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Board hears third COA applicant director

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The Halifax Board of Selectmen met early on Thursday, May 20, to address a number of issues including an interview with Jill Carr for Council on Aging (COA) Director. Newest Selectman Ashley DiSesa was joined by seasoned selectmen Gordon Andrews and Troy Garron.

Carr, who was the third applicant interviewed thus far, told the selectmen that she has worked in human services for the last 25 years with much of that spent working with elders. “I worked 10 years at adult protective services in Braintree and we covered 11 surrounding towns.” She said she worked closely with the COA of many of those towns. “I’ve always had such a passion working with seniors and being an advocate and a voice for a lot of the seniors that might not have a voice,” she explained. She said that her philosophy has always been to empower seniors and to help them live as independently as possible. “I did recently get my masters in order to strengthen my skills regarding social services,” Carr told Selectmen. Additionally, she said she is very familiar with available resources in Massachusetts saying she has worked closely with the Executive Office of Elder Affairs.

Garron asked Carr what she would consider her top achievement in working with elderly and other people. Carr cited being a strong advocate and raising awareness as being amongst her proudest accomplishments. “Advocating for an elder’s right to self-determination,” she added. DiSesa asked if she had experience handling a budget. “When I was the Director, we were constantly needing to be handling numbers and maintain a quota… it was my job to track and make sure that numbers were where they are supposed to be,” Carr said. DiSesa also asked if she had experience writing grants. Carr said that while she had not written any, she has worked closely with many who have. Carr said she was also able to meet with Susan Lawless to discuss the Halifax COA. Asked what one word she would choose to describe herself, Carr simply said, “dedicated.”

Andrews explained to Carr that there was currently a plan being looked at to swap the COA building with the museum building in town. He said there would be more to present on that in September. Andrews asked Carr if she had any questions for them and she said she would be eager to hear more about what the goals are for the COA. Andrews noted that the building has been closed to the public since last March and said that opening back up and getting programs running was amongst the most urgent goals. He also noted that there were various spaces around town that could be utilized for the COA. “I think that understanding what spaces are available and how to adequately use them is something that we’d be looking for in a Director right now,” Andrews told Carr.

Following the interview with Carr, the Board tackled their own reorganization. Garron nominated Andrews to serve as chair and he was voted in unanimously. It was also decided that Garron would serve as vice-chair and DiSesa as clerk. Andrews then said he would like to discuss the format of the meetings saying he would like to have department heads come in once every 6-8 weeks to provide an update on their department, both good and bad. Andrews also proposed a spreadsheet for new articles that would show progress toward estimated dates of completion on the various projects. He also recommended having a visual presentation during town meeting that would allow residents to see the motion being voted upon as well as proposed spending, etc. Garron expressed some concern over the cost of such an endeavor. Andrews also said he would like to resume department head meetings again now that the pandemic is dwindling.

The Selectmen then turned their attention to the vacancies on the Halifax Elementary School Committee as well as the Finance Committee. Alison Vance had submitted her resignation from the School Committee and Fred McGovern from the Finance Committee. There was a question sent in email form from Town Moderator Dennis Carmen regarding whether the Board would consider the results from the recent town election in filling the vacancy. The hope was that the person with the next number of votes, or the runner-up, would be considered to fill the position. The email also read, “Additionally will the related experience of each candidate be considered when making this decision; also will any consideration be given to the diversity of the candidate given our society’s building of awareness of diversity, equity, and inclusion issues; I hope the answers to my questions will be yes, and if not, I would be interested in the thoughts of each of the members on the Select Board.”

Andrews reminded those assembled that a vote to fill a vacancy on the Halifax Elementary School Committee would require a vote from both the Board of Selectmen as well as the School Committee. “Basically, the selectmen have heard the voice of the population that the person came in second on the voting scale that should give really good consideration because at least you know they are interested in the position,” Garron said. Andrews said that anyone interested in the position should fill out a talent bank form and a joint meeting would be put together between the Selectmen and the School Committee to hold interviews and have a vote. The meeting is scheduled for June 8.

The Board also fielded a request for a VFW Memorial Day Ceremony. Town Administrator Charlie Seelig noted that the outdoor mask mandate would likely be lifted by then but said he would imagine the event would still include social distancing. The event would be 35-45 minutes long and would occur on the front lawn of the Town Hall. The Board approved the request unanimously. There was another request for an entertainment license for weekly car shows at Walmart. The Board approved the request contingent on the Certificate of Liability being presented to the Board of Health.

Joy named Plympton BOS chair

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The Monday, May 17 Plympton Board of Selectmen meeting began with a reorganization of the Board. Current Clerk John Traynor led the reorganization nominating himself to serve as Chair for the coming year. Upon not hearing a motion for a second, Traynor said, “So, knowing that this was coming, I at least would like to point out a few things. I’ve been involved in town government for 33 years, 12 on the Finance Committee, eight on the Library Trustee, eight as Moderator, and five years as Selectman. For the last five years we have rotated the Chair every year except one when Mr. Russo declined it. My community involvement, as I’m sure like yours, is I go back as far as being a Cub Scout Treasurer. I’m founder of the Library Genealogy Club and a longtime member of the Upland Club where I served as President, Vice President, Treasurer and Director at various times. So, I guess my question to Mr. Russo and Mrs. Joy is what exactly has prevented you from seconding my nomination?”

Referencing an email sent requesting her support of the motion, Selectman Christine Joy said that her concern was open meeting law. “I think you are incredibly qualified, and I have no doubt that you always have the best interest of the town at heart. Perception is so important, and I think that we always need to err on the side of caution.” Selectman Mark Russo said, “We each have strengths and some weaknesses; we each have different styles. I think, actually, to some extent, that has been the strength of the three of us together in four years; our styles have been kind of complimentary. We have our set projects, our pet projects and we’ve done very well over the past four years… really it’s just a matter of style… the best person to Chair would be Christine.” Traynor then made a motion that Joy be made Chair for the coming year. It was then voted through unanimously. Traynor was voted Vice-Chair and Russo was named Clerk.

The Selectmen then turned their attention to the next steps and timeline of the disposition of town owned land. Traynor asked that it be put on the agenda for the following meeting so that the Town Properties Committee could lend their thoughts. Colleen Morin and Christine Kelly from the Treasurer’s Office were on the line as was Atty. David Coppola. Coppola provided an explanation of how towns typically dispose of land that they have acquired through tax foreclosure. “Once you have these properties the town can use these properties for their own town purposes or if they don’t have a need for them, they can subsequently sell them and the most common way to do that and probably the simplest way to do that is through public auction.” Coppola explained that the Board of Selectmen would appoint someone to oversee the sale of the property with that person generally being the treasurer/collector though he noted it can really be any qualified individual. That custodian would then work with other town departments to determine which properties will be auctioned. The next step would be to actually hold the auction. Coppola said another option would be a request for sealed bids; the property would have to be declared surplus through a town meeting vote.

