Dr. Ed Hoffer’s circumstantial need to depart early from the March 24 meeting of the Marion Zoning Board of Appeals set off a substantial discussion in part because it foreshadowed his potential permanent departure. Hoffer’s bid for a seat on the Select Board would truncate his availability to follow through as a voting […] Read more »
On March 24 as the Mattapoisett Finance Committee neared the end of this latest round of FY23 budget reviews, Chairman Pat Donoghue commented that the local schools’ administration (Center and Old Hammondtown Elementary schools) had not provided full disclosure on enrollment numbers and had not taken any steps to trim the annually increasing bottom […] Read more »
Departmental budgets were brought before the Rochester Finance Committee on Monday night, and all were voted for approval except the Police budget, which will be addressed with more complete information when the committee next meets in joint session with the Select Board on April 25. The committee approved the school budget without debate. […] Read more »
The Rochester Planning Board used several minutes of Tuesday night’s public meeting to discuss the progress of the Plumb Corner Village housing development where it concerns its March 17 request for the town’s judgment of “substantial completion” so Units 1, 2, 21, 22 and 43 can become occupied. Based on engineer Ken Motta’s […] Read more »
On March 21 the Mattapoisett Planning Board voted to establish a committee of seven to nine people to evaluate the current solar bylaw draft or start from scratch. Two Planning Board members and Administrator of Assessing Kathleen Costello, along with others yet to be named, will spearhead this latest effort to bring a new solar […] Read more »
The March 17 meeting of the Mattapoisett Zoning Board of Appeals was short and sweet with just one case scheduled, and short and sweet is just what the property owners Michael Esposito and Cynthia Redel, 18 Ned’s Point Road, needed after a devasting fire consumed their large, seaside home on April 6, 2021. That property […] Read more »
There are two ways that the Marion Board of Health could revise its Septic Code: 1. Rewrite to rid the document of “Frankenstein” elements; 2. Write in a statement that if the state sets a different set of criteria for a leaching area besides Marion’s, the state’s criteria will take precedent. “There are […] Read more »
The Rochester Select Board is recommending a higher-than-ever, cost-of-living raise for all town employees in the next fiscal year in an attempt to keep employees from leaving the town workforce. On Monday night, the board proposed a 3-percent COLA increase for FY23, a move that in prior years yielded no more than a […] Read more »
With an eye geared toward the May 9 Town Meeting, the Marion Finance Committee reviewed PowerPoint presentations on both the proposed Marine Center and new Department of Public Works facility during its March 16 meeting. The two projects will appear as articles on the warrant for the May 9 Annual Town Meeting and […] Read more »
Richard Vacca is a biologist, has worked as a quality assurance engineer, and has been an environmental planner in the private sector, as well as town planner and conservation agent for Franklin, Hanson and West Bridgewater. Vacca is also an attorney. After Vacca came before the Mattapoisett Select Board on Tuesday night as […] Read more »