Halifax selectmen heard from a throng of more than a hundred residents voicing their concerns regarding what they call gravel mining on the cranberry bogs off Lingan Street.

Morse Bros. Cranberry Co. had been on the agenda with their earth removal application.  Before the meeting, however, the company withdrew their application.

Select chair Ashley DiSesa read an email from Halifax Police Chief Joao A. Chaves, copied to the Town Administrator Marty Golightly and the members of the Board of Selectmen stating they were pulling their earth removal permit and would not be present at the hearing Aug. 9.

Chaves, through his email to the board, said that there would still be some trucks moving material from their site to their other bogs in Middleboro and Hanson as part of their bog maintenance and dam rebuilding at those sites, actions that are permitted under Chapter 137 “Right to Farm” laws, requiring no permits as they are just doing agricultural and farming work.

The email went on to explain that Morse Bros. had notified the police department in the event that residents called to complain about the trucks.  “They are just doing normal farming tasks,” the email continued.  Chaves told the Morse Bros. representative that he would notify the Board of Selectmen and the members of his police department of the change.

Residents present at the selectmen’s meeting wanted to be heard but select chair DiSesa  told them that since there was no issue on the table for discussion.

“We have heard all of your concerns,” DiSesa told the group.   She said that when they sent the Zoning Enforcement Officer  to investigate a claim at the site he found Morse Bros. was operating within the law.

Selectmen went on to interview the final two candidates

In other business, selectmen

• allowed the moving of a utility pole.

• appointed James Hill to the Halifax Fireworks Committee.  His wife Susan is already a member.

•  appointed Lind McCarthy as Parking Clerk

The Plympton Board of Selectmen met virtually on Monday, August 8. Plympton Public Library Director Mike Slawson attended the meeting to provide an overview of the work being done within his department.

Slawson, who has been in his position for just over a year, said that they have two major initiatives currently going on within the library department. The first is National Night Out which will be held in Plympton on Friday, August 12 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.  Explaining the intent of the event, Slawson said, “The gist of it is that it is a Police and Fire, mainly Police, appreciation night.” Slawson continued saying, “It gives the residents of Plympton a chance to meet and interact with Police personnel and Fire personnel in a different capacity than they normally would.” According to Slawson, a lot of hard work has gone into the evening over the last few months. Slawson said that he hoped that it would be an opportunity for community-building.

The second initiative is the reorganization of the library’s collection. Slawson explained, “This project has several facets; we are going through the collection literally book by book and deciding, do we want this book in the collection?” He called the project a “massive undertaking” and said that they have been examining how long it has been since books have been checked out of the library. He said that a “decent portion of the collection” has not been checked out in the last 5 or even 10 years. The library is in the process of weeding those titles out of the library’s collection.

Slawson said that they are also relabeling materials to make them easier for both library personnel and patrons to find. He said that all books will have tags that identify both where they are located as well as the last three letters of the author’s last name. “Finally, another facet of this collection reorganization is we are moving some of our collections around… just as an example we moved our young adult collection to a different section of the library to give young adults their own area,” Slawson said.

The library has also been hosting programs on the first and third Saturday of each month. Slawson credited Selectman John Traynor with the success of the programs saying, “John’s been great about finding local and relevant speakers.” Slawson also said the programs were an opportunity to “have some breakfast and catch up with some friends.”

There are other new elements at the library as well including kits curated by local Girl Scouts. Slawson said the bags, which can be found in the children’s room, are available for checkout and cover an array of topics like cooking and animation. Another new element is the seed library. “Considering the amount of gardeners we have in Plympton, this has been something that I think has been enjoyed by the residents in Plympton,” Slawson explained. Another new collection is the library of things which consists of anything “not books.” “Things like board games or puzzles… we have yard games if people are having a party, they can check out… we have STEM kits,” Slawson said of the collection. He said they are also looking to get together a collection of items that someone may only need a few times a year like a power washer. “We’re looking into expanding that some more as we go along,” he said.

Regarding the budget, Slawson said it is “looking really good.” The municipal appropriation required to stay certified is $163,893. Slawson said that their requested budget was just above that. He said that $62,000 of that goes toward materials and the rest goes to personnel.

A few upgrades have been made to the library including new carpet in the children’s room and improvements to the front entrance. Slawson said that they are looking at ways to make the ramp less slippery during the winter months including purchasing gallons of clear coat with grit in it. “Hopefully it will fix it and help me sleep at night because that is really worrisome to me having that ramp be really slippery in the winter,” he told the Selectmen.

Selectman Mark Russo said he hears nothing but good things from all different sources regarding Slawson. Russo also paid high compliments on the concept of the library of things and said he wonders if there was room to expand upon the concept even more. “I always tell people libraries change; libraries have been around for thousands of years because we adapt,” Slawson replied.

