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Playoff-bound Lakers baseball lose to W-H

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One run is all that separated the playoff-bound Silver Lake baseball team from a Patriot League title.

Ultimately, they did not get the win in what turned out to be the league championship game, but the Lakers made a strong effort and put together a convincing comeback effort in their 6-5 road loss to the Whitman-Hanson Panthers on Saturday afternoon.

A five-run fourth inning made the difference in the contest. Heading into the inning, the game was tied at one apiece but by end of it, Whitman-Hanson led, 6-1.

The Lakers first score of the game came in the top half of the first inning. With one out, Dan Collins knocked in an RBI single, giving his team a 1-0 lead. Josh Harvey, who led off the game with a single, scored the run.

Although they trailed heading into the sixth inning, the Lakers did not give up. In all, they tacked on three runs, making it a 6-4 game. The Lakers got two of their runs on a single from Connor Molloy. Harvey drove in the other run, also with a single.

In the top of the seventh, the Lakers comeback effort got shut down. Before they were done though, Matt Bettle hit a sacrifice fly — which scored Collins — to make it a 1-run game. The sac fly, however, came when there was already an out in the inning, so the next out ended the ballgame.

The Lakers reached base in every single inning of the game.

Albeit they did not get the league title, the Lakers are still having a strong year and are in position for a potentially deep playoff run. After all, they were 12-6 on the year.

The Lakers wrap up their regular season at home on Friday, May 26 against St. John Paul II, a private school in Hyannis (Barnstable, Mass.). First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m. in that one.

O’Neill starring at UMass Dartmouth Baseball

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Take a look at the UMass Dartmouth Corsairs baseball team’s lineup and you might recognize a familiar name: Josh O’Neill.

Over the past few years, O’Neill, a Halifax native who graduated from Silver Lake Regional High in 2014, has made himself a key piece of the Corsairs lineup. He’s played in 111 and this past season, he had his best performance to date. In 42 games, he owned a .301 batting average, posted a .373 on-base percentage and a .756 OPS (on-base plus slugging). A tough out throughout his career, O’Neill drew 12 walks and only struck out on 14 occasions. He also hit a pair of home runs, the first two of his college baseball career and stole 12 bases on 15 attempts.

Defensively, O’Neill, who bats and throws right-handed, mostly plays second base and helped turn 25 double plays for the Corsairs this past season.

In 45 games this season, O’Neill’s Corsairs finished at 25-20; their season wrapped up on May 13.

While O’Neill enjoyed success in his previous two seasons as well, the 2017 season was a major step up for him in terms of getting base hits. Albeit he owned a strong on-base percentage as a freshman and sophomore, this year he bumped up his batting average by 87 points. Prior to 2017, he was a .214 hitter for the Corsairs.

At Silver Lake, O’Neill was a standout athlete. He played three sports–soccer, basketball, and baseball–and was a varsity athlete from his sophomore year onward. His senior year, he was a key piece of a Lakers baseball team that made it to the Super 8 tournament held at Campanelli Stadium in Brockton.

Last summer, O’Neill played for the Bourne Mariners of the Cranberry League.

Joy named chairman of Plympton board of selectmen

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Plympton’s selectmen reorganized their board on Monday, May 22, naming vice-chairman Christine Joy chairman and John Traynor as vice-chairman.  Saturday’s May 20 Town Election saw Mark Russo elected in what can only be referred to as a landslide, with 203 of the 250 ballots cast naming Russo in his write-in campaign for selectman.

Russo had previously served on the board from 2013-2016. After taking a year off, Russo says he’s excited to be back.

Russo also served as a member of the Finance Committee from 2011-2013, is the current chairman of the Community Preservation Committee, and a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals.  After reorganization of the board of selectmen, Russo will serve as its clerk.

Colleen Thompson, who chose not to run for re-election, will still have a role as appointed by the board, continuing as its representative on the Public Safety Building Committee. Mark Russo will also attend meetings and work as the Selectmen’s liaison.

Eagle Scout Project

Frank Perfetuo Jr., a member of Plympton’s Boy Scout Troop 53 and a junior at Silver Lake Regional High School, presented his Eagle project proposal to selectmen.

Perfetuo’s plans to create a picnic table and benches out of recycled plastic for the town green. “The table will be wheelchair accessible,” Frank said, and will be light, moveable, and durable for the winter.

