The Halifax Board of Selectmen met Monday, Dec. 2. Chair John Traynor introduced Police Chief Matthew Ahl for a departmental update.
“We’re currently going through some issues with hiring and staffing,” Ahl said. He noted that several officers have been out for a month or more due to medical issues. He called the staffing shortage “taxing” and said they have been holding interviews over the recent weeks including a few whom he referred to as “promising.” “We’re trying to kind of work through what’s best and what is best-suited for our department,” Ahl explained. Ahl said that while payroll-wise they were doing fine, the officers have been becoming “burnt out” trying to compensate for the shortages.
Ahl also told Selectmen that the School Resource Officer is expecting a child soon. He said that Officer Tim Johnson had expressed interest in taking over the position. “He does a lot of community events and does shift work for us currently. He’s actually throwing his name in the hat and would love to be integrated down at the school; he’s been helping out at the school to kind of augment,” Ahl said. He further said that Dennett Elementary School Principal Peter Veneto had high praise for all officers that have been working at the school.
Ahl said that Sergeant John Simon, who has been out on active military duty, will be back working in the building as of late January. Ahl said that they were eagerly anticipating his return and noted that he was a recent recipient of a Bronze Star. Traynor noted that Representative Kathy LaNatra would also like to be involved in any type of recognition ceremony for Simon.
Ahl also provided an update on their fleet of vehicles referring to two of the cruisers as “bleeding out.” He said that they’ve taken out the internals of one of the cruisers to reappropriate into a new one. “I’ve been in talks with Hanson… they’re going to give us a deal on one of theirs that they just took offline; it’s a very nice cruiser, it’s a 2021, it’s got low low mileage on it,” Ahl explained.
Ahl said that Sgt, Nate Valente was heading up donations for coats and toiletries for people in need. “If anybody in the community is listening and has somebody that could benefit from that, please reach out to Sergeant Nate Valente,” Ahl told those listening. Traynor asked him to reach out to the Council on Aging as well to assess needs.
Town Administrator Elizabeth Dennehy addressed the unanticipated shortfall in the Dennett Elementary School budget. “As part of remedying that situation, the local School Committee has asked this Board to consider taking a vote to apply $50,000 from the Special Education Reserve Fund to help cover some of these unanticipated costs as most of them originated from special education needs,” Dennehy explained. Traynor said that himself and Selectman Mark Russo went to an extremely well-attended Finance Committee meeting to discuss the shortfall. Russo said, “The numbers at first glance are pretty scary… really my concern on a bigger level is what the heck is going to happen next year; things are going to be even worse,” Russo said. He did say that he was in favor of using the $50,000 this year. The Selectmen, including Selectman Dana Smith, voted unanimously to use the money from the reserve fund this year.
Dennehy told the Selectmen that there was a request from the Conservation Commission to vote on a conservation restriction for a section of property on 31 Parsonage Rd. “It’s not being held by a land trust; it will be held by the Conservation Commission and it’s enforceable for 99 years but as part of that formality or process, it requires a vote of the Board of Selectmen,” Dennehy said. Russo called it a good project and noted that it had been looked at extensively. The Selectmen voted unanimously to approve the restriction.
Traynor said that his rave was for the Dennett Elementary School Thanksgiving luncheon. He called it the “best event of the year.” Traynor thanked all the volunteers that come together to make it happen.