The Marion Capital Improvements Planning Committee has much to digest after meeting recently with several town department heads to hear their capital requests for Fiscal Year 2024, along with 10-year needs-based projections.

            Most recently, the Department of Public Works went before the CIPC on December 8 and the Facilities Department on December 15.

            In order of Sewer Department priority, the DPW has requested over $1,000 over the next two fiscal years under Sewer regulatory compliance for the Water Pollution Control Facility (WPCF.)

            Because Marion’s renewal application for its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) was met with news that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering adding Marion to its Small General Permit, DPW considers it prudent to request funding to address potential unknowns in the amount of $150,000 for FY24 and $875,000 for FY25.

            The DPW has also requested $100,000 for FY24 and $800,000 for FY25 to design higher priority repairs, focusing on concrete maintenance.

            The I/I Removal Program will cost $200,000 per year for the next 10 years.

            Other Sewer Department requests: $35,000 in FY24 and $35,000 in FY30 for work on the supervisory control and data program, $135,000 in FY24 to replace the sewer jetter machine; $50,000 in FY24 for evaluation of the Silvershell Pumping Station, $25,000 each of the next four fiscal years for the town’s older force-main evaluations and $50,000 in FY24 and $52,000 in FY28 for the Bio-Filter (odor control) system.

            FY24 Sewer requests totaled $740,000, FY25 requests totaled $4,125,000, FY26 $2,680,000. Covered in FY24 by ARPA, Front Street station and force main will cost $1,750,000 in FY25.

            The Water Department’s top priority is the state-required Lead Service Line Inventory at $75,000, due October 2024 and included as a capital request for FY24.

            In addition to $287,000 for FY24 requests including (Priority 2) the Creek Road Water Main ($122,000), followed by (Priority 3) the replacement of a F350 4×4 truck with a plow ($90,000), main pipes dominate the Water Department’s 10-year plan: Wareham Street (Route 6) at $2,700,000 (FY25); Point and Delano at $2,900,000, Cottage Street at $350,000 and Pitcher Street at $370,000 (FY26); Point Road (south to Kittansett) at $140,000 (FY27); Point Road (south to Kittansett) at $2,300,000 and Point Road north (cleaning and lining) at $60,000 (FY28); Point Road north (cleaning and lining) at $1,500,000 (FY29); Stoney Run, Dexter Road, Cove Street, 2nd Street at $50,000 (FY30) and $800,000 (FY31); and Parallel Water Main Transfer (Delano, Ichabod, Rezendes, Fraser, Sippican and Point) at $25,000 (FY31) and $250,000 (FY32.)

            The aforementioned truck comes up again in FY27 ($90,000) and FY30 ($100,000.) While requests are official for FY24, the amounts and precise timing over the 10-year plan are presented as placeholders and can change over time.

            For FY24, the Highway Department requested a new CAT Skid Steer at $125,000, an asphalt hot-box reclaimer (pot-hole filler) at $25,000 and drainage infrastructure on Crossfront Road at $111,600 in FY24.

            Along with the $261,600 requested for FY24, the Highway Department’s 10-year plan calls for Switch-and-Go trucks at the cost of $130,000 (FY25), $145,000 (FY27) and $155,000 (FY32.)

            The Facilities Department’s requests for FY24 are relatively light: $197,000 for window restoration at Taber Library, $125,000 to install insulation at Fire Station No. 1 and $23,000 for window replacements at the Cushing Community Center.

            Facilities’ 10-year plan is seeking $1,500,000 in FY25 and a $1,700,000 placeholder ($3,200,000 total) for complete Town House renovations.

            Also sought for FY25: $175,000 toward the community center’s new roof, $40,000 to construct a restroom at Fire Station No. 1 and $20,000 for siding and trim at the library/museum.

            For FY26, $20,000 has been requested for a condenser deck, siding on the east side and R22 to 410A refrigeration. An $80,000 request for FY 28 would address the community center’s need for a generator. A $500,000 request for FY31 would put a new roof and flashing on the main building at the Wastewater Treatment Plant and $30,000 for exterior paint on the library/museum. Fire Station No. 2 would use $80,000 (FY33) for siding, paint and trim, and a $100,000 placeholder was added for a family bathroom at the community center.

