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SL athletic teams returning many All-Stars this fall

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The Silver Lake High sports teams have plenty of talent coming back this upcoming school year, including some athletes who received league wide recognition last fall.

Each of the fall teams had Patriot League All-Star games last year and while some of them are no longer members of their respective teams due to graduation, others of them are back once again. That said, here is a look at who the returning Patriot League All-Stars are for the Silver Lake High varsity sports teams this fall.

Cross Country

On the girls’ side, the Lakers have a pair of Patriot League All-Stars returning: Samantha Faherty and Summer Bejarano. Both of them are seniors this year. Bejarano was the Patriot League MVP last year as well as a Boston Globe and Boston Herald All-Scholastic selection.

Field Hockey

The Lakers lost 15 seniors to graduation at the end of last season, but they do have one of their four Patriot League All-Stars coming back: senior Toni Ierardi. She led the team with seven points last season.

Football

The Lakers lost their only Patriot League All-Star to graduation: quarterback Ben Lofstrom.

Golf

The Lakers don’t have any returning All-Stars this season. Their lone All-Star last year, Tyler Brown, was the Patriot League MVP.

Soccer

On the girls’ side,the Lakers have two returning Patriot League All-Stars. That includes senior outside back Lauren Dwyer and junior forward Shea Kelleher. Kelleher was also an All-Star in hockey as a member of the Whitman-Hanson/Silver Lake girls’ hockey co-op.

Girls Volleyball

The Lakers had one Patriot League All-Star last year, and she will be back once again: senior outside hitter Abigail Grace. She has 44 kills, 169 digs, and 35 aces in 101 sets played headed into this season.

Two SL alum playing soccer for UMass Boston

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Many talented Silver Lake High athletes ended up extending their sports careers after high school is over, many of them end up competing in college athletics. Sometimes, they end up going to the same schools as one another. There have been instances of athletes who played together in high school being teammates at the college level as well as instances of both the girls’ and boys’ team at a respective school having Silver Lake alum on their rosters.

Although the two played on different teams–the girls team and the boys team at Silver Lake–Allie Crawford and JJ Devine both have something in common: they’re college soccer players at UMass Boston (NCAA Division 3) this season.

Crawford is a key contributor to the women’s team. As of the start of this week, she had started in each of the team’s two games so far this season. She was tied for the most minutes played (190). She had an assist and led the team with 10 shots taken, including seven shots on goal. Although there was no season last year, Crawford was a key player in the two seasons before that. She had 4 goals and 13 assists in 22 games in 2019. The year before that, she had four goals and 14 assists in 22 games.

On the men’s side, JJ Devine is new to the program. The Halifax native is a freshman goalkeeper for the team. Devine has performed well early on in the season. He got a shutout against Salve Regina in his college debut on September 1. He made two saves in the game. Additionally, he played half of the game on Saturday, September 4 against Springfield and didn’t let up a goal.

Devine was a Patriot League All-Star in soccer last year. He also had the opportunity to play football as a kicker for the Lakers because football season was pushed back to the spring.

Around the Field at Silver Lake fall openers

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With school getting back in session, many of the Silver Lake High sports teams will soon be playing regular season games. 

For many of the Silver Lake High fall sports teams, the regular season starts next week. Here is a look at when some of those teams will be starting their respective regular seasons.

Cross Country

The boys and girls cross country teams have their first regular season meets of the season at the same time and location. They will host Scituate on Thursday, September 9 (4:00 p.m. start time).

Field Hockey

The Lakers start their season on the road against Duxbury on Thursday, September 9 (4:00 p.m. start time). 

Football

The Lakers open up their season on the road against the Plymouth South Panthers on Friday, September 10 (7:00 p.m. start time).

Boys Golf

The Lakers have the first regular season varsity event of the school year. They will host Hingham High School at the Country Club of Halifax on Tuesday, September 7 (3:30 p.m. start time).

Boys Soccer

The Lakers will kick off their season with a home game against the North Quincy Red Raiders on Friday, September 10 (4:00 p.m.).

Girls Soccer

The Lakers will kick off their season with a road game against the North Quincy Red Raiders on Friday, September 10 (4:00 p.m.). It will take place at North Quincy High School.

