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Plympton ground water bylaws under review

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The Plympton Board of Selectmen met virtually on Monday, Dec.5. Chair of the Bylaw Review Committee Alan Wheelock appeared before the Board to review what the Committee has been working on as of late. He told the Selectmen that the town bylaws are now fully digitized. He said that they are accessible and “very searchable.” “I think it was a major step forward,” Wheelock said. “Kudos for the codification; it really changes the whole dynamic where any citizen can get their hands on any piece of information rather than hearsay… maybe we need to do a little bit better job of reminding our citizens that the information is there on the website,” Selectman Mark Russo said.
Wheelock next addressed what he said has been the major ongoing project of the Committee. He said that the Committee has been reviewing the groundwater overlay water protection district for the town. “We do have one,” Wheelock said. He elaborated saying, “I’ve never heard about it, and I’ve lived here for almost 50 years… it makes me wonder who has been watching it.”
Wheelock said that in reviewing the water protection district, the Committee spoke to three comparable towns who are all also fully dependent on well water. Those towns were Northfield, Rehoboth, and Rochester. Regarding Plympton, Wheelock said, “We have 1,000 households and every single one of those households is totally dependent on wells.” Of any necessary updates, Wheelock said, “We will take the rest of the winter to develop a recommendation for spring town meeting.” He said that the recommendation would most likely be to retain the existing bylaw with the three zones. Wheelock added, “we’re going to try and strengthen it and modernize it.”
Regarding the importance of the bylaw, Wheelock said that it provides more detail into potential ground pollution that can occur. He said that if an entity were to embark on a project that could potentially pollute the aquifer, they would need to appear before the Planning Board who would enforce the bylaw. He noted that in the past, there was a pollution of the aquifer that happened due to waste from the Middleborough dump. “We believe this is an important service to the town and we’re going to do our absolute best to make sure we bring a high-quality product to town meeting,” Wheelock said in closing.
Selectman John Traynor said he believes cranberry growers and certain businesses in town should have a say in the bylaw. “I want to make sure their voices are heard,” he told Wheelock. Wheelock assured him that they are taking the whole winter to work on it in order to make sure that they confer with all the necessary parties.
Town Administrator Liz Dennehy provided a brief update. She said that Plympton has received the $25,800 in grant funding from Community Compact. She also said that the budget process is underway.
Per tradition, the Selectmen ended the meeting with their raves for the last few weeks. Traynor said he had several raves noting, “there just seems to be a lot going on now that it’s holiday season.” The Plympton Police and Fire Departments prepared and served Thanksgiving meals for senior citizens at the Upland Club in November. He noted that State Senator Susan Moran attended the event. Traynor said he attended the Thanksgiving Feast at Dennett Elementary School with fellow Selectman Mark Russo. Regarding the event, Traynor said, “It’s fabulous – best event of the year… great to see the kids.” He also gave a rave for a local Daisy Troop who performed some Christmas caroling recently.
Russo said he had a couple of raves related to special town meeting. “Really impressed with the turnout… on a really stormy night,” he said. “The second portion of that is the unanimous vote to authorize the Turkey Swamp… it really speaks to the fundamental value all of us in this town really share for open space,” Russo said. Joy piggy-backed on Russo’s rave for the acquisition of Turkey Swamp, calling it a “labor of love” for all the groups that worked so hard to make it come to fruition. Joy provided a second rave for the Selectmen Assistant Bri Martins for all the work she puts into making sure all of the various licenses are ready for approval by the Selectmen.

Mendes elected to Lasell SGA

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NEWTON — Sarah Mendes of Halifax was elected to Lasell University’s Student Government Association (SGA) this fall.
Mendes was elected as an SGA senator. Senators attend weekly Student Government meetings and participate in at lease one cross-campus committee, focusing on student life, academics, finance, diversity and inclusion, and more. Senators are responsible for representing the experiences of their fellow students to Lasell administrators, and work to keep their peers informed of all Student Government activities.

