On January 25, Town Administrator Michael Gagne and the members of the Mattapoisett Finance Committee met to begin the budget review process for FY18. While each department they met with on this night had its own narrative to supplement spreadsheets, there were a couple of reoccurring themes: succession planning and the use of technology. From […] Read more »
Marion Zoning Board of Appeals matters on January 26 took a turn away from the more contentious for a while to focus on a special permit application for an accessory apartment that appears, so far, to fall under the bylaw as allowable. William and Jaqueline Scharnick of 82 Main Street hope to renovate their basement […] Read more »
First there was a forum, and then a vote on which road to take. Ultimately, with a unanimous vote, Bob Raymond and the members of the Marion Town House Building Committee chose Option 3A to present to selectmen as their recommendation. The committee had high hopes that the January 26 public forum would result in […] Read more »
The Marion Conservation Commission on January 25 deemed homeowner Bryan Beakes not at fault for building a fence through a wetland on his property since his real estate attorney never informed him of an existing continuing order to not perform work in the area in question. Rather, the commission found the attorney who performed the […] Read more »
Rochester Planning Board Chairman Arnold Johnson said on January 24 that the board would ask abutters to a proposed solar farm at 268 Mattapoisett Road whether or not they would prefer the board permit blasting through the ledge rock during construction or restrict activity to drilling and hammering. The board doesn’t usually permit blasting, noted […] Read more »
A Regionalized 911 system is a done deal for the Town of Rochester, now that the Rochester Board of Selectmen on January 23 signed a five-year agreement with the Town of Duxbury to receive emergency dispatch services. Town Administrator Suzanne Szyndlar said that signing the agreement sooner rather than later was critical in order to […] Read more »
The Mattapoisett Zoning Board of Appeals had a very light agenda when they met on January 19, and they were able to dispatch what business was scheduled in nearly record time. Coming before the board was Paul Griffith Jr., 14 Hereford Hill Road, along with Daniel Brown, son-in-law to the Griffiths. When Griffith purchased the […] Read more »
“Every tree cut down is detrimental to my house,” said Kenneth Yokel, 94 Fairhaven Road, during the January 23 meeting of the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission. Inspired to speak by a filing from the condominium association at 103 Fairhaven Road abutting his property, Yokel spoke against the association’s plan to remove 41 trees. Association member David […] Read more »
Eversource is preparing to engage the Town of Mattapoisett by shining a light on energy conservation through efficiency evaluations, and the light they intend to use will come from LED bulbs. On January 24, the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen heard from members of the Clean Energy Community team from Eversource who are poised to embark […] Read more »
The Old Rochester Regional school district has a few new tools to teach science and technology to its youngest students in the three towns. The Joint School Committee had a chance on January 19 to experience them hands-on and see how exciting learning the new science, technology, computer literacy, and engineering curricula will be for […] Read more »