[music] [music] [music] >> This is a meeting of the Board of Selectmen. Today is April 29th, 2026. I declare it 4:30 p.m. Is there a motion to call the meeting to order? So moved. Second. All those in favor? >> Aye. Aye. Meeting is now called to
order. Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
All right. The first order of business we have is for our reappointment of our town planner, Victoria Alfreyo Alfreyo, to the joint transportation planning group. Is there a motion to reappoint Victoria Alfaro to joint transportation
planning group as the Acushnet representative? So moved. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes. Our second appointment is with the Chief Coppa, and we have an appointment for a police
dispatcher. Welcome, Chief. Hello. Um Before I begin, I would like to congratulate Mr. Resendes Thanks, you. on the election and appointment to the board. I look forward
to working with you in the future. I as well. Um I would also like to publicly recognize Bob Conklin and Laurie Newell. Uh they have been volunteering to do the landscaping at the police department and the grounds. They have spent many hours doing this. It looks great.
Um they have done this uh for several years now, and we truly appreciate their efforts. They are an example of the quality of residents in this community, and we thank them for this. Uh I would also like to thank our DPW for providing equipment and labor, as well as Chairman Gaspar,
for facilitating this work. Thank you. You're welcome. Um I'm here tonight to introduce Myra Freeman and request her appointment as a new 911 dispatcher for the Acushnet Police Department. Myra resides in Lakeville. She comes from a family of public
servants. Our background checks on the Myra uh revealed that she is a driven young woman who possesses strong communication skills. >> [clears throat] >> She has a good work work ethic and has a good attitude. Myra has taken the initiative to put
herself through dispatcher training while still uh completing her associate's degree. Myra has all the qual- qualifications needed to immediately um begin with little to no training and no downtime. >> [clears throat] >> I believe she'll be an asset to the
Acushnet Police Department family and request her appointment. Okay. Gentlemen, any questions, comments, or concerns on the appointment of Myra Freeman as a dispatcher? I do not. Nope. I I'll tell you, Myra, you you must be
um a pretty awesome young individual, because when I spoke with the chief today on the phone, he's already got great things to say about you, and I think all they did was interview you, and he and I I was shocked at how highly he spoke about you. So, congratulations for that.
Thank you. Um I think you're going to be a great fit in the town of Acushnet. I hope that you're going to be a great fit in the town of Acushnet. Um working under the new police chief, Gary Coppa, I don't I don't see any issues going forward. And again, like I said, what Mr. Coppa had
spoken so highly of you, I was like, it's a shoe-in. So, I'll make a mo- uh is there a motion to appoint Myra Freeman as a dispatcher step one in the Asby Union current contract? So moved. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Thank you. Congratulations.
>> Congratulations. Congrats. Welcome aboard. Congratulations. Thank you. Congratulations, Myra. Thank you. All right. Next, we have uh as you know, we have a new town administrator, and we need to appoint as a parking enforcement officer.
Um Mr. Lamontagne has provided a certificate certification. Um is there a motion to appoint Adam Lamontagne as the parking enforcement officer? So moved. Second. All those in favor? Aye. And again, we have Mr. Lamontagne that needs
to be appointed as the chief procurement officer. He has a certificate again published here inside the book. Is there a motion to appoint Adam Lamontagne as the chief procurement officer for the town of Acushnet? So moved. Second. All those in favor? Aye. All right. All right.
Um we do have uh for some discussion, I know Selectman Monahan was instrumental in getting this um through Fairhaven, um working with the town of Fairhaven, the beach passes. Um I know there's been some questions going back and forth from Fairhaven to our administrative assistant, Margaret,
about, you know, looking to see if we still wanted the 150. I I would answer yes, plus 50. Um but I think the max is 150, and I know Mr. Hinckley, you shared some responsible roles with Chairman Monahan last year in
sending the various in coordinating how that pool how we were going to go forward with getting those permits out, so I'll turn it over to you. >> Sure. Thanks, Mr. Chairman. Um the request was to actually get more than 150, but the BPW of Fairhaven did put the limit at 150.
Um they did raise the cost of it to $45, um which is at their purview, and they're allowed to do that. The couple stipulations that did come up, there was some transferable passes that we had gotten last year. So, anybody that
wasn't able to secure a beach pass could at least, you know, borrow it for a day for a small fee. Um after diving into the records, it really wasn't utilized as much as it could have been. Um and we did not recoup the cost of the
transferable ones, so I would recommend that we just stick with the 150. Um the BPW did make a request in regards to the golf course um agreement. Uh beach passes, obviously, you can go to the beach right now in Fairhaven.
