Agenda – Plymouth Select Board 5-10-22 Agenda

Official Minutes – Plymouth Select Board 5-10-22 Minutes

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

Dick Quintal:

Welcome to the Selectmen’s meeting, Tuesday, May 10th, 2022. Please join the Board in the Pledge to the Flag.

All:
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Dick Quintal:

Thank you. Mrs. Cavacco?

Betty Cavacco:

Good evening, everyone. In accordance with Section 2475, and pursuant to Chapter 20 of the Acts of 2021, this meeting will be conducted via remote means and in-person. 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 Channel 15 or Verizon Channel 47 and watch the meeting as it is aired live, or watch the meeting live the PACTV website at PACTV.org. Members of the public who wish to participate in the meeting may do so in the following manner:

In-person attendance: Plymouth Town Hall, 26 Court Street, The Great Hall; and

Remote participation: Please go to the Town website under the Select Board page and click on the Zoom Webinar Registration box.

Dick Quintal:

Thank you. Mr. Helm?

Harry Helm:

So, we are here tonight to present Jacob Ames with the Plymouth Select Board Citizen of the Month Award in recognition of his selfless work raising donations for the people of Ukraine. And I have a little thing to say, a little introduction and then Jacob is going to tell us a little bit. So, Jacob participated in the first Annual Plymouth Children’s Fair in October, starting Jacobs Jawesome jewelry and creating ocean themed handmade jewelry. While preparing for a local craft fair, the war in Ukraine began, said Jacob, “Knowing that Ukraine was so far away, I wanted to do something to help. Kids should never have to be put in the middle of a war. They are the future.” So, he designed and began selling Ukraine themed bracelet. What started with 15 bracelets has exceeded 250 resulting in over $2,700 in donations. The original goal was $2,000, but recently it was up to 5,000. He will continue to raise funds through Facebook, his website: jasonsjawesomejewelry.com and various craft shows. A few small businesses have also agreed to display them. This fundraiser has taught Jacob many skills like setting goals, organizing, interacting with people, and working hard. Most importantly, it strengthened his compassion for others and has proven to him there is good in all people.

Jacob Ames:

Thank you, Mr. Helm. I would like to thank the members of the board, the people of Plymouth and my amazing customers for selecting me as Citizen of the Month. I would like to say a special thank you to Ms. Terry McKenna for her efforts as well. I was not looking for an award when I started this fundraiser. I feel this is shared with everyone who has supported me and wears their bracelets with pride. I chose to save the children because children are our future and they need to be helped and protected. Please continue to pray and support this worthy cause. Thank you, everybody.

Harry Helm:

And thank you Jacob.

Dick Quintal:

Thank you. We’re going to have a public hearing for the Village Racket and Fitness Club. In accordance with Chapter 138 of the Massachusetts General Laws as amended, notice is hereby given that a public hearing will be held remotely or in-person at the Plymouth Town Hall, 26 Court Street, Plymouth, Massachusetts on Tuesday, May 10th, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. to consider the application for a transfer of Annual All Alcohol General On Premises License from The Village and Racket and Fitness Club at Pine Hills Incorporated, 30 Golf Drive, Christopher S. Horn, manager to Village Sports Club LLC. d/b/a Village Racket and Fitness Club, 30 Golf Drive, Timothy Hajjar, manager.

[0:05:19]

Dick Quintal:

Description of the premises is as follows: 4300 square feet building, which consists of three indoor tennis courts, indoor swimming pool. Second floor locker rooms, training rooms and exercise areas. Sports bar in the center lobby between the swimming pool and the tennis court. Entrance adjacent to the sports bar, exit on northwest side of the building, an entrance, exit in the pool area. Anyone wishing to be heard on this matter should plan to attend this meeting. I now declare this meeting open. Is the applicant here, Chris, or on the screen? Okay.

Chris Badot:

Coming on the screen now.

Dick Quintal:

Okay.

Joe Devlin:

There’s my audio and there’s my video. How are you all?

Dick Quintal:

Good. How are you?

Joe Devlin:

Joining you live from Newburyport, Massachusetts. My name is Joe Devlin. I’m an attorney for Mike Colomba [?], who is the principal behind the Village Sports Club. He’s also the principal behind the purchaser of the property at 30 Golf Drive, that houses, Village Racket and Fitness Club at the Pine Hills. I didn’t know you actually were meeting in-person. I would have come down and visited afterwards the several people that I know that have moved to Pine Hills.

So, Mike Colomba is a businessman out of Waltham, Massachusetts. He is the principal behind both the property owner and the proposed license holder. He’s the 100% owner of the applicant. He is in the hospitality industry. He has constructed and operated hotels, he runs a restaurant in Waltham and used to build airports internationally. But now, in his later years is located in this area in Massachusetts and stays with Eastern Seaboard Massachusetts type businesses.

There are some cosmetic changes coming to the location, but nothing in the way of operations. Some light remodeling, painting, sprucing things up, new furnishings, if and where necessary. It’s my understanding the operations are not the alcohol operations in our large part of this location, and Mr. Colomba has no plans to expand them. Tim Hajjar is the proposed manager of record. Tim is Mike’s company’s Finance Director, and he’s going to be overseeing the acquisition of the property and the business and the transition to new ownership. So, he’ll be down there often. Mike will be down there often. You may see us back after several months that they’ve gotten a hold of the operations with the new manager of record, but until that time, both Mike and Tim will be down there. Mike is TIP certified. And as I said, he’s held several liquor licenses over his lifetime with no violations, and he’s experienced in the sale and service of alcoholic beverages both from the restaurant hotel perspective. And Tim will be TIP certified before this license comes back from the ABCC.

Total purchase price for the property was $3.7 million and that was financed through a 1031 exchange of Mr. Colomba’s selling some other like property and moving it to this property and also two SBA loans from Rockland Trust. I’m available if you have any questions, and I thank you for your time.

Dick Quintal:

Thank you. anyone wishing to speak in favor of this application or transfer? Anyone wishing to speak in opposition? Bring it back to the Board. The hearing is closed. Questions for the attorney? No?

[0:10:05]

Betty Cavacco:

Motion to approve.

Harry Helm:

Second.

Dick Quintal:

Second by Mr. Helm. Discussion? All those in favor? Unanimous. Thank you and good luck.

Joe Devlin

Thank you. Nice to see you all again.

Dick Quintal:

DPW 2022 Roads Program Update. Please.

Sheila Sgarzi:

Hello, I’m Sheila Sgarzi, Town Engineer. Here with me this evening is James Downey, our Transportation Engineer. James is going to be taking you through a brief PowerPoint presentation that summarizes our 2022 Road Program. James has been with the town for over 16 years and has been involved in our road program throughout his tenure here, so he really is our in-house expert on the road program and paving in general. So, I’m really excited that James has a chance to share his insight and expertise with you all tonight. James?

Dick Quintal:

Thank you.

James Downey:

Hello, everybody. My name is James Downey, Engineer for the town of Plymouth, and I’m here to talk about the 2022 Road Program. This program covers 297 miles of paved roads and 79 miles of gravel roads, both accepted and unaccepted. Recently completed projects include paving and reconstruction projects like Armstrong Road, Nook Road, North Street, Sandwich Street, Beaver Dam Road, Sunrise Ave., Boot Pond Road, Long Pond Road, Columbus Road for a total length of 5.5 miles. Other road preservation including crack seal of accepted and unaccepted streets, totaled 15.2 miles.

