Plympton selectmen received two letters of resignation at their Monday night meeting:  Irving Butler, who had served on the Planning Board for a number of years, and also from Christine Maiorano, Council on Aging director, both effective immediately.

Maiorano noted in her letter to selectmen that she would be retiring to Cape Cod, where costs are much lower, as soon as her Brook St. home is sold.  Maiorano has served the Town of Plympton in many arenas, including as president and treasurer of the Plympton Garden Club, president and treasurer of the Plympton Historical Society, and director of the Council on Aging.  With each  endeavor she left the position in better condition.  She was the driving force behind making the Historical Society building handicap accessible with a wheelchair ramp, handicap accessible bathrooms and a chair lift to the second floor.   She also wrote the grants to get insulation into the building and lower the heating costs that are borne by the Historical Society.

Maiorano told selectmen in her letter she will be available to help make the transition as smooth as possible.   

Butler is also a member of the Community Preservation Committee, a position that he wishes to continue, and has worked as a volunteer with the Fire Department since he moved to town more than 40 years ago.  At the age of 84, Butler felt that he had to slow down and chose to serve on only one board going forward.

Both Butler and Maiorano were praised for their exceptional service and will be missed.

In other business, Rob Vautrinot, engineer, brought engineering reports to selectmen regarding the gravel permit on Ring Road, owned by Jeff Randall, that has lapsed.

Vautrinot explained that the former engineer who was handling the project for Randall passed away in October and Vautrinot has just taken over.  “What there is now is several piles of stuff.”   The sand is too fine to be used, except for footing in a riding arena, according to Vautrinot.   Colleen Thompson, chairman, told the board that the bogs will be planted without deeper excavation, as they will be “dry picked” and don’t need to be as deep.   The board will leave the discussion of the details of the permit to Zoning Enforcement Agent Bob Karling.

Bylaw Review Committee

Selectman John Traynor told his board that there are four citizens who have expressed an interest in the new Bylaw review committee and that three of the four are all members of the Board of Health.  “I would like to see a broader diversity,” Traynor said, and encouraged any Plympton resident who is interested in serving the community and likes an attention to detail, to contact Briggette Martin, secretary to the selectmen at 781-585-2700.   Traynor told the board he had contacted an acquaintance in the Department of Revenue to see if they could offer any assistance in bylaw review.  Traynor was told that the DOR does send a team out to give a presentation to the town to show how other communities have approached bylaw review and to offer suggestions.  “So they would point us in the right direction; give advice but not actually review our bylaws,” Selectperson Christine Joy said.  Thompson said she did not see an issue with having three members of the board of health, each of whom came from a different background: building, newspaper, and a person who has served on many different boards in Plympton.  “I would rather see a few more people on the bylaw committee,” Traynor said.

Regionalization

Exploration

Traynor also told the board that in response to selectmen’s stated interest in exploring regionalization, Fire Chief Warren Borsari has contacted fire chiefs in surrounding towns of Middleborough and Halifax.  Traynor said he thought that protocol would require the Plympton selectmen contact the Halifax board and then the chiefs would confer.  “If state money is coming to regionalization as it came to the regionalization of the high school, then it makes sense,” Traynor said.

   Joy said that she felt that Plympton Selectmen should write to all surrounding towns’ boards of selectmen to indicate our interest in exploring regionalization.  She also said that Plympton should reach out to Old Colony Planning Council for their assistance.  “We have a grant,” Joy said, for OCPC to help us look at regionalization opportunities.

   Selectmen will next meet Nov. 28 at 6 p.m.

While most of the Commonwealth dealt with four questions on their ballot, the Town of Halifax added a fifth.

“Shall the Town of Halifax be allowed to exempt from the provisions of proposition two and one-half, so-called, the amounts required to pay for the bond issued in order to pay for the repairs, renovations and expansion of the Council on Aging Center/Pope’s Tavern including the payment of all costs incidental or related thereto?”

