The Plympton School Committee met on Monday, Nov. 6. Chair Jason Fraser was absent, so Vice Chair Dan Cadogen led the meeting.
Dennett Elementary School principal Peter Veneto gave an MCAS presentation. “We have some things to celebrate and we have some things to improve upon,” he told the Committee. Veneto also said that at both the District and State level, there is still a lot of ground to make up to get back to pre-pandemic scores. “Recovery is underway,” Veneto said.
Some key takeaways from the presentation include ELA scores for Grades 3 through 10 for the State. While Grade 10 was at 58 percent meeting expectations, Grades 3 through 6 all fell somewhere between 40 and 44 percent meeting expectations. At the elementary level, Grades 3, 4, and 6 took MCAS in the subject areas of ELA and math while Grade 6 also took a test in math and technology. Grade 10 is at 58 percent meeting expectations for ELA.
Dennett Elementary performed well across the board compared to the State average. Grade 3 Dennett students were at 72 percent meeting expectations for ELA compared to just 44 percent across the State. For math, 65 percent of Grade 3 Dennett students were meeting expectations compared to the State average of just 41 percent. Overall, the State-wide averages have increased from 2022 to 2023, but they are still not where they were pre-Covid.
A Committee member asked Assistant Superintendent Ryan Lynch how Dennett compared to the rest of the District. Lynch said that they performed similarly though he noted that given Dennett’s small population, the numbers can become skewed more easily. Coordinator of Student Support Christine Marcolini told the Committee that the Dennett third graders outperformed the District saying, “I think that was the other big standout.”
Veneto said that the school goal is to have 70 percent of students meeting or exceeding expectations for all subject areas. Veneto said that the Grade 5 science scores for Dennett have typically been quite high but noted that was not the case with the most recent round of MCAS. “We traditionally have really hit the ball out of the park in terms of science and unfortunately that was not the case last year,” Veneto told the Committee. He said that he wants the administrators to get into the classrooms more during science so they can witness the types of lessons being implemented including hands-on learning.
Regarding student growth for Dennett on the ELA and math MCAS, Veneto said that the school shows typical growth with higher achievement compared to the State. “Typical growth is okay; in my opinion, we can do better,” Veneto told the Committee.
One area of disappointment for Dennett was a designation assigned to them as a result of the MCAS participation rate for one sub-group of students. They were deemed as requiring assistance or intervention by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) due to the participation rate for this sub-group falling below 95 percent. Given the Dennett’s small population, it only took a few students not participating for that rate to drop as low as it did. Veneto said that he planned on addressing the issue with the families that opted out of the testing. Committee member Kaitlin Johnson asked Veneto how he planned to broach the issue given the reason for opting out probably centers around student stress. “The language we typically use with our kids is just do the best that you can do… inherently there is stress that is associated with the test,” Veneto said.
Superintendent Jill Proulx said that there is a corrective action plan that the school will have to do. Marcolini said that they have had in-depth conversations with the families involved and they don’t anticipate having this problem next year. “If families or children are expressing stress… I think it is incumbent upon us to really be talking with the families and talking with the children… I think our doors are always open and I think that seeing us fall below that number for us, that is a significant event and we need to do everything we can to make sure our kids and families feel supported,” she told the Committee.
Some of the actions planned by the Dennett administration to address improving MCAS scores include putting support teams in place to identify students who may need more supports and interventions. There will also be data meetings for K-6 to identify and target interventions for math and reading. Additionally, there will be enhanced co-teaching and an intervention model to provide more support in the classroom.
Veneto also reviewed the results of a student survey that assessed a wide variety of social and emotional issues. Committee member Robert Montgomery asked if any of the questions evaluated self-advocacy. Marcolini said, “A lot of the questions really are around themselves as workers and how supported they feel.” She also noted that, “the kids really are accurate raters of themselves.” Regarding the survey, Veneto said, “A lot of positive information here I thought.”
Marcolini said that she was happy to see the “grit” scores come up the way they did. She also noted the positive change in reporting from the sixth-grade class. Cadogen asked if she felt this was due to it being a different cohort of students than last year’s sixth grade class or if it had more to do with changes implemented in the school environment. Marcolini responded that she believed it to be a little bit of both.
The issue of increasing the daily substitute rate as well as the custodian substitution rate was addressed during the meeting. The proposed increase for the sub rate was from $107 per day to $110. It was said that the increase would make Dennett more in line with neighboring communities while still being below the paraprofessional starting rate. It was explicitly stated that the intention was to be competitive without making it more lucrative than being a paraprofessional. The increase to the custodian rate would be from $18 an hour to $19. The Committee voted to accept the increased rates.
