With a short agenda long on discussion, the Marion Zoning Board of Appeals on Thursday night approved a $2 million performance guarantee for Bay Watch Realty’s 40B affordable housing project – finally set to break ground this summer – and heard a variance request from Sean and Lisa Sweeney of 307 Converse Rd. Ken Steen [...] Read more »
A presentation by CDMSmith, of Cambridge was the focus of the Marion Conservation Commission’s meeting on Wednesday evening. The board and the public heard the details on the extensive work to be done on Ryder Lane and South Street under Phase 1A of the Capital Improvements Plan, which includes drainage, lighting, drain pipes, sewer, and [...] Read more »
On a day that Town Clerk Naida Parker described as “very slow” Rochester voters sent Bradford Morse back to the Board of Selectmen in a close Annual Election. Morse, who will serve a fourth term, edged challenger Michael Murphy 232 votes to 206 on Wednesday, April 10. He attributed the victory to voters’ appreciation of [...] Read more »
Mattapoisett’s Board of Selectmen swiftly dispatched all “action items” on the night’s agenda which included: Common Victualler License for Lion’s Club July Harbor Days event, acceptance of resignation from Barbara Sullivan as member of Old Colony School Committee, and a vote to approve Special State Elections to be held at Old Hammondtown School on April [...] Read more »
The Rochester Planning Board approved a site plan, a request for a special permit and the waiver of a peer review for the construction of a 24-by-24-foot building for Robert and Ruth Sundby for a future business involving creation of custom flower arrangements and custom-made picture frames. Kevin Forgue from G.A.F. Engineering represented the couple [...] Read more »
The Solar Farm Array planned for Tinkham Hill Road and adjacent to Shady Oak Drive and North Street was again on the agenda having been continued from the last Mattapoisett Conservation Commission meeting. A small but concerned contingent of neighbors was on hand to ask questions. Their questions, however, were mainly not within the purview [...] Read more »
Quarterly or semi-annual tax bills? That was the issue discussed at the Rochester Board of Selectmen’s meeting on Monday. Currently, Rochester utilizes a standard semi-annual tax bill. Tax bills are based on the tax rate of the prior year. The fiscal year for the town runs from July 1 to July 1. At issue is [...] Read more »
A group of parents asked the Mattapoisett School Committee at its meeting Monday night about the impact of a teacher cut and a potential elementary school choice program on sixth-grade class sizes at Old Hammondtown Elementary. Recalling a similar class-size increase in recent years, parent Penny Cole said there was “lots of waiting and some [...] Read more »
The Rochester School Committee held a public hearing Thursday to discuss the proposed budget of Rochester Memorial School for fiscal year 2014. The proposal, which is for $5,526,343, shows a decrease of $46,771 from fiscal year 2013, which was $5,573,114. It includes the elimination of two teacher positions at RMS and the addition of an [...] Read more »
“The flames were are high as the house and climbing up to the tops of the trees,” is how one bystander described the scene. Just after 1pm the Mattapoisett Fire Department received a call for an out of control brush fire on Meadowbrook Lane. The fire, which had spread from a small brush pile that [...] Read more »
