The morning after presiding over a successful Special Town Meeting that saw all nine articles carry, the Rochester Board of Selectmen met for the third time in five days, the last of these on November 17. In their regular meeting, the board heard from Assessor Chuck Shea and voted for a single tax rate and a residential factor of 1 in fiscal year 2021 with no exemptions.

            Shea, who will be retiring from his post in 2021, participated in a classification (i.e., split tax rate) hearing, reading from the FY21 revaluation certified on November 2.

            The full and fair FY20 valuation of $1,035,420,960 was dominated by residential property, covering 85.46 percent ($884,876,345) of the total. Those numbers are increasing in FY21 to 86.77 percent ($935,886,133). The total FY21 valuation is $1,078,606,294.

            The expected levy for FY21 is $14,420,966.15, a 3.32-percent increase over $13,957,500 for FY20. Last year’s tax rate was 13.48, slightly higher than the current 13.37.

            Residential taxes will increase in FY21 by 5.76 percent, while commercial taxes will decrease by 15 percent. Shea explained that the shift would make the rate more accurately assess split-use properties such as farms that the state recognizes as commercial. But if there is a home on the farm, all value was being classified as commercial. Now that property is being separated out for tax purposes. The total valuation increase is 4.7 percent.

            Shea reported more sales over the course of 2019 to almost 60. “There was a time when we struggled to get 35 sales,” he said, noting an annual expectation of 60-65 in qualified sales that do not count sales below market value.

            The average single-family home assessment for Rochester in FY20 was $413,400; that number is up to $431,870 in FY21. The average property tax for a single-family home is $5,774, up by $201. The average condominium assessment for Rochester in FY20 was $386,095; that number is up to $416,126 for FY21 with a $360 increase in property tax.

            After a unanimous vote in favor, Town Administrator Suzanne Szyndlar made the selectmen aware that excess capacity is all used up for 2020.

            The selectmen approved an Ambulance Hardship Request, and Selectman Brad Morse suggested that Szyndlar be authorized to approve any such request under $500 without the selectmen’s vote. Town Counsel Blair Bailey confirmed that the practice is acceptable at whatever number the board set. Selectman Woody Hartley heartily agreed, and a motion passed authorizing Szyndlar to approve any hardship request of $500 or less.

            The Selectmen approved a SEMASS payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) of $340,445 for September 2020.

            Morse was to meet on Wednesday with the Carver-Marion-Wareham Regional Refuse Disposal District and also with the Town of Marion with a plan to provide an update at the board’s next meeting.

            Under new business, Hartley reported on a new state grant up to $300,000 meant to assist towns looking to take indoor activities outside during the coronavirus pandemic. The money could be applied to streets, curbsides, or parking lots. Bailey said the grant had been used in the city for tents, pavilions, and outdoor patio areas. The board voted to approve Hartley’s pursuit of a plan for a program and application. Hartley said there would be more than one opportunity to apply and hopes to return to the board with an update in January.

            Among other things, the board used its November 12 meeting to set the quorum for the town’s November 16 Special Town Meeting at 30 per the Acts of 2020, Chapter 92 “An Act Relative to Municipal Governance during the COVID-19 Emergency,” Section 7.

            They barely got that many on Monday night at Rochester Memorial School.

            The state would have sanctioned as few as five, seeing that Rochester’s regular quorum is 50. No less than 10 percent was authorized in a special act by the state legislature per the governor in June.

            “We need 30 voters; there’s some important business to be done that night,” said Hartley on November 12.

            “It is important when we have this issue occasionally when we don’t have the controversial things on the warrant is getting people to come in…. There are some very important items,” said Bailey, echoing Hartley’s sentiments.

            Szyndlar noted that the town moderator had emailed his endorsement of the quorum reduction. “He’s 100-percent on board with it. He definitely thinks that it’s a great idea,” she said.

            The motion carried, 3-0.

            Szyndlar opened her November 12 Town Administrator’s report by publicly thanking Town Clerk Paul Dawson and his team of volunteers for their work on the November 3 election, saying they did “a fantastic job.”

            In other news from the November 12 meeting, there will be a household hazardous waste collection day on Saturday, November 14, from 9:00 am to noon at the Highway Department at 200 Ryder Road. More information can be found at www.townofrochester.com and on the town’s Facebook page. Only Rochester residents will be allowed to participate; residents can visit the website for a list of acceptable and unacceptable items.

            Szyndlar met with department heads on November 6 to address changes recommended by Public Health Nurse Karen Walega regarding the opening of municipal buildings. Amidst the current spike in positive COVID-19 cases, Szyndlar told the selectmen that, to whatever extent town employees can work remotely, they will not be in the Town Hall.

