Plympton Selectmen met Monday, taking care of some new business, and tabling much of the old.

Notably, both Chairman John Russo and Selectperson Christine Joy addressed meeting decorum, as previous meetings in the past few weeks have become quite heated. Russo rarely reminds the audience of many ground rules other than encouraging a respectful environment. This night, he actually read from Massachusetts Open Meeting laws, stating outright that no one may interrupt a meeting, and that the chairperson must recognize anyone who wishes to address the board.

If someone is disruptive, the chairperson may ask that individual to leave, and if that person refuses the Chair can have him or her removed by a constable. Russo articulated that this was not optional, as this is stated explicitly in the Open Meeting law.

Russo explained that he did not want to create an environment where people were afraid to debate, but that meetings needed to be a safe setting for discussion.

Selectperson Joy reiterated much of this later on in the meeting.

Town Coordinator Dale Pleau reported to the board that he had unused sick days from Fiscal Year 2015, and that he did not want to take them now at the end of this fiscal year because he felt that he had a significant amount of work to finish up. He asked the Board to allow him to roll some or all of the days over to Fiscal Year 2016.

As he had made a similar request last year– and rolled four days into Fiscal Year 2015– the Board had not wanted to set a precedent then. The Board deliberated on what exactly to do. Pleau insisted he would take the days if the Board did not roll over some of the time, and this would amount to him working only one day over the next two weeks.

The Board allowed him to roll over three days in a 2-1 vote, over the objections of Joy, who wished to stick to Pleau’s contract with the Board– even asking Pleau why he hadn’t taken the days earlier, to which he responded that there was nowhere to go in the winter.

Russo made it clear that the Board would likely not accommodate him similarly again.

Although the Board was supposed to approve roughly 54 appointed positions at the meeting, a slight mix-up between the Town Clerk, Tara Wick, and the Selectmen’s Assistant, Kristen LaVangie required the appointments be delayed two weeks, until the next meeting on June 29, 2015.

Selectperson Joy expressed some frustration in not having more time to vet the appointees, since the current positions expire July 1, 2015. Russo affirmed that this was the first time during LaVangie’s initial year in her position that any issue had arose, and was not particularly concerned. He complimented her excellent job performance.

Joy, along with her concerns about decorum at meetings, brought some fresh thoughts to the board. One was regarding changing the agenda format into “old-business” and “new-business” sections, although Russo and Selectman Colleen Thompson did not feel very strongly about this. Russo was concerned that doing this implies that the meeting will go in the order of the agenda (which rarely happens.)

Joy also suggested adding a public forum at the end of the meeting, but Russo objected, saying that he already asks at the beginning if anyone would like to add anything to the agenda. Leaving public forums to the end may cause long discussions as the meeting is wrapping up, according to Russo.

Joy also wanted to explore changing the setup of the room, or moving rooms for the Selectmen’s meetings, as she does not like being on an elevated platform in the current meeting room and would rather be at eye-level with the rest of the audience. The Selectmen currently sit at an 8-inch raised dais. The Board agreed to try out a different setup or room during the summer to see how it works, but no vote was taken on Joy’s suggestions.

The Board approved a “micro-chip reader” to identify lost pets for the Animal Control Officer, which Russo, a practicing veterinarian, believed would cost about $300, and stated that the chip-readers are essential for finding out who pets belong to (animals can be injected with a chip under their skin to identify their owners to veterinarians and ACOs.) Joy added the stipulation that the ACO stay within the Fiscal Year 2015 budget, and the Selectmen unanimously approved the purchase.

The Selectmen continued to divide up future goals and assignments for the upcoming year, including increased regionalization, improving the Town’s website, and addressing the Department of Revenue report on Plympton’s finances.

In other news:

• Debbie Grace presented plans for the new Silver Lake Integrated Preschool playground project, which will be located in Kingston. It is entirely privately funded through grants and donations, but the project volunteers are going to each district town’s Selectmen to inform them of progress. See the article on page 1 for more information.