They don't enforce parking until June 1st, assuming that people aren't going to go swimming until June 1st. I believe last year we kept the golf course for Fairhaven residents in the same window of time. Fairhaven has requested
that once we go through with this and we vote on this and decide to go through with the passes that um as soon as we authorize it, that they can use the golf course for the golfing season. So, essentially, if we were to vote on
this tonight, once we get everything communicated with Fairhaven, um we'd essentially be authorizing their residents to get Acushnet resident rates at the golf course starting immediately, essentially. So.
They raised the price on their passes to Acushnet on this program. Yes, it went up uh I want to say it was I think it was $5 last year, so it was a $10 increase. So, we got a I think we need to look at what the rate structure was and then
speak with the golf course um chairman of the golf management committee and figure out what we actually did there, because I I think it was dollar for dollar. So, if we have 150, and let's just say it's a buck a piece, that's 150 bucks when golfers from
Fairhaven would go there. Um We would it once we hit that 150, we don't allow any more people to come in. >> Yeah. So, we I think we need to figure out that structure, so it it stays equal. Yeah, correct. And I agree, and um just to give you a rough idea of
what it worked out to be last year, Acushnet residents, all told, for the passes we had, it was a reduction of about $15,000 for Acushnet residents, cuz if you're not a resident, their passes are about $150 more than this.
Um I want to say, all said and done, it was 297 298 rounds of golf played by Fairhaven residents. And when you factor in all the discounts in that small window of time, it was about $4,000 in discounts. So, Acushnet residents definitely got
the better end of the deal on it. Um I will be more than happy to jump in with um what the exact figures were. Yeah, if you can do that. It's something quick that we can do at our next upcoming meeting. >> Yep. Um still only being in April, I'm
not worried about the >> Yeah. 60° 50° temperatures outside. >> Yeah, I mean, the passes wouldn't be, you know, beneficial to Acushnet residents until June 1st anyway. I would still like to get it done before that, so everybody has time, but um 100%. A little bit more
um on the process side of things, last year we, I believe, did first come, first serve for 50 of them at the Council on Aging, and then the rest of them were done lottery. Um we did that because after the first
year, where it kind of gotten back and forth and stuff like that, last year was more like a reset year. Give some people an opportunity to get them. Um I think this would my suggestion for this year would just be straight lottery. Um it takes all the chance and puts it equally amongst
everybody. There's a lot of people that can't show up to the Council on Aging at 8:00 a.m. to get a beach pass, and last year people lined up at 6:00 in the morning ready to go. Um some people just can't do that, so rather than giving certain people an opportunity to grab one Okay. without a problem. My
suggestion would be all 150 be based on a lottery this year Okay. um or a drawing, however we choose to see fit. We did it with one of those random wheel generators last year and it worked pretty well, so Do we still have that random wheel generator? >> It's just an internet based um
service. You just punch in all the names. Okay. Which I have no problem doing. >> you be willing to take this on and work with Margaret, our administrative assistant, to Yep. get this thing going and speak with the Chairman Flynn? Yep, absolutely. >> to the board. Yep. Thank you.
All right. No more action needed. Next, these are special event Tour de Cram. Every year they come in for their bike run. They don't spend a lot of time through Acushnet, but they do stop off at the Creamery. Um which is kind of cool. And they do some advertising for the Creamery and
other stops that they do there. So, Country Oh, Country Whip, Robin's Nest, Captain Bonnie's and Ask Dartmouth. Dartmouth, Bay Vineyard. So, it's kind of a cool bike ride. It's not a race, it's just a bike ride. It's
to raise funds. Um gentlemen, any questions, comments, concerns? Nope. Every year, Mr. Chairman, they they do a nice clean job at this. Um I don't think we've had a problem yet. Nope. And we've had sign-off by our fire chief, police chief, and our
building commissioner, so everything's good, Chief. Fine. Yeah. All right. They will need the detail. >> Also, we've spoken to them about that. They're aware of it. Okay. Thank you. Is there a motion to approve these uh this Tour de Cram bike ride? So moved. Second.
