The Plympton School Committee met virtually on Monday, March 28. Committee Chair Jon Wilhelmsen brought up the ongoing issue of dog waste on the school fields as well as a recent incident involving a dog bite. Resident Heather Sanda said she was out for a run when she encountered three dogs with an owner on school grounds. One of the dogs jumped on her and bit her hip and knee which prompted her to call the police. “There is no leash law in Plympton so all that happened was this dog was taken home and put under house arrest for ten days to be monitored for rabies,” Sanda explained. “People just use it as a dog park and it is not a dog park,” Sanda said of the school fields. Sanda said that some of the first-grade teachers have recalled students coming in from recess with dog waste on their shoes. “I know we have had this conversation too many times; we have given people the opportunity to clean up after their dogs… my understanding is nothing is any different than it was before,” Wilhelmsen said. Amy Hempel spoke on behalf of the Plympton Athletic Youth Sports (P.A.Y.S.) saying that while preparing the fields for spring sports, there was considerable waste on the fields. “It is unfortunate for the folks that have been using it appropriately, but it is not designed to be a dog park,” Wilhelmsen said. Hempel noted that 90 percent of surrounding towns do not allow dogs on their sports fields.

The Committee discussed placing signs around the area alerting residents that dogs will no longer be permitted. Wilhelmsen said the difficult part would be enforcement. “We are not in a position as a School Committee or Peter [Veneto] as an administrator to be enforcing who is on the grounds and who is not, especially after school hours…I think we will need to work with the Selectmen to see if we can engage the Police,” he explained. Regarding the lack of a leash law, Wilhelmsen said, “It is incumbent upon all of us that have dogs to understand and know your dog and be able to make sure that dog is acting appropriately and healthily with everyone that is around.” The School Committee voted to ban dogs from the Dennett grounds. Sanda thanked them saying, “I’m glad it was me and not a kid.”

Playground Update

Committee member Jason Fraser said, “with the help of Rep. LaNatra and her staff, we did trace the path for those fenced off funds which are for the enrollment increases we realized this year. They are supposed to be for fiscal year 22 which is ending June 30… DESE [Department of Elementary and Secondary Education] has some preliminary numbers for us… I don’t think they are official yet… we are supposedly in line for $80,000.” Fraser said that the money could be used to help finish the rubberized surfacing on the new playground at the Dennett.

Capital Improvement

Wilhelmsen said they plan to have an article at the special town meeting for several purposes. He said there were four classrooms that need floor replacements. Wilhelmsen told the Committee that an upgrade to the intercom system would cost about $35,000. They are also looking to upgrade the building entrances with key fobs. Five HVAC units also need to be replaced but will likely be funded using ARPA funds.

Legislative Update

Fraser said the federal government was lapsing on their free meal programs for students for both breakfast and lunch. He said there is currently a bill at the State House called the Free Meals for All Plan. He said that the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) were in support of it. He said it has also been requested that the per pupil minimum increment be changed from $30 to $100. “With inflation wreaking havoc on budgets across the State, $100 just seems a little bit more appropriate,” Fraser explained. He said they were also asking that Circuit Breaker be fully funded. The school loses money from charter school tuitions that are taken directly out of the town’s Chapter 70 funds. “We actually have the ability within Mass General Laws to reach out to all of those students who go to charter schools and send them flyers and brochures of our own, advocating for our schools and the great programs that we have,” he told the Committee. He further said he would like to see the administrative team prepare something to send out.

CASA Update

Hempel provided the CASA update saying they just finished the end of Winter Fest. “I think it was a big success looking at the number of people that went,” she said. She also said that they were looking for volunteers to bring back the talent show.

Principal’s Report

Dennett Elementary School Principal Peter Veneto said that they currently have 241 students enrolled. The school recently held the honor roll breakfast and any sixth grader on the honor roll was allowed to bring a family member. Veneto said that a former Dennett student, Dan Lyons, who is now a senior also came and spoke to the students about what they can expect at the middle school and high school. Veneto also said that the entire school participated in Read Across America week where students got to wear different themed attire each day. Former student Payton Devonshire is leading a clothing drive for Cradles to Crayons. There will be a box for collections in the lobby of the school as well as at the Police Station. Veneto also said that the Assistant District Attorney recently spoke to fifth and sixth grade students about the dangers of the internet as well as “how to remain safe while online.”

