What do you know about ticks and what diseases they may carry? The health agent from Halifax Board of Health and the public health nurse from NVNA and Hospice address awareness needs and concerns of tick-borne diseases in a special health program scheduled later this month. Offered free to the general public in Halifax on September 20 and September 28, the program addresses personal protection measures to prevent tick bites as well as signs and symptoms of tick-borne illnesses and measures to take if you have been bitten by a tick. A question and answer period follows the presentation.

People can choose from two presentation dates: Tuesday September 20, 2016 at 1pm and Wednesday September 28, 2016 at 6:30 pm. Both are offered free at the Holmes Library in Halifax. For more information or questions, please contact the Halifax Board of Health at 781-293-6768.

PLYMPTON – The Plympton Community Preservation Committee (C.P.C.) is currently accepting applications for the FY2017 funding year. Deadline for completed applications is October 15.

Projects funded in prior years include

• a safe in the Town Clerk’s office to archive important historical records;

• new insulation for the Plympton Historical Society building at 189 Main St.;

• a comprehensive drainage system to solve a chronic wet basement in the Plympton Library;

• funds to acquire and improve the 11-acre parcel on Main Street now known as Churchill Park which offers access to the abutting 87 acre parcel known as Cato’s Ridge thereby forming a large natural preserve with walking trails;

• improvements at Harry Jason Park to make it more accessible for family and recreational use;

• the installation of a chairlift in the Plympton Historical Society Building;

• renovation of the old Winnetuxet swimming hole into a recreational area; and

• facilitating the donation of O’Neil Marsh on Ring Road which offers additional access to Cato’s Ridge.

Project guidelines and applications can be found on the Plympton town website at http://www.town.plympton.ma.us/community-preservation-committee.

Click on “Documents” at the left hand side of the web page to bring up the Plympton Community Preservation Plan which includes the application and criteria.

Applications are also available at the Town House and at the Plympton Public Library.

Questions can be addressed by contacting C.P.C. Chair Mark Russo at Mrusso2@msn.com.

   Town Clerks Tara Shaw and Barbara Gaynor are preparing for the Thursday, Sept. 8, State Primary Election.  They expect a good turnout.

    The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Plympton will vote at the Town House, 5 Palmer Rd, Rte. 58.  Halifax will vote at the Halifax Elementary School all purpose room, 470 Plymouth St., Rte. 106.

Four ballots will be offered, Democrat, Green-Rainbow, Republican, and United Independent Party,

The Democratic Party ballot will list for consideration:

• Representative in Congress, Ninth District: William Richard Keating. (Vote for One)

• Councillor, Fourth District: Christopher A. Iannella, Jr. and Stephen F. Flynn. (Vote for One)

• Senator in General Court, Second Plymouth and Bristol District Court: Michael D. Brady. (Vote for One)

• Representative in General Court, Twelfth Plymouth District: Thomas J. Calter, III (Vote for One)

• Sheriff, PlymouthCounty: Scott M. Vecchi. (Vote for One)

• County Commissioner, Plymouth County: Greg Hanley and Lincoln D. Heineman. (Vote for not more than Two)

The Republican Party ballot will list for consideration:

• Representative in Congress, Ninth District: Mark C. Alliegro and Thomas Joseph O’Malley, Jr.  (Vote for One)

• Councillor, Fourth District: (none listed)

• Senator in General Court, Second Plymouth and Bristol District Court: (none listed)

• Representative in General Court, Twelfth Plymouth District: Peter J. Boncek, Michael E. Cowett, and Ian F. Murphy.  (Vote for One)

• Sheriff, Plymouth County: Joseph D. McDonald, Jr. (Vote for One)

• County Commissioner, Plymouth County: Daniel A. Pllotta and Anthony Thomas O’Brien, Sr. (Vote for not more than Two)

There are no candidates listed on the Green-Rainbow Party ballots and United Independent Party ballots.

Absentee ballot applications are available from the town clerks’ offices for those not able to vote in person on election day due to  1.) absence from your town during normal polling hours; 2.) physical disability preventing you from going to the polling place; or 3.) religious belief.

PLYMPTON– During the regularly scheduled selectmen’s meeting on Monday, August 22, the majority of the meeting was taken up by a presentation to board and committee members, along with town employees regarding changes to the building permitting process.

At the behest of Selectman John Traynor, a workgroup was formed several months ago to address what was seen as a haphazard “loosey-goosey” system of moving building permits through the various departments, boards and committees. Builders have even been known to wander Town House trying to get various portions of a permit “signed-off” on.

