The Plympton Board of Selectmen met on Monday, Jan. 6. The Selectmen voted in favor of an Issuance of Boston Post Cane to Inez Murphy. The awarding of a Boston Post Cane to the oldest resident in a town in New England dates back to 1909. Selectman Mark Russo explained, “It wasn’t until 1930 that the tradition was extended to include women, so far enough back that things were pretty different.” Murphy was born on March 1, 1928 and will be 97 on her next birthday. Selectmen Chair John Traynor said, “Inez sits on the Council on Aging. She’s always fun to be around. She’s just one of those people that’s very upbeat and she’s older than I am.” The Selectmen decided to invite her to a meeting around Memorial Day. “We want to know her secrets,” Russo said.
Highway Superintendent Rob Firlotte attended the meeting to give a departmental update for the Highway Department. Firlotte said that all the necessary equipment was up-to-date for snow removal. “With our snow contractors, the contracts/insurance binders have been signed, received, and copies have been sent to the Treasurer’s office as well as contracts for sand, salt, and the liquid ice melt,” Firlotte said.
Regarding Chapter 90 funds, State funds to assist in improvement of local public ways, Firlotte said they received just over $111k for fiscal year ’25. Firlotte said that their RDP (Recyling Dividends Program) earned $4,200 which they will use for cameras at the Transfer Station. “We’ve had some issues with waste management leaving the gate open, backing into the gate, and costing us repairs so it will be nice to have everything under surveillance,” he explained. He noted that they’ve had to pay up to $1,800 for gate repairs in the past.
Traynor said he would like to see a buzzer system implemented especially for seniors who may need assistance at the Transfer Station. Firlotte said that sticker sales for the Transfer Station have begun and will go through the end of March.
Firlotte told the Selectmen that he had his second meeting with Mass DOT regarding the numbered roads program for Route 106. He said they began discussing scope of work and will have another meeting shortly. Traynor asked when work would begin and was told the spring with it hopefully being completed by July. The hope is to address drainage issues. Firlotte said that they plan to address an area that causes puddling where there was a fatal accident about a decade ago.
Russo asked about the Pay as You Throw program which he noted was started two years ago and met with quite a bit of resistance and concern from the townspeople. Firlotte said, “It’s been going very well… it saves a good amount of money; I think $60 grand last year.” He continued saying, “It was change and a lot of people don’t like change but since then our tonnages have decreased on solid waste and it has decreased our operating cost which is huge.” Russo said, “That’s kind of a case study in how to present it and how to wrestle or deal with resistance and that’s a success story.” Before Firlotte left, Selectman Dana Smith said his only recommendation would be to have the Transfer Station hours and other pertinent information posted on social media.
Town Administrator Liz Dennehy provided a town update. She said that there was a recent heating issue at the library but said that it has since been resolved. She said that they got a lot of “great support” from their vendor Energy Source. She also gave a special shout out to Ross MacPherson of the Town Properties Committee for his help in the matter.
Dennehy also said that department budgets are beginning to roll in to her. She said that she planned to meet with the schools as well as the Halifax and Kingston Town Administrators. Traynor said it was going to be a tough year between “the supplies in the school, the firehouse coming.” He continued saying, “It’s going to be an interesting town meeting.”
The Selectmen voted to open the warrants for acceptance of articles for the special and annual town meetings. The warrants will close the end of March.
Per tradition, the Selectmen ended the meeting with their raves. Russo said, “though the holidays are wonderful, I’m kind of glad they’re over. It’s good to get back into a regular cycle of getting to work and I think that combined with the warrants opening, it’s that time of year when we earn our keep so looking forward to getting the work done.” Traynor said that his rave was for the Santa Clause that the Fire Department does every year. “Kudos for George Colby and his wife Sandy for doing that; it’s always a hit,” he added.