Girls Volleyball

The Lakers are set to start their season a little later in volleyball than they are in some other sports. Their first scheduled regular season game of the season will take place on Wednesday, September 15 at home against the North Quincy Red Raiders (5:30 p.m. start time).

MIAA indoor mask mandate will impact at least two Silver Lake fall sports

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The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association has adopted a temporary indoor mask mandate for fall sports in hopes of mitigating the spread of coronavirus. It will impact at least two of the Silver Lake High sports programs this fall: girls’ volleyball and cheerleading. Those are the two MIAA teams that the Lakers have in the fall that have their competitions indoors.

The mask mandate will also apply to any of the other fall teams, if they were to have an indoor practice. However, none of the other teams in question have their competitions in indoor venues.

This mask mandate will apply to athletes regardless of their vaccination status and will be up and will last until at least October 1.

“These are minimum required safety standards that are consistent with the practice of indoor and outdoor recess and indoor and outdoor physical education classes during the school day,” MIAA executive director Bob Baldwin said in a statement issued on August 26. “These standards will be reviewed prior to October 1.”

This marks a change in policy from the previous fall sports season — which also took place during the coronavirus pandemic. That time around, athletes also had to wear masks outdoors. Now, masks are optional for coaches and athletes competing outdoors.

The decision came shortly after Massachusetts Commissioner of Education Jeffrey Riley was granted the authority to mandate masks in all public schools across the state by the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.

The coronavirus vaccine is available to anyone ages 12 and up in the United States. 

Tempers flare on Town Counsel issue

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Tempers flared at the Aug. 24 meeting of the Halifax Board of Selectmen when Ashley DiSesa, Halifax’s newest member of the board, introduced discussion for a possible vote for the replacement of the town’s various specialty attorneys with the town’s new choice for Town Counsel Brooks & DiRensis.  DiSesa said that there was a lot of confusion on this because certain departments are being told to go to certain attorneys  Brooks and DiRensis, she said, had mentioned at previous meetings that they would like to take over this work so there would be less chance of misinterpretation between attorneys and firms.

Town Administrator Charlie Seelig said that he was not aware of any confusion and told selectmen that it’s been the policy of the boards for 15 or 20 years that regulatory departments such as the Board of Health, Conservation Commission, ZBA, Planning Board, all have use of Town Counsel, they just have to notify selectmen that they are consulting with Town Counsel.  Labor questions have been answered by Atty. Michael Gillen, who has served the town for perhaps 30 years.  He has his own personnel to handle all of these things.  Seelig asked, at Gillen’s request, for Gillen to have an opportunity to address the board before the decision was made as to who would handle the matters going forward.  After a bit of discussion, selectmen allowed Gillen to speak before them at the Sept. 14 meeting.

Andrews spoke to DiSesa’s request saying that he believes, from his perspective, it makes sense to have one firm handling everything.  Seelig explained that Paul (DiRensis) is Town Counsel of Record, but one of the requirements for appointment as town counsel is that there be backup so he has assigned other attorneys in his firm with aspects of Halifax’s town work.  The discussion was tabled until Atty. Paul DiRensis could be present as he had not yet arrived.

Former Town Clerk Barbara Gaynor asked the board if it was financially wise to have work taken over by the new firm who would have to be brought up to date on these cases that have been going on for four or five years, and now will continue longer and possibly cost the town a whole lot more money.   My understanding is that the new town counsel has charged more than $14,000 to the town.   And YOU, having several cases against the town handled by Brooks & DiRensis, questioned why Andrews didn’t recuse himself on the discussion and vote.  Andrews defended himself saying that he has recused himself in every discussion of his cases and other related issues, saying that the choice of consolidating the legal matters had nothing to do with his cases before the town.  He reiterated that with everything going forward he would like to have one law firm representing the town.    

Attorney Dirensis arrived and explained that he likes to be able to look at the town as a whole,.   as opposed to different special counsels focusing on the different trees in the forest, I can look at the whole forest and get a sense of that’s good for the town so if I see that there’s a problem in a particular area, I could suggest an amendment to the bylaws of the town to fix that problem and if there’s a personnel issue then I can bring that to the board’s attention.  I see myself as like the family doctor; I like to be able to see the whole patient and know what’s going on with the whole patient and figure out the overall health, because if you have a problem with your liver, it may very well have impacts on all kinds of other parts of the body, if you understand that medical reference, the town is being analogized to a body and the lawyer  as the doctor.   

