The Town of Rochester has a temporary solution to its lack of an administrative assistant for the Zoning Board of Appeals. He’s veteran Zoning Board member Richard Cutler, whom the Select Board approved hiring as a temporary employee during Monday night’s Select Board meeting.

            Without the help of former Patrice Braz, who resigned from the Building Department on December 19, 2022, members of the Zoning panel have been scrambling to complete the heavy paperwork load that board business requires.

            The Select Board agreed to sign Cutler to a contract that fills the role for the next two months at a maximum of two days per week. Town Administrator Glenn Cannon said this will be a good temporary solution while the town screens candidates for the permanent position. The problem, he said, is that there is no private-sector equivalent to the job of Zoning Board clerical assistant. Anyone taking on the job will not have encountered this particular type of work before, he said. That is why Cutler’s experience makes him a perfect fit for the job.

            The Select Board also found a replacement for outgoing Town Counsel Blair Bailey, who this week is retiring from the job after over 20 years serving Rochester. The board signed the contract that will make Mead, Talerman and Costa, LLC, a law firm with offices in Millis, Newburyport and New Bedford, the town’s new legal counsel effective Tuesday, February 7.

            Before the approval vote, Bailey emphasized his confidence that this firm was the right choice for Rochester.

            “I didn’t think twice about having them come to this town. This firm will give the town what it needs,” he said.

            The February 6 Select Board meeting started with the town’s acquisition of the 65.26-acre Mahoney property for conservation purposes.

            Conservation Agent Merilee Kelly explained that a Buzzards Bay Watershed Municipal Program grant totaling $93,100 is allowing the town to purchase its portion of the 241-acre Mahoney property that includes parcels in Acushnet and Mattapoisett and abuts Marion, Fairhaven and Mattapoisett Water Department properties.

            Next, Helen Zincavage of the Southeastern Regional Planning & Economic Development District (SRPEDD) updated the board and residents on the regional, long-range “Assawompset Pond Complex and Nemasket River Watershed Management and Climate Action Plan.” The plan, she said, responds to the devastating floods that hit the area in 2010. A Municipal Vulnerability Program was created to prevent the same disaster from happening again. Rochester went through the MVP grant planning process in 2018-2019 and with Lakeville met to create their own addendum to these priorities.

            Updating the Assawompset Pond Management Plan became this plan’s top priority. A management team and steering committee were created. The conclusion was a list of six floodwater-management priorities ranging from removing the first 500 feet of sediment from the Nemasket River to developing a long-term management plan for the Assawompset Pond Complex.

            Zincavage said the next step is a 12-point action plan to address priority APC project goals, each at a different stage of research and development and in separate phases. She asked how Rochester would like to build into this work.

            Former APC Management Committee member Fred Underhill responded with multiple criticisms. He said no one came to the Town of Rochester for its opinion on the action items that have been developed. He complained that Rochester does not have a vote on APC Management Committee decision, only if the vote “directly affects” the town. Yet the town will be responsible for developing, funding and managing these action items all on its own. Underhill added that New Bedford and Taunton, the two cities in the APC, wield too much power over the smaller member towns, Rochester, Lakeville and Middleborough.

            Another resident asked if the town’s ponds have been tested to see if the nitro pollution the APC plan is worried about comes from the town. Town Planner Nancy Durfee reinforced this point by asserting that the APC analysis does not have enough data from Rochester’s ponds. “Without the data, you can’t really move forward,” Durfee said.

            Zincavage responded that these are plans, not mandates. They are just future, possible strategies. “It does not make the town do anything,” she said.

            The Rochester Select Board’s next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, February 15, at 6:00 pm at the Senior Center, 67 Dexter Lane, for a Community Electric Public Outreach hearing.

Rochester Select Board

By Michael J. DeCicco

            The Rochester Finance Committee started its review of the proposed town budget for FY24 Monday and revealed a lot about some of the changes behind the accounting numbers.

            Committee Chairman Kris Stoltenberg began the meeting by asking Town Administrator Glenn Cannon for an overview of what to expect for the FY24 budget that will be proposed at the spring Annual Town Meeting. Cannon responded that Rochester overall is in pretty good shape financially without significant changes.

            But as the board reviewed the town’s preliminary budget figures one line item at a time, surprises did arise. Finance Director Suzanne Szyndlar said the Highway Department needs a new full-time mechanic. The Fire Department is looking for a second, full-time firefighter. The Council on Aging wants a full-time custodian and to cut back on its nighttime-services contract.

            For those reasons, the Finance Committee did not vote on the preliminary numbers for these accounts. They focused instead on approving the “fixed costs” accounts.

            Along the way, Szyndlar revealed she will recommend that the new Personnel Board’s proposal to amend the town’s Personnel Bylaw be delayed until the Fall Town Meeting and be shelved from the Annual (spring) Town Meeting.

            Finance Committee member David Arancio said Personnel panel members want FinCom to meet with them over their plan to make paygrade increases across all town jobs more equitable.

