By Beth David, Editor
The Fairhaven Select Board made quick work of a long agenda at Monday’s meeting, 5/13/24.
The board approved three requests by the Commission on Disability. COD chairperson Eleanor Chew asked the board to accept the donation of a $5,000 adaptive bicycle. The bike, which is being donated by Rare Riders, will allow children with physical disabilities to ride a bicycle. It is a three-wheeler that allows the rider to sit back and pedal or be pushed.
The bicycle will be kept at the Recreation Center, which is near the bike path. It will be available to the public on a sign-out basis.
Ms. Chew told the board that the logistics had not been worked out, but the vendor needed to get the bike out of their warehouse. She asked the board to approve the donation, and said the bike will not be lent out until all the “nitty gritty details” are worked out and the board has a chance to approve them.
Ms. Chew also said that a lot of children who would benefit from the bike cannot afford the hefty price tag and also have no place to store it.
“It’s an amazing gift,” she said.
The board approved the request unanimously. SB member Andrew Saunders was absent from the meeting, citing a work commitment.
Ms. Chew also asked the board to authorize the COD to send an application to the Flutie Foundation for a Communication Board for Livesey Park. The board is a large sign with pictures and words that will help non-verbal children, and adults, communicate. They can simply point to the pictures to show what they want to do next.
Ms. Chew told the board that the East Fairhaven School has one at its playground. The board makes the playground more inclusive.
Doug Flutie has a son with autism, she said, so he created his foundation, which donates the boards. Ms. Chew said she already spoke with the public works department, which will have to install the board.
SB member Andrew Romano said it was a “wonderful idea,” but asked why they chose Livesey Park.
Ms. Chew said her committee felt it was more accessible to everyone.
“My thought is to have it at all three playgrounds,” said Ms. Chew.
The board voted unanimously to authorize the application.
Ms. Chew also told the board that the committee received a gift of $90.00, but they need a gift account to accept it. The board voted unanimously to create a gift account for the Commission on Disability.
Ms. Chew also informed the board that the terms for the appointments on her committee got skewed somewhere along the way. They should be for three years, with set number of members up for reappointment each year.
There was some discussion and confusion on how many members the committee is supposed to have.
The board is handling annual reappointments in the next month or two, and will readjust the terms then.
In another matter, the board voted to approve and accept a conservation restriction (CR) on two properties owned by the Buzzards Bay Coalition.
Allen Decker, Director of Land Protection for the BBC, told the board that the first CR, for Carvalho Woods, was a follow-up from the vote at Town Meeting on 5/4. He said the BBC owns the property and is required by the grant to make it accessible to the public. His request was for the board to authorize the Conservation Commission to hold the CR
He said the new acquisition is an opportunity to connect the bike path to Indian Rock, from another route. The Carvalho Farm is on Shaw Road and the Shaw Farm Trail borders the property.
He noted that the arrangement is the same as with other properties the town has partnered with the BBC on, such as Salt Winds Reserve on Sconticut Neck Road.
He said most of the six-acre parcel is developable, but the CR will protect it.
The board voted unanimously to sign the CR.
Mr. Decker also asked the board to accept a new CR on the Douglass Farm property, which the BBC acquired in the fall. Mr. Decker noted that an existing CR had originally been owned by the BBC, but had to be reassigned to the town, which happened some months ago, because they cannot own the property and the CR at the same time. That CR is about 16.5 acres.
The new CR, he said, includes the tree farm part of the property and is just under six acres. He said the Douglass family did not restrict that part of the property because they wanted to be able to operate the farm.
The property does have a house, he noted, and that part of the property is not part of the CR.
Mr. Decker told the board that the BBC’s goal is to make the property, with the house, some sort of nature center.
He said that part of Sconticut Neck has a lot of protected property, and a lot of that is already accessible.
“What it lacks, essentially, is a front door,” said Mr. Decker. “This is an opportunity to do that.”
He noted that the six acres could have five houses built on it.
“But that’s not going to occur now down there,” he said.
The BBC is holding onto the ability to perform agricultural activities, and may even bring back the Christmas trees, he said. In any case, they want some sort of agriculture.
“This property has phenomenal soil,” said Mr. Decker.
The board approved the CR, so that the Conservation Commission will hold two Conservation Restrictions, one is 16.45 acres, the other 5.7 acres, protecting all the open space outside of the house.
The board also approved a number of events/road closures, including the Blessing of the Bikes this Sunday (see page 5); the North Fairhaven Improvement Association’s Music Night on 7/21; the NFIA holiday lighting on 12/6; the LCpl Matthew Rodriguez 5K on 10/20; the Buzzards Bay Watershed Ride on 10/6. The board did not vote on the Fairhaven Improvement Association’s request for Concerts Under the Stars in July land August because they needed more information. It will be on the next meeting’s agenda.
The board did not discuss Broad-based Municipal Goals, which was on the agenda. Ms. Powers said They were still accumulating data. Each board member submitted goals they would like to see the town pursue and ranked them. They will be put into a document and discussed at the next meeting.
At the end of the meeting Board Member Keith Silvia requested that they schedule an executive session because, “One of the Select Board members has privileged information that I think the whole board should have.”
In her report, Town Administrator, Angie Lopes Ellison, told the board that the town was in the process of the self-evaluation study for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. She said the study will show the vulnerabilities in each building and the town will then be able to apply for grants to work to close the gaps.
Ms. Ellison also said that they present a financial report overview and audit report overview in June. She said that balancing the budget with cuts this year was just a bandaid. With the limitations of Proposition 2 1/2 and the increases in spending, the town is looking at a shortfall for next year and into the future.
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