The Halifax Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, Dec. 22, for one of the special meetings they have been holding during the COVID period. Normally, Police Chief Joao Chaves, Fire Chief Jason Viveiros, and Board of Health Agent Bob Valery are all present but only Viveiros was in attendance for much of the meeting.

Viveiros provided a COVID update saying that while he didn’t have the accurate counts, the town was averaging between 2 and 5 new cases per day. Town Administrator Charlie Seelig jumped in to say that the town was “double red.” “If red is 25 cases over a 14-day period, we’re now at 53 or 54 cases,” he explained. Seelig also said that a colleague had reached out to others in surrounding communities who all confirmed that they were seeing similar jumps in the numbers. “It’s not unique to Halifax; there are very, very few cases where you can point to and say this is the cause,” he continued. He recommended that people go back to the basics of washing their hands, wearing masks, and reducing the number of contacts they have.

Viveiros said they have been working on the vaccination rollout for first responders. “We’re working with our medical director Dr. Muse working through the hospital; he’s making a submission on behalf of twelve different departments, we’ll be one of those twelve departments,” he explained. Viveiros said that all vaccines will be shipped to Brockton Hospital so that they can store them at the required temperatures. He also said that once ready to begin vaccinating the Department can go and pick up the vaccines. The vaccine will most likely be the Moderna vaccine. They are hopeful that vaccinations will begin the second week of January. Viveiros said that they have not heard much regarding a widescale distribution plan for the vaccine.

Valery returned for the final minutes of the meeting following a conference call with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Valery told the Board that the flu shot deadline for students that had previously been set at Dec. 31 has now been extended until Feb. 28. “I just urge that people follow the guidelines that are on Mass.gov when it comes to your home gatherings,” Valery said. He told the Board that nearly half of all positive cases come from household spreads.

Seelig touched upon the new state restrictions effective December 26 including reduced capacity for office spaces, etc. to 25 percent of capacity with the exception of those performing essential functions including K-12 schools. Seelig said that the town hall and other municipal buildings have been considered essential. He also suggested that the Board consider asking departments to go to staggered shifts to try to reduce the possibility of transmission, particularly now that the laptops are available for individuals to work from home. “Thinking that everybody is an essential employee and I would leave it up to the individual departments to present a plan as to how they would like to move forward,” Selectman Chair Tom Millias said. Selectman Troy Garron said he was in agreement. “I think if the department head can handle their staff to get the job done, then that’s fine,” Selectman Gordon Andrews said. “I think that we need to keep the town hall open to allow residents to get their business done,” he added.

Seelig also said that indoor event venues are limited to 10 people though he noted he was unclear as to whether or not the Board of Selectman meetings would fall under that umbrella. He asked the Board what decision they would like to make regarding continuing to meet in person. Seelig pointed out that most boards and committees in town have been meeting virtually. They decided to remain in person for the short-term.

Seelig told the Board that during the Thursday, December 17 storm the backflow regulator at the Halifax Elementary School failed. The staff, including Facilities Director Matt Durkee, Bob Clancy, and Halifax Maintenance Director Scott Materna were able to put something together to allow the school to reopen on Friday. “The decision that we made to have Scott be able to work over at the school and direct functions there and also obviously take advantage of his expertise and being able to compensate him properly for his expertise made a big difference in terms of being able to open the school or not open the school,” Seelig said. Andrews, who also serves as Chair of the Halifax School Committee, said that he plans to invite both Durkee and Materna to the School Committee meeting in January to thank them for their extra time and efforts to ensure that the school could open.

A proposed new development project in Halifax known as 8 Hilda Lane has a history dating back to 2005. The property is in an area zoned residential and is owned by 8 Hilda Lane Realty Plus courtesy of Scott Burgess.

The construction planned would consist of 21 single family units spread across 5 buildings.

Burgess bought the property, which consists of 21 acres, back in July of 2019. The original subdivision was approved back in 2005 but was not built except for what appears to be 2 houses that share a common driveway that have their access from Hilda Lane.

Burgess as well as his civil engineer Don Bracken with Bracken Engineering appeared before the Planning Board during their Dec. 3 meeting. “The intent is to build a subdivision road and construct this multifamily development on this one large lot,” Bracken explained. The original application was for a special permit with two variances, however, it was discovered during the Planning Board meeting that two additional variances would be required. Bracken said that they did withdraw their request for site plan approval due to some of the concerns of the Planning Board. He said they plan on resubmitting.

The development is to be constructed in accordance with bylaws with the following exceptions advertised: 1. to allow a 53 ft front yard setback where a 75 ft setback is required and 2. to allow a 43 ft separation between buildings where a 100 ft separation is required.

