The Rochester Select Board Monday night told a group of residents who packed the Town Hall meeting room that the board could not help them with their concerns over a plan for a wireless communications tower on High Street.
On the night’s agenda was the question of overturning the Select Board’s right to buy land at 0 High Street, being taken out of 61A agricultural protection land so the cellular tower may be built on a portion of the land. Newly appointed Town Counsel Jane Medeiros Friedman of Mead, Talerman & Costa, LLC said the deadline had passed to be able to do this because the town had 120 days to conduct a land survey to the purpose of such an acquisition.
Chairman Woody Hartley said the land in question has no value to the town. The board agreed to take no new action on the property.
This did not sit well with the residents crowding the room and their attorney Donald Nagle. Nagle said his clients want the town to reconsider acquiring the property under a “lease” that would put the parcel in the hands of a third-party, nonprofit, being organized by the residents themselves.
Friedman quelled the possibility this could happen by noting, “I don’t see in the law the town has that option to convey the right to hold the property for this purpose.”
The board said it doesn’t want to vote a new decision on the issue or further litigate the matter. This drew jeers from the crowd, which had sought the Select Board’s cooperation and help with keeping a wireless tower from the site. Hartley, nonetheless, closed the agenda item and moved on to the next item, even as residents tried to argue their case on their way out the door.
Select Board member Brad Morse explained later that the Zoning Board had denied the tower proposal, but after the petitioner appealed the decision in Federal Court, a settlement was reached between the petitioner and the town, clearing the way for the tower to be built.
Hartley said basically the entire matter is out of the town’s hands, and the neighbors’ own counsel should help them further.
Elsewhere on Monday’s agenda, the board instructed Town Administrator Glenn Cannon to draft an article for the spring Annual Town Meeting to change the town clerk’s position from elected to appointed.
Hartley said the proposal was first considered and voted down at Town Meeting three years ago. But it is time to try again because of current Town Clerk Paul Dawson’s announcement in February that he is not running for reelection this spring and is retiring.
Hartley noted the effort this year will have to be two-fold. Changing the town clerk from elected to appointed will have to be approved at both Town Meeting and the Town Election. Cannon was directed to dust off the language of the previous article and submit it to town counsel first.
Next, the board reviewed a change to the town’s agreement with the Bristol County Agricultural High School that will alter what bills from the school the town must pay.
Cannon explained the school has been asking the town to pay two bills, its yearly per-student assessment and a “capital bill.” The latter is the one the town should not have to pay because it doesn’t have a fund for that cost, Cannon said, leading to the need to change the school agreement to reflect that.
Under the new agreement, the town will only receive one bill to pay, he said. But the town will still have to pay the outstanding Capital bills for the last two years. The board agreed to table their final decision on the new pact until its next meeting.
The board’s next lengthy discussion came with the topics of the new Access to Town Counsel Policy. Hartley admitted the rollout of this policy has not been smooth and its language is being “softened” in the face of town board members’ complaints.
Sparking the new policy was the change from now-former Town Counsel Blair Bailey, who had an office in Town Hall, to a law firm without such an office in town.
The original policy states that to better control how town departments and boards may access the town’s legal adviser, such requests must come in writing to the town administrator. A board’s request for opinion and/or use of Town Counsel must be approved by a majority vote of the board. Requests to initiate litigation or defense will require approval of the Select Board.
Two Conservation Commission members expressed disagreement with aspects of policy. Chairman Christopher Gerrior said being able to contact Town Counsel directly will be more difficult now. Board member Ben Bailey said some decisions, such as where a waiver or continuation is legal, cannot wait for the time it takes to contact a town official for permission to speak to counsel.
“We’d like to ask for a more liberal and trusting policy,” Ben Bailey said.
“My goal is to take a couple of weeks to roll this around until it’s ready,” Hartley said.
The next meeting of the Rochester Select Board will be held on Monday, March 20, at 6:00 pm at Town Hall, 1 Constitution Way.
Rochester Select Board
By Michael J. DeCicco