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Anne Sayles awarded Boston Post Cane

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Anne Sayles of Lake Street is the latest recipient of Plympton’s “Boston Post Cane.”   A tradition since 1909, the Boston Post Cane has been awarded to the town’s oldest citizen.   Happily, the event coincided with Anne’s 98th birthday!

In addition to her age, Anne deserves recognition for her involvement in the town.  Over the years she combined her early training as an actress with her love of books to read “The Night Before Christmas” to the families gathered at the Congregational Church to celebrate Santa’s arrival on the Plympton Green and at the Plympton Public Library to help celebrate the season.

We are blessed to know her welcoming smile, ready wit, and generous hospitable spirit.  We hope Anne long enjoys her tenure as the holder of the Cane.

About the Boston Post Cane:  In August 1909, Mr. Edwin A. Grozier, Publisher of the Boston Post newspaper, sent a gold-headed ebony cane to the Board of Selectmen of several hundred towns across New England with the request that it be presented with the compliments of the Boston Post to the oldest male citizen of the town.  The cane was to be used by that citizen as long as he lives (or moves from the town), and at his death handed down to the next oldest citizen of the town.  The cane would belong to the town and not the man who received it.

Plympton, happily, has updated the cane presentation requirement to be all-inclusive.

ATM and STM Monday, May 9

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Special Town Meeting will be held on Monday, May 9, 2022 beginning at 6:40 p.m. in the Gymnasium at the Halifax Elementary School, 464 Plymouth St.

A copy of the warrant for the Special Town Meeting is available and is being mailed out.

All Halifax registered voters are eligible to attend, vote and participate at these special town meetings.  Residents must register to vote at least ten days before the date of the special town meeting in order to participate at the meeting.  Persons who are not registered voters in Halifax are permitted to attend the meeting but must sit in a special, designated section on the right side of the room, near the stage.

Annual Town Meeting will be on Monday, May 9, 2022 beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the Gymnasium at the Halifax Elementary School, 464 Plymouth St.

All Halifax registered voters are eligible to attend, vote and participate at the annual town meeting. Residents must register to vote at least twenty days before the date of the annual town meeting in order to participate at the meeting.  Persons who are not registered voters in Halifax are permitted to attend the meeting but must sit in a special, designated section on the right side of the room, near the stage.

A copy of the warrant for the Annual Town Meeting will be available closer to the date of the meeting

The meeting is run by the Town Moderator with advice, as necessary, from Town Counsel and the Town Clerk.

Selectmen review ATM warrant

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The Halifax Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, April 26. As a result of Troy Garron’s resignation, the Board is down to just Ashley DiSesa and Gordon Andrews, whose term expires in a few weeks.

The Selectmen reviewed the articles on the town meeting warrant. Andrews asked DiSesa if she disagreed with any of the Finance Committee’s recommendations. She said she disagreed with their approval of 40 hours for the Assistant Treasurer position. DiSesa also took issue with the IT wages that were being funded with ARPA funds that she noted will not be available forever. “We were supposed to level fund this year, that was the plan,” she said. Regarding new ambulances and cruisers, DiSesa said, “just so everyone knows as far as ambulances and cruisers, we were told that they were… years out to get if we were going to approve it now.”

Andrews said that there was a note on the school article stating, “this number has been reduced by $755,828 which is being funded through the Circuit Breaker money from the State.”

The Selectmen were split on their opinions on a new intercom system for the school. Town Accountant Sandra Nolan said that Capital Planning did not vote to recommend it but said that the Finance Committee was holding their recommendation until town meeting. Director of Facilities Matt Durkee presented on the topic to the Finance Committee and Nolan said, “I think they were pretty satisfied with his explanations.” Andrews said, “for just a pure safety thing of being able to communicate with the schools as a whole, I am for this, but I just have a couple of questions before I vote to recommend.” DiSesa said she was against it. The Selectmen also said they were a “no” on the article to establish a stabilization fund for Silver Lake which needs a two-thirds vote from Halifax, Kingston, and Plympton.

