Sienna Wurl of Mattapoisett was welcomed into Western New England University‘s chapter of Alpha Lambda Delta National Honor Society on October 19 in Rivers Memorial Hall.
Rare Coin and Antiques Appraisal Day
Pythagorean Masonic Lodge will host a Rare Coin and Antiques Appraisal Day on Saturday, November 3from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. Our experts will appraise one or all of your rare coins (pennies to silver to gold), heirloom antiques (to include paintings, prints, clocks, furniture, glass, books, antique firearms, old advertising, posters, ancient artifacts, and more) for individual or estate purposes. Donation – $10 for 1 item, $15 for 2 items, $20 for 3 or more. To be held at Pythagorean Lodge at 13 Spring St., Marion. Light refreshments to be served.
Grant Could Link Bike Path
On October 25, Bonne DeSousa and Robin Lepore of the Friends of the Mattapoisett Bike Path, along with Highway Surveyor Barry Denham, met with the Mattapoisett Finance Committee seeking support for a federal BUILD Transportation Program grant application.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced earlier in the year that $1.5 billion in discretionary funding was available to cities and towns for investments in surface transportation infrastructure that the DOT will award on a competitive basis for projects that will have a “significant local or regional impact,” such as roads, bridges, transit, rail, ports, or intermodal transportation.
Originally, DeSousa and Lepore et al. were attempting to raise sufficient private funding to improve Industrial Drive where it would connect to the bike path planned by Marion. Unable to achieve that goal, the group discovered what they believe is a better solution for a much larger project – bringing roadway, drainage, sewer, and bike path improvements to Industrial Drive.
The group outlined the many steps involved in seeking the federal monies, one that carries an estimated price tag of $8.5 million. One of the top criteria is that the project be “shovel ready” before the grants are awarded. The grant award criteria also includes furnishing proof of economic development potential, location in a rural area, and that the project would provide connectivity.
According to DeSousa, projects such as alternative transportation were highly favorable for the BUILD grant, which has altered the project – originally focused on simply connecting the recreational dots – into a much larger project that also includes the potential for making the industrial zone attractive to future investors.
“The pavement there is over 40 years old, [and] the road needs to be replaced,” said Denham. He added that there is currently no working drainage system along the drive, but, with grant money, the road, the drainage, the sewer systems, and the bike path could all be done.
However, the clock is ticking.
With a December 18 deadline for submitting grant proposals, DeSousa and Lepore explained what was needed from the Fall Special Town Meeting.
Included in their presentation was a slide listing monetary commitments the town would have to assume: $18,000 for a cost benefit analysis, $20,000 towards municipal project management, $75,000 towards a preliminary design, $40,000 for an existing conditions survey, and a Natural Heritage Endangered Species Assessment for $10,000.
There were other costs listed on a slide titled “How Will It Be Paid For?” that noted another $400,000 for design, permitting, and project management expended between 2018 and 2019. The grant award, should that come to pass, would be awarded between 2020 and 2021.
“All of these things have to get done at some point in time,” said Denham. In this fashion, he said, “Everything could be done at one time.”
Currently, the Industrial Drive business area is serviced by private septic systems. If those properties could be connected to the public sewer system, land used as leaching fields could be cleaned-up and developed for new parcels that could be attractive to prospective buyers, the group concluded.
Town Administrator Michael Gagne said, “Federal programs are very specific, you have to be ready for the award date. Your development survey, 10-percent submittal review, wetlands, engendered species, the OPM all have to be done and everything ready. With a December 18 deadline, we’ve got to get going.”
There was further discussion regarding the potential of the massive construction project should the grant application fail. DeSousa said that there were other grant options, but that those too would require a similar level of financial commitment by the community in order to get “another bite at the apple.”
DeSousa expounded upon the economic benefit of having a vital industrial zone that could create new jobs for the area while providing alternative transportation options.
“You could attract some high-end investors,” said Gagne. “This is a strong potential.”
Denham reiterated, “It’s all stuff we’re going to have to do over time anyway. … It’s never going to be less expensive than it is now.”
When asked about the bike path connection between Depot Street and North Street, known as Phase 2, Gagne said that there were easement and wetlands issues yet to be explored. DeSousa said it would take some time before the Town would be ready to work on that piece.
DeSousa and Lepore thanked the Finance Committee members for their time and asked for their support at Town Meeting.
Earlier in the evening, Denham met with the FinCom to discuss the purchase of sidewalk snow clearing equipment. Gagne reminded the members that five years ago, there had been a citizen’s petition for the acquisition of sidewalk snow removal equipment, but that had not been funded. Now Denham presented equipment that could be used year-round for various tasks such as mowing.
“Last year we looked at the issue again,” Gagne said, adding that, while not all sidewalks could be plowed given width and location, some of the more critical locations could benefit from the new sidewalk plow. He specifically noted the intersection of Main Street and Route 6, and some sections such as the library and Center School where the Council on Aging is located.
Denham said the cost estimate was $85,000-$125,00.