I see myself as the old- fashioned doctor that actually comes to your house and sees you in your own bed and tries to figure out what’s going on and what you need.   If there are things I don’t know about then I can’t get involved with, then I can’t treat the whole patient.”

Ashley DiSesa asked “Do you feel your firm can handle everything else for our town?  DiRensis:  I don’t know what everything is, as I wasn’t here earlier when the board reviewed them.

Gaynor questioned why Andrews could vote on this matter when he has cases with this attorney against the town and should recuse himself from the vote.  Andrews countered that he had allowed her to speak at the public meeting and perhaps should not have.   He didn’t know where she was getting her numbers and it was a matter that the board had not previously discussed.

Alan Dias, former member of the Planning Board and Board of Health objected loudly saying that the decision was made about 20 years ago to go with counsels who specialize in the kind of legal advice needed.   He disagreed with the analogy of the using a general practitioner for all of the town’s needs.  “If I have cancer, I’m going to a cancer doctor.”   The town has been run successfully.  The only reason that you two guys are trying to come up with this is a financial gain for you.  Andrews and DeSesa retorted “That’s not the case.”  Dias argued it IS the case. DiRensis said, I’m with the firm.  I have a labor guy, land use, procurement guys, contract guys, litigators.  I don’t do everything myself.   

Dias spoke again to arguing that the only reason was to put the town in a weakened position in arguing Andrews’ suits against the town.  Andrews said he should not have allowed Dias to speak and requested he be silent.  Dias asked if we were living in a totalitarian government now.

Andrews declared a 5-minute cooling off period.  Gaynor said she still hadn’t gotten an answer to her question. Town Administrator Charlie Seelig asked on behalf of Atty. Gilman asking that he could be heard by the board of selectmen before any decision was made on his cases.  The board allowed that.   

DiSesa moved the question to have all new legal matters except personnel matters currently with Attorney Gilman are to be referred to Brooks & DiRensis going forward and Andrews seconded the motion after Garron said no, he would not second.

COVID-19 policies

Halifax Health Agent Bob Valery spoke to the board regarding the mask policy for the Town Hall building as well as other municipal buildings in town.   “Our COVID numbers are back to where they were last spring.  The data is worse now.  “We had much discussion in our Board of Health meeting and came to a decision.   At this point in time the board was pretty much going along with what the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) was doing.  Then DESE changed its mind.   What we would do as a town as far as municipal buildings is a personal choice.   We had it in place, it worked effectively with no detrimental side effects.  Do we lead by exmample or not?  As for the school, it’s a very controversial issue.  Vaccinations, very controversial.  Testing?   It’s another.  We’re still working on getting funding for testing.”  Valery said it will change but at this point in time erring on the side of caution can’t hurt.

Chairman Andrews, who is also a member of the Silver Lake Regional School Committee, said that beginning Oct. 1, each school with 80% vaccination rate can apply to waive the mask mandate.    Charlie Seelig responded that with Halifax at 44% for the 12 to 15 year-olds and 51% for the 15-19 year olds, we’re not going to make it for the Oct. 1 deadline because we’re only going up by one or two per cent.  Kingston’s a whole lot better than we are, and so’s Plympton.  Plympton’s at 54% for ages 12 – 15, and 63% for ages 16-19.

“The politics are different here in Halifax than those in Plympton.  I think there’s more antivax sentiment here, the result is that the schools those children will be attending will have a mask requirement longer than those whose parents choose to get their children vaccinated,” Seelig said.

Chief Clancy takes Maine job

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After a nationwide search, Plympton Police Chief Matthew M. Clancy has been selected to serve as Chief of the Bureau of Capitol Police in the State of Maine; Chief Clancy’s last day with the Town of Plympton will be October 15, 2021.

As many citizens are aware, Chief Clancy was selected to serve as Plympton’s Police Chief in November of 2002 and remained in the position for 7 years, before accepting the Police Chief position in the Town of Duxbury.  After retiring from the Town of Duxbury, Chief Clancy returned to Plympton to serve once again as the Town’s Police Chief, this time on an interim basis, and has been doing so with great dedication for the past two years.

