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SLRSD questions CARES Act funds

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The Silver Lake Regional School Committee met virtually on Thursday, Oct. 1. The committee was told that there were two positive cases of COVID-19 in the district, one in the middle school and another at the high school. Building principals had already sent out notifications as of last Thursday’s meeting. Principals worked with the school nurses and Boards of Health regarding the notification of close contacts. Superintendent Jill Proulx said that she also sent out a notification on October 1 that included reminders about effective practices for reducing the spread of the virus. Chair of the school committee Paula Hatch said, “I hope they have a speedy recovery and we wish them well.”

Much of the relatively short meeting was spent discussing what share of the three towns’ CARES Act funding has been used for school related purposes. Committee member Laura Tilton said she would like to see a running list of what had been purchased with CARES Act funding for the towns of Kingston, Plympton, and Halifax as well as what had been purchased for the region.  “I think that would be helpful just to sort of make us feel good that there are things that the money has been spent on,” Tilton explained. While one was not readily available, it was said that they would try to compile the list.

Director of Business Services Christine Healy said, “All of the three towns have been very willing to work with the elementary communities… there’s just a little disconnect between the region and the towns.” Healy did note that Kingston was looking to pay some invoices for school related expenses, which she said she had sent that that day. Committee member Eric Crone said he had spoken with the town of Kingston and noted that the schools account for fifty percent of the town’s budget and should receive a proportionate amount of the CARES Act funds designated for Kingston.

Proulx noted that there have been several COVID-related expenses for the schools that have been sent in for reimbursement. “I don’t want that to get lost in the shuffle that we are making purchases,” Proulx explained. Chromebooks, additional staff including maintenance personnel, and cleaning supplies were amongst those listed by Proulx. Halifax selectmen previously voted to use a portion of their town’s CARES Act funds to pay for the additional maintenance workers at Halifax Elementary School, Silver Lake Regional Middle School, and Silver Lake Regional High School per the request of Director of Facilities Matthew Durkee.

Crone said he wanted to take a moment to recognize the efforts of Durkee saying, “He’s really stepped up and really done quite a bit to get our schools ready and continues to be responsive… I just really think he deserves a pat on the back.” School committee member as well as Halifax selectman Gordon Andrews made a point to second what Crone was saying of Durkee.

At last month’s school committee meeting, the region voted to send letters to the Boards of Selectmen as well as the Finance Committees of the three towns asking them to allocate the proportionate amount of CARES Act funds received for use by the region to reimburse Covid-19 expenses. Since those letters went unrecognized, the committee decided that a better approach might be to plan a small group meeting with the town administrators, Healy, and possibly some members of the regional school committee. Hatch said the intention would be to get a proportional commitment discussed and agreed to by the towns. Hatch did note that the letter to Halifax included an acknowledgment and “thank you” for their funding of two long term substitute positions, one for each school.

The refunding of the school’s debt was also discussed at Thursday’s meeting. Healy and Lisa Lombard led the discussion. Back in 2015, some bonds from 2009 were refunded and with rates low, it is now a good time to refund more bonds from 2010. Doing so required a vote of the committee to approve reward of the bonds to JP Morgan Chase. The vote was unanimously in favor.

Finally, the committee voted to approve the donation of surplus culinary equipment. While cleaning out their stockpile the CT department found equipment that was no longer needed by the schools. The hope is to make it available to the three towns’ senior centers.

Vacant positions in town boards to fill

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The Plympton Board of Selectmen have begun inviting a representative of a different town department to each meeting to present before the Board. Assistant Assessor Wendy Jones attended the Monday, Oct. 5 meeting where she gave a status update on the seven and a half acres of Middleborough land to be leased to Plympton for use as a trailhead and parking area for Two Brooks Preserve.

The Middleborough land to be leased is part of Soule Homestead which is adjacent to the 130 acres of conservation land acquired by the town of Plympton known as Two Brooks Preserve. Jones said, “I’ve been in touch with Middleborough; It’s complicated but we are working on it.” Jones told the selectmen that a special act has been drafted to go before the House and Senate to allow Middleborough to lease the land to Plympton for that specific use. Selectman Mark Russo asked if Jones had a sense of how long the legislation would take but she said that she does not.

Jones also said that there will be an article at the next Middleborough special town meeting to secure funds for an “on the ground” survey to ensure that Plympton has access to the trails and Soule Homestead has everything they need to continue running their farm.

A request for a street crossing on Ring Road was brought before the Board by the development manager on the project as well as another representative from the energy company responsible for the solar project. The project in question is a dual use solar project that would allow for ongoing agricultural projects around the solar array. An electric line is to go underneath Ring Rd. from the west side of the street where there are cranberry bogs owned by Roger Carriera to the east side on property owned by the Dunhams. Permission has been granted by the Conservation Commission for the project and it is anticipated that approval will be granted at the next Planning Board hearing.

Highway Superintendent Rob Firlotte said, “If done properly, it will be rather minimally invasive to us.” The Board voted to approve the crossing at Ring Rd. pending approval from the Planning Board.

Selectman John Traynor was named as acting director of the Council on Aging (COA) until the position can be filled. Traynor will not be accepting a stipend while holding the position joking, “I might ask my selectman salary to be doubled.” Traynor said he is hoping to have the COA Board more involved going forward saying that the previous director Joy Marble took on much of the responsibility herself. Traynor also said that they will be distributing a Council on Aging newsletter moving forward.

The selectmen appointed longtime volunteer Jacqueline Freitas to the COA Board. Traynor said that they needed another volunteer for the Board as well as an outreach worker. Town Administrator Liz Dennehy said that the virtual meeting Traynor held with the COA Board was very productive. Traynor said that he did approach the Board of Health about meeting in-person. “They certainly weren’t receptive which was kind of interesting considering they were meeting,” Traynor said.

