Agenda – Plymouth Select Board 1-31-23 Agenda

Official Minutes – Plymouth Select Board Minutes 1-31-23

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

Betty Cavacco:

Dickie, would you read the Governor’s notice?

Dick Quintal:

Yes. In accordance with Bill S2475, 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 into 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”

Remote: Go to the Town website under the Select Board page and click on the Zoom webinar link. Thank you.

Betty Cavacco:

Okay. I’d like to call the meeting to order. The first order of business is Public Comment. Anthony, do we have anyone for public comment? I guess, Anthony is with John.

Anthony Senesi:

One moment, please. Folks, if you would like to make a public comment, please click the Raise Hand button at the bottom of your screen and I’m also going to send that direction as well in the chat.

Betty Cavacco:

You know what? We’ll give them a minute, Anthony and go on to Licenses and Administrative Notes. Do any Board Members have any questions regarding the Licenses and Administrative Notes? And if not, I would like to entertain a motion.

Dick Quintal:

Move them all as presented.

Betty Cavacco:

Do we have a second?

Harry Helm:

Second.

Betty Cavacco:

First by Mr. Quintal, seconded by Mr. Helm. Is there a discussion? No discussion. All those in favor? Mr. Quintal?

Dick Quintal:

Aye.

Betty Cavacco:

Mr. Bletzer?

Charlie Bletzer:

Aye.

Betty Cavacco:

Mr. Mahoney? We don’t hear you, John. And Mr. Helm?

Harry Helm:

Aye.

Betty Cavacco:

And myself, aye. Unanimous. Through this meeting, because we’re remote, we’ll be doing all roll call votes. So, is Public Comment ready, Anthony?

Anthony Senesi:

Yes, we have Stephen Hall.

Betty Cavacco:

Okay. Good evening, Mr. Hall.

Stephen Hall:

Hey, good evening, Select Board. Thank you so much for allowing me to speak. I’m going to be reading off this so I don’t ramble on.

So, my name is Stephen Hall. I’ve been a resident here for 17 years and a business owner here in town. I’m here to speak about the conditions at Plymouth South Elementary School. I like to start by briefly stating that I’m aware that the actions related to the school itself fall under the purview of the School Committee and the School Department. I’ve received quite the crash court in town politics over the past 24 hours on how things work, so please bear with me as I share my experience.

I’ve been in communication with the Chairperson multiple times today. And just before this meeting, I received a comprehensive reply from the Superintendent, Chris Campbell. I’m here to share this because this issue is larger than the School Committee. In my opinion, this is a community problem. In order to have a prosperous community, we need to have clean, safe schools. We need to work as a town and as a team to get this done. We don’t need to play games. We really need to fix our schools.

I want to say thank you to the Select Board members who are fast acting and helpful giving me direction in who to call about this issue when I first saw the email from November regarding the rodent infestation at Plymouth South Elementary yesterday morning. I would also like to commend the Director of Public Health, Karen Keane for her swift response to this. She was also not aware of a rodent problem at South even though rats were spotted in the cafeteria at one point in time.

As you can see, the issue is not so much the rats. We’ve always had to live with animals. The issue is that we knew rats were in the school since the summer and the public had no idea. Rat feces can be very harmful if it gets into the air. Photos circulated quickly of rat feces on the floor of the school. There was no reason that the principal of Plymouth South Elementary School should have felt like he could handle this all himself and not told the team.

According to my calls yesterday, no one knew this was an issue and the principal in a wonderful display of condescension minimized, it is a small problem in his calls to parents.

[0:05:08]

Stephen Hall:

He then later referred to parents, such as I, as “whack jobs,” because we didn’t want our kids to be in school in the school that maybe unfit. I’m hardly a helicopter parent for anyone who knows me. My daughter is in the third grade and is my third child through Plymouth South Elementary School over the past 17 years. I have seen good leaders in the school before. I know it can be done.

Over the past 30 hours or so, I received over 25 direct messages from parents and staff from the school as a result of the post that you’re probably familiar with on Facebook in the forum titled All Things Plymouth. I’m sure many of you have seen it. Photos of moldy ceiling tiles started to be sent. Images from past rainstorms with five-gallon buckets placed in the gymnasium and in the classroom when it rains out because the roof is riddled with leaks. We can do better than this. You start to put this together and you don’t have to be a scientist to start the question that if this old porous building may have a mold problem.

I have firsthand the accounts from teachers saying they have known mold has been an issue for roughly five years. That’s the oldest one that I could find from a teacher who wanted `to remain anonymous. This may or may not be true. I requested in multiple emails and voicemails that we should have a third party assess the air quality in the school just before this meeting. As I mentioned above, Superintendent Chris Campbell stated he would be moving forward with getting this done. This is fantastic. I’m very happy to hear it. He’s sending a very comprehensive response about all the capital improvements that they’re working to get done at Plymouth South Elementary and some other schools in town.

In the end, the parents are getting what we wanted, someone to take care of the building that have houses our kids for a huge part of their life. It didn’t have to go like this and I hope we can all learn from it. That’s all.

Betty Cavacco:

Thank you, Mr. Hall. And yes, I know that we’ve all been contacted within the past couple of days regarding this. I actually spoke to Christina M. Renaud myself, and I know Mrs. Keane is acutely aware. It’s really nothing that we have jurisdiction over but certainly as a parent, I completely understand where parents are coming from and I would have taken the same action as you did. So, I appreciate it. Is there any other public comment?

Anthony Senesi:

As a reminder, if you’d like to make a public comment, please click the Raise Hand icon at the bottom of your screen and you’ll be placed in a queue and called in order by the chair.  Madam Chair, it doesn’t look like anybody has their hands raised.

Betty Cavacco:

Great. Well, thank you. Moving on to the 2023 Annual Town Meeting Articles. Article 9 – Capital Improvement with Mrs. Barrett, our Finance Director.

Anthony Senesi:

One moment, please.

John Mahoney:

All right. Can you hear me?

Anthony Senesi:

Yes, we can.

John Mahoney:

Okay, good. Thank you.

Anthony Senesi:

You’re welcome.

Betty Cavacco:

We can’t see you though, John.

John Mahoney:

Yup. I’m coming back.

Betty Cavacco:

We’re so lucky to have you. Hi, Lynne. Thanks for joining us.

Lynne Barrett:

Hi! Can you hear me?

Betty Cavacco:

We can.

Lynne Barrett:

Okay, great. So, I’m going to share my screen, if that’s okay. First of all, I’m going to share the memo. Let’s see. What I’m going to share with you is sort of I’ll go over the process of what happened this year with Capital Improvements. Obviously, the Town Manager is here and he can interject and then we can talk about the process. But the way we handled it this year was last fall, we asked all of the departments to submit like a 10-year capital plan of what they thought was on their sort of 10-year capital plan. And then part of the bylaw, we asked departments to submit their Fiscal ’24 capital request and those were all due the beginning of November.

[0:10:09]

Lynne Barrett:

So, we met with all the departments and went over their 10-year capital plans. We went over their first-year capital request and we sort of focused on certain areas, certain things that were a priority. Talked about things that could maybe put on hold for a little bit based on the interactions between the Town Manager, myself, the Assistant Town Manager and the departments.

So, what you’re seeing before you tonight. So, I prepared a memo that only includes the items that are being recommended for Article 9 at the Annual Town Meeting. So, CIC, the Capital Improvement Committee met on December 28th and they ranked all of the departmental request that were submitted. And on the spreadsheet that I’m showing you, you’ll see each department as they submitted them in different groups.

And for some reason, this won’t allow me to move. Okay. Here we go. So, the ranking is in this column with the yellow. So, we had them ranked about 1 through project 44. So, mostly, everything is being recommended to town meeting except for about three items and I’ll go over those items. But we have all of these departments between Information Technology, the Police Department, Fire Department, the School Department. There’s one project in the School Department that actually they’re going to fund through their school lunch revolving account and that’s the floor at PCIS. We discussed that with the School Department. So, even though, CIC ranked it, it’s not an article that has to go town meeting because they can spend those funds without appropriation.

Then we get down to there are certain projects in the CIC list that are going to the Special Town Meeting, and those items are highlighted in that list in the column where it says ATM or STM. So, there were three projects that have been identified either because of timing with a grant or timing with a piece of equipment that just needs to be replaced that are going to go on the Special Town Meeting versus the Annual Town Meeting. So, we go through this list and you’ve been provided this list. All of the DPW Departments with projects have been submitted from there. So, in the general fund, the Town Manager is actually funding a total of 10,555,339. Most of that thing funded through free cash $7,262,023 and then some of it is being recommended from other available funds that we have.

There’s a project on here that was submitted from the Recreation Department that at the time prior to last week, CIC ranked it as number 44, which was the last project on their ranking list. And then at the time, the Town Manager had suggested to the department to seek a CPC application for that. But the department has chosen not to do that. So, that project for Recreation Department, the Hedges Pond Pavilion, that is not included in this article that’s going to town meeting either at the Annual or at the Special. So, that is not being recommended at this time. I just wanted to make that clear. It was just there was some communication as to them maybe seeking application but they have chosen not to.

Then, we have some projects for the Sewer Department. A total 1,271,179 and then there’s two projects from the Water Department that are being funded at the Annual Town Meeting. And then one project from the airport that’s being forwarded to the Annual Town Meeting in Article 9. And then as I said earlier, there’ll be three projects that will be going to the Special.

[0:15:00]

Lynne Barrett:

If you have any questions, I’m certainly happy to answer any of those questions for you.

Betty Cavacco:

Mr. Bletzer?

