2023 Annual Meeting Minutes
President John Chapman called the 2023 Davisville Civic Association Annual Meeting to order on July 29, 2023 at 4:05pm on the Kinney property at 459 Davisville Road. President John Chapman welcomed the attendees and thanked all for spending a Saturday on Cape Cod together as an association. He stated that he recently started the position as President, and is a “newbie.” He said that he put down on the agenda what the mission statements for this Civic Association are, and there is a 5-point summary about the mission of the Davisville Civic Association. It’s mainly about preserving the character, quality and the history of this great place. He talked about his parents dragging him here as a teenager since 1978, from Westborough, saying that’s a name drop.
Guest SPEAKER
Chief Jeffrey Lourie, Falmouth Police Department
Our Annual Meeting Speaker this year was Falmouth Police Chief Jeffrey Lourie, who is here from Westborough, name drop. He was welcomed to the community by Barbara Schneider, who said that she had lived in Westborough at one point. She said, “We’re very lucky to have the new Chief here.” She talked about Chief Lourie meeting with residents in East Falmouth his first week of work. He was diligent about addressing concerns residents have been nervous about, particularly the things that have been happening in the last year. Chief Lourie said that he’s currently staying in East Falmouth. He and his wife are looking to move here and be a part of the fabric of the community.
Chief Lourie referred attendees to go to Falmouth Cable TV, their Facebook page and Youtube channel. “You can see a 45 minute interview I did,” says Lourie. “The video gets into the weeds with a lot of the issues. I wanted to touch on a few here today that are kind of concerning to me as a Chief.” Issues that he spoke about in brief summary:
Staffing issues – he has the money to fill 13 positions. So they are starting a huge recruitment phase, on their Facebook page, flyers around town, tell anyone you know they are hiring
Concerns about the physical and mental well being of his officers – he had Sergeant Hertz research the ABLE project, to help the health and wellness of their staff and officers
Thinking outside the box with grants – Homeland Security funding to better serve residents and the region
The condition of the Police Station – they put $1.6 million aside, saying it is atrocious
Police radios don't work in certain areas – this is a major officer safety issues. He said the Police department are the most empathetic, hard working men and women he’s had the honor to work with. Saying they’re here to help and protect, serve, deal with the drug issues that we have in town, deal with the mental health crisis issue we have in town.
Chief Lourie then answered questions – Traffic calming and funding for hiring
Treasurer’s Report
John Driscoll, Treasurer, presented the Financial Report. Our finances are fairly simple. Your dues help support us through the meeting of expenses, the chairs, the tables, and then we maintain a website and a mailing list. We began the year with just under $6,000, and we're ending our fiscal year, which doesn't take into account a lot of the dues that have recently been paid, with over $8,000. And most of that money is in a Money Market, where we are earning about 5% on, so we're in good shape.
President’s Report
President John Chapman thanked Lenny Miele for supplying this PA system. Then he asked to approve the minutes from the 2022 Annual Meeting Minutes. Motion was carried.
Dean Lundgren, past President, was introduced to talk about the Menauhant Bridge and Beach project. Most important thing he said was that he is not from Westborough. He is from Attleboro, the Jewelry capital of the world. He gave a report from Peter McConarty, Falmouth Director of Public Works, who he has been in contact with this past year. Peter has spoken here at the last two year meetings. Dean said that Peter McConarty has been a great friend to the Davisville community. Peter’s most significant accomplishment was to make Davisville Road extension beach swimmable. This past winter he removed debris from the fence on the west side of the beach, and a 60-year-old remnant rusted water pipe that had surfaced. He touched on topics that Peter McConarty has talked about in regards to the project:
Replace the current Menauhant Bridge, widen the inlet channel from the present 45 feet to 90 feet
Extend the breakwaters at the entrance to Bourne's Pond, dredge the inlet and portions of Bourne's Pond
Deposit those materials to enhance the West Menauhant Beach, place a groin on the West beach and remove the old wooden bridge
The road between us and Menauhant will be closed for 15 months. Peter has been working with town, state and federal officials to get the final permit from the Army Corps of Engineers with no success. Dean stated this does not reflect negatively on Peter, he has done an outstanding job for us.
The inflated cost of construction cost will make the project much more expensive than originally intended from 2 years ago. Updates will be on the website.
Barbara Schneider reiterated Dean’s points. Saying it’s a constant dilemma for Peter, and all those at the beaches. She talked about having the old foundation and wood removed as its own project to keep everyone safe.
President John Chapman said he has been a consulting engineer for 37 years, and dealt with the Army Corps of Engineers for most of them. From experience, the speed of processing we are experiencing is not unusual, unfortunately.
Board Member Joe Sullivan then spoke about the Bourne and Sagamore Bridge reconstruction. Joe is associated with the HNTB engineering firm on the government relations side and having interaction with the Army Corps of Engineers. Originally in 2017, Governor Baker signed a memorandum of understanding with the Army Corps of Engineers that they would build two bridges for Massachusetts. The Bourne and Sagamore Bridges were to be rebuilt over a period of time. The MOU was never implemented, Governor Healy took office, and now we’re looking at a phased approach of how we would construct the bridges. Not being an official spokesman for the project, but with some knowledge, Joe said, “They’d start with the Sagamore Bridge because of the most ridership travel over the bridge. Funding and engineering are the most important part of it. The goal is to have both done by 2033 to 2035. They will be done separately.” He then spoke about HNTB filing an application this August for Federal grants, around $2.24 billion estimated request grant for the Sagamore Bridge. Massachusetts has to come up with non-federal aid funding of 20%, around $440 million dollars. Governor Healy has pledged that she will support that. Joe said, “They should hear back around September. The importance of building these bridges again is safety – it’s paramount.”
Annual Meeting Ballot
Officers:
President – John Chapman
Vice President – Mike Kinney
Treasurer – John Driscoll
Clerk/secretary – Peggy Gallagher
Board Members:
Term ending 2025 – Len Miele; Maureen O’Connell; Sid Pomper
Term ending 2024 – Dennis Conry; Libby Hearne; Stefanie Hoffer
Term ending 2023 – Dean Lundgren, Carol McLeod; Joe Sullivan
Joe Sullivan and Carol McLeod agreed to sign up for another three years. However, we need another volunteer for the term ending 2026.
Tammy Chase volunteered. She is a nurse and a current town committee member. She was nominated with a show of hands.
Closing Comments
Next year's meeting will be held on July 27, 2024, as long as it’s rain free.
During the question/answer session, the following topics were addressed/reported:
Status of lost trees, utility companies cutting trees, the end of life of trees, and replacement of them.
Short parallel roads are in danger, and resilience challenges.
Underground utilities along Davisville Road.
Using the website and receiving eBlasts about information and meetings.
Dean Lundgren then told attendees about a lemonade stand across the street at the home of Jenny and Adrian Rawn. And said that Jenny had a book Coastal Kitchen she could autograph if interested.
President John Chapman then thanked everyone for coming out. Best wishes for a great year!