The Plympton Board of Selectmen met in-person on Monday, March 11 with all three members present.
Selectman John Traynor said that the Board of Health issued a letter stating that the podiatry services for the Council on Aging could not be held at the Town House. “So I think we basically have to go back and have a plan B.” Director of Elder Affairs Colleen Thompson spoke on the matter saying, “I’m a little upset. It never even occurred to me that we would need to speak to the Board of Health. And in my correspondence with Liz [Dennehy] that never came up.” Thompson also said that she felt that the discussions around the services escalated quickly and said that while the Board of Health argues that she didn’t ask their permission, she was not included in the letter they sent despite it directly affecting her department. Thompson called the Board of Health’s arguments “spurious at best” and said that there is little difference between the podiatry services and the blood pressure and sugar and cholesterol checks that are done. “There’s no privacy and there’s medical waste, but we do them because it’s not really a big deal,” Thompson said. She continued saying that there is support from the nurse and noted that the doctor “has done this for years” and knows how to sanitize properly, etc. She spoke with Carver who runs a similar program about shared services, but said it is so popular that they already have a waitlist.
Thompson told the Selectmen, “I think we need to figure out a way to get the seniors more services in Plympton.” She emphasized that more thought needs to be given to how this can be done. She proposed creating a medical room to be used for medical needs. Selectmen Chair Christine Joy told Thompson that the podiatry services are not a “dead issue” saying they just need to find a place better suited to the program. Traynor said that he believes most would prefer a public space over a doctor going into homes due to safety concerns. “Let us take this back and see what we can come up with,” Joy said.
Regarding annual town meeting preparations, Town Administrator Liz Dennehy said, “At this time, we’re actively working with all of the departments on articles, budgets, all of that, so all of that is in full swing.” The annual town meeting warrant closed on the last Monday in March. Regarding budgets, Dennehy also said, “Our financial team internally, we’re all working very hard to figure out our finances going forward and how we might want to structure things and keep our debt at an even level as some of that falls off.”
As customary, the Selectmen discussed their raves for the last few weeks. “I think I have a rave though for the Financial Committee that’s been working on the Fire Station; I think you guys, which is Marilyn Browne from the Finance Committee, Kathryn Shepard, Christine Kelly [Treasurer/Collector], Elizabeth [Dennehy], Lisa Hart [Accountant]… and Jon Wilhelmsen, I think this is kind of outside their normal, everybody’s basically not getting paid, they’re volunteers so I’m very impressed with their willingness to put in time; hopefully it will pay off,” Traynor said.
Joy said that her rave was for Colleen Thompson. “I love that she feels so strongly about this (foot services) that she doesn’t want to let it go. It is an important issue. We just need to find a way to make it work in a suitable location,” Joy said. She continued, “It’s definitely a service that’s needed. If there’s waitlists for other towns than it’s something that we need to offer.”
Traynor proposed reaching out to neighboring towns. “This might be an opportunity for a shared-services grant,” Joy said. Selectman Mark Russo emphasized Joy’s rave for Thompson. His second rave was in regard to shared services saying, “I think we need to continue to always be on the lookout for shared services that might work and might model and bring forth others. I’m glad that comes up and I think that’s one of the ways out of the endless financial struggles the town has.” His final rave was for the “super raw early spring days.” He said that those days really make the later beautiful spring days “all the more wonderful.”