Special Town Meeting complete in 28 minutes

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Plympton’s Special Town Meeting Nov. 30 saw the seven articles covering the town’s business conducted in only 28 minutes from start to finish.
The cold, rain-driven blustery night caused many to wonder if the 35-person quorum would be met, but it was met and then some, with 87 Plympton residents braving the weather.
The meeting was held at the Dennett Elementary School, 80 Crescent St., Plympton.
Town Moderator Barry DeCristofano called the meeting to order at 7 p.m., asking all to take this moment to silence their phones. Then, without ado, he began.
Article 1, asked the town to approve the purchase of substantial acreage of an area north of Maple St, east of Palmer Road, and south of Main Street. The vote was unanimous in favor of the land purchase. Turkey Swamp will be held in a conservation restriction so devopment will not be allowed.
Article 2 was approved, allowing the establishment of Tax Title Payment Plans to help citizens pay their delinquent real estate taxes over a term of five years or less, easing the burden.
Article 3 was approved to transfer $21,000.00 to the Unemployment Line in the FY 2023 budget to cover a shortfall.
Article 4 asked the town to allow the selectmen to petition the state legislature to allow the current Fire Chief Stephen Silva to continue in his position of chief for five more years until age 70, providing his health allows. Selectmen asked that the town pass over the article. The voters agreed.
Article 5 corrected an error in the Wage and Personnel Bylaw, that would allow unused sick leave to accumulate without limit. The corrected verbage would limit sick leave to accumulate up to 50 days. The article passed unanimously.
Article 6 asked the Town to transfer from the Overlay Surplus Fund $100,000.00 to help reduce the FY23 interim tax burden. The motion passed unanimously.
Article 7 asked the town to transfer up to $100,000.00 from Free Cash to repair or replace the roof on the Old Town House. The town approved the warrant article unanimously.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:28 p.m.

