The Rochester Select Board on Monday appointed two new Reserve Officers to the Rochester Police Department and congratulated six local Boy Scouts who achieved the high honor of earning their Eagle badges this year.
James Costa and Matthew Rezendes were approved as Reserve Officers for the Rochester Police Department upon the recommendation of Police Chief Michael Assad, Jr. Assad said Rezendes brings more than 20 years of experience to the job. His career began in detention and treatment facilities at Taunton State Hospital followed by six years as a campus police officer at Bristol Community College, Fall River. He has served on the Fall River Police Department for the past 14 years. Costa, with nearly four decades of law enforcement experience, recently retired after 33 years with the Acushnet Police Department. Since then, he has worked as a special police officer and special state police officer and is currently the midnight shift supervisor at the Southcoast Health Police Department. Assad added that the two men will be utilized strictly for detail work.
The six local scouts earning their highly prestigious Eagle badge this year are Eddie Brown, Bryan Correia, Casey Cash, Cole Gretton, Lain McManus and Josh Van Inwegen. They all gained the rank with ambitious Eagle projects to their credit. Correia told the select board he repainted the port and starboard passageways on the main deck of the USS Joseph P. Kennedy, docked at Battleship Cove in Fall River. Van Inwegen said he built a portable welcome desk for the Community Boating Center of New Bedford. Brown has built a total of 10 bat houses, six of which have been spread around Rochester, to give shelter to bats, which, he said, are a dying breed. The six were awarded their Eagle badges at a ceremony on July 18.
In other action, Town Administrator Cameron Durant announced he has written a letter to State Senator Michael Rodrigues regarding a statehouse economics bill that includes zoning bylaw change that will have serious ramifications on how local towns like Rochester handle their zoning. Durant asks that this zoning provision be removed.
The board approved the installation of a new utility pole on Braley Hill Road within the right of way to break up a large wire span in the area.
The Board of Selectmen’s next meeting will be Monday August 3 at 6:00 pm at Town Hall, 1 Constitution Way.
Rochester Select Board
By Michael J. DeCicco