The Halifax Board of Selectmen met Tuesday, March 14.
Selectman Jonathan Selig reported that the Fireworks Committee has found a vendor that has availability closer to the Fourth of July. He noted that some in town were disappointed that the fireworks have been held in June. The company, American Thunder, is a company that has provided fireworks for the town in the past.
Town Administrator Cody Haddad told Selectmen that he had a letter from Flower & Soul that they are committing to donating $10,000 to fireworks each year for the next five years. “They hope to grow the program and grow the festivities for the Fourth of July events,” Haddad said. Selig said, “I was on the Board in the summer when Brian the owner came in; I was very impressed; he’s very much committed to Halifax and this event…. He envisions it kind of back to what it was when there were events during the day and not just the fireworks at night… I thank him for his generosity.”
Haddad told the Selectmen that they had received two allegations of open meeting law violation. The first was for the joint meeting with the Finance Committee. The complaint was that the Chair didn’t state that the meeting was being recorded. Haddad noted that it was an oversight on the behalf of the Selectmen and that they plan to correct that moving forward. The second complaint was regarding the Feb. 28 meeting. The first allegation was that the meeting minutes from July 12 and November 12 were not accepted in a timely manner. Haddad said he wrote a letter apologizing for the delay and citing the difficulties with the change of hands in the Board of Selectmen. The second allegation said that the Board of Selectmen uses acronyms for things that are not clear to the general public. Haddad said that he doesn’t believe it to be a violation of the open meeting law but said they would make more of a conscious effort to avoid doing so in the future.
Selectmen had an appointment with Angel Guallpa Castro regarding a live entertainment permit for 122 Monponsett St. A translator for Castro said the event was a baptism and that the permit was requested through 1 a.m. Selectmen expressed some concern that the event time was quite late for amplified music. They also expressed some concern over the size of the event which was requested for 90 people. Selig said that if the 90 people could safely fit inside and the band shuts down at 9 p.m., it should be okay. He also verified that they would have enough parking for 90 people. A resident in attendance who said his parents live nearby expressed concern about other events in the past where loud music was played well into the night. The Selectmen again stressed that the music would need to end around 9 p.m..
Police Chief Joao Chaves said, “My only concern is, I need to make sure he knows that he can’t sell alcohol, he can’t have party guards, and he can’t be charging a fee. This is what happened during Carnival. Some neighbors were complaining and allegedly people were offered bribes not to call the police… you can’t have that as a private night club; it’s a residence.” Chaves also said that there shouldn’t be any advertising on social media. The Selectmen voted to move forward with the permit provided all of the guidelines were met.
Regarding the MBTA Action Plan, Haddad said that the technical assistance grant is open, and he will be submitting an application in the next week or two. He said they hope to get the Old Colony Planning Council on board to assist the Town in reviewing the feasibility and the overall process.
Regarding Morse Brothers, Haddad said they did conduct a site visit. Since then, an Executive Session took place on the matter. He said that the Town will keep people informed as soon as the information becomes public. Some in attendance pushed back insisting that they wished to be privy to the details. Selectmen Chair John Bruno stood firm that right now was not the time for it to be discussed in open session. “We are talking to them and we hope to have it resolved as quickly as we can,” Bruno said.
Haddad provided an update on the trainings for various Boards and Committees. He said that many sessions will be offered on open meeting law; employees are requested to attend just one. “There’s a lot to it [open meeting law] and this would provide everybody with the tools to effectively follow that law,” Haddad said.
Town Administrator Cody Haddad told the Selectmen that there is a vacancy on the Zoning Bylaw Review Committee that needs to be filled by a Planning Board member. He said that none of the current Planning Board members not already serving are interested in the position. He did note that a previous member of the Board had expressed interest and said that there are two at-large positions that also needed to be filled. Anyone interested should fill out a talent bank form.

The Plympton Board of Selectmen met Monday evening, March 13, to discuss and vote on several issues, including whether or not to continue meeting remotely or to resume in-person meetings as have some other town boards, including the Plympton School Committee.
