Plans for the New Year in Rehoboth

Rehoboth town officials are looking forward to the New Year and there are several projects planned for 2016.
The projects include re-building the Wheeler Street Bridge, planning a new public safety complex, continuing the Senior Housing project, and looking into school regionalization options.

Wheeler Street Bridge
Reconstruction of the Wheeler Street Bridge, which was expected to begin last summer but was pushed back to the fall, is now on tap for 2016. The contract was awarded last July to Attleboro-based Walsh Contracting.
The bridge has been closed since it was washed out in the torrential rains and flooding in March 2010.
“I’m hoping the Wheeler Bridge is done by end of summer 2016,” said Selectmen Chairman Mike Costello.

New Public Safety Building
The focus for 2016, says Costello, will be a new public safety building which will have a town hall incorporated into it. An architect who lives in town is donating his time to prepare plans for the new building.
The town has needed a new town hall and public safety building for some time. The town hall, especially, has had numerous problems.
“The need for a new town hall is desperate. We’re working out of a 60-year old building that has a leaky roof, water problems, heating problems and air quality problems,” Costello said.
The police department building also has issues with water and space.
The proposed location for the new complex is behind the current public safety building on Anawan Street (Rt. 118). The town owns 12 acres behind the building. One of the benefits of building the complex there is that it is centrally located.
Costello says there are funds in place from solar projects that would help pay for the new public safety/town hall. He hopes that the project will be started by Fiscal 2017.

Senior Housing Project
The Senior Housing Project planned for the old Anawan School on Bay State Road is moving forward in 2016. In October 2014, voters at town meeting authorized selectmen to petition the State Legislature to allow the town to enter into a 99-year lease with the Women’s Development Corporation to convert the building into affordable senior housing.
Recently the developer determined that they cannot used the existing well on the property or the well behind the Council on Aging building. A new well is being dug for the project.
The design of the project has changed slightly, but the plan is still to build approximately 38 units.
The town hopes that construction will start by mid-summer.

School Regionalization
Another goal for 2016 is to look at the issue of either regionalizing the entire school district or de-regionalizing it. Costello says a campus could be built at Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School that would include the middle and elementary schools. Another possible scenario would be for the regional high school to split up. There are advantages and disadvantages to both options and the issue is still in the discussion stage. A plan is needed because the district’s school buildings are aging and some do not have enough classroom space.
“I’d like to regionalize both towns completely. In my opinion, that would be the best avenue to take due to the cost incentive of building a new school,” Costello said.

The New Year means new beginnings for many people and for local communities as well. Costello hopes that the new public safety complex will get off the ground this year and that the town continues to move forward.
“I’d like to see the town continue as it’s going and do it without raising taxes or interfering with the quality of life we now enjoy,” Costello said.