Whitman-Hanson Express

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SST sets town assessments

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HANOVER — The South Shore Tech School Committee set assessments for member communities during it’s Thursday, Feb. 18 meeting.

Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey has met with finance committees in Hanson and Rockland in recent weeks, and Selectmen and the Advisory Committee in Scituate and Abington’s Finance Committee this week.

The fiscal 2022 budget of $14.6 million is being assessed to the towns as follows: Abington, $1,280,575; Cohasset,  $126,594; Hanover, $882,861; Hanson, $1,228,077; Norwell, $420,095; Rockland $1,824,264; Scituate, $574,126 and Whitman, $1,651,348. Total assessments make up $7,987,941 of the budget.

“Borrowing too much money too quickly is not something that is going to work in an annual budget,” said Hickey. “On the other hand, not taking on any debt will really restrict our schools’ ability to modernize.”

MSBA will also be asked for more funding. No action regarding borrowing would take place until fiscal 2023. Hickey plans a video presentation for posting on the district website on the issue.

“This allows us to go to our towns once for what we think are our priority items at this time, and then be able to plan accordingly,” Hickey said. No vote has been taken yet, because once a vote occurs, it starts a 60-day clock ticking as it is required to go before town meetings, which are strung between early April and late May. An official vote is not anticipated until late March.

Hickey also reported the district is coming closer to a debt authorization approval at the School Committee level. The amount is expected to be $18,960,537 – with almost $990,000 in electrical labor stripped out as work that SST students and instructors could undertake over a period of years to basically redo a lot of the wiring in the 1962 portion of the building, Hickey said.

“We have been in the process of negotiating with our sending communities and the feedback has been constructive, it has been clarifying what we are trying to do,” Hickey said, “We arrived at this number by looking at the projects that our engineering firms helped us develop and prioritize as part of the 2018 facilities master plan.”

Projects accomplished since 2018 have been removed and costs for remaining projects have been calculated with a 4-percent inflation factor going forward to fiscal 2023.

“In talking to our town administrator, he’s been saying that we take care of our schools too well and that’s been hurting us with MSBA,” said Whitman School Committee member Dan Salvucci. “If we saw an issue — which we don’t do — and let it go, they’ll approve [us], but that’s not the type of district we are.”

“One thing we can’t stop is age,” Hickey said.

Call for local clinics

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WHITMAN — A state policy change due to take effect March 1 would eliminate delivery of new vaccination doses for local fire departments and boards of health. It is meeting with near-universal criticism amid local officials and public safety personnel.

“It is highly premature to cut off the line of local vaccine doses, especially at this critical time,” said Whitman Fire Chief Timothy Grenno on Thursday, Feb. 18. “It cuts off a literal lifeline for many residents.”

Cutting off the supplies to the local clinics — operating for several weeks — showed a “gross lack of forethought” and is a waste of municipal time, energy and resources, he argued.

As state legislators, educators and representatives of more than a dozen Plymouth and Norfolk county police and fire departments and health boards looked on, Grenno sounded the alarm over the state’s mass vaccination program at the expense of local clinics. Holding a press conference at the Whitman Knights of Columbus on Bedford Street, officials expressed concern that the vulnerable elderly are especially being left behind.

“Since the Cold War, municipalities have been asked to plan and prepare for emergency situations,” said Grenno, who also serves as Whitman’s Emergency Management Agency director. “As a result, local leaders are uniquely qualified and trained to handle a situation such as the distribution of vaccines.”

State Sen. Mike Brady, D-Brockton, attending along with state Rep. Alyson Sullivan, R-Abington, and state Rep. Kathleen LaNatra, D-Plymouth, said he planned to meet with state Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders’ office later in the day to readdress the change.

He said regional legislators sent a letter to the Baker Administration expressing disagreement with the vaccination policy change because local communities have the personnel to handle the situation.

“Our chiefs today aren’t saying that the mass vaccine sites aren’t working, they’re saying that they need it here, locally,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan said the Baker administration counted on local health officials from the beginning of the pandemic and is now shutting them out.

LaNatra added that Kingston and Plymouth have been in talks with Mass DPH for a long time with “no straight answers” to set up a regional vaccination site at the Kingston Collection.

“We need to put this back local,” she said. “Our chiefs, our boards of health, know their community. They know who is housebound.”

LaNatra, whose first-responder husband has been able to receive his second dose of vaccine, but not all have been able to do so.

“It’s a big lack of supply and every other week they’re changing their mind,” Brady said of state officials.

“We’re not against the mass sites, we’re not against the pharmacies that are having these [clinics] as well,” Abingon Fire Chief John Nutall said. “There’s definitely a need for that, however, they cannot cover all of our residents.”

He said the state cited a question of equity as a major factor in officials’ reason for the policy change, but noted a supply had been approved for a private health spa located in an exclusive country club.

“We’re not allowed to question why these decisions are made,” Nutall said. “It is time to question what is going on, so that we can get the vaccines to our residents that we know best.”

Grenno said there is no doubt that there is a need for regional vaccination efforts, especially in larger areas or areas more adversely impacted by COVID-19, but said they must work in connection with locally led health boards and first responders. It is especially crucial during Phase 2 of the distribution, when seniors ages 75 and older are inoculated.

