The Halifax Elementary School Committee met on Monday, May 8. Chair Summer Schmaling pointed out that the Committee would be different when meeting next after the election. The Committee is not scheduled to meet again until their closeout meeting in July.
Superintendent Jill Proulx began her update by saying, “First, I’d like to thank our Chairperson Summer Schmaling for her years of dedication to Halifax Elementary Schools and Silver Lake Regional School District will certainly recognize you at our upcoming Silver Lake meeting as well. Summer has served our District and our School and has volunteered her time for the betterment of students throughout our community and we have enjoyed working with her and we are certainly going to miss her leadership and her dedication.” Schmaling said, “Well thank you for all of you, you’ve been a wonderful team to work for and with; it makes this role a lot easier and more enjoyable when you enjoy the people that you are working with.”
Schmaling opened the meeting to public participation. Silver Lake Regional School District’s Director of Human Resources Dave Turcotte spoke regarding increasing the step rate and corresponding wages for substitute custodians and substitute food services employees. The Committee voted unanimously to make the change.
Principal Kayne Beaudry told the Committee that they are looking to add a second DLC classroom (Developmental Learning Center). The current classroom serves the fourth grade who will be next year’s fifth grade. The proposed classroom will serve grades K-2 which has a current cohort of five. Schmaling said that she assumed that they would need teachers for the classroom. Administrator of Special Education Marie Grable explained, “To explain, in terms of the financing, Halifax is currently paying a tuition rate for those students to attend KES… and transportation.” Schmaling asked if the extra classroom was contingent upon them being able to fill the positions to staff the classroom. “The reality is, we’re in the same situation no matter which town the program resides in, so in other words, if our Halifax students remain in KES, we will need to hire another teacher at KES because the numbers are at a point right now, we’re it’s not sustainable. So, we’re either opening a third classroom at KES or opening an elementary classroom here, so either way we need to be hiring a teacher.” Grable clarified that it was one teacher and two paraprofessionals. She added that they would also like to add a 0.5 speech language therapist.
Committee member Lauren Laws asked, “Is there ever a crossover like can the specialists there help with the other students in the building if needed or if there is space?” Grable said, “Here, yes, absolutely, because it will be a Halifax program working with all Halifax students so absolutely this therapist and staff could work anywhere they were assigned which is not the case in Kingston because it is a Silver Lake program.” Schmaling asked if for this year it would be a cost savings to Halifax or if it would be a “wash-out.” Grable responded that for this year it would be a wash-out. Schmaling asked about the possibility of one of the classrooms absorbing the other in the future should the numbers change. Grable said they are required to follow a rule that does not allow for students with greater than a 48-month age difference to be together. The Committee did vote to approve the additional classroom.
Curriculum Coordinator Melissa Farrell attended the meeting to provide an update on the science curriculum. “The State is in a bit of flux with science in terms of how they are viewing it and they’re looking to update the MCAS and so it is time to move on from what we adopted… in the 2015/2016 time… because that curriculum is out of date, but we also don’t want to make any rash decisions.” She said that the interactive science lessons are being updated to a new version called Elevate Science. She also said that they planned to adopt Mystery Science of which she said it would “try and create more of a consistent guaranteed science experience for all of our students K-5.” Farrell also called it user friendly and said it would allow some flexibility for the teachers.
Farrell said that they are starting a transition in sixth grade that would move them more toward a phenomenon-based science curriculum that she said would better align with what is done at the Middle School. “We need any and every opportunity we can give our kids for accessing nonfiction texts and so using a digital resource is an easy way to do that. So, Newsela is a great resource. It’s dynamic, it updates, it adds more resource on a daily basis.” She said that it is easily searchable and that it identifies students’ reading levels and updates accordingly. She further said that it was a nice addition to Mystery Science which is more hands-on.

The annual Halifax Town Meeting was held on May 8. The petition articles, which can be brought forth by any resident attaining a total of 10 signatures, resulted in some of the heftiest discussion and debate of the night.
Article 23 was a petition article brought forth by Mary Gravinese to increase membership in the Board of Selectmen from three to five. Gravinese said, “I did this article on my own; I have spent a lot of time in the last year or so attending meetings, attending Selectmen’s meetings, watching them on video and I just don’t know that our Selectmen actually represent all of the residents of Halifax… I feel like there is a portion of us that may not be represented, so maybe if there were one or two more Selectmen there might be an overall look at the whole town and what we all want.” The Finance Committee did not recommend the article.