Chief Clancy has as extensive background in law enforcement, with over 35 years of service, 19 of which have been in the capacity of Police Chief.  Chief Clancy also possesses a Masters Degree in Criminal Justice and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.

Chief Clancy has worked tirelessly over the past two years to further professionalize the Plympton Police Department and has brought the Department closer to accreditation by improving upon policies and procedures during his tenure. Additionally, Chief Clancy has been instrumental in uniting the Department’s officers and staff by leading through example and he has also spearheaded numerous other significant projects, including facilitating major improvements in the Town’s technology.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Chief Clancy for his dedicated service to the Town of Plympton and we wish him all the best as he begins this exciting new chapter.

Plympton says ‘No’ to trucks

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The Plympton Board of Selectmen met virtually on the evening of Tuesday, August 23. Chair Christine Joy introduced Bill McNulty with the Old Colony Planning Council (OCPC) to discuss ways to deal with heavy truck traffic in town, particularly on Main St. and Ring Rd. McNulty said originally they were discussing establishing safety zones but have begun looking at heavy commercial vehicle exclusions in order to help mitigate cut-through traffic. He showed a map with two options, one that would look at Main St. alone and another that would involve Ring Rd. and require the cooperation of the town of Kingston.  The OCPC performed traffic counts on these roads back in March. He said that while the numbers were relatively low on Ring Rd., they did include a high percentage of trucks. He noted that “speeds were a little high” as well. Main St. was seeing about 2500 vehicles per day with a high percentage of those being heavy truck traffic. The percentage seen was somewhere between 14 and 16 percent. The heavy truck exclusion as shown on the map would include Main St., Ring Rd., Crescent St., and Upland Rd. McNulty suggested considering adding Center St.  and Maple St.

McNulty said the first step would be for the Board of Selectmen to vote on the traffic exclusion and then to send a letter to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). Selectman Mark Russo said he was in favor of the Main St. exclusion as well as Ring Rd. but recommended getting started on approval of the Main St. one while waiting for approval by Kingston for Ring Rd.

Selectman John Traynor asked, “Once we exclude them, what happens if they continue to use it?” “Most trucking firms would avoid it because they know that getting caught… can carry heavy fines,” McNulty explained. He further said that the GPS systems used by the trucking firms would have the updated information regarding the truck exclusions. McNulty also said that approvals from MassDOT are usually fairly quick and completed within a month. The Selectmen voted to seek the heavy traffic restriction zones as outlined by OCPC. They also voted to move forward with getting Kingston’s approval.

Plympton Treasurer/Collector Christine Kelly met with the Selectmen to discuss updated financial policies and procedures. “Basically, I’m just looking to put our procedures in writing per the auditor,” Kelly explained. She said the changes would only effect turnovers to the treasurer and grants. The Selectmen voted to approve the changes.

The Selectmen voted unanimously to approve a few agreements including the Agreement of Services with Habeeb and Associates for the Townhouse roof project. They also discussed the agreement for grant funded services for the MVP Winnetuxet River Corridor Open Space Project with Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD). Russo said, “Essentially what this does is give us Bill Napolitano, the trails and watershed manager for another year; Bill is amazing… is unbelievably patient and kind in holding our hand and this is great that we get him for another year.” The Board voted unanimously to approve the agreement.

The Board also discussed issuing a proclamation to designate September Suicide Awareness Month. Joy said they had received correspondence from Plymouth County asking the town to make the adoption. Joy said she sent an amended document to the other Selectmen. “Basically, it just kind of got rid of some of the language that made me think it might be kind of an unfunded mandate…. I thought it was good stuff but it was asking the town to take some action that I didn’t know we are in a position to do at this time,” Joy explained. The Board voted unanimously to adopt the document as amended by Joy.

Town Administrator Liz Dennehy provided an update. She said they are in the process of closing out the latest round of Green Communities grant funding. She said they are hopeful they can purse the boiler project at Dennett Elementary with the next round of grant funding. Dennehy also told the Selectmen that the Hazard Mitigation Grant is also close to being closed out.