Two FinCom vacancies filled

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The Halifax Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, Nov. 22.
The Board also met with members of the Finance Committee for the appointment of two vacancies on the Committee. Both open terms expire in 2025. Frank Johnston told Selectmen that he was recently retired and had been attending meetings of various towns and committees to figure out what would be a good fit for him. He said that he spent 44 years managing a large environmental firm which familiarized him with bidding, contracts, operating budgets, labor, etc.
Jim Walters went before the Board next and told them that he and his wife moved from New Jersey two years ago. He said that he wanted to help after what happened with the resignations of the two Selectmen. He said that he checked a lot of boxes on the Talent Bank Form. Walters said he is the Director of Programs for State and Local Government for a cloud computing company and has extensive experience writing grants. The Selectmen voted to appoint both Johnston and Walters to the vacancies on the Finance Committee.
Chair John Bruno said they had received correspondence from the treasurer of the Halifax Mobile Home Estates. Bruno summarized the letter saying that for many years, the Mobile Home Estates had been fully occupied at 430 homes, however, that as of December of 2021 one of the homes was demolished in a house fire. They asked for the necessary changes to be made to the fees paid to the town.
Bruno requested of the other Selectmen that on one of the off Tuesdays per month, they establish Selectmen’s office hours where residents can come and discuss any concerns that they may have. The first Tuesday of every month was decided upon from the hours of 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and the third Tuesday of the month from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.. The first hour will be on Dec.6.
The Selectmen dealt with several recycling abatement requests including one for a home where a resident had passed away and the son didn’t realize he had to request an abatement. In the aforementioned case, the Selectmen voted in favor of abatement.
The Selectmen had an appointment with Steve Littlefield, who is the acting Veteran’s Agent. “He is now looking to fill the vacancy on a permanent basis; he has done a wonderful job on the Veteran’s ceremony,” Acting Town Administrator and Town Treasurer Sandy Nolan said. Littlefield was previously the Assistant Veteran’s Agent. Littlefield noted that he will soon be stepping down from active military service. The Selectmen voted unanimously to appoint him through June 30, 2023.
The Selectmen also met with Susan Hill, the Vice Chair of the Halifax Fireworks Committee. “We have decided to forgo our craft fair in December because of a lack of vendors,” Hill said. Hill said that they had been approached by someone requesting to be a multi-year sponsor of the fireworks display. She said they are considering doing a craft fair in the spring.
Council on Aging Director Darlene Regan met with the Selectmen as well regarding a few issues. Nolan said that Regan was hoping to hire a van driver at Step 4 rather than Step 1 due to the qualifications of the particular driver. Regan explained that they had lost drivers in the past due to the salary range. Regan said that the driver in question is GATRA qualified. The Board voted to hire the driver at Grade 2, Step 4.
Regan also requested that the receptionist title be changed to administrative assistant calling the former title “antiquated.” She also said that administrative assistant better suited the tasks being fulfilled by the role. Selig said if it was just a name change, then he saw no harm in it. His concern was if there was a grade change associated with the title change. The Selectmen passed a motion to change the job title name from receptionist to administrative associate. Regan also said that the Outreach Coordinator position is not truly defined as clearly as it should be, based on the community’s needs. She told the Selectmen that she rewrote the job description as Human Resource Service and Case Worker. Bruno asked if they could hire for a position that doesn’t exist yet in the bylaw. Nolan said she would need to propose the position to the Wage and Personnel at the public hearing in January and then it would need to be voted upon at town meeting. Bruno asked if he could take it under advisement so that he could gather more information before deciding.
The Selectmen also had an appointment with Municipal Environmental Law Attorney Richard Hucksam regarding a proposed condominium complex of 200 units on 25 acres. Hucksam, who is representing the town, said that Mass Housing wants the town to submit comments on the project. “At this point, in my view, the very best thing we can do is get from the various town boards and officials all the comments that we can about the project,” Hucksam said. Bruno asked if those contained abutter comments and was told that this was really for town officials to submit. Hucksam said that they would have a problem not going through the 40B process. Chapter 40B Housing is a Massachusetts program that enables developers to overrule local zoning bylaws in order to increase the number of affordable homes in certain municipalities. “Does our ZBA not have as much bargaining power because it is a 40B?” Selig asked. “In one sense it has less bargaining power because if you’re just dealing with zoning bylaw, it has criteria that have to be satisfied and that’s it unless there’s a variance granted and the variance standard is very strict under Mass law,” Hucksam said. He continued saying that 40B pits the local concerns against the need for affordable housing. “They’re going to be balanced against each other and that’s where the more the town can establish that there are real issues… during the hearing process the better position its in to have some kind of control over what the project ends up being,” he explained.
There was a conversation on the Building Inspector certification. “I’ll say that we have received several letters relating to this issue, I’m not going to read them all because some of them go on for four pages, but they will be part of our public record,” Bruno said. Bruno summarized the issue saying that they don’t have complete certification for the Building Inspector. “We’ve had a couple of concerned residents reach out wanting to point out to the Board that our Building Inspector had not received all of his… certifications yet. I spoke to Mr. Perry, our Building Inspector and he told me that it is in the works,” Selig said. He further said that they have on record an extension request from the Building Inspector. He said that the State would rule on the extension of time request. Bruno asked James Perry how close he was to being certified and was told that he needs to complete a fire test. Perry confirmed that taking that test would be enough to certify him as a local Building Inspector. He would need three more sets of tests to become Building Commissioner. Perry said they do have a Commissioner out of Bridgewater who signs certificates of occupancy alongside Perry. Perry said, “just for the record, my predecessor also received an extension of time.”
Bruno said that they received an email of a donation of land at 0 Hill St. to the town. “Maybe we can find a use for it someday,” Bruno said. The Board said they were in favor of adopting the small land parcel pending it passing at town meeting.
Selig provided an update on the Holidays in Halifax planning saying that traditionally it is the second Saturday in December. The plan is to have the event from roughly 4 pm to 8 pm on December 10. He said that there would be an ice sculpture, hayrides, Silver Lake carolers, and food trucks. There will also be balloon animals, jumpy houses, and Santa.
The Selectmen also dealt with a complaint of an open meeting law violation at one of the Selectmen meetings that were run when just Selig was at the helm on October 25. The complaint stated that he accepted meeting minutes from the October 11 meeting without a quorum. Town Counsel recommended that the two new Selectmen watch the recording of the meeting and then approve the meeting minutes.