Selectmen Chair John Bruno said, “The Board of Selectmen do not recommend; the idea that the generally elected officials don’t represent certain sections of the town, I just can’t agree with.” He noted that the majority of the voting public voted for each of the three members of the Board of Selectmen as well as all other elected positions in town. Bruno said that Halifax has had three Selectmen since 1734. “It seems to have worked fairly well… the Selectmen don’t make all the decisions… it’s really the Town Meeting that makes the decisions,” Bruno said.
A resident asked the Finance Committee why they weren’t voting to recommend. They said that they didn’t feel there was an added benefit and also stated that there may be a financial cost associated with having more Selectmen. Resident and member of the Halifax Elementary School Committee Summer Schmaling spoke saying that the additional cost to the town was only $3,000. She further noted that most surrounding towns of similar size had a five-member board. Candace Kniffen spoke saying, “we have a history in this town that is not admirable where we have elections that are uncontested and more of the times when our Selectmen elections have taken place, they’ve been uncontested. It seems to me that if you feel unrepresented, you put up a candidate that will represent your interests and here we are this year with yet another uncontested Selectmen’s race. We have trouble getting volunteers.” Another resident said, “I don’t feel comfortable in this room, with this small group of people, voting to change the government in our town – I think that’s really risky.” Resident Amy L. Troup spoke saying that a reason to consider five Selectmen would be what happened over the summer when two Selectmen resigned leaving just one until a special election. Another resident said that what happened last year was a once in a lifetime event and the Town’s government should not be changed based on it. The article did not pass.
Article 24 was another petition article by Mary Gravinese to petition the Legislature to change the Town Clerk, the Treasurer/Collector and the Highway Surveyor to appointed rather than elected. The motion had to be amended per Town Counsel to make it legally viable. Current Highway Surveyor Steve Hayward said, “I’m against this article; I have six people – I have five employees that live in the town, and they care about the town. If we start having the Select people or whoever appoint these positions, they have total control. I answer to the taxpayers. They don’t like what I’m doing, they can vote no.” Gravinese responded, “This isn’t about people not caring about the town. The town has to start running like a business and in order to do that we need people that have education, experience, qualifications to do the jobs – they are no longer entry level,” she said. She further said that her child could become the Highway Surveyor because he is 18 and lives in the town. “We can’t have someone that just is popular that wants to put a sign up if anyone left,” Gravinese said. The article was defeated.
Article 25 was a petition article brought forth by Barbara Gaynor that would adopt Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 41, Section 97A, commonly known as the “strong chief” section, concerning Police Chiefs. Police Chief Joao Chaves spoke to the article. The article would give the Chief of Police greater jurisdiction over the Police Department. A resident spoke saying, “The Select Board appointed him as Chief to run the department; the Select Board’s job is to run the overall town, not have their hands in any individual department on daily operations; what this does is it lets Chief have complete control of his Department and set the policy as he sees necessary… so this is a great change as far as the management of the Police Department.” The Board of Selectmen and the Finance Committee did not have a recommendation on this article. The article passed.
Article 1 was to hear and act on the reports of Town Officers and Committees and it passed. Bruno acknowledged the tumultuous year it was for the Board of Selectmen and credited Selectman Jonathan Selig and Town Accountant Sandra Nolan for stepping up during that time. Selig remained as the sole Selectman for a time while Nolan stepped in to be acting Town Administrator.
Article 2 amended the Wage and Personnel by-law to change the steps and corresponding salaries for certain positions in town that are under-compensated. It was recommended by both the Board of Selectmen and the Finance Committee. It passed unanimously. Article 3 determines the salaries for several elected positions. It also passed unanimously.
Article 4 was the operating budget. A resident asked for an explanation as to why the new Town Administrator is getting an $11,000 increase as well as why the Town Accountant would be receiving a $17,000 increase. Bruno said the increase for the Town Accountant actually had to do with money being set aside to assist in hiring a new Accountant as the current one will be retiring soon. Moderator Bert Gaynor went through each of the sections of the operating budget individually, grouping line items together. Everything passed including for the $14 million school budget.
