The first time Daniel and Carrie Costa, 173 Pierce Street, came before the Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals, they said a variance was necessary to allow the couple to convert their house into a multi-family residence for important personal reasons.

            The Costas, who moved to Rochester in June, suffered the loss of Mrs. Costa’s father when he passed away unexpectedly, leaving behind his wife. As Daniel explained at the October 29 ZBA meeting, his mother-in-law needed to move closer to them now that is a widow; furthermore, Mr. Costa’s wife, who suffers from an autoimmune disease, needs her mother’s support help with their children.

            At that hearing, the ZBA members held that since the Costas had not owned and lived in their home for seven years, they could not seek a variance or special permit to convert it to a multi-family residence. The board advised the couple to seek the advice of Rochester Town Counsel Blair Bailey to try and find a way to meet the guidelines set out in Chapter 20.40, Section F.9.a of the building bylaws. The hearing was continued.

            On November 12, the Costas returned. This time, however, things were looking brighter.

            Bailey told the board members that, given the bylaw’s actual text, nothing specified that it had to be the same owner over the seven-year period. While he understood that the seven-year stipulation was intended to restrict multi-family subdivisions, the language in the bylaw could be challenged. He said that it was incumbent upon the “writer” to clearly spell out details.

            ZBA member Richard Cutler said, “It’s clear it’s not intended for homes that have been around for a while.” Still, instead, the seven-year period was to restrict new homes from being converted into multi-family units.

            Chairman David Arancio expressed his concern, saying, “We’ve gotten into interpretations of meanings. We talk about intent, and there is a lot of institutional knowledge, but I’m on the fence on Blair’s interpretation.” He said he was being “mindful of the conservative nature of the community.”

            ZBA member Jeffrey Costa also had concerns, saying, “It doesn’t say anywhere in there (the bylaw) for new owners”; however, “knowing our town,” he said, in his opinion, seven years applies to the current owners.

            Bailey went deeper into his point. “The general principle is you have to read the bylaw the way it is written. Courts would say, if you meant something else, you should have said something else.” He went on to say, “Courts may not agree with you.”

            The proposed apartment is a 1,040 square-foot addition, Costa said, which will exceed 30 percent of the existing 2,540 square-foot structure’s footprint. The variance requested by the applicant was only for the frontage requirement. Bailey said the applicant would need a variance from the 30-percent rule as well.

            The board determined that the applicants could withdraw without prejudice and refile with the two variances required. Bailey offered his assistance moving forward.

            The next meeting of the Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals has not yet been scheduled.

Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals

By Marilou Newell

            With COVID-19 cases continuing to rise in Marion, Board of Health Chairperson Dr. Edward Hoffer is concerned about the consequences facing Marion if the coronavirus maintains its ascending trajectory.

            “Our numbers, which were pleasantly low in the spring and early part of the summer, have now skyrocketed [and] we are now in the ‘red,’” Hoffer said during the November 17 Board of Health meeting.

            A recent surge in COVID-19 cases prompted the state to designate Marion as a ‘high-risk’ community on the Department of Public Health’s color-coded map that tracks the spread of COVID-19 throughout the commonwealth. Marion had been ‘unshaded’ or ‘low-risk’ until November when it joined the growing list of other municipalities as another red spot on the map.

            “There’s no risk of closing schools — yet,” said Hoffer, “but we may well hit that point.”

            According to Public Health Nurse Lori Desmarais, there were 39 active COVID-19 cases in Marion as of that afternoon. Of those 39, seven cases are residents from the community-at-large, Desmarais said, while 32 are linked to Sippican Healthcare Center operated by Whittier Health Network.

            Sippican School has just identified one positive case linked to its pre-school. According to Desmarais, six Sippican School students are currently in quarantine; five of those cases have been confirmed, with one still in isolation awaiting test results.

            “With all those cases, [I] have been working closely with the school nurses as far as doing the contact tracing, figuring out who would be in quarantine, and following them throughout their quarantine,” said Desmarais.

            After the board discussed its preliminary fiscal year 2022 budget, Board of Health member Dr. John Howard expressed concern about the impact COVID-19 could have on the FY22 budget should the pandemic persist well into 2021. “Obviously, the pandemic is going to continue into the fiscal year 2022, so we have to be mindful of expenses that are going to be related to it,” said Howard.