Veneto also provided a Principal’s Report which included that the current enrollment stands at 253 students. He also said that they have a new art teacher and a building substitute. Veneto said it was “probably the first time in about a year that we can say we are fully staffed… and I would like to keep it that way.”
Homeschool enrollment was also briefly touched upon. At the Dennett, the numbers have increased by 1 from 4 students to 5. Proulx said, “District wide, overall, the numbers have decreased substantially especially since 2020.”
Before adjourning, the Committee asked Veneto and Proulx to touch upon an incident that happened during the night of parent teacher conferences. A student was found to have three live bullets on their person. The student showed another student who notified an adult. The Police came and investigated and found nothing else. The student reported finding the bullets on the side of the road. “The Police deemed that there was no credible threat,” Proulx said. Asked if the story regarding the origins of the bullets could be verified, Veneto said, “the Police can’t confirm that there was anything just lying on the ground.” Cadogen pressed asking if it was possible the story was fabricated. “That’s a strong possibility,” Veneto said. Committee members then asked if the issue was being addressed with the student’s family as there were concerns over items not being locked up properly. Veneto said that it was his understanding that the Police had done that.

The Halifax Board of Selectmen met Nov. 6 for a public earth removal hearing for Morse Brothers Cranberries. Kevin Grady from Grady Consulting, Atty. Nick Rosenberg, and Brendan Moquin were there representing Morse Brothers and their project. Grady said, “The project is an agricultural use. It’s a common practice to utilize source materials from cranberry bogs, in particular, for agricultural use. This application is in no way similar to what we submitted a couple of years ago when we were looking to do a renovation of the entire bog. That is not what we’re proposing here; this is very simple, gravel removal application. It’s something they’ve been doing for decades.” He also said that the application was submitted in compliance with the bylaw and all regulations. He said they were looking to remove 20,000 cubic yards over 1.4 acres of the 308 total acre property.
Selectman Chair John Bruno asked about traffic resulting from the project. “Morse Cranberry has been utilizing Lingan St. for decades; it’s the only road in and out. We’ve looked at other avenues of access – they just don’t exist,” the representatives explained.
Town Engineer Patrick Brennan spoke regarding his findings. “My main concerns… and Kevin just mentioned that; how close they can excavate to the ground water table – this is within the Zone 2 of the public wells… you have to leave so many feet separation to the ground water to avoid any potential contamination of the ground water tables,” Brennan said. He continued, “they’re going to adjust the plans so that they stay a minimum of four feet above the ground water table which is what the regulations call for.” Selectman Jonathan Selig asked if Brennan would be more comfortable with a buffer greater than 4 ft. He said that yes, the greater the buffer, the greater the protection.
Brennan also said that the nearest adjacent property is nearly half a mile away. He added that, therefore, he didn’t believe that noise from the excavators would be a problem. He also said that he believes it’s important that the trucking not be done before 7 a.m. or after 6 p.m.
The Selectmen had the residents wishing to speak sign up and the list totaled nearly 40 people. The first resident asked how long the project would be estimated to take as well as how many trucks are anticipated to travel down Lingan St. daily. She also asked if the trucks would be running during holidays. It was said that they would max out at about 50 trucks per day and that a rough estimate of the length of the project would be “a little over a month.” When asked if the winter could cause the project to be temporarily paused, the consultant said that the project would likely need to be stopped after the first freeze and resumed in the spring.
Another resident said that the layers of Lingan St. were not intended for heavy truck traffic. Still another resident asked, “Are any materials being trucked in from outside currently to fill those roads?” “Not that we are aware of,” Bruno said. “It looks like there are a lot of changes going on along that road, so if someone is going out from the Highway, could they inspect that dirt road and inspect the material and how that is being re-graded,” she continued. Bruno said, “We’ll make a note of that, thank you.”
Kimberly King of the Halifax Conservation Commission said, “There were multiple complaints that went into DEP (Dept. of Environmental Protection) and other state boards. Those investigations did come back to Conservation last week and there were no findings by any of the State agencies that Morse Brothers were in violation.” Regarding the findings, she added, “It would be very educational for the residents to have.” Resident Steve Goodman, who also serves on the Conservation Commission, said, “My concerns are environmental mainly; the DEP report that you’re relying on is fundamentally flawed. In it, it indicates that they found that they didn’t remove any earth lower than the elevation of some of the dike roads, however some of those dike roads are lower than the historical high-water mark which is what you’re supposed to use for how low you can go as far as removing earth. And if they’ve never removed earth below the water table then I need someone to explain to me how that hole keeps filling up with water.” Goodman also said, “I never had, in four years, any silt, any problems at all with my water and after I watched the trucks go by for four or five weeks in a row without a permit, my water quality is significantly less since then.”
