Members of the Rochester Board of Selectmen say this year’s draft Annual Town Meeting warrant is heftier than average with 26 articles. That is, until May 12 when selectmen pulled several articles off and more may follow.
First to go was draft Article 16, which would have appropriated a sum not to exceed $60,000 over the next five fiscal years from the Council on Aging expense lease line item to lease a 2015 14-passenger non-handicapped-accessible minibus. The bus would have replaced the current 2007 minibus used to transport Rochester seniors.
Town Administrator Michael McCue said a vote was taken by another town entity to hold off on the article until further notice.
Selectmen also removed draft Article 19 to fund a generator for the Senior Center.
McCue said draft Article 20 may ultimately be removed and put into the IT budget to fund the first year of a five-year lease to replace the computer system at Town Hall.
Draft Article 21 to fund a company to codify the Town bylaws will likely remain on the warrant, despite the Planning Board’s disinterest in paying the amount quoted from the only company that responded with an offer.
That amount is featured in the draft warrant as $9,900, and McCue suggested leaving it at that in case another company can be found to perform the task at a lower rate.
“We would never exceed that amount,” said McCue if another company was found to codify the municipal code. And since an article amount can be decreased on the Town Meeting floor but not increased, said McCue, it is wise to keep the $9,900 as a placeholder. If no other company is found, McCue said, then the article could simply be passed over at Town Meeting.
The board called for a Special Town Meeting, mostly to deal with financial issues such as the over-expended snow and ice removal budget. The Special will be held the same night as the Annual on June 8 at Rochester Memorial School.
Also on the draft warrant, but not discussed in great detail, is an article pertaining to assessors employment that Selectman Bradford Morse was uncomfortable discussing that evening.
The article would allow an elected member of the Board of Assessors to hold an appointed position within the town that reports to the Board of Assessors. It reads: “In smaller municipalities, there are frequently times when positions that require certain knowledge and expertise may need to be held by the same person.”
The impetus for this article is the recent election of member of the Board of Assessors Debra Lalli, said McCue, who is already an appointed clerk that reports to the Board of Assessors. McCue said the potential appearance of a conflict of interest could be in the allocation of salaries. The Board of Assessors approves the salaries of its own office’s appointed positions.
The article continues, “Allowing this situation would not exempt the individual from other applicable conflict of interest and ethics laws, it would merely permit them to hold both positions.”
The matter will be discussed further at the next Rochester Board of Selectmen meeting scheduled for May 18 at 6:30 pm at the Rochester Town Hall.
By Jean Perry