Also discussed at Monday’s meeting was the town’s projects and priorities list, formerly known as the parking lot. Chair of the Town Properties Committee Jon Wilhelmsen spoke a bit about the committee’s work. Wilhelmsen said they have made significant progress in their mockups and said that he hopes to have something firmer to share in the near future. Wilhelmsen said that an architectural firm has been brought on board to help work through the specs for the new roof at the town barn. He also said that they plan to discuss the Fire Department at the next meeting and noted that space constraints are among the biggest concerns.

Among the other concerns is the lighting issue at the library. Wilhelmsen said they may consider an architectural firm to recommend a lighting plan. The committee has also been exploring costs to have the town green flagpole cleaned and fixed. Water and drainage issues in the lower level of the old townhouse are also being considered. Consultants are also being brought in to address septic issues at the townhouse.

As Chair of the Plympton School Committee, Wilhelmsen also provided an update on the state of the Dennett. Regarding the return to in-person school, albeit limited to a hybrid model, Wilhelmsen said, “We have to understand the feat that has been accomplished to get this off the ground.” He also likened the teachers to first year teachers since they have had to completely upend their normal way of operating.  Wilhelmsen also told the Board that the Dennett teachers have requested laptops as the chromebooks issued to them haven’t been sufficient. He told the Board that a small number of docking stations have been purchased in order to provide more flexibility.

Wilhelmsen also told the Board of a few positive cases of COVID-19 in the district. There have been confirmed cases within Kingston Elementary School, Silver Lake Regional Middle School, and Silver Lake Regional High School. The contact tracing for those cases is being managed in accordance with the Kingston Board of Health.

Dennehy provided the town administrator’s update. She said the COA was awarded a $4,000 grant through Old Colony Elder Services to help better prepare for a second wave of the virus. The bulk of the money was needed to have been spent by the end of the September. Items including a large freezer to help with food pantry purchases were obtained. Other items purchased included air purifiers, filters, hand sanitizers, and disinfecting wipes.

The financial team plans to begin meetings again starting Nov. 16. Dennehy said that the plan is to get Wilhelmsen involved as well as town treasurer Barbara Gomez. Nov. 16 is a regularly scheduled meeting for the selectmen and Dennehy said she would like the Finance Committee to attend as well. She said the goal would be to talk through next year’s budgeting process and figure out where the priories are. Other potential discussion points would be restructuring some of the town’s debt.

Dennehy also told the Board that she is exploring the possibility of shared services with Carver. She said that working out an arrangement for animal control with Carver might prove to be a more cost-effective option.

There are a number of vacancies for positions in town that are currently being advertised internally. According to town bylaws, the positions must be posted internally before being advertised externally. Dennehy said that in addition to the COA Director position they are also looking to fill a senior technician position for the library as a result of a planned retirement. The Planning Board has an open clerical position and the zoning officer is resigning. Dennehy also said that an independent and a democrat are needed for the Board of Registrars in order to guarantee equal representation.

The selectmen ended the meeting with their rants and raves for the last few weeks. Traynor said that one of his raves was for the wonderful photos on the town’s Facebook pages.

His second rave was for a person that came forward with two vintage photographs from Plympton. The person’s uncle, who recently passed away, was a genealogist who grew up in Plympton. The pictures show horses and wagons. Traynor hopes to have them restored and put on display around town. His final rave was for Briggette Martins for the wonderful job she has been doing on the selectmen’s meeting minutes.

Russo’s rave was for Fire Chief Stephen Silva’s mother who recently passed away. Referring to her as an exemplar of resiliency, strength and vibrancy, Russo said, “It’s hard to lose her but what she inspires is pretty ensconced in my mind and I’m pretty thankful.”

Christine Joy said that her raves were for the excellent work being done by the highway superintendent as well as the emergency management team.

BOS votes to lower quorum to 75 lowered for Halifax

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The Halifax Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, Sept. 22 prior to town meeting. Only a few minutes into the meeting, they had to adjourn to reconvene at the all-purpose room across the street at the Elementary School. Maximum capacity for the meeting room at the town hall is only 11 which was exceeded.

Once reconvened, Seelig explained to the Board of Selectmen that under state law, they could lower the number required for quorum to just ten percent of their regular number due to the state of emergency. It cannot be lowered during the town meeting. “I have mixed emotions about it. On the one hand I don’t care to lower the quorum. On the other hand, there’s reasons that are valid to make some kind of adjustment,” Selectmen Chair Tom Millias said. He went on to say, “There’s always going to be controversy about it, but nobody’s preventing anybody from coming to town meeting.”

Selectman Gordon Andrews said, “My thoughts are that I would consider moving it for the financial issues but any zoning or anything else, I don’t think we should lower the quorum on… that brings up the most contentious articles.” His remarks were met with quiet applause from the small crowd of attendees at the meeting. Andrews said that if quorum was under 100, he would like to see the zoning bylaw articles passed over. Millias said that it was his intention to pass over those articles at town meeting anyway. Andrews said, “I would make a motion that we vote to pass over the marijuana article and the multi-family zoning article,” Andrews said.

Town Moderator Dennis Carman said, “At the risk of being overly critical, this town, in the last number of years has developed some significant problems in the way that we conduct our business. To be honest with you, I think everybody is responsible for pieces of it and I don’t think that town meeting is the place where those things are going to get resolved.” He continued, “On the one hand we want a robust quorum, we want a robust participation, but under the pandemic we have to be careful about not necessarily exceeding that and there goes another $6,000 and another reconvening.” He went on to say that he wasn’t comfortable as a resident with reducing the number required for quorum to only 10, calling it “insane.” He recommended reducing it to 75.

Resident Amy Troup spoke to why she was hearing that many residents chose not to attend the continuance of town meeting that was scheduled at the Kingston Collection. Troup said, “The reason that they didn’t show up is that their kids just went back to school and they had crises at home… and they had all these things going on while they’re trying to do a full time job… so by the time it gets dark at night and they have to travel to Kingston… if it had been in Halifax, we would have been able to get a quorum.” She called the decision to hold the meeting in Kingston “bad planning.”