Charlie Bletzer:

Yeah, Lynne. I have a question on that pavilion, Hedges Pavilion. What’s the purpose of that pavilion?

Derek Brindisi:

I can answer that if you want, Lynne. So, through the Chair and to Selectman Bletzer, so the Recreation Department went in front of CIC for this request for the Hedges Pond Pavilion. About $350,000 as Lynne noted.  In order for the town to host a full day summer camp, they need a place for the youth to be able to go to at this inclement weather.

And as you recall, one of the goals of the Select Board this past summer was for town staff to develop a full day summer camp. The Recreation Department has researched a couple different areas that they thought would be appropriate. Some of them didn’t work out, some of them were located on school property. And so, the next choice was to look at the Hedges Pond area.

But again, the only way for us to go to a full day camp at Hedges Pond, we need a shelter and the pavilion is kind of a common practice throughout the state to shelter children during inclement weather. And so, that’s purpose of constructing a pavilion at Hedges.

Charlie Bletzer:

So, that answers my second question. It sounds like it’s kind of a necessary need. And why would they not try and go to the CPC? It’s recreation. Why wouldn’t they take an application out to get it funded through CPC? It sounds like that’s the perfect fit to CPC money. It sounds like that’s something that a town needs, unless I’m wrong.

Derek Brindisi:

It’s a great question. So, what we’ve decided to do to pursue is to use our $100,000 of the revolving fund, the recreational revolving fund which is what he had originally planned on anyways. But then to go after a state park grant instead of using local dollars, whether they be CPC or free cash, we thought we’d try to submit an application to receive state dollars to fund this project. And so, time although is of the essence because we want to meet one of the board’s goals, we do believe that there will be a demolition delay imposed on the large Great Hall that’s currently in the place of where this pavilion would be constructed. So, we believe we have time in order to write a very competitive grant application to receive state funds to support this effort.

Charlie Bletzer:

So, great. So, there’s a plan in place to get some grant money for this. So, it doesn’t come out of the taxpayer. That’s good because as we all know, everybody agrees I’m sure, we need things like this for our town. So, for the kids. Anyway, thank you.

Betty Cavacco:

Is there anyone else because I have a couple of comments? Mr. Quintal?

Dick Quintal:

Do you want to go first, Madam Chairman? I just have a question for the one, two, three, four of the recommendations. But–

Betty Cavacco:

Okay. Well, yeah, I will go first.

Dick Quintal:

Go ahead.

Betty Cavacco:

And this, of course, has to do with Hedges Pond. First of all, I completely agree that we could have a pavilion there. But I absolutely vehemently disagree with taking down that building. A pavilion is not shelter. A pavilion, it just has a roof. It’s not able to keep kids dry and comfortable and warm. I mean, a nor’easter goes through here and they are not going to be sheltered.

As the liaison of the CPC for a few years, this is one of the projects that we’ve worked with Bill Keohan. I mean, I personally, obviously, I won’t be here after May but I certainly will be vocal if that building is to be torn down because that was never the plan. The plan was to always have that building fixed with CPC funds. And I honestly can’t imagine tearing down that building and just having a pavilion. I mean, I think a pavilion there would be great but not in place of such a wonderful building that actually could be an entire new revenue stream for the town.

[0:20:09]

Betty Cavacco:

Because if you fix that building up, whatever it costs and it would under CPC, 3 million however much it is, it could be a smaller venue just like Memorial Hall. You could rent it. You could do so many things down there. So, like I said, I won’t be here after May but if the plan is to tear down that building, I’m pretty sure you’ll be hearing from me again regarding this subject.

Derek Brindisi:  

If I could respond. As the Board knows, there was a CPC summit a couple weeks ago. Myself, Lynne had attended, Kelly – the Town Clerk and David Gould, we had a lot of important conversations around how we can collaborate, communicate better with CPC. And so, we are planning to meet this coming Thursday with CPC. Barry DeBlasio actually attended the CPC meeting last Thursday to explain to them this pavilion proposal.

So, this coming Thursday at 2:30 down in Hedges, we will be having a meeting with CPC members who hoped to attend. I know Selectman Mahoney was not able to attend and he thought this is a really good idea for us to get together. We asked the Building Commission to attend. We asked the Building Commission to attend. We asked the Fire Chief to attend just so we can all collectively look at all the different structures that are down there and develop a road forward. I do have to say the Board would have to consider this goal. And if the Board wants to hold this, table this goal for the next couple of years until CPC’s funding comes back, I believe that CPC will not have any real funding for the next two to three years based upon some obligations such as Stephens Field and the dredging in Jenney Pond.

So, in this situation, what was proposed to save that building as the Chair pointed out is going to be, from what we understand, at least a $3 million CPC project. So, we’re happy to table this project until CPC can come up with $3 million to reconstruct the Hedges Pond area as suggested.

Betty Cavacco:

I mean, I don’t have a problem supporting a pavilion. Like I said, I do have a problem knocking down that building. And I have an even bigger problem, which was one of the reasons why I became involved in town government anyway is that we have to make our priorities more with families. I understand there are a lot of needs, but you know what? Families and kids have greater needs. There’s no summer camp for the biggest town in the state. And like I said, I have no problem supporting a pavilion. I would speak for it. But I do not understand.

And it’s always been a plan. I know it was a plan with the former Town Manager. I know it’s a plan with Mr. DeBlasio. They’ve always wanted it, but we’ve always put a stop to it. And it would be a disgrace for us to take down that building and consider shelter for our children as just a pavilion. That’s just my opinion.

Charlie Bletzer:

Madam Chairman, before Dickie speaks, can I speak one last thing on this issue before he speaks issues.

Betty Cavaco:

Sure.

Charlie Bletzer:

Derek, one last thing. Can we encourage Barry or whosoever is going to be in-charge after Barry to at least go forward with the application to the CPC while you’re applying for state grants to at least keep the ball rolling. I know they don’t have the money right now but that’s at least get the process going and then still apply for the state grants, you know, to see if we can come up with.

Derek Brindisi:

Yeah. I mean, we certainly can submit an application to CPC. Let’s assume CPC approved the application, it would go to the Fall Town Meeting.

Charlie Bletzer:

Exactly. So, there’s no money there right now, but at least we can get the state grants because that would be helpful too. And we could use the state grants as well as CPC money and might have to use less CPC money if we get some state grants. So, let’s keep moving forward with both sources of funding.

[0:25:00]

Derek Brindisi:

Yeah. Again, we’re happy to do that. I’m a little concerned because it sounds like this is not an agreement as to the, the “master plan of Hedges Pond.” So, if we were to pursue the pavilion, are we going to try to find a new location for the pavilion. The Dog Park Committee has talked about potentially using an area at Hedges as well for potential area for a dog park as well. So, you know, it sounds to me that we probably would benefit from a larger community discussion on the future use of Hedges.

Charlie Bletzer:

Yeah, I like the idea if we can redo that building because it sounds to me like that’s the way to go but it’s just money. It’s all about money.

Betty Cavacco:

Isn’t everything all about money?

Charlie Bletzer:

Yeah, not everything.

Betty Cavacco:

And Hedges Pond, it’s a large parcel of land. I mean, you could literally put that pavilion where all those benches are and leave the Great Hall alone until we can move forward. I mean, before John took over as the liaison for CPC, that was something that we were avidly working on. And it just kind of died and not for any fault of your own, John. I’m just saying it just kind of died there for a minute.

Dick Quintal:

If you don’t mind me asking, wasn’t that part of the town meeting was to be opening as a recreational?

Betty Cavacco:

All right. So, how does it go from that from a sell to buy it? So, they’re like, ‘Oh, we’re not going to do it.’ I’m a little confused with that.

Derek Brindisi:

I mean, I can tell you on our side, we want to–first of all, I think we all agree that that’s probably one of the greatest assets the town has that part, that area. It’s beautiful, and we want to enhance that. We want to take advantage of what’s down there and we want to be able to use the space that is being unused at this point.

The only thing I would say relative to the Great Hall is that I think before we invest another dollar into that building, we have to know what its purpose is going to be. We look at the Simes House. We’ve been struggling with the Simes House for the past nine months since the time we took it back from the nonprofit organization and we’re still trying to find a purpose for it. And so, I caution everyone that let’s not spend $3 million on a structure that we have no use for. I guess, that’s how I would leave it on our end.

Betty Cavacco:

Well, I think, you know what, I think maybe we either have another meeting. And I understand your summit and unfortunately, I would be there, except I have a conflicting meeting on Thursday, but maybe if you want to set something during the day or we have it as an agenda item and we have this open discussion sooner than later. I mean, hopefully before May because I would like to be part of it. This has been a project that’s been ongoing for the entire almost six years that I’ve been here. So, to completely change the direction without I’ll guarantee you with no buy in from the community, because I don’t think you’d have anybody agreeing to knock down that building, honestly.

Let’s get it on the agenda. Let’s have an open discussion. And before I go to Dickie and I can go to John, if it’s on this subject, but there are two people that want to speak on this subject that I’m being notified about.

Derek Brindisi:

Can I offer suggestion? That, you know, the CPC has a little over $100,000 in admin funds. Perhaps they’d be willing to part with some of that so that we could hire a consultant to master plan the Hedges Pond Park. That could be space for the dog park, that could be space for a full day summer camp. I’ll have to tell you that there’s a misnomer that’s out in the community that if we have a full day summer camp, that the public don’t have access. That’s actually not true. You can have shared space of summer camp and public access. So, I know that’s out there and people use that against the time moving forward the full day summer camp, but that’s actually not factually true. You can allow the public to access the park while running a full day summer camp. It happens in dozens of communities across the state.

