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Hunting season begins – park areas delineated

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Hunting season is open  as of the first of November and walkers and hikers in the parks and preserves throughout the area have designated hunting and no hunting areas.

Please familiarize yourselves with the areas in which hunting is allowed, and be sure to wear a blaze orange vest and/or cap to identify yourselves as you walk in the woods.   Don’t forget your dog – it should also have a blaze orange vest or kerchief to avoid accidents.

Safety zones in Plympton’s parks are Churchill Prk, O’Neil Marsh, and the front area of Two Brooks Preserve.

There is no hunting anywhere on Sunday in Massachusetts so Sunday is a Safety Day.

Laker Football Senior Night vs Hingham

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A crisp fall night under a setting crescent moon set the stage perfectly for Silver Lake Football to celebrate their senior players and to be tested against a strong visiting Hingham squad. The Lakers recognized Seniors Ryan Green, DJ Gilmore, Captain John Dickinson, Caleb Berry, Khalid Vicks, Jake Cipullo, Eddie Scigliano, Captain Nick Peterson, Sam Berkachi, Bailey Hooper, Joseph Micklos, Phineas Ering, Captain Ben Carroll, Connor Jones, and team Manager John Venna for their contributions both on and off the field through their years at the Lake.

Many take advantage of early voting

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The early voting period for Massachusetts, Oct. 22 to Nov. 4, ends today.

Town clerks in each of the Silver Lake towns have held early voting sessions for the Tuesday, Nov. 8,mid-term elections.

All the towns in Massachusetts were mandated to offer a specific number of early voting hours, dependent on the number of registered voted in their town.

Of its 2,343 registered voters, Plympton saw 94 take advantage of the early voting convenience as of Wednesday morning.  An additional 397 voters asked that ballots be mailed to them.  Of those, about 175 have not yet been returned.

In Halifax, 156 of the 6241 registered voters cast their ballots early as of Wednesday morning at 9 a.m.

Kingston Town Clerk Paul Gallagher noted that of his town’s 10,908 registered voters, 430 have cast their ballots early as of Wednesday morning.  He also said that his office has sent out 2,907 mail ballots.  “If all of the mailed ballots are returned, added to the number of people who have votd early, we will have more than 30% voting before election day,” Gallagher noted.  “If the intent of the legislature was to increase voter participation, I would say they have succeeded.

‘Trees for Troops’ event approved

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The single-person Halifax Board of Selectmen held a meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 25. Selectman Jonathan Selig sat with acting interim Town Administrator Sandra Nolan. 

The Board had an appointment with a representative from The Farm at Raven Brook regarding some one-day liquor licenses. The Farm at Raven Brook is a Christmas tree farm in Halifax that will be holding a Trees for Troops fundraising event on Friday, Nov. 25 through Sunday, Nov. 27. The event will include some local businesses including food trucks and breweries. The breweries involved include Barrel House Z, Black Hat Brew Works, and Article Fifteen Brewing. Representatives were on hand from Black Hat Brew Works and Barrel House Z and one day liquor licenses were approved for them from 11am to 3pm on November 26 and November 27 respectively. While no representative was present for Article Fifteen Brewery, the liquor license was approved contingent upon Fire and Police approval for Friday, November 25 from 11am to 3pm. “I wish you good luck; it’s nice to see local businesses planning events like that,” Selig said.

Selig said that there was a name change to the weekday entertainment license as well as the common victualler license for Lyonville Tavern. The new name is Nonnie’s Italian Grille. He explained, “This project… has already kind of been started, so this is kind of cleaning up the name parts of these changes.” The live entertainment license is for Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. 

Selig said that he had an update from the Veteran’s Agent Steve Littlefield regarding the Veteran’s Day ceremony. Selig said, “Just a reminder to everyone to keep their calendars open for Nov. 11 at 11 a.m. at the front steps of the Town Hall; that will be where our Veteran’s Day ceremony will take place.” He continued, “I’m sure, judging by our last Memorial Day Parade, Steve does a great job with these. So, again, if anyone’s in the area and would like to pay respect to our veterans on Veteran’s Day.” 

Selig also had an appointment with Jeremy Gillespie regarding a potential appointment to the Beautification Committee. “We’ve got to grill you a little bit,” Selig joked. Gillespie, who has lived in town for over three years, said he does try to make it to Town Meeting when he can. Asked what he thinks of Halifax, Gillespie was quick to respond, “I love it.” Selig also asked Gillespie what special talents or skills he felt he could bring to the Town’s Beautification Committee. Gillespie said, “knowing how to plant and maintain landscaping.” He also said that he is well versed in putting messages out on social media. Gillespie also said that he didn’t foresee the time commitment necessary to be a problem. Selig appointed him to the Beautification Committee for a term ending June 30, 2023. 

