The Plympton Board of Selectmen met virtually on Monday, March 15. The Selectmen met with Michael Mahoney the Director of the Regional Old Colony Communications Center (ROCCC) to discuss a $50,000 increase for services for fiscal year 2023. Selectman Mark Russo said they did have a bit of sticker shock as they were originally told that they would be at $175,000 and not $200,000 with the potential for that to reduce should other towns join. “The three-year step plan that we laid out went $100, $150, $200… I’m honestly not sure where the shock is,” Mahoney said. Fire Chief Steve Silva said he agreed with Russo saying that both Hanson and Hanover have joined the ROCCC without a reduction seen to Plympton’s share of the cost.

“Plympton wasn’t paying an equitable share all along,” Mahoney said explaining that 911 was paying their share previously. Mahoney further said that all of the smaller towns that are a part of the ROCC are paying $200,000 including Halifax and Rochester. Silva questioned this given Plympton’s population of just under 3,000 as opposed to Halifax who is more than twice as large. Mahoney claimed that the call volume for Plympton has been larger than Halifax’s over the last six months. Silva said that the metric used to indicate call volume was resulting in “an inequitable situation.” “You pay for the impact on the dispatcher,” Mahoney said.

According to Mahoney, 911 calls represent the vast minority of calls to the ROCCC. He said that business related calls represent more of the calls fielded. John Traynor asked Mahoney for assistance in figuring out what is driving Plympton’s call volume to match or exceed that of the much larger towns. Chair of the Town Properties Committee Jon Wilhelmsen said that further investigation needs to be done into what is driving Plympton’s high call volume to see if there may be an alternative way to handle some of those calls. Mahoney said that he was happy to pull some numbers and review them further with the town.

Town Administrator Elizabeth Dennehy asked what will happen if the town can’t afford the $50,000 increase for fy 2023 given the short notice and how far along they are in the budget process. She asked if they would need to approach the State and Mahoney said, “we’ve done anything and everything to secure support in grant funding as much as we possibly can for all of the member towns.” Mahoney said he would stand with the town before the 911 Commissioner to lobby for more money if needed.

Traynor led a discussion with Executive Director of Area 58 Richard Goulart about moving forward with a hybrid style meeting where participants could join virtually via ZOOM while others were physically present in a meeting room. Goulart said that both Carver and Halifax are currently doing a hybrid style meeting. To do so and to allow Area 58 to record the meeting, they would have to be the ones to host the meeting. Dennehy felt that having Area 58 host the meeting could pose a problem if the town needed to organize a meeting quickly. “I think it could work very well for regular meetings,” she added. Dennehy also said that if they moved to hybrid meetings and there was a technology glitch, the meeting would be invalidated. Russo inquired about the sound quality. “Generally speaking, we haven’t had a real problem with that,” Goulart said.

The Selectmen had two public hearings on the agenda. Selectmen Chair Christine Joy said that in 2018, the town adopted a policy of right of first refusal for full transparency whenever land became available in the town. This allows residents that have concerns to voice them as well as allowing interested committees or boards in town that have interest in the property to speak on it. The first property was located on Ring Rd. in Plympton. Kirsten Eliassen who works with the developer Ring Rd. Solar was there to speak on it. “The solar array will be installed over the existing cranberry bogs and the cranberry bogs will continue to be harvested for the life of the project,” Eliassen explained. There are 14.6 acres on the first parcel and there are 5-6 acres to be converted. No one spoke out in favor of or against the project. The Selectmen voted not to exercise the town’s right of first refusal on the first property.

The second parcel is 41 acres, and they are proposing to convert between 8 and 9 acres. Again, no one spoke out in favor or against the project and no boards or committees in town were interested in the property. The Selectmen again voted not to exercise the town’s right of first refusal.

Mike Slawson of the Plympton Public Library spoke in favor of Jessica Lau being appointed to the Board of Library Trustees until May 21, 2022. “I think she’ll be an excellent addition to the Board,” Slawson told the Selectmen. They voted to appoint her. Arthur Kinsman was also appointed to the Bylaw Review Committee until dissolved. Brian Kling was also reappointed as the town’s animal inspector.