Jeremy Gillespie asked the Town Engineer, “There’s two monitoring wells on site and one of them is located right next to a drainage canal; do you think that has any effect on the water and the monitoring well being that close?” “When the bogs are flooded, the levels in the well actually come up and they have that information in the stuff they sent to me today,” Brennan said. Gillespie became heated insisting that Right to Farm not only protects the farmers, but the residents right to clean air and water. He ended his statement saying, “In fact, their own attorneys said that the Board of Selectmen can’t even issue a permit legally according to their own bylaws and that zoning overlay district that protects our aquifer was approved in 1998 so let them take it back to the Attorney General and have it nullified if that’s what they want to do but the Board of Selectmen does not have the authority to issue a permit.” This final statement was met with rousing applause to which Bruno said, “you know folks, I really don’t want to do this; we’re trying to do this in a measured and professional way and would appreciate everyone’s assistance in that. We all know this is a hot issue… but it’s not helpful if we have cheering, if we have booing going on.”
Gordon Andrews was the final name on the list. He said, “I’m just wondering if the Board of Selectmen could say whether this project is within the aquifer protection zone?” Brennan said, “Yes, it is in Zone 2.” Andrews replied asking, “So has the Planning Board issued a permit for this project?” He also asked the Selectmen to set the fee at $15 per yard if they approve the project. “It is within your power to set the fee; $15 a yard times the 20,000 – you’ve got $300,000 to fix the road,” Andrews said. He further asked that they review the abutters list to make sure that no one has a conflict of interest. Andrews also asked if the Board of Selectmen had received any recommendations from the Water Commissioners and if they did, if they could please read them. Bruno said that the documents are part of the public record and anyone can read them, however, he noted that the Water Department did not have any concerns assuming the guidelines are followed.
Someone asked the Selectmen if it was the responsibility of the Board to have made Morse Brothers cease the controversial earth removal that took place in the past. Bruno was careful to say that he didn’t know that the Morse Brothers did anything illegal in the past, noting that there was controversy surrounding it.
Regarding when a decision would be made, Bruno said that they are attempting to make a thoughtful decision and said that he needed time to sleep on it and think it over. Selig said, “there are three parts to this, there’s the residents, the Morse Brothers, and there’s the environment and I think that we need to try and come up with the best solution possible to make sure that all three of those get addressed.”

The Halifax Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, Oct. 24. Lloyd Geisinger of Thorndike Development was there to provide an update on the proposed project at 265 and 266 Monponsett St. Geisinger explained the Zoning Bylaw Agreement as well as the Master Development Agreement that would need to be approved before they could move forward with the project. The zoning bylaw would need to be approved during Town Meeting in December. The proposal includes 102 senior housing units located on two different parcels. Thorndike has also proposed gifting the town land for a senior center and pickleball courts. “You get the land in perpetuity for $10,” Geisinger explained. .
The estimated budget for the senior center as laid out in the agreement is $3.4 million. At a previous Town Meeting, $1.7 million was allocated for the design and construction of the senior center. “There will need to be a vote, that is part of the Town Meeting, reauthorizing or repurposing $1.2 million of that $1.7 million for the construction of the senior center on this property,” Geisinger explained. Regarding how the money will be administered to the town, he said that the total mitigation payments will “equal the cost of the winning bid to build the senior center and pickleball courts less the $1.2 million that the town will repurpose, but in no event less than the $3.8 million.” According to Geisinger, the building of the project cannot be started until 36 units have been purchased.
Geisinger said that the condominium documents would specify that children under the age of 18 can visit and even stay for weeks or the summer but are not allowed to permanently reside there. He said that in his past experience, this was the wish of the majority of the residents. He further noted that at least one adult over the age of 55 must reside in at least 80 percent of the units.
Included in mitigation commitments is the construction of the new pedestrian crossing between 265 and 266 [Monponsett St.], construction of a sidewalk from the entrance of 265 up to the intersection of Monponsett St. and Route 106, and the installation of several 6 ft. tall shrubs. Geisinger said, “The parcel that we’re looking to have re-zoned is only the development parcel, which is approximately 12 acres of land. The remaining land on the parcel will have a permanent conservation restriction placed on it, so it can never be developed.” Geisinger also said that no certificate of occupancy will be issued for the last building until construction of the mitigation improvements have been reasonably completed. This is meant to offer protection for the town.
Regarding the zoning bylaw amendments, they were explained as being in three parts. The first would create a new overlay district that would allow for senior housing and the second would rezone the 265 parcel from AR Residential to B Commercial and Business with the senior overlay applied to it. The third part would have the overlay applied to 266 which is already zoned Commercial.
