KINGSTON’S FUTURE is very much in the hands of Plymouth. Those rocks you see are the dividing line of the two towns at the end of William C. Gould Way. If you want to gander at it firsthand, just go past Lowe’s until you can’t go any further, that would put you at those rocks looking ahead to what life will be like when all the sand becomes a giant commercial enterprise with all the traffic that Plymouth’s plans will create…for Kingston. If you missed it, plans call for three car dealerships and a 100+ room hotel. It’s nice of Kingston to help out our neighbor to the South. At one time we were a part of Plymouth; we may very well be seeing history repeating itself.

RATE HOLDER: Remember when Developer Lloyd Geisinger said he’s pay the $3,000 per 40-R unit if the State didn’t come across with the money? Well, that promise appears on no document. If the State never coughs up the dough, what assurance do we have that Lloyd will actually do it. He may be considered a really grand guy, but at $3,000 X 730 units that adds up to $2.19 million…not the kind of money that we should turn our noses up on. Who’s gonna step up to the plate and say…"Put it in writing my friend?"

FOR SALE: We make note of the fact that the O’Donnell Sand & Gravel building across from the T parking lot is for sale. Mary’s asking price…$2.5 million. That’s quite a price if you can get it. You watch though, years from now we’ll consider it to have been a bargain.

HI JEAN: You are probably looking at a very confused person. One day Selectman Jean (Landis-Naumann) is recusing herself from all things Geisinger, and the next she’s once again serving his interests. Shortly after an Ethics Commission complaint was filed Jean started recusing herself on matters regarding Fred Tonsberg (She lives in his Indian Pond Estates), and Lloyd (Mr. 40-R) Geisinger (Because she colluded to help him via her position as an officer of the Indian Pond Neighborhood Association). Ok, so it was a case of too little too late. Now, however she is again helping Mr. G. out by her votes on the Board. A classic point came a few weeks ago when she voted to recommend Geisinger’s Phase One Waiver request that would speed up his developmental timelines. Jean found herself as one of three Selectmen present. Joe Kelleher was out of state and Sandy MacFarlane was recovering from surgery. If Jean had recused, that would have left the Board without a quorum to recommend the requested favor, so, with no verbal or written disclosure, jumped right in on the very issues she had previously recused. When we spoke to Jean afterward she mumbled something about this being a different circumstance then the prior issues and therefore she could on this but not on others and therefore ram-a ram-a ding-dong…or something like that. Jean obviously needs to go back to the first sentence of the Geisinger Confidential Agreement document they embraced: "Thorndike Development Corporation (TDC) is seeking the support of Indian Pond Estates residents at this Spring’s town meeting and, should we be successful in obtaining a positive town meeting vote, the neighborhood’s support throughout the project approval process (Emphasis added)." That sounds like a pledge for the gift that keeps giving. A reasonable person would conclude that Jean’s membership, and her service as a Indian Pond Board Member and the Board’s Clerk would, at the very least, require her to make a written disclosure in the Clerk’s Office under Chapter 268-A, "Appearances of conflict of Interest." Another Ethics complaint will serve to test the resolve of the Ethics Commission.

RISKY BUSINESS: Folks on their way to the landfill may have noticed this sign at Gallen Road. By all intentions it certainly looks like the roadway you take to the dump is the one being warned of. Now, this sign is a fairly new addition to the Kingston signage landscape. Highway Boss Paul Basler says he knows nothing about the origin of the sign and a local citizen reports that the MBTA has no knowledge of the sign…but there it is, extolling the great risk taken by thousands of fellow Rubbish travelers over the course of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, tell me the risk so I can be aware of it as I visit the compactors.

BOYER ANNOYER: Sue Boyer was the recent appointee to serve as an alternate on the Planning Board. Alternates often draw duty when it comes to Special Permits. The seat had been vacant for some time and the Selectmen selected Boyer over electrician Ron Gleason. At the very first meeting since the appointment there was Sue and, yea, you can write the script, a Special Permit Hearing was due to open. Now comes the sad part, Sue could not sit in on the hearing and it had to be rescheduled. Why? Because Ms. Boyer forgot to get sworn in. Rookie mistake by the former chairman of the Master Plan Implementation Committee.

