Halifax selectmen met Tuesday night with a dozen citizens who want something done about the abandoned and run down houses in town.

Town Administrator Charlie Seelig told the board that in response to several inquiries and reports of problems, especially in the former cottage area of West Monponsett pond, there is little that the town can do with these half dozen or so properties that have been abandoned.

Seelig told selectmen and the citizens that the Treasurer/Collector has identified those properties whose real estate taxes have not been paid, and has begun foreclosure on them.  What the town will do with the properties, once the foreclosure for taxes due has been accomplished, remains to be seen. 

The citizens are concerned not only for the attractive nuisance of the properties, the fire hazard, and the potential for rodent infestation, they are also concerned that the falling down houses are bringing down the property values of their homes.

One resident noted that he has owned his home for six years, and his valuation is less than when he bought it, due to the several rundown abandoned properties in his neighborhood.  But his real estate taxes continued to go up, he said.  Residents said they want something done to protect their neighborhoods from further decay due to the abandoned homes blight.

Seelig said that there are two situations in the mix right now – those houses that have been deserted and are run down and the real estate taxes have not been paid, and those houses that are run down with no one living in them but the taxes are paid.

For those whose taxes are not paid, town foreclosure is the answer, then what to do once the town takes possession of these parcels is unsure.  Seelig said that he could not see town meeting voting the funds to tear down the houses, take out the oil tanks and the foundations, only to be left with a non-conforming lot that could not be built on and is of value only to an abutter to increase the size of their lot. 

As an immediate fix of the problem of a house open to the elements, Seelig told the group that any citizen could report an open building and selectmen could ask the finance committee for an immediate appropriation to board up the house to prevent people and animals from entering it.  Other than that, there is nothing in the by-laws to deal with abandoned homes.

For those properties whose taxes are paid but the premises are left in disrepair, the town could, with a new by-law, fine a property owner until he brings the property up to code.  Seelig said that he would seek out selectmen’s wishes on the matter, to write a new by-law, which would need a 2/3 majority vote to pass.  Seelig also told the group that they themselves could submit a bylaw for annual town meeting approval in May with a 10-taxpayer petition submitted to selectmen before the deadline for such submissions sometime in April.  In the event that the citizens would like to have their article put on a special town meeting warrant, it would take 100 signatures to have their by-law included on the warrant.

Properties that are derelict and run down, but not abandoned, may rebuild, Selectman Tom Millias told the group; they can request a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals.  Millias, a former building inspector for the Town of Halifax, explained that once a building is declared abandoned, it can no longer qualify for “grandfathering” in a new building permit on a non-conforming lot.

Selectmen assured the group that they have heard the concerns and are sympathetic with them, and will work to find a solution to the problem.

Seelig said he has researched the 351 cities and towns to see if any have a bylaw dealing with keeping buildings and grounds to a certain minimal level, and did not find any.  Even if the town does enact a by-law, who makes the decision?  Is it appealable? 

And, selectmen noted, even if a by-law is enacted, it takes time for the process to unfold.   Brockton and Longmeadow have each received substantial grant monies to help with the abandoned homes and Seelig said he would watch for such grants to see what help is available.

Plympton and Halifax selectmen met at Plympton Town House Tuesday, Nov. 29, to brainstorm cost-saving measures and areas where the two towns could benefit from regionalization.

Also taking part in the conversation were Halifax Fire Chief Jason Viveiros, Plympton Fire Chief Warren Borsari, Halifax Town Executive Assistant Charlie Seelig and Plympton Town Coordinator Dale Pleau.

Plympton selectmen had reached out to neighboring towns to explore the possibility of becoming more cost-efficient through combining forces to provide citizens with the best safety services at the most reasonable cost.

Fire Chief Warren Borsari told selectmen several weeks ago he had contacted Halifax’s Fire Chief Jason Viveiros to go over these possibilities and the regionalization discussion was scheduled.

Three options were brought to the table to combine the fire departments and ambulance services for Plympton and Halifax, with Halifax being the host town and Plympton run as a satellite fire station.

Option one would see two ALS (advanced life saving) ambulances, one stationed in each town, Viveiros said.  Halifax currently staffs one and a half ambulances for Halifax alone.  Viveiros said that the additional staffing to cover Plympton would cost Halifax $250,000, and Plympton’s ambulance receipts are only $190,000, leaving a  $60,000 shortfall.

