During the July 14 meeting of the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen, a Spring Town Meeting date was set for August 17 at 6:00 pm at Old Rochester Regional High School, exact location therein to be determined.
Town Administrator Mike Lorenco said he had been in discussions with school facility manager Eugene Jones and ORR Superintendent Mike Nelson regarding use of the school property for the meeting. Lorenco said that an outdoor meeting was preferred by the school, given that some student activities will be starting in August, making it difficult to ensure proper sanitization processes could be completed before students reentered the school building.
Lorenco said he would contact a local tent company about tent, chairs, and tables for the meeting, and at the suggestion of Selectman John DeCosta, will also contact Plymouth County Mosquito Control and request the selected outdoor space be sprayed in advance of the meeting.
The selectmen also opened and closed the Town Meeting warrant, noting that basically nothing had changed since the original warrant had been approved by the selectmen and the Finance Committee months ago. The warrant will be posted on the town’s website after the July 23 meeting of the Finance Committee.
Lorenco then asked the selectmen to discuss whether or not it was time to reopen public restroom facilities. Speaking up quickly, DeCosta said that in his day-job, management of a state beach, the bathroom facilities have been open and the staff cleans them. DeCosta is in favor of opening them sooner rather than later.
Selectman Jordan Collyer added that the portable facilities that have been placed around the town are not cleaned properly and, “…if we follow the guidelines and do the deep cleaning,” everything would be appropriate for reopening the town’s restrooms. He added that parents with small children are finding the portable toilets very difficult to use.
Lorenco said that in preparation for this discussion he had ordered signage directing the public that masks must be worn when using the public restrooms.
But Selectman Paul Silva voiced his concern that things were moving too fast. Silva said, “Fifty percent of the states are in the red,” meaning rising numbers of COVID-19 cases. “Massachusetts is in the yellow – caution warranted,” he said. “I look at it this way, there are ‘nice to have’ and ‘have to have;’ we are not far enough along to open public restrooms.”
When the vote was taken Silva was in the minority.
Silva also expressed concern about what he considers a premature return to holding public meetings of committees and boards inside a public venue versus remote-access platforms and extending the open-door policy for town hall, which currently stands at 10:00 am to 2:00 pm daily.
“Are we taking care of the residents?” Silva asked rhetorically. He said that if residents’ needs were being met, why change anything now?
After further discussion, all agreed that possibly having flexible hours would help. There was agreement that extended hours once a week until 6:00 pm might be helpful. Lorenco said he would work out the scheduling with department heads. Currently, outside service windows act as a safety barrier for both town hall employees and the public. “Again, is it a “nice to have” or a “have to have,” Silva wondered aloud.
Silva continued to express his reluctance to expand openings. “The state is moving too fast; people continue to ignore guidelines, (and) things could escalate again. I’d prefer to move slower,” he said. “I was appalled on July 4th on the docks. People just are not following the guidelines; there’s no need to jeopardize our employees.”
Regarding committee and board meetings, there was discussion about where such meetings could take place given the number of public participants that might attend and where in the community enough square footage can be found. Silva asked Lorenco to drill down and find out what committees might need for space and how those spaces would be disinfected after use. “Some committees are doing a good job with the remote meetings,” Lorenco offered.
On the theme of boards and committees, earlier in the evening Lorenco said he wanted to move forward with the board’s approval to formulate policy or what he termed a “charge” for all committees and boards. He said the goal was to help new committee members in understanding their responsibilities or “charges” for any given role. “It will tell them what they should be tasked with doing and it will also include a list of the members and their terms,” he said. Lorenco was given the green light to move forward with Silva commenting, “We definitely need that.”
FEMA flood-plain mapping was discussed, with Lorenco telling the board that while the changes have been out in the public domain for months, due to COVID-19 interruptions a deadline date for the commonwealth’s cities and towns to accept or reject the changes had not been reset. Lorenco said that he would find out if a date was pending in case Town Meeting needs to be asked for a decision on the matter at the Spring Town Meeting now scheduled for August 17. He said that the actual flood plain had not been modified but that subtext and categories had been modified. The Planning Board approved the mapping updates in preparation for Town Meeting, he added.
The Acushnet Road bridge repair project is scheduled to begin on July 27, Lorenco reported, and will cause road closure and detouring through August 28. He said that the fire and police departments have preplanned routes for emergency purposes.
Another update shared by the town administrator was the Bike Path phase 1b. Lorenco said that work is moving along with some portions 99 percent complete, but that the recreational pathway will not be fully complete until late November.
The selectmen, along with Town Moderator Jack Eckland and school committee member Jim Muse, moved to have two new Finance Committee members appointed. The new members are former selectman Tyler Macallister and Thomas Kelly. They also moved to reappointment Paul Amoruso.
Transfer Station hours are being modified, Lorenco said, in an effort to better service the public. The Transfer Station will be opened on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from 8:00 am to 2:45 pm beginning July 21.
Lorenco also said that contract negotiations with new Library Director Jennifer Jones were completed. The selectmen instructed him to move forward with the offer. Jones was selected beginning in August.
Before adjourning, Lorenco acknowledged a milestone birthday for Mr. Paul E. Brown, who turns 100 years of age on July 24. He said a letter commemorating his special day will be sent.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen is scheduled for July 28 at 6:30 pm. Remote meeting details will be posted at www.mattapoisett.net.
Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen
By Marilou Newell