The Mattapoisett Zoning Board of Appeals met on September 17 via Zoom to hold a brief public hearing on Case No. 1453, in which Brenda and Rocco Franciose Jr. of Natick were awarded a Special Permit to demolish a single-family house built in 1955 on a nonconforming, 2.5-acre lot at 1 Harbor Road, HB […] Read more »

            The Marion Finance Committee met at the Music Hall on September 16 and heard from the Old Rochester Regional School District for the first time.             Superintendent of Schools Mike Nelson and Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Howie Barber attended at the bequest of Town Administrator Jay McGrail to answer Fincom’s questions related […] Read more »

            During the September 22 meeting of the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen, abutters to Phase 1b of the bike path asked to have a voice at the table as final plans are drafted.             Construction of the bike path which will cross wetlands located on Goodspeed Island includes the construction of a pedestrian bridge. Speaking […] Read more »

            The Town House looks like a meteor landed at its front door, but the project donated by the Sippican Historical Society at a potential cost of $250,000 is one of many moving parts that can or cannot be seen as Marion tries to beat the clock in a number of matters crucial to the […] Read more »

            The secret sauce to Daniel Gibbs Jr. legalizing his effort to hang a sign for his roofing business on his father’s property at 459 Mill Street was ironically in withdrawing the application for the sign.             The prior application with the Marion Planning Board, officially filed by Daniel Gibbs Sr. for a Special Permit […] Read more »

            Board of Selectmen Chairman Paul Ciaburri recognizes the need for the Town of Rochester to modernize so it can preserve its past.             Ciaburri, whose term expires in 2021, was voted during the board’s September 21 hybrid meeting as the Selectmen’s representative to the MBTA Advisory Board. He is also in his 33rd year […] Read more »

            The discussion of what is happening at this point in time regarding the development of Mattapoisett’s new Master Plan sounded, at times, like the famous Abbott and Costello routine, “Who’s on first… what’s on second…” during the September 21 meeting of the town’s Planning Board. But there were also expressions of concern that the […] Read more »

The Marion Affordable Housing Trust voted to support two financial requests during its September 15 meeting at the Music Hall.             In the first request, the Trust asked the Community Preservation Committee for $45,000 in 2015 and needed to do so again in 2020 to fund a feasibility study approved at Town Meeting and meant to […] Read more »

            In her first Public Nurse Report to the Board of Health at its September 15 Zoom meeting, Lori Desmarais said there have been no new COVID-19 cases in Marion. There have been 18 overall.             Of lingering concern is Marion’s personal protective equipment (PPE) supply, which has been challenged ever since the town reported being misled […] Read more »

            In their public meeting held September 10, the Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals quickly concluded its business and minutes from their previous meetings in order to address a complicating zoning issue on New Bedford Road. The appeal in question pertained to a request for multiple variances for approval of a lot with reduced frontage, reduction […] Read more »