The Halifax Board of Selectmen met Tuesday Feb. 14, 2017. The board spent the Valentine’s Day evening appointing two new members to the Halifax Fireworks Committee. Selectman Chairman Troy Garron asked Colleen, “How much experience do you have with fireworks? Did you light any when you were younger?”

The questions were casual and conversational. Fiumara laughed and said, “No, just a sparkler.”

Colleen Fiumara is new to Halifax. “We just purchased a home here, and we have two young children who are going to grow up here now.” Fiumara added that she wants to get involved with the town and thinks this is a great way to do so.

Deborah Hogan’s story is much different. She has been a resident of Halifax for the past 23 years. Her children grew up going to the Halifax Fireworks every Fourth of July.

She says, “I’ve loved taking my kids (to the fireworks) growing up. I’ve always loved it and feel like supporting it now on the other end, I have time to do this.”

Selectmen voted unanimously to appoint both Fiumara and Hogan to the Fireworks Committee. Letters will be sent confirming the appointments and they will be sworn in at the Town Clerk’s office in the coming days.

Selectmen also dealt with some issues currently on the agenda, including the flashing traffic light at the intersection of Routes 106 and 36.

According to Selectmen Chairman Garron, there have been several complaints about trees blocking vision for drivers at the intersection. Town Administrator Charlie Seelig and Selectmen Clerk Kim Roy clarified that the main vision problem is when someone is going South on Route 36 toward Route 106.

Selectmen vice-chairman Thomas Millias added, “The biggest problem is coming up to 106; you can’t see.” He also added that the treed area looks to be private property.

Town Administrator Charlie Seelig and selectmen decided to have the Traffic Safety Committee take a look at the tree line at the intersection and then proceed after receiving their recommendation.

Once again, Animal Control Officer Noreen Callahan attended a dog hearing which had been scheduled for Tuesday night, however, the owner of the offending dog did not come to the hearing.

Animal Control Officer Callahan explained the reported incident. She says, “It appears a dog from 134 Holmes Street escaped from a faulty fence. The dog allegedly followed another dog either biting or scratching the dog in the hindquarters.” She also added that the veterinarian could not determine if the injury was a bite or scratch.

The attacked dog’s owner incurred $300 in veterinary fees and wants the other party to pay the fee. The Board of Selectman agreed to send a strong letter of recommendation urging the dog’s owner to pay for the medical expenses of the attacked dog.

Selectman  Kim Roy said (to the attacked dog’s owner) “Call if the dog gets loose again.” The letter being sent out will also say that there will be strong consequences if an incident were to happen again. Since the incident, the landlord of the Holmes Street property replaced and secured the faulty fence.

Another decision the board made was based around the 2020 census. The federal government wants to have the principal contact for the town’s census declared. For now, Halifax will continue to use Selectman Clerk Kim Roy as their principal contact.

The next Halifax selectmen’s meeting is scheduled for Feb. 28.

Charlie Seelig

Special to the Express

The Town of Halifax will hold a special town meeting on Tuesday, March 7, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room in the Halifax Elementary School.

The warrant includes the following articles: two articles authorizing borrowing for repairs to the Elementary School, one for $7,262,124 for work on the roof, windows, doors, siding, and trees, the other for $687,876 for work on the fire suppression system and security system.

The other articles include a change in the zoning by-law regarding commercial indoor or outdoor amusements, two concerning a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) for a solar farm on Summit Street, a non-binding article concerning the possible sale of land by the Silver Lake Regional School District to the Town of Kingston for a police station in Kingston, a proposed change, dealing with pay while serving in the military, in the contract with firefighters, and acceptance of a State statute regarding the opening of Town departments on Saturday.

A copy of the warrant is available at http://www.town.halifax.ma.us/Pages/HalifaxMA_Bcomm/Selectmen/townmeetings/20170307stm-warrant.pdf.

In connection with the two proposed articles concerning repairs to the Elementary School, the Town will hold a public presentation concerning the project on Wednesday, February 15 at 7pm in the Multi-Purpose Room of the Elementary School.

Approval of the two appropriations for the school project is contingent upon approval of debt exclusions for this project. The debt exclusions will be on the ballot at a special town election on Saturday, March 11 from 10am to 6pm at the Halifax Elementary School Gym.

If approved, the Town will receive approximately $3,472,607 from the Massachusetts School Building Authority to help fund the project. The remaining amount, $4,477,393 would be paid through a 20-year bond. The cost of the bond would increase the tax rate by $0.4946 and the additional taxes on a median value house would be $147.25. These amounts would decrease in subsequent years. At the end of the 20-year bond, these amounts would no longer be included in the tax rate.

These repairs have been proposed because of the age of these parts of the school. The roof was last replaced when the last addition was constructed back in 1993-1994. The windows and doors that will be replaced are either older than that or can be significantly improved with modern models. A tour of the outside of the siding will show significant decay. The trees in the courtyard need to be removed as part of the work on the roof. The fire suppression system is leaking in a number of places. The security system needs to be updated to meet the standards set in the other school buildings in the district.

The Town Meeting is scheduled for next month so that if the school repair project is approved, the work can begin this summer. If the Town waited until May to approve the project, then the work would have to wait until the summer of 2018.

ownmeetings/20170307stm-warrant.pdf

In connection with the two proposed articles concerning repairs to the

Elementary School, the Town will hold a public presentation concerning

the project on Wednesday, February 15 at 7pm in the Multi-Purpose Room

of the Elementary School.

