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Plympton Selectmen take two letters of resignation: Planning Board Chairman and Council on Aging Director have resigned from their positions

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Plympton selectmen received two letters of resignation at their Monday night meeting:  Irving Butler, who had served on the Planning Board for a number of years, and also from Christine Maiorano, Council on Aging director, both effective immediately.

Maiorano noted in her letter to selectmen that she would be retiring to Cape Cod, where costs are much lower, as soon as her Brook St. home is sold.  Maiorano has served the Town of Plympton in many arenas, including as president and treasurer of the Plympton Garden Club, president and treasurer of the Plympton Historical Society, and director of the Council on Aging.  With each  endeavor she left the position in better condition.  She was the driving force behind making the Historical Society building handicap accessible with a wheelchair ramp, handicap accessible bathrooms and a chair lift to the second floor.   She also wrote the grants to get insulation into the building and lower the heating costs that are borne by the Historical Society.

Maiorano told selectmen in her letter she will be available to help make the transition as smooth as possible.   

Butler is also a member of the Community Preservation Committee, a position that he wishes to continue, and has worked as a volunteer with the Fire Department since he moved to town more than 40 years ago.  At the age of 84, Butler felt that he had to slow down and chose to serve on only one board going forward.

Both Butler and Maiorano were praised for their exceptional service and will be missed.

In other business, Rob Vautrinot, engineer, brought engineering reports to selectmen regarding the gravel permit on Ring Road, owned by Jeff Randall, that has lapsed.

Vautrinot explained that the former engineer who was handling the project for Randall passed away in October and Vautrinot has just taken over.  “What there is now is several piles of stuff.”   The sand is too fine to be used, except for footing in a riding arena, according to Vautrinot.   Colleen Thompson, chairman, told the board that the bogs will be planted without deeper excavation, as they will be “dry picked” and don’t need to be as deep.   The board will leave the discussion of the details of the permit to Zoning Enforcement Agent Bob Karling.

Bylaw Review Committee

Selectman John Traynor told his board that there are four citizens who have expressed an interest in the new Bylaw review committee and that three of the four are all members of the Board of Health.  “I would like to see a broader diversity,” Traynor said, and encouraged any Plympton resident who is interested in serving the community and likes an attention to detail, to contact Briggette Martin, secretary to the selectmen at 781-585-2700.   Traynor told the board he had contacted an acquaintance in the Department of Revenue to see if they could offer any assistance in bylaw review.  Traynor was told that the DOR does send a team out to give a presentation to the town to show how other communities have approached bylaw review and to offer suggestions.  “So they would point us in the right direction; give advice but not actually review our bylaws,” Selectperson Christine Joy said.  Thompson said she did not see an issue with having three members of the board of health, each of whom came from a different background: building, newspaper, and a person who has served on many different boards in Plympton.  “I would rather see a few more people on the bylaw committee,” Traynor said.

Regionalization

Exploration

Traynor also told the board that in response to selectmen’s stated interest in exploring regionalization, Fire Chief Warren Borsari has contacted fire chiefs in surrounding towns of Middleborough and Halifax.  Traynor said he thought that protocol would require the Plympton selectmen contact the Halifax board and then the chiefs would confer.  “If state money is coming to regionalization as it came to the regionalization of the high school, then it makes sense,” Traynor said.

   Joy said that she felt that Plympton Selectmen should write to all surrounding towns’ boards of selectmen to indicate our interest in exploring regionalization.  She also said that Plympton should reach out to Old Colony Planning Council for their assistance.  “We have a grant,” Joy said, for OCPC to help us look at regionalization opportunities.

   Selectmen will next meet Nov. 28 at 6 p.m.

Plympton resident tapped to run Boston Marathon with Tedy’s Team Bruschi’s Team

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By Jaime Castle

Express Contributor

Some people spend years training for the Boston Marathon. Lifetime Plympton resident Jocelyn Anderson only has 6 months until she hits Heartbreak Hill for charity.