[0:29:59]

Betty Cavacco:

Well, John and seeing that you’re the liaison and I know that some people on the CPC Committee are watching right now, would you ask that?  I know you’re meeting on Thursday or–oh, you’re not going to be there, but if anybody is watching and maybe they could bring it up to the CPC meeting to do what actually Derek just asked because I think it’s important.

Dick Quintal:

Mr. Keohan is watching.

Betty Cavacco:

Are you watching, Bill?

Dick Quintal:

He is.

Betty Cavacco:

Okay. John?

John Mahoney:

Betty, I completely agree with you. I think you’re on the right track with respect to putting on an agenda item. So, last Thursday night CPC meeting, it was remarkable because we had the department head who brought this initiative forward, sat with the committee from 6:00 to 7:30, 90 minutes, very robust, productive discussion on this issue.

The Town Manager Zoomed in. There was a lot of back and forth. He addressed all the issues with respect to traffic, the initiative coming from one of the short or long-term goals set by the Executive Board, what’s required under the state umbrella to get certified for an all-day camp.

Dickie, you had mentioned earlier that coming out of town meeting in ’07 when the purchase was initially made, there was a subsequent article in 2011 or 2012 of around $900,000 to $1 million dollars that’s invested in the infrastructure and set up the half day camp. And Barry was just trying to take that to the next level, but I don’t want to speak for Barry. I don’t want to speak for the proposal. I think it’s best. Like the chairwoman had said, putting on an agenda item discussing this at a Select Board meeting and opening it up to the public because I was impressed with the presentation and it had a lot of positives.

And as the Town Manager’s alluded to, one of my primary concerns was, was this going to restrict the public’s access for an incremental 20 to 25 hours a week to that body of freshwater? And Barry said, “No, it won’t do that.” So, I’m looking forward to that public discussion.

Betty Cavacco:

So am I. And like I said, I think we’ve been pushing back Barry on this pavilion for the whole entire six years I’ve been on the board. So, I have no problem with the pavilion. I think it would be beautiful, but not at the expense of taking down the Great Hall.

John Mahoney:

And one last thing, Madam Chair. So, there’s a mini summit Thursday afternoon, apparently at 2:30 at Hedges Pond. I would just suggest that, I know Betty, you mentioned you can’t get there. I can’t get there.

Betty Cavacco:

Well, I can get there at 2:30. I just thought it was like a six o’clock meeting. I have a six o’clock meeting.

John Mahoney:

But if Charlie, Dickie, Harry here are just getting down there.

Charlie Bletzer:

It’s at Hedges Pond?

John Mahoney:

Yes.

Betty Cavacco:

Oh, at Hedges Pond, so it wouldn’t be like a Zoom.

Charlie Bletzer:

Yeah. I have an appointment in the morning in Boston, but I’ll try and make it.

John Mahoney:

Yeah. If you have any questions, talk to Derek.

Dick Quintal:

Yeah. I definitely can’t go Thursday. I have an appointment, but I hope some other board members will get down there. Betty, Charlie, if you can get down there. Because putting it as an agenda item, that’s wonderful. But like Derek says, I’m 100% beside. Let’s find out what it’s going to cost, what it’s going to do. And maybe we learned something here as a town, when these things go into town meeting and I’m not being wise at all, when anything like this goes to town meeting, buying properties, a plan of doing recreation or whatever it is, let’s think out what happens after town meeting buys it. What kicks in? Who does what? I mean, what really should have went to town meeting was back in ’07. I thought it was back then, John. It was a while ago and let’s get some things done and appropriate the money.

I mean, I get there’s no money. I mean, if that’s the right thing to do. But I mean, if it’s 12 million, that’s a whole another discussion. I mean, I don’t know. But I mean, how does the average person or town meeting member know these things? I mean, I don’t know how it went from ’07 to right now. I guess, that’s my–

Charlie Bletzer:

The prices go way up.

Dick Quintal:

Right now, they’re expensive.

Betty Cavacco:

Well, I mean, I think, I mean, obviously the things should have been done a long time ago but I think we have to bring back focus to the people we represent. And I’m not saying this to be a jerk, but not department heads, we have to bring the focus back. And I got three, four months left and I want that to keep that focus on our families. So, I think it’s important to move forward with that.

[0:35:02]

Betty Cavacco:

And I will try to get there. I want to say I’ll get there at two o’clock but it depends on how I feel. Having a month of Covid and bronchitis has kind of knocked me back a little bit, so.

Charlie Bletzer:

Is it 2:00 or 2:30? Is it 2:30?

Derek Brindisi:

2:30 in Hedges, yup.

Betty Cavacco:

Mr. Keohan just said to me that CPC is not scheduled to meet this Thursday, and there is no mini-summit. So, he doesn’t know what anyone’s talking about. So, maybe Derek can touch base–

Derek Brindisi:

The Community Preservation Committee were invited to do a walk around at Hedges at 2:30 this coming Thursday to talk about the small cabins that still remain. They’re in dilapidated condition and then to have a much larger discussion about the Great Hall. From what I was told by Mr. DeBlasio, a number of CPC members have confirmed their attendance. The fire chief has confirmed his attendance. I believe the Building Commissioner will be there. Barry DeBlasio will be there. So, there’ll be a large contingent of folks there to talk about the Hedges Pavilion Proposal.

Betty Cavacco:

Mr. Helm?

Harry Helm:

Is this meeting potentially in violation of Open Meeting Rules, because if you have that many members, if you have a quorum of the CPC, I could see having a possible quorum of the Select Board because I would like to attend but we don’t have to talk about it. So, it wouldn’t technically be our meeting. But are we potentially in violation of Open Meetings? Or they–not us, but they.

Derek Brindisi:

If the CPC members are there to gather information and are deliberating and making decision, then they wouldn’t be violating Open Meeting Law.

Harry Helm:

They can’t talk amongst each other?

Derek Brindisi:

I think, to be safe, they should just be asking questions and not having the staff provide answers to their questions.

Dick Quintal:

I got a text message. The CPC is not scheduled to meet Thursday. I’m not sure what John is talking about. Hold on, please. There is no mini-summit planned. This is all news to the CPC. That’s from the chairman.

Derek Brindisi:

Again, this has nothing to do with Selectman Mahoney. Barry DeBlasio sent, and I’m looking at the email right now, sent out a request for folks to meet based upon the conversation that he had last Thursday with CPC. And according to him, a number of CPC members said that they are able to attend Thursday at 2:30 to do a site visit of Hedges Pond to discuss the Pavilion Proposal.

I don’t know what Mr. Keohan is speaking of. I believe he received the invitation. I don’t see why he would not have received that invitation, but I’m going through my emails right now to confirm who actually acknowledged receiving that email.

Dick Quintal:

Okay. So, really, it’s like a walk through?

Derek Brindisi:

If I could, I’m sorry to cut you off.

Dick Quintal:

No, it’s all right. Go ahead. As I’m talking, I’m looking things up. There’s an email here that says from Barry, I have a request from someone that wants to look inside the main hall at Hedges. They’re requesting Thursday at 2:30. I wanted to invite you and the committee. Now, this is directly to Bill Keohan, you and other committee members that would like to attend. Can you please extend this invitation to your group?

Bill responds, “Barry, thank you for the notice. I have forwarded the notices to the CPC. Do you have the keys? I have the keys in the CPC office at Town Hall. Let me know if you need them.” So, I guess, I’m even more confused because I was just told that you read a message from Mr. Keohan that he knows nothing about this and I just read a message, him going back and forth with Barry about setting up a meeting at Hedges at 2:30. So, I’m happy to share this email with the Board, so you guys are clear as to what we’re trying to accomplish on Thursday.

Dick Quintal:

I’m just really confused more than you.

Derek Brindisi:

Well, I mean, I just read you an email and I just forwarded it to the Board, so you all have the email of the communications.

Dick Quintal:

Thank you, Derek.

Betty Cavacco:

So, there is a meeting and CPC members are attending, so that’s it. So, Mr. Quintal and I know–Anthony, are the people that are in queue to speak want to speak on this subject?

[0:40:10]

Anthony Senesi:

That I am not aware. But we have three people that have their hand raised.

Betty Cavacco:

Could you ask them?

Anthony Senesi:

Sure.

Betty Cavacco:

Because I know Mr. Quintal you have a couple of questions for–

Dick Quintal: 

Yeah, just on the CIC, yeah.

Betty Cavacco: 

Do you want to go or wait for them?

Dick Quintal:

If it’s up to you. You’re running the meeting, Madam Chair.

Anthony Senesi:

I know that Ginny Davis wants to speak on this matter. We have Lee as well. So, I can promote her as a panelist.

Betty Cavacco:

Okay. Do you mind, Mr. Quintal?

Dick Quintal:

Not at all, ma’am.

Betty Cavacco:

Don’t call me ma’am.

Dick Quintal:

Everybody is ma’am.

Betty Cavacco:

Yeah, makes me feel a little older than I already am.

Ginny Davis:

Good evening, Ginny Davis, Precinct 4. First of all, Um I’ve been attending the CPC meeting since December 22nd, and I was at Thursday night. I want to express my gratitude to Mrs. Cavaco for her passion about that area and about the Great Hall. I too, you know, pavilions are wonderful on a sunny day, but when you brought out that a pavilion will not provide protection for children from the Buzzards Bay cold wind or an electric storm. And right now, if there was a pavilion, they have to go a distance to go to the bathrooms. If the Great Hall gets redone, the bathrooms are in there. Now, I know it’s a lot of money and so I think it shouldn’t go to town meeting right now. I think Derek’s idea of taking some CPC money and having a master plan for Hedges Pond is brilliant, you know?