Dennehy said she had a few items in correspondence. A request was made by a resident who runs a meditation group called Plymouth Zen to use a room at the Old Townhouse. Russo called Plymouth Zen a “very nice bunch.” He did say, however, that he wanted to be careful not to set a precedent and to view any approval more so as a trial. The Selectmen decided to vote on the issue at the following meeting.

The Selectmen ended the meeting with their raves. Traynor said, “My rave is for Kathy LaNatra.” He said the library was hosting a speaker series each month and noted that LaNatra has done a good job any time she has been asked to speak. “We have a good rep,” he said.

“My rave is for the courage of the Ukrainian people who are defending their country, their homes, and their lives,” Joy said.

Russo said he wanted to underscore both of the previous raves in addition to his own. “My rave is for the time of year that its budget creation time, preparing for town meeting – kind of a busy time but we kind of layout the foundation for the whole year… kind of a pleasure to be in that mode,” he said.

The Halifax Board of Selectmen met in-person on Tuesday, March 8. Town Administrator Ed Thorne provided an update on the community survey reports that looked at the number of selectmen per town as well as open town meeting versus representative town meeting. The first survey investigated 30 communities on the South Shore and the other looked at communities across the State with populations of 5,000 to 10,000. Of the 30 on the South Shore, 23 had Boards of Selectmen and seven had Select Boards. The vast majority had five members while eight had three members. Of the 86 communities looked at across the State 50 had five and 36 had three. This survey was conducted as the Selectmen consider an article at town meeting to go from a three-person Board to a five members.

The other report discussed was what Thorne called the “Stump Brook Dam Report.” Thorne said that Selectmen Chair Gordon Andrews visited the site with the Board of Health agent and had a lengthy conversation with MA Wildlife. “Did you see any beavers?” Selectman Ashley DiSesa asked. “We found muskrat and they were trapping for beaver,” Andrews responded. He said the Board of Health needs to issue an Emergency Order for the trapping of the beavers. He said the Conservation Commission may need to do so as well for the removal of the dams. Thorne said the level of the pond is up, but nothing can be done as the beaver dam is in the way. Andrews said that currently the State is handling it but if it falls outside of their jurisdiction, the town will need to pickup the cost of trapping the beavers. Andrews said that they believe that there are at least 4 lodges in Burrage. Andrews said that ultimately the town would likely need to increase funding for trapping. He specified that the traps are no kill traps. A 55 lb beaver has already been removed.

The Selectmen had an appointment with Don Barrows, the President of the Monponsett Watershed Association. “The most important thing that we see this season is weed eradication,” Barrows explained. “We’ve got to do something this year, we can’t wait,” he continued. He noted that there was funding for the ponds available and Thorne said that it should cover the cost. Thorne said that the amount should cover the aloe treatment as well as the weed eradication for both the East and West ponds. Thorne said the work should be done in May. Barrows said that he had not yet heard if the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) would be conducting testing of the ponds.

The Selectmen also met with Highway Surveyor Steve Hayward to discuss the condition of the roads including potholes. Hayward said that he just had an additional mile of work come in at an estimated cost of nearly $400,000.

Andrews told the other Selectmen that there would be an increase of $24,572 for the out of County tuition rate for Norfolk Aggie. He said that the town has two students currently enrolled.

The Selectmen also discussed the intermunicipal dispatch agreement with the ROCC. Fire Chief Jason Viveiros said there would be a $50,000 increase this year. He noted that in the five years they have been with the same service, the price has remained steady. “We’ve had a great service there; it’s been a considerable savings from when we were doing dispatch in house,” Viveiros explained. He also explained that there are a lot of things that the ROCC does that people are not aware of such as replacing a computer system for $50,000. The Selectmen voted to approve the agreement.

Andrews read from a status report for municipal and school buildings. He said that the wiring for the Town Hall front door is complete. The backflow preventer was weeping at the Elementary School and needed to be drained during the vacation break. The cost to prevent future draining is $5,300. The windows are installed at Pope’s Tavern. There are leaks under the windows at the library and due to the size of the project, its cost will need to go into the capital plan.

Andrews also said that they had received a letter from the Silver Lake Regional School Committee asking to use some of the town’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to support upgrades to the schools’ HVAC systems. The Selectmen agreed to review it further at a later meeting.

