The Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen reopened their December 15 license hearing for the Hillside Motel during their January 12 meeting. “You’ve been very busy making improvements and fixing things,” stated Selectmen Chairman Jordan Collyer as he welcomed motel owner Sonya Patel to the conference table. At the December hearing, numerous deficiencies were reported to the […] Read more »
As the large-scale solar farm project slated for the center of Rochester progresses, abutters and concerned citizens are beginning to learn that any possibility of halting the project lies not with the Rochester Planning Board, but with the Rochester Historic District Commission – and now, as they learned on January 12, the Board of Health […] Read more »
During the January 12 meeting of the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission, Environmental Agent Elizabeth Leidhold reported that the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection was appealing the commission’s December 12 decision that approved the test borings at the bike path site. At that December meeting, the commissioners had issued an Order of Conditions to the Mattapoisett Bike […] Read more »
Finding substitute teachers is an ongoing problem in all four Tri-Town school districts, and the Rochester School Committee on January 7 was the first district to officially adopt a measure to increase substitute teacher and paraprofessional pay by $5 in the hopes that it will attract more candidates. Before the vote, Superintendent Doug White stressed […] Read more »
Cigarette Causes Fire in Mattapoisett By Jean Perry The Mattapoisett Fire and Police Departments responded to a call at 3:14pm on Friday, January 15, of a reported fire at the Mattapoisett Housing Authority public housing at 1 Acushnet Road. When firefighters arrived they found smoke filling the building and evacuated all residents of the 54-unit […] Read more »
The Town of Marion is joining up with surrounding towns including the Town of Wareham to pursue an EPA Southeast New England Program (SNEP) grant to fund a feasibility study for a regional wastewater treatment system. Spearheaded by the Town of Wareham, the grant would fund a study to look closely at relocating the outfall […] Read more »
The Rochester Board of Selectmen on January 11 voted to authorize Town Administrator Michael McCue to further work with town officials of Marion and Wareham towards a reclassification of County Road to a federal “urban connector” to be eligible for federal funding for repairs and upgrades. McCue said he met with representatives of the Southeastern […] Read more »
Somewhere back in the forgotten history of codes and regulations is a decision that placed agricultural operations under the governance of the Uniform State Plumbing Code. As odd as that may sound, that is the case and it was discussed on January 5 at the meeting of the Mattapoisett Agricultural Commission. Some farmers have felt […] Read more »
Three new people have been appointed to the Rochester Personnel Board since the resignation of that board’s three members just after the 2015 Annual Town Meeting, when voters rejected an article crafted by the board that would have altered the Town’s Employee Compensation Plan. On January 4, the Rochester Board of Selectmen met with two […] Read more »
Marion moved one step closer to finalizing its Master Plan on January 4 when members of the Planning Board held a workshop to familiarize residents with the plan’s goals and details. Several interested citizens showed up despite the weather, coats and boots dusted with snowflakes. Planning Board member Rico Ferrari qualified the objective of the […] Read more »