Kristy Zamagni-Twomey
Express correspondent
The Halifax Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, Sept. 12 at the Fire House. Chair John Bruno began the meeting saying, “This is our continuing summer adventure, the Halifax Board of Selectmen roadshow… it’s an opportunity for the Board of Selectmen to get out of the Town Hall and actually interact with people which is a good thing. It’s also another opportunity for our various departments, this is the third or fourth one we’ve done this summer, to get on TV and brag a little bit about all the good work that goes on in Halifax.”
Fire Chief Michael Witham spoke to those assembled at the Fire House saying that he has been involved with Fire and EMS services for 32 years. “I am a paramedic,” he said. He also went through an overview of the Department saying they had a Chief, four Captains, and 13 call members, two who are paramedics and 11 that are EMTs. “The overall status of our shifts, we run four shifts now currently; we try to work it with one Captain and two firefighters working daily,” he explained. Witham said that they also have an administrative assistant who “does a fantastic job keeping all of us in line and making sure the daily operations run efficiently.” The Department has two ambulances, two fire engines, a tower truck, some brush trucks, and command vehicles. He noted that the mechanic and DPW work tremendously hard to keep the vehicles in great shape. Witham said that his ideal situation would be to add two more members to the Department which would allow them to have two additional ambulances or another engine. Witham noted that they have mutual aid agreements that allow for other towns to help Halifax in an emergency and vice versa.
Fire Captain Jeffrey Cuozzo also spoke to share a “feel good story” regarding a water rescue back on May 7. Cuozzo said that they received a call that there was a distressed person in the water in a near drowning incident. “Before we even got there, we heard that some civilians managed to get the victim out of the water which was great,” Cuozzo said. Michael Hughes swam after a remote-control boat that was swept into the water farther than anticipated. Residents Lyla Dooley and Cole Hingston were on the beach playing football. Hingston jumped into the water to save the drowning victim while Dooley called 911. Dooley, Hingston, and Hughes were all present at the Selectmen’s meeting on Tuesday. It was the first time that the rescuers met the man they saved that day. Just teenagers, Dooley and Hingston were presented with Citizen Hero awards. Selectman Jonathan Selig said, “I personally know Lyla and I know she’s an exceptional kid and if this guy is able to date Lyla Dooley, he must be alright too, so keep up the great work guys.”
Bruno said they had a letter from the Fire Department who was looking to run a fundraiser where a professional photographer would take photographs by an antique vehicle. They were seeking permission to use the town-owned property on the grounds by the blacksmith shop for two dates in October and November for fall and winter-themed photoshoots. The Historic Commission previously signed off on the usage. “A lot of families get their photos done anyway so why not do it in a way that can help the town,” Selig said. The Selectmen approved the use of the property.
The Beautification Commission asked for permission to use the town green on October 14 from 8:45 a.m. to 12 p.m. to kick off a week-wide clean-up project and distribute supplies. The Selectmen also approved this use.
Don Barrows, President of the Monponsett Watershed Association, appeared before the Board to share a leaflet regarding some of the testing and treatments. “The water is really great; I’m surprised myself,” he said. He said that wake surfing in shallow waters was becoming a problem. “What’s happening is those boats are actually bringing up the bottom of the ponds,” Barrows said. Jeremy Gillespie also spoke regarding the boats saying, “basically these boats are specifically designed to displace as much water as possible – they also have plates they can drop down on either side so they can create a wake up to and over 4 ft in height. These wakes have been proven to be much more disturbing than wind-driven wakes… it’s actually like a tsunami wave… you see the water starting to go out and what that does is pulls nutrients out of the water.” Town Administrator Cody Haddad said that they regularly work with Solitude throughout the year and that he was sure if it was a problem, they would address it. Bruno said that in addition to the problems it posed environmentally, he didn’t feel it was an appropriate activity for a small beach. He noted that potential bylaw changes may be needed.