Joy asked Chair of the Town Properties Committee Jon Wilhelmsen when he thought the Committee would be able to survey the list of properties and make recommendations. Wilhelmsen said that they had looked at some lists saying, “from a general perspective, I think the Town Properties Committee is certainly in favor to sell properties that people have an ability to use but not such that they are able to take those and combine them to create buildable lots; we don’t think that is a wise use of the land and… better almost to leave the land as open.” Wilhelmsen said they would look at whatever list the Board of Selectmen would like them to at their next Town Properties meeting.

Next on the agenda was a discussion of Area 58’s live meeting coverage. Traynor said that one of the things that had been discussed was the possibility of streaming the Board of Selectmen meetings live while also capturing it with Zoom. He said the one attempt to do so, did not work out though Area 58 felt it was still possible with some tweaks. Traynor reached out to Silver Lake Regional Technology Director Steve Pellowe who said it would be a relatively easy process taking roughly two hours to complete if the right consultant was brought onboard.

Russo expressed some concern about using Area 58’s Zoom number as opposed to their own saying he was hesitant to give up that control. Traynor said that one of the benefits as he sees it, is that seniors who may not have the technology know-how to figure out Zoom, could turn on their televisions and live stream the meetings that way.

Following the discussion on Area 58, Joy turned to the Host Community Agreement (HCA) with Sweet Grass Farms on 77 Spring St. Town Administrator Liz Dennehy said that Russo and herself had been in contact with town counsel to see what an HCA draft would look like. Dennehy said they would need to determine if they are asking for the three percent impact fee right at the outset. She also said that they would need to determine how to handle the community benefit fund; some towns ask for it as one lump sum of say $50,000 while other towns take a more incremental approach receiving something like $10,000 a year. The third item that would need to be ironed out would be the charitable contributions. The project proponent would have the say over which local entities they would disperse the funds to. “Sweet Grass Enterprise has been really great to work with so far and they seem like a really nice earnest bunch,” Russo said. He said he saw the three percent surcharge to be reasonable. For the other funds, Russo said he would be in favor of a much more modest ask. Traynor said he was in favor of the higher amount for the community benefit fund.

After much discussion, Dennehy said that for this round of negotiations they would ask for the three percent impact fee. Joy proposed finding out what Sweet Grass had in mind for the other categories. Dennehy said that they could ask them if they would prefer the community benefit fund to be in the form of a one-time lump sum payment or whether that would be too much to ask of a small, start-up company. Wilhelmsen suggested taking the payments and putting it away to be used for something greater than just offsetting budget items. He likened it to the Dennett using school choice funds in part to pay for the new playground.

Dennehy provided an update on various topics including COVID 19. “Our Covid numbers are as low as we’ve seen them,” she told the Board. She said the town has reconnected with GATRA so being accepted as a member community is still on the horizon. She said that work on the Soule Homestead project is still underway as well. Dennehy also said that the Old Colony Planning Council (OCPC) did great work for the Highway Department regarding traffic counts for speed zones. They will be attending the June 7 Board of Selectmen meeting to discuss their findings.

As customary, the Board ended their meeting with their rants and raves for the last few weeks. Russo said, “I was incredibly impressed for a little tiny town in slightly challenging times how smooth the town meeting operation was; I want to rave about the town administrator, the town moderator, the school people, the town clerk, the AV people and Area 58. That was really cool; that was really well put together.” He also said he was impressed with how serious residents were who attended the meeting.

Traynor said he wanted to rave about Barry DeCristofano’s handling of town meeting saying he “runs it as good as anybody has ever run it.”

Joy said her first rave was for Brian Kling and his handling of an incident involving her own dog. Her second rave was for the various local Fire Departments’ handling of a house fire on her street the night before.

First in-person meeting for SL Region

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The Thursday, May 20 Silver Lake Regional School Committee meeting began with Chair Paula Hatch saying they were “giddy” because they were finally all in-person.

Silver Lake Regional High School Principal Michaela Gill was unable to attend due to family obligations. Silver Lake Regional Middle School Principal Jim Dupille read Gill’s notes to the Committee. Earlier this year, a subcommittee was established to formalize a dual enrollment policy. It would allow juniors and seniors in good academic standing to enroll part-time in college courses and earn college credits. The student and guardian would be responsible for paying for such courses. “I think it’s a great opportunity for our students to get a jump start on colleges; there’s an opportunity for them to not only earn credit in our high school but really reach out to the next level and really propel them forward in their career,” Dupille explained. Dupille said that Committee member Leslie-Ann McGee was instrumental in the development of the program.

One Committee member asked if the program would be open to the career and technical education students as well. Superintendent Jill Proulx said, “I think there’s an opportunity for a wide-range of types of courses that students could potentially take advantage of.”

Committee member Christopher Eklund expressed some concerns over the way the policy was presented calling it “very, very open.” McGee noted that there were many different models for dual enrollment. She also pointed out that for the last several years, many CTE students have already been involved in dual enrollment programs. McGee said that her own son was in a dual enrollment program at Quincy College taking precalculus as well as English Comp 101 online there. “By the end of December, he had his entire high school year of math and year of English completed,” she explained. She said that it has eased the transition into college. McGee pointed out that if a student takes an Advanced Placement (AP) course in high school but does not receive a score of a 4 or a 5 they will not receive college credit whereas a passing grade at a college while enrolled in a dual enrollment program would count toward college credit. She also stressed that it is financially more beneficial as well to enroll in such a program.

Eklund asked if the courses that are being selected to take at a college are typically those that are not offered at Silver Lake. McGee said that it gives students the opportunity to go beyond the curriculum offered at Silver Lake. Eklund said his concern was students going off campus to take courses that they could take at Silver Lake. He said he was all for students going off campus to take courses not otherwise offered to them. “I’m fully in agreement, I just want more structure to it,” he explained.

Committee member Gordon Andrews said, “So the idea is this is the first step an open policy and then you guys can work on an implementation plan to try to bring in colleges?” “That is my understanding,” McGee said. Except for Eklund, all other Committee members voted in favor of the new dual enrollment policy.

Dupille reported that according to Gill, the high school’s full, in-person return to school has been very successful. Gill requested permission from the School Committee to accept donations from the Kingston Fire Department for a physio-controlled life pack, 15 defibrillators; the total value of such donations is $20,250. A 2001 Oldsmobile was also donated by a resident to be used by the automotive department. High School graduation will take place on June 4 at 6 pm. The annual senior parade will take place on June 3 and students will have an opportunity to visit their former schools. The annual senior awards will be a virtual presentation on June 1.

Dupille then turned to his own update. Dupille said that later that week they would be holding their practice MCAS testing with actual testing on May 25, May 27, and wrapping up in early June. Spirit Week was held at the Middle School from May 10 through May 14. Dupille said clubs are now meeting after school once again including the school paper the Laker Ledger as well as the drama club. He said they were also looking at bringing back a modified field day sometime in June based on the new safety guidelines that are being released.