 

Halifax Town Administrator interviews

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Halifax Selectmen select Haddad as next TA
Halifax hired Bernie Lynch of Community Paradigm Associates to find and vet candidates for the open Town Administrator position. A screening committee was also created that included the Town Accountant Sandy Nolan, the Town Clerk Sue Lawless, both the Fire and Police Chiefs, and three citizens-at- large. “We had those folks act as our first pass through with the help of Bernie as well,” Selectman Jonathan Selig explained during the Board of Selectmen meeting on Friday, Nov. 18.
Selectmen John Bruno and Naja Nessralla joined Selig and Lynch to interview the three finalists.
Edward Swartz was the first candidate to be interviewed. Swartz said that at 27 he was elected as a City Councilor for Taunton. “It was instilled in me, at a young age, to get involved,” he explained. He said that he moved to Dighton in 2000 when his children were young. “In Dighton, for 17 years, while I was the Chairman of the Finance Committee, we didn’t have a Town Administrator, so I acted as a quasi-Town Administrator,” Swartz said. He said he is very loyal having spent a decade or more with a few of the companies he has worked for, having been at the most recent one for the last 17 years. “I live by a motto of always look at what we can do, not what we can’t do,” Swartz told the Selectmen.
“I find, and I found it in Dighton all the time, the towns underutilize their opportunities of what they can get from their State legislators because they just don’t know how to proceed with it and they control a lot of what goes on with the grants,” Swartz said. Swartz also said that he is all about community involvement. “I love events, we have tree lighting ceremonies I always attend… doesn’t matter what parade,” he said. He also said that he is a runner and is involved in a running group out of Abington. “Going to events, getting to know people, that’s who I am,” he said.
Asked about how he would handle criticism, Swartz said, “When you put yourself out there as an elected official… whether it was in 1995, 2015, or here in 2022, the only thing is people are a little more vocal about it now and we have social media… you don’t get yourself into social media wars… I’m going to look you in the eye and we’re going to have a conversation.” Swartz added that he sees social media as a tool to relay factual information about what is going on in the town.
The Selectmen told Swartz that one of the roles fulfilled by the previous Town Administrator was Chief Procurement Officer which they noted required some schooling. Swartz said, “I took the first class… and I have plans to take the next one.”
Selig asked Swartz how he intended to maintain the small town feel of Halifax while also keeping growth in mind. “In order to keep the balance between residential and commercial taxes, you have to involve growth, you have to find a way to bring the right commercial into town in the right locations,” he answered.
Cody Haddad, the current Assistant Town Administrator in Dartmouth, was next to interview. He said that prior to that he was the Director of Development and Grants. “I’m ready to make the step to be a Town Administrator. It’s important for me to find a good fit; not just for me to be a good fit but also for the community to find me a good fit,” Haddad explained. He continued, “When I look at Halifax and I look at some of the projects you have upcoming, I think this is somewhere I can come in and be very successful.” He referenced the recent instability in Halifax and said that he feels that Halifax is the kind of place where he could put his roots down and stay for twenty plus years.
Haddad noted that he oversees affordable housing in Dartmouth and said that he helped to improve the Capital Improvement Plan there as well. He said that were he to be hired in Halifax, he would look to update the Master Plan. Regarding the Master Plan he said you need a “tool of some sort where you rank the items and say these are the items that we’re going to pursue. Not because we think the Highway Department is more important than the Police Department or anything along those lines, but this is where they rank, and we have a process… so the items get funded.” He also said, “I view it really as a strategic plan for the town… it sets the goals, the guidelines for how departments should work. Select Board goals is another important strategic plan based off of that. Your compensation and classification study is something that needs to be done,” Haddad said. He said he would also focus on recruitment and retainment of staff, noting that he recognizes that the town is limited in what they can pay.
Haddad was asked about his grant experience which he described as “quite extensive.” He said, “When I came in the town would average, on a good year, a million dollars in grants. Since I’ve overseen the grants in the town, 3 million is what we’re averaging and that’s completely me.”
“My management style is very open door,” Haddad said. He continued, “I’ve been very successful in Dartmouth of creating that atmosphere where staff and department heads have issues, I’m the one that they come to… they come to me with issues and we’re able to talk through them… I’m a big collaborator so I think teams on almost everything is very important.”
Haddad said that better communication with residents is vital. He said that in Dartmouth he launched a separate website that he referred to as “an engagement portal.” He explained, “It was an opportunity for the public to engage with the town. We would post updates on projects… it was a place you could go and still can go to get factual information about things going on in the town. What happens, lots of times, is misinformation gets out there and then that’s it once it gets out there, it’s really hard to control.” He said that there was a spot on the website called “what the fact” where people could post questions about things in town and himself or the Town Administrator would respond within 48 hours. “One of the things I like to say is if I don’t know the answer, I’ll get you an answer,” Haddad said.