            With the holidays coming and an anticipated heightened transmission of the coronavirus, the following precautions are being taken: After Thanksgiving, staff will work from home the next five consecutive business days. Where it concerns the public, nothing should change; the town is still making appointments and receiving calls and emails.

            Hartley added that the Council on Aging is closing down the Friday after Thanksgiving and the week following. The COA will also close on Christmas for a few days, on New Year’s Day, and a few days after that. Services will remain up and running, including food distribution and rides. “It’s a good idea to be on the safe side throughout the town,” said Hartley.

            The next meeting of the Rochester Board of Selectmen is scheduled for December 4.

Rochester Board of Selectmen

By Mick Colageo

            It’s not often that large joint meetings work well, but the November 17 group meeting hosted by the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen did just that. Coming together at the invitation of the selectmen were members of the Capital Planning Committee, chaired by Chuck McCullough, and the Finance Committee, chaired by Pat Donoghue.

            Three department heads came before the collaborative seeking to have their grant applications supported with matching town funds from the Capital Stabilization Fund, or, as was the case with harborside projects, a borrowing from the fund to pay for necessary wharf repairs.

            Coming before the committees first was Barry Denham, the highway surveyor. Denham explained that the town had been awarded a Coastal Zone Management Grant of $75,000 that required the town to chip in $25,000.

            The CZM grant, Denham explained, would be used for an engineering study of a culvert located on Mattapoisett Neck Road that redirects tidal flowage from marshland into Molly’s Cove. He said that the drainage pipe was most likely not appropriately sized when it was installed decades ago but furthermore was damaged and failing. The suspect piping had been patched, Denham said, but called it a “ticking time bomb.”

            Denham said there were two other culverts in the beach communities of Pico Beach and Crescent Beach that were also failing, but fear over the Mattapoisett Neck Road culvert ranked higher given that residents have only one way to and from homes in that area.

            Questions arose when McCullough stated that the 2019 Capital Planning schedule did not list any culverts; thus, he wondered aloud at the process and why such important items weren’t listed. “When a project hits us, it’s because due diligence has been done.” He said the Capital Plan should include all the funding required so that his committee can then rank the projects from highest to lowest priority. The Capital Planning Committee ranks all projects and equipment requests over $10,000 needed within a 10-year timeframe, then advises the Finance Committee and the Board of Selectmen.

            Town Administrator Mike Lorenco said the culverts were not on the plan but that he and McCullough had been in discussions about what belongs on the working document. “Chuck and I have had conversations; things are missing,” Lorenco said of the Capital Plan list. He said he would have a discussion with department heads on what needs to be listed on the Capital Plan, calling it an “overhaul.” He added, “The plan should also note how things will be paid for.”

            In the end, it was decided that Denham and Lorenco would reach out to CZM and learn whether or not the timeline for committing to the matching monies could be extended out to the spring. At that time, the request could go before Town Meeting. Barring that, Selectman Paul Silva said the board would revisit the proposal at their next regular meeting.

            Next up was Fire Chief Andrew Murray, with a request for $33,755 from the Capital Stabilization Fund to be added to an award of $173,821, a grant received from FEMA. Murray explained that SCAB, which stands for self-contained breathing apparatus, will be purchased with the monies. He said that currently, the department is using equipment that is 24 years old. Murray plans on buying 23 units, one for each seat inside Fire Department emergency apparatuses as required by OSHA.

            In this instance, the requested funds have been listed on the Capital Plan for a number of years, it was noted, but now time was of the essence. With the FEMA grant, the town could supply the safety equipment sooner rather than later, at better rates if done so before January 1, at better rates.

            Murray’s request was positively received by all in attendance and approved by the selectmen.

            Harbormaster Jamie MacIntosh also came before the assembled with a request to borrow $30,000 from the Stabilization Fund to pay for the replacement of damaged or missing pilings and associated gear for the wharves.

            A Town Meeting vote had previously approved a separate project for $30,000 to dredge between wharves in October 2019.

            Regarding the ‘loan,’ Silva wasn’t comfortable moving the funding unless it could be established how much would be paid back and over what period of time from the Waterfront Retained Earnings.

            Again the group was in favor of supporting the request. In the end, it was approved by the selectmen with the stipulation that the Waterfront Enterprise Fund pay no less than $10,000 a year to the Capital Stabilization Fund.

            Earlier in the meeting, it was discussed that the selectmen had the authority under the state’s emergency orders to move monies from the Stabilization Fund to other accounts. The selectmen sought the Finance Committee’s advice before acting on requests that they had received from the departments.

            At McCullough’s request, Lorenco will prepare a list of all grants being pursued and any costs to the town. Lorenco said he would work on a documented procedure for department heads for grant applications moving forward.

Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen

By Marilou Newell

            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