The Plympton Board of Selectmen met virtually on Monday, June 27.
CERT team
Fire Captain John Sjostedt was in attendance to speak on the formation of a Regional CERT (Community Emergency Response) team. He said that seven members from Halifax and five members from Plympton have come together to form the team. “It’s just such a wonderful group of people,” Sjostedt said before thanking the various Chiefs of Police and Fire in both Halifax and Plympton for their support. He said that the team is all volunteer and that no pay is provided. “The team was deployed for their first event this past weekend at the Halifax Fireworks… we had nothing but great feedback from the Police Chief,” Sjostedt said. He said they were able to help a lost child be reunited with her father. Sjostedt said there is a $10,000 grant that is available to help with CERT team equipment and training. “I just wanted to thank Nancy publicly for her help and support,” he said of Nancy Eriksson who lent her experience to the formation of the team. Eriksson has worked in public safety for the last thirty years.
North Carver construction project
Selectmen Chair Christine Joy provided an update on the North Carver Redevelopment Project. She said that she attended meetings regarding the project on both June 6 and June 22. She said that the project will need to go back to the Department of Housing and Community Development to decide if the updates to the project are significant enough to warrant a new plan being filed.
Joy said that she expressed the town’s frustration with the intersection reconfiguration project that is not run by the RDA, but rather the Carver D.P.W. She said that she spoke with the head of the D.P.W. “It obviously has not been sorted out because there are still drivers that are not following the rules that have been setup with the access issues,” Joy said. She recommended that residents continue to call the police and asked that they not engage truck drivers and others directly. She also suggested calling P.A. Landers directly when they see the project being accessed through Plympton.
Dennett Solar project
Chair of the Plympton Elementary School Committee Jon Wilhelmsen was at the meeting to discuss the Dennett rooftop solar project. “I think we are actually close, two plus years in the making,” Wilhelmsen said of the project. “As part of this process, because it is school property, we need to get the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (DESE) approval to release the roof to the Selectmen,” he explained. He said they are still waiting for DESE’s approval to release the roof though he noted that it likely won’t be a problem. Wilhelmsen asked that the Selectmen take ownership of the roof pending the necessary approval from DESE and a satisfactory lease and purchase agreement. They voted to do so to move forward with the installation of the solar panels on the rear roof of Dennett as soon as possible.
Selectmen Appointments
The Selectmen made a few appointments. They appointed Gary Berlo as a part-time Police Officer through June 30, 2023 and Mark Derby to the Conservation Commission through June 30, 2025.
The Selectmen approved a one-day liquor license for Stellwagen Beer Company for July 9 for the Jimmy Fund and The Dana Farber Family Resource Center. The approval was granted pending approval of the necessary town departments such as Police and the Board of Health.
Gazebo use protocol
The Selectmen also fielded a request for use of the gazebo on the town green for a wedding on August 13. “The issue that has come up in the past is whether there are any insurance issues,” Selectman Mark Russo said. The Selectmen agreed to discuss the approval further at their next meeting.
Rants and Raves
The Selectmen ended the meeting with their raves. Selectman John Traynor said his rave was for Jason Fraser who spoke recently at the Library regarding the trades programs at Silver Lake. “It just really made you feel good how we are training people into jobs that pay well where you don’t necessarily have to go the college route,” Traynor said.
Russo said his rave was for the patience of all on the Zoom call that evening as they waited for the meeting to get started as there were technical difficulties.
Joy said her rave was for the Plympton girls’ soccer team who recently finished first out of 25 teams in the region. She said her second rave was for Captain Sjostedt and all the work that was done to get the CERT team up and running.