0:00

welcome to the select men’s meeting Tuesday September 19 2023 please

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join the board and the pledge to the flag

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I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

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Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and

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justice for all

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Anthony pursuant to chapter 2 of the acts of 2023 and act relative to

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extending certain covid-19 measures adopted during the state of emergency signed into law on March 29 2023 this

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meeting is conducted via remote means and in person members of the public who wish to wash watch the meeting May do so

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in the following manner tune into Pac TV government cable access channels Comcast

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channel 15. that is going to be changing to channel 9 effective September 21st

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2023 and Verizon channel 47 and watch the meeting as it is aired live or watch

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the meeting live via the PAC TV’s website pacttv.org members of the public

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who wish to participate in the meeting May do so in the following manner in person at the Great Hall on the second

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floor of Plymouth Town Hall 26 Court Street and also a remote option via a

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zoom link on the agenda that is located on the town of plymouth’s website in the agenda and

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minutes Center Mr chairman thank you the select board will hold an executive

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session pursuant to Massachusetts general laws chapter 30A section 21A

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Clause 6 to consider the purchase exchange lease a value of real property

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if the chair declares that an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the negotiating position of the public

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party whole Tech International Pilgrim Power Plant value of real property

2:06

158 Center Hill Road lease American Cruise Lines dock in agreement

2:13

also a lease the board will return back to open session at 6 pm

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thank you we’ve been in executive session and now

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we are returning to open session

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just bear with me a moment here there it is

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the first order of business will be a public hearing the transfer an annual

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wine and malt General license from obco Incorporated doing business as long house axles ax throwing 46 Main Street

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Joseph O’Brien manager to Longhouse ax throwing LLC doing business as long

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house ax throwing 46 Main Street Mark Holmes manager

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in accordance with chapter 138 of the Massachusetts general laws as amended notices hereby given that a public

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hearing will be held to Plymouth Town Hall 26 Court Street on Tuesday September 19 2023 at 6 pm to consider

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the application for a transfer of annual wine and malt journal on premises

3:35

license from opco Incorporated doing business as long house ax throwing 46 Bain Street Joseph

3:43

O’Brien manager to Longhouse ax throwing LLC doing business as long house ax

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throwing 46 Main Street Mac homes manager description of premises is as

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follows approximately 3 200 square feet located on the ground floor in the rear

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of the building two bathrooms one manages office large open space with a

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front desk buy an ax throwing Lanes exist two entrances two exits anyone

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wishing to be heard on this matter should plan to attend this meeting and now declare the hearing open

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and please identify yourself for the record and make sure the green light’s on green

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light is on Mark Holmes so I’m the owner of Longhouse ax throw an LLC

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I do have the Operation Safety plan here as well as the layout of the space if you guys have any questions and I am tip

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certified as of September this year okay

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I just have a question mark is anything going to change with the operation that he just changing manages correct okay

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yep so it’s a kind of a copy and paste between Joe and myself and the training process as I’m taking over the

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acquisition of the business so how’s business how was your business

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how was the business is it good it’s good yeah yeah because it’s such a new thing to Plymouth I always yeah no it’s

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uh I think there’s a lot of opportunity with it it’s pretty new like like you mentioned but uh yeah there’s a there’s

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a ton of uh potential you know at first I was like I I just didn’t see it but

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people love us you know I hear people talking about it all the time so yeah Joe’s done a great job getting off the

5:30

ground so I’m excited to take it over to the next step yeah well good luck to you so okay appreciate it thank you

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any other questions from board members comments are you going to open up anyone

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here wishing to speak in favor of this application this transfer

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anyone online no anyone wishing to speak in opposition this application

5:55

not an online I’ll bring it back to the board

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make a motion to approve second motion by Mr blatta second by Mr

6:07

Helm discussion Mr blatter

6:12

I vote Yes Mr Helm yes Mr Canty yes Mr Mahoney yes and myself yes

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thank you thank you appreciate it

6:28

second one is another public hearing alteration of premises from Village Sports Club LLC 30 Golf Drive Timothy

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Hager manager holder of an annual all act alcohol General on-premise license

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in accordance with chapter 138 of the Massachusetts general laws as amended

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notices hereby given that a public hearing will be held at the Plymouth Town Hall 26 Court Street Plymouth

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Massachusetts on Tuesday September 19 2023 at 603 pm to consider the

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application for an alteration of premises from Village Sports Club LLC 30

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Gulf Drive Tim haga manager holder of an annual all-al alcohol General on-premises license

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description of the premises will be as follows 4 300 square foot building which

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consists of three indoor tennis courts indoor swimming pool second floor locker

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rooms training rooms and exercise areas sports bar in the center Lobby between

7:30

swimming pool and tennis court entrance adjacent to the sports bar exit on the northwest side of the

7:37

building an entrance exit in the pool area applicant seeks seeks to add six

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thousand square feet of outdoor space consisting of tennis courts anyone

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wishing to be heard on this matter should plan to attend this meeting and now to clear this hearing open

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and please identify yourself for the record and be sure the green light’s on

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green light is on good evening chairman members of the board Elizabeth Pizano from Upton Connell and Devlin on behalf

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of the licensee village sports club with me tonight is Timothy the manager of

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record at the sports club and my Columba in the back there the owner who’s also with us tonight this application is to

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expand the license premise to add an additional 6 000 square feet of outdoor

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space for the tennis courts it’s all enclosed from a fence and it’ll be contiguous to the indoor area and we’re

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happy to answer any questions that you may have any questions from the board

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anyone wishing to speak in favor of this application in the audience online

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anyone wishing to speak in opposition online okay

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wish of the board I’ll make the motion to approve

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second motion by Mr Plaza second by Mr Helm discussion

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seeing none Mr bletza I vote Yes Mr Helm yes Mr Canty yes Mr Mahoney yes and

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myself yes thank you have a good night good luck folks

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any questions under the licenses

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if not take a motion to move them I’ll make a motion that we approve the

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or listed licenses as a group second motioned by Mr Canty second by Mr Helm

9:57

discussion see you none Mr bletzer yes Mr Helm yes

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Mr Canty yes Mr Mahoney yes and myself yes

10:15

we have nine administrative notes questions or comments does the board

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wish to move them as a group or separate or and Mr chairman yes I just uh under

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number under number two the family the McCarthy family is here but they didn’t

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want to come up and speak but I just want to acknowledge the family that that they are here and

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uh and and I approve of what they’re trying to do so okay and that is

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for the people watching they’re dedicating the bench to their son Jimmy McCarthy who

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everybody in town knows them I know this board knows them and uh Jimmy everybody

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got a package but uh the letters of recommendation for this would just it were just unbelievable police fire a lot

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of business owners and on the bench yeah the it’s going to say

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something the plaque will say about Jimmy smile uh

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and I gave Dr package so I don’t have it in front of me but uh just come sit in and enjoy you have it

11:32

come sit and share a smile it’s interesting

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thank you and we need more people like Jimmy and Plymouth and unfortunately Jimmy day two young it’s his fourth

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anniversary October 1st and at 10 o’clock and we’re going to honor him and his family down at Shirley Square where

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the office was for so many years and it’s going to be taking place right outside of sea Plymouth uh lee phillson

12:03

for the tourists that I see Plymouth that’s the terms funeral she loves the idea and it’s going to be

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a bench for the tourists can sit down when they come out of sea Plymouth and take a rest and just enjoy the bench so

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anyway I just want to acknowledge Him this publicly and I hope a lot of people

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that out there that hear this will get down there that day to uh to honor

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Jimmy’s Legacy so anyway thank you

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any other questions or comments on the administrative notes

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I’m just gonna chime in with Mr Blitzer a new Jimmy I know Karen

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and I know the whole family and it’s a wonderful family and wonderful people and it’s well deserved

12:53

motion to improved denied administrative notes I’ll make a motion

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second motion by Mr Canty second by Mr helm

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great what was it yeah Mr Holm okay discussion

13:10

or comments Mr Helm yes Mr Canty yes Mr Mahoney yes and

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myself yes next item up American Rescue plan

13:28

funding requests water sewer study

13:37

good evening Mr chairman members of the board we’re requesting this amount of Opera funds to be utilized to

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fund rap Telus consultant to perform the water and sewer rate study if so

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approved I’m happy to answer any questions you might have

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any questions or comments from the board John then Harry so Bill I know you’re new to the

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community and you’re diving right in so this is um is this the study that

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was recommended by the water conservation committee with respect to a potential significant change in how we

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yes we’re going to look at different rates in terms of trying to promote conservation seasonality seasonality

14:26

exactly so we anticipate the study to be completed sometime around December into

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early January and come back with you to you with a draft report as well

14:38

um did has anybody shared with you yet the uh the three major findings of the water conservation committee

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I have not okay all right we’ll make sure that the uh Mr brindisi’s here so

