Plympton-Halifax-Kingston Express

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PFD honors Young Heroes honored

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Dennett Elementary School was honored Wednesday morning to present a plaque identifying three Young Heroes who have put into action the lessons they learned from talks with Plympton Firefighters. Each year firefighters speak with students at the Dennett giving them age-appropriate lessons in what to do when the alarm goes off. Each of these three youngsters showed that they could keep cool when the situation heated up. They are Jackson Randall, Cayden Galambos, and Bradley Bonome, shown here with top firefighter in the state, Fire Marshal Jon M. Davine, Plympton’s Fire Chief Cheryl Duddy, and Capt. John Sjostedt. The plaque will hang in the Dennett corridor. Overseeing the presentation was Wilden, the Plympton Fire Department’s comfort dog owned by Chief Duddy.

 

Photos by Deb Anderson

Energy Advocates, LLC awarded Halifax contract

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Halifax selectmen met Tuesday, Jan. 23, at the Halifax Town Hall. They first awarded an energy management proposal for the coming year. Out of the three bidders, Energy Advocates, LLC., of North Easton was $2,000 per month; Amado Energy Solutions from Attleboro at $4,000 per month, and Wesson and Sampson, with a number of offices throughout the East Coast was highest at $7500 per month.
Kathy Stanley’s company, Energy Advocates, LLC, was lowest by far, Town Administrator Cody Haddad said, and she has worked with several other area towns. Haddad has worked with her in the past, saying her credentials are outstanding. The funding for the first year will be paid for with $24,000 ARPA funds and year two costs will become part of the operating budget for Halifax. The town may also apply to Green Communities to fund part of that cost. Selectmen awarded the contract to Energy Advocates, LLC.
Jonathan Saphire, representing Monponsett Events LLC d/b/a The Lake House, met with selectmen in a scheduled hearing to see if the board will approve a change to their all alcohol and common victualer’s license to include a secured lawn space and courtyard area at their 550 Monponsett St. location. Saphire told the board that they would have security through the Halifax Police for each event. Selectman Jonathan Selig asked how close the area is to Monponsett Pond; saying he didn’t want patrons to end up in the water. Saphire responded that they don’t want that either and they have plantings that help delineate the water’s edge.
One of the Monponsett Street neighbors voiced her concern that event guests outside with their drinks and cigarettes would put their litter into the pond: flip a spent cigarette or toss an unwanted drink. Saphire responded that they generally have a designated smoking area, and the area would be supervised. Selectman John Bruno pointed out that the pond is a treasured resource in town and echoed the concern that the integrity of the pond be foremost. Saphire agreed.
Jeremy Gillespie of Richview Avenue told selectmen that he is concerned that outside music would disrupt nearby family life. Saphire assured him that any complaints would be handled appropriately. Selectmen voted to extend the area covered by the All Alcoholic and Common Victualer’s license as requested.
Selectmen approved the requests from Steven King to use the Town Green for live entertainment and a Farmers’ Market for multiple dates during the upcoming warmer months.
Bruno asked his board to approve the new contract negotiated with Chief of Police Joao Chaves. “Glad to have you on board for three more years, Chief,” Bruno said.
Bruno asked his board to acknowledge a $20,000 check from MacDonald Industries for landfill repairs. The board accepted the check with their thanks.
Chief Joao Chaves asked selectmen to approve the appointment of Stephen Raddatz as a Police Patrolman. Chaves praised Raddatz as a good applicant who will become a valued member of the department. Raddatz came to Halifax from Whitman, where he has worked as a special police officer and also from the Weymouth School Dept. where he has worked as a security paraprofessional. Raddatz told selectmen his approach to conflict resolution is “Cool, calm, and collected.” He grew up in Whitman and is a graduate of Whitman-Hanson Regional High School and lives in Hanson with his wife.
Jeremy Gillespie told selectmen that he would like to reactivate the waterways for the river herring to make it back to spawning areas that have been previously blocked. Gillespie said that everything is looking pretty good and now is the time to get the Alewife Restoration Committee active again. Bruno asked Gillespie what his goals are for the committee. Gillespie said that there is grant money available to help defray any restoration costs. “I think it’s important we do this now.” Selig told Gillespie, “If we can get the herring running back, it would be fantastic,” but expressed concerns as to how the committee would work and who would have ultimate authority to co-ordinate the work needed. Gillespie said that the ultimate authority for the work done would lie with the Conservation Commission. Town Administrator Cody Haddad will research the committee and bring his findings back to the board at the next meeting.
Bob Valery, Halifax Health Agent, spoke to the board regarding landfill repair and engineering at the capped MacDonald Landfill. The TRC Environmental Corp. will provide engineering work to solve the perennial problem. Haddad said he is looking for a long-term fix and wants to be able to show the plans to a contractor and say this is what Halifax wants done. The expected cost for the engineering is $17,400, less than the gifted $20,000 from MacDonald Landfill.
Haddad complimented the consultant who is helping Halifax develop an MBTA Action Plan, saying the consultant from the public planning partnership did a really nice job with his presentation last week, listening to the concerns of what Halifax wants in that while Halifax wants to be compliant, it also doesn’t want the by-law change to have a major impact on the community… the culture of the town.

