All right. Okay. It is now 6 o'clock. I'd like to open the board of selectment meeting for Tuesday, January 13th, 2026. We are in the selectman meeting room. Uh we'll do a quick roll call. We have Pam McSherry
busily going through all our papers over here. our assistant. We have selectman Bill Smith, selectman Tom Pratt, selectman Jonathan Celig, uh town administrator Bob Fennessy. Uh and I'd just like to announce that this meeting has been posted in accordance with the provisions of Mass General Law, Chapter
3A, Section 20B, and pursuant to chapter 3A section 20F, notice being made that this meeting is being recorded and will be posted on Area 58 community access channel. The board chair, which is myself, reasonably anticipates reasonably anticipates the following
matters will be discussed and/or voted on at this meeting. And the agenda items may be taken out of order for time management considerations. Uh, and if you guys will all indulge me, we start the meeting the same way with the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. >> All right. And speaking of going out of order, since we do have one visitor here
this evening, I hope it's okay at the board if we uh tend to his matter first. And I assume you're you're Dan Brennan. >> Yes, sir. >> All right. Dan Brennan. Um, you are looking for a Common Vic license uh for Starbucks. So, um, here I guess here was
your chance to kind of pitch the project. Uh, you want to tell us any updates, anything, Dan, or how things are going over there? Um, >> cuz folks, I will say folks are very, uh, you know, a lot of eyes on that building. So, >> Sure. Um, so we're still working on construction, finishing up inspections.
Uh, hoping to open uh second week in February, maybe 1st, but probably second. >> Yep. >> Um it's a freestanding building, drive-thru, uh 2500 ft. We got some interior seats, I think 40. Yep. 40
interior. Small patio with with 12 seats for seasonal seating. >> Um hours of operation proposed 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. 7 days. >> Okay. >> All seven all seven days. Seven days. Yeah.
And um yeah, we'll open up open up as soon as possible. Great. Great. Great. Um Pam, do I have a I have a copy of it here in my packet somewhere? >> Yeah, everything's in my package towards the back. It's probably at the end. >> Okay. >> That I have done. >> Are you the franchise owner or are you a
round? >> No, I'm just a permit and license agent. I do um town meetings and Okay. >> handle their permits and licenses. I file for the building permits and things. >> Is there a franchise owner? No, this is a corporate. >> Okay.
>> Great. Awesome. Okay. Um, so any questions or anything for Dan from the board at all? >> Those are mine. >> Those are them. Bill, you're good. I'm good. Good. >> 5 to 9 Monday through Sunday through Monday. No, Sunday. >> Monday through Sunday. Great. Great. Great. And standard Starbucks fair, you
know. No >> Halifax specials or anything like that. Just your your regular Starbucks. Okay. >> Great. Great. All right. Cool. Uh, so with no other questions there, um, I'll entertain a motion to, um, accept the Common Vic application for Starbucks
Corporation. Um, what do I have to get into here? You want me to days of the week and all that stuff? For days of operation, 7 days, hours of operation, 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Um, and I think that's all I need to do.
>> Okay. All right. >> So, so moved. >> Second. All right. All those in favor? I opposed. Passes unanimous. Dan, good luck to you. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, thank you very much. >> Thanks for taking me out of order. >> Oh, no worries. We'll get get you in and out. >> Appreciate it. >> My pleasure. Thank you.
>> Name, please. And the jeans are fine. I'm telling. >> Okay. >> It would it would have been a departure for us. >> Yes. I thought >> No, that's true. All right. Uh, Bill, you want to get going with our um warrants and commitments? >> Sure. I move to affirm approval of the following warrants and commitments.
Vendor warrant number 58 for 23,78344. Payroll warrant number 59 for462,4663. Vendor warrant number 60 for $119,91863. Withholding warrant number 61 for 150,919.30. Vendor number 62 for $57,356.
Ambulance commitments 12225 to 122825 for87,13640. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I I opposed. Passes unanimous. >> I move to approve the following warrants and commitments. Payroll warrant number
63 for $435,185.70. School warrant number 64 for 180,62.97. Vendor warrant for 665 for 2,811,429,42947. Withholding warrant number 66 for 152,58583. mobile home park fee number one for
5,160. >> Second. All those in favor? >> I I oppose. Passes unanimous. >> All right, we'll jump down to A, which is the approval of selectment minutes. I hope you gentlemen have had time to take a look at it. So, if there are no questions, uh, I will entertain a motion
to approve the selectment meeting minutes from December 2nd, 2025. >> So move. >> Second. All those in favor? I opposed. passes unanimous. Down to B, ambulance abatements. Uh, I will entertain a motion to accept the ambulance abatement
for December 2025 for $141,76.38. >> So move. >> Second. >> All those in favor? I opposed. Passes unanimous. >> All right, we're down to C, which is a vote on the Lakeville to approve the Lakeville Animal Shelter Agreement. So, we brought this up in our last meeting.
