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Flag Day in Halifax

By

Jessica Zeoli

Express correspondent

It was a joyous event, Thursday, June 14 –  Flag Day – when hundreds of area residents came to Halifax to be part of history. People gathered at the Pope’s Tavern Senior Center in Halifax to unfurl a huge 45 by 90-foot American flag owned by Marc Valentine of Halifax

Express photographer Stephanie Spyropoulos towered 78 feet over the crowd in the bucket of the new Halifax Tower fire engine to officially document this historic moment.

Valentine, curator of the American Flag Project, emceed the event telling of some of the history of this flag and the places it has been throughout the world.  He said this giant flag has been “touched by more Americans than any other flag in history” and that he hopes it will renew appreciation for our flag.

Valentine introduced the Halifax town officials, and invited Selectman Troy Garron to lead the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Among the throng  needed to hold the hem of Old Glory, the sixth grade class of Halifax Elementary School also helped by walking under the flag to be sure it didn’t touch the ground.  After the flag was rolled back up, the sixth grade class was surprised with their very own official photograph with the Giant Flag.

Holding the flag was not an easy job!  Gusts of wind took the flag, threatening to whip it off into the wild blue yonder!  It took a lot of combined strength to hold it steady.

The event, which lasted only about 15 minutes total, consisted of unfurling the flag as “You’re a Grand Old Flag” resonated through the green in front of the Senior Center. People of all ages, including town officials, were dressed in red, white, and blue, and smiled wide as they held the edges of the massive flag.

Valentine has been traveling the globe for the past 30 years with his giant flag-painted truck, to bring his giant American flag to more than 1,000 official ceremonies. One of the Flag’s greatest appearances was when it flew next to Lincoln at Mount Rushmore’s 50th rededication celebration. An award-winning photograph of this moment was captured, and went on to be featured in Life Magazine.

. The flag has been in all 50 states, as well as 34 countries.

Vacancies still to be filled

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Selectmen Monday night showed concern regarding the number of vacant seats in Plympton’s town government, both elected and appointed.

May’s annual election saw only 6% of its 2,234 registered voters turn out to cast a ballot, leaving several seats without a candidate to fill them.

Marilyn Browne was encouraged to volunteer once again to accept the position and serve on the Finance Committee for the available two-year term after several people wrote her in.

The Board of Library Trustees submitted Linda Lawson to selectmen for their approval Monday night. She was a write-in candidate who lost to Jim Lundgren 15 to 9, as there was apparently some confusion as to which of the two positions she was interested in.  Her vote was divided between the two.  Selectmen voted unanimously to name her to the available three-year position, while Lundgren chose the two-year term.

The Planning Board will meet Monday, June 11, and will vote their choice to present to Selectmen at their meeting down the hall.

Any residents who are interested in serving in a position on the Planning Board are encouraged to stop in at 6 p.m. to let the board know of their interest.

Selectmen asked Town Clerk Tara J. Shaw to prepare a list of the appointments they name annually and whose terms finish June 30, 2018.

Shaw said she would have the information for their meeting June 11.

New Animal Control Officer named

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Selectmen Monday night named Griffin Webb of Hanson to fill the position of Plympton Animal Control Officer effective immediately.

Webb interviewed for the position May 21, bringing a young man’s enthusiasm for the job, and exuding a love for animals and wanting to serve them.  He also brought Alyssa Ryan, the Marshfield ACO, who, Webb explained, he has been shadowing for the past month to get a good idea of what the job entails.

He graduated from the Norfolk Agricultural High School where he studied animal science, looking to eventually become a veterinarian. The prospect of eight more years of school brought Webb to consider other options to serve the animals he loves.  Webb has six horses of his own, and a number of dogs and other animals at his home in Hanson.  He told selectmen that Massachusetts law requires all ACOs to be certified by attending an ACO Academy which is 16 weeks of Fridays schooling to learn to deal with all situations an ACO will run in to with animals and their owners, as well as the laws that govern them and the reports which the Commonwealth requires to be filed.  This ACO Academy is run in April and Webb said he would attend next April 2019.

Ryan spoke highly of Webb’s ability to perform the job and said she will be available to help him as he continues with Plympton.

After voting unanimously to appoint Webb to the position, selectmen welcomed Webb, glad that he will help the town develop the animal control department.  Webb was also named to the position of Animal Inspector for Plympton.