Town Administrator Liz Dennehy asked the Selectmen to approve the early voting hours for the primary town election in September which they voted unanimously to do. She also asked them to accept changes to the law regarding scheduling police details for election days. She said it would make it so the Police Chief was the appointing authority and can coordinate those details rather than having the Selectmen’s office do it. They, again, voted unanimously to accept the changes.

Dennehy also said that they were waiting for bids on the Engine 1 refurbishment project for the Fire Department. “Hopefully they are affordable to us because we only have a certain amount of funds allocated to this…we’re hopeful that this can get the project done for the amount we have appropriated,” Dennehy explained.

Dennehy said that the town is still waiting to hear back on a few different pending grant applications. She told the Selectmen, “I’m also happy to announce that the Soule Homestead project… has finally come to closure… the lease agreement has been recorded with the registry… that’s a win for the town.” She also told the Selectmen that she would be setting up a public hearing for their September 12 meeting for Eversource regarding the installation of some poles.

Chair of the Plympton School Committee Jon Wilhelmsen attended the meeting to provide an update on the Dennett solar rooftop project. Dennehy told the Selectmen, “Unfortunately, we are still not ready… I believe that the attorneys are still working out some of the details… we are going to do things we can to expediate it as soon as possible.” Dennehy and Wilhelmsen said they were hopeful that the Selectmen could vote on the terms of the lease during their next meeting.

Before moving on to their customary raves, the Selectmen also voted to approve the use of the Town Green on September 3 from 11-1 for a flower show. A food truck will also be present.

Traynor said his rave was for National Night Out. Russo said that his rave was for the “lovely meeting tonight” naming in particular the National Night Out and the expansion of the lending library. Selectmen Chair Christine Joy joked that they may need a bigger building. Joy said her rave was for “John Traynor.” “The first and third Saturday at the library, you made it happen and you’ve done a great job with it,” she told Traynor.

The Halifax Board of Selectmen met in-person on Tuesday, July 26 with new Town Administrator Marty Golightly at the helm.

Police Chief Joao Chaves attended the meeting. “Right now, our current staffing levels, we have 11 full-time officers for the town of Halifax, and we have one part-time officer; we lost three officers on June 30, and we had lost another three before that for retirements. We had at one point, the beginning of last year, 7 special officers, we now have just one,” Chaves explained. He told the Selectmen that if they brought in an outside consultant to evaluate the Department, they would say that the town should have 18 officers. He continued, “the ratio that they use is 2.4 per 1,000 residents.” Chaves said he wasn’t asking for 18 officers but rather one or two regular officers and one or two part-time officers. “The budget would be able to sustain it right now; the last four years I have given back considerable money to the town in wages,” he told the Selectmen. Chaves said that since July 1 the Department has had 13 unfilled shifts. The Selectmen voted to authorize the Chief to hire two additional full-time officers.

Town Accountant Sandra Nolan attended the meeting to ask for clarification on town employees eligible for the second round of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) bonuses. She said that originally anyone that was working for the town on September 17, 2021, would be eligible for the bonuses. It was to be pro-rated for anyone working less than 30 hours. “My question is, now that we’ve lost some of those employees, and there was no allotment for that in the original decision, do we give it to employees who have left?” Nolan asked. The bonuses were split into two installments of $1,500 rather than a lump sum $3,000. Nolan wanted to know if she should give bonuses not only to those who no longer work for the town but for those who are new since September. Selectman Alex Meade said, “my thought on it is, if on September 17, we said you are getting a bonus, then you have a bonus.” Selectman Ashley DiSesa said that she felt that only those on the payroll on the day the bonuses are issued, should receive them. Meade said the previous Chair said that to be eligible for the bonus, employees would still have to be on the payroll to receive the bonus and anyone who came on after September 17, would not be eligible. The Selectmen decided to honor the previous Chair’s decision.

The Selectmen also considered the retaining of Lighthouse Legal Counsel, LLC for union specific counsel for a one-year time period at a cost of $20,000. “I think this is probably more important now than it has been in the past with our economic changes and the addition of the body cam for the Police Officers’ Union to have specific assistance with HR and union negotiations,” Golightly told the Selectmen. He continued, “It’s significantly cheaper than our current counsel for negotiations and HR stuff. My hope is to pay for this with some ARPA funds.” Meade expressed some hesitation at hiring additional counsel beyond the town counsel. DiSesa said, “To have an HR person who is going to help our new Town Administrator be successful, who is also a previous town administrator, makes sense to try and set us up for success.” Selectman Jonathan Selig said, “I know our legal bills are skyrocketing but I think this might actually be a good thing in the long run; we’re going to get training that will lead to fewer complaints and incidents down the road.” The Selectmen voted to use Lighthouse Legal Counsel as the town’s labor attorney.

