“We have a hole outside.” This is what Dennett School Committee Chair Jon Wilhelmsen said to indicate that the water treatment project at Dennett Elementary School is underway.

At the last school committee meeting on June 25, Principal Peter Veneto said the company they hired was at the school on June 23.

Veneto described their progress. He said, “They basically have punched through the building so that whatever is going to be coming out, I’m essentially calling it a drain pipe…to get the material from out of the building into the drywell.”

In addition to this construction work, Wilhelmsen said the needed piping equipment has arrived. He said they just need the plumber to install it.

Playground Update

Committee Vice Chair Jason Fraser updated the committee on the new playground project. He said options are still being explored, but some of the searching for playground consulting did slow down.

Fraser said the committee is still on schedule with trying to make progress over the summer and to have project details finalized by the September/October deadline. Veneto and Fraser plan to do another site visit to get more detailed plans down.

Nancy White from Playground Inspections of New England, LLC Fraser said, continues to reach out to the committee on a regular basis.

Education Stability Update

Silver Lake Regional Assistant Superintendent Jill Proulx went over the results from the school district’s education stability review with the school committee.

The education stability review assessed the school district’s effectiveness working with students in unique situations including homelessness, students in foster care, and students with family members in the military.

Proulx identified two areas the district needs to work on regarding these specific groups: policy and staff training.

As far as new policies, Proulx said the district is waiting for recommendations from the state. With staff training, they are in the preparation process. According to Proulx, there are some uncertainties, but she believes they are ready.

Proulx said, “That’s not something we’ve done in the past. It’s something we’ve done with select staff, but not the entire staff.”

Principal’s Update

Principal Veneto said the school year finished with strong enrollment at 206 students. He also expects the kindergarten class next year to grow to 32-33 students.

Other News

• Silver Lake Regional Technology Director Steve Pellowe got the phones at Dennett Elementary back up and running. The old system was no longer working, so part of the new system was installed. Veneto said, “We basically have the skeleton of what the new system is going to look like in place right now.”

• PAC finalized paraprofessional contracts for the next three years.

The next Dennett School Committee meeting is July 16 at 5 p.m.

PLYMPTON – Monday, July 9, Plympton selectmen met for approximately 35 minutes to execute a short summer agenda.

• Steven Fennell, Stephen Galambos, Leah Marshall (who wasn’t present) and Tyler Potrykus were all sworn in by the board as call firefighters. The young group of new firefighters came with family and friends for the exciting celebration, and the selectmen expressed enthusiasm to see new, youthful firefighters joining the force.

• The board declared PFD Engine 3 surplus, at the request of Fire Management Consultant Chief Lance Benjamino. The 2008 GMC C5500 Danko Mini Pumper has served Plympton well over the past 10 years, according to a memo by Benjamino, but, “no longer fits into the Plympton Fire Department’s response plan.” A firefighter with the department noted after the meeting that the engine barely fits into the firehouse.

• Elizabeth Dennehy, Town Administrator, announced that the Town is seeking to hire a permanent fire chief, with an Aug. 17 deadline for applications and hopefully narrowed down to two or three names by September. Fire Management Consultant Chief Lance Benjamino will be assisting the town with the process.

• Robert Karling, in a memo to the board, respectfully declined a one-month appointment as the Zoning Enforcement Officer. Karling had been the town’s ZEO for a decade.  Tom Millias,  current Building Inspector, will fill that position on a temporary basis until a permanent ZEO is hired.

• Selectmen approved 30 hours of Town Counsel time for the Zoning Board of Appeals, which is currently dealing with several complex cases.

• Devang and Manisha Patel were granted a liquor license for the package store and convenience component of Plympton Gas & Convenience, which they lease. The gas station component is operated by a different owner. Minimal to no changes are expected in the operations of the store, according to the applicants. The hearing lasted less than 10 minutes.

• The board will next meet Monday, July 16, at 6 p.m. in the large meeting room of the Town House. A hearing regarding the Atwood property and the town’s first right of refusal will take place at that meeting.

