Ahead of the November 19 Fall Special Town Meeting, The Rochester Planning Board held a series of public hearings for seven bylaw articles slated for the warrant.

Two of these articles pertain to the legislative requirements of the Green Communities Act, a state designation the Town hopes to achieve.

The first option is an article proposing a “Ground-Mounted Solar Photovoltaic Installation” overlay district for the town’s capped landfill where a solar field would be allowed “as of right” without the need of a special permit. Only a site plan review would be required.

The solar bylaw would still apply to the project pertaining to aspects such as screening and drainage, but as Planning Board Chairman Arnie Johnson stated, “But doesn’t limit the effect of the solar bylaw.”

Furthermore, Johnson emphasized, “We’re not advocating any project to go there. There’s no project currently slated to go there; it’s just simply a check-off on legislation that we need to do for the state for the Green Communities thing.”

“If you were going to pick a part of Rochester where you could say you could put solar … that would be the only place,” commented Town Counsel Blair Bailey.

As it did with all the proposed articles, the board voted to recommend adoption by Town Meeting.

Next, as an alternative to the solar overlay district, the subsequent article would allocate the Limited Industrial Zone as an overlay district for “Renewable or Alternative Energy Research and Development Facilities and/or Manufacturing Facilities.”

“We could do an either/or,” said Johnson. Solar, as the prior article allows, “or we could create manufacturing or research and development.

“We decided to do all three just in case the solar didn’t pass at Town Meeting,” Johnson stated.

The bylaw would specify the types of renewable energy research allowed in the overlay district, and the board chose to prohibit wind energy from the bylaw.

“That’s something that we didn’t want to have –” said Johnson, “a windmill sticking up there in the Industrial Zone.”

The remaining five articles came as a result of concerns brought by residents to the bylaw subcommittee:

One article would re-number the general heading of the zoning bylaw, combining all overlay districts into one heading, as Johnson explained it. The article would organize each overlay district that is currently scattered throughout the bylaw.

Another article addressed some amendments suggested by the zoning bylaw subcommittee some time ago, but were not deemed priorities at the time. The article would consolidate into one section the amount of acreage required for two-, three-, and other multi-family houses – their different lot requirements such as sizes and setbacks – and puts them all together in one “more user-friendly” format, as Johnson put it. In most cases, applicants would not have to go before the Zoning Board of Appeals for approval, needing only a variance for certain other criteria.

The next article addresses the multiple smaller accessory structures on agricultural land, giving more specific details on what is allowed and what would require zoning approval, while another article addresses temporary storage units that would be allowed in front yard areas.

One final article that addresses some bylaw “housekeeping” to add a section that Johnson described as “a general philosophy” and “guiding principle” of the bylaw as it pertains to residential growth and the town’s status as a Right to Farm community.

All the articles were received with a unanimous positive vote to recommend at the November 16 Fall Special Town Meeting to take place at Rochester Memorial School at 7:00 pm.

In other business, the board granted an Approval Not Required application for Logan Smith for three lots at 69 Ryder Road. The plan includes a paved apron and road improvements to Old Middleboro Road, as well as a catch basin for stormwater.

In response to a request from Connet Woods, the board allowed an extension for road paving until December 15.

The board also voted not to recommend the Board of Selectmen exercise its right of first refusal for the sale of 440 Snipatuit Road.

The next meeting of the Rochester Planning Board is scheduled for December 11 at 7:00 pm at the Rochester Town Hall.

Rochester Planning Board

By Jean Perry

There will be 20 articles on the November 26 Fall Special Town Meeting Warrant, 17 of them involving matters of finance, and all 17 of them got the OK from the Mattapoisett Finance Committee on November 12.

The Town Hall might have been closed for the holiday, but the FinCom was inside scouring the warrant and hearing one final time from Harbormaster Jill Simmons on three waterfront-related articles, including one for a pumpout boat that would be partially funded by the state.

“Now that we’ve been advised by the Mattapoisett Boat Yard that they will not be continuing to operate the program next year,” Simmons reiterated, “The [Clean Vessel Act] said they would be providing the municipality with a boat and they would give us $56,000 towards the boat. The balance would be the responsibility of the town.”

The 23-foot pumpout boat is priced at $99,560, with the town contributing $43,310 with funds from the harbormaster’s fiscal year 2019 budget approved back in May at the Annual Town Meeting. The Board of Selectmen is co-sponsoring Article 16 with the harbormaster.

Also sponsored by the selectmen is Article 12, $40,000 for offseason repairs, improvements, renovations, and restoration work at the town wharf, including piling replacements, new bumpers, and an off anchoring system, said Simmons, which will allow boats to be anchored to pilings “and not hitting hard,” as Simmons put it.

Before Simmons left, the committee briefly discussed Article 13 to appropriate $155,965 to supplement various town department budgets, including $6,000 to the harbormaster’s FY19 budget

“The reason that I owe Jill that money is that the previous year the number of hours she worked,” said Town Administrator Michael Gagne, who thought that Simmons’ compensation was capped at 960 hours; however, that maximum was incorrect, so Simmons will be compensated for all the hours she worked.

The Finance Committee discussed the remaining articles once Simmons was excused, starting with Article 3 for $400,000 to fund various stabilization funds: $50,000 for the Special Education Reserve, $100,000 for Debt Service Stabilization, $100,000 for Long-term Stabilization, and $150,000 for Capital Improvements Stabilization.

Finance Committee Chairman Pat Donoghue took issue with the Special Education Reserve, saying the School Department was supposed to return the balance of the money taken from the account, not the Town.

