It’s that time of the fiscal year when town departments draft new budgets and review their capital needs. For Mattapoisett’s Capital Planning Committee, it’s also a time to continue casting a wide net that captures all capital expenses in an effort to shed light on all proposed expenditures. The process now includes data on how expenditures will be funded, a data point not previously defined.

            On Tuesday night, the committee met to review the 10-year plan as drafted and accepted by the Select Board in May 2022. Chairman Chuck McCullough said no surprises have arisen since that time that would cause an economic blip for FY24 planning. However, he said that the unexpected feasibility study Old Colony Regional Vocational-Technical High School is planning needs to be added to the FY24 schedule. The school recently met with the Mattapoisett Select Board, saying it plans to ask its member towns to put a warrant article in their spring town meetings to fund the anticipated $1,000,000 needed.

            Old Colony Superintendent Aaron Polansky attended that meeting and provided an updated building plan. Polansky said that in order to provide the level of programming needed by students, improvements to the overall school structure were imperative. He said the first step in bringing the 1970s structure up to today’s standards was the drafting of a feasibility study. McCullough said the estimated total needed for improvements to the school are $16,000,000.

            Speaking of schools, the committee discussed the study being conducted by the UMass Collins Center, part of which includes school facilities and the condition of Town Hall. McCullough said it is important for residents to understand that the study is not intended to provide any recommendations regarding the feasibility of shutting down a local school for the relocation of Town Hall.

            “It’s not a recommendation, it’s just information gathering that can be part of the input used when looking at our options. It will go into a feasibility report,” he said, noting the importance of the distinction between evaluating the buildings versus recommending an action. The Collins Center report, he emphasized, is just an evaluation.

            McCullough shared that having a School Committee member on the Capital Planning Committee is helpful for both the town and the school, helping each to more clearly appreciate the fiscal challenges faced.

            One of the major tasks that lies ahead for the committee is gathering information on the amount of Town Meeting-approved expenditures that have yet to draw financing. McCullough said it is important to understand what’s holding up the spenddown, but he speculated that part of the problem comes from lingering supply-chain lags.

            On the Capital Planning schedule for FY25 are the following proposals: Water Department repair to the Bay Club tank at $500,000 by debt exclusion, Oakland Street water-line replacement at $510,000 by ARPA funds, new Water Department trucks at $35,000 from Enterprise Fund, Sewer Department Route 6 west sewer lines at $2,250,000 by bond, Sewer Department trucks at $35,000 from Enterprise Fund, Waterfront Enterprise Fund replacement of timber pilings at $45,000 and rebuilding of Long Wharf at $10,000,000 by debt exclusion, tennis-courts rehabilitation at $24,000 from tax levy, Police Department radio console from ARPA funds at $50,000, Police Department domain server from ARPA funds at $75,000, new ambulance Department UTV with stretcher at $50,000 from ambulance receipts, Fire Department helmet replacements from grant funding $9,000, Highway Department annual road improvements at $300,000 from free cash, Baptist Street reconstruction at $650,000 debt exclusion, culvert outfall study at $50,000, Highway Department building repairs at $1,500,000 from debt exclusion, Ford F250 truck at $75,000 from free cash, loader tires at $20,000 from free cash, Center School kitchen warmers at $13,500 from free cash, Old Hammondtown School flooring at $25,000 free cash, library carpet replacement at $45,000 from free cash and Mattapoisett Bike Path Phase 2A at $3,845,000 by grant funding.

            The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Capital Planning Committee is scheduled for Monday, January 30, at 5:30 pm, location to be announced.

Mattapoisett Capital Planning Committee

By Marilou Newell

            The Marion Planning Board reviewed what Chairman Norm Hills described as “another batch of bylaw changes” when it met remotely via Zoom on Monday night.

            Board member Andrew Daniel anticipates problems enforcing Section 230-6.2 on Signs, which on election days would authorize town employees to remove political signs inside of the required 150-foot setback. He didn’t consider the regulation to be realistic.

            Most of the rest of the freshly changed bylaws, which have been corrected or updated for consistency by the Codification Committee (a subcommittee of the Planning Board), were met with brief discussions for clarity. Two new bylaws that were introduced on Monday night were requested by the town clerk.

            Hills instructed the Planning Board to decide on whether to wait or vote on bylaws that are finished. They opted to wait, see more of the bylaw updates and then hold a more substantial discussion.

            The completion, said Hills, is something the board could “maybe shoot for some time in March.” Board member Eileen Marum agreed.