Asked about his experience with collective bargaining he said, “I’ve really been involved with collective bargaining entirely from doing research in other communities, looking at contracts, costing out contracts – that’s one really crucial thing that you have to do before you even bargain. Looking at what the town can the town can afford, first… so we don’t get in a bad position where we offer something and then the town isn’t financially in a good spot…. I’ve actually been at the table leading negotiations with the unions – we have 11 unions in Dartmouth.”
Rebecca Meekins was the final applicant to appear before the Board. “I grew up with a mother who served as town councilor for the community that I grew up in in Vermont. So, it’s sort of always been in me… I like to say that I was born with the public servant gene,” Meekins said. “This is the career that I intend to pursue until I’m done,” she continued. Meekins said that she has served as the Assistant Town Administrator in Grafton and currently serves as the Assistant Town Administrator in Northborough. She said that her time in Grafton was largely finance based saying she was responsible for putting together the annual operating budget as well as the five-year capital plan.
Regarding her wanting to take a job on the South Shore when she currently works in central Massachusetts, she said her parents recently moved to Kingston. “My wife and I recently started a family and it’s amazing what having children will do to your worldview… and we are looking to move up here and get closer to family,” she explained.
Asked about community involvement, Meekins said, “Part of the reason that I love doing this work is that you really get to immerse yourself in a community. In seeking to become a Town Administrator it’s not about a steppingstone for me, it’s about developing a long-term relationship with a community and its members and seeing the fruits of my labor come to fruition over time.” She said she looks forward to coffee hours at senior centers and participating in public input sessions for various projects. She said that she doesn’t want to sit behind a desk and noted that she loves that every day is different, and you get to interact with many different people including legislators.
Bruno asked about grant writing and human resources saying, “In our town we have some holes in our process.” He said he believes Halifax loses a lot of opportunities in terms of grants. He also noted that problems sometimes arise in town due to a lack of a human resources department. With respect to the human resources issue, Meekins said the town she is in now doesn’t have a human resources department either, so she is familiar with how to handle those things. “Classification and compensation, I think, is incredibly important so that the staff understand that there is a fair and equitable way that this has been decided, that there is a process,” she said. Selig then asked about retention given a limited salary value. “I don’t think there’s a municipality in Massachusetts that hasn’t faced that challenge as of late,” Meekins said. She said that she believes in being transparent about salary ranges and steps at the beginning when hiring. She also noted that she believes in being creative in the steps taken to retain people.
Meekins said she was certified as a procurement officer. “Ninety-five percent of grant writing is just knowing that the grant exists. I like to think of myself as fairly tapped in. There are a lot of financial resources floating out there right now particularly coming out of covid,” she explained. “The Community Compact Program, I do believe will be continued by the new administration… that’s an incredibly valuable resource for cities and towns to be able to implement best practices in a variety of services,” she continued. She said she was able to secure the ADA grant in the town of Grafton. “The great thing about that grant is that once you complete the self-evaluation plan, you then become eligible for construction money, construction grants. We can identify all of the infrastructure problems we have but if we don’t have access to funds to improve it, that doesn’t do us any good… Every year you can apply for up to $300,000 from the State to make those improvements,” Meekins said.
Asked how quickly she could start, she stated that there was a relocation aspect involved as she would need to buy a house and move her family. “I am here because I am very interested in the opportunity to relocate,” she said. Asked what she sees as the role of the Town Administrator she said to the Board, “I am carrying out your vision.” Bruno asked how she would handle disagreement with the Board. She said, “I believe in civil disagreement; I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I think that’s somewhat lost on people especially these days.”
Asked about her views on social media, she said that she had conflicting feelings. She noted that in larger towns that have staff available to be dedicated to answering questions on social media, she felt that it could be useful. For smaller communities, she said it was best used for one-way communication.
The Selectmen conferred with one another before making a decision toward the end of their meeting. “I think anyone would be fortunate to have any one of the three of them,” Bruno said. Bruno said that he felt that Swartz might be the best fit. Selig said, “those were the best three interviews I’ve seen for a Town Administrator on this Board.” He continued, “It comes down to flavors of ice cream.” Selig said he was leaning toward Swartz or Haddad with a slight advantage to Haddad. Nessralla stated his preference for Haddad as well. The Selectmen voted unanimously to hire Haddad pending contract negotiations.

