Rochester’s Select Board started its meeting Monday by accepting a $602,226.33 check from the Plymouth County commissioners.
County Commission Chair Jared Valanzola and Commissioner Sandra M. Wright presented the Select Board with the oversize facsimile of the check that the town was recently awarded in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds as administered by the county. Valanzola noted that the check, the real version that Interim Town Administrator Suzanne Szyndlar recently received, represents the total of two funding requests that Rochester has earned: $218,000 for revenue replacement and $384,800 for a new ambulance.
Wright thanked the Town Hall staff that helped reward the application for the funds. Valanzola asked the board to send further CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act funding allocation requests by September 30. “We don’t want to return a penny of it back to Washington, D.C.,” he said.
Select Board member Adam Murphy said more money might be needed because the town is in the final stages of hiring a new town administrator who might have other funding ideas. “When that person is hired, we’d like you to come back to (have the new town administrator) be introduced to you,” Murphy said.
In related news, Szyndlar reported that the Town Administrator Search Committee has finished interviewing all the applicants for the position and has picked three finalists that it would like the Select Board to interview soon as the next step. Szyndlar said the process will be the same as with the Police Chief search: interviews with the three in one open session with predetermined questions. She said she would like to set up these interviews sometime next week.
Szyndlar also reported more good news regarding funding awards. She said the town will be receiving $190,108 in payouts from Fair Share, the state taxation program that levies a 4% surcharge on income over $1,000,000. “This money will be available for immediate use,” she added.
In other action, the Select Board approved the Zoning Board of Appeals’ request to advance associate member Jeffrey Costa to full member for a term to expire on April 30, 2029.
Town Planner Nancy Durfee reported the town’s Hazard Mitigation Plan 2024 is close to being finalized. She said it is an update of the regional Hazard Mitigation Plan that was completed in 2004. She noted this is an important update because it helps the town plan and receive funding for projects that reduce the risk of injury or damage to property from natural-hazard events such as flooding, winter storms and hurricanes.
Durfee said first the state will review the town’s new plan, then the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will need to approve it. Then the plan will come back to the Select Board for its approval around November. After that finalization, she said, the plan will need to be updated every five years.
The Select Board approved the warrant for the 2024 State Primary election, which will be held on Tuesday, September 3, from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm at the Council on Aging Senior Center.
The board again continued its hearings into plans for a new Eversource utility pole and manhole cover on Rounseville Road to Monday, September 9, at 6:05 pm at the Council on Aging Senior Center.
The board approved the early closure of town buildings on Friday, September 6, at 11:00 am for the town’s annual Employee Appreciation Luncheon, which will be held at the Highway Barn.
The next Rochester Select Board meeting will be held on Monday, August 19, at 6:00 pm at the Rochester Council on Aging Senior Center, 67 Dexter Lane.
Rochester Select Board
By Michael J. DeCicco