Westport in Brief!
EverythingWestport.com
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Photos | EverythingWestport.com except as noted
School Building Committee debates merit of
state’s model school after on-site visit.
Animal Action Committee meets with
Dartmouth health officials.
Westport Democrats to Elect Delegates to State
Convention.
Westport Affordable Housing Trust schedules
Housing Production Plan forums.
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School Building committee debates
merit of state’s model school after on-site visit. EverythingWestport.com Tuesday, March 14, 2017 Photos
| EverythingWestport.com Editor’s Note: 17
Westport school officials and school building committee members caravanned
out to Longmeadow, MA on Monday, March 6th in a two hour-plus trek to view
for themselves the potential adaptability of a MSBA
model school as a less costly alternative to a custom-designed, grades five
through 12 Jr/Sr High School.
Special
Correspondent to EverythingWestport.com WESTPORT
– A recent tour of Longmeadow High School, a model school suggested by the
Westport Jr/Sr High School Building Committee as a
possible template for the construction of new school buildings by other
communities, has prompted the Committee to consider that option for a
proposed junior/senior high school on Old County Road. A
group of 17 building committee members and school department representatives
made the trip to Longmeadow to check out the four year-old school facility on
Monday, March 6th. At a meeting two days later, a number of tour participants
gave the school high marks, and urged that the Westport committee further
study that possible lower-priced alternative to a locally-developed, custom
concept plan for a new school. The MSBA has already given preliminary approval to the town’s
custom concept plans for a new combined middle and high school, but has promised
another five percent reimbursement for the project if Westport decides to use
a model school design that has already been constructed elsewhere. The
“preferred option” the MSBA has endorsed calls for
an H-shaped building with separate two-story middle school and high school
academic wings constructed around a core kitchen, cafeteria, auditorium and
gymnasium complex. Construction costs for a projected 176,610 square foot
building came in around $76 million; a decision to add an oversized gymnasium
with a second basketball court and indoor walking track could add another
$2.5 to $3 million to the project (money not covered under current MSBA reimbursement policy.) Site
work, the demolition of the old middle school, and some new athletic fields,
fees for architects and project managers, building furnishings and furniture
would add another $16 million in soft costs, bringing estimated total project
estimates to just over $92 million. At the current 46.9 percent MSBA reimbursement rate, the $92.4 million project would
net the town about $39.3 million in grant money, leaving just over $53
million to be financed with a long-term bond. The
decision to consider the slightly revised Longmeadow High design as an option
to that plan came at a Wednesday, March 8th Building
committee co-chair Dianne Baron said that the town’s own consulting architect
will be asked to report at the March 22nd meeting if he thinks the model
school plan could be easily adapted to fit Westport’s school needs, and fit
on the chosen site. Most
importantly, the building committee wants to get cost estimates for putting a
similar facility on the site of the closed Westport Middle School, and
compare those cost projections to the price tag for the town’s concept plan. Superintendent
Ann Dargon said she liked the general design of
academic areas of the Longmeadow school, a L-shaped
building of almost 236,000 square feet. Her impression was that the layout
could work for Westport with some minor modifications. School
Business Manager Michelle Rapoza also took the tour,
and said she found the school to be very attractive. She thought “the kitchen
and cafeteria areas would be a perfect fit for us... It looked like the
perfect building for our students and the Town of Westport.” Building
committee member and Westport High teacher Jon Bernier said he was also
impressed with the design, and felt Westport would be “very happy” if it
chose to go with a similar building plan. Committee
member Sue Ubiera said the design was not as
“glamorous” as other facilities the Westport committee had visited, but
overall “was definitely a match” for the school district’s educational needs. Building
committee member David Cass and committee co-chair Tracey Priestner
both expressed concerns over whether the L-shaped building would fit on the
Old County Road site. Potential site limitations were also raised by
committee member Kevin Rioux, who noted the model
school had a larger auditorium than the local plan, but a smaller gymnasium
than the one the building committee was considering for the new facility. “It
was a beautiful, beautiful building... but it did have its flaws,” Rioux said. He thought that some of the materials used in
the construction were not of top quality, and suggested some materials and
finishes might need to be upgraded to ensure a longer life for a new Westport
school, such as replacing ubiquitous wall board with a more durable wall
material to prevent accidental damage by students.
