It’s no small task to prepare financial documents, warrant articles, bylaw language, and numerous departmental budgets in advance of the Annual Town Meeting. Mattapoisett Town Hall has been buzzing with action as department heads and committees get ready for the big night on May 3 at 6:30 pm in the ORRHS auditorium.

            On April 3, the Finance Committee sat down with Administrator of Assessing Kathleen Costello, whose duties also include managing the information technology systems utilized by town departments.

            One major software package was discussed – Geographic Information System Mapping Technology, known as GIS.

            Costello said the program was being successfully used by the Building Department and the Accessor’s Office. GIS integrates data allowing real-time information exchanges. She said that while staff members are out in the field performing various functions, GIS gives them timely critical data via handheld tablets. Also using the system with great success is the harbormaster’s office, she added.

            The GIS costs around $24,500 Costello said. With the addition of the Board of Health and other upgrades, costs would rise to approximately $54,000. In-house technical expertise has been instrumental in keeping costs reasonable, she added, and Costello envisions a point in the future when the Police and Fire Departments might also be tied into the program.

            Also meeting with the Finance Committee on this night was Highway Superintendent Barry Denham. While a wide range of needs, projects, and projections were discussed, things got a bit bogged down when Denham brought up the maintenance needs of the Town Barn located on Mendell Road.

            Previous town meetings had appropriated funds for some items like new windows and wash down drainage, and some of the appropriations have been used while about $217,000 has not.    According to Denham, a complete building improvement program that includes pending upgrades and other needed renovations were estimated at $600,000 by Cape Building Systems; however, FinCom didn’t understand why the unspent money wasn’t subtracted from that sum.

            “It important to cost the balance of the work,” versus including work previously identified and appropriated, Town Administrator Michael Gagne said.

            Of road improvement projects for which the town had anticipated receiving Massachusetts Department of Transportation funding, Gagne said, “Most projects have been kicked into 2023.” That included the village streets improvements proposed for Main, Water, and Beacon Streets.

            On April 5, the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen talked numbers holding a working meeting to discuss the ORR School Committee’s proposal for a $2 million bonding request for improvements to outdoor athletic fields and the auditorium lighting, with Marion picking up 28 percent of the costs, Mattapoisett 34 percent, and Rochester 36 percent, figures based on student enrollment, according to Gagne.

            Gagne said it was necessary to have that request processed through Capital Planning and ranked with other needs presented on the 10-year investment plan. Selectman Jordan Collyer also questioned if the project had been cycled through the ORR capital needs process.

            There are still questions that need answering, said Gagne, and those questions will be sent to the ORR School Committee via letter. He plans on asking them to meet with the Capital Planning Committee to ascertain where this proposal ranks in the ORR Capital Plan.

            The Selectmen expressed concern that a project of this size would have a negative financial impact in spite of the shared costs.

            “It’s a borrowing that will require a two-thirds vote,” Gagne explained, saying that all three towns would have to agree. “My feeling is it is going to be a debt service,” he stated, adding, “you do not have the capital in the levy to fund this.”

            Mattapoisett Library Director Susan Pizzolato brought forward some library personnel needs, and she explained that the library and the community would benefit from the hiring of a paraprofessional, a position that had formally been part of the library structure, but was split into two part-time positions. She expressed the importance of service continuity, especially with needed computer upgrades and ongoing management of consumer accounts.

            “We have two floors and are open 43 hours a week,” she said of the demands on her staff. “I’m not proposing to keep all my part-time positions,” she explained, but she said needed to plan on how to best to serve a community with increasing needs. Part-time positions are currently paid $17.30 per hour. The full-time paraprofessional was estimated at $20.25.

            Pizzolato also said that she wished to have the library open on Monday evenings to better serve the needs of the community. This would also allow the library to receive intra-library deliveries with greater expedience.

            Another department coming before the selectmen with personnel needs was Jacki Coucci, director of the Mattapoisett Council on Aging (COA).

            Coucci said the position of full-time Administrative Coordinator is still vacant, but that several strong resumes had been received. She also said that she wished to upgrade the front desk staffing from senior volunteers to a part-time staff member. Although the work performed by the seniors had been appreciated and well done, she expressed concerns that the discrepancies in skill levels made it difficult to provide adequate customer service. And while she wished to have at least one senior helping to staff the front desk, a professional part-time clerk was warranted, said Coucci. Hourly wages were estimated at $14,231.

            In other areas of the department, Coucci pointed out the increasing demand of COA services, especially for rides to medical appointments.

            Earlier in the evening, Carlos DaSousa, chairman of the Marine Advisory Board (MAB), presented a committee report intended to demonstrate how the Waterfront Enterprise Fund could support the hiring of a full-time harbormaster.

