The Marion Planning Board was finally able to put a bonnet on the lengthy list of changes in town bylaws that will be brought before voters at the May 8 Annual Town Meeting.

            The board, made up of Chairman Norm Hills, Eileen Marum, Andrew Daniel, Jon Henry, Alanna Nelson, Chris Collings and Tucker Burr, was present for Monday night’s public meeting, except for Daniel, who would later rush into the Police Station only to learn that adjournment had just taken place.

            Daniel had just come from an emergency situation in his job as facilities manager for the Town of Rochester, where the police station was dealing with a sewage breach in the basement of its Dexter Lane headquarters.

            The uncharacteristically brief meeting and early adjournment was clearly frustrating for Daniel, who wanted to be present to help bring to conclusion an arduous, two-year process that Hills had engaged with the Bylaw Codification (sub)Committee.

            Daniel, whose concerns with details, in particular bylaws, played a role in extending the Planning Board’s discussion this far into the calendar year, were last focused on narrowing down the authority by which a town representative would be authorized to pull private or commercial signage off of public property, including the 10-foot setback from any public road onto residential property where construction companies typically place signs advertising their businesses.

            After a compromise achieved by the board during its February 21 meeting, it was agreed that Bylaw 230-6.2A(4) would finally read: “No private/commercial signs are allowed on public property, with the single exception of polling locations (with 150-foot setback) on election days. Any private/commercial sign placed on public property may be removed by Town DPW employees without further notice.”

            Two other sign-related bylaws follow: 230-6.2B addressing various types of signs in residential districts  not exceeding 3 square feet, not to be attached to utility poles of vegetation, nor attached to a vehicle primarily used as a sign, and 230-6.2D(4) addressing temporary banners or signs (15-day maximum requiring approval of the Town Administrator.)

            The three sign-related bylaw changes were only the finishing touch to many that Hills, in concert with the Codification Committee, had erased, rewritten, tweaked or otherwise updated before bringing to the Planning Board for recommendation to town voters.

            Other bylaw changes in Monday night’s packet were given a final look by the board.

            The unusually brief agenda also addressed Marion’s Open Space Recreational Plan (MOSRP), and Marion residents Deborah Houck and Kitty DeGroot attended the meeting to air concerns with regard to how the plan will affect Converse Road.

            “You’ve brought up a good consideration and we’ll fix it. There are 16 other things I’ve got to deal with,” said Hills, noting 18 written comments he will need to address. “They will be adjudicated with reasons provided. … We’re at the very end of the process, we’ve been working on this for two years.”

            Board member Chris Collings asked if public comments made in response to the MOSRP can be published on the town’s website. Hills said they can but noted that the last open-space plan was enacted in 2005. “That’s a long time ago. That’s why we’re trying to get this done,” he said, reminding the members and attendees that all of the meetings it took to form the plan have been open to the public and advertised. Board member Alanna Nelson was pleased to note that there have been 230 responses to the survey conducted on the MOSRP.

            Under Old Business, Hills told the members that he is still waiting for written comments from some on the Village Style Smart Growth District (VSSGD) proposal.

            Citing impending residential developments at the Wareham end of Route 6 in Marion, Collings said, “When we think about master planning and town planning, we should be on that and make sure everything (including Route 6 utility poles) gets moved back and their expense.”

            Based on a related discussion, Hills believes that the renovation of the bridge over the Weweantic River, originally planned for 2023, is now two years away and at the present time without a sewer-line connection. (The cost of regionalizing town sewer by connecting into Wareham’s system has been recently examined as part of ongoing consultation with Kent Nichols Jr. of Weston & Sampson, Inc., as Marion looks to achieve a 20-year, Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan.)

            Nelson reminded the members that a dozen projects will be finally vetted on Friday, March 10, at the Community Preservation Committee’s 5:00 pm public Zoom meeting.

            The next meeting of the Marion Planning Board is scheduled for Monday, March 20, at 7:00 pm at the Police Station and live via Zoom.