A first time marathoner (Boston or otherwise) Anderson is running for the American Stroke Association. Created in 1997, the American Stroke Association is dedicated to prevention, diagnosis and treatment to save lives from stroke — America’s No. 5 killer and a leading cause of serious disability.  “It’s important to me, losing my father to stroke has been the major factor in my mission to run with Tedy’s Team” said Anderson. “I’m also proud to run on behalf of all the stroke survivors, like my friend and Tedy’s Team teammate Jaclyn Grundy.”

“I have a great amount of respect for the work they do and awareness they spread on recognizing the warning signs of stroke, as well as the work they do in the prevention of stroke.” said Anderson.

Anderson learned she was tapped to join Tedy’s Team in May, just 6 months after she took up running at the age of 33.  While she started running for her health, Anderson said “through the association with Tedy’s Team, it has become much more meaningful running to support a cause.”

There are two ways to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Runners either must meet a qualifying time or apply for one of many spots given to charitable groups. “It’s a huge honor to be able to raise money for the American Stroke Association, as part of Tedy’s Team” said Anderson.“I felt like this was a great way to bring awareness to the American Stroke Association and the great work that they do, and I am proud to run with Tedy’s Team”

Before the Boston Marathon on April 17, Anderson must raise $10,500. To make a donation online, visit www.bit.ly.com/runwithjoc or go to http://honor.americanheart.org and click on Tedy’s Team, then search for Andersons’ name.

Know the warning signs of stroke:

F – Face: ask the person to smile. Does one side of the face droop?

A – Arms: ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?

S – Speech: ask the person to repeat a simple phrase. Is their speech slurred or strange?

T – Time: if you observe any of these signs, call 9-1-1 immediately.

Halifax “Question 5” Debt Exclusion Fails

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While most of the Commonwealth dealt with four questions on their ballot, the Town of Halifax added a fifth.

“Shall the Town of Halifax be allowed to exempt from the provisions of proposition two and one-half, so-called, the amounts required to pay for the bond issued in order to pay for the repairs, renovations and expansion of the Council on Aging Center/Pope’s Tavern including the payment of all costs incidental or related thereto?”

The Halifax Board of Selectmen placed this question on the ballot in the event a future Town Meeting approves borrowing money for the renovation and addition to the Council on Aging Center/Pope’s Tavern but makes funding for the project contingent upon approval of a debt exclusion (an approved debt exclusion allows the Town to pay a particular debt with an increase in taxes above and beyond the normal levy limit). If this question was not placed on the November 8 ballot and a future Town Meeting approved borrowing the money contingent upon the debt exclusion, another election, at additional cost, would have had to be held.

Where Question 5 failed, 2227 voting No and only 1869 in favor, Halifax voters will not have the option of using a Proposition two and one half, so called, debt exclusion as a funding mechanism.

A future Town Meeting when this project will be presented, will have several options for funding, but will no longer have the option of debt exclusion.

The approval or disapproval of Question 5 simply provided or eliminated an option for funding the project.

Trump pledges unity

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Tracy F. Seelye

Express Staff

Voters in Halifax and Plympton showed their support for a change, joining the rest of the country in voicing their displeasure at the status quo. Halifax brought 78.6% of its electorate to the polls, and Plympton saw  83.9% of its voters cast their ballots.

A victorious Donald J. Trump addressed his supporters and the country about 3 a.m. on Wednesday, pledging his presidency would work to unify a deeply divided country.  Following a night that surprised and shocked political pundits left and right, Trump was gracious in his remarks and praised Secretary Clinton for her “courageous and hard fought campaign” and her years of public service to the country.

“We owe her a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country,” Trump said.  “Now is the time for America to bind the wounds of division  – we have to get together … It is time for us to come together as one united people.”

“I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be president for all Americans,” Trump said, reaching out to those who opposed him in an effort to “work together and unify our great country.”

Clinton had called Trump to concede and “congratulated us   it’s about us” on the win.   She had earlier sent her supporters home as several states were still too close to call, only to see them quickly shift toward Trump.

