The Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals began its January 12 meeting with a vote to recommend the Finance Committee raise the former’s annual budget from $300 to $1,000 for FY24.

            The reason was made clear by the meeting itself. Without the help of Building Department Administrative Assistant Patrice Braz, who resigned on December 19 to take another job, ZBA Chairman David Arancio scrambled to make up for her absence. The forms required to thoroughly do the board’s business were hard to find or unavailable, not even in the portable file folder holder Arancio brought with him to the Town Hall meeting room.

            “It’s because Patty did that much work for us,” Zoning Board member Richard Cutler said of the budget vote.

            Arancio said he has been informed the town is now interviewing for the vacant assistant’s position. “The best-case scenario is we will have someone for our January 26 meeting,” he said.

            The agenda’s first hearing opened and closed quickly. The petitioners for a plan at Quaker Lane to build a single-family house where the lot does not meet minimum frontage requirements were a no-show. The board continued the hearing to January 26, with the notation that the petitioner’s attorney needs to send correspondence requesting an official continuance.

            The board then granted Chris Barton a variance to widen his garage at 3 Bennett Road, which will place it closer than Rochester’s 40-foot setback requirement. The vote, however, came after Arancio had to rifle through the file folders to find the project’s application and pass along a handwritten signature page to record board-member approvals.

            Barton explained his current garage has one 9-foot door, and he cannot fit more than one vehicle inside it, let alone the generator that he would also like placed there. He wants his garage to be wider with two garage doors so he can also add a work bench. The board approved the variance for this plan with the condition that the widened garage be no more than 22 feet from setbacks.

            But the board told Barton that the lack of an administrative assistant will delay when he can start building. Arancio told Barton he may start work 20 days after the Zoning panel files its decision with the town clerk to give time for parties to file an appeal. The problem is there is no administrative assistant in place to type up and file that decision.

            Board members urged Barton to pester the Building Department to get his variance decision filed or to be patient.

            Patience was also the board’s recommendation to JPF Development representative John Punitonio for his plan for a 47,568 square-foot, seven-building self-storage facility on 14.93 acres on Cranberry Highway that requires a special permit because the proposed use does not fit squarely within the uses allowed in the Industrial Zone under town bylaw.

            Arancio apologized to Punitonio for what could have been a final approval meeting but was not because of a lack of paperwork. This hearing, too, was continued to January 26.

            The next meeting of the Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals is scheduled for Thursday, January 26, at 7:15 pm at Town Hall, 1 Constitution Way, Rochester.

Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals

By Michael J. DeCicco

The ancient way known as Old Slough Road has long been looked at as a possible emergency exit roadway for residents living in the Angelica Point area. This train of thought came about over time as the town has sought to find ways to improve egress from flood-prone areas, especially those along coastal locations. The town applied for Coastal Zone Management grants.

            On January 9, the commission heard from the town’s engineer Ken Motta of Field Engineering who gave a presentation on plans for roadway improvements. First represented on town mapping dating back to 1810, Motta said the road was primarily used to move logs and other materials but not as a primary roadway. Motta said subdrains and bridge curbing would be used. Along with updated drainage systems, one-to-one mitigation where the land may sustain disturbance over and above disturbance that has taken place over the decades will be included.

            Along with assistance from the Mattapoisett Land Trust, who has extensive holdings in the area, Mattapoisett ultimately received two grants, one in 2021 for $29,900 which was used for design and engineering studies and a second in the amount of $585,000 in 2022 for construction.

            Rising to address what he believed were errors in the mapping Motta produced, was abutting property owner David Park. Park also gave a presentation in which he provided mapping that showed the roadway in a slightly different trajectory. “Before buying our property I did research, the original path is not on that plan.” He said the road on Motta’s plan is actually Broadman’s Bootlegger Road, used by a Mr. Broadman to move bootleg alcohol during prohibition.

            Park said an early iteration of Old Slough Road should be referenced versus what Motta had presented. While he has no problem with rehabilitating Old Slough Road which cuts through part of his property, he felt strongly that the mapping should reflect the correct location of the road in question.

