The Rochester Finance Committee made significant headway on Monday night in its effort to achieve the town’s half of $600,000 in requested FY25 budget trims, the other half to be made by the Old Rochester Regional School District.

            The committee was not able to nail down the $300,000 in cuts that it seeks, in part because Finance Director Suzanne Szyndlar was unable to attend the meeting. Finance Committee Chairman Kris Stoltenberg has been discussing revenue assumptions for the FY25 Budget with Szyndlar, but some of the details of departmental budget discussions still need clarification.

            “We have been out of whack almost every year, but it’s never been quite that dramatic,” said Stoltenberg of the $600,000 correction prescribed by the committee. “Suzanne has the numbers and they’re pretty hard numbers. Then we fix the budget. She’s done as much as she can on the assumption side for the revenue, so now we work with the departments.”

            On the ORR side of the equation, Town Administrator Glenn Cannon said that the school district, which also includes Marion and Mattapoisett, has already made some recommendations but has yet to “come to the ($300,000) target, so it’s something they’re still working on.”

            According to a Wanderer report on the March 11 public meeting, Rochester Memorial School’s FY25 operating budget proposal represents a 6.63% increase over FY24, and ORR’s proposal represents a 4.84 increase. According to the report, Rochester is sending five fewer students to ORR this fiscal year.

            Stoltenberg was reportedly met with dismay upon letting ORR officials know there is still work to be done to the tune of $300,000.

            “They were a little shocked and surprised at what we were looking for,” said Stoltenberg, acknowledging that, “in the end, we’re part of the Tri-Town community. Any mismatch, we have to look at (Rochester Memorial School). It wasn’t a great experience because they were kind of downtrodden when we left that meeting.”

            During the ORR District’s budget presentations to the school committees, level services have been emphasized.

            The Finance Committee needs to have the FY25 budget ready for the Select Board’s approval by mid-April. The Annual Town Meeting in all three of the Tri-Towns is scheduled for Monday, May 13.

            On Monday, the Finance Committee verified plans for FY25 budget cuts with the Police, Fire and Highway departments.

            The most complex of issues brought to the committee by a department head on Monday was Fire Chief Scott Weigel’s plan for a 5%, across-the-board net increase in wages for his employees, who are all part-time workers on a call basis. His department request is variable, based on 5% minus the town’s cost-of-living adjustment (COLA).

            Cannon confirmed that the Select Board last week voted to approve a 2.5% COLA for FY25, but he said the board could still alter that number before the warrant for the Annual Town Meeting is finalized. A 2.5% COLA would mean that Weigel wants a 2.5% in-department increase to achieve a net 5% increase.

            Weigel explained that as it currently stands, a part-time firefighter can earn $31 or $32 per hour in surrounding towns as opposed to $26 per hour in Rochester.

            “We’re trying to be competitive; you have to be competitive in order to keep people,” he said. “We’re trying a dollar and change (increase) just so I can be competitive and keep people we have. I’m just trying to be in line with everybody else.”

            Stoltenberg told Weigel he will follow up on the matter with Szyndlar with the understanding that no agreement has been made.

            Weigel’s most significant cut ($23,229.44) was a request for a part-time, daytime firefighter to work on Saturdays and Sundays. He confirmed other FY25 departmental budget cuts, including approximately $9,000 related to the red-alert mobile dispatch (computer system), $4,908 in EMS-related equipment maintenance, oil heat ($1,000), medical services ($1,000) and other areas totaling $42,071.44.

            “We asked the chief to cut $40,000 from his budget so he exceeded (the request),” said Cannon.

            Highway Surveyor Jeff Eldridge confirmed plans to cut to forestry and snow/ice-removal areas. He also canceled several requests to bring his budget back to FY24 levels. He had requested a full-time mechanic in FY24 ($62,000); that request was cut before it reached voters, and plans to add it this year were scrapped.

            Eldridge indicated that a $5,000 cut from a $20,000 request for the replacement of equipment and a $17,000 cut in snow/ice treatment may steer him toward the Capital Planning Committee.

            Stoltenberg suspects that a canceled $79,000 request from the Police Department for a replacement vehicle will succeed as a capital item.

            Other departments helping reach the $300,000 goal include the town clerk (removing a request in clerical hours from 12 to eight, a $3,408 cut); Planning (removing $500 clerical and $300 cleaning costs); Town Building (down $10,000 – Cannon said that Facilities Manager Andrew Daniel is in the loop); Health (insurance was overbudgeted, according to Stoltenberg, a $46,000 cut, and $10,500 more after a plan to increase administrative hours was scrapped).

            Stoltenberg said that with Monday’s agreements, the bottom line adds up to $275,358 in FY25 budget cuts. He didn’t necessarily consider the figure to be short of the goal, considering there is still work ahead in finalizing revenue estimates and ironing out details. The exact shortfall is not known.