Information Technology Director Cesar Calouro was there to discuss potentially using ARPA funds for network security. Calouro said the amount needed was listed as both an ARPA request as well as being included in the capital plan. The amount listed in the capital plan was just for Police, Fire, and Water. He said the life expectancy of the equipment should be ten years. “I think you’re better off just going with the capital request for Police and Fire,” Andrews said. Calouro said that if the amount was included in the capital plan his budget would be going up. DiSesa said she wanted to delay voting until she could investigate it further.

Andrews said there is a petition article for zoning at the Special Town Meeting to change the location requirements for marijuana establishments. “It’s been certified; there are 100 signatures,” Andrews said explaining that it was enough to consider it at the Special Town Meeting. Andrews said that the Planning Board should hold a public hearing on the matter.

The Selectmen voted to issue the RFP for a lease-to- own option for the solar farm per discussions from previous meetings.

The Selectmen had a request from the V.F.W. to establish a field of flags on the Town Green from May 14 to June 4. “The field consists of 500 flags,” Andrews said. The Selectmen approved the request.

An update on a relocation of the Council on Aging was discussed. DiSesa said that of the two options provided for relocation, one was not suitable and the other involved a lot of legal paperwork. Andrews asked DiSesa if she would be in favor of approving $15,000 in ARPA funds to move forward with a set of plans to present at Town Meeting. DiSesa said she would but would like to see an article at town meeting that covers both the cost of design as well as the entire project. The Selectmen approved the $15,000 during Tuesday’s meeting.

Andrews read that the Town Clerk had certified the resignation of longtime Selectman Troy Garron effective March 28, 2022. “I would like to take the opportunity to thank all those people who supported me over the years, and I hopefully haven’t disappointed anybody,” Garron said before explaining that he is taking time for family. He called it a very difficult decision before being met with resounding applause from those present. “You’ve done a lot for this community,” Andrews said noting that Garron was first his soccer coach before serving on the Selectmen Board with him.

The Plympton Board of Selectmen met virtually on Monday, Feb. 28. They had an appointment with hydrogeologist Peter Newton of Bristol Engineering Advisors to review the Rocky Harvest Farm water use. Selectman Mark Russo said, “A little over a decade ago, some decisions were made in town that allowed the Rocky Harvest Company to harvest water in town…they are perceived by many as a misguided decision.” He said that hundreds of thousands of dollars had been spent fighting the decision for a decade and the courts were “not sympathetic.” Russo said that at last year’s Annual Town Meeting they asked for a modest appropriation to spend on having a hydrogeologist explore Rocky Harvest’s reporting and to provide information on the impact of the harvesting of the water.

Newton said that due to COVID he was unable to go into the State’s offices and review the “boxes and boxes of documents” pertaining to the matter. He said that his review was based on those documents that he was able to obtain. He did obtain the application that Harvest Farm filed for access as a public water supply.  “They are authorized to withdraw up to 100,000 gallons a day,” Newton explained. He said that they don’t meet the criteria for the Water Management Act to apply. He said that those that fall under the Act’s purview are held to the guidelines and limitations placed on them by that Act. “They fall below the threshold for the State’s permit,” he explained. He said they have an approved rate of 50 gallons per minute or 72,000 gallons per day. Based on their reported withdrawal they are not subject to any State compliance. “Their water use has been creeping up over the past five years,” Newton said citing specific amounts withdrawn since 2016.

“I guess the short answer is there is nothing that I could see in the documents that I reviewed that says that what they’re doing is not consistent with what the State would require; the caveat there is… approval forward relies on them to submit their own documentation to the State and frankly the State doesn’t have the capability to audit,” he explained.

Newton also said that his job is far more complex than it used to be when the primary focus was strictly on ensuring clean drinking water. He explained that part of his job now is identifying the effects the water withdrawal has on streamflow, wetlands, species, etc. “It’s a much more complicated analysis now to address those questions,” he said. “It doesn’t seem to me likely that if they’re pumping at the rates they are reporting that there is likely to be significant impacts to homeowners or private wells nearby,” Newton told the Selectmen. Selectman John Traynor asked how often the water is tested that is taken out by Rocky Harvest. Newton said he was unsure but said they were required to test. He said it was regulated by the FDA not the EPA because it is bottled.