Proulx told the Committee that on May 17 the Department of Education issued a new set of Covid 19 frequently asked questions with updated information. Effective May 18 students no longer had to wear masks outside even if distancing could not be maintained. Adults still need to wear masks outside if distancing cannot be maintained. Masks will be required for all while indoors. Gathering limits for outdoor events will be lifted as of May 29. Governor Baker had announced that the state of emergency would be lifted on June 15. Proulx said she reached out to the head of the subcommittee on policy to amend the Covid policies appropriately. Proulx said that as of right now they are not anticipating a change to the policy that requires students and adults to wear masks while inside the school prior to the end of the school year. Proulx pointed out that sometimes the broader public implications do not always apply to schools as they must account for not only the Governor’s mandates but the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (DESE) determinations as well.

Director of Business Services Christine Healy provided an update on the financials saying that while there were a number of deficits there were also a number of surpluses that would likely weigh each other out. Healy said she was surprised to see that the only utilities deficit was for gas at the high school. She found this surprising given the number of air purifiers and other items running due to the pandemic. Healy noted that the schools were still waiting for reimbursements for CARES Act funding from the towns.

Assistant Superintendent Ryan Lynch began his update by saying that principals, coordinators, and department heads are beginning work on summer curriculum. He said that teachers and coordinators are also working on a new K-5 ELA program. Regarding professional development, Lynch said they have their diversity, equity and inclusion working group continuing their work that was started over the winter. “The goal of this working group is to eventually design diversity, equity, and inclusion professional development for our schools,” he explained.

Superintendent Proulx also presented. “Despite the FAQ’s that came out earlier this week and the Governor’s announcement about the COVID related restrictions ending on May 29, one thing that is going to remain in place is that all of the federal U.S. Department of Agricultural school meal flexibilities that were announced on April 20 are still going to remain in place through June 30, 2022,” Proulx said. She also mentioned that youths over 12 years of age are now eligible to be vaccinated. Proulx also spoke about the grant opportunities that are available for summer programming to support the needs of the students that may have arisen over the last year or two. One such program is the Accelerated Learning Academy. The program is intended to help those students entering Grades 3-6 most affected by COVID 19. There will also be a Silver Lake Middle School Enhancement program for students entering Grades 7 and 8. There will be another program to ensure students with disabilities will not fall behind.

Silver Lake Education Association President John Lay spoke briefly. Lay said he wanted to acknowledge on behalf of the SLEA the tremendous amount of work that went into getting kids and teachers back in school full-time in a very short amount of time. He also said that he really appreciated the school encouraging kids aged 12 and up to get vaccinated. Committee member Summer Schmaling took issue, however, with the idea that the schools would be encouraging students to get vaccinated. “Something he said really struck me; encouraging students to get vaccinated, that is not our role as a school to be doing that. I have an issue with that; I’m trying to speak without coming across emotionally…. I think it’s out of line for our teachers and our staff to be having that conversation with minors,” she explained. Proulx clarified that the school nurse is putting together an informational packet to be distributed directly to parents.

Hatch pointed out to the other members that Halifax did not support the regional budget at their town meeting though Plympton did. Andrews clarified that if two towns vote no to the regional budget, the School Committee must reconvene to present another budget and the towns would have 30 days to hold another town meeting. Kingston did, in fact, vote through the Silver Lake Regional budget during their town meeting on Saturday, May 22.

As it was Andrews’ last Regional School Committee meeting, Hatch said, “We have to bid farewell… I just feel the need to say, you have been a tremendous asset to this Committee; your Finance Committee background coupled with your ability to just think outside the box has been overwhelmingly beneficial to this Committee… I’m going to miss your wisdom and I’m going to miss your humor both and I can’t thank you enough for having been on this Committee.” Additionally, School Committee secretary Lisa Turcotte is retiring. Hatch said, “Lisa you have been such a wealth of knowledge as well; you’re sort of like the historical gatekeeper of so many pieces of knowledge of this district… you’ve been absolutely wonderful to work with.”

BOS hears litter and traffic problems

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The Halifax Board of Selectmen met in-person on Tuesday, April 27. Town Administrator Charlie Seelig provided the Board with a COVID update saying there had been 10 additional cases since April 17 and 18 total cases in the previous two weeks. Those numbers bring the total for Halifax, who moved from the red to the yellow risk zone, to 513 total cases. Seelig also reiterated the Governor’s state-wide update which includes reopening dates. Additional outdoor activities are approved as of May 10 with further reopening occurring on May 29. A full reopening of the State is scheduled for August 1. “Of course, all of that is dependent on case loads and vaccines,” Seelig explained. Seelig said he plans to talk to the Board of Health agent about increasing capacities in the town meeting rooms. He also noted that town meeting is not considered a gathering per the State. Town employees were issued a return-to-work order per the approval of the Selectmen at their previous meeting.

Concerns Over Speeding

The Board had an appointment with Owen Graves, a resident of South St. in Halifax for over five years. Graves attended the meeting in the hopes of drawing awareness to the lack of speed limit signs on South St. and the resulting problems with speeding that occur. “The speed limit is supposed to be 30; people go nowhere close to starting at 30,” Graves explained. He told the Selectmen that cars fly down the street at 40, 50, and even 60 mph. He noted two deaths that occurred as a result in just his first two years living on the street. Graves noted that he drives a lot for his work and said that he sees many signs in other communities alerting drivers to the appropriate speed. Selectman Chair Tom Millias told Graves, “I’ve lived your pain living on South St. and in particular motorcycles are incredibly scary because they come screaming down the street… this is something we can and should refer to the Highway Safety Committee.” He added, “It probably should be looked at harder than it has been in the past and this is a good impetus to do that.”

Another resident also attended Tuesday’s meeting to discuss what he sees as a need for a 4-way stop on Circuit and Laurel streets to force drivers to slow down. While Seelig said that it had previously been determined that a 4-way stop wouldn’t be appropriate for the area, the Board said they would like to see the issue taken up by the Traffic Safety Committee.

Request for a Nips Ban

Another concerned resident Shirley Graf also met with the Selectmen. Graf had previously been named as the Litter Buster of the Year award winner for the entire State of Massachusetts during 2020. Graf asked the Selectmen for their support of an article on the Annual Town Meeting warrant to ban the sale of single use containers for alcoholic beverages in Halifax. Graf provided statistics including that she had picked up 8,443 nips bottles in town since beginning to do so 28 months prior. She also stressed that after speaking to Police Chief Joao Chaves she learned that very few littering citations are issued despite the large amount of litter in town. Selectman Troy Garron said, “Personally, I don’t drink and I can’t understand how so many liquor stores are still selling it knowing the problem that we have.” For their part, both Millias and Selectman Gordon Andrews said they would like to invite the local liquor establishments in to voice their side of the argument before endorsing such an article. Before she left, Millias told Graf, “We applaud you for your efforts… I am just overwhelmed by it.”