Selectman Russo said he’s happy the picnic table is moveable so the grass can be mowed. Joy added that having the table and benches moveable makes it more flexible for events to take place on the town green.

Perfetuo said the table will cost approximately $800 and the benches are around $260 each. He plans to hold a fundraiser to pay for them.

Selectmen approved the plan, pending approval from the Historical Commission and the Highway Department.

Other News

The Board of Selectmen discussed how they want to go about hiring a town administrator. The funding for this position was approved at the Annual Town Meeting.

Though other options are being explored, the consensus of the board was that the Collins Center is most likely to be the firm the town uses.

Selectmen John Traynor said, “I like the idea of the Collins Center’s process.” He added that he likes how the Collins Center helps identify what the town is looking for in a candidate and Plympton’s values.

Chair Christine Joy mentioned that the Plymouth County Commissioner’s office also offered to help by sitting in on interviews or a screening panel. This is something the town may still explore in addition to the Collins Center or another firm.

Traynor and Joy took some time to review the Annual Town Meeting and make sure new board member Mark Russo was up to speed. Russo said, “This was probably the quickest and smoothest town meeting.”

Plympton was awarded a Community Compact Grant intended to upgrade their exchange systems and technology at the Town House. Originally, the town was seeking $49,000. However, the grant awarded them $16,000.

According to the Board, the grant can be used at the Board of Selectmen’s discretion as long at it’s used for technology. John Traynor said that Town Clerk Tara Shaw’s request for her public records software is already covered by approved appropriations at Town Meeting.

Other Restructuring

• Selectmen Clerk Mark Russo was voted the signatory for warrants at Board of Selectmen Meetings. Russo was also voted to represent the Board on the Mayflower Muncipal Health Group board.

• Joy was confirmed as Plympton’s representative to the Plymouth County Advisory Board.

The next selectmen’s meeting will be Tuesday, May 30, due to the Memorial Day holiday on Monday.

Engineers address ponds issues

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The Halifax Board of Selectmen heard a plan to address the algae and phosphorous levels at West Monponsett Pond from Craig Curtin and Russ Kleekamp, engineers at GHD, one of the world’s leading professional services companies operating in the global markets of water, energy, resources, and environment at their meeting on Tuesday, May 24. Addressing the problem was approved at Halifax’s Annual Town Meeting.

Halifax wants to use GHD’s plan to reduce the total phosphorous load from stormwater by 50% as required by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). In order to do this, Curtin and Kleekamp started by making a map of the existing drainage system to help create the new drainage systems.

Kleekamo said there are seven steps/strategies associated with the project to be addressed. They include:

• Public education and outreach.

• Illicit discharge detection and elimination.

• Public involvement and participation in storm water municipal permitting. (SWMP).

• Construction site stormwater control.

• Stormwater management in new development and redevelopment.

• Good housekeeping and pollution prevention.

• Program evaluation, record keeping, and reporting.

Town Adminstrator Charlie Seelig noticed some sewer run off areas on the map that didn’t look like they were being addressed and asked about it. Russ Kleekamp, project manager, said, “The permit ,only addresses point sources.”

Craig Curtin emphasized the amount of work that has already been laid out for this project. Curtin took a trip with Halifax’s Highway Department to look at catch basins and drainage pipes throughout the area. In total, 232 catch basins were opened.

Curtin said that they found a lot of trash in the catch basins, exemplified by a photo of the inside of a catch basin on Heron Road.

Further field verification showed a total of 40 outfalls discharging phosphorous into West Monponsett Pond. Kleekamp said that the phosphorous levels will be reduced by updating existing drainage systems. Preliminary designs were shown.

West Monponsett Pond is considered the priority for addressing outfalls. The Halifax Beach Association outfall is next priority. Kleekamp said that Hanson is also onboard for the project and has set aside funds for engineering.

Given there is about a five year window for Halifax to bring their phosphorous to levels acceptable by the DEP, the town plans to apply for project grants.

Kleekamp told the board there are grants available and the grant size needed is determined by the size of the project. Jaclyn Tomasello, of Halifax, graduates from Assumption College

He said the Provincetown project ended up receiving a multi-million dollar grant.