Once again,
the proposed oversized gymnasium became a hot topic for debate at the March
8th meeting. Owner’s project manager Dan Tavares said the MSBA
would reimburse the town for about half the cost of a 12,000 square foot gym,
but not provide any additional funding for the proposed 16,000 square-foot
space contained in the Westport concept plan. The
additional cost of a larger gymnasium prompted Baron to suggest
reconsideration of the extra gym space in the local plan. If the town goes
with a cheaper model school design, “a lot of the savings would be eaten up
by the extra cost of that gym,” she noted. “The MSBA has told us definitively that they will not pay for
the extra gym space, which is about $3 million” with the added cost of an
elevated indoor walking track, Baron noted. Westport
School Committee member Tony Viveiros felt that the
larger gym space was important, and would be supported by the community
despite any additional costs. He said he was willing to consider the model
school alternative if it could be scaled down to fit Westport’s needs for a
new facility. The
decision on the amount of gym space included in a final plan ought to be
postponed until the building committee has a good handle on the cost
estimates for the model school plan, suggested Selectman Tony Vieira. “The
cost is going to be the big deciding factor” between the two options, Cass
agreed. The
cost comparisons are expected to be ready by Friday, March 17th, so they can
be reviewed by the committee before the March 22nd meeting with the two
architectural firms that produced the local plan and the Longmeadow school
design. Tavares
noted that scrapping the local design for the model school plan would be “a
big decision” for the building committee, which should be made after careful
consideration of the presentations by the architects. “Don’t rush” into a
quick decision, he advised, noting that the building committee has until the
end of June to submit a final schematic design to the MSBA
for approval. Whatever
plan the town decides to go with, it was generally agreed that that the
building site should be the Old County Road campus where the closed Westport
Middle School is located. The MSBA will pay for
half of the estimated $8.5 million cost of demolishing the old middle school
and properly disposing of any hazardous materials found on the site. So
far, the MSBA has committed to paying for all of
the development of preferred design concept plans, and would cover the costs
of a comparative analysis of those plans and a revised design based on the
Longmeadow school layout. Animal
Action Committee meets with Dartmouth health officials. Committee
debates whether new regulations, if any, would be required. EverythingWestport.com Monday, March 15, 2017 Photos | EverythingWestport.com
Special Correspondent to
EverythingWestport.com The Westport Animal Action Committee invited
Dartmouth Public Health Director Chris Michaud and Dartmouth Animal Control
Officer Sandy Gosselin to their Monday, March 13th meeting to discuss how
that neighboring town handles its domestic animal registration and permitting
regulations. The committee, charged with drafting recommendations for tighter
supervision of sites where livestock and other animals are being kept, seemed
a bit surprised to find that Dartmouth recently loosened its regulations
covering those areas. The revised permit rules are “a relaxation
of our previous regulations,” Michaud reported. “People thought that they
were too restrictive” in many cases, so some operations, like small scale
piggeries, were “de-regulated,” he indicated.
Gosselin agreed that “it would be very
difficult” to try to identify and regularly inspect every site in town where
domestic animals are kept. Many small animal-keeping operations are
discovered by inspectors only after a complaint comes in and gets
investigated, she said. Inset,
foreground: Dartmouth Public Health Director Chris Michaud. Background: Animal Action Committee and AgCom
Representative Shirley D’Agostino Robbins. Sites with pigs, cows, and beef cattle have
very high turnover numbers, Michaud noted, and the town doesn’t really need
to know, for example, exactly how many piglets are on a farm at any given
time. The annual census of animals undertaken by local inspectors on behalf
of the state Department of Agricultural Resources gives the town reasonably
good estimates of year-end numbers, he said. In Dartmouth, annual permits to keep
significant numbers of livestock and domestic animals are required for all
parcels of land under five acres. Whether the site is a small “backyard farm”
or a multi-acre plot of land, the required permits are typically issued for
specific species of animals on a particular site, Michaud indicated. Agricultural operations on parcels of five
or more acres meet the state standard of being full-fledged farms, and are
not required to obtain the annual permits under the Board of Health rules. The regulations contain some minimum
requirements for care including indoor shelters, access to feed and water,
food storage, and manure disposal plans, Michaud explained. The cost of
annual inspections is covered by a $35 permit fee, low enough not to
discourage animal owners from voluntarily registering their sites. The food storage plans were recently added
to town regulations to deal with spoiled food being increasingly used for
livestock feed. Food waste is being taken out of the trash streams going to
landfills as a result of a statewide waste diversion program, and prompted
numerous odor and rodent complaints, Michaud said. Rodent infestations and odor complaints are
investigated by animal control officers would do double duty as municipal
animal inspectors who conduct annual barn visits and kennel inspections. Rats
or odor problems are reported to the Board of Health for supervision of
efforts to correct the issues, according to Gosselin. In many cases, animal
control and the Board of Health call on the town’s Agricultural Commission to
suggest “best farming practices” to improve conditions at problem properties,
she noted.
