By Kathleen LaNatra

The cranberry industry is one of the true gems of our Massachusetts economy, and has been for over 200 years. The cranberry is our state’s leading agricultural product, and Massachusetts is home to more than 30% of the total cranberry-growing acreage in the entire United States. Much of that acreage is right here in our district. In good times, the crop value of cranberries has reached $100 million annually. Without question the cranberry industry is a significant business for us all.

Yet, it’s an industry facing very serious challenges. I have had the opportunity to get to know many of the cranberry farmers and industry leaders throughout the region and have learned firsthand of the struggles they face.

Several of their biggest challenges have included a significant price drop over the last decade, coupled with fallout from trade wars.

In 2008, a barrel of cranberries was worth about $58 a barrel. Ten years later, though, the price had dropped to $25. The Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association estimates the cost of producing one barrel of cranberries at approximately $35.

Industry leaders attribute the price drop to crop surpluses, along with a decline in demand for some of the industry’s most important products, including cranberry juice.

Then there are the recent trade wars. Over the last few years, for example, Chinese tariffs on dried cranberries increased from 15% to 40%.

The American cranberry industry had been working to open a Chinese market for cranberries, and had enjoyed some success. Between 2013 and 2018, American exports of cranberries had increased by 1,000%. But in the first half of 2019, after an increase in tariffs, sales were 45% lower than the previous year.

For this particular struggle, we hope to work closely with our federal legislators and the Biden Administration  to improve the export market for our cranberry growers.

Closer to home, cranberry farmers continue to seek solutions to their challenges. Some have considered leasing portions of their bogs to solar companies; others contemplate dumping a significant part of their supply and turning it into fertilizer or compost. Some hope that in so doing the decrease in supply could lead to driving up the prices.

Certainly everyone will be better off if the industry can continue to produce robust quantities of cranberries and find a receptive market.

There has been some effort to address the challenges the industry faces. A few years ago, the Massachusetts Cranberry Revitalization Task Force identified strategies to support the state’s cranberry industry, including funds to renovate and upgrade local grower bogs, implementing additional conservation efforts, and considering incentives to preserve retired bogs as open and protected space.

It’s unlikely that any single solution will be the remedy for all the issues that the farmers and industry leaders face. But we all need to try. As consumers, we should be proud of this unique industry and we can support it at the grassroots level by buying their products. Legislatively, in my role as Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Export Development, it will be my priority to do everything I can to support our cranberry farmers and help them promote their product on a national and international stage.

The cranberry industry is an important part of our past, and present. I will do everything I can to assure that it remains that way in the future.

With a bang.

That is the best way to describe how the Whitman-Hanson/Silver Lake High girls’ hockey co-op finished off their season last week.

The co-op known as WHSL had their final game of the season on Sunday, Feb. 21 against the Marshfield Rams. They won the game 7-2. It was not only their highest-scoring game of the season, but it tied their largest margin of victory on the year. They also won by five goals on February 8: 6-1 against the East Bridgewater/West Bridgewater co-op.

Ellie Grady led the scoring effort for WHSL in the win, putting up a team-high three goals. In addition to her hat trick, the team got one goal apiece from: Shea Kelleher, Kira Peterson, Bridget Cardarelli, and captain Emily McDonald.

The game marked the team’s second straight win against Marshfield. Two days prior, they also faced off against Marshfield and won the game 5-4.

WSHL ended their season with a record of 4-5-2 in 11 games played. They scored just as many goals as they allowed: 33 for and 33 against. That’s an average of 3.0 goals for and against per game.

Next season, WHSL will have a younger team. They are set to lose nine seniors to graduation this spring. It’s unclear if the team will play a full slate of games next year after a shortened season due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The roster for WHSL this season included: senior forward Ellie Grady, sophomore forward Shea Kelleher, sophomore defender Macie Fitzgerald, sophomore forward Bridget Cardarelli, freshman defender Jocelyn Moore, senior forward Molly Duff, junior forward Lily Ulvila, sophomore forward Cassandra Martin, senior forward Neve Corkery, senior forward Emily McDonald, freshman defender Caitlin Dilley, junior forward Abby Powers, senior forward Caleigh Tompkins, senior forward Kira Peterson, senior forward Caity Collins-Hazley, sophomore defender Kendyl Peterson, and senior goalies Kat Gilbert and Rylee Moran.

