The Halifax Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, Jan. 21. Selectmen Chair John Bruno provided an update on the Morse Brothers. “In November of 2023, the Board issued a permit to Morse Brothers, Inc. related to earth removal from their bogs in Halifax; Morse Brothers took the permit more or less under protest and they filed a lawsuit against the town of Halifax essentially… saying they shouldn’t have been required to get a permit. That case has come to a head as of Jan. 15 when the Superior Court issued an order allowing Morse Brothers’ motion essentially to say that they did not need any sort of earth removal permit,” Bruno said. He noted that the judge said that Halifax’s earth removal bylaw is invalid as it relates to Morse Brothers’ operation. Bruno said the next step in the process is to consider an appeal to the next level court, likely the Appeals Court. The Selectmen are speaking with their counsel regarding next steps.
The Selectmen had scheduled appointments with James Cronin and David Fryer regarding possible appointments as Associate Members on the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA). Fryer appeared saying he has been a resident for over 40 years and was on the Planning Board in the 1980s as well as on the call Fire Department. “Just want to get involved – I have some time, I’m always around,” Fryer said. He continued, “If someone has a decent idea of what they want to do with their property, everything is open for discussion, and it shouldn’t be just a rubber stamp yes or no.” He said he’s seen a lot of things get turned down that he feels should not have been. Bruno said that they have been trying to encourage committee and board members to become better educated and asked for verification that Fryer is comfortable with that. Selig asked him if since he’s active in the construction business, he foresaw any conflicts of interest. Fryer said that he would “bow out” were that to happen. Cronin failed to show, so the Selectmen voted unanimously to appoint Fryer as an Associate Member on the ZBA.
Town Administrator Cody Haddad said that himself and the Energy Manager are in the process of finalizing a deal to buy electricity from the city of Brockton for all the town buildings at a 20 percent reduction. Haddad called it a “huge savings for the town.” Haddad explained, “Brockton basically oversubscribed their purchase power agreement so they have credits and we are able to capitalize on that.” Bruno said, “always good to have good financial news.”
Haddad also said that they had a joint budget meeting with the School Committees, some members of the Finance Committees and Selectmen from the various towns. He said that Kingston and Plympton are in a similar situation as Halifax regarding the schools’ budgets. “Halifax Elementary School’s level service budget was presented as a 23.1 percent increase, Kingston’s was presented as a 20 percent increase, Plympton has not been presented yet, but it’s anticipated to be around a 17 percent increase and that’s on top of a 13 percent increase for the Silver Lake budget increase,” Haddad said. He noted that all of the towns can afford between a 3 and 4 percent increase. Selectman Jonathan Selig said, “I don’t think it’s anything the municipalities may or may not have done; I think you’re seeing educational funding struggles across all of the State.” Haddad said that they don’t want to end up in a position where the other two towns approve an override and Halifax doesn’t. If that were to occur, Halifax would still be on the hook for their share of the Silver Lake budget.
Regarding the MBTA Zoning law, Haddad said that the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that while the law is constitutional, the regulations were not accurately put into effect. He said that the Governor immediately responded by issuing emergency regulations. “What that means for us is that technically for us, we are in compliance. As of February 15, towns that have not adopted zoning have to submit an action plan… if the town were to submit an action plan, we would have until July 14 to have adopted the zoning,” Haddad explained.
The Selectmen approved a Class II license for 1734 Auto Brokers as well as a transfer of a Common Victualler license from Knight Restaurant to Subway. Timothy Dunne, who appeared on behalf of Auto Brokers, told Bruno that they did not plan to have cars on site.
The Selectmen also approved the use of the Town Green for a farmer’s market hosted by Steven King from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for various dates between the end of May and end of October. They also approved Fieldstone Farm for their annual horse shows contingent upon insurance verification. Selectman Thomas Pratt requested that they look into the insurance as there are 47 different days with 10 different vendors each day.
The Selectmen also reviewed an application from Brian Kling to use the Town Green for a Fur Festival on June 21 pending a certificate of insurance. Halifax Pride may be using the Town Green on the same day, but on a different side.
They also reviewed a proposed calendar for the Town Meeting season. The proposed dates include opening the warrant in mid-February, submitting all zoning articles to the Planning Board by March 1, submitting all petition articles and closing the warrant by March 11, and submitting the recommended budget from the Finance Committee. A placeholder of March 17 was also proposed for any Planning Board public hearings. The joint meeting of the Finance Committee and Board of Selectmen to review the FY26 proposed budget will be held on March 25. Review and approval of the final warrant would take place on April 8. Town Meeting will be held on May 12.
The Selectmen received an email issuing their resignation from the Beautification Committee for Amy L. Troup. “I want to thank Amy for her time,” Selig said.