Whitman has more than 950 residents over age 75, and Grenno’s department offered to help transport them to a mass vaccination site with all proper precautions.

“We’ll register you, we’ll hold your hand, we’ll walk you in, we’ll get you vaccinated and we’ll bring you home,” he said the department told them.

Less than 25 of them accepted that invitation because of fear or mobility problems, he said.

Four Whitman clinics had been scheduled, which would have vaccinated more than 500 of them. The clinics have all been cancelled because the state is denying the vaccine.

“These individuals are the ones who should be asked to drive the least distance and be given the greatest access to quick and efficient vaccination sites,” Grenno said. “They’re our neighbors helping each other  … local clinics for the oldest and sickest population, offer a familiar, a comfortable and convenient location when people need it the most.”

Mass sites are difficult for some to get to, involve long lines and staffed by unfamiliar people, while at local clinics they would be greeted by local fire personnel and health agents and involve shorter lines.

Whitman-Hanson Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak said vaccinations for teachers and students are also a concern, especially since teachers would run the risk of missing a school day to travel to a mass vaccination site.

“It was surprising to me that our schools aren’t being used as mass vaccination sites,” Szymaniak said. “Our school nurses are available and ready to work with our local health agents and fire chiefs to provide vaccines not only to our 65-and over populations,  but sequentially, our teachers.”

He noted teachers have been moved down the priority list for vaccines.

He argued the change reflects either a significant policy change by the state or a major vaccine supply shortage coming to the state from the federal level.

“Either way, it is an issue that should be discussed and addressed,” he said.

Grenno also expressed concern about the status of the state’s online vaccination registration at VaxFinder, which crashed due to heavy demand at about 8:30 a.m. Feb. 18. The state’s 211 information line also went down that morning.

He said Whitman registers its elder residents, noting a lot of senior residents don’t even own a computer.

“We are prepared to provide local vaccine clinics,” said Medway Fire Chief Jeff Lynch, who is president of the Norfolk County Fire Chiefs Association. “We’ve done extensive planning, we’ve done significant investment in equipment and training for our firefighters.”

Lynch said fire personnel stand ready to bring the vaccine to homebound elders, but as of now, he is not aware of the plan to serve them.

Hanover Town Manager Joe Colangelo said his town has already invested $500 in federal CARES Act funds to build up a program to test residents and merge to vaccinations. Hanover Fire Chief Jeff Blanchard added that town’s frustration is palpable.

“We are prepared to do vaccinations, but we have no vaccine,” Blanchard said.

Abington Board of Health member Marty Golightly has vaccinated more than 200 75+ residents and has a plan in place to vaccinate shut-ins, asking only for the supplies to take care of his town’s own people.

Communities represented: Whitman fire and police departments, schools and town administrator, Hanson Fire Department and Board of Health, Abington Fire Department and Board of Health, Hanover Fire Department and Town Manager, Cohasset Fire Department, Duxbury Fire Department, East Bridgewater Fire Department, Halifax Fire Department, West Bridgewater Fire Department, Medway Fire Department and Board of Health, Plympton Fire Department State Representative, Canton, Stoughton Board of Health, Brookline Fire Department and Middleboro Fire Department.

Schools look to March reopen target

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The W-H Regional School District is committed to safeguarding the safety and health of students and staff, officials say — and that means a return to in-person learning will not likely happen before the end of March.

“Our numbers in the communities have gone down, but we’re still quarantining students and staff due to positivity rates,” Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak said.

He told the School Committee meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 10 that the district will have to work out strategies for social-emotional support for students and when they return to school.

Szymaniak said he is still looking toward the end of March, but parents have been starting to demand a March 1 return. That, he said is unlikely because the district would need the month of March to prepare for students’ return. He is planning a March 3 presentation to the committee on what the return plan might look like.

“We’ve always had a plan, but we want to make sure it’s structured and good for all,” he said. “It will not look like March 12, 2020.”

Committee members agreed with Szymaniak’s approach, especially since teachers are still waiting for vaccinations, which are still difficult to obtain.

The CDC issued changes to its COVID guidelines Friday, Feb. 12 for the first time since August, stopping short of green-lighting an immediate return to classes.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said the CDC is “not mandating that schools reopen,” instead opting for a color-coded zone approach based on numbers of new cases in a given area.

“Schools in areas with substantial transmission (orange, 50 to 99 new cases per 100,000) may still consider a limited reopening, as long as they can layer multiple safety strategies in the classroom,” according to an NPR report. “In hard-hit communities (red, more than 100 new cases per 100,000), elementary schools may consider limited reopening, with physical distancing required, but the CDC recommends middle and high schools be virtual-only unless mitigation strategies can be met.”

School distircts in many states have been demanding more practical information on reopening, according to the CDC. Still, the six-foot social distancing rules “should be considered nonnegotiable” for K-12 schools in high-transmission areas. Teachers would not be required to be vaccinated, but there is a recognition that teachers would prefer vaccinations before returning to work.

“It seemed like the wheels of the bus came off in the South Shore [region] a little bit last week, with some announcement that some districts with a full return to school,” he said, noting he sent another parent survey about return to school issues last week.