 

Silver Lake Warrior Mites win Super Bowl!

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Katie Rondeau
Special to The Express

You play football because you want to. You play football because it’s fun. You play football so you could pretend you’re Joe Montana throwing a touchdown pass, or Emmitt Smith going for a long run. And even if they beat you 8 times out of 9, that still leaves, one time.” Little Giants
Last year this team lost every game. This year was going to be different, this year was their chance at ONE TIME.
The season started in August back at our home town practice field down at Pottle. With last season’s outcome behind them these young athletes all signed up and showed up to play another season of football. Football takes heart and that’s exactly what this team has. After the first month of pre season practice the coaches recognized that these young Warriors were blessed with the kind of raw football talent given to those who were born to bask in gridiron glory. These kids were not going to give up. This was going to be our year.
“FATE WHISPERS TO THE WARRIOR YOU CANNOT WITHSTAND THE STORM. THE WARRIOR REPLIES I AM THE STORM.”
The returning 4th graders and the upcoming 3rd graders created the perfect storm that no team could match. One time turned in to victory after victory for the team. The undefeated Silver Lake Warrior Mite Team defeated the East Bridgewater Vikings by the score of 20–0 finishing with a perfect record of 9-0 for the season. And, a Super Bowl championship!!!
Silver Lake Mite Warriors WIN the Super Bowl with a perfect 11-0 record
The Silver Lake Mite Warriors have Katie Rondeau. Katie wrote the one talking about Emmett Smith and Joe Montana.
Photographer, Rebecca Deaton scored 287 points while shutting out seven teams in eleven games, bringing home the CHAMPIONSHIP!
The Silver Lake Mite Warriors 3rd & 4th Grade youth football team finished the season with a record of 11-0 after a 21-0 win over East Bridgewater in the Super Bowl.
Credit goes out to the coaches Erik Barrette, Chris Hession, Marc McGarry, Robby Cahill, John-Michael Fontes, Doug Carbone, Brandon Barry and Bobby Cyrus who selflessly gave of their time to develop this young team.
This game inspires character, leadership, resilience and teamwork. Above all the game unites a family. And, that bond is the greatest win of all.

Note: These players were inadvertently left out of the roster published in last week’s Express. We apologise for this oversight.

Deb Anderson, Publisher.

Randy Sullivan talks turkey

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If you want to call a turkey, just talk to Randy Sullivan.   He can give you a lot of choices that he creates in his Plympton workshop: slate calls, wing-bone calls, box calls, scratch box calls, trough calls, long paddle box calls that make a higher pitch, each designed to catch the ear of an ambitious Tom looking for a hen.  Or you can work a crow caller.  Why would you want to make sounds like a crow?   To wake up the turkeys early in the morning so you can take your shot.  Or owl calls, so turkeys think there are owls nearby and flush, or leave their cover.
The workmanship is beautiful, but Randy doesn’t take all the credit for that – the choice of the wood gives a lot to the appearance.  A favorite is flame elm, a pale beauty with a streak or two of rose pink running through it.
Each handcrafted turkey call makes a distinctive sound.   Randy demonstrated how a piece of wood used in the long paddle box caller is shaped to a specific curve to help give the call its voice.  He told of his friendship with Dick Kirby, founder of Quaker Boy Game Calls, a legendary turkey call maker who gave Randy the formula for that curve, and Randy uses it to this day.  The friend has since passed but the art of the turkey call continues through the friends like Randy he mentored.
While once you could just look up a Sullivan turkey call on eBay; these days he is more selective.  He now has a following, people he makes calls for every year.   “I just started making calls for the kids,” Sullivan continued. “Probably 70% of the calls I make go to the kids or for fundraisers all over the country, and that’s all right.”    He said he donates a fair number of calls to the Carver Sportsmen’s Club for their youth hunts and gets a lot of satisfaction when a young hunter sends him a picture of their first turkey.
Once plentiful in colonial Massachusetts, the last known wild turkey was killed in 1851, according to the Mass.gov website.  Native turkeys had been driven out of their habitat and hunted to extinction.  The Mass Wildlife naturalists undertook re-introducing the wild turkey to the Massachusetts landscape in the western part of the state in the 1970s.  Biologists relocated 37 wild turkeys from flocks in New York state.   Those birds thrived and by 1978 the count was estimated at about 1,000.  The turkey relocation and re-introduction was a success.  Turkeys were introduced to areas east of the Connecticut River and throughout the northeastern, and southeastern areas of the state until the mid 1990s when the count for these birds was more than 25,000.  In 1991 the wild turkey was named the official Massachusetts Game Bird.
If you’d like to talk turkey with Randy Sullivan just email him at [email protected]