Russo said that the thing the town should be doing each year is checking on the annual reporting and max per day volume. Russo asked Newton if they should be doing anything else. “That’s really the only thing you have available to you,” Newton replied. “To be honest with you, DEP is understaffed and overworked,” he continued. Russo asked about the accuracy of Rocky Harvest’s reporting. Newton said the town could ask for the meter calibration records. “It’s good to know that we have something that we can do,” Selectmen Chair Christine Joy said.

Selectmen were scheduled to meet with Area 58 but there was no representative on the call, so they agreed to table the conversation for a later date.  Selectmen and Town Administrator Liz Dennehy said that they would like to discuss a hybrid style meeting moving forward so that some members could be present in person while people could still attend virtually.

Selectmen discussed having the Council on Aging exercise class move back into the Old Town House. Dennehy said they were ready to have them return to the building. She briefly touched on getting Wi-Fi in that building but said first they would have to get a phone line installed. She said the cost would be roughly $110 per month. “My feeling is we ought to do it,” Traynor said.

The Selectmen also reviewed the right of first refusal option pertaining to a parcel on Ring Rd. Russo said that no one in town responded saying they were interested in purchasing the property. Russo said that he strongly recommended having a public hearing on the matter before deciding how to proceed. The hearing will take place during the next Selectmen’s meeting.

The Selectmen and Dennehy discussed town meeting preparations. Dennehy said they reached out to the company that had previously provided IT services for Town Meeting. She said the town will once again secure their services. Town Meeting will likely be spread across multiple rooms at the Dennett Elementary School.

Selectmen and Dennehy also discussed the process for Board of Selectmen appointments to various boards and committees in town. Dennehy said there were a few openings in town. “As far as the reappointment process for town employees; there seems to be a disconnect in town as far as who needed to be reappointed and who didn’t,” Dennehy explained. She explained that anyone that is customarily reappointed on an annual basis does not need to go down to the Town Clerk’s office every single year to be sworn in. She said they are also trying to get ahead of any members who may not want to be reappointed before the end of the fiscal year.

Dennehy gave a Town Administrator’s update saying that there were 27 applicants for the Police Chief position. She said the preliminary screening committee would be meeting with her to go over the interview structure. “It appears on the surface that we have a lot of qualified applicants including two internal candidates,” Dennehy told the Selectmen. She also told the Selectmen that the Board of Health lifted remaining COVID restrictions.

Dennehy told the Selectmen that they had correspondence from Silver Lake Regional Schools asking for support for upgrades to their HVAC systems. She said that the town had already previously agreed to their share of the project which is estimated at $190,000. The ARPA funds, which are limited in use, will be used to fund their share of the project. Joy said that it was one of the approved uses. Dennehy also shared that she had correspondence stating that Kimberly Russo was resigning from the Bylaw Review Committee.

The Halifax Board of Selectmen met in-person on Tuesday, Feb. 22. The Selectmen discussed an article put forth by Selectmen Chair Gordon Andrews as a private citizen to change the Board of Selectmen to a five-member board. “It seems like there is a number of occasions where two of us want to go to a meeting and we didn’t post it as a meeting and we can’t both attend; it just seems like with a larger board there would be overlap of information and knowledge as to what happens at other meetings and the ability to communicate and more than one person’s take on what happens at a meeting,” Andrews said. Selectman Ashley DiSesa pointed out the benefit of more members should someone need to recuse themselves from a discussion or event. Town Administrator Ed Thorne said he could prepare a survey of neighboring towns comparing their populations to the number of selectmen on their boards. Selectman Troy Garron simply said of the three-person board, “it has worked well the last 30 years.”

Amy L. Troup told Selectmen that the Beautification Committee was requesting to use the Great Hall for a vendor fair. Troup described the fair as “anything that’s going to promote saving the earth; making it beautiful.” She told the Selectmen that they were aiming for April 2. Andrews made a motion to accept the proposed date of April 2 pending approval from the Board of Health for the food trucks that will be present. The Selectmen voted to approve the motion.