“We also had another really interesting project that we tried for the first time in Grade 6,” Veneto said. He said a Deputy from the Sherriff’s Department introduced a CIA unit kit that students tested in class. “They did fingerprint experiments, footprint analysis, working with unknown powder and liquids,” Veneto explained. He called the program “hugely popular.”

Assistant Superintendent’s Update

Assistant Superintendent Ryan Lynch provided data on a recent professional development day centering around social and emotional learning and anti-bias training. He said that they surveyed teachers and had 228 responses. Eighty-five percent of staff rated the training as either a 1 or a 2 out of 4 with 1 being extremely effective. Lynch also provided an update on ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund). They are using some of the funds for a program that includes visits from an expert to help aid the school improvement plan.

Budget Update

Proulx told the Committee that it was her hope that they would approve the budget that night, so they could have a budget to present to the community. Wilhelmsen said that himself, Proulx, Fraser, and Director of Business Services Christine Healy all met with the Finance Committee to review the budget and the addition of the new director position being added to the budget. “We didn’t get too many questions… but I think overall they were very, very pleased with the budget,” Wilhelmsen said of the Finance Committee. He said there would be no increase in the budget after taking all factors into account. “I think this is a good, strong budget,” he continued. The Committee approved the 2022-2023 elementary school operating budget of $2,767,440, the special education budget of $1,136,022, and the out of district vocational budget of $60,000.

The Halifax Finance Committee met Monday, March 28, in preparation for a balanced budget to present to the Halifax Annual Town Meeting, which will be held May 9 at the Halifax Elementary School.

First on the agenda was the Park Commission budget. Speaking to the article  was Michael Schleiff.   Responding to a letter from the Board of Health, the Parks Commission is asking to put in a handicap accessible “porta potty” that would be rented in increments of 28 days.  While the request had been for three portable toilets, the Park Commission  is requesting one for the Lingan Street beach area at a cost of $1100.  This will protect the beach, pond, and surrounding area from urination and defecation and help lessen the problems and answer the Board of Health concerns. This would bring the budget up to $1562.  FinCom agreed and voted to approve that amount.

In an effort to bring in some money to help cover expenses, the parks department is considering offering out of town beach stickers for a fee.  There are officers at the recreation locations monitoring the areas, and there is signage stating that parking is for Halifax residents only, but they can’t keep out of town vehicles from parking at the boat ramp.

“We’re going to get some help this year from the highway department with clearing the parking lot across the street from the Holmes Street beach,”  Schleiff said.    

Next project the Park Commission is looking at is some “beach nourishment” to alleviate the deep gullies at the beach formed by stormwater runoff.  They have bids from local sand and gravel merchants and Schleiff explained they have to match the sand in size and texture to the current sand, and it has to be washed sand, with no sediment.  The price for this is $14 a ton.

Schleiff said they would also like to continue the Holmes St. boat refurbishment.  “We’re working on the drawings so we can get accurate prices.   We know it’s going to be way over the $5,000 we have.”  He told the committee that three tri-axels of sand will be about $1100.“  If we take out one truck it will be $800 or so,” Schleiff said,  “It would be nice to have it in this budget so the work can be done this year.”  Town Accountant Sandy Nolan pointed out that the boat ramp is a capital expenditure and the warrant for the spring town meeting closed last week.   She encouraged Schleiff to get her the information and she will see what she can do, but most likely they will have to draw up an article for a special town meeting in the fall.

Pam Aducci, Town Treasurer/Collector, told FinCom she wants the assistant treasurer position raised from its current 32 hours to 40 hours.  “ I’ve given my notice and will be leaving at the end of April.  Whoever comes in will need training and that will need more hours.”  Nolan said she knows how the asstant treasurer has been pushed – especially with the fraudulent unemployment claims that came in during the pandemic – and also just keeping up with all the day to day business in the treasurer’s office. “We’re going to need that person for 40 hours a week no matter what.”   The increase was approved.  Adducci said that she realizes the town needs to find new revenue sources and suggested Halifax raise its demand fees.   Halifax charges $5 while surrounding towns charge $15.  “Not a ton of money, but it needs to be approved by Town Meeting.”

FinCom went on to a general discussion of the budget.

Still faced with the Halifax Elementary School budget, the major issue is the special education transportation price increase.  FinCom has made inquiries into utilizing one of the vans from the Council on Aging.  They have three vans with three drivers.  FinCom has asked the school committee to explore that.  COA was quite amenable to sharing.

There has been no news on the Town Administrator’s salary line.   If it is voted at $125,000 and the selected candidate requires more, then they might have to go to a special town meeting to fund that position.

