By Beth David, Editor
At its meeting on 11/12/24, the Fairhaven Select Board made its final recommendations for the 11/19 Special Town Meeting, recommending approval of Article 1, to adopt a 40R Smart Growth Overlay District (SGOD) as proposed for the Plazas area and the Waterfront area. However, that got almost no discussion, while a proposal to spend $19K of already-allocated money for the broadband project, got shot down after lengthy discussion. Chairperson Stasia Powers was not at the meeting. Vice Chairperson Charlie Murphy ran the meeting and said Ms. Powers had a medical issue.
The issue of Broadband received strong opposition from Patrick Carr, Ruy daSilva, and Cathy Melanson, all members of the Planning Board and other committees.
Mr. Romano is the SB’s liaison to the Broadband Study Committee, so he informed the SB that the committee wanted to use the remaining $19K from a 2019 Town Meeting article designated for consultant fees for Broadband with money coming from the Cable enterprise fund. He and Broadband member Bob Espindola said the money would be used for a consultant to answer questions from developers responding to the RFP.
Mr. Espindola told the board that the RFP was mostly written, it just needed to be adapted more closely to Fairhaven. He said New Bedford was moving forward at the same time and they were hoping to benefit from some regionalized effort with a common developer.
He said the directive from the SB had been to look at low or no cost options for the town to develop broadband. The idea is for a developer to create the network at little or not cost to the town. The cost of the buildout is about $20 million, so the town decided early on that it did not want to build and own the project.
Ms. Melanson said she could not get training for the Planning Board because money is so tight, yet the town is spending money to study something it does not need and will not be able to afford in the end.
“My cable works just fine,” said Ms. Melanson, adding she has “been busting my butt for this town” and she would rather see the money go to a safety building.
Mr. Romano explained that the money is coming from the enterprise fund which is funded by cable fees and cannot be put into the general fund. It has restrictions on where and how it can be spent.
Mr. daSilva said he considered broadband a “luxury” and the town has other more important things to worry about that cable, including water problems, roads, and the safety building.
“I pay crazy taxes and this is what we talk about?” he asked. “Let’s put this to rest and talk about other things.”
SB member Andrew Saunders also pointed out that their materials showed two proposals, one for more than the 19K and one for the 19K.
Mr. Espindola said the consultant scaled back the scope of their work to stay within the budget.
The discussion rolled around and around, with Mr. Romano and Mr. Espindola explaining the project, how enterprise funds work, and why they wanted to coordinate with New Bedford.
After the RFP goes out, the developers inevitably have questions, Mr. Espindola said, and no one is qualified to answer them. They need a consultant.
Mr. Carr questioned Mr. Romano’s role in the matter, accusing him and Mr. Espindola of some sort of collusion.
He asked how it is that Mr. Espindola knew that Mr Romano had a motion all set to go.
Mr. Romano answered that the motion was recommended by the Broadband Committee.
Mr. Carr called the change from a $20 million project to now not costing anything, “a hocus pocus.”
Mr. Espindola explained that the higher cost was for the town to own the project, but that is not what they are looking to do now.
Mr. Carr lectured the board on their “oath” to work for the betterment of the town, and talked about the safety building; asked why we are comparing ourselves to New Bedford; ranted about infrastructure issues, water issues. He likened the discussion to having a dilapidated house and going out and buying a new Cadillac.
He demanded that the board disband the Broadband Study Committee and “stop this foolishness.”
“If you gotta pay another 50 dollars to get your cable, so be it,” he said, and then talked about people on tight budgets and seniors on fixed incomes. “This should be a moot point.”
Michelle Costen also spoke against the measure, saying the town has a lot on changes going on.
Mr. Espindola addressed the “hocus pocus” comment explaining that the $20 million was if the town built and owned the infrastructure.
Despina Longinidis spoke to defend Mr. Espindola, saying he was presenting the proposal out of genuine concern for people’s wishes.
She also said it was “disingenuous” of Mr. Carr to question Mr. Espindola’s motives since “the things you pointed out are the things you have done.”
Mr. Carr, Ms. Melanson, Mr. daSilva, and Planning Board member Diane Tomassetti all reacted to that comment.
In the end, the motion failed. Mr. Romano made the motion, but it did not get a second.
The board voted to recommend approval at Town Meeting of Article 1 to create a 40R district.
Mr. Murphy read a statement by Ms. Powers who wrote that she strongly supported the zoning changes. She said housing options are needed for the town and they want to protect the beauty and character of Fairhaven.
She wrote the 40R district would allow for some control, and provides some financial incentives from the state.
She also noted that fire, police, and schools all said that increase in population would be manageable.
The growth will provide some one-time money the town can use on infrastructure and will also grow the tax base.
“I honestly don’t see any downside of this zoning bylaw,” wrote Ms. Powers. “Do your homework, ask questions, but make sure you are getting your answers from a trusted source, not Facebook.”
In another matter, the board chose former Executive Secretary, Jeff Osuch, to be the third person on the search committee for the Interim Town Administrator position, although they did not have an application for him. Mr. Silvia told the board that he had spoken to Mr. Osuch that day and he said he would do what the board wanted. Seven or eight people had applied, although several of them came in after the meeting documents were posted online, so the public did not now about all of them.
SB member Andrew Romano made a motion to appoint Kevin Gallagher, who served on the Board of Health, but the motion was not seconded. He said it was unclear if the board knew for certain that Mr. Osuch wanted the appointment, because he had not contacted the town.
When the motion to appoint Mr. Osuch came up for the vote, Mr. Romano joined his fellow board members to make the vote unanimous.
Other applicants included Paul Jellison, Maria “MJ” Carvalho, Pam Kuechler, David Darmofal, Robert Grindrod.
SB member Andrew Saunders is the board’s liaison to that committee and will give a report on their progress screening resumes at the next SB meeting on 11/25.
With Ms. Powers not in attendance, Mr. Silvia again “yielded” his time that is supposed to be used for committee liaison reports to Patrick Car, who railed against the decision not to renew the town administrator’s contract and to pay to get her to leave immediately instead of in April when her contract ends. Much of what Mr. Carr said is information that has been floating around town, but has not been confirmed because the negotiations, if any, were done in executive session, and those minutes have not been released.
He asked where the hundreds of thousands of dollars for the buyout would come from. He asked what the “sudden urgency” was to remove her. He said he is being asked these questions every day.
“I’m talking as a citizen right now,” said Mr. Carr, and then said “we took an oath” to act in the best interest of the town.
The board did not comment on his diatribe.
The board also met in executive session to discuss “complaints or charges against an employee (Name withheld),” and to discuss collective bargaining strategy regarding health insurance for all unions.
During the public comment period Michelle Costen questioned how building high-end units on the waterfront would benefit the median income person in Fairhaven.
Kevin Gonsalves, representing the Firefighers union, asked how to get on the agenda. He said he has been trying for weeks, sending and email and getting no answer. He said he would like clarification on what the delay is on Fire Department promotions.
The department is still under Civil Service, he said, so now they have to wait another year. That means they have longer “acting” positions, resulting in more overtime.
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