Mattapoisett’s Board of Health voted to offer the open position of Board of Health agent to Gail Joseph, currently employed as an inspector with the City of New Bedford Health Department. Chairman Carmelo Nicolosi said, “She stands out,” compared to other applicants’ qualifications. He said that Joseph has six years working in New Bedford and comes with “very strong credentials.”

            The board unanimously voted to offer Joseph the Mattapoisett Board of Health agent position for a salary of $70,000 with the option of starting immediately if available to do so. The BOH has been without a health agent since May 14 when former agent Kayla Davis left to take a job in Middleboro.

            The board also elected to offer a transfer station position to Acushnet resident Kevin Murray, who sought the part-time position after retiring from his full-time career.

            Unaware that on that very day the Old Rochester Regional School District and MA Superintendency Union #55 would announce implementation of the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) mask mandate October 1, Public Health Nurse Emily Field urged the Mattapoisett Board of Health to consider updating masking requirements.

            “The [Delta] variant is much more transmissible,” Field told the BOH members. She said that more vaccinations in younger people would help but that many have stopped wearing masks and distancing, which was concerning. “We need to watch out for the vulnerable in the community,” Field stated. “Everyone’s actions impact transmission; masks are the least intrusive, most effective way to control spread. It’s a small price to pay.”

            But board members Ken Dawicki and Russell Bailey were not in favor of implementing masking in all indoor public spaces. Dawicki went even further, saying, “I will not recommend masks in schools.” He said he feels that children are being negatively impacted by wearing masks.

            Field disagreed. “If there is a big outbreak in school, they’ll be isolated at home,” a circumstance she believes would be more detrimental to children. “Of bigger concern is the closing down of classrooms. Kids are accustomed to masking now; keeping kids at home creates greater disruption.”

            Dawiki countered, “Leave it up to the parents.”

            Bailey wanted to know how many children have died from the Delta variant. Field said she didn’t have such data but added passionately, “You’re not supposed to wait for death to put measures in place; one is too many.”

            Field said that there were 14 active COVID-19 cases in Mattapoisett, a number she described as high based on population.

            In other business, the board moved to send an Enforcement Letter to the property owners of 11.5 Industrial Drive for a failed septic system. Nicolosi said he had been contacted about “raw sewage bubbling up to the top.” There was some confusion over who the current property owner is, but Nicolosi said he would work that out with Town Hall. He did note that, apparently, the effluent release had been going on for some time and, given the costs associated with installing a new system are high, he anticipated some pushback. In the meantime, the owners would be notified, and fines established with the advice of legal counsel, Nicolosi stated.

            The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Board of Health is scheduled for Thursday, September 23, at 10:00 am.

Mattapoisett Board of Health

By Marilou Newell

            During the August 26 meeting of the Mattapoisett Marine Advisory Board, Harbormaster Jamie McIntosh asked the members to weigh in on a proposal to posthumously honor longtime harbormaster Horace Field by naming the department’s boat after him.

            McIntosh said that Field has been responsible for “bringing income” to the town in the form of the Waterfront Enterprise Fund, monies that help with every aspect of the critical operation.

            While MAB members agreed that naming the 28-foot Stanley Bullnose after Field is an appropriate way to remember and honor his extensive service to the community, they also wanted to make sure his family is in agreement.

            McIntosh said that preliminary discussions with the family have been positive. The board voted to support the plan. The Stanley vessel, which has been in service since July 2020, has 250-horsepower twin outboard engines measuring 28 feet long and 10 feet wide and features removal panels and drop-down doors for ease of hauling in accident victims or large items from the water.

            In other business, McIntosh asked the board to consider additional language in the Rules and Regulations that would mandate the removal of vessels from wharves and floating docks during named tropical storms and hurricanes. He said that, while boat owners generally cooperate by removing their crafts during severe weather events, a more formal policy should be in place. The board agreed.

            McIntosh also said that he met on site with Field Engineering to note areas of concerns on wharves needing repair and whether cranes could safely use the wharves for the purpose of dredging activities that are planned for the fall. Field’s team confirmed the wharves are viable for the amount of weight being considered. He also noted that new floating docks have been constructed and stored at the Transfer Station for future use. The new docks will provide an additional 48 square feet of space.