• IT Expense budget at  $110,191 was approved.  Nolan said she thought it was a fair amount.

• Police and Fire budgets  are complete.

• Building Inspector – Selectmen are aware that assistant building inspectors are being paid out of the building inspector’s  expense budget as vendors.  The building inspector asked that his assistant budget  be transferred to the expense budget so he can use it to pay contractors. His assistant works as a contractor at this time.  Voted unanimously.

• Animal Control Officer budget – $982.  The budget is formulaic.  Unanimous approval.

• School budget is waiting until next meeting.  Halifax’s assessment went up, Kingston’s went up and Plympton’s  assessment went down.  Cheryl  asked if the special ed transportation cost is fixed and was told that there are no companies  willing to bid on the project.    

• Reycling center wages  were voted to cover the three people working there, the driver, center operator, and part time helper totaling $75,274.  Sue Johnson communicated to FinCom that the hazardous waste collection line can be lowered from $14,560 to $5,950.  They will do alternate years as there was a very low demand for the service. They are also looking at a regional option.   Unanimously voted.

As for the trash collection, that department says they should be able to lower this amount but recommends putting this price into the town warrant and when prices come in, they can bring the cost down at Town Meeting.  “Is this a straight pass through to the residents?” Chairman Connolly asked of Nolan.  “We would have to increase the price of the bags.   This is paid for by the bags and we would have to increase the price.   That’s why we’re working hard not to have it that price because we do not want to have to increase the bags like that,” Nolan said.

• Council on Aging expense went up by  $650 due to increases in electricity and dues.  “I think they’re going to need it,” Nolan said.  Voted unanimously.   

• Parks expense – change from $450 to $1562.  Voted unanimously.

• Fireworks committee is asking for $3300 to cover the cost of police and fire details.  Unanimous approval..

• Debt service –  all three items went down from last year.   This is the last year for the landfill capping item.  The principal is $90,000 and the interest for this year is $1,857.  The other items are the elementary school roof and repairs and the fire suppression debt.  “These will be with us for a while,” Nolan said.

• Plymouth County Retirement wants to be fully funded by 2030.  This will keep increasing.  We have no choice.

• Halifax group insurance.  Expecting a significant drop due to people going from family plans onto Medex plans which saves significant sums – the difference of about $1400 per month down to about $400 per month.   I would like you to vote $1,054,560, for total health group insurance.   Voted unanimously.

• OPED trust – committee is  asking for $1,000 again this year to bring the total to $39,000.    

• Assistant Treasurer/Collector salary increase by $11,000 who is now  at 32 hours.  It is an additional 8 hours “and it is quite necessary,” Sandy Nolan said.  From $141,854.  Increase by $11,000 to make the department line  $152,854.  Voted  unanimously.

• Article 6  Reserve Fund.  $75,000 to raise and appropriate from the general fund, and also $50,000 from water  retained earnings.   “The same as last year,” Nolan told the group.  Total $125,000 for the reserve fund.  What was the total of all the reserve fund transfers for all of last year?   “There was a $100,000 transfer from the reserve fund to the legal expense line last year but I’m not sure if that’s going to come up again.”  Said Assistant treasurer Lind Cole.   Nolan said “There’s a chance that it may come up again this year.  Basically I think we’re doing OK with the amount.”  Connolly asked, “Where does the unused money go at the end of the year?”  Nolan answered that it goes back to the general fund as free cash.

• Plymouth County Extension Service – $150.  This is the same every year.  They help us with 4-H and other things.   Unanimous approval.

• Road maintenance.   Last year increased it was increased from $150,000 to $300,000.   “Steve (Hayward) would like to keep the $300,000.  And we can afford to.”   Approved unanimously.

• Assessors recertification article for $18,600. “ It’s the annual fixed cost and we have to do it,” Connolly said.  Unanimous.

• Police vehicles – one police cruiser and one chief’s vehicle for $110,000 as part of the annual rotation.  Approved unanimously.

• Police Bulletproof vests for $5,000.  “We do sometimes get refunds from the state, but that just replenishes the account.”  Approved.

• Replacement of 20 station cell cameras  at $7,379 was approved.

• Halifax Elementary School elevator.  The current elevator is so old that they can’t get parts.  They want to upgrade the control panel for $66,941. “This is a one-time expense and it should last quite a long time once we put it in.  This is something that we would naturally fund through free cash,” Nolan told the board.  Approved.