Regarding the article to increase membership on the Board of Selectmen to five, DiSesa said she would like to speak to the need. “There is a lot of work to do, and I think we could be doing a lot more if there were more people involved and have a lot more voices. You know, everybody is concerned about different people in this town having agendas and stacking boards – then put more people on them – let’s go. Show up, volunteer, get on a Board and do some work. All for it. I’ll take all five,” DiSesa said.

Interim Town Administrator Ed Thorne said he received correspondence from the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development regarding the MBTA Community Information Form. Thorne said the form asks for basic information regarding municipal plans to comply with the legislation. Thorne said of the legislation that it “requires that 175 communities to zone near a half a mile to a station of putting multi-family housing, if allowable.” The State passed a zoning requirement that if a town wants to receive grants under the Housing Authority, they must create a zone that allows 15 dwelling units per acre.  Thorne said he felt that the town should complete the form so as to not miss out on any eligible grant opportunities. DiSesa said, “I want to be careful what we are signing up for just to get grants.” Andrews was of the opinion that signing the document did not obligate the town to anything. An action plan would not need to be completed by the town until July of 2023.

Planning Board member Amy L. Troup said, “Complete Streets obligated us, and immediately by signing the obligation which is the form he’s talking about, it allows the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to change any of your laws by signing that document… if you read 40R in its entirety, any monies that you do receive for it, have to be repaid… it is absolutely not something we need to take in.” DiSesa said she did not want to sign it, so no motion was made, and Thorne was instructed not to complete the document.

There was a request for a live entertainment permit for a D.J. for cruise nights at the Halifax Walmart from May 6 to September 23. Andrews read all the requirements of the requested permit. The Selectmen voted unanimously to approve the permit. They also had a request from the Ragnar Relay that would be held on Saturday, May 21, between the hours of 1 a.m. and 8 a.m. Police Chief Joao Chaves said he was fine with the event. The Board approved the request.

The Selectmen had an appointment with Marilyn MacDonald and Don Nagle of MacDonalds Industries regarding remediation of waste soil. They were seeking a letter of support from the Board. Andrews said that in the past they have had issues with heavy truck traffic. MacDonald said that in addition to a $200 fine, MacDonald Industries also donates to the Halifax Food Pantry when trucks do not follow the rules regarding which streets they can use. A resident showed pictures to the Selectmen of damage caused by heavy truck traffic to various streets in town that were in relatively good condition prior. “We are up for anything to keep them off the streets, believe me, this is my community too,” MacDonald said. Andrews asked if a sign could  be put up stating that the roads are not for overweight vehicles. The Selectmen decided they would talk to the Highway Superintendent about what could be done. The Selectmen approved the requested letter of support.

Regarding the July 30 special election, Andrews said that the last day to obtain nomination papers would be June 8 at 5 p.m., the last day to submit papers to the Board of Registrars would be June 10, the last day for the Selectmen to notify the clerk of vacancies on the ballet would be May 26, and the deadline to object or withdraw would be June 28. The voter registration deadline is July 8. The Selectmen tabled the vote in order to discuss the possibility of having the special election the same day as the primary election.

A request was made for Saturday, June 18 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. for use of the Town Hall Green. Andrews said that the requestor had already reached out to Chief Chaves, the Library Trustees, the Board of Health, and the Cultural Council. The Selectmen were told that they were still looking for a volunteer D.J. They were also told that they did not yet have a lineup for the event stating that the high school music program had expressed interest in performing. The requestor said that they had secured port-a-potties. An ice cream truck and a bouncy house may also be part of the event.

The Selectmen also had a hearing for earth removal at 0 Plymouth St. and 250 Lingan St.  A representative from Morse Brothers reviewed the plan with the Selectmen. A resident said that he would like for the trucking to occur during school hours and not on Saturdays. He cited safety concerns with children playing outside during those times. DiSesa asked how long that kind of limitation would postpone the project and was told it would likely increase the duration by several years. Andrews said the Board was told by the Zoning Enforcement Officer that the project was not allowable. “It needs to be proven through peer review,” he said. “We are playing a lot of ‘what ifs’ on a project that might not be allowed,” DiSesa added. The Selectmen voted to continue the hearing in a month’s time.