The Plympton Board of Selectmen met Monday, Jan. 27. Town Administrator Liz Dennehy said that as of right now Silver Lake Regional was projecting a 13.37 percent increase while the Dennett was projecting a 19.7 percent increase for level services budgets. “Obviously the numbers are not sustainable and not possible; there’s no way that we can support that type of an increase,” Dennehy said. She further said that Kingston and Halifax are not able to support those kinds of numbers either. Dennehy said that for Kingston and Halifax, they did offer tiers of cuts which she said immediately resulted in a loss of teaching positions, even in the first round of cuts.
“When it comes to the school funding, if you were to pursue an override let’s say… if that were the case, you’d want to start early and I don’t know what that would mean. We have the new Fire Station construction – there was talk about pursuing a debt exclusion for that. Also, on the school side of things, if two towns vote it, you don’t want to be the one that doesn’t and then you’re left having to come up with that financial obligation,” Dennehy said. Selectmen Chair John Traynor said that he believed that all three towns had to vote unanimously, but Dennehy said she didn’t believe that to be the case. She did agree to double check, however.
In happier news, the Selectmen awarded the Boston Post Cane to Inez Murphy. The award dates back to 1909 and was established by the Boston Post Newspaper. The award itself is an actual cane that is presented to the oldest resident of a New England town. In Plympton, the awardee must have lived in town for ten or more years and they will hold the honor for life.
Asked about her secret to longevity Murphy responded, “stick around young people.” Murphy was surrounded by a large amount of family during the meeting. Selectman Mark Russo commented that Murphy had 20 great-grandchildren.
Amy Belmore of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Plymouth addressed the Selectmen. Belmore said that they were founded in the 1990’s as part of Habitat International and noted that they serve Plymouth, Carver, Plympton, Kingston, Middleboro, and Lakeville. “We’re building and repairing homes at the affordable rate so we’re very specifically reaching an underserved population – folks that are making, or households that are making, up to 60 percent of the area median income,” Belmore said. She told the Selectmen that while they use unskilled labor, they are overseen by a licensed construction supervisor. Belmore told the Selectmen that they would love to work in Plympton.
Belmore said that there are asset limits when looking at the household income for qualification. “It’s important to know, we don’t gift these houses, some people don’t realize these houses are not being given to the homeowner. They are becoming mortgage holders at an affordable rate over typically a 30-year term. And so, we are looking for people who have solid employment history,” she explained.
Selectman Mark Russo told Belmore they were eager to find a plot of land in Plympton that would be ideal, but they hadn’t yet been able to identify one. “There are 17 affiliates in Massachusetts and we share information all the time,” Belmore said. “I look forward to the day we’re doing business with you,” Russo said. “I know we’ve run into not only the wetland issue, but natural heritage issues, rare and endangered species issues; we’ve looked at a number of pieces of land here in Plympton so we’ll keep looking,” Belmore said. Belmore did note that Habitat is able to accept donations of land as well saying that they are a 501c3.
The Selectmen approved the use of public roadways for the Best Buddies Challenge Bicycle Ride.
Russo led off the raves with one for the Massachusetts Municipal Association and its annual conference. He called it a wonderful resource and said that when he initially started as a Selectman, there was less information available than can be found now through such means.
Traynor said his rave was for the Habitat for Humanity. “If we can make that a priority to find something this year to go forward with; that would be great,” he said.

The Kingston Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, Jan. 21. Chair Eric Crone told the Selectmen that they would be taking a “deeper dive” into the FY26 budget during the meeting. Crone said, “The schools are looking at some massive increases and we don’t have final budgets from them.” He continued, “Without overrides, the schools are going to be making massive cuts to positions. It’s not just going to be supplies and technology and projects; it’s going to be teachers and paras, and other staff.” He went on to say that the regional school budget was approximately $2 million over, while the local schools are “$1.7 million over the 4 percent that we had originally advocated.” Selectman Kimberley Emberg noted that the Selectmen had “no line item autonomy” over the schools.
Crone said that they had discussed a town-wide increase of 4.12 percent which included “a little bit more” for the Police and Fire Departments and “a little bit less” for other departments. According to Crone, without an override, the Police budget will still potentially lose personnel. Crone said that if the town wanted level services it would require an override.
Kingston Fire Chief Mark Douglass addressed Selectmen He said that their amended requests came in just above 4 percent. Douglass noted that sick leave is where they ended up reducing the budget. “To give you a little history; FY23 we spent $216,000 approximate, FY24 $257,000 approximate, and FY25, to date, we’ve spent $157,000.” Douglass said that they have had numerous injuries in the past years including long-term ones. Douglass said that last year himself and Town Administrator Keith Hickey reduced the budgeted amount for off duty personnel responding to an emergency. He said that the hope was that the lower amount would be sufficient, but it wasn’t.