Before Gillespie left, a member of the public asked, “what does the Beautification Committee do?” Selig said, “Well Jeremy, would you like to field your first question?” Gillespie who said he had only been to three or four meetings thus far responded, “They maintain some of the public gardens out here through various donations and organize the clean-up days in the fall and spring.” He added, “That’s all I know right now. Hoping to find out more.” Selig jumped in saying, “Essentially, they are charged with making Halifax even more beautiful.” Nolan added that they have an Adopt a Planter program. 

Before adjourning, Selig said that the next regularly scheduled Selectmen’s meeting is November 8. “That, as you know, is Election Day. We’re going to wait and have our meeting November the ninth – a special meeting… we’ll have our full Board of Selectmen and will be able to start moving things along,” he explained.   

Plympton is one step closer to PayT

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Todd Koep, a Municipal Systems Coordinator with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), gave a presentation on Monday, Oct. 24 to Plympton residents on Pay as You Throw or PayT. He said that Plympton averages 1,926 lbs. of trash per household per year whereas the average across the State was 1,066. “[The] current system is a flat fee so if you dispose of 1 bag a week, you pay the same as someone that disposes of 10 bags per week,” Koep told the audience.

Koep said that PAYT is unit based just as other utilities like electricity where you pay for what you use. He called the program “a waste reduction strategy” saying it helps with recycling and reusing since it forces people to take a harder look at the trash they generate.

He said that residents would be given either a 15- or 33-gallon bag of trash. There would be a fixed cost for the operation of the transfer station. “To cover those costs, you have an annual fee… what we’ve kind of come to the conclusion is a $45 fee for seniors and a $65 fee for  otherresidents,” Koep said. The larger bag would cost $2.50 while the smaller bag would cost $1.50. “The bags are set to break at a certain weight and that’s because the bags are priced by weight,” he further explained. The bags would be sold at local retailers frequented by residents including Stop and Shop, Walmart, and local gas stations. He said the only caveat would be if you were to remember needing the trash bags after regular operating hours for those establishments.

Koep likened the smaller bag to the size of a typical kitchen trash bag. “I have 3 adults, a 9-year-old and a dog in my household and I go through one small bag every 2-3 weeks and I’m not the world’s best recycler,” he explained. The larger bag was labeled as being “half the size of a contractor bag.”

“There are a lot of benefits to going Pay as You Throw,” Koep said. Waste reduction including increased recycling, donating, and backyard composting was listed as a major benefit. Leveling the playing field was another huge benefit explained by Koep.

Some of the perceived challenges Koep named were public perception that the fee is a tax, adverse effects on low-income households, increases in illegal dumping, and higher administrative costs. He said that the fee is not actually a tax and noted that sticker fees would be increasing regardless of whether the program was adopted. He also said that waivers for low-income households, veterans, and seniors would be available. Regarding illegal dumping, Koep said that studies have not shown the program to increase illegal dumping. Finally, he said that higher administrative costs are offset through the savings from reduced disposal.

KOEP said another acronym that residents might see is SMART or Save Money and Reduce Trash. “Residents reduce their waste, the town pays less for disposal, and the State generates less trash,” Koep said. He further said that the State goal is 30 percent waste reduction by 2030.

Following his presentation, Koep opened things up for questions. Selectman John Traynor asked for clarification regarding the dollar amount per ton of trash. Koep said it was around $104 per ton of trash. He said the dollar amount for PET plastic is $185 per ton. Koep said there is always going to be a rate for contamination in glass and plastic bottles, usually around 10 percent. He said that the rebate averages out to about $27 per ton.

Traynor said that PAYT was economically advantageous, fairer, and environmentally conscious. He noted that the hard work would be making sure the general public was well-informed on the benefits and that any misconceptions were corrected. “All you’re doing is switching the color of the bag, yeah, it’s going to be a little bit more, but you’re going to be saving overall,” Koep said.

“If there’s feedback out there that we haven’t heard, I’d really like to hear it, before we vote it,” Traynor said. Asked his opinion on the program, Selectman Mark Russo said it wasn’t the right forum for him to discuss his thoughts. He said that the issue would be on the agenda at the November 7 Selectmen’s meeting and that a vote was possible at that time. Russo urged residents to get educated on the issue prior to that meeting. Selectman Christine Joy seconded Russo’s thoughts.

Someone asked about waste oil deposit since Plympton used to have it but no longer does. The high cost was cited as the reason for stopping the program.

Flower and Soul donation buys mountain bike for Police Department

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The Halifax Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, Oct. 11. Jonathan Selig remains the sole Selectmen until the Special Town Election on November 8.

Selig said, “We have accepted a $900 donation from Flower and Soul here in Halifax… the Police Department is using this donation to purchase a police mountain bike.” Selig said that publicly thanking entities or people for sizeable donations is standard practice.