The Selectmen had an appointment with resident John Mirotta regarding dog license fees. He said that he moved several times recently and missed the licensing fees that were being sent to his parents’ home. He said that the missed notices, late fees, and court fees totaled $170. He said that he would have to have a court arraignment and as a medical professional, that could reflect badly on him despite it only being about dog licensing. “I want to pay it today; I was hoping maybe if you guys could waive the court fees, I could make the $120 payment,” Mirotta told the Selectmen. “I can’t sit here and set a precedent like that. You’re going to take on two dogs and be a dog owner, you got to license the dogs, man,” Meade said to Mirotta. Meade recommended that he go to the Town Clerk’s office in the morning and pay the $170. Both Selig and DiSesa said they agreed and that they couldn’t set a precedent of forgiving late fees.

The Plympton Elementary School Committee met virtually on Monday, July 11.

Director of Business Services Christine Healy provided a financial closeout. The closeout balance in the regular day budget is $23,969.51. She said there was one PO that they have included for approximately $49,000 for a chiller in a rooftop unit, specifically two compressors. “The unit is limping along, barely functioning,” Healy said. She also said that replacing those two compressors would make the unit function properly though she acknowledged that the entire unit would eventually need to be replaced. She said that the compressors would still be compatible with the unit were it to be replaced down the line. “The compressors themselves, these are separate than the other five units that we are needing to replace and by purchasing them now, when we replace those units, which is sort of on the notional plan here with ARPA funds and other potential funds, these compressors… we’re not putting $50,000 toward these and then throwing it out, that $50,000 is going to be spent one way or another,” Wilhelmsen said adding further clarification. “The town still ends up in very good standing,” he added. Healy said that the funds for professional development were underutilized this year most likely due to grant funding that was available. She said there was also a surplus in special education. “The closeout is in pretty decent shape,” Healy told the Committee. When all is said and done nearly $110,000 would be returned to the town.

Chair Jon Wilhelmsen provided an update on the teachers’ contract.  “Just an update there, I’m still getting the changes put into that; we’re going to get that over to the teachers soon. We’ll either vote on that at our September meeting or likely we’re going to have to have a meeting… at some point this summer,” he told the rest of the Committee. The abbreviated meeting over the summer would also be needed to deal with the solar panel installation at the Dennett.

Wilhelmsen provided an update on those solar panels saying that his attempts to get DESE to approve the transfer of the roof into the Selectmen’s hands has been a “less than straightforward process.” He said that certified votes will need to be taken by both the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee before DESE will entertain giving their approval.

Committee member Jason Fraser said, “the State has not come through with its fiscal budget for 2023 yet and part of that was the continuation of remote participation in meetings until December 31, 2023. The Senate just passed a bill with just the language for remote participation, but the House has yet to take it up; the expiration for meeting remotely is this Friday until someone does something on Beacon Hill.” “We’ll have to do it one way or another,” Wilhelmsen said.

Dennett Principal Peter Veneto reported on a myriad of projects that have been ongoing at the school. Various pavement projects and roof repairs were deemed completed by Veneto. He said that they were still waiting on materials for the flooring replacement and repair of the art room and the teachers’ prep room. They are also waiting for materials to complete the door access card project as well as the intercom and bell system replacement. Signs should be going up shortly on campus to notify residents that dogs are not allowed on the premises.

Healy said she didn’t have much of an update on the playground. She did say that they were visiting the site to get the exact measurements for the rubberized mulch. She also spoke with Plympton about where they could use the excess mulch that is to be replaced by the rubberized surfacing.

Superintendent Jill Proulx asked the Committee for approval on the school calendar for next year. The main change was that all half days have been changed to a 12:30 dismissal across the entire District. “This allows for better scheduling of lunch,” Wilhelmsen explained. The Committee voted to approve the calendar as presented.

Proulx also told the Committee that Christine Marcolini would be starting as the Director of Student Support at the Dennett. She also introduced David Turcotte who will be the new Director of Human Resources for Silver Lake. Proulx said that she received a request to elaborate on the hiring process.

Proulx said that the building principal has the hiring authority though she noted they will typically have a committee that reviews applicants. Veneto said that they are interviewing for a school psychologist position to replace Marcolini. Other openings include an art position, a music position, and two kindergarten aide positions.

Plympton Selectmen to Voice Complaints about Carver to State

North Carver Redevelopment Project

The Plympton Board of Selectmen met virtually on Monday, July 11. The Selectmen discussed the possible drafting of a letter to the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) regarding issues the town is facing stemming from the North Carver Redevelopment Project. The main issue involves the reconfiguring of trailer bays near Montello St. and Heather’s Path in Plympton. Carver’s plan is currently with DHCD for approval. Joy said that she hoped that a letter would help bring the issues to the attention of the DHCD so that they could be considered in the approval of the plan.  Selectmen Mark Russo and John Traynor agreed, and Joy said that the letter would likely be sent later that week.