Dennett School to return $20k to town

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The Plympton School Committee met Monday, April 25. Chair of the Committee Jon Wilhelmsen went over the school’s transfer requests that will be included in a single article during the town meeting. Included among those requests is $13,000 for paving including a pad that will be placed next to the garage building where the dumpsters and the clothing donation bin will sit. A ramp will also be built leading up to the garage. Other items include $38,000 for a new intercom system, $40,000 for new classroom floors, and $27,000 for security upgrades. Even after all the transfers, the school will still be returning approximately $20,000 back to the town.

There was a school choice hearing to determine whether any positions would be opened at the Dennett for school choice. No one opted to speak during the hearing and the Committee voted not to allow school choice. Committee member Jason Fraser cited the historically high enrollment at the Dennett as a reason not to opt into the program. This decision has no bearing on students already enrolled in school choice at the Dennett during previous years. There was, however, some question as to whether students enrolled in school choice that are graduating from the Dennett would be able to continue within Silver Lake at the middle school.

Nutrition Director Megan Ahrenholz said that Kingston resident Ron McAndrews offered to pay off any remaining school lunch debt at the Dennett as well as the other schools in the district. The Committee voted to approve the request.

An update was provided on the new playground at the Dennett. Director of Business Services Christine Healy said she was scheduling a meeting for later in the week with the designer to schedule the rubberized surfacing. “The goal is to have as much of the rubberized surface as possible,” Healy said. She said that several funding sources have become available recently including $83,000 in Chapter 70 funds for enrollment increases. Healy said that they have accounted for everything that they have committed to thus far including the contractor and equipment and still have a remaining $135,000 available, including the Chapter 70 funds, for the surfacing.

Wilhelmsen provided an update on the solar project at the school. He asked for a motion from the Committee to give up their authority over the portion of the Dennett roof that will have solar panels and give it back to the Selectmen during the duration that the panels are on it. The Selectmen have authority over solar in the town. The motion also included the following wording as said by Wilhelmsen, “to vote that the potential lease of portion of said rooftop and the installation of a solar facility on a portion of said rooftop to supply energy needs to the Dennett Elementary School will not interfere with the educational programs being conducted in said building.” The Committee voted to approve the motion.

Fraser provided the legislative update saying, “the House Ways and Means budget came out…they did increase the amount of money that Plympton and Dennett are most likely to see by about another $20,000 mostly as it relates to some charter school mitigation and just how they are addressing the drain on us from charter schools locally.” Fraser also said that the House Ways and Means were including $110 million to go toward a free meal program for students that would begin in September. Currently, the federal program is set to expire though there is a bill at the federal level proposing extending the program through September 2023. Fraser said that the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) believes it should be a federally subsidized program though he noted they appreciated the State providing the funding.

Dennett Principal Peter Veneto provided an update. He said that CASA sponsored a program called, “traditions of Chinese acrobatics” that he described as “absolutely amazing.” CASA is also donating four new soccer nets to the playground. He also said that high school students came to the Dennett to help the elementary school-aged kids create a tape art mural that Veneto said, “takes up the entire main hallway.” Veneto also said that he spent some time with the Plympton Police Department going over ALICE training. He also said that a new music teacher, Kimberly Crawford is set to begin this week.

Assistant Superintendent Ryan Lynch provided an update on the Plympton Student Opportunity Act Amendment. Lynch described the intent of the legislation as “helping districts in closing achievement gaps… and adjusting Chapter 70 money to aid in that.” He said that the Student Opportunity Act increases did not happen in 2020-2021 but were available for 2021-2022. The goal is to close gaps as seen in MCAS math and ELA achievement with a focus on low-income students, students with disabilities, English learners, and high needs students. One of the ways this will be achieved is through the addition of a coordinator for student support in fy22. This will be in addition to the special education teacher that was added in fy21.