The workgroup recommended having a single focal person in the Building Department, in this case Kathy Wright, to be the designated permitting coordinator, who will move permits through the new process.

Further security was another recommendation of the board, and each permit application will now be assigned a master control number as it moves through the system.

A further recommendation is that boards coordinate their schedules so that delays aren’t introduced due to posting requirements or conflicting schedules. A permit application will begin with the Building Department at step 1. The application will be reviewed in a timely fashion by the Permit Coordinator, who will determine what boards, offices and committees the project will need to pass through at step 2. Step 3 involves a check to make sure all taxes are paid on the property by the Tax Collector at which point a control number will be assigned to the application. Step 4 will have the Assessors assign a street number to a parcel if it doesn’t have one. At this point the Building Department will review the application with the input of the Fire Department and the Highway Department (steps 5, 6 and 7).

If the project needs to be reviewed by the Zoning Officer or the Planning Board, that will occur next (steps 8 and 9), finally moving to the Conservation Commission and the Board of Health in steps 10 and 11. If all requirements are met, a building permit is issued. At any step, an affirmative response moves the application along to the next step, but a negative response sends the application back to step 1.There are some notable exceptions. Some minor projects, according to Building Inspector Tom Millias, do not need extensive review outside the building department. Other projects may receive early Conservation Commission or Board of Health review if they involve locations near wetlands in the first case, or septic designs, repairs or wells in the latter case.

The proposal was agreed upon by those present, many of whom had participated in the workgroup and it will be implemented on a trial basis beginning September 6.

Plympton Town Clerk Tara J. Shaw would like to remind people who have a business office in Plympton, that they MUST file a business certificate with the office of the Town Clerk.  The certificate is good for four years, and then must be renewed.  Any time the information on the business certificate changes, or the business is discontinued, an amendment must be filed.  The following definition and requirements of business certificates is as follows from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts web site:

BUSINESS

CERTIFICATES

(110 MGL §§ 5 & 6 and 227 MGL § 5A)

The primary purpose of filing a business certificate is to protect consumers or creditors by identifying the names and addresses of the owners of the business. The filing of a business certificate does not protect a business name as does a corporate filing or a trademark registration. A business certificate filing is commonly called a “d/b/a” (doing business as).

The filing of a business certificate may be used in connection with a court case to show when a business name was first used in a community and to enjoin another business from using an identical or similar name. If you need information on legal protection of a business name you should contact the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Office, Corporations Division or your own lawyer.

Any person conducting a business, individually or as a partnership, in the Commonwealth under any title or name other than his real name, must file a business certificate with the clerk of the city or town in which the business has an office. The term person includes a corporation.

The certificate must include the full name and residence of each person conducting the business; the place, including street and number, where the business is conducted; and the title under which the business is conducted. The certificate must be signed under oath by each person conducting the business, certifying that the statements contained in the certificate are true. The certificate may be signed in the presence of any of the following: the town clerk, the assistant town clerk, a person designated by the town clerk, or a person authorized to take oaths, such as a notary public. Each person wishing to file a business must produce evidence of his identity.

Please stop by Town Clerk’s Office for Business Certificates. Fee for filing a business certificate is $20 (expires in 4 years)

Amendments and Discontinuances to Business Certificates

If a business is discontinued, or if the information related to the business or the individuals conducting the business changes after the original filing, a statement of discontinuance or of the new information must be filed with the clerk of each city or town in which the original business. The fee for filing the amendment or discontinuance is $5.00

Fine

Violations of 110 MGL §§ 5 & 6 and 227 MGL § 5A shall be punished by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars for each month during which such violation continues.

PLYMPTON– On Tuesday, August 2, the Conservation Committee met and took on several issues. Conservation Commission is responsible for administering the Wetlands Protection Act. Any use or activity proposed within 100 feet of a wetland resource area or within 200 feet of a river must first be authorized by the Commission.

• A family on Ring Road, who are within 200 feet of a river are experiencing erosion issues on their property. The commission has been working with them to find solutions to the problems. The couple partially blames rain run-off from the street for their concern, but admit that cutting back on their irrigation from four times a day to one has helped, significantly, and they were lauded for their efforts. One issue still remaining is a patch of cedar chips in their back yard that needs to be stabilized, likely by planting something “rooted”. Although the commission will not order them to plant anything, they do need to come up with a solution that brings the land into compliance, whatever that solution may be.

• An updated Notice of Intent (NOI) to do work– in this case new construction¬ on Main Street– was filed with the commission. The updated site-plan included marked wetlands areas. The commission, especially Linda Leddy and Amy Cronin, were concerned about the new plan as the positioning of the structure may not meet zoning requirements, and will hold the resident’s checks until he speaks with the Zoning Enforcement Officer before they take any money from him for re-filing his plan in case he has to do it over again.