Photos by Abram Neal

The Silver Lake Regional School Committee voted to explore whether or no cuts from capital planning are possible in order to install new lights at the football field. The entire June 28 meeting was dedicated solely to finding out if this funding is possible.

Silver Lake Girls Basketball Coach Olly DeMacedo made a proposal to try to eliminate roughly $200,000 of the light’s cost.

DeMacedo works for Boston Sand and Gravel and runs several of its companies outside the city. One of those businesses is Plympton-based Lawrence Ready Mix. He said his company will donate all the concrete and labor to erect the lights.

DeMacedo said, “I’m here on behalf of our community to try to make it happen one more time.”

After the donated concrete and labor, DeMacedo proposed it would cost the school district about $180,000 to buy the lights. He said he’d rather see the school buy the lights instead of leasing them.

DeMacedo said, “They’re legitimate 80 foot poles, galvanized steel, they’ll be here a long time.”

Part of why he believes it’s a good idea to buy the lights now is because, DeMacedo predicts, the price of steel will go up over the next few years.

Other positive reasons DeMacedo provided include:

• All the old infrastructure from the previous lights is already installed in the ground.

• The LED lighting will save the school money compared to the previous lights the field sued to have.

• No disruptions need to be made to the playing surface during installation.

If the School Committee were to take a vote soon, DeMacedo said he can get the lights up before the high school’s first football game on September 7.

Other Funding Sources

Two other funding sources were discussed during the meeting. They include additional funding in next year’s state budget and crowdsourcing from a Go Fund Me page.

DeMacedo’s brother State Senator Vincent DeMacedo discussed a potential way to give back possibly $75,000 of the funds next year. Senator DeMacedo said he could have tried for this year if he had known about this sooner, but the earmark for this year’s budget has already closed.

He said he will try to file an amendment for it to pass next year, which he thinks it probably would, although there is no guarantee.

Silver Lake teacher Stephanie Ritchie said a Go Fund Me page is up to try to help fundraise for the lights. She said the best way to raise more money is with word of mouth awareness.

Ritchie said, “Contact the circles of people you know because we all have circles of people.”

Coach DeMacedo also plans to do fundraising with the boosters. He hopes to get at a minimum $15,000 but thinks $25,000 is a better number to aim for.

Committee Discussion

School Committee member Jason Frasier asked Coach DeMacedo what the plan would be as far as a timeline if the committee were to approve a transfer from capital planning.

Coach DeMacedo said installation would take three to four weeks, but some other logistics might take time. He said he would start drafting the RFP for going out to bid tomorrow.

Several committee members acknowledged making this transfer would be difficult because it would mean a cut from another pressing area of need.

Frasier said some of the things currently funded under capital planning include funding to make the administrative building handicapped accessible and fixing water damage at the middle school and elementary schools.

“The money is going to come from somewhere and it’s going to hurt,” Frasier said.

A transfer from the operating budget was also discussed, but Frasier said taking from the operating budget would affect teacher salaries.

Superintendent Joy Blackwood said the cleanest cut might come from not getting the Kubota for snow removal. Others mentioned this opens the potential to need outside contracting for snow removal and that would affect the operating budget.

Prior to the Silver Lake School Committee’s July 12 meeting, they will reconvene as the Safety Facilities Fee and Revenues Committee to explore items that could potentially be cut from the capital plan to raise $80,000 for the lighting. The vote was unanimous.

A Whitman man has been indicted on charges that he was operating under the influence of alcohol when he caused a crash that killed a Carver man, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz announced June 22.

A Plymouth County Grand Jury returned indictments against Alec Dowie (DOB: 09/15/66) of Whitman, charging him with one count each of Manslaughter by Motor Vehicle and Operating Under the Influence, third offense. He will be arraigned in Brockton Superior Court on the charges at a later date.

On February 6, 2018 at 6:45 p.m., Halifax Police and Fire responded to the area of 38 Monponsett Street for a report of a two-car crash. Upon arrival, police found a 2018 Dodge Challenger operated by Dowie, had crossed into oncoming traffic and collided with a 2005 Honda CRV operated by Richard March (DOB: 08/08/39) of Carver. Both operators were transported from the crash scene for treatment of their injuries. March was taken to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston where he succumbed to his injuries just after 9 p.m. that same night.

