The Rochester Board of Selectmen on January 11 voted to authorize Town Administrator Michael McCue to further work with town officials of Marion and Wareham towards a reclassification of County Road to a federal “urban connector” to be eligible for federal funding for repairs and upgrades.

McCue said he met with representatives of the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD) as well as Marion and Wareham selectmen on January 6. The results of SRPEDD’s traffic study of County Road, he said, showed a traffic flow high enough to warrant a possible reclassification of the road.

Although the idea is to have the road classified as an urban connector, McCue said the federal government is not seeking to add further roads under its oversight without potentially taking out other roads.

SRPEDD suggested several roads in the three towns, McCue said, to downgrade from urban connectors to urban local roads. Only one in Rochester would fall under that possibility – a less than 1-mile stretch of road on Walnut Plain Road between Mary’s Pond Road and Marion Road (Route 105) that is currently classified as an urban connector. Selectmen found this classification peculiar, if not plain weird.

“Urban connector … for deer,” Board of Selectmen Chairman Richard Nunes commented.

Furthermore, the town had never seen any reimbursement for it, as far as McCue was concerned.

Too bad we already paved it, was Selectman Brad Morse’s comment.

Selectman Naida Parker made the motion to allow McCue to continue to investigate the matter, and the selectmen voted unanimously.

In other matters, McCue said the town is actively exploring avenues for a possible acquisition of the old ‘airport’ property on Marion Road.

McCue said he is in contact with Conservation Agent Laurell Farinon seeking viable ways to acquire the land, although no concrete action has yet been taken.

Also during the meeting, the board nominated and appointed Parker as the Board of Selectmen representative to personnel matters, including personnel reviews and position adjustments relative to the Personnel Board.

McCue also asked selectmen for permission to look into the grant opportunity of several surrounding towns, including Marion, to study the feasibility of a regional wastewater treatment system. McCue said adding sewer service to parts of Cranberry Highway where development is encouraged would further benefit business, and thus the town.

“I just think it makes sense to just look at it,” said McCue.

Selectmen also commented on Marion Selectman Jonathan Henry’s recent decision to not seek reelection in 2016.

“I found him to really be really well grounded,” said McCue. “I was actually very surprised when I heard that.”

“He’s always been a good, sane voice,” said Parker.

The next meeting of the Rochester Board of Selectmen is scheduled for January 25 at 6:30 pm at the Rochester Town Hall.

By Jean Perry

Somewhere back in the forgotten history of codes and regulations is a decision that placed agricultural operations under the governance of the Uniform State Plumbing Code. As odd as that may sound, that is the case and it was discussed on January 5 at the meeting of the Mattapoisett Agricultural Commission.

Some farmers have felt that those regulations were too inflexible for agricultural activities and needed some updating to embrace current best practices.

The Agricultural Commission discussed sending a letter in support of a house bill that would begin the process of reviewing statues that affect farming businesses and give a bit more weight to the needs of those operations.

House Bill 236 sponsored by Representative Leonard Mirra, Second Essex District, reads in part, “… the board of examiners of plumbers and gas fitters is authorized to amend the Uniform State Plumbing Code, to include a category of agricultural buildings and operations, separate from regulations governing residential and commercial buildings…” This seemingly small modification could have a profound impact on farmers in the future.

Commission member Mike King said, “You can’t use PVC pipes [in some farming functions].” King said, for some functions, only copper piping is allowed, which puts an undue financial burden on the farmer. With this house bill, that type of regulation might be modified, he suggested.

In other business, the commission has produced car decals that they plan to sell for $5 each. The decal is a replica of the new ‘Right to Farm’ signs. The proceeds from the decals will help offset printing costs for an updated brochure the commission has been working on for several months. The brochure describes the town’s commitment to agriculture, support of farmers, and contact information.

And speaking of the new ‘Right to Farm’ signs designed by resident Lori Nunes, the Massachusetts Municipal Association newsletter, The Beacon, has acknowledged the beauty of the signs along with the community’s support for agricultural businesses. Commission member Melody Pacheco said another newspaper featured a piece on the signs and the town’s farming culture for an upcoming issue.

The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Agriculture Commission is scheduled for February 2 at 6:00 pm in the Mattapoisett Town Hall.

By Marilou Newell

Three new people have been appointed to the Rochester Personnel Board since the resignation of that board’s three members just after the 2015 Annual Town Meeting, when voters rejected an article crafted by the board that would have altered the Town’s Employee Compensation Plan.

On January 4, the Rochester Board of Selectmen met with two of the new members to discuss the Personnel Board’s main task – coming up with a way to save the town money by changing the conditions of the employee step increase policy.

“We just wanted to say ‘hi,’” Board of Selectmen Chairman Richard Nunes told Alan Boling and Christopher Peck. Third member Jean Armstrong was not present.

Town Administrator Michael McCue talked of an upcoming yet-to-be-scheduled first meeting of the newly reconstituted board, which will also include Highway Department employee Harrison Harding as a non-voting employee representative.

“I already have my suggestions, my thoughts, on how things should be rewritten,” said McCue. Other duties of the board, he said, would be hearing grievances and acting as an arbitrator, collecting and reviewing employee evaluations, and deciding on the annual three-percent wage step increase for non-union employees covered under the Employee Compensation Plan.

The plan currently allows certain employees to advance a step each year based on merit, but not beyond step number 10, the maximum, which Nunes said most often takes employees only 10 years to reach.

The comp plan, said Selectman Naida Parker, was established with the intent of making employee pay competitive with other surrounding towns, because, at one time, Rochester’s compensation was significantly lower.

“That has changed, so now, not only are we competitive,” said Parker, but in many cases, she continued, Rochester’s compensation is higher. Now, she said, the suggestion is to eventually eliminate the compensation plan and simply hire all employees at a competitive rate, relying on annual cost of living pay increases instead of the steps.

Nunes recapitulated the board’s consensus that an employee compensation plan step policy should be slowed to an extent so that employees would not max-out in just 10 years. He said, on the federal level, an employee comp plan might be slowed down, for example, to every two years upon reaching step five, and then, upon reaching step seven, the remaining steps would be attainable every three years.

“So instead of maxing-out in ten years … you max-out in eighteen,” Nunes said.

Other towns’ employees of this category, pointed out Selectman Brad Morse, are unionized. “We want to avoid that if we can,” said Morse. Boling concurred.

“That’s a good thing to avoid if you can,” said Boling. “If you can keep it non-unionized, that’s better for everyone.”

The Personnel Board will meet for the first time within the next two weeks.

In other matters, McCue wants residents to know that the 2016 trash and recycling schedule has been posted to the website in several easy-to-find locations, in light of several inquiries as to when the schedule would be mailed to residents.

The board briefly discussed codifying the Town’s bylaws in anticipation of an article in an upcoming special town meeting requesting up to $10,000 to pay for the service. McCue said the Town probably would not need the entire amount, but a little contingency money is a good thing.

McCue asked selectmen to think about some questions they might want to ask residents in a pop-up survey he hopes to add to the website – questions other than the ones pertaining to the town hall annex he plans to ask. Selectmen will discuss the matter at a later date.

The next meeting of the Rochester Board of Selectmen is scheduled for January 11 at 6:30 pm at the Rochester Town Hall.

By Jean Perry