Tri-Town officials rehash regional issues

Sep 1, 2021

The Old Rochester Regional Agreement is set for fall Town Meetings in the Tri-Town, but a community television agreement may need more time.

Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester’s governing bodies met jointly on Sept. 1 to discuss the regional school district agreement and the Old Rochester Community Television agreement, after decisions on both agreements were postponed at a July 13 meeting.

This time around, the three towns swiftly approved the updated Old Rochester agreement, after questions surrounding regular audits were raised in July.

The towns drafted a separate document from the agreement that would commit the district to a higher level of fiscal transparency, and will coincide with the regional agreement. The separate document was drafted in order to avoid resubmitting the full agreement to the state for approval.

“It seems like a pretty straightforward document,” Marion Town Administrator Jay McGrail said of the school district agreement, adding it “captures the spirit” of the boards’ previous conversation.

Another major change to the regional agreement includes a change in term limits for school committee members that would see them sworn in after the school year ends. Currently, members are sworn in immediately following Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester’s annual Town Meetings.

The full regional agreement, which hasn’t been altered since 1986, is set for each fall Town Meeting, and the supplemental document calling for fiscal transparency will be brought before the Old Rochester Regional School Committee by Superintendent Mike Nelson.

“Thank you everybody for taking action tonight,” Nelson said, to support the agreement.

Talks surrounding the Old Rochester Community TV agreement, however, weren’t as smooth.

The Marion Select Board and Rochester Selectmen were set to approve the ORCTV agreement at the meeting, but a memo sent to the ORCTV board by Marion caused skepticism for Mattapoisett Select Board member Jordan Collyer.

Collyer said he wasn’t privy to the information sent by Marion to ORCTV, and felt uncomfortable voting not having had time to review Marion’s opinion on the agreement.

Town Administrator Jay McGrail read the memo, which detailed some concerns the Marion Select Board had with the agreement, aloud.

The most notable concern Marion had was that representatives from Marion on the board of ORCTV, which is a nonprofit, not be called Town of Marion representatives, as they are not appointed by the town.

In the July 13 meeting, the Marion Select Board decided to find out whether the town was able to have any control over the ORCTV board membership, but learned from town counsel that the town cannot choose members of a nonprofit board.

“So we just wanted to formalize that understanding in the letter,” McGrail said.

After hearing the contents of the memo, Collyer said he wouldn’t vote until he gave the agreement another read.

“I hear language in the memo,” he said, “some of that language would benefit being in the agreement.”

Among the changes made to the agreement since the three governing bodies’ last discussion are a schedule of financial information to be sent from ORCTV to the towns without solicitation, and an agreement by ORCTV to help the towns host hybrid in-person and virtual meetings.

Though both towns were prepared to approve the agreement, Marion and Rochester decided to abstain from any decision until the Mattapoisett Select Board reviews the document.

“If Jordan is still not comfortable, we should give him the chance to review it and come back to us,” Marion Select Board member Norm Hills said.

The agreement will appear on the agenda of the Mattapoisett Select Board’s next meeting later this month.

“I suspect we’ll be okay, Jay, when I go back” to look over the document, Collyer said.