The three main objectives according to Thorndike are to put the development agreement on the warrant for town meeting, make the request to the Planning Board for the eligible location, and finally, to have the Town Administrator be authorized to submit the application to the State for an advisory opinion. The Selectmen voted to have the Master Development Agreement appear on the Warrant for the December Town Meeting.
In an adorable turn of events, the Halifax Police Department’s newest member was sworn in – Roxy, the comfort dog. The statement read, “I, Roxy, will support my officers and my community with my whole heart and soul. I promise to comfort, encourage, and soothe away sadness, fear, and confusion. I offer a warm heart, tender companionship, and unconditional love. I will serve my community throughout my days to the best of my ability.” Roxy received lots of belly rubs during the swearing-in ceremony.
Two one-day liquor licenses were approved for two dates in late November for the Farm at Raven Brook. A representative said, “We do similar events like this where we setup a station and provide alcoholic beverages, for this particular event we plan on offering our pumpkin beer… an IPA, a seltzer, and also a mulled wine as well, so something warm and good for the Christmas tree shopping.”
Town Administrator Cody Haddad explained his proposal for an Energy Management Consultant. “We have several energy efficiency grants, what you really need in order to be effective with these is someone to oversee the project… it would be beneficial to potentially look at bringing on a consultant to help us with this,” Haddad said. He said that part of it could be paid for using the Green Communities Grant while the rest of it would be put into next year’s operating budget. He said that it would pay for itself as it would result in more and better grant opportunities. The Board agreed to look into acquiring a consultant.
The Selectmen met with members of the Finance Committee to kick off the budget process as well as establish priorities for the upcoming fiscal year. Haddad said they asked Departments to provide them with where they would allocate a 10 percent cut if needed as well as what ramifications would result. A member of the Finance Committee asked that Department heads take a look at what they did last year and what the results were. The Selectmen and Finance Committee voted to approve the budget memo.

The Kingston Board of Selectmen met Oct. 10. During Open Forum, Ronnie Litif of 119 Three Rivers Dr. in Barrows Brook Village took to the microphone. “I want to bring up a longstanding issue that has been neglected by the town, the builder, and people that have lived in my neighborhood before me; I’ve lived there for three years… I’m asking the Board to help us get the builder to finish the remaining items that were part of the comprehensive permit to build Barrows Brook Village,” Litif explained. He said that they have a full list of items needing finishing and can provide it to necessary parties. He noted that there is no HOA and that many people who moved there were falsely told that there was an HOA. He mentioned severe potholes as well as a lack of streetlights. “I’m concerned for my neighborhood and the future of it,” he said. Emberg explained that while there can’t be a conversation about the issue during open forum, if he left his contact information, someone would help him “navigate the situation.”
Resident Danielle Dennison of 176 Main St. spoke next. “I don’t know if this has been brought up before… I have two small children and we like to walk to school, and we like to walk to the cemetery, and the sidewalks are kind of in a crumbling situation in a lot of spots. There’s not a lot of curbs, and I think if someone was in a wheelchair, I don’t think they can access it very well,” Dennison said. She mentioned the number of joggers and babies in strollers and said she felt it was just a matter of time before someone gets hurt. She also brought attention to the traffic light where Main St. and Brook St. meet saying she felt it would be useful to have a walk button there.
Emberg said that a member of the Planning Board resigned over the summer. She said that they received one letter of interest from Alexander Graham of 22 May Ave. Graham, who said he has been a resident for five years, attended the meeting. “I’m interested in joining the Planning Board primarily because I’m from Western Massachusetts originally; I’m from a small town like this and I was heavily involved with the community when I was growing up and I’ve been here for, like I said, five years. I commute in and out of Boston nearly every day, I do a lot of going to work and coming home, going to work and coming home. Not that I’m not busy enough with work and my family but I really am missing that sense of community and I think this is a good opportunity for me to get out and meet people,” Graham said. He also said he takes a lot of pride in where he lives and hopes to raise his family in Kingston long-term. Graham is a senior commercial project manager that does business with the MBTA. He noted that they are actively working on fixing up the Green Line. A member of the Planning Board asked if he planned to run for the position during the election. Graham said, “that is my intention.” He was unanimously appointed. Mary Harriman was also unanimously appointed to the Council on Aging Advisory Board.
During the meeting, Town Administrator Keith Hickey told the Selectmen, “I want to come to the Board tonight to make sure that the Board is supportive of applying for a Community Compact Grant to study the regionalization of the Kingston, Halifax, and Plympton school departments with the Silver Lake Regional School Department.” Currently the towns are regionalized only at the middle school and high school level while each of the three towns’ elementary schools act as their own school committees. He said that the Halifax School Committee and Halifax Board of Selectmen have approved the proposal as well as the Kingston School Committee. He said that the assumption is that the Plympton School Department will not be supportive.