The Selectmen also held the tax classification hearing for fiscal year 2024. Bruno said, “it is an annual event where we determine what the tax rates will be based on the type of property; we’re not setting the tax rate, that’s done… it’s more of a procedural thing than anything else.” The Principal Assessor for the town of Halifax Debbie Dean spoke next. “The town of Halifax has under 10 percent commercial, industrial, and personal property and therefore a split rate is not recommended… the real estate and personal property total value is $1,385,119,480. That’s up 13.4 percent from last year,” Dean explained. She also said that the Board of Assessors is not adopting the Open Space discount. She explained that towns with a lot of second home populations or resort communities often benefit from this discount. “There are only 61 second homes in Halifax,” Dean said. She said the Board of Assessors recommend that the Board of Selectmen vote against the exemptions and in favor of the factor of one. The Board voted in favor of the recommendations.
Bruno told the Selectmen that Haddad had drafted a code of conduct for elected officials. “This is becoming very common throughout the State… as chief policy makers for the town of Halifax it is good to set expectations for Board and Committee members throughout the town,” Haddad explained. He said that he borrowed pieces from other towns.
Melanie Martin-Plant appeared before the Board regarding an appointment to the Conservation Commission. The Commission voted to have her become the fifth member during their previous meeting. Martin-Plant is a new resident of Halifax and previously was involved in environmental advocacy in Plymouth. She said she was a founding member of a group called Sustainable Plymouth. The Selectmen voted to approve her appointment.
Haddad provided the Board with a number of Town Administrator’s updates including the MBTA Action Plan. He said that they hope to have someone come to the Zoning Bylaw Review, the Planning Board, and Zoning Board meetings to provide trainings on ways in which the town can be in compliance with the Action Plan. He said that they received word that Morse Brothers would be conducting work and noted that they were informed that they will need to submit a permit. Bruno outlined the process for taking public comment as he said he anticipates the Morse Brothers’ hearing to draw a large crowd. Those wishing to speak will need to sign up when they arrive at the hearing.

The Kingston Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, Aug. 29. During Open Forum, Director of Elder Affairs Marybeth Lawton asked to speak to update the Board about the Council on Aging. “We have had an extremely busy year here at the senior center since I started back July 18, 2022,” Lawton explained. She said they are “looking forward to partnering with the Compact Grant to be able to make application for the age and dementia friendly initiative so that we can fund the survey that is needed to kick off the initiative.” Lawton also told the Selectmen that they are going green in the senior center by finding ways to reduce their carbon footprint.
Lawton said that she wanted to talk to the Board regarding a change in the way they handle food service at the Senior Center. “As you know we have a large crowd that comes in every Thursday… and we serve anywhere from 60-65 people… looking at dollar and cents as well as what the future holds for this type of program… I decided to reach out to some of my fellow COA Directors in the area and go and visit their facilities to see the different way that they deliver food service to their seniors,” Lawton said. She said that the Thursday lunch will be finished up by the end of September. She said that they would be moving forward with a café experience in Kingston. “The idea behind this is to get more food out to more people for a reasonable amount of money and to be able to do it in a way that is spread out rather than doing it all within this one-hour period on Thursday,” she continued. She said the menu will include hot meals like stews as well as desserts. Hours will run from 9:30 until 1 in the afternoon and will be on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. “I can’t tell you how excited everyone is about shifting everything around so differently to be able to get what it is that they want at a price point that is going to be really, very, very modest,” Lawton explained.
Lawton also said that they are looking into building a bocce court for seniors as well as setting up Zumba classes on Monday nights. She said that they are setting up a small office for seniors at the library that will include a paper shredder and a laptop for accessing the internet.
