The Town of Rochester voted at its April 16, remote-access meeting to hold town elections before town meeting, setting elections for Wednesday, June 17, and town meeting for Monday, June 22.
Chairman Paul Ciaburri said holding town meeting first is preferred, but Town Counsel Blair Bailey said, “It’s not going to affect this year’s election (because there are) no ballot items for town meeting.” On Bailey’s recommendation, the board set June 22 for town meeting.
Town Administrator Suzanne Szyndlar pointed out that a June 22 town meeting necessitated moving elections ahead of that date because no Wednesdays were available for town elections after the June 22. Ciaburri then asked for a motion that the board schedule town meeting for June 22 and elections for June 17. The motion passed.
The legalities around town elections were discussed, and Town Clerk Paul Dawson confirmed in response to selectman Woody Hartley’s query that the original ballots will be used regardless of the new date of town elections.
A candidates forum is being considered for June 3, 4, or 5.
Based on interaction with personnel representing the federal and state emergency management agencies, Ciaburri said he had a gut feeling that the state closure through May 4 will be extended.
In other business on April 16, the board voted to approve the option of non-union, town employees to carry one week of unused vacation time over to FY2021, and any remaining unused vacation time would be bought back by the town.
Selectman Woody Hartley concurred but said he would like to make the decision knowing the financial impact. “I’d like to know what those numbers are,” he said.
That information wasn’t available to the meeting. Szyndlar indicated it had been tabulated according to total hours but not dollars.
Bailey said that the group exercising this option is largely made up of contract employees who are department heads.
The carefully-worded motion stated that any non-union employee with at least one week of unused vacation time that is set to expire on June 30, 2020, would be allowed to carry over one week of that unused vacation time to fiscal year 2021, this allowance due to the government shutdown and does not set a precedent. The motion passed.
Under old business, Rochester has extended its deadline for the payment of property taxes from April 1 to June 1, along with the waiver of any penalties to June 29 for bills due between March 20 and June 9.
Under new business, Ciaburri reported that Rochester Fire Chief Scott Weigel struck a deal with a Middleboro-based company for personal protective equipment (PPE), a critical element in sustaining safe operations amidst the COVID-19 (aka coronavirus) pandemic.
The board also reported that the Rochester foodbank served 34 families including some deliveries and some via pick-up.
Rochester Board of Selectmen
By Mick Colageo