            “The next meeting, we have to meet in person.” said Daniel.

            Hills helped the Board of Health craft a letter that will go out to the state Department of Environmental Protection in response to the contentious Title 5 septic regulations currently open to public comment.

            “This has generated a lot of consternation to say the least, and a lot of towns are responding to this. … The cape is up in arms, I’m sure,” said Hills, noting that municipalities on the other side of the bridges will be first in line for enforcement of a requirement to upgrade private septic systems to include denitrification technology.

            Last year, the Marion Board of Health introduced a new bylaw requiring such an upgrade in the case of any new septic installation.

            Marum noted that UMass Dartmouth held a public hearing on the issue Tuesday night and will hold another hearing on January 30 that she plans to attend.

            Daniel publicly thanked Hills for writing the letter and sending it. “The state has lost its mind, to be honest with you,” he said, adding recommendation that Hills write the state a letter about the new energy code that he says kicked in on January 1.

            Hills credited the Board of Health for writing the letter, only noting that, “The last sentence is mine.”

            The final paragraph of the letter reads: “Forcing homeowners to spend tens of thousands of dollars on nitrogen-reducing septic systems would be inappropriate if the largest source of nitrogen is from storm water run-off, lawns, golf courses and not Title V septic systems. Unfunded mandates have to stop.”

            In other business, the board also reviewed its 2022 Annual Report, which was swiftly met with approval across the board. “I thought it was well done,” said Marum, and members Daniel and Alanna Nelson quickly agreed. The board voted to approve and submit the report.

            The board’s FY24 Budget of $82,670 includes $78,520 in full-time wages. The rest is filed under various expenses.

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

Marion Planning Board

By Mick Colageo

            The committee charged with studying the feasibility of replacing or rehabbing the town’s public-safety buildings met with study consultant Ted Galante on Tuesday afternoon to exchange ideas on viable options.

            Galante began the meeting by handing out copies of the wish-list books that have compiled what both Fire Chief Scott Weigel and Police Chief Robert Small want and need in a new or renovated facility. He then reviewed the options with Public Safety Building Feasibility Study Committee members and asked for their feedback.

            The two chiefs, he said, would each like 27,000 square feet of space for their departments. So a combined facility would need to be between 30,000 and 35,000 square feet or, he said, around 3 acres.

“How do we start to home in on a site that works for both?” Galante asked.

            Galante wanted to know what land in town would be available and viable as the site of a new combined facility or renovated station. The viability of a site will include how far it sits from where emergency vehicles must travel to get to an emergency.

            Weigel noted his is a call department so his responders will travel from the station closest to the emergency, Station 1 on Ryder Lane or Station 2 on Pine Street. He said he would like to keep his headquarters at Station One.

            As to the fate of the current police station on Dexter Lane, Galante asked, “How will the town react to decommissioning a 20-year-old building?”

            “Is renovation of the existing building feasible?” asked Public Safety Building Feasibility Study Committee member and Select Board member Brad Morse.

            “We haven’t done that study yet,” Galante replied.

            Committee members believe a renovation can expand into land behind the current police station. What if that includes adding a Fire Department facility? There are park lands and a vacant lot next to the current police station, committee and Planning Board Chairman Arnold Johnson said. But, he added, much of the land in question is owned by the Park Department, complicating availability.

            Committee members focused their interest on sites on Pine Street. Citing the abutting Rochester Memorial School playground, Town Administrator Glenn Cannon asked if it could be moved for an expansion of Fire Station 3. He also noted the 18-acre site of the Rochester Country Fair, 65 Pine Street, is town-owned.

            Finance Committee Chairman David Arancio, appearing on Zoom, asked about what will affect his committee’s perspective the most: What is the average construction cost per square feet for a public-safety building?

            Adding in the “soft” costs involved in such a large project, he anticipates the cost will be closer to $900 per square foot. He added that he is concerned what effects this project will have on the town’s long-term debt. Galante said he won’t sugarcoat the costs involved. “The numbers are scary,” he said.

            Arancio then asked if the committee has done a walk-through of similar public-safety buildings that house fire and police departments. Johnson said the committee will do so once it decides to go in the combined direction. Galante said he will schedule his own tour of the town’s existing public-safety facilities next week and will review more of the committee’s feedback at the next meeting.

            The next meeting of the Public Safety Building Feasibility Study Committee is scheduled for Tuesday, February 7, at 2:30 pm in the Town Hall meeting room, 1 Constitution Way, Rochester.

Rochester Public Safety Building Feasibility Study Committee

By Michael J. DeCicco