This slide shows our road moratorium map. This map shows those roads that were completed over the last five years. This slide just shows a more zoomed in view of North Plymouth and South Plymouth. The 2022 Road Program has three primary sources of funding. One is a 2022 town meeting article for $5 million for road preservation allocating 3.5 million for accepted roads and 1.5 million for unaccepted roads. The 2019 town meeting article for $1 million for gravel roads, allocating 750,000 for gravel accepted roads and 250,000 for gravel unaccepted roads. Also, we have Chapter 90 for accepted roadways, the FY ‘23 providing $1.596 million for accepted roads with an additional 790,000 for winter recovery assistance. This year’s budget comes from the 2022 town meeting article for 5 million for road preservation, and we will budget 1.75 for accepted roads and 750,000 for unaccepted roads. From the one-million-dollar gravel roads account, we will budget 730,000 for accepted roads and 160,000 for unaccepted roads. From the Chapter 90, we will budget the whole 1.596 million for accepted roads and 790,000 for the winter recovery assistance, for a total anticipated funding for this year of $5,749,000.

This year’s program will include roadway reconstruction and paving of approximately 10.2 miles including full depth construction, reclamation, mill and overlay, sidewalk repairs and replacement as well as roadway preservation of about 29.5 miles including crack seal and chip seal. Also, we will be looking to do some drainage improvements at various locations including repairs and new installations.

[0:15:04]

James Downey:

The paving projects for 2022 include Ash Street, Billington Street, Caroline Drive, Commerce Way, Court Street, Davenport Road, Dalton Road, Elliot Lane, Fresh Pond Circle, Hilltop Ave., Indian Ave., Jacobs Ladder Road, Juniper Street, Long Pond Road, Murray Street, October Lane, Pearl Street (unaccepted), Samoset Avenue, Standish Avenue, Summer Street, Teaberry Circle, Valley Road and Winter Street for a total of 10.2 miles. Preservation projects will include both crack seal and chip seal. For the crack seal, we are looking to do various streets both accepted and unaccepted throughout town equating to about 26.3 miles. For chip seal, we are looking to do 3.2 miles and the roads that would be included are Jessica Way, Derek Drive, Kayla Circle, Jonathan Circle, Freeman Drive, Freeman Circle, Perseverance Path, Zion’s Place, Beatrice Avenue, Persistence Cove, Desiderata Drive and Dickson Drive. For the drainage projects, we have various locations that include Beaver Dam Road, Billington Street, Carolyn Drive, Dartmouth Road, Ellisville Road, Indian Ave., Jacob’s Ladder, Juniper and Ash, Christine Road, Lady Slipper Drive, Milford Street, Samoset Ave., and Valley Road.

At this point, we have some photos showing some of the work that was done last year including Boot Pond Road before and after, Nook Road before and after. Nook Road before and nook road after. Beaver Dam Road before and Beaver Dam Road after. For this year, we have streets like Hilltop Ave, Pearl Street, Samoset Ave., and Billington Street. Thank you. Open for questions.

Dick Quintal:

Any questions from the Board?

Betty Cavacco:

Not a question, but a comment. Can we make a special tab for our Road Pavement Program on the town website? So, it’s easily accessible and maybe put this there as well, because there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think any one of us here about when my road going to get paved, and it’s hard to send them the direction. But if we had an easier tab that we can say, “Oh, there’s a tab right on the main website town website.”

James Downey:

Yeah. So, I think we could work with them.

Derek Brindisi:

Yeah, I wasn’t sure of what we have at the town website.

Sheila Sgarzi:

Yes. So, actually on the engineering website on the left-hand side if you look under construction projects, that summarizes all the paving projects we did last year. So, we will be updating it this year, and we can certainly put this presentation up as well.

Betty Cavacco:

Well, I know it’s on the engineering, but you have to try to explain to people, “You go on the town website, then you go into the DPW, then you go to Engineering, and then you go to the left-hand side.”

Sheila Sgarzi:

So, you’re looking for a quick link on the home page?

Betty Cavacco:

Yes.

Sheila Sgarzi:

I think we could work with that.

Derek Brindisi:

Yeah. So, we’ll work with engineering on that. I think more importantly, not just having the presentation, is that having it more pronounced the roads, I think is your point. The road’s very public as far as so folks know exactly what road is going to get pave for this year, so they don’t have to drill down into the PowerPoint itself.

Betty Cavacco:

Okay, perfect. Thank you.

Dick Quintal:

Mr. Helm?

Harry Helm:

How far ahead do you plan for paving of roads? This is 2022, so that’s what you’re going to do. How far out do you plan?

James Downey:

Hello, sir. Good question. So, it does vary. Sometimes it takes quite a few years to plan to do a road depending on the condition and other factors.

[0:20:06]

James Downey:

So, back in 2011, the town did hire a company to come in and inspect our roads. So, from then, we’ve had some information to kind of go off of but with that, there still takes additional research and design. So, it does vary. Sometimes we can pick a road and be ready relatively quickly and other times, it takes several years if not more depending on the condition of the road and then if we need to do survey, design and then other underground utilities, whether it’s drainage, water, sewer, gas and others. So, it could vary. So, it could be as a year to sometimes you have to plan five or ten years.

Harry Helm:

So, I guess my question would be, have you begun to plan the roads for 2023?

James Downey:

So, we do have a list of roads but at this point, none of them have been cleared for that, for the next year. So, I think we do have a running list of streets but none of them have been through the full process to be ready. So, I think we have these roads for this year and maybe a few others from that list may make it in this year, but we haven’t produced like a list for next year yet.

Harry Helm:

So, if a resident were wondering when Black Cat Road might be done, and they live on Black Cat Road, who could they call or can they call somebody to find out kind of what the engineering department’s thinking is?

Sheila Sgarzi:

Yeah. So, I don’t know if you have a question about Black Cat specifically because that actually we are considering that for next year.

Harry Helm:

Well, I thought so because there’s something up there about a drainage, but that’s why I mentioned it.

Sheila Sgarzi:

So, yeah, they can call myself, Sheila Sgarzi, Town Engineer or James Downey, Transportation Engineer, we’re probably the two best people to contact. You could also contact the Highway Office, but I would direct people to engineering. And just to elaborate more on what James was saying, we are working on the Road Program throughout the course of the year. So, we have an internal working group, and we meet at least once a month. We try to meet more frequently than that to talk about the roads, talk about our Pavement Management Program.

The Pavement Management Program, by the way, is available on our website. It’s a very valuable document. It lists all the roads in town, the condition, the rating condition and how much money it would cost to bring them up to ideal standards. So, we’re actually going to be updating that pavement management program this year. We got funding at town meeting in April, so we’re going to go back out re-ride all the roads, re-evaluate them and update that program. So, we utilize that program, but we also utilize public feedback, our own observations, observations from our field crews, petitions, roadway condition, if we have a history of issues on the road, drainage problems, utilities. So, there’s a lot that goes into it. And in a town this size, we have to be keeping up with it throughout the course of the year. So, we do have roads kind of queued up but not a set list. So, if anyone has any questions by all means call us. We’d love to talk about the paving program, because we do it all day long, so it’s enjoyable for us. But for instance, like Samoset Ave you saw up there. So, that road, we were thinking, ‘Okay. We’re going to get this done this year.’ We knew we had some drainage to do, but then we took a deeper look in the water, the water main is in old cast iron main from the 1930s. We said, “Wait a minute, we don’t want to just dive right into this. We want to address the water main before we pave the road.’ So, that’s probably going to be a sequence project. We’re hoping to start out with the drainage this year, then get to the water main and then pave the road hopefully next fall, possibly the following spring.

