Department of Public Works Director Nathaniel Munafo completed his list of capital requests, laying out the needs of Marion’s Sewer Division before the Capital Improvements Planning Committee on January 5.

            Sewer is far and away the town’s weightiest infrastructure, as large residential developments in the works depend on its expansion and modernization and vice versa for much-needed revenue via new ratepayers.

            Munafo’s FY23 Sewer Division capital requests total $1,501,000, $1,000,000 of which is taken up by his first two requests for the $750,000 FY23 grant match for the replacement of the Creek Road Station and the $250,000 request for FY23 force-main design for the Front Street Station.

            Creek Road is Marion’s second largest sewer station and services homes on gravity sewer and hundreds of other homes via pumps. Approximately half of the town’s sewer users rely in some manner on Creek Road. Munafo calls it the “highest priority” because the station is “extremely close to the water and at risk in a coastal event.”

            The station was designed in the late 1960s and installed in 1970.

            Even without a flood event, said Munafo, Creek Road Station is highly likely to leak, and there have already been instances where water rains down on controls and equipment multiple levels deep.

            The town has received a Coastal Zone Management (CZM) grant and is ready to build. DPW engineer Meghan Davis and office manager Becky Tilden have been working toward the hopeful procurement of a BRIC grant, and a MEMA and FEMA grant would allow 75 percent of the $3,000,000 project to be funded. Marion is required to post a $750,000 (25 percent) match. The remainder of the necessary funding would have to come from other sources.

            CIPA Chairman Paul Naiman asked about borrowing to fund the project. Munafo said the project is presently in the state revolving funds queue for this year but that borrowing has not been ruled out. Representative William Straus is looking into alternative funding sources. The federal government will now allow the usage of ARPA funds to match other federal grants.

            “(ARPA) is a new grant … they’re making up these rules as they go,” said Munafo.

            CIPC member Steve Nojeim asked if, in the case of no grant approval, can the project be spread over multiple years? “Yes, but it’s a quick project, shouldn’t take more than nine months to get it done,” answered Munafo.

            According to Select Board member John Waterman, developer Ken Steen has agreed to pay 10 percent of the net cost for sewer infrastructure. “But his project is not moving very fast,” said Waterman, noting that developer Matt Zuker’s project that was rejected at Town Meeting may see a new application. “Then we’ll be looking to him to chip in.”

            Richard Giberti asked about the plan and referenced Hurricane Carol in 1954. Waterman said that CDM Smith did a resiliency report on coastal vulnerability, noting that five other pumping stations go through Creek Road Station. Munafo said that a 50-year storm (11.5 foot surge) would require total reconstruction of the station.

            The other $501,000 in Sewer Division requests is divided up between an inflow-infiltration (I/I) removal program ($200,000,) F350 4×4 truck ($75,000,) Silvershell Station assessment ($50,000,) high-flow management plan ($40,000,) bio-filter media replacement ($40,000,) generator replacement ($36,000,) SCADA (WPCF computer system,) replacement ($35,000) and force main evaluations ($25,000.)

            Naiman expected the CIPC membership to turn in its comprehensive priorities of all departments’ capital requests by Wednesday (January 12) with a plan to meet on Wednesday, January 19 and hope to have a letter ready to deliver to the Select Board on January 26.

            The deadline for the town report is February 4. Then there will be a meeting with the Select Board in early February for the CIPC to present its findings.

            In answer to CIPC member Bill Marvel’s question as to how Munafo’s requests fit Marion’s comprehensive wastewater management plan, Waterman said that nothing in the requests this year is inconsistent with the CWMP.

            While acknowledging the importance of new sewer ratepayers to the town’s economy, Naiman noted that there is a cost to the town as well.

            Waterman said the town cannot afford $28,000,000 for a 10-year sewer-improvement plan. When Lagoon No. 1 is lined and completed, the debt will be up 50 percent to $29,000,000, he said, and anything borrowed will drive up rates. Thus, the need for grants, ARPA funding, etc.

