Plympton-Halifax-Kingston Express

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Fare increase on Commuter Rail

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Train 041 arrives at Hanson Station from Boston on Tuesday, March 19, 2019. (Photo by Abram Neal)

In 1949, Jacqueline Steiner and Bess Lomax Hawes wrote the song made famous by the Kingston Trio about a man named Charlie stuck forever riding beneath the streets of Boston because he was a nickel short. Now, Charlie will have an even harder time coming up with his fare because the MBTA announced fare increases for the first time in three years last week. 

Area riders can expect to pay more for their “T” trips beginning July 1. Local monthly commuter rail passes were hit hard by the hikes — increasing at a higher percentage rate than the overall system increase.

At a meeting of the MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board March 11 the board approved an overall 5.8-percent increase in fares across the transit system after modifying a previous proposal tabled in January.

Bob Gray, a commuter from Duxbury, who disembarked from train 041 at Hanson Station said of the increase, “It’s more money,” but added, “It’s a good way to get into the city.”

Another rider, Shellie, of Pembroke, who works in Boston at a law firm and disembarked from the same train said, “Yeah, I’ll have to pay more … I’m not thrilled.”

The Whitman, Hanson and Halifax commuter rail stations are in fare zones five, six and seven, respectively.

One-way fares inbound or outbound to or from Boston will increase by 50 cents in each zone, from $9.25 to $9.75 or 5.4 percent in zone five (Whitman), from $10 to $10.50 or 5 percent in zone six (Hanson) and from $10.50 to $11 or 4.8 percent in zone seven (Halifax).

A monthly commuter rail pass will cost you an extra $19.50 in zone five (Whitman), up from $291.50 to $311 a month, an extra $22 in zone six (Hanson), up from $318 to $340 a month and an extra $19.50 in zone seven (Halifax), up from $336.50 to $360 a month.

This represents a yearly cost increase for a monthly commuter rail pass of $234 or 6.7 percent in zone five (Whitman), $264 or 6.9 percent in zone six (Hanson) and $282 or 6.9 percent in zone seven (Halifax).

The total yearly cost for a zone five pass will now be $3,732, a zone six pass will be $4,080 and a zone seven pass will be $4,320.

Local one-way bus fares, local monthly bus passes, reduced local bus and subway one-way fares and reduced monthly passes for seniors, TAP (those with disabilities), youth and students were spared the fare increase.

A local bus fare will remain $1.70, with a CharlieCard. A one-way subway ride will go up by 15 cents, from $2.25 to $2.40, with a CharlieCard.

The transit agency stated, “While the MBTA continues to focus on controlling costs and growing non-fare revenue, this increase, which is in line with the rate of inflation in the Boston area, is necessary for the Authority to continue making system investments to improve service.”

The MBTA website says that state law allows them to raise fares regularly but must limit those increases to every two years with no more than 7 percent for each increase. The MBTA has not raised fares since 2016. This increase is lower than the 6.3 percent increase originally proposed.

Solar bylaw eyed for TM warrant

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Solar Panels.

PLYMPTON — The Plympton Board of Selectmen met without Selectman Christine Joy, who was ill, Tuesday, March 25, 2019. The meeting was brief, although Selectmen Chairman John Traynor and Selectman Mark Russo took on a few high-profile agenda items in her absence, including a proposed zoning bylaw amendment that would cap the number of solar projects in town, an update on the Public Safety Building and a discussion of unforeseen repair and maintenance costs.

Solar project cap zoning bylaw amendment 

The Selectmen discussed a zoning bylaw amendment to appear on the Annual Town Meeting warrant, proposed by the Planning Board, which would cap the number of large solar facility projects in town at a maximum of eight. 

The board expressed their support for the proposal, which defined large solar projects as those that produce more than 250 kw of electricity or more. The bylaw proposal would also limit these solar facilities to being sited on 10 acres or less of land. All solar projects would continue to require a special permit.

Solar energy facilities used exclusively for the purpose of agriculture – with the electricity entirely used on premises – would be exempt from these restrictions under state law. 

