Bite Warrants Dog Hearing

            The Marion Select Board called a special meeting held Monday afternoon to discuss a dog complaint filed by Fairhaven resident Miles Grant regarding a December 21, 2023, incident at Silvershell Beach in which his dog was bitten by an off-leash St. Bernard owned by Marion resident Verena Hultsch.             Hultsch was unable to attend […] Read more »

Sinkhole Fill Hopes to Beat Next Storm

            Josiah Hatch will be allowed to fill the sinkholes behind the seawall on his property that were worsened by the December 21, 2023, storm.             On February 14, the Marion Conservation Commission heard from Hatch, who filed a Request for Determination of Applicability to fill approximately eight sinkholes with aggregate and clean fill behind […] Read more »

Overgrown Spruce to Be Removed

            In response to public feedback received during a February 6 Select Board meeting, the Marion Cemetery Commission met on Tuesday morning to review revisions to its proposed changes in the town’s Cemetery Regulations.             The revisions were crafted for the commission’s consumption by Select Board member Norm Hills, working off a summary of feedback […] Read more »

FY25 Budget Driven by Cost of Doing Business

            Aiming for a level-service budget for the next fiscal year, Old Rochester Regional Superintendent of Schools Mike Nelson told the Marion School Committee during its February 8 meeting that he had met with the Marion Finance Committee and Finance Director Heather O’Brien.             “We are at a place where the cost of doing business […] Read more »

Myriad of Topics Covered

            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 »

Stalled Housing Projects Tighten FY25 Budget

            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 »

Fire Suppression Key to Self-Storage Plan

            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 »

ARPA Funds Not Confined to Fire Truck

            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 »

Bio-Fuel Condition Rescinded

            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 »

Request Sent Back to Drawing Board

            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 »