Whitman-Hanson Express

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Iconic eatery sold

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HANSON — The Old Hitching Post restaurant, once featured on celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s “Kitchen Nightmares” reality TV show in 2012 — and a popular gathering and dining destination in town since opening in the 1950s — is changing hands.

Owners Andrea and Sprio Garnavos officially bought the restaurant from her father Tom Kessaris in 2014. Kessaris bought the business in 2005. Now they are selling it to Lori and Jason Cook of Pembroke, who also have a strong business legacy in Hanson and the area. The Cooks plan to keep the Hitching Post name.

“It’s been a really good 17 strong years,” Garnavos said. “It’s been home to us. We’ve made so many friends. I thank the community — Hanson, all the surrounding towns — we’ve had a really good run, and these two are going to have a great run.”

The Select Board, on Tuesday, Aug. 9 approved an application to transfer the on-premises restaurant and alcoholic beverages license from the Old Hitching Post, 48 Spring St., to Jason Cook said the situation in which Garnavos is parting with the restaurant — all employees are staying — made the smooth transition possible.

Garnavos said the restaurant is in the process of being sold to the Cooks, which Garnavos expected to be complete within 10 days. The Cooks are the joint owners of Somewhere Else Tavern in Pembroke. Lori Cook owns the Fork in the Road Deli in Bryantville.

“Andrea is excited to hand over the reins to us because she things we are a really good fit for it, and we feel the same way,” said Jason Cook, who will manage the Hitching Post. “We’re excited to take over and be more of a part of Hanson.

“What she has set up for us is just a fluid transition, because she’s already done the homework and we’re grateful,” Lori Cook said. “We probably wouldn’t have undertaken it if it wasn’t for her.”

“Amazing,” Jason Cook added.

“I’m so happy for you guys,” Garnavos said. “We’re all so happy we’re together.”

“Let’s go have a drink,” Lori Cook said as they exchanged compliments after the board had voted.

“You’ve gotten back what you’ve put out there, and these guys have, too,” Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett. “It’s a love-fest with you guys and it’s great.”

“It’s bittersweet,” said Select Board member Joe Weeks said to Garnavos. “You’re an amazing family legacy, so it’s really sad to see you go, but I’m really enthusiastic about a great transfer.”

Lori Cook said financing has been approved for the purchase, but there are a “few more pieces” to finalize in the transaction.

“We are happy to go back to the Hitching Post, I worked there many years ago,” Lori said. “This will be a new endeavor for Jason, but we’re Hanson residents and we’re excited about this new branch in our tree.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett said the Cooks and Garnavos have been great community partners through their businesses already both in Hanson and in Pembroke.

“I’m just thrilled that the business is going to continue, that we have [new] owners who are responsible and have had a long record in other communities and within our own community, of doing business,” she said. “We welcome you as business owners to Hanson. We’re thrilled about it.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett said she received an email from the Conservation Agent, seeking to ensure that the board lets the new owners know they have to maintain an occupied residential apartment on the Hitching Post site in accordance with the original ZBA approval of the restaurant. The Conservation Commission also has a perpetual condition that the catch basin at the end of the parking area has to be cleaned once a year, reporting the completion of that to the commission.

He also noted the commission has not yet received a certificate of compliance for the septic repair at the location “and it would behoove the owners to record it.”

“I’m just passing that on,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. Garnavos said that certificate of compliance has already been recorded, prompting FitzGerald-Kemmett to suggest they loop back to make sure the Board of Health and the Conservation agent now have that information.

Lori Cook has owned A Fork in the Road since 2005, surviving both the great recession that began in 2008 as well as the COVID pandemic.

“That was interesting, but we made lots of friends in the community that way,” she said of doing business amid the recession. “We all helped each other, that’s part of the business structure in our company.”

She also owns Somewhere Else Tavern on Route 27 with Jason, who has owned AB Tent Rental, in business for 35 years, and his mother has lived in Hanson for more than 40 years.

