Agenda – Plymouth Select Board 1-21-22 Agenda

Official Minutes – Not yet released.

Please note this transcription is unofficial. If you find an error, use the contact page to notify Plymouth On The Record.

0:00:05

Dick Quintal:

Welcome to the Select Boards the meeting of January 21st, 2022. This morning we’ll be discussing the finalists for Town Manager position. And if the board feels that they’ve actually found one, we’ll find that out in a little while, but I’m going to open it up for conversation to board members or questions. Bernie is with us too. Good morning, Bernie.

Bernard Lynch:

Good morning. Glad to be here.

Dick Quintal:

Are there any questions for Bernie before we get started?

Betty Cavacco:

Mr. Chairman, I think we have to still read the–

Dick Quintal:

Yes. Would you please read that, Betty? You know what, I didn’t print that one out. I apologized.

Betty Cavacco:

That’s okay, no problem. In accordance with Section 2475, and pursuant to Chapter 20 of the Acts of 2021, this meeting will be conducted via remote means. Members of the public who wish to watch the meeting may do so in the following manner: tune in to PACTV government cable access channels, Comcast 15 or Verizon channel 47 and watch the meeting as it is aired live or watch the meeting live through PACTV’s websites at PACTV.org. Members of the public who wish to participate in the meeting may do so in the following manner: contact the Select Board’s Assistant, Chris Badot, who is available prior and throughout the meeting to provide public remote access via the public call-in line (508) 322-3383 or cbadot@plymouth-ma.gov. Now, in-person attendance of the members of the public will be permitted, but every effort will be made to ensure that the public can adequately access the proceedings in real time, via technological means. In the event we are unable to do so for reasons of economic hardship and despite the best efforts, we will post on the Town’s website an audio or video recording, transcript or other comprehensive record of the proceedings as soon as possible after the meeting.

Dick Quintal:

Thank you, Betty. And like I said, this is the meeting of the Select Board of January 21st. I now declare the meeting open. As you can see on the agenda this morning, we will be discussing top 3 picks for possible Town Manager position and I would like to welcome Bernie Lynch is here and welcome Select Board Members. Bernie says his little thing here. We’ll bring it up to the board any questions, and we will just go from there. Mr. Lynch, how are you this morning?

Bernard Lynch:

Very well. Glad to be with the board this morning and hopefully the board will be able to reach a decision on a new Town Manager. It has been a good process, I think, a lengthy process as they typically are, but it’s an important position certainly for the town. And we’re happy to be of any assistance as we can as we help through the process and moving forward. For the opening, I guess I would say is that I think it’s important that the board focus on who they believe to be the best candidate for the position. I’m happy to take any questions that the board members may have at this time and then obviously will help through the process to wherever we can with regards to the successful negotiations of the contract.

Dick Quintal:

Thank you, Bernie. Are they any questions at this time for Bernie? Any comments from board members? Mr. Helm and then Patrick.

Harry Helm:

I let Patrick.

Dick Quintal:

Patrick.

Patrick Flaherty:

Is this the appropriate time to talk about if we are leaning a certain way on a candidate? Okay. So then, first out the gate, each of these candidates have impressive background and qualifications, no doubt about it. So, I didn’t want to talk a little bit about the reasons why I was leaning towards a particular candidate. We did have great group but the candidate I feel who would be the best fit for Plymouth is Jennifer Callahan. In her interview, she showed that she has a thorough working knowledge of our form of government and also a valuable understanding of how Plymouth can get its share at the state level with her experience as a state representative as well in that process. It is very clear to me that she had thoroughly research our town, which is expected from any candidate, but initially I think she showed a deep understanding of the municipal process and how to begin moving forward to address those challenges as well. I did find her to have an executive level type of presence in presenting factual information and the ability to both manage our $270 plus million budget but also lead our town in the future as a strong leader. So, for those reasons, I am leaning towards voting for Ms. Callahan.

[0:05:32]

Dick Quintal:

Thank you, Patrick. Harry?