Both Gagne and Denham said that Route 6 sidewalks are very difficult to maintain, and that the state had no obligation to keep them clean. There were no easy answers forthcoming on how best to keep residents safe when using those sidewalks in winter.
FinCom Chairman Pat Donough said, “I’ve lived [in] a lot of places, but Mattapoisett is the only place that doesn’t require property owners to keep the sidewalk clear in front of their homes.” Denham confirmed her statement.
Gagne sharpened the point that … “only certain areas would be cleared: the bank, the post office, the COA.” He told the committee that the request would be sent back to the Capital Planning Committee for consideration and ranking before returning to them.
Also during the meeting, Henri Renauld, superintendent of the Water & Sewer Department, discussed the Coastal Zone grant the Town received for the planned repair and improvements to the Pico Beach water and sewer system. He noted that, between grant money and retiring debt, no rate increase was imposed on property owners. Renauld provided a spreadsheet that listed grant money at $498,750, borrowing in the sum of $250,000, along with other funding sources such as leftover funding from other water and sewer projects, to pay for the barrier beach project. Renauld asked for FinCom support at Town Meeting.
Before the meeting began, Gagne introduced Town Accountant Heidi Chuckran. He said he and the Board of Selectmen have been discussing Gagne’s eventual retirement that he noted might be as early as July 2019. Moving forward, Chuckran would be attending FinCom meetings, Gagne said.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Finance Committee is scheduled for November 1 at 6:30 pm in the Mattapoisett Library conference room on the first floor.
Mattapoisett Finance Committee
By Marilou Newell
Mattapoisett Lions Club’s Family Fun Festival
Mattapoisett Lions Club’s (Free) Family Fun Festival postponed due to weather. The rain date will be Saturday, November 3from noon to 4:00 pm at Shipyard Park.
Sippican Historical Society
In 1998, the Sippican Historical Society commissioned an architectural survey of Marion’s historic homes and buildings. The survey was funded one-half by the Sippican Historical Society and one-half by the Massachusetts Historical Commission. Due to the limits of funding, not all of the historic buildings were surveyed, but over 100 were catalogued and photographed. The results of the survey are in digital form on the Massachusetts Historical Commission’s website and in four binders in the Sippican Historical Society’s office (and at the Marion Town Clerk’s office).
Marion (Old Rochester) is one of the oldest towns in the United States, and the Sippican Historical Society maintains an extensive collection of documentation on its historic buildings. The Sippican Historical Society will preview one building a week so that the residents of Marion can understand more about its unique historical architecture.
This installment features 192 Front Street. Marion is fortunate to have a home designed by one of America’s most famous architects, Henry Hobson Richardson, who is noted for designing the Trinity church in Boston. This Shingle-style home at 192 Front Street was built in the fall of 1881 for Rev. Percy Browne (1839-1901) as a “country house.” This was one of the smallest and least expensive structures that Richardson ever built. In fact, Richardson designed the house on a wager, when Reverend Browne bet that Richardson could not design a small house for $2,500. The Shingle style of architecture is a uniquely American style in which the building is unified by a skin of wood shingles.
James M. Kelly
James M. Kelly, 71, of Marshfield died October 31, 2018 peacefully at Sachem Nursing Home after a long illness.
Born in Dorchester, son of Theresa M. (Kelly) Kelly of Fairhaven and the late Melvin Leo Kelly, he lived in Marshfield and New Hampshire before returning to the South Shore.
He enjoyed New England sports teams and painting.
Survivors include his mother; a brother, Robert Kelly and his wife Michelle of Mattapoisett; and several nieces, nephews and cousins.
He was the brother of the late Patricia Ann Nickerson and Donna Marie MacFadden.
His Funeral Service will be held on Monday, November 5th at 12 Noon in the Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home for Funerals, 50 County Rd., Route 6, Mattapoisett. Burial will follow in the Massachusetts National Cemetery. For directions and guestbook, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.
The Boy Who Was Afraid of Halloween
There was a little boy who was afraid of Halloween. Not just of the shrieking ghost and ghastly ghouls of the season, but even of the trick-or-treaters who came to his door. Who knew what lay behind those masks? Certainly not the kids next door! He was afraid of it all, from the decorations to dark night lit by a silvery full moon.
As a toddler, the little boy would look out the window and see the wind moving the decorations. He was too little to know it was the wind, instead thinking the ghosts and witches and scarecrows were real. The little boy was also afraid of the neighbor’s dog that guarded its family’s decorations by taking up sentry on the front lawn. The little boy would look out the window and shrink back. His mother told him again and again that none of this was real – it was all make believe. His pre-school teacher told him, too.
This particular year, they were going trick-or-treating. “It’s all make believe,” his mother reminded him. “Not real, okay?” He nodded, but he still wasn’t convinced. So off they went on Halloween night, door to door to get candy in his plastic pumpkin. The little boy liked this part. But then he went to the house across the street. The neighbor’s dog was nowhere in sight, so he breathed a small sigh of relief. Clenching his mother’s hand, he noticed the decorations not moving in the wind. “Make believe – not –,“ he told himself while he closed his eyes tight and bit his lip. He opened them to see something white trailing toward them down the walk and he was ready to scream, heart beating wildly, when he saw a tail at the end of that ghost! Hey, wait a minute! It was the little dog! The little dog had become tangled in the ghost decoration and was running, trying to free himself, while at the same time greeting the boy. He laughed with delight.