Superintendent Jill Proulx asked the Committee to consider changing the way in which they pay long-term substitutes beginning next school year. “This year it is becoming more and more difficult to find long-term subs,” Proulx said. She also said that long-term substitutes must have a bachelor’s degree and if they are teaching for longer than 90 days they must also be licensed in that subject area. Currently long-term substitutes are paid $95 per day. Proulx said she was hopeful that increasing the pay would make them more competitive in acquiring long term subs. Fraser said that the projections right now indicate a teacher shortage for the next 5 to 10 years. He said he was in favor of the step increase and made a motion to that effect. The Committee voted to approve the increase.

Special Education Director Marie Grable spoke on the Tiered Focus Monitoring Review that focuses on special education as it relates to civil rights. Grable said that 35 of the 36 areas reviewed were found to fall into the implemented category. The only category to fall into the partially implemented category is procedures used to provide services to eligible students enrolled in private school at private expense. Grable said as a result they are required to provide an action plan for correction. An amount of special education funds must be set aside to provide equitable services to these students. There are 4 students from the Silver Lake area attending Sacred Heart and 6 students that are homeschooled. The district must consult with those students’ families and create written and signed affirmation of that consultation.

Wilhelmsen took a moment to formally recognize and thank Amy Hempel for her service on the School Committee as it was the last meeting before elections in May.

Making Prom memories …

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Karen Foye
Special to The Express

Covid didn’t stop the Juniors from Plympton, Halifax and Kingston from having a spectacular Junior Prom hosted by a few parents who wanted to make sure their kids had this special memory. Karen Foye, Jessica Gouveia and Hannah Doehler got together and put on the Junior Formal 2022 for the class of 2023 this past Saturday at the Middleborough Town Hall in the Grand Ballroom. More than 225 kids attended the event, decked out in their finest tuxes and beautiful gowns. It was a beautiful night for the event. Parents, friends and school faculty were invited to watch the Red Carpet introductions of all the attendees hosted by Matt Foye (who apologizes for mispronouncing many of the kids names, at least it made them smile as they were being introduced).

Tickets for the event were only $30 ($40 if purchased after April 1) that more than covered everything needed to create this memorable event. DJ services, a photo booth and lighting services were provided by South Coast Entertainment, a giant light up PROM sign, balloon sculptures and centerpieces, candy bar, sandwiches, snacks, cake pops, fruit skewers and lots of water were provided. Karen Foye, from Foye Photography, also captured the night at the red carpet in both video and photos as well as setting up a formal photo booth for the kids to pose for pictures she will send to all the parents.

Two Middleborough police officers and 14 parent/sibling chaperones provided security for the event and made sure everything went smoothly.

The host of the senior prom next year will have a lot to live up to in order to top this event!

Play Ball! Season opens

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Play Ball! Season opens

Both Plympton and Halifax held their season opening celebrations last weekend – with children putting on their brand new gloves, picking up bats, some for the first time, to engage in that ancient rite of Spring – Baseball!   Below, kids and coaches put hands over hearts as Laurel Fallis, far left, sings the National Anthem.  Laurel is a senior at Silver Lake Regional this year.  Photos of Halifax’s Opening Day are on pages 8, 9. Photos by Karen Foye

Kingston election results

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The Town of Kingston held its annual Town Election last Saturday, April 23, and these are the uncertified results from Paul Gallagher, Town Clerk.

Selectman – Tyler R. Bouchard won 560 votes for the three-year term.  There were 159 blanks and 12 write-ins.

Assessor – Michael P. Martin won re-election with 492 votes for the three-year term.  There were 226 blanks and 13 write-ins.

Collector of Taxes – Kenneth B. Moalli won re-election with 548 votes for the three-year term, 178 blanks, and five write-ins.

Planning Board – Thomas S. Buchard, Sr. won re-election to the five-year term with 527 votes, 198 blanks and six write-ins.

Silver Lake Regional School Committee – vote for two – Amy M. Cortright received 413 votes.  Michael E. Shekane received 382 votes for the three-year term.   Jeanne M. Coleman got 334 votes, and there were 328 blanks and five write-ins.

Kingston Elementary School Committee – vote for two – Timothy E. Lewis, candidate for re-election, topped the vote with 490.  Michael E. Shekane was next with 334 votes.  Sheila Vaughn, candidate for re-election, got 257 votes.  There were also 374 blanks and seven write-ins.