Harry Helm:

Thank you.

Dick Quintal:

Mr. Bletzer?

Charlie Bletzer:

Yeah. Hi, Sheila, I know you’re doing a lot of work and the residents appreciate that. I saw the money that’s appropriated, you’re not expending all the money. I noticed the 3.5 year using 1.75 of that, is that too in case of add-ons on some of the roads that you’re doing and just so you get some money extra? And at the end of the year the money that’s left in the budget, does that go right into the roads the next year, the roads budget?

[0:25:03]

Sheila Sgarzi:

Yes. So, the money stays in the budget or in the articles in Chapter 90. In terms of–what was your other question? Sorry, could you repeat that.

Charlie Bletzer:

And the money is it you keep extra in the fund in case the roads that you have committed, in case there’s add-ons, things that you don’t expect.

Sheila Sgarzi:

Oh, the $1.5 million, that’s what you have.

Charlie Bletzer:

That was just one, I’m just saying all the money you’re not using except for the Chapter 90.

Sheila Sgarzi:

Right. So, the 5 million is a two-year allocation. We go to town meeting every two years and ask for that $5 million. So, we split it up over two years. Some of the other money was left over from previous articles. We’re always aiming to spend all the money every year we wanted to. Last year with COVID, it was difficult to get to all the roads we wanted to. There were supply chain issues, there were labor shortages, so we just couldn’t get all the work done. You see we have an aggressive list this year. I’m hoping we can get to all of it, but realistically, we’re still dealing with these labor shortages, supply chain issues so some of those roads I do think will spill into next year. So, I hope we can spend all of that money, but realistically, it may not happen.

Dick Quintal:

I just have a question, did you pave the Winter Street last year or recently this year?

Sheila Sgarzi:

It’s on our road moratorium map, so let me just check. I think it was 2018 we paved Winter Street.

Dick Quintal:

Yeah, because now they’re, I believe by looking at this rate and I see the commission is here, they’re going to dig it up now to put the water pipes in. So, I guess my question is and I heard you touched on it, which is good. So, do you actually or does the department, I shouldn’t say you, does the department actually check all that out before they go to Tower Road?

Sheila Sgarzi:

We do. And what happened with Winter Street, this was an unfortunate circumstance. Our records indicated we had a cast iron main on Winter Street. I had actually when we replaced the sewer pump station at the bottom of Winter Street in 2015, I was down there. We actually connect, we ran a new hydrant and ran a water service connection. I saw the cast iron main at the end of the street, so I saw it was in good condition. Turns out, there was a section of Winter Street that was jacket water main. We had no records of that, no knowledge of it. So, unfortunately after we paved, we had a water main break, and so we moved quickly, we designed it in-house. Our Water and Wastewater Engineer, Kendra Martin is in the audience. She did the design. She’s been out there with the contractor all week. They’re actually wrapping up that water main project, and then we’re going to be going back out and paving the road again. So, this was an unfortunate circumstance, but it was very unusual. I can tell you, I physically saw the main at the end of the road, I have photos of it, and it just so happened that we had this obscure situation where there was just a piece of water main on the road that we had zero records of.

Dick Quintal:

So, you do check it?

Sheila Sgarzi:

Yes, we do.

Dick Quintal:

Okay. That’s all I ever did wanted to know. Okay. Any other–Betty?

Betty Cavacco:

I just have one question and only because I’ve been contacted by people on Samoset Ave., like you said it’s an old water main but some of those people are unable to get those water meters, the ones that you can, the new water meters, they were unable to have those installed because there was nothing really to install them to. And I know there was, I want to say four residents that had reached out because they’re getting like a bill every quarter and I think it’s $125 because they don’t have the new meter, but they can’t have the new meter because the water main isn’t up to where it needs to be. So, is there anything that we can do for those folks?

Sheila Sgarzi:

Pete, do you want to come takes this? Because we happen to have our Water Superintendent here as well and he’s up next, so.

Peter Gordon:

Good evening, everybody, I think we’re all reasonably familiar with who we are, but for the record, my name is Peter Gordon, I’m the Plymouth DPW Water Superintendent. So, there is a significant amount of customers in the system who pay what we call a manual read fee, and that manual read fee exists to inspire them to ask us to put one of these new meters in. Now, there are some scenarios that we can’t accommodate them for one, if you have a lead service line, we won’t put a new meter into your house until you replace the lead service line.

[0:30:08]

Peter Gordon:

There should be no reason associated with the main in the middle of the road why these rate payers or these customers shouldn’t be able to get a new water meter.

Betty Cavacco:

It’s the lead.

Peter Gordon:

They may have plumbing issues, they may have valving issues where we can’t accommodate the meter because of their plumbing, but it has nothing to do with the water main itself. It was probably their service, and it’s probably lead.

Betty Cavacco:

Yeah, it’s definitely the lead and there’s some box that goes out that’s in the middle of the road, so. But I think it’s kind of unfair that these people because it’s a lead pipe, we’re not going to hook up to that, and they’re getting charged $500 a year because they can’t do it.

Peter Gordon:

Sure. And so, with all due respect, when we took on the meter change-up program back in 2017, it was the Board of Select Persons that voted this manual read fee into effect as acting water commissioners. And again, that was to inspire them to let us into your house, let’s get rid of that lead service and let’s get a new meter in. So, you have the power to change it.

Betty Cavacco:

Okay.

Dick Quintal:

Mr. Helm?

Harry Helm:

I propose to–Mr. Gordon, if you’d stay, she brings up an interesting topic that I have a couple of people who have contacted me about the lead lines. Do you have any statistics that indicate that using a manual read fee is actually causing people to change out their lead lines? Because it seems to me, correct me if I’m wrong, they could have the regular meters that everybody else has on a lead line. It’s just that we have chosen to use the manual read fee of about $500 a year in order to, let’s just say for lack of a better word, incentivize them. They might use a different word. In fact, they do when they contact me, but do we have any knowledge at all that that program is actually causing people to change out their lead lines?

Peter Gordon:

So, I’m not sure I could produce any defensible data that would say that, because of this fee we have had x amount of lead services changed over. I can say for sure that we have had some lead services changed over, but the exact amount, again, that’s kind of an indefensible position. I couldn’t say for sure. There have been a lot of other reasons for people to get this manual read fee in terms of their valving in the house, and there have been quite a few people who have undertaken the steps to accommodate this new media to make that fee go away. Is it fair for the people who have led? It seems a little bit unfair at times, but that being said, not to get too far off-topic, there are huge changes coming in the water industry when it comes to lead and copper down the road, and it would appear that the town may be having to take responsibility for those lead service lines sometimes late in 2024. How exactly that’s going to work? How we’re going to take care of that? I don’t know, but stay tuned. Like I said, big changes are coming from the DEP down to public water supplies in terms of how we’re going to deal with these lead services.

Harry Helm:

So, are you saying that there’s a possibility that in a few years, couple years, three years that the DEP is going to require that the town replace those water lines that are currently lead between the main and in the home?

Peter Gordon:

It looks right now like that’s the legislation that they’re working towards. How that’s all going to work out? I don’t have the details of that right now, but it looks like that’s the direction they’re going.

Harry Helm:

Okay.

Betty Cavacco:

In my opinion, then it’s fundamentally unfair to be charging people to read fees, so maybe that’s something that we could put on the agenda.

Harry Helm:

Yes, I would agree with putting that on an agenda, an upcoming agenda.