14:49

Derek I don’t know if you have a copy of we just get the three major recommendations of the water conservation convention committee along

14:56

to Bill oh okay uh I’m yeah I know Peter has it

15:02

but that’s something I you know you should have it’s not complicated and what kind of a time frame do we have

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with respect to getting the results in of this study again we’re looking towards the end of December into early

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January I think the the schedule that was presented to us had the work starting in September so with this

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contract where a few weeks you know beyond the beginning of September and it had a completion date of end of December

15:27

so I would expect this to be closer towards uh mid late January okay all

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right thank you and Mr Gordon is participating by Zoom if you have any specific questions for PETA

15:41

I’m not sure exactly who this week would be for you Peter or for you but on page

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three of the ref Telus Water and Sewer rate study price proposal from August

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17th it says that the price will be 65

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000 five dollars and you’re asking for 78 000 what’s happened yes what we did

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is we added a 20 contingency in the event that something were to change we didn’t want to tie our hands to the

16:12

exact number that the bid came in at this at this point our expectation is the sixty five thousand and five dollars

16:18

is what the contract value is but we’re also looking at there’s always potential

16:23

for additional costs so we wanted to add I believe a 20 contingency to that

16:29

number but that so that is a contingency that is not just a free-floating amount

16:34

to spend on anything else that comes along correct that is just a contingency in in the event they come back to us

16:40

with additional work that may be required we did want to provide for a contingency but at this point the

16:46

contract value was sixty five thousand and five dollars so when will when will

16:51

this be completed I can’t remember again the schedule indicated the end of

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December is when they had a completion date December of this year this year yes I’m

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sorry okay uh but that they provided a float shot which showed the work initiating beginning of September so

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assuming it gets approved tonight and we’re able to execute a contract you know within hopefully within a week and

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get them started I would anticipate that the work would probably be completed towards mid late January thank you

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certainly we’ll try to push again and quicker but we want to make sure it’s done thoroughly

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Mr chairman sorry to interrupt uh we have Peter Gordon has his hand raised

17:34

just oh I’m sorry Peter good evening superintendent

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um I did just want to add that yes part of this race study was inspired by um Eric Cody’s presentation of the board of

17:49

selectman and his recommendations uh the other portion of this that we’re hoping to get out is a five-year rate study in

17:56

terms of where we need to be now and where we need to be in five years in order to maintain the status of the Enterprise fund

18:02

um as it is intended uh there is a as as uh bill has stated there is a deadline

18:07

by the end of December to complete this study I spoke with the rap tell us folks today

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um and the only hang up there would be the exchange of information as quick as we can get them the information uh the

18:19

quicker they’ll be able to complete the study for us so the most important component here is

18:24

the public Outreach component we were hoping to send out something in the February billing cycle with the bills to

18:32

announce to the customers uh any updates regarding the seasonal rate that we hope to uh Institute next year and we if we

18:39

can get this approved tonight we will be on track for that

18:45

any other questions yeah Charlie and Bill just uh just for the record the 20 contingency that standard operating

18:53

procedurally typically we would build that into most contracts um just so that

18:58

we don’t have to come back to get additional approvals but again our goal would be not to use it but yet it’s available you don’t need it you don’t

19:04

spend it exactly thank you thank you Mr Canty uh bill there’s a

19:12

exceptions language on page 28 of The Proposal where they’re looking to have some

19:19

contractual liability language stricken why do they want that stricken and why

19:25

would we want to Ascent to the Striking of that language I would have to defer to legal counsel

19:32

on whether or not they feel that is appropriate so before we execute the contract we’ll reach out to legal

19:38

counsel to make sure they’re agreeable to it okay

19:45

you see you have to stand up again or is that from okay all right

19:55

so you need a vote on this to to move the funds yes but you’re also going to check on Mr Canty’s concerned because

20:02

absolutely before we execute the contract we’ll make sure legal counselors on board okay

20:07

you have a motion you go with that yes all right I’ll make a motion that we

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um approve the funding request for the water sewer rate study

20:18

second motion by Mr ganty second by Mr Mahoney discussion

20:25

Mr bletza Mr Helm yes Mr Canty yes Mr Mahoney yes

20:33

and myself yes thank you very much thank you

20:38

Peter Mr Gordon 2023 fall Town meet and warrant article

20:45

review

20:50

article 17. foreign

20:56

this article is related to the ongoing discussions with

21:02

the whole Tech regarding a payment in lieu of taxes at this time I’m happy to report that

21:09

whole Tech has accepted all of our terms regarding the payment in lieu of taxes

21:16

so in summary this has to do with an eight-year agreement

21:21

and uh approximately 16 million dollars for the eight year agreement as the board knows

21:27

we are still discussing uh writing our first offer so we’ll come back to the

21:33

board at a future date regarding any finalization on that language

21:40

Mr Canty so Derek do we need to vote to include

21:46

the warrant article in the language even though we’re still working out on the details I assume uh yeah so the article

21:52

itself just references the the pilot itself so yeah I would recommend that

21:57

the board vote to proceed with that article and we’ll work out the details on the writer first offer but I would

22:05

say that at this point the pilot agreement is has been complete we just

22:10

have to wait for that last that last item for the writer first offer and if for some reason we didn’t work out an

22:16

agreement we could always seek no motion no action on article 17 if need be I would recommend to withdraw that yes

22:22

thank you any other questions or comments

22:28

pleasure of the board I’ll move approval on this article I’ll

22:33

second motion by Mr Mahoney second by Mr Helm discussion

22:41

Mr bletter I vote Yes Mr Helm yes Mr Canty yes Mr Mahoney yes and myself yes

22:53

article 24 amend Zone and bylaws ground mounted solo photo attic systems citizens petition

23:15

good evening gentlemen my name is attorney Timothy Angley I’m here in uh to speak for article 24 for the citizens

23:25

who have brought forth this petition can I assume that you have are familiar

23:31

with our proposal or would you like a a copy of the abbreviated version of it does anyone

23:38

need a copy no okay thank you though

23:43

so we are looking to do is amend uh section 207-11 the ground-mounted solar

23:50

photovoltaic systems we want to make a couple of changes

23:55

uh first up being that we would like to expand the financial Surety section of

24:01

the bylaw that would include ground mounted systems such as this that uh

24:08

exceed eight feet in addition to the current uh

24:15

requirement of anything over two megawatts eight feet over above grade and that we’re looking to

24:22

exclude any ground mining systems that would cover a parking lot that was the financial security security

24:30

session when it comes to other requirements notification we’re looking to expand the

24:38

um the uh footage that you need those square footage or sorry the distance that you

24:43

need to inform Personnel uh homeowners from 300 to 700. the

24:50

current standard for zoning bylaws is 300 foot notification of the butters as

24:56

to what needs to be that they need to be notified that there’s a project we’d like to increase it to 700 feet because

25:02

of the nature of these installations they have quite a sight line that people

25:10

from more than 300 feet away can easily see and so we think that everyone should be or more people should be included in

25:16

being notified have a chance to come and speak their opinion on the uh on the project

25:24

in addition uh the following sections are all additional sections to the bylaw we would like to Define uh what a view

25:33

shed is a view shed is uh basically anybody

25:38

who’s within that 700 feet or so if their site or their view is going to be

25:44

explicitly impacted with with an installation and that’s

25:50

going to be there so we want to uh that noted that it’s going to be

25:56

changing the community Scenic character and property values as may be termed by

26:01

The Building Commissioner if the project is going to be able to be seen from their property that that that we want to

26:08

try and protect their views The View shed it shall be defined as a

26:15

geographical error that is visible from a location it includes all surrounding points that are in line of sight and that location and excludes points that

26:21

are Beyond the Horizon are largely obstructed by terrain or other features such as buildings multiple trees Etc so

26:28

the intent here being that if you’re within the 700 feet of the proposed installation but you’re behind a hill

26:33

you’re not going to be affected your view isn’t going to be affected if there’s a building in front of you

26:39

there’s a big stand of trees you know only worried about people who are really

26:45

really affected here and then where the changes would come is

26:50

that um an applicant shall present a complete plan which includes screening is defined

26:56

by section 201-3 of the bylaw and which accomplishes the goal of adequately and sufficiently reducing the impact of the

27:03

installation regardless of the height of insulation for the above mentioned residents the plan shall could but not

27:09

be limited to the use of berms fencing and or vegetation so the intent here is that anybody who’s

27:16

going to propose one of these installations has got to come with a plan that takes these the views into

27:23

into account and it’s going to show this is what we can do to try and Screen you know this resident or that Resident from

27:29

their view of these large solar panels being elevated up in the air impacting

27:35

them further the planning board shall make a recommendation for screening which

27:41

accomplishes the goal of adequately and sufficiently reducing the visual impact of the installation regardless of the

27:47

height of the installation from residents the plan should include but not be limited to the use of berms fencing and vegetation so here the