Selectman Chairman John Traynor told the board he has chatted with Chief Lance Benjamino regarding a plan to get rid of the trailers, and regarding the Fire Technical Committee and the Oversight Committee, hoping to combine the two committees and bring the number of members down to a more workable size.

Benjamino is away until June 18 and selectmen will hear from him tentatively on June 27, Traynor said, and he hopes that there will be something concrete when Plympton speaks to Halifax.

Traynor also told his board he will be speaking with the town treasurer to see the budget for medical supplies for the ambulances.  He does have estimates for on-call but they are not “granulated” enough.  Vice-chair Christine Joy commented that until we have the numbers, we can’t budget the expense.

Electricity aggregation

Selectmen clerk Mark Russo told the board they have renewed the contract with electric aggregation for 30 months.   Summer rates are pretty comparable now, Russo said, but we expect winter rates are going to be much higher.  With a 30 month contract, we will be somewhat protected from those higher winter rates.

Dispatch Center Town Administrator Elizabeth Dennehy brought a renewal contract to Selectmen for the Regional Dispatch Center in Duxbury that handles all of Plympton’s emergency 911 calls.  The new contract is for $50,000 for FY19.  She also presented a letter from Police Chief Patrick Dillon who recommended the contract.

Dennehy told the board that the town doesn’t need to have Kopelman & Paige review the contract, as it is the same contract given to the Town of Duxbury, who also uses Kopelman & Paige as its Town Counsel, and has already been reviewed by them.  She did say that she would consult Atty. Gregg J. Corbo, who is Plympton’s attorney from the firm, to make him aware. She also recommended looking into having the contract auto-renew provided nothing has changed in regard to the service.

Hwy. Superintendent

Next week selectmen will begin interviewing for the position of Highway Superintendent, as Jim Mulcahy will be retiring June 30, 2018.  The four original applicants for the job have been reduced to two, and selectmen will reinterview them June 25.

Storm tree removal

Selectman Joy asked the board when tree removal of the storm damaged limbs at the town’s roadsides will begin, noting that Special Town Meeting approved $25,000 to pay for this service.

Joy also told the board the Tree Warden Bill Hayes is happy to work with the Old Colony Planning Council on developing a master plan for tree planting in the center of town.  Joy also said she is happy to remain the town’s representative on the OCPC.

Atwood property

Selectman Russo reported that the assessors will have an update on the acreage of the Atwood property off Prospect St. for the next meeting on June 11.

Selectmen will meet June 11, 18, and 25, before going on to their alternate week summer schedule.

It was a great day!

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With the sun shining Saturday, June 2, Class Marshal Hayden Wechter of Halifax President of the Class of 2019, led the Class of 2018 onto the Sirrico Field for the 63rd Annual Silver Lake Regional High School Commencement.

320 students were awarded diplomas, which were presented by Michaela Gill, Principal, assisted by Paula Hatch, Chairman of the Silver Lake Regional School Committee and Assistant Principals Catherine Pratt and Steven Blette.

Salutatorian Madison Anne Milbert and Valedictorian Karen Lillian Ho were introduced by Class Historian Sarah Noonan, and each gave their words of wisdom, hope, and inspiration.

Music, provided by the Silver Lake Regional High School Band, conducted by Gregory Dube, included You Will Be Found, from Dear Evan Hansen by Pasek & Paul, performed by Select Choir with soloists Dylan Reid, Allison Farina, Abigail Kramer, Thomas McSorley, Rachel Azar, Tess Beckwith and Lauren Masterpolo.

A selection from The Greatest Showman, This is Me, was performed by Senior Choir Members, and soloists Taite Beale, Scott Patrick, Anna Gillis, Alexis Moulthrop, Ashlyn McGovern, Parth Patel, Janenita Monteiro, Faith Hatch, Anna Lambert, Nicole Kenney and Maria Mello.

Faculty member Heather Bates was the invited faculty speaker.

Class officers for 2018 are Allison Marie Farina, President; Sydney Barbara Kehoe, Vice-president; Lauren Vincenza Masterpolo, Secretary; Emily Flynn O’Neill, Treasurer, and Sarah Haley Noonan, Historian.

Driver charged, held on $50,000 cash bail

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Justin Douglas Kilburn, 29, of Kingston, plead not guilty as he was arraigned at Brockton District Court on Wednesday, June 6, charged with one count of motor vehicle manslaughter by operating under the influence of alcohol and motor vehicle homicide by OUI in the fatal crash May 10 that took the life of Diane Giordani, 52, of Plympton, and her German Shepherd dog “Blitz”.