Harry Helm:

Okay. Thank you, Patrick. And if it appears that I’m reading, I am reading because I wanted to make sure that I covered the points that I needed to point out. Today, this board is currently constituted until the pivotal May election will in my mind, make the most important decision we will be asked to make. So, hear my thoughts and why I support one particular candidate. First, as we know, Jennifer Callahan has been selected by Bourne to be their next Town Manager. Congratulations to Ms. Callahan and to the Town of Bourne. At this point, I don’t feel that it’s in the best interest of Plymouth or our residents to go down the path of a possible bidding war for any Town Manager candidate. Patrick, I’d like to hear your thoughts on that. And other fellow Board Members if you disagree with that evaluation, feel free to speak up.

For me that leads two candidates in consideration: Jennifer Phillips and Derek Brindisi. Over the past couple of days, I’ve listened to or received opinions for and against both candidates. And I received a lot of them. Some both for and against were angry and bordered on character assassination. The large majority, however, for and against were well considered, and I thank those people. And it is to them and other Board Members to whom I address the following. So, let’s be real here. Neither candidate is perfect. In fact, no candidate any search will ever uncover will be perfect. It’s the nature of the unique, complex and serious problems are town faces. It is the job of the Select Board to oversee the town manager and in that responsibility, we are the ones that must ensure the success of either candidate chosen, period. That’s one of our jobs: to ensure the success of the Town Manager.

It’s not just the job of one of the Board Members. It’s the job of all of us. Our other job is to create policy to push our town forward and help the new Town Manager in its implementation. Therefore, in my mind, the candidate we should go with is Mr. Brindisi. He has installed creative financial solutions to the financial issues in Upton. We need to address our finances. We all know that. We need to stop the dizzying upward trajectory of our taxes on both of our residence and existing businesses. Our residents require this, and we don’t need to do this in 10 years or 20 years. We need to begin addressing that immediately.

Mr. Brindisi understands how town meeting government works and make no mistake, that is highly valuable knowledge. Also, he knows Plymouth. He knows our problems. He knows their severity and even with all of that, he still wants to be our Town manager. Ms. Phillips is not without her own very positive and attractive attributes, and if our town had already begun to address our serious problems, which we have not really begun to address, I feel she’d be a great option. However, by her own real honest evaluation as stated, it would take 6 months to a year for her to be fully up and running to address the issues that face us in the short mid run. So, for all of those reasons, once again, I feel that Mr. Brindisi should be the pick of the Board of Selectmen for our next Town Manager. Thanks.

Dick Quintal:

Any of the Board Members wishing to speak at this time or follow up? Charlie?

Charlie Bletzer:

I agree with Patrick what a great candidate Jennifer Callahan is. She gets great interview and she’s got a great background. She’s got that legislative experience, which would be helpful to the town.

[0:10:03]

Charlie Bletzer:

But evaluating all the three candidates, the candidate that checked all boxes for me is Derek Brindisi. He’s already got experience in the Town. He left to take a Town Manager’s job where as he told us he wore all the hats in the town. So, he’s got all kinds of experience as planner, in finance and human resources and he’s worked with it. I did my due diligence and talking with a lot of the Department Heads that were here when he was here. I was talking about Police Chief, Fire Chief, DPW and every one of them gave me the same critique of him that it was great, very, very positive. So, he’s got experience with the town. He will be able to hit the ground running. There’s not going to be any learning curve for him. He knows the issues in Plymouth and that’s very important. And on top of that, on his resume, he is a Lieutenant Colonel, active Air Force, that says a lot. To become a Lieutenant Colonel and I know some active. One of our judges is a retired major from the service, and I want to tell you the discipline that comes with that. And as he said in his interview, he is a graduate of Worcester College where they do strategic planning. That all was very important to me. And he’s excited to move here with his family and that to me, he’s my candidate. I think he will be a good leader for the Town of Plymouth. So, that’s my feel.

Dick Quintal:

Mrs. Cavacco?

