The Rochester Country Fair did not amass any profits this year, Kelly Morgado from the Country fair Committee reported on October 1 to the Board of Selectmen. In fact, this year it lost money.
Providing the board with a recap of the 2018 country fair, Morgado reported, “It went extremely well, except for the horrific weather on Saturday evening, so we took a huge financial hit.”
Morgado said the festivities and entertainment planned for that Saturday cost the committee roughly $10,000, and due to the poor weather, there were no proceeds that evening from admissions fees.
“So we actually lost money this year versus what we started with,” said Morgado. “We have money in the account, but we did not make money this year.”
To mitigate the loss, Morgado proposed adding further fundraisers for the upcoming year, beyond the six the committee is allowed as per the committee’s agreement with the Town. She hopes to host a clambake and another antique tractor pull, among other things in 2019.
“That will help us recoup some of the money that we lost at the fair this year,” said Morgado.
Morgado reported on the country fair’s first beer garden, also, saying that, although there were no problems that resulted from serving beer and wine at the event, there were setbacks to how the beer garden was cordoned off from the rest of the fair.
“People were happy that it was there, [but] it was just very awkward how it was set up,” said Morgado. The beer garden had physical barriers with a police officer inside, sometimes with two, Morgado said. “We had absolutely no problems, except if somebody was there with their younger children the children couldn’t go in.”
Morgado has since spoken with police, “And our feedback was to open it up to the fairgrounds and not have a sectioned area,” said Morgado. “If that’s approved, then we can obviously put on more officers for details if that’s one of the requirements.”
The committee also presented a number of maintenance projects, including electrical work that will be done with the assistance of Old Colony students and staff, and some gate and fence work, as well as a well tank relocation.
One proposal for building a pavilion structure at the fairgrounds to save money on tent rentals was a mild concern for Board of Selectmen Chairman Greenwood “Woody” Hartley.
“I’m not sure about the [pavilion] building because that appears to be a permanent structure and I think one of the things we agreed was no permanent structures,” said Hartley.
Morgado said tent rental prices tripled this year to almost $7,000, and a pavilion, which would be built using mostly volunteer labor and donated materials, would bring tent rental needs down to just one tent.
“Many of these things … need to have, in my opinion, the approval and support of the neighbors before I personally would even consider them,” said Hartley.
Selectman Brad Morse sits on the Rochester Country fair Committee, and he suggested to Morgado that they discuss this list of requests at the committee’s next meeting.
“I’m looking at the hit we took this year and trying to figure out how we can make it better,” Morgado said, adding another request: “To not have this [discussion] drag on for months.
“We have got to figure out what were going do – probably now, which I know is not gonna happen,” Morgado said.
Police Chief Robert Small did comment that he would be willing to talk about opening the entire fair up to serving alcohol, saying, “Obviously, my suggestion would be the same thing – have a conversation and figure out what’s best for public safety, but I’m certainly willing to have a conversation.”
Also during the meeting, the board reviewed the seven-article warrant for the November 19 Fall Special Town Meeting taking place at RMS at 6:30 pm.
Article 1 codified the existing zoning bylaws with no change to the substance of the bylaws.
Article 2 pertains to the Green Communities Act: adding a solar energy overlay district to allow by-right use of the town’s capped landfill for a solar array project. Article 3 would provide another overlay district option for voters to consider relative to satisfying the Green Communities Act, this one for alternative energy research, development, or manufacturing limited to the existing industrial zone.
Article 4, another article related to Green Communities, adopts the new building Stretch Code, which Bailey said is already very close to the current building code, according to the building commissioner.
Article 5 is general housekeeping of zoning bylaws that will include multi-family conversion, relocating the table of accessory uses, addressing temporary storage container use on private property, referencing the preservation of agriculture within the Agricultural/Residention zone, and providing a waiver for the use of combustible engines on certain ponds, specifically reserving waivers for scientific survey or study.
Article 6 would appropriate a financial sum to upgrade to the Town’s property evaluation software that will cost at least $15,000, and Article 7 is for $10,000 to hire a grant writer to assist the Town is seeking new grant opportunities.
In other matters, the board will hold a dog nuisance hearing for Liberal and Melinda Teixeira of 368 North Avenue.
Town Counsel Blair Bailey informed the board that there have been several complaints from neighbors about the presence of dogs on the property barking, and the animal control officer has been to the site at least once.
The Teixeiras and their dogs have a history with dog nuisance complaints, first appearing before the Board of Selectmen in 2014 and given specific orders for licensing and a sound-proof kennel building to mitigate noise. Bailey said in 2015 the Teixeiras were found in violation and the matter was taken to court.
“They’re now back to breeding dogs and having dogs outside again barking,” said Bailey, and he requested a new dog nuisance hearing to take place at the next meeting.
According to Bailey, the Teixeiras currently do not have a license to operate a kennel at their residence.
The board will review the WasteZero curbside textile and “soft” recycling program contract and make a decision during a special meeting reserved specifically for WasteZero at 9:00 am Thursday, October 4.
The next regular meeting of the Rochester Board of Selectmen is scheduled for October 15 at 6:00 pm at the Rochester Town Hall.
Rochester Board of Selectmen
By Jean Perry