Benjamin Paulin

Email: ben@jgpr.net

Special to The Express

PLYMPTON — Chief Matthew Clancy reports that the Plympton Police Department will charge a man with making threats at a business in town over the weekend.

Two additional men were subsequently arrested by Carver Police, who seized two handguns, a large knife and multiple pills during a motor vehicle stop with all three men inside.

The unnamed male suspect will be issued a summons to appear in court at a later date and will be charged by Plympton Police with Threats to Commit a Crime: To Wit Murder. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, a criminal complaint has not yet been filed by the court, so the identity of this suspect is being withheld at this time.

Additionally, Adam Laurenco, age 32, of Taunton was also charged by Carver Police with:

• Carrying a Firearm Without a License

• Possession of Ammunition Without an FID Card

• Possession of a Large Capacity Firearm

• Possession of a Class B Substance (Oxycodone)

• Possession of a Class B Substance (Xanax)

Nicholas Bellefeuile, age 31, of Middleborough was also charged by Carver Police with:

• Carrying a Firearm Without a License

• Possession of Ammunition Without an FID Card

• Carrying a Dangerous Weapon (Brass Knuckles)

• Possession of Class B Substance (Oxycodone)

• Possession of Class B Substance (Xanax)

Bellefeuille and Laurenco  were arraigned in Wareham District Court on Monday, Feb. 22, and were released on $1,000 bail.

At approximately 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 21, Plympton police officers responded to the Tractor Supply Company, located at 406 Main St. in Plympton, after receiving a report of multiple customers who were behaving oddly and allegedly causing a disturbance inside the store.

Upon arrival, officers learned that the three men involved had left the store and were heading south into Carver. One of the men was reportedly armed with a large knife. Officers were given a description of the vehicle and suspects and the description was put out over the radio to neighboring police departments.

A short time later, Carver Police located a truck matching the description given traveling south on Main Street (Route 58) with three males inside. A traffic stop of the vehicle was conducted in the area of 32 Main St. and Plympton Police responded to assist.

Through the roadside investigation, officers determined that the three occupants of the truck had been at Tractor Supply Company a short time prior to being stopped by police. One of the men was armed with a large knife and the other two were armed with handguns. None of the suspects had a license to carry a firearm.

As a result of this investigation, Bellefeuille and Laurenco were placed under arrest by Carver Police and the third man was issued a summons to appear in court.

“This was great police work and cooperation by both departments to quickly locate and arrest these men and get two illegally possessed guns off the streets,” Chief Clancy said. “I want to thank the Carver Police for their assistance in the investigation and prompt response to the incident.”

Carver Police Chief Marc Duphily said, “This incident was able to  be resolved thanks to inter-agency support and the strong relationship we have with the Plympton Police Department. I want to commend our officers who were able to locate this truck and conducted the traffic stop leading to the arrests and seizure of weapons.”

These are allegations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Plympton Town Clerk Tricia Detterman has announced that nomination papers are now available in the Town Clerk’s office at the Plympton Town House, 5 Palmer Rd., Plympton.  Following are the positions that will be voted on at the town’s annual election on Saturday, May 15, 2021.  Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The following positions will be on the ballot:

• Selectman, three-year term

• Board of Assessors member, three-year term

• Board of Assessors member, one –year term

• Board of Health member, three-year term

• Finance Committee member, three-year term

• Two Library Trustees, three-year terms

• Library Trustee for one-year term

• Planning Board member for five-year term

• Planning Board member for four-year term

• Two Plympton School Committee members for three-year terms

• Silver Lake Regional School Committee member for three years

• Town Clerk for three years

• Tree Warden for three years

Nomination papers may be obtained from the Town Clerk’s office and will be given ONLY to the person seeking nomination, or to a person presenting a signed authorization form from the candidate.  The Town Clerk’s office is open by appointment during regular business hours:  Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The last day to submit nomination papers to the Board of Registrars with 20 signatures is Friday, March 26 at 5 p.m.  The last day to object or withdraw nomination papers is Tuesday, April 13 at 5 p.m.