Resident Susan Wolford of Birchbark Drive in Hanson asked about the survey parents received from Szymaniak about returning to school during the Public Forum.

“I was looking for when and if there was a plan in place for when the kids are going to return full time,” she asked.

Szymaniak reminded committee members of the administration’s presentation of return options at the beginning of the school year, when the committee made it clear the most important thing was the safety and health of students and staff.

“So far that’s been true and I have no doubt that’s the first thing we have in our hearts and in our minds,” he said.

The committee chose the hybrid plan, while accommodating families that asked for a fully remote plan, with additional teachers hired to fill that role. Teachers who have tested positive have also been able to teach remotely from home, Szymaniak said.

“We have some long-term subs across the district that are in classrooms,” he also said. “That cost us.”

That is an expense for which the district is seeking reimbursement funds through the CARES Act. There are, however, regulations about how the district could use such funds and it is not clear at the moment if it can be used to balance the fiscal 2022 budget.

“There’s been some huge community push to get students in school — that’s our goal,” Szymaniak said. “Bottom line: If I can get students in here, that’s what I want to do.”

But, keeping to the tenets of health concerns, the district has not yet moved off the recommendation for six-foot social distancing and the limitations that it brings to classroom sizes. He apologized if the survey was interpreted as an attempt to be negative.

Even if teachers are vaccinated, which has not happened yet, the six-foot distance could be revised to three-feet or less. Movement between classrooms or around lockers would make contact tracing more difficult.

“With every challenge, we can modify and overcome the challenge, but parents need to know this — that this is going to be a change,” Szymaniak said.

The survey results indicate 67 percent of parents want full in-person learning or 2,204 responses. Students now learning remotely whose families want to send them back to school, would have an effect of class size.

Social distancing at lunches might also change. In some communities, when there is a limit to space, students have brought a blanket to eat sitting on the floor, which can affect other uses of school space.

There are also academic challenges when most students come back and a few others remain on remote learning. Space limitations on buses could also present challenges.

“I’m concerned about next year’s budget,” said resident Shawn Kain of Forest Street in Whitman during the Public Forum via Zoom. “Obviously with COVID, for anyone involved with the schools — teachers, students and parents — it has placed an incredible mental health burden on all of us and the thought of potentially losing funds next year is terrible.”

He said budget cuts to education at this moment would do “a good amount of harm,” noting the insight Hanson has already provided into their financial situation. Arguing that, since Hanson’s need to seek an override even for a level-service budget is less than ideal, Kain said it would be a good idea to extend the assessment formula compromise for another year.

In other business, Assistant Superintendent George Ferro provided an assessment testing update for the committee. A midyear assessment was given to students in kindergarten to grade five on math and ELA (reading), following similar assessments at the start of the year.

“Overall, for math, from the beginning of the year to now … we went from 21 percent on grade-level to 40 percent on grade-level,” Ferro said. The number of students in need of educational support is down 63 percent to 51 percent of students, while closing the gap in the high-needs areas down to 9 percent, he said.

“In math, we are moving more students to grade level and we have seen significant progress from our initial beginning of year term to our midyear report,” he said.

There was also progress in reading scores, Ferro said, explaining that at-risk students will receive extra help in improving before an end-of-year assessment and reviewing a regression plan for the summer as well as entering the next school year.

State vaccine process raises concern

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Fire chiefs and health officials in several Massachusetts communities have expressed frustration with the state’s program to vaccinate residents against COVID-19.

“As of right now, the state’s vaccination program is an epic failure, and everyone sees that except the governor and the Department of Public Health,” Whitman Chief Timothy Grenno said on Friday, Feb.12.

The Biden administration announced Tuesday that it will increase the vaccine supply to states to 13.5 million doses per week, and send 2 million doses to local pharmacies this week.

A trio of health and EMS officials spoke to Channel 25’s investigative team Thursday, Feb. 11, citing the state’s prioritizing of mass vaccination sites costing local communities access to the vaccine for their clinics. Dr. Dan Muse, an emergency physician at Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital, has been a medical director for some local EMS departments’ COVID response efforts.

He said there is a “huge amount of frustration” among the personnel who are simply trying to help their communities.

Along with state lawmakers, the Channel 25 report said EMS teams do not oppose mass vaccination sites, but they want the ability to vaccinate residents for whom travel to a mass site is difficult — and they want enough doses to provide their residents.

“They haven’t listened to us from Day One, so I can’t imagine them listening to us now,” Grenno said, adding that the Mass DPH has issued an order not to schedule any first-shot clinics unless the vaccinations are in hand.

“Every time we put in an order we seem to get cut a little bit,” Rutland Health Board Chairman Scott Gilroy told Channel 25’s Investigation Team. “At some point, it’s going to run into a course where we either can’t take care of our townsfolk or we’re going to have to short some of our partnering towns.”

The state has required every town in the commonwealth to have an emergency dispensing site specifically for vaccinations during a pandemic.

Locally, Grenno agrees there is reason for alarm over the state’s plan to send vaccines to mass vaccination sites only, and not to local clinics. Vaccination clinics announced by Whitman Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman for next week, would likely have to be cancelled.