I have been invited to walk the site. And I want to clarify, this is not a CPC meeting. This was an invite. That’s why Bill said it’s not a CPC meeting. It’s an invite as Mr. Quintal pointed out to walk the site. And if it’s a caution, do not talk and just ask questions, that’s a good caution to give to people, but it’s a way to really see the inside of this building.

So, I just want again thank Charlie, Mr. Bletzer for also saying, you know, let’s take a look at this. So, thanks again and thanks for allowing me to speak. Thank you.

Betty Cavacco:

Thank you, Mrs. Davis.

Anthony Senesi:

We have Lee Pulis.

Betty Cavacco:

Okay. Go ahead, Mr. Pulis.

Anthony Senesi:

And then we have Brian Harrington afterwards.

Betty Cavacco:

Okay. Mr. Pulis?

Lee Pulis:

I guess, you can’t see me. I don’t have a–well, I’ll start a video, how about that?

Betty Cavacco:

Great.

Lee Pulis:

All right. Can you see me now?

Betty Cavacco:

No. That’s okay. We can hear you.

Lee Pulis:

Maybe I have to close this and it shows up? No. Okay, but if you can hear me, I live in South Plymouth. And I think the unspoken thing, even though Barry has said that users would still be able to use the park if it’s a full day summer camp. The unspoken part is that currently as a half-day summer camp, users, anybody else from the general public is barred. The gate is closed until noon. So, if it’s possible to run a summer day camp half a day or full day with people using it, why not half a day?

I fully appreciate everything Betty said, and it’s been about six years since I was invited for a walk through and I’ve seen the inside of the Great Hall, and it is really quite impressive. It reminds me of the Boy Scout mess hall that I grew up in that led to me become a scientist and so forth from my nature experiences. And I think other kids might enjoy that better than an open-air pavilion, which you won’t be able to use from November through May. The Great Hall could have and it does have water and electricity.

[0:45:06]

Lee Pulis:

And from the walk through I had as Vice-President of Herring Ponds Watershed Association back about six years ago or before Betty was chair or on the Select Board, Herring Ponds Watershed Association was so impressed with the facility that we donated $5,000 toward its renovation, presented a large check which was publicly displayed, hoping that that would garner other nonprofits to also donate money towards its renovation.

Now, I find a $3 million estimate to be somewhat inflated in my mind in terms of what it would take to renovate that. But I guess you all have lots of procedures and codes and things to follow that are different than a normal house would cost to build. But the structure is there and a lot of volunteers would be willing to generate labor just as Habitat for Humanity does. So, we offered that as an organization. We have members who are carpenters and contractors and the community could pitch in and defray some of that cost.

Our thought at the time when I was Education Chair and Vice-President of the association was that we could have programming all through the winter that would educate people about nature and that would be a perfect setting for that. And we wouldn’t be paying rent to our public meeting every once in a while, at The Little Red Schoolhouse or somewhere else that some of these places have just not been tenable. We used to do it at the firehouse in Cedarville. But of course, Covid has interceded and people are doing Zoom. And I just had one of the most wonderful Zoom experiences at the Wildlands Trust Barn today where they had a device called the Owl Conference Camera that was able to do four split screens and follow speakers with the camera and the microphone. And it was high resolution on a big screen. So, there are ways to do hybrid meetings.

Brian Harrington, who I think may be interested in speaking called me today and said this issue was coming up on the agenda and could I attend? Because he just got back from a trip and has a cold. And I tested negative for Covid this morning in order to meet at Wildlands Trust with folks about another park in Plymouth that’s having issues. And I said, “No, I don’t want to go.” And I got online and found out, oh, well, you’re having it by Zoom. But it’s nice that we don’t have to go in and do this, but how in the world would anybody know that this issue which was ranked 44th in priority by the committee that’s looking at capital improvements and recommended for zero funding actually was taking up a huge portion of the meeting.

And even though it’s recommended for zero funding, that’s kind of a misleading thing because it sounds like a grant application was going to go in to try to make it happen anyway.

Betty Cavacco:

Mr. Pulis, we’re going to make it an agenda item and probably we shouldn’t be discussing it as intently as we are on this subject. But when Ms. Barrett brought up that the Recreation Department had, you know, removed that request, the dialogue just started. So, we kind of wanted to clarify a few things. But I agree that I believe that $3 million is quite a bit inflated. And even more so, I believe that the community would love to help out and do things if we can get them to do it. And it would, you know, it would be a great project. But as you well know, I know that your organization has been very supportive of that project. So, that was one of my goals way back when and it will stay my goal even when I’m out of office.

Lee Pulis:

Well, I appreciate the time that was spent tonight. And I wasn’t invited to attend on Thursday at 2:30, but if you invited me, I would. I live pretty close.

[0:50:08]

Betty Cavacco:

You can attend.

Lee Pulis:

Okay. It’s on my calendar.

Betty Cavacco:

Okay. Mr. Helm?

Harry Helm:

I’m still deeply concerned about having this 2:30 Thursday group meeting that has not been posted. I’m really, really concerned about this.

Betty Cavacco:

It’s a walk through.

Harry Helm:

It doesn’t matter. I think it’s a violation of Open Meetings Laws, period. Betty, this is not procedure that is we apply. This is outside a procedure that we apply to ourselves.

Betty Cavacco:

Did we have a meeting scheduled for the walk through at 46 Sandwich Road? No, we did not. We were all able to walk through. People talked about it. I don’t think this is any different. And board members were there, all of our town staff was there. I don’t think this is any different. And if someone wants to file an Open Meeting Law charge because of this little walk-through down Hedges Pond, welcome.

Harry Helm:

Betty, you and I are going to be in total disagreement about this. I don’t think it’s transparent. I don’t think it’s transparent. I don’t think it’s posted. I think the residents should be able to participate in this walkthrough because they’re going to be asked for $3 million.

Listen, I don’t want to hear that people don’t think it will cost $3 million. Okay? People who know these things say it will cost $3 million. I’m willing to trust them. I’m unable to say that it’s inflated. Okay? So, let’s just say it’s going to be $3 million dollars of taxpayer money. I’m not saying that it’s a bad idea to do it. Okay? I’m not saying knock it down and put a pavilion up for 300,000. What I’m saying it’s $3 million of tax payers’ money. And I think if we’re going to have a walk-through, I think the tax payers ought to be able to know that we’re going to have it. don’t think there unless it’s posted that that’s open.

Betty Cavacco:

I don’t think it has. Well, Derek?

Derek Brindisi:

Well, I would say that a walk-through is a very common practice. Conservation Commission does them on a regular basis. This was more of a fact-finding mission so we all have a better sense of this pavilion proposal. There’s nothing being brought to town meeting at this time. So, this is something that we do on a regular basis. Quite frankly, you know, we could have done this on our own without even having to talk about it publicly because it’s not a public meeting.

The public can be there. I mean, we just invited the last speaker. He certainly can attend. It’s not a private meeting. We’re going to walk around the property. We’re going to have a conversation about what to do with the property.

Betty Cavacco:

Yeah, I don’t–I don’t see it as a violation myself, so. Mr. Bletzer? And then we’re going to move on.

Charlie Bletzer:

Harry, if it’ll make you more comfortable, I’m going to be in Boston in the morning anyway. So, if you and Betty want to go, I can get out and do a walk-through another time, so our board is not in any violation.

Betty Cavacco:

It isn’t a violation, Charlie. Like I said when we were on–

Charlie Bletzer:

Well, if Harry is concerned, I don’t have a problem. I can go and take a walk-through at another time down there. All I have to do is walk the property and peek in the windows or whatever but and just see the property. If that would make you feel more comfortable. I don’t have any problems with that.

Harry Helm:

No, it doesn’t make me feel more comfortable because there is the distinct possibility of a quorum of the CPC attending. That’s my problem.

Betty Cavacco:

That’s not our jurisdiction. It’s CPC, and it’s a discussion. All of the CPC members were at 46 Sandwich Road all at the same time. All of the board, three or four of us of the board members were at 46 Sandwich Road. I mean, three of our board members were at Simes House along with public. I mean, you can certainly put out there, Derek, maybe you can have Anthony put something out that there’s going to be a walkthrough on Thursday and the public is welcome. This isn’t a meeting. We’re not deliberating anything. It’s nothing more than what we’ve always done in the past. And I just want to move on.

Mr. Keohan is asking to speak. So, Anthony, can you let him in? And I know Mr. Quintal still has questions about the budget.

Charlie Bletzer:

Are we going to be talking about this next week?

[0:55:06]

Betty Cavacco:

Not the budget, but–

Charlie Bletzer:

No, about this Hedges Pond. Why don’t we save it?

`1

Betty Cavacco:

Well, you got a quick minute, Bill.

Bill Keohan:

Okay, quick minute. Thank you. I went to Town Hall thinking there was a meeting tonight. I found and learned it was Zoom. I wanted to make myself available when I saw this discussion on the agenda. The CPC did get an email from Barry DeBlasio. He said that he was going to show the building to someone Thursday at 2:00 and offered to allow the CPC to join him. I let the CPC know that this opportunity existed but it’s 2:00 on a Thursday, people are working out of town and can’t attend. We thought that might be best to organize a site visit on a weekend at noon, so people can all go that are here.

So, my advice at this point is hey, let’s get together and talk about the Great Hall at the site at a time that’s convenient for everyone. We haven’t posted any meetings. We didn’t know about this. Usually, if we were going to do something as a group, I do post it. So, my recommendation is let’s set up a site visit on a weekend at a time that’s convenient to all. I can work with Barry and the Town Manager on picking a time and date. I think that might be the best way to move on from here.

