The Plympton Board of Selectmen met on Monday, April 25. Town Administrator Liz Dennehy told the Selectmen that she has been plugging away at town meeting preparations. A walk through is scheduled at the Dennett Elementary School on the morning of May 9 with the moderator.
Chair of the Finance Committee Nathaniel Sides reviewed the budget as voted by them. Several of the departments were not approved at the requested amounts. The Finance Committee did not approve the full requested amount in the town clerk line. The difference was roughly $1,000 and came from the Finance Committee not approving a longevity increase in the salary line. Sides said they could not find a precedent to support it and did not want to set one.
The Board of Health asked for a substantial increase for their administrative assistant. Sides said, “The Finance Committee felt it was out of character for what had been done in the past in other departments.” Similarly, the Public Works Department was asking for a 5.9 percent salary increase. In both cases, the increases were reduced to 5 percent.
Reductions were also made to the salary lines for both the Fire and Police budgets. Regarding the Fire Department reductions, Selectman John Traynor said he was uncomfortable with them as Fire Chief Stephen Silva had met with Dennehy and expressed what he needed. Sides replied, “yes, but it was including extra administrative hours that we feel are not necessarily employed correctly.” The salary line was voted by Finance Committee at a 10 percent increase over the current year’s budget. Sides said they looked at “minimum staffing that is needed to keep the doors open.” Sides did note that they had created a separate line for fire vehicle maintenance as Silva had expressed concern over the ability to maintain the fleet.
There was also a $75,000 reduction in the salary line for Police. Sides said that the Finance Committee had voted to approve an extra position last year on the recommendation of former Police Chief Matt Clancy. He said that he was assured at the time that it would solve the staffing issues. Sides said they voted to approve a three percent increase in the salary line.
Traynor expressed concern saying, “Right now we had 63 shifts in March that were single shifts… we are still down an officer for sure and this is going to become more of an issue as we bring on female candidates and how we work with them.” Town Accountant Lisa Hart asked if there was still a position on the force that had already been budgeted for but not yet filled. Traynor said while that was his understanding, he still believed more staffing was needed.
Emergency dispatch was reluctantly budgeted for $200,000. Previously, the Selectmen and Fire Chief Silva had taken issue with the Regional Old Colony Communications Center’s (ROCC) steep increase for the town. They felt that they were paying more than their share based on the town’s small population. Dennehy said that the ROCC is planning to move toward a model where they would base service costs on population with the lowest fee being $200,000. She did say they were amenable to continue to look for eligible grant funding for Plympton. Additionally, they offered to let the town pay $125,000 up front and the remaining $25,000 later in the fiscal year.
The schools were budgeted at the full requested amount of $6,349,000. The total town budget as approved by the Finance Committee is $12,267,390.
The Selectmen also went over the articles for the annual and special town meetings. The Selectmen voted to recommend the budget article though Traynor noted he was doing so “reluctantly” due to the reductions in the Fire and Police budgets.
There was some discussion regarding Article 28 for $300,000 for a feasibility study and planning services for the future construction of a new Fire Station. Sides said that while the Finance Committee was in favor of the intention, they had concern over the number. He said that a few years ago a similar study was done on the Police Station and the cost was $150,000. “Why is a similar type of study double the price this time around?” he asked. Silva said that the types of buildings were vastly different and said it was like comparing apples to oranges. After some discussion, both the Finance Committee and the Selectmen voted to recommend the article.
There was also discussion around Article 40 which seeks to establish a stabilization fund for Silver Lake. “My concern here is that there was such strong opposition last year,” Russo said. “My concern is to give up town control to tri-town control,” Traynor added. The Selectmen decided to wait to give a recommendation until town meeting to see how the other towns vote on it.
Both the Selectmen and the Finance Committee voted to recommend Article 39 which seeks $14,000 for the town’s contribution to the part-time school resource officer for the Silver Lake Regional Middle School. Sides noted that he still disapproved of using a warrant article to fund the position but approved the request, nonetheless.
The Selectmen finished their recommendations and moved onto raves. “My rave is to have Liz back,” Selectmen Chair Christine Joy said. “Thank you so much for all of your hard work; you were greatly missed,” she told Dennehy. “My rave is for the wonderful work of Christine and Bri during the time Liz was away,” Russo said of Joy and administrative assistant Bri Martins. He also said he is looking forward to the quieter time after town meeting. Traynor said that his rave was for the daffodils on 106. “It was just wonderful, and I agree with all the other raves,” Traynor said.