            Once the CIPC members have had ample opportunity to digest each department’s requests, the membership will reconvene to discuss and possibly review certain requests with department heads. The lengthy process will ultimately produce recommendations for the consumption of the Finance Committee and the Select Board.

            The next meeting of the Marion Capital Improvements Planning Committee has been scheduled for Thursday, January 5, at 7:00 pm.

Marion Capital Improvements Planning Committee

By Mick Colageo

The Rochester Select Board Monday night scheduled the 2023 Annual Town Meeting for May 22 and learned what will be that meeting’s most consequential article.

            The Select Board meeting began with a request from Old Colony Regional Vocational-Technical High School Superintendent Aaron Polansky to put a placeholder article on the warrant requesting funding for a feasibility study. Polansky said the state has recently “invited” the school district to submit an application for Massachusetts State Building Authority capital-improvement funding.

            Polansky noted the total, rough-estimate cost for the feasibility study into how the Old Colony building should be improved would be approximately $1,000,000 to $1,200,000, but Rochester’s share of any such cost would be based on a per-pupil charge.

            Rochester residents comprise 93 students out of 562 at the school right now. Polansky agreed with Select Board Chairman Woody Hartley’s calculation at 16.5% of the total student population. Polansky said the formula used to determine Rochester’s share of any capital costs would be apportioned to closely align with that number.

            Polansky indicated that it was premature to forecast the costs involved in a future project. He told the Select Board that the state will fund 54.16% of the “reimbursable costs” of the study and capital project. But there will be nonreimbursable costs that the district will have to fund on its own. As of Monday’s meeting, he did not have sufficient details on specific cost factors.

            The board also set the date to close the Annual Town Meeting warrant: March 3, 2023. The board acknowledged the Town Meeting will be held May 22, 2023, two days before the May 24 annual Town Election. Hartley said the latter date will remain as is.

            Next, the board heard an update from the Board of Assessors regarding the town’s tax classification. Assessors Chairperson Wendy Knapp reported the tax rate will not be set until the second week in January. This is partly because the town has just concluded a five-year revaluation period. “It put us behind,” Knapp said.

            The Select Board and the Assessors agreed to send out tax bills for next year based on last year’s rates. Residents may attach a copy of this year’s bill to the next-year bill or include their tax-bill number.

            The board then appointed Town Administrator Glenn Cannon as the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) authorized signatory and Finance Director Suzanne Szyndlar as the town’s authorized ARPA preparer/data entry representative.

            Cannon reported the new Personnel Board is already rewriting the town’s Personnel Bylaw and refining to which employee the Bylaw applies. The employee, he said, must be a full-time or regular part-timer not under a contract agreement.

            Cannon then noted the Building Department’s online, e-permitting has been closed down. New Building Commissioner Paul Boucher only began on the job this week and does not know how to run the system. Paper permits must be used. This is compounded by the fact there is no staff in the department with the recent departure of Patrice Braz. “It will take about a month to get up to speed,” Cannon said.

            Hartley announced a person eligible to be awarded the town’s Boston Post Cane has been found. He said the award ceremony will be held at the Senior Center, most likely during a luncheon on the third or fourth Monday of January. The Boston Post Cane goes to the town’s oldest resident.

            Select Board member Paul Ciaburri announced Eversource has told him a four to six-hour rolling blackout is being planned for Rochester sometime next year. It is an effort to conserve the utility’s gas supplies.

            Hartley countered this with good news that the town has entered into an Electrical Aggregate Agreement contract that will offer residents a less-expensive, per-kilowatt rate for electricity than Eversource offers most utility customers. Town residents would automatically be billed under this lower rate; they would have to opt out to not share that rate.

            The next meeting of the Rochester Select Board was not scheduled as of adjournment.

Rochester Select Board

By Michael J. DeCicco

            December 20 found members of the Mattapoisett Select Board and the Marine Advisory Board sitting down to hash out next steps in the long-anticipated repairs and improvements for Long Wharf. But the process of making critical plans to a wharf located in the heart of the historic village is still in the early stages. Design and construction methods and materials have yet to be chosen.

            The problem of making decisions on a 200-year-old structure boils down to this: No one knows what lies below the water’s surface, as in what is supporting the structure. Is it ledge or some other material.

            Andrew Nilson of Childs Engineering, the town’s consultant, said that in the absence of data, it is difficult to put a price tag on construction and that coupled with contractors’ lack of interest in the job makes presenting solid figures to the town difficult at best. Cost estimates have ranged from $8,000,000 to $12,000,000 or more.