            But regarding the ancient way as a viable emergency way out of rising waters was questioned by Park. He pointed to historic weather data, the direction of prevailing winds and the devastation wrought by those winds. He said that fallen trees would block the roadway thus rendering it a less than adequate passage way out of danger. “People will be in peril if they don’t get out right away.”

            Motta responded to Park’s comments regarding the location of Old Slough Road, saying that the location had been reviewed by attorneys and accepted. He commented that the mapping had been done by professionals.

            Park said that he had told the Mattapoisett Land Trust that he would donate a portion of his land for easement purposes as long as the town indemnified him from legal action should harm come to anyone accessing the roadway.

            Chairman Mike King said that the commission was not looking at the viability of the road to act as an escape route but were merely overseeing and enforcing the Wetlands Protection Act. He said the Select Board is the driver on the project and had been doing so for some time. King said it was in everyone’s best interest to sit down and discuss the plan further but there was nothing in the filing that would inhibit the commission from conditioning the NOI.

            In a follow-up with Town Administrator Mike Lorenco, he said that property owners in the coastal community had come to the town as far back as several decades asking if Old Slough Road might be used for emergency purposes. “The land trust helped put the grant applications together and has participated in discussion with abutters and project team members.” Lorenco said,” I’m trying to do the project with low impact to the environment and low costs.” He added that taxpayers would not be paying for the work.

            A January 24 public hearing is tentatively planned. Lorenco said, “CZM requires a public hearing.”

            In other business, a Request for Determination of Applicability filed by Kara Gallo, 8 Pine Street received a Negative Two decision.

            A Notice of Intent filed by Paul and Jayne St. Pierre, 25 Main Street for widening and resurfacing a driveway and construction of a subsurface recharge system received conditioning.

            The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission is scheduled for January 23 at 6:30 pm.

Mattapoisett Conservation Commission

By Marilou Newell

            Old Rochester Regional Superintendent of Schools Mike Nelson delivered an update to the Mattapoisett School Committee on the UMass Boston Collins Center school-consolidation study during Monday night’s committee meeting.

            In summarizing the study’s progress, Nelson told the School Committee that he and Committee Chairperson Carly Lavin took part in facilities tours that also included Town Administrator Mike Lorenco, Capital Planning Committee Chairman Chuck McCullough and ORR Facilities Director Gene Jones.

            Community engagement work has been completed, said Nelson, along with surveys that had been open for several weeks. A major data collection has also been completed, after which ORR administrators followed up with questions for Collins Center representatives.

            Nelson anticipates that the Collins Center will submit a draft report with its findings in February.

            “Once final report is in, we’ll schedule a joint meeting with the Select Board and the Collins Center for final walkthrough and ask questions,” he said.

            The School Committee also heard from Nelson regarding the FY24 operating budget for Mattapoisett Schools. The Budget Subcommittee has drafted a proposed budget addressing regular and special education, technology and facilities.

            Inflation, said Nelson, will drive up the cost of utilities such as electricity and gas, along with tuition increases. The FY24 budget, he said, is designed to meet level services. There are no new positions or programming proposed. The focal point will be on meeting the needs of students in classrooms and ensuring teachers are meeting expectations, particularly in literacy and mathematics.

            In the near future, Nelson said to expect a formal budget hearing, including public discussion, then for the budget to be finalized and put before the committee for its approval before submission to voters at the annual Town Meeting.

            “I believe the Budget Subcommittee has made good progress,” said Nelson, who also noted that the committee is close to submitting its capital plan for FY24 and the 10-year projection.

            In his Financial Report, ORR Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Howie Barber told the committee that there is now under $600,000 remaining in the FY23 operating budget. Barber said both elementary schools passed inspections. Barber also noted that there are shortages among some food items.

            In her Chairperson’s Report, Lavin told the committee she was “blown away” by the commitment shown by the students during holiday-season concerts. “All the children worked so hard,” she said.

            Nelson also thanked everyone in the Tri-Towns for their participation in celebrations around the holidays. “It’s one of the things that make our schools so special,” he said.

            Director of Student Services Craig Davidson reported new grant funding that will support a math academy to be held during school vacations in February and April. Registration is open; Davidson encouraged those interested to reach out directly to his email or via the Central Office phone. Davidson also reported on a professional-development event scheduled for February 1 at 6:30 pm. The event, he said, includes powerful strategies to help children.