“I think it’s a total disgrace against our elderly population and it just shows the ignorance of the state government to not recognize the personal needs of our elderly people,” Grenno said. “There’s never been a more incompetent operation than what the state is doing, starting with PPE on Day One, straight through until today. The state has made this whole COVID thing a complete debacle.”

Hanson Fire Chief Jerome Thompson Jr., whose department held a successful vaccination clinic for elders over age 75 on Feb. 5, said he has also seen information that first-dose requests for local vaccination clinics are going unfilled, but he said Hanson’s planned second-dose clinic should be able to go forward.

“I don’t think they’ve done anything official [about vaccine supply policy,” Thompson said. “You just have to put in for it every week and see what you get.”

He said he was fortunate that Hanson received the 300 doses for the Feb. 5 clinic.

Whitman Fire Department put in for a second dose of vaccine last week, but it was denied, Grenno said.

“We put in a request for this coming week, which we’ve yet to hear about,” he said, saying he expected to hear back by the end of that day. “I’m anticipating that request will be denied also. … If that’s the case, then we’re pretty much dead in the water.”

Grenno had anticipated earlier this winter that the vaccination site plan he had submitted to the state for a local vaccination site at Whitman Middle School would be used.

Even shifting to a mass-vaccination site in town hasn’t helped.

“We had a vaccination site ready to go in the town of Whitman that will vaccinate all the 75-and-older population either at a mass-vaccination site at the K of C or at the Housing Authority units and we have been unable to get the vaccines to do that,” Grenno said.

Instead, the state is vaccinating the 75-and-over people they are providing shots to at mass vaccination sites such as Fenway Park, Marshfield Fairgrounds and Gillette Stadium.

“Getting those folks up and out of their homes and into a car and drive them to Marshfield or Gillette and stand in the bitter cold just to get a vaccination,” he said, noting that shots have been offered to people who drive them.

That has raised the issue of non-relatives taking to the Internet to try and arrange to drive a senior in order to get a vaccination.

Grenno maintains that, had the vaccine been delivered to Whitman when it was requested the town’s 75-and-older population could have already been vaccinated.

“We spent a ton of time and resourced on developing our clinics to service our residents, to vaccinate our residents,” he said.

Criticism of Gov. Baker is coming from all over the state.

In Springfield, named the “asthma capital of the country” in 2019, residents with the disorder may be forced to wait longer for the vaccine, because it had not been included on the state’s list of high-risk medical conditions to qualify people for the COVID vaccine.

U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Boston, advocates it, arguing that the exclusion will have a significant impact on low-income communities.

Baker has indicated his administration is talking about it, according to media reports, but no action has yet been taken.

“A general profile of the people included in the priority group indicates that they are mostly white, mostly young, mostly middle class, mostly healthy and those most likely to have benefit of the best health care and protective health equipment,” a Fall River resident wrote in a letter to the editor published in the Boston Herald last week. “Who are missing from the priority list are the poor, the elderly, sick people, people of color, those living in the most congested neighborhoods and those who depend upon public transportation. The latter groups make up those who are suffering the highest rates of infection and death from the virus.”

Grenno said another part of the problem is that the federal government had been sending the vaccines to the mass-vaccine sites, where official have not been seeing the numbers of people they want to see.

More COVID clinics planned

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WHITMAN — The town is planning a series of COVID vaccination clinics for elder residents at the Housing Authority’s Harvard Court site.

“As this board knows, there have already been several vaccination clinics that have occurred, primarily focused on first responders,” said new Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman, attending his inaugural Board of Selectmen’s meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 9, noting those clinics are continuing. “There are also already plans [for] vaccination clinics at Harvard Court.”

Those are planned for Feb. 22 and 26, as well as March 22 and 26 for the second dose.

“There are also other vaccination clinics planned,” he said. “The key issue that many members on this board may know about is that, we have this plan in place to provide vaccinations to the community, based on the phases as identified by the state Department of Public Health, but the key is actually receiving the  vaccine to perform those, which is — obviously — outside of the town’s control.”

He said the past week, according to Fire Chief Timothy Grenno, is the first time when the state has not been able to fulfill a request for vaccine from the town.

“We don’t know when that is going forward and, obviously, we’re going to be requesting vaccines to fulfill the plan that we want to pursue,” he said. “The big unknown at this moment is how much vaccine we’re going to get and in what kind of time.”

Heineman also announced that cases are now at 1,003 cases since the beginning of the pandemic, according to figures calculated as of Feb. 2. There have been 115 new cases recorded over the past two weeks.

“Just as a comparison to the state as a whole, we’re slightly higher as daily average incidents rate per 100,000 residents,” Heineman said. During the same two-week period the state was at 48.9, while Whitman is at 52.9.

Grenno and the Board of Health have developed the plans for the vaccine clinics, Heineman said.

“There’s a lot of very detailed and organized work that’s been going on prior to me and, again, I want to give all the credit in the world to our emergency management director [Grenno], the Board of Health and everyone here in Town Hall and the Town Hall workers in general,” Heineman said.

In other business, Selectmen approved a request from Council on Aging Director Mary Holland to revise COVID-19 protocols for her department.