Option two would take into consideration usual time of day call volume and staff accordingly.  At 8 a.m. call volume spikes, Viveiros said, and by 6 p.m. calls decline.  At 6 p.m. the Plympton ambulance would close and two ambulances would be run out of Halifax.  The additional cost would be brought down to $218,000 to cover.

Option three would be to maintain three full time people in Halifax all the time, and two full time people in Plympton, providing ALS coverage.  It would be run as one community.

Dale Pleau said that nowhere in Massachusetts has this been done successfully; New Englanders just don’t want to surrender control to another entity.  While financially it might be good, he said, there is such a passionate, emotional response…

Various staffing options were presented, and preliminary costs explored, and while much of the data was estimated, and few hard numbers calculated, first views appear to show little if any cost savings to Plympton.  Viveiros said both towns are in about the same situation, as far as equipment and personnel go, and that while savings could be realized, they wouldn’t be at first, they would be “down the line” as equipment needed to be replaced and other items could be bought as a region.

Plympton’s selectperson Christine Joy complemented Viveiros on Halifax’s development and use of a staffing formula for ultimate coverage, and she was assured that Halifax would be willing to help Plympton put a similar formula in place for their town.

Plympton selectman John Traynor asked if there is any grant money available to help in the regionalization process.  Viveiros answered that there is a grant available, with application time beginning January 1 and closing Feb 1, which would give a one-time $200,000 benefit.

Joy told the group Plympton has a grant from Old Colony Planning Council to look into regionalization.

Other areas investigated included sharing an animal control officer.  Halifax said it had no problem with Plympton asking their ACO to put in some hours for Plympton, but their ACO works as a part time town employee and Halifax is not interested in adding hours for Plympton that would make Halifax pay full time benefits, leave, and insurance to what is now a part-time position.

Joy told the group that she had spoken with the Halifax ACO and had never gotten a budget from her so could go no further with the proposal.  Halifax Selectman Kim Roy said that Halifax pays their ACO $21,000 and Joy countered that Plympton pays their ACO $5,250.  “Maybe that’s why Noreen didn’t call us back, “ Joy said.

Combining assessing departments was explored, when Town Administrator Dale Pleau suggested that there might be some savings there: all that would be needed would be a clerk to man the office, and the towns might share an assistant assessor to do the “heavy lifting.”  Charlie Seelig countered that Halifax employs a principal assessor full time, and an assistant who is almost full time.   Tom Milias, Halifax Selectman and Assessor, said he could see how the two towns’ departments could be blended.  Pleau said Assessing is one department which is universally done the same way in all towns; it is somewhere we could save some money.”

Looking ahead to the retirement of Plympton’s Town Accountant, the possibility of regionalizing there was not considered because Halifax already employs a full time town accountant.

The group felt the meeting was constructive and will continue to investigate regionalization cost saving measures.

According to Selectperson Christine Joy, the Tuscher family home and land on Montello Street in Carver may be saved from eminent domain by that town.

Reporting  Monday night on the Carver Redevelopment Committee, Joy told her board that there were many people at the Carver meeting demonstrating in support of Tuscher family, and that was the only issue that was discussed.  “We did not even get into Montello Street,” Joy said.  Montello Street crosses through both Plympton and Carver and will likely be redesigned to accommodate the new project.

She said she believes that the result of the meeting is that the Tuscher home has been taken off the list of those being taken by eminent domain; that the plan has been modified so that only a small portion of Tuscher property will be needed, “only a foot or so,” she said.

Selectman John Traynor asked if the Tuscher home was the only one the redevelopment LLC was taking.  “No,” Joy answered.  “They were going to take several.”  The Tuscher property was the only party where the owners did not want to sell.  The redevelopment company has sales agreements with the other parties, Joy said.  The developer was present at the Carver meeting and said they didn’t want to take anyone’s property who wanted to stay there, so he supported taking them off the eminent domain list.

Legal services

Town Counsel services are provided by the law firm of Koppelman and Paige and their contract is due to be renewed.  Plympton put out a request for proposals for Town Counsel and the only firm responding was Koppelman and Paige, proposing an annual retainer of $36,000, which would include only routine counsel services, but not adversarial matters, litigation, or major real estate development. 