The Halifax Board of Selectmen placed this question on the ballot in the event a future Town Meeting approves borrowing money for the renovation and addition to the Council on Aging Center/Pope’s Tavern but makes funding for the project contingent upon approval of a debt exclusion (an approved debt exclusion allows the Town to pay a particular debt with an increase in taxes above and beyond the normal levy limit). If this question was not placed on the November 8 ballot and a future Town Meeting approved borrowing the money contingent upon the debt exclusion, another election, at additional cost, would have had to be held.

Where Question 5 failed, 2227 voting No and only 1869 in favor, Halifax voters will not have the option of using a Proposition two and one half, so called, debt exclusion as a funding mechanism.

A future Town Meeting when this project will be presented, will have several options for funding, but will no longer have the option of debt exclusion.

The approval or disapproval of Question 5 simply provided or eliminated an option for funding the project.

PLYMPTON – Fire Chief Warren Borsari appeared before the Board of Selectmen Monday night to share his vision of the Plympton Fire Department and outline some of the challenges he and his department are currently facing.

The greatest challenge, Borsari told the board, is staffing for the ambulance: Currently we have two round the clock  personnel at the station, PB service, which is a paramedic and a basic EMT for each 12-hour shift.   Since the Commonwealth’s more stringent regulations in certifying paramedics, fewer pass the test and there are fewer paramedics “in the pool,” Borsari told selectmen.  “Over 80% of what we do is ambulance runs.”

Borsari told the board that he is required to have 24-hours a day or the state will pull our license.

Selectman Christine Joy asked the chief if the ambulance service is paying for itself now.  Chief Borsari answered  “No.  We just don’t have the call volume.” Borsari said that they were attempting to bring the volume up through mutual aid calls from nearby towns.  “All towns attempt to handle their own calls, and then call mutual aid when needed,” he said.  Borsari estimated that Plympton’s call volume would crack 600 this year.

The ambulance receipts account, which was set up in the early 2000s, has grown each year, from $150,000 in 2014, to $198,000 in 2015, and is at $182,000 with two months left to go in 2016.  The chief praised the new ComStar system of billing: the medics come back from an ambulance run, complete their call sheet in the computer, and the information is sent to ComStar where a bill is generated.

EMTs, paramedics, ambulance equipment, lease payments,  medicines and ambulance supplies, can all be taken from that account, which would help the overall levy on Plympton real estate taxes.

Borsari told the board he was looking at several things in bringing a high level of ambulance services to Plympton.  Outsourcing, he said, would cost the town $400,000 to $500,000 per year and the service provider would take all the ambulance receipts as well.

Regionalization is an area to be investigated, as it would increase our asset base. “We are making contact with all four towns around us,” Borsari told selectmen.

Chief Borsari also noted that he is looking to Citizens for Citizens, a group which provides senior citizens who would like to work, the opportunity to work at the Plympton Fire Station about 20 hours a week to answer phones, and do other office work.

The Chief will return to selectmen in about a month, to report further.

In other business

• Selectmen are putting out an invitation to Plympton citizens who would like to take on the task of reviewing Plympton’s bylaws to see if any need updating.  Interested persons should contact the secretary to the selectmen, Brigitte Martins, at 781-585-2700.

• Kopelman & Paige attorneys were the only applicants to submit a bid for the job as town counsel.  The board is considering several of the pricing options that K&P has offered.

• The gravel removal permit on Ring Road has lapsed and despite several efforts to contact the applicant, there has been no response.  The board has sent a letter that the permit has expired as of Oct. 27, and to cease all gravel removal until a new permit is granted.

• Former Planning Board member Dominique Sampson has agreed to fill out the term of Planning Board chairman Irv Butler who would like to resign.  The Nov. 14 meeting of the Planning Board will see those votes taken.

• Treasurer/Collector Colleen Morin sent a letter to selectmen saying that her department is adopting the same every other week schedule as selectmen, that many Monday evenings when selectmen are not meeting, she is open but has had not one person come in.

• Plympton selectmen will next meet   Monday, Nov. 14.

In Halifax, included on the election ballot for the November 8 election, along with the four state-wide referenda (additional slot-machine parlor, charter schools, regulation for raising farm animals, marijuana legalization), is one specific to Halifax. It reads as follows:

Shall the Town of Halifax be allowed to exempt from the provisions of proposition two and one-half, so-called, the amounts required to pay for the bond issued in order to pay for the repairs, renovations and expansion of the Council on Aging Center/Pope’s Tavern including the payment of all costs incidental or related thereto?