Water Commissioner – Robert J. Erlandsen was unopposed and won 485 votes for the three-year term.   There were 242 blanks and four write-ins.

Board of Health – Joseph F. Casna, Jr. and William J. Kavol  both won re-election to the three-year term, Casna with 443 votes and Kavol with 407 votes.   There were 593 blanks and 19 write-ins.

Library Trustee – two positions for three-years.  Ralph T. Calderaro won relection with 488 votes.  Carolyn Bromage won the position with 60 write-in votes.  There were 886 blanks and 88 write-ins.

Recreation Commission – Joseph P. Cunningham, Jr., ran unopposed, taking the position with 488 votes.   There were 231 blanks and 12 write-ins.

Recreation Commission – Patrick Rooney won the one-year term with 59 write-in votes.  There were 617 blanks and 114 total write-in ballots.

Sewer Commissioner – Elaine A. Fiore, candidate for re-election, ran unopposed and won 469 votes.  There were 250 blanks and 12 write-ins.

Constable – Brian J. Graziano and Robert J. Short, both candidates for re-election, won their bids,  Graziano with 439 votes and Short with 411 votes for the three year terms.

Housing Authority – Mary L. Hayes was re-elected to a five-year term with 490 votes.  She was unopposed.  There were 238 blanks and three write-ins.

Housing Authority – There were 710 blanks for the one-year term and 21 write-ins.

BOS debates fire and police budgets

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The Plympton Board of Selectmen met on Monday, April 25. Town Administrator Liz Dennehy told the Selectmen that she has been plugging away at town meeting preparations. A walk through is scheduled at the Dennett Elementary School on the morning of May 9 with the moderator.

Chair of the Finance Committee Nathaniel Sides reviewed the budget as voted by them. Several of the departments were not approved at the requested amounts. The Finance Committee did not approve the full requested amount in the town clerk line. The difference was roughly $1,000 and came from the Finance Committee not approving a longevity increase in the salary line. Sides said they could not find a precedent to support it and did not want to set one.

The Board of Health asked for a substantial increase for their administrative assistant. Sides said, “The Finance Committee felt it was out of character for what had been done in the past in other departments.” Similarly, the Public Works Department was asking for a 5.9 percent salary increase. In both cases, the increases were reduced to 5 percent.

Reductions were also made to the salary lines for both the Fire and Police budgets. Regarding the Fire Department reductions, Selectman John Traynor said he was uncomfortable with them as Fire Chief Stephen Silva had met with Dennehy and expressed what he needed. Sides replied, “yes, but it was including extra administrative hours that we feel are not necessarily employed correctly.” The salary line was voted by Finance Committee at a 10 percent increase over the current year’s budget. Sides said they looked at “minimum staffing that is needed to keep the doors open.” Sides did note that they had created a separate line for fire vehicle maintenance as Silva had expressed concern over the ability to maintain the fleet.

There was also a $75,000 reduction in the salary line for Police. Sides said that the Finance Committee had voted to approve an extra position last year on the recommendation of former Police Chief Matt Clancy. He said that he was assured at the time that it would solve the staffing issues. Sides said they voted to approve a three percent increase in the salary line.

Traynor expressed concern saying, “Right now we had 63 shifts in March that were single shifts… we are still down an officer for sure and this is going to become more of an issue as we bring on female candidates and how we work with them.” Town Accountant Lisa Hart asked if there was still a position on the force that had already been budgeted for but not yet filled. Traynor said while that was his understanding, he still believed more staffing was needed.

Emergency dispatch was reluctantly budgeted for $200,000. Previously, the Selectmen and Fire Chief Silva had taken issue with the Regional Old Colony Communications Center’s (ROCC) steep increase for the town. They felt that they were paying more than their share based on the town’s small population. Dennehy said that the ROCC is planning to move toward a model where they would base service costs on population with the lowest fee being $200,000. She did say they were amenable to continue to look for eligible grant funding for Plympton. Additionally, they offered to let the town pay $125,000 up front and the remaining $25,000 later in the fiscal year.

