The Halifax Board of Health has closed West Monponsett Pond to fishing, boating and water recreation in the wake of an algae count slightly higher than the level recommended by the Commonwealth.

The BOH tests the water of each pond weekly on Tuesdays, with the results back to the town on Thursdays.  The last test showed West Monponsett Pond at 75,000 cells/ml, slightly higher than the maximum recommended of 70,000 cells/ml.

In order for the lake to be reopened for recreational water use, the lake must have two consecutive tests showing less than the 70,000 cells/ml ceiling.  The next test will be Tuesday, July 28, with test results coming back sometime Thursday, July 30.  If those results show less than 70,000, the Halifax Board of Health may then open West Monponsett Pond for the weekend of August 1.

East Monponsett Pond remains open for fishing and boating.

Town Administrator Charlie Seelig told the Express he hopes that the three recent treatments of West Monponsett Pond, the final one on Thursday, July 23, will help control the algae bloom problem this season.  Last year at this time the counts were in the millions and the lake shone with a neon green effervescence.

Asked if he credits the aluminum sulfate treatments with the difference, he was reluctant to give the treatments all the credit.  “Cooler weather and more rain to keep the lake moving also help keep the algae count down,” he said.

Aluminum sulfate added to the pond combines with phosphorus, a natural mineral which is also used in fertilizer and some detergents, to make it unusable as a nutrient to promote algae growth.  The three treatments appear to be having some success.  He is cautiously optimistic.

“These treatments are more a long-term solution,” Seelig said.

“There are signs out at West Monponsett warning people against using the lake, but we don’t send the police to stop them,” he said.  “It’s common sense.  People use the lake at their own risk.”

Wednesday afternoon a trailered boat was backing up to launch despite the warnings.

“I am implementing this plan.”

Fire Chief Warren Borsari is implementing new staffing procedures at the Fire Department. From the beginning his tone was strong: this is something that he has the authority to do as a “strong chief” and is doing.

Even from the beginning of the forum within the Monday night’s Selectmen’s meeting, Chairman Mark Russo acknowledged that though the Board supervises the Fire Chief, the Chief has broad powers through the state’s “Strong Chief” law to run the department.

Russo set up forum rules so that the Chief could speak first, followed by questions from Selectmen and then from the public, many of whom were members of the Fire Department in uniform.

Chief Borsari began by stating that his current staffing “on call” model is failing.

Plympton’s fire department operates on an all “call”, or essentially volunteer basis, and as fewer citizens are available to respond to calls during the day because they work or live out of the area, it is increasingly difficult to staff.

Borsari said that ever since the town switched to an advanced life support ambulance several years ago, by law he always has to have a paramedic on stand-by at the station to staff that ambulance.

As things currently work, the department only has one full-time paramedic/firefighter, which was recommended by the Ambulance Study Committee in 2013. The Ambulance Study Committee hired an outside consultant to look at different options for the town’s ambulance services then.

At the time of the independent consultant’s study, according to the Chief, Plympton had about 250 ambulance calls, even though the consultant warned of implementing this change carefully lest call firefighters would have to be fired.

The Chief hired the one firefighter/paramedic on the recommendation of the Ambulance Study Committee.

But today, only two years later, the department fields, “400 and up calls a year.”

As of the time of the meeting, the department had answered 259 calls, 185 of which were EMS related.

“At any given time, we have a problem staffing the calls,” even despite the Chief’s assurances that ambulance wait times were well within national averages.

“It’s the fire tucks, not so much.”

Since the majority of the staff comes from out of town, and are not all cross-trained as firefighters and paramedics, (only 8 active members live in town, he said) in the daytime it is especially hard when so many members would have to leave other jobs out of town to respond. The Chief, who carefully looked over several proposals with Selectman Colleen Thompson and Town Accountant Barbara Gomez, formulated a plan within his budget that would increase full-time firefighter/paramedics.

The decision that is being made is to staff the daytime with one additional full-time firefighter/paramedic at $50,324.96 per year and two 30-hour part time firefighter/paramedics at $33.719.40 per year for a total of $67,438.80 in payroll, so that there will be increased flexibility in responding.  Requesting call personnel less will pay for much of this, as well as ambulance revenue (the amount of this revenue is not known, according to the Chief after a question from Deb Anderson of the Plympton-Halifax Express and member of the Plympton Planning Board and CPC.)  Right now, the chief said, “We’re throwing money at a model that is going down the drain.”

Russo asked the first question from the Selectmen: “What’s your budget going to look like in the future?” bringing up that with increased call volume and fewer volunteers to respond, that costs will go up.

The Chief responded, “The call volume has increased exponentially year after year for various reasons,” which he did not specifiy.

“Even if we do this this year within our budget, are we not setting ourselves for an increase in future budgets?” asked Russo.

The Chief listed off many things that cause budgets to go up, such as equipment, payroll and increased training.