The Halifax Board of Selectmen placed this question on the ballot in case a future Town Meeting approves borrowing money for the renovation and addition to the Council on Aging Center/Pope’s Tavern but makes funding for the project contingent upon approval of a debt exclusion (an approved debt exclusion allows the Town to pay a particular debt with an increase in taxes above and beyond the normal levy limit).

If this question was not placed on the November 8 ballot and a future Town Meeting approved borrowing the money contingent upon the debt exclusion, another election, at additional cost, would have had to be held.

The approval or disapproval of this question is not the same as approving or disapproving this project.

That will be a decision made by a future Town Meeting.

That Town Meeting will have several options for funding including other sources of funding along with borrowing and can decide to have the borrowing contingent on a debt exclusion or to have the borrowing paid for within the levy limit.

1) If I vote “yes” on Question 5, does that mean I am approving the project?

“No”

2) If I vote “no” on Question 5, does that mean I am disapproving the project?

“No”

3) If Question 5 is approved, does that mean that the project is approved?

“No”

4) If Question 5 is disapproved, does that mean that the project is disapproved? “No”

The approval or disapproval of Question 5 simply provides or eliminates an option for funding the project.         Approval or disapproval of the project will be subject to a vote at a Special Town Meeting late this fall or early this winter.

If you have any questions about Question 5, please contact the Halifax Selectmen’s Office at 781-294-1316.

Funeral services will be held Monday, Oct. 24, for Kevin Michael Reed, Jr., 25, of East Bridgewater formerly of Halifax, who died in a tragic automobile accident Sunday, Oct. 16, on South St., Halifax. The passenger in Reed’s vehicle, Michael Ambrose, was transported to South Shore Hospital.  The driver of the other vehicle was Daniel Norvish of Halifax.  He was transported to Brockton Hospital.

The  two-car accident remains under investigation, according to Chief Ted Broderick.

Born in Brockton in 1991, Kevin was the first son of Kevin Reed, Sr. and Karen (Reid) Reed of Halifax, and graduated from Silver Lake High School with the Class of 2009.

Kevin spent the next seven years working at the Reed HVAC business with his father and brothers.

Kevin was the fiance for eight years to Violet Vargas and the future brother-in-law of Vinny Vargas of Halifax. Kevin and Violet together lived in East Bridgewater. They enjoyed concerts and trips together, with their favorite destination being Maine with family. Kevin also enjoyed watching endless Bruins and Cowboys games with his father and brothers and had many heartfelt moments fishing with his Mom, Karen. These are just some examples of the things that made Kevin the “Giant Teddy Bear” that everyone loved.

In addition to his parents Kevin and Karen and his fiancé Violet, he is survived by his siblings Austin and Kyle Reed of Halifax and Paul Francis Hart, Jr., of Holbrook; his maternal grandparents, Janet Reid of East Bridgewater and the late Harry Reid; his paternal grandparents, Kenneth and Barbara Jones “love you squeaks” of East Bridgewater; his aunts and uncles, Harry and Sharon Reid of Palm Coast, FL, Kim Ferranti of Holbrook, Robert Reid of Randolph, Kristen Reid Pauze (KeKe) of Carver, Kerry Reid of East Bridgewater, John Pauze of Hanson, Brenda Ambrose of West Bridgewater, Kenneth and Susan Reed of East Bridgewater, Brent and Susan Bratti of East Bridgewater, Kenneth and Ann Jones of Abington, and Michael J. (Mikey) Forni, Jr of Halifax; his cousins, Daniel Ambrose, Jr., Michael Ambrose, Allyson Arseneau, Meghan Bratti, Emma Bratti, Haleigh Reed, Sherry Cotnoir, Harry Vangelist, Daniel Bushi, Cody Pauze, Kayla Ferranti, Macy Reid, McKenzie Pauze, Samantha Reid and Brent VonMagnus. He is also survived by many loving friends, including the “Four Quarters,” Vinny Vargas, Danny Ambrose, Paul Hart and Chief.