• Highway medium duty dump truck for plowing and sanding for $200,000.  Can be more useful than the larger trucks.   Approved.

• Highway 500 gallon double walled waste oil tank.  $50,000.  The one we have now is single walled and not in compliance with state standards.  “This allows us to burn used oil for heating oil.  She said the last heating oil bill they got was $5 per gallon so the ability to burn the waste oil is a huge savings.

Nolan asked the commission to go back to fixed costs. “ The gas line we have at $90,000 … I think we need to increase it by $20,000 to $110,000.  For heating oil I think we need to increase it by $10,000 to $60,000.”  If the money isn’t used it goes back into the general fund.  Approved.

• Water recycling unit at the wash bay for the highway dept.  We’re pumping the water out of the pipe tank which is not in compliance, Nolan said..   The cost will also add a roof over the wash bay.  $75,000 total.  Approved.

• South Shore Coastal Counties Legal Service and South Shore Resource and Advocacy for $3500.  Same as last year.

• Town clerk needs a new time stamp for $850.  The one they have is so old it can’t get parts for it.  Approved

• Library computer – $1000 for a new computer at the library as part of a rotation replacement program.  Approved.

• The request for three copy machines has been reduced to two.  The water dept.  doesn’t want to replace theirs at this time.  This will cover highway and library.  Nolan suggested purchase instead of lease.  $4,000.  Approved.

• Fire – new ambulance.  $340,000. They are locking in a price, and not going to take delivery for two years.   Have to commit the funds to the article.  The money won’t all go at once.  “ We pay a deposit to begin it, might have a payment halfway through, and then the balance when it’s delivered,” Nolan said.

• Security cameras for town buildings.  Sixteen cameras on new buildings including the Town Hall, COA, Highway Dept. and  Holmes Library for $36,800.  These buildings don’t currently have security cameras,  Caesar Coloruso, head of IT, explained.  Approved.

• Middle School Resource officer – “Again this is a raise and appropriate because it is an operating  item.”  Really belongs in the school budget, it will be listed as a sub line under the school budget.   This is Halifax’s share of the resource officer.  Halifax pays 2/3 and Plympton pays 1/3. Kingston pays 100% of the resource officer at the High School.  Approved.

•  Council on Aging.  There is a need for a new building for the Council on Aging. “We are looking at the Halifax Museum library to see if we can be rehab it with a small addition to the building.  It would allow more space and all on one floor.   The architect came in with a price – a very rough estimate of $1.2 million,”  Nolan said.   “We are looking for $1.5 million to cover everything.   This will come from the school roof bond.   Interest rates were very low and the school roof came in at less leaving an extra $1.5 million left over in that account.  She would like to transfer the funds from school roof project to the Council on Aging project.   The one catch is there would need to be an article on the warrant to do this because it was debt excluded.  An article on town meeting to make the transfer as well as a question on the ballot to approve the COA project through debt exclusion is needed.  This money is already debt excluded.  If we do this, there is no increase to the levy at all.   The state asks that we use the funds on another project of equal length… We cannot use it to pay down the bond,” Nolan said.   Approved.   

• Silver Lake Tennis courts repair $110,000 Funds were returned from Silver Lake.  There were  $312,000 in refunds from Silver Lake and they’re asking that we take $110,000 from that to repair the tennis courts.  Being from the stabilization fund it needs a 2/3 vote.   Approved.

• Police Body Worn Camera Program.  They’ve been trying to get grants but haven’t gotten them. Not yet a requirement, but the chief would like to get them and have his officers get used to them. Chief Joao Chaves told the commission that it is prudent to get it now.  Body cameras are probably going to be mandated and Police Chief Joao Chaves said it is a prudent program.  The cameras themselves are $46,380 for the five year program and at three years they change out all the cameras.  Approved.

Library /water department network refresh.  $12,500   We do have the money to do it.    Approved.

The Plympton Board of Selectmen met virtually on Monday, March 15. The Selectmen met with Michael Mahoney the Director of the Regional Old Colony Communications Center (ROCCC) to discuss a $50,000 increase for services for fiscal year 2023. Selectman Mark Russo said they did have a bit of sticker shock as they were originally told that they would be at $175,000 and not $200,000 with the potential for that to reduce should other towns join. “The three-year step plan that we laid out went $100, $150, $200… I’m honestly not sure where the shock is,” Mahoney said. Fire Chief Steve Silva said he agreed with Russo saying that both Hanson and Hanover have joined the ROCCC without a reduction seen to Plympton’s share of the cost.

