On Thursday morning, a fire broke out at the house on 5 North Street in Mattapoisett. At the three-story house subdivided into four apartments, one victim was rescued from the building and brought to the hospital with another being treated for smoke inhalation on-site. Other building residents evacuated or weren’t present but were accounted for. […] Read more »
Rochester’s Select Board on Tuesday approved the request from Bristol Asphalt, Co., Inc. for a Flammable Fluid License to store liquid asphalt at 99 Kings Highway that crowded the hearing room with concerned abutters in late December. In the last meeting of 2025, the plan to place two 15,000-gallon liquid asphalt tanks at […] Read more »
The Marion Finance Committee, at the January 7 meeting in the Town House Annex, planned out a schedule for review of the Fiscal 2027 budget. Finance Director Heather O’Brien noted that many department-drafted budgets, including the school budget, have been received. She expressed optimism that by this week she will have received all drafts. […] Read more »
Rochester’s Planning Board began its meeting Tuesday by putting the finishing touches on its approval of the massive Logging Swamp Solar project off of 600 Snipatuit Road. The board endorsed the developer’s Approval Not Required application to permit the creation of four house lots within the 35-acre project. Chair Arnold Johnson said the plan […] Read more »
The January 12 meeting of the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission was a full evening of Notice of Intent filings and Request for Determination of Applicability’s (RDA’s), not the least of which was a filing by the town for repairs needed to the Water Street culvert. The aged culvert suffered a final blow when the interior […] Read more »
The Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals began the new year with two easily decided approvals. On January 8, the board granted a variance to permit an attached garage over 1,000 square feet on the 4-acre lot at 522 Walnut Plain Road. Applicant and property owner Karl Ferreira said he needs a 2,400-square-foot garage to store […] Read more »
The Marion Zoning Board of Appeals and residents within the Briggs Terrace area had many questions and concerns about an applicant’s bid to subdivide a lot with two structures on the lot. In the end, the ZBA on January 8 in the Marion Police Station conference room still approved applicants Dina and William Quinlan’s […] Read more »
The Mattapoisett Select Board meeting held on Tuesday, January 13 adjourned on a happy note. It was announced by Select Board Chairman Tyler Macallister that the town has received a federal grant of $3,500,000 for environmental work needed at Molly’s Cove. A culvert at that location has been failing for years, causing the marsh system […] Read more »
As birthrates fall and we live longer, western societies are aging. In the U.S., Canada and Britain, almost 20% of the population is over 65, while in Western Europe it ranges from 20 to 25%. Indeed, as baby boomers age, the fastest growing demographic is projected to be those 85+. While today’s seniors […] Read more »
The Marion Planning Board met on Monday for a Continued Public Hearing on the proposed adoption of stormwater-management regulations to the Stormwater Management Bylaw and amending Subdivision Regulations §300-4.6. Due to some lighting issues in the Police Station’s conference room, Chair Andrew Daniel explained the meeting would be conducted nearly in the dark, […] Read more »