Selectmen Chairman Colleen Thompson reported the town paid $55,850 last year without being under retainer, most of which was litigation and major real estate projects, none of which would be covered under the retainer option. 

Traynor offered that once several matters are concluded, Plympton should see their legal bills reduced considerably, and should something unexpected occur, it likely wouldn’t be covered under the retainer proposal anyway. 

The board agreed to wait a few days to get more information and have legal fees broken down before calling the matter to a vote.

Regionalization of services

Selectperson Joy drafted a letter to surrounding communities regarding the regionalization of some services that might be shared, such as town accountant, fire services, ambulance services, senior services, and animal control. 

Thompson said that a family member works in central Massachusetts with the highway department and they bundle their projects with surrounding towns wherever possible, citing lane striping as an example.  When the towns contract for lane striping, they all do it on the same day, with the same provider so that there is only one setup cost and the provider starts at one town and continues through several towns to get the job done efficiently and in a cost-effective manner.  Adding to the list of possibilities, selectmen suggested adding other collective purchasing of supplies.   

Open Meeting Law

Traynor, Thompson, and Joy each have a different take on just what the intent of the Open Meeting Law is.  In a lively discussion of the “Parking Lot” area of the Selectmen’s Meeting Agenda, Traynor said that he wanted some items in the “Parking Lot,” meaning they are items which might be discussed, taken off that list.  He reasoned that if something is on the agenda, a person reading the agenda should have a reasonable expectation that the topic will be discussed, if only as a brief update.  Some items in the “Parking Lot” will likely not be discussed for months, such as the spring accountant’s report. 

Thompson said that her sense of the Open Meeting Law was to make it more difficult to bring something up at a meeting that hadn’t been prepared.  If something isn’t on the agenda, it shouldn’t be discussed.

Traynor continued that he thinks the Open Meeting Law should make meetings more transparent, furthering that sometimes he doesn’t know he wants to talk about something until that night.  Joy said that in that case, the topic would be placed on the agenda for the next meeting, giving interested parties an opportunity to speak to the issue.

Joy also said that when selectmen had an area at the beginning of the meeting for “any other items,” they were warned that they could be found in violation of the open meeting law as this did not give notice of the discussion to the public.

“I would put everything out there,” Traynor said, “I think that the more we put out there and the more people see how we come to the decisions we make, they will better understand the process rather than just seeing the end result.”  He also said that he would put much of what is now heard in executive session into public meeting; not pending litigation, wage negotiation, personnel issues, but other items which fall into the category of ‘might result in litigation.’ 

Thompson said that her inclination was to take the “Parking Lot” off the agenda.  If we want to meld it with the tasks list, that’s fine. “I definitely do not want to add it to the agend  I think it has the potential of making meetings too cluttered, too long.”

Joy said the Parking Lot is a neat way to keep track of things.  “It’s a working document,” she said.  But if there are things we want to talk about, let’s just put them on the agenda.

Bylaw Review committee

Nine people have come forward to serve on the by-law review committee, and the board agreed that a nine person board could be awkward, and perhaps splitting into three groups of three, each group taking on a separate area of the by-laws to review.  Selectmen were pleased with the response and look forward to getting the group, which is an advisory committee, started after the first of the year.Town Owned Land Sales

Robert Jacobsen came to a “Meet with a Selectman” Tuesday night session asking John Traynor about a strip of town-owned land which runs between Main Street and Parsonage Road.  He is interested in acquiring it.

Thompson said, “We’ve talked to them at least twice,” and it isn’t as simple as cutting off a strip of land; it needs to be surveyed.  Who’s going to pay for the survey?  Not the town.   And even if it were surveyed and paid for by Jacobsen, there is no guarantee that he would get it at auction. 

Traynor said he had spoken with Town Treasurer/Collector Colleen Morin regarding town-owned land parcels, and Morin told him it will take six months to do the work to bring them to auction status. 

Joy said she got an opinion from counsel regarding town-owned land.  “It really spells out what we need to do,” she said.   Joy said she didn’t think the town gave Mrs. Morin the status to sell town-owned property; she completes the process needed and selectmen are the ones to actually sell the property.