Approval of the two appropriations for the school project is contingent

upon approval of debt exclusions for this project. The debt exclusions

will be on the ballot at a special town election on Saturday, March 11

from 10am to 6pm at the Halifax Elementary School Gym.

If approved, the Town will receive approximately $3,472,607 from the

Massachusetts School Building Authority to help fund the project. The

remaining amount, $4,477,393 would be paid through a 20-year bond. The

cost of the bond would increase the tax rate by $0.4946 and the

additional taxes on a median value house would be $147.25. These amounts

would decrease in subsequent years. At the end of the 20-year bond,

these amounts would no longer be included in the tax rate.

These repairs have been proposed because of the age of these parts of

the school. The roof was last replaced when the last addition was

constructed back in 1993-1994. The windows and doors that will be

replaced are either older than that or can be significantly improved

with modern models. A tour of the outside of the siding will show

significant decay. The trees in the courtyard need to be removed as part

of the work on the roof. The fire suppression system is leaking in a

number of places. The security system needs to be updated to meet the

standards set in the other school buildings in the district.

The Town Meeting is scheduled for next month so that if the school

repair project is approved, the work can begin this summer. If the Town

waited until May to approve the project, then the work would have to

wait until the summer of 2018.

On Tuesday January 3, 2017, the town of Halifax officially transitioned their 911 emergency dispatching to the Regional Old Colony Communications Center (R.O.C.C.C.) located within the Fire Department in Duxbury. Halifax became the third town to switch over to the regional dispatch center, joining Duxbury and Plympton.

Previously, Halifax ran their own emergency dispatch out of their police station. Police Chief Edward Broderick is already noticing a positive difference since switching to a regionalized system. “Before, there would be only one dispatcher taking the call at the station. Now, there’s someone assigned to that call while another person also working at the R.O.C.C.C. listens in on the call. Once they get enough information, they are identifying the location where emergency service is needed,” Broderick said.

On average, this delegation of tasks allows police, fire, and paramedics to get to the scene of the emergency 20-30 seconds faster. Fire Chief Jason Viveiros explained, “That 20-30 seconds we save here is crucial. How quickly an ambulance and personal can arrive at the scene saves lives and makes a better service for the people of Halifax.”

Chief Broderick also said the use of geographic information system (GIS) technology has been very helpful so far for his officers. “Officers are able to get better information from the R.O.C.C.C. on the ground based off the mapping technology they have available to them.”

It’s also worth noting, that since switching over from dispatching out of Halifax to the R.O.C.C.C., none of the dispatchers in Halifax lost their jobs Fire Chief Viveiros said, “We had four full time dispatchers before switching to regionalization. Three of them are now working at the communication center in Duxbury. One of them retired, but there were no job losses or lay-offs.”

Duxbury Fire and R.O.C.C.C. Captain Robert Reardon is proud that the Regional Center has helped smooth over that transition in Halifax. He said, “It’s been great being able to get these dispatchers over here at the R.O.C.C.C. I must say we do have very rigorous standards here and those dispatchers must be trained and meet our standards, but it’s gone well and it’s nice to have them here.” Captain Reardon also added that they hired a dispatch supervisor from Halifax as well.

Halifax’s contract with the Regional Old Colony Communication Center will run for five years, until 2022.

Plympton signed their five year contract with the R.O.C.C.C. back in 2013. Previously, Plympton ran their dispatch with the State Police in Middleborough.

Chief Dillon says that three years into the agreement, his initial thoughts have been proven correct. “It’s (the dispatch) a lot more streamlined and safer. It’s allowing us to make more effective use of the technology.”

The technology being referred to includes things like GIS and the use of close circuit security at the police stations. The cameras allow those at the dispatch center to respond at the stations in case of emergency. There was a monitor right inside the control center at the R.O.C.C.C. that showed the front lobby of the Halifax Police Station.

In regards to GIS technology, Plympton Police Chief Dillon is pleased with how the technology helps his officers. He says, “Not everybody marks their house clearly or their mailbox or anything they can see, so that aspect is helpful.”

Dillon said another example of R.O.C.C.C.’s technology gives is the ability to access and enter various amounts of information at once. He said, “If we were to go to a three car motor vehicle accident, what we used to have to do is my officers had to type in each registration plate one at a time.” Now, they call it in and the dispatcher can run and backfill all that information for them.

Captain Reardon also took some time to explain how some of the GIS technology works. He said, “The dispatchers working are often using multiple computers and monitors at the same time.” One monitor uses the GIS technology provided within Google Maps. This allows dispatchers to gather aerial and zoomed in views that help public safety officials in Halifax, Plympton, and Duxbury all do their job in the most effective and safest way possible.

Both towns also expressed there being significant state funding benefits for switching over to regionalized emergency dispatch centers. Both Chief Broderick and Chief Dillon said that regionalizing 911 dispatches is something that states are providing grant money for towns do this.

The state wants towns to get away from localized dispatches in general. In fact, this is creating opportunities for the already existing regional dispatches like the R.O.C.C.C. to continue to grow. Captain Reardon said, “We are absolutely trying to grow. There’s nothing official yet, but we are in talks with Rochester about potentially adding them on to our dispatch.”