The Halifax Board of Selectmen met Nov. 6 for a public earth removal hearing for Morse Brothers Cranberries. Kevin Grady from Grady Consulting, Atty. Nick Rosenberg, and Brendan Moquin were there representing Morse Brothers and their project. Grady said, “The project is an agricultural use. It’s a common practice to utilize source materials from cranberry bogs, in particular, for agricultural use. This application is in no way similar to what we submitted a couple of years ago when we were looking to do a renovation of the entire bog. That is not what we’re proposing here; this is very simple, gravel removal application. It’s something they’ve been doing for decades.” He also said that the application was submitted in compliance with the bylaw and all regulations. He said they were looking to remove 20,000 cubic yards over 1.4 acres of the 308 total acre property.
Selectman Chair John Bruno asked about traffic resulting from the project. “Morse Cranberry has been utilizing Lingan St. for decades; it’s the only road in and out. We’ve looked at other avenues of access – they just don’t exist,” the representatives explained.
Town Engineer Patrick Brennan spoke regarding his findings. “My main concerns… and Kevin just mentioned that; how close they can excavate to the ground water table – this is within the Zone 2 of the public wells… you have to leave so many feet separation to the ground water to avoid any potential contamination of the ground water tables,” Brennan said. He continued, “they’re going to adjust the plans so that they stay a minimum of four feet above the ground water table which is what the regulations call for.” Selectman Jonathan Selig asked if Brennan would be more comfortable with a buffer greater than 4 ft. He said that yes, the greater the buffer, the greater the protection.
Brennan also said that the nearest adjacent property is nearly half a mile away. He added that, therefore, he didn’t believe that noise from the excavators would be a problem. He also said that he believes it’s important that the trucking not be done before 7 a.m. or after 6 p.m.
The Selectmen had the residents wishing to speak sign up and the list totaled nearly 40 people. The first resident asked how long the project would be estimated to take as well as how many trucks are anticipated to travel down Lingan St. daily. She also asked if the trucks would be running during holidays. It was said that they would max out at about 50 trucks per day and that a rough estimate of the length of the project would be “a little over a month.” When asked if the winter could cause the project to be temporarily paused, the consultant said that the project would likely need to be stopped after the first freeze and resumed in the spring.
Another resident said that the layers of Lingan St. were not intended for heavy truck traffic. Still another resident asked, “Are any materials being trucked in from outside currently to fill those roads?” “Not that we are aware of,” Bruno said. “It looks like there are a lot of changes going on along that road, so if someone is going out from the Highway, could they inspect that dirt road and inspect the material and how that is being re-graded,” she continued. Bruno said, “We’ll make a note of that, thank you.”
Kimberly King of the Halifax Conservation Commission said, “There were multiple complaints that went into DEP (Dept. of Environmental Protection) and other state boards. Those investigations did come back to Conservation last week and there were no findings by any of the State agencies that Morse Brothers were in violation.” Regarding the findings, she added, “It would be very educational for the residents to have.” Resident Steve Goodman, who also serves on the Conservation Commission, said, “My concerns are environmental mainly; the DEP report that you’re relying on is fundamentally flawed. In it, it indicates that they found that they didn’t remove any earth lower than the elevation of some of the dike roads, however some of those dike roads are lower than the historical high-water mark which is what you’re supposed to use for how low you can go as far as removing earth. And if they’ve never removed earth below the water table then I need someone to explain to me how that hole keeps filling up with water.” Goodman also said, “I never had, in four years, any silt, any problems at all with my water and after I watched the trucks go by for four or five weeks in a row without a permit, my water quality is significantly less since then.”
Jeremy Gillespie asked the Town Engineer, “There’s two monitoring wells on site and one of them is located right next to a drainage canal; do you think that has any effect on the water and the monitoring well being that close?” “When the bogs are flooded, the levels in the well actually come up and they have that information in the stuff they sent to me today,” Brennan said. Gillespie became heated insisting that Right to Farm not only protects the farmers, but the residents right to clean air and water. He ended his statement saying, “In fact, their own attorneys said that the Board of Selectmen can’t even issue a permit legally according to their own bylaws and that zoning overlay district that protects our aquifer was approved in 1998 so let them take it back to the Attorney General and have it nullified if that’s what they want to do but the Board of Selectmen does not have the authority to issue a permit.” This final statement was met with rousing applause to which Bruno said, “you know folks, I really don’t want to do this; we’re trying to do this in a measured and professional way and would appreciate everyone’s assistance in that. We all know this is a hot issue… but it’s not helpful if we have cheering, if we have booing going on.”
Gordon Andrews was the final name on the list. He said, “I’m just wondering if the Board of Selectmen could say whether this project is within the aquifer protection zone?” Brennan said, “Yes, it is in Zone 2.” Andrews replied asking, “So has the Planning Board issued a permit for this project?” He also asked the Selectmen to set the fee at $15 per yard if they approve the project. “It is within your power to set the fee; $15 a yard times the 20,000 – you’ve got $300,000 to fix the road,” Andrews said. He further asked that they review the abutters list to make sure that no one has a conflict of interest. Andrews also asked if the Board of Selectmen had received any recommendations from the Water Commissioners and if they did, if they could please read them. Bruno said that the documents are part of the public record and anyone can read them, however, he noted that the Water Department did not have any concerns assuming the guidelines are followed.