“Plympton wasn’t paying an equitable share all along,” Mahoney said explaining that 911 was paying their share previously. Mahoney further said that all of the smaller towns that are a part of the ROCC are paying $200,000 including Halifax and Rochester. Silva questioned this given Plympton’s population of just under 3,000 as opposed to Halifax who is more than twice as large. Mahoney claimed that the call volume for Plympton has been larger than Halifax’s over the last six months. Silva said that the metric used to indicate call volume was resulting in “an inequitable situation.” “You pay for the impact on the dispatcher,” Mahoney said.

According to Mahoney, 911 calls represent the vast minority of calls to the ROCCC. He said that business related calls represent more of the calls fielded. John Traynor asked Mahoney for assistance in figuring out what is driving Plympton’s call volume to match or exceed that of the much larger towns. Chair of the Town Properties Committee Jon Wilhelmsen said that further investigation needs to be done into what is driving Plympton’s high call volume to see if there may be an alternative way to handle some of those calls. Mahoney said that he was happy to pull some numbers and review them further with the town.

Town Administrator Elizabeth Dennehy asked what will happen if the town can’t afford the $50,000 increase for fy 2023 given the short notice and how far along they are in the budget process. She asked if they would need to approach the State and Mahoney said, “we’ve done anything and everything to secure support in grant funding as much as we possibly can for all of the member towns.” Mahoney said he would stand with the town before the 911 Commissioner to lobby for more money if needed.

Traynor led a discussion with Executive Director of Area 58 Richard Goulart about moving forward with a hybrid style meeting where participants could join virtually via ZOOM while others were physically present in a meeting room. Goulart said that both Carver and Halifax are currently doing a hybrid style meeting. To do so and to allow Area 58 to record the meeting, they would have to be the ones to host the meeting. Dennehy felt that having Area 58 host the meeting could pose a problem if the town needed to organize a meeting quickly. “I think it could work very well for regular meetings,” she added. Dennehy also said that if they moved to hybrid meetings and there was a technology glitch, the meeting would be invalidated. Russo inquired about the sound quality. “Generally speaking, we haven’t had a real problem with that,” Goulart said.

The Selectmen had two public hearings on the agenda. Selectmen Chair Christine Joy said that in 2018, the town adopted a policy of right of first refusal for full transparency whenever land became available in the town. This allows residents that have concerns to voice them as well as allowing interested committees or boards in town that have interest in the property to speak on it. The first property was located on Ring Rd. in Plympton. Kirsten Eliassen who works with the developer Ring Rd. Solar was there to speak on it. “The solar array will be installed over the existing cranberry bogs and the cranberry bogs will continue to be harvested for the life of the project,” Eliassen explained. There are 14.6 acres on the first parcel and there are 5-6 acres to be converted. No one spoke out in favor of or against the project. The Selectmen voted not to exercise the town’s right of first refusal on the first property.

The second parcel is 41 acres, and they are proposing to convert between 8 and 9 acres. Again, no one spoke out in favor or against the project and no boards or committees in town were interested in the property. The Selectmen again voted not to exercise the town’s right of first refusal.

Mike Slawson of the Plympton Public Library spoke in favor of Jessica Lau being appointed to the Board of Library Trustees until May 21, 2022. “I think she’ll be an excellent addition to the Board,” Slawson told the Selectmen. They voted to appoint her. Arthur Kinsman was also appointed to the Bylaw Review Committee until dissolved. Brian Kling was also reappointed as the town’s animal inspector.

Dennehy said she had a few items in correspondence. A request was made by a resident who runs a meditation group called Plymouth Zen to use a room at the Old Townhouse. Russo called Plymouth Zen a “very nice bunch.” He did say, however, that he wanted to be careful not to set a precedent and to view any approval more so as a trial. The Selectmen decided to vote on the issue at the following meeting.

The Selectmen ended the meeting with their raves. Traynor said, “My rave is for Kathy LaNatra.” He said the library was hosting a speaker series each month and noted that LaNatra has done a good job any time she has been asked to speak. “We have a good rep,” he said.

“My rave is for the courage of the Ukrainian people who are defending their country, their homes, and their lives,” Joy said.

Russo said he wanted to underscore both of the previous raves in addition to his own. “My rave is for the time of year that its budget creation time, preparing for town meeting – kind of a busy time but we kind of layout the foundation for the whole year… kind of a pleasure to be in that mode,” he said.