Selectperson Joy asked if these increases were due to unfunded mandates? “Yes, that’s a large part of it.”

Joy also inquired about the details of the plan again, which the Chief re-stated, and he and his lieutenant explained the specifics of some of the costs to Joy. “We’re decreasing our overhead while increasing the money available to operate the ambulance,” according to the lieutenant.  The chief also mentioned that fighting fires is a very small percentage of what a firefighter does these days.

Selectman Colleen Thompson asked about any “close calls,” to which the Chief gave an affirmative response. “Sometimes only one person shows up in a fire engine,” he said.

Susan Ossoff, Chairman of the Finance Committee, was concerned and asked if any type of five-year cost projection had been done. The Chief responded that he couldn’t do one.

“Do you see your entire force in five years as full time,” she asked. “No, said the Chief, even though he had stated only minutes before that the call system is dying off in the northeastern United States.

Art Morin, Board of Health Chairman, expressed concern several times that this was all happening directly after Town Meeting and that the public didn’t have a chance to discuss it.

“This back door business … that’s blatant, that’s in your face … that is unacceptable.” He spoke as well to costs versus realities. “Maybe we should have an airport, but we can’t afford it.”

Ossoff insisted that any action with such ramifications should first be looked at by an independent consultant, with cost projections so it can be determined where this is going. The Board was not sure where funds for this would be found.  She was the voice of cautious spending several times during the evening and doing due diligence before taking action. She mentioned that the Fire Department budget has doubled over the last five years and called moving forward without a five-year projection “foolish.”

While the Chief was overall on the defense during the night, and the public had many questions, the meeting was civil. The forum lasted for the first hour of the Selectmen’s meeting.  Russo reiterated that due to state laws, especially the ‘strong chief’ law signed onto by the town, the Chief largely has control to implement any plan within the budget voted at Town Meeting.  Selectmen Joy and Thompson agreed.

The Chief at several times stated that he is implementing this plan for the safety of the people of Plympton and the safety of his personnel, and the law is behind him.

It is likely that this “strong Chief’s” plan will be implemented.

The Strong Chief Law, Chapter 48, Section 42

Section 42. Towns accepting the provisions of this section and sections forty-three and forty-four, or which have accepted corresponding provisions of earlier laws may establish a fire department to be under the control of an officer to be known as the chief of the fire department. The chief shall be appointed by the selectmen, and shall receive such salary as the selectmen may from time to time determine, not exceeding in the aggregate the amount annually appropriated therefor. He may be removed for cause by the selectmen at any time after a hearing. He shall have charge of extinguishing fires in the town and the protection of life and property in case of fire. He shall purchase subject to the approval of the selectmen and keep in repair all property and apparatus used for and by the fire department. He shall have and exercise all the powers and discharge all the duties conferred or imposed by statute upon engineers in towns except as herein provided, and shall appoint a deputy chief and such officers and firemen as he may think necessary, and may remove the same at any time for cause and after a hearing. He shall have full and absolute authority in the administration of the department, shall make all rules and regulations for its operation, shall report to the selectmen from time to time as they may require, and shall annually report to the town the condition of the department with his recommendations thereon; he shall fix the compensation of the permanent and call members of the fire department subject to the approval of the selectmen. In the expenditure of money the chief shall be subject to such further limitations as the town may from time to time prescribe. The appointment of the chief of the fire department in any town or district having a population of five thousand or less may be for a period of three years.

~ From the 189th General Court of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Web site.

William “Billy” A. Stinchfield, Jr., age 28, of Carver, formerly of Plympton, died suddenly due to a motorcycle accident, on Friday, July 3, 2015.

Billy was born in Stoughton and grew up in Plympton. He attended Calvary Baptist Christian School in Hanson and was a graduate of Silver Lake Regional High School, Class of 2005. Billy also attended UMass Boston and Suffolk University. He was employed by EVERSOURCE (NSTAR) as a lineman in Plymouth. Billy enjoyed long road trips on his motorcycle, sitting at Starbucks and reading books and sharing his favorite stories from the Bible. He was an avid boxer and weight lifter. He loved THE CAMP in Maine, bonfires, and had a great sense of humor. Billy especially enjoyed spending time with his sisters and his nephew.

Billy was the beloved son of Jennifer A. (Sabine) & William “Bill” A. Stinchfield, Sr. of Plympton; loving brother of Jennifer Stinchfield of Randolph & her fiancé Scott O’Riorden of Burlington and Sarah Stinchfield of Plympton and loving uncle of Jack Fernandes of Randolph. Billy is also the cherished grandson of William & Shirley Stinchfield of Plympton and the late Robert & Virginia Sabine, formerly of Brockton. Interment services will be private.

Family and friends are welcome to a Celebration of Billy’s life, which will be held at the Brockton Assembly of God Church, 199 Warren Avenue, Brockton, on Saturday, July 11, 2015, at 10:00 AM.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Billy’s memory may be made to the Saint Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 Saint Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105, www.stjude.org.