Above: (Center) Dartmouth Animal Control Officer Sandy Gosselin explained
the difficulties in obtaining criminal actions against individuals for animal
abuse or neglect. From the left:
Dartmouth Public Health Director Chris Michaud, Animal Action Committee
members AgComm Representative Jay Tripp, Westport
Animal Control Officer Donna Lambert, Westport Select Board Chairwoman Shana Shufelt, and Board of Health Chairman Bill Harkins. Any suspected cases of animal abuse are
immediately reported to the Department of Agricultural Resources’ animal
division for investigation and enforcement, Gosselin said. Town officials
stay involved in the case to ensure town interests are represented, she
added. The town’s three animal control officers are
also municipal animal inspectors take care of most annual barn visits and
kennel inspections required for annual permitting; three Board of Health
members are also certified as animal inspectors after taking the mandatory
training for state certification. Dairy herd operations and large scale
poultry farms are registered and inspected by state officials, Agricultural
Commission member Jay Tripp confirmed during the discussions. Voluntary compliance with the permitting and
inspection process is the key to the Dartmouth permitting process, the public
health director said. Not all residents keeping domestic animals or raising
livestock are reporting to the town, but the Board of Health has a good idea
of where most animal-raising sites are, he suggested. The town doesn’t have any rules specifically
governing tenant farmers, Michaud said, instead permitting sites, not people.
All non-resident farmers are asked to supply contact information for both the
designated caretaker of the animals, and alternate caretaker for each
permitted site, he said. In Dartmouth, the animal control regulations
are on the books as much to protect the neighbors of animal owners as the
animals themselves, Michaud noted. “Residents have come to expect that the
Board of Health will protect them” when there are issues with animals on
neighboring properties. In such cases, he often finds that “the
Agricultural Commission has been instrumental in the mediation process,” he
said. “They work with the farmers to promote best practices at farm sites,”
and most issues get resolved without enforcement actions required, he
indicated. Animal Action Committee member William
Harkins, chairman of the Westport Board of Health, agreed that “it would be
impossible to try to know where all the animals are in a town,” and that a
registration requirement for every domestic animal would be equally
impossible to enforce with a limited staff. He said if any new regulations were
developed in Westport, he would want some way of keeping property owners
responsible for any animal problems on their land, even if caused by tenants.
At the end of an hour-long discussion with
the two Dartmouth officials, Animal Action Committee Chair Shana Shufelt said she wasn’t really convinced that Westport
needed a lot of new animal regulations. “I’m struggling with the thought that
we need to license animals at all,” she suggested. Most board members agreed that a mandated
animal registry might not be enforceable, but a voluntary registry of sites
where animals are being raised in significant numbers could be a workable
goal. “General site permits might be better than a total registry,” Shufelt suggested, eliminating the question of how to
handle tenant farming situations. A letter supporting that same position came
in from Darrin Mendes, a non-resident who raises beef cattle in Westport for
the commercial market. He recommended Westport consider registering
“premises” where domestic animals are kept, not individual animals. Click
here to read letter. The town should also have different
regulations for commercial and non-commercial livestock operations, Mendes
wrote. Site permitting for specified livestock operations was also supported
by Westport Animal Control Officer Donna Lambert, also a municipal animal
inspector. She and Westport Building Inspector Ralph
Souza both questioned the legality of an anytime inspection clause in any
permit regulations such as Dartmouth has, saying they and any other town
inspectors need an owner’s permission to go on their property to check on any
animals being kept on the premises. Harkins agreed that legally, “you have to
have the owner’s permission” to go beyond the driveway, or enter buildings. Shufelt indicated that a draft of a possible site registration process
would be up for discussion at the committee’s next meeting, scheduled for
Monday, April 10th at Westport Town Hall. Westport Democrats to elect Delegates to State
Convention. EverythingWestport.com Wednesday,
March 15, 2017 Registered
Democrats in Westport will be holding a caucus at the Briggs Road Fire
Station on Monday, March 27, 2017 at 6:30 pm to elect seven delegates and
four alternates to the 2017 Massachusetts Democratic Convention, where
Democrats from across Massachusetts will gather to adopt a new Party
Platform. The Convention will be held on Saturday, June 3rd at the Tsongas
Arena in Lowell. “People
are excited about politics and want to make a difference. Our caucuses are a
great opportunity for those who are interested to get involved,” commented
Massachusetts Democratic Party Chair Gus Bickford. “Delegates will be voting
on our Party Platform in Lowell, and we want to make sure that every Democrat
has a voice. This is a time to come together and speak to our shared Democratic
values.” The
caucus is open to all registered and pre-registered Democrats in Westport,
and the Democratic Committee welcomes participants. Pre-registered Democrats
who will be age 18 by Monday, September 11, 2018, the anticipated date of the
primary, will be able to participate in caucuses and run for delegate.