Kleekamp said of his plan, “This won’t be a cure-all for the ponds.” This is a multi-year project that will allow the town to become compliant, improve the water quality, and reduce the number of beach closures.

Electricity Aggregation

Selectmen met with a representative from Colonial Power who is trying to set up an electricity aggregation for Halifax.

Residents and small businesses will be automatically opted in to this program if approved, but are allowed to opt out thirty days prior to the aggregation if they are already receiving a similar service from National Grid. Opting in and out is also allowed without penalty. Those with private electricity where no basic National Grid services are not automatically opted in, but are allowed to join.

According to the representative, other towns are signing on to the aggregation including Pembroke, Kingston, and communities as far away as Mendon. Selectmen vice-chair Kim Roy asked if there would be a green option regardless if other towns want to go green.

The representative said, “Aggregation allows you to make the decision that’s best for Halifax.” He added that if other towns don’t want to go green, Halifax can still go green. Colonial power offers a non-green base price, but allows green aggregation as a resident option.

There were some positives and negatives that Colonial Power told the Board of Selectmen. Colonial Power mentioned cost being less at the beginning, but an increase to the cost of kilowatts per hour for the next couple of years after.

The Board approved continuing to look into Colonial Power, particularly the aggregation with other towns, but is exploring other options as well.

Other News

The Halifax Board of Selectmen restructured their board post Annual Town Meeting. Thomas Millias in now the Chairman of the Board, Kim Roy is Vice Chair, and Troy Garron is Clerk.

The Margaret Fitzgerald Garden will have their official opening ceremony on Memorial Day after the parade. Although the parade is dependent on good weather, the garden dedication ceremony will go on rain or shine.

Line item transfer requests were all approved for the following:

• Police wages to station maintenance

• Water Department gas and oil to data processing

• Fire wages to Fire Station maintenance

Permit fees for the school repair project were waived by a unanimous vote of the Board of Selectmen.

The Board briefly discussed the proposed Plymouth County Budget. Selectman Millias said his one concern was with the large increase in salaries in the Commissioners’ department.

Lakers track competes at Coaches’ Invitationals

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As much as track is about athleticism, it is a sport based around numbers: whoever runs faster, throws further or jumps higher is the winner.

Individual athletes from the Silver Lake high boys and girls track teams had an opportunity to see how their numbers matched up against runners from across the state on Saturday, May 13 at the MSTCA Coaches Invitational Outdoor meet. The boys competed at Boston College High School in Dorchester while the girls’ meet was held at Sharon High School.

While there were no team winners at the meet, it presented teams with a unique opportunity to gage their performances, especially with freshman and sophomore events in addition to varsity ones. The Lakers major success in a pair of sophomore events.

On the girls side, Alison McDonough placed fifth in the sophomore 100 meter dash (13.13 seconds) while the sophomore boys 4×100 meter relay team–featuring Tristan Arendt, Ryan Tierney, Kevin Donohue, and Marshall Roy finished their race in 47.07 seconds, which was good for a third place finish.

On varsity, senior Ali Gavigan had a strong performance in the 2-mile run, finishing 21st as she finished the race in 12:06.09. She broke her previous personal-best mark by over 20 seconds. In shotput, junior Madeline Schlagar’s best throw was 32 feet 8.5 inches, which was gave her a 10th place finish in the event.

For the varsity boys, junior Max Shirikjian had the highest placing in an event: 14th in the long jump with his 20-foot 2-inch leap.

Junior Nathan Thacker had a strong performance throwing javelin; his best throw of the day was 132-09.00, which earned him a 24th place finish overall.

Albeit no team scores were kept, the meet can serve as a preview to the State Championship meets because it is geared toward individual performance and features a wide array of schools.

SL Boys Lax making strong playoff push

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There was a point at which the Silver Lake boys’ lacrosse team’s chances of making the postseason this year appeared to be nil. To start this week, however, they just needed to win one of their last four games.

Though the Lakers started the year at 3-6, they have emerged into one of the hottest teams on the South Shore in the second half of the season. Handling their Patriot League schedule well, they pulled off five straight wins following their 12-5 loss to Scituate two weeks ago. Ultimately, the streak came to an end on Tuesday, May 16, with a 16-8 loss to a powerful Abington club, but the Lakers progress is noteworthy. That loss put them at 8-7 and dice they play an 18 game schedule, it means they need nine wins for a playoff spot as opposed to 10.

