In an election that took shape as town policy in Marion took center stage, Selectman John Henry easily won re-election, while Sherman Briggs was bounced from the Planning Board. With 495 votes, the plain spoken and razor-sharp Henry cruised to victory over challengers Dale Jones (185) and Planning Board member Ted North (149), just days […] Read more »
With no controversies, no abutters’ objections, and no questions from the public or the board members, the two hearings scheduled for the night took much less than the 15 minutes allotted each. First up was Susan Nilson of CLE Engineering in Marion and Stephen Kelleher, architect from Mattapoisett. They were presenting a project for William […] Read more »
Officials from the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District met with the Planning Board on Wednesday to present an interactive map showing the results of regional land use research that they have done in Rochester and 27 other surrounding towns. SRPEDD initially performed land use surveys in each of those towns in 2008 in […] Read more »
Article 30, the first of the Solar Bylaws proposed by the Marion Energy Management Committee, failed by four votes during the final night of the Marion Town Meeting on Tuesday. It would have formalized the process for installing residential solar arrays. After an informative presentation from Jennifer Francis of the Energy Management Committee and a […] Read more »
Selectmen met with officials from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to discuss safety concerns that the Board had over the railroad crossing on County Road. The crossing will be used by the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority’s newly announced commuter rail, which will run between Middleboro and Hyannis. At […] Read more »
On a breezy spring evening and in spite of a low turn out, Mattapoisett voters came out in sufficient numbers to allow the town to move swiftly through its 32 Article Town Meeting Warrant. With a balanced and very conservative budget to go through, the voters were eager to keep up their record of one […] Read more »
Marion voters didn’t make it easy on officials during the first of what looks to be at least a few nights of Town Meeting. Residents approved with minimal discussion on Monday a 2 percent increase in salaries for elected officials and a total Fiscal Year 2014 operating budget of $19,222,999, representing a 2.26 percent jump […] Read more »
Members of the Old Rochester Regional Joint School Committee on Thursday night laid the groundwork for updates to its best practices policy via the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, as well as to its Professional Development Plan and administrative contracts. Christine Winters of the policy subcommittee gave officials a glimpse of the work ahead, as […] Read more »
Old Rochester Regional High School Principal Michael Devoll and the ORR School Committee discussed a pilot program that would change the start of the school day from 7:30 am to 8:30 am for next year, with the Committee ultimately approving a motion to allow Devoll and his staff to continue to plan for it. The […] Read more »
A brief yet violent storm moved through the area this afternoon creating large puddles and damaging at least one home. Just after 4pm the Mattapoisett Fire Department was called to Bridal Path for a home that was struck. The homeowners reported they also smelt smoke in the house. After the initial investigation the Fire Department reported that […] Read more »