            Early in the discussion, Hoffer suggested the board focus on other more general areas of the budget not related to COVID-19. “COVID is not going to dominate our agenda forever; Lord, I hope not,” said Hoffer.

            Board member Dot Brown emphasized the need for the town to acquire Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping, which the Board of Health could use. She suggested the board insert a financial placeholder in its budget to purchase an annual $2,000 subscription for all departments to use. Hoffer said the board should expand services to Marion’s growing senior population and offer fall prevention assessments and other programs to help elderly residents remain in their own homes.

            Hoffer pointed out that the need for personal protective equipment (PPE) and other pandemic-related expenses would remain a priority over the coming months. Still, with no sign of any impending action from the federal government in terms of expanding coronavirus relief, “There are no guarantees that any further funding will be available after December 31.”

            As far as she knows, Brown said Marion has already spent the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding it has received thus far, which was required to have been expended by December 31 anyway.

            “Anything that we need, we better get it quick,” said Hoffer, “because after December 31, that money may not be there anymore.”

            In other matters, Desmarais said there are still some doses of flu vaccine available for Marion citizens, including a few of the high-dose vaccines. To schedule an appointment for a flu vaccine, call 508-748-3507.

            The next meeting of the Marion Board of Health will be on December 1 at 4:00 pm.

Marion Board of Health

By Jean Perry

            Ben Bailey, a member of Rochester’s Planning Board, and Arnie Johnson, the chairman of that board, provided the only substantial discussion from the floor during Monday night’s November 16 Special Town Meeting at Rochester Memorial School. Both men’s comments aimed to ensure that the $15,000 recommended by the Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee for Article 6 would be well spent.

            The article, which was ultimately adopted like all other eight articles on the warrant, proposed spending $15,000 on a consultant to codify town and general bylaws.

            Alluding to a failed effort along such lines several years ago, Ben Bailey addressed the meeting when a discussion was invited and asked, “What happened to the $80,000 when we did this before?”

            After learning that the prior effort was earmarked for zoning bylaws and the current proposal for general and town bylaws, Town Counsel Blair Bailey explained that internal work on zoning bylaws should be finished shortly; however, the general and town bylaws are not to a point where he feels confident. Blair Bailey also confirmed that the same firm is not handling the current effort.

            Ben Bailey told The Wanderer after the meeting, “We’ve been a long time without having these bylaws, so I think Arnie and I share the same concerns that this job gets done and done right the first time. [The failure] didn’t have anything to do with the town clerk (Paul Dawson) or the town attorney (Blair Bailey).” Blair Bailey is not related to Ben Bailey.

            “We were left out in a vacuum with the general zoning bylaws,” said Johnson afterward. “The Planning Board, the town planner (Steve Starrett), the Zoning [Board of Appeals], the chairman of the ZBA (David Arancio), and the bylaw review subcommittee were all left out of the loop, and what was created was a document that was unusable. I know the bylaws, really, pretty well, and I couldn’t even find stuff in there.”

            Dawson said the town might decide to get the general and town bylaws codified “in one large project or take it in smaller bites. That’s what we’re trying to iron out.” Dawson estimated that a concerted effort would take approximately two years to complete, or the process could be extended over a three- to four-year period.

            The result is meant to create an accessible and searchable, user-friendly database.

            Concerns on the floor were satisfied, and the article carried. It was the only article that wasn’t rifled through a quick meeting.

            Articles 1-4 approved appropriations for the procurement of heavy vehicles— three for the Highway Department and one for the Facilities Department. Article 1 appropriated $35,500 for a Kubota Tractor for the Highway Department. Article 2 appropriated $90,000 for a used dump sander truck for the Highway Department. Article 3 appropriated $69,000 for a truck and plow for the Highway Department, and Article 4 appropriated $51,000 for a utility truck with a plow for the Facilities Department.

            Article 5 approved $8,000 from the Assessors Supplemental Budget to be used to overlap the board’s retiring principal assessor, Chuck Shea, during a transition period from January 1, 2021, to June 30, 2021.

            Article 7 authorized the Board of Selectmen to enter into an agreement for payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT) with Rochester MA 4, LLC, which plans to construct a solar array at 139 Sarah Sherman Road.

            Article 8 voted to raise, appropriate, or transfer $100,000 from available funds to the Public Safety Stabilization Fund, and Article 9 was to raise $150,000 and transfer $50,000 into the Capital Improvements Fund.