Halifax Police contacted State Police Detectives with the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office and an investigation commenced with the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department BCI and State Police CARS Unit. The investigation found that Dowie had a Blood Alcohol Content Level of 0.084 and Dowie tested positive for Fentanyl, Heroin, Cocaine and Opiates in his system. Dowie told investigators that he took a Percocet prior to the crash.

Assistant District Attorney Russell Eonas is prosecuting the case, which was investigated by State Police Detectives assigned to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office, Halifax Police, the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department BCI and State Police CARS Unit.

Plympton Fire and Police departments responded to Lake Street in the area of Cranberry Knoll Tuesday at approximately 6:20 p.m., when a bicyclist was struck by a motor vehicle driven by Elizabeth Hanson of Plympton.

The 47-year old Whitman man was Medflighted from the Silver Lake football field to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.  His injuries did not appear to be life threatening.

While the accident remains under investigation, Hansonmay be cited for negligent operation of a motor vehicle.

Kingston Fire Department also assisted with the incident.

One male occupant was transported to the hospital following a house fire at 30 Oak Place in Halifax on Wednesday.

The home was fully involved with flames when first responders arrived and was still smoldering, reduced to a charred shell, as homeowner Tia O’Meara arrived.

She was visibly distraught as Fire Chief Jason Viveiros and Police Chief Theodore Broderick spoke to her in the neighbor’s yard.

The home, on the edge of Crystal Lake, is approximately 2000 feet off Plymouth Street.

Hose lines were stretched and connected to reach the fire hydrants and get water on the flames.

As of press time on Thursday, the cause of the fire remains under investigation by  the State Fire Marshal’s office.

Justin Douglas Kilburn, 29, of Kingston, plead not guilty as he was arraigned at Brockton District Court on Wednesday, June 6, charged with one count of motor vehicle manslaughter by operating under the influence of alcohol and motor vehicle homicide by OUI in the fatal crash May 10 that took the life of Diane Giordani, 52, of Plympton, and her German Shepherd dog “Blitz”.

Kilburn reportedly turned himself in to State Police, Norwell, Tuesday afternoon where he was arrested.  Following a dangerousness hearing, Kilburn remains in custody, held on $50,000 cash bail, with the condition that if he were to be released on bail, he would be required to wear a GPS monitoring bracelet, be confined to his home, not drive, and have no contact with the victim’s family.  The prosecutor had requested a $100,000 bail with those same conditions.  As of noon yesterday, Kilburn remained in custody.

It was reported that Kilburn tested 1.7 blood alcohol level at the time of the crash, more than twice the legal Massachusetts limit of .08.

Shortly after 6 p.m., Thursday, May 10, Giordani, who was driving a black 2015 Nissan Xterra east on Route 106, was hit head-on by a white 2005 Ford F-150 pickup truck driven by Kilburn.

Kilburn was ejected from his truck through the passenger window, landing in the road, suffering major injuries.  He was Medflighted to Rhode Island Hospital trauma center.

The head-on impact toppled Giordani’s SUV onto the driver’s side, trapping her and her German Shepherd “Blitz” inside.  County Road neighbors ran to assist, trying to get Giordano and her dog out of the SUV.  Both died at the scene. Plympton Fire/EMS, Halifax Police and Fire, and Middleboro Fire departments were all at the scene to extricate Giordani from the wreckage and extinguish a fire in the pickup truck.

Several witness accounts, including a closed circuit TV recording, agree that Kilburn was driving at a high rate  ofspeed when he crossed into the opposite lane and struck Giordani’s vehicle head-on.

Both vehicles were towed to the State Police barracks in Middleboro, where the case remains under investigation by State Police detectives with the CARS Unit and Crime Scene Services.

Shortly after 6 p.m., Thursday, May 10, Giordani, who was driving a black 2015 Nissan Xterra east on Route 106, was hit head-on by a white 2005 Ford F-150 pickup truck driven by Kilburn.

Kilburn had been ejected from his truck through the passenger window, landing in the road, suffering major injuries.  He was Medflighted to Rhode Island Hospital trauma center.