Health officials across Massachusetts are bracing for a particularly bad season for tick-borne disease.  Cathleen Drinan, health agent for both Plympton and Halifax, emphasizes personal protection and education regarding diseases spread by ticks. In our region, cases of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Babesiosis, and Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis (HGA) were reported in recent years and 58 cases of Lyme disease and two of HGA were discovered in Halifax alone last year.

Mosquitos often get the most attention this time of year, perhaps because these disease carrying insects are more easily managed than ticks, which can wreck havoc on the human body as well.

Deer ticks, especially well known for carrying Lyme disease and quite a few other diseases as well, are prevalent during this time of year, and the deer population that carries the ticks are at an all-time high this summer.

The culprits aren’t always deer ticks, either, according to Drinan; dog ticks and wood ticks can also cause disease.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, there were 631 confirmed cases of Lyme Disease and 233 probable cases in 2013.  June, July, and August are the highest incidence of Lyme Disease onset and the most affected age groups are youngsters age 5-9 years, and older adults between 65 to 75 years.

Ticks thrive in “brush, wooded, or grassy places.” When an animal or person walks by one of the ground or plant dwelling ticks, they often hitch a ride. The ticks are after blood, which they feast on after biting an animal or human.

Ticks usually need to be attached to their host for 24-hours for Lyme disease to develop. Symptoms in humans typically include a round rash for up to a month after the bite, characterized by a clear area in the center, yet this rash does not always develop. Vague flu-like symptoms are also present in the early stages of the disease.

Even if symptoms lessen without treatment, the disease may not have cleared completely, so early treatment with antibiotics is necessary to prevent more serious problems from developing months or even years later. These include serious joint, nervous system, and heart problems that can be permanent. Meningitis, an often deadly swelling of the membrane covering the brain, can even develop.

Patients with a “classic” donut-shaped rash are easy to diagnose, but otherwise most of the infected will need a blood test to confirm the Lyme Disease diagnosis.

Data from the Centers from Disease Control and the DPH, shows Bristol and Plymouth Counties, along with Cape Cod and the Islands have the highest incidence rates in the State.

The Commonwealth, after a special report was commissioned in 2013 by the General Court, is taking both short and long-term approaches to this public health menace, hoping to return tick-bite rates back to those of 30-50 years ago in the next 25 years.

Vaccination, environmental modes of intervention, deer management, and education on personal protection, are some of the goals set forward in the report. “The approaches are slow and steady, needing to establish solid frameworks conceptually via education and by promoting environmental management. After initial outlay of funds, resources, and effort (ramp-up phase) only minor input is required to maintain ‘control.’”

The best ways to protect yourself from tick bites are to avoid areas where ticks live. If this is not possible, which it often isn’t, wearing long sleeves and tucking pants into socks are essential. Spraying shoes and legs with insect repellents (make sure they are effective against ticks by reading labels carefully), checking for ticks frequently, and removing ticks quickly with tweezers without squeezing or twisting are all good prevention measures, according to the DPH.

Drinan has a favorite tick resource site with comprehensive information about all types of tick-borne disease and prevention tips: http://www.tickencounter.com.

“It is very important for people to educate themselves on the seriousness of this and to use all the personal protection measures they can,” according to Drinan.

• For further information, the DPH has a website dedicated to the subject: http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/gov/departments/dph/programs/id/epidemiology/ticks/.

• Contact a doctor or nurse if you think you are ill sooner rather than later.

• All local Boards of Health have information on ticks, tick-borne diseases, and disease prevention methods.  They are a good resource.

A car drove through a home in Halifax last week shattering glass and wallboard and bursting water pipes while the home-owners were getting ready for bed upstairs.

The historic Elm Street home built in the 1700s is uninhabitable now as the owners pick up the pieces from the accident, which occurred just after 11 p.m. Friday, July 2.

The driver who was not identified by authorities is an 18-year-old local male who was transported to Brockton Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, according to a Halifax police media statement.

There was extensive damage to the home said Halifax Fire Chief Jason Viveiros.

When the vehicle broke through the wall, damages included ripped water pipelines with running water flooding an area on the first floor before firefighters could secure the source.

The central supports of the home were the eight foot wide fireplace on the first and second floors.

“The owner reportedly is looking for masonry restoration specialists in an attempt to repair the elegant décor,” said Viveiros

“The fireplace is what stopped the car head on, which is a testament to the structure.”

Usually at the end of the day the owner is relaxing on the couch in the same room but had gone upstairs with his wife several minute prior to the crash.

“The family is very lucky to escape uninjured,” said Viveiros.

The car failed to stop at the Pond and Elm street intersection before hitting the home.

The building inspector was called to the home resulting in boarding up the exterior; power and water were shut down temporarily until repairs can be made.

Motor vehicle charges are pending and the accident is under investigation by the Halifax police.