The bylaw wording is based on a bylaw from New Braintree, a town in western Massachusetts, that implemented a similar cap on their solar facilities by a narrow, two-vote margin at a 2017 Special Town Meeting.

At first, when Town Administrator Elizabeth Dennehy brought up the concept of limiting solar facilities, Traynor asked, “Why would you want to do that?”

She responded that there were already a number of solar developments in town, and that there’s a general concern of them changing the character of Plympton.

Traynor was persuaded after some discussion.

“I’m very much in support of this [amendment],” said Russo, although he added he supported renewable energy.

Russo added he was concerned about deforestation of land as well as the impact of solar arrays on the beauty of the town.

The Selectmen affirmed their support of the proposed amendment to the Planning Board. 

The Planning Board, in conjunction with the Selectmen, will hold a public hearing to review the proposed amendment Tuesday, April 16, 2019, at 6:45 p.m. in the small meeting room of Town House.

Public Safety Building update

Russo reported on the Public Safety Building, and although construction is being completed slightly behind schedule, he announced some definitive milestone dates, noting, “the endeavor is finally coming to an end after eight years.”

Paving for the building is scheduled to begin April 15. A septic repair job needs to be completed behind the Town House (a $2,500 contract was awarded later in the meeting for that project to a local contractor) before the paving gets underway. 

The Public Safety Building open house and dedication will be held Saturday, May 11. 

The police will begin to move out of their current quarters May 14, and the new station is expected to be operational in late May.

“It’s really nice,” Russo said of the building. He added that Plympton constructed its police station for less money than many other towns in the state.

The Selectmen also signed the licenses for Verizon to install necessary utilities for the building. 

Since stuff breaks

Dennehy brought up unforeseen expenses the town recently incurred, specifically at the fire department, and the discussion that ensued revolved around the need to make budgets generally more realistic of the fact that there will be unforeseen expenses, “since stuff breaks,” as Russo put it.

A failure of the generator at the fire department last year resulted in a $2,000 deductible from the town’s insurance plan, Dennehy said. Additionally, the fire station’s electrical box needs complete rewiring before the new exhaust system goes in. That will cost the town about $4,300.

Another possible unexpected expense is due to a damaged pump on Engine 2 recently discovered during the course of repairs. Captain John Sjostedt, the department’s public information officer, contacted after the meeting, did not have information on the exact nature of the damage or costs, yet, but he says it may be manufacturer related or covered by insurance.

Russo was concerned about the situation and said that department budgets need to be more realistic in terms of unforeseen expenses, agreeing with Dennehy that these types of expenses need to be handled differently in the future.

In other news…

• The Finance Committee gave a brief preview of the town budget to the board, with a working total of $11,352,000, not including warrant articles. This is up from the FY’19 budget of $10,903,000.

• Jill Palenstign was appointed as temporary part-time senior clerk to assist in the clerk’s office through June 30.

• Town Administrator Elizabeth Dennehy announced that the town had been awarded $200,000 in Green Communities grant money. The grant is used to reduce municipal energy use and costs. It will be used to complete last year’s Green Communities projects as well as support new projects.

• The board closed the Annual Town Meeting Warrant.

• Various items were declared surplus from Two Brooks Preserve and can now be sold, and money made from the sales will be returned to the general fund.

• The next selectmen’s open meeting is April 8, 2019, at 6 p.m. in the Large Meeting Room of Town House.

Halifax firefighters sworn, promoted, recognized for service

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Grand Jury indicts Plympton health agent

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Robert Tinkham, the current Plympton Health Agent, and another local public official, Ray Pickles, the Marion Town Clerk, have been indicted on larceny charges after a joint investigation by the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office and the Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General into years-long mismanagement at the Carver, Marion and Wareham Regional Refuse Disposal District, according to state officials.

Tinkham, 57, of Carver, who was the former district board chairman, and Pickles, 85, of Marion, who was the former district executive director were indicted by a statewide grand jury Monday, March 18, 2019, Attorney General Maura Healey and Inspector General Glenn Cunha announced in statements this week.

Tinkham along with Pickles allegedly stole more than $675,000 in district funds. Of that amount, Tinkham is alleged to have stolen $65,000 and Pickles allegedly stole $610,000, according to the statements.