• The tentative hours for Town House and various boards this summer are as follows. These have changed several times; thus it may be best to call ahead if you have timely or pressing business with the Town:

Selectmen’s Meetings:

Every other Monday evening, 6 p.m. (General Schedule to follow through the Summer: June 29, July 13, July 27, August 10 and August 24 unless otherwise posted.)

Administrative Office Hours:

Assessors, Selectmen, Treasurer/Collector, and Town Clerk

Monday through Thursday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Every other Monday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. (General Schedule to follow through the Summer: June 29, July 13, July 27, August 10 and August 24.)

Board of Health:

Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 2  p.m.

Monday Evening from 6 to 8 p.m. (General Schedule to follow through the Summer: June 29, July 13, July 27, August 10, and August 24.)

Building Department:

EVERY Monday evening 6 to 8 p.m. (including Building, Electrical, Plumbing Inspectors and Zoning Enforcement Officer.)

Tuesday through Thursday 2 to 5 p.m.

ALL OTHER COMMITTEES AND BOARDS POST MEETINGS ACCORDING TO THE STATE OPEN MEETING LAW REQUIREMENTS 48 HOURS NOTICE IN ADVANCE.

Tuesday, June 9, Halifax Health Agent Cathleen Drinan and Dan Daly, of the Plymouth County Mosquito Control Board, were guest speakers at the monthly TRIAD meeting chaired by Ken Vinton.

A perennial topic this time of year, the two speakers recommend a risk-averse, prevention-based approach for senior citizens when it comes to mosquitos.

As many as 52 species exist in Massachusetts, but only a dozen or so carry the deadly diseases Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) and West Nile Virus.

Both can be deadly, although EEE tends to make headlines as it makes all people sicker; West Nile Virus is something one could have had and never known it, but it can be much worse (or fatal) with older people and symptoms can be vague.

In order to fight mosquitos, the state does some aerial spraying. This is ineffective in swampy areas, though, and as mosquitos are attracted to standing water for breeding, residents can control their own properties by making sure any standing water areas, such as bird baths, outdoor furniture, any place where a puddle can sit for several days after rain, are emptied.

Another line of defense is using mosquito repellents. The first rule to using repellents properly is to follow the instructions on the label. It is important to look for an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registration number on the product, which means that it has been tested for efficacy. “Natural” products, if they have no registration number, may never been have tested scientifically.

Some common products, which can be applied to the skin or clothing, include as their main repellent ingredient DEET, permethrin, IR3535, picaridin, as well as oil of lemon eucalyptus. A few of these are effective against ticks as well, but read the labels well to be sure.

Wearing long sleeves in the evening, tucking your pants into your socks, even applying a product to a tube sock with the closed end cut off of the sock and pulling it over your clothes can be helpful.

One note: The federal EPA does not recommend mixing sunscreen with any mosquito repellant. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health does not issue any warning.

A presentation on ticks that occurred Tuesday at 2 p.m. will be repeated on Monday, June 15 at 6:30 p.m., at the Holmes Public Library, Route 106, Halifax.  That program is aimed at the general public, not just the senior population and is sponsored by the Halifax Board of Health and the Norwell Visiting Nurse Association.  All are encouraged to attend.

HALIFAX – Selectmen on Tuesday interviewed building inspectors, re-appointed lists of committee members up for re-appointment, and spent a lot of time discussing junk.

In fact, for weeks now they have discussed junk at almost every meeting, a lot of junk. They also took care of some general town business, as well, but the junk seems to be fraying a lot of nerves at the Selectmen meetings lately.

A property on Monponsett Street continues, after months of gentle cajoling by the Board, to have an extreme amount of unsightly debris in front of the house and several unregistered vehicles on the property. This is in violation of town by-laws. The owner was approached months ago to come into code.

At first, the Board wanted proof that all the cars on the site were registered. This has not been proven to their satisfaction. According to a town by-law, only one unregistered car may be on any given property.

Then the Board demanded that the debris in the yard be removed. The resident did finally secure a dumpster, but didn’t get the proper permit from the fire department, and is now creating a dangerous situation for neighbors in the event of a fire by blocking a hydrant.

The board ordered that the police and fire chiefs speak with the property owner immediately to rectify the dumpster situation, and to attempt to force them to make more progress, as very little has been made.