In other business:

• Selectmen accepted the resignation of Deborah Anderson from the Community Preservation Committee as one of the selectmen’s representatives to that committee in order to create a vacancy which former Planning Board member Irving Butler could fill.  Anderson, who is a member of the Planning Board, could then be appointed by that board to act as its representative and continue on the CPC.

• Selectmen turned down the gift of a ¾ acre parcel of land on Churchill Road because the town would have no known use for it at this time. 

• Selectmen will investigate the writing of a by-law that will allow the replacement of an elected official who for whatever reason cannot or will not attend meetings, rendering the board ineffective. 

• Selectmen will next meet Monday, December 5 at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

Area 58 Community Access Media, serving Carver, Plympton, and Halifax, will be holding an Open House from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3. at Area 58’s studio, 96 North Main St., Route 58, North Carver, in the Honey Dew Donuts strip mall located between McDonald’s and CVS, just south of the junction of Route 44.

Visitors can tour the studio, see how a television show is created, find out how they can learn to use a camera or do video-editing themselves, discover the possibility of doing their own TV show, and meet and talk with people who have done just that.

Area 58 Community Access Media is found on channels 13, 14, and 15 on Comcast cable systems in the three towns. Channel 13 is for general public access programming. Channel 14 provides coverage of educational events and meetings and channel 15 does the same for government events and meetings.

The actual joining of the public access TV operations of the three towns was not a spur-of-the-moment decision, but was carefully considered by the towns involved.

The process began in 2012. Rich Goulart, Executive Director of Area 58, recalls how he was asked to develop a 5-year plan for Carver Community Access Television.

“I realized the only way we could truly increase our effectiveness was by partnering with neighboring communities,” he said.

Right around the same time, Halifax and Plympton were coming to the end of their contracts with Comcast and were looking for new solutions.

“I met with their Cable Advisory Committees, and the seeds for the partnership were sown,” Goulart said.

Those seeds came to fruition with the creation of Area 58 Community Access Media in 2015.

The name was chosen because Route 58 runs through all three towns, but Goulart admits with a smile that the station’s logo, featuring someone pointing a camera at a UFO, is a playful reference to the mystique of “Area 51,” a US Air Force facility in Nevada engaged in highly secret research projects which often has been connected to claimed sightings of UFOs.

Ron Clarke, president of the Board of Directors of Area 58, is firm on the operation’s value.

“Area 58 Community Access Media plays a vital role in the life of our towns,” he said, because it “brings us unfiltered coverage of government meetings and local events.”

What’s more, because such coverage is also posted to the station’s YouTube channel, the “ability to be aware of what is happening in our towns” is available to almost everyone, he said.

Clarke also looked forward to developing “more home-grown programs,” that is, ones produced by residents of the towns, a desire echoed by Larry Erickson, the station’s Program Manager.

“Channels 14 and 15 carry information an informed citizenry needs to have about local government,” Erickson said, “but I have to admit that Channel 13, the general access channel, is where my heart is.”

“I just love the idea of people taking the time, using the energy, showing the commitment, to do a television program not out of the desire for fame or for money but out of the love of the topic or the opportunity to be heard or just the fun of being on television, even if it is ‘just’ local access TV.”

Channel 13 now runs programming seven days a week from around 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., all of intending “to make channel 13 a channel worth watching,” Erickson said. “One with enough good stuff to make people pause in their channel-surfing to check out what’s on.”

Much of that programming now comes from public access stations around the country rather than being produced locally, Erickson said, but he added that “we are now running locally-produced shows focused on painting, on political commentary, on on-the-street interviews, on wrestling, on equestrian events; we show local religious services, and more.”

Erickson said his big hope for the Open House is to encourage more residents of Carver, Plympton, and Halifax to do locally-produced shows.

“We’ll provide the equipment, the space, the training, and any assistance you need,” he said.

“You provide the enthusiasm.”

Erickson noted that Ron Clarke called local access media “the last true bastion of free speech” and that “Area 58 is dedicated to maintaining that tradition.”

“Absolutely true,” Erickson said. “And the only thing better than free speech is more free speech.”

“Free speech and an informed public,” Erickson said. “What a wonderful marriage. And it’s organizations like Area 58 Community Access Media that perform the ceremony.”