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German shepherd gets second chance

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Tuesday’s Halifax Board of Selectmen meeting had a dog hearing over a German Shepperd killing a small Monti dog.

Because of cooperation between the dog owners, the German Shepperd is being given a second chance rather than being put down.

When describing what happened the owner of the German Shepperd said he was playing catch with a football with the dog in the front yard. The electric fence was not up because the dog was on leash. When the owner threw the ball the ball though, the leash failed. Katie who also lives at White Island Road was walking her two dogs at the time.

He heard screams after throwing the ball. This was when the German Shepperd grabbed the five-month-old Monti in its mouth and shook it. The dog succumbed to its injuries.

The owner of the victim’s dog vouched that the German Shepperd isn’t a vicious dog but believed it didn’t know what it was doing. After a recommendation from Animal Control Officer Noreen Callahan, the Board of Selectmen ordered the 17-month-old German Shepperd get training, stay up-to-date on its licensing at all times, and a permanent fence be installed in the owner’s yard.

“I don’t think it knew what it was doing, Katie who owned the dog that was killed said when describing the German Shepperd, “I don’t think it’s vicious.”

Selectman Thomas Millias said the situation was sad on both sides and after the testimony agreed the dog may not have attacked out of aggression. “The dog may have been riled up from play” Millias said. “It doesn’t fix things but at least we know.”

Katie told the Board of Selectmen that the German Shepperd’s owner took responsibility for the dog’s actions offering to pay restitution and paid the medical bills for her other dog.

Police Chief Selection Process Underway

The Board of Selectmen narrowed down their search for a new police chief to five applicants and two alternates in case any of the five decline to be interviewed. There were 28 total applicants.

At this point, the identities of the candidates were not revealed. The Board of Selectmen said they legally cannot release their names this early in the hiring process, All selected candidates were referred to by a number.

Several merits of the candidates were discussed. At least four of them had Masters degrees and several had military experience. One candidate was a colonel in the military police.

After the assessment center reviews the five candidates, Selectmen Chair Kim Roy said the names can be released. Interviews after that will be open to the public.

Wage and Personnel Appointment

The Board of Selectmen unanimously approved appointing Claudia Noble-Cotton to the Wage and Personnel Board.

Noble-Cotton has lived in Halifax for 15 years and has two teens at Silver lake High School. She said now that her children are older, she has more time to get involved.

Noble-Cotton’s experience aligns with the positions, Roy said. She works for JP Morgan in Boston and has experience with hiring and writing job description.

Other News

The Board of Selectmen approved a one-day liquor license for Our Lady of the Lake Cjurch’s Octoberfest. Only beer will be served at the event and all bartenders are T.I.P. certified.

The next Halifax Board of Selectmen Meeting is Tuesday, October 9 at 7:30 p.m.

New Fire Chief chosen

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PLYMPTON– Wednesday evening, after selectmen grilled two finalists, Stephen G. Silva, of Pope’s Farm, was chosen the next Plympton Fire Chief, subject to successful contract negotiations.

Silva bested Wareham Assistant Fire Chief John G. Kelley, of Wareham, for the appointment.

Silva has more than 40 years experience in fire and EMS services. He is currently a Lieutenant Firefighter/Paramedic “shift-commander” at the Middleboro Fire Department, where he has worked since 2002.

His resumé is, in his own words, unusual, and it is extensive. He has business experience as well as firefighting and paramedic experience. His varied past includes founding the second largest ambulance service in the City of Brockton, Exodus Medical Transportation, and working as a flight paramedic.

Silva is an adjunct faculty member at Massasoit Community College, and works on tactical rescue teams as well.

He comes highly recommended by the fire chiefs of Whitman (who is the president of the Fire Chiefs Association of Massachusetts), Duxbury, the retired chief of Middleboro, the retired chief of Kingston, and the deputy chief of Hanson, among other fire officials.

Silva spoke easily as he answered questions from the board.  He would not address the history of the troubled department, which he said had been discussed, “ad nauseum.”

He spoke of the sense of community in Plympton, and said, “I want to be a part of that and I want to lead that.”

Selectmen Chairman John Traynor asked him, “Should we continue to rely on call firefighters?”

Silva responded, “The setup is now working…I think we’re in really good shape.”