The investigation revealed that Tinkham allegedly received $65,000 in payments from the district for inspection services he did not perform while he was the chairman of the district board.

Pickles also allegedly opened district accounts that only he knew existed at two other banks. Investigators allege he deposited checks intended for the district into these accounts, withdrew cash for personal use and made payments on his personal credit cards. Investigators further allege that Pickles billed the district for services he did not perform and used district funds to pay for personal expenses.

Pickles was elected Marion Town Clerk through 2020, and the Town of Marion has no process for recalling elected officials, having defeated a warrant item to add such a process at a previous town meeting, according to a statement from Marion Town Administrator Paul Dawson.

Dawson said in the statement, “The accusations constitute a staggering abuse of the public trust, and we are grateful to the Marion Police Department, the Inspector General’s Office, and Attorney General Maura Healey’s office for their diligence in bringing out the details of these alleged thefts.”

Tinkham was charged with one count of larceny over $250 and one count of presentation of false claims while Pickles was charged with six counts of larceny over $250. The defendants will be arraigned at a later date in Plymouth County Superior Court.

The charges are the result of an investigation by the Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office and the Marion Police Department, in cooperation with the towns of Carver, Marion and Wareham.

Neither of the accused currently works for the district. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

This case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorneys General John Brooks and Ashlee Logan, of the Inspector General’s Investigations Division, with assistance from Chief Trial Counsel James O’Brien of the AG’s Criminal Bureau. Lead Investigator Logan Davis and Analyst/Investigator Will Bradford from the Inspector General’s Office investigated the case.

The district is suing Tinkham, Pickles and his wife Diane Bondi-Pickles in Plymouth Superior Court in a civil suit making similar allegations.

Copper thief caught red-handed

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Michael Davis, of Plymouth, in a March 4, 2019 booking photo. (Photo courtesy Hanover Police Department)

The copper thief who targeted Plympton as well as other South Shore towns has been arrested thanks in part to the investigation by Plympton Police Department’s Sergeant Brian Cranshaw

Hanover police arrested Michael Davis, 47, of 27 Beaver Dam Road, Plymouth, on Monday, March 4. He was arraigned in Hingham District Court the next day on charges of breaking and entering a building in the nighttime for a felony, destruction of property, and possession of a burglarious instrument, according to court records.

The alleged copper thief was apprehended as part of a multidepartment investigation and surveillance operation that included Sergeant Brian Cranshaw, of the Plympton Police Department, as part of the Old Colony Police Anti-Crime Unit, police reports said.

Davis is suspected in multiple home break-ins across the South Shore. He allegedly breaks into homes that are listed for sale, and after ensuring they are empty, goes into the basement and cuts out all the copper piping.

Investigators applied for and were granted a warrant for a GPS-tracking device for Davis’s car, after growing suspicious of him, a source familiar with the investigation said.

This led police to the Hanover location where they found Davis inside a Broadway Street home listed for sale in the act of cutting copper pipes in the basement, where they confronted him.

Davis ran off into the woods, but police were able to track him down and arrest him.

He pleaded not guilty in front of Judge Heather Bradley and posted $250 cash bail. He must stay away from the alleged victim and out of the Town of Hanover as part of his pre-trial probation conditions. Weymouth-based attorney Christopher Affsa was appointed by the court to represent Davis.

He is scheduled to be back in Hingham District Court May 1, 2019, for a pre-trial hearing.

Water study committee created

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Linda Leddy explains to the Plympton Board of Selectmen the necessity of a Water Study Committee, Monday, March 11, 2019.

PLYMPTON — Plympton selectmen approved another volunteer town committee, Monday, March 11, 2019, which will be tasked with identifying and mapping public water sources as required by the state. The board also discussed how to best use the space that will be vacated in Town House when the police move to their new station next door, and a traffic-blocking gate on Heather’s Path in response to the North Carver Urban Renewal Plan.

Water Study Committee

Another town committee, the Water Study Committee has been created by the vote of  selectmen, on the recommendation of the Open Space Committee, in order to identify public water sources (wells) and map them, as mandated by the state’s Department of Environmental Protection.