“She said there are certain issues that needed to be done, and we had to redo our town protocol because the COA does certain functions that are required under health issues only the senior center provides, and she’s asked us if that would be allowed,” Selectmen Chairman Daniel Salvucci said.

New town COVID protocols passed on Jan. 19 had closed all town buildings to the public until further notice.

“The services that we’ve been able to continue to offer — one of them being the podiatrist — it’s only once a month, but seniors need that service,” Holland said. “We’ve been doing it since September with no issues.”

Seniors enter at the back door and are seen one-on-one by the podiatrist in a private room, she said. Masks are worn during examinations.

Fuel assistance is another service for which seniors must go to the COA to obtain help with the first-time completion of complex paperwork. The center is still closed for social events.

Selectmen also voted — in recognition that Carousel Family Fun Center was the only business in town required to close [for 30 weeks] due to Gov. Charlie Baker’s COVID-19 order — to reduce the business’ licensing fee, applying a pro-rated amount to her feed owed in 2021.

Fire damages Whitman home

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WHITMAN — One person was treated and released at the scene of a fire at a single-family home on Franklin Street, Saturday, Feb.6. Fire Chief Timothy Grenno said the person’s injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

The home is temporarily uninhabitable due to the fire, smoke and water damage. The residents are being assisted by the American Red Cross.

At approximately 7:51 a.m., Whitman Fire received a report from a resident of a fire at their home at 44 Franklin St., Grenno said. Upon arrival, first responders saw smoke coming from the first and second floor of the two-and-a-half story home. The four residents who were home at the time were able to exit the house safely before first responders arrived.

Firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the fire, which was contained to the dining room on the first floor. Crews cleared the scene by 9:15 a.m.

The Hanson Fire Department provided mutual aid during the fire. Station coverage was provided by the Halifax and Abington fire departments. Members of the Halifax Fire Department provided medical aid at the scene. National Grid, Whitman Police, and the Whitman wiring and building inspectors assisted on scene as well.

While Whitman Fire responded to the fire, Abington firefighters responded to two additional emergency calls in Whitman.

The cause of the fire is believed to be accidental and related to an electrical issue.

‘Not the right spot’

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HANSON — Location, location, location — it’s the phrase one often hears as the key consideration in real estate purchases. Residents of Spring Street in Hanson argue that location is the main problem with a 40-unit 40B housing development proposed by developer William Cushing, who is also chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Lawn signs protesting that Spring Street is “Not the right spot!” for a 40B development point to water and traffic concerns, among others, rather than the nature of a 40B development as reasons for the opposition. Residents have almost uniformly placed the signs along the roadway citing the busy street and its close proximity to the capped landfill as key concerns.

Another group of residents, however, calling themselves the Spring Association, however, points to Hanson’s “dire need” for affordable housing in expressing their support for the project.

“I certainly was not prepared for the public outcry,” Selectman Wes Blauss said at the Tuesday, Feb. 2 Selectmen’s meeting, noting he is unaware of the history of the proposal. “That surprised me. … I’m not against the concept, but I’m not really sure if Spring Street is the best place for all these units.”

Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said Monday, Feb. 7, that residents’ concerns have not fallen on deaf ears.

“We have absolutely heard the concerns that have been expressed by all the abutters, neighbors and others, and we take those concerns extremely seriously,” she said. “We will do whatever we’re able to do — within the law — to make sure that, if that project moves forward, it moves forward in a way that is complimentary to that neighborhood, does not infringe upon abutters’ rights, and is consistent with the regulations. That’s really all we can do.”

Selectmen voted to authorize Town Administrator John Stanbrook to draft a letter to the Mass. Housing Finance Authority to outline the flaws seen in the project proposal, which Town Counsel Jay Talerman said is not out of the ordinary for such projects. Stanbrook’s letter, based on an outline he read during the meeting, was sent on Thursday, Feb. 4 describing the project and raising concerns about housing diversity; its proximity to Commuter Rail and impact on traffic; walkability and open space; proximity to a capped landfill and the former munitions area; water, septic and public safety issues; wetland and environmental impacts and compliance with town bylaws and payment of all owed fees and taxes.

“A lot of these things are going to be checked off during that [ZBA] phase,” Cushing told Selectmen Feb. 2. “Every unit is going to be consistently spread out and not close to the landfill.”

He also said he has water access through Glenwood Place and is planning to pay to get it to the site.

“It’s not a complete plan, but I would call it a really good concept,” Cushing said. “At this time, to talk about storm water and other issues, is preliminary.”

Many of the issues citied in Stanbrook’s letter were raised by Spring Street residents opposed to the development.

Residents Chad Tobias and Chris Costello walked the back yard of abutter Jane Downie’s 500 Spring St. backyard with this reporter on Saturday, Feb. 6 to discuss the issue. Downie did not join the meeting out of concern for COVID precautions.

“This is not a feasible location for that type of development,” Costello said. He and Tobias said they wanted to see the impact of two other 40B developments in the works at Phillips Street and Liberty Street impact the town before others are approved.

The capped landfill overlooks her backyard.

Like residents, FitzGerald-Kemmett said no one on the Board of Selectmen is against affordable housing.