            The Board of Selectmen, during its November 12 meeting, took advantage of the state’s allowance for lessening the quorum for Special Town Meeting from the town’s regular quorum of 50 down to 30. They almost didn’t get 30 voters, but Blair Bailey reasserted his stance that, while the state would have allowed as few as five based on its “not less than 10 percent” provision, he didn’t consider it the right way to conduct town business among so few. Selectman Woody Hartley made sure to publicly thank all who attended.

            The selectmen recommended the passing of all nine articles. The Finance Committee recommended Articles 1-6 and 8-9 (Article 7 was not applicable). The Capital Planning Committee recommended all applicable articles (1-4).

Rochester Special Town Meeting

By Mick Colageo

            Parents of children in Old Rochester Regional District schools can now access COVID-19 information via a dashboard that Superintendent of Schools Mike Nelson has made a regular part of the district website. He also spent time during the November 5 meeting of the Rochester School Committee discussing the challenges that come with consideration of moving toward a full, in-person return to school.

            “At this time, we are not recommending a learning model change, but wanted to share this information and this update with the committee so that they have all the available information as they think about what is best for Rochester Memorial and our school system,” said Nelson. “The thought process is that the dashboard data points and key indicators should continuously be monitored by our key stakeholders and help drive decision making based on trends.”

            Safety remains the No. 1 goal, said Nelson.

            “Having our students in the building continues to be one of our main focuses,” he said. “While recognizing that each student and each family has a choice regarding which learning model makes most sense for them, we will do our very best to meet each student and each family where they’re at.”

            The dashboard categorizes local, county, and statewide COVID-19 data and stakeholder approvals, including the Board of Health, school physicians, superintendent, and School Committee. Along with data generated at the state level, the dashboard considers internal information such as air quality, HVAC, and personal protective equipment status.

            “No one data point is the end-all, be-all, and we have to look at all available information as we make decisions together,” said Nelson.

            Noting the School Committee’s August approval of the 2020-21 back-to-school plan, Nelson referenced a recently released addendum including feasibility data regarding ORR’s school buildings and guidance interpretation.

            “Moreover, the addendum provides additional in-person options for the School Committee to consider this school year,” explained Nelson. “Specifically, the addendum includes a letter to the school community from the superintendent, an executive summary of the main points of the addendum, and overview of the addendum and ongoing considerations when learning models change that all stakeholders should consider, the rationale behind the information that we shared, and the ideology regarding pivoting from learning model to model.”

            Information about the new COVID-19 dashboard was included.

            Nelson said there are five specific options for the committee to consider when it becomes feasible to consider increasing in-person learning opportunities.

            The first is what a full return to school could look like with no modifications.

            The second, a full return of students maintaining 3 to 6 feet of social distancing.

            The third option is a full return of students maintaining at least 6 feet of social distancing, which is the current distancing standard inside ORR District school buildings.

            The fourth is additional in-person opportunities for students in lower elementary grades—the fifth targets possible in-person opportunities through schedule modifications, after-school programming, etc.

            Also included was feasibility data in each of the school buildings regarding learning spaces, staffing, transportation, and fiscal and resource information.

            Committee member Tina Rood applauded Nelson’s effort and said a look across the dashboard showed that many people are coming out of quarantine. She sought clarification on costs associated with pivoting to an in-person learning model. Nelson confirmed those costs were listed by the classroom based on the latest collective bargaining agreement.

            “I think it’s important that, even though we gave hypothetical scenarios, each time you change any of the options even slightly, it creates new situations that you have to problem-solve,” said Nelson. “I just want to be very clear that this just really looks at five major options for the School Committee and other stakeholders to consider as we continue to monitor data and make decisions in terms of what we think is best to keep all of our students’ families and staff members safe. But even within this plan, there are obviously many other pieces that we have to consider and work out.”

            An in-person learning model would not cancel out a remote option.

            Committee member Kate Duggan found the plan well laid out but asked, on behalf of parents whose children are struggling with remote education, if they have a realistic hope in this school year for a change.

            “What we want is for all of our students to be in the building full time. I want to be very clear about that,” said Nelson. “With that being said, our kindergarteners, first graders, second graders, remote learning … can be very challenging.