27:54

intent is that the planning board after having the site plan review shall make a recommendation to the building inspector

27:59

that we think that this plan adequately does it or we don’t feel that that it does

28:05

adequately do it so that there should be some changes or you should try you should have the applicant beef up the

28:10

installation uh and finally the planning board May weigh the provision if the applicant obtains notarized written permission of

28:17

every one of the budget property property landowners meeting the seven foot viewership criteria so if no one in

28:23

the area cares about it sign off no problem we walk away so

28:28

that’s essentially our change our proposed changes to the bylaw I’m happy to take any questions

28:35

any questions or comments from the board Mr Canty yeah

28:40

yep okay uh thank you attorney and Glee um so reading over your

28:47

petitioned article um I have a few questions so I noticed

28:52

uh first and foremost that stood out to me was the increase from 300 feet to 700

28:59

feet for the notice to Butters what was that what was that increase based on

29:05

increasing from three to seven hundred specifically so that increase was based

29:11

on the fact that a number of the the possible installations that this would

29:18

cover are are going to be on Cranberry Bogs or open areas where you have a there’s a

29:24

much longer sight line than than 300 feet and so we we just wanted to make

29:30

sure that residents who are back aways from any proposal like this

29:35

would be able to get a chance at least get noticed that there’s something proposed rather than all of a sudden

29:40

them waking up one day and there being a installation that’s 500 feet away but it’s in their site and they didn’t know

29:47

anything about it but it was coming okay so uh the current bylaw

29:53

market Chico 513 Consulting I just want to add that Mr Pharaoh can you please

29:58

speak into the microphone thank you we met with uh planning with Mr Farrah that was one of the numbers that we came

30:04

about who’s I think we spent about an hour and a half with planning and um they were very were

30:11

very appreciative of it and 700 is one of the numbers that came out of it and again it has Tim mentioned there’s

30:18

really no difference between 400 and 300 feet if you’re looking at five acres of

30:24

metal so that’s that’s where it comes from but again you know we want to make sure you understand we did due diligence

30:30

with with planning and um meeting with the staff Mr Farrah what

30:37

did planning if you could come to the microphone what did planning staff think of the increase from 300 to 700 feet

30:51

good evening members of the board so we did have a conversation uh with the

30:57

petitioner however staff didn’t provide any actual numeric

31:04

value or a distance the 300 feet

31:10

actually is part of mgl chapter 48 section 11 which states

31:18

300 feet of notification so other than conservation which there’s a 100 foot

31:24

notification for notice of intent rdas and reds the state standard is 300 feet

31:32

a petitioner wants to increase would like to see an increase up to 700 feet

31:39

based on a project that staff reviewed a few years ago and it is in on a

31:46

cranberry bug when you have homes surrounding a cranberry bug you’re going to see it there’s really no way to

31:53

screen a project that’s in the middle of a cranberry Bond so uh while staff

32:01

doesn’t have an opinion either way discussion was made however the 700 foot

32:08

was something that the petitioner had presented thank you Mr thank you

32:14

um so as Mr Farah alluded to the 300 feet is contained in Mass General Law

32:21

chapter 48 section 11. and also for the petitioner for Mr Angley

32:29

Massachusetts General Law chapter 40. uh chapter

32:36

40a Section 3 reads in part no zoning ordinance or bylaws shall prohibit or

32:43

unreasonably regulate the installation of solar energy systems or the building of structures that facilitate the

32:50

collection of solar energy except where necessary to protect the public health safety or welfare

32:58

so my concern the current I remember when this bylaw was first pass through town meeting I was on the advisory and

33:04

finance committee at the time but when it was presented to us by planning staff there was concern about

33:12

reaching too far in our regulations because if we unreasonably regulated

33:18

then our bylaw could be stricken down the current bylaw and your proposed

33:24

amendments can contains no severability language so if it were to be stricken

33:30

down that would leave the town of Plymouth with no zoning bylaw on in

33:36

relation to solar and that is exactly why we passed a solar bile on the first

33:41

place was to prevent we already had a couple that were in process at that time we wanted to stop them from popping

33:46

around the entire Community without any regulation so I guess I’m concerned about going

33:53

from 300 to 700 when it’s the 300 is taken from state law are you aware of

33:59

the provisions of chapter 48 Section 3 and what justification do you have for

34:05

this not being an unreasonable regulation given that I don’t think this is an unreasonable

34:10

regulation because all this is asking is that people up to 700 feet being notified that if there’s a proposal I

34:18

think that also under the home rule Provisions that have been recently put forward we can use the state 300 foot as a

34:26

Baseline and expand it to whatever we feel as a town would be reasonable so in the area where we’re mostly this

34:35

bottle would mostly kick in you’re looking at views of well over a thousand feet easily so the visual

34:42

impact and the spirit of our bylaw which is to preserve the community nature et cetera et cetera of the uh of the

34:49

neighborhood a further increase in the requirement that you send a letter to a owner that

34:56

you want to build a project doesn’t seem like any sort of uh attempt to

35:02

constructively prohibit the project it’s simply letting people know hey there’s

35:07

going to be this thing that’s going to be built out out in your in your backyard and because you happen to be

35:14

305 feet away you don’t get notice and you don’t you know you have to find out on your

35:20

own that this is going to be done the town doesn’t let everybody know that projects are being proposed and whatnot

35:27

it’s upon the citizens that have to go and check the board agendas and the filings and everything like that so this

35:33

seemed like a reasonable increase in the distance that people need to be notified

35:39

and again it’s simply notice it’s not simply it’s not saying you’re prohibited if it’s this distance or whatever it’s

35:45

just letting people know hey this is a proposal did you have an opportunity to go before

35:51

the town’s energy committee about your proposal we did and what uh feedback did

35:56

the energy committee give you the energy committee felt that we

36:01

um that our original proposal was repetitive and somewhat um

36:06

unnecessary so we took that that feedback in and we eliminated some of

36:12

the provisions that we had originally drafted up and we changed some of the language to try and address some of

36:18

those concerns one of the basic issues that we ended up discussing

36:25

afterwards after the meeting was that if we had adopted all of the changes that the energy committee had wanted

36:31

essentially there’d be no reason to bring this warrant full item forward to begin with

36:37

Mr malagudi I see you are in the audience you are on the energy committee would you care to take the microphone

36:43

and respond to

36:50

take it down okay so Mr maligudi we were just told from

36:56

the petitioner that they onboarded some of the um crit the feedback that your committee

37:03

gave them I’m curious what’s your thoughts on that are and any of the other thoughts of the energy committee

37:09

on this article so he is correct he did actually bring the uh excuse me Everett maligudi um

37:16

Precinct 2 and a member of the energy committee so he did actually uh come to

37:21

the energy committee at our August 2nd meeting before the deadline for the warrants uh were closed and just gave us

37:27

an overview of what the article language was and the

37:33

temperature of the energy committee was basically that the majority of the language within the petitioned article

37:41

was arbitrary and already was redundant language to what was already included in

37:46

the original bylaw so we actually asked when we gave the

37:52

recommendations for him to come back at our next meeting the August 16th meeting

37:58

came and went he did not attend he followed the exact language that was

38:03

presented to the energy Committee of the August 2nd meeting with no changes and I can state that there were no changes

38:09

because I read the actual Language online after the warrants are posted on the ANF and

38:17

finance pages on the website so the actual changes that were stated

38:23

were never made at all so the committee

38:29

um basically stated that the language for the 700 feet was arbitrary one because

38:36

and after the actual meeting I looked at other committee uh other towns languages

38:42

there’s none that have any odd number that basically pops out

38:48

they’re basically State guidelines and if they’re are some they’re basically within like historic areas that they have certain

38:55

um larger restrictions on it but not just general ones that cover entire municipality

39:02

also the language for viewshed was seen as arbitrary as that no one is

39:09

guaranteed of you it’s basically why you are a view can change weather dependent

39:16

the owners of land surrounding you that anything can change viewers not

39:21

guaranteed unless you are the owner of all that property that you gain for the actual View

39:27

and also height determines that too if you’re on a hill and the project is in a valley you are going to most likely look

39:33

Beyond unless you’re actually adding a canopy over it so it blinds you from actually seeing it

39:39

hmm the Redundant language was basically the view was on the viewership was the

39:46

um natural features and screening and all that stuff that’s already contained within the bylaw and that’s actually

39:51

part of the actual zoning bylaw that exists and we reference that within the

39:57

C this section of the zoning bylaw and this is what the definitions are for buffering screening natural vegetation

40:04

and so on so those were the actual

40:09

um things that were stated were changed but were never changed in that the energy committee voted at the August

40:17

16th meeting to not support the article since the petition never returned as was asked and submitted the

40:25

actual language that was presented at the August 2nd meeting without any revisions made by the committee

40:32

and that is all I have to say unless there are any other questions thank you thank you Mr malagudi I see Ms Burgess

