A public meeting was held by the Mattapoisett Select Board on Tuesday night to hear residents’ comments regarding the proposed improvements to Old Slough Road on Angelica Point.

            Coming before the board was Mike Huguenin of the Mattapoisett Land Trust to share the trust’s position regarding the importance of the ancient way. He said the MLT owns some 400 acres on the west side of the roadway and additional acreage on the east side. Having the roadway improved for walkers and bicyclists would be a benefit to the community and make the Land Trust property more accessible to the public.

            Huguenin said that 130 homes are located in the Point Connett and Angelica Point area, that the location is highly vulnerable to storm damage and sea-level rise with the lowest point a mere 1 foot above maximum high tides. As a secondary access for these communities during emergencies, Huguenin stated the Old Slough Road project is critical. He closed his comments by saying that up until 1985, the roadway had been maintained and “viewed as a good alternative,” but in more recent decades, it had been abandoned.

            The town’s engineer, Ken Motta of Field Engineering, said the roadway planned for reconstruction is 3,000 feet long, following a path that terminates at Bowman Road. He said there are presently two wet crossings and that it would be 12 feet wide. Motta said the project would be primarily funded through a grant secured from Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management agency and that the town’s portion would come from use of the Highway Department staff and equipment. Motta hoped for a spring bidding of the project estimated at $600,000.

            David Park, 48 Hollywoods Road, offered his suggestion to the roadway layout. He said that with some reconfiguration, the road could be placed where it will do the least damage and the most good for the neighborhood, but he also stressed that the old forest is susceptible. His main concern for the concept of using the road as an emergency access was the number of trees that will come down during a storm, basically rendering the road impassable. He also voiced his concern that once the road is improved, it will be used by dirt bikes and other motorized vehicles.

            Select Board Chairman Tyler Macallister assured Park and others that the roadway will have a gate at either end to secure it from motorized vehicles. But he also noted, “We’ve talked a lot about trees and not the road.” Macallister said that numerous trees have been damaged by moths and other insects making them weak. “Trees are going to come down.” But he said, by the time the winds pick up during a storm, residents should have evacuated. “After that, all bets are off.” He said the point of having this access road is to relieve traffic tie-ups and should Angelica Avenue become blocked, create another way to get out.

            “We’ve received some new information tonight,” Macallister stated. “We’ll review this again with the engineer and legal counsel and put it on the February 14 agenda.”

            In other business, a group presented the board with a list of some 38 signatures requesting that the town restrict beach access to residents only. Spokesperson for the group, Debra Molloy, said that people were disturbed by large groups who were not residents but had walk-on access to the beach. She asked the board to put restrictions in place that would curtail nonresidents from gaining access to the beach.

            The group and board members discussed the matter at length with Town Administrator Mike Lorenco, pointing out that public beaches are “public” in the commonwealth dating back to the 1600s, and therefore anyone can use them. He and the Select Board, however, said they would look into ways of managing walk-on beach goers.

            Presently a beach sticker is needed to park at the town beaches. The group was also informed that the beach located at the end of Reservation Road is not public, has never been public and requires a golf-club-membership sticker to park in that location.

            The board also briefly discussed with Lorenco the timing of budget reviews in advance of the May 8 Spring Town Meeting. They selected April 25 as the opening day for the warrant and May 1 as the closing date. Lorenco said that department budget drafts are being received now. A schedule for meeting with the town’s departments is pending.

            The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Select Board was not announced upon adjournment.

Mattapoisett Select Board

By Marilou Newell

            Marion School Committee Chairperson April Nye opened the committee’s January 11 public meeting with recognition of 10-year-old Sippican Elementary School student Davin Alves, whose hard work on behalf of the United Way of New Bedford raised nearly $1,000 used to buy food for needy people during the holiday season.

            “Thank you!” said Alves, who was presented a certificate amidst applause from the committee members and the ORR Central Office team.

            Nye would revisit Alves’ accomplishment during her Chairperson’s Report.

            “Seeing his fundraising efforts … it really brought it home to me and made me appreciate this young man and his family and their efforts toward our community. It just kind of made me look at things in a bigger picture,” said Nye. “I appreciate what he did and looking at it and … with everything else that’s going on with school committees and whatnot, it just made me think, you know, we all could take a lesson from that (11)-year-old about the way that we talk and the way that we conduct ourselves.”