Clinton gave her concession speech to the country Wednesday morning, and also spoke to the need for unity in the wake of the election.

“I hope that he will be a successful president for all Americans,” she told supporters and staff.  “This is painful and it will be for a long time … but our campaign was never about one person or even one election.  It was about the country we love.”

State Representative Geoffrey Diehl, (R-Whitman), state co-chairman for the Trump campaign had predicted the win Tuesday afternoon, insisting that polls favoring a Clinton win were in error.

“I’m extremely pleased with the election of Donald Trump,” he said.  “Being the first Massachusetts elected official to endorse him, I recognized that he will take on the establishment in D.C. to make government work for us, not against us.”

Diehl, who ran unopposed, will return to his seat in the 6th Congressional District and pledged, “I will continue to work to make a positive difference for our families each and every day.”

Representative Tomas J. Calter III, D-Kingston, was returned to his seat in the state legislature, as voters in Plympton and Halifax re-elected him to the 12th Plymouth District with 3238 to challenger Peter Boncek’s 1921, giving him a 602 vote majority in those two towns.  Calter also represents Kingston, and a precinct in Duxbury.

Plympton and Halifax also followed the trends throughout the Commonwealth in the four questions on the ballot:

Question 1, asking for an additional license for a slots parlor, was turned down by both towns.  Question 2, the hotly contested Charter Schools question was resoundingly defeated, despite the heavy advertising on both sides.  Question 3, which asked that farm animals be treated humanely, was overwhelmingly supported, and Question 4, asking if marijuana use should be allowed for those over the age of 21, passed.

Halifax voters said “No” to Question 5, specific to Halifax, asking voters to exempt Halifax from Proposition 2 ½ restrictions for the future bond issue to renovate the Council on Aging Center at Pope’s Tavern.

Selectmen hear from Chief of challenges facing Fire Dept. staffing

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PLYMPTON – Fire Chief Warren Borsari appeared before the Board of Selectmen Monday night to share his vision of the Plympton Fire Department and outline some of the challenges he and his department are currently facing.

The greatest challenge, Borsari told the board, is staffing for the ambulance: Currently we have two round the clock  personnel at the station, PB service, which is a paramedic and a basic EMT for each 12-hour shift.   Since the Commonwealth’s more stringent regulations in certifying paramedics, fewer pass the test and there are fewer paramedics “in the pool,” Borsari told selectmen.  “Over 80% of what we do is ambulance runs.”

Borsari told the board that he is required to have 24-hours a day or the state will pull our license.

Selectman Christine Joy asked the chief if the ambulance service is paying for itself now.  Chief Borsari answered  “No.  We just don’t have the call volume.” Borsari said that they were attempting to bring the volume up through mutual aid calls from nearby towns.  “All towns attempt to handle their own calls, and then call mutual aid when needed,” he said.  Borsari estimated that Plympton’s call volume would crack 600 this year.

The ambulance receipts account, which was set up in the early 2000s, has grown each year, from $150,000 in 2014, to $198,000 in 2015, and is at $182,000 with two months left to go in 2016.  The chief praised the new ComStar system of billing: the medics come back from an ambulance run, complete their call sheet in the computer, and the information is sent to ComStar where a bill is generated.

EMTs, paramedics, ambulance equipment, lease payments,  medicines and ambulance supplies, can all be taken from that account, which would help the overall levy on Plympton real estate taxes.

Borsari told the board he was looking at several things in bringing a high level of ambulance services to Plympton.  Outsourcing, he said, would cost the town $400,000 to $500,000 per year and the service provider would take all the ambulance receipts as well.

Regionalization is an area to be investigated, as it would increase our asset base. “We are making contact with all four towns around us,” Borsari told selectmen.

Chief Borsari also noted that he is looking to Citizens for Citizens, a group which provides senior citizens who would like to work, the opportunity to work at the Plympton Fire Station about 20 hours a week to answer phones, and do other office work.

The Chief will return to selectmen in about a month, to report further.

