The Rochester Select Board Monday approved adding a debt-exclusion question to the June 20 Special Election that will ask town voters to endorse building a new $288,000,000 Old Colony Regional Vocational-Technical High School.
On that date, Acushnet, Carver, Lakeville, Mattapoisett, and Rochester, the five members of the Old Colony Vocational Education District, will vote on moving forward with the multi-million-dollar building project with a ballot-question election. The Rochester Select Board decided on June 1 that a separate ballot question will be offered in town to allow the town to pay for its share of the project costs with a debt exclusion.
Town Administrator Cameron Durant said the Select Board had previously decided to add such a ballot question to any special election seeking to pass the Old Colony construction plan, and he wanted to give them a chance to act on that decision. The board approved same with minimal discussion.
Durant explained later that the ballot question the town will present will not include any dollar figures because those numbers will be too hard to accurately calculate. It will simply ask residents to approve borrowing beyond the limits of Proposition 2 1/2 to fund the town’s portion of project costs. He said those numbers will change dramatically depending on how many students Rochester sends to Old Colony when the project starts and what the interest rate to borrow will be at the time. “Those numbers will be very nuanced,” he said.
The project will build a larger, more modern building that replaces the serious infrastructure deficiencies of the current facility at 476 North Avenue in Rochester. Under calculations presented to member towns last year, the state School Building Authority’s reimbursement for the new school’s price tag is projected to be $129,000,000. The remaining total cost that the school district members would share was estimated at approximately $159,000,000. Rochester’s share of that price tag would have been $28,400,000, but both the $289,000,000 request to fund the building project and a proposal to pay for Rochester’s $24,000,000 share of that cost with a debt exclusion resulted in a resounding “no” vote in the November 2025 Town Election, leading to Old Colony’s move to revote the question on June 20.
The Select Board began the June 1 meeting by promoting Acting Sergeant Catherine Connelly to a permanent sergeant position with the Rochester Police Department. In recommending the appointment, Chief Michael A. Assad, Jr. cited her demonstrated exceptional leadership, professionalism and dedication during her time as acting sergeant, including as supervisor of the department’s Community Engagement Team.
The board then approved Eversource’s bid to install one new IO utility pole in the right of way on Clapp Road and one FO pole with “back guy” and anchor in the right of way on High Street.
Next, Durant addressed the fallout from the Town Election’s tie vote for a seat on the Rochester School Committee. For one of the two open spots on that board, Isabel Gomes-McCann and Barbara Lee tied with 544 votes each. Durant explained the preliminary tally of the ballots on election night, May 27, that showed Gomes-McCann slightly ahead changed when a paper ballot the machine rejected because of a stray pen mark was counted manually. He said a recount will be required. He said, if that does not change the outcome, the solution will be a temporary appointment by the Select Board and/or a Special Election. Meanwhile, the current board membership will need to remain as is.
Later, board member Brad Morse proposed a Special Town Meeting article that will approve the use of the electronic voting clickers that the town recently received as a gift. He said the devices have been proven to work well and they would save time at town meetings and be a more efficient way to count votes. Approving their use should become a bylaw, he said, and the board quickly agreed.
In other action, the board reorganized to appoint Paul Ciaburri as chair and Morse as clerk.
The board approved the appointment of K. Douglas Sims as a full member of the Zoning Board of Appeals.
The board appointed Town Planner Michaela Shoemaker as the town’s representative on the Joint Transportation Group.
The board approved a Host Agreement with Rochester Cannabis, LLC for a retail operation at Route 58, Rochester.
The Rochester Select Board’s next meeting will be held on Monday, June 22 at 6:00 pm at Town Hall, 1 Constitution Way.
Rochester Select Board
By Michael J. DeCicco