            “It does always bring up the issue of equity and stability, and also family schedules is that once you move one piece and whatnot, it changes a lot of other things, so I also think it’s important that we recognize that,” continued Nelson. “It doesn’t mean that we don’t consider other options, but we have to put everything on the table and really talk out all the different moving pieces.”

            On the pandemic front, Rochester Memorial School is very fortunate regarding COVID-19, as there were no positive cases as of the committee’s November 5 meeting. Over the past two weeks, Rochester has been identified as a ‘red’ community. The ORR District has had nine positive cases since the start of school on September 16. ORR, according to Nelson at the November 5 meeting, had no staff in quarantine; there were two students in quarantine. Eight other students at the time of the meeting were symptomatic and awaiting test results. Altogether since the start of school on September 16, ORR has seen 50 students cleared to return to school after displaying symptoms and three staff members cleared to return.

            “This shows how diligent we have all been in taking each symptom extremely serious to prevent in-school transmission,” said Nelson, thanking the town and school nurses.

            Enrollment numbers at RMS were as follows: 26 home-schooled, 420 in the hybrid learning model, and 60 in the full-remote model.

            Nelson told the committee that the Massachusetts Department of Education is directing ORR schools to go ahead with MCAS test preparation. Committee members criticized MCAS as an intrusion on the precious time needed to include what they consider more important.

            Rood says parents would like a three-year moratorium on MCAS and will work with the teachers union on a letter that will be sent to DESE. Rood said the state’s direction toward “high-stakes testing” emanates from the national level and that local feelings are not likely to be considered.

            The Rochester School Committee voted to appoint Rood to represent the committee in working with other stakeholders on a letter that will recommend ORR schools not have MCAS testing in the 2020-21 academic year.

            The committee embraced the idea of using snow days as remote-learning days, and Rood mused that remote learning could render snow days obsolete.

            Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Janell Pearson-Campbell reported on her continued work supporting teachers with educational opportunities with guest speakers and special webinars better equipping them for the current array of challenges.

            RMS Principal Derek Medeiros says students have been moving from model to model, including a home-schooled student who entered the hybrid-learning model at RMS. RMS had over 100 participants for its flu clinic.

            Rood said Serial, an anti-racist podcast that is part of her homework as a member of the Anti-Racist Subcommittee, published an episode called “Nice White Parents.” Rood recommended that and other podcasts she had watched.

            The ORR Joint School Committee / Superintendency Union #55 is scheduled to meet on November 19 at 6:30 pm.

Rochester School Committee

By Mick Colageo

Commission member Jeff Doubrava would recuse himself twice during the Marion Conservation Commission’s November 4 meeting, being involved on the applicant side of two public hearings.

            As a Planting Island resident and member of the Island Associates board of governors, Doubrava was on that side of filing a Notice of Intent for storm drainage improvement in a 30-by-18-foot area on Planting Island Road. He had already recused himself as an applicant in a Request for Determination of Applicability hearing (see below).

            David Davignon, representing Schneider, Davignon & Leone, Inc., proposed a minor excavation project intended to alleviate a drainage problem. Some of the work, Davignon explained, will occur on private property, thereby minimizing the activity.

            Doubrava did explain as an applicant that Davignon’s proposed redesign is meant to restore the area’s historic drainage. He also spoke to visual safety concerns at the corner where east and west roads converge with Planting Island Road.

            After a site visit that revealed standing water, ConCom Chairman Shaun Walsh expressed concern for the shellfish habitat. Davignon said an industry-standard practice would bring about a much larger project, but that would not be possible because J. Christopher Meyer III, the owner of the private property, would not allow his lot to be torn up.

            “The roads are simply too low, or the berm is too high. I’m open to ideas,” said Davignon, acknowledging the potential for infiltration. “I don’t think you’re going to get a lot of retention here.”

            Walsh suggested removing more vegetation to preserve a runoff that he believes would better preserve the area’s favorable water quality. “I don’t want Mr. Meyer’s desire not to have a big structure drive the project design; that’s aesthetics,” said Walsh. “What I would like to see is we make sure that we have a structure that’s going to resolve the problem. The last thing I want is someone coming to the Conservation Commission and saying, ‘We used to be able to shellfish there until you guys built this runoff structure.’ Whether it’s caused by this or not, they’re going to point the finger at us because of us approving the project design.”

            Walsh continued, “If (the most-protective project design) involves doing something parallel to the roadway and discharging onto the Town of Marion property, I’m okay with that. That, to me, is not as important as making sure that we’re protecting the public’s ability to harvest shellfish.”