Against Whitman-Hanson on Friday, May 12, the Lakers showed signs of that progress in their 9-2 win.

The Lakers shut out the Panthers in the first half while the first quarter was scoreless, the Lakers offense erupted in the period that followed. Moving the ball well, they were able to score in bunches and put up five unanswered goals, which gave them a 5-0 lead going into halftime.

In the second half, the Lakers put up two goals apiece in each of the quarters to follow while only allowing one goal per quarter.

Sean Daly, Tyler Heath and freshman Greg Wolff led the way in the win for the Lakers, putting up two goals each. Daly also had four assists. Drew Neal, Justin Lloyd and freshman Matt Dole had the Lakers other goals; freshman Dhruva Nugent had an assist in the win.

The Lakers final two games of the year are against teams of similar records: Sandwich, who began the week at 7-7 and Rockland, who was 7-6.

15.3% voter turnout in Halifax

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Town Clerk Barbara Gaynor has published the certified results of the Halifax town election last Saturday.  Only 15.3% of Halifax’s 5,557 registered voters came out to cast their ballot with 852 total voters.

While there were few contested seats, R. Steven Hayward won election to the position of Highway Surveyor with 667 votes.  His opponent, Michael J. Schleiff got 168 votes.  There were 14 blanks and three write-ins.

Schleiff was also a candidate for Park Commissioner, but lost to incumbent John D. Campbell.  Campbell won 597 votes to Schleiff’s 182.  There were 72 blanks and one write-in.

Schleiff was also a candidate for Selectman, a position he had formerly held, this time running against incumbent Troy Garron.  Garron won the contest with 627 votes to Schleiff’s 179.  There were two write-ins and 44 blanks recorded.

The Halifax Elementary School Committee was looking for two candidates to be elected, from a field of five.  Alison Vance got the most votes with 456, and second highest vote was Robert W. Johnson with 368.  They will join the school committee at their next meeting.   Alexander J. Meade won 207, Edward J. Bryan tallied 177, and John P. Sexton won 119 votes.  There were 374 ballots that left the contest blank.

John J.R. Shiavone was unopposed in his re-election to the Board of Assessors, winning 670 votes.  Blank were 174 and there were also seven write-ins.

John Delano won re-election to the Board of Health with 645 votes cast for him.  There were 202 blanks and five write-ins.

Paul A. Delaney won election to a two-year term on the Library Board of Trustees.  There were 202 blank and three write-ins.

Ralph W. Goodwin Jr. and Meredith M. Goodwin were elected to two three-year terms on the Library Board of Trustees with 629 votes for Meredith and 587 votes for Ralph.  483 were blank and there were five write-ins.

There were no candidates seeking election to the four-year term on the Halifax Planning Board.  There were 814 left blank and 37 write-ins.  If any are interested in serving, let Town Administrator Charlie Seelig know. 

Gordon R. Andrews was unopposed in his election to the five-year term on the Planning Board, winning 640 votes.  There were 203 blanks and nine write-ins.

Edward W. Desharnais, Jr., won re-election to his seat on the Silver Lake Regional School Committee with 621 votes.  Blank were 227, and there were also four write-ins.

Richard A. Clark was elected to the Board of Water Commissioners with 651 votes.  There were 198 left blank for that contest, and three write-ins.

The town’s vote turning down a debt exclusion to purchase a fire suppression system for the Halifax Elementary School, didn’t matter. The vote at Town Meeting to allow the project to proceed within the town’s budget made the question on the ballot irrelevant.  The ballots were printed weeks in advance, so the question had to appear.  Had Town Meeting turned down the article to finance the school’s sprinkler system through the regular budget, the vote would have been necessary to finance the project.   Halifax Elementary School will have its fire suppression system financed within the town’s regular operating budget.

New police station for Plympton

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Plympton voted unanimously to allow the town to undertake the $3 million construction of a new police station at the Annual Town Meeting on Wednesday, May 17. The town voted on 32 articles as well as an additional 11 articles as part of the Special Town Meeting within the town meeting.

Article 24 asked the town to appropriate $500,000 from the Capital Stabilization Fund and borrow $2.5 million in order to design, construct, and equip a new police station.