Request to Change Marijuana Bylaws

Representatives of the company Colonel Boothe met with the Selectmen to inquire about a change to the zoning bylaws surrounding marijuana and the buffer zone around venues serving alcohol. Currently, marijuana establishments are not allowed within 500 ft of venues that have a pouring license. Colonel Boothe asked the Selectmen if they would support a petition article to ban that portion of the bylaw saying, “there’s an effective ban on a second retail store.” According to Colonel Boothe, there are no lots in town left that are not restricted by the current bylaws. Millias said, “Obviously the town has been supportive of establishments based on the votes at town meeting… I personally think it ought to be a public initiative.”

According to the company, the bylaw most likely exists to prevent people from buying cannabis and then consuming it in a restaurant. They pointed out, however, that it feels redundant as public consumption is already banned by State law. Garron said that the bylaw was originally intended for the protection of the public noting, “the public need to decide whether to change that.” The Selectmen voted not to support an article at town meeting to amend the bylaw.

In other marijuana news, Seelig said that the town attorney had reached an agreement on a Host Community Agreement (HCA) with Flower and Soul on a proposed retail facility. Seelig said that the agreement would soon be posted online in order to receive public comments.

Update on Campus Building Project

Andrews told the other selectmen that the Committee had discussed a possible affordable solution to the problem of a senior center for the short term while they examine the other municipal buildings. “We all know the issues at Pope’s Tavern,” Andrews said. He said that the Committee is working on establishing short term, mid-term, and long-term plans noting that they hope to move forward with a solution for the senior center before tackling an overall campus solution including the Police and Fire stations. Andrews also noted mechanical failures with hot water pipes at the school. ““The one thing I’ve noticed being on the Committee is we’ve gone around to every building in town and every building in town needs work,” Andrews said.

Mosquito Control

Several residents attended Tuesday’s meeting after seeing the hearing to opt out of the state’s mosquito control program listed on the agenda. Seelig said that the State had issued a letter to all communities saying that there was a possibility to opt out of the program. The Selectmen had wanted to give residents an opportunity to come and speak on the issue. Seelig noted that they had not received any communication from anyone wanting to opt out. One resident spoke during the meeting saying he survived eastern equine encephalitis as a child. He recalled spending weeks in the hospital with frighteningly high fevers. He called it a “terrible idea” to opt out. All residents speaking during the hearing were against opting out.

Silver Lake Assessment

Seelig said he spoke with the Finance Committee about recommending an across-the-board increase for non-union employees. He said, “I understand it’s been a tough year for many including unemployment and under employment for many residents in Halifax however the town’s employees have, in general, worked above and beyond throughout the pandemic with few if any complaints.” Seelig said that the Finance Committee is not recommending approval of the Silver Lake assessment but noted that town meeting would make its own decision. Seelig said if Kingston and Plympton approve the assessment, Halifax will eventually have to as well. The assessment includes a 1.6 increase for Silver Lake employees. This would leave town employees without anything. “If school employees get something, town employees, union and non-union, deserve something too,” Seelig said. Seelig suggested a one percent increase.

Requests for Use of Town Property

The Board approved the use of the town green for the Historical Society plant sale on May 8 from 9 am through noon as well as a Boy Scout bottle drive on Saturday, July 17. Both events will include whatever COVID protocols are required by their respective dates. Seelig also said that line dancing groups were starting at the Great Hall and noted that they had worked with the Board of Health on appropriate safety measures.

Other News

Seelig alerted the Selectmen to the passing of longtime resident John Peck. Peck was a longtime member of the Conservation Commission. Seelig spoke of Peck’s charitable work including the annual Thanksgiving meal hosted by his family at the Country Club. Those present at Tuesday’s meeting observed a moment of silence in his honor.

Seelig also told the Selectmen that Finance Committee member Lauren Carmichael had resigned in late March. Seelig said he was appreciative of her service. Seelig also noted some awards that were recently granted including Firefighter of the Year for Jeff Arcieri, Officer of the Year for Matthew Cunningham, and Citizen Hero Award for the Halifax Building Maintenance Staff. In a final piece of good news, Seelig said that Halifax was listed as a top spot to live for communities south of Boston by the Boston Globe on April 21.

Fire Capt. Cheryl Davis honored

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On April 26 Plympton Fire Captain Cheryl Davis was formally recognized for a myriad of accomplishments. Davis received the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) State of Massachusetts Certificate of Commendation for Exemplary Service to Humanity by Administering Emergency Medical Assistance.  Davis’ name will be submitted by the VFW to compete nationally with other winners from the United States, its possessions and Germany. Additionally, Davis was presented with a Commendation for Service to the Community on behalf of State Representative Kathy LaNatra and Speaker of the House Ronald Mariano. State Sen. Michael Brady also presented Davis with a Certificate of Commendation.

Chair of the Plympton Board of Selectmen Mark Russo was in attendance as was fellow Selectman John Traynor and Plympton Fire Chief Steve Silva. Both Russo and Silva recognized Davis for her efforts in coordinating Community EMS for Plympton as well as her hand in the structure of the new Plympton Ambulance.

The awards were not the first for Davis who previously spent nine years with the EMS division of the Fall River Fire Department. She was recognized in 2019 during the Massachusetts Firefighter of the Year Ceremonies for her heroism in assisting a vehicle that crashed into a building and caught fire in Fall River.

Davis, who has been in this line of work for 14 years, said she grew up in and around the fire station as her father was a firefighter. “I was kind of always around it,” she said. Davis has been a resident of Plympton since 2000 and bought her own home in town eight years ago. “I love the small community,” Davis explained. She continued, “I love living in a rural community; everybody kind of knows each other. It’s a very tight knit community.”

Davis has been instrumental in delivering care to Plympton residents during the pandemic. Through the Community EMS program, Davis and others were able to provide home Covid testing in addition to working with Halifax to deliver a small number of vaccines to homebound residents. She described the program as being in its infancy as it just received approval in March of 2020. Davis said she is looking forward to seeing the program expand outside of the pandemic. “We are looking for the program to grow outside of Covid to include home safety visits and working with seniors to make sure their homes are safe… and to assist them in any way that we can,” she explained.

BOS approves Town Meeting warrant

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The Plympton Board of Selectmen held a virtual meeting on Monday, April 26 during which they gave their recommendations on warrant articles for the upcoming special and annual town meeting on Wednesday, May 12.

Chair of the Plympton School Committee and Town Properties Committee Jon Wilhelmsen began the discussion, as he had to leave to attend a school committee meeting. Wilhelmsen went over some articles pertaining to both the Dennett Elementary School as well as the town campus. Wilhelmsen said that funds were set aside to be used as a thank you to the staff at Dennett. He pointed out the myriad of things the staff has done to go above and beyond during the past year’s pandemic. The teachers worked throughout most of the summer and were asked to work seven-hour days in the school during a pandemic, aides taught classes that were outside of their usual scope, and custodial staff worked long hours to ensure the building was sanitized. “We think it would go a long way for a small gesture to thank them for everything that we’ve done,” Wilhelmsen explained.