Selectman Kim Roy is tired of giving the owner more time before levying fines, and wanted that on the record. She was the most visibly frustrated with the situation, and expressed that the Board was wasting too much time on this matter. She stated that as a mother of four boys, one has to escalate punishments in order to change behavior.

Selectman Tom Millias was concerned that, despite fines sending a strong message, it may not motivate the owner to change the situation and clean up, which is the ultimate goal, he said. The board resolved to deal with the immediate issue first: the dangerous dumpster blocking a fire hydrant.

Selectmen agreed that they were spending too much time discussing junk and attempts to be reasonable working with this property owner have gotten few results.

Also on Tuesday, two of the three candidates for an open Finance Committee position were interviewed, Mel Conroy and Derick Bennett. They will also be interviewed by FinCom, which will make a recommendation to the Selectmen. The Selectmen will appoint one of the three to the position in the next two weeks, after they receive FinCom’s advice. The third candidate has scheduled an alternate date for an interview with the Selectmen.

An opening for building inspector has also opened up as Tom Millias, the current inspector, has been elected Selectman and has thus resigned his position in Halifax.

Millias abstained from the interviewing or voting, as his appointment has not technically ended. The Board interviewed two candidates, Michael White, of Bridgewater, and Robert Piccirilli, of Halifax, a current assistant inspector for the town.

Although no final decision has been made, the Selectmen tipped their hats a bit toward the candidate who has been working for the town for 15 years. Piccirilli also serves on several committees in town and is well known to the Board.

Selectman Troy Garron was concerned as to why Michael White would  take a pay cut to leave a position he says is going well in Bridgewater.

Finally, the Board re-appointed many individuals to various town committees. As these positions expire June 30, Selectmen will hold final re-appointments on the few remaining positions until their next meeting in two weeks, on June 24.

In other news:

• The treatments on both East and West Monponsett Ponds have occurred.  The Board of Selectmen are continuing to reach out to Brockton officials regarding the use of water from the Monponsett Ponds and the water quality problems that may be occurring due to this. They plan to solicit help from state legislators.

• Several standard “use of town property” permits were issued for events in September.

Kathy Wilbur, of Seven Hills Behavior Health, travels with an assortment of e-cigarettes, vaporizers, oils, cigars, cigarillos (small, thin cigars) blunt-wraps and other smoking paraphernalia, although she is no smoker nor does she “vape,” as “smoking” a vaporizer is known. They are all props for her presentations on the new fad, which is rapidly becoming popular among youth.

At a Board of Health meeting in Plympton last Thursday, she and a colleague, Judith Coy Kendall, as well as Sarah McColgan, of the Massachusetts Health Officers Association, presented a variety of products most of us have never noticed sitting out at the convenience store. They allege these are dangerous products marketed to children, and suggested recommendations that the Board of Health could unilaterally instate to regulate them like tobacco products.

Wilbur and Coy Kendall demonstrated a number of items: an expensive, reusable vaporizer with different nicotine oils (the addictive ingredient in tobacco), small, inexpensive cigars and cigarillos (cigars are not taxed as cigarettes and are thus cheaper). Colorful disposable e-cigarettes, like vaporizers, they produce no smoke but pack in the equivalent of 2 ½ cigarettes’ worth of nicotine, and blunt-wraps, tobacco leaves intended to roll cigars with loose leaf tobacco, but apparently, rarely used for that purpose (something illegal usually ends up in them). All were flavored, with exotic tastes such as “Bubble Gum, Swedish Fish, Chocolate Bliss, or Melon.”

Wilbur and Coy Kendall insisted that these were not being marketed to adults and that no adult would choose a flavor such as “Bubble Gum” for a cigar or cigarillo. These items are packaged colorfully and placed at the front counter in displays at eye level. Their explicit conclusion is that these are marketed to children because, as smoking rates plummet, tobacco companies have to find creative ways to get people to buy their products and only children would buy these.

Colleague Sarah McColgan insisted on reducing access by changing laws. She recommended, as many towns in Massachusetts have done, that the town take this matter into their own hands and regulate these items as tobacco products because the state and federal governments are not taking any type of uniform action, yet. She wanted to start first banning “vaping” in public.

