As winter darkness fell across the open spaces, vegetated bordering wetlands, riverbanks, fresh water ponds, vernal pools, and associated buffer zones in Rochester, the Conservation Commission met for the last time in 2017. On December 19, with only one public hearing and another one continued, the ConCom, Conservation Agent Laurell Farinon, and administrator Margaret Gonneville […] Read more »
With an April 1, 2018 deadline on the horizon, the date when an act to ensure the safe access to marijuana goes into effect, the Mattapoisett Planning Board is feeling the pressure to do something and do it quickly. On December 18, they began that difficult task. During the special Planning Board meeting held on […] Read more »
Instead of a farmer’s market, Rochester may soon have another solar farm, one of several options property owner Craig Canning will be exploring. The plans for a farmer’s market off Marion Road in Rochester are no more, now that Canning has withdrawn his Special Permit application with the Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals and his […] Read more »
The town administrators of the three towns have asked the Old Rochester Regional School District to devise a prioritized 20-year capital plan, which led the Old Rochester Regional School Committee on December 6 to seek feedback from the budget subcommittee before moving forward with the seemingly daunting task. Members of T.U.R.F. (Tri-Town Unified Recreational Facilities, […] Read more »
The Marion Board of Health is not yet ready to take any action on its proposal to ban flavored tobacco products and menthol cigarettes outside adult-only retail stores, with Chairman John Howard saying that the board was still in the “gathering information stage.” Still, representatives on both side of the issue continue to attend Board […] Read more »
With the end of the year fast approaching, the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen on December 12 handled a variety of agenda items – some of which should help the town now and in the coming years. Town Administrator Michael Gagne told the selectmen that their fellow member Jordan Collyer, who was not in attendance on […] Read more »
The open field beside Plumb Corner on Rounseville Road may soon be the location of a 24-unit age 55+ housing development. J.C. Engineering filed a Form B Application for Approval of a Preliminary Subdivision Plan on December 12 and received approval from the Rochester Planning Board. A Form B simply allows the subdivision of land […] Read more »
On December 11, residents attended a special meeting of the Mattapoisett Planning Board to publically discuss the Town’s options regarding recreational marijuana regulations. Police Chief Mary Lyons, Fire Chief Andrew Murray, Public Health Nurse Amada Stone, Selectman Tyler Macallister, and Town Administrator Michael Gagne joined the Planning Board. As the clock ticks down on a […] Read more »
Marion property owner Sherman Briggs is 65. He wants to retire, he says, and after ten years of trying to work with the Town on re-zoning the “Gurney” site, property he owns off Spring Street that he wants to develop into a multi-family condominium community, Briggs says he’s done. And as the Marion Planning Board […] Read more »
Alice and Brad Sheehan of 16 Inland Road are hoping to make some minor renovations to their cement block garage to provide an accessory apartment space for family visits and subsequent rental, but Marion bylaws may not provide that request so easily – documentation that an accessory apartment has been rented in the past before […] Read more »