John Henry holds up the proclamation that he received from the Massachusetts House of Representatives. The proclamation was signed by Speaker of the House Robert Deleo and Rep. Calter, citing Henry for the work he has done through the years. Representative Tom Calter presented the proclamation at Monday’s meeting.

Monday night, May 11, marked the last meeting of the Plympton Board of Selectmen for John Henry, who did not run for re-election.

Henry served the people of Plympton for eight years, two full terms and a partial term where he was elected to fill a vacancy. Monday night brought Representative Tom Calter with a proclamation from the Massachusetts House of Representatives signed by Speaker of the House Robert Deleo and Rep. Calter, citing Henry for the work he has done through the years.  Calter told Henry that he hadn’t seen any selectman in his State House office as often as he had seen John Henry throughout the years.  Calter lauded Henry for his dedication and hard work.

Jack Doyle, a member of the Plympton Board of Health, spoke about Henry’s work on behalf of the town and Henry was visibly touched by the sentiment of his colleague.

Chairman of the Board of Selectmen Mark Russo lauded Henry’s financial acumen, and noted that the board would miss that talent, as well as his work with solar contracts and protocol in town. 

Speaking to the well-wishers in the audience, Henry said, “I’ve got one more dance left – Town Meeting Wednesday night.”

PLYMPTON – The Assessors’ Office staff will be conducting inspections of properties that have not been inspected within the past 9 years as required by Department of Revenue Bureau of Local Assessment guidelines. Current and accurate property data is a critical element in the development of uniform, fair market values.

If your property is currently for sale or you are considering selling or refinancing it contact the office to schedule an inspection; appraisers, attorneys, and buyers contact the assessors for accurate property information. Accurate data is the basis of market analysis.

If no one 18 years of age or older is available to allow the Assessors office staff to inspect the property a card will be left containing instructions to schedule an appointment. The Board of Assessors appreciates your cooperation.

PLYMPTON – Beginning May 1, 2015 a representative from Real Estate Research Consultants, specialists in personal property collection and valuation,  will visit businesses to list and value all business and agricultural personal property per Department of Revenue guidelines to implement a collection program. The inspector will present identification. The Board of Assessors appreciates the cooperation of all business and agricultural business owners.

According to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Common Core is simply an upgrade of the standards that were already being taught in public schools. According to a group of concerned citizens in Halifax and across the country, the Common Core, and a new assessment, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), is everything from being grade and age inappropriate to a symbol of a loss of local autonomy in what is being taught in the public school system.

A non-binding referendum question will appear on the Halifax town election ballot asking Halifax to vote on whether to return to pre-2010 standards, when the legislature adopted the Common Core. Two informational meetings were held in the last few weeks addressing the issue, on April 29th and May 7th.

Both forums were well attended, with at least 50 people in the audience.

While the tenor of the first meeting was tense, with the audience effectively shutting down the panelists with a torrent of questions, the next week’s meeting had a different tone; while equally intense in terms of questions, more citizens appeared to agree with the panel.

The panel was made up of Dr. Sandra Stotsky, a former professor at the University of Arkansas who has served in several positions on the state board of education and was involved heavily in developing the MCAS standards and assessments between 1999-2003; Jamie Gass, from the Boston-based think tank the Pioneer Institute where he is Director of the Center for School Reform. Finally presenting was Dr. Peg Luksik, a politician, activist and supporter of limited government from Pennsylvania. All of the panelists came at the topic from very different angles.

Dr. Stotsky spoke first, presenting herself as one of the leading experts on the Common Core test nationally. She stated that she was her “own boss” so she was free of any kind of influence. She said that there was very little independent research being done on this subject, and it was mostly funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and a company that she did not explain: Achieve, Inc. Dr. Stotsky’s assertion essentially was that the MCAS standards were better than the Common Core standards. She passed out many handouts filled with information, but they often contained very speculative statements  (“In the absence of any official information…is seems likely that…”) and not many hard numbers.

Mr. Gass, on the other hand had specific numbers and figures. He stated that the Common Core and the PARCC were too easy, and Massachusetts was better off continuing to use the MCAS standards that had already brought the state to the top of the country in education benchmarks. He made several other claims as well, including the one that the Common Core is illegal on Constitutional grounds and that adopting common standards meant coming to a common mediocre denominator.

Dr. Luksik took an opposing point of view, stating that the PARCC was too hard, and pointed out the troubles of standardized tests. During her slideshow, she showed various questions from the PARCC with difficult words that were unlikely for anyone to know. She also pointed out that the PARCC is often administered on a computer, where students will have to type answers during a timed test. She noted  it would be difficult for an English Language Learner to take the PARCC. She even cited several incidents of the test making children cry.

