An article on the May 20 Rochester Annual Town Meeting Warrant will ask voters to decide on whether to maintain the elected position of town clerk or allow the Board of Selectmen to appoint a qualified candidate.
Town Clerk Naida Parker will retire from her position after 35 years as town clerk, prompting Board of Selectmen Chairman Greenwood “Woody” Hartley to ask his fellow selectmen for their opinion on offering up the position as an appointed one, subject to Town Meeting approval.
“We’ve grown a lot in the last 25 years,” Hartley said on April 1. “We’ve changed a lot and I feel like the townspeople … deserve that the office of the town clerk be open the same hours as the town hall and that we have the opportunity to have a backup person who is authorized to do the same things the town clerk can do.”
Hartley lamented that elected officials, including the town clerk, are allowed to set their own hours and schedules, which might have an impact on the citizens’ access to services at Town Hall. He added that the town should be able to have an assistant clerk in the Town Clerk’s Office as well so that someone can be in that office during Town Hall business hours.
Hartley researched towns similar in size to Rochester and found that the trend is indeed moving towards an appointed town clerk, which offers some benefits to towns, including larger pools of qualified, experienced candidates from which to choose.
“I’m in favor of presenting it to the voters,” said Selectman Brad Morse. “I think it gives us a chance to seek a level of professionalism in the office and appoint someone who’s up for the job versus …”
Speaking over Morse, Hartley added, “It broadens our expanse to find somebody.”
“The town has grown and people need access to the town clerk on a daily basis,” said Selectman Paul Ciaburri. “I think it should go in front of the townspeople and let them decide.
“It’s a big jump to do away with an elected position,” Ciaburri continued, “but I think it’s time to look at the other side.”
In other business, the town is hoping to be awarded a state recycling grant worth $20,000 to help educate Rochester citizens on effective single-stream recycling, but a provision of the grant would be implementing a program for recycle bin inspections to help curb dirty curbside recycling.
The curbside recycling compliance program entails the hiring of several individuals to perform curbside inspections of 20 percent of recycle bins over an eight-week period. Hartley commented that the inspectors would likely be students or seniors participating in the senior tax work-off program.
The inspectors would not be performing full inspections of the bins, but rather superficial inspections of the top items to check for problematic items such as plastic bags and dirty pizza boxes, the top offenders in dirty single-stream recycling. Those found to be noncompliant would be tagged with information on the noncompliant items inside the bin.
The recycling grant will ultimately provide funding for informational mailings for residents as the town takes steps toward improving the recycling habits of its citizens.
“The whole purpose is to make us better recyclers and, therefore, save the town money,” said Town Administrator Suzanne Szyndlar.
Also during the meeting, the board voted to refer two zoning bylaw articles back to the Planning Board to hold the public hearings ahead of Town Meeting – one bylaw for the zoning of marijuana cultivation facilities and retail sites, and another for the Smart Growth Overlay Zoning District.
Town Counsel Blair Bailey said the marijuana bylaw would restrict cannabis cultivation facilities to 5-acre properties throughout town, including within the agricultural/residential zoning district; laboratories and marijuana product processing facilities would be limited to the industrial zone only, while marijuana retail stores would be allowed in the general commercial zone.
The overlay district bylaw article is what will accommodate the 40R residential complex on Cranberry Highway near the intersection of Routes 58 and 28.
“It is the necessary step to move forward with Town Meeting’s approval of an overlay district [and] this is limited to that property,” said Bailey.
Szyndlar reported that Steen Realty, the developer of the proposed 40R, has completed its application with the state, and the financial impact analysis will begin next week. Results of the analysis on how the development will impact the town financially will be presented during another public forum the town will host ahead of Town Meeting.
In other matters, the selectmen congratulated Cheryl Randall Mach as she was selected to be the next director of the Rochester Senior Center, replacing Sharon Lally as she retires August 1 after 13 years in the position.
There will be an article on the Annual Town Meeting Warrant for voters to approve or deny allowing the Town to borrow $2 million to help fund the Old Rochester Regional High School athletic complex and auditorium upgrades project.
There is a one-year appointed position on the Rochester School Committee open, as Meagan Bennett has resigned. Any letters of interest may be addressed to Town Administrator Suzanne Szyndlar at the Rochester Town Hall.
The next meeting of the Rochester Board of Selectmen is scheduled for April 15 at 6:00 pm at the Rochester Town Hall.
Rochester Board of Selectmen
By Jean Perry