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No preference for prior service?

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The Halifax Board of Selectmen held an emergency meeting on the morning of Thursday, May 27 to discuss possibly reconsidering decisions made during a Selectmen’s meeting two days prior regarding the processes for annual appointments.

The Selectmen voted on May 25 to eliminate preference for current office holders and to potentially interview all applicants for one or more offices including the current officeholders. Also being reconsidered was whether to advertise and recruit for all paid appointed positions with terms expiring on June 30, 2021. Those positions include the Police Chief, the Town Accountant, the Town Counsel, and the Building Inspector.

Selectmen Chair Gordon Andrews began the Thursday meeting asking the Board if they would like to rescind their vote from the previous meeting and inquiring as to how they wished to proceed with the appointments. Longtime Selectman Troy Garron said, “I for one vote that we rescind the vote that was taken.” Referencing those that were up for reappointment he said, “None of the people have shown that they have caused any problems enough that they should lose their job over the past year since I’ve been here. In as much as there’s not any complaints or written evidence that any of these individuals are not doing their jobs, I vote that we appoint them as listed.” There was no second, however, to Garron’s motion. Newest Selectman Ashley DiSesa instead made a motion to go through the list individually. DiSesa’s motion was seconded by Andrews. Town Administrator Charlie Seelig indicated to Andrews that there were a number of letters from the individuals up for reappointment indicating their interest in being reappointed.

Before going through the list, a resident in attendance voiced concern over holding a meeting of such significance during morning hours on a work and school day where likely many residents would be unable to attend. Andrews acknowledged the concern but said that it had to be done that way due to the contract with the Police Chief. Andrews explained that at the previous meeting they had tasked Seelig with advertising and posting the positions in question by the following day, making the need for the meeting imminent. The resident said, “This town has had a problem for a long time with the infighting; it’s worse than the government between the Democrats and Republicans. It needs to stop. We are a community, a town, we work together.” Referencing the small gathering of residents during the Thursday morning meeting, the resident said, “You’re making decisions for this town with 25 people out of 8,000; I object to that.”  Andrews responded, “The appointments are made by the Board of Selectmen. There doesn’t have to be any public input for this.”

Assistant Treasurer Linda Cole spoke next warning the Selectmen that from a human resources perspective, there would likely be considerable ramifications of not reappointing someone without just cause. She said the ramifications could be “very costly to the town and to the residents; without proper documentation to not reappoint somebody you risk lawsuits.” Andrews responded that he had talked to town counsel about the issue and that since the appointment ends on a specific date, there is no guarantee of reappointment after that. Amy L. Troup also took to the microphone asking how long it had been the process that the selectmen appoint people to positions in town. Garron responded, “At least 31 years.”

The Selectmen then proceeded to go through the list of reappointments one by one. Andrews recused himself from the discussion on the reappointment of the Building Commissioner/Inspector of Buildings. Garron asked current Building Inspector Robert Piccirilli why he felt he should be reappointed. Piccirilli responded, “I feel like I’ve always done my job to the best of my ability. If it’s the Board’s decision, I’d like to know where they feel I haven’t done my job.” He added, “I love this community. I live in this community. It’s a thankless job.” Piccirilli’s counsel spoke saying, “I would raise an objection to Selectwoman DiSesa’s involvement in this particular part of the proceeding; the reason I say that is she just won election to her position after waging a campaign that was full of personal allegations against Mr. Piccirilli, both personally as well as as Building Inspector.” He asked that she recuse herself from consideration of Piccirilli’s reappointment. Others, including Garron, also spoke in favor of Piccirilli’s competency. DiSesa said she wished to speak with town counsel prior to voting in order to determine if she needs to recuse herself from the vote on Piccirilli’s reappointment. The vote was moved to the June 1 meeting to allow time for her to do that.

Next, DiSesa made a motion to reappoint Police Chief Joao Chaves to a term expiring on June 30, 2024. Garron seconded the motion and the vote to reappoint was unanimous.

Garron made a motion to appoint the Building Inspector Assistant William Kelly to a term expiring on June 30, 2022 and the selectmen voted unanimously to reappoint. Next, they unanimously voted to reappoint David Moore as Sealer of Weights and Measures to a term expiring on June 30, 2022. Town Accountant Sandra Nolan was also unanimously reappointed to a term expiring on June 30, 2024.

Garron made a motion to appoint Town Counsel Larry Mayo to a term expiring on June 30, 2022 but there was no second and the Selectmen continued down the list. Wilford Corey was unanimously reappointed as Veteran’s Agent for a term expiring on June 30, 2022. Stephen Peterson was unanimously reappointed as Wiring Inspector and Dennis McManus as Wiring Inspector Assistant both to terms expiring on June 30, 2022.