Andrews responded to Troup saying that because of the delay with the budget at the state level, the best option for the town was to initially recess town meeting. He pointed out that they still don’t have official numbers from the state but rather “numbers that they said they would try to make.” Referencing the nearly daily calls that the elected officials in Halifax have had since March, Andrews said, “The Board has been putting in more time than anyone thought.” He continued, “I understand everybody is confused. I’m confused. I wake up, I look at the town’s website and find out what’s going on that day and I try to attend that meeting. I totally understand the confusion and that last week was the first week of the hybrid.” He said that the decision to move it to Kingston was to allow for more space and thus more people. Millias added that they were trying to move ahead as quickly as possible to ensure that tax bills go out.

One resident suggested polling residents in the future to see what day/time works best for them in order to ensure quorum would be met. Yet another resident said that he felt that the selectmen weren’t considering younger residents with families when scheduling town meeting. Selectman Troy Garron said, “The door is open for anyone that can come and I do understand that people have kids and babysitter problems; I sent four kids through the school system while I was doing things for the town so I can appreciate the hardships but at the same time you have an obligation, just like to go and vote, to come to town meeting and stay until it’s over with.” Still another resident said that he felt that quorum shouldn’t be lowered since some of the articles require a two-thirds vote.   

The Board ultimately voted to temporarily reduce the quorum for that night’s town meeting to 75. Carman said, “As a parting statement, there are, from what I’m hearing from some of the feedback here, recognizing there are a lot of other people not here… we probably can improve a lot of the things that we’re doing with some support and help from the townspeople.” Millias agreed saying, “absolutely.”

Following the discussion and vote on lowering quorum, the Board met with Alex Mazin of Bud’s Goods and Provisions. Mazin asked the Board to consider amending the host community agreement he has with the town for his marijuana cultivation facility. He asked that the agreement include marijuana product manufacturing. “There’s a lot of benefits to both us as an operator and the community with that and it allows us to sort of make Halifax our base instead of our initial plan which was to grow here and move everything to Lakeville,” Mazin explained. Seelig said that he would recommend having another community forum on the subject before deciding to amend the agreement. The selectmen agreed to set something up, most likely virtually on Zoom.

The next appointment was with a representative from the South Shore Children’s Museum who was there to speak on two drive thru movie nights at Walmart in the back parking lot.

She said that they have previously held five of these showings in local towns.

“We’re trying to keep in touch with our families until we can figure out our plan b,” she explained. She said the hope was to host a Hocus Pocus themed drive-in on October 16 and October 23. She also said they would be looking for a police detail and noted that they have used a Boy Scout Troop out of Weymouth to assist with the parking. They are looking to limit the number of cars to 60.

Millias advised that she touch base with both the Board of Health and the Fire Department.

Garron asked about the possibility of disruption to neighbors and was told that speakers can be taken away to minimize the noise and cars can listen to the sound on their car radios. Andrews made a motion to approve pending approval from the Board of Health and Fire Department.

Halifax votes to fund school resource officer

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There was a continuance of the Halifax town meeting held on the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 22 at the Halifax Elementary School. Back on Sept. 12, the Halifax Town Meeting had begun but needed to be recessed due to quorum being questioned several hours into the meeting as well as time constraints. As was the case in the previous meeting, residents were divided between the gym and the all-purpose room to ensure proper social distancing. While quorum had been reduced to 75 for Tuesday’s meeting, 110 voters were counted initially.

Article to Fund Part-Time School Resource Officer

With the exception of those articles grouped together into consent agendas, articles were voted upon using a lottery system. One of the more controversial articles of the night was Article 26 which asked for $36,000 to fund Halifax’s portion of a part-time school resource officer at Silver Lake Regional Middle School. The same article appeared on the warrant last year and was voted down. Since Plympton voted in favor of supporting their share of the officer, a part time school resource officer served the middle school for a limited number of hours this past year. Kingston fully funds the full-time school resource officer at the high school.

Melinda Tarsi spoke on behalf of the Finance Committee, who was not recommending the article.  Tarsi said that as was the case last year, the Finance Committee’s objection to the article is not the concept of the school resource officer but rather the mechanism for funding the officer. “We don’t want to establish the precedent that any department can propose the addition of new personnel through an article brought to town meeting,” Tarsi explained. She said the committee also took issue with it having to be a Kingston officer and said she would like to see it more equitably distributed between the three towns.

Halifax Selectman and Chair of the Halifax School Committee Gordon Andrews spoke on the article explaining that under the current law, the position would have to be filled with a Kingston officer due to the school’s location. He also advised the gathered residents that, in his opinion, funding the officer through an article outside of the operating budget gave the town greater control over the position. In addition, he explained that funding the position through an article at town meeting would actually save the town money versus funding it as part of the school’s budget.

A resident questioned if the counselors at the school couldn’t fulfill the same need attempting to be filled by the school resource officer. Andrews told him that due to the nature of the issues that are being brought up in executive session, they would best be handled by law enforcement. Selectman Tom Millias shared his opinion saying, “There is no contest, we need a school resource officer… my problem has always been how it’s being funded… the problem is we can’t get a resource officer unless we do it this way and at the end of the day, we need a resource officer.” The article passed with a vote of 72-41.

Article to Grade Private and Unaccepted Roads

Article 28, which was brought forth by a resident who was not present at town meeting, was for $11,000 to grade all the unpaved roads in Halifax including private and unaccepted ones. The Finance Committee, who didn’t initially recommend it, said that after receiving the dollar amount, they were now in support of the article.

The article generated considerable discourse among those present. Amy Troup asked, “Shouldn’t we be spending money on the roads that the towns are actually responsible for before we take care of the roads that are private?” Troup went on to request a list of the specific roads that were to be worked on as a result of the proposed article. Town Administrator Charlie Seelig said they did not have a list like that with them.

Highway Surveyor Steve Hayward said that 22 of the 26 unpaved roads in town are already maintained twice a year. According to Seelig, the town’s bylaws allow for limited repairs such as grading to be made to private roads including unpaved ones. This article would include all unpaved roads.

