The state legislature told the Town of Rochester that in order to pass special legislation to accept the June 8, 2015 Annual Town Meeting, which was held without a quorum, Governor Charlie Baker must be the sponsor of the bill, not the Town of Rochester. Selectmen authorized Town Counsel Blair Bailey and Town Administrator Michael […] Read more »
It didn’t take long for Town Meeting voters in Mattapoisett to routinely move money around from one account to another, or to appropriate funds for infrastructure work such as new water mains and roadways repairs. However, residents voiced their concerns when it came to forking out more money for the bike path and changing the […] Read more »
At 10:30 this morning at Sippican Elementary School in Marion an automated message went out over the schools’ PA system announcing that the building was on lockdown. As a result of this notification students and staff followed the lockdown procedures. Marion Police and administration conducted a sweep of the building. There were no threats or […] Read more »
“I’m for it one hundred percent,” Rochester Conservation Commission Chairman Rosemary Smith said on November 3 in response to a positive vote by the commission – voting in favor of surface water protection bylaws. Conservation Agent Laurell Farinon, also a member of the Mattapoisett River Valley Water Supply Protection Advisory Committee (MRVWSPAC), asked the commission […] Read more »
It was deep into the evening’s meeting before Attorneys Brian Winner and Jonathan Silverstein of Kopelman and Paige, Mattapoisett’s town counsel, were asked to join the Mattapoisett Planning Board at the conference table. But once seated, Silverstein went directly to why he and Winner were present: to defend their responsiveness and attention to the town’s […] Read more »
Applicant to establish an aquaculture farm off Ram Island Shea Doonan will have to wait further for the Marion Conservation Commission to grant, or not to grant, his Request for Determination of Applicability for the project. Continued from October 14, the public hearing was again continued until November 18 until Doonan, annoyed abutter Michael Moore […] Read more »
Mattapoisett’s most sensitive and important feature is its seaside location. Protecting the harbor, the water, and surrounding waterfront features falls to several boards and committees; yet, one has been quietly striving for months to give form and meaning to a harbor master plan fit for state certification, as well as a new set of rules, […] Read more »
The question of how to reach out to Marion locals emerged as the main topic of discussion at the Marion Planning Board’s November 2 meeting. Planning Board Chairman Robert Lane, Vice Chairman Rico Ferrari, Clerk Norman Hills, and Planning Board members Jennifer Francis, Eileen Marum, and Michael Popitz were all present, leaving only Stephen Gonsalves […] Read more »
The Marion Board of Selectmen voted on November 3 to move forward with an application for a New England Program Water Quality Management grant, although voters at the October 26 Special Town Meeting tabled the article to appropriate $50,000 to obtain the $200,000 grant to study the feasibility of expanding municipal sewer service to Aucoot […] Read more »
The Rochester Board of Selectmen voted November 2 to indefinitely postpone the November 30 Special Fall Town Meeting until pending legislation finally resolves the matter of the 2015 Annual Town Meeting’s lack of a quorum. In light of the after-the-fact discovery of the absence of the quorum, the Town contacted the attorney general’s office and […] Read more »