And now, all those in favor? >> Aye. And that will be taking place Sunday, May 31st, 2026. All right. And on the old business Uh yes, spend spending freeze. So, the last meeting, Mr. Kelly came in gave us
a brief update on budgets and and a little bit on the warrant articles and things of the like and with some of the deficits the town's facing, um snow removals in a massive deficit, snow and ice removals up in a massive deficit. We do have some other deficits with overtime and other
um departments. So, we talked about it and we thought right now would be best to put a spending freeze in in the last 2 months. So, I agree with Mr. Kelly and Mr. LaMonteigne that that spending freeze does need to go in place.
Um we can figure out what we need to. I think that it's it it should be known that there are certain departments that have contractual obligations that bills need to be paid. Um so, those I I believe that Mr. LaMonteigne will understand that. But other than that, there will be a
spending freeze and I believe that Mr. LaMonteigne will send out a memo to department heads notifying everybody of such spending freeze. Agreed. Yeah, I agree. Selection Gaspar. Just a reminder. reminder that I have an
election June 20th. You you you can get approval from Mr. LaMonteigne. But I I understand there are certain obligations for my departments, but for us right now Mr. LaMonteigne and Mr. Kelly have directed me as chairman to request a
spending freeze. Um and that's what we're going to do until we figure out where our deficits are. And we can balance things out. We don't have much money left in free cash to go to town meeting and ask for free cash to balance budgets for the prior year. So, the best way to do it as
we have in the past years is spending freeze. Yeah. And this year we were hit with that major blizzard and we're sitting on roughly a quarter of a million dollar deficit just from snow. Our funds will be reimbursed by Old Colony um for that election, but we need
them up front in order to pay for the election. Yeah, I got that on the um selectman's announcement. We'll have that conversation about the revo. But thank you, Ms. Lavigne. And is there a motion? Mr. Chairman, I move to issue a spending freeze effective upon the town administrator's memorandum to the departments and to the
close of the current fiscal year. And I further authorize the town administrator to set parameters of the spending freeze and the authority to approve or deny expenses at the town administrator's discretion. I'll second that. All those in favor? Aye.
Motion passes. Thank you, Ms. Lavigne. All right. 72 Middle Road. So, I don't know, it was probably a month ago, 45 days ago, we had the engineering firm come in on behalf of a resident um applicant that's proposing a
55 and older community off of Middle Road right after our PD, police department station on some land that was purchased and they were requesting approval for a sewer tie-in. I asked some questions about the sewer main and where they're running it and things of the like. I've had plenty of
conversations with our DPW director, Mr. Menard, the engineer, the applicant. Um Mr. Menard assured me that that small amount of pipe and it being a force main coming out of the 55 and older um the grade, the pitch of the pipe, grade of the pipe will not have any impact on
future growth for the sewer line. Um so, I was okay with that. And then I looked at the plans that were in the office. There was a re-new submittal and there's a hydrant at the beginning of the cul-de-sac. I contacted the engineer and I spoke
with Mr. Menard. I contacted the engineer about that and it has to be based on my experience and Mr. Menard's advice is it has to be at the end of the water service for flushing purposes. Um and then the engineer told me that the fire chief was the one that
requested a movement of that hydrant to about 150 ft down from Middle Road because of the space between two hydrants that are located on Middle Road for fire protection. So, I spoke with the fire chief on it. I got back to the engineer on it and I requested a second hydrant be installed,
one for fire protection about 100 ft down from Middle Road going into the new development and one at the end of the water line for for water flushing purposes. So, he assured me that it would be done. I asked Mr. Menard and Chief Fallon to make sure they look at the plan. It's
still going through peer review in the planning board to make sure that that is on the plan when planning board approves it. So, other than that, I have no problems with it. Um I did let the applicant know at that meeting, Ms. Lavigne, as you know, I did make them aware of our new
sewer bylaw with the connection fee, 6,000 per unit. >> Yep. Um and there will be no betterment, the original betterment because there's no known betterment to that sewer pipe. So, he can do whatever he needs to do, extend that sewer main, tie in off to
every house that by that passes by where they're going to lay the pipe. Um and it's $6,000 for each connection to each unit. Correct. So, no betterment, just for clarification, no initial betterment, but six units times the connection fee. I think there's 12 units. Oh, correct.