“We’re always happy to be involved in anything that’s going on in the town,” he said. “The fire department, the police department are always welcome at Lori’s place or our place for lunch.”

He has supported the DARE program with free tents for the last few years.

“We always like to help and be part of,” he said noting the new venture will be a little different as he takes on a management role at the Hitching Post.

Starting as a small coffee shop in the 1950’s, the Hitching Post has grown, after many renovations and expansions, to a full service restaurant and tavern. 

https://www.restaurantji.com/ma/pembroke/somewhere-else-tavern-/

Blazing new trails for girls

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WHITMAN — Samantha Kenn always liked to tag along with her brother Daniel, so when he became interested in joining the Boy Scouts of America, so did she.

At the time, however, only Girl Scouting was an option for girls. Scoutmaster Dr. Michael Warner says she tagged along anyway and in 2008 began earning unofficial merit badges.

By the time Boy Scouts of America (BSA) policy had changed and Samantha — or Mantha, as her brother calls her — officially joined Whitman’s Troop 22 on Feb. 1, 2019, it took her only three years to achieve the historic position as Whitman’s first female Eagle Scout on May 30, 2022. Her Court of Honor was held Saturday, Aug. 6 at the Cardinal Spellman Center.

She had planned to have her project completed by Christmas 2020, and again by Christmas 2021 after COVID-imposed pause.

Winter said she is only the second in the 60-town Cranberry Harvest District Council of Eastern Massachusetts. There have been only 2,000 female Eagle Scouts nationwide so far.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my life, it’s a person is a person,” said Scout leader Rob Preskins, noting that when Samantha joined the Troop, he felt they should merge. “Different people can do different things and makes no matter who you are or where you come from, the color of your skin or your gender. And I’m so glad that Troop 22 took on Troop G, because they came in, they saw and they conquered — and it was awesome to watch. We had front-row seats.”

He said Samantha led that charge.

In presenting his gift to his Troop’s newest Eagle — a talking stick he made that he joked she didn’t need — Winter said she was everything.

“I always thought there’s no reason for us to be separate and I’m glad that we’ve shifted as an organization,” he said. “But I don’t think that that would have mattered to you. You’d have done it all, even if you couldn’t have earned the badges, you would have still done it anyway — just to show up your brother.”

He said Samantha reminded him of his daughter Emily, who wanted to be a Boy Scout, which was not permitted at the time.

Her parents Jim and Tracey also spoke about their inspiring daughter.

“When they first introduced the idea of letting girls into Scouts, I said, ‘I don’t like the idea,’” Jim Kenn Jr., said, noting he felt girls would change the social dynamic, but at the same time his daughter was doing the work and earning Weblos pins while hanging out with her brother. “I didn’t want it to happen. I was against it. … All along, she was doing it and I realized how much of a hypocrite I was. This was wrong.”

He realized it was less about the boys than it was about limiting the opportunities for girls.

“There wasn’t anything about Boy Scouts that she didn’t like, other than she wasn’t allowed to be part of it,” Tracey Kenn said, noting she was wearing her “mom clothes” in recognition of her dual roles as Samantha’s mother and scoutmaster. 

Before the BSA allowed female members, Whitman Pack 22 had created a program permitting younger siblings of any gender to join in activites.

She said Samantha has excelled at school, as well, becoming a member of the French Honor Society, Pre-med Society, Yearbook Committee, Students Against Destructive Decisions and Dollars for Scholars, and has been accepted into 10 colleges — including nine nursing programs, three honors programs and two psychology minor programs. 

“She is very driven,” Tracey Kenn said. “What isn’t written in that program is her desire to always be better than she was yesterday. … What also isn’t written is the struggle of being a strong female in an organization that is primarily men and boys and balancing as to not appear too bossy, but also not submissive.”

Samantha will attend Regis College, majoring in nursing this fall.

 “I’m very proud of you,” Eagle Court Committee Chairman Geoff told Samantha in declaring the ceremonies opened, referring to the challenge presented by her project — a built a 12-by-20-foot, raised pavilion at Hobart’s Pond in Whitman. “That was a lot of work and there was a lot of frustrations involved, and you kept plowing through it.”