He also had a strong opinion on whether or not all call firefighters should be EMTs. “Not everyone wants to do medical,” and retaining employees, especially call firefighters, is a challenge.

He said he did not have much experience with municipal budgets, an admitted weakness, but said, “I have experience with budgets,” citing his private-sector experience.

Selectman Mark Russo asked, “What frustrates you?”

“Complaints without solutions frustrate me, but they can be a useable tool,” said Silva.

Selectman Christine Joy wanted to know how Silva would rebuild other towns’ confidence in mutual-aid from Plympton.

“That’s a very challenging job,” he said. But he mentioned that he had the support of the local chiefs around him. He also pointed out that they would help him with grant-opportunities, which he does not have much experience in.

The interview process was weeks long and exhaustive. More than a dozen candidates were narrowed down to these two. There were practical and exam portions of the interview.

Kelley also had a well-rounded background, in both the public and private sector. The board did not give a reason for their selection when they came out of their executive session to make the announcement.

The Plympton Fire Department has been under scrutiny for several years.

A document prepared by an outside analyst, the MRI report, described “a department in crisis.” The last fire chief of any significant tenure, Warren Borsari, did not have his contract renewed and was put on administrative leave last March.

Last May, acting chief Philip Curran was, “separated from employment with the town.”  There has been an unusual amount of turnover in the department.

Captain Cheryl Davis and Captain John Sjostedt lead the Fire Department on a day-to-day basis under the leadership of Chief Lance Benjamino of the Middleboro Fire Department, who says he will remain in place until Silva is sworn-in.

Elizabeth Dennehy, Town Administrator, said the negotiation phase of the hiring should take a few weeks.

“If I am chief this will be a well-run department…a fun and professional place to work,” Silva said. Should all go well with contract negotiations, it looks like he’ll be chief. “This is the culmination of a career,” he said.

Obituary for: Anne L. Springer

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Anne L. Springer, age 101, a woman of deep faith, was called home on September 17, 2018. Anne, a resident of Jefferson, Maine, where she lived with her daughter and son-in-law for the past 15 years, enjoyed a fulfilling and well lived life. She was the oldest of 10 children and took over a mothering role for her siblings when their mother died at the age of 50. She was deeply loved by all her brothers and sisters.

 

Anne attended Punchard High School in Andover, MA and graduated in the Class of 1935. She married Leslie G. Springer in 1940 and they made their home in Leslie’s hometown of Plympton, MA. Shortly after their marriage, Leslie was called to serve in the Army overseas during World War II. Upon his return, they started their family of 5 children and in 1959 established a general store in Plympton that included the best tasting homemade ice cream on the Massachusetts south shore, aptly called Anne’s Homemade Ice Cream.

 

Leslie and Anne retired to their farm in Jefferson, Maine in 1976 where they spent countless hours renovating the homestead and grooming the fields for their large gardens. They also built a winter home in Vero Beach, Florida that provided many happy years gathering with friends and family. Both Leslie and Anne were hard workers and always had projects to tackle. Anne expressed her creativity in many ways. She took up oil painting in her 50’s and continued to paint until her death. She enjoyed acrylic and water color painting also, many of which she gifted to her family and friends. She also enjoyed creative cooking and rug hooking and was an avid reader.

 

Anne remained active in the St. Denis Seniors Group, enjoying the many friendships formed with her faith community. Anne’s steadfast faith was the ballast that supported her throughout her life. A lifelong dream became a reality when she visited Rome in 2004 at the age of 88 and also traveled to the Grand Canyon, Oregon and many visits to Florida. She lived her life with grace, acceptance and generosity.

 

Anne is predeceased by her husband, Leslie and her son William. Her loving family includes her son David and his wife Gale of Clermont, FL, son Richard and wife Maureen of Plympton, MA, son Earl T. and wife Lois of W. Barnstable, MA, daughter Marian and husband Bill of Jefferson, ME, and daughter-in-law Ana of Vero Beach, FL. Anne was also the proud grandmother of 11 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.

 

A memorial mass will be held on Saturday, September 29, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. at the St. Denis Catholic Church, 298 Grand Army Road, in Whitefield, followed by a reception at the church hall.