Linda Leddy, chair of the Open Space Committee was before the board and said the town has been remiss in its obligation to map potential public wells and is “way under-sourced in terms of data and mapping.”

This data are required by the state in the case that Plympton should ever need to move to a public water supply in the future and is required by law of all towns that do not currently have public water supplies, she said.

The first step, she said, was to form the committee. They will then engage the professional services of a hydrogeologist to put together disparate data sets, although she doesn’t expect this to require major spending, she added.

The committee’s makeup is to be determined, however Selectman Mark Russo offered to sit on the committee as the selectmen’s representative.

Heather’s Path Gate

Carver planning officials irritated Selectman Christine Joy for not including a gate south of Heather’s Path in the latest plans for a proposed development of 1.8 million square feet of warehouse space to be constructed off Route 58 and Montello Street on the Carver-Plympton town line. The gate is intended to prevent truck traffic from cutting through Plympton on its way to Carver, forcing trucks to travel through Carver to the new development.

Carver officials and Plympton officials, spearheaded by Joy, have been negotiating to mitigate the effects of the planned construction on Plympton residents.

The development has been controversial since at least 2016, even including threats by Carver officials to take land of Plympton residents whose properties extend into Carver by eminent domain, a proposal that was taken off the table.

“We’ll see … we’ll wait and see what happens,” said Joy.

“If not a gate, something else,” she added, pledging to win a concession for Plympton residents.

Old police station space

Selectmen discussed the fact that, although it made Selectman Russo uncomfortable, they would have to forgo making final decisions on the way the old police station space will be used once the police department moves from Town House into their new quarters next door.

The warrant for annual town meeting needs to be closed March 25, not leaving enough time to fully explore what departments or committees should permanently occupy the space, let alone a full renovation.

Selectman Chairman John Traynor said that he’d like to see some load bearing walls removed, the space opened up, roughly renovated and temporarily occupied for the year until plans can be finalized. The board agreed.

One primary candidate for the space is the building department, where water currently leaks into their basement offices, which upset Traynor. The Council on Aging also seeks to use the space. Selectmen would like to see a conference room there.

Other selectmen’s news:

• Highway Surveyor Scott Ripley has identified a 2-foot by 2-foot hole in a small bridge north of the intersection of Winnetuxet Road and Main Street. He is applying for a grant to fund repairs.

• The town treasurer was voted to be the town’s “tax title custodian.”

• Assistant Town Clerk Patricia Detterman was appointed interim Town Clerk beginning March 21 as Town Clerk Tara Shaw will leave the post effective March 20.  Detterman has drawn nomination papers to run as a candidate for the position.

• The slate of officers that will appear on the ballot in May for town elections was modified to include the position of Town Clerk, and to correct an error with library trustees so that they will continue to have staggered terms.

Roofer back in court on new charge

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Roofer Matthew Will, 37, of Halifax, in Wareham District Court on Monday, March 4, 2019, charged with a new larceny-related case, his sixth. (Photo by Abram Neal)

WAREHAM — Matthew Will, 37, of Halifax, now faces six larceny-related cases between Plymouth County district courts representing some 26 open charges, prosecutors said in Wareham District Court on a snowy Monday, March 4. He appeared for an arraignment on the new, similar case alleged in Middleboro, this time for one charge of larceny over $1,200 by false pretense, as well as for three pre-trial conferences on outstanding cases.

Will is the owner of Five Star Discount Roofing, of Halifax, and stands accused of victimizing now, at minimum, 24 area households in at least three communities across the county by beginning construction work and not completing it, or not doing work at all, after accepting deposits.

The newest case, police records say, involves a 77-year-old Middleboro woman, who hired Will to fix her roof in September 2018. Will asked her for $4,000 upfront for supplies for the job, and the woman wrote him a check for that amount. On Feb. 7, 2019, the work had not yet begun and the homeowner went to police. Police then applied for a criminal complaint against Will.

Both Jack Atwood, Will’s Plymouth-based defense attorney, and Will were late for the already delayed 11 a.m. court opening, which started late due to the early-morning snowstorm. Atwood said he was driving from another court. He successfully filed a motion to withdraw as counsel because Will was not adequately assisting in the preparation of his defense, he said. “I don’t represent him on the new charge,” said Atwood, of Will.