Wilhelmsen also touched on the potential projects being discussed by the Town Properties Committee including the roof at the Fire Station. He told the selectmen that the costs for various projects were only going to increase as time goes by. “If we wait three years, five years, seven years, the only thing I can be certain of is we will have more costs,” he explained. Selectman Christine Joy said, “Starting to get a game plan together is truly appreciated.” Selectman Chair Mark Russo alluded to the many town volunteers who volunteer in a multitude of capacities saying of Wilhelmsen, “Jon may be the paradigm of how many hats can one guy wear.”

Town Moderator Barry DeCristofano said of town meeting, “Because we’re not fully out of the woods yet with Covid, it seems the best approach would be to run the meeting this year the same way we ran it last year.” Town meeting will utilize two rooms just as it did last year and Brian Wick will once again serve as the Assistant Town Moderator in the second room. DeCristofano said the town has hired the same audio/visual company as the previous year since the 2020 town meeting ran so smoothly. “Let’s hope this is the last time it gets so complicated,” he said.

In addition to DeCristofano, the Selectmen were joined by Chair of the Bylaw Review Committee Alan Wheelock and Chair of the Finance Committee Nathaniel Sides. The Selectmen first decided on who would present each of the articles at town meeting. They began with the special town meeting and voted unanimously to ratify acceptance of the first 11 articles. Sides noted that the Finance Committee voted not to approve Item 11B.

The Selectmen then turned their attention to the articles for the annual town meeting. Articles of note include Article 4, which is the line-by-line main budget for the town, and Article 8, which will propose moving toward an appointed town clerk. Articles 17 and 18 pertain to the Police but will be introduced at town meeting by Joy as Plympton Police Chief Matthew Clancy is not a town resident. Articles 19-21 pertain to the Fire Department. Article 23 is the power purchase agreement for solar. Articles 24-29 will pertain to the town campus and will be introduced by the Town Properties Committee and the School Committee will introduce Articles 32-34.

As described in the notice for the public hearing, Article 30 proposes the creation of a new section in the Plympton bylaws “providing for the creation of ‘Accessory Dwelling Units’ as well as associated standards, procedures and provisions for such Accessory Dwelling Units.” The public hearing is scheduled for May 3. The Selectmen decided not to make a recommendation on the article on Monday evening, as they haven’t yet heard from the Planning Board and the hearing has yet to take place. Joy suggested waiting to make their recommendation on town meeting floor after hearing the report from the Planning Board. The other Selectmen were in agreement.

Article 35, which was proposed by Russo, is for funding for a water study. Selectman John Traynor said, “I would rather see us put this off until we have a better idea of what we are getting into in terms of long-term financial costs… at least for this town meeting I would rather we not go forward.” Russo defended the article saying, “this obligates us to nothing more than $7,000 or less.” Russo explained that the intent was to get a handle on how reliable previous reporting has been. He said that he hoped that it would help with further water safety and protection. Joy said she was in favor of the article as she felt there had not been any oversight from the town for a long period of time. The Selectmen voted to recommend the article 2-1. Sides said the Finance Committee passed on making a recommendation on the article as they didn’t feel they had enough information to base a decision. The Finance Committee voted not to approve Articles 29, 32, and 33.

Following the discussion of the town meeting, the Selectmen turned their attention to other town business including the approval of the Fiscal Year 2022 budget. They voted unanimously to approve the Finance Committee’s proposed budget of $11,990,351. They also voted to appoint Ronald Drollett Jr. as a Laborer with the Highway Department through June 30, 2021.

Town Administrator Elizabeth Dennehy provided an update saying that there had been a slight uptick in Coronavirus cases in town over the previous two weeks. “The Board of Health is tracking that pretty carefully,” she explained. Dennehy also said that the town is moving forward with several grant opportunities including the hazard mitigation plan. She also said that she is coordinating with Dennett to get the final pieces of the Green Communities grant completed. Dennehy said that they were waiting to hear back on a technical assistance grant as well.

As customary, the Selectmen ended their meeting with their rants or raves for the past few weeks. Joy said her rave was for “the amazing job the Town Administrator has done with the warrant and budget process this year; it has been so smooth.” Noting that multiple parties have been involved in the process, Joy said to Dennehy, “You really are the one driving the bus on this.”

Both Traynor and Russo said their raves were for Captain Cheryl Davis with the Plympton Fire Department. A ceremony was held Monday evening for Davis and both Traynor and Russo attended. Representative Kathy LaNatra’s administrative aide Christopher Jean presented Davis with a citation in LaNatra’s stead,  and Davis was named by the VFW as the top paramedic in the entire state. “We are really lucky to have Cheryl. She brings so much to a small town like Plympton,” Traynor said. “I think we can be unbelievably proud of Cheryl and that she is a product of the Plympton Fire Department,” Russo said.

Joy said that Davis was proof that one person can make a difference.

Halifax ATM warrant takes shape

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The Halifax Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, March 30 for the purpose of going over some budget items for town meeting as well as the warrant articles. Town Accountant Sandra Nolan was in attendance.

Town Administrator Charlie Seelig led the discussion on the budget. Seelig said the Finance Committee had already been through most of the line items though he noted that there were several items that they had not provided final recommendations for the warrant.  The Finance Committee is still waiting to find out how much money will be available to account for increases in line items. Seelig said they must first see what happens with the Elementary School budget as well as the Silver Lake Regional assessment as they are such a significant portion of the town’s operating budget. “Things are very tight,” Seelig said, “…the Finance Committee cannot honor all of the requests that came in from all the departments.”

Seelig went over the various articles in the warrant. Article 1 is the report of town officials and committees and Article 2 is the wage and personnel amendments. Article 3 pertains to elected officials’ salaries. As of the meeting, the Finance Committee had yet to make a recommendation regarding wage and personnel or salaries. Article 5 is the operating budget and Article 6 is the traditional list of revolving funds. Articles 7 through 13 are articles for the contracts for both unions and personnel including the fire and police chiefs. “These articles will remain on the warrant even if an agreement hasn’t been made by next week,” Seelig explained.

Much of the meeting was spent going over the appropriation articles. The article for general highway maintenance has been funded at $150,000 for a number of years though the Highway Surveyor, Finance Committee, and Capital Planning Committee have agreed that there is a need to increase it to $300,000. Article A4 is a request from the Highway Surveyor for a bond for $4,000,000 for major roadwork. “Obviously, as most residents know, a number of roads in Halifax are substandard and it does unfortunately take a large amount of money to bring them up even without any engineering costs and such,” Seelig explained. Seelig said that Highway Surveyor Steve Hayward had yet to make a decision about whether or not to have this article on the warrant. A30 is for $135,000 for a new backhoe for the Highway Department. A31 is for $85,000 for a new forklift, also for the Highway Department. Several articles pertain to the Town Barn including an OSHA required mezzanine gate and new overhead doors.  Seelig said he is waiting for a quote on these items from Hayward.