Resident Jeff Bolger said, “It just seems to me instead of this hodge podge, hit or miss road repair that this town constantly goes through and in many cases it’s the squeaky wheel that gets taken care of, that we ought to have some master plan where there’s priorities drawn on what roads need to be taken care of.” Seelig replied that the Highway Department is working with an engineering firm on a Smart Streets program that includes a complete assessment of all of the roads in town. “The Highway Department is well aware of the idea of getting a Master Plan for the roads in town,” Seelig said. The town almost unanimously voted down the article. They did, however, approve the $150,000 requested by the Highway Surveyor for maintenance to town roads.

Proposition to Change Marijuana Zoning

Article 49, which sought to change the current zoning for marijuana establishments from industrial to industrial business, generated considerable debate amongst meeting goers. The article was not recommended by the Finance committee. Bob Maker, who proposed the article, said, “From everything that I’ve been hearing, we need money coming into this town… if we open up a dispensary in town we can get 3 percent of all sales… it just seems like a no brainer that we pass this today.” Someone pointed out that the business zones are also usually residential and such dispensaries, etc. are not allowed within 500 ft. of property lines or schools and other areas where children gather.

Selectman Andrews took a turn at the microphone saying, “I would ask that the town would vote in favor of this.” In the end, the town voted in favor of the zoning change with a required two-thirds vote of 83-23.

Article to Recodify Town’s Bylaws

Article 30, which was brought forth by the Finance Committee, also proved controversial. The article was for $65,000 to pay for a complete revision of the town’s zoning bylaws. Troup once again approached the microphone saying, “I don’t think that the town asked for our bylaws to be changed.” Tarsi said that the Finance Committee was proposing the revision in response to being asked to make recommendations on amendments to various bylaws. Tarsi said that rather than making changes in little bits, the committee felt that it would be better to do a complete recodification. She said they wanted to hire counsel to do that since it would be too big of an ask to place on elected and volunteer committees. The article passed after a recount was had with a vote of 64-41.

Police and Fire Articles

There were a number of articles voted on that pertained to either the police or fire departments. Article 22, which was moved by Selectman Troy Garron, was for $14,000 to buy a 2014 Harley Davidson that the Police Department has been leasing for $325 a month. Police Chief Joao Chaves spoke to the article telling residents that at the time of purchasing, the bike only had 18,000 miles on it and was like new. Up to this point, much of the leasing has been paid for through grant money. Tarsi said that while the Finance Committee is not against the idea of the motorcycle, they would prefer to see another year of leasing to bring down the cost of the bike. Chaves explained, however, that there would only be $2,000 of grant money available this coming year.

Chaves told the assembled residents that the motorcycle has been used for parades and traffic enforcement. He said it allows the police to efficiently respond to congested areas where it might be difficult for a cruiser to access. He also said that the motorcycle was used in assisting Brockton and Wareham during protests there. He said that should Halifax need to they can request up to 45 motorcycle officers for any event at no cost to the town. The article passed.

A number of other articles pertaining to the Police Department were also passed. Article 20 was for $100,000 to purchase and equip two police vehicles, Article 21 was for $20,000 to purchase or upgrade all existing cruiser radios to make them digitally compatible, and Article 23 was for $5,000 to purchase bullet resistant vests. Article 11 was for $4,386 to fund the collective bargaining agreement between the police chief and the town of Halifax. “This was negotiated in good faith and if anyone knows the chief they know that he’s done a great job in town here and he’s one of the lowest paid chiefs in the area; we’re just trying to bring him up to par,” Garron explained. The article passed with unanimous support.

Article 12, which was recommended by the Finance Committee, was for $2,000 to fund the bargaining agreement between Fire Chief Jason Viveiros and the town. “I think that everybody here would agree that Fire Chief Viveiros does a great job and this was the agreement that we came to with him,” Andrews explained. The article passed with unanimous support. Also passing was Article 7 for $10,440 to fund the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement between the town and the local firefighters. The Finance Committee recommended the article which represented a 1.6 percent increase on the firefighters’ annual salaries.

Article 19 was for $600,000 to purchase and equip a fire engine for the Fire Department. Viveiros explained that it would be replacing a 25-year-old engine and said that if passed, the department wouldn’t need to ask for another vehicle for at least 10 years. Of the current engine, he said, “it most recently failed a pump test and is prone to unexpected breakdowns.” The article passed.

Several articles pertaining to improvements were passed. Article 39 moved $15,000 from undesignated funds for repairs on the landfill cap on Hemlock Lane. Article 29 was for $27,800 for the installation of crosswalk devices at Plymouth St. and Holmes St., Lydon Ln. and Monponsett St., and Plymouth St., and Hemlock Ln. Council on Aging (COA) Director Susan Lawless spoke to Article 18 which requested a transfer of $4,100 for a new copier for the COA. An article for $13,000 for insulation and a vapor barrier in the old section of the town barn also passed.

Other notable articles that passed Tuesday evening included Article 51 which proposed taxation to any solar powered device that generates greater than 0.1 megawatts of electricity. Millias said that it wouldn’t affect anyone’s rooftop solar installation. Article 32 was for $3500 to support the South Shore Women’s Resource Center in order to help prevent domestic violence. Article 31 was for $3500 to support South Coastal Counties Legal Services which provides legal services to elders and low-income families and their children.

Halifax selectmen approve more maintenance personnel in schools

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The Halifax Board of Selectmen met on Monday, September 14 for one of their bonus meetings they’ve been holding throughout most of the pandemic.

Selectman Gordon Andrews recused himself from the Board of Selectmen in order to put on his School Committee hat. Andrews said that on September 9 Precision Air did an evaluation of the air flow at Halifax Elementary School. He explained, “They came back with a number of issues with basically the summary being that there are twenty classrooms that don’t meet the recommended level of having the air exchanged six times per hour in the classrooms.” Vice Chair of the School Committee Alex Meade, who works in the HVAC industry, told Andrews that ideally the filters would have been changed prior to running the test. Andrews said that time constraints prevented that from happening. The school plans to make improvements beginning with the classrooms that were flagged as having airflow issues. The test will be run again once that is complete.

