By Beth David, Editor
The Fairhaven Select Board held a marathon meeting on Tuesday, 5/27/25, which included annual appointments to boards/committees, a couple of pole hearings, a fee waiver for the school department, and discussion of creating an Atlas Tack committee or working group.
The board held two hearings for utility poles that got a bit of discussion. Both were approved, but not before some questioning by SB members.
The first hearing was for a pole by Verizon and NStar/Eversource that had already been installed. NSTAR representative, Jessica Elder, told the board that a previous hearing had approved “many” poles for the project and the construction department did not realize that one on Shaw Road had not been approved. The pole is needed to provide electric service to a solar array on Charity Stevens Lane.
SB member Andrew Saunders had a series of questions for the representatives who could not answer them, such as: is the pole active now; is the solar array installed; how big is it? Ms. Elder and Verizon representative Anthony Veilleux both said they would have to get back to the board with the information
SB member Andrew Romano said there were 20 pages of poles. Ms. Elder said those were the ones already approved.
Ms. Romano noted that the last time they did not ask a lot of questions, two trees were removed.
SB Chairperson Charles Murphy also made sure they were wooden poles, not metal; another thing that slipped by the board because they did not realize they needed to ask that.
Mr. Romano said it was the second time they had a “very confusing” packet of information. He said no residents were there to complain, so he would vote for it.
“But I am reluctantly doing so,” said Mr. Romano.
Mr. Murphy said they would send a “very strongly worded letter” to Eversource that this will never happen again in Fairhaven.
He cautioned at one point that the pole might have to be removed if not approved by the board.
The second hearing was for a pole and 80 feet of underground conduit for service to 50 Fort Street.
Mr. Saunders again called out the representatives saying they did not have the answers at the last hearing.
He said they have the burden of proof to show the board they should approve it.
“You’re not doing a good job so far,” said Mr. Saunders.
He asked why they needed to go underground; where is it going when it gets to the new pole.
Ms. Elder said the customer requested underground.
Mr. Saunders asked why.
Ms. Elder said she did not know.
“I’m assuming it’s because they don’t want overhead service,”‘ she said.
Mr. Saunders noted that he asked questions he knew the answer to, but the company does not know the answers. He said it “increases the viability” of the business in the building.
“It’s puzzling,” he said that they go before the board for a hearing and cannot answer the questions.
“It’s bad form,” said Mr. Saunders. “You’re wasting our time, that’s what you’re doing. It’s an insult to this board.”
The board also voted to appoint and reappoint members of town boards and committees.
Patrick Carr asked the board why they changed the procedure, advocating for Kenneth Kendall who was not reappointed to the Zoning Board of Appeals last year.
Mr. Murphy said they changed the procedure, splitting up the votes for reappointments and new appointments.
During the reappointments, SB member Keith Silvia said he did not want to reappoint Jessica Fidalgo to the Belonging Committee because she had violated the town’s social media policy.
They held that vote and will decide her fate at the next meeting.
The board also chose the three at-large members for the Public Safety Complex Committee. The board had seven people to choose from.
They decided against Cameron Durant, who used to work for the town, but is now the Town Administrator in Rochester. Mr. Saunders pointed out that the state has one pool of money that all towns will be vying for. He said Mr. Durant will be conflicted as he tries to get money for Rochester, and is on the committee in Fairhaven.
Mr. Carr was also not chosen due to a tied vote. Mr. Saunders recused himself due to his business relationship with Mr. Carr. The vote was 2-2, with Mr. Romano and Natalie Mello voting against, and Mr. Silvia and Mr. Murphy voting for.
In the end the board chose Seth Baumgartner, Marc Jodoin, and Kenny Rogers Paulino.
In another matter, the board waived a $22,000 permit fee for the school department’s high school gables project. Superintendent Tara Kohler told the board that the permit cost was not built into the construction costs because in the past, town departments did not have to pay for permits. She asked that the town waive the fees for projects that have already started. In the future, the permit fees will be part of the cost.
The board also discussed, at some length, the possibility of creating an Atlas Tack working group, to come up with ideas for getting the superfund site cleaned up. The town does not own the property.
Mr. Silvia said he was suggesting a working group instead of a committee so they would not have to post meetings and have them on camera.
Mr. Romano said he would not vote for a working group, that it should be an ad-hoc committee so the public can keep updated on it.
Cathy Melanson spoke against that idea, saying it would just be for collecting information, not voting on anything.
Doug Brady also spoke against the group being a real committee so they would not have to have a quorum, post meetings, have an agenda.
“I’m shocked that there’s this much pushback to this,” said Mr. Romano.
The discussion went round and round for a bit.
Bob Espindola said they should have a clear vision of the mission of the group before creating it.
He also said the public process should not prohibit any activity of the committee.
The board decided to have Mr. Silvia meet with Interim Town Administrator George Samia to come up with a mission statement for the group. They will discuss it at another meeting.
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