The necessary changes that were brought to light during the Planning Board meeting include the relocation of a drainage basin which is currently within the riverfront area. Bracken said that the option not to make the change exists though it would require going before the Conservation Commission for approval. The second request is to install a water line. When the subdivision was initially approved in 2005, water was not available at the road but it has since been added. Bracken noted that getting approval on these changes should not be difficult as he would consider them both improvements. Another change includes altering the four driveway entrances that were part of the original plan to just two proposed entrances for the new project.

Bracken presented the project to the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) during a scheduled public hearing via Zoom at their December 14 meeting. While the application had been amended to include the four variances as of the date of the meeting, only two variances had been advertised.

ZBA Chair Robert Gaynor said, “I’m concerned with the fact that right before us now… is for a special permit and two variances.” He confirmed with Bracken that correspondence had been sent to the Board stating that they would like to ask for additional variances. Town counsel Amy Kwesell was in attendance and told the Board that it would be their decision whether to move forward or not. Gaynor said, “It’s the intention then, as recommended to the Board, to the Zoning Board, I recommend that I don’t want to do this piecemeal… I want to do it all or nothing.”

Bracken, who was understanding of Gaynor’s position, said that he realizes that the process would likely take several meetings. He said he was hoping that his appearance at the meeting could serve as an opportunity to explain the project and possibly get any feedback prior to another hearing. A potential site walk was also mentioned.

Gaynor also mentioned to those present that Burgess came before the Zoning Board of Appeals in December of 2019 for a different version of the project. The applicant withdrew their application at that time and were not denied. Bracken said he knew little of the encounter.

Gaynor recommended that “we continue the hearing for this petition until it gets advertised correctly with all the variances that are necessary.” Kwesell had concerns, however, that they would be best served getting approval from the Planning Board before proceeding with the ZBA. Kwesell pointed out that the subdivision approval was granted 15 years ago and under the Planning Board regulations for subdivision control, a subdivision approval is only good for two years. She recommended to Bracken that they get approval from the Planning Board as to the modification of the roadway before again appearing before the ZBA.

Kwesell explained, “Right now, if they want to come before the Zoning Board of Appeals under the multifamily, they have to come under the 2005 approved roadway because that’s the only approved roadway that’s out there so they either need to get their modification to that roadway approved or the ZBA can only look at the 2005 approved roadway.” She said she believed it would behoove the client to attain approval for those modifications since they themselves described them merely as improvements. She told the ZBA, “Right now they don’t have an approved roadway that match the plans that are in front of you.”

ZBA member Peter Parcellin echoed the sentiment that the application before them was inaccurate saying, “It needs to catch up.” He went on to say, “I know that the neighborhood around here is very concerned about this project and I think that they deserve everything to be very clear as we’re voting on it.”

Gaynor agreed with Kwesell and Parcellin telling Bracken that they would need to work out the modifications with the Planning Board before even advertising for the special permit with the 4 variances with the ZBA.

“We have no problem continuing this for a couple of months and hopefully that will give us plenty of time to go through the Planning Board process and hopefully get those changes that we’re pretty confident that we should be able to get because they’re improvements,” Bracken said.

Gaynor asked Bracken if he would like to withdraw his petition from the ZBA. While initially Bracken said he would like to confer with his client first, Kwesell told him if they were unwilling to withdraw, the ZBA would need to deny the first project for the special permit with 2 variances resulting in them having to wait two years to present another due to the denied project. Bracken then agreed to withdraw without prejudice. The Board voted to accept the withdrawal.

Resident and abutter Kerri Butler was in attendance and requested to speak. She thanked the ZBA for their due diligence as she said she had noted that there were only 2 variances explicitly listed in the advertising. “We’ve been down this road before; the neighbors are all very concerned. We know that development is inevitable, however, there is reasonable development and then there is over the top development.”

The Halifax Board of Selectmen as well as Fire Chief Jason Viveiros, Police Chief Joao Chaves, and Board of Health agent Bob Valery met Thursday, Dec. 10, for what is being referred to as an extraordinary meeting during the COVID era.

Valery began by telling the selectmen that there have been 22 confirmed cases of COVID in town since their previous meeting. Valery said that the numbers from November 25 through December 8, which included Thanksgiving, showed 48 positive cases for a percent positivity rate in Halifax of 8 percent which was up from 5 percent. He said the town would be moving into the red along with approximately 150 other communities. Valery also expressed concern that there would be even more gatherings between Christmas and New Year’s, compared to Thanksgiving. “I would caution everybody to follow the guidance that has been set forth by the state no matter how difficult it is, during this upcoming holiday season. It’s going to be different than it has been in years’ past,” he explained.