Douglass went over call volume saying that it increased significantly from FY23 to FY24. For FY24, call volume was 8.75 calls a day. For the start of FY25, the Department was averaging around 10 calls per day. He said that sometimes you can pinpoint which days/times have more calls and reduce staff at other times. However, for the Kingston Fire Department, it is fairly spread out. Douglass said that the easiest place to pull money from is the overtime and sick timeline items though he did note it reduces staffing. “How severe is the impact? I don’t have a crystal ball, so I can’t honestly tell you.”
Hickey said that the requested budget amount is $4,326,000. Emberg asked him if he could make $4.1 million work. Douglass addressed the Selectmen and Hickey saying, “I can make $0 work, but don’t expect a lot… we can make whatever you give us work, it’s how well we make it work. It’s what you’re willing to sacrifice or provide – either way.”
Kingston Police Chief Brian Holmes also addressed the Selectmen and Hickey. He went over current staffing levels saying that they have 26 sworn in Police Officers, eight dispatch, one full-time admin., as well as an Animal Control Officer, Animal Inspector, Harbor Master, and Shellfish Warden. He also went over Kingston’s population growth from 1998 to 2023 saying it has increased by nearly 35 percent. Regarding call volume, from 2023 to 2024, there was a 23 percent increase in total logged events. There was a 10 percent increase in calls for service from 2022-2023 and a 6 percent increase from 2023 to 2024. He also showed Police Department staffing per resident for comparable communities. Kingston was in line or below the level of most of these communities.
Holmes showed the impact that the proposed percentage increases would have on the Department. A four percent increase would mean laying off two full-time officers while a six percent increase would mean laying off one full time officer and one dispatcher. An 11 percent increase would allow for the Department to maintain level services at 17 patrol officers, one deputy chief, and eight dispatchers at an increased cost of $504,740. A 21 percent increase would equate to 20 patrol officers, one deputy chief, and nine dispatchers at an increased cost of $1,156,951. “The town is a very far cry from being in a position to establish minimum staffing levels for the Police Department,” Douglass said. Regarding capital requests, he said that they do, in fact, need to increase from three to four cruisers.
Emberg asked, “Is there a way to get closer to 6 percent without laying off staff?” Douglass said, “You have to look at the fact that we are operating on a skeleton crew and have been since the last time there was growth – I think, 1997.” Crone said he would like to see them get to the 11 percent without losing people which he said amounts to finding roughly $211,000 elsewhere in the budget.
Crone said that for him, finding the $211,000 was higher priority than trying to find the sick/overtime funds for the Fire Department. “And I’m not choosing Police over Fire,” he said. Douglass responded by saying, “This isn’t going to be a battle but when you choose to staff one fully and not staff one fully; you actually are.” Crone said, “I’m trying to avoid layoffs.” Asked about priorities Douglass said, “cops on the street are the priority; I could live with the half year deputy.”
There was some discussion about implementing “pay as you throw” or raising the cost of a decal sticker for the Transfer Station for residents under 65 years old as a means of finding money for the Police and Fire Department. Selectman Don Alcombright said, “You can fund this entire budget if you raised, between $10 and $20, per senior and veteran decal.” Hickey said that he tried not to impact those over 65 or veterans.
Crone said, “I think the biggest goal is if we can get Fire taken care of and Police taken care of in terms of level service, still getting the overtime, the sick time, not reducing any staff without an override and then for an override – at that point, Fire’s budget is set and it’s just Police, maybe schools.” Hickey said that while he was not trying to be a “Debbie downer,” the school department’s budget was going to be a major factor. Hickey told the Selectmen that while the school department can make asks, it is their job to make decisions regarding the bottom dollar. He said that he wouldn’t wait another 45-60 days to disseminate information to the public regarding why an override may be necessary.
The Selectmen also went over various questions they had in the town budget. Hickey was asked about the elimination of the Assistant Town Planner in this budget. He explained that in FY25 they reduced the position from full-time to part-time. Hickey said that the one impact to existing labor in the operating budget, excluding public safety, is the elimination of the Assistant Town Planner. He said there was a decline in the Building and Planning departments. “I feel as though I can’t justify even a full-time and a part-time… there are as many Planning Board meetings being canceled as being held,” Hickey explained.
Emberg said one nominal way to help the budget would be for the Selectmen to forgo their $4,200 stipend. Hickey said there was a member of the Board of Assessors who said something similar.
Hickey said that he has included $30,000 in the budget for a Public Works Director. He noted that he thought the impact of the position would eventually offset the cost through engineering and other savings. Emberg asked if the departments that fall under public works would continue to have foremen and superintendents. Hickey said that the position would take the place of the Public Works Superintendent.
Emberg said that similarly to how they would like to eventually move to a system where the Transfer Station funds itself, she would also like to see Recreation eventually fund itself. “It’s user based so having more of the costs borne by the users, makes sense,” Emberg said. She did note that if not this year, then in the future.