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Reported by us | Rochester

Rochester to hear Verizon and Eversource request for 32 new poles on High Street

The Planning Board meets first, on Tuesday, Oct. 27, with a High Street solar decision to sign and a request to move a Walnut Plain Road solar hearing to Nov. 10.

By the SC360 Town Hall Desk | Published Oct. 23, 2026 | Last verified Oct. 23, 2026, 2:45 a.m. ET

ROCHESTER Verizon New England and NSTAR Electric Co., which does business as Eversource, are asking the Rochester Select Board for permission to put 32 new poles in the public right of way on High Street. The board will hear the request at 6:05 p.m. Nov. 16 at Town Hall, 1 Constitution Way, with a Zoom option for residents who want to follow from home.

The companies filed joint petitions under two hearing notices, which reached the town clerk Oct. 22. One notice covers 30 new mid-span poles and the other covers two more. Both are set for the same hearing during the board's meeting.

What the board decides

Under state law, a utility that wants to run a line along a public road must petition the select board in writing, and the board must hold a public hearing first. The board has to mail written notice of the hearing at least seven days ahead to every owner of property that abuts the stretch of road where the line would go.

After the hearing, the board may grant the location by order. For overhead lines, that order can set where each pole goes, the kind of pole, how many wires or cables it carries and how high they run. The town clerk records the order. Repairs and replacements of poles already in place need no new order.

The Select Board is Chair Paul Ciaburri, Vice Chair Bradford Morse and Clerk Adam Murphy.

Planning Board meets Tuesday

High Street is also on the Planning Board's agenda for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, at Town Hall. The board is set to sign its site plan review and special permit decision for High Street Solar Site B. High Street Solar 1 LLC and High Street Solar 2 LLC of Lowell applied to build a ground-mounted solar energy system with a battery energy storage system at 0 High Street, on land entirely in the Residential-Agricultural district. That hearing had been continued from Sept. 8, and on Oct. 13 the board was set to sign the site plans for High Street Solar Site A.

A second solar hearing may be pushed back again. The special permit and site plan hearing for Walnut Plain Road Solar 1 LLC, which lists the same Lowell office, carries a request to continue to Nov. 10. The application is for a large ground-mounted solar array at 0 Walnut Plain Road, and an earlier request had sought to continue it from Oct. 13 to Oct. 27. The land is owned by BKK Holding LLC of Jupiter, Florida, and the Southborough engineering firm Beals and Thomas represents both solar applicants.

The board also resumes its hearing, continued from June 23 and again from Oct. 13, on a change to the Snipatuit Pond Estates subdivision on Gerrish and Bishop roads, first endorsed in 1979. The request would swap two parcels of open space land and create a 3.578-acre buildable lot on one of them.

Highland Development is set for an informal discussion about 667 County Road. For 72 Marion Road, the board is set to sign a backlot division special permit and to take up a separate approval not required plan that would divide the lot into two building lots. Board business includes five Field Engineering vouchers totaling $3,805.08, for the Dexter Lane, Cushman Road, Snipatuit Road and Featherbed Lane South solar projects and for Sealord Enterprises.

How to weigh in

Both meetings are open in person and on Zoom. The Planning Board meeting uses meeting ID 825 6871 8500, or call 1-646-876-9923, and the session is televised and recorded. The Select Board hearing uses meeting ID 832 5762 3120. Questions about the pole petitions can go to the Select Board office at 508-763-3871, ext. 110; the Town Clerk's office is at ext. 117.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.

Notes

Every fact comes from the Town of Rochester's own records and the state law the notices cite: the two Select Board pole hearing notices and the Planning Board's Oct. 27 agenda, all stamped by the town clerk Oct. 22, the Planning Board's Oct. 13 agenda, Chapter 166, Sections 21 and 22 of the General Laws, and the town's Select Board and Town Clerk pages. We read them early on Oct. 23, 2026. We checked each date and weekday against a calendar: Oct. 13 and Oct. 27 and Nov. 10 are Tuesdays, Nov. 16 is a Monday. The voucher total was added from the five listed amounts. Private individuals named in the agendas as applicants or landowners are not named here. Not heard: no one was contacted before publication. A request for the petition plans showing where the poles would stand is going to the town administrator's office, and the story will be updated with any answer.

Corrections

No corrections to this story. If something here is wrong, tell us. Every correction is dated on the story and listed in our public log.

Sources (7)

  1. Notice of Public Hearing, Rochester Select Board: Verizon New England and NSTAR Electric (Eversource) petition for 30 new JO mid-span poles on High Street, Nov. 16, 2026, 6:05 p.m.Town of Rochester, stamped received by the assistant town clerk Oct. 22, 2026, 12:20 p.m. Read Oct. 23, 2026.
  2. Notice of Public Hearing, Rochester Select Board: Verizon New England and NSTAR Electric (Eversource) petition for two new FO mid-span poles on High Street, Nov. 16, 2026, 6:05 p.m.Town of Rochester, stamped received by the town clerk Oct. 22, 2026, 11:34 a.m. Read Oct. 23, 2026.
  3. Rochester Planning Board agenda, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, 7 p.m.Town of Rochester, stamped received by the town clerk Oct. 22, 2026, 9:26 a.m. Read Oct. 23, 2026.
  4. Rochester Planning Board agenda, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, 7 p.m. (background: High Street Solar 1 and 2 application, Walnut Plain Road continuance, Snipatuit Pond Estates)Town of Rochester, stamped received by the town clerk Oct. 7, 2026. Read Oct. 23, 2026.
  5. Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 166, Section 22: consent of municipal officers to construct or alter linesMassachusetts Legislature (Section 21, cited in the notices, is the companion section on lines in public ways). Read Oct. 23, 2026.
  6. Rochester Select Board members, titles and office contactsTown of Rochester Select Board page: members, titles and office phone 508-763-3871, ext. 110. Read Oct. 23, 2026.
  7. Rochester Town Clerk pageTown of Rochester: Town Clerk Marjorie Barrows, 508-763-3871, ext. 117. Read Oct. 23, 2026.

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