Local students will perform in Nutcracker ballet

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Sixty-five dancers from 19 South Shore communities take to the ballet stage for a beloved holiday entertainment tradition. 

Celebrating the magic of the holidays through the joy of dance, South Shore Ballet Theatre will present the seasonal classic “The Nutcracker,” on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 17 and 18, 1 p.m. and 5 p.m., at Thayer Academy Center for Performing Arts, 745 Washington Str., Braintree.

For more than 14 years, South Shore Ballet Theatre’s full-length production of “The Nutcracker” has celebrated the magic of the holidays on Boston’s South Shore. Based on E.T.A. Hoffman’s tale “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King,” and set to Tchaikovsky’s treasured musical score, “The Nutcracker” is the dance classic that offers quintessential enchantment for holiday season entertainment.  Become entranced by Clara as she explores a charmed world from her family’s living room on Christmas Eve, adventures through an enchanted forest of dancing snowflakes, into the magical Land of The Sweets led by the Sugar Plum Fairy.

“This year is very special as we welcome back two South Shore Ballet Theatre graduates to perform the roles of Sugar Plum Fairy and Dew Drop,” shares SSBT Founding Artistic Director Marthavan McKeon.  “We are also thrilled to welcome back Leslie Woodies as part of our production team, who is sharing her expertise with the dancers as well as working with me to update this year’s production with quite a few surprises for the audience.” McKeon notes that Woodies previously served on SSBT’s senior faculty for many years, and now serves as a projection designer with Harbor Media’s Kristina Yannotta.

 Known for its spectacular professional-quality productions, SSBT engages guest artists in The Nutcracker’s leading roles, including Olivia Hansen of Cohasset as Sugar Plum Fairy, a SSBT graduate, appearing courtesy of The Dallas Conservatory’s Classical Training Program, Wyatt Payne as the Cavalier of American Midwest Ballet in Omaha, Nebraska, Lila Jacobs as Dew Drop, a current National Ballet of Canada student, as well as a SSBT graduate and Hingham native, and Harry Yamakawa-Moser as Drosselmeyer, SSBT Faculty member. The production also engages 65 student dancers from SSBT’s ballet training programs, residing in 19 South Shore communities.

Founded in 2008, South Shore Ballet Theatre is the South Shore region’s pre-professional ballet school featuring world class faculty, training tomorrow’s dancers today!  SSBT’s mission is to provide students and their families with the opportunity to develop an appreciation of ballet and related dance disciplines in a safe and nurturing environment, encouraging students to strive to achieve their fullest potential, regardless of course of study.

Tickets to “The Nutcracker” range between $20 to $30, are now available for purchase at 29965.danceticketing.com/r/events. The event is family-friendly and performs in approximately 90 minutes. To donate to support South Shore Ballet Theatre Foundation’s scholarship program, or for more information about SSBT’s programs, tuition, and performances, visit southshoreballettheatre.com, call 781-312-7224, or follow South Shore Ballet Theatre on social media.

About South Shore Ballet Theatre

Founded in 2008, South Shore Ballet Theatre (SSBT) is the South Shore region’s pre-professional ballet school featuring world class faculty, training tomorrow’s dancers today!  SSBT’s mission is to provide students and their families with the opportunity to develop an appreciation of ballet and related dance disciplines in a safe and nurturing environment, encouraging students to strive to achieve their fullest potential, regardless of course of study.

SSBT students frequently take the performance stage including the beloved full-length production of “The Nutcracker”, their annual Spring Gala and throughout the year collaboratively with local schools and arts programs, sharing the appreciation of dance with the local community.