            A much larger matter is the question of how much of the $300,000 to be cut from the schools budget will affect Rochester Memorial School as opposed to Rochester’s share of the ORR Junior or Senior High School budgets.

            The next meeting of the Rochester Finance Committee will be scheduled for Monday, April 1, at 7:00 pm at Town Hall, 1 Constitution Way.

Rochester Finance Committee

By Mick Colageo

            Carlos and Jennifer Varnum may add a two-story garage and expand their house at 534D Point Road, but a by-right project became a public hearing for a special permit all because of a breezeway.

            The only case heard by the Marion Zoning Board of Appeals on March 14 was a “quirky” one by Building Commissioner Bob Grillo’s estimation because the breezeway connecting the garage to the existing house triggered the application of Section 230-6.1 e (1) of the Marion Zoning Bylaw that limits the height increase of an existing structure to 10%.

            The bylaw allows the reconstruction, extension or change of a nonconforming single and two-family house with the approval of the building commissioner provided the alteration does not increase the nonconformity.

            “The reason it requires a special permit is because they’re increasing the height by more than 10 percent, and they’re increasing the height of the existing building by more than 10 percent because it’s attached,” explained Grillo, who offered the applicants the option of going without the breezeway and, given its conforming setbacks, thereby canceling the need for a special permit. “They could have that same structure in the same spot and it wasn’t attached, it’s by right. But because it’s attached, in essence they’re increasing the size of the existing structure by more than 10 percent.”

            Representative Chris Leaver of New Bedford-based Turowski2 “T2” Architecture presented on the Varnums’ behalf.

            Leaver said that the attached garage, at 24 feet and 8 inches, will exceed the height of the house (19.5 feet at its peak) by more than the allowable 10%. A second part of the project will expand the house in the back but will not add to the height of the house.

            Marion’s height limit is 35 feet.

            Leaver said that the second floor of the garage will be used for storage. He said the owner’s business results in many boxes. He said current plans call for an unfinished interior.

            “At this current point, it is not going to be looked at as any kind of other or additional living dwelling. It is strictly for storage,” said Leaver, who clarified by adding there is no plumbing or heating in the plan.

            Being a Special Permit application and not a variance, the owner did not need to prove hardship. Leaver referenced a meeting with the Conservation Commission that made comments regarding where an existing shed can be located. There were no comments from neighbors.

            Member Will Tifft asked about overall lot coverage. Leaver did not have that information on hand but considers it a small increase percentage-wise because of the size of the lot. Grillo said the 40% lot-coverage limit does not apply to a ZBA application that is not seeking a variance.

            “If for some reason when they come in for the permit, I’ll be asking for (lot coverage), and if it doesn’t match that number, I won’t issue the building permit, and they would have to come back (to the ZBA) for a variance),” said Grillo.

            Along with Tifft, Chairperson Cindy Callow and members Dani Engwert, Joan Gardner and Jeff Doubrava voted unanimously to grant the Special Permit.

            The Marion Zoning Board of Appeals did not schedule its next meeting upon adjournment.

Marion Zoning Board of Appeals

By Mick Colageo

On March 25, the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission once again received a report on the status of The Bogs project off Acushnet Road, now owned by the Buzzards Bay Coalition. In recent months, excavation-site work and stormwater volumes had rendered stormwater control systems unable to handle drainage necessary to keep the water on site.

            Calls to the commission by abutters expressing concern that stormwater had overtopped temporary drainage systems put in place during full on-site work had been received. Subsequent site evaluation by Brandon Faneuf, the town’s environmental agent, bore witness to the massive flooding described by neighbors. The commission saw fit to issue an Enforcement Order to the BBC for immediate remedy to take place.

            On-site monitoring of the former bog acreage was put in place to ensure that any future stormwater runoff would be contained on the site through an elaborate system of ditches, ponds and coffer dams.

            The commission also suggested that soils transferred from the site from storm flooding might contain harmful agricultural chemicals historically used on cranberry bogs. The issue of whether or not to mandate soil testing was referred to the Select Board, whose response is still pending, Chairman Mike King stated.

            The biweekly report noted that erosion controls were holding as designed and that work on the site that will ultimately result in new walking trails and passive, outdoor recreation opportunities, found everything in order.

            While the BBC did not request a lifting of the Enforcement Order, King said the commission still needed to hear from the Select Board in the matter of soil testing before lifting the order.

            In other business, a Request for Determination of Applicability filed by Judith Otter, 15 Bay View Avenue, for improvements to an existing deck received a Negative Box 2 decision.

            Certificates of compliance were issued to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation for work completed on Phase 1b of the bike path and to Dan McCarthy, 16-18 Ocean View Avenue, for an invalid Order of Conditions.

            The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission is scheduled for Monday, April 8, at 6:30 pm.