“When [the school department] talked us into that,” said Donoghue, “they got a bump up in the budget for that year, which is permanent. But they agreed that they would … replace that fund up to the $290,000.”

They have been, Gagne told her. “It’s been coming up slowly,” Gagne said, with $70,000 transferred last year and another $40,000 this year. “They have been returning money at the end of each year,” Gagne continued. “They’re getting there. It’s probably going to take three years.”

Article 4 appropriates $10,000 in surplus revenue to hire a consultant to review the Town’s zoning bylaws, an action Gagne said was long overdue.

Article 5, although not formally recommended that night, will likely receive FinCom recommendation on Town Meeting floor for $950,000 to fund the replacement of a water main across to Pease’s Point. The reason for holding off the recommendation, Gagne said, was because the final bid would not be available until just before Town Meeting. Roughly $498,000 will be reimbursed by a grant, while the Town would borrow the remainder.

Article 6 will establish a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreement with the developers of the Tinkham II solar project on Tinkham Hill Road. Gagne said that, according to Principal Assessor Kathleen Costello, the agreement would be for approximately $60,000 a year.

Article 7 was recommended with minimal discussion for appropriating $80,174 for bond payments – $7,643 from Water Retained earnings for the water department, $67,506 from Sewer retained earnings for the sewer department, and $5,025 from the tax levy for excluded debt related to the Town Road Phase VIII Project.

Article 8 is for $225,000 to replace a 2006 ambulance, with $100,000 coming directly from ambulance service receipts, and $125,000 coming from a loan.

“[Police Chief] Mary Lyons came to see about an ambulance and explained the situation of the ambulance, being its age and the amount of time it’s been down and the costs incurred for mutual aid,” said Gagne. “I talked with the Board of Selectmen about it,” he continued, with the board supporting the purchase and the short-term loan to fund it. That debt would be repaid using ambulance receipts money.

Article 9 would appropriate $135,000 from past police department article balances to fund a police radio communications upgrade with the towns of Fairhaven and Acushnet. According to Gagne, the project will cost more than the three towns had expected, “So rather than under-fund the project and we end up delaying it,” Gagne said, he recommended increasing the amount. Fairhaven is contributing $200,000 while Acushnet contributes $139,000.

Article 10 would appropriate $155,000 towards the engineering, design, and plans for an $8 million Industrial Drive rehabilitation and expansion project, for which Gagne, the selectmen, and the FinCom have expressed enthusiasm.

“We are hoping that within the next month we will hear on the federal DOT grant that we applied for … a total of $8 million,” said Gagne. “You get a little nervous sometimes when you get one basket of eggs that you’re getting the money from,” he continued; however, if the Town does not receive the full amount it requested, Gagne said other work grants and public works economic development grants could fund the project.

“This article is basis for whatever grants we do receive,” Gagne stated. The selectmen unanimously recommended the article, he added, saying the project would improve the intersection with North Street, provide a safe pedestrian crossing for park-and-ride users, and completely redevelop Industrial Drive and add sewer connections.

“It’s a good opportunity,” said Gagne. “I think it’s improvement planning and I think we can benefit from it.”

Article 11 funds a list of capital improvement items, most of which have already been approved by the Capital Planning Committee, but were prioritized differently on the list for a past Town Meeting. Totaling $128,500, $15,000 would fund a fire department outboard motor replacement; $7,500 fire truck lighting upgrades; $16,000 for facility improvements at the Council on Aging; $35,000 for bike path safety crossing lights; $20,000 to pave the church parking lot on Barstow Street (which would include a written agreement with the church allowing Town use of the lot); and $35,000 for Town-owned building repairs.

Article 14 is for $11,699.66 for a prior fiscal year bill for solid waste disposal. That bill, Gagne said, came after the books had closed.

Article 15 is for $22,000 requested by the Board of Health as part of the training of the next health agent, Kate Tapper, expected to replace Dale Barrows when he soon retires. The money would fund compensation for Tapper while she works alongside Barrows learning the position.

Article 17 pertains to developing the landfill for solar energy production. The $30,000 would fund the design, engineering, and bidding work. Gagne said two national solar companies have expressed interest in the site, adding, “I think it would be well worth our while.” The site is extensive, he said, and could provide up to 6 or 7 megawatts of energy. “The tax revenue could be significant from that, and the PILOT could be significant.”

Article 18 would appropriate $45,000 towards what Gagne deemed “a serious endeavor to remedy at least some of the worst defects in existing sidewalks that may not be reached in planned road projects.” These defects, he said, are trip hazards, and also include stormwater drainage problems.

Article 19 for $65,000 for the costs associated with employees retiring this fiscal year.

Article 20 is something Gagne called a “safety net” article. A grant for $88,426 should fund the installation of an emergency generator at the Mattapoisett Housing Authority Complex, but the article would allow the Town to get an advance on the grant through short-term borrowing should the state be slow in issuing the Town the money.

Article 21 was removed from the warrant, which was a request from the Highway Department for a sidewalk plow. The selectmen, however, would not recommend such an article until an inventory of the sidewalks the machine would be able to plow was completed. The Town, in the future, might consider a bylaw that would require all property owners to shovel the sidewalks abutting their properties.

There are no further Mattapoisett Finance Committee meetings planned ahead of the November 26 Special Town Meeting, which will take place in the ORR High School auditorium at 6:30 pm.

Mattapoisett Finance Committee

By Jean Perry