A5 is for the possibility of the Building and Facility Needs Committee purchasing land for future building needs. A6 is for the Assessor’s recertification account. Other appropriation articles include money for new vehicles and a new copier machine for the Police Department. A14 is for resealing the parking lot at the Elementary School. Another article is for $32,000 for the document management system that will allow for e-permitting.

A32 is for $29,000 to replace windows at Pope’s Tavern and A33 is to upgrade the alarm systems at Town Hall, the Highway Barn, and the Recycling Center. Several articles are for work at Town Hall including A34 to appropriate additional money beyond $35,000 to repair or replace the handicap ramp at Town Hall. A35 is to crack seal and repave the parking lot at Town Hall. A37 is for $90,000 to replace the windows at the Town Hall. Seelig explained that replacing the windows at the Town Hall and Council on Aging are especially expensive as they are custom sized windows. Nolan said that there is a chance that that some of the money can be recuperated through Green Communities. An article for a new PA system for the Town Hall was also discussed.

A36 is to repair and replace the roof at the Holmes Public Library for $11,000. A45 is for $2,500 for three new computers for the library, two for the public and one for the staff. A40 is to hold a number of workshops for department heads. A48 is for a fraud risk assessment recommended by the auditors. A49 is a request from the treasurer/collector for $25,000 to be added to the unemployment compensation fund. Silver Lake Regional School requested $36,000 to support a part-time school resource officer at the Middle School. Selectman Gordon Andrews said he would be recusing himself as a selectman as he would likely be presenting the article. Article A53 is a carryover from last year when the Housing Authority was actually mistakenly paying a share of retirement for town employees.

There is also an article regarding a solar property on River St. where an agreement is still being negotiated with the town. The purpose of the article is to allow the possibility that the assessors and selectmen would bring a final agreement to town meeting for approval. Seelig explained that they are waiting for legislation pertaining to taxation of solar fields to go into effect in June before proceeding. The selectmen agreed to leave it on the warrant though they acknowledged it is unlikely that it will actually be ready for town meeting.

Seelig also addressed an article pertaining to an update to floodplain requirements per FEMA. The Planning Board held a hearing on Thursday, April 1 with someone from the state present to answer any questions residents had. It is a requirement for the town to maintain eligibility for the property owners for floodplain insurance. Selectman Chair Tom Millias said, “I would highly recommend to the residents, anybody who lives even close to any water or has had issues with floodplains in the past, to pay some attention to this because it doesn’t become a problem for them, until it’s a problem.”

There are a few petition articles as well including an article to eliminate the sale of nips.

Dennett to open fully at six feet distancing

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The Plympton School Committee held an interim meeting on Friday, March 12 for the purpose of reviewing the revised plan for more in-person learning time at the Dennett Elementary School. The revised plan was created using feedback from the meeting on February 22 as well as the parent survey which was distributed. Chair of the School Committee Jon Wilhelmsen thanked Dennett Principal Peter Veneto for his work creating the revised plan and the work still to be done to implement that plan. Veneto presented the plan prior to opening the meeting for discussion for both School Committee members as well as members of the public. Speakers were asked to hold their comments to three minutes.

“I completely understand that this is an emotional subject for all involved, for parents, teachers, administrators, and School Committee members and while I anticipate this will not be an issue, my expectation is that all comments, questions, and discussions this evening will be presented in a respectful and professional manner whether or not we agree with everything that is said by others,” Wilhelmsen told those remotely assembled.

Committee member Jason Fraser provided a brief legislative update pertinent to the night’s discussion prior to moving on to Veneto’s presentation. Fraser said he was happy to report that teachers were now eligible to receive their COVID vaccinations in Massachusetts. He said the development was in large part due to the work of Massachusetts’ Senate President Karen Spilka. President Biden also mandated that federally contracted pharmacies must open their vaccination programs to teachers as well. Fraser said they were still working on getting the Governor to allow local Boards of Health and Fire Departments to administer the vaccines directly to teachers themselves. Fraser said that they were also working with Representative Kathy LaNatra and Senator Michael Brady on suspending the MCAS for this year in order to prioritize a return to more in-person learning including social and emotional support. There is legislation in place at the State level to receive a waiver at the federal level for bypassing the MCAS.

Veneto then made his proposal for a full-time, in-person return to school with six feet of social distancing. The proposed start date is March 22. Veneto said that the most recent guidance from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) on March 9 stated that they expected a return to a full, in-person learning model by April 5 which includes 5 hours of structured learning time per day. Students can choose, however, to remain remote through the end of this school year though it is unlikely that option will be provided next year. As full-time learning is the default model mandated by the Commissioner, a School Committee vote was not necessary to change models. The School Committee did, however, take a vote to approve the plan as presented that night since the start date was earlier than the one proposed by the State. It was unanimously approved.

Veneto went over the parent survey results which indicated that 84.1 percent of respondents were requesting a full, in-person return at six feet of distance with 78 students requesting bus services. Nine students were requesting to remain in a remote model. Veneto said that the school will be following state guidance for remote students by live “streaming” into the classroom.

Veneto said that the schedule for the revised model will be nearly identical to the pre-pandemic one with school hours being from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily. Masks and six feet of social distancing will be maintained. Some of the changes that allowed the school to maintain six feet of distance include moving one fifth grade class to the library, another fifth grade class to the art room, and changing a reading teacher to a first grade teacher for the remainder of the school year. In order for music class to be held, it must be held at 10 feet of distance; something the administration was able to arrange. Wind instruments will not be allowed. Music teacher Carla Pecinovsky thanked parents that donated to allow the school to purchase ukuleles to be used instead.

Veneto said that one of his concerns with the changes is the number of students being dropped off and picked up and the length of the lines. Veneto said he is working with bus drivers to ensure safe protocols are followed. Regarding lunch, Veneto said, “In order to accommodate the kids in the cafeteria, we can’t do it with our current model of having three lunches, so we’re going to increase up to five lunches.” The first lunch will be served at 10:45 am and the last at 12:30 pm. Only 50 students can be accommodated in the cafeteria at once at six feet.

Veneto said that next steps will be securing a letter of commitment from families stating their preference for live or remote and whether they will need bus services for Term three. “One or two kids will make the difference if we can do this at six feet,” Veneto said. Based on survey results, he expects that it will work out. Wilhelmsen asked parents to turn that commitment around as quickly as possible.

