With Mattapoisett now placed in the red category of communities that are considered high risk for COVID-19 transmission, Town Administrator Mike Lorenco spoke to the need for everyone to stay the course. “This has to be taken seriously,” he said at the October 27 meeting of the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen.
Lorenco said wearing masks, keeping distance, and other safety measures are necessary. Last week the Mattapoisett Council on Aging shut down all programing except those dealing with providing food or medical rides to residents because of the risk faced by senior citizens if exposed to the disease.
Town Hall will most likely return to earlier restrictions, Lorenco said, “once early voting is finished on Friday.” He said that Town Hall hours of operation may also be trimmed back. He expressed his desire for the town to “get out of the red,” soon.
Related to the impact of COVID-19 are revenues both local and state. Lorenco reported that he is presently leveraging Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and economic Security (CARES) Act funding to cover unplanned expenses resulting from the pandemic and cautioned that local revenues may slide. He also cautioned that the state has reported the use of $1,300 billion in “rainy day funding” from an estimated $3 billion, saying, “They’ve used a third.” In wrapping up his financial comments, Lorenco said, “No one knows where we are going to be, and if it goes ’til 2022…” He didn’t finish the thought.
Selectman Paul Silva suggested Lorenco look at capital plan requests for any items that might be needed on an emergency basis. While the board members had concurred earlier in the meeting that a Fall Town Meeting would not be scheduled, Silva thought it was prudent to be prepared just in case something had to be taken care of over the winter months.
Continuing on the theme of finances, Lorenco said that the town employees were working to stay within departmental budgets. “We’ll work with what we have.” Finance Committee meetings and other budgetary planning meetings, he said, would begin soon in preparation for the Spring Annual Town Meeting.
On a brighter note, Lorenco said that the town has recently been awarded $240,000 in Complete Street Grant monies that will be earmarked for improvement to the bike path intersection on Brandt Island Road, sidewalks from the bike path intersection on Mattapoisett Neck Road to Route 6, sidewalks at the intersection of Pearl Street and Route 6 heading south on Pearl, and signage aimed at slowing traffic along North Street north of the Route 195 overpass.
The selectmen met with Ken Motta and Bob Field of Field Engineering, along with Highway Surveyor Barry Denham to discuss a number of roadway projects in the early planning process. Denham also reported on the state of existing roadways.
In total, the town has 34.19 miles of dirt roads that require annual grading. Denham reported putting in a capital expense plug for a grading machine for the Highway Department, a piece of equipment that has been on the department’s wish list for a few years. He also said that, of paved roads, 26.7 miles were rated as in good condition, 10.07 miles in fair condition, and 9 miles were rated poor.
Village street roadway projects were discussed, and Silva was disappointed to learn that state funding known as T.I.P. placed Mattapoisett on a list for 2025 instead of 2021. Denham said, “It was to have been sooner rather than later, but things got switched around and the plans didn’t get to the DOT,” he said. “If we had kept to the plan, it would have been sooner.”
However, Field added that it had taken longer than expected to get waivers approved, which slowed the final design’s completion.
Field said that underground drainage systems currently beneath private property are to be rerouted under public roadways. This element added to the complex nature of prioritizing which roadways in the village will be completed first. He said that if drainage systems are relocated Baptiste Street would rise to the top for completion in order to reroute the pipes under the roadway.
This discussion spun into ways that new revenue sources could be locally raised versus waiting for state funding in these uncertain times. Silva said that the selling off of town-owned properties to raise revenue for roadways had been discussed in prior years. Collyer added that the town owned 24 acres that could be subdivided and sold off.
In another matter, Denham talked about the need to put policies in place when utilities and outside construction companies have to open up a roadway for underground work. He said that presently the town “didn’t have a mechanism” that would alert the Highway Department when roadway work was taking place, nor was there any mechanism to require bonding for such work. Lorenco said he would work with Motta, who helped to craft such policy for the Town of Rochester.
Before leaving the meeting, Denham, who is also the Tri-Town veterans’ agent, said there weren’t any plans in place for commemorating Veterans’ Day this year.
Earlier in the evening, the board voted to appoint Drew Weaver, Aidan Ridings, Rebecca Longworth, and Angelene Petty as probationary firefighters.
Seth Asser was appointed to the South Coast Bikeway Alliance as the town’s representative, and Mattapoisett’s Treasurer/Tax Collector Kristie Costa was appointed as Tax Title Custodian.
It was announced that early voting ends on Friday, October 30 at 4:00 pm.
The selectmen also invited the community to participate in the Mattapoisett Police Department Halloween Drive-by Celebration at Old Hammondtown School on Saturday, October 31 between 4:00 and 6:00 pm. Facemasks must be worn to attend.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen is scheduled for Tuesday, November 10 at 6:30 pm.
Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen
By Marilou Newell