Winter said the huge project was very much in keeping with Samantha’s big thinking. 

He credited her for bringing in actual experts for the architectural plans and building, joking that if it had been left to some of the Scoutmasters it’s possible the structure might still be standing, but he couldn’t guarantee that.

Samantha raised more than $13,000 for supplies and materials and led more than 90 Scouts, friends and family members in doing the 1,224 hours of work for the town of Whitman.

“You’ve been a driving force in my Scouting experience and everyone else’s Scouting experience,” said her friend Acadia Manley, who joined a couple months after Kenn. “I just want to thank you for everything you’ve done.”

Samantha’s friend and fellow Eagle Scout Zekar-Yah Henry directed Scouts in the ceremony opening and closing and lit the ceremonial candles representing the Scout Oath and Scout Law.

Other Scouts from Troop 22 described the various requirements and accomplishments of rank advancements in Samantha’s Trail of the Eagle and her brother presented the Eagle Charge — the rights and responsibilities of this ultimate rank before she received her Eagle badge from her mother Tracey Kenn.

In turn Samantha awarded a Mentor Pin and a new tool belt to John Bergeron and each of her parents.

In another break with Scouting tradition, she awarded her mother’s pin to her father James R. Kenn Jr.

“Throughout my journey, I have given my Mother’s Pin to my dad, because my mom got all Danny’s pins and I like to show my appreciation of my dad,” she said.

“Wow!” said a voice from the audience.

“You go, Jim!” shouted another.

“You are a mother,” joked another.

She also presented pins to her grandparents, James R. Kenn Sr., and Gail Gorson, in honor of the hours in which they passed along their wisdom to her.

“You’ve been so much to me in the last 18 years, my friend … and my rock” Daniel Kenn said. Pledging to always be her best friend, even though her room would make a really nice 3-D printer room, he joked.

Selectman Justin Evans presented a proclamation from the Select Board declaring Aug. 6 as Samantha Kenn Day in Whitman. Ed Miller, a legislative aide of state Sen. Mike Brady presented her with a citation from the state Senate in honor of her Eagle Scout achievement.

American Legion Commander Richard Cameron presented her with a Good Citizenship Citation and a check for $100. VFW Commander Roger Hendricks presented her with a congratulatory letter and a check as well. 

“Today’s Scouts are tomorrow’s leaders,” Hendricks said, adding that by breaking the glass ceiling she left a path for other young women to follow. “You have established yourself as a leader. … You are an Eagle. We will watch you soar.”

Henricks then asked all the Scouts to join him in saluting Samantha.

A representative of former state Rep. Geoff Diehl — who also attained the rank of Eagle Scout in his youth —  also presented his congratulations and a gift.

Whitman TA takes leave of absence

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WHITMAN – Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman has taken a leave of absence, Select Board Chair Randy LaMattina announced after an executive session of the board on Wednesday, Aug.3.

“The town administrator is out on a leave of absence,” LaMattina confirmed Monday. “Unfortunately, I can’t say much more than that.”

He said the situation would eventually develop into less of a mystery, but for now he stressed that he was unable to say more.

The executive session, in accordance with MGL Ch. 30A sec 21A subsection 2 to conduct strategy sessions for negotiations with nonunion personnel – the town administrator – because an open session could have a detrimental effect on the town’s bargaining position.

“We need to announce the town administrator is on a leave of absence,” LaMattina said when the executive session was over. “What the board needs to do now is discuss an interim replacement in the meantime,” and entertained suggestions.

Select Board member Dr. Carl Kowalski recommended asking former Town Administrator Frank Lynam “if he could come in and help out as an acting town administrator.”

“Makes sense to me,” Select Board member Justin Evans said.

The board unanimously agreed to the suggestion, and Kowalski volunteered to make the call to Lynam.