Delegates will be divided equally between men and women, and all ballots will
be written and secret. In the spirit of inclusion, youth, minorities, and
people with disabilities who are not elected as delegates or alternates may
apply to be add-on delegates, either at their caucus or on line at www.massdems.org. The Westport
Democratic Town Committee normally meets on the first Tuesday of the month at
White’s of Westport. For more information on the
caucus or the committee’s activities, please contact Liz Collins at
508.636.6322 or by email at colllinsliz@charter.net
for further information. Westport Affordable Housing Trust
schedules Housing Production Plan forums. Having a current Housing
Production Plan is important to enable Westport to reach ‘safe harbor’ and
have more control over potentially unfriendly Chapter 40B
housing proposals. EverythingWestport.com Friday,
March 17, 2017 The
Westport Affordable Housing Trust Fund has contracted with a consultant to
prepare an update to the town’s Housing Production Plan, set to expire at the
end of July. The town has selected the planning firm of JM Goldson community
preservation + planning to prepare the plan under the oversight of
the Trust. Having
a current Housing Production Plan is important to enable the town to reach ‘safe harbor’ and have more
control over potentially unfriendly Chapter 40B
housing proposals. The new Housing Production Plan must be approved by both
the Planning Board and Board of Selectmen before the end of June. A ‘safe harbor’ is a provision in a law
or regulation that affords protection from liability or penalty under
specific situations or if certain conditions are met. The Housing
Production Plan is a state-recognized planning tool that, under certain
circumstances, allows the town to influence the location, type, and pace of
affordable housing development. This document establishes a strategic plan
for the production of affordable housing that is based upon a comprehensive
housing needs assessment, and provides a detailed analysis of development
constraints due to infrastructure capacity, environmental issues, protected
open space, and regulatory barriers. When a
Housing Production Plan is certified by the state Department of Housing and
Community Development (DHCD), a local Zoning Board
of Appeals’ denial of a Chapter 40B comprehensive
permit for an affordable housing proposal will be upheld if the application
is not consistent with the local needs outlines in such a plan. Based
on 2010 census figures, the Town of Westport must produce 32 subsidized
housing units for a one-year certificate of compliance with DHCD guidelines, or 64 units for a two-year certificate. The Affordable
Housing Trust is encouraging participation by residents, business owners and
town officials in two community workshops In order to collect meaningful
public input on the new plan, The
first public workshop is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 29th at
the Alice Macomber Primary School, 154 Gifford Road; the second is planned
for 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 27th, also at the Macomber School. To
pre-register for the first workshop, please click here to reserve your seat
by 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 28th. You can also email your request to: WestportHousing@outlook.com.
This
is an open public meeting and registration is not required to attend, but
your RSVP will help the event planners provide adequate refreshments and
informational materials about housing needs in Westport. For
more information about the Housing Production Plan development process,
please contact Housing Specialist Leonardi Aray by email at Leonardia@larayarchitects.com,
or by calling 617.270.3912. © 2017 Community Events of
Westport. All rights reserved. EverythingWestport.com |