Article 7 sought to appropriate $3 million for upgrades to the water treatment plant. Bruno said, “to meet this appropriation, the Treasurer, with the approval of the Selectmen, is authorized to borrow said amount… the amount authorized to be borrowed shall be reduced to the extent of any grants, gifts, or other funds received by the town to be used to pay the cost of this project.” It was recommended by the Finance Committee. The Water Superintendent said that the equipment in question is 40 years old and noted that they already have close to $1 million set aside toward this project. The article passed.
Regarding road maintenance in the Capital Plan, a resident asked for clarification as to the usage for the $300,000. Hayward said that this summer he would be able to use some of it for paving and “fixing up of the roads.” The Moderator asked the resident if that answered her question and she said, “Not fully, no.” She continued, “If you’ve driven around Ocean Ave, Lingen St., the numbered streets, they’re patching them, and I know you guys are doing your best and it’s not against that. It’s putting band-aids on broken legs. It’s ruining our cars, it’s ruining the police vehicles that we are paying to replace and maintain and I just want to make sure that our tax money is going toward things that really need to be done and not just roads that people that don’t live on the town drive on… do we have a plan for when we are going to do that?” Hayward said that just one mile on Plymouth St. cost $400,000. “And that was on a halfway decent road,” he said. “Out of all the 53 miles of road, we’re going to need millions of dollars; I could ask for a bond and nobody wants our taxes to go up… to fix the roads is money we don’t have,” Hayward explained.
There was also some discussion about new vehicles for the Fire Department. A resident said, “The town currently has three command vehicles, the Chief wants to upgrade one and get a new one for himself to the tune of $80,000 and we have a brand-new brush truck … I think the $80,000 is money we don’t need to spend on a new vehicle for the amount of times we have brush fires in the Town…” The Fire Chief said that the current vehicle he is driving was purchased with Covid funds from the State. He also said that some of these vehicles are used across other communities as well. “We do need a proper command vehicle and we do not have one setup at this time,” he said. The Fire Department costs were approved.
Regarding the Police Department costs, a resident asked Chief Chaves how often vehicles are replaced and was told every three years. Schmaling asked what would be done with the vehicles that are being replaced. Chaves said that they would be trading them in to offset the cost of the new vehicles. Residents requested that the article be amended to state that the cruisers would be traded in or auctioned before voting. The amendment did not pass though the overall Police costs were voted through.
Silver Lake Regional School Committee member Gordon Laws read that the SLRS Committee voted to amend Article 14 on the floor of Town Meeting due to increases in labor and equipment costs. Laws moved that the Town vote to amend the amount in Article 14 to $100,100 for the replacement of one rooftop unit. The units supply heat and air conditioning to the high school cafeteria and auditorium. The article previously read that the Town would vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds the sum of $202,458.79 for the replacement of two roof top units at Silver Lake Regional High School. Laws explained, “the air conditioning units are 15-year units and we are at 19 years with those units which is why we were hoping to replace both of them. If they happen to go, it will constitute kind of an emergency for all three towns… the estimate for the two together came in far more than what we had hoped for which is why we are asking for the one.” He further explained that they chose the one over the cafeteria since if that one were to go, it would create unsafe working conditions for the staff in the kitchen. It passed unanimously.

The Kingston Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, April 25. Chair Kimberley Emberg thanked everyone who came out and voted in the recent town election. “It is my pleasure to welcome the newest member of the Board of Selectmen, Eric Crone and congratulate Don Alcombright who was just re-elected to a three-year term,” Emberg said.
Given the recent election, the Board decided to deliberate on reorganization. They unanimously voted to renominate Emberg as Chair again. Alcombright was unanimously voted in as Vice Chair, and Sheila Vaughn was unanimously voted in as Clerk. “I just love note taking,” Vaughn joked.
“Thank you to everyone who participated in our third Annual Keep Kingston Clean event… I saw lots of cleanup efforts on William Gould Way, Captain Jones, Maple Street, Brightside Ave, all across the nook so thank you everyone that participated and thank you to our Highway Department,” Emberg said.