The Board asked Seelig to advertise for the Town Counsel with interviews planned for June 24. Thirty minutes were allotted for interviews. The Board was clearly divided with Andrews and DiSesa in favor of interviewing for the position and Garron clearly against.

Before adjourning, Seelig also addressed the myriad of vacancies for unpaid volunteer positions in town. Seelig said there would be a submission deadline of June 9 for talent bank forms with interviews held on June 15.

FIELD OF FLAGS

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This beautiful field of flags was set up by veterans and members of the Halifax VFW Post 6258 to commemorate Memorial Day.  The 30 feet by 60 feet arrangement has just under 500 flags set two feet apart and will be on display until June 5.   The Town of Halifax will pay tribute to all fallen comrades at 9:30 a.m. with a “drive-by” observance at the various monuments on the Town Hall green and across the street.   

Photo by Deb Anderson

Board hears third COA applicant director

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The Halifax Board of Selectmen met early on Thursday, May 20, to address a number of issues including an interview with Jill Carr for Council on Aging (COA) Director. Newest Selectman Ashley DiSesa was joined by seasoned selectmen Gordon Andrews and Troy Garron.

Carr, who was the third applicant interviewed thus far, told the selectmen that she has worked in human services for the last 25 years with much of that spent working with elders. “I worked 10 years at adult protective services in Braintree and we covered 11 surrounding towns.” She said she worked closely with the COA of many of those towns. “I’ve always had such a passion working with seniors and being an advocate and a voice for a lot of the seniors that might not have a voice,” she explained. She said that her philosophy has always been to empower seniors and to help them live as independently as possible. “I did recently get my masters in order to strengthen my skills regarding social services,” Carr told Selectmen. Additionally, she said she is very familiar with available resources in Massachusetts saying she has worked closely with the Executive Office of Elder Affairs.

Garron asked Carr what she would consider her top achievement in working with elderly and other people. Carr cited being a strong advocate and raising awareness as being amongst her proudest accomplishments. “Advocating for an elder’s right to self-determination,” she added. DiSesa asked if she had experience handling a budget. “When I was the Director, we were constantly needing to be handling numbers and maintain a quota… it was my job to track and make sure that numbers were where they are supposed to be,” Carr said. DiSesa also asked if she had experience writing grants. Carr said that while she had not written any, she has worked closely with many who have. Carr said she was also able to meet with Susan Lawless to discuss the Halifax COA. Asked what one word she would choose to describe herself, Carr simply said, “dedicated.”

Andrews explained to Carr that there was currently a plan being looked at to swap the COA building with the museum building in town. He said there would be more to present on that in September. Andrews asked Carr if she had any questions for them and she said she would be eager to hear more about what the goals are for the COA. Andrews noted that the building has been closed to the public since last March and said that opening back up and getting programs running was amongst the most urgent goals. He also noted that there were various spaces around town that could be utilized for the COA. “I think that understanding what spaces are available and how to adequately use them is something that we’d be looking for in a Director right now,” Andrews told Carr.

Following the interview with Carr, the Board tackled their own reorganization. Garron nominated Andrews to serve as chair and he was voted in unanimously. It was also decided that Garron would serve as vice-chair and DiSesa as clerk. Andrews then said he would like to discuss the format of the meetings saying he would like to have department heads come in once every 6-8 weeks to provide an update on their department, both good and bad. Andrews also proposed a spreadsheet for new articles that would show progress toward estimated dates of completion on the various projects. He also recommended having a visual presentation during town meeting that would allow residents to see the motion being voted upon as well as proposed spending, etc. Garron expressed some concern over the cost of such an endeavor. Andrews also said he would like to resume department head meetings again now that the pandemic is dwindling.

The Selectmen then turned their attention to the vacancies on the Halifax Elementary School Committee as well as the Finance Committee. Alison Vance had submitted her resignation from the School Committee and Fred McGovern from the Finance Committee. There was a question sent in email form from Town Moderator Dennis Carmen regarding whether the Board would consider the results from the recent town election in filling the vacancy. The hope was that the person with the next number of votes, or the runner-up, would be considered to fill the position. The email also read, “Additionally will the related experience of each candidate be considered when making this decision; also will any consideration be given to the diversity of the candidate given our society’s building of awareness of diversity, equity, and inclusion issues; I hope the answers to my questions will be yes, and if not, I would be interested in the thoughts of each of the members on the Select Board.”

Andrews reminded those assembled that a vote to fill a vacancy on the Halifax Elementary School Committee would require a vote from both the Board of Selectmen as well as the School Committee. “Basically, the selectmen have heard the voice of the population that the person came in second on the voting scale that should give really good consideration because at least you know they are interested in the position,” Garron said. Andrews said that anyone interested in the position should fill out a talent bank form and a joint meeting would be put together between the Selectmen and the School Committee to hold interviews and have a vote. The meeting is scheduled for June 8.