His funeral service will be held Monday, Oct. 24, at 10 a.m. in the Blanchard Funeral Chapel, Plymouth St., Rte. 58 at the rotary circle, Whitman. Burial will follow in St. James Cemetery, Whitman. Visitation will be held Sunday Oct. 23, from 2 -6 p.m.

Facing the No. 1 ranked team in the state, the Duxbury Dragons, the Silver Lake High School football team had an opportunity to prove themselves as the top team on the South Shore. And while it was tightly contested for much of the first half, the Lakers unraveled late and fell, 55-14. With the loss, they fall to 4-1 while the Dragons improve to 5-0.

After fumbling, the Lakers surrendered the first score of the game. But they responded quickly. Quarterback Alex Snell’s 5-yard touchdown rush lit the scoreboard on the Lakers side, making it a 7-6 game (the Lakers’ extra point attempt was blocked).

With 4:51 remaining in the first half, a 7-yard touchdown run by Phil Lashley  put the Lakers a field goal away from taking the lead. They trailed, 14-12 at the time.

After Lashley’s touchdown, the Dragons began pulling away. Their potent air raiding offense clicked as they threw 45-yard and 70-yard touchdown passes before the end of the half, going into the locker room with a 16-point lead.

The Dragons played stout defense in the second half, preventing the Lakers offense from scoring again. The Lakers only second half score came on special teams — a blocked PAT attempt returned for two points, cutting the Dragons lead to 34-14.

Towards the end of the second half, both teams got their second units on the field.

With the win, it appears as though the Dragons will likely win the league title, although both sides do have two league games remaining. To win the league title, the Lakers would need the Dragons to lose both of their next two league games. This includes one against a winless Quincy Presidents squad next Friday night, who has allowed over 40 points per game this season and has scored just two touchdowns in five games — and zero against opposing team’s first units. The Lakers beat the Presidents, 40-7, earlier this season.

While a league title now appears unlikely, the Lakers are still in position for a high playoff seeding — which would likely result in home playoff games.

Their next game, a home game, is this Saturday at 3:00 p.m. against Plymouth North, a team who has yet to win a league game this season.

And the following Friday, the Lakers close out their league action at home against the Whitman-Hanson Panthers (7:00 p.m. start time). Like the Lakers, the Panthers lone defeat this season came against Duxbury.

HALIFAX — Area residents filled the Great Hall of the Halifax Town Hall for a Water in Distress forum sponsored by Rep. Thomas J. Calter, D-Kingston, and Rep. Josh S. Cutler, D-Duxbury, Saturday, Sept. 24.

The standing-room-only crowd came to hear the many facets of the water situation, with Cathy Drinan, health agent for Halifax and Plympton, also representing the Monponsett Pond Watershed Association; Marianne Moore, Executive Secretary of the Monponsett Watershed Association; Jack O’Leary of Plympton, Chairman of the newly activated Central Plymouth County Water Commission, and Pine DuBois, Executive Chairman of the Jones River Watershed Association.

Calter began with an overview of the emergency legislation during a drought in 1964 that allowed Brockton to increase the level of Silver Lake, which has supplied Brockton with water since 1899. To do this, West Monponsett Lake would be dammed at Stump Brook, its natural outfall to the Taunton River, to force the water to flow backwards, through East Monponsett Lake, then to Silver Lake. This unnatural flow appears to be a major component in the stagnation of West Monponsett and the algae bloom of toxic cyanobacteria. Coupled with the huge increases in water demand by Brockton over the five decades since 1964, damage to West Monponsett Lake may be nearing irreversible, he said

Calter said he wanted to bring together people who know the science behind the situation so a solution can be found.  Two Brockton city councilors also attended to learn about the concerns of Halifax, Hanson, and Pembroke citizens. Calter introduced Councilor at-Large Winthrop Farwell, Jr., and Ward 6 Councilor John Lally as friends of the negotiations.

Cutler, whose district includes Pembroke and Hanson told the assembly, we are all neighbors.  “We want to find a solution we can all live with,” he said.

Health Agent Cathy Drinan cited the the measures that the Town of Halifax has taken to reduce phosphates in West Monponsett Pond which feed the  cyanobacteria. 

