The issue of LED street lighting continued to dominate the discussion at the March 27 meeting of the Marion Energy Management Committee. Committee member Rob Fisher provided new details regarding the energy savings and program procedures for the procurement of the energy-saving lights. The committee intends to convert all the streetlights in Marion to LED […] Read more »
This time, residents near the corner of Rounseville and Mendell Roads are learning all about the Tao of the solar farm. On March 28, the Rochester Planning Board heard plans for the town’s potential sixth large-scale solar panel installation – this one located on an open field and partially wooded property at 453 Rounseville Road. […] Read more »
Marion Conservation Commission member Jeffrey Doubrava proposed a quarantine of a section of the Benson Brook Road leaf disposal dump at the transfer station to prevent the spread of invasive species in Marion. On March 22, the commission as a whole approved a motion to allow Doubrava to draft a letter to Carver/Marion/Wareham Refuse Disposal […] Read more »
There have been numerous conservation commission meetings where the commissioners worked through long difficult agendas, sparred with consulting engineers over environmental impact, or tried to find a balance between Wetland Protection Act regulations and personal property rights. But not on March 27; it was a very tame night indeed. Coming before the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission […] Read more »
The Rochester Board of Selectmen on March 27 approved a date for the 2017 Rochester Annual Town Meeting, agreeing on Monday, May 22, at 7:00 pm in the Rochester Memorial School cafeteria. “I don’t have plans for a Special [Town Meeting] at this point,” said Town Administrator Suzanne Szyndlar. The board set the deadline date […] Read more »
All the numbers are in and all fiscal year 2018 school budgets have been approved, ready for Town Meeting acceptance in May. The ORR School Committee was still talking about the Old Rochester Regional school district budget, the most contentious, during the March 23 joint meeting of the Tri-Town school committees. “It wasn’t even level-service […] Read more »
The Rochester School Committee met on March 23 with a focus on the local school budget. Superintendent Doug White presented the $6,076,537 FY18 budget, which is a 2.34% or $138,735 increase over FY17. The increases comprise: $115,081 (6.55%) for special education; $21,793 (0.75%) in professional staffing, $7,251 (2.58%) in regular day transportation; and an unspecified […] Read more »
It has been widely reported that those with their finger on the financial pulse of their respective towns have been direct in telling the ORR School Committee members that their budget request was excessive. In turn, the school committee has been equally direct in saying, “We need more.” However, on March 21, the ORR School […] Read more »
It was the liveliest of all of the candidate’s forums so far, said emcee Sharon Lally at the annual COA candidates’ forum, but as one candidate for selectman said as he exited the building, “I’d rather schedule a colonoscopy.” Sparks started to fly between Richard Nunes, Greenwood “Woody” Hartley, and Bendrix Bailey, the candidates for […] Read more »
On March 28, Mattapoisett Town Administrator Mike Gagne asked the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen to support a sum of $10,000 – a sum that will need to be approved during the upcoming spring town meeting – to hire an outside consultant to study expenditures and revenues for the past several years at the ORR School […] Read more »