As of the meeting on September 14, the test on the quality of air (versus the airflow test mentioned above) in the classrooms had not been done as that test would best be completed once the classrooms were populated with students and teachers. Andrews as well as Board of Health agent Bob Valery noted that something as small as mold on someone’s backpack or the tennis balls used on the bottom of chairs could affect the outcome of a test.

Andrews told the Board that Head Custodian Matt Durkee was requesting one additional maintenance facility personnel at the Halifax Elementary School through the CARES Act reimbursement deadline of December 31. The cost would be $19 per hour for 40 hours per week. The Board unanimously agreed to use some of the town’s CARES Act money to fund the position.

Andrews also requested that the selectmen approve the town using CARES Act funds to cover similar positions at both the middle and high schools. The positions being requested by Durkee would also be for $19 an hour and would be 40 hours per week over roughly 13 weeks. Each position is anticipated to cost $9,988. Andrews’ proposal to the other selectmen was that Halifax use their town’s CARES Act money to fully fund these maintenance positions with the assumption that Kingston and Plympton would be footing the bill for other COVID-related expenses that the schools will incur. Andrews said that as it was explained to him, whatever CARES Act funds that Kingston has left to be spent, will be put towards the schools as they had previously received none of the money.

Selectman Chair Tom Millias expressed concern over Halifax potentially expending a greater share of CARES Act money on the schools than the other two towns. Seelig said, “We’re putting money in early and the other two communities will be putting money in late; any future requests should reflect that.” The Board of Selectmen agreed to approve the requests for the two additional maintenance personnel with the understanding that other future requests from the middle and high schools will be considered based on the amounts already expended by the town.

Town Administrator Charlie Seelig said that the outdoor licenses granted to restaurants in town could be extended by the Board of Selectmen for two months from November 1. Seelig acknowledged the obvious in that restaurants would have to utilize heaters, etc. in order to serve people outside in the coming months.

Last Monday’s meeting also included the annual classification hearing prior to establishing the tax rate and issuing the tax bills. Before turning things over to Principal Assessor/Appraiser Holly Merry, Millias recused himself from the Board of Selectmen as he also serves on the Board of Assessors.

Merry said that they were proposing that residential, industrial, and commercial all be taxed at the same rate. The town of Halifax has less than ten percent of their properties that fall into either the industrial or commercial zone so therefore the Board of Assessors were not recommending a tax rate split. They also recommended against adopting the open space discount, the residential exemption, and the small commercial exemption. Merry asked the Board of Selectmen to vote on the proposals. They did so unanimously.

Dennett off to a strong start

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Director of Facilities Matt Durkee attended the Monday, Sept. 21 meeting of the Plympton School Committee. Durkee said that a lot of work has been done recently throughout the district and noted that an airflow exchange test was performed at the Dennett Elementary School. “The good news is that for the most part, the building is operating normally; we got good airflow exchange back on that,” Durkee said of the test. The test flagged certain deficiencies that are now being improved on. “Those improvements are ongoing if not already completed,” he said. An example of a deficiency was a restroom where the exhaust fans were not functioning properly; they have since been fixed. The music and art room were also flagged due to a faulty motor that is scheduled to be fixed this week.

Committee member Jason Fraser asked Durkee, “Are we using CO2 monitors as a proxy to give us an idea of air exchange or how are we monitoring how are HVAC units are handling the air exchange in the building?” Durkee answered that CO2 monitoring would be a separate test except for higher-level HVAC systems that might contain CO2 monitors within the system. “The air change per hour is measured by… it looks like a laundry basket that you put over the unit ventilator and your measuring how much air is coming in and your using that same mechanism at an exhaust fan… and measuring how much is being exhausted and a calculation gives you the air changes per hour (ACH).” Fraser said that he had heard of some people using the CO2 monitors as a proxy but said that he much preferred the air exchange testing that was described by Durkee.

An air quality test to measure pollen counts, mold spores, and CO2 had not been completed as of Monday’s meeting but, according to Durkee, remains a possible option. Air purifiers in the nurse’s office and medical waiting room have also been installed at the Dennett. Other physical changes include plexiglass installed at high traffic areas throughout the district including the kitchens. Touchless faucets have also been installed as have touchless paper towel dispensers as they become available. Social distancing signs have also been installed throughout the school. Regarding products that have been backordered, Durkee said, “We’ve been very fortunate to work with contractors and suppliers that have really pushed us up in line to receive some of these items so to that I’m very thankful to the companies that we have been contracting with.”

“I believe the Dennett is in really good shape, facility-wise.” Durkee did note, however, that the siding of the building will have to be addressed eventually as part of a capital plan measure.

Fraser gave a brief update on the plan for the new playground at the Dennett. The school has been working with consultant Joe Dufour of O’Brien and Sons and have received what they needed from him to move forward with an RFQ.  Fraser said that the playground has, unfortunately, had to take a backseat to reopening the schools safely.

Fraser also provided the legislative update noting how difficult it is to be the legislative agent during an election year, particularly a contentious one. He said the State House has been relatively quiet as they are pursuing a lot of reelections across the state. The finalized budget should be ready sometime in November. While multiple watchdog groups are anticipating a $5 billion dollar shortfall, Fraser said there have been assurances that Chapter 70 will be level funded.

Principal Peter Veneto began his update saying, “The good news is that children are back in the building at the Dennett where they belong, and it’s been really a fantastic opening on a lot of different levels.”  Veneto mentioned the 11 days of professional development that staff underwent prior to students returning. “I can’t underscore how important these 11 days were to help prepare our staff and for our staff to be able to work together to be ready for our students,” Superintendent Jill Proulx said.

“Everything has been rewritten, every one of our procedures from recess, to lunch, to dismissal… the people that have been impacted the most are the kids and quite frankly they have adjusted to everything just fine,” Veneto said. Veneto was quick to give credit for the successful opening to the teaching staff, support staff, and custodial staff as was Proulx. Veneto said that the administration has been mindful about trying not to overwhelm parents on any single day with a bombardment of emails or the like.