“I think people need to understand the difference between affordable housing and low-income,” she said. “I’m not saying we’re against low-income, either, but there’s a huge difference.”

Residents are more concerned with how the 40-unit plan suddenly came before the Board of Selectmen after it had been approved for eight units with no 40B component.

“When this project first came up in 2017, neighbors had concerns, Tobias said. “This was all trees before. Now, you can see the landfill — you couldn’t before.”

He also said the Factory Pond supersite cleanup effort is also nearby, making groundwater pollution a concern, but high water table and runoff from the landfill, where fill has raised the landscape by about five feet is a bigger concern for many neighbors, according to Tobias and Costello.

Anyone in the neighborhood with a basement knows the problem.

“My pump may run two months straight,” Tobias said. “If I turn it off, I get water buildup in my basement. …When he was going to do this development in 2017, that was one of our concerns.”

“Water seepage into our basement isn’t as bad, but our neighbor are pumping 24/7,” Costello said. “Their pump is going nonstop.”

Tobias said he had to buy a second pump to keep up with wetter times.

He said Downie has had to replace doors and other parts of her home because a drainage culvert directs water onto her property.

Reached by phone on Monday, Downie said, aside from flooding in her backyard, two of her doors had been damaged when fill was being dumped on the site to raise the ground level.

“Every time they dropped truckloads of dirt, they dumped it, and my house shook,” she said. Six months ago she had to have her doors realigned and pipes below her mobile home had been shaken out of place and she has to have more work done to repair that problem.

The project initially called for 20-house development, but has since doubled to 40 houses, 10 set aside as affordable units under the state’s 40B provision. In 2017, it had first been reduced to 12 houses and then eight on the 12-acre parcel, for which it was approved.

Tobias said his house sits on three-quarters of an acre, which limits him to a two- to three-bedroom house under the town’s septic regulations.

“How does the math for 40 houses on 12 acres for septic systems add up?” he said.

Traffic congestion is also a concern, especially at the Spring Street/Route 50 intersection. The impact of additional students in Hanson schools is another concern the neighbors have, Tobias said.

“We’re not against 40B,” he said. “I’m concerned about the groundwater.” Most of the Spring Street residents are on Rockland’s municipal water for that reason — something that has been denied to the development.

“They told him they would feed one house,” Tobias said, noting that the development does not have the required 20-foot easement on Glennwood Place.

Water demand was also a concern.

Tobias looked up average Hanson water use on Archive Boston’s website — the average Hanson resident uses 50 gallons per day. With eight houses with 3.5 people, would require about 42,000 gallons of water which must go somewhere, and 210,000 gallons for 40 houses per month in addition to existing groundwater.

The residents also point to a conflict of interest. Cushing is chairman of the ZBA, an appointed rather than elected position.

“How can you develop in the same town you are on the board for?” Tobias said.

“A lot of the point of cluster housing is also to be near public transport,” he said. The MBTA station is five miles away. “Even if you are talking about proximity to public transportation, this is not a good location.”

Residents are also advocating “an immediate review of the Zoning Board of Appeals,” of which Cushing is chairman. They see the appointed board as one populated with developers who “all seem to have similar projects in the works that seem to only be benefitting themselves, not the town of Hanson.”

Cushing has not yet responded to a request for further comment.

“All appointed board members are special employees of the town of Hanson (special employees), they are allowed to submit an application in front of their board as long as they don’t participate,” a member of the Spring Association has said, declining to give their name.

$1.9M deficit looms in Hanson

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HANSON — A budget shortfall of nearly $2 million is expected to have a “system-wide impact” on most services and departments in town without an override, according to Town Accountant Todd Hassett.

The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, Jan. 26 heard a second-quarter budget update and previewed the fiscal 2022 budget with Hassett.

“We do have assumptions. Even if the assumptions come out better than where we are, it’s still a substantial amount that will be required in an override without a serious cut in services. That’s just where we are,” Town Administrator John Stanbrook agreed.

Stanbrook reported on Tuesday, Feb. 2 that the governor’s budget has increased Hanson’s anticipated state aid by $36,086, while state assessment savings came to $818 from what the town expected to be charged. The two amounts mean a $31,000 increase in state aid, and — coupled with assessment figures from South Shore Tech [see related story, this page] — the net effect is a $1,000 decrease to the town’s deficit, now at $1.985 million.

W-H Regional budget figures have not been officially released yet.

“At this time we’re anticipating, when all is said and done, we have a shortfall of just under $2 million, and a number of things are not formalized or finalized yet,” he said. “There are a lot of challenges and a lot of work ahead for us, but clearly, absent some level of tax relief via an override, we’re looking at some significant reductions that will likely involve staff and may involve less programming at the camp, it might involve having to close the transfer station a bit more.”

The largest question mark, at this point, are school budget requests.

“Many things are still in play,” he said in his budget forecast, which town bylaw requires by the end of January. The governor’s budget had not been released at the time Hassett presented the fiscal 2022 plan to Selectmen.

“We are faced with about a 7-percent increase in public safety expenses due to some of the demands for shift coverage and contractual obligations,” Hassett said. “The education budget is up, in our worksheets, over 12.5 percent.”

