The Halifax Board of Selectmen met Tuesday, Oct. 10.
Chair John Bruno led the meeting saying, “I would like to begin the meeting tonight with just a brief comment and a recognition of the passing of John Campbell. For those of us who have had the pleasure of knowing Mr. Campbell, he was a wonderful gentleman – lived in Halifax, I think somewhere around the order of 60 years and was involved in projects for 60 years. The Council on Aging, and in particular, I don’t think there is a building in town that he doesn’t have his name on… he helped rebuild all the buildings in town.” Selectman Jonathan Selig echoed the sentiments and said that during the playground project, he was willing to print anything that was needed through his business and never charged the town. Selectman Naja Nessralla said that Campbell was a family friend and that he would “give you the shirt off his back.”
The Selectmen’s first appointment of the night was with Ed Bryan for an appointment to the Finance Committee. Bryan would be finishing an existing term that would end in 2026. “I have looked at your talent bank and it is impressive,” Bruno said. Selig said that he knew Bryan personally and thought he would make a great addition to the Finance Committee. Given his personal relationship, however, Selig did abstain from the vote. The Chair of the Finance Committee also spoke recommending Bryan. Bruno and Nessralla voted unanimously to appoint him.
Cam Russell also appeared before the Board to discuss his proposal for his Eagle Scout project. He was proposing to make a board that will go by the flagpole on the town green, explaining different elements of the flag, including the folds and the ball at the top. “I’m excited and I wholeheartedly support this project,” Selig said. Scout Master Peter Burgess spoke saying it would be “high-quality, weather-proof, no maintenance to the town.”
Health Agent Bob Valery spoke to the Selectmen regarding a public health excellence grant. Of the grant, Valery said, “There is a distinct goal that is prevention through education, disease tracking, enforcement of existing sanitary codes, and then what’s the exact inspectional process… the grant itself, funded through the State… establishes a minimum public health standard for communities, it increases capacity and effectiveness by incentivizing shared services, create a uniform data collection and reporting system, and increase, near to my heart, equity.” He continued saying that the State would fund them to do anything above and beyond where they currently are at least through 2027. “We are trying to hit anybody that has been historically left behind,” Valery said. “I appreciate you guys and the work that you do,” Selig said of the Health Department. He continued, “This is going to give us more coverage as far as the level of service for health in this town and I think residents should be excited that this exists and that, like you say, it’s not going to cost us anything extra but we’re going to get extra services which I’m all for.”
The Selectmen also met with the head of Halifax Youth Baseball and Softball, Pete Barone regarding a proposal for a new scoreboard for the field near the Police Station. “Basically, we are paying for everything,” Barone said of the plans. He said that they hoped to have it up by the spring. Bruno asked if it would be considered a donation to the town and was told that the town would own it. Selig said that Halifax hosts the biggest town tournament in New England for softball every year for the last two decades. The Selectmen voted unanimously to approve the scoreboard.
Town Administrator Cody Haddad addressed the property at 265 Monponsett (Halifax Trails). Thorndike Development has proposed a development on the land which includes a senior center. “We’ve been working since the Board authorized me to negotiate with them on a Master Development Agreement and draft zoning; we actually met earlier today and with the assistance of Town Counsel, we were able to nail down the zoning language to be proposed at the Special Town Meeting in December… we’re hoping that at your Oct. 24 meeting, we will look to have Thorndike in to present their Master Development Agreement,” Haddad said. Haddad also went over some of the zoning changes that would need to pass in order to allow the development to continue. He asked the Selectmen to recommend it to the Planning Board so they can start their process and eventually it could be voted on at Town Meeting.
The Selectmen also discussed the salary range for the Building Commissioner position. Bruno said that they have been searching for candidates to fill the position since March. “It seems to me, our pay scale is just out of whack for what we would be able to get,” Bruno said. Haddad said, “We’ve been actively recruiting for this for some time; we really have not gotten a significant number of qualified applicants.” Haddad said the average salary for neighboring communities is around $92k while the range Halifax is hiring at tops out around $79k. Haddad asked for a salary adjustment. The Selectmen agreed to increase the salary grade.
In other business, Haddad said they did receive an application for earth removal for Morse Brothers and are in the process of scheduling a public hearing. He said the date would be in the newspaper. Regarding Board and Department trainings, Haddad said they would be doing a three-part training for Department heads in November. Regarding staffing he said that they are currently conducting interviews for the Outreach Coordinator position for the Council on Aging. He said that they have also scheduled interviews for the Conservation Agent. He also said that he started taping “Cody’s Corner” which is a segment with Area 58 on different things going on in Halifax.
Before adjourning, Selig thanked Scott Materna and his department for lighting the Town Hall pink for the month of October.