The February 2 meeting of the Rochester Conservation Commission had an agenda that was absent of any hearings. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t business to attend to and ideas to explore. Conservation Agent Laurell Farinon opened the discussion with the commission to craft 2016 Conservation Commission goals. The commission members, along with Farinon, came […] Read more »

Administrators, finance committee members, and selectmen from each of the three towns met for Round One of regional budget talks with the Old Rochester Regional School Committee and school administrators on February 1. The driving forces behind the recommended 7.5% increase of the $18.3 million budget are health insurance, retirement assessments, and eight proposed new […] Read more »

Mattapoisett’s Conservation Commission caught an easy agenda for their January 28 meeting, which turned out to be beneficial since only three of the five commissioners were available to attend. First up was a Notice of Intent to build a new septic system at 6 Aucoot Road, filed by MSMF Property Group, LLC. The leach pit […] Read more »

“We’ve got to do something about that,” said Marion Finance Committee member Karen Kevelson on January 28 with a draft of the FY2017 Sippican School budget in hand. “They’re out of control.” Kevelson, frank in her thoughts on the school’s various proposed line items, took control of the discussion and addressed a number of new […] Read more »

Marion Town Administrator Paul Dawson announced on February 2 that he would be taking a leave of absence and asked the Board of Selectmen to officially approve his request. Dawson said that after speaking to each of the selectmen individually in private, he was requesting a medical leave of absence under the Family and Medical […] Read more »

Effective March 1, the minimum age to purchase tobacco and nicotine products in Marion will be 21. On January 26, the Marion Board of Health voted to raise the minimum age for purchasing tobacco and nicotine delivery products, including electronic cigarettes and other devices that create a nicotine-containing vapor for inhalation. This process is also […] Read more »

The agenda for the January 21 meeting of the Mattapoisett Zoning Board of Appeals contained only three hearings, but two of the three required plenty of time to air questions and concerns before action could be taken. Nils Johnson, owner and innkeeper of the Inn on Shipyard Park, petitioned the board for a commercial special […] Read more »

Four members of a town hall annex appointed committee on January 25 presented the Rochester Board of Selectmen with a preliminary list of seven different options the town could offer town meeting voters to solve the town’s conundrum on whether it should continue to rent space or invest in a town annex of its own. […] Read more »

An increase in boating fees proposed by the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen was met by internal and external concerns from the town clerk and the owners of the Mattapoisett Boat Yard on January 26. Town Clerk Catherine Heuberger raised concerns that the proposed methodology for ensuring that excise taxes, sticker permits, and mooring fees for […] Read more »