Betty Cavacco:

Yes, thank you. First and foremost, I want to thank all the candidates that came forward and wanted to be a part of Plymouth because I think they all have exceptional experience and abilities. But again, I have to agree with Mr. Helm and Mr. Bletzer that I believe that Derek Brindisi would be the best choice for Plymouth. He knows what our issues are. I believe he knows how to rectify those issues, and he would be able to hit the ground running. He will be my choice moving forward for town manager. But I can’t take away the fact that Mrs. Callahan and Mrs. Phillips have also good attributes. I believe that of all three candidates, Derek Brindisi has the vision of not only what this board wants but also what the residents want and what they ask us for. So, Mr. Brindisi will be my choice.

Dick Quintal:

Any more questions from board members or comments? Okay. I’m not going to go over all the things that all of you has gone through but I do agree with Mr. Brindisi. He was my choice from the beginning. And believe it or not, in my tenure before, I never worked with Mr. Brindisi but I did have a nice conversation with him. I believe that when he was the town manager, it brings me back a little bit to Mike Sovia when Mike Sovia was the assistant and had left and came back and it was a little bit of a learning curve from assistant to manager, I’ll give you that. But I’m very comfortable with somebody that knows Plymouth and knows about Plymouth. The catchup part for him think is going to be a lot easier than the other candidates, not that they’re not good because they’re very good. And depends on what happens today, we may have to go back or whatever the board wishes out. So, I agree with what Harry said, Charlie and a piece of Betty and I feel lonely because I didn’t get all the phone calls. I would just be talking to some of town staff here and there and right off the cup, I’d say, “Hey, did you work with this kid and this guy?” And they said, “Yeah.” And I said, “How was your work with him?” They said, “Fine, excellent.” Just a couple of those. I didn’t get any phone calls from the outside on my choice. So, that’s that one for me.

[0:15:09]

Dick Quintal:

Waiting an action on the board or comments. Mr. Bletzer?

Charlie Bletzer:

I’m ready to make a motion if that’s okay.

Dick Quintal:

It’s always okay.

Charlie Bletzer:

I’d like to make a motion that we nominate Derek Brindisi to be our next Town Manager.

Harry Helm:

I’ll second that.

Dick Quintal:

Upon completion of a successful contract, Charlie.

Charlie Bletzer:

Yes, of course.

Dick Quintal:

Okay. And you second that, Harry?

Harry Helm:

Yes, I’ll second that.

Dick Quintal:

Okay. Discussion? And do a roll call vote. Patrick?

Patrick Flaherty:

Well, I guess it’s no, but I think he’ll be a great candidate. I just wanted to show that my preference was the other candidate, but I think he’ll be a great candidate. But again, that was where I was leaning.

Dick Quintal:

Okay. Betty?

Betty Cavacco:

Yes.

Dick Quintal:

Harry?

Harry Helm:

Yes.

Dick Quintal:

Charlie?

Charlie Bletzer:

Yes.

Dick Quintal:

And myself, yes. Four yes, one no for Mr. Brindisi upon a successful contract for the town of Plymouth. Well, Bernie, I would like to say thank you to you and your staff for a job well done. Now, that I can say that, I believe and the search committee and all the work that they put in. It’s time to say thank you to everybody, but it’s been a good process. I’ve been involved with several of these and I thought this went very smooth.

Bernard Lynch:

Thank you.

Dick Quintal:

Any other comments? No? Okay.

Bernard Lynch:

Very good. Thank you. If I can be of any help as you move from this point on with the candidate, just feel free to reach out. All right? And I’m sure I’ll see you all around town. All right. Very good. Thank you very much.

Betty Cavacco:

Thank you.

Dick Quintal:

The other item on the agenda is the ice-skating rink hours, I believe, I didn’t print it out.

Betty Cavacco:

Yes.

Dick Quintal:

Okay. So, that would be Mrs. Cavacco. Okay.

Betty Cavacco:

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Quintal. So, one of the things that with many conversations with the DPW Director, they’ve done a phenomenal job over there. There’s now mats and things but conversation with JB and Ed Bradley, they actually have light towers that they want to be able to light. So, we wanted to discuss ours and myself, Ed, and JB and JB also discussed it with our Chief of Police, are looking to extend the hours to 9 o’clock on weekdays and 10 o’clock on weekends. All of them had no issues with that. So, I would like to make that motion to extend hours of the skating rink to 9 o’clock on weekdays and 10 o’clock on the weekends.

