The Town of Rochester will be allowed an increase of 5,000 gallons per day in its intermunicipal Water Agreement with the Town of Wareham. Now the town’s total allotment is 55,000 gallons per day. As Town Administrator Suzanne Szyndlar explained, the old agreement was modified to give Rochester 5,000 more gallons for future expansion.
The Rochester Board of Selectmen met on July 20 in a hybrid format that allowed the board members and administration to be present in town hall and any other attendees connecting via Zoom. But for the second straight time, online attendees had audio difficulties. According to Szyndlar, Town Counsel Blair Bailey had the same system working perfectly for Town Meeting at Rochester Memorial School, but Town Hall continues to pose audio complications.
Szyndlar provided The Wanderer with clarifications and missing information in a phone call Tuesday.
Providing the board with an update regarding Plymouth County CARES Act funding, Szyndlar said she is preparing a submission for a reimbursement of approximately $28,000 to cover non-budgeted, COVID-related expenditures dating back to June 30 through the end of FY20 (July 31).
Allotted $480,000, Rochester’s student enrollment calculates out to an allowance of $225 per student, but since Rochester receives CARES Act funding through Plymouth County and not the state it is not limited to that number per student.
The town has to account not only for students in the Old Rochester School District but also residents attending Old Colony Regional Vocational-Technical High School along with Bristol Aggie.
With the end Fiscal Year 2020 in sight (July 31), town administration is allowed to make appropriation transfers in between departments in the case of deficits or overages. To that end, Szyndlar provided the selectmen with a list of accounts that need money. The board approved the transfer of $28,465.24, an amount Szyndlar considered the least in years.
Selectman Woody Hartley said that each of the Tri-Town communities may have questions about the ORR School District agreement presented last week to the Board of Selectmen, and expressed an interest in having someone come in and explain changes to the agreement.
Szyndlar said she talked to new Superintendent of Schools, Mike Nelson, and said Nelson is waiting on the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) for comments on the agreement. Szyndlar told the board that changes require Town Meeting vote.
Old Colony updated its agreement two years ago.
In other business, Boy Scouts Troop 31 was approved for the usage of the Pine Street facility for its requested dates of August 22-23 for its fundraiser.
Szyndlar reported to Chairman Paul Ciaburri that the Senior Work-off program had a total abatement of $20,000 for his signature.
Ciaburri thanked all town officials and boards, people at the Senior Center, and Andrew Daniel for their efforts keeping everything in order during the pandemic.
The selectmen approved a letter of thanks to George Landry for allowing Rochester to use his photo of Eastover Farms on the cover page of the Town of Rochester Annual Report 2019 that was distributed at the June 22 Town Meeting.
The board went into executive session, not to return, to discuss the potential purchase of real property.
The next meeting of the Rochester Board of Selectmen is Monday, August 3, at 6:00 pm.
Rochester Board of Selectmen
By Mick Colageo