To Plympton and Halifax residents:

It is with regret that I must issue this letter regarding COVID Vaccines.  The Town of Plympton had partnered with the Town of Halifax to provide a local solution to bringing vaccines to our seniors and other persons who qualify for Phase II COVID Vaccines.  We anticipated the first clinic to have been today, Wednesday, Feb. 10.  This has not happened.

Effective this week the State of Massachusetts Department of Public Health will not support local entities such as Fire Departments to administer any type of a vaccine program. DPH will no longer provide us with the medication, despite very successful programs already underway or that had been previously approved and slated to begin this week.

According to the Governor, vaccines will be distributed through private concerns such as CVS, Walgreens, etc., or State-run sites such as Gillette Stadium, Fenway Park, and others.

This was unexpected and problematic. Please refer to the Governor’s press conference notes at https://www.mass.gov/news/baker-polito-administration-announces-two-mass-vaccination-sites-new-appointments

There is a new site on the South Shore at the Marshfield Fairgrounds.  To book an appointment there, you must be eligible under the Phase II guidelines and be a resident of Plymouth County.  The link to that site is   https://www.marshfield-ma.gov/home/urgent-alerts/vaccine-clinic-information-and-senior-assistance

The other option it to go online to mass.gov/covidvaccine   or call 211 if you wish to make an appointment for the State sites

If anyone does not have internet access, or has issues with transportation or other COVID related problems please reach out to Captain Cheryl Davis at 781-689-0131 or email her at plymptoncommunityems@gmail.com

Thank you

Steve Silva

Fire Chief / Emergency Management Director

The Halifax Board of Selectmen met in-person on Tuesday, Jan. 26. While the Selectmen and Town Administrator Charlie Seelig were in-person, other attendees were virtual including Adam Cushman the senior patrol leader of Halifax Boy Scout Troop 39. Cushman led the Pledge of Allegiance during Tuesday’s meeting.

COVID Update

Seelig said that while the 14-day total for COVID cases was down a bit, the town continues to be in what he called “triple red.” Seelig mentioned that the state lifted some of the restrictions. While he noted that residents aged 75 plus could begin registering for appointments to receive the vaccine, he said that Halifax doesn’t have the necessary deep freeze capabilities for the Pfizer vaccine which he said was the vaccine being distributed in this round. He said the town zone clinic will need to wait until it is able to receive the Moderna vaccine. Council on Aging Director Susan Lawless is working with eligible residents to navigate the process and locate vaccination sites elsewhere in southeastern Massachusetts.

Correspondence

Seelig told the Board that they had received a letter from the South Shore Children’s Museum, who held a drive-in movie event at the Walmart in town in October. The letter thanked them for their assistance in putting on the event. They expressed sadness over having to close down and cancel many fundraising events in the past year and said they were looking forward to working with the town further in 2021. “We will be back as we reconfigure and make a plan for our future,” the letter read.

Monponsett Ponds Update

Seelig also gave an update on Monponsett Pond saying he had been in contact with Solitude Lake Management about various projects concerning the pond. Seelig said $135,000 has been set aside to be put toward that work but noted that it won’t cover everything the town may want to do. Possible work includes performing basic study work, revising the natural heritage habitat management plan, issuing notices of intent for weed control, performing a weed survey for invasive weeds for West Monponsett Pond, monitoring water quality and algae in May through October, and running a muscle monitoring program as part of the algae work. Seelig said that all of the aforementioned work was relatively low budget and estimated costs at $20,000 to $25,000.

Big ticket items include $100,000 for the application of aluminum sulfide in West Monponsett Pond and $70,000 for the application in East Monponsett Pond. Invasive weed control for East Monponsett Pond especially would cost $90,000.

Of the more expensive projects, Seelig said it was recommended to him to move forward with the invasive weed control prior to town meeting in May as that was the project that would most benefit from an earlier start. “Doing that and doing most of the other study work would spend about $116,000 and we would still need $170,000 of which $59,000 we’d have available to us,” Seelig said. Seelig recommended moving forward with the weed eradication program and study work prior to town meeting and then seeking the additional funds for the other work at town meeting on May 10.