The common point among all the panelists was the Common Core is not good for students, anywhere.

The audience was concerned with how to opt-out of the Common Core and PARCC, or take other tangible action to retain MCAS. Many questions were asked about the specific nuts and bolts of how that would work. For those opposed to the changes, it takes an act of the Legislature for a state to opt out of the Common Core as it has already been adopted. Students can, however, individually opt-out. Dr. Stotsky called for civil disobedience, but didn’t explain further.  All panelists agreed that voting and contacting your representatives is helpful, either way you feel about the subject.

Of the few in attendance who spoke up for the Common Core, two school board members eventually ended up debating late into the night with the panel (40 minutes later than the first panel), insisting that the curriculum had stayed locally in Massachusetts despite assertions to the contrary (within the Common Core Standards. One member stated that it was irresponsible to suggest schools write their own curriculums and encourage students to opt-out of standardized testing. The conversation was eventually shut down by Superintendent John Tuffy as it became less civil.

The town election will be held tomorrow, Saturday, May 16th at Halifax Elementary School, 464 Plymouth St. The polls will be open from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Residents will be asked to vote YES or NO on one non-binding ballot question reading: Do you request that the State Legislature nullify the 2010 decision of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to adopt the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks which incorporate the Common Core State Standards, and returning the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks to the pre-2010 Massachusetts State Standards?

Town Meeting in Halifax spanned three evenings this week, beginning Monday. Voters were asked to approve a variety of issues, including pay increases for town employees, creating an agricultural commission and a “right to farm” community, public safety expenditures.

Other items included a senior volunteer tax abatement program, and a ban on e-cigarrettes among other items. For the first time this year, most warrant articles were chosen from a lottery, except the first four budget items, so articles were called out of sequence, encouraging voters to stay throughout the meeting, not just for their favorite warrant article.

The Multipurpose Room at the Halifax Elementary School was full on Monday as Town Moderator John Bruno, Town Counsel Lawrence Mayo, Town Clerk Barbara Gaynor, and the Selectmen presided over the meeting. The Finance Committee, chaired by Gordon Andrews, was there to make their recommendations. Charlie Seelig, Town Administrator was present to answer questions, as were many department heads. The first night, there was a steady stream of voters with questions and issues to discuss, but by the next two nights this slowed down, until on the final night, Wednesday, it took an hour to reach quorum (100 voters) and there were only brief clarifications asked via the moderator.

Nearly all articles in both the Annual Town Meeting warrant and Special Town Meeting Warrant passed as written or slightly amended, and all of the roughly 25 articles considered on the final night passed unanimously.

Although the voters approved a 1% increase for all of their non-union (wage)  and union employees, one major surprise was a $100,000 reduction to the Silver Lake Regional School District operating budget proposed by Gordon Andrews as a private citizen, not as chairman of the Finance Committee.  Voters showed concern both for and against the reduction, and Superintendent John Tuffy said that the current budget proposed was already bare-bones. Teacher’s salaries and positions would be likely hit first, and he warned that the rule of thumb is that for every two teachers fired, a third needs to be fired as well to cover the first two’s severance benefits. The citizens present and voting voted for the reduction, literally in the eleventh hour.

The last motion made Monday evening was from Cassandra Hanson, of the Halifax Elementary and the Silver Lake Regional School Committees, who put the Town on notice that she would bring up the article for reconsideration the next day of Town Meeting. She did, and after some commentary from the audience about what a “disgusting” parliamentary move it was to reconsider and a slight chiding from the moderator to keep the rhetoric down, the reconsideration did not pass.

This reduction will likely not prevail, however, because Plympton, at its town meeting on Wednesday, approved the Silver Lake budget as written. In order for the reduction to go forward, Kingston would need to vote to reduce the budget as two of the three Silver Lake towns would have to approve the reduction.  The $100,000 cut from Halifax, would represent an actual reduction of $300,000, as Halifax represents approximately one third of the district. Therefore both Plympton and Kingston would have to have their assessments reduced by proportional amounts totaling $30,000 and $170,000 respectively.

Town Meeting members also voted down a Silver Lake Regional School District stabilization fund (Article 51), which was voted down last year and was vocally opposed by the Town Administrator, Charlie Seelig. It essentially would have set up a transfer from the town to a fund controlled by the school district, rather than allowing the town to approve funding for projects at Town Meeting.

Halifax voters, represented by Theresa Carman, overwhelmingly approved the formation of an Agricultural Commission, an advisory committee to assist, educate, and mediate the needs of the farming commuity with its neighbors. It will not enforce laws, nor create any. Voters also approved Halifax as a “Right to Farm” community, which affirms Halifax’s agricultural heritage, as the town becomes a bedroom community as well. Many spoke out in favor of these budget-neutral proposals.