Charlie Bletzer:

I’ll second for discussion.

Dick Quintal:

Second. Discussion? Harry?

Harry Helm:

A question, Betty. I understand that our Chief of Police, our Fire Chief and our Head of DPW are on board with this and that a couple questions actually, these towers already exist. We do not have to buy them, correct?

Betty Cavacco:

Correct.

Harry Helm:

Okay. Obviously, there’s going to be a minimal amount of time for the DPW or whoever to put them in place that’ll be a cost. Are they automatic? Do they go on automatically or do they shut themselves off automatically, or is somebody going to have to be paid at 9 o’clock at night to go and shut them off?

Betty Cavacco:

No. At this point right now from what both JB and the Fire Chief said of course, we all know

that the Manomet Fire Station is right across the street. So, JB will be assigning someone on the way home to light them. So, there’s no cost and one of the firefighters will shut them off. They can just go across the street and turn it off. So, that’s the plan.

0:20:00

Harry Helm:

Okay. Question, you mentioned the two Chiefs and JB, has Mr. Hartman been involved in these discussions?

Betty Cavacco:

I believe Mr. Hartman he may have heard from JB. And actually, if JB told me if we want to ask him questions just text him and he’ll jump on. If you’d like me to do that, I will.

Harry Helm:

Yeah, I think that there should be one of the representatives of the administration whether it’s JB. I was kind of hoping Lee could maybe jump on or whoever.

Betty Cavacco:

Well, I just texted JB. And Chris, could you send JB that link, please?

Chris Badot:

Sure thing.

Harry Helm:

Thanks, Betty.

Betty Cavacco:

No problem. One of the things that I know you have been one of the people that like the

days that people were able to skate this past weekend, the place was absolutely packed. And there has been so much joy. I mean, of course, there’s been some people that don’t like the idea of it and we’ve all had to–well, I know I have and Harry has to deal with that, but the joy that it’s bringing to the community is just there. They love it. And it’s such a great area. One of the reasons why it moved from Sievers Field is we had great issues. So, there was always one section of the rink that had like 18 inches of water. So, it basically never froze. So, over the past couple of days that we’ve had the freezing temperatures here, I believe there’s like four inches of ice, five inches of ice, and it’s almost frozen solid. So, I mean, that’s huge. And last night, I think we all know Peter Gellar. He owns GRS Septic Services and of course, Gellar Service Station. That’s been a staple in this community. He donated a beautiful brand-new port-a-potty for the area. So, people are really happy with that. And just the community coming together, they love it. There’s a little bit of snow. I don’t know if it’s snowing in Plymouth, but there’s a bit of snow here in Manomet. Looks to be trickling off and there’s volunteers ready with shovels if they have to clear the ice. So, I think it’s great for the community.

Dick Quintal:

Charlie?

Charlie Bletzer:

That’s what I like about it, Betty. It’s the community involvement. The people are all excited

about it. You get business people contributing, which I think is fantastic, but that’s how this community is anyway. Its minimal money for the amount of entertainments that people are getting out of it, and it’s a safe environment, it’s a family environment and having the lights is just going to make it safer at night. Okay? Much safer environment. So, I’m all for it and the naysayers, they’re against everything so with anything good in Plymouth, they’re against, so.

Betty Cavacco:

One of the things that so people can also know is not only did Gellar’s donate that, we had Mike Freeland who owns Freeland Woodworks, who made all the benches that go around the rink. And also, Kevin Hennessy of Bravo had he worked with a company to build cabbies, so people can put their shoes, we can put the skates because we actually have over 200 pairs of skates. At one point, the Plymouth Youth Foundation had purchased a hundred pairs of skates and then the Family Sports in Pembroke who is owned by a Plymouth resident donated a hundred pairs of skates. So, it’s just a great–

Charlie Bletzer:

That’s what I’m talking about. Not only that you get volunteers from the community, but you also got businesses that are pitching in, and it’s a great community project, so.