The Board also fielded a request for a VFW Memorial Day Ceremony. Town Administrator Charlie Seelig noted that the outdoor mask mandate would likely be lifted by then but said he would imagine the event would still include social distancing. The event would be 35-45 minutes long and would occur on the front lawn of the Town Hall. The Board approved the request unanimously. There was another request for an entertainment license for weekly car shows at Walmart. The Board approved the request contingent on the Certificate of Liability being presented to the Board of Health.

Joy named Plympton BOS chair

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The Monday, May 17 Plympton Board of Selectmen meeting began with a reorganization of the Board. Current Clerk John Traynor led the reorganization nominating himself to serve as Chair for the coming year. Upon not hearing a motion for a second, Traynor said, “So, knowing that this was coming, I at least would like to point out a few things. I’ve been involved in town government for 33 years, 12 on the Finance Committee, eight on the Library Trustee, eight as Moderator, and five years as Selectman. For the last five years we have rotated the Chair every year except one when Mr. Russo declined it. My community involvement, as I’m sure like yours, is I go back as far as being a Cub Scout Treasurer. I’m founder of the Library Genealogy Club and a longtime member of the Upland Club where I served as President, Vice President, Treasurer and Director at various times. So, I guess my question to Mr. Russo and Mrs. Joy is what exactly has prevented you from seconding my nomination?”

Referencing an email sent requesting her support of the motion, Selectman Christine Joy said that her concern was open meeting law. “I think you are incredibly qualified, and I have no doubt that you always have the best interest of the town at heart. Perception is so important, and I think that we always need to err on the side of caution.” Selectman Mark Russo said, “We each have strengths and some weaknesses; we each have different styles. I think, actually, to some extent, that has been the strength of the three of us together in four years; our styles have been kind of complimentary. We have our set projects, our pet projects and we’ve done very well over the past four years… really it’s just a matter of style… the best person to Chair would be Christine.” Traynor then made a motion that Joy be made Chair for the coming year. It was then voted through unanimously. Traynor was voted Vice-Chair and Russo was named Clerk.

The Selectmen then turned their attention to the next steps and timeline of the disposition of town owned land. Traynor asked that it be put on the agenda for the following meeting so that the Town Properties Committee could lend their thoughts. Colleen Morin and Christine Kelly from the Treasurer’s Office were on the line as was Atty. David Coppola. Coppola provided an explanation of how towns typically dispose of land that they have acquired through tax foreclosure. “Once you have these properties the town can use these properties for their own town purposes or if they don’t have a need for them, they can subsequently sell them and the most common way to do that and probably the simplest way to do that is through public auction.” Coppola explained that the Board of Selectmen would appoint someone to oversee the sale of the property with that person generally being the treasurer/collector though he noted it can really be any qualified individual. That custodian would then work with other town departments to determine which properties will be auctioned. The next step would be to actually hold the auction. Coppola said another option would be a request for sealed bids; the property would have to be declared surplus through a town meeting vote.

Joy asked Chair of the Town Properties Committee Jon Wilhelmsen when he thought the Committee would be able to survey the list of properties and make recommendations. Wilhelmsen said that they had looked at some lists saying, “from a general perspective, I think the Town Properties Committee is certainly in favor to sell properties that people have an ability to use but not such that they are able to take those and combine them to create buildable lots; we don’t think that is a wise use of the land and… better almost to leave the land as open.” Wilhelmsen said they would look at whatever list the Board of Selectmen would like them to at their next Town Properties meeting.

Next on the agenda was a discussion of Area 58’s live meeting coverage. Traynor said that one of the things that had been discussed was the possibility of streaming the Board of Selectmen meetings live while also capturing it with Zoom. He said the one attempt to do so, did not work out though Area 58 felt it was still possible with some tweaks. Traynor reached out to Silver Lake Regional Technology Director Steve Pellowe who said it would be a relatively easy process taking roughly two hours to complete if the right consultant was brought onboard.

Russo expressed some concern about using Area 58’s Zoom number as opposed to their own saying he was hesitant to give up that control. Traynor said that one of the benefits as he sees it, is that seniors who may not have the technology know-how to figure out Zoom, could turn on their televisions and live stream the meetings that way.

Following the discussion on Area 58, Joy turned to the Host Community Agreement (HCA) with Sweet Grass Farms on 77 Spring St. Town Administrator Liz Dennehy said that Russo and herself had been in contact with town counsel to see what an HCA draft would look like. Dennehy said they would need to determine if they are asking for the three percent impact fee right at the outset. She also said that they would need to determine how to handle the community benefit fund; some towns ask for it as one lump sum of say $50,000 while other towns take a more incremental approach receiving something like $10,000 a year. The third item that would need to be ironed out would be the charitable contributions. The project proponent would have the say over which local entities they would disperse the funds to. “Sweet Grass Enterprise has been really great to work with so far and they seem like a really nice earnest bunch,” Russo said. He said he saw the three percent surcharge to be reasonable. For the other funds, Russo said he would be in favor of a much more modest ask. Traynor said he was in favor of the higher amount for the community benefit fund.

