HALIFAX – Selectmen on Tuesday interviewed building inspectors, re-appointed lists of committee members up for re-appointment, and spent a lot of time discussing junk.
In fact, for weeks now they have discussed junk at almost every meeting, a lot of junk. They also took care of some general town business, as well, but the junk seems to be fraying a lot of nerves at the Selectmen meetings lately.
A property on Monponsett Street continues, after months of gentle cajoling by the Board, to have an extreme amount of unsightly debris in front of the house and several unregistered vehicles on the property. This is in violation of town by-laws. The owner was approached months ago to come into code.
At first, the Board wanted proof that all the cars on the site were registered. This has not been proven to their satisfaction. According to a town by-law, only one unregistered car may be on any given property.
Then the Board demanded that the debris in the yard be removed. The resident did finally secure a dumpster, but didn’t get the proper permit from the fire department, and is now creating a dangerous situation for neighbors in the event of a fire by blocking a hydrant.
The board ordered that the police and fire chiefs speak with the property owner immediately to rectify the dumpster situation, and to attempt to force them to make more progress, as very little has been made.
Selectman Kim Roy is tired of giving the owner more time before levying fines, and wanted that on the record. She was the most visibly frustrated with the situation, and expressed that the Board was wasting too much time on this matter. She stated that as a mother of four boys, one has to escalate punishments in order to change behavior.
Selectman Tom Millias was concerned that, despite fines sending a strong message, it may not motivate the owner to change the situation and clean up, which is the ultimate goal, he said. The board resolved to deal with the immediate issue first: the dangerous dumpster blocking a fire hydrant.
Selectmen agreed that they were spending too much time discussing junk and attempts to be reasonable working with this property owner have gotten few results.
Also on Tuesday, two of the three candidates for an open Finance Committee position were interviewed, Mel Conroy and Derick Bennett. They will also be interviewed by FinCom, which will make a recommendation to the Selectmen. The Selectmen will appoint one of the three to the position in the next two weeks, after they receive FinCom’s advice. The third candidate has scheduled an alternate date for an interview with the Selectmen.
An opening for building inspector has also opened up as Tom Millias, the current inspector, has been elected Selectman and has thus resigned his position in Halifax.
Millias abstained from the interviewing or voting, as his appointment has not technically ended. The Board interviewed two candidates, Michael White, of Bridgewater, and Robert Piccirilli, of Halifax, a current assistant inspector for the town.
Although no final decision has been made, the Selectmen tipped their hats a bit toward the candidate who has been working for the town for 15 years. Piccirilli also serves on several committees in town and is well known to the Board.
Selectman Troy Garron was concerned as to why Michael White would take a pay cut to leave a position he says is going well in Bridgewater.
Finally, the Board re-appointed many individuals to various town committees. As these positions expire June 30, Selectmen will hold final re-appointments on the few remaining positions until their next meeting in two weeks, on June 24.
In other news:
• The treatments on both East and West Monponsett Ponds have occurred. The Board of Selectmen are continuing to reach out to Brockton officials regarding the use of water from the Monponsett Ponds and the water quality problems that may be occurring due to this. They plan to solicit help from state legislators.
• Several standard “use of town property” permits were issued for events in September.