            Walsh suggested Davignon consider the most-protective design, having Green Fisheries review on the shellfish end of the water-quality equation, and recommended asking Town Administrator Jay McGrail for direction toward townspeople who might offer alternatives ideas.

            “Some of it will be driven by Mr. Meyer,” said Davignon. “That may drive us onto the Town of Marion property.”

            The case was continued to ConCom’s November 18 meeting with a 7:20 pm public hearing slot.

            Doubrava led the meeting off as an applicant with a 7:00 pm public hearing, an RDA for constructing an osprey pole and perch, the result of an anonymous donation. The pole will be erected in the northwest corner of the town-owned Boat Works Lane property with “minimal disturbance,” said Doubrava. As a ConCom member, Doubrava recused himself from participation in the commission’s process in the case. A site visit was conducted on October 31, and ConCom voted per town policy in remote-access public hearings to continue the case to ConCom’s November 18 meeting at 7:10 pm.

            A fourth continuation was considered necessary in the case of Lance and Kathleen Scott’s NOI for site redevelopment on the lot across from 18 Wianno Road. The Scotts filed a revised site plan on November 2.

            Davignon summarized his latest round of proposed changes, including the planting list reshaped more triangularly and enhanced with a variety of plants. The beach grass was enhanced to cover the coastal dune. The stone walkway to the fire pit to the beach was widened to 6 feet for future maintenance to create access for a “very small Bobcat” to perform beach nourishment. The fire pit was moved and now will have a 10-foot offset to the south. Narrowly occurring boulder stones will remain on the beach.

            Mark Manganello of LEC Environmental Consultants, Inc. met earlier on November 4 with Andrew Poyant, the wetland circuit rider, and Walsh held a conference call with Poyant and Doubrava to discuss Poyant’s review of the revised plan and his suggestions.

            “[Poyant] continued to have some concerns of compliance, specifically with coastal-dune-performance standards. We had a long talk about those standards, and I’m not sure I agree with him 100 percent on some of the interpretations of those standards, specifically for activities within 100 feet of a coastal dune,” said Manganello. “[The state’s] contention is that, by converting the vegetated area on the eastern portion of the property within 100 feet of the dune to lawn that that will destabilize the dune itself.” Poyant said Manganello also expressed concern about bird habitat.

            “Stepping back and sort of looking at the big picture here and taking into consideration the extensive dune that’s actually going to be created, I felt like the plan that we had put forth was a real net-win,” said Manganello. “Yeah, maybe you are converting a portion of a vegetated area to lawn, but you’re also rebuilding a dune where none really exists right now. The protection of the dune is one thing, but the creation of the dune, the value of that, to me, is so much more significant.”

            Manganello noted that the vegetated area is dominated by invasive species, “So we’re proposing to take about half of that area and convert it to natural vegetation,” he said. Poyant, Manganello noted, did not believe that converting that vegetated area to grass would comply with the standard for coastal dune. Manganello said the Scotts are frustrated but wish to make more revisions and avoid a protracted appeal process.

            Noting that Poyant is serving as a technical advisor, Walsh stressed that ConCom is not trying to appease him. Based on a conversation they had, the latest revisions should satisfy his concerns. The rosa rugosa would be taken out in favor of beach grass.

            The applicant reiterated the need to meet the standards with cold weather imminent. Davignon stated his plan to get in his final revision a week ahead of the continuation. At that, Walsh thanked Davignon for consulting with Manganello.

            The case was continued to November 18 at 7:30 pm.

            A public comment came in by phone moments after the continuation of the public hearing. Administrative Assistant Donna Hemphill took information from that call and invited the caller to visit the Town House office or send an email since the hearing was continued and has not been closed.

            The Friends of Wings Cove, homeowners at 35, 43, 51, 67, 75, 83, 95, and 99 Holly Road, who had filed an NOI seeking the removal of phragmites from their properties, found the fourth continuance to be a charm as ConCom voted to close the public hearing and issue an Order of Conditions.

            In other matters, Emil Assing appeared to discuss his application for the open associate member spot on ConCom. Assing told the commission that he grew up on Delano Road and became interested in environmental science. While attending Old Rochester Regional High School, he decided that he wanted to “serve the local environment, but the local community as well.”

Marion Conservation Commission

By Mick Colageo