No Solution to Roadway Committee

            Once again, the Mattapoisett Select Board faced the public to discuss the creation of a Roadway Committee only to find the membership at an impasse.             The Roadway Committee creation, spearheaded by the Tree Committee to ensure that the construction would have limited impact on mature trees primarily lining Water Street, was approved at […] Read more »

Town Opts for Younger Police Chief

            Michael Assad Jr. has accepted the job as Rochester’s new chief of police after the Select Board unanimously voted on Monday to offer the Mashpee Police detective sergeant the job, replacing Robert Small who announced his resignation in the spring.             Assad was one of three finalists to interview a final time on Monday, […] Read more »

Pool Project Avoids Variance

            Kevin and Tristi Oliveira will be allowed to install an inground pool, provided no one appeals a decision made on July 11 by the Marion Zoning Board of Appeals on the basis that the Special Permit received was voted during a public hearing arranged to hear a request for a variance.             Before opening […] Read more »

Incomplete Notification Puts Case on Hold

            The Notice of Intent hearing for a plan to install two stone posts and a gate at the end of a driveway on Old Schoolhouse Road drew a large number of abutters but had to be postponed by Rochester’s Conservation Commission Tuesday because not all of the address’s neighbors had been notified.             Commission […] Read more »

JSC Extends Superintendent’s Contract

Respective Joint School Committee chairpersons Sharon Hartley (union) and Michelle Smith (ORR) issued an End of Cycle report on Superintendent Mike Nelson’s Summative Evaluation that was unanimously accepted by vote on both sides of the Joint School Committee during its June 20 public meeting.             The committees followed that with a vote approving the superintendent’s […] Read more »

Housing Project Gains Steam

            The name has changed from The Cottages to Mirabelle Bay, but not much else on the 30 acres off Route 6 where developer Matt Zuker (aka 78 Wareham Road, LLC) will be constructing a townhouse-style village, according to his presentation during Monday’s continued public hearing before the Marion Planning Board.             “The plan hasn’t […] Read more »

ZBA Has Temporary Support

            The July 11 meeting of the Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals featured the news that its administrative assistant, Andreia Lacerda, is also the new executive assistant to the town administrator and the Select Board.             Lacerda started at her new job on July 5, replacing long-time Select Board administrative assistant Amanda Baptiste who resigned […] Read more »

Library Space Has Plan in Place

            The Elizabeth Taber Library is getting more than an interior facelift, it’s getting a five-year improvement plan after the Marion Select Board enthusiastically endorsed the effort of the Spatial Planning Project Committee as presented by its chair, Kyle Pardo.             As Pardo explained by reading a prepared statement, the committee formed in 2020 and […] Read more »

Three Subdivision Plans Heard

            On July 15, the Mattapoisett Planning Board tied up loose ends on two subdivision plans and authorized a third being heard for the first time.             Returning to the board was Andy Stackpole of Field Engineering, representing William Maxfield, who plans a two-lot subdivision off Harbor Acres Lane. The plan includes the use of […] Read more »

Fire Station Gets Designer

            Rochester’s Select Board Monday endorsed the town’s Public Safety Building Committee’s July 8 vote to hire Catalyst Architecture, Yarmouth Port, to design plans for a new main Fire Station on Pine Street, utilizing $28,000 of unused funds from the town’s Feasibility Study account.             A Feasibility Study Committee organized last year by the Select […] Read more »