The law that made remote meetings acceptable under the Open Meeting Law, was passed in the wake of the COVID-19 shutdown in order that municipalities could still conduct their business while being in quarantine. That allowance expires on March 31, at which time full in-person meetings will need to resume. The state legislature has a bill before it to extend the remote meetings deadline for two years, allowing the towns the option of meeting remotely until March 31, 2025.
The question before the board was whether or not selectmen would seek to continue their remote meetings or return to in-person meetings. Selectman John Traynor spoke in favor of continuing the remote meetings because of their convenience and also spoke to the merits of in-person meetings, the best, in his estimation would be a hybrid of both, with the ease and convenience of the ZOOM meeting, and the option of people coming in for an in-person experience. Chairman Christine Joy said, “We’re not there yet,” to which Traynor replied that it was tested and it worked flawlessly.
Joy further stated that with ZOOM meetings, there has been greater public participation and that often, in person meetings were not attended by any members of the pubic.
Selectman Mark Russo said that he didn’t think the legislation to allow the continuation of remote meetings had passed the legislature and suggested the board wait to vote on the matter until the legislature voted. He did say that remote meetings were able to run more efficiently. Joy said she was in favor of returning to in-person meetings until the legislature votes, making the March 27 meeting the first in-person selectmen’s meeting. That meeting is also a continuation of the SLT hearing for its Spring Street location.
On Joy’s motion, the board voted unanimously to return to in-person meetings as of March 27.
Plympton resident Pat Burke, after the vote, because he had difficulty getting into the ZOOM meeting, said he wished the town would continue both in person and remote meetings, saying it might encourage people to participate in town government.
In other matters, Town Clerk Tricia Detterman brought to selectmen the question of allowing Vote by Mail for local elections. Other towns in the commonwealth have decided to eliminate that option, citing its cost and the unnecessary burden of another vote by mail. State and federal elections would not be affected. Detterman said that she was personally in favor of keeping the vote by mail option. “Hopefully we get more people participating in the electoral process.”
Selectman Traynor told the board that the Town of Sharon, where Deborah Sampson went to live with her husband Benjamin Gannett and where they are buried, was promoting a “forever” stamp in honor of the commonwealth’s official heroine. The Sharon Historical Society Feb. 9, 2023, voted unanimously to support the issuing of a Deborah Sampson Forever Stamp. The Town of Plympton Board of Selectmen voted to join in support of the effort. People who wish to support the new stamp may write a letter of support to Stamp Development, Attn: Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee, 475 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Room 3300, Washington, DC 20260-3501. The deadline for mailing your letter of support is the first week in April.
Town Administrator Elizabeth Dennehy told the board that Plympton would discontinue its regionalization of the Animal Control Officer services, effective immediately, with a vote of the board. She said that Carver had not been able to provide the service for a number of reasons and that both towns found it would be easier just to sever the relationship for now.
Selectmen voted to allow the bicycle race “Harbor to the Bay” permission to ride through the town on Sept. 23, from 7:30 to 10 a.m. on Spring St., Brook St., and Mayflower Rd. This will be their final bike ride.
As for the Raves that usually close the meetings, Russo told the board about serving on the Community Preservation Committee with David Chandler, who passed away last week. Russo remembered that he would come 20 minutes early to prepare for his meeting and Chandler also took to coming in 20 minutes early and the two would talk about everything from the state of the economy, national banking, politics, down to chain saw maintenance. After years of these pre-meeting visits Russo said he found that the conversations with Dave were the perfect preparation for the upcoming CPC meeting. Chandler, the board agreed, was a lovely gentleman and will be dearly missed by the town.
Traynor agreed with Russo and wanted to give a shoutout to the police who were able to put together a presence at Chandler’s funeral, with an officer at the door for the wake and two officers to accompany the funeral, all at short notice.
On another note, Traynor said he was happy to see there were 60 people at the Pay-T trash seminar held March 4 at the Town House, because there wasn’t enough space at the library to accommodate the crowd. The presentation by Highway Superintendent Rob Firlotte will be repeated Saturday, March 18, for those who didn’t attend March 4, also at the Town House. There will be refreshments and coffee at the library for those who have already seen the presentation.
