MINUTES OF THE SELECTMEN’S MEETING

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2010

PRESENT: Donal P. Anderson (Vice-Chairman), Willard J. Boulter, Jr. (Clerk), Daniel W. Trabucco (Selectman), Edwin J. Thorne (Town Administrator), Diane M. Tobin (Executive Assistant), John Mattinson (Pembroke Media Broadcast), Becca Manning (Pembroke Express), Steve Annear (Pembroke Mariner/Reporter), Ben Bastianelli, Anthony Steinemer, Nicholas Morrison, and others.

Selectmen Arthur P. Boyle, Jr. and Lewis W. Stone were not present this evening.

The meeting was called to order by the Chairman at 6:30 p.m. in the Veteran’s Memorial Hall, Town Hall, 100 Center Street, Pembroke, MA, and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Bobby Hackett: The Selectmen offered sincere condolences to the family of Bobby Hackett who passed away on Saturday, February 13^th. Mr. Hackett was praised for his generous donation of time and services to many functions in town including the many years he provided and cooked provisions at the Annual Historical Fish Fry.

RECYCLING PROJECT: Sixth grade students Anthony Steinemer and Nicholas Morrison came to the Selectmen’s meeting to tell them about a project they are doing for the Science Fair. They plan to monitor the recycling collection in their own homes for the next couple weeks to see how it will impact their amount of curbside trash.

The boys asked a question about why the Recycling Center does not accept #3 through #9 plastic items. Mr. Thorne explained that the manager of the center is looking into this. They also asked if the Town could offer a discount to get more people to recycle. They asked about the possibility of tracking the cars with recycling stickers and possibly reward those who use the center most often by offering a discount. Mr. Thorne responded that the Recycling Manager and the Solid Waste/Recycling Study Committee will be looking into ways to increase recycling. The students inquired about where the recyclables go and Mr. Thorne explained that the town hires someone to haul the recyclables to a processing plant. The students asked where the 11% figure came from that was reported in the newspaper and were told that the Selectmen report to the DEP. The number is closer to 20% now.

Selectman Anderson invited the students to come back to report on the results of their project. The 6^th Grade Science Fair will be held at the Pembroke Community Middle School on March 21^st.

MINUTES: The Selectmen approved the minutes of their meeting of February 8, 2010 as amended.

RECREATION COMMISSION - RESIGNATION: Mr. Boulter moved, seconded by Mr. Trabucco, to accept with regret the resignation of Linda Federico from the Recreation Commission. So voted unanimously in favor.

MINUTES OF THE SELECTMEN’S MEETING

FEBRUARY 22, 2010 – PAGE TWO

RECREATION COMMISSION – APPOINTMENT: Mr. Boulter moved, seconded by Mr. Trabucco, to appoint Marc Gerhart of 24 Center Hill Road to serve on the Recreation Commission for a term to expire in 2011.

OLDE HOME DAYS FAIR: Mr. Boulter moved, seconded by Mr. Trabucco, to approve the request of the First Church of Pembroke for permission to hold the Annual Olde Home Days Fair in the parking lot and on the grounds of Town Memorial Green surrounding the church from Wednesday, June 2, 2010 through Saturday, June 5, 2010, and to close Curve Street starting on Tuesday, June 1^st, conditional upon the final approval of the Police Chief and the Fire Chief. So voted unanimously in favor.

CABLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE: The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to appoint John Mattinson of 208 Plymouth Street to serve on the Cable Advisory Committee.

SPECIAL TOWN MEETING WARRANT: Mr. Trabucco moved, seconded by Mr. Boulter, to open the warrant for the Special Town Meeting to be held within the Annual Town Meeting on Tues., April 27, 2010, and to close the warrant at Noon on Friday, March 5, 2010. So voted unanimously in favor.

FACEBOOK – PEMBROKE CONNECTS: Town Counsel has advised that the District Attorney’s Office would say that it was probably a violation of the Open Meeting Law for all of the members of the Board of Selectmen to sign on the Pembroke Connects on Facebook. If there was only one account in an individual name, such as the Town Administrator’s and each Selectmen could individually and separately view the account, that would be a more ethical way to access this program.