She recommended raising the age for all tobacco products to 21, stating that reducing access to the products was key. She had a philosophy of banning hypothetical scenarios before they happened. For example even though Plympton has only two cigarette retailers and one school, many towns ban retailers from operating within 500 feet of a school. McColgan stated that even if a cigarette retailer wasn’t likely to open within 500 feet of a school anytime soon, it could happen, so why not ban it?

She also suggested raising inexpensive products to a minimum price to make them harder for youth to obtain. Other towns have banned any flavored products containing nicotine from places where children go, thereby forcing their sale into smoke-shops specifically intended for purchasing tobacco and related products.

Another recommendation  she suggested was bringing several by-laws up to date with state law, such as the “Smoke-Free Workplace” law and vending machine bans, which according to her, with which Plympton was not fully up-to-date with.

But, even these professionals acknowledged that there is very little science that has been conducted on e-cigarettes, vaping, and the like. No study has concluded that second-hand vapor is harmful, and although the documented rate of youth vaping e-cigarettes has gone up (while smoking rates have plummeted overall), there is no study that says only youth purchase these products. Some, anecdotally, have successfully used e-cigarettes to quit actual cigarettes.

And when questioned, they did acknowledge that there must be a balance between banning things to protect youth and adults from themselves and allowing adults to make decisions for themselves, even if harmful.

In Plympton Monday evening, heated exchanges occurred between Linda Leddy of the Open Space Committee, and former Selectman John Henry. Henry was at the meeting to dispute money being spent on several ongoing projects by the Open Space Committee and the Community Preservation Committee. He frequently sparred with the Board and with Leddy, mainly about the acquisition of a long controversial USDA-owned property at 59 Parsonage Road, for about 45 minutes.

The CPC and Open Space Committee expressed interest in exploring the possibility of purchasing the property which has been used for farming for nearly 80 years. The committees have begun their due diligence as a first step in investigating a possible purchase.

Two years ago at Town Meeting, in Article 18, pre-acquisition funds were approved for this and other projects. This led the CPC and OSC to move forward with environmental studies, and to research possible issues with the property including several trailers on it and how to dispose of them. The committees thought they had authority to move forward to commit to payment for work done within the voted budget and according to what had been approved at Town Meeting, they began their pre-acquisition work.

But, Town Counsel informed the Board of Selectmen that it had to approve expenditures by the OSC and CPC after a concerned citizen who was a former selectman saw contractors on the property that he did not believe had the proper permits.

Thus, Leddy was at the meeting to explain expenditures to-date, have them retroactively approved by the board with one vote, and approve further expenditures in the rest of their budget for pre-acquisition work with a second vote.

Leddy presented the Board with a spreadsheet detailing their budget. Leddy, and the Selectmen, were concerned about a clear and streamlined procurement and acquisition process across the town, so as not to create future confusion.  Chairman Russo held this topic for another meeting when it can be discussed as an agenda item.

As Leddy explained her spreadsheet to the Board, Henry asked a dozen or more questions, of both Selectmen and Leddy. Among the exchanges, Leddy and Henry told each other that they were “Sick of each other.” Henry demanded that Chairman Russo recuse himself because as Henry stated, “You’re in on this.” Russo did not recuse himself or respond.

Leddy demanded of Henry, “John, don’t you cross-examine me; you wait until I finish,” and they repeatedly disagreed on whether a Community Preservation Grant was an expenditure to the town. Henry, visible upset, bellowed at Leddy, saying, “Will you get it through your head that Community Preservation money IS town money?”

Henry, multiple times as the Board attempted to vote, would ask for items to be clarified or re-read after it had already been explained, interrupting the ability of the Board to conduct business.

Twice, Selectperson Joy asked the two to calm down, and finally Russo stated that he wanted to narrow the focus down to just the two votes for the Open Space Committee and Community Preservation Committee, and not have to try to answer a larger philosophical question about whether the town should spend money on this property, as that was not at issue.

