Rochester's new Board of Selectmen Chair Woody Hartley led fellow selectmen and town department heads through a review of Rochester's Town Meeting warrant on April 19.

Hartley and fellow selectmen Brad Morse and Paul Ciaburri reorganized the board's roles after the town's April 11 election, where Ciaburri was chosen to succeed former selectman Naida Parker. Morse, formerly the chair of the board, will now be the clerk, while Ciaburri became the vice chair.

There are several budgetary items on the Town Meeting agenda, items that the selectmen wanted clarification on.

One, a $70,000 request for a new truck, from the Highway Department, raised some eyebrows.

"It's a replacement for a 1969 Chevy, the very first car the Highway Department ever had," Ciaburri said by way of background explanation. "It's deteriorating from the inside out."

Finance Committee member Kristian Stoltenberg wondered if it was possible to buy a used truck to replace the Chevy and save around $20,000.

"Well you could," said Morse, "but you might be buying someone else's problem."

Town Administrator Suzanne Szyndlar also detailed a request to put $50,000 into a fund for road repairs. Road repairs are often aided by Chapter 90 funds awarded by the state. However, Szyndlar explained, "Chapter 90 funds are decreasing while road costs are increasing."

The special fund would require a majority vote at Town Meetings to put money into, and a two-thirds vote to take it back out for work.

The Rochester Police Department is seeking around $48,000 to arm police with tasers.

"We're one of the few departments in the state that doesn't have them," explained Police Chief Paul Magee. "I feel the staff doesn't have the tools they should to protect themselves or residents."

The cost would be around $31,000 for the tasers and related equipment, as well as training, and a further $17,000 for an assurance program, explained Sgt. Robert Small. The assurance program would replace any unusable tasers, and the $17,000 cost would be spread over five years.

Additionally, Rochester Facilities Manager Andrew Daniel is working to put in a generator at Town Hall. Currently, the Town Hall doesn't have a generator, which caused serious problems during the multiple March nor'easters.

"There was eight inches of water in the basement," Daniel said.

Magee explained that if power goes down, Town Hall also loses connection to the official town email server, which affects the police force.

"I can't send official emails from my town address to request help from the state during an emergency," he said. "They don't accept emails from personal [email] accounts because there's no verification. So when we need the help the most—I can't get it."

The total cost of the generator will be about $12,000 for the unit, installation, screening, a cement pad, and anything else needed.

The town's Finance Committee did object to one item, a $12,500 request from the Board of Assessors in order to put money aside for future re-certification of the board.

Most towns have funds set aside for recertification, explained Assessor Jana Cavanaugh, but Rochester isn't one of them. In the past, Rochester has been able to do recertification in-house, but there's no guarantee it will last.

Finance Committee members said that they couldn't find a reason to support the request, as it was seemingly made just in case nobody could carry out recertification in five years.

"It's the most fiscally responsible idea," Cavanaugh said. "If the town chooses not to do it, they'll need to find the money—somewhere between $80,000 and $100,000–to afford it in five years."