An article from the Council on Aging to create a tax-abatement volunteer program was approved. This program will create two $750 per year positions, with income, age, and residency restrictions, to allow two senior citizens to work off a portion of their tax bill through volunteer hours. The Council on Aging stated they wanted to move slowly with the program, which exists in many neighboring communities, although the only discussion from the voters regarded creating even more positions.

All public safety articles proposed by the Police Chief and the Fire Chief, including a new $750,000 ladder truck, new roll-out gear and ice rescue equipment for the Fire Department, and two new marked Police Cruisers at $80,000, new and repaired radios and pagers, as well as various medical equipment, such as AEDs for ambulances and other public safety vehicles were all approved. The discussion tended towards making sure the tax-payers were providing enough to the public safety departments.

The voters banned e-cigarettes in town buildings, an issue that the selectmen discussed frequently at recent meetings. Originally the article read to include a clause banning them within 100 feet of town property, but this was struck at the last minute because of property lines being drawn in such a way residents who can legally smoke on neighboring property being in non-compliance with the by-law, such as the shared parking lot at Town Hall with the Congregational Church. All tobacco products are banned on school  property by state law.

The Finance Committee recommended a raise for Clerk Barbara Gaynor to recognize that she is working four days a week rather than the three she is currently compensated for. But when the Water Superintendent recommended an article to add $1.50/hour to his second-in-command when he is not present, the article was too vaguely worded for many voters as it  did not make clear if this was $1.50 for each hour worked the entire year (basically a new position) or just when the Superintendent was away. The article was voted down, after a Town Meeting member disparagingly stated that “pumping water is not rocket science” to audible gasps from the room.

In perhaps the strangest vote of the entire meeting, a voice vote was too close to call on the installation of an emergency telephone in the elevator in Town Hall. Because the building is often used late into the evening, at times by people alone, there is a very real chance of someone getting stuck in the elevator while no one else is in the building. People have gotten stuck before, according to Mr. Seelig. A standing vote was required, and the article eventually passed.

Plympton voters are one step closer to having a part in the Carver Halifax Access Television after the Town Meeting’s nearly unanimous vote of Article 24, creation of a cable television public access enterprise fund.

Since the dissolution of the Comcast Cable Studio in Halifax last year, Plympton’s public access television has been at the mercy of Halifax and Carver who have provided for Plympton’s coverage of meetings.  Now Plympton can begin the process toward participation with Carver and Halifax in the new public access studio in North Carver in the Cornerstone plaza.

Plympton resident Karen Foye, who works for the Comcast studio in Middleborough, spoke to the article, saying that while currently there are some Plympton selectmen’s meetings online, all of that would go dark if the process for collecting funds from Comcast cable and disbursing them to fund studio expenses was not voted.

Residents showed their support through their overwhelming vote.

The business of the town was completed in twenty five articles and the Annual Town Meeting adjourned at 10:15 p.m.

Discussion regarding retiring old debt for the Dennett School roof and the Town Barn took time as questions were answered about interest paid – on a loan – and interest earned – in a savings account.  In this case, the Finance Committee recommended that the old debt from the school roof be retired at a cost of $23,206 which must be paid this year.  An additional $75,822 would pay off the Town Barn note.  Those funds would come from the Capital Purpose Fund, which required a 2/3 vote.  Residents voted to retire the debt to put the town in a better financial position, looking ahead to when the town will construct two new public safety buildings which will house Police and Fire departments.  Voters gave their approval.

The wages and salaries were capped at a 2% increase across the board, excepting those which were negotiated by contract.

Voters agreed to $104,691.46 for the annual lease payments for the 2013 Fire Dept. Pumper Tanker, the 2008 Smeal Pumper and 2008 GMC EMS vehicle as part of the lease to own programs.  Fire Chief Warren Borsari explained that there are four years left on these annual payments.

In addition to salary budget line items and operating expenses, Plympton voters also

~ transferred from the Capital Purpose Fund $25,000 to fund the position of engineering project consultant to review plans, proposals, and bids for the creation of public safety facilities and the related infrastructure improvements.

~ rescinded the vote taken at last year’s Annual Town Meeting approving the creation a Silver Lake School District Stabilization Fund.

~ agreed to adopt a quarterly real estate tax payment program, instead of the biannual payments now in effect.  Treasurer/Collector Colleen Morin spoke to the article saying that it would save the town from borrowing to meet expenses especially during the summer months.

~ agreed to purchase and equip an asphalt recycler and hot box for the sum of $17,300.  Highway Superintendent Jim Mulcahy said the purchase would pay for itself as hot asphalt patches are less expensive and do a better job than cold patch.

~ voted to authorize Selectmen to enter into a Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT) agreement with Blue Wave Capital LLCD or their assign for a solar facility.

