Rochester Select Board — April 30, 2026
The Rochester Select Board convened on April 30, 2026, to finalize articles on the Town Meeting warrant. The board voted to open the warrant and addressed Article 11 concerning the acquisition of police cruisers. Board member Bradford Morse advocated utilizing the town's remaining $120,000 in free cash to purchase two police cruisers outright rather than leasing them for three years, noting the lease would incur $16,000 in fees and reduce future free cash by $50,000 annually. Board member Adam Murphy strongly opposed spending free cash on police cruisers when the town faces an unfunded special education liability of approximately $454,000, arguing it sent the wrong message when school staff positions were potentially at risk.
Town Administrator Cameron Durant clarified a misunderstanding regarding potential state earmarks, explaining that any forthcoming funds were designated specifically for body-worn cameras and fire equipment rather than cruisers. The board agreed to leave Article 11 unchanged for the upcoming annual town meeting, with the option to delay expenditures and revisit lease versus purchase terms at a future special town meeting. Instead, the board voted unanimously to add a new article (Article 10) to appropriate the $120,000 from free cash into the Capital Improvement Fund, with authorization for the town administrator and finance director to adjust the figure to the final remaining free cash balance.
The board also approved an amendment to Article 12 to remove the word "used" from the article authorizing the purchase of a pickup truck for the fire command staff. In addition, at the request of the Planning Board, the select board approved reordering the zoning warrant articles so that Article 28 covers County Road, Article 29 addresses the Decas processing facility, and Article 30 pertains to bog rezoning. Following these adjustments, the board voted unanimously to close the warrant and adjourn.
AI-generated summary. May contain errors. Watch the video to verify.
Spotted a mistake? and we’ll check it against the source.