In other business

• Selectmen are putting out an invitation to Plympton citizens who would like to take on the task of reviewing Plympton’s bylaws to see if any need updating.  Interested persons should contact the secretary to the selectmen, Brigitte Martins, at 781-585-2700.

• Kopelman & Paige attorneys were the only applicants to submit a bid for the job as town counsel.  The board is considering several of the pricing options that K&P has offered.

• The gravel removal permit on Ring Road has lapsed and despite several efforts to contact the applicant, there has been no response.  The board has sent a letter that the permit has expired as of Oct. 27, and to cease all gravel removal until a new permit is granted.

• Former Planning Board member Dominique Sampson has agreed to fill out the term of Planning Board chairman Irv Butler who would like to resign.  The Nov. 14 meeting of the Planning Board will see those votes taken.

• Treasurer/Collector Colleen Morin sent a letter to selectmen saying that her department is adopting the same every other week schedule as selectmen, that many Monday evenings when selectmen are not meeting, she is open but has had not one person come in.

• Plympton selectmen will next meet   Monday, Nov. 14.

New face at the window at the Plympton Post Office

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Plympton postal patrons have been greeted by a new smile at the window this week as Hanson resident Kimberly Newcomb took the reins Saturday, Oct. 29.

Kim has been with the Postal Service for 16 years, though on the “city side” of the post office.  This is her first experience on the rural side, she admits.  “It will be a learning experience.”

She was a letter carrier for eight years, and a city manager for North Weymouth for three and a half years, a supervisor in Wellesley Hills, and Arlington.  She also delivered mail out of Dorchester Center.

She has seen much of the “city side” of the post office, this is her first experience on the rural side of the post office.   City is more walking, where the mail comes in “staged,” all sorted and ready for the carrier to take it out.  “There’s very little mail that needs to be sorted, in a city post office,” she said.  “Rural is truck routes, where more of the mail is sorted by the rural carrier.

Kim grew up in Quincy, and although her work in the post office has been mainly in cities, she is really enjoying the rural setting of Plympton.

“This week a lady came in and was mailing chickens.  Live chickens!  You just don’t see that in the city.”

She’s also enjoying the 10-minute commute.  “When I worked in Arlington, it took three hours each way!”

Kim has been married 23 years and she and her husband have a 17-year old son.

“We like camping a lot with a 30’ travel trailer and go from spring through fall,” she said.  “We bounce around but Canoe River in Mansfield is one of our favorites so far.”

She also enjoys reading.  “My mother is a librarian so I read most anything, from comedy to detective stories.”  Stephanie Plumb mysteries by Janet Evanovich are favorites.

Kim looks forward to learning the rural side of things and enjoys the Plympton community. 

Stop in and say hello. 

Halifax overnight parking ban

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The Halifax Board of Selectmen has sent out the Town’s annual notice concerning the overnight parking ban in Halifax from November 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017 (see attached).

In addition, the Board has reiterated that the Halifax Highway Department is not responsible for damage to property placed on Town property or within the rights-of-way for streets plowed by the Town.

This includes but is not limited to mailboxes sprinkler systems, trees, shrubs or landscaping, fences, lightpoles, etc.

In most cases, the Town owns 10 feet beyond the asphalt surface for roads accepted by the Town. Mailboxes should be installed at least four feet from the edge of the asphalt to the front of the mailbox.

Many of the plows that are used have a wing that extends two feet or more beyond the cutting edge.

This, combined with the snow coming off the plow, is what causes most of the damage. It is impossible for the driver to see the edge of the asphalt under the snow; therefore, the plow may be off the edge of the road at times.

In heavy snow conditions, the Department tries to push the snow at least a foot off the road.

There is a parking ban during the winter from November 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017.