Public Safety Building Committee member John Wilhelmsen said the committee worked for two years, researching design, cost, financing options, and consideration of future expansion.  Wilhelmsen said that the town simply couldn’t afford to build a new fire station as well, but as the future of the Plympton Fire Department and its role is defined, plans for a fire station will be investigated and brought before the town. The committee chose to prioritize the police station. Wilhelmsen told the meeting, “The police station is the town’s biggest short-term liability.”

Chief Patrick Dillon provided an overview of the conditions of the current police station which, he said,  does not meet safety standards.  Dillon added the station also lacks bullet proof glass at the front desk.

Dan Palotta, the manager Plympton hired for the project said, “This is low (price) as you’re going to get for a public project. This will not increase your taxes and will be paid out of capital stabilization over a period of time.”

Chief Dillon says he was amazed by the unanimous vote. He said, “I could not be more proud of the hard work and dedication of this committee.”

Town meeting also voted to appropriate $20,000 of available funds to conduct a study of Fire and EMS services. Selectman John Traynor explained that shortages in paramedic staffing could cause the town to lose its advanced life support emergency license. Traynor said Halifax wouldn’t be willing go to a regionalized service, but is at least willing to explore some sort of shared EMS service.

Stephen J Worton of Forest Street said, “The $20,000 for a study should go to the Fire Department directly.” He would rather have Chief Borsari’s recommendation be the voice that oversees the ambulance shortage situation. He says, “He knows the department, he knows the town.”

Finance committee vice-chairman Nathaniel Sides said, “We appreciate the Chief’s dedication…The Chief will in no means be excluded from the process.”

Chief Warren Borsari told the meeting, “The third party will give an independent view.” He says he’s worked together with the Board of Selectmen and The Finance Committee and feels the independence is good for taxpayers. The article passed by  a majority.

Plympton also voted Wednesday night to eliminate the Town Coordinator position and replace it with a Town Administrator. Town Coordinator Dale Pleau is retiring. One citizen asked why the position would be paid 89% more than the Town Coordinator position.

Susan Ossoff from the Finance Committee answered that the Town Administrator Position involves much more responsibility than a Town Coordinator. Some of these responsibilities involve coordinating IT, community outreach and taking on budget responsibilities. Ossoff noted that Plympton does not have a budget director.

Other elected officials voiced support for a town administrator including Selectman John Traynor and Town Clerk Tara Shaw. Shaw said a town administrator would also provide help with grant writing. The town voted $20,000 to fund a professional search for the right candidate. 

The Dennett Elementary  School was voted $130,000 for a drinking water treatment system. The article required a two thirds vote and passed with this requirement. John Wilhelmsen, representing the Plympton School Committee spoke to this article.

Article 22 asked the town to transfer $30,000 from the Capital Stabilzation Fund to make repairs to the roof highway barn. Highway Surveyor Jim Mulcahy said he found the roof could be repaired for only $18,000 and the problem could be solved by the addition of 8” gutters instead of the current 4” gutters, and do other repairs, still staying within the original $30,000 request.

Nathaniel Sides, from the FinCom, was disturbed that the article presented to the meeting was not the same article that the FinCom had approved.  FinCom’s Susan Ossoff shared those concerns stating that her committee spends a lot of time and consideration, when these articles are presented, and they should not be changed on Town Meeting floor.   Mulcahy said, “The amount for the request is the same. I’m just approaching the repairs in a different manner.

Ossoff continued, saying that the funding source of Capital Stabilization, cannot be used for maintenance; it has strict rules as to the uses it can fund.

The Finance Committee moved to modify the article from $30,000 to $18,000 given the information shared by Mulcahy.

Board of Health Chairman Art Morin, who also works full time as a transfer station attendant, was in support of keeping the funding at $30,000. Morin said, “I think one of the problems is if we repair the roof {but not the barn’s problems], we’ll end up with the same problem three years down the road.”

Susan Ossoff responded that she isn’t sure if the change to the request is even eligible for Capital Stabilization funding. She recommended asking for the additional $12,000 at next year’s Town Meeting.

The article needed a standing vote in order to modify the appropriation to $18,000; it was narrowly approved with a vote of 36 for to 29 against. The modified Article 22 passed with a two thirds majority.