Hickey said, “One of the topics that the grant money is available for is regionalization and I’m not sitting here tonight suggesting that it is a good or bad thing to fully regionalize the schools… I’ve heard from a number of people that there is some potential, significant savings and elimination of duplications of effort that currently go on now because there are four separate school boards that the Superintendent has to work with.” Emberg asked if it required all three towns to apply for the grant. Hickey said that it did not but noted that the Superintendent is concerned about supporting the grant while one of the three towns is not supportive.
Kingston Selectman Eric Crone, who spent many years on various school committees, noted the difficulties associated with the Superintendent reporting to four different school committees. Crone noted that Kingston and Plympton often have more money to spend on the school budgets than Halifax. He said that regionalization could potentially aid with some of those issues. The Selectmen agreed to approve the grant application.
Selectmen Tyler Bouchard and Eric Crone provided an update on the Police Chief search. Bouchard said they had a good meeting with the working group the previous Friday. “The posting will be going out this week… we will reconvene in 30 days… we’re waiting for those applications to come in,” Bouchard said. Emberg mentioned that they had agreed upon a wide range for the salary and asked if they narrowed it down or kept it broad. Bouchard explained that they felt that keeping the salary range wide would provide for more applicants. Crone said, “we will be doing a survey… we got some sample survey questions… from towns across the State from their searches… we should be able to gather some good information from folks in town to get a wide range.” Bouchard added that the survey would be available on the website. Paper copies would also be available at the Town Clerk’s office. Bouchard also said that they were advised as a Board not to talk to anyone who may be applying for the position to avoid any claims of favoritism.
Bouchard spoke regarding the MBTA Zoning Task Force. He said, “Kingston did receive a waiver… one of the biggest controversial [things] was that everything had to be within 0.5 miles of an MBTA station… Kingston got a waiver that allows a certain portion to be outside of that.” He continued saying that the new owner of the mall was approached regarding some multi-use including housing. “There’s a potential that we could come into compliance with this thing while having housing that’s possibly inevitable… while also satisfying the needs of the MBTA zoning… that mall fits into the category,” Bouchard explained.
Hickey provided a financial update saying that an indicator of financial strength is the town’s excess capacity levy on property taxes. He said that it has averaged around $1 million to $1.5 million and noted that it is now $2.5 million. Crone brought up that the excess levy capacity is taken into account by the State when deciding how much Chapter 70 funding the schools will receive. He asked if the doubling of the excess levy capacity could end up being a bad thing since the schools could be “dinged.” Hickey said that he was unsure but would find out an answer.
He also told the Selectmen that the new playground is now open. “The slide I’ve heard… is a great slide,” he said. Hickey also told the Selectmen that the Town has contracted with Old Colony Planning to perform a study on traffic patterns to help decide how best to redevelop certain areas of Route 3 from Duxbury to Plymouth. He said that the Jones River and sea river rise would also be incorporated into the planning. He also said that he and others attended the Duxbury Highway Safety Committee meeting to discuss ways to reduce heavy truck traffic on Landing and Bay Roads.
Chair Kimberley Emberg said there were several openings on various Boards and Committees. She pointed interested residents to the town’s website but drew special attention to an opening on the Old Colony Elder Services Board. “Their purpose is to support the independence and dignity of older adults and individuals with disabilities by providing essential information and services that promote health and safe living,” Emberg explained.
Emberg also said that new water rates take effect on November 1 and noted that those increased rates would be reflected in the March 2024 quarterly bills.

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

The Halifax Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, Sept. 26. Town Administrator Cody Haddad told the board that Halifax’s Veteran’s Agent Steve Littlefield has been working on Hometown Heroes. Haddad said it consisted of banners that are hung throughout town. “We were a little bit short on funding as it is funded all through donations; we just want to acknowledge a lot of people came together at the end and made some donations to push the project over the finish line. There was also an organization who donated quite a large amount of money and they previously operated an organization to assist veterans in the area and then they moved out of State, and they gave the balance of their funds… to Halifax,” Haddad said. Selectman Jonathan Selig added a special shout-out to resident Mary Gravinese who “put the call out that more funds were needed.”
Regarding the contract for the Highway Barn project, Haddad told the Selectmen that the winning bid is with Cape Cod Builders in the amount of $289,000. The Selectmen voted to approve the contract. They also approved a contract for the buildout of the municipal maintenance shop in the amount of $26,200. Resident Frank Johnston, who is also a member of the Finance Committee, asked where the contracts came in relative to the original budgets. Haddad said that the Highway Barn Project is coming in right at budget and noted that they would be using $20,000 of Chapter 90 funding. The shop project is under budget.
