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Hiring issues, building space needs

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Chairman of the Planning Board Gordon R. Andrews attended Tuesday’s Halifax selectmen’s meeting to ask questions of the selectmen and air his grievances with the procedures for hiring the department’s secretary.

According to Chairman Andrews, the planning board asked to be involved in the hiring process for the new department secretary but were not given that opportunity and never even saw the job description.

“I came in here before the secretary was hired and I was told we’ll have a meeting with you; well it’s now September and the secretary has already been hired. I think that we’ve been like walked over. We tried to participate in it, we tried to find out what was going on and we got blown off and it’s frustrating,” Andrews said. He went on to point out that the finance committee, another elected board, actually selects their own secretary.  In response to Andrews’ inquiry as to who the secretary reports to, town administrator Charlie Seelig answered that as has been done for the last fifteen years, the secretary answers to the building inspector, in this case Rob Piccirilli.

Chairman Andrews listed a myriad of issues faced by the Planning Board in the recent past. After the last secretary resigned but agreed to stay on in the interim, Andrews claimed that there were three separate meetings where the secretary was unable to attend at the last minute. Additionally, at one of the meetings, the board was locked out of the room.

Selectman Tom Millias said that the planning board should absolutely have their own key to the meeting room. Andrews said, “We’re an elected board, if a secretary doesn’t do what we have to have done, we’re at stake, not Rob.”

Piccirilli, who was also in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting said, “As far as direction, it’s up to the board to give direction, not me.”

Seelig interjected that while directions to the secretary should come directly from the board, the board’s grievances should go directly to Piccirilli. Another area of dispute was who should handle the performance review of the secretary. Currently, Piccirilli handles that task and does so without reaching out to the planning board for comment. Piccirilli said that if there were complaints, it would be up to the board to bring them to his attention. Selectman Gordon C. Andrews felt that the planning board should be writing the review for their secretary or at the very least, Piccirilli should be reaching out to them for their thoughts.

After a great deal of discussion, the Selectmen and Chairman Andrews agreed that it would behoove all involved to have a meeting with Piccirilli, a representative from each of boards, and one of the selectmen to go over the various job descriptions and put some procedures in place to avoid future issues of the same nature. “I think that will satisfy everyone moving forward,” Millias said. “I believe it will,” Chairman Andrews agreed.

Fire Chief Jason Viveiros, Police Chief Joao Chaves, and highway surveyor Steve Hayward met with the selectmen to discuss ideas regarding ways in which the needs of the fire department, police department, and highway department, among others, may be met.

In August, concerned residents attended the selectmen’s meeting to share their concerns over the Council on Aging (COA) space including residents being unable to attend certain programs because they are located on the second floor. During that time it was suggested by Director of Building Maintenance Scott Materna that a possible solution might be to move the COA to the current police station and build a new combined police and fire station. Viveiros said that the current fire station is short on space as well as having potential liability concerns while Chaves said that although the police station has ample space, the floor plan is not really conducive to their needs. The highway department could also benefit from more space.

Senior Services Regionalization explored

As was discussed in August, a potential fix for the COA issues might be to regionalize with some neighboring towns. Town Administrator Charlie Seelig met with some of the neighboring towns’ administrators to discuss the possibility. Collectively, they decided that a good first step would be to publicize their offerings to one another’s residents to gauge the level of interest.

Long-term goals requested from each town department

The selectmen asked each department head to come up with list of their long-term project needs. “We’re starting from scratch. All the ideas are on the table and all ideas from anybody are on the table,” Seelig said. He continued, “My hope is that we don’t say to somebody, ‘sorry we don’t want you saying something; we don’t think it’s your lane and you shouldn’t be participating in this.’

“At this point, a good idea is a good idea wherever it is coming from.”

Selectmen Chair Troy Garron asked, however, that any idea that is presented be put in writing and be thoroughly researched first.

Garron also said that with so many departments all having varying needs, it will be necessary to prioritize the order in which needs will be met. Millias pointed out that the upcoming town meeting will be too early to present anything but said that all possibilities should be explored between now and next year. Seelig said he is also going to ask the school and the library to provide a report on their space needs as well.