Cuz they're actually two buildings. Six buildings 12 12, okay. Understood. So, it'd be $72,000 connection fees. So, I'm okay with that. >> [clears throat] >> I don't have any other concerns other
than water and sewer. Okay. And the rest is pretty much a planning board's hands. And I know it's been in peer review. I think after speaking to the engineer, it's going for a second review with peer review. So, I know there's been some back and forth. Right. So, I assume we need two different
motions, one for sewer, one for water? Yeah, if you want to if you want to make >> Just to be specific. Motion to approve the sewer tie-in. I would make a motion to approve the sewer tie-in for the six buildings {slash} 12 units.
Is there a second? I'll second. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. And then we'll be looking for a motion to ensure that these two hydrants placed within the development, one roughly 100 100 ft in from Middle Road and the other hydrant at the end of
the water main. So moved. Second. All those in favor? Aye. There you go. All right. Thank you, gentlemen. Number two. Old business. Annual town meeting. Operating budget warrant articles. We do
have Mr. Kelly here today. Mr. LaMonteigne has a day off. He is spending the time to close on his new house in Acushnet. Um Mr. Kelly was kind enough to attend our meeting and I don't know if Mr. Kelly has any update to the budget or the warrant that he would like to talk
to the board about, but he is present. Our senior staff has reviewed the uh budget once through. And we are now going to be talking to some department heads
because we still are have a deficit as far as uh what would what we need to cut and uh what that would do to those departments. >> [clears throat] >> Uh as far as the warrant goes, it's a
draft of the warrant. Uh we're still I was in discussion right before this meeting with the chair of the CPC on the CPC article and we're still looking at the free cash article.
And we have yet to finalize discussions with the school. They're uh doing their budget, I believe, this evening. Okay. Gentlemen, any questions for Mr. Kelly?
No, sir. No, sir. That's it. Thank you, sir. It's always a pleasure having you here. Well, I appreciate that, Mr. Chairman. I'll see you Tuesday. It's Tuesday, right? Yeah, it gets me a
night out of the house. >> [laughter] >> The stuff's on YouTube. The missus might be watching. All right. >> I'll send them the link as soon as we're done. Yeah. >> [laughter] >> So, I did throw a couple things just as reminders when I was with you last year with system Margaret. I did tell her to
just so I wouldn't forget cuz I've been really busy doing a lot of things. Um opening day parade um is this Saturday at 11:00 a.m. We will be leaving the St. Francis school grounds and parading down
to Pope Park. So, again, it's at 11:00 a.m. So, for all you out there that are listening and might be watching, just make sure you drive careful through the area of Town Hall down to roughly Hamlin Street cuz the parade will be taking place. There will be
um roadblocks in place while the parade is taking place, but please be careful and any of you folks at home that want to be out there to to watch the parade, knock yourselves out. And then, I also put on an Old Colony
re-vote for the new school. So, I attended a meeting along with the town clerk and the assistant town accountant Monday night on Patriots' Day at the Old Colony Regional Voc-Tech School um and they're pretty adamant that they're going forward with a second
vote, the same vote that the town rejected, the towns rejected outside of Mattapoisett um a second time around. Um I I know there are a lot of our residents unhappy about it. I I particularly am not happy about it. I I
believe when the people say no, the people say no. Um but, they're adamant about doing it, so be it. They want to do it and they will be doing it on a Saturday June 20th, which is, in my opinion,
flawed process again because June 19th is now a holiday and June 21st is Father's Day. So, as much as that sucks for everybody listening,
we need to get out there and do what we need to do because um if not, you could be looking at a pretty hefty bill coming even though the town of Acushnet overwhelmingly said no the first time. They are doing a re-vote.
The other problem that I seen and I heard at that meeting was the town of Lakeville. Apparently, wherever they do elections, there's it's also a wedding venue. And on June 20th, they do have a wedding. So,
with that said, it could skew results even greater for the Old Colony re-vote because from what I understand, the town of Lakeville residents will now have to be somehow notified that their their election
place will be in a different place and how many people are going to be paying attention to that. So, I don't know how Lakeville plans on communicating that with their residents. I hope that they do a good job communicating that um with their residents because again, Lakeville is second only to Acushnet when it comes
to kids being sent to that school. So, I think it's in the utmost importance that Lakeville um has their house in order for this election. Um I know I have Miss LeBonny here, the town clerk here tonight. I'm sure she wants to have something to say
about elections in general and maybe even the Old Colony re-vote, but I did want to for now give everybody an update that Old Colony is coming for that re-vote. Be prepared. Thank you, Chairman. Um
as we all know, and congratulations again, Brian. Um we did have an election yesterday um and under my advisement um you had allowed for the reduction of hours
um from our normal 10:00 to 6:00 to uh 10:00 to 2:00. Um unfortunately, it seems um even though we have done this in the past, um this was very unsettling for um many of the residents in town.