The schools were budgeted at the full requested amount of $6,349,000. The total town budget as approved by the Finance Committee is $12,267,390.

The Selectmen also went over the articles for the annual and special town meetings. The Selectmen voted to recommend the budget article though Traynor noted he was doing so “reluctantly” due to the reductions in the Fire and Police budgets.

There was some discussion regarding Article 28 for $300,000 for a feasibility study and planning services for the future construction of a new Fire Station. Sides said that while the Finance Committee was in favor of the intention, they had concern over the number. He said that a few years ago a similar study was done on the Police Station and the cost was $150,000. “Why is a similar type of study double the price this time around?” he asked. Silva said that the types of buildings were vastly different and said it was like comparing apples to oranges. After some discussion, both the Finance Committee and the Selectmen voted to recommend the article.

There was also discussion around Article 40 which seeks to establish a stabilization fund for Silver Lake. “My concern here is that there was such strong opposition last year,” Russo said. “My concern is to give up town control to tri-town control,” Traynor added. The Selectmen decided to wait to give a recommendation until town meeting to see how the other towns vote on it.

Both the Selectmen and the Finance Committee voted to recommend Article 39 which seeks $14,000 for the town’s contribution to the part-time school resource officer for the Silver Lake Regional Middle School. Sides noted that he still disapproved of using a warrant article to fund the position but approved the request, nonetheless.

The Selectmen finished their recommendations and moved onto raves. “My rave is to have Liz back,” Selectmen Chair Christine Joy said. “Thank you so much for all of your hard work; you were greatly missed,” she told Dennehy.  “My rave is for the wonderful work of Christine and Bri during the time Liz was away,” Russo said of Joy and administrative assistant Bri Martins. He also said he is looking forward to the quieter time after town meeting. Traynor said that his rave was for the daffodils on 106. “It was just wonderful, and I agree with all the other raves,” Traynor said.

HES – Can you hear me now?

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The Halifax Finance Committee met on Monday, April 11. They heard from both Facilities Manager for Silver Lake Regional Matt Durkee and Council on Aging Director Darlene Regan. Both have articles on the warrant for town meeting on May 9 for their respective departments.

Durkee spoke to the ongoing issues with the intercom system at the Halifax Elementary School. “The problem with the system is – number one, it’s a proprietary and based system, so there’s only one authorized vendor that can perform maintenance and repairs on the system so that kind of shoehorns us into a price bracket that we don’t really like,” Durkee explained. He clarified that the aforementioned issue was not the main one driving the request for a new system. “There are sections of the building that do not work currently with the intercom system on a consistent basis,” he continued. Durkee said that the gymnasium is the most critical portion of the school experiencing difficulties with the intercom system. In addition to difficulties with dismissals, Durkee said that students in gym class have been the last to know that lockdowns were happening. “One of the main parts of this new proposed system is to bring all of the classroom spaces and meeting spaces in the building up to a consistent, usable intercom system,” he told the Finance Committee.

In addition, the new system would outfit the clocks throughout the building with an auto adjust feature. “If there is a power outage, currently we have, I would say half the building, is battery operated, manually adjusted clocks; every time there is a power outage, that has to be adjusted – each space,” Durkee explained. Another new feature of the updated intercom system would be, in Durkee’s words, a “user friendly bell schedule adjustment.” This feature would allow the administration to easily update the bell schedule for half days or two-hour delays, etc.

Durkee also said that they are working their way through the entire Silver Lake Regional school systems to replace the aging intercom systems to integrate all of them. “The end goal here, once all these schools have come online in a new system, they will all be interconnected so if… the superintendent needed to make a district-wide address… it can be done through this system and speak to each classroom or any space where there is an intercom,” Durkee explained. He also said that there is a preset recording for all types of emergencies including fire alarms or lockdowns.

Regarding price, Durkee said the final pricing would be $38,793.51 including previously anticipated price increases. He said that the plan was to reuse much of the current wiring already found in the school in addition to the existing speakers which would help to keep the cost down. Town Accountant Sandra Nolan confirmed that this cost was already included in the capital plan. The article is recommended by the Finance Committee.