Emberg said that they had a recommendation from the Highway Superintendent regarding transfer station fees. He noted that it has been five years since sticker fees have been raised. He said that they are trying to get a new vendor as of July 1. With a new vendor will come a reduction in the fee for mattresses but items such as air conditioners and freezers that were previously free, will now come with a fee. “We are not making any additional dollars above what the vendor is charging us to dispose of it,” he explained.
A public hearing was held for Eversource per their request to allow for the installation of lines across a number of public roadways as part of the Carver/Kingston Reliability Project. A public hearing was previously held on February 14 which was continued onto February 28. The Board opened it up to any members of the public that wished to speak. A resident asked why they were meeting on it again. “It was debated, the Board voted, they didn’t get the answer they liked so they got to do it again… I guess I’m just looking for clarification on why we’re doing this whole thing again,” he said. Emberg said that she planned to ask Eversource the same question. Another resident read something from the Plymouth County of Deeds regarding the preservation of conservation lands. Emberg said that the Conservation Commission did vote on this project in 2021.
A resident said, “We haven’t been given any information at all, no numbers, no figures, no nothing – they could be pulling off a scam. It’s just an idea. But someone needs to look into this – someone other than people in this room who have no interest in this at all, probably the State and the federal government need to look at what they’re doing. This is a scam and it’s being overlooked here; I wish someone would take the time to do something.”
Town Treasurer Carl Pike spoke saying, “I’d just like to speak on behalf of the majority of people in Kingston who want to have electricity in this town; we want to have strong lines that will support the town during tough, difficult periods for electric generation. I’m also insulted by someone talking about a scam. Massachusetts has a Department of Public Utilities that all of your public utilities report to… it’s a heavily regulated industry and I believe that only in Kingston would we have people arguing against a power line.”
Emberg then opened it up to anyone from Eversource. Ryan Earle who is with Community Relations for Eversource spoke next. Regarding why they were back, Earle said they did file a petition with the State. “Our main goal is to work with municipalities at all cost… we’ve worked to try to alleviate some of those concerns… and to petition again for the nine street crossings that we came here for in the previous meetings as well as tonight.”
Selectman Tyler Bouchard noted discrepancies between conversations he had with Eversource and emails that he would receive back that in his words, “felt like they were written by an attorney.” He said, “As a public service utility company, I just feel like there is a piece missing. You know, with the poles and certain things and communication and not being totally forthright with those hearings that were two or three years ago. Unfortunately, we can’t go back and fix, but I hope, and I don’t have a lot of faith in this, what I would like to see is for the next hearing that comes up that the neighborhood be in good standing.” Emberg pointed out that the only thing they have jurisdiction over was the road crossings. Bouchard said, however, that he has changed his vote to allow them to cross the street based on having worked through many of the safety concerns that he had initially. “In that capacity, I feel reluctantly comfortable,” Bouchard concluded. The Board voted to approve the construction or erection of poles across Kingston’s public ways as stated in the public notice.
Emberg said that the Board had some appointments to make since there were resignations at the Library, a retirement in the Police Department, and a resignation in the Treasurer’s office for the Payroll Coordinator. Holly Iannucci was appointed to Head of Youth Services with the Kingston Public Library as of May 1. Tyler Potrykus was named as a permanent, full-time Civil Service Police Officer. Katelyn Drapeau was named as the new Payroll Coordinator. “Welcome, it’s very exciting,” Emberg said.
Following the retirement of Kingston’s Wastewater Superintendent, the Sewer Commissioners voted to appoint the current Sewer Foreman, David Walsh, as the next Superintendent. The Commissioners asked that the Selectmen approve the starting salary for Walsh at a Grade 4, Step 8 rate of $94,967. The Board voted unanimously to approve.
Assistant to the Town Administrator Patricia Tucker provided an update as Town Administrator Keith Hickey was absent. Regarding the open Health Agent position, Tucker said the Board of Health did interview two candidates. “One was very overwhelming – they all loved her, so they gave the Chair the authority to negotiate… they came up with an amount and agreed upon it so we’re hoping to get her signed on and to start the end of May,” Tucker told the Selectmen.
Before adjourning for the evening, Vaughn thanked the “500 people who came out and voted.” Emberg corrected her that it was over 600. Vaughn said that she would like to see the election moved to a different weekend and the assumption was that she meant so there would be greater participation.