It’s Girl Scout Cookie time!

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These stalwart scouts from Troop 70837 braved the 16 degree cold Sunday to tempt passers by with the 2024 selection of Girl Scout Cookie flavors on sale in the Plympton Library parking lot. They are, from left, Julia Gold, Abigail Borsari, and Emma Gold. They sold lots of cookies for their troop and will be seen – hopefully on warmer days – selling cookies until the end of March. This year’s cookie selection include the ever-favorite Thin Mints®, Trefoils®, Adventurefuls®, Caramel Chocolate Chip®, Caramel deLites ®, Samoas®, Do-si-dos® peanut Butter Sandwich, Girl Scout S’mores®, Lemonades®, Lemon-Ups®, Peanut Butter Patties® Tagalongs®, Toast-Yay!®, and Toffee-tastic®. Girl Scout Cookie booths will be set up Saturday, Jan. 27, at Lowe’s in Kingston; Sunday, Jan.28, at Stop & Shop Kingston, and Walmart, Halifax. Go to the Girl Scout Cookie Finder online at https://www.girlscouts.org/en/cookies/how-to-buy-cookies/cookie-finder-results.html?#02367.

Finding warmth on a frigid January Sunday

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by Fred Corrigan
Special to the Express
It’s a beautiful sunny Sunday, a freezing 17 degrees, but you have to love the smiling faces and the business fortitude of the Girl Scouts from Troop 70837.
They set up their cookie display in Plympton Center. It was wonderful to see all of the cars stopping by to purchase cookies. The proceeds from their Girl Scout Cookie sales stays “local’.
The caramel deLites are crispy cookies topped with caramel, toasted coconut, and chocolaty stripes. A sweet tooth pleasure!
Driving south on route 58 in Plympton, I came to a fantastic number of families enjoying ice skating on the flooded cranberry bogs. Great winter family fun!
How do you stack your firewood for winter? Do you create a round pile with a peeked top or do you make a couple of long lines for mother nature to dry. Fall work for winter warmth!
East Monponsett Lake finds a large flock of Canada geese swimming in the winter sunshine.
It may be “Cold”, but the wonders of winter in New England, can Warm Your Heart!

Is a lifetime suspension too long?