Halifax finance ballot question Nov. 8

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In Halifax, included on the election ballot for the November 8 election, along with the four state-wide referenda (additional slot-machine parlor, charter schools, regulation for raising farm animals, marijuana legalization), is one specific to Halifax. It reads as follows:

Shall the Town of Halifax be allowed to exempt from the provisions of proposition two and one-half, so-called, the amounts required to pay for the bond issued in order to pay for the repairs, renovations and expansion of the Council on Aging Center/Pope’s Tavern including the payment of all costs incidental or related thereto?

The Halifax Board of Selectmen placed this question on the ballot in case a future Town Meeting approves borrowing money for the renovation and addition to the Council on Aging Center/Pope’s Tavern but makes funding for the project contingent upon approval of a debt exclusion (an approved debt exclusion allows the Town to pay a particular debt with an increase in taxes above and beyond the normal levy limit).

If this question was not placed on the November 8 ballot and a future Town Meeting approved borrowing the money contingent upon the debt exclusion, another election, at additional cost, would have had to be held.

The approval or disapproval of this question is not the same as approving or disapproving this project.

That will be a decision made by a future Town Meeting.

That Town Meeting will have several options for funding including other sources of funding along with borrowing and can decide to have the borrowing contingent on a debt exclusion or to have the borrowing paid for within the levy limit.

1) If I vote “yes” on Question 5, does that mean I am approving the project?

“No”

2) If I vote “no” on Question 5, does that mean I am disapproving the project?

“No”

3) If Question 5 is approved, does that mean that the project is approved?

“No”

4) If Question 5 is disapproved, does that mean that the project is disapproved? “No”

The approval or disapproval of Question 5 simply provides or eliminates an option for funding the project.         Approval or disapproval of the project will be subject to a vote at a Special Town Meeting late this fall or early this winter.

If you have any questions about Question 5, please contact the Halifax Selectmen’s Office at 781-294-1316.

Early Voting sees success

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Town Clerks throughout the area are seeing a large turnout of early and absentee ballots for the upcoming presidential election Tuesday, Nov. 8.

Halifax Town Clerk Barbara Gaynor said has just over 5% of her town’s registered voters have come in for early voting and absentee ballot requests.  “I see that the elderly are finding it easier – they don’t have to wait in long lines.”  In the first two days, Monday and Tuesday, Halifax has had 145 people in for early voting and 140 absentee ballot requests, for a total of 285.  “The first day we saw 75 early voters in eight hours.  That’s about 10 voters per hour. “

Plympton’s Town Clerk Tara Shaw said that in the first two days 86 early voters cast their ballots, and 60 absentee ballots were mailed.  “I was hoping this would be a success because of all the hard work we have all put into it for the past couple of weeks,” she said.  With the 146 ballots between early and absentee, morer than 2% of the registered voters have already cast their ballots.

Gaynor said she is glad she is working in a smaller town, “Some larger towns have seen a huge increase in early voting.”  “We have our closed facebook page and communicate with one another,” she said.   

Whitman’s early voting total in the first two days was almost 600, more than the entire voting total for the primary election in September which was only 347, according to Whitman’s Town Clerk Dawn Varley.

Early voting will continue through Friday, Nov. 4, throughout the Commonwealth.

In Halifax, it will be available during normal business hours for the Town Clerk at the Town Clerk’s office: Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Friday, Nov. 4, from 8 a.m. to 12 noon.  In Plympton, it will be Monday, Oct. 31, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and Tuesday through Thursday, Nov. 1 to Nov. 3, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Also, registered voters have the option to request an early voting ballot through the mail.  Simply fill out an application and mail it to Town Clerk, Town of Plympton, 5 Palmer Rd., Plympton, MA 02367.  In Halifax, mail your early voting  ballot request to Town Clerk’s Office, 499 Plymouth St., Halifax, MA 02338.

You can find the application on the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s website: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele or call the Town Clerk’s office – 781-293-7970 for Halifax or 781-585-3220 for Plympton.

Please note, however, once a voter has cast an early voting ballot, the voter may no longer vote at the polls on Election Day.

Secretary of State William F. Galvin says,, “For the first time in Massachusetts, the first choice all voters will make is which day to vote.