Um, and there were some questions that came came to light. So, uh, I wanted to just check with the board to make sure that those questions have been answered, um, succinctly and sufficiently enough for the board to vote on that agreement that we put off until, um, this this
meeting here. >> What do you got, Dave? >> Okay. Um, so I did check with the chief and I asked him if there was any other place to go and he said there is not. >> And that's where we are. if we cannot what they do is if they can't find the owner every couple of days they have to send it to Lakeville. Um there's no
other place to shelter them. Um we use them once this past year. Um last year so this year it's $500. The year before it was $500 and the year before was 250. So the you know >> the increases the previous year not this year. >> Correct. That letter it seemed like it
said it seemed like it was it wasn't because I looked back and I asked the chief and he's like nope. So we're good. We're good. >> Well good. I'd rather do our due diligence and make sure we're checking things out. >> They keep them before >> Well, years ago they go there. No, before they go there. If they hold them two days, you said
>> they probably hold them there. They have a small little area, right? Don't they have like something out back or something? I I've never been cuz I been >> You hear coaching softball, you'd hear the dogs every once in a while in the summer. Yeah. So, >> but and they they'll do that. And then what they do is they try to contact the
owner. They try to see if it has a microchip, >> but that's all they can do for a couple days. there could be just cold or something in the winter time. >> So, >> yeah, I think those were our two concerns was the uh the alternative and also the cost cost and the cost was the previous year. So,
>> yep. Yeah, >> I will draw my previous concerns. >> And we um we looked into it in car too when I was there and stayed with Lakeville. Okay. >> Cuz there is nothing else and they're good. They're good there. They take care of the dogs. So, >> good. >> I'm okay. Awesome. All right. Well, all
that being considered, I will entertain a motion to approve the agreement with the Lakeville Animal Shelter. >> So moved. >> Second. All those in favor? I opposed. Passes unanimous. >> We signing this from >> um Well, you guys can I got the Yeah, I
got the original. >> All right. >> All right. And then we'll go to bill signing. We sign it. Pass that around to sign. We'll go down to D, which is the approval. Man, English is tough for me tonight. The approval of two additional
multiple horse shows for Fieldstone Farms for the 2026 horse show calendar, bringing the total number from eight shows to 10 shows. So bottom line on this one, we have an agreement uh with Fieldstone that they are allowed to do
up to eight shows a year, but as part of the agreement, they can petition the board of selectmen to add additional shows. Uh let me see if I can find the actual verbiage here. It's in there somewhere. >> Yeah. So, as part of the agreement here,
um if they come in on or before January 15th of each year, they can submit a schedule of the horse shows to the board of selectmen. Um and that show, you know, that number can be increased. I will say since I've been a selectman almost every year, uh the number has
been increased from 8 to 10. So, um not saying that it's a rubber stamp, but I know that this isn't uncommon for them to go from eight shows to 10 shows. Um, so I just wanted to make the board aware of that and uh just wanted to see the
board had any questions about extending the number from 8 to 10. We're good. We're good. Good. Good. Okay. All that being considered, I will entertain a motion to approve the additional two multiple course shows for
Fieldstone Farms for the 2026 calendar year, bringing the grand total from eight shows to 10 shows. >> So move second. >> All those in favor? I opposed. Passes unanimous. >> All right, we are cooking with gas. We are already down to the best part of the
meeting. It's not G this time. That was a fast meeting. >> I'm telling you, we're cooking. So, we're down to the town administrator update Bob Hennessy. >> Take it away. We'll change that right now. >> What's that? Slow it down. >> Slow it down. Here we go. >> We got a three-page town administrative update.