• A hearing that was continued for a Main Street resident was briefly re-opened and continued again. The resident had done tree-work in the 100-foot zone, and possibly within the 25-foot zone, of wetlands without filing a site-plan and a NOI. He had been notified in April, 2015, that he needed to file the NOI, the commission stated from a review of their minutes. The resident wanted to simply plant trees to mitigate what he had removed. “Oh, there will be trees there…” said commission chairman Richard Burnet, but the commission didn’t feel they could even begin to work with the resident until they were able to determine the zones. He will have to hire a botanist to “flag” the 25-foot and 100-foot areas to re-delineate them, which hasn’t occurred since the 1970’s, said the resident, and then the board can work with him to bring him into compliance.

• A NOI to build a driveway was filed for M7-B1-L40C, a lot on Main Street. The NOI will be considered on August 16, at 7:30 p.m.

• The commission will meet next on Aug. 16, at 7 p.m.

HALIFAX– The Town of Halifax held a Special Town Meeting Monday, July 25, in the Halifax Elementary School Gym. There were six articles on the warrant, all of which passed unanimously.

Article 1 funded an increase in staffing for the fire department in the amount of $210,000. This money was found through an increase in ambulance fees approved at the last Town Meeting.

Articles 2 and 3 had to do with dispatching. Article 2 funded a new agreement with the dispatcher’s union, while Article 3 combined various line items for the communications center into one line item.

Article 4 involved the first step in the Elementary School renovation and repair process, and appropriated $140,000 towards the process.

Articles 5 and 6, the former asking for money for additional work on Monponsett Pond and the latter to renovate the HOPS playground were passed over at the recommendation of the Board of Selectmen.

HALIFAX– At the continuation of a dog hearing on Tuesday, July 19, Jennifer Choate, proprietor of Tarawood Kennels, was ordered by selectmen to hire a sound engineer in order to keep her kennel license.

Neighbors, at a hearing that began last week but which Choate could not attend, complained of near constant barking that could be heard at all hours.

Choate says the dogs are indoors from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., in an insulated barn– although the roof is not insulated.

The public did not testify as much as public officials debated Choate.

Selectman Kim Roy, who has been doing her own research on the barking by showing up at random times throughout the day and night, along with a dozen or so neighbors, say that there is a barking problem.  Neighbors say that they have put up with it for years.

Roy and Choate disagreed on whether there actually was a problem, with Choate stating that Roy was causing the dogs to “alert” with her very presence at odd hours, such as 4:51 a.m. as in one of her recordings. In that recording, one could argue that morning birds were louder than the barking, although barking could be heard.

“I wanted to disprove the barking, I really did,” said Roy. Choate “disagreed” with a lot that the board and her neighbors had to say.

Selectman Chairman Troy Garron relied heavily on the expertise of the Animal Control Officer Noreen Callahan, but Callahan stated that her concern was primarily for the animals’ safety, which was not the issue at hand.

While the other board members seemed as if they wanted to “prescribe” some solution swiftly, Selectman Tom Millias said he wanted to get away from prescribing a solution for a person’s business, because if it fails, “we will all be back in the same position again.”

The board came to a somewhat odd solution, which was to order Choate to hire a professional sound engineer to come up with  or help Choate to come up with a plan to mitigate barking noise.

She will report back to selectmen in one week on her progress.

PLYMPTON -The Amy Breault benefit event at the Upland Sportsman Club, Upland Road, Plympton, will be held Sunday, July 17, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Amy, a resident of Plympton, was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting Multiple Sclerosis, which progressed to secondary-progressive MS.  She has been invited to Russia to take part in an experimental treatment to use her own body’s stem cells to treat her MS.  Because this highly effective treatment is not available in the United States, Amy will go to Russia to receive her stem cell treatment.

Amy, with her companion Brendan Bibaud, invites the community to join them at the Upland Sportsman Club in Plympton on Sunday, July 17, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

There will be a DJ, raffles, and much more for a family afternoon for all ages.  There is no charge to come and meet Amy under the Upland Club Pavilion and lend support to her mission.

Optional tickets for the chicken bake dinner are $20 per person and can be purchased at the Upland Club or by calling Kim at (781) 585-5741.  All proceeds will go to Amy for her stem cell treatment in Russia.

For those who wish to help but cannot attend, donations may be made directly at http://www.youcaring.com/amy-breault-360701.