            The MAB drafted the FY20 budget that included a full-time harbormaster, four part-time assistant harbormasters, one wharfinger, and expanded hours of service at approximately $183,450, an increase of $98,650 from FY19, which DaSousa assured the selectmen could be funded by the enterprise fund.       DaSousa explained that revenue for FY19 will come in at $223,517 and FY20 projections should land at approximately $271,317.

            Selectman Paul Silva expressed concern that 50 percent of the budget is salaries, “And that goes up every year, but fees don’t go up every year,” Silva said.

            The selectmen agreed that some staffing adjustments could bring down personnel costs.

            On the matter of staffing the new pump-out boat with costs for that operation being covered up to 75 percent by the state, DaSousa said the town’s share would be about $16,688. The issue of hiring additional staff was debated with Collyer, who said the new full-time harbormaster and their staff will be expected to perform those duties.

            “Part of the point was to get staff out on the water,” Collyer said, adding that at the end of the first year, the MAB and Harbormaster could review staffing needs.

            Gagne said tracking expenses through the boating season would help to establish manpower needs. 

             “Once we have a full-time harbormaster, we’ll be eligible for grants,” said Collyer.

            While wrapping up his comments, Gagne said a meeting had been held with the Finance Committee and the Conservation Commission on the topic of adding new fees for services, and he confirmed that the town could do so without a local wetlands bylaw.

            According to Gagne, a 1997 state law allows cities and towns to set fees for specific services that benefited individuals. He said he would work with town counsel to develop a warrant article asking the voters to allow the Conservation Commission to develop a fee schedule for requests for determinations of applicability and certificates of compliance, as well as other in-field services. He said the department currently cannot cover its own $62,000 annual operating costs.

            The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Finance Committee will be meeting on April 10 at 5:00 pm in the Town Hall conference room.

Mattapoisett Finance Committee

Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen

By Marilou Newell

The cost of removing our solid waste – trash and recycling, with its problematic greasy pizza boxes and the plastic windows in envelopes, is going to cost more. As the number of companies – and countries – willing to buy “clean recyclables” decreases globally, the pressure on cities and towns is increasing.

            One of Mattapoisett’s solutions is attempting to educate residents on best practices for producing clean, saleable recyclable items. No easy task, indeed.

            The issue of the growing mountains of recyclables being shifted from the U.S. to ports-of-call in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Pakistan is becoming more problematic and expensive. The question of how to get residents to clean up their recyclables so they can be sold is now a very real and everyday issue. Changing household habits was discussed on March 27 when the Mattapoisett Finance Committee met with Senior Board of Health Agent Dale Barrows and Health Agent Kathryn Tapper to review the department’s proposed fiscal year 2020 budget.

            The agents are planning a town-wide recyclable education program to help residents better understand the importance of placing only clean, recycle-ready materials in the orange topped containers.

            “But what will happen is that people will just put it in the trash bin,” Barrows said, rather than taking the time or steps to wash out jars and cans or make sure that pizza box is, in fact, grease-free.

            Barrows said he anticipates a noticeable uptick in solid waste tonnage and a drop in recyclables as a direct result of more stringent patroling of what residents are tossing into the recycle containers.

            “Massachusetts can’t handle our own waste,” Barrows said. “A third is shipped out of state and the further it has to go, the more it costs.” He cautioned the committee that costs associated with trash and recyclables were only going to skyrocket until such time as a solution, nationally and globally, could be achieved.

            As things stand now, the FY19 budget allocated $169,176 for the negotiated recycling contract. Barrows estimates that to rise to $178,509 in FY20. Solid waste curbside pick-up will also rise by some $7,000, he noted. On the Town’s website, residents may view a presentation aimed at beginning the recycling education process at www.mattapoisett.net.

            In other areas of the department, Tapper said the Board of Health wants to implement GIS mapping system capability for a cost of $1,400. Finance Committee Chairman Pat Donoghue wondered how the computer program would benefit the department.

            Tapper said that other departments were currently utilizing the system to track and have immediate access to permits and other information while working in the field. Barrows added that it would be especially useful when working with property owners regarding septic systems.

            Mattapoisett’s town manager, Michael Gagne, questioned a jump from $1,500 to $15,000 in the category of part-time agent leave coverage, saying to Barrows, “This is supposed to be an enterprise fund.”

            Barrows said, while fees at the transfer station were in line with other towns, “Trash doesn’t pay. … We are not the Water & Sewer Department.” He continued, “We can’t just up the rates. If I get three rainy days in a row, I don’t make money.”

            Tapper added that, with more homes being added to collection services, costs would rise.

            Also coming before the Finance Committee were Conservation Agent Elizabeth Leidhold and Conservation Commission Chairman Mike King to discuss options for adding new fees for services provided by this department.