Town meeting approved the request of the Historic Commission to repair and restore the Town Green Bandstand/Gazebo for $39,500. The Community Preservation Committee will fund and oversee the project with $27,228 coming from the CPC’s Historic Resources Reserve and $12,272 from the CPC’s Budgeted Reserve.

Plympton also voted to spend $5,145 to pay for new software to manage databases. Town Clerk Tara Shaw said that these databases are needed to help manage public records and other aspects of her job such as dog licensing, business licensing, election nomination papers, etc.   New state law mandates public records requests be responded to and provided within a shorter timeframe. And these databases will assist in that area.  Voters also elected to spend $14,200 to purchase an exchange server, work stations, and other relevant software in order to stay complaint with the new Public Records Law. The software will get all board, committee, and department heads on the software which according to Selectmen Clerk John Traynor, will streamline the public records request process.

Town Clerk Tara Shaw said her goal is to get as much of the town’s records onto the web site so that people can search them and answer questions themselves.

The town also voted $5,000 to fund a Hazardous Waste Day at the Transfer Station.

Article 21 was a vote to appropriate from available funds or borrow $200,000 for reconstruction and resurfacing at the transfer station. It was passed with a two thirds vote.

Article 25 was a vote to amend municipal by laws related to animal control in the town. Tara Shaw said there are new procedures for declaring a dog a nuisance dog and doesn’t change leash laws.

The title of dog officer was also changed to Animal Control officer. Article 25 passed unanimously.

Article 26 passed unanimously. It made changes to make amendments to Article 4, Sections 1 and 2 of the Town By-laws. The change here is that the Finance Committee will also serve and vote as the Capital Planning Improvement Committee.

Susan Ossoff has said at several past Board of Selectmen Meetings that the town has trouble just finding Finance Committee members, never mind Capital Planning Improvement Committee. There are currently no members on that committee.

Article 27 transfers custody of property located at 23 Palmer Road to the Board of Selectmen for municipal purposes. The five-acre property was acquired by the town from Linda Schawecker.

Plympton voted to approve Article 29 which created a temporary moratorium on recreational marijuana. Deborah Anderson, Chairman of the Planning Board reported that her board voted at a public hearing on Monday to move the article forward for town meeting vote.

Other articles passed either with a majority or unanimously

• to spend $31,500 to conduct financial audits for Fiscal Year 2016.

• appropriated $9,100 for the codification of Plympton’s town bylaws.

• appropriate $10,000 pay for the contractual obligations the town has to retiring personnel.

• transfers $10,000 to the Police Detail Account for fiscal year 2017.

• transfers $20,000 to the OPEB (Other Post Employment Benefits) account.

• transfer $15,000 to the Building and Grounds Article.

• authorizes the Board of Selectmen to negotiate and enter into a PILOT agreement between CEC Solar #1082, LLC and the Town of Plympton.

• designated the town website as the alternative method for posting meeting notices.

• appropriated $15,000 to purchase new X26 Tasers for the police department. Chief Dillon said this money will also be spent on any related software and equipment.

• spend $30,000 to buy personal protective equipment for the fire department. This will replace aging equipment.

• spend $3,448 to purchase eight new pagers for the fire department to notify members of the fire department of incoming 911 calls.

Lakers dominate with 12-0 season

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If you want to see a dominant high school sports team, then look no further than the Silver Lake girls softball team.

The Lakers came into this week undefeated, at 12-0, putting them near the top of a handful of statewide rankings. That is even a big deal for a team who returned a lot of talent, but not a surprise for a team that has played as well as they are playing.

Their most impressive win of the year came last Wednesday, May 3, when they beat Bridgewater-Raynham, 5-4, on a Jill Richards walkoff hit. Albeit she hits well for the team, she is also their primary starting pitcher for the team and a major reason why they are playing as well as they are this year.

Although they are a talented squad, what impresses about the Lakers simply put is their ability to find ways to win games. Sure they have played their share of blowouts, beating up on weaker competition, but have five wins by two runs or less, a sign they do not give up when they face adversity. And among those blowout wins was a 30-0 win over Hingham on Monday, May 1, which is about as much of an indication that the team can hit as possible.

The team is led by their senior captains Emily Critch, Kelly Danahy, Anna Battista and Caroline Videtto at the top, although the team is loaded with valuable players.