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Deb Anderson
Express staff
Kingston’s Board of Selectmen met Tuesday, Jan. 16, at the Kingston Town House, to continue the earth removal permit from Dec. 19, and hear the appeal for a senior citizen who has been permanently barred from the Kingston Senior Center.
In the open forum, Pine DuBois, from the Jones River Watershed, asked selectmen to to watch the drone footage taken by Jimmy Powell in the Landing Road area, showing the dangerous flooding on Jan. 13, where water flooded the road and vehicles were trapped in standing seawater. She asked selectmen for future preventative roadblocks and traffic control to avoid the damage to vehicles in an extremely dangerous situation. “I don’t think people know that salt rots their cars.” she said. The drone footage and flooding photos can be seen on the Jones River Ecology YouTube channel.
The earth removal permit hearing was continued as the peer review company has not yet been hired. Town Administrator Keith Hickey advised selectmen to wait until the peer review was complete. The hearing was continued until Feb. 13, at 6:15 p.m.
Selectmen were next asked to consider the appeal of a Council on Aging’s suspension of a patron to enter the senior center or attend activities there. Originally a 30-day suspension, the event involved a patron and the Director of Eder Affairs, foul language and inappropriate behavior. Upon appeal to the Council on Aging Dec. 15, the COA increased the suspension to a permanent ban, all of which was within their authority.
The patron, who is a resident of Carver, appealed further to selectmen. After much discussion, with several selectmen considering that a permanent suspension was “too aggressive”, and after several votes to amend the term of the suspension, they finally agreed and voted to amend the suspension to end at January 1, 2025, at which time the term of the suspension will have been served.
Selectman Tyler Bouchard said, “I used to umpire a lot of baseball games. I’ve kicked out a lot of Dads – a couple of Moms, too.” In all of his hundreds of games he has never seen a lifetime ban.
Selectman Eric Crone said he thought the purpose of the hearing was to see if the COA Advisory Board acted within its authority in elevating the 30-day suspension to a permanent suspension. He said that reviewing the tapes and the testimony it looked like they did what was within their authority. He did not vote to overturn the lifetime suspension.

Open Burning Permits info

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Burning season for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts began Monday, Jan. 15, and will continue through Wednesday, May 1, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
In Halifax, burn permits may be obtained immediately 24 hours a day by paying $25 online at halifax-ma.org/pay. Your payment receipt serves as your valid burn permit for the season. Online registration/purchase is preferred.
For residents without internet access, you may obtain a permit by mailing a check or money order made out to the Town of Halifax for $25.00 along with the physical application or you may leave the application and payment in the designated box at the front desk of the Fire Station. Please visit halifax-ma.org/OpenBurning for more information.
In Plympton, please follow the link below to complete the permit. As always they are free of cost. The Permit only needs to be filled out once per year, then on days when you wish to burn call (781)585-2633 ext 212 to see if burning is allowed that day.
https://docs.google.m/…/1FAIpQLSeywwni0HM…/viewform…
In Kingston, residents can go to Kingston.firepermits.com to apply for a permit. Once you are registered you can apply for and pay $10 for your burn permit online through UniBank. Residents will receive an email notifying them when their payment has processed and the permit is approved. If conditions are not safe for burning, notification will be posted on the homepage.
com/…/1FAIpQLSeywwni0HM…/viewform…

In Kingston, residents can go to Kingston.firepermits.com to apply for a permit. Once you are registered you can apply for and pay $10 for your burn permit online through UniBank. Residents will receive an email notifying them when their payment has processed and the permit is approved. If conditions are not safe for burning, notification will be posted on the homepage.

