The timing of the wind-down of the local elementary schools’ two-year improvement plans and the Old Rochester Regional School District’s Vision 2023 plan with the emergence of a new, outsourced, literacy-assessment program is music to the ears of the Mattapoisett School Committee. Darci Burns, PhD and Executive Director of Hill for Literacy, Inc., […] Read more »
The proposed bylaw changes for the 2023 Annual Town Meeting will be trotted out to one more Marion Planning Board meeting, according to Chairman Norm Hills. The draft summary of changes reviewed during the board’s February 21 meeting was nothing the members had not heard before, but Hills solicited questions and got some. […] Read more »
Abutters voiced their concerns and dismay that property adjacent to their homes on Beech Wood Road was going through conservation review. On February 27, a Notice of Intent filed by Carmelo Nicolosi for the construction of a single-family home with fill and grading in a buffer zone became a bit controversial when abutter Colleen […] Read more »
The makeup of the Marion Select Board had changed since the last time Tim Sawyer of Yarmouth Port-based Catalyst Architecture/Interiors Inc. was before its members to provide an update on the new Marine Center planned for Island Wharf. Catalyst was first involved almost three years ago in what started out as a design-feasibility […] Read more »
Marion’s 1991 ladder truck took center stage, as Fire Chief Brian Jackvony met with the Finance Committee on February 22 at the Music Hall. A new ladder truck estimated to cost $1,200,000 was originally pitched as a capital need of the department, but the Capital Improvements Planning Committee ranked it outside the top-10 […] Read more »
In her February 16 Chairperson’s Report to the Rochester School Committee, Sharon Hartley told the members she has been preparing her report to the town for budget season. Part of that preparation has included the reading of the minutes from every School Committee meeting. “It’s impossible … to read the pages and pages […] Read more »
The Rochester Finance Committee Monday night continued reviewing the proposed FY24 town budget as it wrestled with whether to add new positions despite a $155,000 shortfall between revenue and money requests. Highway Surveyor Jeff Eldridge made the case for a new, full-time mechanic that several departments, including his will share, costing his budget […] Read more »
Tuesday night’s meeting of the Mattapoisett Select Board found the members reviewing potential warrant articles for the May 8 Annual Town Meeting. The list of potential articles from Town Administrator Mike Lorenco contained proposed bylaw changes, property sales and even the acquisition of the iconic Ned’s Point Lighthouse. Select Board member Jordan Collyer […] Read more »
The Rochester Select Board’s February 21 meeting began with word that Town Clerk Paul Dawson won’t be seeking reelection and a suggestion the position should change to be appointed instead of elected. Town Administrator Glenn Cannon revealed Dawson’s recent letter stating that “serious health matters” in his family have made the time he […] Read more »
The Mattapoisett Capital Planning committee has begun meeting with department heads to more fully probe requests. The total amount of the town’s capital needs for FY24 stands at $10,791,000. The proposed spending includes: $55,000 for a new Fire Department SUV, two Highway Department reconstruction projects totaling $1,400,000 for Oakland and Pearl Streets (planned funding […] Read more »