As per the Town’s policy, the Rochester Board of Selectmen on February 19 ordered Daniel Costa, owner of Lloyd’s Market, to close off the section of the store where alcohol products are displayed for one business day after a store employee was found in violation of the alcohol regulations.

            Early in January, Lloyd’s Market was cited for selling alcohol to a customer under the age of 21 during the Police Department’s undercover sting operation visiting the few establishments in Rochester authorized to sell alcohol.

            Rochester Police Chief Robert Small told the selectmen on February 19 that a first offense should result in a one-day loss of a liquor license to be carried out on a weekday between Monday through Thursday. This would be the case for Lloyd’s as a first-time offender since the business changed hands to Costa.

            Costa apologized to the board, saying, “I take full responsibility. I take it very seriously.”

            Costa said one of the first things he did as the new owner of Lloyd’s was to implement strict tobacco and alcohol policies and drill them into each of his employees. The register, he said, requires the employee to verify the age of every customer purchasing alcohol before the sale can be completed.

            “The person that’s in question that sold to a minor, I had just hired her,” said Costa. He added that he did have her signature on the policy that Costa had introduced to her upon hiring her. Despite that, though, the employee violated the policy.

            “She was terminated that day,” Costa said. “That’s how serious I take it. It should never happen. It just can’t happen is how I explain it to my employees.”

            He said he is “constantly reminding” his staff, “Make sure you’re carding.

            “In this case, she just didn’t,” Costa said. “No excuse. … Whatever the [board’s] decision is, I’ll stand by it, that’s fine.”

            Selectman Brad Morse suggested, instead of allowing Costa to choose a day that he would prefer to close off alcohol sales, that the board pick a date for Costa, a date that must be within 30 days of the public hearing. Morse selected Tuesday, March 5, which Costa approved.

            “Sorry,” Selectman Paul Ciaburri said to Costa. “You know, we made these policies and if we don’t enforce them – sorry it happened and all that, but we kind of – now we’ve got it written that we have to enforce them.”

            As the public hearing was closed and Costa left, Morse said to Costa, “Be diligent,” giving Costa a thumbs-up.

            The next meeting of the Rochester Board of Selectmen is scheduled for March 4 at 6:00 pm at the Rochester Town Hall.

Rochester Board of Selectmen

By Jean Perry

            The Marion Conservation Commission on February 13 tackled the long-standing issue of the Town-owned land at Boatyard Park that has been encroached upon by the adjacent boatyard for over 25 years.

            The Town purchased the land in 1996 from the Trust for Public Land during the development of The Cove.

            At a previous meeting, the commission had informed the current owners of the boatyard, A&J Boat Corp, that they would be interested in a land swap to resolve the issue. The boatyard owners, Shawn and Richard Patten, were represented on February 13 by Attorney John Mathieu, who proposed the swap of a 4-acre parcel of wooded land off Rezendes Terrace in exchange for the approximately .40-acre land adjacent to the boatyard.

            The Pattens currently have a Purchase and Sale agreement on the Rezendes Terrace parcel.

            Mathieu described a portion of the lot as wooded swamp, suggesting that this makes it a valuable lot for protection. He also suggested the parcel may possibly be a buildable lot, and abuts a number of residential properties on Rezendes Terrace and Point Road. The boatyard, Mathieu pointed out, would pay taxes on the boatyard parcel once they acquired it.

            Conservation Commission Chairman Jeff Doubrava inquired about the access to the parcel, which does not abut Rezendes Terrace. Mathieu reported that there is a 40-foot “paper street” across, which the Town would have a right of way to access the parcel.

            Doubrava then turned his questions to the boatyard parcel, wondering how the process would play out if the commission decided to move forward with the swap. Mathieu informed the commission, based on his title work, that he believed the small parcel was a separate lot, 41A, as shown on the plan of land that accompanied the original conveyance in 1996. Therefore, Mathieu said, the parcel would not need to be subdivided from the rest of the Town’s land included in the original purchase.

            Doubrava outlined the procedure the Town must follow in order to convey the Town-owned parcel. The two parcels would need to be appraised for market value to determine that they are comparable in value. The conservation value of the two parcels would also need to be assessed. The Board of Selectmen would need to agree to place the parcel on the Town Meeting warrant for Town Meeting to adopt with a 2/3 majority. The parcel is considered conservation land under state Article 97, so there would need to be a 2/3 vote by the state legislature to release it from conservation use.

            Doubrava lamented that, while there were other parcels he would prefer to be protecting in the land swap, such as Ram Island, he believed this was a fair swap.

            Member Cynthia Callow reminded the commission that it is in the best interest of conservation to protect tracts of contiguous land, which this parcel has the potential of being with abutting parcels of open space.

            Member Kristen Saint-Don Campbell voiced her concerns about the timing of the decision, asking, “How do we make a decision without an appraisal?”

             Patten has an appointment to appear before the Board of Selectmen at a future meeting to get the article on the warrant.

            Doubrava suggested that the commission move ahead with its approval contingent on the results of the appraisals.

            “If the appraisals come back insufficient,” said Mathieu, “[the commission] can say you don’t support it at Annual Town Meeting.”

            The commission voted to approve the land swap pending favorable market and conservation value appraisals. Doubrava added that the Article 97 issue could be pursued in parallel with the Town process.

            Also during the meeting, the commission acknowledged the resignation of ConCom’s longest-serving member, Joel Hartley. In his letter of resignation to the town clerk, Hartley acknowledged his 20-year tenure on the commission. He expressed his confidence in the current commission as the reason for the timing of his resignation.

            “Currently the commission is full of very qualified members,” Hartley wrote. “The Commission will be in very capable hands.”

            Doubrava echoed the praise of Hartley by the other commissioners, saying, “[He’s a] good engineer – didn’t say a lot, but when he did, it mattered.”

            In other business, the commission issued a Negative determination on the Request for Determination of Applicability filed by Dean and Carole Burpee to rebuild a deck off their home at 52 West Avenue.

            A Negative determination was issued for Garry Holmes’ RDA to add a 218 square-foot three-season addition at 31 Beach Street, as well as a 771 square-foot deck and a 785 square-foot garage.

            The commission issued a Negative determination on the RDA filed by Seth Farquharsan, 33 River View Lane, to construct a 16-foot by 25-foot garage with an attached 150 square-foot garden shed adjacent to the existing one-car garage.

            N. Douglas Schneider presented the proposal by David and Linda Nielsen, of 203 Front Street, to construct an elevated utility platform supported by timbers set on sonotubes. The platform will be raised to 17.87 feet, which is above the base flood elevation of 16 feet. The RDA received a Negative determination.

            Schneider also represented Joseph and Caroline Sheehan for their Notice of Intent to construct a 12-foot by 32-foot in-ground swimming pool at 17 Nokomis Road. The commission had asked that a fence, currently required by the Board of Health, be added to the plan; the applicants complied. In addition, in issuing the Order of Conditions, the commission required that the owners install siltation fence and the pool drainage be plumbed so that treated water cannot be discharged into the wetlands.

            The next meeting of the Marion Conservation Commission is scheduled for February 27 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Town House.

Marion Conservation Commission

By Sarah French Storer