The way the Lakers have played this season, they have already clinched a spot in their respective playoff bracket and they appear to be poised for another deep playoff run. After all, they made it to the south section final last year and the state final a year prior.

The Lakers next game is Friday, May 12 at Duxbury High School, and the time is to be determined.

County Commissioners defend budget

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Members from the Plymouth County Commissioners’ office met with the Plympton Board of Selectmen at their meeting on Monday, May 5, 2017.  Selectmen Clerk John Traynor was not able to attend the meeting.

Those who joined selectmen from the Plymouth County Commissioners’ Office included Commission Administrator Frank Basler and Commissioner Sandra Wright. Plymouth County Treasurer Tom O’Brien also joined the meeting. O’Brien said he was excited to be back in Plympton because he used to serve Plympton as a state representative on Beacon Hill.

The purpose of this visit was to present the county’s operating budget for the fiscal year to the Board of Selectmen. This proposed budget forecasts the budget for Plymouth County to be $10,172,195.

However, 2018 county revenue is also estimated at $10,172,195.15, meaning a balanced budget is projected. It is worth noting that a projected $275,000 of that budget is projected to be put in an OPEB Liability Trust Fund, essentially a reserve fund to be spent in case of emergency.

The budget is increasing from 2017 to 2018 by about $449,000. New services are being added by the County, one in particular is the addition of an entomologist to help educate communities on how to prevent Lyme Disease.

According to the Commission, Massachusetts ranks third in the United States in the number of reported cases of Lyme Disease. Plymouth County ranks an alarming third in the entire state. O’Brien says that the whole purpose of this new position is to address this problem using education as a means of prevention.

Some of the increase in the budget is due to raises for existing positions. Specifically, raises in the Plymouth County Commissioners’ Office the budget by roughly $58,000.

O’Brien told selectmen that more services and responsibilities are being added to the office, particularly to Commissioner Administrator Frank Basler.

Plympton Board Chair Collen Thompson asked if the position of assistant grant writer was no longer funded. O’Brien confirmed this, but emphasized Basler’s experience as a grant writer.

Selectman Christine Joy spoke about Plympton’s own intentions to use grants to fund new software to be used to be compliant with the state’s new Public Records Law.  O’Brien mentioned that Basler does a lot of this work for Plymouth County. Obrien says, “Frank can be helpful as a resource.”

Joy also brought up that the town is looking to hire a Town Administrator. The board was told the county does offer services and feasibility studies in helping to hire local government employees for a small fee.

Frank Basler brought up that the town of Onset used the county for assistance with a new fire department. Basler told the board that Onsett said they paid about a third of what they would have paid compared to using a consulting firm.  O’Brien also told selectmen that Basler or himself would be willing to sit in on interviews if Plympton would like.

O’Brien thanked the Board for having them because he says they’ve had a problem with one town already voting against the county budget without it being formally presented. He says, “Unfortunately in one community, they decided they didn’t want to take a vote on the budget without ever hearing anything about the budget.”

He says there were a few other towns that had made a vote on the budget before presentation and since speaking to them, the Commissioners’ office was able to get those communities’ to rescind their votes.

The budget itself can be found at www.plymouthcountyma.gov.

Dennett Elementary School Water Update

Jon Wilhelmson from the Dennett School Committee met with the Plympton Board of Selectmen to give an update on the issues of copper and lead in the water at the Dennett Elementary School. Wilhelmson says that Dennett School Principal Peter Veneto was on a conference call with someone from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) who strongly encouraged the school committee to get the funds for the water treatment system.

Wilhelmson says there was some evidence of a sampling error on the lead testing, however the current treatment system is still below EPA standards. The funding for the water treatment center is being addressed in a warrant article for town meeting. According to Principal Veneto’s conference call though, there will be fines and further complications if the funding is not procured at Town Meeting.

Other News

Board of Selectmen Clerk John Traynor has been doing research on consulting firms to assist in hiring a town administrator. Colleen Thompson and Christine Joy both agreed that Traynor will also follow up with Plymouth County as part of his research.

This was Colleen Thompson’s last meeting as a member of the Board of Selectmen as this is the last meeting before Town Meeting and town elections. Town Meeting is Wednesday, May 17, 2017 and town elections are Saturday, May 20, 2017. The next Board of Selectmen Meeting is Monday, May 22, 2017.