LaMattina said Lynam started working Monday and will serve as the acting administrator on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

“As far as any interruptions, we don’t foresee any,” LaMattina said. “Luckily, Frank has kept up enough, he was on the DPW Building Committee. He’s kind of kept in the know.”

The board will met in another executive session meeting Tuesday, Aug. 9.

“We will probably come out and announce we’ve come to an agreement with Frank as the acting TA,” he said. “I can’t imagine it’s going to be a very long meeting, but there’s a lot of formalities right now.”

The next regular meeting is set for Tuesday, Aug. 16.

Sharing the load

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HANSON — Job-sharing has been used in the private sector to fill the needs of an employer while being flexible to how they fill jobs with workers who have time constraints, as two workers divide the hours of a single position.

Hanson is taking a different tack — looking to hire a single person to fill the administrative assistant needs of two departments.

The Select Board reviewed a job description and approved on Tuesday, July 26 a temporary part-time administrative position in their office  combined with another part-time position at the Planning Department.

Town Administrator Lisa Green said that Town Accountant Todd Hassett had suggested that, since the town’s Planning Department is also in need of an administrative assistant, that — to fill the needs of both offices and make the positions more enticing to prospective applicants — a combined position be created.

The candidate would be eligible for benefits as a full-time employee.

“It really helps fulfill the need in both offices,” Green said. “Looking at the numbers, it’s a much more reasonable approach to getting a third person in the Select Board’s office without breaking the bank, so to speak.”

Green has been ironing out the details of the proposal with town counsel, but she indicated there is support from the planner’s office, too.

“I think this is great,” said Select Board member Joe Weeks, “At the end of the day, I’d like to fund it for the needs of the town. … I just wish we could say, ‘Hey, listen, we need two full-time people.’ We need this.”

He argued that cutting corners in such a way opens the town to liability because oversight is being lost. 

Select Board member Ed Heal agreed with Weeks that two full-time positions are needed — but would go down in flames at Town meeting.

While the Select Board members were in agreement both offices need a full-time employee, both Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett and member Ann Rein agreed they needed to take action in steps.

“I know how hard it’s going to be to get a full-time position funded, nevermind two, right now,” she said. “I think we need two, but let’s baby walk before we take that leap.”

“One issue that was voiced by the town planner is that, as a 19-hour a week position, his office would always be a revolving door for the first full-time position that came up or they may leave for another full-time position with benefits,” Green said. She has been working town counsel on the proposal to develop a title and job description for the position.

But Green indicated at the time that a person who already interviewed for the Planning Department position, and is under serious consideration, has already said they would be interested in the combined full-time job — as have most others interviewed so far.

“It breaks down the job description for each department,” Green said, explaining it would entail 20 hours in the Planning Board office and 15 hours in the Select Board office. It would be a union position, because both positions being combined were already union positions.

“Initially, there were some ethical issues that town counsel was trying to help us work through,” Green said. “It was possible the position was not going to work.”

The ethics of having an employee working for two different offices was an issue, agreed FitzGerald-Kemmett.

“There were concerns over whether we could comply and have somebody work in those two offices,” she said, thanking the town accountant for coming up with it.

“I like that idea of cross-pollination between the Planner’s office and the Selectmen’s office, she said. “I’m not saying some of that doesn’t already happen, but it’s definitely going to happen if you have somebody that’s in [both offices] and you have that connectivity.”

While Select Board member Ann Rein said she thought the combined position was a great idea, she had questions about how the hours added up. Weeks was concerned that the question of who the person hired will report to needs to be clarified.

Green said the position in the Select Board office would be temporary until Oct. 1, and she said the hope is they can put an article in for the special Town Meeting warrant to make the position a permanent part-time funded one. The planning administrative assistant is already a funded position.

“We have to put this wording in here: ‘If the Select Board part-time position fails, the position will then revert to a 22-hour position in the Planning Board office, which would make that person eligible for benefits,” Green said. “Again, we’re trying to work to keep people here.”