Betty Cavacco:

Yeah. Well, we can talk to Derek and figure something out but the meeting still stands for Thursday. Correct, Derek? Okay. Thanks, Bill. Anyone else, Anthony?

Anthony Senesi:

No, we do not have anyone else.

Betty Cavacco:

Great. Now, Mr. Quintal. I’m so sorry. Please forgive us.

Dick Quintal:

Absolutely, no problem. It’s Lynne. Hi, Lynne. On number six, Lynne, rank 6, I believe if I’m looking at it right. Hedge School gymnasium floor. I could be wrong but–where did I see it? Yup.

Lynne Barrett:

Yeah. So, Hedge School replace gymnasium floor. That was right, number six.

Dick Quintal:

Okay. And the only comment I’m going to make on that is it’s not in sealed. I don’t want to say this. It’s probably very likely that that school and I believe it’s called Spring School eventually maybe closing. If that is the case, why are we putting a new gymnasium floor in Hedge School? I guess, that’s my question. That’s number six.

Then I would like to go over to number one, and that is I believe the Water Department, the North Plymouth Well.

Lynne Barrett:

So, that was number one for the Water Department and the Water Department Enterprise Fund.

Dick Quintal:

Oh, enterprise? Okay.

Lynne Barrett:

Yeah.

Dick Quintal:

I’m good with that one. Okay. And then I believe 43, the cemetery design, that could be the same thing but I just want to make sure.

Lynne Barrett:

Yeah. Cemetery design, that was ranked 43. They requested 600,000. We are funding 430,000 from the Sale of Lot Fund to get them started with that project.

Dick Quintal:

Okay. Is that the design of the new cemetery they’re talking about on Route 80?

Lynne Barrett:

Yup.

Dick Quintal:

And when will that take? Is that going to be in the spring?

Lynne Barrett:

These items are in Article 9 of the Annual Town meeting. That’s what you’re voting tonight. Everything that’s labeled ATM in this spreadsheet.

Dick Quintal:

But I mean, when would the actual design process start for that cemetery? I guess, that’s my question.

Lynne Barrett:

Well, this money becomes available July 1st. So, probably sometime this summer.

Dick Quintal:

After that, okay. Okay. And the last one is I believe was number 11, DPW. I believe it was a one-ton truck with–

Charlie Bletzer:

Change on beds.

Dick Quintal:

Yeah.

Lynne Barrett:

Parks and forestry, yup.

Dick Quintal:

Right. So, what exactly is that truck that’s $234,000?

[1:00:02]

Lynne Barrett:

Well, the backup for all of this is on our website. So, I could quickly go there.

Dick Quintal:

Okay. Well, I’m out of town actually. I’m not in Plymouth. So, I’m having some stuff work done here so that’s why I didn’t go through the backup for that. But I’m assuming it can make it a dump truck or something else.

Charlie Bletzer:

Probably a sander.

Betty Cavacco:

Yeah.

Lynne Barrett:

So, it has to do with Parks and Forestry. So, it has capability obviously of plowing snow, but also for the Parks and the Forestry Department to be able to do their functions. So, I can quickly look it up right now.

Betty Cavacco:

So, that’s 300 and change for two vehicles for both of Parks and Forestry?

Anthony Senesi:

Excuse me, through the chair, Ms. Barrett, Nick Faiella is on the line who’d like to speak.

Lynne Barrett:

Awesome. Excellent.

Dick Quintal:

Okay. Thank you.

Nick Faiella:

Hi, good evening. Hey, there. Nick Faiella, Parks and Forestry Superintendent. I just happen to be on here for an ARPA request in case there were questions about that. So, you lucked out. So, this is a hook and go truck. It has interchangeable beds. It can be a dump truck to haul loads of stumps, oversized brush logs, that sort of thing. At the same time, you can drop that bed right off, hook up to a chipper and would serve the purpose as a chipper. We currently have one chip truck that’s getting very old and is probably getting toward the end of its life. So, in the meantime, this would act as a second chip truck, but also be there for us in the future. So, it does have both a dumped body that can be dropped and a chip body that can be utilized as a chip truck. Primarily, it will be used in our Forestry Division.

Dick Quintal:

How many crews do you have in the Parks department?

Nick Faiella:

I have 16 full time employees between Parks and Forestry and we hire up to five seasonals. So, during a big storm, both of these trucks will be out. And probably on average 2, 3 days a week, both of these trucks will be out. A lot of the times we run into issues where all of our dump trucks will be tied up for park services and our chip truck will be at a job chipping brush from the crown of a tree. And then we need to send a park staff over with their one ton to haul the larger wood out or the stumps where this could be on site with the dump body at that point and also be able to handle that part of the job.

Dick Quintal:

Okay. And it’s not to give you a hard time but it’s just to ask questions, money being what it is. Why don’t we just call DPW and use one of our trucks over there. I don’t think there’s a day of any time of the year, including snowplowing that all those vehicles are being used? Which brings me to the next question is how many years the Parks Department have gone without these two vehicles since its inception? I mean, did we lose the chipper or we’ve always had one chipper.

Nick Faiella:

We have two chippers and one chip truck currently. In my experience in the past, almost 10 years, we’ve only had the one chip truck. But I will say since I’ve stepped into the superintendent position over three years ago, we have run into a lot of instances where I did wish we had a second chip truck. And the F550 we have. Currently, that is our current chip truck. I don’t have the stats in front of me, but I know it’s got high mileage and it’s getting pretty old. It’s constantly over at the Fleet Bay for service.

Dick Quintal:

Okay. Well, thank you very much. I just wanted to ask those questions, Nick.

Nick Faiella:

Thank you. I appreciate the questions.

Dick Quintal:

Okay. I guess, what I’m trying to say, Derek in a tight budget year and going forward, I know there’s a lot of equipment. Like I said, I’m sure we have dump trucks. I know there is that we’re not using them, why they couldn’t be borrowed and use the money for something else that the town needs? I think we bought a snowblower years ago.

Betty Cavacco:

$170,000. Never been used.

Dick Quintal:

$170,000. I don’t think we’ve used it yet.

Betty Cavacco:

Let’s sell it.

Dick Quintal:

Better yet than that, I don’t think we have anybody knows how to use it. So, these questions seem like, you know, it’s nothing to do with Nick Faiella. I think he does a great job. But what I’m trying to say is you know what you need it, you know, in my business, we need a truck, we borrow one, we use another one. We just don’t go out and buy another truck because once in a while we need one. Sometimes you have to make ends meet. And if it comes to that or saving taxpayers money on something else, I’m all for it, that’s all.

[1:05:07]

Dick Quintal:

And anything going forward for town meeting members with Cold Spring School or Hedge, make sure you ask your questions. We’re going to keep investing money in these buildings eventually. They’re doing studies and I get it, but the talks out there. And if that’s going to be the case and I can’t see putting money in the buildings we’re not going to keep or use as schools. I mean, it has to stop somewhere. That’s all I have to say. Thank you.

Betty Cavacco:

Okay. So, moving right along, I know that–is there any more questions about Article 9? Seeing none. Is there anyone that would like to make a motion?

Charlie Bletzer:

I make a motion to approve.

Betty Cavacco:

Motion by Mr. Bletzer. Is there a second?

Dick Quintal:

Second.

Betty Cavacco:

Second by Mr. Quintal. Discussion? All those in favor. Roll call. Mr. Quintal?

Dick Quintal:

Yes.

Betty Cavacco:

Mr. Helm?

Harry Helm:

Yes.

Betty Cavacco:

Mr. Bletzer?

Charlie Bletzer:

Yes.

Betty Cavacco:

Mr. Mahoney?

John Mahoney:

Yes.

Betty Cavacco:

And myself, yes. It’s unanimous. Thank you, Lynne. Sorry to keep you for so long.

Lynne Barrett:

Thank you. No, that’s fine. I’m going to stick around for the ARPA discussion.

Betty Cavacco:

Do you want to just jump right into that?

Lynne Barrett:

Sure. I think before you tonight, there are four requests from departments to allocate ARPA funds. Each department filled out a letter of explanation as to what they need the funding for. They filled out the proper paperwork that we need for filing through ARPA. And those departments are here tonight if you have specific questions regarding each and any one of those projects.

Betty Cavacco:

Well, I know the Brewster Garden Stairs has been a long ongoing process, so I’m happy that we’re going to put some money into it and get it fixed before somebody gets hurt. The Dispatch Consolidation for me is I know that those negotiations are ongoing. Are we at our end with those and some kind of an agreement or are we still negotiating?

Derek Brindisi:

We continue to negotiate. Chief Flynn and Chief Foley both had fill in the details on those negotiations, but there was a meeting recently with the Sheriff’s Department. So, we think we’re getting close to an agreement with the Sheriff’s Department that we can bring to counsel for review. Both chiefs and Brad Brothers, the Assistant Town Manager are actively working with the union to understand their concerns and answer any questions that they have so that they all feel comfortable with a consolidated dispatch center over at the Sheriff’s Department. I’ll defer any other specific questions to either one of the chiefs.

Betty Cavacco:

I think I’m good. Anyone else? Any other board members have any questions on the ARPA funds?

Dick Quintal:

Betty, if you don’t mind, I’d like to hear from both the Chiefs. Just to get a progress, a quick one of where they are. Just so the public knows and town meeting members.

Betty Cavacco:

Chief Flynn or Chief Foley, you can either unmute or both of you unmute and see your pretty faces.