Marion Planning Board

By Mick Colageo

            The Rochester Select Board Monday night told a group of residents who packed the Town Hall meeting room that the board could not help them with their concerns over a plan for a wireless communications tower on High Street.

            On the night’s agenda was the question of overturning the Select Board’s right to buy land at 0 High Street, being taken out of 61A agricultural protection land so the cellular tower may be built on a portion of the land. Newly appointed Town Counsel Jane Medeiros Friedman of Mead, Talerman & Costa, LLC said the deadline had passed to be able to do this because the town had 120 days to conduct a land survey to the purpose of such an acquisition.

            Chairman Woody Hartley said the land in question has no value to the town. The board agreed to take no new action on the property.

            This did not sit well with the residents crowding the room and their attorney Donald Nagle. Nagle said his clients want the town to reconsider acquiring the property under a “lease” that would put the parcel in the hands of a third-party, nonprofit, being organized by the residents themselves.

            Friedman quelled the possibility this could happen by noting, “I don’t see in the law the town has that option to convey the right to hold the property for this purpose.”

            The board said it doesn’t want to vote a new decision on the issue or further litigate the matter. This drew jeers from the crowd, which had sought the Select Board’s cooperation and help with keeping a wireless tower from the site. Hartley, nonetheless, closed the agenda item and moved on to the next item, even as residents tried to argue their case on their way out the door.

            Select Board member Brad Morse explained later that the Zoning Board had denied the tower proposal, but after the petitioner appealed the decision in Federal Court, a settlement was reached between the petitioner and the town, clearing the way for the tower to be built.

            Hartley said basically the entire matter is out of the town’s hands, and the neighbors’ own counsel should help them further.

            Elsewhere on Monday’s agenda, the board instructed Town Administrator Glenn Cannon to draft an article for the spring Annual Town Meeting to change the town clerk’s position from elected to appointed.

            Hartley said the proposal was first considered and voted down at Town Meeting three years ago. But it is time to try again because of current Town Clerk Paul Dawson’s announcement in February that he is not running for reelection this spring and is retiring.

            Hartley noted the effort this year will have to be two-fold. Changing the town clerk from elected to appointed will have to be approved at both Town Meeting and the Town Election. Cannon was directed to dust off the language of the previous article and submit it to town counsel first.

            Next, the board reviewed a change to the town’s agreement with the Bristol County Agricultural High School that will alter what bills from the school the town must pay.

            Cannon explained the school has been asking the town to pay two bills, its yearly per-student assessment and a “capital bill.” The latter is the one the town should not have to pay because it doesn’t have a fund for that cost, Cannon said, leading to the need to change the school agreement to reflect that.

            Under the new agreement, the town will only receive one bill to pay, he said. But the town will still have to pay the outstanding Capital bills for the last two years. The board agreed to table their final decision on the new pact until its next meeting.

            The board’s next lengthy discussion came with the topics of the new Access to Town Counsel Policy. Hartley admitted the rollout of this policy has not been smooth and its language is being “softened” in the face of town board members’ complaints.

            Sparking the new policy was the change from now-former Town Counsel Blair Bailey, who had an office in Town Hall, to a law firm without such an office in town.

            The original policy states that to better control how town departments and boards may access the town’s legal adviser, such requests must come in writing to the town administrator. A board’s request for opinion and/or use of Town Counsel must be approved by a majority vote of the board. Requests to initiate litigation or defense will require approval of the Select Board.

            Two Conservation Commission members expressed disagreement with aspects of policy. Chairman Christopher Gerrior said being able to contact Town Counsel directly will be more difficult now. Board member Ben Bailey said some decisions, such as where a waiver or continuation is legal, cannot wait for the time it takes to contact a town official for permission to speak to counsel.

            “We’d like to ask for a more liberal and trusting policy,” Ben Bailey said.

            “My goal is to take a couple of weeks to roll this around until it’s ready,” Hartley said.

            The next meeting of the Rochester Select Board will be held on Monday, March 20, at 6:00 pm at Town Hall, 1 Constitution Way.

Rochester Select Board

By Michael J. DeCicco