“We’re making sure that the Town Planner’s office is not going to be adversely affected by what we’re trying to do with the other position,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

Green said is also drains money from town finances when positions need to be continually advertised, and interviewed for, as well as training people only to have them leave, starting the process over again.

The work she and town counsel are doing will outline the job descriptions and tasks in each position.

Heal asked whether full-or part-time employee costs more. Green noted that it would carry benefits as a full-time position, but departments generally budget funds for added expenses, such as the position’s benefit package.

Ethics rules on test kit ‘sharing’

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HANSON — Select Board member Jim Hickey says he has been cleared on an alleged ethics complaint for removing COVID test kits from a locked file cabinet in Town Hall. Hickey said his intent was to distribute the kits among Town Hall employees this past January.

But a town official familiar with the situation said that conclusion was incorrect, describing the decision as one that, more accurately indicates only that it was nothing they needed to take action over. The official said Hickey had spoken to several people and was told what he did was wrong and that involving Town Hall employees in gaining access to the kits was “problematic.”

Hickey informed the Whitman-Hanson Express on Thursday, Aug. 4 that he had been contacted by the state Ethics Commission in a recent phone call. By the end of the week, he said, they called to inform him that he had been cleared.

 “There have been no public enforcement actions by the commission” on the matter, according to Gerry Tuoti, senior public information and communications director with the Ethics Commission said Tuesday. Without a public enforcement action, Tuoti said he could neither confirm nor deny that a complaint had either been filed or ruled upon.

Hickey said that a representative of the Ethics Commission called him Thursday, July 28 to inform him about the complaint. He said he related the entire situation to her because he wanted “to make sure she knew everything,” Hickey explained.

Town Administrator Lisa Green was also called about the incident.

Hickey said he had spoken to Theresa Cocio at the Board of Health after he received the Ethics Commission call. She told him not to do it again, according to Hickey about his taking the kits. Cocio said Monday that she didn’t know about the complaint. 

“I was the only one that didn’t get [COVID] in my whole house,” Hickey said. “Everybody had it but me.”

His wife had not been feeling well and Hickey said he felt he had a right, as a town employee, albeit an elected volunteer, to test kits that he had been buying at the pharmacy.

“I was so mad that the Fire Department had [the test kits], the Police Department had them, they had them here (at the Senior Center, where he spoke), they had them at the Highway Department,” Hickey said. “Everybody had them, except for the Town Hall employees.”

The town had just received 3,000 test kits and the state was planning to deliver 7,000 more. The kits were paid for with grant money.

Contacted for comment this week, Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said she had not known of the situation.

“This is the first I’m hearing about it,” she said, when asked if any action would be taken by the Select Board. “We will need to look into whether the board needs to take any action.”

Whitman held the first of the two towns’ COVID test kit dispensing drive-throughs on Dec. 31, 2021 at Whitman Middle School. There were only 400 kits available for that event, which fire officials said was all they could obtain on short notice. 

Hanson held their first drive-through event not long after that.

The state had recently made kits available to cities and towns with a higher population of people living below the federal poverty line instead of where the pandemic spike was worst, such as Bristol and Plymouth counties. Test kits at pharmacies were been selling for about $25 each at that time.

When Hanson held its first test kit dispersal, residents were limited to one kit containing two tests each, because the thought was there would be a big line, as Whitman had seen New Year’s Eve morning when all 400 kits were handed out before much more than an hour had passed — and there were still cars in line.

“There was no line,” he said of Hanson’s event. “We had a ton of them.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

 “I’ll never know,” Hickey said about who might have reported it to the Ethics Commission. But he said he suspects it could have been either Health Agent Gil Amado or an employee in one of the offices on the same floor, because he had not distributed any test kits there.

Amado did not return a call for comment.

 “That was my fault, I totally forgot,” he said of the oversight. “I honestly forgot all about them. Most of them up there are part-time.”

Hickey had asked Amado for a kit because his daughter, teacher, had contracted COVID at school. Amado called custodian Charlie Baker, and then gave him a kit from an unlocked closet where they were kept at that time. Hickey said that he took another test kit when Amado left.