Judge Tobey S. Mooney presided over the hearings and arraignment. After allowing Atwood’s motion to withdraw, she appointed Onset-based defense attorney Peter Russell to the cases after the probation department confirmed that Will financially qualified for an appointed attorney. She warned Will that he needed to participate in his defense and that, “you won’t be back here picking and choosing attorneys.”

Arguing against the $1,000 cash bail for his new client’s release, as requested by the commonwealth’s Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Schulman at the arraignment, Russell stated that Will had not been convicted of any charges, up until recently had no criminal complaints other than an “old fish and wildlife charge,” had been a reputable contractor up until his “business went south” and has four children.

Mooney released Will on personal recognizance on the new case, citing the fact that he was already being held on bail in other cases.

The alleged victims now claim they have lost a combined $157,197.34, with individual losses ranging from $695 to $15,569. Most of these victims are over age 55, and many are quite elderly, according to police reports. The alleged victim who lost the most money is 78-years-old.

Will continues to hold construction supervisor licenses, as of press time, according to state records, and continues to be in business. At two points Will attempted to address the judge, once to explain why he wasn’t participating in his defense, which Mooney immediately stopped him from doing, and another time, at the end of the session, he asked the judge, “Can I say one more thing?” and Mooney abruptly cut him off with a curt, “No.”

Halifax STM waits for quorum

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Selectmen wait with residents for the required 100 voters to make up a quorum so the business of the town could be voted on. Less that 2% of the registered voters in Halifax showed up on a cold and windy night to pass six special town meeting warrant articles. From left are Selectmen Chairman Kim Roy, Selectman Troy Garron, and Selectman Thomas Millias. (Photo by Abram Neal)

HALIFAX — “I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts, and beer,” joked Town Moderator Dennis Carmen, quoting President Abraham Lincoln, as the February 2019 Halifax Special Town Meeting reached a quorum of 100 registered voters needed to begin and kicked-off 52 minutes late at 8:22 p.m. He apologized for not being able to provide free beer to those that had waited almost an hour for the STM to start.

Only 104 residents attended the meeting, according to Town Clerk Barbara Gaynor, or less than 2 percent of the town’s registered voters.

All six of the articles, which were pulled in a random order, passed with near unanimity on voice votes, and only the first article pulled, article one, generated much discussion. That article took up more than half of the hourlong STM. The finance committee recommended all six articles at the meeting.

Article one was the most discussed article as it involved the most spending. It asked the voters to appropriate an additional $1,056,056.26 for the fire suppression (sprinkler) system project at the Halifax Elementary School, which is in addition to $977,000 voters already approved at the May 2017 Annual Town Meeting.

The town went out to bid in May 2018 for the project but no bids were received, due to the timing the project was put out to bid, officials said. The town went out to bid a second time, and according to Town Administrator Charlie Seelig, the low bid came in at $1,731,687.

The article needed a two-thirds vote to pass, and town officials were both careful to answer questions from the voters and appeared defensive regarding alleged mistakes made with the building’s circa-1993 sprinkler system, which only covers part of the building and is leaking air, failing earlier than anticipated.

Seelig stated that the town could vote to approve the project now, or not, but that if they delayed it would likely cost much more in the future.

One voter, Timothy Kundzicz, of Elm Street, who said he was new to Halifax, was particularly vocal in his opposition to the article, insisting that those responsible for the failing system had to be held accountable and that those responsible for the new system be held accountable as well if the system doesn’t hold up as expected. Kundzicz spoke several times with his questions and comments regarding the article, some of which were technical in nature.

In response, Seelig, in apparent frustration, said, “You want to berate someone … you want someone to take responsibility for [the old sprinkler system] … but I suspect some of the people are dead.”

In addition to Seelig and Board of Selectmen members, Fire Chief Jason Viveiros, Building Inspector Robert Piccirilli and the new sprinkler system’s architect, of Habeeb & Associates Architects in Norwell, all answered voter questions regarding the project.