The head-on impact toppled Giordani’s SUV onto the driver’s side, trapping her and her German Shepherd “Blitz” inside.  County Road neighbors ran to assist, trying to get Giordano and her dog out of the SUV.  Both died at the scene, according to reports.

Plympton Police, Fire/EMS, Halifax Police and Fire, and Middleboro Fire departments were all at the scene to extricate Giordani from the wreckage and extinguish a fire in the pickup truck.

Both vehicles were towed to the State Police barracks in Middleboro, where the case remains under investigation.

A fatal head-on crash in Plympton took the life of a Sheffield Park woman following a horrific collision near 56 County Road just after 6 p.m. Thursday night, May 10.

The accident involving a pickup truck claimed the life of Diane Giordani, 52, of Sheffield Park who was driving a Nissan sport utility vehicle.

The operator of the pickup truck, Justin Kilburn, 29, who was reportedly ejected from his truck, was transported to Rhode Island Hospital trauma center via medical helicopter for treatment of his injuries.  Kilburn was listed in “good” condition, according to Rhode Island Hospital on Wednesday.

Plympton Police Chief Patrick Dillon told the Express that the State Police will be seeking charges against Kilburn, who is known to police, once their accident reconstruction report is complete.  He did note that alcohol was found at the scene.

Dillon was angry that this tragedy was one that in his opinion was “certainly preventable.”  Giordani’s dog, her German shepherd ‘Blitz’, also was killed in the crash.

“Society pays the price every day for people’s stupidity,” Dillon continued.

Neighbors gathered outside their homes before noon on Friday along the busy stretch of road and spoke with the Express.

A resident who did not want to give her name but lives directly across from the crash was visibly upset as she told how she and others tried to save the woman.

Several neighbors ran from their homes with fire extinguishers and tried to put flames out which were visible on the front hood of the pickup truck, according to first re-

Thursday, April  26, the Plympton Public Library hosted Daffodil Daze, a presentation  by local gardener Jane Schulze of Main Street.  Jane introduced the audience to the many types of daffodils she has growing in her garden, how to keep these bulbs happy and coming back to her garden for many years.  All participants were invited to bring home a daffodil bouquet.

Photos by Kathy Kierstead

Jane Schulze, Plympton gardener, shows Brenda Traynor the difference between the various types of blooms.

Debbie Batson, library director, left, looks on as a participant chooses daffodils for a beautiful bouquet to bring home.

Potential candidates are lining up to fill the open seat that will be left by State Rep. for the 12^th Plymouth District, Thomas J. Calter, as he steps down to accept the position of Town Administrator for Kingston.

As of Wednesday morning, Summer Schmalling, Halifax School Committee chairman, and Joseph Truschelli from Plymouth, both Republicans, have drawn nomination papers.  Democrats Daniel Zotos from Halifax, R Lindsay Wilson, II, from Kingston and Kathy LaNotra, a Kingston selectman, have declared their intentions, according to the Secretary of State’s Elections office. Candidates have until Tuesday, May 1, to return nomination papers with at least 150 signatures of registered voters, to secure a place on the primary ballot.  That election will be held Tuesday, Sept. 4.

There will not be a special election to fill the position.  The seat will remain vacant until the November election.  Calter told his constituents his office will remain open and his staff in place to handle their concerns.  They will be helped by Rep. Josh Cutler, D-Duxbury; Rep. Mathew Muratore, R-Plymouth, and Sen. Vinne deMacedo, R-Plymouth.

Kingston selectmen voted last week 4-1 to give the job of town administrator to Calter.  After negotiating a contract with the town, Calter announced that he would accept the position.

Calter told his constituents he will work through the budget hearings this week to support those articles that affect his region.  He has not, however, announced the date he will leave the Statehouse or the date he will begin in Kingston.

Kingston will be a short commute for Calter who has made his home in that town for many years. “My wife and I raised our children here,” Calter said.

He held the seat of Representative to the 12^th Plymouth District, serving the towns of Kingston, Plympton, Halifax, part of Plymouth, Duxbury, and Middleboro, since 2006.