Permission to replace old batting cages granted

The final appointment of the evening was Halifax youth baseball president Pete Barone. Barone was there to ask for the Board’s permission to replace the old, portable batting cage at Vaughn field with an updated, permanent one.

The existing structure had been blown across the parking lot during previous storms and at this point, poses a safety concern.

The new cage will be paid for entirely through fundraising efforts.

The hope is to make the change this fall so that it will be ready for use in April.

Millias said, “This looks nothing but good, so I don’t have any issues.” Garron agreed acknowledging that it is a positive for the kids in the town.

Barone also asked for permission to build a small, fenced in playground next to the grass near the skate park. Barone said that it would be a 30 ft. by 25 ft. area meant to serve smaller children who may have a sibling playing in a game on one of the fields. Barone said that there is a clear view of both fields from the area.

The Board approved both requests.

Cultural Council seeks grant applications for FY2020

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The Halifax Cultural Council is now accepting applications for the
Council’s Fiscal Year 2020 grant cycle. All applications must be submitted to the Halifax Cultural Council, 499 Plymouth Street, Halifax, MA 02338 no later than Tuesday, October 15.

Grant applications and other  information are available on the Council’s web site:
http://www.halifax-ma.org/cultural-council, or applicants can apply
on-line at

https://www.mass-culture.org/Halifax (click on the “Apply Now” tab).

This year, the Council’s priorities include an emphasis on
events in Halifax, but not just in the  municipal   centers, programs
related to nature, science, environmental education and the Town’s
history, programs for seniors, library patrons, people with
disabilities, families, and teens, and programs involving artists and
speakers from Halifax.

Applicants can obtain more information through the Halifax Board of Selectmen’s office at 781-294-1316.

It’s more than corn at Nessralla’s Maze; lots of fun and much to do!

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Nessralla’s Corn Maze in Halifax opened for its 12th year in mid September to the delight of families near and far.

Fifteen acres were planted in the spring and cut to represent “Super Girl” in a challenging maze experience.

This young adventurer, Lydia Giarratana, 10, of Whitman, appeared as an aerialist in the sky as she slid down the zipline into the sunset.

Aerial spraying continues

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Cathleen Drinan,
Health agent for Halifax
Special to the Express

On Monday afternoon, 9-16-19, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) held a conference call for boards of health to discuss the aerial spraying in response to the continued seriousness of the mosquito borne virus of Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE).

While this aerial spraying could be considered a fourth or a continuation of the third, their point was to take advantage of our warm temperatures and do what can be done to reduce the risk of this deadly virus.

Any towns at high or critical risk for EEE, that were not covered in the recent aerial spraying are planned to be sprayed beginning the evening of 9-16-19 and continuing, weather allowing.

Some nights, the plane sprays only part of a planned area because it rains or the temperature drops below a point where it will not be effective, around 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

As with previous aerial sprayings this year, the public is to be informed after the fact.

While DPH recognizes the concerns and wishes of the public to be informed ahead of time, they have learned that they must give the pilots the choice to make the decisions, as to what can and cannot be accomplished, according to the weather conditions.

It is only after the fact that DPH can produce the map of what areas were sprayed.

Please visit https://www.mass.gov/guides/eee-in-massachusetts#-september-2019-aerial-spraying-information-

That page also has the dusk to dawn time guidelines.

Protect yourself and your family. Use EPA approved repellants. Cover yourself, whenever possible, with long sleeves and pants and avoid being outdoors from dusk to dawn.

Do all you can to prevent the bite!

Halifax property tax rate sees 0.17% decrease

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The Halifax Collector-Treasurer will be issuing the first of the two property tax bills for Fiscal Year 2020 (the period from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020) in late September, 2019. Payment for this bill is due on Friday, November 1, 2019. The second bill will be issued by Wednesday, April 1, 2020 with payment due by Friday, May 1, 2020.