Gerard Joy presented an article on behalf of the Solar Farm Committee. He noted that Alan Winkler was the Chair of the Committee. He said, “the biggest asset that the town has is the landfill and I think that’s where the most money that the town can get with little effort.”

Joy said there were two options. One being similar to Pembroke with at least one megawatt (MW) or more depending on what can fit on the site. The company that would do the estimate, PowerOptions, is a non-profit. He said it would be a fixed rate that would be locked in for 20 years for the power. Joy said he would recommend a lease to own option. “There’s no responsibility for the first eight years; they’ll come in, they’ll do it, they’ll own it, they’ll operate it,” Joy told the Selectmen. He said the life of a solar farm should be 30 years.

Regarding the cost of the plant, Joy said, “the U.S. average open field… the cost goes anywhere from $0.83 to $1.39.” He said he took the higher number of $1.39, which he explained was per watt, and multiplied it by two. “I’m looking at the cost of $2,780,000 to install the solar farm and that could go up or down,” Joy said. He said that the battery storage system would be another $1,000,000. Joy said the town would receive roughly $86,000 for the first eight years.

The option to buy the field exists after eight years. “Typical payback… is $470,000 per year in revenue… that’s what the town should generate if you own,” Joy explained. “So, at the end of 16 years, we now own the system; but we’re still getting roughly about $72,000 per year in revenue,” he told the Selectmen. He continued, “At the end of thirty years we’ll make $6,000,142.00” “There’s a reason why everyone is throwing these solar fields everywhere; it’s a money-making machine,” Joy said. He added that the cost of maintenance was low. Joy said there was a waiting list but noted that landfills have priority so it may be possible to bypass some people on the waiting list. The Selectmen said they would review the materials and think it over.

The Selectmen also had an appointment with the Halifax Fireworks Committee. The representative said they wanted the Selectmen’s feedback on them planning the fireworks for June 25. They said that they already had approval from the Fire Chief and the Board of Health. “You guys have done such a great job in the past; why should we doubt the future,” Garron said. Asked about Covid, Garron said, “As far as Covid is concerned, it will be up to individuals.” He noted that people could wear masks if they desired. There will, however, be no jumpy houses, etc. as there was two years ago.

Andrews said that a fundraising idea would be to raffle off an ideal parking space for the winner. “I just think it would be cool, especially to get to pick your own spot on the field and have it coned off… this is the winner of the raffle and this is what supports these fireworks and make it into a big deal,” Andrews explained of his proposal. Currently there is $8,000 in the account. She said they have enough money for a small display but noted that they would rather put on something more impressive so as to not disappoint. DiSesa said that they were happy to help with fundraising or any other needs that arise. “All your time and effort is appreciated and I’ve been to every one of the fireworks,” Garron said.

Thorne gave a brief update saying that the Ethics training they held for various boards and committees was a great success. The town is planning to hold another one regarding open meeting laws. Thorne also said that the town is moving forward with the pond treatments that are needed.

The Selectmen had an appointment with Steven MacFaun of the Board of Health to discuss the Massachusetts Health Board Trust Fund Agreement (MAHB). MacFaun said they were granted $5,000 to assist with contact tracing, etc. He said that they hired a nurse initially but needed to terminate her. As a result, the Health Agent took on those responsibilities. MacFaun explained that the Board wished to give some of those funds to the Health Agent as well as the Fire Admin. He explained that “both were doing jobs outside of their jobs that were specifically supposed to be being done by someone else.” The Selectmen were in support of the bonuses.

Building Inspector James Perry appeared before the Selectmen to go over a proposed revision to inspection fees. Perry said that no changes had been made since 2011. Perry said that Halifax was on the low side in comparison to neighboring communities. “If it puts us in competition with other towns what they’re doing then the compensation is proper,” Garron said. The Selectmen voted to approve the new fee schedule effective March 1.

Cesar Calouro met with the Selectmen to request use of ARPA funds to purchase an interactive display for meetings.  He said he would like to also get a secondary, non-interactive display to be used for overlap. The Selectmen decided to delay the vote of $6,400 for the interactive display and corresponding tTV until March 8 in order to allow Thorne to verify that the ARPA funds could be used for that purchase.