Fuel Storage Hearing

The Board had a hearing with Anthony Curtin. “We’re just following up with our first conversation making sure that the steps are clearly delineated, I think what you’re looking for… is some indication from the Board… that if you were able to obtain your special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals and had a favorable decision of the Planning Board if the Board of Selectmen would be inclined to support granting of the permit for the fuel storage facility,” Selectmen Chair Tom Millias said. Seelig added that approval would have to be given by the Fire Chief and the Fire Marshall. Two letters of support had been sent in by abutters for Curtin’s proposal. Millias said that as long as there wasn’t strong opposition on behalf of the abutters and Curtin meets all necessary requirements, the Board would be fine with moving forward.

Vacant Positions

Seelig said there were multiple openings on the Finance Committee. Melinda Tarsi recently gave her resignation which will be effective February 15. There is also a spot available for a citizen on the Capital Planning Committee. Silver Lake Regional School Committee Chair Paula Hatch attended Tuesday’s meeting virtually to discuss the opening on the committee left by the resignation of Edward Desharnais. “He had served well over a decade and was a valued participant,” Hatch said of Desharnais.

Hatch spoke to the difficult year it has been for the school committees saying that the regional committee has very new members from Kingston and Plympton due to other earlier resignations. “I’m looking forward to Halifax determining another person that can come join us and take a place on Silver Lake,” Hatch told the Selectmen. Millias said the town would reach out and see if they could find willing volunteers for the position.

Seelig recommended reaching out to the residents who had earlier applied to fill the vacancy on the Halifax Elementary School Committee. Selectman Gordon Andrews asked that the talent bank be open for two weeks prior to interviews being held.

Complete Streets Presentation

The final appointment of the night was a Complete Streets presentation by Courtney Beckwith of Green Seal Environmental. Beckwith said she had been working with Seelig and Highway Surveyor Steve Hayward on the Complete Streets Program which is a grant through Massachusetts Department of Transportation (DOT). “Specifically, they’re meant to prioritize streets that are made for bikers, walkers, and not necessarily just focused on cars so a lot of these projects consist of adding sidewalks, extending sidewalk networks, adding bike paths, and road diets and speed bumps to reduce speeds,” Beckwith explained. Halifax is currently at Tier Two of the program which consists of developing a prioritization plan for the town consisting of a list of projects that the town is interested in pursuing.

Mass DOT has approved a grant for $38,000 to help the town conduct the necessary studies including gap analysis studies for existing sidewalk networks. Also included in the research is an analysis of historical data involving crashes at various streets and intersections. Beckwith cited community input as being another part of the data collected during Tier Two. “We are asking residents of the town, the Planning Board, and the Board of Selectmen their ideas for projects to focus on,” Beckwith said. She spoke about a google maps type website they have developed called wikimapping.com which provides a map of the town of Halifax. Residents can login and answer questions regarding where they see problems and where they would like to see improvements. People can also build upon comments left by other residents. The website will be open for the entire month of February.

Beckwith said the state would offer a maximum of $400,000 in construction costs which could be dedicated to a single project or spread across several different ones. Engineering work would need to be done prior to the allocation of the construction money. “I’ve seen in the past that towns that spend the money on the engineering and have the plans ready to go are more likely to get the funding but I do need to say that that is not guaranteed,” Beckwith said. “I know that Mass DOT specifically does not like giving grant money for the design and engineering portion; they like paying for the planning and construction,” she further explained.

Andrews asked that if they had their submissions in for Tier Two by the April 1 deadline if the town could receive up to $400,000 for this fiscal year’s program. Beckwith confirmed.

A plan would need to be in place as well as a construction schedule by June 30, 2021 in order for the funds to be allocated to a particular project.

The Halifax Board of Selectmen met on Thursday, Jan. 21, for one of the weekly meetings they have been holding since the onset of the pandemic. Board of Health agent Bob Valery told the selectmen that every Thursday he receives a two-week run rate of tests from the Department of Public Health (DPH). The most recent numbers indicate that 848 tests were performed with a total of 69 of those coming back positive. “So that would put us at a two-week run rate of 8.13,” Valery explained. “We are running a lower rate, a slightly lower rate than every town that surrounds us,” he continued.