40:39

is also on the energy committee and also in the audience is there anything you would like to add from the energy committee perspective

40:50

I said I’d share the energy committee but at that meeting when we took the vote we had a unanimous vote to not

40:57

support and um we had asked Evert to draw up

41:04

our language that we would have for that so that’s why Eric presented thank you

41:09

appreciate it I recognize thank you Mr chairman

41:18

yes that’s my last question I don’t think this is an unreasonable

41:24

request at all if you request for notice and I know a friend because I think a a

41:31

reasonable business would honor this request

41:38

first time I drove down black cat roads which is where what we’re talking about

41:43

and by the way this is the citizens petition the citizens down there are

41:48

upset about this and I understand why because the first time I drove down there years ago I thought it was one of

41:55

the most beautiful things you’ve ever seen the cranberry barks driving through there it was absolutely beautiful it was

42:02

stunning and I couldn’t believe I’d never been down there

42:07

and I drive by exit five the old exit five and I look at that and all I can think of when I drove down there the

42:13

other day I looked at it and seeing something like that down there how that will change that whole neighborhood

42:19

and I’m all for alternative energy and Mr Pharaoh knows that I’m all for us and

42:26

we need we need Alternative Energy but I think we need to do it right we need to

42:32

protect our neighborhoods the same way we’re trying to protect our downtown our waterfronts you know with height

42:38

restrictions and buildings okay we want to preserve that too if

42:43

this is the same thing this is all brand new this solar the solar energy and

42:48

these Farms it’s all brand new but we got to keep it you know neighborhoods in mind they’re citizens

42:55

too and we should this is a very reasonable request

43:01

by this by these citizens and I think we should try and honor this I have another

43:06

I have a question too the folks that it putting these firms in

43:12

for the lack of better word what happens down the road when these

43:18

aren’t profitable anymore they’re not and who takes them down do they just sit there forever

43:24

is that what’s going to happen because that’s another that’s a problem I can see and I tell you right now

43:30

are we like the Indian with the tear in his eye you know looking at something like that if that’s what I see 20 years

43:36

from now sitting empty with those ugly uh panels there so you know to request

43:43

they have some kind of screening for the Neighbors I don’t think it’s unreasonable at all we really have to take a look at this I’m going to support

43:49

this but this to me is a no-brainer it’s they’re not saying they’re against solo

43:56

you’re not you know you’re not saying that at all you just want to we it’s going to be done right

44:01

so uh so I like I said I I support this I

44:07

support this article I hope uh my board votes for this and I hope town meeting improves it it really do thank you

44:13

thank you Mr Blitzer um to address Mr malaguti’s comments we are happy to

44:20

provide the original draft that I took to the energy committee that will show that what we have

44:27

submitted to you is actually different and I would also like to comment that

44:33

um asking us to come back to the committee after the town meeting warrant had already closed sort of defeated the

44:39

purpose of bringing it forward for the fall so with respect I understand your

44:45

concerns and we try to address them but we can agree to disagree but I’m happy

44:52

to provide the original text to you if you so choose Thank you Mr Helm

45:00

thank you um a question in

45:06

section g of you shed affected um on several occasions one two three

45:15

four five you have the word shall in capital letters why did you feel the

45:22

need to specify shall is there something in the current bylaw

45:30

that does not require any of this we felt that the current bylaw

45:37

doesn’t use the word shall so it sort of leaves it ambiguous as to what you should or shouldn’t do so by us putting

45:45

in that you shall send a recommendation that you that the project either has adequate screening or it doesn’t add

45:52

some more teeth to the bylaw to be able to allow the different the planning board and the Building Commissioner to

45:59

be able to determine what is and what isn’t in compliance with what the existing bylaw already is so we were

46:06

simply looking to beef up what is already in existence sure and and I

46:12

certainly understand the difference between May versus shall um the um somebody got it

46:19

um you mentioned um this ambiguity

46:25

do you have any examples of where this ambiguity has caused basically the

46:32

current bylaw to effectively not matter the ambiguity came with the project that

46:40

that was approved by the town that inspired this warrant to come forward and so in that case the current bylaw

46:47

says that that installation shall be adequately screened but in the opinion of the local citizens

46:54

who brought this forward the project has approved does not provide adequate screening so that’s why we wanted to

47:00

make it that it’s not a choice as to which parts of the BioLite are enforced but it says clearly you shall do this

47:08

and if it becomes a situation where a project can’t be screened it’s going to be a visual blight

47:14

maybe we shouldn’t put that project there so is there anything in your suggested

47:22

changes additions to the bylaw that would prevent

47:28

a um somebody from putting in a solar array no

47:37

thank you Mr Mahoney that was Mr chairman I was hoping in

47:43

Patrick Farah back up to the microphone please

47:54

Patrick I was hoping off the top of your head maybe you can run off some statistics

47:59

do you know how many of these mounted ground mounted solar facilities

48:06

we have in the community I think we have 14. what’s the largest one by acreage

48:11

and do you know off the top of your head how many are over surpassed two megawatts

48:17

uh yes so we have uh I’m gonna put my thinking cap on here do we have one in

48:24

Cedarville we have 14 I believe uh ground mounted solar projects uh ranging from very

48:32

small few uh panels up to over five megawatts consisting of over 40 acres

48:40

uh what I’d like to say if I may through

48:45

the board a couple a couple observations one with regard to this project which I did

48:54

review this is part of the state incentive for Farms or for Farmers

49:00

through the Dual use solar initiative and what that does is it allows Farmers

49:06

to install have these type of systems installed on active agriculture land so

49:13

they can still Harvest crops underneath they can still use it for grazing

49:19

and so on this allows Farmers to make some income so they don’t lose their

49:24

Farm the changes again I don’t have an opinion on this however the town should

49:31

be careful uh going before the AG with this language that it may come back to bite us I’m

49:40

just saying that also with another provision regarding the at least two

49:45

megawatts which we already have where you have to have a financial surety bond

49:51

or eight feet at least eight feet above grade

49:57

just want to give the uh the board this

50:03

thought and that is a small residential unit

50:08

that let’s say is shaded on the ground but maybe 15 feet up adhering to the 35

50:14

foot height limitation if the if one was to put up or a family was to have a a

50:22

unit put up on a pole that’s maybe 10 12 14 feet high

50:28

they would then have to also provide a surety bond even for a small system and

50:34

again that surety bond is determined by The Building Commissioner

50:40

um and we don’t know what that’s going to cost and that may be impactful okay Patrick last question any of these

50:47

projects that have been executed in this community since you’ve been around have any of them with the owners walked away

50:53

gone bankrupt and they’ve just laid they’ve basically gone follow where they sit there doing nothing or we have to

51:00

nothing my knowledge not yet not yet but that’s possible right and there are and there are a couple few of the larger

51:06

systems that do have a surety bond in place and if the audience doesn’t know the

51:14

town’s not in the business to go on to private property to remove systems what we do this is just to compel compliance

51:21

right all right so I’d have one more question for uh the town manager

51:26

so Mr Farrow is representing um he referenced the AG

51:32

do you have a citizen petitioned article here and maybe I’m wrong but this is how I understand it

51:38

if it gets through our local Congress and it gets into the hand of our state delegation they take that baton and they

51:45

try to get it through Beacon Hill but it has to pass some legal hurdles up there

51:50

this is a bylaw change so it goes to AG’s office doesn’t go through the legislative body okay so the AG is going

51:58

to look at it it’s either a past muster ever it’s not and if it doesn’t pass muster they’re going to communicate that to get back to everything status quo

52:04

correct that’s correct right they would send it back to us okay thank you if I could address Mr Ferris comment

52:10

about um the state incentive the smart program absolutely agree that the program was

52:17

intended that cranberry Growers could take up to five acres of their active bugs and put these tall panels on that

52:24

would allow them to continue farming underneath the panels that’s the theory at least however in the particular

52:30

project that we’re talking about it is not a farmer it is owned by a Florida company Energy company so I don’t know

52:36

who’s going to be farming these bugs but it’s the whole project itself is not

52:42

being done by a local grower to make extra income

52:48

so my last my last question Mr chairman would be I don’t know if are any of the citizens that were initiated this

52:55

petition are they here and do they want to participate tonight

53:02

okay thank you

53:08

every minute sure it’s a Florida company not even a local company correct so it’s

53:14

a Florida company that’s coming up here for the sole purpose of installing these panels and

53:21

at some point they’re going to be obsolete they’re going to not be making money for them or whatever and they and

53:29

we don’t have any guarantee that they’re not just going to walk away and leave those panels in that neighborhood and I

53:37

I don’t want to see that happen so we need to put something in place okay some

53:43

kind of with the screen and what you’re proposing okay and I think it’s a reasonable request

53:49

okay to protect this neighborhood okay we have 106 square miles here this is not going to