Proulx stressed the importance of community and caregiver vigilance in keeping the schools open. The administration has been in communication with the Board of Health and has been monitoring state metrics. She told the Committee that her last email through Parent Square included instructions for what to do if a student or caregiver tests positive. She also stressed the importance of staying home and notifying the school nurse or building principal if exhibiting symptoms of COVID, having close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID, or testing positive for COVID yourself. “It’s going to be a community effort in order to keep our students in school and I know that is important to everyone,” Proulx said.

School Committee Chair Jon Wilhelmsen said that several districts in Massachusetts have already had issues with a student attending school despite knowingly waiting for a COVID test or having already tested positive themselves.  “If we have a case in the school there is going to be a certain amount of time that the doors are going to be closed for us to figure out what happened or didn’t happen,” Wilhelmsen said.  “Hopefully it’s as short as possible and everything ends up being good but that’s the risk that we have,” he continued.

Fraser told the Committee, “Through my work with MASC [Massachusetts Association of School Committees] and my background in science, I helped develop a matrix just to try and determine what kind of shutdowns you have and when they would occur based on certain triggers.” He said the matrix is based off DESE’s guidelines regarding contact tracing or what Fraser jokingly refers to as “what if COVID.” “We’re keeping an eye on it and we’re also cognizant of the fact that several municipalities have reported back to MASC that the data the state puts out every Wednesday is not accurate per their own Boards of Health… While that guidance is helpful that comes from MASS DPH every Wednesday, we have to really lean on our parents and our own Board of Health and our own schools to keep our kids and our communities safe,” Fraser explained.

Director of Business Services Christine Healy provided the financial report. Healy said that herself and Wilhelmsen have been working with the town to secure CARES Act funding for the school. Wilhelmsen said that the process for securing that funding is difficult, noting that it takes an invoice in order to get reimbursement. A purchase order with a check will not suffice. Adding to the already convoluted process, many companies will only send an invoice for what has already been sent. The money allocated to Plympton through Plymouth County must be spent by the deadline. Whatever is leftover at that time will be returned to the County to be reallocated differently from that point forward.

Wilhelmsen said that the school has already made it clear to the town and the selectmen that there would likely be costs over and above the school’s budget which was trimmed as a result of the pandemic. “I don’t have a problem going back and saying this is a cost that we are going to incur,” Wilhelmsen said. He also said that he has already warned that utility costs are likely to be considerably higher than in a normal year.

Two potential uses for CARES Act funding that were discussed during Monday’s meeting include a long-term building-based substitute as well as laptops for teachers. Proulx said that in order to stay competitive this year’s rate for substitutes will be increased from the previous rate of $95 per day to $150 per day.

Wilhelmsen pointed out that while in a normal year a teacher, as anyone might, would more than likely push through minor symptoms in order to come into work, it won’t be safe to do so this year. Therefore, there will be an even greater need than normal for more substitutes. Veneto said that just in the first three days of in-person teaching, a substitute was needed every single day. “The current configuration of our cohorts right now, it is a house of cards, and it is very, very fragile,” Veneto stressed. He said that interventionists are stretched as thin as possible. He fully expects that staff absences are likely to cause a shortage of teachers, particularly with the advent of cold and flu season.  Veneto said that the answer may end up being that students will have to be remote if an in-person teacher isn’t available to teach.

School Committee member Daniel Cadogan inquired about the feasibility of notifying parents early in the morning that their child’s school day is suddenly a remote one. For parents working outside of the home, the economic fallout of having to call out of work repeatedly could be significant. Cadogan was advocating for the additional expense to the community as he said the alternative would likely cause hardship for many families. “I just see this as a very small expense to mitigate for just the parents, just the families… there are a lot of families that aren’t going to be able to take that hit 6 or 7 times in a month.” Cadogan said. Wilhelmsen agreed saying that the cost of a building-based sub would equate to only roughly .33 percent of the total town’s budget. Wilhelmsen, who said there may be potential to use CARES Act funds to cover the cost at least through December, plans to speak to the town administrator about the issue.

Ann Walker attended Monday’s meeting on behalf of the Dennett teachers to advocate for the purchase of laptops for them. The teachers have found that the chromebooks being used thus far have many limitations that are making their jobs even more difficult. “Everyone in our building has been working overtime on everything… having these laptops would be much more efficient,” Walker explained. Wilhelmsen again said he thought it might be possible to use CARES Act money to fund at least a portion of the cost. Fraser, who is a teacher, said he has had access to a laptop for both remote and hybrid teaching and said he could not do what is needed on a chromebook.  “If we can make their lives a little bit easier and that can translate into better lessons and less stress for them and for our students, I think it’s a great idea to do it,” Fraser said. Proulx said she would speak with Technology Director Steve Pellowe and ask him to put together some proposals.

Plympton seeks to fill COA director vacancy

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The Plympton Board of Selectmen met on Monday, September 21. The first order of business was to address a memo that was received from the Board of Health regarding limitations on indoor in-person meetings. The memo reiterated the March 2020 order that addressed the issue as well as the third revised memo that stipulated an 8-person limit within the confines of 1,000 sq ft with a maximum limit of 25 persons in any space. The latest memo stated that the Board of Health has decided to discontinue in-person meetings on town owned properties.

Selectman John Traynor said that he was concerned that the restriction on in-person meetings would have a negative impact on the ability of the Council on Aging (COA) Board to meet as many members don’t have the necessary access to technology to attend virtually. At ten people, the Board would need to be reduced in order to continue to meet – something Traynor doesn’t want to do. Traynor said that the COA did meet last Monday. While he said the time in the meeting room itself went well, he did note that the time before and after the meeting in the lobby “left a lot to be desired.”

The Director of Elder Services, Joy Marble recently resigned requiring that an interim strategy be developed while the town searches for another director.  Town Administrator Elizabeth Dennehy asked the selectmen how quickly they would like to see the position filled. While Selectman Chair Mark Russo said as soon as possible, Traynor said he felt that it might be beneficial to wait a bit to figure out the situation. Traynor also shared that the COA Board plans to take more of an active role in the management of the Council on Aging. While the director won’t be back, both the administrative assistant and driver will be returning. The selectmen agreed that the first step in their search for a new director will be developing a job description. Dennehy said she felt it best to keep the description somewhat broad and mission based.