Mattapoisett Conservation Commission

By Marilou Newell

            Marion Board of Health member Albin Johnson asked Marion Health Agent Shallyn Rodriguez if the board’s proposed regulation, including a one-time usage of pencils in body-art businesses resulted in “any blowback.”

            Rodriguez, reporting to the board during its March 21 public hearing on amendments to the regulation “Guidance for Body Art Establishments,” said she sent a draft of the regulation to area businesses but had yet to receive any reactions.

            Hoffer recommended one more tweak to require a hot-air hand dryer opposed to paper towels. “A lot of restaurants are using that now,” he said.

            With the town’s plan to schedule business permits for renewal at the end of the calendar year, Marion Health Director/Nurse Lori Desmarais asked if the Health Department should prorate permit renewals due to expire during 2024.

            Board Chairman Dr. Ed Hoffer agreed it would not be fair to charge a full year’s permit fee from a company with a permit needing renewal in June, for instance.

            With that, Hoffer and Johnson voted to approve the regulation as circulated by Rodriguez. Dr. John Howard, the third member of the board, was unable to attend on March 21.

            During the board’s review of correspondence, Health Director/Nurse Lori Desmarais reported that a follow-up letter to Lighthouse Liquors, 664 Mill Street, had resulted in the payment of one installment of a fine levied for serving a minor but that the second and third installments were past due as of the March 21 meeting.

            Johnson suggested a next step of asking the proprietor to “come in and explain.” Hoffer suggested Desmarais give it a week and then request an appearance at the board’s next meeting on April 11.

            The board took note of the Immediate Response Action (IRA) completion report and Permanent Solution with Conditions statement regarding an oil spill at 16 North Great Hill Drive. The spill was noted by Hoffer to be “above ground” and by Johnson to consist of an estimated “23 tons.”

            After sending a letter regarding a failed Title 5 septic system at 38 Rocky Knook Lane, Desmarais told the board she has heard from the installer following Monday’s percolation test. The property is unoccupied, and the home is being renovated by Designer Home Properties.

            Hoffer said that Eversource Energy has sent out a 2023-27 Five-Year Vegetation Management Plan (VMP) for eastern Massachusetts, an annual plan to remove trees.

            Desmarais let the new owner of property at 1121 Point Road know on February 12 that a Title 5 septic system would be required. The house was sold on January 5.

            In her update to the board, Rodriguez reported on Chapter 2 housing inspections and complaint updates, including a visit to 110 Old Knoll Road where a sump pump has failed. Rodriguez said excavators were present upon her visit and discussed the situation. She said an engineer was hired to put chambers in the back of the home to mitigate the escaping water and reported some improvement according to neighbors. The owner, reports Rodriguez, says he’s doing all he can to make sure the sump pump does not drain onto adjacent properties.

            In her update to the board, Desmarais reported on a failed Title 5 septic system at 2 West Drive, where she said no one is living. A plan submitted in July 2023 indicates that the property will connect to town sewer. Plans were sent to Weston & Sampson in December, and a revised plan was to be submitted on March 27. Other neighboring properties are looking to hook up. The building commissioner’s approval is waiting on clearance from the Board of Health.

            The town received two requests for COVID-19 vaccine on the morning of the March 21 meeting. The minimum order from the town is 10 doses. Southcoast Public Health Collaborative money can be used for vaccines, so Marion will seek reimbursement from the collaborative.

            In a Community EMS update, Desmarais reported on a recent presentation on allergies, and another one is in the works for May that will address dog bites.

            Hoffer noted that a hospital in Florida is besieged with hundreds of bats, after which Johnson recalled that the meeting room in the Town House Annex Building where the board sat on March 21 used to have a problem with bats.

            Johnson recalled that the upper floor of the adjacent Elizabeth Taber Library now occupied by the Marion Museum of Natural History “many years ago” sustained the collapse of its ceiling from the weight of the bats’ guano (partially decomposed excrement). Johnson said the town’s only cases of rabies in humans have been from bats.

            Thanks to the Public Health Excellence Grant, there will be a training scheduled in April and May for members of the collaborative, school nurses, EMT’s and other first responders.

            Desmarais suggested some of the $5,000 be appropriated to replace the department’s plotter (large printer). Desmarais reported that Town Administrator Geoff Gorman was quoted approximately $9,000 for a replacement of the equipment shared by other departments.

            Mosquitoes, if standing water, can apply for help on their own property.

            A new Plymouth County program scheduled for winter months will allow residents to call and request the county to remove up to 10 tires. Notification will go out to residents in October.

            Hoffer suggested that the board recommend that the Town of Marion withdraw from the Marion-Rochester Health District, which only exists at this point to administer the lone employee’s pension. Johnson said the district existed before the Marion Board of Health.

            The next meeting of the Marion Board of Health will be scheduled for Thursday, April 11, at 4:30 pm at the Town House Annex Building.

Marion Board of Health

By Mick Colageo