Dick Quintal:

I’d like to, if you’re going to put it on the agenda, I’d like to have some information on why the previous board did it. I’m sure they didn’t do it because they had not better to do. Let’s–well, I’d like to see, you know the reason in part. I mean, to be honest with you, if it was me, and it was my house, you couldn’t get me to take it out fast enough. I don’t know why anybody would want to have a lead. I’ll just leave that alone.

Betty Cavacco:

The little lady on the street can’t afford it.

Derek Brindisi:

If I could, Mr. Chairman. I’m sure Mr. Gordon will speak to lead poses a significant public health threat especially to children. It was declared a public health hazard back in the 70s when they removed it from gasoline and from paint. Unfortunately, with the water service it’s on the ground it’s more of a challenge to remove. So, my guess is that that was the conversation that took place when the Board voted this to try to incentivize folks to remove it from their homes.

[0:35:12]

Derek Brindisi:

As you know, through real estate transactions, I don’t think and I’ll defer to Mr. Helm if lead is identified as a hazard in the pipe itself. I know it is for paint but not–I don’t know for pipe.

Harry Helm:

There is no test, no requirement. And in fact, I know from having a family house with a lead line in another town that basically what you need to do is if you are not running water on a regular basis, you need to run it for 10 to 15 minutes through your pipes and then lead is generally not a problem. Most of those pipes have been coated in the interior overtime. So, I can’t say definitively that it is not an issue, but generally, it is not recognized in real estate as an issue. There is no test for it, no requirement for it and there are requirements for lead paint.

Derek Brindisi:

But it has been identified by CDC as a significant threat to public health, especially children, and that has been identified as a cause of learning disabilities.

Harry Helm:

Oh, sure but I’m not sure if–they’ve certainly identified lead paint. I’m not sure they have identified lead water pipes, but I don’t know for sure.

Dick Quintal:

Mr. Bletzer?

Charlie Bletzer:

I think when we put it on the agenda, some of the information I’d like to see is how many homes you think in Plymouth may have these lead pipes, if you know? And also, what is the cost for the plumbing to change it to the proper piping? So, not now but for when it goes on the agenda.

Dick Quintal:

Well, the town is not responsible for putting in water lines, I don’t believe. At least when mine broke, they weren’t–they didn’t run over there to do it.

Sheila Sgrazi:

Yeah, we’re responsible from the main to the–

Dick Quintal:

I want to understand what we’re asking here because.

Charlie Bletzer:

No, I know the town is not, you’re responsible to that, but I do want to know maybe there’s a reason why people can’t afford to do it. And from what I’m hearing, if the lead pipe they might be a serious risk, if it’s bad for children, it’s probably bad for the elderly too. So, that’s all. I just want to know the numbers.

Sheila Sgrazi:

So, we can come up with the general number, but it’s a case-by-case basis depending upon your lot, where your house is. But the town is responsible from the main to the curb stop in terms of private services. So, from the curb stop which is generally on the property line to the house, that’s the homeowner responsibility.

Dick Quintal:

The DEP is probably, is that what you said looking at the regulations by 2024? They’re probably looking at it as a source of backflow into the system that’s just guessing. I mean, is that why they’re getting really involved with that you think, or what is the reason if you know it, Peter? I don’t know if you–

Peter Gordon:

It’s basically the health concerns is what. They’re trying to eliminate lead in drinking water altogether, and it’s something that started with Flint, Michigan a couple of years ago. But they’re looking to basically eradicate that from water systems. Now, one of the requirements of these updated rules that they’re going to throw at us is that we are going to need to produce a complete lead service line inventory. So, even though I couldn’t give you numbers on what’s out there right now on our side or on their side, this is something that we will be working on, and we should have something comprehensive. It’s not going to be really soon, but I would say within a year, year and a half.

Dick Quintal:

I just have another question here. You know how we do the program every year for the septic systems that are failing or need work, we do that every year. Do you think there’d be any kind of program that we could do for something like this where people that maybe want to–you know I’m not expecting an answer this week, but–

Peter Gordon:

I’m not really familiar with that program. Are people subsidized if they have problems with their septic system?

Dick Quintal:

Yeah, it’s either a low interest or like I think it’s a zero loan, and they pay so much back to the town.

Peter Gordon:

Sure. So, there’s been a few cases where people have had issues with their water and I know that the Office of Community Development has been able to help them out. I’m not entirely sure how that program works, but I know that it has been available to people who have water service line issues.

Dick Quintal:

Cool, thank you. Any other questions from the Board? Thank you very much.

Sheila Sgarzi:

Thank you.

Dick Quintal:

Mr. Brindisi, Town Manager’s report.

Derek Brindisi:

We have one more item to discuss, the Manomet Pipe Project.

Dick Quintal:

Oh, I’m sorry.

[0:40:05]

Dick Quintal:

We got going on everything else. I forget all about that part. Sorry, Mr. Gordon, it was nothing you said.

Peter Gordon:

So, it was great to have a little chat about lead and drinking water and lead service lines and all that, but that obviously is not why I’m here. I’m here to talk about the Manomet Pipe upgrades, and I’m glad that we have this opportunity to do so, because this is a pretty significant project in its size and its scope, and it has the ability to impact a significant amount of both residents and visitors once this project gets underway. So, us all being on the same page with this project in terms of where it’s at, where it’s going, what the next steps are going to be is a pretty important thing. So, we’ll start here.

In 2019, we hired environmental partners to produce the water system master plan. In the process of doing that, they did a significant amount of fire flow testing in all zones but in particular in Manomet. And what they found was a series of hydraulic restrictions. When I say hydraulic restrictions, they’re primarily from water mains that are either undersized or they’re tuberculated from age. And when I say tuberculated, what happens is over time, deposits of minerals build up on the inside of a pipe, and the inside diameter of that pipe decreases. We tried to mitigate that buildup through hydrant flushing, but in the end, time and nature always win. That’s a battle you can’t win.

These pipes, they need to be replaced. The average age of these pipes is about 91, 92 years old. They were all put in around 1930, 1933. So, this reduced capacity has really put strains on the system down there in terms of filling the tanks, in terms of be able to produce the fire flows necessary for international insurance officers, and it also causes pressure spikes up and down state road. Some people have high pressure, some people have low pressure. It’s all a condition of which pumps are running at what time and as we try to force water through these hydraulic restrictions. So, a pretty stringent process. We chose Weston & Sampson to do the engineering work on this project. We vetted them pretty heavily and ultimately, we used a kind of ranked system that determined our needs and expectations along with their abilities and experience to carry out a project of this nature. To this date, they’ve completed quite a few tasks including what you see here. So, they’ve taken a good look at the area. They’ve done their surveys on the work. So, I make a mess of the roads and then James fixes them. Sorry, James, but we’ll put this back together, I promise.

They’ve taken a good look at the surface and subsurface conditions to make sure that what we’re going to be putting these mains into is going to be sustainable for somewhat long term. Hopefully, we’ll get a minimum of 100 years out of these pipes going into the ground. Kendra and myself have reviewed the 50-80 and 100% designs, they looked pretty good. We liked what they’ve come up with. They’ve given us some cost estimates. The cost estimates seemed to fluctuate a little as materials and things really kind of settle into where they’re going to be and as we figure out where they’re going to be towards the end of this project. One thing that we really like that they’ve done is they’ve created a really good website that once the project goes live, the public will be able to go on this website and see what areas of construction we’ll be working with, the detours may be, anything that might impact their travel, or residents of the area might want to know if they should be taking other routes. It’s a really good website. We’re pretty excited about that.