 

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Anne’s name to St. Michael’s Parish, Re: St. Denis Church, 24 Washington Street, Augusta, ME 04330, Transfiguration Hermitage, 205 Windsor Neck Road, Windsor, ME 04363, or Maine General Hospice, P.O. Box 828, Waterville, ME 04363.

 

Arrangements are entrusted to Hall Funeral Home and Cremation Service, 949 Main Street, Waldoboro.

 

Condolences may be shared at www.hallfuneralhomes.com

Complaint amended against Plympton Health Agent

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PLYMOUTH– Documents at Plymouth Superior Court show that allegations against Robert Tinkham, the current Plympton Health Agent, have been amended. The complaint, submitted by counsel for the Carver, Marion, Wareham Regional Refuse Disposal District, details and expands allegations against Tinkham, specifically.

He stands accused of nine civil charges, including Conversion and Civil Theft, Fraud, Civil Conspiracy, as well as violations of the Uniform Procurement Act and the Conflict of Interest Law.

He is accused with two other defendants, Ray Pickles and his wife, Diane Bondi-Pickles. Pickles is the elected Marion town clerk while Bondi-Pickles is a real-estate agent.

The corruption by the defendants has resulted in monetary damages to the waste district in an amount in excess of $838,458.22, according to court records, and the investigation is ongoing by state and local officials.

The Office of the Inspector General is investigating, as well.

Tinkham, of Carver, previously worked as the Carver Health Agent, and, in that capacity, served as Carver’s representative to, and, at times, chairman of the committee overseeing the waste district. Pickles was the Executive Director of the waste district and the authorized signatory of all its accounts.

Committee members did not receive compensation for their services to the district, yet Tinkham received monetary payments from the district for periods of time between 1995 and 2018. He did not have a contract or employment agreement with the district, and no taxes were withheld on the payments, according to the lawsuit.

He stands accused of billing the waste district for landfill inspections while working for the Town of Carver. The Town of Carver job description for the health agent includes inspecting the Carver landfill, according to public records.

In 2007, Carver officials reaffirmed this aspect of Tinkham’s job description, and that he would be “paid for such work by Carver, even if the work occurred outside his normal working hours.”

But, the Carver landfill, leased by the district, is inspected by a professional engineer. Tinkham is not an engineer, according to his résumé, and he kept no records of his inspections for Carver, if they indeed occurred, the lawsuit alleges.

The total amount paid to him for inspections by the district was $88,990.

The plaintiffs submitted 13 representative examples from 2004 and 2005 alone of Tinkham collecting payments from the district while being paid a salary from the Town of Carver.

Tinkham also stands accused of providing no goods or services in connection with money he was paid for the district’s “Grant/Recycling” services, between 2012 and 2018, totaling $88,100.

He allegedly submitted false documentation for payment for that work.

Tinkham finally stands accused of receiving payments not supported by any documentation at all. “In total, there are 82 payments totaling $86,703.82 for which payment was made but the District has no invoice or proof of any services rendered.”

The fraud was discovered when Pickles, in 2017, without the authorization of the committee, sought payment of assessments from the district towns for the first time since 2015.

When Carver and Wareham refused to pay, claiming a lack of documentation, Pickles used district counsel, again without authorization, to sue for breach of contract in Wareham District Court.

That suit was voluntarily dismissed.

The actions by Pickles led to the discovery of inappropriate expenditures by the district. Pickles was terminated Jan. 29, 2018.

The district is seeking triple-damages, interest, costs and attorneys’ fees.

The district was created as a regional refuse disposal district in 1973 by a special act of the General Court. It is an independent body-politic, based in Marion, funded by user-fees, assessments to the member towns and agreements with third-parties.

Pickles and Bondi-Pickles are seeking to go to trial. Tinkham is seeking to have the proceedings dismissed.

Tinkham denies all accusations.

Your average tough-as-nails … librarian

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WHITMAN — The most common image that comes to mind with the phrase “missing persons detective thriller” involve Dashiell Hammett’s Sam Spade or Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer — hard-bitten tough guys who chain-smoke cigarettes and wear felt fedoras and their .38 in a shoulder holster.

A new novel with Whitman roots in its title, “Little Comfort,” introduces a different kind of detective hero.

