Halifax selectmen were astounded Tuesday night to hear that State Rep. Michelle DuBois of Brockton accused Rep. Thomas Calter of overstating the water problem with Monponsett ponds and Silver Lake. “This is a simple case of the wealthy residents around Monponsett Pond wanting to sunbathe on their sandy beaches while taking clean drinking water out of the mouths of poor black children in Brockton,” she said. This was during a recent discussion in the House chamber, Calter told The Express.
“When do we stop the madness?” asked Selectman Kim Roy. “When are we going to hear from the DEP?” Calter said that he has heard from the DEP and they are going to issue an Administrative Order to stop Brockton from taking water from Monponsett.
“DEP now recognizes that the system is no longer sustainable.” Things move very slowly.
“Just so you know, Jones River {Watershed Association} was invited to speak {to the Brockton City Council} about a month ago.” I went with them, and sat with them from 7 p.m. until our appointment at 10:45. At 10:45 when we went to take the microphone, City Council Attorney stood up and said, ‘we are advising the Council not to take this testimony.’” Calter said they were told it was due to the legal action pending right now.
“What legal action?” asked Roy. “The Council twice
asked if I was aware of any legal action, and I said no. They then asked Paul Collis and other members of the Jones River Watershed Association, and they replied no.” Calter told selectmen that the group was allowed only to speak to funding, and could not give any technical data. Calter said he spoke with the Mayor of Brockton outside City Hall at 11:15 at night, and, after a few choice words, pointed out to the mayor, “as an example {of the water mismanagement} here are your lawn sprinklers on at 11:15 at night!”
Calter said that when the legislature comes back into full session January 4, he will file legislation to make Brockton tap into the MWRA through Stoughton where there is plenty of water to serve the City’s needs. Calter furthered that it is not the amount of water Brockton is taking that make up the Monponsett problem, it is the water management, or mismanagement, which has brought the situation to its sorry state.
Rep. Calter also answered concerns stated by Selectmen Tom Millias and Kim Roy that the towns of Halifax and Plympton were denied any say or vote in the sale of 5 acres of land from the Silver Lake School district for the construction of Kingston’s new police station.
Halifax’s representatives on the Silver Lake School Committee voted against the sale, and Plympton’s two members, each having a half vote, voted for the sale. Calter told the board that his role in the matter was strictly as a legislator who filed legislation as requested of him, which was worked out between the buyer and the seller, that is the town of Kingston and the Silver Lake School District.
Selectman Tom Milias interrupted saying there is no seller until the bill passes because there is no vehicle to sell until the law is passed. He expressed his frustration that the land that we all bought – all three towns in the district – is being sold without the voice of the voters of Halifax being heard. Calter told him the school committee didn’t request language in the bill to include the vote of the individual towns and in the several other instances where regional districts have sold land, there was not such language for member towns to vote, other than through their elected representatives.
Millias countered that he bet those sales weren’t to another member town that has as many votes on the board as the other towns combined. We all own this property. We should have a say. Millias echoed Roy’s concerns, and concerns heard at Plympton the night before.
Calter told them that the town of Kingston will bring this project back to special town meeting to ask the voters to approve the land purchase which they had turned down at their annual town meeting. If Kingston voters turn down the project again when they vote in October, it will no longer be an issue. The project will be dead.