            In his Central Office Report, Old Rochester Regional Superintendent of Schools Mike Nelson told the committee that the ORR District has received $50,000 in grant funding for its Acceleration Academy to be implemented during the February and April vacation weeks. Applications went out to district families during the second week of January.

            Nelson said the next SMEC collaborative meeting for family engagement will be held remotely on February 1 with Sarah Ward, whose clinical background will be brought to bear on executive functioning and how families can support students in bridging the gap between home and school.

            ORR heard from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and learned that the district’s audit of its English Language Services that began last year is complete and meets DESE’s standards.

            Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Dr. Shari Fedorowicz reported that the Literacy grant received by the district is in action with weekly programming, most recently developing the Literacy Action Plan. Fedorowicz thanked school leadership and faculty for moving the plan forward.

            ORR scheduled a professional-development day for Friday, January 13 and also took its fourth “learning walk” by visiting Rochester Memorial School.

            Nye asked Nelson to pass along thanks to Director of Student Services Craig Davidson, who was unable to attend the committee meeting, for his work on the Acceleration Academy.

            In a discussion about the FY24 operating budget, Nelson said that Nye and member Michelle Smith have been working alongside the Budget Subcommittee has on a draft budget, and School Committee met Marion’s December 23 deadline for department heads to submit their proposed budgets.

            The FY24 budget has been designed to maintain current levels of programming and staffing. A main budget driver, said Nelson, is inflation’s impact on utilities, needed financial literacy support accounting for a 14% tuition increase for special education and private-school tuition.

            Nelson credited Marion Finance Committee Chairman Shay Assad for his work in partnership with the Budget Subcommittee.

            A public hearing is anticipated for the one of the next School Committee meetings, said Nelson. The committee will vote on whether to recommend the budget as an article for the voting residents to decide upon at the Spring Town Meeting.

            In her Principal’s Report, Marla Sirois highlighted equity in school and recent activities around the holiday season, including Project Grow door decorations and first graders’ family events.

            “It was great to have volunteers back in the building, we’re so excited,” said Sirois.

            Grade 5 students learned about a solar-powered boat that cleans up trash in Maryland, then practiced with Lego robots. Grade 4 learned about circuits and created holiday cards that lit up, and several grades participated in an optional, eight-week mathematics challenge.

            After a visit to Sippican by members of the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra, students participated in class trips to New Bedford to work with the orchestra. The Sippican Concert Choir helped the Town of Marion kick off its annual Christmas Stroll, and the school band led the parade around village streets. Sippican students participated in an effort that accomplished the donations of 100 new toys to Gifts to Give.

            The committee approved the disposal of speech and language materials out of date or otherwise no longer usable, along with a vote to recycle tech items, either broken beyond repair or incapable of updating to the latest software.

            Since the last Marion School Committee meeting, the ORR Facilities Department has hired Cody Leonardo as the Building & Grounds Supervisor at Sippican School. He was scheduled to start on January 25.

            The School Committee voted to appoint Melissa Wilcox as the School Committee secretary and add her as a recording secretary.

            During a brief but emotional Public Comment session, Christine Legault, 508 County Road, told the committee she had exercised her rights under the federal Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) to request Sippican’s fifth-grade curriculum and received the information, only to see her access later denied.

            “It was pulled from me and stopped and ceased and never allowed to continue, and I’m not really sure why when I have a federal right … to see how and what you are teaching my child every day …,” said Legault, who added that no teachers have responded to her inquiries. “I can’t even get what the kids are even doing for gym for the next four weeks so I know how to deal with my daughter’s really long hair or what to put on her.”

            Legault reiterated that she has gone through the proper channels and said she even contacted DESE, which she said confirmed her understanding of her rights as a parent. “I really think you guys need to come up with a policy and procedure to allow all parents, not just those that can jump through your hoops and come in during the day, to see the curriculum and know what you’re doing.”