She is Hester Thursby, a Harvard librarian who stands all of four-feet nine inches tall — that’s four-feet nine and three quarters inches tall — who takes care of her 3-year-old niece, her non-husband Morgan Maguire and a Bassett hound named Waffles. She works on missing persons cases in her spare time.

Hill is scheduled to talk about his book at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 27 at the Whitman Public Library. He plans to read three excerpts from the book, centering on the three main characters and how they are introduced in the story.

“Hester is tough, she’s smart, she’s resourceful (unlike Rambo, she’s also articulate), but she definitely isn’t feisty,” author Edwin Hill says of his protagonist in his promotional materials. He said he is drawn to characters, especially in movies, that are faced with challenging situations with only their own resolve to make it through.

“I like difference,” he said of Hester’s size. “I wanted something to make sure she never blended in.”

It was an Agatha Christie novel he read on a car trip as a kid that hooked him on mystery novels.

“From that moment on, I wanted to be a mystery writer and it only took me 35 years to figure out how to do it,” he said. A failed attempt at publishing a book in the early 2000s left him discouraged until he found the kernel of an idea in the Christian Gerhartsreiter — AKA Clark Rockefeller — a professional imposter who kidnapped his daughter and was later convicted of murder. There are also facets of the Charles Stuart case in “Little Comfort.” By 2012 he was back to writing with an agent by 2014 and selling it two years ago.

His debut novel, released Aug. 28, traces Thursby’s latest case, a handsome, ruthless grifter whose life goal to be accepted as part of the wealthy class who owned the summer lake houses he grew up cleaning. Sam Blaine uses a secret he shares with Gabe DiPuriso, based on an incident out of Gabe’s foster child past.

A library is another source of his inspiration.

Hill’s grandmother, Phyllis Hill was the librarian in Whitman from the 1940s to the late ’60s.

“Librarians are really central to a community,” he said. “They really were then, too. She created all kinds of programs at the library that people would take part in and she really helped influence people’s futures.”

Mrs. Hill died in 1994 at the age of 99. Her grandson recalled how people came from all over to her funeral and talked about the influence she had on their lives and how she had always welcomed them.

His parents still live in Whitman, where his dad grew up.

While the book also takes the title from Whitman — once known as the Little Comfort section of Abington — but the story is set in Somerville where he grew up. Hill has a Google alert set up on his home computer for the phrase Little Comfort and has collected some unusual headlines.

“I just loved the name,” he said. “I always knew that my first book was going to be called ‘Little Comfort,’ because it’s such a perfect title for a mystery novel. Then I had to work it into the actual story.”

Backstory

The saying goes that one should write what you know and, just as Robert Cormier set his novels, such as “The Chocolate War,” in Fitchburg and Leominster where he lived and edited the local newspaper, Hill leans on his grandmother’s career in the town of his family’s roots for inspiration.

“When I was drafting, I wrote a lot of scenes of [Thursby] at work, but I really wanted the character to be very isolated, it’s central to the plot that she feels very isolated,” Hill said. “I actually ended up putting her on leave.”

In this novel, the first book in a series, she doesn’t go into work to achieve that feeling of isolation. But the Widener Library and her job there will feature in the second and third books in the series. The fifth book in the series is going to be set on the South Shore.

He said readers should be aware this is a story that involves violence and sex.

“This is not a cozy mystery,” he said. “It deals with some uncomfortable situations.”

A hint can be found in Hill’s inclusion of Hester Thursby’s idea of relaxation — retreating to her own top-floor apartment in the multi-family house she owns with Morgan to watch VHS tapes of her favorite movies. Her top 10 titles include “Alien,” “Jaws 2,” “Halloween” and “The Shining” as well as “The Little Mermaid.”

“She loves movies where women overcome extraordinary circumstances,” he said.

He also includes Crabbies — those crabmeat and cheese on an English muffin bites often served at family get-togethers — as part of a suggested menu for book club events. Macaroni and cheese also features as a food of choice for many characters in the book. Whitman groups may also appreciate his suggestion of chocolate chip waffle cookies, which are a tip of the hat to Hester’s beloved canine.

“Anything where you can get crowd sourcing is great,” he said of the recipes.

Does Hill see any of himself in his characters?