Plymouth County Advisory Board

The Selectmen also discussed who would be appointed to the Plymouth County Advisory Board for FY 2023. Joy said that the budget is voted in the spring and noted that there are a few meetings in other parts of the year as needed. Joy said the Board manages the parking tickets for some of the larger towns. “They often look for creative ways to help member communities,” Joy said of the Board. Traynor was chosen as the new representative with Russo listed as the alternate. Previously, Joy had been the rep.

Board Goals and Priorities

The Selectmen also discussed their goals for FY 2023 as well as their Projects and Priorities list. “It’s become kind of a catch all for all sorts of things, big and small,” Town Administrator Liz Dennehy said. She asked if the Selectmen wanted to create one or two goals with actionable steps that could be taken to achieve those goals. The Selectmen agreed to come up with some goals to be discussed during their next meeting.

“One of the concerns I’ve had is because of the open meeting law we have not been able to just sit and chat,” Traynor said. He expressed that some things are not issues that he feels should be brought up in a meeting but still need to be discussed. He posed the possibility of those kinds of issues going through Dennehy to avoid a violation of open meeting law. Traynor had previously expressed the desire to have each of the Selectmen share an update at each meeting of what issues and projects they are currently working on, but Joy and Russo had felt that it could appear to be campaigning and were not in favor of the idea.

The Selectmen all agreed that they would like to return to having different department heads attend meetings to provide an overview of what is currently going on within their department. Russo suggested that the overview be presented in writing ahead of time so that the meeting time could be used for questions and discussions regarding that submission.

Town Administrator’s Update

Dennehy said, “We’ve had a little bit of movement with that opioid settlement that town counsel had us sign onto.” She was referring to the State’s $526 million share of two national $26 billion settlements. Massachusetts’ share will be divided between the State and the municipalities which chose to sign onto the settlement.

Dennehy said that the government was moving away from a DUNs number and moving toward wanting towns to have a separate SAM.gov entity ID. Dennehy said she was cognizant of not wanting the process to delay the town receiving their second ARPA disbursement.

She also said she was working with the Fire Department to put out invitations for bids for a refurbishment of Engine 1. The funds were appropriated during town meeting two years ago.

Dennehy also said she was waiting on a couple of pending grant applications. “I haven’t heard anything yet on our most recent Green Communities Grant.” She said they were also waiting to hear about a grant for the Fire Department to obtain an ATV type vehicle.

Town Property Requests

The Selectmen fielded two use of town property requests. The first was for National Night Out on August 12 from 4:30 – 7:30 p.m. on Holt Field. The event is being organized by Library Director Mike Slawson and the Plympton Public Library. It will utilize the Town House, Library, and Police Station parking. There will be food trucks and a myriad of entertainment. “I’m excited about this, I think it is going to be a wonderful time for the town,” Traynor said.

The second request was for a wedding at the gazebo on the Town Green on August 13 at 4:30 pm. Decorations will be hung but promptly taken down following the ceremony. The Selectmen voted to approve both requests.

Selectmen’s Rants and Raves

Russo said his rave was for weddings on the Town Green and the use of town property in a “sweet and historical way.”

Traynor said that his rave was for the Plympton-Halifax Express as so many other small towns no longer have a paper.

Joy said her rave was for Russo finally figuring out the Zoom technology blip during the previous meeting.

The Halifax Board of Selectmen met in-person on Tuesday, June 28. Selectman Jonathan Selig participated via remote means.

Fireworks are ‘Rousing Success”

Selectman Alex Meade read a letter from the Halifax Fireworks Committee in which they called the event a “rousing success” and said that all vendors are interested in returning next year. The Committee thanked the Halifax Fire Department, the Halifax Police Department, the Halifax Board of Health, the CERT volunteers, the Building Department, the Maintenance Department, and several individuals. They asked the Selectmen for permission to hang a banner on the town green acknowledging the donors for a week or two so residents and visitors could see the businesses and individuals responsible for the event. The Selectmen agreed to approve the request pending a bylaw review to make sure it was allowable.

HR Services and Labor Counsel

The Selectmen had an appointment with Jack Dolan regarding staff training and HR services. Dolan previously served as labor counsel with town counsel. “I’m here tonight to review with you a proposal to continue to provide labor counsel services and also to provide what I call HR counsel on demand services,” Dolan said. He previously worked with Brooks and DeRensis but has since broken off into his own firm. He said the whole purpose of his program is to provide human resource services to a community that might not have any. Dolan said that he serves five other communities with the same program. He also previously served as a town administrator for several towns.

HR Services

“You handled a significant amount of investigations for us the beginning of last year that involved town employees and committee members, is that something that would fall under the HR?” DiSesa asked. Dolan said it would exclude anything disciplinary in nature. “I think there are a number of things you could do in Halifax to reduce the likelihood of needing investigations,” Dolan told the Selectmen. He said that the investigations revealed the need for policy changes which is something that he said he could help the town manage. “How responsive are you?” DiSesa asked. “I like to think I’m extremely responsive… if I can resolve them immediately on the phone, I do,” Dolan explained.