Weston & Sampson has taken over filing the EDA reports. The EDA report is something I’ll get into a little bit more in a minute. And of course, they are taking care of all the permitting with Mass DOT, which is quite the process. So, this project is being paid for partially through a grant from the Economic Development Association as well as a town meeting article.

[0:45:08]

Peter Gordon:

Kendra, Sheila, JB, myself, we’ve all put in work to make this grant possible. And I applaud their efforts for giving us the ability to fund this project. The grant money is phenomenal, but they do make us work for it in terms of these reports and all the other little hoops we got to jump through for them. When this task is complete, the benefits that we’ll recognize are obviously better fire flows throughout the entire zone. So, if developers are looking to put another house here, a building there, a store there, we’ll be able to provide the fire flows necessary to ensure that building. The pressure spikes up and down, state road should almost disappear completely. We get a lot of calls up by Priscilla Beach, John Alden Road in that area where certain times a year, the usage is so strong down there in the beach that the water doesn’t make it up that hill. A lot of these problems will be eliminated. The increase in carrying capacity through these pipes will actually represent itself to us as increased yield out of our wells. It will be easier for our wells to pump. We will have reduced pump times, and we’ll be able to fill those tanks in the Pine Hills quicker, which will save energy costs. And like I said, it will seem like an increased yield. It kind of is an increased yield is what we’re going to see out of this project.

As I said, we’re hoping these mains will be good for a solid 100 years more. The additional valving that will go in at the intersections is a huge benefit from the town in terms of isolating any other issues that happen. and the renewed services on White Horse Road on Manomet Beach Road, Bartlett Road is a big benefit to the town as well. So, we know that this is about three-point something miles of water main. All that water main will be good, all those valves will be good, and all those services will be good for the foreseeable future. Any problems that we have on those roads will more than likely be on the customer side, not necessarily on the town side. So, I definitely appreciate that comfort in terms of this project.

Again, this project will impact quite a few people with its size and its scope and its longevity. It could take a year and a half to complete. So, hopefully, this update and maybe there’ll be others we’ll help you answer questions if the phone rings down the road, and maybe you’ll be directing them to that website, but that’s about where we’re at right now. And if you guys have any questions on this particular project that I can answer for you, I’d love to do that.

Dick Quintal:

Any questions from Board members? I just have one, and it’s not to do with your project, but while you’re here. The Holtec property, is there anywhere in town that you think we should have an additional well or in the very near future going for the growth. I mean, do we have anything like that on the books that says “This is area number two, number three, number four, that if a well goes bad or some,” you know I don’t know the right words, but.

Peter Gordon:

We do. So, last year at Spring Town Meeting, we did allocate $200,000 for new source exploration. A lot of that exploration comes from the table-top stuff, the GIS surveys, the geological maps, and we did just recently have a meeting with that consultant that we had for this purpose, and he did point out several sites that were promising. Obviously, additional investigation is necessary. We’ll have to go out there and put in some test wells and do some pumping, but even before that, we have to clear hurdles with conservation restrictions, who owns the land. Can we control zone one? Can we control zone two? This is in the process. My five-year capital plan was to ask for an additional $300,000 next year to get out drill more of those wells, maybe clear some land a little bit and figure out where the best place to site a well is. Now, obviously, when we cite a well, we want it to be within a reasonable proximity to the distribution system. We don’t want to have to put in five miles of Maine to develop a new site. We wanted to have a yield that is hopefully around a million gallons a day. Less than that, it’s not really worth the cost to build the well. But in terms of where it’s going to be, we would like to find a well somewhere in pretty much West Plymouth.

Dick Quintal:

And the reason I bring this up, and I didn’t expect you–I didn’t even know if you had an answer. I shouldn’t say expect an answer, not so much the cost but to let like the Planning Board know maybe Zoning Board of Appeals, something that they can look at. So, when they get developments coming before them, they can say “Whoa, hold on here. The town’s got an eye on this for maybe a possible well site.”

[0:50:07]

Dick Quintal:

And I think that would be very helpful into all the planning of what comes up in the town moving forward.

Peter Gordon:

So, we’ve certainly discussed those things, and I think we’ve even brought in David Gould to a meeting or two to try to talk about where we’re putting these conservation restrictions and how that can tie our hands in terms of a new source. It’s not entirely within my ability to make sure that everybody knows that we’re looking for a new source. And so, I don’t have a lot of control there, but you’re right, it’s something that we should absolutely be looking at.

Dick Quintal:

What do you mean, like if Lee Hartman knew? He’s in with all the planning or whoever’s in there, the building department you start with your zoning, and you go through 455 other things to get the final building permit. You know that’s on a good day. So, I just think it makes it easier for people that are trying to do projects and also helps the town plan for the future. I mean, like you already know, we need water somewhere in West Plymouth then I think that ought to be put out there at least at your department head meetings or whatever you all do, and just put it on people’s radar so everybody knows, because a lot of times one board might not know that. Like I asked about Holtec before with the previous management and one said yes, and the other one said no, and it was over the Holtec. And somebody said that that’s not a value. It’s not a site. And then the different manager came over and said, “No, wait a minute. It was a possibility.” So, that’s really what I’m talking about if you can, unless we negotiate with them sooner or later whatever you want to call it. That’s good to know if we have something in that area that you might want. And I know it’s going to affect a lot of what might happen with that property, if anything. It’s early to tell yet but at least we’ll know. Everybody will know, the negotiators for the town, the Town Manager, the Town’s Attorney and the Boards.

Peter Gordon:

I promise to do what I can to get the word out there.

Dick Quintal:

Well, you know, that’s all. Yeah. Mrs. Cavacco?

Betty Cavacco:

This is a little bit far off, but our water needs. I mean, do we have–I know at one point, we were talking about some kind of impact fee, because the problem that we’re having is that we have so much development, and then we don’t have enough water or the water that they need or wells, and then it’s the residents that end up paying 7 million, 10 million, but the developers build their houses and kind of walk away and then the rest of us are held with that amount of money for a new well, and that’s not right. If we’re going to have people developing, they need to put water, and they need to be the ones that are ponying up for a well, and not the residents.

Harry Helm:

Agreed.

Dick Quintal:

Kind of like an impact fee.

Betty Cavacco:

That’s what I just said.

Dick Quintal:

Okay. I didn’t hear you. Any other questions? Mr. Helm?

Harry Helm:

It’s kind of come to my attention, and maybe you can help clarify things. There is a perception in the Manomet Heights Area and this maybe because there is work going on Hilltop and Pearl towards the repaving and maybe this is getting among the residents this concept of the water main project and the repaving projects are getting co-mingled in people’s minds. This clearly delineates the roads and so does your maps that you’re going to be doing. Are their plans to deal with the water mains off of Taylor Avenue going up the hill and across in Manomet Heights? This is just so that any of the residents who are watching, you can tell them and they can tell others. Thank you.

Peter Gordon:

There are some reasonably old water mains up there in the Manomet Heights area, Beach Street, ACF, Pearl. I know that Kendra and I had conversations about possibly lining some of those. They haven’t reached that significant end of useful life age yet in terms of their replacement. There is a plan associated with this project to create a loop through the elementary school that would come out to the back of, I believe it’s Beach Street, that would improve water quality and water flow throughout the beach area, both sides of Whitehorse Road and Manomet Point Road. But there is no plan to dig up the ground and replace those mains at this time.

[0:55:13]

Harry Helm:

Thank you.

Peter Gordon:

You’re very welcome.

Dick Quintal:

Any other questions or comments? Thank you all very much. Thank you, Peter. Thank you, everyone.

Mr. Brindisi, Town Manager’s Report.