Selig gave an update on the Green Communities Grant saying, “grant has a value of $2,000 and will be used as follows: the Water Department will use the money for an air conditioner to be replaced with a heat pump and the oil heat be replaced with electric heat. For the Fire Station, they are going to rework the mini splits, replace the attic insulation and a new unit for the bunk room, for the Town Hall they are going to replace the insulation in the attic with spray foam to try and tighten that up and Building Maintenance will remove the existing insulation to try and save the town money instead of paying someone to do it. For Town Hall, the sewer line from the downstairs bathrooms to the septic system has rotted, a new cast iron pipe will be installed and the cost of that is $1,200.”

Selig also read a report from the Maintenance and School Building Committee. He said that of three condensing boilers, one is having issues, and another is beginning to also have problems.  Selig said that Scott Materna with the Building Department would be looking into it.

Selig read correspondence from Coleen Burgess in which she requested use of the Town Green for Boy Scout Troop 39 for Saturday, Nov. 19 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. for a bottle drive fundraising event. Selig approved the request.

Several members of the Halifax Fireworks Committee attended the meeting asking for use of the upstairs at the Town Hall on Saturday, Dec. 3 for a craft fair. Selig approved the request pending availability.

Selig had an appointment with the Beautification Committee to discuss the potential appointment of Diane Salvetti. Selig asked Salvetti the usual questions asked of all appointees. Salvetti said she has lived in town since 1996 but acknowledged that she doesn’t regularly attend town meeting. Selig asked her what she would bring to the Committee. Salvetti said, “I’m a retired high school science teacher and so I’ve lived in Halifax, as I said, for these many years and I would kind of like to get involved with the Town and the Committee and I thought I might start seeing how the Beautification Committee works for me.” Committee member Amy L. Troup told Selig that they interviewed Salvetti for half an hour saying, “We like her.” Salvetti also responded that she didn’t see any time constraints that would prohibit her from making meetings. Selig appointed her to a term ending June 30, 2023.

Andrew Saviano and Jill McKee were appointed by Selig as election workers.

Who’s running for selectmen?

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Tuesday, Nov. 8, Halifax voters will have two ballots to mark, one for the state election and another for the special election of two selectmen to fill the unexpired terms of Ashley DiCesa and

John Bruno, well known to Halifax service, will run unopposed for the term ending in 2025.

There are four candidates vying for the second seat.   They are, in alphabetical order, Dennis P. Carman, Mary Gravinese, David M. Mascio, Naja Nessralla, and Wiliam J Smith.

Each candidate brings their own special talents to the position.

In an effort to bring these qualifications to the attention of the voters, Selectman Jonathan Selig has invited each to sit in the barber’s chair at John and Son’s Barber Shop – everyone knows all serious politics are discussed there – and answer a panel of questions proposed by the voters of Halifax.   These discussions were videoed by Area 58 and will be available for public view on their website: www.area58.tv.

The Express has asked each candidate to introduce themselves to the electorate in a 300 word synopsis of what they plan to bring to the position of selectman.   These synopses will be published in the Nov. 4 edition of The Plympton-Halifax-Kingston Express.

BOS Approves STM Warrant

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The Plympton Board of Selectmen met virtually on Monday, Oct. 17.

Tom Millias, who serves as the Inspector of Buildings/Building Commissioner and oversees zoning determinations and zoning enforcement, attended the meeting to provide an update on the Building Department. Selectmen have been continuing the tradition begun last year of inviting various department heads to attend different meetings to get an overall sense of what is going on in the town. “We continue to be quite busy with permit applications… despite the high cost of materials,” Millias explained.

Millais turned things over to Kathy Cannizzo who acts as an Administrative Assistant as well as dealing with zoning determinations and enforcement to elaborate further on zoning issues.  “One item we continue to pursue is signs,” she explained. She said that no sign should exceed 6 sq. ft. of area without a signed permit from the Planning Board. She also said that no property should have more than three commercial vehicles without a special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals. “We’ve also been dealing with a lot of preexisting houses looking to add on,” she said. “We’ve been dealing with a lot of older lots that have suddenly and recently been put on the market,” Millias added. He said that following the chain of title to determine what needs to be presented to comply with the new bylaws has proven challenging.

“One of the items I would like to touch on… is with dog kennels. We are in the process of putting in some observations and suggestions to the Zoning Bylaw Committee,” Millias explained. He said that the zoning section of the bylaws and the municipal section of the bylaws conflict with one another that presents a problem. Selectman John Traynor asked if they could identify those conflicts and ask the Bylaw Committee to address them. “I’m in total support, Kathy your knowledge of the zoning bylaws just staggers me,” he said to Cannizzo. “Me too,” Millias said concurring with Traynor.

