Five Things You Missed at the Selectmen's Meeting

If you didn’t attend Monday’s Board of Selectmen meeting, you missed discussion surrounding the use of online tools to help town government, a talk about July 4 celebration plans and two refrains of Happy Birthday. Check out a video of the meeting on Andover TV's website.

1. Town to Use Ebay, Craig’s List: Town Manager Buzz Stapczynski is about to dive into the realm of Ebay and Craig’s List for the first time, as a large table in the Old Town Hall needs to go. “We haven’t used eBay or Craig’s List to get rid of town stuff but I would like to start with this,” said Stapczynski. Selectmen voted to allow Stapczynski to sell the item, which was valued over $100. The Town Manager said that tables like it have been selling for between $100 and several thousand dollars.
2. Town Tweets: Selectman Alex Vispoli suggested starting the use of social media to help promote town news flashes and events. He said that it would be a good idea to at least start looking into the possible use of Twitter, Faccebook, or any other type of social media site. “If we don’t do it, somebody will do it for us,” Vispoli said. He suggested forming a study committee to look at the use of social media in town operations.
3. July 4 Logistics Approved: The selectmen approved the closing off of streets for the July 4 celebration. While the schedule has not yet been released, parade organizers will be closing off a number of streets for the Horribles Parade including Punchard Avenue, Main Street from the intersections of Punchard Avenue to Park Street, Park Street to Whittier Street across Chestnut Street to Whittier Court. An “All-Town” celebration will commence in The Park after the parade. Details to come.
4. Liquor License Change: The Board of Selectmen approved a liquor license name change from Glory Restaurant on Essex Street to Andolini’s at the same location. The restaurant ownership will not change.
5. Happy B-Day, Selectman: On Monday night, selectman Ted Teichert almost got out of the meeting without a mention of his birthday. But that didn’t happen. Luckily, Alex Vispoli announced the selectman’s B-Day at the meeting and everyone started singing Happy Birthday. Then, John Pasquale, a regular speaker at the citizen’s petitions and presentations section of the meeting, pointed out that it was Vispoli's birthday later this month and they started signing Happy Birthday once again. I think they call that Karma.