Eventually, after all discussion was exhausted, a resident moved the vote, and the article passed with a two-thirds majority. Only a few voices were heard voting in opposition.

Article six was pulled next, but because articles five and six were related, article five was discussed first. Both involved Payment in Lieu of Taxes (or PILOT) agreements for solar energy developments. Selectman Tom Millias presented the articles, stating that they were a “win-win” for both the town and the solar developer.

Article five asked voters to approve an agreement negotiated by the Board of Assessors on behalf of the Selectmen with the solar energy generation company Green Apple Farms, IV, LLC, for its proposed facility on Franklin Street.

Article six asked voters to authorize the Selectmen and, on their behalf, the Board of Assessors to negotiate a PILOT agreement with the solar energy generation company Halifax Solar, LLC, for its proposed facility on River Street.

The agreements, Millias said, will see the town receive payments much higher than the town would otherwise receive through taxes. The PILOT agreements stipulate fixed-rate payments over the course of 20 years.

Both articles passed unanimously.

Article four was pulled next. It asked voters to transfer $10,000 from the undesignated fund balance to be added to the Monponsett Pond account for studies of the Monponsett Ponds and projects to improve water quality.

At this point in the meeting, voters were yawning as the time grew later. The article passed unanimously and was not controversial.

Article two was pulled second to last and asked voters to transfer $7,300 from Article 32 of the ATM of May 14, 2018 (Repair and Replace Police Station HVAC units) to Article 30 of the ATM of May 14, 2018 (Repair and Replace Highway Barn Garage Doors) to be added to the $21,700 previously appropriated for a total of $29,000.

The article asked voters to move money that they had already approved on spending for one project (to repair and replace police HVAC units) which had come in underbudget to be added to a project that had become more expensive (to repair and replace the highway barn garage doors).

This, too, was uncontroversial and passed unanimously.

Finally, the voters unanimously voted to transfer $4,500 from the undesignated fund balance to upgrade the town’s website – $3,000 less than originally printed in the warrant.

Seelig said this was necessary because the current version of the town’s website will no longer be supported beginning this spring and that the commonwealth requires the town to have a website, legally.

The meeting was over about an hour after it had started.

Fire Chief Vivieros honored by VFW

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Halifax Fire Chief Viveiros is congratulated by Halifax VFW Post 6258 member Robert Dugan of Carver, Post Quartermaster David Walmsely, center, and David Walsh, Post Commander, right. (Photo by Abram Neal)

HALIFAX — Halifax Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6258 commander David Walsh and fellow VFW members presented Halifax Fire Chief Jason Viveiros an award as winner of the Massachusetts round of the VFW National Public Servant of the Year award at the Halifax Board of Selectmen meeting Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019.

Viveiros honored with VFW award

Dozens of Viveiros’ family and friends, including his wife and parents, packed the Selectmen’s meeting room of Town Hall to surprise him Tuesday, and he appeared shocked by both their presence and the award, which highlights the achievements of emergency medical technicians, law enforcement and firefighter personnel.

He said he was “humbled” by the award and “lost for words,” which he said happens only rarely. He said that as a non-service member, he was honored by the recognition.

Walsh said that Viveiros will be recognized for the award at a ceremony later in the year in Boston by all the state VFW posts and then move on to compete nationally for the award.

The Selectmen and other town officials passed their congratulations on to Viveiros, and the mood was celebratory all-around.

Town contractor implicated in home-heating oil blending scandal

According to Town Administrator Charlie Seelig, recent reporting by WBZ-TV News has implicated Peterson Fuel, the town’s contractual heating fuel supplier, in blending higher-than-recommended levels of biofuel into Massachusetts home-heating oil customer’s tanks, an accusation the Worcester-based company denies.

Biofuel comes from renewable sources but blending too much in with fossil fuels can cause problems, some gradual, with many of today’s heating systems, according to the report and Seelig.

The town’s Director of Building Maintenance, Scott Materna, will have the town’s heating fuel tanks tested for their levels of biofuel, said Seelig, although the testing may take some time, because Peterson Oil has a contractual right to observe the testing and take samples of their own.

Seelig stated in a later phone interview that no damage to the town’s heating infrastructure from the contractor’s fuel has been discovered, so far.

