The Plympton Board of Selectmen met on Monday, Feb. 13. The warrants for the Annual and Special Town Meetings were approved during the meeting. “Three months to Town Meeting!” Selectman Mark Russo said. Selectmen also voted to accept the election calendar for the 2023 town elections. Town Clerk Patricia Detterman told the Selectmen that if they wanted to opt out of early mail by voting for local elections, they would need to hold a hearing. Detterman said that for the local elections, many of the mailed-out ballots were not returned. “My initial reaction is, I’m not interested in opting out,” Selectman John Traynor said citing concerns about seniors and disabled people being able to vote. Traynor asked if they could put it on their next meeting’s agenda and gather additional information in the meanwhile. Detterman also told Selectmen that a new Registrar would need to be appointed as their terms begin at a different time than other elected officials. Town Administrator Liz Dennehy said that they would add it to their next meeting’s agenda.
Selectmen were ready to vote on the Dennett Elementary School solar power purchase and sales agreement and lease documents for the rooftop project that’s been ongoing since 2020. “It’s the culmination of a lot of work between myself, Jon Wilhelmsen on behalf of the Dennett School Committee, and respective Counsel for us and for Selectmen, and also a lot of work put into this by Wendy Jones in the Assessor’s office,” Dennehy said. “Really nice teaching tool as well as the cost savings along the way,” Russo said of the project. The project was voted on and approved by the town during Town Meeting. The Selectmen voted to take control of a portion of the roof at the school to make the project possible and voted to approve all necessary documents.
They also took up the Turkey Swamp purchase and sales. Regarding voting on the documents at that night’s meeting, Russo said, “We came really close but we ran into a couple of snags along the way… apparently this is going to have to go to the Planning Board of both Plympton and Halifax so it’s going to take a little bit more time; we have long known how slow and convoluted these processes could be and they’re living up to it.” Russo also said that Counsel had recommended that the Board authorize Russo to accept the documents assuming any necessary edits are minimal. The other Selectmen voted unanimously to accept that proposal.
The Selectmen also nominated Russo to serve as point person for the RFP process for Power Supply. Russo said that they actually have a year left on a three-year contract which he said, “turned out pretty well; we’ve certainly saved citizens along the way.” Russo said that rates are going down so it would be best for one of the Selectmen to move forward with an RFP should the rates become ideal.
Traynor brought up to the other Selectmen that many other Boards and Committees hold their meetings on Monday evenings making it difficult for them to attend other meetings. He also said that many Monday holidays force the Selectmen’s meetings out further than he would like. He proposed moving the Selectmen’s meetings to Tuesdays. Russo said that given how long they have been meeting on Mondays “it would be a real challenge for me to switch.” Selectmen Chair Christine Joy said the same. Traynor said in light of their feelings, it might be best to “table it for a while.”
Dennehy provided a few updates saying, “We have been working through some issues at some of our town buildings. The heating system that replacement took place at the Old Townhouse and the Council on Aging… have been informed that the building is back open and ready for use… the library we had a little issue over the weekend, so we had our heating vendor out there today… so hopefully that’s settled for the short-term.” She said that longer term, they’ve asked the vendor to finish off the library’s heating system. She noted that they would hopefully be using funding from the next round of the Green Communities grant. Dennehy said that they would also be looking at the overhead heating units in the garage of the Highway Department. “We had a lot of success with that same type of project at the Fire Department.”
Traynor led off the Selectmen’s raves saying, “I had a resident reach out for help moving a large object in order to make room for a hospital bed.” He said that he reached out to the Fire Department who were able to move the object within a matter of hours. “Kudos to the Fire Department, as always they stepped up and did a nice job, especially on short notice,” he continued. Russo said that over the last few weeks, they have had several emergencies come up during weekends. He said his rave was for Dennehy, Bri Martins, and all town employees who mobilize and get things done even during off-hours. Joy said her rave was for the clear nights making star gazing possible.