“Early voting will make the most fundamental right of our citizens more convenient than ever to exercise.

“We encourage all of our citizens to exercise that right and take advantage of the opportunity to vote on their schedules.”

Plympton selectmen introduced to new Area 58 Media System

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Plympton selectmen were treated Monday night to an introduction to the workings of the new recording equipment which will be installed in both Plympton and Halifax meeting rooms for HD broadcast either through the Area 58 web site or on local channels through Comcast subscriptions.

Area 58 general manager Richard Goulart showed the board where the main “brains” of the operation would be set up, and how one person would be able to operate three robotic cameras, for wide shots and closer for head and shoulders type shots, and also man the microphones.  The installation would take place in the main assembly room.

Goulart said other meetings which need to be held in other Town House rooms would be served just as they always have.

“This is one of the things they promised to do for the towns of Halifax and Plympton and we will be able to better control the sound as well.”

“We are really excited about it. … Installation is scheduled for Monday Nov. 21st and Nov. 22nd, with a carryover day of the 23rd,” Goulart told the board.

Area58.net or area58.tv web site was displayed, and is “very user friendly,” he said.  “We got that done at about half the cost that we budgeted.”

Goulart invited all to come to the Open House at the studio which has been constructed in the plaza right next to Cornerstone’s Pizza, 96 Main St., Rte. 58, Carver.  Area 58 Community Access Media is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Silver Lake    negotiations

The Silver Lake negotiations representative was going to be the chairman of the Kingston Finance Committee.  Now it appears, according to Chairman Colleen Thompson, that the representative will be a member of the Kingston Board of Selectmen.  Selectperson Christine Joy said that she would like to propose that the negotiations person be a member of one of the smaller towns, Halifax or Plympton, and would volunteer that her name “be put into the hat” for consideration of that position.

Legislation change

Thompson also asked Town Co-ordinator Dale Pleau to draft a letter to Rep. Thomas Calter and request that the legislature consider a change to the language of the legislation to sell the land in Kingston owned by the Silver Lake Regional School District, to amend the language to include town meeting votes by the towns as necessary to the sale approval.

Selectman John Traynor told the board that he had met with Calter at his Village Coffee Shop coffee hour last Saturday at which time Calter told him that no legislation of any contentious nature is being considered until after the first of the year.  “So we have time,” Traynor said.  Thompson said that she would like to contact Charlie Seelig, Halifax Town Administrator, to discuss the letter with him and to begin the process so that the smaller towns of Halifax and Plympton will have their voices heard.

Halifax has expressed its displeasure at seemingly being left out of the process and has said it would support such a measure.

Carver Urban      Renewal

A copy of the most recent plan for the access roads and how they might mitigate heavy truck traffic will be sent to Plympton Town Counsel Ilana Quirk of Koppelman & Paige as well as to Plympton Highway Superintendent Jim Mulcahy for their input.

Aggregation Plan

Selectmen voted to go forward with the Aggregation Plan for energy cost reduction.  Pleau will get back to the selectmen with details about how to now proceed.

License renewals

Selectmen will review license renewal applications and make site visits to confirm that the businesses are within their stated parameters and will be prepared to issue their recommendations for the January 1, 2017 date.

Chairman Thompson noted that there is one gravel removal permit which needs to be renewed by the end of October and despite several emails and mailings from the Board of Selectmen, they have had no response from the permit holder.

Planning Board

member needed

Thompson also noted the immediate need for a person to fill one position on the Planning Board that would finish out a term until election in May, 2017.

It is an ideal situation for someone to serve and see how they like it for a little more than six months.  Anyone interested should contact the Board of Selectmen’s secretary, at the Town House, 781-585-2700.

Thanks, LiteControl

Selectmen read a letter  into the minutes from Fire Chief Warren Borsari thanking LiteControl on Spring Street for their generous donation of $1500 in light fixtures and equipment and that their electrician replaced all the broken fixtures in the Fire Station.

Selectmen will draft a letter of thanks to LiteControl.