            Steen, whose 120-unit, affordable-housing project will be located off Route 6 near the Wareham town line, will write Marion a check for $1,000,000 for I/I removal, and Waterman hopes that Zuker’s adjacent Route 6 project will revive and generate $50,000 for an infrastructure study.

            Noting that developer Sherman Briggs was going to pay Marion $280,000, Waterman said that the biggest issue is the Wastewater Treatment Plant  which is maxed out at 588,000 gallons per day. Reducing I/I, he said, is the best way to gain new capacity.

            In the February meeting of the Water/Sewer Commissioner (Select Board,) public comment will be invited.

Marion Capital Improvements Planning Committee

By Mick Colageo

            Trash company ABC Disposal Service, Inc. notified the Rochester Board of Health during the latter’s January 5 meeting that it has filed an application with the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Board of Health to increase the capacity of its facility.

            ABC seeks approval of a modification from a maximum daily cap of 890 to 1,500 tonnage over its 61.15 acres at 4850 Cranberry Highway, but accompanying that request was news that the company’s owners plan to sell. “We want to build the company up, you can’t build the company up if you can’t get rid of the trash,” said ABC, Inc. vice president and CEO Michael Camara. “So we decided to sell the company.”

            Camara reported that, as of last week, 20 percent of the company’s staff was out with Covid-19.

            ABC, Inc. said it has also notified Wareham and Middleboro boards of health of the request as required because the site sits within a half-mile of those towns.

            The next step in the process of the application for expansion is a three-week window for public comment, a DEP site-suitability report. Once that result is positive, then within 30 days the matter goes up to the Rochester Board of Health for a public hearing. A hearing officer (umpire) will participate, and after the Board of Health determines yes or no, then any conditions will be assigned to a positive decision at the prescribed site.

            A fee structure will be established to reimburse the Board of Health.

            Souza said he spoke with members of the Rochester Fire Department and received a positive reaction. He expects permitting to go through. “It’s a tough industry to keep clean, somebody’s always going to complain about something,” he said. “I drive up there every once in a while and I never come out with a flat tire, but that’s all you ever hear.”

            Rochester Health Director Karen Walega asked Camara about rain issues and the recent fire at the facility. Camara explained that a pile of trash that grew to a height exceeding the building’s lights ignited after a light bulb broke. He credited Eddie Costello with digging down to the bottom to extinguish the fire. Total Quality Logistics (TQL) helped move the trash.

            “I don’t think we can stop the storage outside,” said Camara, who said trash is being kept at least 10 feet away from the building.

            ABC’s glass-recycling system has also been affected because of the shutdown of another company in the processing chain. Camara said that the DEP let ABC store its glass out back. The company wanted to recycle it but now must pay to get rid of it.

            Glass is typically recycled into sandblasting material. Camara estimates that the enormous amount of glass will all be taken away from ABC’s site over the next six to eight months.

            Board of Health Chairman Dave Souza told the ABC representatives in attendance that he was glad to hear a professional approach was being taken to the problem, especially considering the request for an increase in maximum tonnage allowed at the site.

            Camara told the board that ABC, as of last week, had 17 drivers out and that he and other company leaders have joined the driving ranks. “Having them see you out there driving is good for morale,” said Camara. “Fortunately, our mechanics can drive, the general manager can drive, I can drive.”

            The board ratified the recent Select Board vote in favor of the mask mandate implemented at the Senior Center at the request of the Council on Aging. The COA has since shut down until January 18 due to the rise in Covid-19 cases, per the Select Board’s vote on January 3.

            “They’re the ones that made the (mask-mandate) decision in the beginning, and that should be their decision all the way through,” said Souza. “I don’t like the decision. We’re aware of the decision.”

            Board member Glenn Lawrence voted against the ratification, but member Sarah Tisdale Eby voted in favor so the board officially ratified the Select Board’s approval of the mask mandate at the COA by a 2-1 margin.

            The Board of Health announced a total FY23 budget of $84,727, up from $83,004 in FY22.

            Walega reported progress at 514 Front Street, where two cars have been removed and the family is working on removal of the boat at the site. The local boy scouts have volunteered to participate in the cleanup.

            According to Walega, a grant from Massachusetts Health Association could lead to the town purchasing Covid-19 test kits from the state for residents’ use.