“I’m just confused how we went from having department heads trained to having a lawyer on retainer,” Meade said regarding the conversation. “I think the way it really came about, at least from my perspective… is that I left Brooks and DeRensis and I was their labor counsel… I worked here long enough to know there is a need for a greater HR presence than you have,” Dolan explained. “            Have we been notified by Brooks and DeRensis that they are no longer supporting labor counsel?” Meade asked. He was told that they had not. Meade said he didn’t see why there was a need to retain labor counsel if they have a town counsel that has not expressed an inability to provide that service. Dolan said he could do just HR if labor counsel was not needed. Selig said he would like to see what percentage of calls to Brooks and DeRensis were HR related last year to determine if there would be a cost savings in hiring Dolan for that purpose. The Selectmen agreed to do a bit more research before deciding whether to hire Dolan and for what purpose.

Digital board problems

The Selectmen also met with Town Clerk Susan Lawless to discuss issues with the digital board at the Town Hall. She said that she had originally been under the assumption that she would be controlling what messaging would be displayed, however, she said she is not in control of it and the information is often incorrect or out of date. DiSesa said that she would reach out to IT Director Cesar Calouro to find out what can be done to improve the messaging as well as possibly give Lawless more control over the board.

Agricultural Commission

The Selectmen met with Suzanne Emerson regarding her reappointment to the Agricultural Commission. Emerson said that she has lived in town since 2008 and has been involved with livestock and agriculture for over 42 years. She said she was instrumental in the Right to Farm that passed at town meeting in 2015. “Keep up the great work, thank you,” Selig said to Emerson. The Selectmen unanimously reappointed her.

Selectmen also met with Jeanne Kling regarding her reappointment to the Beautification Committee. Kling, who has lived in Halifax for 24 years, said she feels that after five years on the Committee she has a good understanding of how to get residents motivated to participate in clean-up days. “I’m pretty motivated and really care about the environment so I feel like it is a great way to give back to the town,” Kling said. She also said that the Committee is considering an adopt an island program like the adopt a planter one currently in place. The Selectmen voted unanimously to reappoint Kling.

Town Administrator search

DiSesa read an update regarding the search for a new Town Administrator. She said that following the reopening of the search, they had 12 new applicants who were being vetted by Bernie Lynch, who was hired to lead the search. DiSesa said that two out of the three original candidates are still interested in the position. The third candidate is a finalist for a TA position in another town. Lynch anticipates the Selectmen needing to conduct three or four interviews. “I’m excited we have some new possibilities,” Selig said.

Special Police Officers loss

DiSesa read correspondence from the Police Chief that said that the Halifax Police Department would be losing three of their most dedicated special police officers as of June 30.

He said that special legislation enacted in 2022, requires that all law enforcement officers in Massachusetts attend a full-time police academy to remain certified. “These officers have given the residents of Halifax over 55 years of dedicated and professional service,” the letter from Joao Chaves said.

Flower & Soul grand opening plans

The Selectmen’s final appointment of the evening was with Flower & Soul. They said they had a soft opening on June 17 to get their processes in place and whatnot. They asked to have a grand opening on July 9 with a rain date of July 10.

They said they wanted to have 6-10 different vendors on the grass outside the store for informational purposes. No product would be sold in those areas. The Selectmen approved the event pending the necessary sign-offs from various town departments.

The Plympton Board of Selectmen met virtually on Monday, June 27.

CERT team

Fire Captain John Sjostedt was in attendance to speak on the formation of a Regional CERT (Community Emergency Response) team. He said that seven members from Halifax and five members from Plympton have come together to form the team. “It’s just such a wonderful group of people,” Sjostedt said before thanking the various Chiefs of Police and Fire in both Halifax and Plympton for their support. He said that the team is all volunteer and that no pay is provided. “The team was deployed for their first event this past weekend at the Halifax Fireworks… we had nothing but great feedback from the Police Chief,” Sjostedt said. He said they were able to help a lost child be reunited with her father. Sjostedt said there is a $10,000 grant that is available to help with CERT team equipment and training. “I just wanted to thank Nancy publicly for her help and support,” he said of Nancy Eriksson who lent her experience to the formation of the team. Eriksson has worked in public safety for the last thirty years.

North Carver construction project

Selectmen Chair Christine Joy provided an update on the North Carver Redevelopment Project. She said that she attended meetings regarding the project on both June 6 and June 22. She said that the project will need to go back to the Department of Housing and Community Development to decide if the updates to the project are significant enough to warrant a new plan being filed.