Dick Quintal:

Harry?

Harry Helm:

JB in a second, I’m going to ask you to weigh in on this and talk about the process of how we got to where we are. But I just need to address something right now, something Charlie said. First of all, I love the fact that we have a public outdoor ice-skating rink and it was mobbed. 

[0:25:08]

Harry Helm:

I couldn’t get a parking spot. I wanted to take pictures and that sort of stuff, I couldn’t get a parking spot. Which is great, which means it’s being used, and it is creating for lack of better word joy in the community, and it is valuable. I need to respond Charlie to something that you said. The people who have concerns about this aren’t opposed to an ice-skating rink. They are concerned citizens who believed or were under the understanding that I think that we all were and things do change, and that’s one of the things JB is going to talk about, that the liner, that the town’s involvement in this would basically be set up and not paying for the facilities. And the reality is that the donated liner was damaged and needed to be replaced and there was an organization put in place for fundraising. They are concerned that the process was done correctly. They’re not against the skating rink. They’re in favor of proper process, and that’s one of the reasons. And I do believe in my investigations proper processes have been followed in doing this. But that’s one of the reasons I’d like JB here so that he could take us through and explain what happened, what’s happening and how we’re moving forward. It’s that simple when it comes to the ice-skating rink. I don’t think there are any Grinches and Scrooges in this town who would deny the joy that ice-skating brings but they have concerns as residents and as such, it’s our responsibility to address them. So, JB take it away.

Jonathan Beder:

All right. Hey, good morning, everybody. Pleasure to be here. Happy Friday. It’s been interesting here at DPW in this morning. I just had to jump off our subcommittee. So, yeah, great question. And yeah, I think we all think the rink is fantastic, and I hope the weather sustains its ability to hold ice because I think people are really looking forward to using it. As you mentioned the original liner was donated, and it was damaged, and we purchased a new one. We were looking to fund it under parks and forestry because parks and forestry is managing that site. We did have the ability to get that provided for under the CARES Act. So, CARES Act did cover the cost. It was $4900 and the reason is because that’s an outdoor activity. So, again, taxpayers are not covering the cost of the liner. I do think it was important that DPW assists in this effort, and we were able to cover those costs. Again, it’s part of the original agreement with the rink. We went back to what the board voted a couple of years ago. We followed that process. And I think we’ve been very transparent and accountable there. It was tough finding the location. I think Briggs is a great site. It has parking, it’s flat, it’s accessible. So, we are very pleased with it, Harry. But again, yeah, we wanted to make sure that we purchased that liner in a good way, and I think we did that.

Harry Helm:

Okay. Yeah, no. I just wanted you to explain to any concerned citizens because we did not follow the process what was supposed to happen and I do have a question, Betty and JB, in the future, when this liner needs to be replaced, are we going to go back to the original plan of having citizen fundraising?

Jonathan Beder:

I would defer it to the board on that but yeah, I don’t see the rationale with the town purchasing it with taxpayer dollar. But I think that’s a cooperative effort and a discussion we can have at a later date. I will say the liner we have was shipped damaged. So, I’m hopeful that we can repair this one and have the distributor provide a new one so we can have that as storage. I will also tell you that I’ve had multiple conversations with staff to treat this liner with kid gloves because we want to use this consecutively consistently over the years, so it should last. There’s no reason why I should be replacing a liner every couple of years. We should be able to get five to ten years out of the liner. And there’s no reason we don’t. We’ve also learned that it’s important to put sand down before we put the liner down, so we’ve been doing that.

[0:30:03]

Jonathan Beder:

We’ve been doing everything properly to protect it. There’s been a learning curve for us too in this. This is really only the second time we’ve really put this thing together. So, every year, we hope to learn a little bit more and do a better job.

Harry Helm:

Thank you.

Dick Quintal:

Mrs. Cavacco?

Betty Cavacco:

Oh, for anyone and Harry, you said the process was not followed.