Valery also said that effective Jan. 25 the stay-at-home advisory for the hours of 10 p.m. through 5 a.m. was rescinded. The limited capacity of 25 percent and gathering limits remain in place until Monday, Feb. 8.

Valery said he was working in conjunction with Fire Chief Jason Viveiros on the logistics of having an in-town vaccination site. He said that should they move forward, vaccinations will likely be by appointment. They are working through their eight-page checklist for hosting a vaccination site. Viveiros said that Our Lady of the Lake Church had offered their hall as a possible site for a vaccination clinic. “It will be a decent space for us, we will have a good flow path for people,” Viveiros said. He said he spoke with Police Chief Joao Chaves about having a police presence for traffic control purposes.

Viveiros said that in speaking with Town Administrator Charlie Seelig, it appears that there would be roughly 500 people in the 75 plus age group. Also, in Phase 2 will be those with co-morbidities, 65 plus, and schoolteachers. Valery pointed out the priority rankings within each of the phases. Viveiros said they were hopeful they would have enough to vaccinate at least those that are 75 plus as well as the teachers. Selectman Gordon Andrews, who also serves as Chair of the Halifax School Committee and as a member of the Silver Lake Regional School Committee, asked about the possibility of coordinating the vaccinations of teachers with Kingston, Plympton, and Silver Lake.

Selectmen Chair Tom Millias asked about acquiring the vaccine doses to be administered. Viveiros said that to date they were only given the doses that were administered to the first responders, noting that all first responders in town had been vaccinated. “As far as availability… we really don’t know what’s going to be available to us. The only thing we’ve been guaranteed is we’ll get the second doses for everyone that’s already been vaccinated,” Viveiros said.

Millias asked Andrews about a cluster of cases that had occurred within the school district. “We had a cluster of sports teams,” Andrews explained. “There were eight positive cases, I believe, and they shut down contact sports meaning ice hockey and basketball for two weeks,” he continued.

Seelig said that he and Valery had reviewed the COVID protocols for town employees with the aim of simplifying the process for those that have been sick or have been exposed with the goal to err on the side of caution. Seelig said that there weren’t any plans to roll out any further large-scale testing programs in town as the focus has now shifted to vaccine administration. He said the plan would be to work with the Council on Aging (COA) on sign ups for the vaccine as well as possibly transportation. “These folks are our most vulnerable individuals, the elderly especially, we want to make sure that they have an opportunity to participate,” Seelig said.

Millias asked if the antigen test was the most commonly run. Chief Chaves said it was. “Now if you were to get a negative result, that’s not necessarily 100 percent accurate,” Millias asked. Chief Viveiros said, “They’re roughly 85 percent accurate. If we test someone and we get a positive result, then it’s just considered positive. If someone’s symptomatic and they have a negative test they still need to get the PCR test,” Viveiros said.

At this point in the meeting, the Selectmen and Seelig turned their attention to non-COVID related issues in town. Seelig provided an update on an ongoing transaction between the town and the state.

Back in July of 2019 DFG land agent from the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife Joan Pierce came to speak to the Board about the possibility of acquiring an area of Peterson’s Swamp from the town. At the time both Millias and selectman Troy Garron expressed frustration with always coming up with the short end of the stick when dealing with Fisheries and Wildlife. Selectman Gordon Andrews suggested that in addition to the sale of the parcel, Fisheries and Wildlife transfer a sliver of land behind Aldana Road that they own to Halifax. That land would be necessary to possess in order to be able to pave the road eventually. All parties agreed to the transaction.

Seelig said during Thursday’s meeting that the state legislature had passed the necessary legislation to transfer the land from the Commonwealth to the town. Seelig asked the Board to take an official vote to approve the sale of the parcels of land to the Commonwealth. Once done, it will go to Pierce and the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAMM). “Troy and I have been through this thing for about twenty years so I would love to get this off our plate,” Millias said.

Chief Chaves said that several weeks ago the Board approved Michael Boncariewski as an intermittent police officer. He said he was hoping the Board would now approve a conditional offer of employment so that he might replace an outgoing officer who left the department for Weymouth. Chaves said a full background check had been performed on Boncariewski and noted that nothing had changed since their previous approval. The Board voted to approve and Boncariewski will begin the Academy in Plymouth on March 1.