The Selectmen provided their rants and raves for the past two weeks. Traynor said his was a “resident rave.” He said he felt there should be a rave for all the signs around town for the graduating seniors. Another rave he had was for two small, book houses or tiny libraries being paid for and soon to be placed throughout the town with the potential for more. Russo said his rave was for the progress on the truck exclusion. His other rave was for the progress made with the appointment process. Joy said her rave was for the great job being done by the financial team.

The Board also took a vote to rescind all prior appointments to the Emergency Management team. The Selectmen voted to reaffirm naming the Town Center Campus Committee, formerly known as the Public Safety Building Committee, to the Town Properties Committee. Additionally, they approved a number of appointments as listed below.

Area 58

Mark Russo, June 30, 2022

Veteran’s Agent

Roxanne Whitbeck, June 30, 2022

Emergency

Management Director

Stephen Silva, indefinite

Historical Commission

Jon Wilhelmsen, June 30, 2022; Jane Schulze, June 30, 2022.

Board of Registrars

Gabe Lundgren, March 31, 2024; Jeffrey Montello, March 31, 2023;and Mary Neckes, March 31, 2022

Bylaw Review Committee – all ‘Until Dissolved’

Dave Alberti, Jean Cohen, Amy Cronin, Linda Leddy, Kim Russo, Ann Sobolewski, Ken Thompson, and Alan Wheelock.

Community Preservation Committee (CPC)

Deborah Anderson, June 30, 2022, Richard Burnet, June 30, 2024; Irving Butler, June 30, 2022; Nancy Butler, June 30, 2024; and Judy Dudley, June 30, 2023; Mark Russo, June 30, 2023; Jane Schulze, June 30, 2024; and Justin Shepard, June 30, 2022.

Conservation

Commission

Richard Burnet, June 30, 2023; Amy Cronin, June 30, 2022, Linda Leddy, June 30, 2024; and Michael Matern, June 30, 2024. 

Council on Aging (COA) Nancy Butler, June 30, 2023; Michele Llanes, June 30, 2022; Dot Martel, June 30, 2022; Mary Lou White, June 30, 2023; and David Zeoli, June 30, 2024

Cultural Council

Heather Sanda, June 30, 2023; Elizabeth Westly, June 30, 2023; Jennifer Zanolli, June 30, 2023.

Harry Jason Jr. Park

Study Committee

Robert Doucette, June 30, 2024; and Jacqueline Freitas, June 30, 2024.

Historic District

Commission

Stuart Chase, June 30, 2024; Charles Nickerson, June 30, 2024; and Jonathan Shaw, June 30, 2022;

Open Space Committee

Vicki Alberti, June 30, 2024; Linda Leddy, June 30, 2023; Gavin Murphy, June 30, 2022; Jane Schulze, June 30, 2022; and Alan Wheelock, June 30, 2023.

Recreation Commission

Jeffrey Haas, June 30, 2024; Amy Hempel, June 30, 2022; Kevin Kaupp, June 30, 2022; Katrina Player, June 30, 2024; and Erik Player, June 30, 2024.

Town Properties

Committee

All serving until dissolved

Nancy Butler, Ross MacPherson, Colleen Thompson, John Traynor Jr., and Jon Wilhelmsen, until dissolved

Wage and Personnel

Dave Bugbee, June 30, 2023; Elyse Lyons, June 30, 2022;  and Alan Wheelock, June 30, 2024.

Zoning Board

of Appeals (ZBA)

Dave Alberti, June 30, 2022 (alternate); Carolyn DeCristofano, June 30, 2022 (alternate); Suzanne Jafferian, June 30, 2024; Ethan Stiles, June 30, 2022; and Colleen Thompson, June 30, 2022.

There is a single vacancy on the Bylaw Review Committee, the Community Preservation Committee, the Conservation Commission, the Harry Jason Jr. Park Study Committee, and the Coordinator of Races.

There are two vacancies each on the Cultural Council, the Historic Commission, and the Open Space Committee. All spaces on the Agricultural Commission are vacant.

Halifax gets preliminary approval for FY22 reval

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The Halifax Board of Assessors has conducted a comprehensive reassessment of all classes of properties in the Town of Halifax as mandated by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue.

The Assessors have received Preliminary Certification from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue.

The proposed assessed values reflect the estimated market value of properties as of January 1, 2021, based on sales in calendar years 2019 and 2020.