 The property tax rate for Fiscal Year 2020 is $17.44. This is a 0.17% decrease from the tax rate in Fiscal Year 2019 which was $17.47.

The average value of a single-family home in Halifax increased from $335,124 in Fiscal Year 2019 to $344,453 in Fiscal Year 2020, an increase of 2.78%.

The annual taxes on an average single-family home went from $5,854.62 in Fiscal Year 2019 to $6,010.70 in Fiscal Year 2020, an increase of 2.67%.

Winnetuxet Bridge closed for repairs

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The Winnetuxet River Bridge is closed for repairs on Winnetuxet Road in Plympton for the next couple of weeks while the substructure posts are wrapped to give them strength.

Highway Superintendent Scott Ripley told The Express that this project was begun by now retired Highway Superintendent Jim Mulcahy and is now being completed.

The bridge is subject to annual inspection by the State and it has been known that the substructure is in need of repair.  An operator in an excavator was working on Tuesday to remove the large rocks under the bridge so workers can access the pilings to wrap them with sleeves to make them stronger, avoiding replacement for the time being.

They expect this part of the project to take a couple of weeks, after which the bridge will re-open to traffic as they plan the final phase of replacing the guard rails. Then they will once again close the bridge to traffic while they work on it.

“The guard rails won’t look much different from what we have now,” Ripley said.  “They’ll still be wooden.”  The planking on the bridge will not be replaced.

Ripley said he expects entire project will be completed by the first of November.

New Halifax police motorcycle on the road

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Tuesday afternoon Halifax Police Chief Jao Chaves smiled as he accepted a check from Walmart manager Martin Disla to help fund a six-month trial for the Halifax motorcycle program.  Chaves, who has been chief in Halifax for the past year, came from New Bedford where his department used motorcycles.  Chaves has wanted to begin a motorcycle program in Halifax and got the go-ahead for a six-month trial from selectmen at an August meeting.   Officer Michael W. Schleiff underwent 40 hours of intensive training, focusing on how to use the bike to help in various situations.  Disla said that Walmart has helped in other aspects of its community outreach project with radar and protective vests for Halifax officers.  With Walmart’s help, the motorcycle trial program  will cost Halifax taxpayers nothing.

Halifax, Plympton remember 9/11

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Both Plympton and Halifax first responders stood at attention while remembering those who were lost 18 years ago.

Plympton’s Fire Chief Stephen Silva led them out to the flag for a 10 a.m. service Wednesday morning.

Halifax Fire Chief Jason Viveiros led his department to the strains of bagpipes played by Nathan Campbell, the tolling of the bell by Firefighter Schindler, the reading of the 9/11 timeline detailing the flights of the three planes by Captain Cunngham, and the recitation of “The Firefighters’ Prayer” by Lieutenant Hogan.

Tolling the bell, Chief Viveiros explained, likely had its origins back in history when bells were  necessary to communicate over a distance.  Tolling four sets of five tones signals the death of a firefighter.

In Plympton, the bell ceremony was lead by Captain John Sjostedt.  Firefighters Steve Galambos and Shannon Worton lowered the flag.

Plympton photos by Stephanie Spyropoulos

Halifax photos by Deb Anderson 

COA director applicants narrowed down to three

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The search for the new Council on Aging director was discussed during Tuesday’s Halifax Board of Selectmen meeting. The search committee interviewed five candidates last week before narrowing the field to three. The next step for those candidates will be an interview with the Board of Selectmen in late September.  Town Administrator Charlie Seelig told the Board that the candidates had indicated that they would like to receive the top step of the salary range posted. At Seelig’s urging, the Board agreed that the candidates should be notified that the Wage and Personnel Board may not approve a salary on the higher end of the stated range.

The Board voted to approve a number of live entertainment permits including one to Bob Bergstrom for Mudfest on November 10. A representative from Nessralla Farm attended Tuesday’s meeting to provide the Board with an update on where they were with permits and licensing for their annual corn maze and festivities. Owners of the farm are still waiting for approval from the state to utilize a zipline as has been done in the past. The attraction is 440 ft. long with an 18 ft. drop.