Haddad mentioned that a Special Town Meeting would be held to deal with several items including the reclassification study as well as the Regional Schools Agreement. He said that there were also potential zoning changes due to the senior center project. The Selectmen voted to set the Special Town Meeting for Thursday, Dec.14.
Haddad provided an update regarding the need to change the Regional School Agreement per the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). Haddad said that town counsel had reviewed the most recent draft and that they provided some proposed changes that were submitted to the schools. “It has to pass for all three schools; it really comes down to the way the pre-K is set up right now. It had been run as a regional program although it wasn’t laid out as a regional program in the actual agreement so DESE came back and said if you want to continue to run this, it needs to reflect accurately in the actual agreement,” Haddad said. He told the Selectmen that the Superintendent would be attending a meeting to explain the specifics.
Haddad brought up some proposed changes to the operating hours at Town Hall. “Previously Town Hall was open Monday through Thursday, 7-4 and then staff would work a half day on Friday, although the building wasn’t open to the public. So, over the summer, offices have been open Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday 7-4:30 and then on Tuesdays until 6:30.” Following the trial run, Haddad said that he put out a survey to everyone in Town Hall regarding their preference. He said that 75 percent said they would like to stay with the changes that occurred over the summer. “With that being said, my recommendation would be to make the hours we have now, a permanent solution,” Haddad said. The Selectmen voted to approve the revised hours that were trialed over the summer.
Haddad told the Selectmen that the previous Board had approved $450,000 in ARPA funds for upgrades at the Water Treatment Plant. “It was an oversight, we thought it had been $600,000; we had been planning for $600,000,” Haddad said. The Selectmen approved the cost increase. “This is the American Rescue Plan Act funding that came from the Federal Government… basically as a stimulus to municipalities, cities, counties across the country as a result of the Covid pandemic, so the town received probably in total around $2 million. A lot of that has been allocated… we had been accounting for that $600,000 for this project,” Haddad explained. He continued, “the portion that came from the County was more designated for the purposes that the Federal Government had laid out in addition to revenue replacement, which was broadband, water/sewer infrastructure, so this falls directly in line with the water infrastructure.” The Selectmen voted to approve the $600,000.
The Selectmen were asked for a letter of support for Hybrid Programming for a Council on Aging Grant. “It’s a hybrid program that, depending on the individual and how they want to approach it, it would give the opportunity for homebound people to have some type of programming at home,” Council on Aging Director Darlene Regan explained. “That’s awesome,” Selig said.
Haddad provided the Selectmen with some updates at Town Hall including some recent office moves. He pointed out that the Selectmen were meeting in a new meeting room. He also told the Selectmen that he submitted a Com

The Plympton Elementary School Committee met on Monday, Sept. 8. “Over the summer I was approached by a member of the gardening club here in town, who is also one of the neighbors of the Dennett Elementary School who happened to know the Dennetts. And she was concerned about the situation around the flagpole and around the dedication slab to the Dennetts. Just wanted to pass along some ideas for how we can rehab the area and maybe we can make this one of our priorities for the grounds during the course of this year… so we can get that back up to snuff and give the respect and honor to the Dennetts for all they’ve done for the town of Plympton,” Chair Jason Fraser said.
Silver Lake
pre-K program
Superintendent Jill Proulx said that the Silver Lake Regional School District has presented a warrant article for Plympton’s special town meeting in the fall. “It asks the town to approve the incorporation of our pre-K program… into the Silver Lake Regional School District which is how we have been operating for many years. In addition, the Regional Agreement had a number of items, legal regulations, that needed to be updated because it had been a while since the Regional Agreement had been revised and updated to meet State regulations.” Fraser said that town meeting was October 18 and asked people to go and support the new Regional Agreement. He added, “If we don’t pass the new Regional Agreement, we are going to be in a heap of trouble here at the local level because our pre-K program will cease to exist as an incorporated program and we’re going to have to come up with a way to do it in house ourselves and pay for it as well.” Fraser did say that the new agreement came with a price tag of about $40,000 for Plympton. He said it had less to do with the inclusion of the pre-K program and more to do with adding an administrator responsible for the preschool program.
New Playground
Regarding the new playground at the Dennett, Director of Business Services Christine Healy said, “We believe the playground is complete. We got a chance to take a peek out there. It looks lovely, it was a long, long process.” Fraser said, “I would just like to publicly thank Peter [Veneto] for his leg work that he did at the beginning, at the dreaming phase of the playground. We met with a lot of different consultants, we came up with a lot of different designs, we heard from a lot of parents who wanted re-designs, we went back to the chalkboard and redesigned things until we could best meet the needs of what the playground was designed for and it was a three-fold operation – we were trying to make it developmentally appropriate for a K-6 building… we were looking for safety; there was no fill below any of the structures in our old playground… and the one that was nearest and dearest to my heart was accessibility for all students, regardless of who shows up at the doorstep of this school, now they will be able to play with their friends on this playground.”