Derek Brindisi:

Great. Thank you. So, I’m going to start my comments this evening just taking us back to how we began this evening with Jacob Ames as Citizen of the Month. As you know, his efforts through the children’s business fair were recognized and because of that, you may have heard that the fair was so well received, that the School Department is already working with the Economic Development Foundation on a second children’s business fair. This last one was held at the middle school, and they’ve already outgrown that space. So, we’re actually working with Stephen Cole, our Economic Development so that we can plan for an October business fair at Memorial Hall. They’re expecting that wide of a turnout that they want to have it at Memorial Hall. So, again, great job for Jacob Ames and everything that he’s done but more importantly, as we continue to plan forward with the next business fair.

So, moving on to some not so good news. We had a town vehicle that was tagged with graffiti over the weekend. You probably have noticed and I have received multiple phone calls of a number of our buildings in the downtown area that have been also tagged with graffiti. So, a couple of things that we’re trying to put in place. So, first thing we talked about this morning was looking at our bylaws. So, there are some communities that have bylaws or ordinances that require a form of Photo ID to be furnished in order to buy spray paint. So, typically, in some communities you are not allowed to buy spray paint if you’re less than the age of 18. So, that’s been used as a way of preventing youth from accessing spray paint. So, that’s one item we’re looking at.

And then the other item I wanted to just announce, I talked to Lee Hartman this morning about this as well and there are community development block grant funds that are available for businesses in particular who have been tagged. You can reach out to the Planning Department. We have funds that are available to help clean up those businesses so that we can go ahead, we would hire an outside firm, they would come in, they’d do the best that they can to clean up the graffiti. So, I know many of you, you talk to business owners in the downtown area. So, if they’re troubled with this, please let us know, refer them to the Planning Department, we’re more than happy to assist them.

Staying downtown, our weekly inspections begin today. So, the co-department is sending an inspector weekly to do the outdoor dining enforcement. So, as you know, this Board had agreed to a set of guidelines that we have asked those restaurants who want to participate in outdoor dining to adhere to. So, those inspections began today. I’d say it was more of a courtesy follow-up and then starting next week really going to get down to enforcement. But so far things look like they’re moving along well.

The Smokestack as you know continues to move forward. The demolition is expected probably within the next 7 to 14 days. Talking to the Cordage Management Group, they’re expecting the crane to be delivered this week sometime, they’re expecting a two-day demolition period and then a few days after that will be the cleanup. But as we get closer to that, Cordage Management have committed to a press release just to notify the community when the smokestack will be coming down. But again, we’re getting closer to that date.

0 Spooner Street, as you know, there was an RFP that was issued a few months back. What we didn’t know at the time was that those PFAS that was found in the building. So, the firm that had responded to the RFP, I think chose to withdraw their response because of the PFAS contamination. So, just so the board is aware, we’re going to reissue that bid. We’re going to note the PFAS contamination in that structure. We’re going to set a minimum bid at $250,000 for 0 Spooner Street. You may have noticed in the front lawn of Town Hall there’s a new sign. It is the new public restroom sign. I believe the Board had asked to have some type of signage. I know VSB asked for signage pointing to the public restroom. So, you’ll see a blue sign right on the corner there. It delineates the operating period of Fridays from 12:00 to 9:00 Saturday and Sundays 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., and then again Monday holidays.

[1:00:08]

Derek Brindisi:

Again, trying to direct folks that there is a public restroom that’s available during the weekend hours.

The Board had approved $75,000 using ARPA Funds so that we can go ahead and acquire a set of restrooms for White Horse Beach this summer season. That bid is due on May 19th. We’re expecting to be able to identify a company that we can go ahead and acquire those restrooms from. The problem is we’re not sure what the lead time will be on that just yet. So, I just want the board to be aware that in the interim, we may have to place Porta Potties out there until we can get those new more modern restrooms placed.

Just as a reminder on Memorial Day Weekend, we will only be staffing the Plymouth Beach and Morton Park. So, again, just as a reminder, Memorial Day weekend, we are only staffing Plymouth Beach and Morton Park.

And then the last thing I wanted to bring to the Board’s attention and just get a feel for where you all stand, as you know tomorrow evening at Memorial Hall, the Boston South Development Group will be holding their public informational session regarding their proposed project at the County Wood Lot. That begins at 6:00 p.m. at Memorial Hall. So, from what we understand, Boston South did not hire PACTV to do their programming. They went with a different firm. That being said, I did speak with Julie Thompson over at PACTV today. She said if the Board is interested, they are willing to stream the Zoom session that the Boston South will be having with their hired firm. They can put that on the public access channel, not the government channel. The government channel has a Board of Health meeting tomorrow and so if they put on the government channel then there may be a risk that we would have to cut that off at 6:00 p.m. So, they are able to clear the community channel if the board so desires. So, unless I hear anything in the negative, then I’m going to talk to Julie about doing that.

Charlie Bletzer:

I have a question on that, Derek. There’s been, not that I watch Facebook that much, but there’s been some people, I’m not going to name any names accusing me why is the town putting a private development on a public website? Can you just address that?

Derek Brindisi:

Yeah, I’d love to address that because I’ve heard similar concerns. So, I would say that–

Charlie Bletzer:

The reason is because depending what you say on this is how I’ll vote. They have this stream and I think I’m going to agree with what you’re going to say.

Derek Brindisi:

Sure. Well, I’d stop by saying transparency, correct? I know the Chairman, it was his desire to have a meeting been about six weeks ago now because there were a lot of rumors out there about a proposed project at the County Wood Lot. And so, this meeting was held and folks came, and their voices were heard. There have been questions, numerous questions after that that would have been directed towards myself about the RFP, the RFP response. And so, we actually created a section on the town website that we could direct folks to, if folks wanted to read the RFP themselves, we directed them that. If they wanted to read the response by Boston Development, we directed them that. As you know, this isn’t the town’s project, but we’re trying to provide as much information as possible to the community. And so, this public information session was something Boston South came up with, but we wanted folks to be aware that there was going to be an opportunity for their voices to be heard yet again. From what we understand, Boston South may or may not even have their own website. So, honestly, I just felt like this was a good platform to get information out so folks are aware of what’s happening in the community and nothing more than that.

Charlie Bletzer:

Right. I feel the same way. It’s not that we’re endorsing what they’re doing or approving what they’re doing. We just want the citizens to have access if they can’t make it down to Memorial Hall to at least hear it and see what they’re offering.

Derek Brindisi:

That’s correct.

Charlie Bletzer:

So, yeah. I agree. Thank you.

Harry Helm:

Well, apropos to what Mr. Bletzer just said, yes, that is the reality. Unfortunately, appearances sometimes set their own reality. And I just would ask that going forward when we are presented with a document from Boston South that perhaps we look at it and possibly adjust what we put on the website because that announcement is full of sort of favorable statements.

[1:05:14]

Harry Helm:

Of course, because it was written by Boston South. It’s not agnostic, it is not without opinion, it is clear from what they say in there what their opinion is. And I just think that given the sensitivity of our residents over the subject that we should possibly think to just be a little more cautious around that.

Derek Brindisi:

Yeah, if I could, I reread what was posted and what Boston South had written. Again, we basically just took what they had given us as their announcement and posted verbatim. And they write in there that this is a world-class development. So, I agree, it would look as if like we’re promoting a “world-class development,” which we know nothing about.

Harry Helm:

Yeah, and it also makes claims that aren’t their opinion or their statements such as Plymouth was chosen over several locations yet, they had not made that apparent before and I just–not that what was done, was done intentionally in order to kind of make it look like our Town Government was favoring this, but I would just ask to err on the side of caution going forward when we take documents for or against. So, thank you.