>> Get your puff going. Here we go. >> Okay. So, first the budget. >> Everybody's wondering about the budget. >> Yes. >> So, I met with the town accountant and the finance committee uh departmental liaison and we began began the initial
rounds of budget review meetings today in my office. Meetings will marked as a first step towards developing a proposed budget to be presented to the board of selectmen in advance of town meeting. Over the next week and a half, we'll complete the departmental reviews and begin
formulating a comprehensive plan to balance the budget in what is shaping up to be a very fiscally conservative year. I'm pleased to report that the department had submitted thoughtful and responsible budget requests with a strong emphasis on cost containment and
identifying opportunities to reduce their expenses and to in the coming fiscal year. Their cooperation and awareness of the town's financial constraints have been extremely helpful as we move through this process. Great. >> So, they've been great. We've been we've been banging them at department head
meetings every meeting to say, you know, this is going to be a tough year. It's going to be a tough year. don't come in to me with with something crazy here. We're looking at, you know, moderating that. So, so they're doing a great job. >> Uh on my community updates, the override
study committee, the first meeting was held yesterday. They plan to meet twice per month on the second and fourth Monday at 6:00. Correct. >> Y >> with the next meeting scheduled for Monday, January 26th. Unless otherwise posted, all meetings will be held in person at the town hall, but virtual
attendance or participation via a Zoom at Microsoft Teams will be available. Correct. Okay. Uh the open burning season begins this Thursday, January 15 through May 1st, 2026.
Additional information including how and where to obtain a burning permit application and payment will be posted on the town's website and other communication forums and platforms on Thursday. So, if you're looking to get a a burn permit, you know, check the
website uh after Thursday and should be there and pull it up. The new senior center project, we began meeting weekly with Collier's Engineering and Deets Architects. Architects. Yeah, that's it. It's contagious. >> Architects on the construction of our
new senior center and are working on creating a polished project timeline uh to share with the public in the coming months. So that's moving forward nicely. So, youth and recreation after school programs in coordination with the teachers at the
elementary school, the youth and rec department is offering a collection of after-school programs tailored around popular academic subjects. Available to all grade levels is a sports program. Programs available to only students in kindergarten through grade two include
art, game club, and STEM courses, or games and things, science, technology, engineering, and math. Check the town's website again for further information if you you want to get involved in that. I want to mention as the ADA
coordinator, uh the ADA commission has vacancies. Uh there's two vacancies on the Americans with Disabilities Act commission. Talent bank applications are being accepted for any resident interested in serving and applications should applications
should be submitted by f Friday January 23rd 2026 to the board of selectman's office or you can email it in to Pamela mcsherry halifaxmass.gov. >> Page two. >> Page two. Finally, on the updates of the
community updates, MLK day, uh, the town offices be closed in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, January 19th, 2026, but there'll be no delays to the curbside collection services. >> It's the beauty of Tuesday.
>> Always get those calls. So, >> okay. Um, staffing updates. The new town administrator, Steven Sobo, is expected to start on Monday, January 26, 2026. I'll have that next that week uh to work with him and bring him up to speed on
any issues that are ongoing uh and answer questions and and kind of >> finish up the filing that that I have to do too for the for the office. So, we're looking forward to that and having them come in. Uh, Caitlyn Putt, our former
part-time conservation agent, has accepted a full-time position with the town of Stowe and has moved on from her role in Halifax to commi to continue meeting the town's needs as a conservation agent. We'll continue with our intermunicipal
agreement with the town of Bridgewwater to share a conservation agent with each community receiving 20 hours of service per week. Caitlyn performed exceptionally well in her shared role here, was a strong asset to the town, and her contributions will be sorely
missed. She was a big part of the town hall, too. Even though she was only here 20 hours, >> she was well known and wellliked. >> Uh Mike Broen, the town's new building commissioner, came on board last week, has been acclimating to the many projects and matters that are currently
pending review. He brings extensive experience as a building commissioner in multi multiple communities and a deep understanding of the complexities of the role. Mike is quickly engaged with the workload and has already begun addressing outstanding issues and we're
pleased to have him serve in the town. Okay. So this is this is the final. So as this is mostly like my last >> no stop update to the town. >> You're going to be here next time. >> I would No. Well, we'll talk about that. >> Oh, okay. But >> we'll have town administrator to say
again. >> Uh, I'd like to take a moment to say thank you. >> So, being selected to serve as interim town administrator over the past 6 months has truly been an honor for me. I'm grateful to the board of selectmen for the confidence that you placed in me
and for your steady guidance, support, and professionalism throughout this period. Your willingness to collaborate, listen, and work as a team made this role both manageable and meaningful. I also want to express my sincere appreciation to the entire staff and
especially the town hall staff. From day one, I was met with dedication, cooperation, and a shared commitment to serving the residents of Halifax. The staff's hard work and positive attitude kept the day-to-day operations of the town moving forward often under
challenging circumstances and we all know that I could not have been successful in this work with the without each of them. Most notably, I want to thank my assistant Pam Mcshari. PM's energy, her professionalism, and a gen general
pleasant demeanor make a difference in our office and in the town hall every single day. >> Amen. Whether working with residents, the staff, or the board members, she brings patience, kindness, and a willingness to help with her organiz
with her organizational skills, knowledge, and calm presence were invaluable to me during this interim period, and I'm deeply deeply grateful for her support and dedication. Finally, serving in this role has given me an even deeper respect for the people
who keep this town running for the and for the strong sense of teamwork that exists within the organization. I'm proud of what we have accomplished together over these past six months, and I'm thankful for the trust, support, and encouragement that I received along
the way. So, thank you again for the opportunity to serve the town of Halifax and our residents. And I want all of you to know that the town will forever be a part of my life and a part of my family's life. So we'll see you in holidays in Halifax.