Um I did uh speak with several individuals that had showed up at the polls to vote after we had closed and we were in the process of tallying all of our votes um and it seems as though the
majority of those people coming out were concerned that the Old Colony uh ballot question was on yesterday's ballot. Uh so, it's very important that I stress, as you said, June 20th is going to be
the new the new date. Uh but, with that being said, I don't usually typically get up here and read a statement um but, I would like to read a statement that I have posted. Um thank you, um Selectman Bob. Um and
it has been posted on the website. It will be sent to the newspapers um kind of giving everyone a little bit of background as to what had happened. Um social media, unfortunately, many times there's a lot of
misinformation that is out there. And uh it's very sad. I had a a woman come into my office just before the election and she was very upset because with a primary, you have to declare what party
ballot you would like, whether you would like a Democrat or Republican. And um her words to me were, "I was told I could not vote in that election." And I shook my head and I said, "Where Who
told you that?" And she said someone had told her. And I tried to reinforce, "If there's a question regarding an election, please contact my office. Don't take the word of someone on social media." Um and of
course, this is really meant for everyone out in cable land um because that it many people get all upset unnecessarily. So, um I would like to read the statement that I that I have prepared.
Okay. Uh I wish to address the concerns expressed by members of our community regarding the reduction in hours for this year's annual town election held yesterday, April 28th, and to offer my sincere apologies for any inconvenience
this decision may have caused. The adjustment to polling hours was made after careful consideration as part of an effort of responsible managing I'm sorry, as part of an effort to responsibly manage municipal resources. This year's
ballot included no contested races, five open seats, and only one known write-in that came to me after we had made this decision. Based on these factors, um voter turnout was anticipated to be limited and the
decision was made to align election operations accordingly. The Board of Selectmen's decision was based on my recommendation and I want to accept responsibility for that. Um and it was also based on my 18
years of experience administering local elections and evaluating voter participation trends. To ensure continued access to the voting process, early voting by mail was available for a full month prior to election day. In addition, absentee
voting remained available until noon time on the day before the election, providing residents with multiple opportunities to participate. The Town Clerk's office undertook multiple efforts to communicate the adjusted election hours and related
information. These included discussions at the Board of Selectmen's meeting where the vote was taken, uh postings on Facebook, notices on the town's website, and on the calendar pages of every single board and commission that we
have. Um I also sent direct notifications to subscribers of the town's alert system, messages on the six digital signs that we have located throughout town, and the posting of the warrant and sample ballots in 13 public
locations throughout town. I recognize, however, that changes to established voting hours may present challenges that may not have met the needs or expectations of all voters. I regret any frustration this may have caused and
take these concerns seriously. I also wish to clarify that it appears there was some confusion regarding the Old Colony District ballot question related to the proposed new school program project. This question
was not included on yesterday's ballot. The Old Colony District Community uh committee voted at its March 26th, which was just last Wednesday, at their meeting to place the question on a separate election scheduled to be held
on Saturday, June 20th with the hours from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Please note, absentee ballot absentee voting will be allowed. However, this is very important, vote by mail will not be
available. Only absentee ballots. Um that is the way the the new vote acts was written. This is a district election and unfortunately um we cannot send out ballots. So, as an example, just and I'm just going off for
a moment, um we sent out 873 uh early voting ballots. We got back 371. Um but that was those were ballots that were requested, okay? Um my thoughts are
people probably saw that there was no contested races and they just didn't bother um sending them back. Um but it's very important that all of those individuals that have requested ballots for all elections of of um this year
will not be receiving them for the district. So, I do expect that that is going to cause some more confusion um and that's another reason why I wanted to to discuss this tonight, okay? >> Thank you Thank you for that update. Okay, well, I'm not finished.