Kilburn reportedly turned himself in to State Police, Norwell, Tuesday afternoon where he was arrested.  Following a dangerousness hearing, Kilburn remains in custody, held on $50,000 cash bail, with the condition that if he were to be released on bail, he would be required to wear a GPS monitoring bracelet, be confined to his home, not drive, and have no contact with the victim’s family.  The prosecutor had requested a $100,000 bail with those same conditions.  As of noon yesterday, Kilburn remained in custody.

It was reported that Kilburn tested 1.7 blood alcohol level at the time of the crash, more than twice the legal Massachusetts limit of .08.

Shortly after 6 p.m., Thursday, May 10, Giordani, who was driving a black 2015 Nissan Xterra east on Route 106, was hit head-on by a white 2005 Ford F-150 pickup truck driven by Kilburn.

Kilburn was ejected from his truck through the passenger window, landing in the road, suffering major injuries.  He was Medflighted to Rhode Island Hospital trauma center.

The head-on impact toppled Giordani’s SUV onto the driver’s side, trapping her and her German Shepherd “Blitz” inside.  County Road neighbors ran to assist, trying to get Giordano and her dog out of the SUV.  Both died at the scene. Plympton Fire/EMS, Halifax Police and Fire, and Middleboro Fire departments were all at the scene to extricate Giordani from the wreckage and extinguish a fire in the pickup truck.

Several witness accounts, including a closed circuit TV recording, agree that Kilburn was driving at a high rate  ofspeed when he crossed into the opposite lane and struck Giordani’s vehicle head-on.

Both vehicles were towed to the State Police barracks in Middleboro, where the case remains under investigation by State Police detectives with the CARS Unit and Crime Scene Services.

Shortly after 6 p.m., Thursday, May 10, Giordani, who was driving a black 2015 Nissan Xterra east on Route 106, was hit head-on by a white 2005 Ford F-150 pickup truck driven by Kilburn.

Kilburn had been ejected from his truck through the passenger window, landing in the road, suffering major injuries.  He was Medflighted to Rhode Island Hospital trauma center.

The head-on impact toppled Giordani’s SUV onto the driver’s side, trapping her and her German Shepherd “Blitz” inside.  County Road neighbors ran to assist, trying to get Giordano and her dog out of the SUV.  Both died at the scene, according to reports.

Plympton Police, Fire/EMS, Halifax Police and Fire, and Middleboro Fire departments were all at the scene to extricate Giordani from the wreckage and extinguish a fire in the pickup truck.

Both vehicles were towed to the State Police barracks in Middleboro, where the case remains under investigation.

Vote Saturday! Your vote counts!

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Town elections in Plympton and Halifax will be held on Saturday, May 19, with Halifax at the Halifax Elementary School, Route 106, in the Multi-purpose room from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.  Plympton will elect its officers from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Plympton Town House, 5 Palmer Rd., Route 58, Plympton.

Halifax finds two contests on the ballot this year: Holly J. Merry, the current assistant assessor for Halifax, is running for a position on the Board of Assessors, essentially looking to become her own boss.  Michael J. Schlieff, a familiar candidate, is challenging her for that place on the board.

The second contest in Halifax is on the Silver Lake Regional School Committee where Gordon C. Andrews and Alexander Desharnais are seeking the single position there.  Andrews currently serves as Chairman of the Planning Board and as a member of the Finance Committee.   If elected, this would be the first time for Desharnais to hold office in Halifax.

Halifax has no candidates  for two three-year terms on the Board of Library Trustees, and a five-year term on the Planning Board.

Plympton, which still hand counts each ballot, expects an early night on Saturday, as there are no contests on the ballot and several seats looking for write-in candidates to fill them:  Assessor for three years, Finance Committee for two years, Library Trustee for three years, Library Trustee for two years, and Planning Board for four years.

Daffodil Daze at the Plympton Public Library

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Thursday, April  26, the Plympton Public Library hosted Daffodil Daze, a presentation  by local gardener Jane Schulze of Main Street.  Jane introduced the audience to the many types of daffodils she has growing in her garden, how to keep these bulbs happy and coming back to her garden for many years.  All participants were invited to bring home a daffodil bouquet.