School Committee members expressed their gratitude toward Veneto for coming up with a feasible plan that still allows students to remain six feet apart. “I don’t take sole credit for this; this was a lot of people working hard and collaborating and trying to think about what’s best for our kids,” Veneto said. Wilhelmsen said that he wanted those on the call to know that the plan that was proposed was largely the one that was pushed for by parents during the February 22 call. “I think this is right for us at this point,” he said. He also thanked the parents for participating and being part of the discussion.

A parent of a Cohort C student asked if there had been given any thought to allowing the previously fully remote students to gradually work their way into a full, in-person model beginning as hybrid. She called it “daunting” to go from full-remote to full, in-person. “I think the tricky part is that the hybrid model is basically not going to be in existence in about two and half weeks or so,” Veneto explained. He offered to have a conversation offline to see if something could be worked out. It was also confirmed that students on IEPs would still be getting all services necessary despite the model change. Several parents thanked Veneto and his staff for the new plan referring to it as “a relief.”

New act could mean loss of grant money

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The Feb. 18 Halifax Planning Board meeting began with Attorney Amy Kwesell present to discuss drafting a defendable decision with regard to site plans and special permits and answer any pertinent questions in order to better inform new Board members and refresh older ones. She also presented on the Housing Choice Act of 2020. Some of the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) members were also on the call. Kwesell has been practicing law for 21 years with a special interest in land use and is a teacher for the Continuing Legal Education and Zoning Conference.

Kwesell explained the Housing Choice Act of 2020 as part of the legislation that included the budget. “What this does to municipalities is they have some mandatory definitions… but one of the most important things is that they require multi-family housing in MBTA communities and Halifax is a MBTA community,” Kwesell explained. “A MBTA community has to have a district of reasonable size for multi-family housing permitted as of right; there can be no age restrictions and it has to be suitable for families with children… it has to be within a half mile of a commuter rail station,” she further explained.

If a community fails to adopt multi-family housing then they will no longer be eligible for grants through the Commonwealth including but not limited to Mass Works, Local Capital Project Fund, and Housing Choice Initiatives.” The MassDOT Complete Streets Funding Program is one such grant. The program provides technical assistance and construction funding to eligible municipalities.

Later in the meeting, Chair Alan Dias said that the Complete Streets Program had been submitted by the Board to the Highway Surveyor. He said that once past that part of the process, he would expect to hear from a representative of the program regarding which projects would make the cut. Board member Amy Troup asked, “Won’t we have to enact the new bill to be eligible for it?” Dias responded saying, “If we do not have some zoning districts that we will not be eligible; we’re eligible for the Complete Streets as of now under this program. If we don’t do something whenever the legislature agrees to give us whatever time frame, then we won’t be eligible after that but right now I believe that those funds have been sort of set aside depending on what we pick.”

The Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) and MBTA will be developing parameters for multi-family housing. Kwessell said she was advising that towns not make changes to zoning until the parameters are released. Kwessell called the Act “not well thought out.”

She said the Act also allows for certain bylaws to be enacted without the two-thirds vote at town meeting. Additionally, some special permits can be granted with a simple majority rather than the normally required four-fifths.

Kwessell began her presentation on site plans saying that when an application comes before the Board, it is important to understand which bylaw is at issue. She said that the Planning Board has special permits for which they are the Site Plan Granting Authority (SPGA) while other special permits are granted by the ZBA. An SPGA may be the Planning Board, the ZBA, or the Board of Selectmen. Regarding site plan approval, Kwessell said, “the purpose is not to regulate the use, it’s to regulate how that use is implemented… there’s been no land court decision that upholds the denial of a site plan for an as of right use… you can’t deny it, you can condition it.” She continued, “With the special permit process there is discretion so there is a difference between special permit and site plan approval.”

When a site plan review application comes in, the Board is required to circulate it to all of the various Boards that need to see it. Next steps would be conducting the public hearing where the Board has quorum, close the public hearing, deliberate, and then vote. During the public hearing, public participation is allowed though it may be limited by time constraints. “Best practices for just conducting these hearings, you want to be respectful to the applicants and the public; you want to keep an open mind, avoid conflict of interests. If there are any conflicts, any question of conflicts, you can always call the attorney of the day,” she said. She also said that an extension from the applicant must be in writing and must provide enough time for all necessary steps to be made. “You want to perfect the decision which is sending it to the Town Clerk’s office,” Kwessell explained. Kwessell said if a motion is made to approve the decision and it fails, the project is denied and it is not necessary to take a vote to deny the project. All decisions must be recorded and filed with the registry.

Once an application is filed with the Town Clerk, it is dispersed to the Planning Board, the Board of Health, the Building Inspector, the Highway Surveyor, the Water Commissioners, the Zoning Administration, the Board of Appeals, the Conservation Commission and the Board of Selectmen. The various Boards then have 30 days to submit feedback to the Planning Board. The Planning Board must explain any divergence from the other Boards’ recommendations in their decision. “The courts have held that for a use allowed as a right, a Board may deny site plan approval only in situations where a plan is seriously deficient in important elements or is ‘so intrusive on the interests of the public in one regulated aspect or another that rejection of the Board would be tenable,’” Kwessell read to the Board.

Kwessell described a special permit as serving to “regulate that special middle tier of uses.” She continued, “There’s uses that are so offensive they’re prohibited and then those that are you know very innocuous and they’re allowed, so then you have this middle section that’s what I consider special permits.” A special permit cannot be refused for reasons that are not in the bylaw and the statute is not more detrimental. Kwessell also added that you cannot base your decision on the applicant but rather on the project. If there are already special permits issued that impact the neighborhood, the Board is not allowed to deny what Kwessell referred to as “the last guy” if the impact is of the same caliber as previous ones.

For a special permit, a public hearing is required within 65 days of filing and a decision within 90 days. For a five-member Board as in Halifax, special permits require that four out of the five vote in favor. The public hearing must be published at least fourteen days out from the hearing.

Following Kwessell’s presentation, Board member Gordon Andrews asked what the role of the Planning Board was in site plan enforcement. “Under your bylaw the enforcement is by the Building Inspector or a designee designated by the Board of Selectmen,” Kwessell said. “So the Planning Board doesn’t go out and police it?,” Andrews reiterated. “No,” Kwessell said.

Michael Joyce with Joyce Consulting Group, who was representing Brookside Construction, met with the Board regarding 300 Plymouth St. Joyce showed the proposed site plan which included the intersection of Plymouth St. and Monponsett St. He said there were six commercial units in the building including Verizon and a bike shop. He said they were proposing a solution to correct a drainage issue that would entail collecting all the stormwater the same way, put new pvc but then bring it out below grade at the curb line to two infiltration areas. Stormwater had been going into the building during some larger storm events. Board member Rick Perry said, “It makes perfect sense to me what they are trying to do there.” Dias recommended that they go before the Conservation Commission as well. Andrews disagreed as wetlands weren’t involved saying it did fall under the purview of the Planning Board to take it under advisement. Dias wished to clarify who did have purview over stormwater management.