Slowing down traffic with speed tables suggested

Seelig noted to the board, which took no action on the matter, that the Town of Swansea was using “speed tables” to slow down traffic in their community.

Speed tables, according to the National Association of City Transportation Officials, are traffic “calming” devices that are longer than speed bumps and flat-topped, with a height of approximately 3 inches and a length such that a vehicle’s entire wheelbase passes over. A speed table causes traffic to slow down, but not to the extent a speed bump does.

Although speed tables do slow traffic, common controversies with deploying the strategy include that they may damage vehicles and that they can slow down emergency vehicles.

Seelig said he has passed the suggestion on to the Traffic Study Committee to further look into the matter, “if indeed we have a speeding problem.”

Highway Department awarded half-a-million dollar grant

The Selectmen were pleased with the news that Steven Hayward, Highway Surveyor, had been awarded a $500,000 grant on Feb. 5 for the Highway Department, from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Highway Division’s Municipal Small Bridge Program in order to replace the Pine Street Bridge.

The board noted that it was not often that grants of this magnitude were awarded, and thanked Hayward for his hard work in obtaining the funds.

Other Selectmen’s news:

• Halifax resident Richard Crespi, 26, was sworn in as a Permanent Intermittent Police Officer for the Halifax Police Department in front of his family. His oaths of office were administered by Town Clerk Barbara Gaynor, and his badge was pinned by his sister, Samantha Crespi.

• Town Administrator Charlie Seelig said he has already begun the process of contacting all necessary contractors and vendors resulting from the Special Town Meeting warrant articles, which all were approved the night before.

• Kimberly King was interviewed by the board and appointed to the Council on Aging.

• Steven Littlefield, who has often served informally in the role of Assistant Veterans’ Agent, was officially appointed to that role.

• The Board of Selectmen will next meet Tuesday, March 12, 2019, at 7:30 p.m. in the Selectmen’s Meeting Room of Town Hall.

Special Town Meeting Monday night

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HALIFAX — A Special Town Meeting will be held on Monday, Feb. 25, at 7:30 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room of the Halifax Elementary School, 464 Plymouth Street. All registered voters from the town are encouraged to attend. Residents must have registered to vote at least ten days prior to the meeting in order to participate.

There are six articles on the warrant. All are proposed by the Board of Selectmen and the Finance Committee will make their recommendations at the meeting.

Article one asks the voters to appropriate an additional $1,056,056.26 for the fire suppression system project at the Halifax Elementary School, which is in addition to the $977,000 voters already approved at the May 2017 Annual Town Meeting.

The town went out to bid in May 2018, for the project but no bids were received. The town went out to bid a second time, according to Town Administrator Charlie Seelig, and the low bid came in at $1,731,687.

The total budget for the project is now $2,033,056.26, therefore an additional $1,056,056.26 is needed to fund the project.

Article two of the STM asks the voters to transfer $7,300 from Article 32 of the Annual Town Meeting of May 14, 2018 (Repair and Replace Police Station HVAC units) to Article 30 of the ATM of May 14, 2018 (Repair and Replace Highway Barn Garage Doors) to be added to the $21,700 previously appropriated for a total of $29,000.

Article three asks if the voters will transfer $7,500 from the undesignated fund balance to upgrade the town’s website. Seelig says this is necessary because the current version of the website will no longer be supported.

Article four is for Monponsett Ponds. It asks voters to transfer $10,000 from the undesignated fund balance for studies of the Monponsett Ponds and projects to improve the water quality of Monponsett Pond, with the appropriation to be added to the Monponsett Pond account.

Articles five and six are in regard to Payment in Lieu of Taxes (or PILOT) agreements for solar energy developments.

The first, article five, asks voters to approve an agreement negotiated by the Board of Assessors on behalf of the Selectmen with the solar energy generation company Green Apple Farms, IV, LLC, for its proposed facility on Franklin Street.

The second, article six, asks voters to authorize the Selectmen and, on their behalf, the Board of Assessors to negotiate a PILOT agreement with the solar energy generation company Halifax Solar, LLC, for its proposed facility on River Street.