The February 26 meeting of the Mattapoisett Select Board found its members not only reviewing several departmental budgets but also topics with far-reaching implications for the town and its residents.             Towards the end of the agenda, Town Administrator Mike Lorenco mentioned ongoing attempts to partner with the Town of Acushnet to hire a […] Read more »

            In presenting the FY25 Draft Budget to the Marion Select Board during its February 21 meeting, Town Administrator Geoff Gorman said the goal has been a level-services budget, the only increases of which would be related to the cost of doing business.             “Any additional services, requests, if we wanted to hire somebody, if […] Read more »

            The Rochester Planning Board continued the public hearing into the Site Plan Review application for JPF Development’s plan to construct a 15-acre, self-storage facility with seven storage buildings and one office structure within the Industrial District at Kings Highway and Route 28 after focusing on one lingering question: What will be the project’s fire-suppression […] Read more »

            Rochester’s Select Board on Monday afternoon set a special meeting for Wednesday, February 28, at 1:30 pm to decide on spending the remainder of the town’s share of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. The meeting was scheduled for Town Hall, 1 Constitution Way.             In the Select Board meeting held on February 19, […] Read more »

            Rochester’s Conservation Commission Tuesday revised the Order of Conditions that it approved two weeks ago for BWC Snows Pond LLC’s plan to build a 2.39-megawatt, solar-energy array on 12.55 acres of a 31.23-acre parcel at 0 Cushman Road.             The commission removed from the project’s Order of Conditions the requirement that the contractor use […] Read more »

            What started out as a seemingly innocuous Request for Determination of Applicability filed by Ian Brady, 1 Mattakiset Road, became a debate lasting nearly an hour. The application was for a proposed two-story garage. The applicants were represented by the contractor Steve Brodo, who also acts as a part-time building inspector for the town. […] Read more »

            The Rochester Planning Board has improvised in finding an amenable process to the correction of Neck Road Solar’s screening to Neck Road.             During the board’s Zoom-only meeting during the February 13 snowstorm, Planning Board Chairman Arnie Johnson explained that upon realizing exposure of the framing of the project to an abutting area, the […] Read more »

            During the February 14 meeting of the Mattapoisett Board of Health, a public hearing was held to determine whether or not rates for services offered at the Transfer Station (an enterprise fund) should be raised.             Mattapoisett Health Agent Gail Joseph has striven since the beginning of her tenure to try and find ways […] Read more »

            Personnel Board member Kristine Nash told the Rochester Select Board at the latter’s public meeting on Tuesday night that a study of the town’s Personnel Bylaw is working against Rochester because nine key staffers not subject to collective bargaining have no further step increases and are more likely to be lost in a competitive […] Read more »

            Rochester’s Zoning Board of Appeals allowed the construction of a one-bedroom, in-law apartment on an undersized lot at 24 Bennett Road on February 15 after a lengthy struggle over how best to rule on the plan led to a telephone call to Town Counsel.             ZBA Chairman David Arancio’s call to the town’s lawyers […] Read more »