Comparing district leaders to ducks appearing calm above the surface while furiously moving underneath, Old Rochester Regional School Committee member Frances Kearns recognized the effort that went into the Tiered Focus Monitoring Audit recently completed.             In the January 26 public meeting of the committee, Superintendent of Schools Mike Nelson thanked Assistant Superintendent of […] Read more »

            When students in Old Rochester Regional District schools return from their vacation week on Monday, February 28, they will only be required to wear a facemask in two locations: on the bus and in school offices.             On the athletic fields, the campus at large, the parking lots and, yes, even in the classrooms, […] Read more »

            The Mattapoisett Select Board met with David Riquinha, the current candidate for the position of director of Inspectional Services, on Tuesday night. Previously, several candidates were vetted with the Select Board offering the job to Acushnet Building Commissioner James Marot last November, but Marot subsequently declined. The position was reposted with two candidates coming […] Read more »

            The Marion Finance Committee met jointly with the Select Board on February 2 to hear Finance Director Judy Mooney and Town Administrator Jay McGrail make a preliminary presentation of the FY23 budget.             McGrail thanked Mooney for her hard work and said that without her he could not have produced the budget proposal. “I […] Read more »

            The hour and 15 minutes it took the Marion Community Preservation Committee to officially understand and acknowledge receipt of 10 pitches for FY23 Community Preservation Act funding will be dwarfed by the time it takes to fully scrutinize each application.             “Pack a lunch, maybe a breakfast,” said CPC Chairman Jeff Doubrava only half-jokingly. […] Read more »

            The owner of the Cilantro restaurant faces a complex task should he choose to go through the vetting process for relocation at 325 Front Street.             Bill Knight represented potential applicant Varut Phimolmas in a presubmission conference with the Marion Planning Board to explore the possibility of modifying a very old house at that […] Read more »

What do you get when a think tank invites a dollars-and-cents committee chairman to meet and discuss the future of a town? A marriage of necessity.             On February 2, the Mattapoisett Master Plan Committee met with Chuck McCullough to hear about the work performed by a committee whose primary focus is plotting when and […] Read more »

            It is without a doubt the budget-planning season. Engaging in the process of drafting a multimillion dollar municipal budget is no small task and requires both insight and foresight. Jumping into the deep end of the fiscal pool on February 3, Mattapoisett’s Finance Committee met with Library Director Jennifer Jones and Council on Aging […] Read more »

In his final meeting as chairman, Dr. Ed Hoffer told the Marion Board of Health that only a month ago Massachusetts was seeing 22,000 Covid cases per day. By the beginning of February, that number had dwindled to approximately 5,000.             Hoffer intends to remain on the board as clerk during his announced run for […] Read more »

            The Marion Zoning Board of Appeals got its first look at the revised plan for Heron Cove Estates during the board’s January 27 public meeting.             Increased from 96 to 120 units, this iteration of Ken Steen’s proposed 40B, Local Initiative Program (LIP,) affordable housing project on Route 6 at the Weweantic River is […] Read more »