SSBT staff are committed to supporting diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice. All students are welcome regardless of appearance, gender, race, religion, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, or disability. SSBT maintains an open-door policy so that all individuals may join the SSBT community and share this art form.

SSBT’s programs include American Ballet Theatre’s (ABT®) National Training Curriculum, a breakthrough nine-level program that combines high quality artistic training with the basics of dancer health and child development.  The National Training Curriculum consists of a comprehensive set of age-appropriate, outcome-based guidelines to provide the highest quality ballet training to dance students of all ages and skill levels.

For more information about South Shore Ballet Theatre, its programs, tuition, scholarships, and performances, visit SouthShoreBalletTheatre.com, call 781-312-7224, or follow South Shore Ballet Theatre on social media.

Special Town Meeting Nov. 30

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Residents of Plympton will convene Wednesday, Nov. 30, at 7 p.m. at the Dennett Elementary School,  80 Crescent St., to consider seven articles on the warrant that include the following:

Article 1 asks the town to authorize the Board of Selectmen to acquire by purchase, gift, or eminent domain the lands off Palmer Road, Maple Street and Main Street, such acreage known as “Turkey Swamp”, including any buildings and improvements thereon, and any interests in abutting lands that may be convenient to provide access, for open space, conservation and passive recreation purposes.  The lands will be held in the custody and control of and managed by the Conservation Commission. Any and all related costs, deposits to secure purchase agreement, attorneys’ fees will be appropriated from the Community Preservation fund and expended under the direction of the Board of Selectmen.

Article 1 also asks the town to authorize the Board of Selectmen and/or such other Town boards or commissions as the Selectmen may designate, to apply for, accept and expend any sums, including grants and/or reimbursements, that may be provided by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts under Chapter 132A, Section 11, including the Massachusetts Municipality Vulnerability Preparedness Program, or by any other public or private source, to defray all or a portion of the costs of said acquisition, and to enter into all agreements, execute any and all instruments, and take any and all actions as may be necessary or appropriate to effectuate the foregoing purposes; or take any other action relative thereto.

Board of Selectmen Recommended by BOS (3-0)

ARTICLE 2 asks the Town will vote to amend the Town’s General Bylaws to add a new section to authorize the Treasurer establish payment agreements, or Tax Title Payment Plans for parcels of land in tax title to allow delinquent taxpayers to pay off their tax liens over time – up to five years – for both commercial and residential property, industrial, and open space.  There are specific conditions under which a tax title payment plan may be drawn and may include a waiver of up to 25% of the interest due, provided payments are made in a timely basis according to the agreement.

Town Treasurer Recommended by BOS (3-0)

ARTICLE 3  asks the Town to vote to transfer from Free Cash the sum of $21,000.00 to the Unemployment Line (Budget Line 30) in the FY 2023 budget as voted in Article 4 at the May 18, 2022 Annual Town Meeting.

Town Treasurer Recommended by BOS (3-0)

ARTICLE 4 asks the Town will vote to authorize the Board of Selectmen to petition the Massachusetts General Court for special legislation, to allow Stephen Silva to continue his appointment to the position of Fire Chief until age 70. Provided he is mentally and physically capable of performing the duties of his office.

Board of Selectmen Recommended by BOS (3-0)

ARTICLE 5 asks the town will vote to amend the Wage and Personnel Bylaw, Section 11, Sick Leave, by striking subsection (c) in its entirety and by editing subsection (g) to read as follows: (g) Unused sick leave shall be credited and shall accumulate from year to year without limit. Unused sick leave is not eligible for payout in the event of an employee’s separation from the Town for any reason, or take any other action relative thereto.

Board of Selectmen/Wage Advisory Committee Recommended by BOS (3-0)

ARTICLE 6 asks the Town to transfer from available Overlay Surplus funds the sum of $100,000.00 for the purpose of reducing the Fiscal 2023 Interim tax rate.

Board of Assessors Recommended by BOS (3-0)

ARTICLE 7 asks the Town to vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds a sum of money for the repair and/or replacement of the roof on the Old Town House, including all necessary work and improvements related thereto, or take any other action relative thereto.

Town Properties Committee Recommended by BOS (3-0)