It was Veterans Day, 2021, that founding member of the Kingston Veterans Memorial Work Group Rick Veno brought up the concept of a memorial to honor the service and sacrifice of all the veterans of each of the armed services in the town of Kingston, and it was Veterans Day 2023 when groundbreaking took place in a moving testament to the efforts of the Work Group Chairman Robert Ketter, and members Denbeigh Forbes, James Gallagher, Robert King, and David McKee. And it will be Veterans Day 2024 when the group plans to complete it. Ketter, who presided at the program, gave thanks to State Senator Susan Moran and State Representative Kathleen LaNatra, for their active support, as well as town officials, community partners, businesses, and donations large and small. “Most importantly, to the people of the Town of Kingston,” who have all contributed in significant ways to arriving at this milestone.
“As a community we are building an enduring reminder of the meaning and significance of freedom, democracy, and the service of all Veterans,” The Kingston Veterans Memorial will be a significant achievement to honor all Veterans and their families in the Town of Kingston, and a place to host educational programs, events, and simply to visit and reflect on its meaning.
Also speaking were State Representative Kathleen LaNatra, Selectmen Chairman Kimberley Emberg, and Town Administrator Keith Hickey.
Selectmen hear residents’ concerns
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.”
$44,150 stolen from Plympton Athletic Youth Sports
Plympton Athletic Youth Sports (PAYS) experienced a heartbreaking theft of $44,150 in an elaborate check-forging scheme discovered in August.. PAYS oversees the baseball/softball, basketball, and soccer programs for Plympton.
PAYS president Scott Devonshire, in comments earlier this week, praised treasurer Lindsay Platz for identifying the theft and working diligently with both the Plympton Police and Santander Bank to aid in the funds’ recovery for PAYS.
The theft was first reported on August 23, 2023.
Plympton Police Officer Kevin Brower, who had been newly appointed Detective, took the lead on the investigation. Through his investigation, in conjunction with other officers in the Department, suspects were identified. The investigation included warrants, video surveillance, and the assistance of agencies from the State of Georgia.
The suspects include both a female and male from the Atlanta, GA area. They are being charged with two felonies including larceny of a check over $1,200 and forgery by check.
According to the Plympton Police Department, forging checks can be done in various manners, many of which do not require the person committing the act to be present in the town where the crime is committed. Methods can include duplicating checks via the Internet and faking signatures and credentials through various electronic means.
Check fraud is on the rise across the country and the FBI estimates that loss around $18.7 billion annually. It is estimated that over 500 million checks are forged each year in the United States.
Halifax Congregational Church Christmas Bazaar Nov. 25
The Halifax Congregational Church will be having a Christmas Bazaar and Luncheon on Saturday, Nov. 25, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The church is located at 503 Plymouth St. on Route 106 in Halifax.
The Bazaar will be hosting several crafters that you can purchase hand-made items from to give as holiday gifts or simply enjoy for yourself. Some of the craft items being offered include handmade soaps, handmade crafts, hand-painted pictures and other art work, handmade wreaths, handcrafted jewelry, beautiful decorated lighted bottles and much more. There will be a Missions table with items handmade/donated by church members with the proceeds going to help those in need. We will also be having a White Elephant Room and wonderful raffles for you to win. Best of all, you don’t want to miss out on our delicious homemade baked items and our popular cookie walk which offers a large assortment of fresh baked cookies to choose from.
We will be serving our Christmas luncheon starting at 11:00 am which will include various sandwiches and soups, along with other selections. Please be sure to bring your hearty appetite.
Please come and join us for a fun day of holiday shopping, delicious baked goods and a wonderful luncheon and don’t forget to bring your holiday gift list.
Sturtevant murders are TRIAD topic
Linda Redding
Special to the Express
Author John F. Gallagher was the guest speaker at the Halifax TRIAD meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 3. Gallagher is a former Boston Police Officer with over thirty years of experience, retiring in 2008 as Chief of Detectives.
The author of four books featuring historic true crimes on the South Shore, he discussed A Monument to Her Grief: The Sturtevant Murders of Halifax, Massachusetts, detailing the triple murders that took place over 150 years ago. Gallagher credited the Museum of Halifax for providing access to many resources used in the research of this book from photographs to newspaper clippings.
TRIAD meetings are open to the public and are held in the Great Room of the Halifax Town Hall.
Fraser speaks on Beacon Hill
On Oct. 30, Jason Fraser of the Plympton School Committee and Silver Lake School Committee provided testimony to the Joint Committee on Education in favor of what is known as the Rural Schools Bill (H.3567/S.2388) which would provide additional funding to school districts considered “rural” to help cope with economy of scale issues including special education, transportation and building construction. In 2018, the Plympton School Committee joined a group of rural schools in Massachusetts who gathered and analyzed data on school department struggles in small communities. This data was used to advocate for dedicated state funding to rural schools. In FY 21, Plympton received $12,272 in rural aid. These funds have increased over the past few years leading to Plympton receiving $55,294 of rural aid in FY 24. Similarly, Silver Lake Regional School District received $47,951 in rural aid in FY 21 and this too has grown to $173,580 in FY 24. The Rural Schools Bill which is based on the Massachusetts Legislature’s Report on a Sustainable Future for our Rural Schools would further increase state funding for rural school districts by a factor of four. Additionally, if passed, this legislation would create a commission to look at special education financing, which would provide key data for future legislation and state funding to support our schools.
Fraser also provided testimony to the Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government on Oct. 24, in favor of two bills which would help cities and towns prepare fiscally for unanticipated special education cost and extraordinary budgetary increases due to assessments from regional schools. H.2075 would increase the allowable maximum balance in Special Education Reserve Funds to 5% of net school spending (NSS), creating a more resilient tool for municipalities to use in addressing unanticipated special education costs. Special Education Reserve Funds are currently capped at 2% of NSS. H.2076 would allow municipalities to create a Regional School Assessment Reserve Fund. A Regional School Assessment Fund would create a mechanism by which a municipality could save funds in a year when the Regional School Assessment is low to be used in a future budget cycle when the Assessment may be extraordinary. In both of these bills, municipalities have the control over the creation of the reserve fund, making investments into these funds and using these funds via the legislative body of the municipality, which, in the case of our towns would be town meetings.
Kingston will break ground on new Veterans Memorial
The Kingston Veterans Memorial Working Group will host a groundbreaking ceremony on Friday, Nov. 10 at 10:45 a.m. at the location. Both Representative Kathy LaNatra and Senator Susan Moran will be in attendance as well as nearly 100 veterans. The event will be followed by our annual Veterans Day Luncheon at the Senior Center from 12 noon – 2 p.m.
Congratulations and best wishes to Plympton Fire Chief weds
Plympton Fire Chief Cheryl Davis, daughter of Joseph and Jennifer Davis, wed Patrick Duddy, son of Richard and Carol Duddy, Sept. 23, in Wilmot, NH, a special venue for the couple who has spent many weekends camping there. Helping in the ceremony were the couple’s two dogs. Wilden, left, was ring-bearer. Patrick is a firefighter with the Fall River Fire Department.
BOS, Thorndike in agreement
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.
Winter Overnight Parking Ban in Halifax
No overnight on-street parking will be permitted on any street in the Town of Halifax effective November 1, 2023 through March 31, 2024.
Residents must remove all basketball hoops, hockey nets etc. from within the town layout (i.e.: the side of the road). This will prevent them from being damaged when plowing occurs.
A warning will be issued for first-time violators. Vehicles will be ticketed or towed, if necessary, for repeat offenders.
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