Traynor also told the board the Recreation Commission is full and active and working with Liz Dennehy with some funds that have been earmarked for their use. Traynor recalled the days when Plympton didn’t have enough players to field a softball team so the town sent their players to Halifax. This spring, he told the board, there will be four Plympton softball teams!
The meeting adjourned. The next meeting will be the continued hearing for SLT on the Spring St. project. It will be in-person, in the Deborah Sampson room of the Plympton Town House, 5 Palmer Road.

KINGSTON …Mayflower Church  will host a free Chowder Fest dinner at the Briggs Building, behind the church, at 207 Main Street, Kingston, beginning at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 18.
The event is open to the public from 4 to 6 p.m. All are invited to attend, and no RSVP is needed. There is no cost. Pastor Anton Brown said that the Chowder event is one of the church’s popular community programs. “We are all about outreach, and meeting more members of the community. Our event is a great chance to have people come by, say hello, and enjoy a free chowder dinner.” The church has hosted the event for nearly ten years.
Additionally, attendees will have the chance, if they choose, to participate in some good-natured competition and vote for the “best chowder.” Dozens of chowders will be available, prepared by different members of the church.

Mayflower Church hosts Sunday Morning Worship live as well as online, at 10 a.m. each Sunday. The service is also broadcast Sundays at 7 p.m. on WPLM 99.1 FM. Mayflower Church is located at 207 Main Street, Kingston, MA 02364. Reverend Anton Brown serves as Pastor. For additional information, please call 781-585-3167 or email [email protected].

The Halifax Finance Committee met on Monday, Feb. 13. Chair Todd Dargie said that at a previous meeting, they had conducted three interviews for the open position of Finance Committee secretary. The three candidates were Gina DiMuzio, Katelyn Esposito, and Holly Merry. Dargie said that Merry had since expressed concerns that she would not have the availability and capacity to serve in the position. “All three candidates I thought were fantastic… were all qualified to do the position,” Dargie said. He went on to say that his primary concern was that the candidate had municipal experience.
Committee member Frank Johnston said that he liked that Esposito had experience as the office administrator at the Abington Housing Authority. “That brings some value to municipal government that we are looking for… she also had good availability… I think both candidates were well-suited,” he explained. Committee member Michael Bennett said he agreed with Johnston. Committee member Jim Walters said that he also echoed the same sentiments. The Committee voted unanimously to offer the open position to Esposito. Town Accountant Sandra Nolan said that she would forward an offer letter to Dargie.
Building Inspector Jim Perry attended the meeting to provide the Committee with a budget update for his department. He explained, “Pretty much everything is level- funded with respect to the total budget with built in pay raises and so forth; the only additional funds that we are looking for were… $1,800 for training of new secretaries in the Zoning, Conservation, and Planning Departments under the Regulatory Board.” He also noted that currently those positions are vacant and that they are in the process of conducting interviews. “We have found that there is a need to get a lot of training done within those departments,” he said.
Perry said there was some discussion with Nolan about putting that $1,800 under training in the Selectmen’s budget for municipal trainings. New Town Administrator Cody Haddad said, “That should go into that account for training; one of my requests this year will be to increase that… there’s a lot of trainings out there; I’m a very big proponent of professional development so I would like to see that increased.” He continued, “Jim’s request would certainly be approved – it’s warranted; it makes sense to kind of keep it centralized under training.” Dargie asked Haddad if they had started to assess where additional trainings are necessary. Haddad responded, “We’re assessing that; I would like to bring in management training for our department heads and then there are specialized trainings for individual departments… but it’s really a dialogue I’ve begun having with department heads –they know best, they know what they need best so we’re going to take their feedback and bring in the appropriate training as needed.”
Johnston asked Perry to also address the budget line for Interim Inspector. Perry told the Committee, “that is a cost that we incur because I am just a local inspector at this point – an interim local inspector. I have just recently passed my final test to be certified as a local inspector which would then bump me up to interim building inspector/inspector of buildings… so because I did not have that certification we need to hire, beside an inspector of buildings which the previous Select Board appointed, an individual to assist me with certification of occupancies and yearly inspections that are required so that $2,250 goes to pay his time to do those additional inspections with me; we paid him basically a per diem or per inspection fee of $50.” Perry said that the fee should stay in there until the hearing with the Board of Building Commissioners to accept his examinations and appoint him as a conditional inspector of buildings.
