was not replaced in the school building’s major renovation. Jones estimates that depending on the sub-floor conditions, a $25,000 expense could upgrade five rooms and a hallway. He said ORR’s hallways are much wider than the elementary school’s.

            Jones told Naiman that the high school has been tested for asbestos and there is none in the building.

            Barros suggested Jones use the requested revisions to buttress his presentations to the towns of Mattapoisett and Rochester.

            Sippican School’s 10-year capital plan extends the requests made relative to FY23 and adds some significant ones, such as $300,000 for Sippican’s phased-roof-section replacement, to be spread over five years ($60,000 annually) from FY28 to FY32.

            That project will begin with the completion of a $200,000 request to refurbish rooftop units ($50,000 per year from FY24 to FY27.)

            Installing Glycol (anti-freeze) into Sippican’s HVAC system is a one-shot deal for $120,000 slated for FY25.

            A 20-year update targeting FY33 will be needed on equipment to upgrade the front-side playground at $115,000.

            Sippican’s flooring replacement will cost $100,000 on a 10-year basis, split four times over a seven-year period beginning in FY24.

            Furniture at $84,000 would be split at $36,000, $36,000 and $12,000 over the next three fiscal years. The repair of the cupola is slated for FY25 at $68,000. CIPC members are interested to see if Marion can address the cupola internally or with assistance from Upper Cape Tech.

            Other items include: $60,000 in tech upgrades to be spread at $20,000 annually over the next three fiscal years, $35,000 for the refurbishing of Sippican’s chiller compressors in FY25, $25,000 for public address and clock-system replacement in FY26 and $20,000 for the eight window seals in FY24.

            Marion’s portion of ORR’s 10-year capital plan calls for $250,000 for floor-tile replacement, spread annually at $25,000 for the next 10 years and the building’s furniture replacement will be similarly spread ($96,000 over eight years from FY26 to FY33.)

            An irrigation system for athletic fields at $114,000 will be spread over FY25 ($38,000) and FY26 ($58,000.) Road and parking-lot repair (asphalt) is proposed at $70,000 even divided over the next two fiscal years.

            Other ORR requests include: $32,000 for the tech room (FY25), $32,000 for foodservice equipment replacement (to be divided evenly in FY27 and FY29), $26,000 for an update to the boiler-combustion control (FY24), $24,000 for ground maintenance equipment; $20,000 for tennis-court rehab and $15,000 for replacement of the district’s truck.

            The next public meeting of the Marion CIPC is a remote-access meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 8, at 7:00 pm, when the committee will hear capital requests from the Department of Public Works.

Marion Capital Improvements Planning Committee

By Mick Colageo