Hickey said Green had unlocked the closet because she was asked to do so. Green was out of the office on a sick day Monday and was unavailable for comment.

“There were four of us at home,” Hickey said, noting he told Baker about it so the custodian would not get into trouble if it was discovered another kit had been taken.

Two days later, when Town Hall employees still hadn’t received a kit, he got the closet unlocked and distributed a case of kits among the building’s offices.

Back to the drawing board

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HANSON — By the end of the month, Whitman and Hanson officials and School Committee officials are expected to be named to a new Regional Agreement subcommittee charged with updating that document, regardless of the path Hanson decides to follow regarding de-regionalization.

The Hanson Select Board met on Tuesday, July 26 with School Committee Chair Christopher Howard and Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak, who noted that no matter what is decided, the towns will have to operate within a regional agreement that needs revising.

Howard noted that, as both boards are aware, the agreement is more than 30 years old.

“We looked at it several years ago — Hanson had actually voted it and then rescinded it — and there’s a lot of feedback from the School Committee that it is a 30-year-old agreement and there are areas we’re concerned about that are on the fringes of compliant or not compliant,” Howard said.

The last time a Regional Agreement Committee was formed, the School Committee just created it as a rather large committee, Howard said. In the spirit of better communication, he said he and Szymaniak wanted to talk with Selectmen in both towns to get their thoughts before another committee is seated.

It comes down to two questions: 

• What is the appetite to consider negotiating a revised regional agreement, a process to which all three boards must accept; and

• What the composition of such a committee should look like.

Szymaniak offered to walk the new members of the Select Board through all the DESE and other state regulations.

“Some of the general feedback we’ve looked at and heard is, maybe smaller,” Howard said. “Whatever is drafted should be done in public and it has to go back to the full School Committee, it has to go back to the selectmen and it has to go to each town meeting.”

Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said that, while the board hasn’t discussed the proposal, a strong and consistent concern they’ve heard involves representation and use of the statutory method of calculating town assessments.

She said her first preference was to keep any committee small.

Select Board member Jim Hickey, who served on a previous Regional Agreement committee, said there were 24 people on that board.

“There are still wounds over that,” she said. “The feedback we get is, ‘We’ve still got the same number of seats, but we’re paying more money.”

That said, FitzGerald-Kemmett recognized the state regulations that require it.

“Even if we were to get another seat, it would be a weighted seat,” she said. “In essence, out votes would total up to the same number of people.”

She asked her board if they wanted to open up that conversation and enter negotiations on the agreement.

“I would love to know how we got there,” said Select Board member Ann Rein. “I have a serious problem with the way that thing was negotiated, I’m sorry. … I don’t understand how a town could have more students and pay less money.”

Select Board member Ed Heal also said he neeed that information.

FitzGerald-Kemmett agreed, saying she fought bitterly on that point.

“Even if [School Committee representation] was five/five with weighted votes, a School Committee vote is never going to end in a tie,” Hickey said. “If the School Committee is doing the right things for the students, it’s going to be 9-1 or 8-2 one way or the other.”

Hickey also said it had been a mistake to hold monthly meetings of the previous committee, arguing that meetings should be held weekly until the work is done.

He was to meet July 27 with Hanson’s De-Regionalization Committee and will relay those recommendations in view of the estimated cost to the rest of Hanson’s Select Board Aug. 9. 

Howard said that process works with the School Committee’s scheduled project work, with their next meeting slated for late August.

Regardless of that committee’s recommendation, FitzGerald-Kemmett said it would be beneficial to renegotiate the Regional Agreement as a way of improving communication and relations.

“Something has severely jumped the tracks and we have got to get back to a place where we are having ongoing conversations,” she said.

Howard also touched on state regulations.

“There is a Mass. General Law that clearly articulates — not my personal opinion, but articulated the state’s law — the composition of school committee representation,” Howard said.

The Select Board expressed interest in obtaining the pertinent background information.

