The Halifax Board of Selectmen met Tuesday, June 25, holding a joint meeting with the Parks Commission to discuss operations at the town beach and boat ramp.
Parks Commission member Michael Schleiff gave a presentation on plans received from Grady Engineering for potential upgrades, repairs, and new amenities to be added. Schleiff also addressed the fee for illegal parking at the beach and boat ramp. He called the $15 fine “antiquated” and recommended raising the fee to $50. Police Chief Joao Chaves was also present to answer questions regarding enforcement of the parking fines. Schleiff also said that they haven’t yet been able to fill the parking attendant position. The Commission voted in favor of raising the fine. In addition to the rules around parking, there are also no wake zones in force for up to 300 ft.
The Commission also discussed some problems they’ve faced at the beach including the portable restroom being knocked over. Potential solutions include either removing it or chaining it to the fence. They also showed an image of all the trash that had been picked up at the beach. They said that it appeared that some people have been using the barrels there for their household trash.
Chaves and the Police Department gave a presentation regarding the beach and boat ramp. They acknowledged the frustrations of the residents and said they understand their position. As a result of the issues, several of the town bylaws will be revisited and revised. The Police said that they have enlisted the help of the environmental police.
The Rte. 58 State Boat Ramp is run by the State and the Department of Fish and Game. The Police said that any car found there not to have a boat trailer or being used to launch a kayak or similar boat can be cited. The intended purpose of those parking spots is for taking boats in and out of the water. A resident asked why they can’t do that with the 4th Ave. Beach. He said that his property directly abuts that area and there ends up being a lot of jet skis on or near his property. He was told that the change would require a bylaw revision.
Regarding the Holmes St. beach, the Police said that the sign needs to be amended as it isn’t clear who can and cannot park there. For Lingan St., the Police said that the beach is the busiest it has been in nearly two decades. Individuals wishing to buy a one-day pass, can get one from the Selectmen’s office. The Police noted that many people were just accepting the $15 fine and that increasing it to $50 should help to derail that behavior. The Police also made it clear that they have no authority to tow cars off private property. They said that the property owners would need to contact a private towing company. They also said that, unlike in other communities, there is no enforcement in the town’s bylaws for public consumption of alcohol.
A resident asked what it would take to make a Halifax resident-only beach. Selectmen Chair John Bruno said, “If anything, that would probably be a bylaw change so we would have to get that through Town Meeting, but we can look into it.” Haddad said, “Again, it goes back to an enforcement issue.”
Many residents took to the microphone to express concerns or offer proposed solutions. One resident said that enforcement of regular hours at the beach and ramp would be useful. Another requested that Morse Brothers close the gates to their property to prohibit access there. One resident expressed concern that the jet skis parked along the street could prohibit emergency vehicles from accessing the area were there an emergency. A new resident to the town said that all of the various signage at the beaches and boat ramps is very confusing and had left her unclear of what the rules are.
The owner of 550 Tavern spoke saying they just completed some extensive renovations to the wedding facility. She said that the jet skiers were “clearly exceeding” the speed limit “by probably double.” She said that during a wedding rehearsal the previous week, there were 13 jet skiers close to the shore and the resulting noise left the bride in tears. Of the need for a parking attendant, she also said that she had “loads of staff that would love to monitor a parking lot for $17 an hour.” The business owner said that there was one occasion last year where the jet skiers were yelling “don’t do it, don’t do it” at her clients that were getting married.
Resident Dave Mascio offered to spearhead the volunteer effort to get people to take turns monitoring illegal parking.
The Selectmen also dealt with some old business including holding their meetings at various locations in town. Bruno said, “What we did last year, we did what we called road shows… tried to have Selectmen’s meetings in different locations in the town, for two reasons – one to get us out of the building and the second to kind of provide a little more exposure to groups.” He continued, “It worked well, the only problem is we don’t have the facilities necessarily to do that in regular Selectmen’s meetings so I’m making a proposal that the Board of Selectmen sponsor… individual meetings of the various departments and committees in other parts of the town – the recycling center comes to mind, maybe the Highway Barn… and it would be a ten- minute meeting at this particular place… and we’d have some exposure on Area 58.”
Bruno also told the Selectmen that they had an inquiry from Plympton asking about regionalizing an IT department. Haddad said that he felt that Halifax needed to strengthen their own IT department before proceeding with any kind of joint department. He did note that he has a meeting with Plympton in July to discuss regionalization of various departments, etc. The County is also exploring possible regionalization of areas such as pond management.
The Selectmen reviewed a policy on the lighting of Town Hall. “This is just to make sure that we have a consistent policy since we’ve gotten requests recently; this is something that has come up new… the policy that’s proposed would be – may be lit up in honor of heritage and history months declared by the federal government; all town applicable laws have to be followed; requests have to come to the Town Administrator,” Bruno said. The Selectmen voted in favor of the policy.
Bruno explained a new policy that requires that town volunteers undergo certain trainings. He noted that it would be especially useful for those boards and commissions that require some technical expertise.
The Selectmen also discussed establishing a seven-member government study committee. “The whole purpose of it is to have a group, a committee, dedicated to evaluating our current form of government and making recommendations for changes, if any,” Bruno explained.
