The Seekonk Scene

From the Clerk

Hello from the Town Clerk’s office. Thankfully, we’ve not had any major snow storms to date but as we know that could change at any second in New England. Keep those snow shovels and boots ready. February is a packed with holidays, the 2nd is Ground Hog Day, the 12th is Super Bowl Sunday. Don’t forget the chocolate hearts and flowers on February 14th Valentine’s Day. February 20th is President’s Day; Town offices will be closed. It is also the start of school vacation week.

The clerk’s office has been extremely busy, Lorraine and I continue to process the 2023 town census data along with processing dog licenses. Thank you for your promptness and patience regarding your census and dog licensing papers. We are trying to get dog tags out as fast as possible. If you have not come in, or sent in your updated dog information please do so as soon as possible. The March 31st deadline is fast approaching to renew your dog’s license.

As many of you know census updating and dog licensing are only part of the many functions of the clerk’s office. We are also certifying new voters as well as registering voters on-line through the RMV and various Health Organizations. We are also certifying election nomination papers for the April 3rd town election.

The Annual Town Election for Seekonk will be held on Monday April 3, 2023. All voting takes place at the Seekonk High School gymnasium 261 Arcade Ave. The polls open at 7am and close at 8pm. Please take the time and vote. Your vote and voice make a difference. The deadline to get nomination papers back to the Town Clerk’s office is February 14 5PM. The last day to register to vote is March 24, 2023.

We will be holding Early Voting for this election. Early voting will be held at Town Hall the week of March 27 - 31, 2023 regular town hall hours. To get your early voting application please go to our Town website or call our office and we will send one out to you. 508-336-2920 or fcraig@seekonk-ma.gov

Below is a list of the candidates who are running for Town positions

• Board of Assessors: Janet Parker

• Board of Selectmen: Michelle Hines, Pamela Pozzi, *David Andrade, *Adam Petronio

• Housing Authority: No one took out papers

• Library Board: *Fred Slemon, *Catherine Capello

• Planning Board: Sandra Lopes

• Town Moderator: *Peter Hoogerzeil

• School Comm: Kyle Juckett, Bernard J. Luger

• Town Clerk: *Florice Craig

• Water Comm: Guy Larrimer

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• Water Comm: Write-in candidate Jeffrey Starr Mararian *(incumbent)

2023 Annual Rabies Clinic

The 2020 Annual rabies clinic, for both dogs and cats, will be held Saturday March 11, 2023 at the Seekonk Public Safety Building Fire Division. 500 Taunton Ave. The attending veterinarian will be Dr. Truesdale and the fee will be $15.00 cash only. The Town of Rehoboth will be joining us. If you bring proof of a current rabies vaccine your animal will be eligible for a 3-year rabies vaccine. If you do not have proof of a current rabies vaccine your animal will be eligible for a 1-year vaccine. If you need a dog license form you can go to: www.seekonk-ma.gov look under Forms and Documents, Town Clerk, downloadable forms, dog licenses.

Save the Date

The Spring Town Meeting date has been set for Monday May 8, 2023.

Have a wonderful month. As always thank you for taking the time to read my monthly updates. Enjoy your long weekend and school vacation week. Remember the days are getting longer so Spring can’t be too far off. -

Florice & Lorraine

Seekonk Animal Shelter News

Laverne is a beautiful gray DSH cat who is about 1 year old. She is very sweet, yet very shy cat who is looking for her forever home. She has come a long way since we rescued her and would do best in a quiet home. She does get along well with other cats. Laverne is spayed, fully vaccinated, test negative for FeLV/FIV, and microchipped.

If you are interested in adopting me, please visit me at the Seekonk Animal Shelter, 100 Peck St,or call 508-336-6663 for more information.

Seekonk Land Conservation Trust (SLCT) Celebrates Selection as a Stop & Shop Community Bag Recipient

Seekonk, MA – Seekonk Land Conservation Trust has been selected as a beneficiary of the Stop & Shop Community Bag Program for the month of February.

Launched in May 2019, the Stop & Shop Community Bag Program is a reusable bag program that facilitates community support with the goal to make a difference in the communities where shoppers live and work.

SLCT was selected as the February beneficiary of the program by store leadership at the Stop & Shop, 1475 Newman Avenue, Seekonk, MA. SLCT will receive a $1 donation every time the $2.50 reusable Community Bag is purchased at this location during February, unless otherwise directed by the customer through the Giving Tag attached to the bag.

“The Land Trust is excited to be chosen and looks forward to fulfilling its mission preserving open land in our community and promoting conservation, stewardship, and environmental awareness throughout Seekonk”, said Tom Webb, President of the Board of Trustees. “Bringing awareness to conservation through reusable shopping bags is a great way everyone can participate in maintaining the scenic beauty of our community and limiting litter.”

SLCT is a nonprofit founded in 1967, and has preserved over 700 acres in Seekonk through acquisition and conservation restric- tions, and in recent years assisted in many more land preservation successes with the town Community Preservation Committee. These preserved properties enrich our daily lives and enhance what remains of the beautiful rural character of Seekonk. Learn more by visiting www.seekonklandtrust.org or follow us on www.facebook. com/seekonkLCT.