Dennett students to name snowplows

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The Plympton Board of Selectmen met virtually on Thursday, Dec. 21. Selectmen Chair Christine Joy and Selectman Mark Russo were present.
Town Administrator Liz Dennehy said they have been reviewing the town’s flag policy with an intention to add a stipulation to it. “We would try to get the flags up on the telephone poles, that Highway does for us, generally from May 15 through November 15 unless there’s bad weather then obviously, we would make arrangements to have them taken down,” she told the Selectmen. Joy asked Dennehy why those dates were chosen and Dennehy said that they felt that getting them up before Memorial Day and having them remain up slightly past Veteran’s Day would be ideal. Dennehy also mentioned that the town should probably budget for the flags as they can be expensive. “We can get an inventory of our flags too as we get closer to Town Meeting time… and if there are any that need to be replaced, we could even do an article for it,” she said.
Dennehy also told the Selectmen that she is working with the Highway Superintendent on a project to have Dennett Elementary School students vote to name the three snowplows in town. “So the three trucks will get funny names… we’re trying to find ways to get our Highway Department more integrated with the community,” she explained. She also said that they are trying to coordinate a time for the trucks to be brought to the school so the students could see them and learn a bit about how they operate and what goes into plowing snow.
Dennehy said that budget season was well underway and preliminary budgets are due from town departments in mid-January. “We’re off and running on that,” she said.
“We got our Purple Heart community designation,” Dennehy told the Selectmen. She said that they coordinated with the Veteran’s Agent on it and signage would be going up soon.
The Selectmen issued Class II and III and scrap metal license renewals for 2024. Russo did the inspections on the properties and “found everything to be in good order.” Russo said he paid particular attention to the number of vehicles on display and found everything to be in compliance. The unanimous approvals were for Alby’s Salvage Inc., Angels Auto and Towing Inc., Bridge Bike Inc., Carey Auto Inc., Competition Auto Body Repair, Motorsports, and Plympton Cycles.
The Board also voted unanimously to support several appointments. Susan Vetterlein was appointed as the Clerk at Town Hall. Deborah Anderson was appointed to the Bylaw Review Committee until dissolved. Paul Johnson was appointed as a Transfer Station attendant until June 30, 2024. Caitlyn Mullaney was appointed as a full-time Police Officer and Stephen Raddatz was appointed as a part-time police officer, both until dissolved.
As customary, the Selectmen ended their meeting with their raves. “It was really neat, the Fire Department, I think with the help of the Police Department, doing the Santa over on the weekend. I know the kids on my street were really excited,” Joy said of her rave. She did note that the sirens were “really jarring” and wondered if next year they could play Christmas music instead. “Everything was awesome, but until I figured it out, I thought we had a major accident in town,” Joy explained. For her second rave, she said, “how thankful I am that we have such a great team of people who are working for the town. We really have come a long way with professionalizing departments.” She named Dennehy as well as Administrative Assistant Briggette Martins, Highway Superintendent Rob Firlotte, and the Chiefs of Police and Fire.
Russo said he wanted to underscore, emphasize, and appreciate Joy’s rave and all of the wonderful things going on in town.
He said his second rave was for the holidays. “It’s the darkest time of year; it’s the time of year when the weather is getting pretty darn cold and it’s kind of our opportunity for some agency – our opportunity to offer antidote in the form of some light and some comfort and some joy and hope for everyone, a peaceful new year,” Russo said.

Plympton SLT hearing continued

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The second round of the SLT Construction Corporation’s continued hearing before the Plympton Zoning Board of Appeals will take place Thursday, Jan 25, at 6:30 p.m. in the Deborah Samson meeting room in the Plympton Town House, 5 Palmer Rd. Plympton residents are encouraged to attend.
The first round of the hearing was Thursday, Jan. 4, and the standing room only crowd heard from attorneys representing SLT as to how their client’s project fell within the bylaws of the Town of Plympton, and why it should be allowed.
Zoning Enforcement Officers Thomas Millias and Kathleen Cannizzo issued their determination not to allow the permit for the proposed asphalt, brick, and concrete processing facility (ABC) based on the following: the project is located in a Groundwater Protection District and the SLT plant stated it would use water to mitigate the dust created in the processing. Because the water would mix with the rubble dust particles, it would become a “process liquid” unless it were treated and returned to state drinking water standards.
Second, the definition of “Light Manufacturing” states that the fabrication, assembly, processing, finishing work and packaging must be done in a manner such that noise, dust, odor, vibration, or similar objectionable features are confined to the premises and are in no way objectionable to abutting property.
SLT’s several attorneys spoke on their client’s behalf, stating that there would be no “process liquids” used at the Spring St. property, that there would be no manufacturing of asphalt, brick, or concrete at the property; it would use previously manufactured asphalt (cured), brick with attached mortar, and concrete rubble that may have rebar metal in it, break it down by crushing it, using strong magnets to remove the scrap metal, then force the remaining material through screens to size the final product. They would not be fabricating anything; they would be recycling existing materials, all of which is allowed under Plympton’s By-laws, they claim.
SLT handed out information in the form of 32-page booklets to explain their proposed operation.
SLT maintains that any vibration, dust, noise, or odor will not be felt outside of the Spring St., Plympton’s property lines. As the Spring St. property abuts Carver, the entrance and exit for the facility will be through the Town of Carver.