Photos by Kathy Kierstead

Jane Schulze, Plympton gardener, shows Brenda Traynor the difference between the various types of blooms.

 

Debbie Batson, library director, left, looks on as a participant chooses daffodils for a beautiful bouquet to bring home.

Second buyer wants Atwood acres

By

Jessica Zeoli

Express Correspondent

The Plympton Board of Selectmen met Monday to provide updates on the Atwood acreage on Prospect Road, the preparation for the Annual and Special Town Meeting warrants, and the Fire Advisory Committees.  They also introduced theconcept of forming a committee for Housing Production.

Atwood    acreage

First on the agenda was the Atwood Property. Last week prior to their meeting, selectmen received another purchase and sale agreement for the Prospect Road property. The interested buyers plan to develop the property, including building four to five houses. Plympton’s option of a right of first refusal must be decided by July 10, 2018, 120 days from April 11, when the agreement was received by the board. Selectmen must then notify the Atwoods that they will or will not seek to go forward to purchase the land.

Plympton’s Open Space Committee hired an appraiser to verify the value of the property as a first step.  While $800,000 is a large investment for the town, there is currently a sum of as much as $450,000 in CPA funds that could contribute to the purchase.

Mark Russo, board member, and Chairman of the Community Preservation Committee, spoke about the Cato’s Ridge and Churchill Park projects and how he genuinely favors preserving open land to provide an experience every member of the town can enjoy. He discussed following the Churchill Park model on the Atwood Property and creating fundraising similar to the planks on the Boardwalk at Churchill Park.

The Community Preservation Committee met Tuesday to discuss options if the town decides to exercise its right of first refusal.

The board plans to continue discussing the property and providing new details at each selectmen’s meeting as they become available. Selectmen hope the public will attend to state their opinions so they may continue in a direction supported by the town.

    Town Meetings

Up next for discussion were the Annual and Special Town Meetings. The Board of Selectmen, along with the guidance of Nathaniel Slides, Finance Committee; Barbara Gomes, Town Accountant; and Brian Wick, Town Meeting Moderator, went through each article for the Annual and Special Town Meetings correcting any wording, and addressing who will be speaking on behalf of the articles at the meetings. Christine Joy thanked Gomes and the Town Administrator, Elizabeth Dennehy, for the time they spent perfecting the structure of the articles for the meeting stating, “this is the easiest Town Meeting we have prepared in a long time.”

Fire Advisory Committees

Next, John Traynor, board member, provided updates on the Fire Advisory Committees. Several weeks ago, MRI or Municipal Resources Inc. completed their research on the Plympton Fire Department to see how they could better maximize the use of their resources. After the study, MRI presented the town with their recommendations to improve the Plympton Fire Dept. Selectmen created two committees to implement those suggestions that they found would work well in Plympton.  Selectmen created the Fire Department Technician Committee and the Executive Oversight Committee to prioritize recommendations and evaluate them.

Last week, Plympton selectmen met with Halifax selectmen to investigate how shared fire services could possibly function, as suggested by the MRI study.  Plympton selectmen feel confident they could work well with selectmen from Halifax if the towns decide to go further with shared services.

The Fire Department Technician Committee met Wednesday to consider the recommendations and find a direction to begin implementing them. Updates on their meeting will be presented at next week’s Plympton selectmen’s meeting.

Housing Committee

Last on the agenda was the formation of a Housing Production Plan Committee. Lisa Sullivan of Old Colony Planning Council submitted a rough draft of the regulations of housing production for the town. The board hopes to form a committee of about four or five people to help finish the draft by December of this year. Selectmen will provide their feedback regarding the draft once the Annual and Special Town Meetings have passed.  The draft will then be sent to the Zoning Board for approval and the formation of the committee will begin.

    In other news:

• Selectmen received word from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Housing & Community Development that it has approved the Housing Production Plan submitted by Plympton in April.   The Housing Production Plan (HPP) certification lastS for a term of five years, expiring on April 11, 2023.

• The town has begun their search for an Animal Control Officer. There has been one interested applicant thus far applying for the job. Dennehy plans to interview him next week, once a job description has been developed and approved by selectmen at their next week’s meeting.

• Board members personally thanked Linda Leddy and Amy Cronin for all of their hard work on behalf of the Town of Plympton. They have volunteered on numerous committees throughout the past year and the board found them very worthy of recognition. With that being said, the board suggested creating a “Volunteer of the Year” award to help recognize the dedication of the town’s residents who give their time to volunteer for Plympton.