“I want everyone brought up to speed,” she agreed. “I think it’s very important, moving forward, that we’ve all got this baseline established.”

An open session on that background is important to moving forward.

Select Board Vice Chair Joe Weeks also said the previous Select Board as well as Hanson School Committee members fought it, too.

“There’s a lot of unsung, humble people that weren’t … banging the bells, saying ‘I’m doing this really, really hard work,’” he said. “There were a lot of people trying to get that representation that were on that committee that have either moved on or are still there. They were working hard on getting us what we wanted.” 

He agreed it was worthwhile to proceed with revisiting the Regional Agreement with a smaller number of committee members — and better direction.

“There was no guidance or organization to that meeting,” he said. “We didn’t have an entire leg of the stool.”

Rein and Heal agreed that a conversation has to be conducted.

Hanson reviews cannabis delivery license

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HANSON — The owners of Hanson’s marijuana growing facility, met with the Select Board on progress toward approval of the delivery/operator license on Tuesday, July 26.

A public hearing will be scheduled on that license after the board votes to permit it.

The business currently has only a cultivation license and, while they have gone through the licensing process for manufacturing, they have not yet received that license, said co-owner Ally Greenberg.

“We’re 90 days into operation, we’re growing, and that’s really all I can say about it,” she said.

Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said that people are anxious to see revenue for the town, asking when they expect to start sending the product out.

“It is in your community agreement that the terms don’t start until we actually produce some revenue,” Ally Greenberg said. “I haven’t seen any revenue [yet], I’m just growing, still.”

Ally Greenberg said the first harvest should be in early September.

“We’ll [then] go through the testing, make sure it’s clean and hopefully get some money back to the town,” she said. “I can’t grow it fast enough.”

Ralph Greenberg said they were excited about the opportunity to be before the Select Board again as they look to create some value for both the town and their business.

“It’s a long road that we’ve started on together, and we’re at a point that cannabis is growing in our building,” he said, cautioning that the market has dropped a minimum of 50 percent since they started the permitting process.

“By the request of this delivery license that we’re looking for today, is a real opportunity for us to make money at this point,” he said. “Without that delivery license, we’ll be brokering our product to the wholesalers and that market is a very, very tough market.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett said residents have been nervous about what a delivery permit would allow, noting that some townspeople were wary about the prospect of a brick-and-mortar outlet in town.

“It is clear they are passionate about this community and their operation,” Impressed LLC attorney Nicholas Gomes, with offices in New Bedford/Fall River and Boston, said. “Cultivation is the core of their business. … What they are, essentially, seeking to do is to add the delivery operator license type.”

He explained that the cultivating means the company would be allowed to warehouse and stores what they produce under their cultivation license in a safe, secure vault. The delivery/operating license would permit the business to make direct sales to consumers through delivery to their house.

Buyers are required to show proof that they are over age 21 and proper delivery procedures are in place before Impressed LLC makes a delivery to a customer’s home.

“By the numbers, the reason why this is a beneficial license for Impressed LLC and the town, is because it is allowing Impressed LLC to not just let it grow its flower and sell it to wholesale purchasers across Massachusetts,” Gomes said. 

According to Gomes, the average price for a pound of marijuana is about $2,500, while at the consumer end of the business, an ounce of marijuana is between $250 and $300 on the retail level, as opposed to about $150 wholesale. 

“The commodity is sold, of course, for a higher value [at] retail,” Gomes said. “The difference between what Impressed LLC can sell its flower for on the wholesale market, compared to what they can do on the retail market … retail is going to be at least a 50-percent markup from that wholesale value.”

The request for a delivery/operator license will permit the company to avoid a rush by consumers and the accompanying traffic concerns, mainly because they are aware of the town’s concerns about the problems by not operating a store font retail business.

“It has the bonus of allowing the town to share in the higher retail prices, while eliminating those concerns,” Gomes said. “No individuals from the public would ever come to the property of Impressed LLC — they wouldn’t be allowed in if they tried — and no walk-in purchase is available.”

He said all transactions would be via online or phone applications.