Someone asked the Selectmen if it was the responsibility of the Board to have made Morse Brothers cease the controversial earth removal that took place in the past. Bruno was careful to say that he didn’t know that the Morse Brothers did anything illegal in the past, noting that there was controversy surrounding it.
Regarding when a decision would be made, Bruno said that they are attempting to make a thoughtful decision and said that he needed time to sleep on it and think it over. Selig said, “there are three parts to this, there’s the residents, the Morse Brothers, and there’s the environment and I think that we need to try and come up with the best solution possible to make sure that all three of those get addressed.”

The Halifax Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, Oct. 24. Lloyd Geisinger of Thorndike Development was there to provide an update on the proposed project at 265 and 266 Monponsett St. Geisinger explained the Zoning Bylaw Agreement as well as the Master Development Agreement that would need to be approved before they could move forward with the project. The zoning bylaw would need to be approved during Town Meeting in December. The proposal includes 102 senior housing units located on two different parcels. Thorndike has also proposed gifting the town land for a senior center and pickleball courts. “You get the land in perpetuity for $10,” Geisinger explained. .
The estimated budget for the senior center as laid out in the agreement is $3.4 million. At a previous Town Meeting, $1.7 million was allocated for the design and construction of the senior center. “There will need to be a vote, that is part of the Town Meeting, reauthorizing or repurposing $1.2 million of that $1.7 million for the construction of the senior center on this property,” Geisinger explained. Regarding how the money will be administered to the town, he said that the total mitigation payments will “equal the cost of the winning bid to build the senior center and pickleball courts less the $1.2 million that the town will repurpose, but in no event less than the $3.8 million.” According to Geisinger, the building of the project cannot be started until 36 units have been purchased.
Geisinger said that the condominium documents would specify that children under the age of 18 can visit and even stay for weeks or the summer but are not allowed to permanently reside there. He said that in his past experience, this was the wish of the majority of the residents. He further noted that at least one adult over the age of 55 must reside in at least 80 percent of the units.
Included in mitigation commitments is the construction of the new pedestrian crossing between 265 and 266 [Monponsett St.], construction of a sidewalk from the entrance of 265 up to the intersection of Monponsett St. and Route 106, and the installation of several 6 ft. tall shrubs. Geisinger said, “The parcel that we’re looking to have re-zoned is only the development parcel, which is approximately 12 acres of land. The remaining land on the parcel will have a permanent conservation restriction placed on it, so it can never be developed.” Geisinger also said that no certificate of occupancy will be issued for the last building until construction of the mitigation improvements have been reasonably completed. This is meant to offer protection for the town.
Regarding the zoning bylaw amendments, they were explained as being in three parts. The first would create a new overlay district that would allow for senior housing and the second would rezone the 265 parcel from AR Residential to B Commercial and Business with the senior overlay applied to it. The third part would have the overlay applied to 266 which is already zoned Commercial.
The three main objectives according to Thorndike are to put the development agreement on the warrant for town meeting, make the request to the Planning Board for the eligible location, and finally, to have the Town Administrator be authorized to submit the application to the State for an advisory opinion. The Selectmen voted to have the Master Development Agreement appear on the Warrant for the December Town Meeting.
In an adorable turn of events, the Halifax Police Department’s newest member was sworn in – Roxy, the comfort dog. The statement read, “I, Roxy, will support my officers and my community with my whole heart and soul. I promise to comfort, encourage, and soothe away sadness, fear, and confusion. I offer a warm heart, tender companionship, and unconditional love. I will serve my community throughout my days to the best of my ability.” Roxy received lots of belly rubs during the swearing-in ceremony.
Two one-day liquor licenses were approved for two dates in late November for the Farm at Raven Brook. A representative said, “We do similar events like this where we setup a station and provide alcoholic beverages, for this particular event we plan on offering our pumpkin beer… an IPA, a seltzer, and also a mulled wine as well, so something warm and good for the Christmas tree shopping.”
Town Administrator Cody Haddad explained his proposal for an Energy Management Consultant. “We have several energy efficiency grants, what you really need in order to be effective with these is someone to oversee the project… it would be beneficial to potentially look at bringing on a consultant to help us with this,” Haddad said. He said that part of it could be paid for using the Green Communities Grant while the rest of it would be put into next year’s operating budget. He said that it would pay for itself as it would result in more and better grant opportunities. The Board agreed to look into acquiring a consultant.
The Selectmen met with members of the Finance Committee to kick off the budget process as well as establish priorities for the upcoming fiscal year. Haddad said they asked Departments to provide them with where they would allocate a 10 percent cut if needed as well as what ramifications would result. A member of the Finance Committee asked that Department heads take a look at what they did last year and what the results were. The Selectmen and Finance Committee voted to approve the budget memo.