We’re covering tonight’s Board of Selectmen’s meeting and will be updating this when possible.
Selectmen Chairman Kevin DiMarzio asked for moments of silence on behalf of Lois Kelley, a co-founder of Abington Elder Services and Elijah Lewis, the 5-year-old New Hampshire boy whose body was found in the woods off Chestnut Street.
DiMarzio said the town will coordinate a vigil for Lewis in the coming week.
REPRECINCTING
Following the results of the 2020 Census, there will be some changes to the town’s precinct map. A full list of changes wasn’t available but DiMarzio read some of them off. Center Street, West Chapel Street, Lake Street, and Wilson Place, for example, will be moving from Precinct 5 to Precinct 1. Anyone impacted by a precinct change will be notified. The changes passed unanimously.
CONSERVATION COMMISSION APPOINTMENTS
DiMarzio said there were seven applicants to fill two voting seats on the Conservation Commission and one associate member seat.
Selectmen voted unanimously without discussion to appoint Alex Leary and Tim Warner as full voting members. Selectman Alex Hagerty nominated Kathy Creighton for the associate member’s seat, but it wasn’t seconded. The board then voted to appoint Daniel Camerota to the seat. The vote was 4-0-1, with Hagerty voting present.
BOARD OF HEALTH APPOINTMENT
The boards of selectmen and health were scheduled to jointly meet to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of Chris Schultz. However, action was postponed due to an error in the process. Under the Town Charter, anyone interested in being appointed to an elected board has 10 days to apply. Selectmen accepted names for 14 days. Of the three people that applied, only one submitted his name within the 10 days. The two boards opted to repost the vacancy and have the applicants reapply (as well as anyone else).
SELECTMEN RECOMMEND ACCEPTING LAND DONATION
The Board voted unanimously to recommend accepting two parcels of land located between Lady Slipper Lane and the town’s boundary with Brockton. The parcels, which are officially listed as being off Linwood Street, are landlocked and don’t actually connect to the roadway. Beaver Brook, which runs from Weymouth, down through Ames Nowell State Park, and out through Abington to Whitman, also runs through the properties. Roger Woods, owner of Old Town Real Estate, is donating the land. The Conservation Commission will take the final vote on whether to accept the donation.