            On the matter of the much larger project, repairs to Long Wharf, MAB Chairman Carlos DeSousa said that he met on site with Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito during her recent stop in Mattapoisett. DeSousa and a contingent of town officials toured the wharf, pointing out areas of concern and areas earmarked for repairs and improvement using state grant funding.

            To date, the town has received $216,000 from the Seaport Economic Council with another $54,000 from Town Meeting, money that will be used for design and engineering costs, both McIntosh and DeSousa confirmed. The project also received Community Preservation grant funding in 2014 and 2015 totaling $129,000, funding that has been used in part for immediate repairs and future work, according to Town Administrator Mike Lorenco. DeSousa said that a special construction committee would be established to oversee the massive repair project proposed for Long Wharf.

            DeSousa also discussed meeting with the Select Board to discuss the need for a formal Waterfront Management Plan. He said that, overall, the Select Board was in favor of moving forward with a formalized plan with assistance from the Urban Harbor Institute of the University of Massachusetts/Boston but wanted to see “tangible results” from the effort.

            The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Marine Advisory Board is scheduled for Thursday, September 30, at 7:00 pm.

Mattapoisett Marine Advisory Board

By Marilou Newell

            As Heather Burke, acting chairperson for the Old Rochester Regional School Committee, summarized four significant changes proposed by the school district to the agreement with the tri-towns, Marion’s Finance Committee only had eyes for the fourth of those changes.

            Meeting in an August 25 joint session with the town’s Select Board and tri-town invitees to review and discuss the proposed agreement, ORR’s proposal of a capital stabilization fund dominated the discussion as stakeholders prepare for fall town meetings.

            “Currently, we don’t have a clean way to fund capital improvements and maintenance that are smaller in scale. This is designed to set up a fund so that we can plan financially for those upcoming maintenance issues,” explained Burke. “If there are more substantial needs, the School Committee will probably choose to use the debt-exclusion process because we can’t come forth with a budget that has such a huge increase that a capital item might cause.”

            The focus on the stabilization fund proposal took flight when Marion FinCom member John Menzel asked how ORR distinguishes between a small capital item and a maintenance project. Qualifying her answer as a business person as opposed to a facilities person, Burke said, “All of these come down to budget.”

            Burke said that every year Sippican School replaces a certain percentage of floor tiles. “You could call that a small, capital project or a maintenance project, but we haven’t been able to do it at the regional schools because we don’t have a budget for that purpose,” said Burke. “We have the same needs, but we don’t have the ability to fund it separately so we need this mechanism to be able to plan and budget for it within our budget.”

            ORR Superintendent of Schools Mike Nelson added that ORR’s budget subcommittee has to make decisions based on “what funds are out there.”

            Marion FinCom member Shea Assad suggested ORR consider non-recurring events as capital expenditures. “It’s probably good to establish, ‘This is what we mean by maintenance and this is what we mean by capital,” he said.

            ORR Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Howie Barber threw another wrinkle into the discussion, introducing the life of an asset as well as its cost. Parking lots, for instance, have a lifespan and therefore are considered capital expenditures rather than maintenance.

            Menzel asked for the amount of the proposed Stabilization Fund and if it will be included as a line item in the ORR budget. It was explained that ORR would have to include the Stabilization Fund in the budget, and if the district wished to increase the fund it would have to amend the budget.

            Burke said there is a 5 percent cap relative to the annual operating budget.

            Marion Finance Director Judy Mooney made it clear she is in favor of the idea, but cautioned ORR as to the cold, hard reality of annual budget slashing. “Every year we have an issue with budget so every year it’s going to be a matter of, ‘Do we appropriate for the budget or … (the capital stabilization fund)?'”

            Marion Town Administrator Jay McGrail suggested that some years budgeting is driven by heavy needs for capital and other years by heavy needs for education. Nelson agreed.

