Seekonk Board Authorizes $2.76 Million Senior Center Bond, Names New Executive Assistant

SEEKONK -- October 21, 2015, Seekonk selectmen authorize $2.76 million senior center bond and name new executive assistant. The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously Wednesday to approve a $2,759,645 bond anticipation note through Eastern Bank at a 0.65 percent interest rate, rolling in a prior $800,000 short-term borrowing and funding full construction of the new senior center, with a groundbreaking ceremony targeted for the second week of November. Town Administrator Sean Cadeen also won unanimous board approval for the appointment of Christina Pacheco Testa, an internal candidate from the Zoning Board office, as executive assistant to the town administrator and Board of Selectmen, pending contract negotiations in executive session that same night. Cadeen said Testa "was by far head and shoulders above everybody else" among 10 candidates, two internal and eight external. The board also unanimously appointed Michael Knox of Rehoboth as a patrolman third class effective November 2, accepted resignations from an unnamed department employee and from Firefighter Brian Rainey, and postponed the Historical Commission appointment of Marilyn Carlson after she failed to appear. A Fall Town Meeting warrant article seeking $118,133.60 to cover unanticipated tenant relocation costs at the senior center property drew pointed criticism, with Vieira stating the purchase and sale agreement would have required a vacant building "had we all known what we should have known."