Anthony Senesi:

One moment, please. Chief Flynn and Chief Foley, are you able to unmute yourselves? All right. One moment, please.

[1:10:15]

Anthony Senesi:

All right. Let’s try this again.

Betty Cavacco:

If we can’t see them, they can just speak. If we can get audio.

Anthony Senesi:

They should be able to speak. Just give me one second.

Betty Cavacco:

Dana, are you unmuted?

Anthony Senesi:

Looks like we’re having some issues. It should be working.

Betty Cavacco:

Derek, do we want to come back to it, do something quick? Do we have anything quick? Harry?

Derek Brindisi:

We have a presentation by Kelsey Casey. That’s going to take some time.

Harry Helm:

I was going to ask after we went through the Police Chief and Fire Chief to have Mark, our Climate Resiliency and Sustainability Planner explain. I know it’s only $15,000 but I know we have the materials but I would love it if he could explain to us and the audience and people would rewatch it, what this Climate Action Net Zero Plan is.

Betty Cavacco:

Great. Mr. Reil is actually right there and he can unmute himself. And if you wouldn’t mind, Mark, welcome. And if you just give us a little or give the public a little bit of an explanation.

Mark Reil:

Sure. Can you hear me okay?

Betty Cavacco:

Yes.

Mark Reil:

Very good. So, good evening, Madam Chair and to the members. There’s two things here as Selectman Helm mentioned the Climate Action plan for a $15,000 request and the electric vehicle purchase an additional $15,820. We’ll start with the electric vehicle.

So, back in September, the Select Board had approved $118,000 towards the purchase of five electric vehicles. At that time, the plan was to purchase a Ford Lightning, two Chevy Bolts and two Nissan LEAFs. We have since been able to purchase the Ford Lightning and two Chevy Bolts with one additional Bolt on order. And we’ve come across an issue where the Nissan LEAFs are unavailable and the ones that will be available will be considerably more costly than what we had originally planned.

And so, because the Chevy Bolts have been successful. They’ve been utilized in Inspectional Services and it’s been very successful, we figured we would continue moving forward with a purchase but because of the cost difference, we need just additional allocation. So, that is where we’re at with that issue.

And then on the Climate Action Plan, the development and implementation of the Climate Action Plan is really an essential function of my job. This funding would fulfill another identified goal of the Select Board’s 1.3, which is to develop the Climate Action Plan.

[1:15:00]

Mark Reil:

So, we’d be really doing some great work here in fulfilling your goals and helping me get my job done. It will really serve as a guide to adapt and mitigate the impacts of climate change, not only for town government, but for the entire community as a whole. There’ll be an extensive engagement process throughout the creation of that plan. So, we’ll provide an opportunity for all members of the community, all people, all folks in government to have a say in the development of that plan and what the results will be and what actions will be laid out in the plan at the end of the day.

I really want this plan to be something that’s not put on the shelf. It really needs to be something that anyone in the community can pick up and read and understand and know where we’re all going on these issues. So, I really look forward to having this done and that will only be the beginning really. It will really be the start of the work that we all have to do.

Betty Cavacco:

Great. Mr. Helm, does that give you the–

Harry Helm:

Oh, absolutely. I knew that but I’m glad that he was able to explain to people watching. This is important. I remember when we agreed to bring on a Sustainability Planner and Coordinator. So, thank you, Mark.

Mark Reil:

Thank you.

Betty Cavacco:

Mark does a great job. He’s very knowledgeable in places that we weren’t. Okay. I see Mr. Foley. Oh, and there is Chief Flynn, Chief Foley. Can you give just like a quick synopsis of where we’re at with negotiations for the board, please and the public for that matter?

Dana Flynn:

Sure. Can you can hear me now? Okay. So, we’ve been in what we referred to as mitigation meetings with the Dispatchers Union. We’ve had two meetings with myself and Assistant Town Manager Brad Brothers. We are progressing very nicely. We’ve answered a lot of questions for the dispatch group. We have another meeting scheduled for the 16th. Representatives of the union to meet with the Sheriff’s Department Human Resources Director on Friday and got more questions answered. So, we’re very close to having an agreement with the union. We’re hoping that the 16th will be the last meeting we’ll have to have because we’re running up to some pretty hard deadlines pretty quickly. So, we want to have all the personnel in place.

Dick Quintal:

You’re muted, Betty.

Betty Cavacco:

Chief Foley, do you have anything to add?

Neil Foley:

No. I think that Chief Flynn really kind of hit it pretty well there. Things are moving along. They’re moving at a much quicker pace now than they have over the past several months, which is promising. We have our vendors in line and understand that what our timelines are as far as the implementation of the project. So, I believe we have all the pieces in the puzzle to really get this ramped up so that we can stay on schedule. And the personnel piece is being handled and a lot of questions are being asked and answered at this point. It’s a difficult conversation, but I think it’s being handled very well.

Betty Cavacco:

Mr. Bletzer?

Charlie Bletzer:

I’d just like to commend both the chiefs on this, getting this. It’s almost done and I think it’s going to be win-win for both parties for the town and for the dispatchers. And I know the concerns of the dispatchers is being taken care of. I think there’s going to be promotions on the other side that they never had before. I think the money is going to be better for them and I think it’s going to be more efficient for the citizens of Plymouth and it’s going to be safer for them too. So, I think after you go through all that, there’s going to be some issues, some growing pains and once somebody get through that, I think it’s going to be a win, like I said, for the town and for the employees. I commend you for all the work you’ve done. Thank you.

Dana Flynn:

Thank you.

[1:20:05]

Betty Cavacco:

Thank you, Chief Flynn and Chief Foley. And now, with that being said, do we have a motion to approve the American Rescue Plan Act for project proposals?

Charlie Bletzer:

I make the motion.

John Mahoney:

Second.

Betty Cavacco:

Motion by Mr. Bletzer, second by Mr. Mahoney. Do we have any more discussion? Seeing none, I’ll take the roll call. Mr. Mahoney?

John Mahoney:

Yes.

Betty Cavacco:

Mr. Bletzer?

Charlie Bletzer:

Yes.

Betty Cavacco:

Mr. Helm?

Harry Helm:

Yes.

Betty Cavacco:

And Mr. Quintal?

Dick Quintal:

Yes.

Betty Cavacco:

The vote passes. Thank you. Unanimously. Okay. Next on the agenda is the Plymouth Public Library 2023 – 2028 Strategic Plan with Kelsey Casey. Good evening, Casey–Kelsey.

Kelsey Casey:

Hello, how are you?

Betty Cavacco:

Great.

Kelsey Casey:

I’m going to share my screen, hold on one second. All right. Can everyone see that?

Betty Cavacco:

Yes.

Kelsey Casey:

Great. So, thank you for the opportunity to share the Library Strategic Plan. The strategic planning process began way back in October 2021. We created surveys and held focus groups and gathered data to inform this final plan. The goals that we created are broad and each year, we will create specific action items based on those goals.

The Plymouth Public Library engages and enriches the community through lifelong learning, collections, programming and outreach. We are free and open to all with a commitment to diversity, inclusion and acceptance. Our first goal is to connect with the community.

The main takeaway that we hear from people about the pandemic time and time again is that people are what matter. We want to build relationships and act as a community hub. And as you all are very aware of, our main challenge in Plymouth is just our sheer size. It’s not easy for people to travel 25 minutes by car to come to the library. It’s even harder when they’re packing up two toddlers trying to get to story time. And it’s also an hour by bus to get to the main library from Algonquin Heights. We want to work to shorten that distance from the library by meeting patrons where they are. We’ve been holding programs at Algonquin Heights and Little Red Schoolhouse just for a start.

We hope to purchase library vending machines around town that let patrons place holds and have them delivered to their closest vending machine, which saves them a trip from coming all the way up here just because they have one extra hold.

Plymouth is really lucky to have a very engaged population. I’ve never seen so many members of the community on boards and committees and we want to connect with those community groups, the schools, local businesses and other town departments to create unified progress towards a greater community.

And we also want to emphasize the relevance of the library’s capabilities and resources to stakeholders in a more effective way. And that includes coming to Select Board meetings like tonight and letting you know what we’re doing. And this is America’s Hometown. We have a lot of history. So, our goal will always be working on preserving that history. And if you haven’t visited the local history collection on the second floor of the Main Library, I strongly suggest it.

My least favorite words are, ‘I didn’t know you did that at the library.’ We offer so many services and programs that aren’t well known. Did you know that we offer notary services or that we lend Wi-Fi hotspots and laptops? Did you know that we lend giant lawn Jenga and instruments? We need to improve our marketing so that everyone in the community knows what we can do for them, because it’s not enough to just provide the service, people have to know that it’s there and that it’s available to them.

And we want our members to reflect our community. That means everyone who wants a library card should have won. Only about one third of Plymouth residents has a library card and we’re hoping to get those numbers much higher.

[1:25:04]

Kelsey Casey:

So, our second goal is to focus on sustainability. Plymouth has so much natural beauty and is in danger of the effects of climate change. Whether it’s saltwater intrusion or protecting our aquifers, half the battle is education. We want to become a resource in town for those who wish to learn more about sustainable practices and how climate change and development is affecting Plymouth.

In February, we’re hosting a local author talk and he’ll be talking about the fight to revitalize Aliceville Marsh. We also have a slate of programs about how you can grow your own sustainable garden from now until September. And if you stick with us until September, we’ll have chickens at the library and people can learn how to garden with their chickens. You can see all of these programs on our calendar and our website. And we need to preserve our buildings and outdoor spaces to enhance their efficiency. So, they are more environmentally friendly. We’re working closely with Nick Hill and Mark Reil to achieve this.