            “I’m glad it’s in there, I don’t want to pin the budget to the capital,” said Mooney. “We have a tough time (with the budget) every year anyways so I just want to put that out there. That’s my only concern. I’m glad we have it.”

            After Barber verified an approximate total operating budget of $19,000,000 for the region, Marion FinCom Chairman Peter Winters pressed for more detailed explanation of the 5 percent cap relative to the annual operating budget. “How does it work? Is it something that is created every year or is it a fund that we have to keep topping off?” he asked.

            Burke was swift to note upon Barber’s hypothetical example of 5 percent of a $19,000,000 budget that approval is subject to town meeting vote and that the district’s intention is not to go anywhere near the maximum allowed.

            “If two towns vote for it, the other town is stuck with it, whereas if it’s a pure capital expenditure, it has to pass all three towns,” said Winters. “It’s changing the funding mechanism for capital improvements, at least for emergency capital funding.”

            Burke confirmed that Winters’ contention is correct where it affects the passing of the ORR school budget.

            Ultimately, Assad and Marion’s attending selectmen, John Waterman and Norm Hills, determined that the control still belongs to the towns because an ORR District capital stabilization fund would be part of the operating budget and remain subject to budget negotiations.

            “If it’s too big a number, then the overall growth of the budget’s going to be too high and we’re not going to be able to bond it. So it’s constrained by the overall growth of the budget and being a line item in the budget,” said Waterman, suggesting that the tri-towns make the effort to contribute to ORR’s stabilization fund, even in small amounts. “It’s much more likely to get crowded out by other line items. … It’s not like this is a windfall.”

            “That constraint mechanism is built in,” said Assad, concluding that ORR needs the stabilization fund for flexibility to address minor capital improvements and maintenance not covered in its maintenance budget.

            Only in theory due Marion selectmen think an ORR stabilization fund could creep up toward $1,000,000. “They’re going to have problems funding it,” said Hills, while McGrail added that, some years, ORR will need to spend the fund as soon as it comes in.

            David Arancio, representing the Rochester Finance Committee and Capital Planning Committee (chairman), sat in along with Rochester Town Administrator Suzanne Szyndlar. Arancio asked if this agreement can be compared to last year’s. Burke said the town finance directors would break that down, but Mooney said, “I don’t think you can point to the finance directors for that, we don’t make up the assessments.”

            Citing significant benefit in Rochester, Arancio suggested including a member of each town’s capital planning committee in school budget meetings. Burke said all school committee meetings are public. “Paul [Naiman] has been wonderful, reaching out to the other towns,” said Burke, citing the Marion CIPC’s chairman’s work on improving tri-town communication.

            Until the current process began in 2018, an overhaul of the ORR agreement had not been undertaken since 1986.

            Nelson said that the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education gave the agreement its preliminary approval on April 8, and on April 14 Nelson relayed notification that DESE had preliminarily approved the agreement to tri-town officials with documentation including copies of the proposed clean copy, changes and a copy marking in blue the changes requested by DESE.

            The ORR School Committee unanimously approved the proposed agreement in the spring. Next steps, Nelson explained, would include getting the Capital Stabilization article on town meeting warrants. If approved at town meetings, then the agreement would go back to DESE for final review.

            The other three significant changes listed by Burke:

            1. School committee members’ three-year terms would run from July 1 to June 30 so they can be bookended by the academic year. Burke said legality questions have been settled.

            2. By the state’s mandate, ORR would comply with the “one-man, one-vote” law.

            3. A three-year rolling average to establish assessments to each of the tri-towns; this request came from financial officials from the three towns, according to Burke. “Because there can be a wild swing in the assessment based not only on the number of students that one town sends to the district but also an increase or reduction in the number of students that the other two towns send. There’s wild fluctuations in what that assessment can be, and it makes it very difficult to budget,” said Burke. “The towns felt it would be better to have a smoothing mechanism.”

            In answer to Assad, Burke explained that the apportionment process for capital expenditures is an average of five years, and operating expenses on a three-year program.

            The next joint meeting of the Marion Select Board and Finance Committee was not set at adjournment.

Marion Select Board/Finance Committee

By Mick Colageo