If there is a positive outcome from this situation, it is the level of community engagement it has uh generated. I am encouraged by the increased public interest and hope it will inspire inspire broader participation in local government. Resident feedback remains
essential as I evaluate this experience and work to ensure that future elections balance accessibility with responsible stewardship of uh public resources. I appreciate the community's engagement and continued
participation in the democratic process. So, thank you. I appreciate the board's support. Again, Bob, you've been fantastic answering questions um on social media um on my behalf and I I greatly appreciate that. [clears throat]
And I wouldn't change a thing, Mr. Chairman, if I may. And while I appreciate you taking the responsibility for it, ultimately it was a board decision and I'll speak for myself saying that I'll stand behind it and I'll always stand behind you on your recommendations. I think moving forward
we might discuss maybe different hours. Um but >> be asking. >> [laughter] >> As a learning experience, um you know, I look at myself as as kind of the shield, you know, I do what I can to Thank you. answer questions as honestly
as possible. Um there was a lot of people that were upset. Yes. Um and I wasn't rude to anybody, but I was very much reiterating what you just made for points in regards to Neighborhood News, Standard Times,
multiple Facebook posts from myself, from the town website. People honestly were accusing us of changing the hours the day of. >> Intentionally. Um I also reiterated that we have a very good alert system where you can get text or email alerts for
every board committee in town or just the ones you choose. Um reposted some links that people were unaware of. Um so, like you said, you know, the one upside to it is raising awareness for the different tools that we have to offer, you know, I not I I understand not everybody has
social media. Um and I had a lot of people talking about the people that don't have social media and I reiterated that we still have multiple signs around town, we have all the newspapers that are still around and
email alerts that you can sign up for. Not to tell people they were wrong for feeling the way they did, but just to let them know that there is opportunity here to have more information and ultimately that's what it comes down to. It's knowing the information, remembering the information Yeah. taking
advantage of the multiple ways that you put forth for everybody to make up for the lack of hours. Right. Thank you. I appreciate that. >> Very well said, too. I agree. And Pam, I would like to congratulate you on your big victory
Thank you. yesterday. Um [snorts] I know it was a heated race, but congratulations. Um I'm I'm delighted to have you as a town clerk for another 3 years. Um and I can tell you I know I know there's been some question marks about that election day, but I can tell you
this right now. Uh I've been working with you for quite some time, Ms. Labonte, and I I don't think I've ever had a question mark about the integrity of your office, so thank you for that. That That means a lot. I do appreciate it. Mr. Chair, Pam, every time I leave your office, what do I say?
You're the best. He does. I appreciate that. You're a professional and you always have the right information and I always take your word, you know, as gold, so thank you. I appreciate I'm not always right. I'm not always right, but if I don't know the answer, I'm going to get it for you.
The law offices of Lantigua [laughter] Lantigua. That's Mr. Resendes' state. Yes, it is. I'm like, "Where'd you get that from?" He goes, "Where you think?" I'm like, "Okay, I got it." But anyway, But anyways, I know what As government officials, none of us are
perfect, right? And basically, shame on us if we don't learn from our mistakes, right? >> Absolutely. Um and when we do make a mistake, we all try to work together to how to correct that mistake and and make town government better. Um and as long as we learn something from that,
>> [snorts] >> we're doing all right. So, and we and you know, I talked about this before, trying to make everyone happy is not an easy thing and and I get it. I mean, people have the right to go out and vote, Right. you know, and having a
shortened time frame, it sucks. But knowing what we know with uncontested um races, Yeah. there's not a lot of people that show up. I was actually kind of shocked that when you mentioned that people were showing up thinking that that Old Colony revote was they thought it wasn't and I can tell
you something right now, a cold day in hell I would ever let that day to be a short day. Yeah, I would Yeah, I would never even entertain it. So, um you know, I we the message just needs to get out because I think there's it's all on social media, but I think it really needs to be addressed that there's
a level of stubbornness where certain people don't take no for an answer. Right. So, there'll be further dialogue with the school administration um and board of selectmen meetings um and we can have that dialogue hopefully to answer some questions to our
constituents. I look forward to those opportunities. Great. Thank you, Ms. Labonte. Thank you very much. >> Thanks, Pam. And congratulations again. Thank you. You, too. All right. Um so, selectmen announce Ms. Ms. Dingley. Um I'd just like to touch base
back uh on the Old Colony revote. Um I think it would be pretty important to put something out either on our website and social media just to reiterate the date, the times, polling locations, just so we