White Dog Cranberry earth removal permit

Bill Madden of JF Engineering attended the meeting on behalf of John Makepeace and White Dog Cranberry to ask the Board for a renewal of an earth removal permit. The original permit was requested as a result of a small supplemental water supply reservoir that was designed for the local cranberry company in 2017. Surface wetting will be done as a means of dust mitigation and a 100 ft. buffer zone from wetlands will be retained during the removal of the remaining 39,000 yards of earth. The property, which is also home to Makepeace’s residence, was once a Cumberland Farms corn field.

Beach privileges for Hanson resident?

The Board had an appointment with Hanson resident Caroline Forth to discuss the possibility of her having privileges at the town beach despite being a nonresident. Forth’s property on Waltham St. in Hanson is partially located in Halifax meaning she pays a small amount of taxes to the town. Selectmen Tom Millias said that he believed the request had merit and while he didn’t have a problem with it there were no procedures setup to deal with such a situation. Chair Troy Garron said, “I don’t see a major issue with that… You are a taxpayer.” Garron’s only concern was that he didn’t want to open a Pandora’s Box of sorts. The Selectmen promised to take it under consideration.

Cook wants to buy 100 parcels of land

Seelig informed the Board that Brian Cook is interested in purchasing 100 parcels of land off of Crystal Lake. Seelig described the land, which is believed to be town-owned, as having “a long, convoluted ownership history” and said that his biggest concern was with what the development possibilities are including how many lots the land can be divided into. Millias said,

“Honestly, it’s an engineering nightmare” but did acknowledge that the land is developable. Millias also added, “Financially it doesn’t make sense unless you’re buying them all so that you have all of it to work with.”

Seelig and the Board agreed that the first step would be to find out more about the land rights such as whether or not the town owns the conjoined lots in common title.

The Finance Committee currently stands at four members, but one member will need to step down shortly due to job commitments. Resident Cheryll Zarrella Burke expressed interest in joining both the Finance Committee and the Council on Aging. Seelig recommended that Burke’s placement on the committee (pending approval) be expedited so as to ensure that there are at least four members on the committee at all times.

SL Budget for FY20

The Silver Lake budget for the upcoming year was discussed. Seelig said, “It’s only September but I think it’s advisable that the three towns start talking to Silver Lake Regional School District about budgets for fiscal year 2020/2021.” Seelig said that he would like to see various officials from the three towns, including members of the Finance Committees and Boards of Selectmen attend the Silver Lake meeting on October 24 prior to any decisions being made by the school regarding spending. The hope would be to make it onto the agenda for that night but if not possible, the officials could speak during the public participation portion. Seelig stated that his intention is to ensure that the school budget will fit the towns’ financial situations.

Want to bid on Plympton’s old jail cell?

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Several appointments were made during the Plympton Board of Selectmen meeting on Monday, Sept. 9. Justin Shepard, who was in attendance, was named to the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) through June 30, 2022. Shepard will fill a vacancy left after longtime CPC member Dave Chandler decided to step down.  Board of Selectmen Vice-Chair and Chair of the CPC Mark Russo described Chandler as a “wonderful member and wonderful contributor.” Russo said, “We are absolutely thrilled that Justin has come aboard.” Board of Selectmen Chair Christine Joy said of the CPC, “It’s an important committee that has a lot of impact in the town.” The deadline for CPC applications is October 15.

Other appointments included Harry Weikel to the Town Center Campus Committee indefinitely, Christine Kelly as Assistant Treasurer/Collector, Inez Murphy to the Council on Aging through June 30, 2020, and Dorothy Martel as the Old Colony Service Representative for Plympton, also through 2020. Marylouise Sayles and Richard Stover were both appointed to terms on the Historic District Commission ending June 30, 2022.

The Board also approved a motion for a memorandum of agreement with Terry Walker to provide grant writing services to the town of Plympton.  The inactivity of the Cultural Council due to its lack of members was also discussed. The Council, which normally has five members, is currently down to just one.