The revaluation resulted in typical Residential value increases of 10% to 14%.

As part of the Public Disclosure Period the proposed Fiscal Year 2022 valuations will be available for review beginning Monday, August 23, 2021, through Friday, August 27, 2021, in the Assessors’ Office in Town Hall daily from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Friday.  The valuations are also available online at https://www.halifax-ma.org/PRST.

Taxpayers may contact the Board of Assessors with questions regarding the proposed assessments at (781) 293-5960.

A Day at the Fair

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Fair-goers slid down the giant slide in the mid-day sun on the opening day of the Marshfield Fair Monday, Aug. 23, after being canceled due to COVID last year. At right, Joe Keeley, 13, of Whitman with his goat, Alice, shared some time in the shade during the Marshfield Fair on Monday afternoon. See more photos, page 7.

Photos by Stephanie Spyropoulos

Questions remain for new fire station

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The Town Properties Committee met on Wednesday, August 18. It was a joint meeting with the Plympton Selectmen. Members of the Plympton Finance Committee were also in attendance.

“The Town Properties Committee has spent the last year plus working on sort of a vision overall for the campus,” Chair of the Town Properties Committee Jon Wilhelmsen told those assembled. One of the main objectives for that campus plan is figuring out the placement of the new fire station. Wilhelmsen shared what he referred to as a “high level, notional drawing of the grand plan if we are able to put that in place.” The new, proposed fire station would be behind the new police station on Palmer Rd. The drawing also showed a proposed fix for the parking area for the library and Townhouse. He said the main entrance would convert from two to one driveway. Wilhelmsen said the existing fire station would remain and over time be converted into a community center that would include the Council on Aging (COA). Regarding the ball fields, Wilhelmsen said they are looking into doing some work to Harry Jason Park that involves working with both PAYS and the Recreation Committee on a long-term plan.

The new fire station was described as being a 3-bay, drive through, modern facility that would provide an appropriate space to house, maintain, and provide for a number of things. Those things include the safety and security of fire personnel and visitors, apparatus, supplies and gear, administrative and personnel space, and community interaction. Included in that community interaction would be a space to be used as a public medical room where vaccines and other medical services could be rendered. The hope would be to also have a public conference space that could be utilized for many things including a public cooling/warming area.

Also addressed within the meeting was the why behind the building of a new fire station. The current building is non-compliant with current OSHA regulations and poses physical and occupational safety concerns due to significant space and facility constraints. Fire Chief Stephen Silva pointed out that while previously they were not, the State is now mandated to be OSHA compliant. He said that regulations specific to carcinogens off gassing from gear have changed greatly since the building was first built. Supply management challenges also exist as supplies are spread across four different buildings, containers, and trailers across three different locations in town. “You’ve entrusted me with millions of dollars of equipment that we cannot properly house and that is just not right,” Silva said.

The timeline was also discussed with architect selection, programmatic and schematic design, infrastructure assessment, and cost estimates outlined to occur between October 2020 and April 2021. Final design, bidding, construction, and occupancy is tentatively scheduled between July 2021 and December 2022.

Regarding cost, Wilhelmsen said the goal would be to utilize existing funds and said they were not intending to do an override. The hope would be to use modular construction and/or leverage existing design plans. The town would also hope to take advantage of lower interest rates and intends to limit the impact of future increases in building costs. Plympton may also be able to potentially take advantage of Federal infrastructure funds with the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA). The total project cost is estimated at $6 million.

Selectman and Town Properties Committee member John Traynor said that the Committee has had two financial team meetings the most recent being that morning with the Town Administrator, the Town Accountant, the Town Treasurer, and the Assessor. Traynor said that as of June the amount in the Capital Stabilization Fund was $1,078,800. A Mass Municipal Depository Trust (MMDT) was established in 1996 and has never been used. The MMDT currently stands at $207,600. There is $803,500 in the Regular Stabilization Fund. The use of the funds must be approved by a two-thirds majority at town meeting.

