Funeral Home Looks for Parking Upgrade

            William Saunders’ good intentions at 50 County Road have not panned out as planned over the past quarter-century of operation, and to that end, a Notice of Intent was filed with the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission proposing the replacement of the Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Funeral Home’s parking lot and a significant upgrade to the stormwater management […] Read more »

ORR Stresses Significance of School Choice

            Old Rochester Regional Superintendent Michael Nelson recommended on February 17 that the Old Rochester Regional School Committee consider maintaining the number of school-choice slots currently offered at the junior high and high school.             Nelson wasn’t seeking a vote that night, asking only for the committee to consider offering 103 out-of-district students a desk […] Read more »

ZBA Approves Revised Waterfront House

            Stephen E. Goulston of North Easton was awarded his special permit to build a new waterfront house at 27 Nashawena Road under the condition that the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission vet the roof-runoff aspect of his site plan.             Before the Mattapoisett Zoning Board of Appeals voted unanimously to grant Goulston the special permit during […] Read more »

Budget Season Aims at Town Meeting

            There is no doubt it is budget season. Just a glance at posted public meetings and one quickly finds Mattapoisett’s Capital Planning and Finance Committees pushing towards the goal of assisting in the development of the FY22 budget that will ultimately be presented at Town Meeting.             But long before the committees began their […] Read more »

Lagoon Project Gets Financial Boost

            Good financial news during very trying economic times is precious, but it was a good news kind of day on February 23 for the Marion Board of Selectmen as Town Administrator Jay McGrail was pleased to announce Marion has received $250,000 from the state for the lagoon cleanup project via the Environmental Bond Bill. […] Read more »

Man Arraigned in Rochester Hit and Run

Darren C. Moran, 27, the suspect in a February 20 single-car crash near 144 North Avenue in Rochester that critically injured a pedestrian, was arraigned on Monday afternoon at Wareham District Court and was being held in custody pending $10,000 bail.             Charges include leaving the scene of a motor vehicle crash resulting in injury […] Read more »

CPC Pans over Project Requests

            In an introductory tour of applications that will become the subject of more decisive scrutiny on February 26, the Marion Community Preservation Committee met on February 12 via Zoom to run through 10 Fiscal Year 2022 funding applications.             “The real discussion will be two weeks from now. Bring a lunch; it’s likely to […] Read more »

BOS Laments Vaccine Accessibility

            Members of the Rochester Board of Selectmen on February 16 expressed disappointment and frustration over the commonwealth’s dissemination of seemingly constantly changing COVID-19 information and the lack of vaccine availability to municipalities.             Selectboard Chairman Paul Ciaburri said the Emergency Management’s COVID-19 team has had to return to a weekly meeting schedule because, he […] Read more »

Water and Sewer Retained Earnings Discussed

            Before beginning his FY22 budget proposal presentation during the February 11 meeting of the Mattapoisett Finance Committee, Mattapoisett Water and Sewer Superintendent Henri Renauld responded to a question from Chairman Pat Donoghue about rate increases. “Every year you come before us with expenses around 2 percent, then suddenly there are rate increases. How do […] Read more »

Solar Project Deals with Bad Surprise

            The Old Middleboro Road Solar array project came up for discussion in the Rochester Conservation Commission meeting held on February 16. Though the project has already entered the construction phase, development has come to a halt after issues relating to the ancient way bordering the site were raised.             Austin Turner, representing the project, […] Read more »