Harry Helm:

No, no, no. Betty, I didn’t say the process was not followed. What I said is there is perception about the process and that’s why we’re talking about it right now.

Betty Cavacco:

Okay. So, let me tell you what I did and I think it was before it had to be end of September beginning of October, I have had a conversation with the Town Manager and said that we need to replace the rink. She asked me about how much money it was. I said somewhere in the $4000 range, and then I believe she had that conversation with JB. When it comes time to replace the rink, I know at one time her and I had many conversations when this all was moving forward to put a line item in the budget for when it was needed, and it’s $4900, $4,000. Now, as you well know the non-profit skating rink committee, it’s been a tough couple years for any non-profit to do any kind of fundraising. So, what happens if you say is there going to be fundraising and there isn’t. So, are we not going to put a skating rink out because a particular non-profit or this skating rink committee wasn’t able to come up with the funding of $4,000 or $5,000? Are we not going to do it for the community because it’s $5,000? I’m certainly wouldn’t support that. I mean, it’s town property now. I’m sure volunteers and residents and whoever else whether there’s a non-profit or not would be glad to help, but I’m not going to be a person that says unless XY and Z raises $5,000 for a new liner, we’re not going to put it on. $5,000 in a budget that we have is absurd for us to not do this. So, great, it went through the CARES Act. We don’t have to pay for it. It’s not taxpayer dollars, that’s great. And I didn’t even realize it had gone through the CARES Act. Remember, $5,000 amongst 43,000 taxpayers is somewhere like a dime, 9 cents, 13 cents. I mean, I just think the process was followed and I personally would never skirt around the process that should be followed. Never have, never will and to Charlie’s point, there are a certain group of people that just want to make it difficult. And I’m going to be honest with you right now and the difficulty is because it’s my project. So, I guess, that’s all I have to say. I’m always going to be supportive of anything that this town does for kids and families, because that’s where we should be concentrating and we haven’t concentrated on it in the past. This board does concentrate on it. And I’m pleased and honestly, we now have a grant writer. My dream has always been and for past board members that now and CPC is well aware of it is to put a refrigerated rink under an awning at Stevens Field. We have the property to do it now that we own County Auto, and honestly we have a grant writer and there are all sorts of mass grants out there, and there are residents that would be more than happy to fundraise to get that. But it’s very sad that people take things out of context to what we do to move forward. Love me, hate me, doesn’t matter to me. You can tell me how you feel about me at the election, at the ballot box but other than that, to insinuate wrong doing because you just don’t like a person is disgusting.

[0:35:06]

Dick Quintal:

Let’s calm down, everyone. Charlie?

Charlie Bletzer:

This is definitely a good project and for full disclosure, when that was at the other field, I was originally against it. I didn’t think it would be successful and I don’t think it was. When you moved it to Manomet, the response has been unbelievable. And I think it’s been a great community project. And the work that goes into this, I can’t imagine all the volunteer hours and everything else that went into making this project happen, and it’s been very successful. And the DPW’s done a great job in assisting your volunteers. Again, the businesses in the community, the residents in the community, it’s been a great response. Okay? So, it’s been very successful. It’s all positive. I haven’t heard one word, nobody’s called me about it saying that it’s a waste of money and why are they doing that? I’ve heard only positive things about this skating rink done in Manomet. I’d love to see that stay down there, because it’s been so successful down there. I really would. You get parking down there, there’s a lot of residents right in that area that can walk to it. So, I think it’s a great location for it, and I’m very happy with what’s happening down there. And I believe that if you had to raise the money privately, I don’t think there’d be a problem doing that at all. So, I wouldn’t worry about getting money for this project. So, anyway, that being said, good work, JB. Thank you.

Jonathan Beder:

Can I just make a quick comment?

Dick Quintal:

Sure.