can share it, so everybody understands. I think you brought up some really good points in regards to a federal holiday and Father's Day. And I know there's not going to be as much travel for Acushnet residents that have kids in the school because they're still
being school. Um but it's very important to know that anybody that is going to take a long weekend knows that they can take advantage of absentee ballots if they're not going to be in town. Um so, I think as much information shared as possible
on every outlet that we have would be important. Yeah. I agree. And the fact that there's no mail-in Right. Right. So, Ms. Labonte, would you be kind enough to draft something up? Yep. And then we can review it as individuals if we want to just run by the town clerk's office
before you post it and just make sure that all three selectmen we don't need the I can put it on my next agenda for discussion, but I think the sooner the better we get it up on the town's website. As you mentioned, I was very surprised that the news had already circulated and
people were actually thinking that the vote was yesterday when they just voted this on the Wednesday before. So, I found that out on Wednesday. Um but yes, that that's not a problem. I've had
people call me pretty angry about the revote already. Yeah. And I'm like, "That's not my decision. That hasn't been a board of selectmen's decision. That is a sole decision by the school committee at Old Colony, period." Right. So, it's got nothing to do with any of
us. Um Right. But I still took a lot of calls and complaints. Right. And you did on behalf of the residents, you did speak very well um at Monday's meeting. It's not an easy thing, right? It's
I get it, school, but the way they've gone about it, you know, I I I think they they hurt themselves. Yeah. So, I don't know. I know it's a few years as you know, I asked that question what happens with
funding and they're they're planning on different things and that's going to go to a vote, too. They might not get their way on that as well. All right. There's been a lot of mistakes that have been made, you know. I wish they would add two options.
First one fails, go to backup plan. But when your backup plan is the same as the first one that failed, people really get aggravated at that. I remember us years back with a library, building a library. That hit it four times. On the fourth time, I spoke
against it and I said we will figure out a different way to do a new library and we just we did just that. Without any debt. So. You know, it's not it's not our decision. Right. But if we can if you can draft something up about no mailing
ballots and put something together and I can swing by as soon as you're done. Mr. Hankley's running around and I know Ryan's he can get back before 4:00 p.m. to review a letter for you. >> And I do need you to stop by my office to sign some other documents as well. >> I'll show you give you all the paperwork
with the ethics stuff there. That's right. Yeah, I should I should I should be up to date on everything, right? I know, I don't think so. No? No. Yeah. You'll start getting emails when you're not up to date. So you you got you got you got to you
got to follow up with a bunch of paperwork coming to you. There's an there's an annual acknowledgement that you have to sign off on. Okay. Okay. It's all digital. I thought I just did that. Did you do it online? Yeah. Oh, okay. Then maybe you are right. You might have it on file. If not
But I still need to get you for the open meeting law. Okay. That should be a problem for Mr. Resendes. Nope. >> [laughter] >> All right. Mr. Resendes, selectman's announcement. >> [clears throat] >> Uh I'd like to thank the residents of this town who came out and voted for me
um either in person or by mail. Uh I was truly humbled by the support I received and I thank you all. Um also uh I'd like to thank Dave Wona, selectman Dave Wona for his years of service to this town.
Um He did a lot of good things and and I appreciate him, you know. Very good. So right now tentatively we have a meeting scheduled for the 13th of May.
We're getting close to deadlines. That will be for review of the warrant, review of the budget. We will do our best to have that all set for that date. And [snorts] the we've set the 13th and
the 20th in case there's any redrafting the board wants it can have a second meeting and it's within the time frame needed for the printing. Yeah. So I was just going to mention to the the board that we may need to do
an intro meeting after the 13th in case we don't have all our ducks in a row for the 13th. Yep. But I will be with Mr. Kelly and Mr. La Montaine next week working through some of the issues. So hopefully we can resolve them
after speaking with the department heads. Because ultimately it's their budget and they got to work within the parameters that we set. And I want to make sure that we're we're not going to create too much harm in that process and give them a fair shake at
operating their budget their department the way they see fit. So it's not an easy thing especially with some of the school requests. I do anticipate um I'm hoping Mr. La Montaine was kind enough to send Old Colony a memo and asking them to come in because they have
not been in front of the board of selectmen um for whatever reason, but they I made a recommendation that I would like to see them in to discuss their budget at the next meeting as well. Great. So that's where I'm at now. Okay. Sounds
good. All right. Is there a motion to adjourn? So moved. Second. All those in favor? Aye. We are now adjourned. >> [music] [music] [music]