            Materials have also been a source of confusion. Nilson said that plans include reuse of existing stones but that it is difficult to estimate how much new stone might have to be secured. He said plans also included the use of flowable fill to fill in cracks and concrete blocks.

            Details of the work that were previously reported by Childs’ study produced four options. Option one, costing $4,700,000, would consist of precast concrete with steel reinforcing modular block and would be used to encapsulate the existing wharf. Option two would include using reinforced concrete wall installed in front of the existing wharf blocks to act as a retaining wall that would support the wharf and lock all blocks in place. The third option would use a steel sheet-pile wall. Childs noted in the report, “the advantage of this option is that it is typically more cost effective; the installation is less time consuming; however, it also has the least-natural appearance.” The fourth option would combine the use of concrete blocks and granite.

            During their September 29 meeting, the MAB discussed the options again while the members awaited word from the Select Board as to the acceptability of a hybrid combination of construction styles that would give a more appealing outward appearance, employing concrete and granite blocks.

            Harbormaster Jamie MacIntosh reminded the group that Childs had also recommended preparing for sea-level rise in the coming years by constructing the wharf in a manner that it could be heightened at a later date. This combination conceptual plan, which as yet has not been fully scripted by Childs, has an estimated $10,700,000 price tag, Chairman Carlos DeSousa stated.

            After an hour of discussion, the Select Board concluded that Childs should give cost estimates for test borings, soil testing and angle probing to establish the current condition of the structure and the materials lying below the surface.

            “There’s so much we don’t know,” stated Select Board member Jordan Collyer. The uncertainty makes decision making difficult at best, the board agreed.

            There was also considerable discussion on the topic of sea-level rise and the possible need to take that into consideration when planning the wharf-construction work. Nilson said that most waterside projects are planning for water-level rise but only for the next 30 years or about 4 feet. “If we raise the height of the wharf now, does that change its functionality?” he asked. Nilson did think renovations should include the ability to add to the height in the future.

            “Until we get into it, we aren’t going to know what we’ve got,” said Select Board Chairman Tyler Macallister, who went on to say the town should begin without knowing everything and plan for many contingencies. “We have to bite the bullet.”

            It was agreed that Nilson will establish a testing protocol by mid-January, and then the two boards (MAB and the Select Board) will take the matter up for further exploration into what can be done and at what price.

            The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Marine Advisory Board was not set at adjournment.

Mattapoisett Marine Advisory Board

By Marilou Newell

“I’m going to be honest, I think there’s a lot to be proud of, knowing what we have all gone through the last two and a half years. What we’re hearing from the state is that a lot of the trends we’re seeing are consistent from district to district. We saw some of that here. But honestly, overall, we feel that our students, our staff members and our family just did such a tremendous job in terms of keeping teaching and learning moving forward. So I truly thank them for their efforts during obviously very challenging times.”

            Old Rochester Regional Superintendent of Schools Mike Nelson offered those remarks at the beginning of the Marion School Committee’s December 7 public meeting before turning the floor over to Sippican Elementary School Assistant Principal Peter Crisafulli, who presented a detailed coverage of the last round of MCAS scores for the district and the state.

            The percentage of Sippican students exceeding expectations in the English Language Arts section of the MCAS has risen from 8% to 11% over the past two years. The percentage of students meeting expectations has remained steadily above state levels, with 39% of district students fitting into this category, compared to 35% of Massachusetts students overall.

            In Math, 8% of students in the Marion district exceed expectations, compared to 6% of students in the state; 45% of Marion students met expectations compared to 33% of students in the state. For science, 19% of Marion students are exceeding expectations compared to 7% in the state, and 41% of Marion students are meeting expectations compared to 36% in the state.

            “Again, if you look at some of these pieces of the curriculum,” Crisafulli read an example from a slide detailing the educational requirements measured by the MCAS, “‘Describe the transfer of energy and regular pattern of motion that occurs as a way of travel.’ I can’t, our students can.” The gathered committee members chuckled in agreement. “We’re going to identify both the areas of strength and concern for all our curriculum: (English Language Arts), Math, and Science.”

            Crisafulli reminded those present that this was the first ever “normal” school year for some of the students, and absolutely all of them had been impacted by the ongoing pandemic.