OPEN SESAMEE: We’ve been through an awful lot of Selectmen’s Minutes but nowhere can we find a vote that set a date for the opening of the April 5, 2008 Annual Town Meeting Warrant. Further, we could not find any Minutes that set the date for the closing of the same Annual Town Meeting. Yes, we see an August 28, 2007 memo submitted to all town departments by Town Administrator Kevin Donovan stating that the Warrant closes on January 4th, but how come we can’t find that closing date being backed up by Minutes? And when did it open? If we’re wrong we’d be open for correction. Show us the Minutes where the Selectmen voted to open the Warrant, and then show us the Minutes where the Selectmen voted to close the Warrant. The law requires that all matters subjected to a vote be recorded in Minutes

GOODWILL DUMPING: We all draw a sense of warmth when we can do something to help others in need. But there is something that can send a chill down your spine when you see those metal clothing containers bursting at the seems with the well intentioned donations lying beside the collection bins. Generally, these items are washed and in many cases dry cleaned prior to placing them in the containers. What a kick in the teeth to see this stuff getting snowed and rained on. These charitable agencies have to have a better pickup system if they are to be successful. When it becomes difficult to distinguish between a clothing bin and a two yard dumpster, something is wrong.

STUDENT ENROLLMENT: It is interesting to note that next school year we will be seeing 68 more students enrolled in K-6 then this current year. Think of it…68 more above this year’s figures. In Plympton and Halifax the numbers are slightly down…but not so in Kingston. How long ago was it that the bean counting gurus were speculating on decreasing school numbers; hold on to your hats, the worst is yet to come.

TEACHER RETIREMENTS: There are four veteran K-6 teachers retiring this year. The predictable mentality here is that you are able to replace those four upper salary positions with newbies just out of college. Such an action will help us place in check with rising school costs. That ain’t gonna happen. Our spies tell us that the prevailing thought is to hire six new teachers to replace the four retirees. Why not create a draw, four for four? Because with the two extra first year teachers there could be full day Kindergarten and do away with the current lottery system. This is a matter that should be looked at closer. Those two new teachers come at a greater cost then initially imagined…more health benefits, yearly raises, etc. These are tough times and maybe the status quo ain’t so bad, for now.

BIG BUCKS: Just in case you might be wondering how much money currently sits in the Community Preservation Act account, the number sits at $1.9 million. Watch and see where a big chunk of that money may be earmarked.

MONEY GRAB: It should be quite a Town Meeting floor fight between Selectman Mark Beaton and Sewer Commission Chairman Elaine Fiore. At the heart of the brawl will be an article (moved up to Article 2 by Selectmen so the can have the biggest crowd) that seeks to raid the Sewer Enterprise Account by up to $400,000. Here’s the logic: Because the Commission received town budgeted money for their start-up expenses when they were first established in the late 90’s, the Selectmen want it back claiming that the Enterprise is not at about $1 million. Fiore counters that the Selectman want 1,500 sewers to balance the budget for the town’s fiscal woes. She maintains that taking the money away puts the Commission in a position to renege on their end of the deal to provide additional sewer flow for Phase 2. Watch this little nasty coming up in April. Our thoughts are that something will change the equation prior to then.

POLITICAL POT: It’s already beginning with potential races for both Selectmen’s seats. The three year Selectman seat is contested by John Rose, Dennis Randall and incumbent Sandy MacFarlane. The two year seat sees Norm Harbinson and incumbent Paul Gallagher. With Michaud’s pending resignation we’ll have a candidate for the unexpired one year, which will be Ron Gleason if Sue Farrell runs for a five year appointment. Linda Rohr will not run for Recreation Commission and neither will Harbinson who already took out Selectman papers. A young 18 year old Eagle Scout is rumored to be vying for the RecCom. Candidates have until March 6 to pull papers so we’ll see much more action before then.