After much discussion, Dennehy said that for this round of negotiations they would ask for the three percent impact fee. Joy proposed finding out what Sweet Grass had in mind for the other categories. Dennehy said that they could ask them if they would prefer the community benefit fund to be in the form of a one-time lump sum payment or whether that would be too much to ask of a small, start-up company. Wilhelmsen suggested taking the payments and putting it away to be used for something greater than just offsetting budget items. He likened it to the Dennett using school choice funds in part to pay for the new playground.

Dennehy provided an update on various topics including COVID 19. “Our Covid numbers are as low as we’ve seen them,” she told the Board. She said the town has reconnected with GATRA so being accepted as a member community is still on the horizon. She said that work on the Soule Homestead project is still underway as well. Dennehy also said that the Old Colony Planning Council (OCPC) did great work for the Highway Department regarding traffic counts for speed zones. They will be attending the June 7 Board of Selectmen meeting to discuss their findings.

As customary, the Board ended their meeting with their rants and raves for the last few weeks. Russo said, “I was incredibly impressed for a little tiny town in slightly challenging times how smooth the town meeting operation was; I want to rave about the town administrator, the town moderator, the school people, the town clerk, the AV people and Area 58. That was really cool; that was really well put together.” He also said he was impressed with how serious residents were who attended the meeting.

Traynor said he wanted to rave about Barry DeCristofano’s handling of town meeting saying he “runs it as good as anybody has ever run it.”

Joy said her first rave was for Brian Kling and his handling of an incident involving her own dog. Her second rave was for the various local Fire Departments’ handling of a house fire on her street the night before.

First in-person meeting for SL Region

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The Thursday, May 20 Silver Lake Regional School Committee meeting began with Chair Paula Hatch saying they were “giddy” because they were finally all in-person.

Silver Lake Regional High School Principal Michaela Gill was unable to attend due to family obligations. Silver Lake Regional Middle School Principal Jim Dupille read Gill’s notes to the Committee. Earlier this year, a subcommittee was established to formalize a dual enrollment policy. It would allow juniors and seniors in good academic standing to enroll part-time in college courses and earn college credits. The student and guardian would be responsible for paying for such courses. “I think it’s a great opportunity for our students to get a jump start on colleges; there’s an opportunity for them to not only earn credit in our high school but really reach out to the next level and really propel them forward in their career,” Dupille explained. Dupille said that Committee member Leslie-Ann McGee was instrumental in the development of the program.

One Committee member asked if the program would be open to the career and technical education students as well. Superintendent Jill Proulx said, “I think there’s an opportunity for a wide-range of types of courses that students could potentially take advantage of.”

Committee member Christopher Eklund expressed some concerns over the way the policy was presented calling it “very, very open.” McGee noted that there were many different models for dual enrollment. She also pointed out that for the last several years, many CTE students have already been involved in dual enrollment programs. McGee said that her own son was in a dual enrollment program at Quincy College taking precalculus as well as English Comp 101 online there. “By the end of December, he had his entire high school year of math and year of English completed,” she explained. She said that it has eased the transition into college. McGee pointed out that if a student takes an Advanced Placement (AP) course in high school but does not receive a score of a 4 or a 5 they will not receive college credit whereas a passing grade at a college while enrolled in a dual enrollment program would count toward college credit. She also stressed that it is financially more beneficial as well to enroll in such a program.

Eklund asked if the courses that are being selected to take at a college are typically those that are not offered at Silver Lake. McGee said that it gives students the opportunity to go beyond the curriculum offered at Silver Lake. Eklund said his concern was students going off campus to take courses that they could take at Silver Lake. He said he was all for students going off campus to take courses not otherwise offered to them. “I’m fully in agreement, I just want more structure to it,” he explained.

Committee member Gordon Andrews said, “So the idea is this is the first step an open policy and then you guys can work on an implementation plan to try to bring in colleges?” “That is my understanding,” McGee said. Except for Eklund, all other Committee members voted in favor of the new dual enrollment policy.

Dupille reported that according to Gill, the high school’s full, in-person return to school has been very successful. Gill requested permission from the School Committee to accept donations from the Kingston Fire Department for a physio-controlled life pack, 15 defibrillators; the total value of such donations is $20,250. A 2001 Oldsmobile was also donated by a resident to be used by the automotive department. High School graduation will take place on June 4 at 6 pm. The annual senior parade will take place on June 3 and students will have an opportunity to visit their former schools. The annual senior awards will be a virtual presentation on June 1.