Joy said that she expressed the town’s frustration with the intersection reconfiguration project that is not run by the RDA, but rather the Carver D.P.W. She said that she spoke with the head of the D.P.W. “It obviously has not been sorted out because there are still drivers that are not following the rules that have been setup with the access issues,” Joy said. She recommended that residents continue to call the police and asked that they not engage truck drivers and others directly. She also suggested calling P.A. Landers directly when they see the project being accessed through Plympton.

Dennett Solar project

Chair of the Plympton Elementary School Committee Jon Wilhelmsen was at the meeting to discuss the Dennett rooftop solar project. “I think we are actually close, two plus years in the making,” Wilhelmsen said of the project. “As part of this process, because it is school property, we need to get the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (DESE) approval to release the roof to the Selectmen,” he explained. He said they are still waiting for DESE’s approval to release the roof though he noted that it likely won’t be a problem. Wilhelmsen asked that the Selectmen take ownership of the roof pending the necessary approval from DESE and a satisfactory lease and purchase agreement. They voted to do so to move forward with the installation of the solar panels on the rear roof of Dennett as soon as possible.

Selectmen Appointments

The Selectmen made a few appointments. They appointed Gary Berlo as a part-time Police Officer through June 30, 2023 and Mark Derby to the Conservation Commission through June 30, 2025.

The Selectmen approved a one-day liquor license for Stellwagen Beer Company for July 9 for the Jimmy Fund and The Dana Farber Family Resource Center. The approval was granted pending approval of the necessary town departments such as Police and the Board of Health.

Gazebo use protocol

The Selectmen also fielded a request for use of the gazebo on the town green for a wedding on August 13. “The issue that has come up in the past is whether there are any insurance issues,” Selectman Mark Russo said. The Selectmen agreed to discuss the approval further at their next meeting.

Rants and Raves

The Selectmen ended the meeting with their raves. Selectman John Traynor said his rave was for Jason Fraser who spoke recently at the Library regarding the trades programs at Silver Lake. “It just really made you feel good how we are training people into jobs that pay well where you don’t necessarily have to go the college route,” Traynor said.

Russo said his rave was for the patience of all on the Zoom call that evening as they waited for the meeting to get started as there were technical difficulties.

Joy said her rave was for the Plympton girls’ soccer team who recently finished first out of 25 teams in the region. She said her second rave was for Captain Sjostedt and all the work that was done to get the CERT team up and running.

The Halifax Selectmen met in-person on the evening of June 14. There was a public hearing for earth removal for the Morse Brothers’ cranberry property. Selectman Alex Meade said, “I remember most of the residents’ concerns were about the roadway itself and dust control. Since then, we’ve had questions about runoff from the trucks so leaking hydraulics things like that. I don’t know if you plan on putting in some kind of catch basin filters in?” “Certainly, we would be willing to talk about that,” the Morse Brothers representative said.

Meade said he would like to have a clear-cut definition of what the expectations are for the road condition as well as dust control. The spokesman said that the earth removal was necessary because the current layout is not conducive to newer ways of growing cranberries. “The things that we are talking about make sense for cranberry production. If we change the property to the new way, it now becomes a highest and best use for that property… there are good things for the town, there are good things for the grower… at the end of the day, we just want to coexist,” he continued.

They showed maps of the property to the residents present for the hearing and said that they were also available at Mass Mapper under Zone 2. Residents spoke about their concerns including home depreciation and the safety of children. One resident said that they already deal with being inconvenienced in September and October but said that was just part of the cranberry business. He said, however, that this was different and would cause disruption for years. Another resident said that he worries about the environmental impact of the properties surrounding the one in question including walking trails leading into Burrage. Another resident asked that the official abutters list be expanded to include more properties. Someone else expressed concern about the ability of first responders to get through to homes given the heavy truck traffic which was described as sounding like an “earthquake.”

The Selectmen agreed to do a site visit and then revisit the project in early August. “I don’t think we are at a point in this project to vote either way,” Selectmen Chair Ashley DiSesa said.

Treatments to Monponsett Ponds

The Selectmen also spoke with Morse Brothers to discuss the treatments to the Monponsett ponds. They said that three weeks ago they completed renovations on a 9 ½ acre property that included new plantings requiring irrigation from West Monponsett Pond. They said they were notified that day that the pond had received a sonar treatment. While there is research on the effects of such a treatment on mature plants, there is no research on the effects to newly planted vegetation. They said it was of “great concern” that they weren’t notified. They said in the past they were given considerable notice from the Town Administrator. Current Interim Town Administrator Ed Thorne said that he would share information he received from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) regarding the effects on immature plantings. The Selectmen also said that they would not move forward with a second treatment to the West pond at this time. A spokesman for Morse Brothers said that they had some plants that were growing as they should and others that are not. “The UMASS Cranberry Station are very involved, Cape Cod Cranberry Growers’ Association, they are all monitoring it with us,” he said. He continued, “We are talking about infected food product, and we are talking about a systemic herbicide.”