As part of a new initiative to invite a different chair or department head to each Board of Selectmen’s meeting, Treasurer/Collector Colleen Morin attended Monday’s meeting to provide an update. Morin said that there have been some issues with unemployment. Some at the townhouse had received fraudulent reports that they hadn’t filed. Morin said that she enlisted help from Representative Kathleen LaNatra in order to get through to those in the unemployment department. “She has done a great job helping me and getting me into contact with someone there,” Morin explained.

Morin told the Board that while a hold has been placed on foreclosures during the pandemic, fourteen properties are going into tax title. Of those, ten of the properties are considered to have low land value as they are valued at approximately $22,000 or less. Of the other four, one of the property owners is interested in donating the land to the town. Morin said the property abuts the Harry Jason Park. The current owner was previously unaware they had inherited the land and would rather donate it than pay taxes on it.

Dennehy provided a brief update on the schools as no one from the school committee could attend due to their meeting running concurrently with the Board of Selectmen. Dennehy said that school was back in session and told the Board the Fire Chief and the schools’ Director of Business Services Christine Healy have been working together to improve upon the process for making submissions for CARES Act funding. The current round of CARES Act funding and reimbursement closes at the end of September.

Per usual, the selectmen ended their meeting with their rants and raves. Selectman Christine Joy said, “My rave would be for Liz and John and the COA Board who have stepped up at this time to make sure we are continuing to meet the needs of our seniors in town.” While initially opting to pass on a rave, Russo said that he actually did have one. He spoke about an academician of writing who reminds students of the latin root of the word essay when assigning such work. At its root, the word essay means to make an attempt or endeavor. Russo pointed out that in times of struggle it might be best to focus less on the outcome and more on simply trying. “I appreciate the degree to which we all continue to try,” Russo said. He continued, “May we all continue to do so and may the outcomes be good along the way.”

Trick or Treat alternative proposed

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The Halifax Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday evening, Sept. 8 for their regular weekly meeting.

Town Administrator Charlie Seelig began with a brief discussion regarding CARES Act funding which is being administered to towns by Plymouth County. Seelig said that after being rejected for the Shared Streets Grant twIcee  for the Cranberry Drive sidewalk project, he is exploring the possibility of using CARES funding. Seelig said he is waiting to hear back from the County on the eligibility of a few projects. He said there was some confusion as to whether CARES Act funds could be applied to those things for which purchase orders have been submitted but payments have yet to be made by September. The Plymouth County Commission may organize another call with the county’s fire chiefs soon.

Not even ten minutes into the meeting, Board of Selectmen Chair Tom Millias told those assembled that they would need to place their masks on as the room was now at capacity. He further said that if anyone else were to enter the room, since it would be inappropriate to ask anyone to leave, the meeting would be adjourned until Thursday. Luckily, this didn’t end up being necessary.

Seelig told the Board that there were two new cases of COVID-19 in Halifax since their previous meeting only a few days before. They were the first cases in town in over a month. Seelig said, “It’s still out there.” He continued, “Massachusetts has been doing an excellent job, the positive rate on the testing is very, very good. It matters what’s your behavior. Are you going to make good decisions or are you not going to make good decisions? Wearing a mask, washing your hands, not going to beach parties with whatever number of people not wearing a mask – I think that’s going to determine what happens here in the next couple of months. Halifax isn’t some place where we have this barrier that magically prevents people from having COVID.”

The Board had several appointments including one with the Library Board of Trustees. They were there to appoint Kathy Shiavone to the Board until May. It took a vote of both the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Trustees to appoint her. The vote was unanimous.

The Board needs to hold a joint meeting with the Halifax School Committee to appoint someone to fill the vacancy left on the school committee following a recent resignation. Just as was done with the Library Board of Trustees, it will take a vote from both the school committee and selectmen to appoint someone to the position. Thus far, three talent bank forms have been submitted. The selectmen plan to attend a school committee meeting in October in order to hold interviews and vote on the position.

Ashley DiSesa met with the Board to discuss a possible alternative to traditional trick-or-treating.

She proposed an idea similar to the lunch handout that has been taking place at the Elementary School during the week. “My idea was to try to figure out a way to do a drive through trick-or-treating,” she explained. Her proposal included multiple stops at the school for cars to receive treats as well as a possible contest for the best decorated car.

DiSesa said the plan would be for residents to sign up online through something like SignUp Genius and select a time slot for their drive-through. The event would start relatively early to accommodate the youngest trick or treaters. A number of parents in town have already expressed interest in volunteering and the hope would be to have a few local businesses sponsor the event in order to purchase candy and bags. DiSesa said she had already spoken to the Halifax School Committee and said she also intends to speak with the fire chief. Millias suggested she contact the police chief as well.

“I think it’s a nice idea. I think the community would certainly back it. As long as you can work out the logistics, I would be in favor of it,” Millias said.

DiSesa asked the selec-men if they had a preference on which day to hold the event, suggesting either the Friday before Halloween or Halloween day itself which falls on a Saturday this year.

Selectman Troy Garron said the Saturday would probably make better sense since most parents are probably working on Friday. “And, it’s a full moon,” joked Selectman Gordon Andrews. The selectmen agreed that it was a great idea and asked DiSesa to work out the logistics and come back with a plan that they could approve.

The final appointment of the night was with Drew McGlincy who came to the meeting to discuss charging stations and solar panels at Town Hall. McGlincy spoke about the need to transition away from fossil fuels and said that depending on the speed of the charging stations, the town could probably handle 4-6 of them. He said he was pending verification of how much electricity the system at Town Hall can handle and said that he would propose 240 solar panels to be installed on the roof of Town Hall.