Dupille then turned to his own update. Dupille said that later that week they would be holding their practice MCAS testing with actual testing on May 25, May 27, and wrapping up in early June. Spirit Week was held at the Middle School from May 10 through May 14. Dupille said clubs are now meeting after school once again including the school paper the Laker Ledger as well as the drama club. He said they were also looking at bringing back a modified field day sometime in June based on the new safety guidelines that are being released.

Proulx told the Committee that on May 17 the Department of Education issued a new set of Covid 19 frequently asked questions with updated information. Effective May 18 students no longer had to wear masks outside even if distancing could not be maintained. Adults still need to wear masks outside if distancing cannot be maintained. Masks will be required for all while indoors. Gathering limits for outdoor events will be lifted as of May 29. Governor Baker had announced that the state of emergency would be lifted on June 15. Proulx said she reached out to the head of the subcommittee on policy to amend the Covid policies appropriately. Proulx said that as of right now they are not anticipating a change to the policy that requires students and adults to wear masks while inside the school prior to the end of the school year. Proulx pointed out that sometimes the broader public implications do not always apply to schools as they must account for not only the Governor’s mandates but the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (DESE) determinations as well.

Director of Business Services Christine Healy provided an update on the financials saying that while there were a number of deficits there were also a number of surpluses that would likely weigh each other out. Healy said she was surprised to see that the only utilities deficit was for gas at the high school. She found this surprising given the number of air purifiers and other items running due to the pandemic. Healy noted that the schools were still waiting for reimbursements for CARES Act funding from the towns.

Assistant Superintendent Ryan Lynch began his update by saying that principals, coordinators, and department heads are beginning work on summer curriculum. He said that teachers and coordinators are also working on a new K-5 ELA program. Regarding professional development, Lynch said they have their diversity, equity and inclusion working group continuing their work that was started over the winter. “The goal of this working group is to eventually design diversity, equity, and inclusion professional development for our schools,” he explained.

Superintendent Proulx also presented. “Despite the FAQ’s that came out earlier this week and the Governor’s announcement about the COVID related restrictions ending on May 29, one thing that is going to remain in place is that all of the federal U.S. Department of Agricultural school meal flexibilities that were announced on April 20 are still going to remain in place through June 30, 2022,” Proulx said. She also mentioned that youths over 12 years of age are now eligible to be vaccinated. Proulx also spoke about the grant opportunities that are available for summer programming to support the needs of the students that may have arisen over the last year or two. One such program is the Accelerated Learning Academy. The program is intended to help those students entering Grades 3-6 most affected by COVID 19. There will also be a Silver Lake Middle School Enhancement program for students entering Grades 7 and 8. There will be another program to ensure students with disabilities will not fall behind.

Silver Lake Education Association President John Lay spoke briefly. Lay said he wanted to acknowledge on behalf of the SLEA the tremendous amount of work that went into getting kids and teachers back in school full-time in a very short amount of time. He also said that he really appreciated the school encouraging kids aged 12 and up to get vaccinated. Committee member Summer Schmaling took issue, however, with the idea that the schools would be encouraging students to get vaccinated. “Something he said really struck me; encouraging students to get vaccinated, that is not our role as a school to be doing that. I have an issue with that; I’m trying to speak without coming across emotionally…. I think it’s out of line for our teachers and our staff to be having that conversation with minors,” she explained. Proulx clarified that the school nurse is putting together an informational packet to be distributed directly to parents.

Hatch pointed out to the other members that Halifax did not support the regional budget at their town meeting though Plympton did. Andrews clarified that if two towns vote no to the regional budget, the School Committee must reconvene to present another budget and the towns would have 30 days to hold another town meeting. Kingston did, in fact, vote through the Silver Lake Regional budget during their town meeting on Saturday, May 22.

As it was Andrews’ last Regional School Committee meeting, Hatch said, “We have to bid farewell… I just feel the need to say, you have been a tremendous asset to this Committee; your Finance Committee background coupled with your ability to just think outside the box has been overwhelmingly beneficial to this Committee… I’m going to miss your wisdom and I’m going to miss your humor both and I can’t thank you enough for having been on this Committee.” Additionally, School Committee secretary Lisa Turcotte is retiring. Hatch said, “Lisa you have been such a wealth of knowledge as well; you’re sort of like the historical gatekeeper of so many pieces of knowledge of this district… you’ve been absolutely wonderful to work with.”

New faces elected in Halifax

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Halifax voters cast 1175 ballots in the Halifax Town Election on May 15.  Of the 6,014 registered voters, 19.5% chose to be counted.  The heavy campaigning saw a veteran Selectman and Board of Health and Planning Board members defeated by newcomers to the boards.