Fire Chief Search

The Selectmen discussed the search for a new fire chief by speaking remotely with the person hired to conduct the search. They discussed the best way to form a search committee. Selectman Jonathan Selig said that he was slated to be on that committee as well as Police Chief Joao Chaves, the Interim Fire Chief, the Interim Town Administrator, and a still to be appointed citizen-at -large or two. A former Selectman, a Department Head, and the Administrative Assistant for the Fire Department were being considered for the citizen-at-large opening. The company hired to do the search will do the initial screening before sending applicants to the Search Committee for review.

Regarding the talent bank forms for the citizen-at-large, Selig said that the company conducting the search said that it wasn’t necessary for that person to be a firefighter or first responder. They said it might be best to have someone from another walk of life to round out the Committee. Selig said his recommendation would be for the Fire Department Administrative Assistant to be named to the Committee. Selig and DiSesa both said they would like to see Candace Kniffen as she was a former Selectman. Meade said, “I’m not a big fan of having the administrative assistant picking her boss.” The Selectmen voted to have Kniffen and current Library Director Jean Gallant appointed to the search Committee.

Monitoring of Town Beaches

Chief Joao Chaves met with the Selectmen to discuss the flock of both residents and non-residents to town beaches, specifically the one off of 4^th Ave. “There was a lot of back and forth on social media, some things that I wasn’t really happy with, that I was informed about that was being said… I thought to have a platform where residents can see the video, kind of know that we are trying to work this problem out, look for ideas to try and mitigate this problem before it gets any worse,” Chaves said. He said that the signage at the beach is terrible. “Some of these fixes, if the town decides to do it, are going to cost the town some money,” he added. He recommended a person stationed at the beach to monitor the use. He pointed out that young people are always looking for jobs over the summer. They are also considering an officer on a boat.

Chaves said that they have issued several parking tickets. A proposal was made to the Selectmen to increase that fee. An officer at the meeting made the distinction that the beach is open to the general public though parking is limited to Halifax residents. The Selectmen asked that the appropriate departments create a plan to deal with the issue and then present it back to them for approval.

Town Hall Rearrangement

Director of Building Maintenance Scott Materna spoke to the Selectmen regarding the plan to rearrange offices in Town Hall to make the ones most visited by the public to be on the first floor. Materna said that multiple departments were upset over the plan for various reasons. Some of the issues include vast filing cabinets stored on the second floor. Materna asked to have the Building Committee involved in the plan. Selig said he would also like to see the Department heads get together. He said he wanted people to feel that their opinions matter. “A building shuffle, personally, I don’t feel like is high on my list of priorities,” Selig said. DiSesa said it might also be best to wait until they have a new, permanent Town Administrator in place.

Fire Department Discussion

Interim Fire Chief Jeffrey Cuozzo met with the Board regarding the hiring of personnel. “Right now, we have 26 firefighters… we average over the years 31.” Cuozzo said that one of their firefighters is currently expecting and therefore in more of an administrative role at the moment. Additionally, COVID and other illnesses have left firefighters out of commission at times. “With that being said, we have shifts to be filled,” he told the Selectmen. The interim contract does not allow Cuozzo to make hires so Selig asked how they could amend that. Cuozzo said that a change didn’t need to be made contractually as the Selectmen could make the final approval. The Selectmen gave him the necessary approval to move forward with hiring up to five on-call firefighters.

Beautification Committee Appointment

The Selectmen met with Colby Silva about her application for the Beautification Committee. She told the Selectmen that she has lived in town for 10 years and would like to have a hand in making the town more beautiful. She said that herself and her children have been picking up trash for years. She was appointed to a one-year term.

Use of Town Property

The Selectmen approved the use of the town green for a Boy Scout bottle drive on Saturday, July 9, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. They also received a request for use of the town roadways for a Harbor to the Bay Bike Ride on Saturday, September 17. DiSesa said that the event hasn’t been held for the last two years due to COVID. This year would mark the twentieth year the charity event has run through the town. Both Police and Fire had previously signed off on the event. The Selectmen agreed to push the final approval off until the July meeting to iron out a few details.

Waste Management Contract

Selig said he would like to see a Committee formed to come up with a long-term solution to what he called “our trash problem.” They agreed to move further discussion on the matter to their July meeting.

Interim Treasurer/Collector

Selig made a motion to make Linda Cole the Interim Treasurer/Collector. He said, “In speaking with all of the different departments – Accounting, Treasury… it came to the conclusion that we need somebody to fill the spot especially in a regulatory way,” he said. He added that he would not want to see the new person that will become the permanent treasurer be overwhelmed by a backlog of paperwork.

Increased Police Presence at Elementary School

Selig said, “Given things today, we figured it would be nice to have a little bit more of a police presence at our Elementary School.” He said they were looking at ways to do so without sacrificing patrols in other portions of the town. Selig said they were considering splitting the position between the School and Police Departments. Chaves said that the Department still needs to review their budget before making any decisions. The Selectmen agreed to discuss the idea further at a meeting in July.