Seelig asked the Board if they were interested in creating an article to eliminate the exclusion zone for marijuana establishments as he was fielding multiple inquiries about the issue.

Millias said he would be more comfortable to have the Zoning Bylaw Review Committee or Planning Board handle it. Seelig also pointed out that applicants unhappy with the zone could get the necessary voter signatures to create a petition article themselves. Andrews agreed with the petition article idea saying, “I would request that if they want to make a petition article, to do the petition article and they can be the champion of the article and say what the value is to the town.”

Seelig also mentioned that there was a vacancy for a Halifax member on the Silver Lake Regional School Committee. The appointment will be a combined vote of the selectmen and the members of the regional school committee.

Chair of the Plympton Board of Health Art Morin reported to selectmen at their first meeting of the new year to speak to the COVID situation in town. Morin said that the numbers that the Board of Health have been supplying to Dennehy come directly from MAVEN, the secure web-based surveillance and case management system for infectious diseases in Massachusetts. Morin told the selectmen Plympton saw its highest monthly total of 11 positive cases in December. He went on to say that as of that day there were 8 total cases for Plympton in MAVEN in January with another two not yet listed in the system reported. “That brings us to 10 and it’s only the eleventh of January,” Morin said. Morin also told the selectmen that he has “gone old school” using a hardcopy calendar to track cases per day as it is “foolproof.”

Morin also made a point of stating that he believes that most of the spikes in cases are coming from people gathering over the holidays rather than from establishments like grocery stores and even restaurants. Regarding spread of the virus, Morin said, “…that’s the fastest way to do it, groups in small spaces.”

Wilhelmsen, who serves as Chair of the Plympton School Committee, provided an update on COVID in the school district. The number of total cases throughout Silver Lake Regional District was 28 leading into the week of Christmas. According to Wilhelmsen, as of Monday’s meeting that number had climbed to 109.  While Dennett has been fortunate to have only a small number of cases, Wilhelmsen said, “but if the numbers keep climbing everywhere else, they’re going to climb there too.”

Chair of the Dennett C.A.S.A. (Community and School Association) Sarah Prario joined the Plympton selectmen during their Monday, Jan. 11 virtual meeting. The selectmen have recently started a new tradition of inviting a representative from a different town organization to each meeting to provide an update. Prario spoke about the challenges posed by the pandemic saying, “We haven’t been able to do pretty much anything that was on our usual schedule, but we are adapting as necessary.” Prario said that that they have been able to continue with their luncheons for staff which they have been attempting to hold every month. Prario said that some local businesses have been providing the funding as C.A.S.A. doesn’t feel it is an appropriate time to fundraise from families.

Currently, the C.A.S.A. meetings are being held virtually over ZOOM and attended by only five or so people. Prario said that once in-person meetings resume, she would like to maintain the ZOOM option for those who may be unable to attend in-person. Prario also told the selectmen that C.A.S.A. has recently been granted 501c3 status designating them as a nonprofit organization which enables them to receive contributions including grants. Prario said that the organization was eager to do fundraising for other areas within the community. “You guys do great work and you do really tangible work,” Selectmen Chair Mark Russo said. “We’re grateful to have such a great community,” Prario replied.

Town Administrator Elizabeth Dennehy provided an update on the town’s newest project – “What Makes Plympton Unique.” She said they kicked off the project that day on the town Facebook page highlighting the Plympton Kindness Tree. Several years ago, resident Stephani Teran and her son thought up the idea to have a tree on their property during the holiday season where community members could stop by and place kind sentiments about people or things in the town within a glass ornament and hang it from the tree. Writing utensils, paper, and ornaments are supplied as well as sanitizer this year. At the end of the holiday season, Teran would give a nice accounting of the things that were written. Dennehy will continue to highlight the things that make Plympton unique on the town Facebook page.