The votes were on an already approved Town Meeting article, and approving or not the OSC and CPC to spend funds, both retroactively and moving forward. Actual purchase of the property would require a Town Meeting vote.

Finally, the votes were taken, both unanimously approved, and the Board moved on to other business, most notably a brief presentation by Silver Lake School Committee representative Jason Fraser.  Appointed in late-January, Fraser told the board of his attempts to liaise with state officials about the way regional schools assess their constituent towns.

Fraser contacted State Senator Thomas Kennedy and State Representative Thomas Calter and invited them to meet with the Board of Selectmen to discuss two areas of concern that he believes are beginning to “pinch” the town budget.

There are two state mandates, the first being the State Foundation Budget for Education. This, each year, is presented to the towns as what the state believes is the minimum amount that should be spent per student to provide an adequate education.

It is common for towns to spend 130%-150% of this amount, according to Fraser, but Silver Lake Regional Schools has dropped from 113% in FY 2006 down to only 104% in the last fiscal year.

Fraser believes this indicates money needs to be invested to improve this low percentage. If the district falls below the base, the towns could lose control of their financial autonomy.

Yet, as Plympton, which has historically troubled finances, improves, and the State Department of Revenue recognizes this, the Silver Lake District assessment would go up as this number is determined by the state with its complicated regional school assessment formula.

Thus, the better the Town of Plympton handles its finances, the more it will be assessed by the Silver Lake Regional School District.

Fraser asked Selectmen for their input, and they agreed to present a united front. They asked Fraser to coordinate a meeting with state officials to see how this issue might be creatively addressed.

The Board finished up quickly after this. Russo stated that the agreement to join Area 58 Television, formally CHAT, the public Carver Halifax Access Television cable station, was being drafted and negotiations with Comcast are in the works.

The Town House will soon begin summer hours, to be announced. All other items were held over for future meetings, including the solar projects, still stalled by on-going litigation, a uniform procurement policy, and how the Selectmen will split up work on the Public Safety Building projects and Department of Revenue report planning.

The next scheduled Selectmen’s meetings will be June 15, June 29, July 13 and July 27, all tentatively scheduled for 6 p.m.

As boil-water orders across the region due to last week’s water-main break in East Bridgewater were cancelled, the controversial issue of Brockton’s water supply resurfaced.   The water comes from Silver Lake, which is located in Halifax, Plympton, Pembroke and Kingston, and those towns have long questioned the large amount of water Brockton draws from the lake, the impact that draft has on local ponds, as well as the City’s lack of responsibility for problems it causes upstream.

The pipe that burst last week was one of two 24-inch pipes that lead directly from Silver Lake to the City of Brockton. The incident also brought back to the forefront another fishy issue: if Brockton needs so much water from outside its own borders, how can it be selling off water to other towns?

The story is more than 100 years old. As Brockton’s industry and population began to grow at the end of the 19th century, the legislature gave permission for Brockton to tap into Silver Lake.

Although sustainable at the time, Brockton’s water needs grew, and in the late 20th century it became apparent that it was necessary to keep water levels under control. In 1964, during a serious drought, Brockton was granted legislative permission, as an emergency measure, to divert from East Monponsett Pond and West Monponsett Pond from October through May into Silver Lake and sell water to the Town of Whitman. This diversion has continued ever since, most recently this spring.

Originally, diversion was used during emergencies, but Brockton has recently diverted more and more water, hundreds of millions of gallons per year. They have recently diverted up to 24 million gallons per day!

A once dormant committee, the Central Plymouth County Water District Advisory Board, was reactivated in 2013 to help mediate these disputes and various interests. The Board manages water use in eight towns: Brockton, East Bridgewater, Halifax, Hanson, Kingston, Pembroke, Plympton and Whitman.

The Board has recently asked Brockton to present evidence that their diversions do not create health or environmental problems, such as fish kills over the last several months, or the continued problems with water quality in the Monponsett Ponds. Brockton has yet to respond. Brockton has also ignored requests from the Advisory Board to stop transferring water from the Monponsett ponds due to possible contamination.

