MATTAPOISETT Mattapoisett's Select Board reviews near-final plans Tuesday, Nov. 17, to replace the deteriorating culvert under Mattapoisett Neck Road, the only way in and out for about 250 homes, the Massachusetts Municipal Association has reported.
The board meets at 4:15 p.m. in the Training Room at the Mattapoisett Fire Station, 62 County Road, with one item on its agenda: to "Review 90% Design Plans & Implementation Plans" for the Mattapoisett Neck Road Culvert Replacement Project. Town Administrator Michael Lorenco posted the agenda Friday, Nov. 13.
Lorenco told the municipal association in April that the project runs over several years because the tides limit when crews can work and the road has to stay open for residents. "For everyone that lives on the other side of the culvert, this is the only way to access them," he told Sippican Week in January.
What is being replaced
The culvert sits between Molly's Cove and the Mattapoisett Neck salt marsh, near the mouth of the Mattapoisett River, and is one of three in the area, the municipal association reported. It is undersized and deteriorating and sits completely underwater at high tide, so the marsh cannot flush properly, salt builds up and the marsh has been losing vegetation, according to the association's article, which cited Lorenco and a study completed in 2024. The deterioration also threatens the roadway itself, the association reported.
"For any coastal community, marsh land is important," Lorenco told the association. "It provides a buffer for storm events, sea level rise, as well as a habitat for wildlife and other things."
Who pays
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office for Coastal Management lists $3,725,565 in federal funding for the Mattapoisett Neck Tidal Restoration Project, awarded to the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. NOAA's project page says the money replaces "degraded, undersized, and restrictive culverts" in the Mattapoisett Neck salt marsh system and pays to plan designs for two more tidal restrictions under Mattapoisett Neck Road, and it says removing those restrictions will reduce flooding risks.
The municipal association and Sippican Week both describe the town's award as a $3.5 million grant. It is a reimbursement grant, meaning the town pays first and is paid back, and it will ultimately cost taxpayers nothing, Sippican Week reported in January.
Also Tuesday night
At 6:15 p.m., in the same room and on Zoom, the board holds its fiscal 2027 tax classification hearing on how to divide the property tax levy among the town's five property classes. The hearing notice says taxpayers may give oral or written comments then. Our Nov. 5 story explains the choice the board faces.
At 6:30 p.m., Barrett Planning Group leads a workshop the town calls Housing Strategies for Mattapoisett, part of the regular Select Board meeting. The town's notice lists local housing needs and demographics, land use and zoning, housing strategies for small towns, housing options, and next steps for the town's Affordable Housing Trust, and says members of the Planning Board, the Zoning Board and other town boards have been invited.
The agenda also lists an executive session to prepare for contract negotiations with the library director, a nonunion employee, and notes that town offices close Wednesday through Friday, Nov. 25 to 27, a span that includes Thanksgiving on Thursday, Nov. 26.
What comes after Tuesday
As of April, the town was in the survey, design and permitting phase, expected to wrap up in the summer of 2027, with construction starting that September, the municipal association reported. Lorenco told Sippican Week in January that the town was aiming to finish construction by early 2028.
Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.
Notes
Every fact about Tuesday's meetings comes from the two Select Board agendas and the tax classification hearing notice the town posted to its Agenda Center, and from the town's Nov. 6 housing workshop notice. The project's federal funding and scope come from NOAA's Office for Coastal Management project page. The road access, the culvert's condition and the construction timeline come from the Massachusetts Municipal Association's April 21 article and Sippican Week's Jan. 21 article, each credited where it is used. We read every one of these records on Nov. 13, 2026, and checked each date and weekday against a calendar. Not heard: we did not ask the town about the plans for this preview; the board takes them up in public Tuesday, and we will report what happens.
Corrections
No corrections to this story. If something here is wrong, tell us. Every correction is dated on the story and listed in our public log.
Sources (7)
- Mattapoisett Select Board agenda, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2026, 4:15 p.m. (Mattapoisett Neck Road Culvert Replacement Project)Posted by the town Nov. 13, 2026. Read Nov. 13, 2026.
- Mattapoisett Select Board agenda, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2026, 6:15 p.m.Posted by the town Nov. 13, 2026. Read Nov. 13, 2026.
- Mattapoisett Select Board notice of public hearing, fiscal 2027 tax classificationRevised for a location change. Read Nov. 13, 2026.
- Town of Mattapoisett, Housing Information Session (Housing Strategies for Mattapoisett workshop notice)Posted Nov. 6, 2026. Read Nov. 13, 2026.
- NOAA Office for Coastal Management, Mattapoisett Neck Tidal Restoration ProjectFederal funding and project scope. Read Nov. 13, 2026.
- Massachusetts Municipal Association, Mattapoisett receives federal grant for culvert replacementPublished April 21, 2026. Road access, culvert condition and timeline, citing Town Administrator Michael Lorenco. Read Nov. 13, 2026.
- Sippican Week, Mattapoisett addressing ecological, safety concerns with $3.5 million grantPublished Jan. 21, 2026. Reimbursement grant and early 2028 target. Read Nov. 13, 2026.