Library Director Jean Gallant also provided a budget update for her department. “My budget is really kind of mandated by the State,” she explained to the Committee. “I figure out my wages, I figure out my salary, and then I figure out my expenses and then I put that into a formula, and it comes out with what the town has to appropriate for me in order to get my State aid,” she continued. Gallant said that her State aid has been going up each year, noting that she got $16,000 last year as an incentive grant. She said that she uses that grant to pay for several different expenses including small things like a broken printer or blinds. The library budget for this year stands at $344,790. “Jean’s very good with if there is a wage increase, we refigure her wages and when possible, we then lower her expenses by the same amount that her wages have increased,” Nolan told the Committee. Gallant said that she was requesting $244 to be added into this year’s budget. It was decided to put that expense onto the agenda for their next meeting. They did say that the easiest method would likely be a reserve fund transfer.
Dargie said that an email had been sent out to department heads with a link to an online form to share revenue suggestions. Haddad said he believed that the form was to include existing fee structures and proposed changes. Dargie said that it was found last year that some fees were below neighboring towns and could potentially be raised to increase revenue. Haddad said it should become policy to review fees annually even if changes were not made each year.
The Police and Fire Departments’ budgets will be reviewed during their next Finance meeting.

The Plympton Board of Selectmen met on Monday, Feb. 13. The warrants for the Annual and Special Town Meetings were approved during the meeting. “Three months to Town Meeting!” Selectman Mark Russo said. Selectmen also voted to accept the election calendar for the 2023 town elections. Town Clerk Patricia Detterman told the Selectmen that if they wanted to opt out of early mail by voting for local elections, they would need to hold a hearing. Detterman said that for the local elections, many of the mailed-out ballots were not returned. “My initial reaction is, I’m not interested in opting out,” Selectman John Traynor said citing concerns about seniors and disabled people being able to vote. Traynor asked if they could put it on their next meeting’s agenda and gather additional information in the meanwhile. Detterman also told Selectmen that a new Registrar would need to be appointed as their terms begin at a different time than other elected officials. Town Administrator Liz Dennehy said that they would add it to their next meeting’s agenda.
Selectmen were ready to vote on the Dennett Elementary School solar power purchase and sales agreement and lease documents for the rooftop project that’s been ongoing since 2020. “It’s the culmination of a lot of work between myself, Jon Wilhelmsen on behalf of the Dennett School Committee, and respective Counsel for us and for Selectmen, and also a lot of work put into this by Wendy Jones in the Assessor’s office,” Dennehy said. “Really nice teaching tool as well as the cost savings along the way,” Russo said of the project. The project was voted on and approved by the town during Town Meeting. The Selectmen voted to take control of a portion of the roof at the school to make the project possible and voted to approve all necessary documents.
They also took up the Turkey Swamp purchase and sales. Regarding voting on the documents at that night’s meeting, Russo said, “We came really close but we ran into a couple of snags along the way… apparently this is going to have to go to the Planning Board of both Plympton and Halifax so it’s going to take a little bit more time; we have long known how slow and convoluted these processes could be and they’re living up to it.” Russo also said that Counsel had recommended that the Board authorize Russo to accept the documents assuming any necessary edits are minimal. The other Selectmen voted unanimously to accept that proposal.
The Selectmen also nominated Russo to serve as point person for the RFP process for Power Supply. Russo said that they actually have a year left on a three-year contract which he said, “turned out pretty well; we’ve certainly saved citizens along the way.” Russo said that rates are going down so it would be best for one of the Selectmen to move forward with an RFP should the rates become ideal.
Traynor brought up to the other Selectmen that many other Boards and Committees hold their meetings on Monday evenings making it difficult for them to attend other meetings. He also said that many Monday holidays force the Selectmen’s meetings out further than he would like. He proposed moving the Selectmen’s meetings to Tuesdays. Russo said that given how long they have been meeting on Mondays “it would be a real challenge for me to switch.” Selectmen Chair Christine Joy said the same. Traynor said in light of their feelings, it might be best to “table it for a while.”