            In her report to the board, Public Health Nurse Connie Dolan said that, as of January 5, Rochester had 170 active Covid-19 cases, a decrease from close to 200 only two days prior. Of the 170 active cases, 90 people infected had been at least partially vaccinated. Dolan said many had had only one dose or two doses but not the booster shot.

            To date, Rochester has had 1,081 official Covid-19 cases, but Dolan qualified that those statistics do not take into account rapid home tests. For statistical purposes, antigen (rapid) tests are not official cases. Official cases are always PCR test. “I’ve been getting a lot of calls, it’s time to do a little information push,” said Dolan.

            Where it concerns Covid-19 testing, antigen tests are “great for surveillance,” said Dolan, but the state says a positive antigen test should follow up with a PCR test.

            “An awful lot of cases now are partially if not fully vaccinated so I think it’s time to do a lot of communication on the difference between the tests,” said Dolan, indicated that all the guidance is on the town’s Facebook page and website.

            “Connie’s right on the money. We need to get the information out there. It’s still 10 days (isolation for a positive test), just five if you’re full (vaccination) and masked,” said Tisdale Eby, who was attending the meeting remotely because her son had tested positive.

            Dolan said that the infectious period for tracking begins the two days before the onset of symptoms (highest bio load) so those two days and the next two days are the most contagious.

            Dolan reported that Police Chief Robert Small asked for boosters for officers, citing close-contact issues. Dolan credited Mattapoisett Public Health Nurse Emily Field for the small handful of boosters that fulfilled the police chief’s request.

            The next meeting of the Rochester Board of Health was not scheduled at adjournment.

Rochester Board of Health

By Mick Colageo

            According to Marion Affordable Housing Trust member Nancy McFadden, the focus group recently held by the Barrett Planning Group for Housing Community Engagement Services lacked focus for lack of a meeting leader.

            McFadden and fellow AHT member Norm Hills nonetheless worked with AHT Chairperson Terri Santos, who could not attend the focus group, to identify key points from a conversation meant to influence Marion’s Housing Production Plan.

            The January 11 AHT agenda called for the trust to discuss its goals and vision, and right now the future of Lockheed Martin’s property adjacent to the Cushing Community Center is at the forefront of speculation.

            Hills and McFadden estimated that approximately 10 people attended the focus group that met with Judy Barrett and went over ideas about Lockheed Martin.

            Santos said feedback from the Planning Board, of which Hills is also a member, indicates that Lockheed Martin is to be kept more light industrial and business in purpose rather than housing.

            Zoning is obviously a question, as Hills explained. Part of the Lockheed Martin property is zoned for light industry and part residential. “There’s no mixed use in Marion,” he said.

            Hills pointed out that the front half of the property is developed and the back half is not developed, leaving the town with a two-part question as to whether someone will be willing to take over the front half of the property and what can Marion do with the back half. “We’re waiting for them to come back to us with options,” he said.

            While there is obvious interest in finding Marion’s senior population with alternatives to houses they can no longer afford or take care of, Hills said that the industrial park at Lockheed Martin may be so old that it might be worth demolishing and starting over. “Nobody’s beating down the doors trying to come in and put an industrial capability in there. Most of the people that work there don’t live in Marion,” he said.

            Santos reiterated that “people need places to live” and solicited suggestions, while noting a rumored benefactor’s interest.

            Hills said the Open Space Acquisition Commission should become involved.

            “Somebody said they could buy it, but again, we don’t know what’s going to happen with it. By the same token, we don’t know what Lockheed Martin’s doing either,” said Hills. “The end of October is getting close for them, a lot of stuff they have to move out of there.”

            In discussing general goals for the AHT, Santos told the members that the trust has been asked to report to the Select Board.

            “The (Housing Production Plan) is going to be the answer to what’s going on,” said Hills, who also serves as chairman of the Marion Select Board. “It’s going to take Town Counsel to help us figure it out.”

            What many in town are looking for is housing for people with moderate and fixed incomes so the focus has been on proposed, mixed-used, village-style developments.