53:56

be the last neighborhood they’re going to go into and I’m going to tell you I’ll say it one more time anybody that has been down that neighborhood it’s

54:02

absolutely one of the most gorgeous drives to drive through there and as far as the 700 feet it’s because you can see

54:10

a long distance you see the barge from a long way you know it’s not like a hundred feet

54:16

200 feet 300 feet of a view it goes a long way and and and I and I I went down

54:22

there I drove down I looked at it and these that’s my reason for for voting in

54:28

favor of this reasonable request by the citizens in that neighborhood so I’m all

54:33

for this I hope it passes and I hope everybody you know time meeting drive down there take a look at the

54:39

neighborhood and and just Envision what could be there and what could be there

54:44

not even 20 years from now not even produce it so we got to think ahead okay

54:51

because it unfortunately in this town we don’t think ahead sometimes that

54:56

we’re trying to correct that correct that we have a new town manager and a new whole new department heads and we’re

55:03

trying to correct correct a lot of the ways that we’ve done business in this town so uh I hope this board uh respects

55:13

the citizens petition and I hope it gets to town meeting and telling me it does the same thing thank you

55:21

uh this is uh for attorney Angley um in regards to Mr Canty’s concern

55:28

about severability because if this goes to town meeting

55:34

um which which I do think it should it’s they should be the ones making this determination on this

55:39

um if they pass it has a bylaw and the

55:45

Attorney General rejects it because they do not feel that it fits into those

55:51

several categories of qualifications um what is your answer to Mr Canty’s

55:58

question about severability if these proposed changes to the

56:03

existing bylaw are found to be not to pass muster by the Attorney General than

56:09

our existing bylaw would be unaffected these changes would simply not go into effect they could come back we could try

56:16

and rework it we could try and work it but this would not eliminate or remove the existing bylaw the simply the

56:23

changes would not go into effect thank you

56:29

any other questions or comments on the board push of the board

56:37

I’ll second it motion by Mr Mahoney second by Mr bletza discussion

56:47

Mr Canty and then Mr Mahoney thank you Mr chairman so

56:52

um my concerns about this bylaw and and procedurally speaking this is Citizens

56:57

petition so no matter how we vote it’s going to go before town meeting this is just about whether we’re recommending upon meeting approve it or not I am

57:05

going to vote against recommending that we approve it I’m going to do so because I believe every step of the review

57:12

process should be independent and should be issue their opinion and not defer to

57:19

another body’s another agencies review of the materials that’s the whole point

57:24

of having multiple steps in this process and I intend to participate in that portion of that

57:30

so uh in regards to severability my concern there with reaching too far so

57:37

this bylaw change if it’s approved by town meeting would go to the AG’s office before it’s passed into law but then if

57:44

it’s a challenge it’s not going to go before the AGS up it’s going to go before a court and legal books are full

57:49

of statutes that were stricken down by courts and if a statute is stricken down by a court without a severability clause

57:56

in it then the whole statute gets stricken down that’s why you put in severability Clauses so that if a court

58:03

finds a particular clause or sub Clause of a statute or regulation to be

58:10

violating public policy constitutional illegal then you only

58:16

have to strike down that particular section but this is an All or Nothing type thing because there isn’t a severability clause in the original

58:22

bylaw or in the amendment and I think that because the current bylaw clearly

58:30

uses pre-existing State language for the 300 feet because that’s they’ve taken that

58:36

from another section of Mass general laws they did that because of this unreasonable regulation restriction and

58:43

my concern I I agree I wouldn’t want an array to have to look at that all the

58:48

time either so I agree that we should have a solar bylaw um and that’s why we pass it originally

58:54

my concern is that if we put this in and it’s Challenge and it’s stricken down

58:59

then until we can pass another bylaw and and one that would pass muster the town

59:06

would be without a solar bylaw for a period of time and that and a zoning bylaw change that would be in response

59:12

to that any solar bylaw project that was started before the new bylaw was put into place would be grandfathered in

59:19

so you could by trying to uh reach overreach here we could be opening the

59:25

town up to problems later and I sympathize with the butters for

59:31

the project that brought this about I sympathize with anybody that is living near a place that has one of these that

59:37

they is changing the uh character of that area that they live in

59:43

but the state has made clear that there’s certain things we can do in certain things we cannot and the town

59:50

has to operate within the confines of the state because we have a devolved form of authority from the state and we

59:57

can’t do things that the state says we can’t do and I’m concerned that this is overreaching for those reasons and the

1:00:04

reasons that I articulated earlier as well as I I do credit uh the testimony of the energy committee that they’re um

1:00:11

that their suggestions were not taken into account um and I don’t and I think if we have an

1:00:18

energy committee we should be listening to them that’s the whole point of having them so for those two reasons primarily

1:00:23

in any of the other reasons stated by my colleagues I will be voting against this particular petition

1:00:30

against recommending to tell me for approval

1:00:38

so I’ll I’ll be supporting the article and like Mr Canty said

1:00:44

it is a Citizens petitioned article so we are at advisory role tonight and it

1:00:49

is moving on to our local legislative body so we need a diversified portfolio with

1:00:55

respect to energy I get it a decade or so ago

1:01:02

a former Governor Deval Patrick came down I think at the end of his term was announcing some grants down on the

1:01:09

wharf and I believe his Secretary of environment and energy

1:01:14

Affairs or whatever that department is that I think the guy’s name was Rick Sullivan at the time and my comment to him was you

1:01:21

you can’t incentivize people to cut down trees it’s contradictory okay well I

1:01:26

understand that this one is a cranberry bog but having said that

1:01:32

um you’ve seen what happened with wind turbines you can go down on the Bourne Plymouth line and look at what the

1:01:38

cranberry bog owner did down there with four or five Lodge structures on a four to five Hundred Acre cranberry bog how

1:01:45

many how much land he owned was significant but I think going up 450 feet I’ve had to go out to sequish for site

1:01:52

visits not just for lighthouses but to look at industrial applications because the residents out there had issues at

1:01:59

low tide seeing you know Lodge the cages whatever they use to harvest shellfish

1:02:06

oysters and and obviously we have a zoning board of appeals that tells

1:02:12

people how far they have to be off a property line with respect to building an addition or a porch because heaven

1:02:18

forbid I have a decent view of the ocean and I wouldn’t ever want to have that blocked but

1:02:24

um I’m looking at this I’m hoping the Attorney General does their job and that is the you know look at this

1:02:31

objectively to go from 300 to 700 feet with respect to just a notification so

1:02:36

look that number might be arbitrary but these sight lines on a cranberry bog

1:02:42

they go on for well over a thousand feet in some neighborhoods I have I have no problem in an open and transparent

1:02:48

Society telling people that not only live within 300 feet but 700 a thousand

1:02:54

or 1500 feet that this might happen in your neighborhood and it’s going to affect you

1:03:00

and um so that’s one of the reasons why I support this and I wish you gentlemen

1:03:06

the best on town meeting floor

1:03:12

Mr Helm I’m I am concerned about severability

1:03:19

um and

1:03:25

I would hope that perhaps an amendment can be made

1:03:32

um on town meeting floor to to include a severability clause in

1:03:38

it um I’m concerned about

1:03:45

two things um the petitioners felt the need

1:03:53

to include the word shall several times that indicates to me that our current

1:04:01

bylaw is not quite doing the job okay because they’ve they’ve felt the need

1:04:08

and I’ve seen the one down on um

1:04:14

um that that this comes from but I’ve also

1:04:19

seen other ones and I’ve also seen them in other towns and

1:04:24

um I I do find it very significant that they felt the need to use the word Xiao

1:04:31

um I also understand that when you get out into these Cranberry Bogs

1:04:37

700 feet is not that far of a distance so the second thing that concerns me

1:04:45

is quality of life here in Plymouth quality of life for our residents

1:04:51

um there is nothing about quality of life when there are solar arrays surrounding

1:04:58

your property and they have not been adequately screened or you have a view

1:05:04

of them um yes there are no such things as rights of you

1:05:09

um a homeowner who buys a piece of property does not have a right to V of a view of

1:05:15

the ocean not in Plymouth and you know so so I do understand that but a

1:05:23

reasonable expectation of quality of life for all residents as we deal with

1:05:31

the growth of Plymouth and the expansion of Plymouth and you know what is

1:05:36

happening in Plymouth one of the very important things I think that you can

1:05:42

you don’t have to go far to find out how current residents feel about what’s happening in our town and it’s all about

1:05:48

quality of life the buildings the traffic everything like that it is

1:05:53

quality of life yes solar arrays are not about building buildings they’re not about a 25 foot uh uh restriction in at

1:06:02

the harbor area they’re not about the traffic caused by the Oasis and about

1:06:07

Long Pond in general but they are about quality of life and so for those two

1:06:12

reasons um and hoping and I don’t usually vote

1:06:18

Yes on something hoping that something will happen hoping that a severability clause is is that somebody motions that