Millias who noted that he isn’t against the concept of the charging stations said, “I for one am not a big fan of panels on the roof. It’s not a matter of if it’s going to leak, it’s a matter of when it’s going to leak.” Millias reminded McGlincy that if the intention was to utilize town funds, it would have to be approved by a vote at town meeting. The earliest that could happen would be next May.

McGlincy said he would pull together a blueprint for a proposed location behind the cemetery in the Town Hall parking lot. Millias asked him to include some estimated costs as well. “I don’t know if it will go anywhere or not, but if you’re willing to do the work, at least that’s a start,” Millias said.

Seelig provided the Board with a few more updates including that the police chief had inquired about a new civil service list for the hiring of three new part time patrol officers. Seelig also provided an update on the Pine St. Bridge project. It is currently in the permitting phase with the Army Corps of Engineers, the Conservation Commission, and Riverways for Massachusetts. The next stage will be the final engineering and it will go out to bid in February or March of 2021 with a completion date of October 2021.

Dennett plans to open its doors next week

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The Plympton School Committee met on Tuesday evening, Sept. 8 to provide an update on school reopening plans.

Dennett Elementary School Principal Peter Veneto said, “Our back to school plan shifted slightly in that the school committee initially voted for us to start full remote but as I suspected, once we had staff members in the building and we got down to the planning… my teachers want students in front of them and we feel that we can do it safely.” The first day for most students will be Wednesday, Sept. 16 and it will be a full remote day. Cohorts B and D will report to school in-person on Thursday, Sept. 17 and Friday, Sept. 18. Kindergarten screenings will take place on that Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The first day of school for kindergarten will be Monday, Sept. 21. That Monday will also be the first day of in person learning for Cohorts A and D.

Committee Chair Jon Wilhelmsen said, “The reason we voted for a phased-in hybrid approach was to provide Peter and the teaching staff with the opportunity to consider all the options which they did and this appeared to be the best option for facilitating getting folks back to school.”

Veneto said the administration took into account the information from parents when creating cohorts. “We did have to do a little bit of tap dancing… basically A-K would be in Cohort A and the rest of the alphabet Cohort B. That became a challenge because we were trying to honor families’ wishes about keeping their children within the same cohort so inevitably, when you have a district our size, there were some errors along the way,” Veneto explained.

Committee member Jason Fraser asked if there was room built into the cohorts for students that wish to opt back into some in-person learning midway through the year. Veneto acknowledged that the cohorts are very tight as-is. “Much like our master schedules, with these cohorts, it is a very, very delicate balance,” Veneto said. He continued, “If there was to be a lot of shifting, we would have to get even more creative.” Fraser also asked Veneto what he referred to as a “dad to dad question” saying, “You would feel comfortable with your own children in your school come September 17?” Without missing a beat, Veneto responded, “absolutely, no question.”

Veneto also provided the committee with an update on changes to staff. Two staff members retired while several more decided not to return to work due to concerns around COVID. “I completely respect the opinion and the judgment of the people that decided they were uncomfortable coming back,” Veneto said. There will be a new librarian, music teacher, and kindergarten teacher. As of Tuesday’s meeting, Veneto said he still needed to hire a new art teacher as well as a part time kindergarten aide. He said he felt confident that the positions will be filled prior to the start of school.

A Health and Safety Advisory Committee has been established to deal with issues related to the pandemic. The ad-hoc committee is made up of Wilhelmsen, Fraser, Veneto, several teachers, the school nurse, and a parent with expertise in the area. The formation of the committee will ensure a two-way communication that includes those with their boots on the ground in the day to day implementation of new safety procedures and policies.

According to Fraser, one of the committee’s concerns was with the state’s ability to provide data on COVID infections in the area in an accurate and timely way. Fraser said that himself, Wilhelmsen, and Veneto had previously met with the Emergency Management Team, including the Board of Health, where he says they were told, “contact tracing isn’t necessarily the 21st century science that we would all hope it would be… we’re all going to have to be advocates at the local level.” Fraser stressed the importance of parents notifying the school nurse regarding any COVID cases within their family. Due to Plympton’s small population, it would only take 8 cases to move Plympton into the “red” risk level which could necessitate a school closure. Fraser said that since 8 cases could be two households with no connection to the school, the committee will be exploring an alternate means of interpreting the data regarding school closure.

Students and staff will be required to complete an attestation each day that verifies that they are in compliance with the CDC checklist of COVID risks. If not completed on time, parents will be sent a reminder within 15 minutes.  “We realize, and its almost purposeful, that this is inconvenient. It’s supposed to make you stop – knock you out of your routine a little bit and really consciously think about your own health or your child’s health before you send them to school each and every day,” Fraser explained. He also pointed out that for most families it will only be twice a week and that doing so helps to ensure the health of the community.

Superintendent Jill Proulx read through a list of revised policies. She said the policy regarding visitors to school will remain the same except she will have the ability to amend the policy should the need arise. Proulx also spoke on the policy regarding communicable diseases saying that while it will be similar to the current policy, it will allow the superintendent to “establish protocols for tracking student’s contacts as a means of locating others from whom the student may contract or expose other persons to COVID 19.” Proulx noted that the policy will be in line with privacy laws. Proulx also noted changes such as the stance on attendance. She said that while in the past, perfect attendance would be celebrated, it won’t any longer as individuals are encouraged to stay home whenever symptoms of illness are present.

The policy on masks in school was also discussed. The school is asking that all students be put on buses with masks on regardless of their age. Bus drivers in Plympton will be supplied with spare masks. Some masks will also be deemed inappropriate for school. These include either homemade or store-bought single ply masks, masks with valves, and gaiters. If a mask is deemed unacceptable, it will be replaced with a school-supplied disposable one and the caregivers will be contacted. If after multiple attempts to facilitate proper mask wearing fails, the school will reserve the right to ask that a student be moved to remote only.

“As we continue to move forward in opening the building, we’re going to be keeping our eye on the data but we’re aware that that data is actual people and individuals with family and people who care about them. I never want it to get lost that each number that you see on the TV every night when the state does its reporting is a person that has a family,” Fraser told those present at Tuesday’s meeting.

The Plympton School Committee meets again on September 21.