SOUTHBRIDGE- Representative Geraldo Alicea (D-Charlton) announced today that Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles Registrar Rachel Kaprielian will be coming to Southbridge for a community forum scheduled to take place on February 22, 2010 at 5:00 PM at the Town Hall. The forum is open to the public and will give local residents from surrounding communities a chance to directly address the Registrar and offer testimony with respect to the state’s decision this past July to relocate the Southbridge RMV branch office to the Charlton Turnpike Service Area. 

The Joint Committee on Transportation held a public hearing at the Southbridge Town Hall on December 7, 2009 to hear testimony on two bills that Representative Alicea filed relating to the Registry’s decision to relocate the Southbridge branch earlier this year. The Committee received testimony from numerous residents and local officials who discussed the impact of the Southbridge branch closure and expressed concerns over the new Charlton office site. The Registrar did not attend the public hearing, but was said to have been briefed later by a representative who was sent to take notes. 

“I think it’s extremely important that the Administration is able to hear, in person, the concerns and palpable frustration felt by the communities and the local residents on whom this decision has had such a huge impact” said Representative Alicea. “In addition, this meeting should provide a unique opportunity for the Administration to be able to directly address the concerns and questions we have regarding new Charlton site.” 

The hearing will take place in the MacKinnon Council Chamber at the Southbridge Town Hall, located on 41 Elm Street in Southbridge. 

###