Septic systems within 100 feet of the Lake must undergo complete Title V certification each year, cranberry growers have reduced the amount of fertilizer applied to the bogs when runoff goes into the lake; for cranberry growers to fertilize their bogs when the sluice gate is open to allow runoff to flow back to the Taunton River and not into the West Pond. Drinan outlined the grants she and the town of Halifax have applied for and received to treat West Pond with alum to bind with the phosphates and make them unusable as food for the toxic bacteria. DEP this year recommended a heavy alum treatment that will cost more than $400,000. The City of Brockton would need to contribute to the cost in order to make that happen, Drinan told the group.

Marianne Moore, who lives on the shores of East Monponsett Pond, is the executive secretary of the Monponsett Watershed Association, asked those present to become more active and aware, because even a small number of people can be heard, and legislators were very cooperative and eager to hear and help.

“Until four years ago, I had lived my busy little life – why would these legislators want to listen to me?” Moore said. “We reached out to them and they came to us — these four little people from Halifax. I believe the problem can be fixed.  I hope you all will become a little more active, more aware, of the active issues and try to keep moving the issue forward.”

Jack O’Leary, Chairman of the Central Plymouth County Water District Commission formed in 1964 encompasses eight communities: Brockton, East Bridgewater, Whitman, Hanson, Pembroke, Kingston, Halifax, and Plympton, to preserve the pre-existing recreational uses of the ponds … hunting, fishing, swimming, boating.

O’Leary has educated himself on the dangers of cyanobacteria and their toxicity.   

“What they are,” O’Leary said, “are single celled organisms mid-way between plant and animal.” 

They have some chlorophyll in them so they react to sunlight by blooming and they are present everywhere, in every pond. It’s when they “bloom” and grow uncontrollably, and reach cell counts above 70,000 cells per milliliter, that they reach what the DEP considers to be toxic or harmful to humans. 

O’Leary told the audience that stagnant water is a prime factor in cyanobacteria bloom.  He furthered that taking too much water from the ponds and reversing the flow of water from West Monponsett Pond leaves many areas in West Pond virtually stagnant, encouraging the algae bloom. If Brockton reduced its dependency on Halifax and Pembroke ponds by using other methods available to them, such as the Aquaria desalinization plant in Dartmouth, the ponds could be helped back to health. 

“Our commission is answerable to all of our communities,” O’Leary said, and is working to protect the ponds.

As far as the health affects of the toxic bacteria, it can cause rash where it touches the skin.  He also told that he has read about cows that died after being allowed to drink water laden with cyanobacteria. There is also a new potential health affect – it appears that in communities that live around ponds with cyanobacteria infestation some long-term health affects are appearing due to the algae becoming airborne,  “which only makes it more urgent that we address this problem.”

Pine DuBois from Kingston, Executive Director of the Jones River Watershed Association, said what we are trying to accomplish is to make people aware of the dangers of diverting too much water. 

Silver Lake today is 5 feet down. “As the lakeshore shrinks, the area with water in it is smaller. It is supported by groundwater wells.  It’s not infinite; it’s limited.  You can collapse those wells.” As you drain water, the natural well springs collapse and they are gone for good, she explained. 

“What we do to the environment day to day, matters to the people who come after us.  So we really want to straighten out this problem,” DuBois said.  “As I’ve explained to my friends over there from City Hall, Brockton does not have the ability to divert 30 million gallons a day from Monponsett Pond anymore.  They simply can’t. If the DEP allows them to do that, they will not be living up to its obligation to protect the people of the Commonwealth and the environment.” 

The drought is predicted to continue.

“So what can we do about it?  We cannot, nor should we, divert from Monponsett Pond or Furnace Pond into Silver Lake,” DuBois said. “Since 1964, there are so many more people living in this area, it’s not sustainable for them to be Brockton’s water supply any longer.”

Brockton spent an enormous amount of time, energy, and money – as did the rest of the Commonwealth – developing the Aquaria desalinization plant 20 miles south of Brockton on the Taunton River estuary.

From June 15 to Aug. 15, Brockton took 4 million gallons of water a day from Aquaria, then stopped.   