            ORR Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Shari Fedorowicz briefly discussed forward progress with an initiative, including six working group sessions on Tier 2 and 3 interventions. The work, conducted in conjunction with the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), will take place over the next few months.

            January 10 was scheduled as the first full day of work geared toward a literacy, action-plan implementation, and on Friday, January 13, faculty will hear from psychologist and former child therapist and teacher Rob Evans in a session of “plain talk” around educational challenges.

            The fourth Learning Walk was held last week at Rochester Memorial School, as Tri-Town educators exchange visits in a collaborative effort to learn from one another and provide mutual support.

            Fedorowicz also discussed peer-to-peer learning that students in Grades 5-6 and 7-8 engaged in while visiting the Boston Celtics training facility in Brighton.

            Center School Principal Linda Ashley reported on a Parent-Teacher Association event in which third graders enjoyed a class trip to the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra, each classroom spending an hour.

            Citing news that Diana Russo will no longer be available as recording secretary to Mattapoisett School Committee, the committee voted to appoint Melissa Wilcox as the School Committee secretary and added Wilcox to the recording-secretary role alongside Toni Bailey.

            Amanda Hastings was voted to represent the School Committee to the Old Rochester Foundation.

            The next meeting of the Mattapoisett School Committee is scheduled for Monday, February 27, at 6:30 pm at Center School, and the next meeting of the Joint School Committee will be held on Thursday, January 19, at 6:30 pm at the ORR Junior High School media room. Both meetings will also be remotely accessible via Zoom.

Mattapoisett School Committee

By Mick Colageo

A community outreach meeting held on January 4 to discuss a marijuana retail store moving to Rochester drew no one from the public, but details were updated on the plan for Megan’s Organic Market at the Rochester Crossroads’ mixed-use development at Routes 58 and 28.

            The design of the market seeks to normalize the retail cannabis-buying experience with a typical retail-store configuration, explained company Principal Nick Andrian, who was attending remotely via Zoom as part of the outreach meeting required by the state for applicants for a marijuana retail-sales license.

            The company’s attorney, Jonathan Silverstein, noted the Host Community Agreement that Megan’s recently agreed to with the town is one of the first to be signed after the state’s recent revision of the new regulations legalizing cannabis across the commonwealth.

            The agreement includes the promise that the store will give the town 1% of its gross receipts over and above the 3% of revenues that the state mandates each host community of such businesses should receive. It will also reimburse permit-consulting costs incurred by Rochester and give the town a Community Impact fee, estimated at $100,000.

            Silverstein said the store, a free-standing, 3,000 square-foot building with 20 parking spaces, will require a special permit and site-plan review approval by the Planning Board and eventually, licensing from the state Cannabis Commission.

            In answer to questions from members of the press after the presentation, Ken Steen, developer of the overall Crossroads mixed-use development, said the petitioners would hold a preliminary meeting with the Planning Board in January and present a formal plan in February. Silverstein said the big question is how long the licensing phase will take. That, he said, is still uncertain. Of the overall Crossroads project, Stein said street prep and improvements will probably begin between late spring and early summer.

            “We’re progressing as fast as we can,” Silverstein said.

            Andrian said customers will find that the open concept of the store’s design, wherein the actual product packaging is easily available on display, will be more comfortable than the typical atmosphere of a marijuana dispensary. The company’s typical design is to place the actual products on display, he said. Since Massachusetts does not allow that, the Rochester store will display “dummy packaging” that customers can take to the counter to do the actual ordering.

            Security will be tight, Andrian said. Doors and windows will be alarmed, and garage-door-like, secure barriers will roll down from the inside to close off the windows from intruders at night. There will be security cameras inside and out and security guards during normal operating hours.

            The plan calls for an entrance that will lead to a lobby where a receptionist and a security guard will check customers’ credentials. All visitors will be buzzed in to enter the store itself. The HVAC system will prevent odors. The delivery bays will be enclosed by dark fencing. The store will not allow use of the product on site, nor will it carry disposal “vape” pens.

            Megan’s Organic Market opened its first store in 2013 in the City of San Luis Obispo, California, where its flagship location still sits.

By Michael J. DeCicco