The Board also discussed 0 Monponsett St. “If you go down 58 toward Plympton on the left-hand side there’s some concrete blocks there and it’s listed as 0 Monponsett St. and it looks like there’s a stump dump going on in the back,” Andrews explained. He further said that there was a gravel operation and a loom operation with trucks going in and out. Andrews said he had received numerous calls questioning what was going on, what the hours are, and where the site plans are. “There’s a business operation there and it doesn’t look like there’s a site plan,” he explained. Dias asked Andrews for more information and Andrews said he would get a lot number and a map. Dias seemed to think it might better fall under the purview of the Zoning Enforcement Officer.

At the end of the meeting, there was significant disagreement over the meeting minutes from October 15 and whether or not Troup had approved the version that were sent to the town clerk. Planning Board secretary Jo-Anne Snow said that she didn’t make any edits to the minutes that were approved though Troup seemed to feel that a line had been deleted about using Chapter 90 money being spent on engineering to apply for grants. Troup asked that the removal be added back in and everyone on the Board re-sign the minutes. Dias recommended tabling the conversation as all the members that had previously approved the minutes were not present. Troup said, “We do not need a re-vote, what we need is for that to be put into the minutes and that is all that needs to happen.” “We’ll just move that off to our next meeting,” Dias finally concluded after quite a bit of back and forth.

Schmaling named to regional board

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The Halifax Board of Selectmen held a special meeting on Wednesday, March 3 to interview and select a candidate from the town to fill a vacancy on the Silver Lake Regional School Committee. The position would be a two-month position to fulfill a current term until the election in May. Selectmen Chair Tom Millias said he would encourage any candidates not awarded to the interim position to take papers out and run during the town election.

Representing the Silver Lake Regional School Committee was Chair Paula Hatch as well as Gordon Andrews who was acting in his role on the Regional School Committee rather than as a selectman. Millias and selectman Troy Garron were there to represent the Halifax Board of Selectmen.

The first candidate interviewed was Jessica DiBona, a teacher with over twenty years of experience. “I know that there is a lot of work that has to be undertaken by the School Committee in the coming months and I just want to give a hand helping out with that; I know many hands make light work of a big task so I just want to volunteer to help,” DiBona said. Garron asked DiBona if she felt that she would be biased as a teacher while negotiating contracts with other teachers. DiBona responded, “no, because I am a parent first.” Millias asked her how she felt about school returning full-time and DiBona replied, “It’s time to go back, I think there are proper safety precautions in place for the teachers and the staff.”

Hatch, who thanked all three candidates for expressing interest, asked DiBona about where her priorities would be when needing to reduce a budget during the drafting and reviewing process which is currently underway. “You have to try to make cuts that are going to affect the least amount of kids as possible… you need to find a way to work with the resources you have and maybe see how teachers can step up in other ways in more ways than one to maybe fulfill a need that two people were doing before,” DiBona said. DiBona also said she was on the School Council with Silver Lake Regional Middle School Principal Jim Dupille for two years during the budget process. “I saw the school view impact of how that plays out,” she explained, acknowledging how tough it can be when you may have to cut school personnel.

The next candidate interviewed was Summer Schmaling who has served for seven years on the Halifax School Committee; six of those as Chair. Schmaling said she has a daughter at the high school and a son who will soon be entering the Middle School. She told those assembled that she had already pulled papers and would be appearing for a position on the Silver Lake Regional School Committee during the election. Schamling alluded to the current budget crisis as well as the impending superintendent review and said she is on the Admin Review Committee as well as Union 31. “It’s kind of a tricky time of year for somebody to jump into and fill a vacancy on a board, so when I saw there was a vacancy and knew I was going to run for Silver Lake, I thought I would be a valuable asset to the Silver Lake Regional School Committee, bringing my expertise of dealing with the budget and the complexities of trying to return our children to school.”

Hatch asked Schmaling about balancing her responsibilities to both the Halifax Elementary School Committee and the Regional one should she be awarded the position. “It will be a very busy time as you know,” Hatch said. Schmaling, who said she is the kind of person who functions well under high stress, said, “I am aware of that and I am aware that I also serve on relatively busy subcommittees also, that’s part of the process. I feel that I have done a pretty good job over the years being a parent and being Chairman of the Halifax Elementary School Committee and working full-time and many other things I have done for myself and this community.” Schmaling also noted that she has been to every town meeting since moving into Halifax 11 years ago.

As he did with DiBona, Millias asked Schmaling what her thoughts were on the children returning to school full-time. “Oh I’ve been a very strong and vocal advocate of a full five day in-person return and in fact I made the motion on the floor for the elementary to return,” Schmaling said. Millias said, “You’ve volunteered for a lot of things for a lot of years and we’re grateful.”

The final candidate was Marline Amedee who said she is both a mother, a social worker, and a small business owner. Amedee said she has been interested in serving in some capacity since moving to Halifax noting that she had previously submitted applications including for the Halifax Elementary School Committee. Like Schmaling, Amedee noted that she intends to pull papers for the coming election. “I believe that the budget is an issue for all cities and towns in Massachusetts right now because we are having an unprecedented moment right now,” Amedee said. “I want to be part of that conversation to bring a fresh idea, a new opinion… and work with teachers and administrators to see how we can serve our community better,” she continued.

Amedee also spoke about challenges, including mental health struggles, facing students at home that may be affecting them at school as well. “We want to have people in school to help them, support them through those challenges especially during this unprecedented time.”  Hatch asked Amedee to elaborate on what kind of social and emotional issues she has seen children facing during the pandemic in her job. She also asked how Amedee felt that these issues should best be dealt with given budgetary constraints. “One thing that we can do, if we cannot do anymore hiring, is that we can train teachers in mental health first-aid; train them and give them the support that they need so that they can support the kids in school,” Amedee said. She further acknowledged that there would be no one thing that would fix it all saying that it would be a “process.”

Andrews asked Amedee how quickly she felt she could get up to speed on the budget process given the short duration of the open position. Amedee said she was a “fast learner” and said she has the time to learn at a fast-pace. Millias asked Amedee the same question regarding a return to full, in-person learning that he asked the previous two candidates. “We must do everything possible to have our children back in the classroom full-time and also following up with the state guidelines and prioritizing the safety of everyone.”

Following the interviews, Millias opened the meeting to any motions including those to appoint someone to the Committee. Hatch began by saying that the Silver Lake Regional School Committee has lost three members in the last ten months noting how challenging that has been. Speaking about the superintendent review and the budget process, Hatch said, “Given those two things being really the crucial two things that the School Committee needs to tackle in the next two months, I’m going to make a motion… to appoint Summer. I do so because of Summer’s background and experience already with the budgets and the overall School Committee experience.” Andrews seconded the motion. A roll call vote of the four voting members of the Selectmen and School Committee was then taken. It was unanimous in favor of appointing Schmaling to the interim term.