Libraries as a whole are a pretty inherently sustainable institution. We encourage people to borrow materials instead of purchasing them, which breaks up that chain of purchasing. But we’re doing more by further examining our daily operations to do our part towards combating climate change. We want to expand the services that we’re already offering. And I always like to say that books are just the beginning. They are the absolute bare basics of what we do. And part of providing services is listening to what the community needs. So, doing the strategic plan and doing all these surveys has been really great because we asked what people wanted and they told us. So, one of the most asked for things on our community survey was a drive-up book drop. So, in our departmental request this year is a drive-up book drop. So, that just has to go through town meeting. And a large part of our services programming and we are going to make sure that we continue creating a robust programming schedule for all ages.

And we’re always taking suggestions. There’s a form on our website, if you think there’s something you want us to do that we aren’t doing already. Dialogue is such an important part of learning what the community wants. We encourage civility and empathy by providing a safe space for the open exchange of ideas. Libraries are constantly changing. I don’t know if when you were a kid, they had golden retrievers at the library that you could read to, but we do now. I don’t know if they did backyard cooking demos on how to cook over an open fire, but now we do. So, we are always trying to be inventive. Libraries are constantly changing because they’re reflective of the world around them. If people are on Facebook, so are we. People are on Instagram, so are we. They’re on TikTok, so are we. And we will inspire and enable staff to develop a variety of traditional and nontraditional abilities to meet the needs of this ever-changing society. We want to leverage technology to provide innovative programming and make technology solutions available to patrons. We also help people learn the technology that we utilize. Have you always wanted your parents to learn how to download e-books but dread teaching them? We can do that at the library.

We create lifelong learning opportunities for all members of our community through materials and programs. We’ll continue to assist adults in their pursuit of education through classes and GED and high set test preparation. We currently have 96 students in those classes and those graduates have gone on to secondary education, trade schools, open their own businesses and gotten farther ahead in life than they would have been able to do without that diploma. We now have four English learning classes serving 60 students but that still isn’t meeting the need in Plymouth. We still have a waiting list of people that want to get into these classes and learn English.

We also help our students achieve their goals of citizenship. We’ve had four U.S. Citizens created this year so far and we want to reflect the richness of all cultures and communities in Plymouth and the world in everything we do with programming and education. Access and freedom are the cornerstones of our institutions, but I don’t think it can ever be stated enough.

[1:30:01]

Kelsey Casey:

We consistently commit to providing equitable access to desired information and resources in digital and analog formats. And we will always promote the freedom of information, art and ideas. You can view this entire strategic plan at plymouthpubliclibrary.org. We just ask that you do not print it because that conflicts with our sustainability goals. We do have a Word format without all of the pictures and graphics that you can print out. That will not use a bunch of printer ink. So, thank you very much for letting me present this. And I will take any questions that you have. I’ll stop sharing my screen.

Betty Cavacco:

I’m sorry. Thank you, Casey–Kelsey. Does the board have any questions? John?

John Mahoney:

Kelsey? So, do you have numbers with respect to how many people walk through the door every year over there at the library?

Kelsey Casey:

Every year? I would have to look that up. But we have been reaching about 600 people a day recently.

John Mahoney:

Okay. I guess, my question is and I don’t know if you can answer this, but I’ve been hearing about the demise for the last 20 years of brick-and-mortar libraries. I live right down the street from the main branch and I’m there maybe once or twice a week and usually, when I go there that parking lot is at least half full. So, I guess the assumption was that with these fascinating jumps in technology that people would stop going to the library. Now, I didn’t know about some of those things that you just mentioned as programs and offerings over there. But what do you attribute the stability of, I think you mentioned the sustainability over there? And is there any reason to believe that in the next 10 to 20 years that the main branch wouldn’t be needed anymore?

Kelsey Casey:

I think that it’s quite the opposite. So, we’ve actually seen attendance higher than 2019. So, pre-pandemic, we’ve seen more people come through our doors. So, I just pulled up the statistics for you. Last fiscal year, we had 130,000 visits to the libraries. And it’s not just, like I said, books are just the beginning. We have people that come in for technology assistance. So, if people are saying that technology is going to replace libraries, well somebody has to teach them how to use the technology. So, we will always be there for that.

John Mahoney:

Okay, thank you.

Betty Cavacco:

Anybody else have any questions? Okay. Well, thank you, Kelsey and we appreciate all the work you gals are doing over at the library. The library staff knows that they are near and dear to my heart. So, wishing you well. I’d love to see the skating rink on the front lawn of the library someday. So, there’s a goal but we appreciate everything you ladies and gentlemen do over there. So, thank you.

Kelsey Casey:

Thank you.

Derek Brindisi:

Thank you, Kelsey.

Betty Cavacco:

So, we’re going to the Distribution of the Proposed Town Charter. We’re going to table that. But under the Select Board Open Discussion, I did forward a letter today from PACTV to all the board members regarding an open forum that they’re doing to discuss the charter. I think it’s the Select Board member, a Planning Board member, someone from the Finance Committee. And I would like to suggest that for the Select Board that we send Mr. Helm to represent the board. If anyone has any comments.

Charlie Bletzer:

I think it’s a great idea.

John Mahoney:

Do you need a motion?

Betty Cavacco:

Yeah, let’s make a motion.

John Mahoney:

I make the motion.

Dick Quintal:

Motion.

Betty Cavacco:

Motion by Mr. Quintal and seconded by Mr. Mahoney. Mr. Helm, are you okay with that?

[1:35:03]

Harry Helm:

I’m okay with that. I’m good with that. I’m not sure I should vote though, but I’m okay with it.

Betty Cavacco:

Only if it’s going to give you a monetary benefit, but that’s okay. All those in favor? Mr. Mahoney?

John Mahoney:

Aye.

Betty Cavacco:

Mr. Bletzer?

Charlie Bletzer:

Yes.

Betty Cavacco:

Mr. Quintal?

Dick Quintal:

Definitely. Yes.

Betty Cavacco:

And do you want to abstain, Harry?

Harry Helm:

Abstain, yes. I’ll abstain. Thanks, Betty.

Betty Cavacco:

Perfect. All right. And me, yes as well. Okay. Now, the Town Manager’s Report.

Derek Brindisi:

All right. So, as you all know, we’re working on that very complicated sewer interceptor project on Water Street. A couple items came out of that as of yesterday and today. So, first and foremost, as you know, Selectman Bletzer and I had met a couple of weeks back with some business owners down there, understanding their concerns about traffic and the public getting to their businesses. I had mentioned in our last meeting that we were going to work on a traffic update to just kind of change the traffic pattern down there. So, effective today, just so folks know this is a temporary traffic pattern change. We now have, Memorial Drive is going to be a two-way road, a halfway so folks from Court Street could turn onto Memorial Drive to access that parking lot. Once they access that parking lot, they can get to the businesses they need to get to. So, we plan on keeping that a two-way road through the month of February. Once they get out of the space that they’re in now and they move further on down south on Water Street, then we’ll have Memorial Drive go back to its previous traffic pattern.

And then staying with this project, earlier this morning while they were doing work, one of the water mains had let go. It filled up the trench very rapidly. Thank God there was nobody in the trench at the time. We were able to shut off and isolate where the break was. There’s only one customer on that area of the water main that happened to be the visitor’s center. So, we’re currently repairing that break. We hope to have that part of the water main up and running sometime tomorrow or the day after.

So, again, very complicated project. There’s a lot of moving pieces to this. We’ll keep you up to date as to the progress. Right now, we have about 150 ft of the sewer main complete. I believe it’s about 1100 ft in total. So, we have quite a ways to go. Again, the deadline is to be out of there by June 1st.

So, moving on to some other projects here in town. The Long Beach Nourishment Program, which is a $2 million grant we received from the state. The nourishment will begin this week. So, the Department of Marine and Environmental Affairs are looking forward to that project and getting that thing going. We also plan to demo the concession stands at Stephen’s Field later this week in preparation for a late spring, early summer Stephen’s Field renovation. So, again, just to keep the board apprised of what’s happening at Stephen’s Field.

We plan to open the bids for the town boat ramp in a few weeks. We’ll keep you posted on that. And then from the Police Department, a couple of things that are happening, some good things. I think the board knows that the Police Department about a year and a half ago were able to get a grant to hire a licensed clinician to work with the Police Department on responses. Most of these responses are behavioral health in nature. That response has seen an overwhelming number of calls for service so much that the Chief is now working on getting a second clinician to be a part of calls for service and response. So, looking forward to having a second clinician. Again, it speaks to the need that’s out there in the community.

And then on top of all that, the Police Department is working on getting a comfort dog. And yup, I said it a comfort dog. This dog will be part of the clinician’s response to take calls for the mental health needs, maybe go to the schools and be working with the SROs and then you know calls for service with this de-escalation that’s necessary. So, again, the Police Department under Chief Flynn, they’re doing a lot of great work to really think about community policing in a different way and I really appreciate their efforts.

[1:40:04]

Derek Brindisi:

And then just a couple more quick updates. Lee Hartmann is working with Cape Cod Community College and has been able to work on a really great collaborative program where Cape Cod Community College is going to offer classroom space to town officials so that they can learn about GIS. As you know, GIS is really encompassing all the work that we do. It’s not just an engineering program anymore, but the planning program. Law enforcement uses them in many ways and certainly our DPW uses it in a lot of ways as well. So, our compliments to Lee Hartmann to work out this agreement with Cape Cod Community College. And we appreciate their assistance in helping teach our staff around GIS.