“When you write a book of fiction like this, I would say every character is you because they come out of you, and then no character is you at the same time,” he said.

A vice president and editorial director for Bedford/St. Martins, a tech book division of Macmillan, Hill worked on his book early in the morning before work, and in the evenings, at home. But his professional connections would not have helped with a mystery novel, and he was careful not to blur the lines between his profession and avocation in any case.

“It was a long process,” he said of getting published. “You have to be resolved, you have to have grit and you have to be prepared to work through hearing, no.’”

After the major hurdle of finishing a book, comes the work of finding an agent, a publisher and, finally, an audience for your book.

That’s where Hill finds himself now. He has hit the road to visit bookshops and libraries in Brookline, Belmont and Whitman as well as New York City and Austin, Texas. On the day he spoke with the Express, he had just done an interview about the book with a Florida-based podcast.

Justin Kilburn’s attorney delays for third time

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PLYMOUTH– First, the defense attorney representing Justin Kilburn, 29, of Kingston, was on trial in Salem. Next, he was scheduled to be out of the country, and now, said a court worker, attorney Jack Atwood was stuck in traffic and did not appear for the third time for a scheduled pre-trial hearing in a motor vehicle homicide case.

Kilburn stands accused of motor vehicle homicide, manslaughter by motor vehicle and OUI second offense. Kilburn killed Diane Giordani, of Plympton, and her dog Blitz, in a head-on collision on Route 106 in Plympton May 10, 2018, said Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz.

Kilburn pled not guilty to the charges.

He remains free on $50,000 bail.

Kilburn is now scheduled to appear Oct. 19, 2018 in Plymouth Superior Court at 2 p.m. before Judge Jeffrey Locke

Savages’ motion to dismiss fails

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HINGHAM– Edward Savage and Christine Savage entered the court separately Sept. 13, 2018, on a slow, rainy Thursday for a motion to dismiss a shoplifting case against them. Although they stood together when their case was called, they did not sit together while waiting and rushed out of the courtroom following the arguments. Their motion was denied on Wednesday after being taken under advisement.

The Savages, Plympton residents accused of shoplifting from Kohl’s a year ago April, have been involved in a drawn-out legal saga ever since. The case has caught the eye of local media because Edward Savage is the former Hanson police chief, who resigned in 2012.

According to a complaint issued by the Hingham Police Department April 30, 2017, the Savages were caught on surveillance camera by the Kohl’s Department Store, 100 Derby St., Hingham, apparently shoplifting clothing in an amount more than $100.

The two were originally summonsed to appear before the clerk magistrate at Hingham District Court, Joseph Ligotti. The clerk agreed to dismiss the charges, with the agreement of the Hingham police prosecutor, if the Savages stayed out of criminal trouble for eight months and wrote letters of apology for the shoplifting, to the Hingham Police and Kohl’s department store at Derby Shops in Hingham, according to transcripts and recordings of the closed-door hearing, which were released to the media.

The Savages did not write apology letters before Feb. 28, 2018, the end of the probationary period.  A new acting clerk magistrate replacing Ligotti, who retired, seeing that the apology letters had not been received,  issued criminal charges against the Savages, according to court officials.

At the hearing, Daniel Webster, their attorney, argued that the acting clerk magistrate, Andrew Quigley, had no right to issue the criminal charges, and that he in fact, “violated the integrity of the Magistrate’s hearing,” by doing so, because the Savages thought they had until the very last day before the charges were dismissed to write apology letters.

Quigley never held a probable cause hearing of his own, according to records.

During the hearing on the motion to dismiss, held before Judge John P. Stapleton, who was engaged and asked many questions, Webster read a quote from Ligotti’s hearing:

“Okay, I am getting two letters written, signed by both people. I’m going to continue this matter until 2/28 of ’18 for dismissal. It will automatically dismiss on that date, no need to be back. Should you be dumb enough to do anything else illegal, this will automatically kick in and will automatically come back…and it [charges] will be issued,” he said.

Despite the lack of a due date for the letters, Stapleton denied the motion to dismiss the charges noting that the court had not found that the acting clerk magistrate, Quigley, had violated the integrity of the clerk magistrate hearing.

The Savages are being prosecuted by an outside prosecutor, Frances Cannone, of Essex County.