            The School Committee approved three donations to Sippican School: 16 $25 Target store gift cards totaling $400 from St. Vincent de Paul, $2,078.58 from LifeTouch for the Fall Individuals 22-23 Program and $500 from Cape Cod 5 Educational Mini-Grant program to teacher Cathleen Furtado for securing additional reading materials for Sippican students.

            The committee voted to enter executive session and only returned to adjourn the public meeting.

            The next regular meeting of the Marion School Committee is scheduled for Wednesday, March 8, at 6:30 pm.

Marion School Committee

By Mick Colageo

            During the January 23 meeting of the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission, the owners of the Mattapoisett Boat Yard and Brandt Cove Marina, David and Ned Kaiser, finished providing details for two projects on the agenda.

            The first project heard was a Notice of Intent filing for the boatyard located on Ned’s Point Road. That location suffered a devastating fire that destroyed all the buildings on the property, along with many boats and vehicles in the late summer 2022.

            The Notice of Intent as laid out by representative David Davignon of Schneider, Davignon and Leone, Inc. includes the construction of a two-story, 10,570-square-foot metal building situated 12 feet from the south property line along the waterfront.

            Davignon said this structure is the beginning for a larger master plan still in the works but also represents a 56% overall decrease in lot coverage from the original layout. He said that the timeframe for construction is pending due to long lead times for receiving the metal building materials. Davignon also noted that a Zoning Board of Appeals approval will be sought for the 12-foot setback.

            It was further pointed out that the boatyard still has a fully compliant boat-washdown system registered with the Environmental Protection Agency.

            After some discussion on state Department of Environmental Protection performance standards, that is the lack thereof for a project of this scope, the commission’s agent Brandon Faneuf requested that the applicant provide a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) and that this request be part of the conditions imposed upon the project. The project was conditioned as noted. Next step for the applicant – the Zoning Board of Appeals.

            The Kaisers also filed a Notice of Intent for their marina located at 21 Dupont Drive in the Brandt Island neighborhood. Previously submitted in the spring of 2021, the proposed project was for the expansion of Brandt Cove Marina (Buzzards Bay Management LLC.)

            The earlier proposal had met with some neighborhood pushback, Davignon said, primarily around possible eel-grass beds and a large-wave attenuator associated with the dock field. That larger project, Davignon said, is now reduced to a mere 2,000 square feet and minus the wave-attenuating fence. The updated project also includes the installation of 39 pilings, some to aid pilings in place and some new. Approximately 10 new slips will be added with the extension.

            Conservation Commission Chairman Mike King added that the project will require permitting and oversight by the Army Corps of Engineers and a Massachusetts Waterways Chapter 91 license. The project was conditioned for construction.

            In other business, a NOI filed by Kenneth and Elizabeth Ackerman, 4 Grove Avenue, for the construction of a two-story garage with second-floor living space was continued to February 13. The filing includes the removal of eight trees with in-kind replacement and a request by the agent that a study of the mean high-water mark for a stream on the property be conducted. Faneuf said he wanted to accurately depict the stream’s activity for the file. The project will also require permissions from the ZBA.

            A NOI filed by McGrath Realty Trust was conditioned. The project includes the repositioning of boulders and a completed lot survey that was submitted for the planned 20×30-foot parking area adjacent to 7 Cove Street. The plan also includes the planting of beach grass.

            A Request for Determination of Applicability filed by Jeffrey Dunn, 0 Angelica Avenue, for the installation of 300 feet of 8-inch water line with a hydrant in the roadway for future development of house lots received a negative decision.

            During the agent’s report later in the meeting, Faneuf reported that the Board of Health has been notified and is taking action to stop the flow of raw sewage being discharged into wetlands at Brandt Point Village. “I have never seen anything like this in my 25 years,” he commented. The apparent problem, he explained, was the connection of sewer pipes to stormwater systems in the subdivision.

            King ordered a cease-and-desist letter be sent to the property owner identified by last name only (Napolitano) for lots 56 and 57 on Brandt Island Road for failing erosion controls.

            King also requested that a letter be sent to Farland Corporation for issues of construction debris and collapsed erosion controls that the owner was previously asked to clean up at Martha’s Vineyard Drive lots 5 and 6.

            The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission is scheduled for Monday, February 13, at 6:30 pm.

Mattapoisett Conservation Commission

By Marilou Newell