            Another entity that has been involved is the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD). Marion was supposed to deliver information to SRPEDD in December but was granted a contract extension to June.

            Strategies that emerged from the focus group included the pursuit of top-priority zoning amendments, evaluation of methods to incentivize senior development, negotiation of perpetual deed restrictions, and coordination of training and education for AHT membership and residents.

            Santos wrapped up the meeting by asking the membership to think of goals that would contribute to a five-year plan for the town.

            In the reorganization of the trust, former chair Casey Cole-Vieira was named vice chair, and Cynthia Thomas was named clerk. Tangi Thomas had been clerk but relinquished the role.

            The next meeting of the Marion Affordable Housing Trust is scheduled for Tuesday, February 8, at 6:00 pm.

Marion Affordable Housing Trust

By Mick Colageo

Jon Gregory of Tata & Howard updated the Mattapoisett River Valley Water Protection Supply Advisory Committee and Water District Commission in its respective meetings on the engineering firm’s annual report, then fielded questions and comments.

            Even though their memberships overlap nearly 90 percent, the purviews of the committee and the commission vary so Gregory addressed both in their respective sessions. Both bodies voted to accept the draft reports sent with pending matters needing address and report tweaks that came out of the meetings.

            Marion Department of Public Works Director Nathaniel Munafo noticed that the report never announced the result of the study and recommendation regarding the planned filter upgrade for the MRV’s water-treatment plant. Gregory thanked Munafo for the alert and said, based on the April 2021 result that he would confirm in the report that the Koch Puron MP filter was chosen by the district commission.

            ECA Solar invoices were incomplete, the information needed being the amount of the electrical costs saved in 2021 via the company’s program. ECA had billed only through September – October.

            Henri Renauld, the director of the MRV’s water-treatment plant, had been ill and was presumed unable to attend the meeting, but he joined partway through and contributed to the discussion in notifying Gregory that his office keeps a spreadsheet on invoices so that information can be totaled. Gregory suggested waiting until the end of next week and then finalizing the report.

            Also pending was confirmation of the average daily processing of 1,870,000 gallons per day in 2021, down slightly from 1,880,000 in 2020.

            Both the committee and later the commission voted their approval. Gregory said he would finalize the report and send it out as final in both MS Word and PDF formats.

            Gregory also told the committee that there may be a new issue with a level logger in Monitor Well 3D; he will troubleshoot the matter and find out if the equipment can be fixed in the field.

            In February or March, Gregory plans to present Tata & Howard’s quarterly update.

            In her Treasurer’s Report to the commission, Treasurer Wendy Graves reported $80,990.43 in total paid invoices for December, highlighted by Univar at $9,563, Tata & Howard at $2,550, $4,193 and $2,090, and Woodward and Curran at $4,190 and $883.

            Graves also pointed out that the debt schedule requires its next payment of $45,155.48 due on January 15, with $3,386.66 in fees. The commission voted to pay the bill.

            MRV Chairman Vinnie Furtado reported new correspondence in a letter from CPA Robert Brown, whose firm is engaged in examining financial statements for Marion and Rochester. Brown requested information on total bonded debt outstanding for the MRV District.

            In other news, Hub, MRV’s insurance carrier, sent a $1,065 check for overpayment of premium.

            In his Treasurer’s Report, Jeff Furtado reported that the committee paid out $15,338.73 since July while bringing in $73,619.64. The committee’s ending balance on Jan. 1 was $285,830.20. Tata & Howard was paid on invoices of $1,840 and $2,032.90.

            The committee voted to authorize Vinnie Furtado to pay the Tata & Howard invoice of $1,389.87, along with $251.72 to David Watling, $50 to Blair Bailey and $238 to Megan McCarthy for graphic design.

            Before Renauld joined the commission meeting in progress, the committee, which meets before the commission and was in progress, voted to authorize Vinnie Furtado to sign in Renauld’s absence.

            The next meetings of the MRV Water District Commission and Water Protection Supply Committee are scheduled for Tuesday, February 8, at 3:30 pm and 4:00 pm.

MRV Water District Commission/Water Protection Supply Advisory Committee

By Mick Colageo