Jonathan Beder:

Just to kind of follow that in terms of DPW’s involvement. I have never received more positive comments for a project in years in the town, and people do love it. They enjoy it. I mean, it’s speaking to staff, and it’s a very easy lift for the DPW to put this together. The biggest pain has been filling it and that’s typical with any type of rink like this during this time of year. We have a hydrant right across the street. So, once it was assembled, it’s actually been assembled for a while. We’ve just been waiting for the liner and just the weather, but it’s been an easy lift for us, and not too much effort, if you would. The benches are in, the mats are in. As Betty mentioned, the port-a-potty is there. It’s a very simple thing for the DPW to provide the service. Right now, the signage is there. Once the board tells us the hours of the lighting, we’re going to take care of that. And I agree. I think it’s a very simple service for the DPW to assist the community to get this thing up and running. And once it’s frozen, it’s really kind of plug and play for us. We will monitor it; we’ll take a ride by every day and do what we need to do. But at the end of the day, the liner was the only expense. Everything else was just pretty straight forward to assemble and that’s it, but a ton of positive press across the community for this project, and we’re happy to do it. So, thank you all.

Betty Cavacco:

And the DPW has. They’ve done outstanding. When they first went to set up, I sent them the video of setup because we purchased this from Nice Rink. So, there’s a whole website on what to do, how to do it, everything, and they watched it, they did it. When my husband was in the DPW, in the department, he was the one to set the thing up firsthand. He’s getting a couple questions from people that have set it up this time. It’s not that difficult, but I have to say the DPW guys and the staff, they’ve been phenomenal. They love it. They want it to work. They want to do everything they can to make it successful. So, it’s great to have so much involvement with staff and the community for a project like this.

Dick Quintal:

No disrespect. Can we let JB get back to his meeting?

0:40:00

Jonathan Beder:

Yes, I’m being summoned right now.

Dick Quintal:

I know you are. Thank you, JB.

Harry Helm:

Thank you, JB.

Jonathan Beder:

You’re welcome. Just a quick question, did you establish the hours for the lights because that’s something we want to move forward with now.

Betty Cavacco:

Yeah. I made the motion for 9 o’clock during the week and 10 o’clock on the weekends.

 

Jonathan Beder:

Okay, everybody. Thank you and have a great weekend. It was good to see you all.

Harry Helm:

Thanks, JB.

Charlie Bletzer:

Mr. Chairman?

Dick Quintal:

Yes, Charlie?

Charlie Bletzer:

Can I just say one last thing?

Dick Quintal:

One last thing, Charlie. Go ahead.

Charlie Bletzer:

Harry, I appreciate you just keeping us, protecting us and bringing it. I understand what you’re doing. You’re not really questioning Betty, but you just want to make sure the process has been done right and you’re looking out for the board. And I just want to thank you for that. Okay, that’s all. I don’t want you to think I’m questioning your motive.

Dick Quintal:

Mr. Helm? Harry?

Harry Helm:

No. I don’t think anybody’s questioning my motives. I mean, I pretty much made it clear since May that I’m a procedure and process guy. Okay? Time and time again, that’s who I am, that’s what I am. There were questions. And I think that Betty pointed out something that people didn’t know but will now know that is of significant importance in the process. She went to the Town Manager. The Town Manager pushed it forward, period. It is a great project. These sorts of things Betty’s absolutely correct about our kids, our community or things that are necessary for Plymouth to be as great and awesome as we all know that it can be. And this is an amazing project, as Betty pointed out. I went there, I couldn’t get a parking spot. People were thrilled. They were all over the place. And it was really as a resident of Plymouth, resident of Manomet, it was really, really heartening to me. So, in no way, I believe many people or anybody really thinks that this rink is a bad idea. I think Betty pointed out correctly that she went to the town manager and the town manager pushed it from there and I applaud her for doing that. But thank you, Charlie.