Formal budget requests have not been received as yet from either WHRSD or SST. Remaining budgets are up about 4 percent. The cost of state program costs is up about 2.5 percent.

Revenues are forecast at about $28 million.

Nearly 83 percent of Hanson’s budget is supported through property taxes, 5.5 percent by state revenues Hassett expects will be level-funded, and 7.5 percent through local revenues, also projected to be level-funded.

He said the maximum allowable levy limit short of an override had been calculated — $544,000 at the 2 ½ percent increase allowed under Proposition 2 ½. New growth revenues are expected to be about $100,000 higher than in fiscal ’21.

Debt exclusions on the police station and regional high school — about $600,000 in additional taxes — are also on the books, with the police station costs maturing in 2026 an the high school in 2028.

Ambulance receipts and septic funds will also be looked at to help balance the budget, Hassett said, as well as $231,000 from free cash.

With only 13 percent of the fiscal 2021 budget collected, Hassett said most revenues are tracking well, while on paper the excise tax receipts appear low by about $35,000 less than the same billing period last year.

“This was one of the indicators we were concerned about going into next year’s budget,” he said. “Data we get from the state shows a very aggressive depreciation schedule.”

Permits and departmental fees are holding steady. While this has been a financially difficult year for recreation programs across the state as programs and events had to be canceled because of COVID-19, Camp Kiwanee has a “strong spring” of wedding bookings at this point.

We’ll see how that plays out,” Hassett said. “The bookings are not what they enjoyed just a couple of years ago.”

The Kiwanee programs and capital improvements had to be subsidized from the general fund in the current fiscal year.

SST panel holds annual budget hearing

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HANOVER — South Shore Tech Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey provided a budget update on Wednesday, Jan. 27, in light of the effect of the updated governor’s budget on the district’s fiscal 2022 spending plan.

The overall budget reflected a 1.89-percent increase from the current budget, according to Hickey, who said the governor’s package provides insight on how assessments to member towns will be affected.

The School Committee held its public hearing on the fiscal 2022 budget, with no comments received from the public.

“The ink is not even dry,” Hickey said of the governor’s budget package.

Assessments break down — with the assumption of nearly level-funded Chapter 70 funding, regional transportation and a stabilization transfer for the district’s bus lease as anticipated revenue — as: Abington lower by $3,552 to $1,286,561; Cohasset lower by $17,648 to $127,071; Hanover increased by $158,280 to $886,330; Hanson increased  $98,371 to $1,233,791; Norwell increased $49,569 to $521,660; Rockland increased $125 to $1,833,991; Scituate lower by $14,647 to $576,166 and Whitman increased by $36,855 to $1,660,531.

“Overall, we’re looking for $8,026,101 from our local towns,” Treasurer and Secretary James Coughlin said, explaining that the budget is based on towns’ minimum local contribution as calculated by the state. He explained that town assessments have been going down in previous years because of a large enrollment of non-resident students, while resident town enrollment was lower. Tuition for non-resident students is set by the state.

That trend is reversed this year.

“The towns that are getting the hardest hit, Hanover and Hanson, had the biggest increase in students,” he said.

Hickey said he has reached out to all member communities to set up budget meetings in mid-February or March.

Hickey also sought debt authorization for capital projects to address needs in the facilities master plan that are beyond what students can do, or can be fit into the fiscal 2022 budget, and smaller projects that can be phased into future capital budgets if the district does not receive MSBA funding.

“Window projects, which is the signature capital item in this year’s proposed budget — something that’s in the facilities master plan — we would expect to cover the costs for that as part of a fiscal ’22 expenditure,” he said. “The rationale that we will be bringing to our towns [is] … that we’re now at the point that there are capital projects we simply cannot sustain within the capital budget.”

The window project is $760,000 of an $895,000 capital budget.

“We all feel, on some level, the math just wouldn’t work if all of a sudden we tried to shoehorn in $2 million of capital in one year to do a roof or do something with fire suppression,” Hickey said. Funding for renovation and expansion could also be included in the debt authorization to meet needs for extra space for larger shops, and to do so whether or not the district received MSBA funds. The project list can be reevaluated if state funding is received.

Hickey also said SST is one of 30 schools, of 71 applying for MSBA funding for school building or renovation projects to be selected for review and to supply more information on their proposal.

He cautioned, however, that it does not necessarily signal that the district will receive funding this year.

“They go out of their way to make it clear that, the fact that they would like to talk to us in a little more depth, does not mean that we’re going to be getting a note in a few months saying, ‘You’re invited into the program,’” he said. Hickey had been invited to a meeting because SST had not been invited to provide the information for a few years.

Hickey also said SST’s admissions process is late this year, because area communities’ schools started a little late for eighth-graders considering a vocational education this year. Mid-year report cards, therefore are coming out later.

Hanson plans COVID shot for frail elders

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HANSON — COVID-19 vaccination staging plans and a discussion with town counsel regarding a proposed 40B affordable housing development were the focus of the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, Feb. 2.

The meeting was conducted by Vice Chairman Matt Dyer in the absence of Chairman Kenny Mitchell.