1:06:26

Amendment and that the um at the the town moderator is made aware that there is going to be that

1:06:32

amendment by the way um the the the felt need for shall and

1:06:37

the quality of life in Plymouth I’m going to vote Yes for this

1:06:44

any other comments for the Lord

1:06:50

okay that we had a lot of comments there did we do the motion and uh we did yeah okay

1:06:56

and what was that

1:07:09

John John and seconded by Charlie okay

1:07:15

already Mr blutzer I vote once Mr Helm yes Mr Canty no

1:07:25

Mr Mahoney yes and myself now thank you thank you thank you

1:07:35

anyone wishing to speak on the public comment come on

1:07:41

two weeks in a row did I go over it I will okay

1:07:52

okay just hold on one second please I skipped over the uh fall Town Wheaton

1:07:58

meeting warrant one second almost

1:08:07

do I have a motion for what I’ll make a motion that we execute the

1:08:13

fall 2023 Town media War second second by Mr Helm discussion

1:08:22

Mr bletta I vote Yes Mr Helm yes Mr Canty yes and

1:08:29

Mr Mahoney yes and myself yes thank you now I’ll open it up to public comment I

1:08:36

apologize for that please state your name make yeah my name is Dave Murphy

1:08:41

my question was okay if they were getting anything out of this I mean they’re going to look at it

1:08:47

is there any benefit for them other than looking at a field I mean you made good comments in 25 years

1:08:55

they’re not going to come back and take it down they don’t have to deal with that they’re not from around here

1:09:02

to me it’s causing more harm to the city than not but that’s all I have to say really no

1:09:09

problem thank you anyone else wishing to speak on the public comment

1:09:15

do we have we have two folks that are

1:09:21

um here via Zoom we have Catherine Harrelson

1:09:27

one moment okay

1:09:38

Catherine you’re able to unmute yourself feel free okay thank you hi

1:09:51

oh excuse me my name is Catherine Harrelson I’m with Community Landing water Coalition out of Plymouth Massachusetts

1:09:58

um a question in regards to administrative notes number five six and seven it’s a three-part question

1:10:06

uh the question was what was what’s the general process that Plymouth used to

1:10:11

decide to decline to exercise the first refusal to purchase these three lots

1:10:18

um they seem like a pretty substantial amount of land and so I’m curious what the decision-making process was on that

1:10:24

to decline the first refusal the second part is where other boards in

1:10:30

Plymouth involved in this decision or will they be involved and was there any or will there be any public notice of

1:10:37

this decision

1:10:49

and so to answer that residence question the town often gets notified of a land

1:10:58

that’s being pulled out of chapter 60 61 and so the town has a period of time

1:11:03

where what we typically do is we circulate it amongst various boards and committees

1:11:11

and various departments that are interested in the town pursuing acquisition of this land that’s coming

1:11:17

on chapter 61. if we make a determination both through

1:11:23

the board committee and Department process that there’s no interest in acquiring the land then we place it as

1:11:29

an administrative note and recommend that we decline our first writer refusal

1:11:38

we have in another um person on Zoom Maureen Renault

1:11:44

and I’m going to promoters panelists

1:11:52

Maureen you can unmute yourself at this time

1:12:02

Maureen you can unmute yourself

1:12:08

okay there you go can you hear me yes we can okay I am so sorry I was at the end

1:12:13

of the last article and I just wanted to thank everybody for this discussion it was a great one I appreciate it uh and

1:12:21

you know we’re going to be the change if this works and thank you

1:12:28

Mr chairman that is everyone that has their hands raised for public comment

1:12:33

via Zoom okay thank you no one in here will speak on a

1:12:39

public comment okay Tom manages report Mr brindisi okay A

1:12:46

few items here to talk about this evening uh first item I’d like to bring to the board’s attention this coming

1:12:51

Thursday so in two days Senator Moran will be here in uh in town at 10 a.m We

1:12:59

believe it’s going to be on the town green Santa Maria will be presenting to the town seventy thousand dollars this

1:13:06

was a air mock that came through the um the budget process of fy24 this seventy

1:13:12

thousand dollars will be used to help offset the costs of the planning board’s

1:13:18

Master planning process so anyone who’s interested in attending feel free to join us again at 10 A.M this coming

1:13:24

Thursday um just a quick update on the storm so

1:13:30

as you know there wasn’t much of a storm but that being said as you last March

1:13:37

through David Gould’s office we completed the two million dollar Beach nourishment program over at Long Beach

1:13:42

and although there wasn’t a lot of surf and heavy winds that the Long Beach

1:13:49

nourishment program did hold up well and so we’re going to continue to

1:13:55

um uh provide additional dollars in the years to come to provide more

1:14:00

nourishment to Long Beach so again it worked out very well this past storm

1:14:06

as far as Stevens Field this Thursday and Friday the DPW will be on site and

1:14:12

we’ll set demolition of the two structures so you’ll see active work beginning this the end of this week and

1:14:19

then we’ll be moving forward with the contractor who’s starting to mobilize on that site

1:14:24

the commissioner of inspectional services continues to

1:14:31

broaden our online permitting process through opengov in the next couple weeks

1:14:37

we’ll be onboarding the DPW permittings permitting process such as suitable

1:14:43

Water and Sewer things of that nature so again we continue to build our infrastructure as far as doing

1:14:49

businesses online pre-construction meeting took place for

1:14:55

that management pressure Zone water main project we’re expecting to break ground sometime in mid-october as you may ask

1:15:03

we certainly will notify all the residents in the area who will be affected we’ll put this on social media

1:15:10

we’ll put this on the website in any other place we can get this message out you know we also have reverse the name

1:15:16

of one uh we are working on the reverse 9-1-1 so yes we will that will be a good test

1:15:22

okay so yeah how that works yep we actually had that conversation this morning Mr chairman another item that

1:15:29

came up last week and I wanted to just report back to the board that we’re doing a lot of work on on the street

1:15:35

lights issue that has kind of plagued this community um so we had a we had a meeting with

1:15:41

folks on the energy committee many of them were here today okay they left and we talked about the

1:15:48

best way to kind of get at this issue and so before we meet with eversource we

1:15:54

want to do a survey of the number of street lights that are out and that are broken so we have some data to have that

1:16:00

conversation so just yesterday Mr sinessi working with Mr Young they

1:16:08

built a component into a c click fix aspect of online reporting with the

1:16:14

residents can now report street lights that are inoperable and so that just went live today and

1:16:20

we’ve already have seven cases reported of an inoperable street light so that also that information was pushed via the

1:16:27

website encouraging folks to use this online portal to report street light so

1:16:33

um if it’s if it’s anything like the pothole process where there was actually one resident who drove around town and

1:16:39

identified all the potholes we’re hoping we have a similar response with folks in the community helping us identify street

1:16:45

lights that are out once we have that data we’ll sit down with eversource and we will explain to them I would need for

1:16:52

those street lights to be fixed and those conversations may lead into acquisition conversation so we’ll report

1:16:57

back but this is going to take some time um we met with the with the Plymouth

1:17:05

Retirement Group yesterday and we announced the medical assistance program which we plan to roll out in the next

1:17:11

month or so so as you may recall the medical assistance program is geared

1:17:16

mostly towards retirees where we’re setting up a an online system where active employees

1:17:24

can donate a sum of money it could be a dollar a week for example into this medical assistance program and then that

1:17:31

those dollars will be used to assist our retirees who as we all know are on fixed costs to help maybe pay for their

1:17:39

deductibles or co-pay things of that nature so and that came out of the negotiations that took place with um

1:17:46

during the health insurance so that’s moving forward we hope to have that thing launch again next couple months and then the blue you’ll talk I

1:17:54

will talk about this over the course of the next couple weeks but just as a reminder the economic development

1:17:59

foundation and Leadership of Steve Cole as planning the second blue future

1:18:05

conference that will begin on October 16th there’ll be a networking event that

1:18:11

evening so it’s already sold out from what I’m told and so we’re expecting a

1:18:16

big turnout for the the Cs conference and then last as I end I want to

1:18:22

recognize this gentleman across the room from me Mr Anthony sinessi who is this

1:18:29

is probably going to be his last meeting for the town of Plymouth and I just wanted to recognize Anthony publicly for

1:18:36

although a short time about 18 months with the town everything he’s done he has uh he has raised the bar for that

1:18:42

position and I think it’s going to be a very difficult position to fill given everything that Anthony has done I mean

1:18:49

let’s be honest Anthony was the Chief Architect behind this new website he spent countless days uh to pull this

1:18:57

thing off together I’d probably say weeks to pull this thing together and we appreciate everything that he’s done and

1:19:02

so we wish him well back going back to Central Mass um in the regional planning committee

