Mattapoisett Select Board — October 20, 2026

The Mattapoisett Select Board met on October 20, 2026, to conduct public hearings and finalize recommendations for the upcoming Fall Special Town Meeting warrant. The board opened with standard announcements regarding Community Preservation Committee grant applications due November 6, ongoing early voting hours at Town Hall, and a regional household hazardous waste collection scheduled for November 14 in Marion. The board then held a public hearing on an Eversource petition for grant of location for overhead electric transmission crossings on Long Plain Road, Tinkham Lane, and Crystal Spring Road as part of the Line 112 Extension Project. Following discussions regarding Eversource's agreement to replace 100 feet of an aging water main on Crystal Spring Road and sectional repaving, the board unanimously approved the petition.

The board conducted a formal public hearing regarding a nuisance dog complaint concerning an Irish Setter named Dash, owned by Cindy Pemberton of 26 Church Street, following complaints by neighbor Michelle Huggins of 28 Church Street. After hearing extensive testimony from Natural Resource Officer Luke Mello, the complainant, witnesses, and the dog owner, Select Board member Jordan Fowler recused himself, and the remaining board voted that the dog constituted a nuisance due to excessive barking under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 140, Section 157. The board ordered remedial measures including restricting the dog from being left alone for more than five hours on Wednesdays and Fridays, logging hours and barking incidents, and providing documentation of training within 45 days.

In joint session with the Finance Committee, the board reviewed and voted to recommend nine articles on the Fall Special Town Meeting warrant. Key articles included transferring $2,000,000 from the grant-funded Water Street culvert project to the highway department building renovation, authorizing borrowing and retained earnings for a new water/sewer building, funding easement acquisitions and record digitization, and allocating $500,000 toward engineering and appraisals for the Marion Road/Route 6 reconstruction. The board amended Article 6 to increase funding for online permitting software from $25,000 to $75,000, approved the posting of the revised warrant, and adjourned into executive session to discuss pending litigation.

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