~ voted unanimously to set a $5,000 per year stipend for the position of Council on Aging director.

The meeting voted to adjourn at 10:15, until 8 a.m. Saturday, May 16, for the sole purpose of conducting the Annual Town Election at the Plympton Town House, 5 Palmer Rd.  Polls are open until 6 p.m.

The Halifax Board of Selectmen is accepting applications from Halifax residents to serve as the at-large member on the Town’s “Other Post Employment Benefit (OPEB) Trust”. The OPEB Trust is a fund with money set-aside for future payments for health insurance and other benefits for employees who have retired from Town service. The Trustees, working  with an investment advisor, monitor the Trust and make investment  decisions on behalf of the Trust. The at-large Trustee serves for a term of two years and is appointed by the Board of Selectmen. Anyone interested in serving as the at-large Trustee can download, complete and mail in or drop off a copy of the Town’s “Talent Bank” form on the Town’s web site: http://www.town.halifax.ma.us/Pages/Halifax
MA_Bcomm/Selectmen/talent.pdf or obtain the form from the Board of Selectmen’s Office, 499 Plymouth Street.

Anyone who needs more information about the position can contact the Selectmen’s Office at 781-294-1316.

Halifax Fire Chief Jason Vivieros

Jason Vivieros, Halifax’s Fire Chief, always knew that he wanted to be a Chief. At the TRIAD meeting on Tuesday the Chief told local law enforcement, public safety officials and the Council on Aging, about his journey to the top, and also detailed what’s new at the Halifax Fire Department. State Senator Tom Kennedy was also present to address the new law requiring headlights to be on during inclement weather and at dusk and dawn.

Beginning in 1991 Chief Vivieros became a Swansea volunteer firefighter. He enjoyed it greatly, but wanted to make firefighting his full-time career, and to accomplish that he realized we would need further education. The first step, back in the early 1990s, was to attend EMT school. This takes about a year.

After finishing EMT school, he chose to attend paramedic school, in 1996. This was a two-year process, and a relatively new concept.  It requires classroom training and 400-500 hours of practical training in a hospital ER, Intensive Care Unit, and Operating Room.

In 1998 the Chief became a paramedic in Fall River, but his goal was still to be a career firefighter. Finally, in 2001 he became a Sandwich firefighter-paramedic and spent the next few years moving up the ranks to become the EMS manager and finally a Lieutenant, learning valuable management and operations experience.

But he still didn’t have his own department to lead.

When he came across the open position in Halifax he stated that he was intimidated that Halifax had higher qualifications than most other departments in the state. After several rounds of assessment, interviews with selectmen, and other town officials, he was chosen to lead Halifax’s Fire Department and began last August.

Chief Vivieros spoke highly of the Halifax Fire department, which has only 8 full time firefighters, which he described as very young, very motivated and highly trained. Training for new firefighters today is intense, and all the full time staff in Halifax are paramedics. They cannot be hired, even as call firefighters, if they are not at least EMTs. All call and full-time firefighters receive on-going training and yearly state testing to maintain their EMT or Paramedic certifications.

Finally, Chief Vivieros spoke about a shift in firefighting in Halifax and in general towards prevention. He said that even though people joke about calling 911 for a cat stuck in a tree, that the department will still go out for that call, as it could prevent an accident whereby someone tries to climb a latter and falls– in fact, the department received a call for a cat stuck in a tree just last week.

Other examples of “Community Risk Reduction”, as this type of work is now being called, includes doing home assessments, using grant money to help provide smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors or even nightlights to seniors. They will even check that house numbering is visible and correct so that no time is wasted during an emergency searching for a house.

Another new concept he mentioned is Community Paramedicine, where Paramedics actually go out into the community as allied health professionals to treat patients. Paramedicine is in its infancy in the country, but Chief Vivieros is confident that this will spread rapidly.

One has to climb a tall ladder to become the Chief, and Chief Vivieros has made that long climb.

In Other News:

• State Senator Tom Kennedy was present to speak about the law he introduced and was recently passed requiring headlights to be on during inclement weather (including fog and snow when visibility is low), when windshield wipers are on, and at dusk and dawn. He stated that he never intended the law to include insurance surcharges, and has introduced an amendment to take out that section of the law.

• The Plymouth County Sherriff’s Department Farm will hold its spring celebration from 10-1 on Saturday, May 9th.  There will be a plant sale, t-shirts, a K-9 demonstration, and a petting zoo. The farm is located next to the Plymouth Ddistrict court, at 74 Obery Street in Plymouth.

• Safety programs for those at risk to wander or fall are available. Contact the Council on Aging at (781) 293-7313.

There is a pill-drop center at the Police Station to drop off unused medication.