“In my humble opinion, they should be taking that 365 days a year,” DuBois said.  “Four million gallons a day would reduce the take from Silver Lake.  They take 10 million gallons a day each and every day from Silver Lake.” 

In 1909 it was less than 2 million. By 1955 it was 4 million. By 1964 it was almost 5 million. By 1981 it became 18 million. 

The issue was lack of attention to infrastructure, DuBois explained. The pipes are over 100 years old — and leaking

Brockton had 30,000 people then and now, 116 years later, a city of a hundred thousand people cannot count on drawing its water from these ponds.

“Brockton should be using Aquaria and Brockton should be working to tie into the MWRA and we should be doing everything in our power to help them do that,” she said, to a large round of applause.

Silver Lake, to support this effort, can give Brockton a couple of million gallons a day, she said.  Not much more than that.

“You can’t take 30 million gallons a day from a six square mile resource and expect to sustain your population. I believe that the City of Brockton needs to reassess their finances to save their water resource. They need to use Aquaria and in the long run it would not be more expensive than using Silver Lake.”

She stressed Brockton should also be working toward getting onto the MWRA involved. 

“Not a little bit in, but all in,” DuBois said. “Let’s start working on that now.”

By Colin A. Young

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, SEPT. 20, 2016…..Eleven of the state’s 14 counties have been deemed “primary natural disaster areas” by the United States Department of Agriculture due to substantial crop losses that began with a February deep freeze and continued though a summer marked by severe drought.

Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth and Worcester counties were designated as primary natural disaster areas, the USDA said, “due to losses caused by frost and freeze that occurred from February 14 through May 4, 2016.”

Farmers in those counties are eligible for low interest emergency loans from the USDA’s Farm Service Agency, the USDA said. Farmers have eight months to apply for a loan to help cover part of their losses.

Farmers in Dukes, Nantucket and Suffolk counties — as well as several counties in Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont — also qualify for the loan program if their farms are in counties contiguous to the primary disaster areas.

A deep freeze around Valentine’s Day wiped out almost all of the state’s peach crop, farmers previously told the News Service, and the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs said Tuesday that other tree fruits were affected as well.

On top of the deep freeze, Massachusetts farmers have been hit this season with an ongoing and widespread drought that’s been blamed for contributing to wild fires, an outbreak of gypsy moths, higher rates of ant infestation, smaller than usual apples, loss of crops, a shortage of cattle feed, and an elevated population of mosquitoes able to carry West Nile virus.

The state earlier this month launched its own $1 million emergency loan fund to help farmers who have struggled with the impacts of the drought.

“We appreciate the United States Department of Agriculture taking steps to assist farms across the Commonwealth,” Gov. Charlie Baker said in a statement. “I encourage farmers adversely impacted by this year’s extreme weather conditions to explore the USDA programs and the state’s Emergency Drought Loan Fund.”

More than half of the state is experiencing an “extreme” drought, the second-most intense level of dryness on the federal government’s scale, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The 52.13 percent of Massachusetts in an extreme drought stretches from the Pioneer Valley to the Cape Cod Canal, and encompasses all of Metro Boston and northeastern Massachusetts.

“This year’s weather has been a great challenge to Massachusetts farmers; first with the winter freeze and now with a severe drought,” Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton said in a statement. “Despite that, our farmers have done a remarkable job at getting high-quality, nutritious food to market, and I urge Massachusetts residents to buy local to support our hardworking farmers.”

As of Aug. 19, when the application for a USDA disaster declaration was submitted, Massachusetts farmers had lost just shy of $14 million worth of crops, according to the USDA Farm Service Agency’s Massachusetts office.

The same 11 Massachusetts counties are also eligible for the USDA’s Livestock Forage Disaster Program, which compensates some livestock ranchers who have suffered “grazing losses on pasture land” due to the drought, EEA said.

“Our livestock and dairy industry is a significant contributor to the state’s economy, contributing over $70 million dollars annually,” Department of Agricultural Resources Commissioner John Lebeaux said in a statement. “We appreciate USDA implementing a program to address this specific sector.”

Massachusetts farmers interested in applying for the USDA aid should contact their local USDA Service Center for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures, the USDA said. More information is available at http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov.