Dick Quintal:

Okay. It also makes me listen into all this wonder if it should possibly fall under recreation. I mean, that’s what it is. And as part of the DPW, I’m just saying in the price of paying in funding and all that because I’ll be quite honest with you, I’d like to see one in North Plymouth and I like to see one in West Plymouth, and I’ll be the first one to step up to the plate, but I would like to see how this plays out this year. But I’ll be more than happy to lead the charge for that until we’re equally spread around town so all the kids can enjoy it, but we need to see how this works out, and we’ll lay out a plan. And I’m in if it works and it’s as busy as you say then I think it’s great. Back in my day, we used to climb up the hill on the bog, plug into the neighbor’s garage mostly for metal. I don’t know if you knew it, right? Put speakers in the tree, maybe down there at night, it worked good for about four nights. All of a sudden it went dark, the music stopped. It was a flashlight at the top of the hill. Our power cords were cut but yeah, I’ll never forget that. But yeah, so it’s definitely important and I support it also. So, I’m glad we had this conversation. Let’s see how it plays out the rest of the season and put it on the docket afterwards and see what we want to do. We’ll do it right if that’s what you want to do. Betty?

Betty Cavacco:

Yes, one more thing, Mr. Chairman. And I don’t know if we have to take a vote on this, but I would love to see some business food truck something that would be able to go there and sell like hot chocolate and coffee, and something like that. And I know that we do have a bylaw that doesn’t allow food trucks to go on town property. So, I don’t know if that’s something that we should add in to a motion or how you would want to go about that.

Dick Quintal:

Harry?

Harry Helm:

May I make a suggestion, Mr. Chairman and Ms. Vice-Chairman for that? Judging from the crowds that I saw would be a great idea, but I do think we’re just a couple of days away and it might actually be too late to put it on the agenda for Tuesday. Chris, are we too late to adjust the agenda?

0:45:05

Christopher Badot:

No, I can certainly make any adjustments that you’d like.

Harry Helm:

I think that because it is something that’s outside the norm and actually the town has a bylaw or charter issues with it, I think it’d be best discussed. I’m in favor of it, but I think it’d be best discussed in an open session on a Tuesday night.

Dick Quintal:

Charlie?

Charlie Bletzer:

Can I say something about food trucks on town property? You’re opening up a can of worms. And I’m going to tell you, the restaurant industry will be if you want to see some negative feedback. If you want, I think what’s a good idea is go to some of the non-profits like the Boy Scouts or the Girl Scouts or any non-profit, the rotary and let them set up on the weekends or whatever, set up a hot chocolate stand and let them do it. I’d be in favor of non-profits not food trucks on town property. You’re just setting up for precedence. Next thing you know, they’re going to be downtown, they’re going to be on the waterfront. So, that’s my opinion. I think you’d find a non-profit to sell hot chocolate, whatever you want to sell. Yeah, that’s what I would be in favor of.

Dick Quintal:

We’re going to have this discussion on Tuesday. In the midst of going back and forth, I’d be interested in a food truck where some of the proceeds will actually go to help defray the cost of a liner or a set up or something and that’s how it works like 4th of July and Thanksgiving celebration. The food trucks that you see under contract with the people that are hosting the events like Plymouth July 4th, I think it is and America’s Hometown celebration. So, I mean, if it was something like that that would funnel money back a portion of it then that might be a way to fund it. I’ll fund it too, but we’ll discuss this Tuesday. I do hear your concerns, Charlie, but it’s a little different than having them just all over the waterfront. I mean, I think it would be quite specific.

Betty Cavacco:

Yeah.

Charlie Bletzer:

I can remember hot dog cats trying to set up in the parking lot of this road. Okay? Then I chased them away and believe me, we got to be careful with that. That’s all.

Betty Cavacco:

Yeah. Let’s talk about it on Tuesday.

Dick Quintal:

Can we take this Tuesday?

Betty Cavacco:

Yes, please.

Dick Quintal:

We have to get to work. I do. I know Patrick does.

Harry Helm:

And now lets the motion at hand.

Dick Quintal:

Yes. All those in favor? Unanimous. Thank you. Motion to adjourn?

Harry Helm:

Motion.

Dick Quintal:

Thank you for watching. Good luck, and we’ll see how the response is in the work with the new Town Manager, see if we get a contract, and we’ll be back and report to the people. Thank you. Have a good week, everybody.

Betty Cavacco:

Thanks. You too.

Dick Quintal:

Thank you. All right.