Rochester’s selectmen on June 21 approved a plan to give town employee retirees a one-time 5% Cost of Living Adjustment raise for 2023 that will cost the town budget $25,000 for the next five years.

            Town Treasurer Kory Lyon presented the plan to the board on behalf of the Plymouth County Retirement Board, which has chosen the action as a way to better compensate the town’s retirees for 2023.

            It piggybacks on Governor Charlie Baker’s November 2022 signing of a law that according to a recent Mass Municipal Association report, “adds an important municipal acceptance step for a one-time, above-the-cap increase in public pension cost-of-living adjustments in fiscal 2023.”

            Plymouth County Retirement Association representative Charles Armanetti emphasized that this is a one-year increase approved by the retirement board. He noted the other 10 communities in Plymouth County have all approved this plan. Now it was Rochester’s turn to decide.

            There are 45 retirees from Rochester currently, he said. The $25,000 per year amount will cover the increase by cutting the grand total cost of $125,000 into five pieces.

            Still, the selectmen were reluctant at first to approve the expense. “It is a big hit on our budget,” Town Administrator Glenn Cannon said.

            Select Board Chairman Paul Ciaburri lamented that Finance Committee Chairman Kris Stoltenberg was not in attendance to give his perspective. Select Board member Brad Morse noted that might not have mattered, as Stoltenberg doesn’t know the budget numbers for next year anyway.

            “Ten out of 10 communities have voted in favor,” Armanetti said before the final, unanimous approval vote.  “But it wasn’t easy. There has been resistance. But every other town has found a way.”

            Later in the evening came a surprising announcement, as Cannon revealed that the developer of the Rochester Memorial School solar-energy canopy project has asked the state for an extension of its permit to June 30, 2024.

            Cannon said the problem is in supplies. The developer is having trouble getting shipments of the steel that the project needs. The Planning Board approved the project permit and the Groundwater Protection District permit in May. The canopy-mounted, large-scale, solar photovoltaic system was to be built over 13.7 acres of the rear parking lot of the Rochester Memorial School starting this fall.

            In other business, the Select Board followed a recommendation from Town Planner Nancy Durfee and approved donating $10,000 from SEMASS’s yearly donation to the town to fund the Snipatuit Pond hydrologist study. Durfee explained in a previous meeting that a flow gauge would be installed to determine the area’s waterflow rate and water levels. ARPA monies totaling $20,000 funded the beginning of the project, Durfee said, adding that she needs volunteers to help her monitor this gauge.

            The board also approved beginning a Veterans Work-Off Program, under which military veterans may work a maximum of 125 hours in a year for the town to abate their tax-bill debts.

            The board announced that the Conservation Commission needs a new full member and an associate member after accepting the resignation of Commissioner William Clapp. Interested volunteers should contact Town Hall.

            Under appointments, new Select Board member Adam Murphy was named the panel’s new representative to the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD) commission. Halima Tiffany was reappointed to the Registrar of Voters, and Sandra Romero became a new member of the Agricultural Commission.

            The board approved a $250 license fee for the new Farmer Winery Pour License.

            The board approved an amendment to the Town Counsel Access Policy that any member of a board may ask the town administrator to speak to Town Counsel. The policy previously required the entire board or committee to agree to make such a request of legal counsel.

            The board approved closing Town Hall on Monday, July 3.

            The Rochester Select Board called a special meeting for an executive session on Thursday, June 29, at 5:30 pm to discuss personnel and will not convene in public session. The board set its next regular meeting for Monday, July 10, at 6:00 pm at Town Hall, 1 Constitution Way.

Rochester Select Board

By Michael J. DeCicco

            Rochester’s Water Commission hosted a further airing of the dispute with the Buzzards Bay Coalition that’s kept the town’s Conservation Commission from signing on to a multitown Conservation Restriction that includes Rochester land without a clear resolution.

            The CR discussed during the commission’s June 14 public meeting would protect 241 acres of aquifer land from Acushnet to Mattapoisett that includes 13 acres at Red Brick Farms on the east side of Long Plain Road and the north side of Wolf Island Road.

            The sticking point that’s led the town ConCom to refuse to sign the agreement came two weeks ago when Buzzards Bay Coalition Director of Land Protection Allen Decker explained that the regional agreement will give Mattapoisett the water rights to the Rochester parcel, including possibly digging up to four new wells, under a coownership agreement with the Mattapoisett Water and Sewer Authority.

            Commission members complained that Rochester has lost the right to use its own water resources too many times over the decades and were united in their refusal to sign the CR without more information, especially as to whether the CR can be rewritten to give Rochester rights to some of that water.

            On June 14, the debate started after Water Commission Chairman Fred Underhill noted his board has no authority to act on this issue but has agreed to host the discussion.

            Buzzards Bay Coalition representative Brendan Annett said the purpose of the CR is to permanently protect the aquifer that is the water supply residents of the entire region depend on. There is no immediate plan to drill four new wells, he said. This would only be Mattapoisett’s plan of action if additional water was critically needed.

            Conservation Commission Ben Bailey responded, “It’s not that simple.” He noted that Rochester will have to pay the money in the matching grant that is making the project possible. Yet Mattapoisett alone will benefit from the water resource on Rochester land, he said. If a future well is dug from any of this acquired land, Bailey said, “Rochester should be able to participate, be part of the agreement.”

            He and other commission members emphasized that the town should have some right to the well water produced as a result of this CR agreement.

            Water Commission member Richard Charon added that the four wells can be drilled anywhere within the 241 acres the CR encompasses, not just in Rochester. But he also noted that other agreements with other towns, such as Marion, specify that Rochester has a right to 50% of that water. That could be the case with this agreement too, he said.

            Conservation Commission Chairman Christopher Gerrior said that before this agreement was settled, all interested parties should have been at the table to review it. “We should’ve had more of a say,” Gerrior said.

            Underhill said the town has not only lost the rights to its own water over the years but also the related tax revenue. The City of New Bedford does not pay taxes on the waterworks system building that processes Rochester water, he pointed out.

            Town Administrator Glenn Cannon asked about one possible solution. He queried whether the CR could stay in the possession of Rochester so it could have more control of that water resource. Gerrior said this provision would still mean the land and the water resources would be protected.

            Annett provided no sense that the issue would be resolved easily. He said the deal is too close to needing to be finalized for such a change. He said he had a conversation about Rochester’s concerns with Mattapoisett Water and Sewer Department Superintendent Henri Renauld, who according to Annett answered with a blanket reassurance that Rochester has been a part of the regional effort to protect its water resources for a long time and that would continue to be the case.

            The Conservation Commission will discuss the issue further at its June 20 meeting.

            The Rochester Water Commission scheduled its next meeting for Wednesday, August 9, at 4:00 pm at Town Hall, 1 Constitution Way.

Rochester Water Commission

By Michael J. DeCicco