-END-
09/20/2016

PLYMPTON – Rep. Thomas J. Calter spoke to Plympton Selectmen Monday night, explaining the state’s budget process, and took that opportunity to dispel rumors that special legislation was filed to prevent the question of whether to allow the purchase of some five acres of Silver Lake Regional High School land to the Town of Kingston to come up for a town meeting vote.

The articles were on the annual town meeting warrant in both Halifax and Plympton, and voters in both towns were told at Town Meeting that these articles were to be passed over.

Silver Lake Regional High School Committee voted to create legislation so that the land could be sold.  Without that legislation, the land could not be sold, “because the school district is not a town.  Not one of the 351 cities and towns.”  In the existing statute, which was passed and enacted dozens of years ago, Calter continued, there was no vehicle included to allow the district to sell the land.

Legislation was drafted in collaboration with the Kingston town attorney and the Silver Lake District attorney, Calter told the group, and it is his job to present the legislation as requested by the District, to the House counsel to perfect it and put it into form.  The bill was then filed.

Discussion ensued as to whether or not the towns needed to vote on this and why the article was passed over at Plympton’s and Halifax’s annual town meetings.   “The town of Kingston must vote on it,” Calter said, “because they are the ones spending the funding.“  In every other case when special legislation is enacted to sell district property, there is no precedent for the member towns to vote individually.  “I have no opinion as to whether or not they should be included; that’s not my job,” Calter continued.  “That’s the Regional School district’s job.  I am only the conduit for filing the legislation,” he said.  The legislation is separate from whether or not the towns vote on the proposal.

Susan Ossoff, chairman of the Plympton Finance Committee, asked about how long it will take for the legislation to be voted upon.   “I’m not pushing the vote right now because if the Kingston town meeting says no again, there is no reason to put this through.”

In response to a question by Selectperson Christine Joy, Calter explained that if the bill passes, it is not requiring the transaction, it just permits the transaction.

Each town gets its portion of the sale, in answer to Dale Pleau’s question, based on student population, except for Kingston, who will donate its share back to the district to be put toward capital funds and spent at the discretion of the Regional Scool Committee.

A member of the audience asked if the purchase price of the land, which many thought to be too low, was still at $250,000 for the 5 acre parcel with considerable frontage on Route 27, in a commercial zone. Maureen Springer, Plympton’s member on the Silver Lake Regional School Committee, answered that an independent appraiser was employed who presented a multi-page appraisal to the committee supporting the price.  It is five acres out of a 20-acre piece, she said, with quite a bit of wetlands on it.  Springer said that Kingston was considering using that wet area for parking.  Springer furthered that the purchase and sale agreement had been drawn up and agreed to by both parties, but has not been signed.

“Personally, I think that the Town of Kingston should have come to each of the towns and presented their proposal,” Springer told the board.

Selectmen Chairman Colleen Thompson said, if the legislation passes as it stands, then the people of Halifax and Plympton would have no voice, other than the towns’ representatives on the Silver Lake School Committee.

Springer answered, “That is correct.  I was voted to represent the Town of Plympton in the Silver Lake Regional School District, and it was my judgment call to vote for the sale of this parcel of land.”  Springer went on to say that she and the school committee did their due diligence for a year and a half and that only now these questions have come up.

Christine Joy left the meeting to attend the Carver Redevelopment Committee meeting and will report back to the board.

  Where’s the water       going?

A question came from the floor – who is monitoring the water business on Brook Street?  A citizen who did not identify himself told the board that the river by Dick Reynolds’ house is dry.  He said he has never seen it dry.  His neighbor’s house water pressure is low.  Wells are going dry in town.  Tank truck after tank truck take water out of town.  “Who monitors that? … How much are they allowed to take?”

Town administrator Dale Pleau answered that they are largely self-reporting and that the town is still in litigation with the company.  “Do we know what they are agreed to take out?”

They are allowed a certain amount under the agreement that is currently in litigation.  Pleau said it would be a good idea to run it by Town Counsel.  Selectmen voted to allow Coleen Thompson to contact Town Counsel on the water matter and to ask town counsel if there is any language in the agreement that deals with extreme conditions.

