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

            Deputy Harbormaster Adam Murphy went before the Marion Select Board on Tuesday night to discuss proposed Harbormaster Department fee increases for FY24. Vin Malkoski, the chairman of the Marine Resources Commission, was also on hand after writing a letter of support for the measures.

            Murphy stressed that while the department faces serious financial challenges especially since the proposed Marine Center came up $700,000 short on anticipated grant funding from the state Seaport Economic Council compounded by postpandemic inflation further driving up construction costs, the bigger challenge is the manpower to address infrastructural and equipment-related issues.

            “The grants are out there, but our department, we’re limited in resources,” said Murphy, who insists the $320,280 that a new fee schedule would generate would bring Marion in line with other coastal communities in the state and, at the same time, provide the funding needed to address the department-related projects that he and Harbormaster Isaac Perry believe are their responsibility.

            The town’s sale of the Atlantis Drive property that used to serve the Harbormaster out of season is no more, so equipment is deteriorating at a faster rate while subjected to winter weather.

            Between disintegrating docks at Old Landing and seawall at Island Wharf, the Harbormaster Department, said Murphy, simply lacks the manpower to address infrastructure. He seeks townwide ownership of those matters.

            The last time Harbormaster fees were increased was in 2019 at a rate of $1 per foot. Finance Director Judy Mooney said there is approximately $239,000 in the Waterways Account.

            “(With the proposed increases), we shouldn’t have to come back before you continuously to achieve all that we’re trying to achieve,” said Murphy.

            Pouring over the cost of major projects, Select Board member Norm Hills found it hard to believe the new fee schedule could close the gap, but Murphy explained that there are SEC grants available for some of the work that would require a 20% match that Murphy said could be generated from fee increases.

            As for a new headquarters, Murphy would not estimate final construction cost.

            “We’re not going to know until it goes to bid,” he said, expressing hope that the Select Board and town administrator could become more deeply involved and help the Harbormaster avoid finding anymore imperfections in its proposals.

            “If we push this off another year, it’s completely out of reach,” said Murphy, citing a construction estimate of $600 per square foot.

            With Select Board member Toby Burr recused from the discussion, Hills and Parker voted to approve $320,280 in FY24 fee increases.

            Energy Management Committee members Eileen Marum, Alanna Nelson and Bill Saltonstall made a periodically scheduled appearance to update the Select Board but also introduced their ongoing work to Town Administrator Geoff Gorman, who was attending his first Select Board meeting in his new role.

            At the heart of their presentation was an idea presented by Saltonstall aimed at using 2 acres of dormant property at the Benson Brook site for a solar array. The intent is to generate two-thirds of the electricity it takes to operate the town’s Wastewater Treatment Plant.

            Timothy Zessin, Esq. of KP Law was introduced as Marion’s new, primary town counsel. Zessin said that while four to five KP attorneys will take a team approach to Marion-related matters, the plan is to keep things mostly the same as they were with former Town Counsel Jon Witten.

            “I know Jon was incredibly responsive,” said Zessin, to which Parker replied, “We’re a small town and we need that responsiveness if we can get it.”

            Mooney has worked the past five years with Zessin.

            In his first report as the new town administrator, Geoff Gorman congratulated Marion resident Lee Grondin of Troop 232 for assisting the town with “fantastic work” on the new community notice board, part of Grondin’s Eagle Scout project. “I had the pleasure of meeting him … what a great kid,” said Gorman, adding the town’s thanks.

            Gorman delegated the FY24 budget update to Mooney, who told the Select Board that while the town is “getting close,” the budget is not yet balanced. Mooney planned to attend the next night’s Finance Committee meeting and noted that the town is waiting on a final draft budget from the Old Rochester Regional School District. State-aid numbers, she said, which came in last week and are not much higher than anticipated. Mooney anticipates finalizing the town budget in the next couple of weeks.

            Gorman also noted a new item agenda in which Select Board members will report on board or committee meetings they attend as representatives.

            Two other committees were represented before the Select Board on Tuesday night.

            Dianne Cosman delivered a neat presentation on the Cushing Community Center’s Living Wall project. The Community Park Committee, working in conjunction with the Friends of the Marion Council on Aging, plans to install 4-foot high plantings as a screen from Route 6.

            Parker suggested sprinkler installation before the plantings and that the committee consider a curb cut for walking-path access.

            Other votes taken by the Select Board approved: a Common Victualer All-Alcohol License and a Common Victualer License for Cast, 7 Cottage Street; a Bond Anticipation Note (BAN) Renewal for various approved debt projects totaling $10,681,000 in short-term borrowing at 3.24%; the filling of a vacant three-year term on the town’s Open Space Acquisition Commission at the 2023 Town Election and a Special One-Day Liquor License for the Taber Library’s Trivia Night Fundraiser on Friday, March 24, from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm at the Music Hall.

            The next meeting of the Marion Select Board is scheduled for Tuesday, March 21, at 6:00 pm.

Marion Select Board

By Mick Colageo