The Rochester Board of Selectmen ruled on a number of issues Monday evening, including an approval of the appointment of two reserve police officers to part-time status and the approval of several town employee contracts for the next three years.
Police Chief Paul Magee was on hand to introduce the two officers – Officers Jason Denham and Nathan Valente (both of Rochester) – to the Board, who ultimately signed off on their newly appointed status.
Magee said they’ve each been with the force for some time now, working details and the like, and they have both completed the training required to serve on the Department.
The Board also approved the reappointment and contracts for the town’s Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer, Accountant, Assistant Accountant, and the Police and Fire Chiefs.
According to Town Administrator Richard LaCamera, the contracts include brand new job descriptions for each of the employees, and also include the same cost of living increases that were approved at the last town meeting.
Also approved were changes to the contracts of the entire Police Department, which includes a change to the former sick-day policy, which allowed for the accrual of sick time and subsequent “cashing in” of that sick time at the end of expiring contracts.
“We’ve cleaned [the contracts] up quite a bit,” Town Counsel Blair Bailey said.
“We’re ending that practice [of the cashing out of sick time]. The goal is to still benefit the employee when they need the sick time, but to avoid that burden for the town.”
LaCamera also discussed the status of several construction projects in the town, both present and future.
He said that the current Town Hall project “is coming along very nicely,” and that three sides of the building are done, as well as the installation of new furnaces and air conditioners.
As for projects at the Council on Aging and Police Station, he said that they were currently “stop and start” because of the amount of rain of late, but that they hope to be completed very soon.
“They’re hoping to get them done tomorrow and Wednesday if the weather holds up,” he said.
He also touched on future repairs to the Fire Station, which are set to take place in the upcoming months.
The project “seems to be good as far as I’m concerned,” LaCamera said. “A lot of the work is being done by call firefighters who are carpenters and electricians.”
LaCamera also went over various expenditures included in the Capital Funding Project, including the sale of a tractor/mower to offset the costs of repairing the town’s other two. They were also approved to purchase a new one in September of 2012, which will cost the town $99,000, and which has already been included in the town’s budget.
Others include the purchase of a nine-passenger van for the COA, which is currently in use, as well as changes to the Plumb Library.
“If you look at the Capital Project overall, we’re in very, very good shape,” LaCamera said. “Everything is going great.”
LaCamera also noted that because of the holiday, recycling for Thursday, July 4, will not be picked up until July 11, and that trash will be collected on Saturday instead of Friday. He also noted that the town’s offices closed on July 4 and 5.
Finally, the Board officially announced the resignation of Derek Medeiros from the Old Rochester Regional School Committee. They added that letters of interest for the open position be addressed to the Board, which will appoint someone temporarily until the election in September.
By Nick Walecka