Regan spoke to the Committee about the plans to utilize existing funds to convert the Halifax Museum building into a new senior center. Regan shared with the Committee some 3-D renderings that were done of the proposed center. The images are available on the town website as well as having been shared in last week’s Express. “It just gives the people the idea of being excited about what the possibilities are going forward and that the funding is there its just a matter of making this all happen,” Regan explained. “Aesthetically on 106, it’s going to look beautiful,” she told the Committee. Regan stressed the importance of the new center, not just for aging adults, but for those with disabilities as well as the families of seniors.

Finance Committee Chair Thomas Connolly said to Regan about town meeting, “I anticipate, based on prior ones, that you’ll get questions about those things [services] and folks will want to be reassured that we are not just building an empty building that has no programming capability inside. My first recommendation would be to make sure you have crisp answers on that programming stuff that is going to go on there.” Connolly said that the proposed building looks “gorgeous” and agreed that it would enhance the look of the community as people drive down 106. Regarding the funding, he did bring up similar infrastructure issues that exist with the Town Hall, the Fire Station, and the Police Station though he noted that the current COA building is likely the worst. “Is there a rationale that we need to convey as to why these funds are used here and not for those three other central buildings?” Connolly asked. Nolan said that both the Police and Fire Stations are much larger jobs and noted that a complex combining both is in talks and would cost “quite a bit of money.” Of the new COA building, Nolan said, “This a building that can be done in the $1.6 million that we have leftover from the school.” She went on to say that pouring that money into the existing Fire or Police Stations would not make sense. Connolly agreed noting that a similar project in Brockton is estimated at upwards of $98 million. Nolan said a combined Police and Fire station in Halifax could cost somewhere around $12 million.

Finance Committee Chair Thomas Connolly said, “I think the one number that sort of tells it all for us is, after the one percent increases, it looks like our usual $300,000 buffer is somewhere around $119,000 this year.” He continued, “We are cutting it very close to the levy limit… that is where we are even with effectively a flat budget across the town… except for some uncontrollable increases like special education and the waste management contract and other just inflationary measures that are hitting us.”

Nolan told the Committee that there were still a few outstanding articles that the Finance Committee did not provide a recommendation on including a special town meeting article for work on the front door of the Town Hall. The total cost is $11,000. “If you’ve come to Town Hall recently, you would see why, they really need to be replaced,” Nolan said. The Finance Committee will provide their recommendation on it during the Town Meeting.

Matthew Ahl named Plympton Police Chief

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The Town of Plympton Board of Selectmen is pleased to announce that we have selected Mr. Matthew Ahl as the next permanent Police Chief of Plympton.  Mr. Ahl has accepted the position pending successful contract negotiation, with an anticipated official appointment date of May 9, 2022.

This decision marks a significant milestone for the Plympton Police Department, as the Chief position has been filled on an interim basis since July 2019.  We would like to thank those who stepped forward to assist us during a transitional period in an interim capacity, including most recently Acting Chief Daniel Hoffman.

Mr. Ahl was selected from an incredibly talented pool of candidates after progressing through an initial rigorous screening and interview process and subsequently participating in a competitive final public interview process before the Board of Selectmen, along with three other highly qualified finalist candidates.  Community Paradigm Associates of Plymouth, MA coordinated the professional search process.

Mr. Ahl has been serving the Town faithfully since 2016 and was promoted to the role of Sergeant in 2021.  Mr. Ahl also has prior law enforcement experience with the Town of Whitman, and has a private sector business and management background that we believe will serve the Department well.

The Board of Selectmen is enthusiastic about Mr. Ahl assuming this new role on a permanent basis, as his character and work ethic align with the goal of further professionalizing our Town Departments and continuing to provide efficient, effective and responsive service to the public.  We also take great pleasure in having so many talented individuals serving within the Department and being able to develop leadership from within. We look forward to Mr. Ahl continuing with efforts towards Department accreditation and leading the amazing team of men and women who serve the Town proudly on a daily basis.