Do selectmen need to meet every week?

It has been brought to the chairman’s attention that other boards of selectmen in nearby towns only meet every other week.  Traynor said “It seems like we have still a lot on our plates, ” The board will discuss it further, but will not meet Sept. 19,  at which time John Traynor will attend the Massachusetts Municipal  Association meeting which this time is in Plymouth.  He said he has never been to one of their meetings and would like to see if it is worthwhile to attend.

   Camera shy

Assistant Assessor Deb Stuart asked Selectmen Chairman Thompson if selectmen would like to meet with the Board of Assessors to discuss a split tax classification, giving a higher tax rate to business property, and a lower rate to residential tax payers.

“It is my understanding that the Assessors want to hold the meeting in their office because they do not want to appear in film,” Traynor told the board, but he wants to be sure that an important item such as classification hearing be held in an open meeting which is filmed.

Thompson said that in the past the assessors have come to the board of selectmen and the two boards have discussed the matter.

“Tax classification is a formal hearing,” Pleau said.

It is my understanding it is a two-step process, Traynor said, the first  to discuss it at their next meeting,  and then a second meeting where they would come back to the BOS with their recommendation.

The second portion, when they meet with Plympton, has been filmed. “Other towns film every meeting,” Traynor said.

Thompson said she would agree with that.

Pleau added that there was a proposal for that type of a bylaw in recent years but it was shot down before it ever made it to the warrant.

Pleau recommended that it be done in a bylaw change.  “You can tape a meeting with a laptop at the end of a table,” he said.

Thompson will attend that meeting with the Assessors.

No takers for Town           Counsel

Pleau reported to selectmen that there had been no response from the ad in the Central Register where Plympton had advertised an RFP, or Request for Proposals, seeking new options for town counsel.  Pleau was surprised by the lack of response and said he will publish it again in the Central Register.  “It could be political,” he said.    Thompson said to publish it again.

  In other business

• New push brace on Forest Street and new pole on Spring Street will deal with low-hanging utility wires at those two locations.   Selectmen voted unanimously to approve the two projects.  There was no one there to comment so that part of the public hearing was omitted.

• The town of Rockland is pulling out of the Mayflower Municipal Healthcare group to go with a new group that is forming.  Plympton currently has its health insurance through Mayflower and is concerned that the loss of Rockland will destabilize the group and thus will investigate its options.  Preliminary reports say that Mayflower is increasing its rates by 17%.

• Fire Chief Warren Borsari notified selectmen that his department has been denied two federal grants under the Assistance to Firefighters Federal Grants Program, and would need funding to replace equipment, such as air packs and other items that are at or approaching the 10 year product use expectancy.

• Plympton selectmen will set up a schedule for several  “Meet the Selectmen” sessions to give residents a chance to meet with a selectman and discuss issues of concern.  Selectmen’s Chairman Colleen Thompson said she could take an hour Thursday mornings and Selectman John Traynor said he could do about any morning.   The board will consult with Joy to see when she might be able to give some time before they make a final schedule.

• T.L. Edwards Company has given an older model street sweeper to the town, Pleau told the board.  It needs some work, but not a lot, and Highway Superintendent James Mulcahy appreciated the gift.  It will allow him to do Plympton streets by the highway department, where it had been previously hired out

• The next meeting of the Plympton Board of Selectmen will be Sept. 26 at 6 p.m.

The Halifax Board of Selectmen has tentatively approved the placement of LED Stop signs at the intersection of Pine Street and Plymouth Street in Halifax.

These new signs would replace the standard Stop signs that are located on Pine Street on each side of the intersection.

The LED Stop signs would provide motorists on Pine Street with a more visible warning of the intersection and the need to come to a full stop before proceeding.

The LED Stop signs would be lit 24 hours a day with a steady light and would not be flashing signs nor be turned “on” only when a vehicle arrived at the intersection.

The Board is accepting public comment about this proposal for the Board’s meeting on Tuesday, September 27. Interested parties can contact the Selectmen’s office by calling 781-294-1316 or by by sending an e-mail to cseelig@town.halifax.us to reach the Town Administrator.