The COVID-19 pandemic has had a lingering decay on the urgency among a segment of students to be at school on time, according to Old Rochester Regional High School Principal Mike Devoll.             As a result, ORR implemented a new attendance policy mid-year, stressing the importance of arriving on time, then tightened and refined […] Read more »

            The Marion Select Board emerged from a 56-minute executive session on June 29 with a brief action to vote Adam Murphy as interim harbormaster.             The opening was created by the recent departure of Isaac Perry, who after two decades left to become Mattapoisett’s harbormaster, a job that opened in the spring with Jamie […] Read more »

            The Marion Select Board voted 2-1 against establishing a policy for public participation in Select Board meetings during its June 21 public meeting.             Board member Norm Hills said he has no problem with how the policy was proposed regarding time limits, while member Randy Parker said he does not think time limits are […] Read more »

            Coming before the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission on June 26 was David Davignon of Schneider, Davignon & Leone, Inc., representing the Lisa Muller Trust Declaration regarding a proposed residential pier at 89 Mattapoisett Neck Road.             The structure as described by Davignon will feature a board walkway over marsh, advancing towards the pier where a […] Read more »

            Jon Delli Priscoli was voted an Order of Conditions for a proposed elevated staircase to the beach at 162 Point Road, per the Marion Conservation Commission during its June 14 public meeting.             Project representative David Davignon of Schneider, Davignon & Leone, Inc., said he had an aerial photo from 1985 indicating a beach-access […] Read more »

            During the June 27 meeting of the Mattapoisett Select Board, Town Administrator Mike Lorenco reported that the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection has paused implementation of stricter septic regulations for the foreseeable future along the south coast.             Lorenco did not go into details but added that there are plans to roll out stiffer […] Read more »

            Marion Affordable Housing Trust member Susan Miller learned a lot during her participation in a recent South Coast Affordable Housing forum, as expressed during the June 13 public meeting of the AHT.             “This was an eye-opener,” said Miller, seeing that the City of New Bedford is a focal point of ARPA funding.             […] Read more »

            All the “meat and potatoes” have not changed on a site plan and special-permit application for a recreational marijuana establishment that would be located at 621 County Road, according to the applicant’s lawyer, Jonathan Silverstein.             The Rochester Planning Board on Tuesday night did not take any action, as project representative Phil Cordeiro of […] Read more »

            Terrence and Laura Hartford can now step off their deck and onto their own property after the Marion Zoning Board of Appeals voted to grant them a variance immediately following a June 22 public hearing.             The Hartfords applied for a variance from Section 230-5.1 of the Marion Zoning Bylaws to allow the conveyance […] Read more »

            Rochester’s selectmen on June 21 approved a plan to give town employee retirees a one-time 5% Cost of Living Adjustment raise for 2023 that will cost the town budget $25,000 for the next five years.             Town Treasurer Kory Lyon presented the plan to the board on behalf of the Plymouth County Retirement Board, […] Read more »