The Selectmen approved three separate one-day liquor license requests for Tipsy Mermaid, LLC for July 14, August 11, and September 9 for the Farm at Raven Brook. The Police, Fire, and Board of Health had all previously signed off on it.
The Selectmen acknowledged Town Accountant Sandra Nolan with a plaque for all of her years of dedication to the town. Nolan is retired as of the end of June. “She’s done a wonderful job for us and it’s a well deserved retirement,” Bruno said.

The Kingston Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, June 18. Plymouth County Treasurer Thomas O’Brien appeared before the Board to present an American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) check for Silver Lake High School HVAC improvements to the cafeteria. Selectmen Chair Eric Crone said that the current rooftop unit has outlived its life expectancy at 20 years old.
O’Brien noted that Kingston was his hometown and said he was neighbors with Crone during his time in town. Referring to Plymouth County, O’Brien said, “our community under CARES Act received twice as much as communities outside of Plymouth County because we took all the funds and funneled them back to our communities.” He also said that Kingston is now the eighth community out of the 27 to use all of the ARPA money allocated to them. He reviewed some of the highlights of ways in which the CARES and ARPA funds had been used in Kingston.
The Board also authorized a letter of support to the EEA for the Housing Production/Housing Needs Assessment Plan update per the recommendation of the Town Planner. The grant request is for just over $44k. The updated plan allows for the town to apply for various housing grants.
Former Police Chief Maurice Splaine was seeking two grant application authorizations for the Police Department. One is for the Department of Mental Health clinician position and another for federal funding for an officer position. Regarding the clinician position, Town Administrator Keith Hickey said, “respectfully, understand that if we are fortunate enough to be awarded this grant, we would have to be going into a fall town meeting looking for some additional funding in some manner to address the 25 percent salary cost share and the benefits as well so that’s the responsibility that the community would have to be absorbing.” The Chief also said that the mental health clinician would be a shared resource with any other neighboring communities that were interested. He also confirmed that were the town to have to absorb the cost in the future it would be in the ballpark of $60k to $100k per year.
Selectman Kimberley Emberg said, “Given the budget constraints we’re about to face this year – that’s my only hesitation is adding anything this year. I think this is a great program. I support it, in theory. This year, it’s really hard for me to add anything knowing that we’re going to be pushing up against the levy limit and looking at potentially an override that we discussed at Town Meeting.”
The Chief said that were he to go through the process and then turn it down were it accepted, it might jeopardize future opportunities. Emberg asked if they would be better off waiting a year. Ultimately, however, the Board did vote to support the Chief applying for both grants.
Crone said that the Board needed to address whether to establish a public safety committee or working group for the Pembroke St. Police and Fire Station expansion per the Fire and Police Chiefs. The recommendation is that the committee include both chiefs as well as the Town Administrator, the Building Inspector, one Selectman, and one Finance Committee member. Hickey explained that they were seeking to form the committee now, so they could pull together a proposal as quickly as possible. The previous committee’s Chair Sandra MacFarlane spoke saying that they were disappointed to learn that they were being disbanded and felt that they were “pushed aside” at Town Meeting. The Selectmen voted to create the new committee with the addition of a Capital Planning Committee member and a former member of the previous committee.
The Selectmen also appointed a Tax Title Custodian. Emberg said the former Treasurer resigned from the role leaving a pile of tax title properties.
Hickey said that one problem in the past was the position has complete control over which properties get sent to auction. After speaking with Counsel, Hickey said that a neighboring community brought forth a bylaw that outlines a check and balance for the process.
Hickey also advocated for not having a volunteer named to the position due to its importance and complexity. Current Tax Collector Ken Moalli spoke saying that he hoped to achieve a AAA credit rating and it wouldn’t be possible without dealing with the tax title custodial work. “I have no agenda here other than to reduce the receivable that we have,” he said.
The other applicant, Jim Franklin, spoke saying that he felt that him coming in as a “third party independent” candidate would be helpful. He said that establishing a “repeatable process” was necessary so that it wouldn’t need to be thought about in the future. Emberg asked if he saw serving on the Conservation Commission as being a conflict. Franklin was adamant that it was not.
While deliberating on the two applicants, Crone pointed out that the position served at the pleasure of the Board and at any time, they could reappoint someone or appoint someone new. They voted 4-1 to appoint Franklin as the new Tax Title Custodian.
The Board discussed creating a working group to investigate the possibility of a privately run transfer station. The proposed group would consist of a Streets, Trees, and Parks Superintendent, a Building Official, a Planning Director, Town Administrator, one Selectman, and one Planning Board member. The Selectmen voted to create the working group.
Crone provided an update as the liaison for the Silver Lake safety issue at the intersection of Rt. 27 and Lake and Station Streets. “There have been more accidents. There have been several and the owners of Nino’s have a great cam… a professional Ring cam, so they’ve provided some video to our public safety,” Crone said. He also described a fairly bad accident that included injuries. “We’re going to be applying for some grant money… there’s been some look into a traffic light… the preference seems to be for a round-a-bout, not a rotary, but a round-a-bout,” he continued.
The Board also unanimously voted to approve an agricultural fair on September 29 on the lawn of the Town House.