Old Rochester Regional Superintendent of Schools Mike Nelson presented the Rochester Select Board during its meeting Monday night a plan for a Town Meeting borrowing article to fund safety-related upgrades to ORR School District facilities.
The plan would be to upgrade the HVAC system and the water and heating systems, replace the entry doors and align the public-address systems in all the campus buildings so they can communicate to faculty and students as one.
Nelson noted after the presentation that the school district is looking for an approximate $20,000,000 borrowing bond to last 20 to 22 years at a cost that would be spread between all three ORR district towns. During the presentation, Nelson explained the school district’s current debt is expiring next year, but it needs to start the process for taking on any new debt now.
The preliminary results of a recently completed facilities study revealed the district’s facilities needs that have been whittled down to the few items that are the most important to address. ORR Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Howie Barber said all the items being proposed will address the students’ and the faculty’s safety needs.
“We are not looking for a major renovation,” Nelson said. “These are items that have reached the end of their expiration date.”
Select Board member Adam Murphy asked if the public will be able to read the draft report. Nelson said yes, when the executive summary is ready. “That will be important at Town Meeting to explain all this to them,” Murphy said.
Nelson and Barber said the mandated process for this type of proposal means final language won’t be ready until late March. The Select Board concluded the discussion by asking the pair “to keep them informed.”
In other action, the board referred several zoning articles proposed for the May 13 Annual Town Meeting to the Planning Board for it to review. These include regulation changes to the Agricultural-Residential District, the Ground-Mounted Solar Installation District and solar-facility battery storage.
The Select Board revealed that Police Chief Robert Small, Jr. announced in a recent letter that he is retiring effective June 28 at 4:00 pm. According to the Rochester Police Department webpage, Small has been a member of the town’s police force since 1988.
The board received Personnel Board Chairperson Kristine Nash’s update on her panel’s proposed new Classification and Compensation Plan. Nash explained that one of the main goals of the Personnel Board’s review was to line up job classifications for noncontract employees with Personnel Bylaw contract employees.
The first goal was to develop job descriptions for the 21, noncontract, town employees not covered by the Personnel Bylaw, which have been completed. The next step will be the Personnel Board’s proposal for a new FY25 Classification and Compensation Plan, which will become an article on the Town Meeting warrant.
The board approved the Annual Tour de Creme Bike Race’s use of town roads on May 19 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.
The board signed the proposed Transfer Station’s Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection permit application.
The board noted the resignation of Dale Barrows from the Board of Health and agreed to send him a letter thanking him for his years of service.
Town Administrator Glenn Cannon reported that SEMASS’s PILOT program payment to the town in January was $409,726. In February, the payment was $359,010. Cannon also reported the town recently received a Chapter 90 payment of $308,386. Cannon also announced that the Request for Proposals for the salt shed has been posted.
During a March 14 special meeting, the Select Board voted to transfer the wine and malt license from Matt’s Blackboard to Costa’s Kitchen located at 565 Rounseville Road. Michael Costa is the new manager. The board also voted a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for town employees for the FY25 Budget in response to the Finance Committee’s recommendation.
The Rochester Select Board scheduled its next two meetings for Monday, April 1, and Tuesday, April 16, both to be held at 6:00 pm at the Senior Center, 67 Dexter Lane.
Rochester Select Board
By Michael J. DeCicco