            “This is the first normal year for our Grade Three students, just in general, and we’re always looking at the data to look at areas of gaps and where we can close some of those gaps. And just overall, we’re really proud of our students and our teachers and educators moving forward,” he said.

            There followed a further breakdown of MCAS results for the various Sippican school grades in relation to the state percentiles. This data, as well as the PowerPoint it was presented in, is available through the ORR district website.

            Further committee discussion included a new police initiative regarding the implementation of a “satellite office” in the Sippican Elementary School. “Beginning December 7, a space inside Sippican School will be designated as a Marion Police satellite office, and moving forward, on-duty Marion police officers will be able to make use of the space for administrative police purposes.”

            He read a prepared statement made by the ORR administration: “At this time, the officers who use the satellite office will not serve as school resource officers, nor will they be involved in day-to-day school operations, activities or discipline.”

            Sippican Elementary School Principal Marla Sirois welcomed new staff member Darby Nolet in her report. “Ms. Nolet has joined the team as a paraprofessional. She is primarily working in Grade 6 for the remainder of the school year.” Sirois also mentioned that there would be a hat, mitten and toy drive to be donated to Gifts to Give this holiday season.

            There were no public comments either in person or via remote access and so the meeting adjourned quietly and without fanfare.

            The next Marion School Committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, January 11, at 6:30 pm accessible in person at 16 Spring Street and via Zoom. The next Joint School Committee meeting will be held Thursday, January 19, at 6:30 pm, in person at 133 Marion Road and via Zoom.

Marion School Committee

By Jack MC Staier

            Mattapoisett’s Community Preservation Act Committee met on December 13 to begin the vetting process for grant applications received for the FY23 budget cycle. Grants passing muster will then go on to the Spring Town Meeting to determine the will of the people.

            Five grants have been received, and preliminary discussion has begun to formulate questions to be answered by the applicants in advance of formal interviews and presentations to the committee.

            One grant request garnering the most discussion was for $150,000 received from the Mattapoisett/Massachusetts Housing Authority for property located off Main Street. The subsidized housing, which is owned by the state, was built some 40 years ago and is managed primarily by the state.

            The application is for the purchase and installation of new sliding-glass partitions along the front façade of the structure. “The locks don’t work so it’s a safety issue,” CPA Chairman Chuck McCullough stated.

            As chair of the Mattapoisett Housing Authority, McCullough intends to recuse himself when the grant application comes up for a vote. He went on to further explain that the old glass does not shield the interior from harmful sunlight, “If it’s 110 outside, it’s 110 inside.”

            McCullough then described the process for securing housing at this location. Units are not held aside for Mattapoisett residents, nor are residents more likely to be selected over someone applying from out of town. McCullough explained that the highest priority is given to homeless people, followed by veterans. Other criteria includes whether or not the applicant is disabled, either physically or mentally, and their age. However, he said that 10% of all units must be allocated to young, disabled applicants.

            McCullough shared that in the past, he had believed the town’s money should not be spent on state-owned property but not this time. “We will get three dollars for every one dollar we contribute to the project,” he said, meaning the state will pick up the balance of the retrofit estimated at $700,000.

            Other applications received include a request for $15,000 from the Mattapoisett Historical Commission for continued town survey of historical structures, a $38,000 request by the American Legion Hall for sanitary repairs and improvements and $47,648 from the Mattapoisett Historical Society, which owns the Mattapoisett Museum.

            Committee members questioned if the CPA should be funding maintenance projects and if the society has sought other funding sources such as their endowment. Similar questions regarding funding were raised regarding the American Legion Post. Committee member Karen Field wondered if they have sought funding through the National Association of American Veterans, Inc.

            A large request came from the Mattapoisett River Valley Water District in the amount of $85,000 for the purchase of more than 200 acres in cooperation with Rochester, Fairhaven and Marion. Questions as to whether the sale will rise or fail depending on all the member communities agreeing to pony up funding remained open, as did the question as to if all the towns will be expected to advance the same amount of money. The estimated price tag for the acreage is approximately $6,000,000.

            These questions and others will be sent ahead to the applicants before formal interviews take place in January.

            The next meeting of the Mattapoisett CPA Committee is scheduled for Thursday, December 29, at 5:30 pm.

Mattapoisett Community Preservation Act

By Marilou Newell