DOG COMPLAINT HEARING – 66 DWELLEY ST.: The Board held a public hearing on a complaint from John Finocchi about dogs at 66 Dwelley Street being loose and terrorizing the chickens in his yard. The owner of the dogs, Richard Langella, was not present at this hearing. The complainant was not in attendance either. Animal Control Officer Bill Hart was present and explained the problem to the Board members relating that the dogs have been picked up before and in a recent response to a nuisance call, he found that the dogs are not vaccinated and are not licensed. He says these dogs need to be restrained and he recommends requiring a kennel be built and the dogs be kept on a leash when going from the kennel to the house.

Since the owner did not show up for this meeting, the Selectmen voted to direct the Town Administrator to draft a letter to Mr. and Mrs. Langella at 66 Dwelley Street and tell them to comply with the rules and regulations of the Town of Pembroke relative to the dog leash laws and they must attend the continued hearing next week to respond to the complaints charged against their dogs. If they do not attend next week, the Animal

MINUTES OF THE SELECTMEN’S MEETING

FEBRUARY 22, 2010 – PAGE THREE

Control Officer will be given a letter from the Selectmen, and will be accompanied by a police officer to pick up the dogs.

TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT:

Furnace Colony Debt Schedule: Mr. Thorne looked into the debt schedule for the resurfacing project for the roads in Furnace Colony for which the DPW requested authorization to borrow $325,000. This 10 year project is suggested for approval by bond counsel. The District Attorney says there should be $46,000 built into the budget for this project. These roads are not accepted streets in the town.

Pembroke Center Plaza: Mr. Thorne reported that Plymouth County Commission has approved stimulus funding and economic development bonds for the Center Plaza project. Kaufman Realty told Mr. Thorne that the project is to begin in two weeks with the demolition of the old gas station and bank buildings. Construction will begin with CVS on the corner and all road work will be done as part of the first phase of the project.

Open Meeting Law Seminar: Atty. Brian Riley from Kopelman & Paige will be presenting a seminar on the Open Meeting Law on March 11^th at 6:30 p.m. It is important that all boards and committees attend this meeting.

Plymouth County Retirement Board: Mr. Thorne encouraged the Selectmen to support House Bill 4439 regarding pension relief funding by extending out payments. He believes it will defer $120,000 from this year’s assessment. Mr. Thorne feels it is important for this legislation to go through. There would be no immediate cost to the taxpayers.

Selectman Trabucco moved, seconded by Selectman Boulter, to direct the Town Administrator to send a letter of support to our legislators to support House Bill 4439. So voted unanimously in favor.

Plymouth County Health Group: Mr. Thorne advised that the Plymouth County Health Group will meet in Whitman on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. There is an anticipated potential increase of at least 10% expected.

ADVISORY COMMITTEE: Members of the Advisory Committee met with the Selectmen this evening to express their concerns about the expenses for maintenance at the Community Center. Advisory Chairman Matt McNeilly reported that $22,091 has been transferred out of reserve funds already this year for maintenance at the Community Center and they have another request for $422.00 this evening. The Advisory Committee questioned the future plans, if any, for this building and any plans to help defray the costs, or will the town continue to pour money into it out of the reserve funds. Mr. McNeilly noted that a study had been done to reconfigure three of the center municipal buildings, but suggests that the focus should be on just the community center and the long range plan for that building. He noted that there is only a $7500 appropriation for maintenance of the Community Center at this time. Advisory member Ben Bastianelli feels that there have been exponential expenditures and it could quickly get into hundreds of thousands of dollars at this rate.

MINTUES OF THE SELECTMEN’S MEETING

FEBURARY 22, 2010 – PAGE FOUR

Mr. Thorne suggested that it would cost approximately $5-$6 million dollars to totally renovate the Community Center building. The study committee estimated $250 per square foot. It was decided that assistance from Alan Peterson, Facilities Manager for the Schools, will be requested to help determine a clear capital plan to renovate the building

and the leases for rental of space in the building will be reviewed. He will focus on what it would cost to renovate for the current uses of the building and he will be asked to respond to the Selectmen and Advisory.

300^TH ANNIVERSARY COMMITTEE: Mr. Boulter reported that the meeting of the committee was held last month at the Pembroke Country Club and plans are coming along well for the celebration of the town’s 300^th anniversary. There is much work to be done and more volunteers are needed.

REGIONAL SELECTMEN’S MEETING: Mr. Thorne advised that the Regional Selectmen’s meeting that was scheduled for Thurs., Feb. 25^th in Lakeville has been changed to Thurs., March 11^th in Lakeville.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m.