The Department of Public Health has been testing the ponds for several years now for cyanobacteria, a potentially poisonous algae.  The algal blooms have continued to appear at high levels on the West Monponsett Pond and the East Pond has weed overgrowth. While it is difficult to prove definitively how the water diversions affect this harmful situation, the Town of Halifax has continued to have to pay for water treatments of the Monponsett Lakes.

Despite Brockton’s claim of need for water, it has been selling water to neighboring towns. Due to a 20-year agreement with a desalination plant on the Taunton River, Brockton actually has a surplus of water.  Brockton has recently tried to purchase the plant. With this second source of water, why does Brockton need more and more from Silver Lake?  It does not seem to be needed at all, and Halifax taxpayers are paying the bill.

Because of that 1964 law which allows Brockton to tap East and West Monponsett Ponds and to sell water to Whitman, Whitman benefits from the surplus and buys water from Brockton.

Brockton makes about $2 million dollars a year on this deal, according to a presentation at an April 13 Pembroke Selectmen’s meeting.

With a questionable surplus water situation, quirky laws, aging infrastructure, and uncertain needs for the future, it seems that the Silver Lake water diversion is being abused and only Brockton and Whitman win, while Silver Lake towns lose their shared natural resources.

For a detailed history of the more than one hundred years association of the Silver Lake/Brockton water agreements, see the Princeton Hydro report commissioned by the Town of Halifax in 2013.

Thomas Millias welcomed to Board

Selectmen in Halifax met on Tuesday evening this week, quickly moving through a long agenda. A new face joined the board that night, Thomas Mellias, who had already been sworn in, and a new member was appointed to the Halifax Housing Authority, Patricia McCarthy, among other business.

Millias, who has served in many positions in the Town of Halifax including Building Inspector, Assessor, Zoning Inspector, and years ago as a School Committee member, brings a wealth of experience to the board. He is replacing Michael Schlieff, who did not run for reelection. Millias’ term will end in 2018.

In the Board’s annual reorganization, Selectman Kim Roy was elected Chairman, Selectman Troy Garron,  Vice-Chair, and Selectman Thomas Millias was elected Clerk.

The Selectmen held a joint meeting with the Halifax Housing Authority to fill a vacancy which occurred when a candidate withdrew after the election ballots had been printed. McCarthy ran an unsuccessful write-in campaign for the opening.

Despite this, she still showed interest in the position and had the support of the Authority. The joint meeting appointed McCarthy, a 20 plus year resident of Halifax and five-year resident of Parsons Lane, unanimously.

Another appointment was made Tuesday. Robert Badore was reappointed as Cemetery Commissioner through 2016.

Also, the Board discussed the water quality issues at Monponsett Pond, and upcoming treatments scheduled on both the East and West sides of the pond. The treatments are tentatively scheduled to begin May 28th (east) and June 2nd (west).

Selectmen also discussed the impact of a proposed casino in Brockton. Having been contacted by the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Agency, they learned the casino was expected to use 120,000 gallons of water a day. The Halifax watershed already supplies much of Brockton’s water, while Brockton sells water to other cities and towns.

Also of concern are several recent fish kills around the area, in the past week and at the beginning of spring.  Selectman Garron is concerned how the casino would have an impact on both the fish and the watershed, as was the rest of the Board.

Town Administrator Charlie Seelig reported on continuing issues with junk and unregistered cars on properties throughout town. Selectman Roy stated that this has started to become an ongoing issue across town, and the Board decided to send a “strongly worded” letter to the property owner currently at the center of this controversy.

The Board wants the letter to make clear that they will enforce by-laws including one that states that only one unregistered car may be on a property without a permit, and others that prohibit leaving clutter and junk in plain view.

In other business, the Board offered to allow the Boy Scouts to use a “sandwich board” sign several times a year on town property for their fundraisers and approved several standard permits for the Halifax in Lights festival coming up on Saturday, June 27th, including fireworks permits. They also approved several routine “use of town property” permits for various groups.

Finally, the Board went into executive session to discuss wage negotiations with unionized town personnel that had already been approved at town meeting (expected to be on par with wage personnel, a 1% increase.)

The Board will meet next on June 9 at 7:30 p.m.