The selectmen then turned their attention to various priorities in town with Chair of the Town Properties Committee Jon Wilhelmsen leading off the discussion. Wilhelmsen said that the Committee has been working with their consultant Beta Group to begin conceptualizing how best to use the space. They are working together to validate what can and cannot realistically be done. “Septic and water are always the things that limit us in town,” Wilhelmsen told the selectmen. The Committee is also working toward prioritizing what needs to be fixed right now versus what needs help in a year. Wilhelmsen said that by 2022 he expects tangible results from the work being done now.

Wilhelmsen delved into specific potential projects. He said that the Committee has removed the consideration for a municipal garage due to space constraints. The Committee plans to go to town meeting to ask for funds to replace the flagpole on the town green. The cistern on the town green is no longer holding water and is also on the Committee’s radar. Wilhelmsen also said that a roof assessment will eventually be done for both the Townhouse and the library. An inexpensive fix has been established for lighting concerns at the library though Wilhelmsen noted that a lighting consultant may want to be brought in at some point for a better solution.

Several items pertaining to the Highway Department were also discussed. Dennehy said she and Highway Superintendent Rob Firlotte had met earlier that day with the selected contractor for the highway barn roof and insulation project. Materials are being ordered for the work soon.

Russo said that the signs indicating the safety zones that were established by the selectmen per town meeting’s approval have been placed. Road painting indicating such will have to wait until the spring.

Finally, there was a brief discussion regarding procedures for removing brush and chips from trees that have been taken down. Firlotte feels that it doesn’t fall under the purview of the department.

Technology upgrades in town were also discussed. Dennehy said the fiber optic upgrade is in progress and that local government offices should expect to be updated in the next week. Dennehy said the only setback was a minor one locating the wiring in the library.

Selectman John Traynor said he had an agreement with the Fire Chief that street number signs would be installed on municipal buildings in town. He said that given the magnitude of the work currently on the Chief’s agenda, he assumes it will be done once COVID is over.

Russo spoke to another possible priority saying he would like to seek funds at town meeting to have a hydrologist come in to analyze Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) reporting as well as compliance from Rocky Harvest LLC. Russo said, “it wouldn’t be a lot of money and there is a really good guy around who has done some work for us in the past.”

Dennehy gave an update on emergency management in town saying the hazard mitigation planning grant is still in process. The project meeting is set for the end of February. The end goal will be a stand-alone plan rather than a plan that was embedded in a larger regional one. This project was funded through grant money. Dennehy also gave a brief financial update saying that the budget process is well underway and that the Finance committee has been looking at the capital plan.

An update on elder affairs was also provided. Until recently, a volunteer was coming in two days per week to manage the pantry as paid for by Citizens for Citizens. The organization, however, made the decision that it was too risky to have volunteers going into the building due to the state of the pandemic. As a result, the Director of Elder Affairs will be managing the pantry on Thursdays from 10 am to noon.

Dennehy said that they are looking for a volunteer for Mondays. She said the hours are flexible but noted that the original hours were from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm. Dennehy also said that with the Townhouse closed, volunteers would not be near others. Prario offered to help secure a volunteer and assured the selectmen that she would find someone for this coming Monday.

It was also noted during Monday’s meeting that there would be a mailing going out to residents shortly to detail various volunteer opportunities in the community.

As always, the selectmen ended their meeting with their rants and raves. Selectwoman Christine Joy was quick to say that hers was a rant rather than a rave.

She began by saying how troubled she was by the deep divide in our country. She also said that while she doesn’t condone violence, she does understand the pain of many Americans whether it be based in racial injustice, the pandemic, or frustration at the government.

Joy said, “For me, Wednesday and the summer protests have really served as a wake-up call and the need for us to stop talking at one another and start talking to one another. Instead of pushing further apart, we should be working to find common ground; this will only be accomplished through freedom of speech, the sharing of ideas, and spirited debate through open dialogue – talking and listening with tolerance and compassion. We are all Americans and as such are capable of working together to make our union stronger than before.

We need to stop the rhetoric and name calling, stop the vilifying of those that don’t agree with us – start seeing each other as individuals, as fellow Americans not defined by our political ideals. It is the diversity of our people and ideals that give us strength. Through true collaboration we can rise above this and work together to rebuild our United States of America.”

“Amen, amen,” Russo said before adjourning the meeting.