After a budget public hearing held on March 21, the Mattapoisett School Committee voted its recommendation of the FY25 school budget as presented for voters’ consumption at the May 13 Annual Town Meeting. Old Rochester Superintendent of School Mike Nelson told the committee that a major driver of the budget process this year […] Read more »
Rochester Select Board Tuesday approved amendments to the Senior Tax Work-Off Abatement Policy that will decrease the age and increase the income level that qualifies a senior to participate in the program. Council on Aging Executive Director Eric Poulin told the Select Board that the town’s regulations state that the starting point to […] Read more »
Rochester’s Planning Board Tuesday approved the Special Permit and Groundwater Protection District permit for Blue Wave Solar and BWC Snows Pond LLC’s plan to build a solar-energy array at 0 Cushman Road. The 12.55-acre operation on a 31-acre parcel will be built in a Residential/Agricultural District and a Mattapoisett River Valley Watershed and Groundwater […] Read more »
The Marion Board of Health has updated its food-inspection fee schedule, and Marion Health Director/Nurse Lori Desmarais told the board at its April 4 meeting that Marion’s fees remain lower than area towns in some aspects. The goal, according to Desmarais and Marion Health Agent Shallyn Rodriguez, was to sharpen up the fee structure to […] Read more »
The Old Rochester Regional School District needs to find a replacement for Sippican Elementary School Principal Marla Brown, who has cited health challenges with her decision to step away, and a new vice principal, as Peter Crisafulli plans to relocate after the school year for family reasons. In speaking to the Marion School […] Read more »
At the end of Monday night’s Mattapoisett Conservation Commission meeting, the commissioners heard from Chairman Michael King, who said that the Select Board was conferring with Christine Hatch of the University of Massachusetts in an effort to learn if soil testing is warranted at The Bogs owned by the Buzzards Bay Coalition. The commission […] Read more »
The Old Rochester School Committee held its FY25 Budget Public Hearing on March 28 and voted unanimously to approve the budget for recommendation to voters at the three town meetings to be held in of Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester all on the same night of Monday, May 13. The proposed FY25 operations budget […] Read more »
Michael Walsh has been granted two variances that will allow him to build a 1,600 square-foot, one-story, wood-frame garage on his property 405 Neck Road. The Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals granted the variances in two unanimous votes after hearing from Walsh and abutter Jeremy Jones during the board’s March 28 public hearing. Walsh […] Read more »
The Mattapoisett Select Board held its April 9 meeting, which included informal discussion full of historic undertones. The agenda listed “cleanup” of town-owned Hammond Cemetery. In an email generated by the Cemetery and Monuments Committee, Chairman Ray Hanks wrote that the committee is aiming to begin cleanup on Saturday, May 4, with tree pruning […] Read more »
The March 26 meeting of the Rochester Planning Board included discussion about screening for the solar facility planned by Renewable Energy Development Partners, LLC at 109 Neck Road. The project will feature a number of ground-mounted panels, including a newer, solar-construction concept of “dual use,” solar-plus agriculture and placement of panels over cranberry-bog canals. But […] Read more »