The Rochester Planning Board was introduced to the plans for the largest solar array farm ever proposed in Rochester during an informal meeting held on January 14, and will soon entertain another four informal sessions for four additional related solar array projects all by the same developer, SunRaise Investment.

            Joe Harrison of SunRaise Investment said the developer and engineering firm Beals and Thomas have been doing work at 0 Braley Hill Road since the summer of 2018 with a strategy of looking at potential solar sites in Rochester that would best fit under the town’s latest solar bylaw.

            Being off Route 105, a scenic highway, solar projects are not permitted within 300 feet of the roadway.

            “So we targeted some back lots and lots that… you won’t really be able to see the solar from anywhere,” Harrison said.

            He said he understood that screening was a significant factor for solar array farms in Rochester.

            “There’s potentially five projects that we’re working on and would anticipate submitting applications for in 2020,” said Harrison.

            Braley Hill Road, the one before the board that night, is only the first.

            Eric Glass, lead engineer for the project, said he has significant experience in the solar farm development field in Massachusetts.

            “We find that your bylaw is very specific and the process is very specific, which we appreciate,” said Glass. “It’s not gonna be easy by any means… but we appreciate how much thought you put into your bylaw.”

            Glass said it has taken some time to get the plan to the point where it was that night after attending a technical review meeting with the chairman and other town departments for feedback, and the layout he was showcasing that night was a refined layout based on the feedback he received.

            Glass reviewed the map of the two parcels that together total 100 acres and pointed to abutting residences that are about 660 feet, 500 feet, and 700 feet away from the corner of the arrays.

            Vegetation would be preserved between the developed portion of the land – about 40 acres of panels – and the entrance road would be curved instead of straight to eliminate any visibility into the developed solar farm.

            The project was kept outside the wetlands 100-foot buffer zone, but he said the project would nonetheless file a request for Determination of Applicability with the Conservation Commission in good faith.

            The project has stayed ahead of the game by already consulting with state entities and the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program to determine species habitat. There are some areas designated as Eastern Box Turtle habitat.

            The project will consist of two main array fields with minimal grading and four points of stormwater control design.

            “We’re really trying to minimize the ground disturbance on this project,” Glass said.

            The plan was obviously not the final plan, said Glass, but the plan is what he deemed at an “advanced level.”

            “We have this level of plans for the other four projects already just for technical review,” said Glass.

            “Which is more than we’re used to getting at this level,” said Town Planner Steve Starrett.

            Chairman Arnie Johnson briefly discussed the three bonds required for the project and also cautioned the developer that the amount of work the board’s peer-review engineer has right now is relatively high.

            Johnson said he could assist in arranging the scheduling of technical reviews for the other four projects to keep things moving.

            Also during the meeting, REpurpose Properties, LLC, applicant for a Special Permit to construct an age-restricted residential development beside Plumb Corner Mall on Rounseville Road, withdrew its application without prejudice in order to re-file and essentially “reset the clock” of the permitting process.

            Town Counsel Blair Bailey explained that, since the public hearing has been open for so long since 2018, the process is now at the ”point where a quorum will be impossible… because of how many meetings members have missed.”

            According to the Mullen Rule, members are only allowed to be absent from the hearing once.

            “It’s just gotten to the point now where we’ve lost the ability to have members vote on it,” said Bailey.

            Planning Board Chairman Arnie Johnson pointed out that the applicant has requested a continuance of the hearing 14 times.

            That public hearing will be opened during the February 12 meeting, a Wednesday instead of a Tuesday, and the board voted to waive the application fees.

            The public hearing for a large-scale solar farm off Old Middleboro Road filed by Pedro Rodriguez of Solar MA Project Management, LLC was continued until January 28.

            In other business, the board approved the application for an Approval Not Required filed by the Town of Rochester for 33 Dexter Lane.

            The next meeting of the Rochester Planning Board is scheduled for January 28 at 7:00 pm at the Rochester Town Hall.

Rochester Planning Board

By Jean Perry

Following the January 14 Special Town Meeting, the Board of Selectmen held its regular meeting.

            The agenda included a meeting with John DeCosta and Bruce Rocha regarding Mattapoisett’s Boston Cane.

            The Boston Cane was the brainchild of the publisher of now-defunct The Boston Post newspaper, Edwin Grozier, who distributed 700 elegant canes throughout New England with the request that they be presented to the oldest living “male” in each community, compliments of the newspaper. Times have changed to include women as Boston Cane recipients. DeCosta and Rocha sought to have the town resume the tradition.

            DeCosta said it had been around 2004 when the cane was last presented. He said that a benefactor had come forward with seed money to purchase plaques or pins that would be given to those receiving the Boston Cane recognition.

            The cane is not intended to stay with the honoree but with the town for future recognition events.

            But DeCosta and Rocha thought that something should be given to the recipient, something they could keep.

            There was discussion about researching who had received the cane in Mattapoisett in the past and a display case in town hall.

            The selectmen voted to grant permission for DeCosta and Rocha to continue on a path that will resurrect this age-old tradition.

            In other business, Harbormaster Jamie McIntosh told the selectmen that he was ready to sell the 2005 Sea Hawk, 2012 Load-Rite trailer, and 1986 Boston Whaler. The selectmen approved the sale of what was deemed surplus equipment. McIntosh said that the Sea Hawk would fetch $26,600 including its trailer and that the previously donated Boston Whaler would be worth $4,000.

            Also during the meeting, Town Administrator Michael Gagne said in his brief report that the search committee who has been charged with finding viable candidates as his replacement along with professional search firm Paradigm Associates had trimmed the field of 40 candidates down to seven.

            The selectmen scheduled a January 23 meeting in Town Hall at 4:00 pm with the committee to learn the names of those in the running.

            As of press time, the next meeting of the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen is scheduled for February 11 at 6:30 pm in the Town Hall conference room.

Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen

By Marilou Newell

On January 14, Mattapoisett voters gathered as town officials called a Special Town Meeting to order to consider one warrant article: modifying Article 20 of the October Special Town Meeting that collectively pulled together various infrastructure projects and specific funding sources.

            That warrant article noted that the town would not move forward on any of the capital projects if one of two specific grants were not received. The town failed to receive a much-heralded Mass Works grant. That failure now put a federal grant in jeopardy.

            The January Special Town Meeting Article 1 amended October STM Article 20 by deleting “This work shall only proceed if the Town is in receipt of a Mass Works Grant and a U.S. Economic Development Grant both totaling $1,470,000.” Language that would replace the deletion read, “The Town’s share of the project costs $1,665,000 must be matched dollar for dollar from Federal and State Grant/Funding sources to be used towards the project.”

            The language change would give the town more flexibility to seek, and hopefully secure, other funding sources.

            Selectman Jordan Collyer addressed the packed cafetorium at Old Hammondtown Elementary School, prompting him to note the large number of attendees. He explained how the federal grant, the U.S. Economic Development Grant, which the town was poised to receive, had to be responded to by January 15. The town had no choice but to call a Special Town Meeting to give voters the decision as to whether or not the language could be changed; otherwise, the entirety of October Special Town Meeting Warrant Article 20 would become invalid.

            Collyer also explained that although the town had failed to receive the Mass Works Grant, almost immediately the town had received word that the Massachusetts Department of Transportation would be allocating more funds in July to road projects. But with the October Special Town Meeting vote in place, time was of the essence.

            The voters spoke almost unanimously with 178 votes in favor of the Article One and 6 voting no.

By Marilou Newell