Dick Quintal:

Mrs. Cavacco?

Betty Cavacco:

I think that I would not agree to change any documents from there. So, maybe just putting out a pretty big disclosure that this is not the opinion of the Town of Plymouth, Select Board whatever, but I wouldn’t want to choose, pick and choose or have you pick and choose what documents should be put on there and what shouldn’t. Everything that we’re getting, it all should be there with a disclosure from the town. It’s just my opinion.

Dick Quintal:

Mr. Bletzer?

Charlie Bletzer:

While we’re talking about this, I just want to reiterate and clarify what I said at another meeting is that, so everybody knows, Memorial Hall is a public building. They are renting it, they’re paying fees, and between the fees for the hall, for the DPW workers that they’re paying for, for the manager of the hall that they’re paying for, and the rental of equipment that they’re paying for, it’s over $6,000, 6500 something. This is not they’re getting a free public building, free use for their form. They’re paying a lot of money for it and rightly so. So, I just want to make sure the citizens are aware of that.

Dick Quintal:

Okay then. So, do we need a vote, Derek to have PACTV put that on?

Derek Brindisi:

I don’t need a formal vote. I just wanted to get the temperature of the Board. And I’ll go ahead and work directly with PACTV on making sure that it’s–again, all is that going to do is just stream what Boston South is already streaming. They’re just going to piggyback on that.

Dick Quintal:

I don’t have a problem with that. Mr. Helm?

Harry Helm:

Yeah, I just want to say something about this situation. The residents of Plymouth were told that it would be on PACTV. Okay? Then it was not going to be on PACTV. Now, it is going to be on PACTV and that is–I’m okay with that. I’ve become okay with that, but I think we need to be aware of why they, Boston South chose, they chose to not air it on PACTV. Do you know why?

Derek Brindisi:

From what I understand, PACTV was engaged with Boston South on providing their services to Boston South, and from what I also understand, not having been in that room that Boston South chose a different firm at a much less of a cost than what PACTV had offered. And so, I believe that was the driving factor. It had to do with cost.

Harry Helm:

So, they turned away from PACTV, which is the accustomed way for most residents and the easiest way to, correct me if I’m wrong, pretty much if without PACTV and this is why we should do this as long as it’s on the community channel.

[1:10:04]

Harry Helm:

We set it up so that basically we’re talking about all residents would only, if they did not go to Memorial Hall, would have to go on Zoom?

Derek Brindisi:

That’s correct.

Harry Helm:

So, they made a determination to save some money to not put it on PACTV so that the residents could easily access it, and they went and decided to save some money. I’m not going to ask you to answer that. Nobody knows what their reasons are, but I just want it to be clear that the reason that I’m going to support this is not to save Boston South presentation to the residents. They chose not to use PACTV. I guess we’re going to decide to allow them to use PACTV. And I just want it to be clear to all the residents that this is not the Board of Selectmen siding with Boston South.

Dick Quintal:

Any other comments? Okay. Derek, I just have one going back to your report on the graffiti. I know in the past the town’s getting money from the Plymouth Growth and Development Corporation, and it went through. I think it was the Housing Sector of Development.

Derek Brindisi:

Yeah, Community Development.

Dick Quintal:

Right. Is that still the case? Or do we have any equipment that we can clean it up? So, I know it’s different between private property and public property, but do we have any equipment for that?

Derek Brindisi:

Not to my knowledge. I know that cities, I mean, those municipalities they actually have crews that just do this, specializing this. I spoke to Lee about this because again, I received the complaints about the businesses and this is kind of was on my radar and then now when our vehicles got tagged, I approached Lee, and he said that we have a fund, a set aside, but they already have a contractor’s already on the bid list where they can go ahead, they’ll call them up, they’ll schedule it, and they’ll go out there, and they’ll clean it. Say again? It’s four or five thousand.

Charlie Bletzer:

It funded it. I think it was like 5,000. So, I don’t know what’s left in there and how much they gave this year because I’m not in the Board but in the past–

Derek Brindisi:

Yeah, and I don’t know if that’s the same program. When I spoke with Lee, he referenced a Community Development Block Grant, which is CDBG funds. It’s a federal program that the Town of Plymouth receives direct funds for, and you can use that for a lot of neighborhood projects. In fact, I was thinking of using potentially CDBG funds when we were talking about getting the lead out of some of our residents’ homes.

Dick Quintal:

Mrs. Cavacco?

Betty Cavacco:

So, we did–there was at one time, do you remember when all our monuments got tagged and East Coast Power Washing actually came and cleaned everything up and didn’t charge the town for it, but there was a conversation at that time is to almost having them on a retainer so we would be able to just pick up the phone, go out and take care of it, and we wouldn’t have to worry about it. Now, I don’t think it went anywhere, but I do believe that they submitted a proposal to the previous town manager. So, maybe that’s something that we could look at again or ask them to. They are on the bid list.

Derek Brindisi:

Yeah, we’re happy to do that. I would say that–again, when I walk downtown, I’ve seen some graffiti that I know needs to be removed, and I think it’s important to talk to those business owners that there are funds available that if they go to our Planning Department, funds are already available. We already have access to services so we can take care of that right away.

Betty Cavacco:

And I think there’s quite a bit of graffiti on the jetty, as well.

Derek Brindisi:

Yes.

Charlie Bletzer:

But more importantly, I remember 25 years ago when this started down here, when I was at the Courthouse, it started right in this building. They tagged the Courthouse and what we have to do because these tag, these are signatures. So, the police, the detectives should be able to determine whose signature it is and find out who these kids are that are doing it. And most of them are they’re artists, but they think they’re artists, but my thing is get aggressive, find out who they are and prosecute them.

[1:15:07]

Charlie Bletzer:

They really should be prosecuted because it’s damaging. We’re a tourist town. It looks terrible. When you see this graffiti, it’s awful. I know if I was a business owner, I would want it off my building immediately, but it’s tough. Some of these businesses are struggling and for them to have this pay the money to do it. So, my thing is to talk with the Police Chief and have them get some detectives, and they’ll be able to find these kids. They’re easy to find because but again, I’ll say it one more time, it’s their signature and make sure they get prosecuted at the Plymouth Court. So, thanks.

Dick Quintal:

Thank you. Mr. Helm?

Harry Helm:

Derek, you mentioned the smokestack timeline. Have they given any information on what they plan to do with the bricks?

Derek Brindisi:

I haven’t seen any information on that. There have been rumors of potentially using the bricks to build something in smaller scale. It sounds like Mrs. Cavacco has–

Betty Cavacco:

The chairman and I and Mr. Keohan met with Cordage Park, and they’re willing to give the Town of Plymouth all the bricks that are salvageable. And I know that CPC, Mr. Keohan said that they can get trucks and get it out of there. Now, one of the things that we do have room behind the Sewer Plant, but also moving forward with getting Lout Pond weather tight. That’s another area that we’d be able to do that. And that way, if they’re building something we have the bricks, but they are planning on memorializing that with some type of monument. Even the last time I spoke with Kristen, I was even asking like how much does it cost to replicate another stack closer to the water so it stays as that structure, and she was going to get some prices and let us know.

Dick Quintal:

Okay. Anyone wishing to speak on the public comment? Please identify yourself for the record and make sure the green light is on.