            A study of surrounding towns demonstrated that nearly all were charging for services currently not being reimbursed in Mattapoisett. Leidhold said that request for determination of applicability applications, a review service that evaluates projects to determine the need for various permits and conditions, is currently not fee-based. Other towns are charging anywhere from $50 to $250, depending on the square-footage of the property in question.

            Other fees that the Town may wish to impose would include applications for certificates of compliance, extensions of orders of conditions, site visits, wetlands delineations, permit extensions, and requests for amended orders of conditions. Currently, the only fee collected is done so in accordance with the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act.

            King said that, because the Town does not have its own wetlands bylaws, it is bound by state regulations to charge only for notice of intent filings, a fee of $100 that is split 50/50 with the state.

            Gagne thought differently, believing that all the town had to do was institute a bylaw for the new fees themselves, not a wetlands bylaw for which he admitted voters have not had not found palatable in the past. To that end, he said he was awaiting confirmation from town counsel that such a bylaw could be enacted. If that were the case, Gagne said there would be an article on the Annual Town Meeting Warrant asking voters to approve it in May.

            The goal of collecting new fees is an effort on the part of the Town to have those Town Hall departments that provide particular services to property owners carry the cost burden associated with those services versus having the entire taxpaying base cover the costs.

            According to Gagne, the Board of Selectmen favors establishing a new fee structure for Conservation Department services.

            The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Finance Committee is scheduled for April 3 at 5:00 pm in the Town Hall conference room.

Mattapoisett Finance Committee

By Marilou Newell

Some annual elections are exciting, others not so much; but the democratic process at the local level is, in essence, our nation’s purest form of democracy – one person, one vote – and not one to forfeit simply because the only two contested races are for Planning Board and Board of Assessors.

            Marion is a town well aware of the vital role of a planning board and the impact that board’s decisions have on a community. Incumbent and current chairman of the board, Will Saltonstall, is the only Planning Board member running for reelection, as Steve Kokkins has decided not to vie for his seat for another term. Four candidates will appear on the ballot for the two three-year terms – Saltonstall, Barry Gaffey, William do Carmo, and Joseph Rocha.

            There are two candidates hoping for a seat on the Board of Assessors – Barry Gaffey and Catherine Gibbs. Current board member Brad Eames did not pull papers for another term as an assessor. Finance Committee member Alan Minard did pull papers to run for the board, but did not return them to the Clerk’s Office by the March 26 deadline. 

            Board of Selectmen member John Waterman is running unopposed for a full three-year seat on the board. Waterman was elected last year for a one-year term to occupy the seat of former Board of Selectmen member Steve Gonsalves, who served two of his three-year term and resigned in February 2018.

            For the Board of Health, Edward Hoffer is running unopposed for a three-year term currently held by Jason Reynolds who has decided not to run for a second term.

            Current chairman of the Marion School Committee, Christine Marcolini, decided not to run for another term, leaving Nichole Daniel to run unopposed for her first three-year term on the committee.

            Old Rochester Regional School Committee incumbent Heather Burke will serve a second term on that school committee, also running unopposed.

            Open Space Acquisition Commission incumbent John Rockwell will serve another term running unopposed for one of the two open seats, while appointed incumbent Casey Gunschel will run unopposed for another term on the commission.

            The current appointed tree warden, Jon Henry, will relinquish his position to unopposed candidate Russell Gunschel, and incumbent Town Moderator Brad Gordon, also running unopposed, will serve another year at the Town Meeting podium.

            Marion’s 2019 Annual Election is Friday, May 17. Polls are located at the Benjamin D. Cushing Community Center at 465 Mill Street, open from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm.

            The League of Women Voters will host a “Meet the Candidates” event at the Marion Music Hall, 164 Front Street, on Thursday, May 2, at 4:45 pm.

By Jean Perry

With a pretty straightforward agenda before them, the Marion Conservation Commission spent most of its time on March 27 issuing one enforcement order and resolving another.

            Enforcement and cease and desist orders were issued to M.P. O’Leary and K.J. Welch for their property at 82 West Avenue on Planting Island. The commission received a citizen inquiry regarding work occurring at the site, and members of the commission visited the location on Sunday, March 24.

            Brush had been cleared from the site, truckloads of fill material were brought in, and boulders were placed at edge of the lawn. The entire site is in the V-zone, Chairman Jeff Doubrava observed, and includes other resource areas such as a barrier beach, salt marsh, and possibly coastal dunes. In addition, the entire site is within priority habitat of rare species.

            Vice Chairman Shaun Walsh expressed frustration about the wetland violation, saying, “It’s really discouraging. There were three contractors that went to this site and did the work. Any contractor on Planting Island, on the seaward side, [knows to] advise your client to check with the conservation commission.”

