Plympton Health Agent Robert C. Tinkham, Jr., of Carver, and two other defendants are being sued by the Carver, Marion, and Wareham Regional Refuse Disposal District for fraud, embezzlement and conspiracy, among several other complaints.

The lawsuit alleges the misconduct occurred during Tinkham’s tenure as Carver’s liaison to, and chairman of the committee that oversees the district, while working as the Carver Health Agent.

The one-time Fairhaven physical education teacher and public health professional denies the allegations.

The lawsuit, filed in Plymouth Superior Court June 22, 2018, alleges that Tinkham, along with co-defendants Ray E. Pickles, who is the elected Marion town clerk and the Town of Gosnold town administrator, and his wife, Diane Bondi-Pickles, a licensed real estate agent, conspired to defraud the CMWRRDD, established in 1973, of $838,458.22 over a five-year period (some court documents alternately refer to an eight-year period).

Tinkham is accused personally of converting $262,000 of public funds for personal use.

The misconduct is alleged to have been committed through payments made from the CMWRRDD to corporations controlled by the defendants, Moss Hollow Management Corp., a mainly one-person consultancy firm owned by Pickles and Bondi-Pickles, and 33-35 Wareham LLC, under the control of Tinkham and his wife.

The lawsuit states that the mishandling of the district’s money was discovered in 2017 after Pickles, at the time the chairman of the committee overseeing the CMWRRDD, demanded assessments be paid to the waste district from the three member towns for the first time since 2015.

When Carver and Wareham refused to pay their dues because of a lack of proper documentation and the surprise bills, Pickles sued for breach of contract. This prompted an estimated $25,000 forensic audit by the three towns in the waste district into the CMWRRDD’s finances, which is still ongoing and can be used in court as evidence. Unlike a usual audit, a forensic audit examines every transaction of the waste district.

That investigation revealed the extent of the conspiracy to include Pickles; Pickles’ wife, Bondi-Pickles; and Tinkham.

Pickles was fired Jan. 29, 2018, from the waste district.

Tinkham retired from the Town of Carver July 1, 2016, but is an hourly employee of the Town of Plympton, making $39.21 per hour per inspection, according to public records and the Treasurer/Collector’s Office.

He was hired by the Plympton Board of Health as health agent at a meeting January 9, 2018.

A health agent is generally responsible for, among other duties, Title V septic inspections, septic plan approvals, percolation tests, food inspections, housing inspections, landfill inspections and other permits.

Tinkham lists managing the yearly budget as part of his duties as health agent in Carver and at his former job at the CMWRRDD.

Tinkham is also the current Title V inspector in Plymouth, according to his resume and the Town of Plymouth. He obtained that job after retiring from Carver.

He receives a $2,124.88 monthly pension from the Plymouth County Retirement Board and had about $20,000 in checking and savings accounts at Mutual Bank according to court filings in June. An affidavit states that he has no bank accounts outside of Massachusetts. He claims his corporation owns a campground with a parcel of property worth approximately $2,000,000.

Tinkham is seeking to have the suit dismissed. He is being represented by Attorney John Fink of Brockton, according to the docket. Pickles and Bondi-Pickles are seeking to move forward with a jury trial, according to filings.

The CMWRRDD is seeking triple-damages, interest, costs and lawyers’ fees. Assets of these three defendants were originally frozen by court order pending the outcome of the lawsuit, although the defendants successfully argued for access to their bank accounts and pensions.

The Plymouth County Retirement Board, Eastern Bank and Mutual Bank were all named as “reach and apply” defendants in the lawsuit but were removed from the litigation.

The case is moving quickly through the court system, with several hearings and 35 docket entries to date in just a few weeks.

Plympton Town Administrator Elizabeth Dennehy, reached via email, directed questions to the Board of Health, noting that “the Board of Health is an elected Board, and as such, does not come under the purview of the Board of Selectmen and/or Town Administrator.”

A source who did not wish to be quoted stated that the town became aware of the allegations only after the hiring process, in late June when Wareham and Marion media began coverage of the lawsuit. Another source stated that they had personally made town officials aware of the allegations.

It’s not clear at this time who at Town House was aware of the allegations prior to Tinkham’s appointment. Tinkham does not list any references on his resume, although he lists his previous jobs with Plymouth, Carver and the CMWRRDD.

A call to the Plympton Board of Health went unanswered as did a call to Tinkham’s cellphone.

The Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General is investigating according to documents in the court file, although a spokesman for the OIG would not confirm or deny the existence of any specific investigation.

The OIG is not a prosecutorial agency but can refer investigations to the Attorney General or the federal government, among other agencies, for prosecution, according to the spokesman.

The court is awaiting Tinkham’s attorney to file a motion to dismiss in order to schedule the next hearing in the case.