Town Administrator Elizabeth Dennehy shared that her application for a Green Communities grant was successful and that the town would be awarded the grant in the amount of $239,202. The goal of the grant is to aid municipalities in finding ways to reduce energy use and costs via clean energy improvements to municipal buildings and schools. The money awarded to Plympton will be used toward several projects at Dennett Elementary School as well as new thermostats at the Highway Department and energy efficient appliances at the fire station and town house.

The Board congratulated Dennehy on a job well done and Joy said, “We can do a lot of good with that kind of money.”

Russo gave an update on the two Brooks Preserve lots for sale on Prospect Road. The bid deadline of Tuesday September 3 came and went without any bids. Russo said that they were going to have to renew the one-year loan which will incur with it a $15,000 annual application fee that will be paid privately and cost the town nothing.

The Open Space Committee is hard at work devising a plan to put the lots out to bid again, most likely in the fall sometime. The price will likely be reduced and serious consideration is being given to offering to pay a buyer’s agent fee as the complicated bid process can be intimidating without an agent’s help and is likely driving buyers away. Joy confirmed with Russo that the bid process is the only way to sell the lots. Russo emphasized that there was no need to panic saying, “These are good lots and sooner or later they are absolutely going to sell.” Regarding the lots, which abut 150 acres of conservation land, Russo continued, “It’s a little bit of a niche property and with niche properties it just takes the right person to come along and we have very little doubt that the right person is going to come along.”

Selectman John Traynor discussed with the rest of the Board a request by a resident to use the old town house to host a family party. While organizations and groups are eligible to use the old town house for meetings and gatherings, the issue of having private residents use it has never been explored previously.

Traynor said, “We have this beautiful building and somehow we have to figure out how to make use of it because it’s gorgeous and the residents paid for it.” Russo, who had mixed feelings on the topic, said, “If we were going to think about going ahead, we would really have to have a lot of policy and procedures setup first.” The general consensus among the Board was that while they would like to investigate private use of the old town house further, a lot of work would have to be done prior to it being a possibility and therefore the answer to any inquires of private use in the near future would have to be a no.

Despite private use of the old town house being off the table for the time being, the Board did approve of the Plympton Girl Scouts using the building on November 30 for an event pending approval from other town officials. The Board also voted to approve a one-day liquor license for the fall antique fair to be held by the Plympton Historical Society on October 5 and October 6 from 12-4.

A resident in attendance at the meeting asked the Board and Dennehy if there were any developments in the plan to possibly regionalize the Council on Aging (COA). Dennehy said that she met with Halifax town administrator Charlie Seelig and Carver town manager Michael Milanoski to devise a plan for testing the prospect of regionalization. Both Plympton and Carver currently employ part-time directors for the Council on Aging and Halifax is currently in the process of hiring a full-time director. Once the Halifax director has been hired, the towns would like the three directors to come together to tour one another’s facilities and begin work on a joint calendar. The plan would be to combine the calendar for the three towns thereby making it easier for residents to pick and choose which events they would like to attend regardless of location. The calendar would include exact locations of the facilities, instructions on where to park, and information on transportation if available. This approach would help the towns gauge the level of interest amongst residents by seeing how many seniors attend events outside of their towns.  Dennehy said that the towns agreed that taking small steps toward regionalization without making any drastic or permanent changes would be best until further research could be gathered. Russo said to Dennehy, “I salute you guys for coming up with a really nice, easy, non-threatening way to get started and see what happens.”

Old Jail cell

The discussion as to what to do with the jail cell from the former police station was continued from a previous meeting where a resident had expressed interest in taking the cell in the name of posterity. The cell is no longer viewed as historical as it appears to date back only to the early 1990’s. The police chief expressed interest in making an in-kind trade of the cell in exchange for new signage. Dennehy suggested to the Board that it would be cleaner to officially declare the jail cell as surplus town property. The Board voted to do so on Dennehy’s suggestion. The plan would be to advertise the cell and require a minimum bid equal to the cost of the signage with the stipulation that any takers would have to pick it up. Dennehy said that she would verify all necessary steps to make sure things were done properly.