Dennehy provided a few updates saying, “We have been working through some issues at some of our town buildings. The heating system that replacement took place at the Old Townhouse and the Council on Aging… have been informed that the building is back open and ready for use… the library we had a little issue over the weekend, so we had our heating vendor out there today… so hopefully that’s settled for the short-term.” She said that longer term, they’ve asked the vendor to finish off the library’s heating system. She noted that they would hopefully be using funding from the next round of the Green Communities grant. Dennehy said that they would also be looking at the overhead heating units in the garage of the Highway Department. “We had a lot of success with that same type of project at the Fire Department.”
Traynor led off the Selectmen’s raves saying, “I had a resident reach out for help moving a large object in order to make room for a hospital bed.” He said that he reached out to the Fire Department who were able to move the object within a matter of hours. “Kudos to the Fire Department, as always they stepped up and did a nice job, especially on short notice,” he continued. Russo said that over the last few weeks, they have had several emergencies come up during weekends. He said his rave was for Dennehy, Bri Martins, and all town employees who mobilize and get things done even during off-hours. Joy said her rave was for the clear nights making star gazing possible.

Budget Presentation
The Silver Lake Regional School Committee met on Thursday, Feb. 9. Superintendent Jill Proulx gave a budget presentation for the second round of the budget process. The preliminary budget that was presented at the previous meeting represented a total increase of 3.78 percent. She noted that the School Committee had requested that the Administration provide tiered cuts that show what would need to happen to bring the total increase down to 3 percent and another set of cuts that would be necessary to bring it to 2.75 percent.
Proulx said that technology was reduced by $25,000 and that there was potential to make that up with rural aid. Some equipment including a touch screen for health class, a lifting cage, and copy machines were cut though Proulx noted there was some grant potential there. Cuts were also made to the Middle School/High School maintenance line.
“We had been asked some questions about student-teacher ratios and declining enrollment,” Proulx said of a concern that was raised during the previous meeting. She then turned it over to the Principals. Silver Lake Regional Middle School Principal Becky Couet said that over the last several years, Silver Lake Regional has been within six-tenths of the State average. She said that currently they are right at the State average. Committee member Gordon Laws pointed out that there appears to be consistent growth at the Middle School level but decline at the High School level. Couet also said that current enrollment stands at 532 and next year’s projected enrollment is 562.
At the previous School Committee meeting, there were concerns voiced by members about the lack of access to foreign languages at the Middle School level. According to Couet, 17 students that wished to take a language, did not get the opportunity to take one. “Next fall, it would be closer to 132 students that either wouldn’t have the opportunity to take a language or would not have a choice.” She said that Mass Core says that language should be treated as a core subject. “We used to have three languages in seventh and eighth grade – we were very strong as far as Middle School language programs and now we’re down to two languages and only offered in eighth grade,” the World Language coordinator explained. Silver Lake Regional High School Principal Michaela Gill said that it is typically a requirement at most four-year colleges, that students take two consecutive years of a foreign language.
Principal Michaela Gill told the Committee, “We’ve cut a lot of programs, Tech Ed, Family and Consumer Science, Marketing Management, then on the other side we’ve expanded CTE offerings… but we have cut some core subject areas – Latin, Wellness, ELA, Music and we haven’t really restored those since 2005, 2006 when those cuts started to begin.” She explained the impact that staff cuts would have explaining that science teachers, for example, are only licensed in their area of science and cannot just cover for other science courses were cuts to be made. Regarding staffing cuts Proulx said, “we would be looking at reducing our budget by $235,886. She noted that they didn’t get into specifics for those cuts.