            Per the enforcement order, a notice of intent must be filed within 30 days of the issuance of the order. No other work may occur at the site until a public hearing has been held and a permit is issued.

            “Maybe the homeowner didn’t know [to notify the commission],” commented Doubrava, “but the three contractors should have known.”

            The Piney Point Beach Club filed a notice of intent, addressing concerns the commission had raised in an enforcement order issued by them on June 27, 2018.

            The Marion harbormaster notified the commission on June 20, 2018 that there was sand being spread by heavy equipment on the beach from below the low tide mark to above the high tide mark. The beach club had an order of conditions at the time, allowing up to 20 yards of sand to be spread by hand up to a depth of 6 inches directly in front of the beach pavilion.

            In this evening’s notice of intent, the beach club, represented by Susan Nilson of Foth-CLE Engineering Group, proposed numerous maintenance activities on the property located at 93 and 96 Piney Point Road. The entire site, Nilson observed, is within the commission’s jurisdiction, and therefore the beach club was providing a comprehensive list of all the activities they contemplated performing on the site.

            In addition to resurfacing the tennis courts, epoxying cracks in the concrete walkways, and maintaining the dense aggregate stone roadways, the most significant activity the beach club proposed was beach nourishment of up to 720 yards of sand above the mean high tide mark to a depth of 6 inches.

            Commission member Kristen Saint Don-Campbell questioned the use of machinery on the beach and the depth of 6 inches across the length of the shoreline. Nilson stated that the proposal was for “up to 6 inches of sand annually above the high tide line across the whole property,” placed where the loss from storms and wave action occurred.

            “[The beach club shoreline] is not a highly erosive shoreline,” Nilson said. ”The  morphology doesn’t change significantly, unless the wind is in the right direction.”

            Commission member Marc Belanger suggested that it should be stated unambiguously that it was a maximum of 720 yards and no more than 6 inches in one location. Nilson responded that it is important to reference the plan, where this is explicitly stated. Belanger reminded her that members of boards and commissions change, and having it explicitly written in the permit will be important.

            The beach club also requested permission for the removal of seaweed by hand and by small machinery if there was “significant” accumulation. Walsh asked if the beach was used by migratory shorebirds, who would forage in the seaweed, and Nilson noted that the beach is not mapped for rare species.

            Nilson also asked that the beach club be allowed to prune beach vegetation such as rosa rugosa and beach grass in order to stall their encroachment into the playground area and parking lot.

            In the order of conditions issued this evening, the commission stated that the seaweed removal would be allowed only between Memorial and Labor Days – and only when accumulation is significant – with a 48-hour notice and subsequent expressed approval of the commission.

            Also during the meeting, the commission issued a negative determination for the installation of a handicapped access ramp at the Mary Celeste Neighborhood Lounge located at 153 Front Street. The ramp, located on the left side of the building, will extend from the front of the building and wrap around the back of the building to the handicapped parking space.

            A negative determination was also issued to Robert F. and Mary M. Merrow for the construction of a new single-family residence on Pasture Lane. Carmelo Nicolosi of Charon & Associates said most of the work would occur outside the buffer zone. There is a wetland line from a previous filing in 2000 that was relocated and flagged. The work will come no closer than 75 feet from any wetland flag. The four-bedroom house will have a six-bedroom capacity, on-site septic system, and town water. There will be some tree clearing in the southeast corner, and some fill will be brought in to maintain the 48-inch groundwater separation required by the Board of Health.

            The hearing for Cynthia and John Paliotta was continued again, after the commission visited the site at 119 Converse Road to identify the four trees the Paliottas want to remove for fear they will fall on their neighbor’s house. The Paliottas failed to mark the trees as the commission had requested; however, the commission “made the assumption” the trees in question were the four oaks beyond the permanent wetland markers near the water.

            Walsh expressed some skepticism about the need to remove the trees described by the property owners. The trees, which all occur in the resource area, did not appear unhealthy, in Walsh’s opinion.

            “My impression looking at the trees … if in danger of falling, they would fall away from the house and into the wetland,” Walsh opined, adding later, “We try not to allow people to cut trees in a vegetated wetland.”

            The hearing is continued until April 24 to give the Paliottas time to contact an arborist for an opinion on the condition of the trees.

            The commission announced the resignation of associate member Dale Jones, reading aloud Jones’ March 19 letter to the Board of Selectmen. Belanger has been sworn-in as a full member of the commission, leaving the commission without any associate members to fortify the commission’s roster. Commission members expressed their appreciation of Jones’ service to the Town, and Doubrava acknowledged, “I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”

            The next meeting of the Marion Conservation Commission is scheduled for April 10 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Town House.

Marion Conservation Commission

By Sarah French Storer