The Rochester Board of Selectmen wants more time to digest the Rochester Memorial School agreement.
“It doesn’t make sense to us the way the numbers line up,” said Town Counsel Blair Bailey, explaining to the selectmen during their May 3 meeting that Town Administrator Suzanne Szyndlar “ran the numbers” and came to the same conclusion. “I guess the best way to put it [is] we have some questions about the dollars of the deal.”
Selectman Woody Hartley suggested Bailey and Szyndlar get together with ORR School District Facilities Director Gene Jones “and hash it out until you’re comfortable.”
“I would like to hear from the highway surveyor on the new deal with (solar) canopies there,” said Selectman Brad Morse, referencing pertinent issues such as life expectancy of the parking lot underneath and its maintenance. He questioned the power amount, saying it is based on an assumption and suggested that the payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) amount comes under the purview of the Assessors’ Office.
Morse also articulated concern with neighbors, alluding to a prior problem with abutters when the school building addition was done. Hartley said those problems were remedied.
“I’m trying to avoid conflicts so we don’t end up in a two or three-year battle,” said Morse, who ran the meeting as Vice Chairman because Chairman Paul Ciaburri was attending remotely.
Ciaburri questioned the PILOT program and the cost of the electricity. “I would like to see more information about that and have the highway surveyor talk to us about snow removal,” he said.
Bailey said that from a zoning standpoint, solar power is technically an allowed use.
The selectmen agreed to continue the discussion at a later date when they have the needed information.
The selectmen voted to sign the Annual Town Meeting Warrant and voted to accept a SEMASS PILOT payment of $340,260.
In her Town Administrators Report, Szyndlar reported an expression of interest for feedback on the report from a feasibility study that SRPEDD representative Eric Arbeen helped Rochester undergo. She said that the full application for the study can be submitted between May 3 and June 4.
Plymouth County representatives visited Town Hall on April 30 to present Rochester’s third CARES Act reimbursement check in the amount of $113,132. Szyndlar said she expects the town will file a total of seven submissions and noted that a new program called the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) will draw from a $1.9 billion appropriation, including $3.6 billion earmarked for state and local governments. The program will be divided into two halves beginning May 11 and again nine months later. Rochester expects to be eligible to receive $516,000 in funds that would pass through the state to the town.
Szyndlar said ARPA will operate on four basic rules including revenue replacement for FY19 figures covering the cost of hazards such as duty pay, COVID-19, sewer/water, and infrastructure, but not including OPEB payments or for the purpose of lowering taxes. The timeline will operate from March 3, 2021 to December 21, 2024.
Libraries and schools will get their own ARPA funding and, unlike via the CARES Act, will administer the program separately from the towns.
The selectmen voted to approve Police Chief Robert Small’s recommendation that part-time officer Austin Alves be hired as a full-time police officer. Small said that Alves worked for over a year as a part-time officer and described him as diligent in his working and learning. Alves is also an EMT with a Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice. Bailey said, “Normally this would be a more momentous an occasion…. Apologies it’s not as momentous over Zoom.”
Hartley addressed the recent appearance of commercial advertising on telephone poles all over Rochester. “Eventually it will become litter because the wind will knock it off,” he said, identifying the advertiser as an out-of-town company. “I assume it’s against town bylaws.” Morse recommended mailing the company a citation.
In other business, the selectmen approved a donation of $24,253 from the SEMASS request fund that will address, among other requests, police vests at $8,000, plus other police equipment, and requests of $2,728 and $3,000 from the Park Department.
The selectmen also voted to approve two ranges seeking to renew their operating permits, and it was decided to forego plans for a 2021 Memorial Day celebration and instead key on Veterans Day in the fall.
The selectmen entered executive session to discuss a personnel issue not specified in the agenda and did not return to open session.
The next meeting of the Rochester Board of Selectmen is scheduled for Monday, May 17, at 6:00 pm.
Rochester Board of Selectmen
By Mick Colageo