Travel Trivia Live with Kelly & Mark

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Yes, that was our own Linda Redding of Halifax on the Travel Trivia game on Live with Kelly and Mark! The performance, that was actually taped way back last fall in September, aired January 3. The show had been on winter break.
It was Linda’s mother, Kay Redding, who started the ball rolling by asking Linda to help fill out the form on the Kelly & Mark website to become a Trivia caller. “It was easy to complete, though you did have to upload a photo and give two statements: a truth and a lie,” Linda said. “I thought I would give it a try too.
After submitting the entries, Linda was “very surprised” on Sept. 5 to see that she had a phone call from the Walt Disney Company. She had completed and submitted the form a week or two before.
“My truth was that I met Conan O’Brien at Logan in 2017 when bringing my cousin Beverly to the airport for her trip home to LA,” Linda said. The lie was that she met Steve Carrell at the Marshfield Hills General Store. “Mark guessed correctly, and I didn’t win the prized ‘Live with Kelly and Mark’ T-shirt stating that ‘I Stumped Mark’.” The trivia question was “How old was Derek Hough when he started on Dancing with the Stars”.   I answered 23 and he was actually 22, missing out on a trip to Antigua.  I am going to receive a wine.com gift card and have a chance to win a trip to Punta Cana.    A member of the audience also received a wine.com gift card.   I had to pick a number between one and one hundred and something and I picked 104—the number I had as an audience member back in 2015.”

Halifax Senior Center is coming

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Taylor Fruzzetti
Express correspondent
Thorndike Development will begin the construction of a 55 and up condominium complex including a new Council on Aging facility and four pickle ball courts this summer according to Thorndike Development Asset Manager Michael Devin.
The project, planned to house 102 condominiums, will be located at 265 and 266 Monponsett Street. The Council on Aging facility will be located at 265 Monponsett street.
Devin said that the project is expected to cost 3.8 million overall, with the town utilizing $1.7 million in funds that have been set aside for the construction of a new Council on Aging since Town Meeting on May, 9 2022.
According to Town Administrator Cody Haddad, $1.2 million of these funds have been allocated to use towards the Council on Aging project with roughly $460,000 set aside to cover the cost of the design and project management. Haddad explained that a portion of the $1.7 million was used to cover design costs for a previous plan that included reconstructing the Halifax Historical Museum to house the Council on Aging.
Thorndike Development will contribute up to $2.6 million in mitigation payments for the buildings according to Devin. Construction for the senior center is estimated to be completed in spring 2026 with the condominiums estimated to be completed in 2027.
According to Haddad, the initial proposal by the developer was to build over 200 affordable housing units.
“With over 200 units, we were concerned with additional costs to the town [such as] public safety and schools,” said Haddad.
Haddad said that eventually Thorndike Development proposed the 55 and up housing and came to an agreement with the town to include a Council on Aging facility on the site.
The Dec. 14 Special Town Meeting approved of a 55 and up condominium zoning overlay that will allow for the project to commence according to Haddad.
Some residents were concerned that the condominiums could add stress on Halifax Police and Fire during the Dec. 14 Special Town Meeting.
However, according to Thorndike Development, the town can expect an average of 23 calls for emergency personnel per year from the 55 and up community due to its size.
Haddad said that the project is estimated to bring in approximately $600,000 in tax revenue and added that this revenue can be used to hire additional staffing for the fire department.
The next step in the project is to complete a site plan review with the planning board, said Haddad.
According to Halifax Council on Aging Director Darlene Regan, the current Council on Aging facility located at 506 Plymouth Street does not currently meet the community’s needs.
“The house we are in now was built in the 1800s and it has never changed,” said Regan.
“I’m looking forward to it because now we can actually have our activities right in one place, whereas now we are scattered,” she said. “We outgrew our building and that’s a good thing.”
Regan said that in addition to the current building not being ADA compliant, the building has experienced issues with the aging infrastructure such as leaky chimneys.
“Going forward, having the doors open to all, all people that we can serve, is going to be a really key factor for our senior center,” she said.
Regan said that she is looking forward to broadening the COA’s horizons with the new facility which in addition to pickle ball courts for town wide use will include space for programming such as yoga and medical screenings.
Bridgewater State University will also be working with the Halifax Council on Aging to provide adult education courses to the new space according to Regan. “We’re thinking about that new generation that’s out there…they want to get out and they want to do something fun.”