Chair Kimberley Emberg introduced Town Planner Valerie Massard to go over the policies for street acceptances as well as temporary repairs. Massard said that the money they get from the State for all of the maintenance and repair of public roadways has leveled off over the last decade or so while the cost of labor and materials has increased exponentially. “We are doing our level best to find other resources… we are doing a town-wide study on all of the improvements that are needed,” Massard explained. She said that they were recommending the temporary repair by-law which would need to be approved at Town Meeting. She said that if residents on private ways petition 15 or more people to come to Town Meeting to ask for assistance in necessary repairs, they can do that with her proposal. “It’s kind of a way to engage with each other that’s cooperative, forward-thinking, and aims for a solution and that’s something that we would like to recommend,” she said. Vice Chair Donald Alcombright asked if the town could be incurring liability by taking on repairs that residents could then say were not done up to par. He was assured that it would be unlikely. Massard added that it had to be for public safety as opposed to another use. The Selectmen agreed to the proposed changes.
“Our street acceptance policy right now asks for $100 to be provided, a petition provided, and then it’s kind of missing some information that we would strongly recommend the Board consider adding,” Massard said. She noted that the town is facing a hard situation and they need to take action in order to serve the residents particularly regarding the safety of the roads. She said the residents can choose to opt out based on costs but noted that they would have access to the expertise of the town. The proposal was for 60 percent of the roadway’s owners to come forward and then a public hearing would be held before the Board of Selectmen to determine the validity of the issue. Massard said that a private way such as a cul-de-sac might not qualify as having enough of a public benefit in the eyes of the Road Commissioners. She said that the town may come before the petitioners and tell them that the cost is $300,000, for example, and they may opt out of the road improvements.
Massard pointed out that oftentimes, exploratory work is required to determine what work needs to be done. “We do an estimate, we give that estimate to the residents of what the engineering costs would be, at this point they can opt out or they can say look we want to wait and save up, we’ll do this another year,” Massard said. “Then, if they want to continue, now we’re looking at the engineering design, that cost is going to be bettered out to that neighborhood… we’re going to say here is the engineering design, we think it’s going to cost $300,000, for example, to repair this road to bring it up to safety standards for public travel… you don’t have to continue… to move forward from here, you’re looking at 90 percent of the residents agreeing at this point and 100 percent of anyone that is affected by something like an easement,” she told the Selectmen. Massard also said that since there were only two people working on these issues, they couldn’t handle more than three betterments and/or street acceptances in a year. “Like we said, it’s an overwhelming task for everyone involved and there’s a lot of other moving parts going on in Town Hall that Paul [Kingston Superintendent and Tree Warden Paul Basler] and I are responsible for and we wouldn’t want to mess this up,” she told the Selectmen. The Selectmen agreed to deliberate and vote on the issue during their next meeting.
Massard and Basler also discussed the town’s policy for plowing. Basler said that the previous long-standing policy was that they would plow any road that had three or more homes on it. Basler said they finally have in writing the steps that need to be taken to ensure a road is plowed. “This is bare bones, we’re not asking for nice smooth pavement, lightest trees… we need something more substantial in writing so when residents call me, I can say, here you go and we can move on,” Basler said. “The road’s got to be wide enough so we can get in there; it’s got to have branches cleared high enough so that we can get in there so we’re talking about 14 ft. high, 16 ft. wide that we want to have clear so we can get a plow safely through,” Massard added.
Emberg said that the Special Town Meeting will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 24 at the Intermediate School at 7 p.m.
She also said that the Complete Streets Grant improvements were underway at the intersection of Main St., Evergreen St., Wapping Rd., and Pembroke St. “It will be ongoing for another four to six weeks,” Emberg said. She noted that they don’t currently have any scheduled delays.
Emberg announced that there is an opening on the Capital Planning Committee, as well as several other Boards and Committees.
Emberg said that they received a request from the water department to approve an amendment to an existing contract for relocation of existing cell antennas and the addition of new cellular equipment at the Elm St. water tank. The Selectmen voted in favor of the amendment.
A proclamation was also made during the meeting to declare Sept. 10 as part of National Suicide Prevention Month in Kingston.