And the last, I only bring this last one up because a number of folks and it’s one of the goals of the board is to really look at teaching our town officials around first respond, a CPR, an AED certification. So, many of our buildings don’t even have AEDs in our buildings. And we have a meeting coming up this Thursday with town officials and others to start to put together a program where we can train those that are interested in CPR and AED response. So, once we get the certifications, we’ll be seeking funds to acquire AEDs and outfit many of our town buildings with AEDs. We’ve seen what happened with the football player, Buffalo a few weeks ago, it was actually an AED amongst other things that saved his life. So, it’s just another program we’re trying to initiate here throughout Town Hall. So, pending any questions, that’s all I have for this evening.

Betty Cavacco:

Mr. Bletzer?

Charlie Bletzer:

Derek, Cape Cod Community College, I know they’re over in the airport and they get a great program over there training airplane mechanics. It’s a great program. And all the kids in the program are guaranteed jobs. And now, they’re doing something with the Police Department. Is there any way, I’d love to be able to entice Cape Cod Community College to maybe open a satellite campus up here somewhere. That would be fantastic. I know the president has been at some of the chamber, I was in the chamber and I met him and I wanted somebody, Stephen Cole or somebody could reach out to him. And I know he knows him and see if he can maybe entice them to do something in Plymouth. I think it would be great for our community.

Derek Brindisi:

It’s a great idea. And actually, Steve Cole at our staff meeting today talked about working with some of the university, Bridgewater State and Cape Cod Community College were the two higher Ed institutions he talked about developing programs here in town. So, he’s already tracking that. He’s having those conversations right now. So, as we get close to maybe to some potential agreements, hopefully, we’ll certainly bring that back to the Board.

Charlie Bletzer:

I mean, we have Quincy here now. Quincy College, Curry College, it’d be nice having maybe one or two more, that’d be fantastic.

Derek Brindisi:

Yeah, agreed.

Betty Cavacco:

Okay. Any other comments for the Town Manager? I just have one, it’s that, one of the things that people are recognizing quite a bit is the social media presence of our PD. And I know Captain Higgins has a lot to do with it and they all do a great job. I mean, people love seeing the things that our officers do and it’s not the stigma of stone faced and everything. So, it’s actually enjoyable to watch. And there’s been a lot of positive feedback because of it.

Charlie Bletzer:

The mental health person that rides along. We saw it happen in Duxbury. The mental health issues out there. Some of these calls that these officers are faced with as she’s so effective in providing resources for people that needed it. There’s a lot of these domestic calls. It’s serious stuff and it’s going to be very helpful and I’m sure this the care dog will probably effective too, I’m sure. But yeah, those are great programs and kudos to Dana, the Chief, for doing that. So, Captain Higgins, these towns, a lot of towns are adapting what he’s doing because they love it.

[1:45:05]

Charlie Bletzer:

He’s the perfect person to do that too.

Betty Cavacco:

And that’s one of the things where we’re all aware of that Duxbury tragedy. and our own staff at the BID had to deal with quite a bit of it and it was horrible. It’s just a horrible tragedy. I’m not going to embarrass him but I know that Vice Chairman, Mr. Quintal fed our ER workers and our social workers a couple of days ago and it really puts things into perspective when you take a look at what’s happening around us. Duxbury is not far from us. They’re really part of our community. So, there’s really no words except an immense amount of prayer and healings for you know the loved ones of the family, the community, our first responders. It affects everybody. If it affects the Duxbury Police and fire, ambulance guy, it affects ours as well. And if it affects some of our nurses at the hospitals, our hospital, it affects everybody. So, just keeping that family and everyone involved in our prayers.

Okay. Select Board Open Discussion/New Business/ Letters/ Old Business.

Charlie Bletzer:

I got some new business. I had the pleasure along with Select Board Member, Harry Helm and our Town Manager of attending the Chamber of Commerce, Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce in Indian Pond and a fellow member, one of my great friends and mentor, Richard Dickie Quintal got the Man of the Year award. So, I’m very proud to be there to see him. He didn’t know anything about it and to see him get that award, he deserved that award. And I think if he had known about it, he wouldn’t have gone. I had to make up something to get him to go there. But I was very proud and Plymouth should be proud too of this guy right here. So, anyway, well deserved, Dickie. Congratulations.

Betty Cavacco:

Yes, congratulations.

John Mahoney:

Congratulations, Dickie. Well deserved.

Betty Cavacco:

You definitely deserve it. I mean, that’s one thing that Dickie and I work really closely together. We fight like brother and sister, but I have to tell you that I have never met a kinder and more generous person.

Charlie Bletzer:

I’ve known it for 20+ years. I’ve seen him in action. Things that people don’t even know he’s done that I know.

Betty Cavacco:

And that’s the way he likes it. He doesn’t want anybody to know. But honestly, it’s a great honor to even serve with someone like that. And to call that person a friend is, like I said, his kindness is beyond approach.

Charlie Bletzer:

That’s enough. His head is going to get too big, so.

Betty Cavacco:

Yeah, we’ll shut him down.

Dick Quintal:

Well, thank you for that. I thank everybody that was involved. And as I said on the wing that day, the town comes together every time that I’ve asked or we’ve asked for no matter what it is and there’s a list. And we always come together, we help each other, whether it’s Covid or the death of a serviceman, fire strikes a family or somebody the needs of the holidays, Christmas. We do it and we do it with everybody’s help. So, it’s not just me. I’m heavily involved in it. I love doing it and that’s really all I have to say. But thank you to everybody. It is quite an honor. I wish my dad was alive to see it. But it is what it is. He’s watching from above, I guess.

Betty Cavacco:

Any other New Business, Letters, Old Business?

Dick Quintal:

I just want to–I’m sorry. Go ahead, John.

John Mahoney:

No, go ahead.

Dick Quintal:                                                                                                     

Derek brought up the defibrillators in town buildings. And years back, I think you’re on the board, John. Butch Machado letter charged to actually get those in most of the town buildings. We did have one on Lincoln Street.

[1:50:02]

Dick Quintal:

So, I think that’s a wonderful idea. But when you were saying that, I’ve been thinking about it anyway. And if everybody thinks it’s not a good idea where you don’t, I respect that but metal detectors in our town buildings. And I brought up a little while ago and I don’t want to get into what the schools do and the resource officers that they have and I know budgets drive everything. But I know I would feel better as a citizen in the community that the schools that don’t have school resource officers, SROs that at least would have metal detectors if not in every building. It’s just another layer of security and I would love to see that. We wait for a reaction to what if anything ever did happen here, what will we do? That’s probably one of the first things we recommend after. So, I’m saying maybe be pre-active and see if we got any money anywhere, whether it be us or the School Department to get them installed in all our public buildings for the safety of one, our employees and two, our children, our kids. Just a thought and see what comes out of it. That’s all I have.

Well, one other thing, we have a letter from a citizen and I know I spoke with you, Derek yesterday about a phone call from Section C in the cemetery.

Derek Brindisi:

Yes.

Dick Quintal:

And now I see there’s another letter and I know you’re working on that, but I just want the person that wrote the letter to know that you are working on it and we did receive the letter.

Derek Brindisi:

We have received a number of concerned calls from residents about Section C over at Vine Hills and we’re paying close attention to what happened and we’ll certainly remedy that as quickly as possible.

Dick Quintal:

I know you will. Thank you.

Betty Cavacco:

Okay. Mr. Mahoney?

John Mahoney:

Thank you, Betty. I just wanted to comment on the loss of the resignation of our DPW Director. And Dickie, I do remember when Select Board Member Machado brought that initiative forward. And I think Mr. Quintal is one of the only other person in this meaning that we remember 15 years ago when Mr. Beder came on, he was the fourth DPW director in four years, there was significant turnover at that position. He came on board I think in early in 2011. And it was kind of a running joke about the over under as to how long he would last, whether it’d be a year or not. So, I just wanted to comment that he made it to 12, just an incredibly resilient and remarkable 12-year run. And I just wanted to thank him for his contributions to the community and I don’t know what the next chapter holds for JB but I wish him all the best.

Charlie Bletzer:

I think we all do. I think we all wish him well.

Dick Quintal:

Yes. I can refer to what John is saying, it seemed like right after Lee back left, we went through quite a spill of DPW directors. It’s a large community and I will say thank you to him for his service and I wish him also the best, the very best in his next endeavor.

Betty Cavacco:

Yes. Anyone else? I know you guys want to just hang around but there’s a motion to–

Dick Quintal:

Motion to adjourn. How is that?

Charlie Bletzer:

Second that.

Betty Cavacco:

All those in favor?

Dick Quintal:

Aye.

John Mahoney:

Aye.

Betty Cavacco:

Aye, okay.

Dick Quintal:

Is that unanimous?

Betty Cavacco:

Yes, it’s unanimous.

Dick Quintal:

I hope to see you all next week.

Betty Cavacco:

Yes. We do have a meeting next week right, Derek?

Dick Quintal:

Yeah. Do we?

Derek Brindisi:

For the 7th but we are planning to not be on for February 14.

Betty Cavacco:

Yes, because I have to make sure that all you, gentlemen, take care of your significant others on Valentine’s Day, because I said something to might have been Derek, could have been John that we’re not going to have a meeting on Valentine’s Day on the 14th. And they’re like, “Why?” I was like, “Because it’s Valentine’s Day.” So, I don’t know. I don’t know what you guys are going to do without me and who’s going to keep you guys in line?

Charlie Bletzer:

Not that it’d be easy.

Betty Cavacco:

So, all right. Folks, we’ll see you next week, and everybody have a great week. Thank you.

Charlie Bletzer:

Good night, everybody.