Special town meeting for “Two Brooks Preserve”

PLYMPTON – On Monday, Aug. 6, Plympton Selectmen met at Town House and executed a lengthy agenda. The town clerk updated the board on ongoing projects and appointments, several appointments were made to the fire department, the board interviewed two candidates for Zoning Enforcement Officer and hired one, set up a gift fund for the Atwood property– now known as, “Two Brooks Preserve,”– and a Special Town Meeting to address the preserve was finalized after the meeting.

Town Clerk Update

Tara Shaw, the town clerk, updated the board on several ongoing projects. First, she updated the board on General Code, the company that is codifying the Plympton bylaws. They are checking for everything from spelling errors to conflicts with Massachusetts law. All deadlines are being met.

She also noted that five bylaws changed at the annual town meeting were submitted to the Attorney General’s office in the proper time frame, and that the deadline for the Attorney General’s office to get back to Plympton with approvals that the bylaws don’t conflict with Massachusetts law (or seeking further information from the town) is Sept. 3.

Adjustments to 2018 appointments to boards and committees were made on the recommendation of Shaw. The board had voted on all 48 appointments at once at a previous meeting, but according to Shaw, not everyone accepted their appointments, or their appointment terms.

Notably, Bob Karling did not accept his appointment as the Zoning Enforcement Officer and Fence Viewer, and Carol Quindley did not accept her appointment to the Historic District Commission.

Harry Weikel, originally an alternate to the Zoning Board of Appeals, only accepted full membership to that board with the term coinciding with that of his alternate term date, ending June 30, 2019.

Several Committees were dissolved, including the Fire Executive Oversight Committee, the Fire Technical Committee, the Memorial Day Committee, the DOR Advisory Board and the Plympton Housing Production Committee.

Wendy Jones was appointed Assistant Assessor.

Shaw is also looking for an intern or a volunteer to help maintain the town’s website.

“You’ve planted a seed, let’s see if it grows,” said Selectmen Chairman John Traynor, who supported the idea.

New Zoning
Enforcement Officer

Selectmen interviewed Jack O’Leary, of Plympton, and Allan Fraser, of Franklin, for the position of Zoning Enforcement Officer. The current ZEO, Tom Millias, is the building inspector and is acting on an interim basis.

O’Leary said that he sought the position, “Mainly because I’ve been involved in this in my day job and volunteering in the town for a while.”

But, O’Leary has a full-time job as an engineer, and the board, especially Traynor was concerned about the time commitment needed for the position.

Allan Fraser, of Franklin, was ultimately unanimously hired by the board.

Fraser, who says he has, “a tremendous amount of experience,” citing jobs as building inspector in Newton and councilor in Lowell as examples, has never lived in a community he has worked in, he says.

Selectman Russo stated that he wanted a balance in zoning enforcement.

Fraser said that he preferred the term “administration” to “enforcement,” and that he believed that the key to effective zoning regulation is education. He mentioned using technology for that education and to remind residents and businesses of their obligations under the zoning laws.

Fire Department new hires

The Plympton Fire Department family showed up to the meeting to celebrate the appointment of five new members to the force. All members of the PFD, including the new members, have successfully passed CORI and SORI checks, something that had not been done under the tenure of Fire Chief Warren Borsari, leading to the separation of several employees from the force.

Nathan Currier, Edward Coughlin, Carl Johnson, Richard Cosato and Jennifer Fulton were all appointed. Although only two were present, a sizable crowd of firefighters, paramedics, EMTs and their family members and friends joined the meeting for a brief photo.

The board seems to take particular delight in the “reinvigorated” fire department, under the leadership of Captains Cheryl Davis and John Sjostedt and Fire Consultant Lance Benjamino, Chief of the Middleboro Fire Department.

Town Administrator Elizabeth Dennehy announced that 17 applicants have applied to date for the position of permanent fire chief, noting that the town is still early in the hiring process.

“Two Brooks Preserve”

The Atwood property, on Prospect Road, now known as the “Two Brooks Preserve,” is rapidly in the process of being purchased by the town. The land, which was held in Chapter 61A, was changing from agricultural use to another use when it was put on the market, and the town exercised its right of first refusal to purchase the property.

The sellers wish to move the sale along, and the board acquiesced to two conditions put on the sale, the first being 24-hours’ notice for access to the property, and the second being that the seller did not want to put a 30-day extension on the execution of the purchase and sales agreement.

Selectman Mark Russo explained that the board would like to set up both a “gift-fund” for the preserve, as well as issue bonds to fund the multisource funded project. The bonds will take some time to set up.