School solar project
Regarding the solar project, Fraser said the school had signed all agreements necessary including the purchase and lease. “They are hooked to the grid and they are up and running at this point,” Fraser said.
During the Report of Standing Committees, Fraser provided an update for the Legislative Update saying that they were able to successfully pass the free school meals for all. He said there was a “decent amount of funding” for schools in the State budget. “The one thing I would ask you to look at is the Mass rural schools right now are making a major push for additional funding and we actually do benefit from that legislature… this year we saw a tripling of rural aid and last year, Silver Lake, but it’s mostly Plympton, got around $71,000 in rural aid so we should expect to see close to triple of that last year… a bill right now would call for that to be multiplied by four more,” Fraser said.
Principal Peter Veneto provided the Principal’s Report saying that enrollment stood at 251 students to start the year. He said that students have been earning tickets for “demonstrating expected behaviors at class, recess, pretty much everywhere at school.” Assistant Principal Christine Marcolini explained that the classrooms work toward filling their bowls with tickets in order to earn a class reward. “And then their tickets get transferred into the big Dennett rock… and the kids are so excited about it and they’re looking to see ‘well how much further do we have to go to get the whole school reward.’”
Veneto said that as part of the playground project they received a new donation of a giant Adirondack chair and a friendship bench from C.A.S.A. Veneto said they also received a check for $10,000 from an anonymous donor. Regarding staffing updates Veneto said Melissa Ritter is now teaching Grade 1, Kirsten Myers is the new Math Interventionist, and Hannah George is a new paraprofessional. He noted that he is still trying to fill the building substitute and 0.4 art teacher.
Proulx and Assistant Superintendent Ryan Lynch presented jointly on the state of Curriculum and Assessment. Proulx said that they had a busy summer with hiring including the addition of the new Director of Student Services, Dr. Christine Panarese, as well as a new Assistant Director of Student Services. Proulx said they were in the process of hiring a new Director of Business Services as Healy will be retiring at the end of December. “We’re very sad that she will be retiring but we are very grateful that we’ve had her to help us get through some difficult times,” Proulx said of Healy. She also said that the daily sub rate has been increased and should hopefully aid in securing substitute teachers.
“We continue to monitor the social and emotional needs of our students through the analysis of data. We had two data points last year, teachers worked in groups to examine their student data and then implement interventions in the classroom,” Proulx said. She noted that Second Step was implemented in the Middle School and high school students participated in the Anti-Defamation League training.
“We also examined support team practices across all the schools and this year it will be a big focus of ours to develop greater consistency and effective practices across all of our schools to make sure that all students are receiving interventions regardless of whether or not they are special education students or not… if a student is experiencing difficulty or struggles… that goes through the support team process and the support team works with staff to help identify ways that this child can be supported in the classroom and beyond,” Proulx told the Committee.
She provided some updates on the curriculum as well. She said that a technology plan was created last year and would be implemented this year. Proulx also said that all the schools now have instrumental lessons. She also said that they would be working to close achievement gaps as well.
Lynch thanked the staff for the work that was done over the summer. He said that 11 Dennett teachers spent three days talking about “how best to meet the needs of students… and co-teachers’ interventions and support.” He also credited specific staff members with their work on the science curriculum over the summer.

Kristy Zamagni-Twomey
Express correspondent
The Halifax Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, Sept. 12 at the Fire House. Chair John Bruno began the meeting saying, “This is our continuing summer adventure, the Halifax Board of Selectmen roadshow… it’s an opportunity for the Board of Selectmen to get out of the Town Hall and actually interact with people which is a good thing. It’s also another opportunity for our various departments, this is the third or fourth one we’ve done this summer, to get on TV and brag a little bit about all the good work that goes on in Halifax.”
Fire Chief Michael Witham spoke to those assembled at the Fire House saying that he has been involved with Fire and EMS services for 32 years. “I am a paramedic,” he said. He also went through an overview of the Department saying they had a Chief, four Captains, and 13 call members, two who are paramedics and 11 that are EMTs. “The overall status of our shifts, we run four shifts now currently; we try to work it with one Captain and two firefighters working daily,” he explained. Witham said that they also have an administrative assistant who “does a fantastic job keeping all of us in line and making sure the daily operations run efficiently.” The Department has two ambulances, two fire engines, a tower truck, some brush trucks, and command vehicles. He noted that the mechanic and DPW work tremendously hard to keep the vehicles in great shape. Witham said that his ideal situation would be to add two more members to the Department which would allow them to have two additional ambulances or another engine. Witham noted that they have mutual aid agreements that allow for other towns to help Halifax in an emergency and vice versa.