Fire Chief Jerome Thompson Jr., outlined the town’s efforts to tackle the pandemic, including a recent testing site operation and meetings with the Board of Health and Senior Center Director Mary Collins to address the needs of the town’s vulnerable seniors.

“We started the process in mid-December to allow us to become a MIS account so we can obtain vaccines and administer them,” he said. “It took a while.”

The department received vaccine to provide the first round of shots to 50 first-responders on Jan.21. He said, however, that getting more information from the state has been difficult.

Vaccines were ordered for elders age 75 and older, but were advised the town would not receive those vaccines for a couple of weeks.

“We still went on with our plan and I put the order in anyway,” he said. “I’m happy to announce that we did receive some vaccines today and, working with Mary Collins and Kathy Clark from Meetinghouse Lane, we’ve identified our vulnerable population — over 75 and members of the community that would need some assistance in order to sign up for these vaccines.”

That process was anticipated to be complete by Feb. 3 so people could apply.

“We’re going to continue to order vaccines weekly and offer clinics, but we don’t know how much we’ll get,” Thompson said, adding that the added work in taking on the vaccination and clinic process is a lot of extra work for his department. “It’s best for us to wait until we get that vaccine in hand and then put that information out and have a clinic within two to three days.”

Dyer expressed concern that the 75-and-older age range is a group in which not everyone has a computer or knows how to navigate on one. He asked if there was a phone number to call.

Thompson suggested that the Senior Center would be the best place to call in that case, but that the Facebook link was “very simple” to use. He is also working on conducting a vaccine clinic at Hanson Middle School for residents over age 75, hoping it would be scheduled for Friday, Feb. 5.

A lot of people are also going through their primary care physicians or attending large-scale clinics at Gillette Stadium or Fenway Park.

On or about Feb. 15, Marshfield is also conducting a vaccination clinic at the Marshfield Fair

“I appreciate you going to bat for our elderly folks,” Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said, noting that it is a difficult task to take on for the fire chief. “I thank you and the rest of the team that helped make this happen.”

Thompson said the department is using CARES Act funds to pay for the expense of conducting clinics.

He said the workload and expense may make if difficult for the Fire Department to take on the responsibility of vaccinating the whole town.

“It’s going to be all about availability,” he said.

Chapter 40B

A contentious exchange sparked the discussion on the proposed 40B development by Cushing Trail Realty Trust off Spring Street. Town Counsel Jay Talerman attended the virtual meeting to provide legal advice during the discussion.

Selectmen voted to issue a letter of support if flaws in the plan can be adequately addressed, which Talerman said is not out of the ordinary for such projects.

Select board input is a regular feature of the 40B eligibility letter approval process before a project proceeds to the Zoning Board of Appeals, Talerman said.

He said feedback from land use boards has so far included issues of housing diversity, proximity to Commuter Rail, walkability and open space, proximity to a capped landfill, water supply, wetland and environmental impact, a few design concerns, and a placeholder on the developers’ credentials.

Water Commissioner Don Howard said no one has appeared before the Water Department to find out if water service is possible.

“Hanson doesn’t have any water main down Spring Street,” Howard said. “I don’t know where they’re going to get the water.”

Talerman said that concern has been raised.

“In this application, the applicant says they already have water on-site,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “But that is not the case.”

Town Administrator John Stanbrook read a letter from Town Counsel Kate Feodoroff, an associate of Talerman’s.

The development plans a mix of 40 two- and three-bedroom condominium units, with 10 of them made available under Chapter 40B a affordable units. The project contains no handicapped-accessible units.

“Though the application presented is in its preliminary stages, the board requests that the project comply with the housing production plan,” the letter Feodoroff drafted on behalf of the Board of Selectmen stated.

“Over the weekend, residents have reached out, voicing their concerns,” Dyer said. “Many have concerns … related to proximity to the landfill and the Factory Pond site.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett is also concerned about the absence of septic plans for a development in a town without sewers, as well as a lack of clarity on plans for “amenities” and location concerning affordable units.

“I certainly was not prepared for the public outcry,” Selectman Wes Blauss said, noting he is unaware of the history of the proposal. “That surprised me. … I’m not against the concept, but I’m not really sure if Spring Street is the best place for all these units.”

Developer William Cushing said he was not attending to talk about stormwater, but said the town’s regulations — more restrictive than the state’s — have been met.

“A lot of these things are going to be checked off during that [ZBA] phase,” Cushing said. “Every unit is going to be consistently spread out and not close to the landfill.”

Amenities for all units — affordable as well as market rate — will be the same. He also said that, unlike the bulk of condo projects in Hanson aimed at the over 55 market, these units are meant for families.

He also said he has water access through Glenwood Place and is planning to pay to get it to the site.

“It’s not a complete plan, but I would call it a really good concept,” Cushing said. “At this time, to talk about storm water and other issues, is preliminary.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett said the board is doing what they were elected to do.

“I will continue to be concerned about the things that I articulated,” she said. “I’m hopeful that you will address them. But I will tell you that you ought to take another look at your application.”

She indicated that the application indicates septic is in place.

FitzGerald-Kemmett also objected to what she characterized as a disrespectful tone to Cushing’s comments.