The fund was approved by the board, and Russo said that he hoped that individuals would give generously. Donations are tax-deductible and will be returned if voters do not approve the purchase at the fall STM. If enough money is raised through alternate means, he said, less Community Preservation money could be used for the project, or fewer lots may need to be sold to raise money for the purchase.

“We’re looking for people and hoping for people to be really generous,” he said, noting that donations for land last forever.

Regarding the tight timeline for the Two Brooks Preserve, Traynor said that there was, “a very tight schedule.” and Russo said that, “One wrong step and we could mess everything up. We don’t want any wrong steps.”

Special Town Meeting

Town officials announced Wednesday that a Special Town Meeting asking voters to approve the purchase of the Two Brooks Preserve will be held on Sept. 20. The time and place will be announced soon by the Selectmen’s office.

The Plympton Board of Selectmen will next meet Aug. 20 at 6 p.m.

Proponents promise to make a federal case of it

PLYMPTON – On Tuesday, Aug. 31, the Plympton Zoning Board of Appeals voted down the variances necessary for an application by Industrial Tower and Wireless, LLC., of Marshfield, to build a 120-foot, lattice-style cell phone tower at the corner of Center Street and Palmer Road, on a business-zoned lot by a 2-1 vote.

Board members Dave Alberti and Harry Weikel voted against issuing the variances for the proposed cell tower, despite the previous warnings of town counsel Robin Stein that they are opening Plympton up to a federal lawsuit by violating the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996.

Board Chairman Ken Thompson voted for the project, noting afterward that his vote didn’t matter because any variances that ITW sought needed to be decided on unanimously by the board.

The meeting did not have the intensity or drama of previous meetings on the subject, as the board had already indicated which way they were leaning, although the townspeople at the hearing were visibly pleased with the ultimate result.

The hearing was brief– less than 30 minutes. The lawyer for ITW, Jeffrey Angely was still slick and could be heard chuckling from time to time in the audience; the Town’s lawyer appeared to be much more prepared than at last week’s hearing, where she acted confused as the board increasingly moved in the direction of a denial.

The public was not permitted to speak because the testimony portion of the hearing had ended, despite their being a full house.

Thompson began the hearing by warning that it was the board’s turn to continue deliberations at this meeting. Stein read the history of the hearing into the record, notably a number of continuances beginning May 24.

Stein again walked the board through their previous findings, which they hadn’t yet voted on.

She reiterated the law, noting that federal law requires local zoning ordinances to be waived should the ZBA find that there is both a significant gap in coverage and that there were no alternate sites for a tower per the TCA of 1996. Stein noted that this sort of case has been well litigated in the federal courts, both in our circuit and others.

The public had previously noted numerous other locations for a tower, most notably the First Church steeple, which Church officials claim had not been properly investigated. ITW has made claims that 7,000 to 8,000 vehicles a day pass through this alleged coverage gap. This has not been independently verified, according to officials.

Weikel next read a lengthy statement into the record as part of his deliberation, noting what he counted as 17 “significant” variances, not just the four in the application, that he believed the applicant required for the construction of a cell-tower. He noted other possible locations he found suitable, including a town-owned parcel behind the Town House.

Alberti attempted to read a letter, a source says from a previous zoning official or board member, into the record but was quickly stopped by Stein on the grounds that it was testimony, not part of the deliberations.

At that point, the Board was ready to vote as their deliberations were complete.

Stein read an affirmative motion to approve the variances, with several conditions, into the record, to which Thompson said, “So moved.” Alberti seconded the motion.

Weikel voted first, against the motion, and then Alberti voted against the motion as well.

Thompson voted last, somewhat half-heartedly, in favor of the motion.

The motion failed as the vote was not unanimous.

At that point, Stein directed the board to vote on a motion for the reasons for the denial, as federal law requires that any denial be based on “substantial evidence in the record.”

She began by reading item by item from a list she had prepared, for example, “That the proposed telecommunications tower is in the business district,” which quickly became too cumbersome because of the number of items on her list.

She and the board together decided to read the whole list of more than a dozen reasons to deny the application at once, and the board voted unanimously to approve that list. The findings will be published on or around Aug. 8, according to Stein and Thompson.

What will happen after that is not clear.

The board appears to be bracing themselves for a lawsuit. Town officials were not available for immediate comment as of press time, and a source who did not wish to be named suggested that there would be no comment from the Town.

When Stein told opposing attorney Angley that the board would meet Wednesday, Aug. 8, at 5 p.m. for an administrative meeting, he replied, “We have no reason to be there.”

When she told him that the findings would be published at or shortly after that meeting, he asked for a courtesy copy, grabbed his suit coat, said, “Whatever,” and stormed out of the room with a flourish. He could be seen talking animatedly with ITW representatives in the parking lot after the hearing.