Fire Captain Jeffrey Cuozzo also spoke to share a “feel good story” regarding a water rescue back on May 7. Cuozzo said that they received a call that there was a distressed person in the water in a near drowning incident. “Before we even got there, we heard that some civilians managed to get the victim out of the water which was great,” Cuozzo said. Michael Hughes swam after a remote-control boat that was swept into the water farther than anticipated. Residents Lyla Dooley and Cole Hingston were on the beach playing football. Hingston jumped into the water to save the drowning victim while Dooley called 911. Dooley, Hingston, and Hughes were all present at the Selectmen’s meeting on Tuesday. It was the first time that the rescuers met the man they saved that day. Just teenagers, Dooley and Hingston were presented with Citizen Hero awards. Selectman Jonathan Selig said, “I personally know Lyla and I know she’s an exceptional kid and if this guy is able to date Lyla Dooley, he must be alright too, so keep up the great work guys.”
Bruno said they had a letter from the Fire Department who was looking to run a fundraiser where a professional photographer would take photographs by an antique vehicle. They were seeking permission to use the town-owned property on the grounds by the blacksmith shop for two dates in October and November for fall and winter-themed photoshoots. The Historic Commission previously signed off on the usage. “A lot of families get their photos done anyway so why not do it in a way that can help the town,” Selig said. The Selectmen approved the use of the property.
The Beautification Commission asked for permission to use the town green on October 14 from 8:45 a.m. to 12 p.m. to kick off a week-wide clean-up project and distribute supplies. The Selectmen also approved this use.
Don Barrows, President of the Monponsett Watershed Association, appeared before the Board to share a leaflet regarding some of the testing and treatments. “The water is really great; I’m surprised myself,” he said. He said that wake surfing in shallow waters was becoming a problem. “What’s happening is those boats are actually bringing up the bottom of the ponds,” Barrows said. Jeremy Gillespie also spoke regarding the boats saying, “basically these boats are specifically designed to displace as much water as possible – they also have plates they can drop down on either side so they can create a wake up to and over 4 ft in height. These wakes have been proven to be much more disturbing than wind-driven wakes… it’s actually like a tsunami wave… you see the water starting to go out and what that does is pulls nutrients out of the water.” Town Administrator Cody Haddad said that they regularly work with Solitude throughout the year and that he was sure if it was a problem, they would address it. Bruno said that in addition to the problems it posed environmentally, he didn’t feel it was an appropriate activity for a small beach. He noted that potential bylaw changes may be needed.
The Selectmen also held the tax classification hearing for fiscal year 2024. Bruno said, “it is an annual event where we determine what the tax rates will be based on the type of property; we’re not setting the tax rate, that’s done… it’s more of a procedural thing than anything else.” The Principal Assessor for the town of Halifax Debbie Dean spoke next. “The town of Halifax has under 10 percent commercial, industrial, and personal property and therefore a split rate is not recommended… the real estate and personal property total value is $1,385,119,480. That’s up 13.4 percent from last year,” Dean explained. She also said that the Board of Assessors is not adopting the Open Space discount. She explained that towns with a lot of second home populations or resort communities often benefit from this discount. “There are only 61 second homes in Halifax,” Dean said. She said the Board of Assessors recommend that the Board of Selectmen vote against the exemptions and in favor of the factor of one. The Board voted in favor of the recommendations.
Bruno told the Selectmen that Haddad had drafted a code of conduct for elected officials. “This is becoming very common throughout the State… as chief policy makers for the town of Halifax it is good to set expectations for Board and Committee members throughout the town,” Haddad explained. He said that he borrowed pieces from other towns.
Melanie Martin-Plant appeared before the Board regarding an appointment to the Conservation Commission. The Commission voted to have her become the fifth member during their previous meeting. Martin-Plant is a new resident of Halifax and previously was involved in environmental advocacy in Plymouth. She said she was a founding member of a group called Sustainable Plymouth. The Selectmen voted to approve her appointment.
Haddad provided the Board with a number of Town Administrator’s updates including the MBTA Action Plan. He said that they hope to have someone come to the Zoning Bylaw Review, the Planning Board, and Zoning Board meetings to provide trainings on ways in which the town can be in compliance with the Action Plan. He said that they received word that Morse Brothers would be conducting work and noted that they were informed that they will need to submit a permit. Bruno outlined the process for taking public comment as he said he anticipates the Morse Brothers’ hearing to draw a large crowd. Those wishing to speak will need to sign up when they arrive at the hearing.