“We are engaged, and we are involved, and we have been dealing with quite a few things,” Millias said of the enforcement. Selectman Mark Russo asked what kind of feedback is received when they speak to residents about enforcement. “A lot has to do with how you approach people; I’ve never been a guns blazing kind of guy – that’s counterproductive,” Millias said. He continued saying that most residents are receptive and do their best to cooperate. He credited Cannizzo with having a pleasant demeanor about her that helps ease the tension.

Town Administrator Liz Dennehy went over the Warrant for the Special Town Meeting that will be held on Nov. 30. Article 1 is for the acquisition of Turkey Swamp. Article 2 is put forth by the treasurer to afford her the ability under Mass General Law to setup payment plans for landowners. Article 3 is for the unemployment line which is budgeted at only $1,000 annually. Dennehy said that the estimated amount needed is $21,000. Article 4 looks to exempt the Fire Chief from Mass General Laws that require he be under 65 years of age. She said the article is to allow him to retain the position through age 70. Article 5 is a housekeeping article for the wage and personnel bylaw. Dennehy noted that it wouldn’t affect anyone’s benefits. Article 6 is from the Assessor’s office to transfer from the overlay surplus fund to reduce the 2023 tax rate. Article 7 is from the Town Properties Committee to replace or repair the roof at the Old Townhouse. The Selectmen voted to recommend the articles. The Selectmen also voted the approval for the posting of the warrant for the Nov. 8 State election.

Also on the agenda for the evening was the approval of the Conservation Commission’s Acceptance of two different deeds for two pieces of land located off Prospect Rd. The lands were gifted by Curtis Shaw and Robert Sarofeen. Chair Christine Joy asked if they abutted Two Brooks Preserve and was told they were in that general area. Dennehy said that the acquisition of the land would help the town in their overall footprint of protected lands. One of the lands is referred to as Cob Fresh Meadow and is 1.5 acres. “The Curtis Shaw land is known as Sampson Fresh Meadow,” Dennehy said. “So, both of these lands are going to help make connections with Two Brooks Preserve,” she continued. The Selectman voted unanimously to accept the land that was gifted.

Among her Town Administrator’s updates, Dennehy said she met with the Finance Committee to discuss some potential changes to the budget process. She said they would be meeting on November 14 to vote their recommendations. She said that at the November 7 Board of Selectmen’s meeting, the Town Moderator would be in attendance to iron out the language for the motions at the Special Town Meeting. Dennehy also said that the heat pump system work that was done under the Green Communities Grant is nearly done, noting that it would be able to be closed out almost as quickly as it was opened.

Russo led off the raves with one for the foliage in October calling those lucky enough to witness it “quite blessed.”

Traynor said his rave was similar noting that his grandniece got married outside at Perkins Farm.  “Looking across the pond toward Main St. with the foliage in the background, it was something like you would see in Yankee Magazine, it was beautiful,” he said.  “

My rave is for Liz and Chief Ahl with managing the strike,” Joy began. “This has been so much time and energy around the clock, really managing a very big situation,” she continued. She said her second comment was more of a warning as a coyote went after her and her dog while walking. “You just need to be aware of your surroundings.”

Mayflower Church 15th Annual Craft Fair

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KINGSTON -…Mayflower Church in Kingston will host its 15th Annual Crafts Fair Saturday, November 5, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Briggs Building at 207 Main Street. Tables are still available for crafters wishing to participate.

The event is being sponsored by the Mayflower Women’s Club. The Fair features a number of talented crafters, as well as several tables sponsored by the Mayflower Women’s Club. Anyone interested in having a table to display crafts is urged to contact Sue at 781-585-6350 or Mayflower Church at 781-585-3167.

The public is invited to come and join in for a fun day of shopping, treasure-hunting and dining. Admission is free.

Proceeds benefit local, state and global charities. Mayflower Club supports some local projects including an alcohol treatment center for adults, local food banks, and local shelters. On a statewide basis, the Club supports a Christian after-school daycare program, and a two-week outdoor (overnight) summer camp that serves underprivileged children. On a global level, the Club supports an orphanage in Romania (only about ten miles from the Russian border), providing over-the-counter medications, food, and clothing.

Crafters will offer a wide variety of beautiful wares. Also there will be a bake sale. Lunch is available, including hot dogs, chili, corn chowder, chips and beverages.

Fairgoers will have the opportunity to bid on a variety of items; and, the Club is also looking for anyone with a product or gift certificate who might wish to donate it to the cause.

The public is invited to attend to see the work of crafters from throughout the region, and purchase any items of interest.

Mayflower Church is located at 207 Main Street, Kingston, MA 02364. Reverend Anton Brown serves as Pastor. For additional information, please call 781-585-3167.