For more information on the Stop & Shop Community Bag Program, visit stopandshop.2givelocal.com

Doorways “Thank you” to Martin Elementary School

Doorways food pantry wants to thank the faculty, staff, administration and especially the students and their families of Martin Elementary School for their generosity in their recent food drive. A great deal of food was donated by the school, and the contributions will help alleviate food uncertainty in our community.

Martin School has conducted annual food drives for the past several years, organized by second grade teacher Ann Marie Braganca, who devised classroom exercises for her students on counting, sorting and graphing the food that is collected - lessons in math coupled with lessons in sharing and community involvement. Their collective gift supports many Seekonk residents who are facing challenging times, and the food they provided will grace the dinner tables of homes in our community for weeks to come. More than seventy local families rely on Doorways on a regular basis, and Doorways, in turn, relies on people like the Martin School community. Thank you!

New Fire Station May Cost $9 Million

By Joe Siegel

A new fire station in the south end of Seekonk may cost over $9 million. Members of the South End Fire Station Building Committee made a presentation to the Board of Selectmen on January 18.

Voters at the May 2020 town meeting allocated $425,000 for the design of the facility at the former school administration building on School Street. The 8300 square foot building would consist of three components, including dispatch, living quarters, and fire suppression. The construction cost would be $7.2 million. An additional $2 million would be needed for “soft costs.” The total would be $9.6 million.

If the project is approved at the May town meeting, construction would begin in June and be completed in September 2024. In addition, $1 million would need to be appropriated for apparatus for the new station.

“Right now we don’t know what the total costs are,” said Selectmen Chairman Justin Sullivan.

“I think we need to recognize the longer that we delay this, the more costly it’s going to be,” said Town Administrator Shawn Cadime, noting back in 2019, the estimated cost of the project was $3.5 to $4 million.

Sullivan said voters at the town meeting would need to have all the information about the impact of the project on the tax rate. “We do need to make sure that we have the answers of staffing and where this is going to be,” Sullivan added. “There’s going to be a whole lot of questions to answer.”

“That’s the conversation that needs to take place,” Cadime said. “Is there truly a need for a South End Fire Station in the near future?”

Seekonk Police to Install 20 Cameras

By Joe Siegel

The Seekonk Police Department plan to install 20 cameras on various streets.

The original cost would be $57,000 for the first year, Police Chief Dean Isabella said about Flock Safety, a company which operates a camera system all over New England.

“Obviously by joining the Flock system, you become part of their entire system,” Isabella told the Board of Selectmen at their January 4 meeting. “It’s the most widely used system in our area. We would have access to 20 communities with additional communities being added.”

The department will be able to track vehicles which might be stolen cars or those connected with a Silver alert or an Amber alert.

“It’s an absolute needed tool for the police department,” Selectman Michael Healy said of the cameras. “As far as I’m concerned, I think it’s an absolute no brainer not to approve this.”

The department studied locations with the highest number of border traffic. The locations selected include the I-195 overpass for Providence and Fall River, Highland Avenue, Central Avenue, and Rt. 114 A/ Taunton Avenue.

Possible Increase in 2024 Seekonk School Budget

By Joe Siegel

The Seekonk Public Schools 2024 budget may need to be increased over the current fiscal year’s budget of $30.8 million, according to Superintendent Rich Drolet.

“As you know, this year we are putting together a combination of a level-service and needs-based budget,” Drolet said at Monday’s school committee meeting. “Last week, Ms. (District Business Administrator Jill) Brilhante and I finished up meeting with all principals and department heads. Based on the requests coming in, we expect to ask the town to support additional funding based on needs in the following areas:

Special education out-of-district costs. There is a state-wide projected 10-15 percent increase in special education out-ofdistrict tuition cost increases.

Transportation. Transportation costs will go up as we need to add another bus, which is primarily for the middle school.

Technology. We’ve used Covid grant monies to pay for our technology infrastructure upgrade, but we need to continue to purchase new Chromebook computers for our 1:1 program, as well as purchase software programs to support student learning (Covid monies paid for much of our new software programs for the past 3 years)

Rising energy costs. Costs of both gas and electricity have increased significantly of late.

New positions. We seek to add a handful of new positions, all except one (additional School Resource Officer) related to special education and meeting the needs of our students, most notably at the lower elementary level.

Drolet also congratulated Suzanne Larson, Seekonk High School’s Library Media Specialist, for recently being chosen to serve as a Southeast Area Co-Director on the 2022-2023 Executive Board of the Massachusetts School Library Association (MSLA).

“MSLA is comprised of certified school library teachers across Massachusetts,” Drolet noted. “The Executive Board plans professional development opportunities, hosts a two-day conference in March, and the association has taken on a leadership role in supporting library teachers to ensure our students’ first amendment rights to read remains intact. The organization has also partnered with the Department of Elementary and Second Education (DESE) to advance the goal for every student to have access to an excellent school library. Mrs. Larson is a leader among her peers and I applaud her efforts both inside and outside of the Seekonk High School Library.”