Valery also said that updates to the Maven system including contact tracing information linking directly to it, have allowed him to see when and where clusters of cases develop. According to Valery the guidance from the CDC encourages remote work wherever possible or at least staggering shifts, if possible. He said it might be something that the Board of Selectmen may want to consider.

Chief Viveiros gave an update on the drive-through testing that had been held in Halifax the previous weekend. He said that cars began lining up around 6 in the morning and that there was a steady flow throughout the day. Just under 800 people were tested between the two days with 54 tests coming back positive. Not all those tested were residents of Halifax. Viveiros said that they learned a lot of lessons from the weekend testing that they can use should they choose to run another similar event. He also said that since holding the testing, he has received at least 7 phone calls from communities who were inquiring about holding their own. Hanson plans to do one partnering with the same company as Halifax.

Halifax plans to continue with their employee testing program as well. Additional dates are coming. Viveiros said that he plans to speak with Town Administrator Charlie Seelig about expanding the testing to include the senior population.

Viveiros also took a moment to publicly recognize Dr. Daniel Muse for everything that he has done in assisting with the testing. Muse, an emergency physician at Brockton Hospital, is the Medical Director for the Fire Department. He oversees all emergency services that run out of Brockton Hospital. Muse has already given written, standing orders to the Halifax Fire Department for vaccine distribution, should they be needed. “He has been extremely supportive with all of our COVID efforts,” Viveiros told the selectmen. Chief Chaves expressed his gratitude for Chief Viveiros in executing the drive up testing relatively seamlessly despite inclement weather.

Selectman Gordon Andrews asked if there was a plan to hold another testing event in Halifax, perhaps two weeks after Christmas. Viveiros said that it was certainly something that could be done but noted that the CARES Act funding will expire at the end of December.

Seelig said that decisions will have to be made to proceed with certain expenditures despite not immediately having the receipts/revenue to balance it all. He said that emergency situations sometimes necessitate having an article at the May special town meeting prior to the annual to appropriate money against free cash. “If it’s necessary it’s no different than a snowstorm and spending money beyond what you have in the snow budget. At some point you say we’ve got to do this, we know we have to pay that bill, but it’s worth doing,” Seelig explained.

Seelig asked Valery what the correct protocol for instances was where an employee tests positive but remains asymptomatic.  Seelig, who said he was fielding this question from town employees, asked if they would have to wait the full 14 days to return or if they could shorten the duration to 10 days. Valery answered, “It’s on a very individual basis level because first of all I have to make sure that they haven’t shown any symptoms so that, you know, comes down to integrity, whoever is giving me that information… they do find that if you follow the proper procedures that 10 days coming back and still monitoring yourself for any symptoms for the last four days, only shows about a 1 percent risk factor over the 14 day period.” Valery, who asked that employees are directed to him, noted that if he had any doubts, he would ask the employee to wait the full 14 days.

Chief Chaves asked the Board to extend an offer of employment to Michael Boncariewski as a permanent intermittent patrol officer. Boncariewski is a lifelong resident of Halifax who attended Silver Lake schools. He also previously worked as a special officer in both Hull and Halifax. “I believe he’s an asset to the department… he is well respected by his peers,” Chaves said. The Board voted to approve his hiring. Chaves explained that the department is moving toward state accreditation which will require each new hire to undergo a psych evaluation. Officer Boncariewski will be the first in the department to fulfill this requirement.

The Selectmen voted to sign an amended Host Community Agreement (HCA) with Bud’s Goods and Provisions.

The amended agreement added both indoor cultivation and manufacturing to the list of approved uses. Bud’s will still need to go to the Cannabis Control Commission for a revised provisional license to expand their uses. They will also need to come before the Planning Board for a site plan review and special permit.

The selectmen had an appointment with Green Earth Cannabis, who has proposed a retail marijuana store at 657 Monponsett St., during Thursday’s meeting. John Kudryk and his partners Matthew Collins and Robert Maker were in attendance.

Andrews recused himself from the discussion as he has family that owns adjoining property and therefore a potential conflict of interest.

Kudryk said that the zoning for the proposed location was changed from industrial to commercial. He also said that the location appears to be well within the guidelines that prohibit such an establishment from being within so many feet of a school or other area where children congregate.

Kudryk told the Board that they have had an engineer draw up some preliminary plans. He also said that they are anticipating needing 18 full time employees which he said would help to stimulate the local economy. The projected opening date is July 1, 2022.

Seelig brought up the proposed 21-unit multi-family project known as Hilda Lane. It is set to go before both the Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals. Andrews said that he was directing people on social media to contact the appropriate department secretary regarding whether they are for or against the proposal. Seelig said that a letter was received from a resident opposing the project.