The Rochester Board of Selectmen meeting quickly started around 7:00 pm, even though the observers and the selectmen still wanted to enjoy the sunny day and the car show across the street at Plumb Corner. Rochester Chief Dispatcher Tracey Eldridge opened the meeting on June 20. “The State 911 Department is awarding grants for up […] Read more »
On June 20, Mattapoisett Planning Board Chairman Tom Tucker was in the mood to see compromises between the latest team developing Brandt Point Village and the residents of the sub-division’s Phase 1. At the June 6 meeting, however, Tucker’s mood had been notably one of exasperation, saying that “lip service” by the development team had […] Read more »
On the evening of June 21, the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen discussed the issue of bike safety, once again finding it hard to reach a consensus on the best course of action to take to improve the bike path crossings at Mattapoisett Neck and Brandt Island Roads. Police Chief Mary Lyons said her research was […] Read more »
With a turnout exceeding the required 100 needed to build a quorum, which Greenwood “Woody” Hartley made sure was noted for the record, the Rochester Annual Town Meeting on June 13 succeeded in passing a number of articles with little to no discussion. However, a couple of zoning bylaw amendments required further explanation for some […] Read more »
The June 13 meeting of the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission had a long two-page agenda. While there were hearings that moved along swiftly, there were others that came to a snail’s pace. One hearing, a seemingly simple Request for Determination of Applicability for a driveway paving project, was one such hearing. Marcia Waldron, 7 Dexter Lane, […] Read more »
Cell phones have become too much of a distraction at school, ORR Principal Michael Devoll told the Old Rochester Regional School Committee on June 8 before proposing to amend the student handbook to restrict personal cell phone use at school. “We find students with cell phones in classes … to be the single greatest distraction […] Read more »
Clean Energy Collective was ordered during the June 1 meeting of the Rochester Planning Board to install fence screening around the Mary’s Pond side of the solar farm under construction off Perry’s Lane before the next meeting or else the board would re-open the public hearing, which would essentially halt progress on the project. Developer […] Read more »
Between Friday, June 10 and Sunday, June 12, the Mattapoisett Fire and Marine Rescue unit responded to several water-related incidents. Friday found the first responders searching for a person yelling for help in the vicinity of Dyar Road near Mattapoisett Harbor. Chief Andrew Murray said in a follow-up interview, “Within seven minutes the fire rescue […] Read more »
Hearing about school-related matters via the press before the School Committee has been informed is concerning, said Rochester School Committee member Sharon Hartley on June 9 regarding Rochester Police Chief Paul Magee’s recent proposal to selectmen to add a part-time school resource officer to Rochester Memorial School. “It was actually kind of alarming that the […] Read more »
The Rochester Board of Selectmen breezed through a brief meeting on June 6, starting with the acceptance of the retirement of Jana Cavanaugh from the Board of Assessors, effective June 30. Cavanaugh, a schoolteacher employed by the Town of Rochester, will retire from her teaching position this year and, as Cavanaugh explained, will also be […] Read more »