Selectman Tom Millias got the nod from 499 voters while Ashley Anne DiSesa got 601 votes.  Write-ins were nine and Blanks 66.

Alan J. Dias was a candidate for re-election to the Planning Board where he was unseated by Brendon W. Elliot.  Dias got 426 votes to Eliot’s 654.

Dias was also a candidate for re-election to the Board of Health but lost to Pamela Ann Engstrom who got 633 votes to Dias’ 473.  There were two write-ins and 67 Blanks.

Dorothy L. Lamoureux won re-election to a three-year term on the Board of Assessors with 802 votes.  Write-ins were 15 and 358 were Blank.

There were 137 write-ins for the three-year term on the Board of Library Trustees.  Susan Vogt and Patrick Michaels each won seats.  There were 2,213 Blanks.

Kathleen Shiavone was elected to the two-year term on the Board of Library Trustees with 826 votes.   There were 21 write-ins and 328 Blanks.

Summer Schmaling won election to the two-year term on the Halifax Elementary School Committee, besting Lana M. Eldridge who got 513 votes.  There were two write-ins and 72 left Blank.

Two candidates won three-year terms to the Halifax Elementary School Committee. James F. Keegan III won with 455 votes and Lauren Laws 493 votes.  Marline Amedee got 419 votes, Jennifer Ann Carroll 369, and Robert W. Johnson got 200 votes.  There were two write-ins and 412 Blanks.

Summer Schmaling also won election to the two-year term on the Silver Lake Regional School Committee with 571 votes.  Her opponent, Marline Amedee took 518 votes.  There were 2 write-ins and 84 Blanks.

Gordon Laws won a seat for three years on the Silver Lake Regional School Committee with 532 votes to his opponent, Jennifer Ann Carroll’s 464 votes.   There were four write-ins and175 Blanks.

Robert Gaynor won a three-year term as Town Moderator with his write-in campaign.  There were 176 write-ins and 999 Blanks.

Bruce Nobles won a three-year term as Park Commissioner.  There were 139 write-ins and 1036 Blanks.

Michael J. Schleiff won a two-year term as Park Commissioner.  There were 54 write-ins and 1121 Blanks.

Daniel O. Bosworth, Jr. won a 3-year seat on the Board of Water Commissioners with 826 votes.  There were 12 write-ins and 337 Blanks.

Susan Marie Lawless was elected to a three-year term as Town Clerk with 826 votes.  There were 17 write-ins and 283 Blanks.

Pamela R. Adduci won re-election to the Treasurer/Collector position with 901 votes.  There were 14 write-ins and 260 Blanks.

Plympton Town Election

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Saturday, May 15, was Election Day in Plympton.   Out of 2,392 registered voters, there were 417 ballots cast, or 17.43%.

Town Clerk Patricia Detterman posted the following unofficial results.

The selectmen’s race saw incumbent Christine M. Joy win her bid for re-election to a three – year term with 341 votes to David Detterman’s nine votes.  There were 65 votes left blank and Other got two votes.

The 3-year term for Assessor saw 404 Blank and 13 Other.

The 1-year term for Assessor saw 416 Blank and one Other.

Harry Weikel won re-election to a three-year term on the Board of Health with 336 votes.  81 left their choice blank.

Nathanial Sides won another three-year term on the Finance Committee with 35 votes in a write-in campaign.  378 were left blank and Other got two votes.

Miranda Anne Pink got 333 votes to fill one three-year term as Library Trustee.  The other three-year term only got two votes and there were 499 blank votes for the two positions.

The one-year term for Library Trustee won just three votes for Other and 414 Blank.

James Cohen won the seat on the Planning Board for five years with 33 votes.  Sean Mahoney got 20 votes, Others got 10 votes and 354 were left Blank.

Paul d’Angelo, longtime member of the Planning Board, won a seat for four years with 31 votes to Jeff Johnson’s 22 votes.  Others were 6.  358 votes were left blank.

A spirited contest for School Committee saw Jason W. Fraser re-elected to one of the seats with 288 votes and newcomer Nicole M. Mahoney will join the board on the other seat after gaining 169 votes.  Other candidates, Suzanne Jefferian got 106 votes and Robert R. Montgomery took 131.  Blanks were 139, and Other got one vote.

Lukasz Kowalski won a three-year term to the Silver Lake Regional School Committee with 321 votes and Other got one vote.  95 left it blank.

Town Clerk Patricia Detterman was re-elected to a three-year term with 343 votes, Other got five votes, and Blanks were 69.

William N. Hayes, Jr. won another three-year term as tree warden with  345 votes.   Blanks were  72.

Fire destroys Plympton home

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Sunday night Brett Sack came home from work to find flames tearing through the top floor roof of his home at 24 Dukes Brook Road in Plympton.   He was able to get his family to safety including an 8-year old girl and 3-year old boy.