They will be back in court at a date to be determined to face the criminal complaint. A court official noted that it looks like the case will be headed for either a trial or settlement.

The case is ongoing.

Veneto shows off Dennett Elementary

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PLYMPTON– Principal Peter Veneto, an educator and administrator in his 19th year, proudly showed off the K-6 Dennett Elementary School in Plympton to the Express on Tuesday, Sept. 11.

Veneto, who is beginning his 10th year at the Dennett, said, “This is the smoothest transition we’ve had yet [at the beginning of the school year].” When asked why, he responded, “I think we know what to expect.”

Veneto was once an administrator at Whitman-Hanson Regional High School and an elementary school teacher, before coming to Plympton.

Despite the sylvan, pastoral setting of the school, from the outside the Dennett looks like many schools of its era: a little drab. Nothing could be further from the truth on the inside.

Veneto credited his custodial staff for getting the building into great physical shape over the summer. Floors were buffed, new carpets were installed in some areas and a slight new-paint smell wafted through the air. The gymnasium lobby had also been renovated.

Students quietly filed past in pastel-painted hallways. Teachers, with classes that average just 16 students, according to Veneto, worked in small groups. The only discernable noise at 10 a.m. came from the gymnasium.

With just 26 teaching staff, about 2 classrooms per grade level and such small class sizes, you’d be forgiven from mistaking the Dennett for a charter or private school.

In fact, in some previous years, the Dennett has attracted a few out-of-town students, although this program is no longer in effect.

“Everyone knows everyone here,” said Veneto.

He was also keen to point out the “high-tech” nature of the school.

The school has a 1:1 “device” ratio for grades 2-6, meaning that each second through sixth-grader is assigned a Chromebook (laptop) that stays at school. Younger students use iPads. Almost all classrooms have interactive whiteboards, allowing students and teachers to interact with images and text projected onscreen.

The Dennett also features a computer lab in their spacious library, where activities with 3-D printers and coding take place. Programmable robotic LEGOs were also purchased through the library.

Veneto was also happy to report that the long-awaited water filtration system is in place, and all water at the school is potable. Higher than recommended levels of manganese, a metal, had plagued the school for years, forcing bottled water to be delivered to the school.

Upcoming events include an Instrument Demonstration Tuesday, Sept. 18, at 10 a.m., Picture Day Monday, Sept. 24, and an Early Release Day that same Monday.

The Dennett School Committee meets Monday, Sept. 24, from 5-6 p.m.

STM prep completed for Atwood acres purchase

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PLYMPTON– On Monday, Sept. 10, Plympton Selectmen met at Town House for about an hour. They prepared for the Special Town Meeting, discussed an earth removal permit and talked about restoration projects at Old Town House.

Special Town Meeting

The warrant for the Thursday, Sept. 20, Special Town Meeting is ready to go and has been mailed to residents. With one article only, to purchase the property known as the Twin Brooks Preserve, the Special Town Meeting warrant is short.

Selectmen Chairman Mark Russo will speak for the board at the meeting, recommending the article.

The Community Preservation Committee and the Open Space Committee are also expected to present at the 7 p.m. meeting at the Dennett School.

For weeks, town officials have been diligently putting together this article that allows the town to exercise its right of first refusal on the sale of the property. The property, that would otherwise be sold for gravel excavation, is classified as a Chapter 61A agricultural property, allowing the town this option because of the change in ownership.

Earth Removal Permit

The board discussed another Chapter 61A property, this time bogs owned by Harju Limited Partnership, abutting Main Street, Pleasant Street and Mayflower Road.

Many years of sand and gravel have built up on-site as part of the cranberry-growing process, and the partnership wishes to remove the excess.

The board voted to exempt them from an earth-removal permit, not only because they are not actually removing earth in the traditional sense per-se, but because the property is Chapter 61A agriculture property, and does not need a permit for the work sought.

Rick Burnet, of the Conservation Committee, mentioned that his board wished for some silt barriers to be in place before the work, and that his committee would do a site visit.

The Selectmen made a motion to approve the work, as it is exempt from a permit, pending any requirements from other boards and committees.

