Rochester: Consider your actions on restoration vote

Aug 15, 2019

To the Editor:

The current sports fields at Old Rochester Regional High School are in dire need of care. The people of Rochester who voted against a critical renovation should think much harder as to
how their decision is going to affect their children and their peers.

Elections were held in Rochester this past summer to decide the future of the school’s athletic complex. After Marion and Mattapoisett both approved the plan in May, which would provide the school with a resurfaced track and a new turf athletic field, Rochester was the final piece of the puzzle. Aside from the benefit of newer, cleaner-looking facilities, the most crucial result of the new complex would be the added safety to the students of Old Rochester.

The current main athletic field, which has the most traffic during the fall and spring, is only about three quarters covered with grass, where the rest is simply huge chunks of dirt from years of play. Not only are these bare spots soft and unstable, causing countless injuries, but they are also depressed into the ground so that any rain results in massive water puddles, making it unplayable.

On July 10, 2019, the residents of Rochester ended up voting against the project with about 55% of the 1,264 voters going against the proposed plan. The increase in taxes for Rochester in the first year of development would have been $34.39, roughly the cost of filling up your car at Cumberland Farms. I am appalled to hear that there are people who believe that this price is too much to ensure the safety of their children, as well as their children’s teammates and opponents.

The residents of Rochester that are against rebuilding the schools athletic facility need to seriously think about what harm they will be causing with their actions. 

Andrew Eilertsen
Mattapoisett