Halifax Select Board Clears Building Commissioner for Unpaid Planning Role

HALIFAX — April 14, 2026 — Halifax Select Board approves ethics disclosure letting Building Commissioner serve as unpaid planner. The board voted 2-0, with member Thomas Millias abstaining, Tuesday to accept a state-required disclosure under 930 CMR 6.02(3) allowing Building Commissioner Michael Brogan to take on a limited, uncompensated planning role estimated at roughly three hours per week. Town Administrator Steven Hayward said the arrangement would help insulate the volunteer Planning Board from litigation and speed commercial development in a town with empty storefronts and no paid planner. Brogan cited active cases including the long-stalled Starbucks site on Route 106, a 20-year-old Chapter 40B subdivision dispute at Amanda Estates, and a pending AutoZone and storage facility project as immediate drivers. Millias, who cast the lone abstention, warned the arrangement "sets a precedent that the next one won't be as qualified" and could leave the town dependent on a structure it may one day be unable to sustain.