Restoration at Old Town House

Elizabeth Dennehy, Town Administrator, reported that bids for the windows and doors at the Old Town House (the Historical Society Building) came in higher than anticipated. Jon Wilhelmsen, of the historical society, is currently checking references on the bidders, according to Dennehy.

“The ball’s in their court now,” said Russo, but Dennehy noted that the ball would eventually be back in the Selectmen’s court for final approval of any money being spent.

Selectman John Traynor noted that he had seen birds flying behind the clapboard in the eaves of the building.

He stated that it would be a shame to do all of the planned work and not address the clapboard.

He hoped that money to fix this problem could come out of the Building and Maintenance budget.

In other news:

• The board is in very early discussions regarding the purchase of software that would assist in planning paving and road maintenance.

• Email addresses will be changed in the near future at Town House. A date for the rollover has not been set.

• Selectman John Traynor received two informational bids to add amplifying speakers to the Large Meeting Room of Town House.

One bid was around $10,000, the other was around $4,000. Russo will bring the information to Area58 TV for their input.

• Construction at the Public Safety Building is going slower than expected, but there may be money found to build a permanent driveway, that had been previously deferred.

• Special Town Meeting is Sept. 20, 7 p.m. at the Dennett Elementary School with the single warrant article being the proposed purchase of Prospect Road acreage from the Atwood Family Trust.

• Selectmen will next meet Monday, Sept. 24, at 6 p.m.

STOP! Residents ask for a 4-way STOP sign

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The Halifax Board of Selectmen had a full house on Tuesday as residents came in to discuss the possibility of adding stop signs to the intersection at Laurel Street and Circuit Street.

Given the expert advice of Highway Surveyor Steven Hayward and Old Colony Planning Council Senior Transportation Planner Ray Guarino, Halifax would not legally be allowed to put a four-way stop at the intersection because there isn’t enough traffic to warrant it.  Selectmen voted to make a two-way stop sign instead.

A few residents in attendance said that the speed drivers travel on the roads is a problem. Some residents wanted the stop signs to curb the speed while others want a speed limit sign set at 25 miles-per-hour.

According to Hayward, guidelines set by the state and the Old Colony Planning Council require a certain amount of traffic before a four-way stop is allowed. “You are not supposed to use stop signs for speed control,” said Hayward.

Guarino said the Old Colony Planning Council would do a traffic count at no charge to verify the vehicle count for traffic on the two streets, but any action  for a four-way stop would require an engineering study. According to Guarino, that would cost at least a couple thousand dollars.

Most residents were okay with a compromise of having a two-way stop except for one resident who maintained that a four-way stop is necessary.

“There’s no definite right of way there. It’s a free for all,” Galvin said.

Galvin also questioned why the stop signs at the end of the streets that intersect with Route 106 were needed before this. He said that anyone who lives at Laurel Street and Circuit Street knows to stop before getting on to Route 106. Resident Sharon Smith also asked about the signs at 106.

Selectmen Chair Kim Roy said those signs were a priority because they intersect with a major road.

Hayward also brought up potentially having yield signs rather than stop signs. He said that if the town put up a stop sign on a road its not necessarily warranted, everyone is going to be asking for one.

Selectman Troy Garron said it’s the Board of Selectmen’s job to be proactive with this. Although Guarino looked up accident records and could only recall one accident which was single-car, the Board and some residents said they are lucky a major accident hasn’t happened at the intersection.”

“I think the suggestion to put up stop signs is  good,” Garron said. He later added, “it’s worth it if it saves one life.”

Elementary School
Doors Don’t Fit

The rear-facing doors ordered for Halifax Elementary School are the wrong dimensions. In total, fifteen doors were ordered, but are too small.

According to Selectmen, the contractor failed to account for hinges in the initial measurements.

A sample door is being ordered to test the fit, then the contractor will replace the rest of the incorrect doors.

Dog Hearing soon

A dog hearing is scheduled for the September 25 Board of Selectmen meeting. The Board said a dog killed another dog.

Other News

• The Board of Selectmen approved the boy scouts using the town green for a food drive on November 10.

• The tax classification hearing resulted in no open space tax discount or residential exemption for a second home. Principal Assessor Holly Merry said there are not enough people who own second homes in Halifax to justify it.

The next meeting of the Board of Selectmen is September 25. Open session begins at 7:30 p.m.