>> I like to hear it. >> So, but thank you. I really appreciate each one of you gentlemen and Pam. >> I will say Bob, it's hard to to think that you've only been here 6 months cuz you truly have you tr and this isn't lip service. You've made quite an impact here.
>> Um you're you're a great leader of people. uh you're have just a way about you that is inviting to folks. Um you we we locked out getting you in here. We truly did and we were in a tough spot. >> So uh to that we owe you a huge debt of gratitude.
>> Thank you. >> So it's been a pleasure. You will be missed. >> I did have I did have one question but before I get to the question I echo Jonathan's sentiments. Um I mean I think we asked you to come in here and provide a steady hand. Um and you've done more than that. Um we were looking for
consistency and even key of leadership and experience and you provided that and more uh that and more. Uh and speaking from somebody who runs hot comes in comes into play. >> Um you talk you down off two or three or four
>> two or three or four ledges which I appreciate but you were a sounding board and >> I think we I think the time would have been better you know better served >> if we had met you 20 years ago >> with 20 years left in the tank kind of thing. No, I agree. >> Um, >> you know, good partnership,
exactly what we were looking for and more. >> Yeah. >> And what and what I needed at certain points. >> So, personally, I thank you. >> Thank you. >> Just when you find her out, we can pull you back. >> Yeah. Don't don't think we're not going to lose. We got >> And and I said this to you, Jonathan.
I'm always available to help out. You know, if Steve has questions or wants to know how to handle certain thing, if I've had experience in it, he can give me a call. on you guys. >> Well, even as I mean, you're a former selectman, too. So, you know, >> 18 years of >> I know putting that hat on.
>> You've been a great sounding like like Tom says, you're a great sounding board for the selectment office as well. So, >> um you're a diamond in the rough, Tennessee. We're going to miss you. >> Thank you. >> You can even feel that microchip we put in you. >> The dog offices be scanning.
>> We know where you are at all times. >> Yeah. But I appreciate it. Thank >> you. We appreciate it. It's been great. >> It's been great. And it's been great. Yeah. You know, we're going to miss each other like that on a day-to-day basis. We'll still be in touch. >> Like, you know, we just bounce off. >> I still see people in town. I still see
people in Kingston. I still, you know, it's one of those things. >> Well, that that's the thing. You, you know, you've made your way around in different communities and everybody has the same Bob. Oh, that what a great guy, you know. So, your reputation precedes you. We're glad to have you >> in the best way possible. Even steady
like >> Yeah. Thank you. >> I didn't I didn't do this to get caught. >> I don't like that. >> So, I have two questions. We have a meeting on the meeting on the 27th. Where are you? And uh Caitlyn Putt has
been replaced. Do we have a interim town um Prince in the meantime? >> So, we're looking right now. We have an intermunicipal agreement between the two town >> that transfers from. >> It's a three-year agreement and we're in year two finishing up. So, we're in the
middle of that nature becomes our half time. >> Okay. Just want to clarify that. >> Yep. >> All right. Okay. >> Anything else from the board? >> No. Seeing none, I will entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I.
>> I. Meeting is adjourned at 6:23 p.m. What happened? What happened to our laptops? Yeah. >> Oh, I think he was um