1:19:08

but Anthony thank you for everything that you’ve done in your short time here and as I’ve said to you in the past I

1:19:14

look forward to working with you as a future time manager someday thank you

1:19:29

select board open discussion anybody have anything on the new business

1:19:34

Mr chairman uh we got an email today I don’t know if anybody got a chance to read it uh

1:19:42

it was for from a woman uh his two businesses down on the waterfront

1:19:48

down near the Plymouth Rock area and uh who are businesses have been subject to

1:19:55

Amplified music from uh from a gentleman

1:20:00

that does never permanent and you know as everybody knows that you have to have

1:20:05

a permit to have Amplified music in fact we issued one tonight so

1:20:11

I I called her I saw that she left her number I called her and I told her we’d

1:20:17

get back to her and uh we so we have to do something about that so the remnant the remedy would be to

1:20:25

somebody’s going to have to speak to that gentleman and let them know that he that he can’t

1:20:31

do what he’s doing and uh he’s on public property and

1:20:37

and obviously you know I don’t want to see somebody get arrested but he’s just going to cease and desist what he’s

1:20:43

doing because he’s not and that’s the reason why we have permits you know the brothers are always talked to obviously

1:20:50

that they’re not enjoying his music so uh so we so he can’t do it so but again I’m

1:20:57

glad she uh she’s got two businesses I’m glad and I know they’ve been in business for at least the businesses have been

1:21:04

there for at least 30 years that I know of so we have to take notice of that and we have to do something about it I think

1:21:10

we have to do something immediately so and the weather’s good so I’m sure we’re going to see them in the next few days

1:21:16

and I hope that I’m going to reach out probably tomorrow but I hope she’ll uh how what would how

1:21:25

should she proceed with this issue police uh you know oh no we need you guys we’ve been

1:21:31

notified we can we can follow up tomorrow okay you’ll follow up yes perfect good thank you

1:21:40

Mr Mahoney so

1:21:46

Anthony I know you’re only here for a brief time but echoing what the town manager said

1:21:53

um your work has been you know exemplary especially with respect to the website

1:21:58

so great job there and I I’m sure the board will do everything in our power to have a meeting next week but that’s you

1:22:05

know that might not happen and having said that I hope that the town manager has a easier time replacing

1:22:11

you than Belichick did with Brady okay

1:22:17

all right so I took last Thursday off and I joined uh Mr Golden Mr brandisi

1:22:24

and we get into a um I think it was an Explorer and we went out to sequish had

1:22:30

to drive up Route 3 through Duxbury over the pot of Point bridge and we went out and looked at a lighthouse

1:22:35

and I’m guessing that it’s easier to maintain a lighthouse that is on land as

1:22:42

opposed to one that is in the middle of the ocean but I would tell you that the

1:22:48

this open house is well attended there was some other people there interested in you know the federal government is

1:22:55

going to divest themselves of this property which includes a wooden Lighthouse which is

1:23:01

phenomenal and approximately eight Acres with a cliff that is quickly eroding so

1:23:10

I do know that there was um so here’s the last thing I want to do

1:23:17

was take on a lighthouse even on land um that’s that’s not my intention I do

1:23:23

know that a non-profit had reached out to us and

1:23:28

myself and Mr brindisi instructed Mr Gould to make contact with that

1:23:34

non-profit and see what their intention to her there is a non-profit out there I I

1:23:39

don’t know if it’s the friends of bug Light you know they occupy the property they are currently the tenant and

1:23:46

multiple members of that group made it pretty clear to the delegation that they’re not intend they don’t intend to

1:23:53

partner up with anyone in the application process so they’re going to go it alone I think they believe that

1:23:58

they have the Open Hand the the upper hand because uh they’re already there and we’ll see how that goes but I

1:24:05

believe that there is now a 90-day window for people to put in their applications okay

1:24:11

so one of the discussions we had I don’t know if it was on the way out or the way

1:24:17

back was chapter 61. so we just had an individual call what was the name do you

1:24:24

recall that yeah yeah from land and water Coalition Christine Harold Harrelson okay Castle

1:24:31

hopefully Catherine is listening so I know about a decade ago we changed the

1:24:36

process it is pretty robust Whenever there is a chapter 61 that comes in

1:24:42

um immediately there is an email chain created all the Departments get that and they’re told that you know you know the

1:24:48

community is now on the clock there is a bona fide offer we basically have 120 days and everyone is asked are you

1:24:55

interested in this land okay so the three that we just waived are all tied into the Red Brook

1:25:02

development 80 make piece down there in the southwestern corner and we had a discussion with Mr Gould in the vehicle

1:25:09

on these three chapter 61 notices they have been properly vetted and they are

1:25:16

all part of that larger whole Vision that they have done where I believe they

1:25:22

have 1175 permits and you know they’re about a quarter of the way through but

1:25:27

this is all done um obviously from the beginning this is all part of the process and I’ve seen

1:25:33

this happen before with the Pine Hills occasionally they’ll have Parcels that they have to take out of chapter 61 to

1:25:39

facilitate infrastructure or something like that so this one this one was looked at and that’s why we passed on it

1:25:51

anyone else Mr Bluffton

1:25:59

I just want to respond to the lighthouse so just for the record so everybody knows that I am not going

1:26:07

to be a part of using any taxpayer money to buy land in a building that Plymouth

1:26:14

residents cannot access unless you have a home on sake wish or you know somebody on

1:26:22

sanquish we cannot access that property it’s private

1:26:28

so my feeling on that is uh I hope somebody else does buy it and they take

1:26:34

good care of it because a taxpayer money should be used for things that our

1:26:39

taxpayers can use so that that’s my feelings so I’ll never be for uh using taxpayer money to buy

1:26:47

something like that thank you thank you

1:26:53

anything else letters all business

1:27:00

yes come on

1:27:14

can you please put your microphone on excuse me please put your microphone on

1:27:20

yeah oh there you go I’m trying to find out if somebody has

1:27:25

an issue when is that allowed to be brought up

1:27:34

public comment I don’t know anything how this friends okay

1:27:40

um there’s an issue with Pine Hills Cemetery there was a notice put out I think two

1:27:47

weeks ago and they put tags on everybody’s Stone about saying they’re going to remove

1:27:55

stones or shells or anything extra that’s put out and I don’t find that like I have a

1:28:01

stone for my wife being when I passed you know she passed away before I had her actual Tombstone put in

1:28:08

now this sits right in front of her tombstone it doesn’t affect anything

1:28:13

I don’t have like you know extra stuff playing around

1:28:18

and they’re telling me they’re going to rip it out or pull it out and throw it away I have a problem with that

1:28:24

and I know several other people that do I mean you know most of the people that

1:28:30

at that Cemetery take care of that stuff I know I went there and I took care of a

1:28:36

whole section for the first year I mowed it wanted it took care of everybody’s stuff

1:28:43

they’re telling me that OSHA’s gonna come in here and tell them yeah that you’re going to throw it all away

1:28:50

now I don’t see how that’s possible I mean you can tell us we got two weeks

1:28:55

and oh it’s just shutting everything down all of a sudden I’m trying to understand that

1:29:00

yet they put all these tags up and that stuff blew all over the cemetery that

1:29:06

looked like crap personally and I know that there’s women they get

1:29:12

their children and stuff like that there’s certain memories that people put there they’re not laying out you know

1:29:18

four feet off the stone or where they’re buried so I’m trying to understand I mean you’re making threats of Osha coming in

1:29:26

and saying that they’re going to throw it all away I don’t think that that’s right

1:29:32

if they don’t want to mow the lawn or there’s an issue

1:29:37

come to us but don’t think put a sign up and say this is your alternative we’re going to

1:29:43

throw it away I don’t think that’s right there’s a lot of people over that have

1:29:49

children there their own children I can’t even imagine burying a child

1:29:54

so you got something that’s important to them and it’s right by their Stone because they’re saying well the wind’s

1:30:00

going to pick it up and blow it away please you know that’s a lie

1:30:06

I mean how would you feel if your child was over there and you had something personal

1:30:12

that hasn’t been blown around the yard for the last six years all of a sudden now it is

1:30:18

I’m trying to understand that but I mean I get stuck there that that

1:30:23

doesn’t blow around it’s not in the way of being mowed I’m not asking them to like you know I

1:30:30

get it I get flowers most people have flowers there I have a little bin that has beautiful flowers in it and they’re

1:30:37

there all the time you know and that doesn’t affect anything

1:30:43

they don’t want to throw that away but by the little prayers thing I have up against the stone that’s

1:30:51

beside that or actually behind it they want to throw that away

1:30:57

I I you know I don’t understand and I know there’s other questions here this young lady over here has

1:31:04

with a tree what was that do you want to come up please I’m sorry you know I mean well you know

1:31:10

that’s what we have public comment for not at the end of the meeting but I’ll let this one more person talk I