There was discussion about using the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) grant money. Committee member Jason Fraser said that he wanted to be sure the schools were spending all of those funds that are available for them. “The one thing that gets me a little queasy, is using it for something that is not a one-time budget item such as staff,” Committee Chair Paula Hatch said. Fraser acknowledged that he was also cautious regarding the fiscal cliff but said, “It just makes me sick that tier one has two full-time equivalents and I came to the table tonight to propose adding a world language teacher at the Middle School, so I’m just having difficulty squaring that knowing that we have hundreds of thousands of Federal funds that we need to spend in the next 18 months or so.”
The Committee requested that as many items as possible be removed from the budget for the next round, in the hopes that they could free up as much money as possible for staffing lines. Proulx said, “I just want everyone to be clear, I want the directive to the Principals to be very clear that they are being asked to pull everything out of the budget that could possibly be funded by ESSER… and to pull out even things that are required with the hope that they will be approved by ESSER.”
SLEA Update
President of the Silver Lake Education Association (SLEA) Jon Lay spoke thanking the Committee for the robust conversation around the budget and agreeing that he would like to see ESSER funds used aggressively. Lay also addressed negotiations with the paraprofessionals. “I’ll just take a moment to publicly say what our offer on the table is now, so the Committee had offered an additional two steps, two percent higher… we’re asking to make those four percent higher… that increase is very reasonable and the other thing we’re asking for is three paid vacation days,” he said. He pointed out that paraprofessionals are the only school staff that do not get paid over school vacations. He said that they were looking forward to “hashing it out with a mediator.”
Policy Update
Fraser laid out a few policies including one pertaining to who has access to the security cameras on school grounds and for what purposes the footage can be used. He said that one change allowed access to emergency responders during an emergency as designated by the school. He noted that they do not have access to those cameras for general surveillance. He said that Police can only access the footage during an active Police investigation. Fraser said that parents can come into the school to view footage, but he noted that students’ faces will be blurred, and no one can take a copy home.
Fraser said that the majority of the last Policy Subcommittee meeting was centered around educational surveys. He said that they tried to make the language more pro-parent, putting the obligation, instead, on the District. He said that the District must, to the fullest extent, share out the survey questions, etc. before administering to students. He said that per the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), they did not offer an opt-in option for parents, rather than opt-out. Committee member Summer Schmaling pressed a bit as to why DESE would recommend against an opt-in process. Proulx said that there could be grant funding tied to certain types of questionnaires. Poor participation in the surveys could result in a loss of those funds. Schmaling insisted that she felt that the District should not be chasing all grant money available and insisted that surveys should be opt-in only. Committee Chair Paula Hatch asked how many surveys are sent out in an academic year. Proulx said, “maybe one or two.”
Assistant Superintendent Ryan Lynch said, “people found it hard to learn about the opt-out process… typically you want to… give parents the opportunity by sharing all the survey questions, and the information how to opt-out, the timeline, the reminders.” He continued, “I just think logistically with a higher percentage choosing to participate, that it’s sort of easier to manage.”
Principals’ Reports
Couet provided an update on the exploratory curriculum of studies. She said, “I did remove things like Latin, Twenty-first Century Literacy, Literacy in the Digital Age, Language Lab, and Healthology – things that haven’t been run in years, to my knowledge.” She said that some new art and music exploratory courses were added. The Committee voted to accept the updated program of studies.
Gill said she had just one item which was the potential to sponsor an international exchange student during an upcoming school year. “The opportunity for our students to meet someone from somewhere else is fantastic,” Fraser said. The Committee voted to approve it.
SAFER Update
Fraser provided the SAFER update. He said that the administrative building they currently have is not ADA compliant and cannot house all of the administrators currently employed by the District. He further said that renovations to the existing building would be nearly $1,000,000 more than new construction. He said that total cost for new construction would be “somewhere around $6 million.”
Capital Plan
Regarding the Capital Plan, Fraser said that they managed to get it down to $550,000 down from $1.5 million. “That would include $200,000 for the envelope to continue to work on the water mitigation for the buildings and roofs, this would also include the five doors for the CTE program for the safety issues they are causing… putting in an updated and to-code electrical panel for our metal fab students, and also it would put in the sound system for the theatre here at the High School, we had $60,000 for one of the J.V. baseball fields as well,” Fraser said. He noted that the guidelines for what to include versus what to cut were “safety and equity.”