Town clerk Patricia Detterman and town moderator Barry DeCristofano both attended the Monday, December 2 Plympton Board of Selectmen meeting to prepare for the special town meeting on December 16.
Thirty-five people will have to be present to constitute a quorum. There will be seven articles on the warrant to be voted upon. Town Administrator Elizabeth Dennehy said that the warrant would be mailed to residents. Dennehy said that the cost for making and printing the warrant for the mailing was $1500 so future warrants may need to be distributed only electronically.
Article 1, which pertains to zoning, will be handled by the Planning Board and will require a two-thirds vote to pass. Article 2, which pertains to the police chief, will require a majority vote. Selectman Chair Christine Joy will speak on the article. Article 3 which requires a majority vote would authorize the selectmen to create safety zones with reduced speed limits. Selectman Mark Russo will make the motion and speak to the article. Selectman John Traynor agreed to speak on Article 4 which intends to secure money for a Council on Aging van. It will require a two-thirds vote. Chair of the Bylaw Review Committee Alan Wheelock will speak to Article 5 which would change the fees, etc. related to animal control. It will require a majority vote to pass. Articles 6 and 7 require a majority vote and will be explained by a member of the Board of Assessors.
A tax classification hearing for fiscal year 2020 was originally scheduled during Monday’s Board of Selectmen meeting but Dennehy received notification during the meeting that the Assessors had canceled and moved the meeting to 6:15 on December 16 at Dennett Elementary School just prior to the special town meeting.
The Selectmen shared an update on the efforts of the Town Campus Committee who met for the first time the previous week. “They are going to be looking at really, two things. One will be the campus and the other will be building and land needs,” Joy said. The Committee will be setting up a maintenance schedule for building needs including large pieces of equipment such as air conditioners and furnaces. The hope is to eliminate doing band-aid type work on these items and focusing rather on spending money where it can be put to its best use. The next meeting will be January 7 at 6:15 p.m.
Joy said that the town had reached out to both The Brockton Area Transit Authority (BAT) and The Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority (GATRA) about bringing services to town. BAT was very interested in meeting with Dennehy and Halifax town administrator Charlie Seelig. Taunton Mayor Thomas Hoye is the current Chair of the GATRA Advisory Board. Traynor said that he had reached out to State Representative Kathleen LaNatra to organize introductions.
The Selectmen each shared their raves of the past few weeks. Traynor praised the annual Thanksgiving Feast organized by CASA (Community and School Association) and held at Dennett Elementary School. Traynor noted the efforts of the volunteers and said, “It was just a fun time and the spirit of the town was there.” Traynor also mentioned that the Boy Scouts are selling wreaths in town.
Joy’s rave was the upcoming pancake breakfast this Saturday, December 8 at 8 a.m. Santa will also be in attendance. Russo shared an experience he had recently sitting in on a meeting between Executive Director at The Compact of Cape Cod Mark Robinson, a representative from the Open Space Committee, and some private citizens. Russo praised the cooperative effort of those involved to look at a project proactively.