Plympton Fire Dept. received the call at 9:11 p.m.  Fire Chief Stephen Silva was first on the scene and confirmed there was heavy fire through the roof and that all the occupants were out of the building.

There were no injuries.

Halifax, Kingston, Carver, Plymouth, and Middleborough fire departments all responded to assist through Mutual Aid.

The cause of the fire is yet to be determined and remains under investigation with a coordinated effort between the Plympton Fire Department and the Fire Marshall’s Office.   It is not considered suspicious.

A gofundme page has been set up to help the family.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/thesackfamily?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=sms&utm_source=customer-andr

While the family is looking for housing, donations of clothing is most needed, and gift cards for Walmart and Target to fill in the necessities.  Anyone willing to donate clothing and items is asked to contact Taite Beale through her Facebook page who is organizing the donations effort.

  

Nips ban nipped at ATM part 2

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Halifax was able to complete its Annual Town Meeting Monday night, May 17, after failing to meet its quorum last week on Tuesday.   With just about half of the articles acted on Monday, May 10, the meeting adjourned Tuesday at 8:05 when the quorum of 100 voters could not be reached.

There were several hot button topics left to vote on: Article 55, to see if the town would authorize the Board of Selectmen to petition the General Court to enact legislation that would allow Halifax to expand the membership of the Board of Selectmen from three to five members.

Had this passed, the selectmen would have been able to put the question of expanding the board on the ballot in Spring, 2022.  Discussion ensued for most of half an hour both for and against the measure.  Selectman Gordon Andrews spoke to his article, saying that two more members of the select board would allow the business of the town to be completed more efficiently, as there wouldn’t be as many votes tabled due to conflicts of interest.  It would also allow current board members to share the ever-increasing burden of the work of the Board of Selectmen.

Candace Kniffen spoke to the room saying that for many years the position of selectman has gone unopposed, and for many boards and committees it is difficult to get people to fill the empty positions.  She also brought up the cost of health insurance for an additional two board members as a deterrent.

Retiring Town Clerk Barbara Gaynor said that she had never experienced a more contentious election ever!  “Lately every one of us has been torn down.”  Gaynor said she didn’t think that growing the board to five members would solve anything.

Kim Cavicchi said that she felt it would bring “transparency” to the board, and not have as many conflicts of interest.  “If we don’t expand we’ll continue to have lawsuits.”

Alison Long took the microphone to oppose the expansion of the board stating that she strongly feels “we have a good working system.”   She has resided in Halifax for 48 years and recognizes that having a good town manager takes a lot of the work selectmen would formerly have done.

Paula Hatch, chairman of the Silver Lake Regional School Committee said she has made Halifax her home for 25 years.  The complexity of the issues she has to face on our boards can be overwhelming.  “What are we afraid of?   I have no reservations as to increasing the board,” she said.

After all was said and done, Article 55 failed.

Despite an impassioned plea from Shirley Graf speaking for her article to ban the sale of “nips” in Halifax, nips will still be sold for the foreseeable future.

Joe Tonello, owner of Harmony Liquors in Halifax, told the assembly that nips make up 17% of his liquor sales.  He said that taking away nips sales, after the state curbed flavored tobacco sales, menthol cigarettes, vaping, and some cigar sales, he said his business is feeling these losses.  “Where does it end?”

Tom McGrath got up to say, “I don’t want the town of Halifax to tell me what I can and cannot drink.”

Two voters pointed out that Halifax has no litter laws and that Halifax policemen have issued no tickets for littering.   In fact, there were only 12 arrests for DUI and three for open container violations since Jan. 1, 2019.

Halifax voters did not vote the $105,000 requested to resurface the five tennis courts at Silver Lake Regional High School.  There was much debate as to why there wasn’t an option to repair the courts, rather than reconstruct the surfaces.  A repair would only be guaranteed for two years and a reconstruction would last 15 to 20 years.    Because the article stated its funding source would be the general stabilization fund, the article required a 2/3 vote to pass.

Paula Hatch, Chairman of the Silver Lake Regional School Committee, defended the article and asked where the $312,000 that was Halifax’s share of the settlement when Pembroke left the region.  That money, Hatch said, was to be set aside for capital expenses at the high school just like this.  The Town Accountant said the funds were in the general stabilization fund and a 2/3 vote was needed to spend them.  The article failed.  Halifax may yet have to spend that money as Plympton voted for its share of the article last Wednesday and Kingston will vote for or against its share on Saturday, May 22.  If Kingston’s article passes, Halifax will need to conform to the majority.

Later in the evening, School Committee chairman Gordon Andrews, with other members of the school committee, attempted a reconsideration of the article, but that failed as well.

Articles 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 42, 51, and 52 were passed over.

Article 14 approved $150 for the use of the Trustees for County Cooperative Extensive Service.