“If we were to take a 30-year bond for $6 million at current interest rates it would give us a bond repayment each year of $324,000,” Traynor said regarding the new fire station costs. The current police station debt is set to run through 2040. “We’re in pretty good shape financially. The question is can we do a fire station that we can do and still have money left over because we know there will be things like new roofs and other issues we’re going to have to address as we go through the years,” he explained. Selectmen Chair Christine Joy asked, “So you’re saying that based on the $6 million number that we would be able to afford this just on the additional monies we’re getting for Capital Stabilization; we wouldn’t have to dive into it; it would basically just be self-sustaining from what we’re taking in?” Traynor confirmed that understanding was correct.

Joy asked about whether the Assessor had been brought into the conversation regarding the incoming funds into Capital Stabilization. “If they were to go down significantly, we could get ourselves into a pickle,” Joy pointed out. Traynor said they had, noting, “In fact, Sysco is currently assisting at $52 million… and they upped it to… over $60 million.” He did note that some of that would be abated but said that there should be an uptick, if anything. “One of the things that is troubling to the Finance Committee from time to time is there’s no guarantee that Sysco will be there in twenty years,” Chair of the Finance Committee Nathaniel Sides said. “But somebody’s going to be there Nate,” Traynor said. Sides insisted that you can’t know that and pointed to plenty of empty buildings up and down the East Coast. Silva countered saying, “We are the fastest section of the State of Massachusetts that is growing – the South Shore and the South Coast area and Massachusetts is one of the fastest growing economies nationwide despite everything that is going on.” Traynor furthered that all they were looking for at the moment was the go ahead to move forward with a feasibility study. The money for the study would have to be approved at special town meeting.

Joy said that she would rather see something like this handled as part of the annual town meeting rather than as part of a special. Wilhelmsen said the push to put it as part of the special had to do with concerns over price increases. Town Properties Committee member Ross MacPherson said, “What I’m seeing in construction right now is, forgetting the COVID related things, we are seeing a ton of money come into the infrastructure space and that is just going to tap the existing resources and like we had with the police station, what we really need to find is the contractor that needs this project more than would like to have this contract… if we wait too long, we may not have a bid that we can take.” He further said that while material prices are starting to level off, labor prices are increasing. Town Administrator Liz Dennehy added that if they at least had a design in the works sooner rather than later they may be able to at least partially fund a new septic system with ARPA funds. “There is kind of a larger scale benefit to having some of this feasibility and design work done and out of the way,” she explained.

“This is kind of ten years in the making, I have sat in on the various permutations… I think we’ve kind of been spinning our wheels. We know that sooner or later we’re going to have to do something with the fire station. I’m in favor of moving ahead with this,” Selectman Mark Russo said. He continued, “We are gaining nothing by just sitting and waiting.” He called it “amazing” that it could potentially be possible to build a new police station and a new fire station in such a short amount of time without increasing the tax rate. “I think we have to make clear that this is not committing to a new station; it is committing to spending some money to see if this will work,” Russo said.

MacPherson took a moment to address why the option of rehabbing the current station was not being explored. He said there are always unknowns when rehabbing and said that the town would have to commit to those. He also noted that the Fire Department would have to be moved elsewhere for the duration of the construction.

Joy made a motion that the Selectmen support the efforts of the Town Properties Committee in committing to a feasibility study on a new fire station. The Selectmen voted unanimously to approve the motion.

Following the discussion on the Fire Station, the Committee then turned their attention to the Harry Jason Park. MacPherson said he met with Plympton Athletic Youth Sports (PAYS) who expressed to him some general needs and wants. “They thought that having everything centralized at Harry Jason was a great end goal,” he said. MacPherson told the Committee that currently U-10 and U-12 share a soccer field at the Dennett that has to be striped differently depending on which age level is utilizing it. He also said that the youngest players are using the outfield of the baseball/softball field for their games. When asked what they would like to have in a perfect world, PAYS said they would like to have a major/minor league field, a larger sized little league field, a U-14 size soccer field that would also serve U-12, and a second soccer field for the U-8 and U-10. MacPherson said he believed there could be some repurposing done as well as some tweaks to the fields at the Dennett. Wilhelmsen pointed out that any new fields would require bringing in electricity and water. Colleen Thompson asked about the possibility of incorporating some adult facilities such as tennis courts at the park. “I think that there can be, in the grand plan of Harry Jason, some better walking trails or things that can be utilized,” MacPherson said. He said that since PAYS is youth related, the Recreation Committee would have to work with them on adult uses.