Steve Lydon:

Steve Lydon. Getting back to the graffiti, it seems to go in spurts. And I know a few years ago, there was a fund, they had problems with landlords out of town getting the stuff off their walls and off their buildings, and the town did hire I think it was Father Bills to come in and clean off a lot of graffiti. I think it might be a good idea. They’re not that expensive, one of these power washers that work with water. They’re high-pressure water if the town had their own, I’m sure they could use the DPW cleaning their trucks or engines and stuff like that, but it’s just an idea, but there was Father Bills that was doing it.

Dick Quintal:

Thank you. Anyone else wishing to speak on a public comment? Chris, anybody waiting?

Chris Badot:

No, sir.

Dick Quintal:

Okay. Moving on to Licenses and Administrative Notes.

The Village Sports Club LLC d/b/a Village Racket and Fitness Club, 30 Golf Drive, Timothy Hajjar, manager is requesting the following license in conjunction with a request for a transfer of an Annual All Alcohol General on-premises license, Common Victualler.

Charlie Bletzer:

I make the motion.

Patrick Flaherty:

Second.

Dick Quintal:

Second by Mr. Flaherty. Discussion? All those in favor? Unanimous.

Change of manager, Marshland Group Incorporated d/b/a as Marshland 3A Restaurant, 986 State Road, is requesting a change of manager from Kim Babiarz to Martin Finch.

Betty Cavacco:

Motion.

Charlie Bletzer:

Second.

Dick Quintal:

Second by Mr. Bletzer. Discussion? Mr. Helm?

Harry Helm:

Oh, no, sorry.

Dick Quintal:

Okay. Where was it now? Discussion? Right. Okay, then. All in favor? Unanimous. Thank you. Sorry about that.

And on the Administrative Notes. I believe we’re going to remove number six, correct? We’re going to pull that? Okay, to a future date. So, we have one, two, three, four, five and number seven.

[1:20:01]

Betty Cavacco:

Move them as a group.

Harry Helm:

Second.

Dick Quintal:

Discussion? Comments? All those in favor? Unanimous.

Committee Liaison updates? Designee updates? Old business?

Betty Cavacco:

I got some old business.

Dick Quintal:

Go ahead, Mrs. Cavacco.

Betty Cavacco:

It was actually old business from before, but new business for Mr. Brindisi. One of the things that when you mention, and I was going to bring it up under your Town Manager’s report, but I figured, I’d give you a little bit of a break. So, one of the issues that we had addressed before, and I’m not even sure if Dick was on the Board, I think so, but I know Patrick was, was the hours for Plymouth Beach. I know that they were 8 o’clock. We yielded many complaints that the cars were just lined up, and lined up and lined up. And I’m wondering if we could get that beach opening earlier than 8 o’clock and get staff down there to let people out. So, I mean 7 o’clock. if someone wants to get to the beach at 7 o’clock, more power to them honestly. So, but the lines and the traffic delays that it’s causing on Warren Ave and the parking lots and everything. We just need to open it up earlier.

Derek Brindisi:

Okay. We can take a look at that.

Betty Cavacco:

Thank you.

Dick Quintal:

Anything else under old business? Letters? New business? Do we ever find out about, it’s actually old business, on the excise tax bills? We were still working on that. A lot of people have said they didn’t get theirs and the fees and all that jazz.

Derek Brindisi:

Right. So, all the residents who complain, and again, it’s probably somewhere from 8 to 10 who had said that they did not receive the initial excise tax bill. And again, just so I’m clear, there were 60,000 excise bills that went out, 12,000 demands. Of the 12,000 demands we caught a dozen complaints. We’ve talked to each one of them, we’ve given them a schedule. Brad Brothers is actually working directly with the Treasure Collector’s Office, so that it’s more pronounced when these excise tax bills will go out. The Treasure Collector’s Office working with the Finance Director is also trying to set up a system where excise tax bills can be emailed. So, you know how you can e-subscribe to alerts? We’re working on a system hopefully within the next 12 months where you can subscribe to get your bills sent to you. So, there should be no reason why you don’t get it. We will always have to mail it out. The statute requires that we do have to mail it out. So, we’ve reached out to those folks. We can only waive certain fees. We can’t waive all their fees according to the statute. So, we’re trying to work with them the best that we can.

Dick Quintal:

Okay, thank you. And then I know the Chairman of The Board of Health was at the Senate hearing Friday, Barry, Mr. Parkman, and he would like to come in and give us an update or join us by Zoom, whatever he prefers. I have for a future meeting, so if you can schedule them in somewhere for that.

Betty Cavacco:

I think they wanted to do a joint.

Dick Quintal:

A joint meeting?

Betty Cavacco:

Yeah.

Dick Quintal:

Okay. Well, thank you. And then last thing, I told you, I think I told you that we have a family of four from the Ukraine here in Plymouth, one that I know of. They’re living in Bradley Lane, I believe. There are two children, Kate is 11 and Andre is 5, and mom and dad, and they’re staying with Marina that used to work in Town Hall. It’s her family and her husband is a firefighter. So, Mr. Houston and Mrs. Houston, and we’re working with them, or I’m working with them closely. And I have to say like, I always say, the people in this community are just phenomenal. The private messages I’m getting and people want to do clothing, and there’s more rooms available, people are letting me know. So, I’m reaching out with them, and I’m probably going to call you tomorrow, Derek and see about who to contact at the library if there’s any additional families. I know there’s a lot of people even in Kingston a private message and saying they have rooms, and they gladly take some people in.

[1:25:01]

Dick Quintal:

So, it’s nice to see that it’s all coming together and the children are already enrolled in Plymouth Schools. So, it’s nice to see the community. I’m proud to be part of the community when they do good stuff like that.

Betty Cavacco:

They are looking for transportation. That’s one thing that trying to get some kind of a fund going because they don’t have any transportation. So, I know a couple of people have reached out and hopefully maybe we can put something together, put some kind of fund together. Maybe you can start a Go Fund.

Dick Quintal:

Sure. Well, now, that you say that, I did have some two donations dropped off yesterday that the front office brought into my office this morning. So, like I said, people have been really great.

Derek Brindisi:

If I could ask a question.

Dick Quintal:

Sure.

Derek Brindisi:

Many municipalities have trust funds. In Upton, we had a couple dozen trust funds that were left over 100 years ago from folks that had arrived here in the US. And in one of our trust funds, we had an account of $800, 000, and it was just for people in need. And so, a community this size in Plymouth, I’m asking whether or not we have trust funds set aside for specific purposes. If you don’t know that answer, I’ll be happy to work with our Finance Department because in Worcester, we had dozens and dozens of trust funds, Cy Pres trust funds that were set aside for very specific purposes. So, it wouldn’t surprise me if we have those. I just think we may have to do a little research and this would be a perfect use of those types of funds.

Dick Quintal:

Great. Thank you. Well, I’ll keep you updated and I will check in on the GoFundMe with some help, but I’d be more than glad to do it. I just I’ve never done it before that way, so maybe it’s time to learn. But I had a good conversation with them, and they’re very grateful, and I believe the Old Colony, Richard Hubert is doing a little write-up on it. So, let’s see what happens. Okay. That being said, motion to adjourn?

Charlie Bletzer:

Motion.

Betty Cavacco:

Second.

Dick Quintal:

One last thing. Chris, if you could, the Board if it’s possible they will let you know tomorrow will not be meeting on the 31st of May, Memorial Day Weekend unless it changes but if it doesn’t and we can do it, would you please post that as of tomorrow so everybody knows. And if not let me know, and we’ll go for a different date, but we’ll try that. And as always, keep the people of Ukraine in your thoughts and prayers. Have a good night, a great week, and we’ll see you next Tuesday. Thank you.