With the roofs of town facilities falling down and equipment breaking down, Rochester officials are clamoring for $897,000 to take action sooner rather than later.

At the Special Town Meeting on October 22, voters will have to decide whether or not to approve funds to be used to replace broken shingles on the roofs of the Town Hall, Police Station and Council on Aging, as well as for buying new equipment for the Plumb Library and the Fire Department.

Renovating the Town Hall is the number one priority for town officials, said Town Administrator Richard LaCamera during Monday night's meeting with the Selectmen.

“The building is deteriorating,” he said. “The roof has significant leakage. The paint is peeling off outside of the building. If we don’t do anything we are going to lose the building. We’ve spent the last five or six years putting together a capital plan, but because of the economic situation, we’ve only been able to address certain things."

To preserve the building and to keep costs low, LaCamera proposed to renovate only the exterior of the Town Hall with new long-lasting shingles, paint and windows. This, he said, is expected to cost $250,000.

“We think that the cost is fair and reasonable,” LaCamera said. “This way the building will be protected. The goal right now is that we can’t undertake everything at once.”

Besides the Town Hall, LaCamera said the library is in need of $25,000 for a wheelchair lift to make the building handicap accessible. The Fire Department is in need of new radios, a new car to replace one that has broken down as well as repairs on two fire engines. Overall, the cost is expected to be $177,000.

To complete all of the projects, LaCamera said the town would use money from its stabilization fund and borrow bonds from lenders. Due to the town’s good bond rating, LaCamera said he doesn’t anticipate much difficulty in borrowing the funds.

With Town Meeting just weeks away, LaCamera said he hopes voters will recognize the importance of the projects.

“At some point in time, every one of these projects has to be done,” LaCamera said.

Selectmen Chair Richard Nunes agreed.

“There’s a list here, but it could have been a longer list,” Nunes said.

The Special Town Meeting will be held at the Rochester Memorial School at 7 p.m. on Monday, October 22.