The little dog wasn’t so bad after all, and there really was no such thing as ghosts! All along his mother and teachers were right – it is all make believe. He began enjoying Halloween each year after that and now is no longer afraid. That little boy was once in all of us, too – do you remember?
Happy Halloween!
Submitted by reader Jeanne McCarthy of Wareham
Our Halloween Cover Contest Winner…
The Wanderer wishes to congratulate the winner of the 2018 Halloween cover contest, Charlotte Lucas from Wareham!
Lucas’ painting of a spooky, possibly haunted house on a dark, stormy night titled “Trick or Treat?” garnered the most online votes winning her $100 cash.
In all, there were 22 spooktacular submissions, all of them worthy of gracing the cover of The Wanderer, in our opinion, but we have no say because it is you, the readers who get to choose!
If you submitted your artwork and didn’t win this time, Groundhog Day is only 93 days away – your next chance to win another Wanderer cover contest! So get to work on those groundhog-themed masterpieces! We can hardly wait!
Question One
To the Editor:
In a recent Southcoast publication, Keith Hovan (President & CEO of Southcoast Health) has made an impassioned case against Question 1 which sets safe limits on how many patients a nurse can care for.
Mr. Hovan, speaking as a NURSE and CEO, states “this initiative is estimated to add $38 million annually to our already burdened budget and require the hiring 255 additional nurses at Southcoast hospitals.”
Ironically, Mr. Hovan’s leadership has overseen a colossal operating loss of that very amount in 2017—$38 million. While other hospitals in the state are posting profits, Southcoast’s bond rating has been downgraded from A3 to Baa1 by Moody’s Investors Service and witnessed a biblical exodus of talented, dedicated physicians and nurses.
As an anesthesiologist at Southcoast for 20 years, I had the pleasure of working with many nurses in obstetrics, ORs, recovery rooms, and med/surgical floors. Nurses often complained to me about limited staffing, mandated overtime, and staying post-call after being up all night doing emergency cases. This understaffing has resulted in the loss of experienced nurses at our hospitals.
Mr. Hovan’s claims that this bill will require the hiring of 255 additional nurses is, in and of itself, an admission that the system understaffs nurses. In Massachusetts last year there were over 2000 formal complaints about staffing levels and over 70% of nurses believe they are understaffed.
Studies have shown that tired, overworked nurses are less effective, decrease quality of care, increase medication errors, and result in longer hospitalizations.
While not perfect, this bill will set up guardrails for safe nursing ratios. It is unfortunate that collective bargaining with hospital administrators has failed and this issue has become a ballot question, one which the same administrators have spent over $17 million dollars to defeat.
James J. O’Rourke, MD, Marion
The views expressed in the “Letters to the Editor” column are not necessarily those of The Wanderer, its staff or advertisers. The Wandererwill gladly accept any and all correspondence relating to timely and pertinent issues in the great Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester area, provided they include the author’s name, address and phone number for verification. We cannot publish anonymous, unsigned or unconfirmed submissions. The Wandererreserves the right to edit, condense and otherwise alter submissions for purposes of clarity and/or spacing considerations. The Wanderermay choose to not run letters that thank businesses, and The Wandererhas the right to edit letters to omit business names. The Wandereralso reserves the right to deny publication of any submitted correspondence.
Marion’s Stewards of Community Open Space
The Town of Marion’s Stewards of Community Open Space will be hosting a Public Information Session on Thursday, November 1at 7:00 pm at the Marion Police Station Conference Room to share the results of the recent Marion Open Space and Recreation Survey conducted by the Marion Open Space Acquisition Commission.
Results from the Marion Open Space and Recreation Survey will help inform the creation of a new Marion Open Space and Recreation Plan as part of the Town of Marion’s Master Plan. The last Marion Open Space and Recreation Plan was developed in 2005.
The Stewards of Community Open Space have been working with Bill Napolitano, Environmental Program Director, and Grant King, Director of Comprehensive Planning & Housing, from the Southeastern Regional Planning & Economic Development District (SRPEDD) to develop a new Marion Open Space and Recreation Plan. Napolitano and King will share results from the recent Marion Open Space and Recreation Survey on Thursday, November 1 as part of the planning process for the new Marion Open Space and Recreation Plan. The public is encouraged to attend this Public Information Session to share their comments and ideas about shaping a new Marion Open Space and Recreation Plan.
The Stewards of Community Open Space was formed by the Town of Marion in 2017 and is made up of representatives from the Conservation Commission, Marine Resources Commission, Marion Pathways Committee, Marion Open Space Acquisition Commission, Planning Board, Recreation Department, Tree & Parks Commission, Trustees of Washburn Park, and Sippican Lands Trust. The purpose of the Stewards of Community Open Space (SoCOS) is to develop, maintain, and advocate for a comprehensive and integrated plan for the use and management of open space land in Marion.