The Halifax Board of Selectmen met on Wednesday, June 8, to discuss the candidates they interviewed a week prior for the open town administrator position. They said that they had received negative feedback from the public regarding the candidates’ lack of experience. On June 1, the Selectmen interviewed Dennis Gallagher, Heather Martin-Sterling, and Ed Swartz. Gallagher is the Director of the Braintree Retirement System and has extensive experience as a town councilor and former member of the Board of Selectmen as well as Finance Committee experience. Martin-Sterling is the current Town Administrator for the town of Berkley for the last two years with previous experience as a Selectman and a background in finance. Swartz, who is in the private sector, has extensive municipal experience in the city of Taunton as a councilor. Swartz also served as Chair of the Dighton Finance Committee prior to them having a Town Administrator making him responsible for the preparation of the town budget.

Bernie Lynch, founder of Community Paradigm Associates, LLC, led the town’s search for a new town administrator. Lynch said, “To get someone that has been a town administrator or an assistant town administrator, there aren’t that many assistants out there – in this region, most of the positions have turned over. The two communities that have assistants that might have been interested and I’ll leave it at that are the assistant from Plymouth – she’s now in Bourne and the assistant from Bourne who’s now in Rochester.”

He continued, “And then in terms of town administrators that are interested in moving – part of the problem that you have is you are, you really are an entry level town administrator position. Who around here is going to move, you might get a department head, you might get a finance person, you might get a planner, but they won’t have been town administrator.”

He pointed out that one of the applicants is a current town administrator despite it only having been part-time and with a couple of years’ experience. “Over the last 5 or 6 years, two-thirds of the communities in Massachusetts have turned over their town administrators; that’s a shocking amount,” Lynch said. He told the Selectmen, “That’s what you’re up against.” He explained that it was the reason they are now faced with some “unconventional” candidates.

Lynch said that if they were to open the search once again, he would need a clearer picture of what they were requesting in terms of qualifications. “I don’t want to speak negatively of the three candidates; I thought they all had pluses to them. The things that I’m kind of hoping we might find – a little bit more grant experience and then certified procurement. I don’t know if those are unicorns right now but those were kind of the two areas where I hoped we might have candidates with a little more experience,” Selectman Jonathan Selig said. Lynch said, “I was a manager for thirty years, I was never MCPPO [Massachusetts Certified Public Purchasing Official].” Current interim Town Administrator Ed Thorne said that he never was either. To answer Lynch’s original question regarding what qualifications they were looking for, all three Selectmen said that they would be fine with the previous experience being that of an assistant town administrator.

Selectman Alex Meade asked how many original candidates there were prior to them being whittled down to three. Lynch said that originally there were 25 candidates of which the Tier Two included a Veteran’s Agent, a Fire Chief, a Finance Committee member, an Environmental Planner, and a Community Development Director. The top tier candidates were the three brought in for interviews.

Lynch asked the Selectmen, “How open are you to increasing the salary?” Meade asked, “What percentage do you think would be fair to draw more qualified applicants?” Lynch said that while there were no guarantees, he felt that increasing to $140,000 to $150,000 might help.

The Selectmen discussed opening the search back up again that night, June 8, for two weeks with a proposed date of July 13 for interviews. “I’m really going to have some remorse if we are sitting here on July 13 and now we are down to two candidates,” Meade said referencing the possibility of one of the current three candidates dropping out of contention. DiSesa said that the Board could elect to choose one of the three candidates currently on the table. Selig said, “Again, I don’t want to speak poorly of our candidates because I think they are all qualified candidates, was there a candidate that checks all the boxes and was a slam dunk, in my opinion, no. Who’s to say the people we bring in are going to check all our boxes so you’re rolling the dice but let’s say we find someone who does.” Selig asked how common it is for a community to repost after being unhappy with a set of candidates. Lynch called it “relatively rare.” The Selectmen officially voted to reopen the search as discussed.

Covid Leave policy

The Selectmen also discussed an updated COVID leave policy. “The question is are we as the town, or as the Selectmen, going to continue with the policy… now that the town isn’t being reimbursed,” DiSesa said referring to the practice of paying employees who are out sick with COVID.

“I don’t want to sound crass, and I care about the people that work for this town but if we aren’t being reimbursed for it than it shouldn’t be on our shoulders, if that’s the State policy,” Meade said. The Selectmen were in favor of ending the policy that allowed town employees to be paid without using their sick time when out with COVID.

Town Accountant Sandra Nolan said that she felt that employees shouldn’t have to use their sick time if they were exposed and told by a department head to go home. The Selectmen agreed that they saw both sides of the argument but that the financial burden to the town to continue the policy would be too great. They voted to end the policy.