The Rochester Police Department is more than receptive to Rochester Troop #31 Boy Scout Riley Nordahl’s proposed Eagle Scout project to perform much needed improvements to the police station landscaping.
Just ask Police Chief Paul Magee and he will tell you what an eyesore and a burden it is keeping up the flower beds.
On October 3, the Rochester Board of Selectmen gave the green light to Nordahl, age 17, to move forward with his Eagle Scout project, which he revealed to selectmen during a brief presentation on Monday night.
His plan is to refurbish the plaque on an existing memorial bench situated at the site and install a brand new bench. The flowerbeds will be weeded, tidied, and mulched, and new flowers donated from a Marion business will be planted.
“This was a volunteer effort in order for Riley to achieve his Eagle Scout badge, so it’s not costing the town anything,” Sergeant Robert Small. “It’ll be a nice addition, and it’s nice of him to improve on the memorial. It’ll look really nice when he is finished, the way it is designed.”
Troop #31 Scoutmaster Michael Blanchard said Nordahl has really “taken the bull by the horns” with his independence in planning for this project.
“It’ll look really nice,” said Blanchard. “It’s a lot of hard work.”
Nordahl plans to begin the work at the police station on October 8-9.
Also during the short meeting, selectmen breezed through the Special Town Meeting warrant with Town Moderator Kirby Gilmore, with no discussion on any of the articles.
“I didn’t see anything that’s unusual,” said Gilmore. “Interesting that there’s more than one or two articles,” he commented, noting that there are eight, an above average amount for a special town meeting in Rochester.
The Special Town Meeting will be on October 17 at 7:00 pm at Rochester Memorial School.
There was no other business to come before the board.
The next meeting of the Rochester Board of Selectmen is October 17 at 6:30 pm at Rochester Memorial School.
By Jean Perry