            Szyndlar explained the town’s finances are not ready for those kinds of increases at this stage of the fiscal year. At the spring Town Meeting, the town will be able to offer normal “step” increases, she said, but not what a new bylaw would require. That’s why Szyndlar will request the new personnel bylaw plan be tabled in the spring.

            Next, Stoltenberg was surprised to see little money in the account for town counsel, and Cannon announced to him that Blair Bailey has resigned from that position effective February 24.

            “That’s the first I’ve heard this,” Stoltenberg said.

            “We are in negotiations to hire another firm,” Cannon explained.

            Szyndlar also revealed another budget change, yet to be fully calculated. The position of Zoning Board of Appeals administrative assistant is being upgraded from part-time to full-time, and that person will become the responsibility of the town administrator, not the Building Department.

            Arancio, who also serves as ZBA chairman, said this was a good idea because the prior Building Department administrator said most of her work time was spent on ZBA business. The previous holder of that position, Patrice Braz, resigned in December of 2022 to take a job in the private sector.

            In other action, the committee reorganized. Stoltenberg was reaffirmed as chair. Anthony Ruocco became vice chair and Arancio was made secretary.

            The FinCom concluded it could wait a few weeks to reconvene in order to leave time for more budget numbers to come in. Its next meeting is scheduled for Monday, February 27, at 7:00 pm in the Town Hall conference room, 1 Constitution Way.

Rochester Finance Committee

By Michael J. DeCicco

            Bob Silva of Septic Preservation Services visited the Marion Board of Health on January 19 to talk about denitrification technology in septic systems. He told the board that his company services all “advanced-treatment” units and is a distributor of Singulair advanced-treatment units.

            Acknowledging the unmatched expertise of George Heufelder, Silva asked why the board wanted to hear from him.

            Board member Dr. Ed Hoffer said it was due diligence on the town’s part to hear from different experts in the field, as one of many towns looking to advocate for homeowners.

            Silva said that 25 years ago, Hawaii passed the same essential law that MassDEP is trying to pass. Using that state’s failed experiment, Silva said the law has no power without the logistical underpinnings necessary to create compliance. It took a new training program over a number of years for Hawaii to, even in part, begin to make compliance attainable.

            “There are a whole range of problems that we have to overcome for that initiative to be successful,” he said of Massachusetts. “I hope that as we work through that whole comment section of the law and how they’re going to implement it … from a cost perspective, I don’t think it’s going to be as bad as a lot of citizens think that it’s going to be.”

            For example, Silva said it remains unclear if replacement of entire systems will be required.

            “I think, at the end of the day, what’s going to make sense is that they’re going to say, ‘No, you don’t have to replace the whole thing. Let’s go in and take the tank out, and let’s put the treatment tank in.’ So, yes, there is a cost, but hopefully they realize the whole system does not have to be replaced,” said Silva. “They’re still working through all of this.”

            In discussing septic technology, Silva compared bacteria to elves. “They love sugar,” he said, going on to explain that new systems require biological augmentation to feed the billions of spores that enter from the surrounding air.

            “Operationally, what’s happening is the need to operate onsite systems is increasing faster than the industry can provide qualified operators. It’s a problem,” said Silva, who said the competing systems “are all the same. … We’re competitors, but the bottom line is the onsite industry in Massachusetts is a $2,000,000,000-a-year industry. There’s more work than all of us can handle, so we don’t need to be jerks to each other. … Biologically, this process really has not changed in 2,000 years.”

            Attending remotely, Maggie Fieldsteel of Marion referenced her own professional experience in septic technology and suggested the town make sure the new systems are properly tracked and maintained.

            The board members thanked Silva for sharing his experience.

            Asked by Finance Director/Interim Town Administrator Judy Mooney and Finance Committee Chairman Shay Assad, Health Director/Nurse Lori Desmarais told the board that she revised the department’s FY24 budget to be level funded in all areas except wages.

            Desmarais said she shifted some money from supplies to inspections and licensing. As of January 19, she was waiting on a budget figure from Rochester Health Director Karen Walega, the former Marion employee when the town and Rochester shared a joint district.

            Walega’s pension increased to $33,993, along with $1,000 for bookkeeping service, and Marion also sent $4,128 for Walega’s benefits, according to Desmarais. The budget line item increased roughly $5,000 to $19,561.

            Hoffer noted that the district still has over $10,000 in a Santander Bank account. Desmarais agreed to revisit the matter with Mooney and potential discuss the matter with Rochester.

            The state Department of Environmental Protection Bureau of Waste Site Cleanup was addressed. Hoffer said that Hiller Oil had spilled some oil at 604 Point Road and agreed to clean it up.

            In her report to the board, Desmarais said the town distributed 900 vaccines in 2022, including 582 flu shots and over 300 COVID-19 vaccinations.

            The next meeting of the Marion Board of Health was not scheduled upon adjournment.

Marion Board of Health

By Mick Colageo