The next selectmen’s meeting has been changed to Tuesday, May 8, at 6 p.m.

Dennett School Committee meets

By

Jessica Zeoli

Express Correspondent

The Dennett School Committee had their monthly meeting Mon., April 23 to provide updates on the school over the past month. The first item on the agenda was a School Choice Public Hearing. School Choice allows slots within the Dennett Elementary for students out of district.

The committee discussed opening slots for new potential School Choice students for the upcoming school year, and voted against it. Currently, there are eight School Choice students, and no siblings of those are enrolling in Kindergarten for the upcoming year.

Next, Emily Peters of CASA, met with the committee to discuss plans for the new sign at the end of the driveway at the school. CASA located the artist of the original sign, and he declared it was unrepairable.

They found an artist willing to do a very similar design of a small school house, and raised letters. A company has also donated 8×8 granite posts for the sign, the original having 6×6 posts. The sign will be moved slightly forward and lit so it is more visible to those passing.

Updates on the water treatment project were presented by the committee, stating that a new water tank was installed over break, which consists of pipping up to the building itself. The project is expected to be completed by early summer this year.

The committee is still seeking guidance as they update the current playground at Dennett. They are in need of a consultant or project manager with experience working on playground safety and accessibility to help guide the project. A proposal must be completed and ready for approval by Fall 2018, which sparked Joy Blackwood, Superintendent, to offer contacting anyone she may know who can help.

The project would be aided by the School Choice fund. Updates on the project will be discussed at the next school committee meeting, May 21.

Christine Healy then provided the current Financial Report, briefly stating there was a deficit in custodial supplies due to custodians taking on more responsibilities and needing more supplies.

There was also a deficit in contracted services due to the new generator; this is expected to drastically drop next year. There was a surplus in Special Education, and Vocational Technical accounts of about $105,000.

Jill Proulx discussed the Curriculum Instruction Assessment updates, such as a new training available in the fall on suicide prevention and social emotional learning. It will be taught by an ELA teacher in the school who is an approved instructor of the course.

Next, she discussed the new policy to make available EpiPen at the school for all students. If the student goes on a fieldtrip, however, they will need to bring one from home.

In other news:

• There are currently 204 students enrolled at Dennett, with 25 to 30 potential Kindergarteners entering the school.

• The committee approved allowing several students each month to present their work at the school committee meetings to remind members why they volunteer their time for the children, and also to allow students to gain exposure for their work.

• CASA is planning to hold a Fun Run at the Dennett this upcoming summer, which will be further discussed in next month’s meeting once details are worked out.

• The next Dennett school committee meeting is Monday, May 21.

Rep. Calter will step down

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Potential candidates are lining up to fill the open seat that will be left by State Rep. for the 12th Plymouth District, Thomas J. Calter, as he steps down to accept the position of Town Administrator for Kingston.

As of Wednesday morning, Summer Schmalling, Halifax School Committee chairman, and Joseph Truschelli from Plymouth, both Republicans, have drawn nomination papers.  Democrats Daniel Zotos from Halifax, R Lindsay Wilson, II, from Kingston and Kathy LaNotra, a Kingston selectman, have declared their intentions, according to the Secretary of State’s Elections office. Candidates have until Tuesday, May 1, to return nomination papers with at least 150 signatures of registered voters, to secure a place on the primary ballot.  That election will be held Tuesday, Sept. 4.

There will not be a special election to fill the position.  The seat will remain vacant until the November election.  Calter told his constituents his office will remain open and his staff in place to handle their concerns.  They will be helped by Rep. Josh Cutler, D-Duxbury; Rep. Mathew Muratore, R-Plymouth, and Sen. Vinne deMacedo, R-Plymouth.

Kingston selectmen voted last week 4-1 to give the job of town administrator to Calter.  After negotiating a contract with the town, Calter announced that he would accept the position.

Calter told his constituents he will work through the budget hearings this week to support those articles that affect his region.  He has not, however, announced the date he will leave the Statehouse or the date he will begin in Kingston.

Kingston will be a short commute for Calter who has made his home in that town for many years. “My wife and I raised our children here,” Calter said.

He held the seat of Representative to the 12th Plymouth District, serving the towns of Kingston, Plympton, Halifax, part of Plymouth, Duxbury, and Middleboro, since 2006.