1:31:16

appreciate it you’re welcome

1:31:22

good evening to the board in the town manager my name is Patricia Swinney and I’ve

1:31:29

been a resident in Plymouth all my life and I have an investment in this

1:31:34

particular article because I have four people buried in Vine Hill my father my

1:31:42

son my daughter and just recently my husband

1:31:51

um I do not think that the way this was presented was

1:31:57

acceptable there are people that live out of town that live out of state and they have no

1:32:03

idea that this is going on and OSHA is not involved in this there was a

1:32:10

telephone call made to OSHA and it’s not involved all they care about is the way

1:32:15

the people that mow and work there use the equipment and if they wear goggles

1:32:21

which I’ve never seen anybody wear goggles um

1:32:28

as far as taking things down maybe if there was some communication with

1:32:35

the board or whomever it may concern things can be adjusted

1:32:40

as far as Shepard talks I’ve never heard of anybody getting hurt with them or maimed the kids that mow over there they

1:32:48

pull them out of the ground and they throw them off on the side and as far as Stones I know nothing

1:32:55

about the Jewish religion but in the minutes of the meeting for

1:33:02

July 25th 2023 it was stated that that would be

1:33:09

respected however any of those stones that are on the ground would be put in a

1:33:15

bucket at the entrance of the cemetery I I think that’s about the most

1:33:20

disrespectful thing that anybody could do people have to realize that they’re

1:33:26

buried their loved ones over there as far as my lords are concerned my

1:33:31

son-in-law mows and weed whacks and I know there’s many of people that do the same thing and we don’t want to be

1:33:38

unreasonable but those things that are on a grave I

1:33:43

would think and in my case represent the individual that we have laid to rest

1:33:49

there and I have a tree that is planted 12

1:33:55

years ago when my daughter died that the money was collected from the nurses and doctors of the Jordan Hospital that she

1:34:02

worked with she was a nurse there and I planted a cherry tree there and I got

1:34:07

permission from the town manager at the time which was Lee Peck and also the

1:34:17

superintendent that was Mr bubbins um to plant that tree

1:34:24

and it’s stated on this ticket that has left with all the all on all the graves

1:34:30

that those things were going to be removed all trees all shrubs everything that’s not just not right it is just not

1:34:39

right and I just asked this board of Selectmen who I know

1:34:47

the chairman and I’ve dealt with him before and he’s been very reasonable

1:34:52

to please reconsider and give these people time to acknowledge the fact that these

1:35:00

things might be taken off and maybe to have some negotiation with the

1:35:06

citizens of this town and Beyond because they don’t even know about this so what

1:35:11

are they going to do come down in six months or at Christmas time and find all this stuff going it’s not right

1:35:19

it’s not right and I’m not a public speaker and I thank you for your time

1:35:26

and I apologize if I’m if I’m not speaking the way I should but I’m doing

1:35:32

the best I can under the circumstances and I just asked the board to please

1:35:37

reconsider the the Judgment of of the 25th of July

1:35:50

thank you I do have the vice chairman of the um

1:35:57

Cemetery committee here and I also have the acting superintendent of the cemetery here

1:36:04

could you just Diane could you just touch on how the the ocean thing came

1:36:10

because there seems to be yeah get the information correct

1:36:17

Diane McGuire Acting Superintendent of cemetery and Crematory Michelle Newell

1:36:23

is going to speak on the OSHA regulation several of the misconceptions that have come out from this whole thing are we

1:36:30

have not asked anyone to remove trees and on the uh notification that was put on the

1:36:36

graves it said no new trees trees and bushes are not being removed

1:36:42

what we have asked to be removed are Shepherd’s hooks we consider those to be

1:36:47

unsafe we are asking to remove loose stones that can be caught in the lawn mowers we

1:36:54

had an employee that was injured in July when he was mowing and a

1:37:00

Stone shot back at him and injured him and he was bleeding in the face and

1:37:06

we’ve asset glass items and shelves be removed as well as far as the notification we have done

1:37:13

um 1 000 Graves have been marked with the tag saying that everything would be

1:37:19

everything mentioned needed to be removed by October 1st

1:37:25

as far as sending out a mailing that’s impossible most of the Grave owners are deceased so we can’t possibly do that it

1:37:33

also has been posted on the town web page so my plan is on October 1st things that

1:37:39

are not removed to be removed and to be labeled and we will keep them for quite some time perhaps until the snow flies

1:37:46

and then we will try to reach out to those families some families are difficult to reach

1:37:52

um you know we we’ve put a lot of thought into this

1:37:59

this isn’t something that we just suddenly said okay let’s let’s let’s make a mouse out of this now

1:38:05

there’s too many things in the cemeteries that are unsafe the town has a responsibility to

1:38:12

maintain a safe space the feedback from the public actually has been mixed 25 percent have not

1:38:19

voiced an opinion another 25 percent have stated that they do not want any changes 25 have already removed said

1:38:27

items and finally 25 percent feel that it is a positive move for the cemetery

1:38:32

to remove these items so you know we are not asking people to

1:38:39

remove bushes or existing trees or American flags or vigilites that can now

1:38:44

be moved to the top of the graves I’m going to reach out to the rabbi to speak with her about how we will handle

1:38:51

the Jewish section right now the stones are on top of the graves clearly if they fall off the graves they would be able

1:38:58

to be run over and become projectiles again so I think that we have Cemetery

1:39:04

regulations that are still not as strict as and I’ve done a lot of

1:39:10

research in my 19 years there and ours are you know I have for the flip side of

1:39:16

this I have people come in and say to me it looks like a carnival out there there are too many things there are overgrown

1:39:22

bushes there’s there’s stuff and I apologize that the forms were blowing around we had the Windstorm and I myself

1:39:29

and my staff went out and collected the ones that we could so you know I don’t know how else we could reach out to

1:39:36

people other than to post it and to post them on their graves I don’t know another way

1:39:42

um so you know my own family is buried in the cemetery as well and we’ve had a

1:39:47

very difficult two weeks since we put these up we’ve been spoken to very harshly

1:39:53

I myself have been threatened I’ve been sworn at in my office and this Behavior can’t be tolerated I mean my own family

1:40:00

is buried there as well and I’m not trying to make people’s lives difficult I respect loss

1:40:07

um but you know these were for safety reasons so we all have to in my opinion

1:40:13

we need to get on board with this these things need to be removed and Michelle will talk a little bit more about those

1:40:19

thank you good evening my name is Michelle Newell

1:40:24

I’m the safety compliance officer for the DPW so in 2018 Governor Baker signed

1:40:30

into law the workplace safety and health protection for Public Work workers so before prior to 2018 we didn’t have to

1:40:38

oblige with OSHA regulations and under the code of Regulation

1:40:44

454-25 the purpose is to provide a public sector employees safe and

1:40:49

healthful work environment free from any recognized hazards so if there are any hazards that are known across the

1:40:55

country can hurt our employees is our job to get rid of these hazards I have

1:41:00

multiple cases across the country from projectiles to Shepherd hook

1:41:07

impalements that could possibly happen to our employees so it’s our job to get rid of these hazards and if not we can

1:41:14

become liable through the DLS who make sure we comply with oyster regulations

1:41:24

thank you any other requirements on the board

1:41:31

okay we heard what you said and you heard the reason that that went into it

1:41:38

and um not that it makes it any better but I was with family this week in

1:41:45

Duxbury is uh already has enforced the same thing and I was in Tennessee

1:41:52

I don’t know a couple months ago to go visit my dad’s um lot and my brother’s

1:41:59

and the same thing is being enforced in Tennessee so it’s really

1:42:05

for the reasons that they both mentioned is the reason that we are doing it and

1:42:10

really when the governor signs it into law I think you know things change

1:42:16

but I I am glad to hear that yeah cherry tree

1:42:21

um will stay and anybody that has trees there and shrubs that that can all stay

1:42:28

correct okay I’m sorry I should ask you to come out

1:42:34

the only time we have problems with trees or bushes that become overgrown is when we have to do particularly a full

1:42:39

burial sometimes when we’re digging they don’t they simply don’t survive but I

1:42:45

know the tree that Mrs Swinney is speaking about and it will not be removed there was no plan to remove it

1:42:50

well you are here Diane I did have a phone call from another Resident today asking if it’s just the the town-owned

1:42:57

cemeteries or do you do you know the answer I do yes it is just for the the

1:43:02

sound on Cemetery is that it does not affect St Joseph’s or this uh one on South Meadow Plymouth County

1:43:09

thank you sure I want to thank you all for coming this

1:43:15

evening a motion to adjourn make a motion that we adjourn for the

1:43:21

evening having concluded our business second by Mr Mahoney Mr Mahoney yes

1:43:28

Mr Canty yes Mr Helm yes Mr blessed yes and myself yes have a nice week we’ll

1:43:36

see you I think in too but we might try to squeeze one in for Anthony thank you