Article 18 asked the town for $110,000 to purchase and equip two new marked police vehicles to be used for patrol.  Police Chief Joao Chaves spoke to the article saying this is part of an ongoing program of updating and replacing his rolling stock, transferring the replaced vehicles to other departments in Halifax that could use them.  Karen Fava amended the article so that the replaced vehicles would have to be sold or traded in and the resulting funds be used in another way.  The amended article passed.

Article 20 asked for $6,850 to fund an actuarial study of Town-paid post-employment benefits.  The article passed.

Article 21 asked the town for $25,000 to reseal the Halifax Elementary School parking lot.  Passed.

Article 22 asked the town for $30,000 to replace the kitchen flooring at the Halifax Elementary School.  Passed.

Article 24 asked for $23,000 to install and extend pedestrian pathways from and around the Halifax Elementary School including but not limited to improving ADA access to areas of the HES.  Article passed.

Article 29 asked the town for $3,500 to support South Shore Resource and Advocacy Center for domestic violence intervention and prevention services for its residents.  Selectman Troy Garron spoke in support of the article saying that over the past 30 years people in Halifax have used the services and it deserves support. The article passed.

Article 30 asked the town to add $300,000 to the General Stabilization fund.  The article finally passed after a little lesson in free cash that is neither free nor cash, and it left unaccounted for it would cause accounting problems.

Article 31 asked the town for $32,000 to purchase a document management/digitization/e-permitting/workflow system.  The article passed.

Article 33 asked the town for $135,000 for a new backhoe for the highway department.  Highway Superintendent Stephen Hayward spoke to his article saying that he was replacing a 2010 John Deere backhoe with 6,600 hours on it.  He expects the trade-in value is about $20,000.  The article passed.

Article 35 asked the town for $29,000 to replace 24 windows in Pope’s Tavern.  Jeff Bolger asked how much money the town was going to put into the “sinkhole” Pope’s Tavern?  We must have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last 10 years.” Jean Gallant, Holmes Library Director, told the group that the old building has seen a lot of history and deserves to be preserved.  The article passed.

Article 36 asks to fund $17,500 to upgrade alarm systems at the Town Hall, Highway/Water Bar, and recycling Center.  Passed.

Article 39 asks for $90,000 to replace 72 windows at the Town Hall.  Pam Aducci who works in the town hall spoke about the non-functioning windows that won’t stay open, that close with a bang, leak water and wind.  The article passed.

Article 43 asked the town for $2,500 to purchase three new computers for the Holmes Public Library.  Passed.

Article 44 asked the town for $6,500 to purchase and install an OSHA required mezzanine gate in the highway barn.  After discussion about the amount of the bids, is $6,500 sufficient to complete the job, and whether or not engineering would be required, the article passed.

Article 46 asked the town for $50,000 for a fraud risk assessment on the recommendation of the town’s auditor.  Town Administrator Charlie Seelig said the program was necessary to outline areas that need to be addressed.  “If we don’t know what’s wrong, we can’t correct it,” Seelig said.  The article passed.

Article 47 asked the town for $20,000 to add to the Unemployment Compensation account.  Passed.

Article 49 asked the town for $7,500 to repair and replace the fence at the Lingan Street beach area.   After conversation about whether the fence is in poor condition, do we need a fence there anyway, or is this enough money to complete the job, the article passed.

Article 53 dealing with the floodplain district regulations was considered and since its passing is necessary to getting flood insurance in these areas the article passed.

Article 56 asked the town to allow the establishment of a stabilization fund for the Silver Lake Regional School District.  The Finance Committee did not recommend it saying that there is no control over how it is spent once it is funded.  The article failed.

Article 57 asked the town to vote to amend Chapter 146 (Stormwater Management) as recommended by the Massachusetts Attorney General.  The article passed.

Article 58 asked the town permission to acquire by gift, transfer, temporary easement for bridge construction, access and/or related purposed in, on, and under parcels of land abutting Pine Street, shown on a plan entitled “Pine Street over Cranberry Bog Overflow Right of Way Plans”.  Highway Superintendent Hayward explained that this was a formality so he would have a place to park his equipment while he was working on the area.

The original article was amended by Amy Troup and Karen Fava to eliminate any reference to monetary compensation.  The article passed.

Green Earth Cannabis Host Community Agreement

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There is a tentative final version of the Host Community Agreement between Green Earth Cannabis, to be located at 657 Monponsett Street, and the Town. The HCA is available at
http://www.halifax-ma.org/sites/g/files/vyhlif4496/f/uploads/green_earth…
      Interested parties can send in questions and comments concerning the HCA to the Board of Selectmen until Tuesday, May 25. The Board will also accept public comments concerning the HCA at 7 p.m. at its meeting on May 25.