“This is a logistical business,” Gomes said. 

Gomes said it was possible that so many articles on the same Town Meeting warrant might have been confusing, and advocated placing the delivery license alone before Town Meeting again if it would clarify the issue. If the town wants to restrict deliveries to customers outside of Hanson, they can do so.

He said he does not know of any area towns that restrict deliveries within their towns, but that there are delivery companies in the Bridgewaters, the North Shore, Plymouth and areas to the west of town.

“Because we voted no on retail, that puts almost a firewall around us for anybody to deliver because that would be considered retail in Hanson,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

Town Administrator Lisa Green asked if medical-use cannabis would be allowed for delivery — for homebound clients, for example. Gomes said medical use was permitted to be delivered by courier system, which is a purely delivery service that is not a manufacturer or involved in pricing.

Select Board member Ann Rein asked how the company would be able to ensure that those ordering online were of legal age.

“The benefit of the delivery process the state has come up with is numerous contact points for verification,” Gomes said. A person placing an order would be required to personally show an ID at one of the retail cannabis businesses in the state. There are also teams of two making deliveries – with one remaining in the vehicle for security – and GPS tracking as well as in-vehicle and body camera camera surveillance of delivery personnel in use.

No cash transactions would be made.

Deliveries in completely unmarked vehicles – aiming for the use of EVs and no matching vehicle fleet – would be planned logistically so delivery crews would be out most if not all of the day and not constantly be driving in and out.

FitzGerald-Kemmett asked if there was a cap on the amount of marijuana that could be delivered to any one location.

Gomes said a limit of a flower/ounce or 5 ounces of concentrate would be the individual limit per day.

“When it comes to this issue, you’re going to find that there’s three separate camps of folks,” Select Board Vice Chair Joe Weeks said. “You have people who don’t want marijuana in this town, you have people that absolutely want every form of it and then you have a bunch of people in the middle that want to make sure if it’s here, it’s done responsibly.”

Weeks said it was the people in the middle range of attitude that need to be communicated with in the clearest manner. He asked if there was anything that was clearly written to provide that level of security, predictability and accountability.

“Words are words until they actually become facts,” he said.

FitzGerald-Kemmett agreed that too much was attempted at Town Meeting.

“Fiasco is the word that comes to mind,” she said. “It was just not handled well. We have learned from that and we will not make that mistake again.”

She underscored that what Weeks was looking for was facts.

Gomes said he would confer on the matter with his clients, but suggested sending a formal request to the board requesting its support, having a warrant article placed before Town Meeting and providing specific details in a memorandum format with citation to Massachusetts law and/or regulation. He said he would also provide the steps in the process in writing, too.

Day trips from your easy chair

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While coverage of the towns’ and school districts’ government business is the bread and butter of local cable access channels, it is perhaps the original programming that gives it that local flavor.

Joining the Whitman-Hanson Cable Access (WHCA) TV programming this spring has been “Outdoor Adventures,” with staff members taking the viewer along with them on day trips and vacations during the COVID pandemic.

It caught on from there.

“What we tried to do when COVID came about was create a show brand that could allow people to do a one-off about,” WHCA Director Eric Dresser said, explaining the departure from the usual fully-formed show concepts people generally come in to produce from start to finish. “We did it with the staff first to show people what was possible and we are still looking for content to be submitted wherever they might be going.”

Going to take a trip to the Boston Harbor islands, Cape Cod Canal or the dunes of Provincetown? Take some video of your trip, he said.

“It’s an opportunity for people to put together a travelogue and do as much or as little as they want. Episodes do not have to be full half-hours if people would rather to something shorter, and the WHCA staff can help with the editing. Another show brand, “Geekology,” offers the opportunity to explore a hobby.

Staff member Ryan Tully came up with “Outdoor Adventures” for which Dresser encouraged the staff to go out and film their own outings.

“You could go out wearing your mask, or you could go out by yourself and we could do that even through the pandemic,” he said.

The eighth episode of “Outdoor Adventures,” airing last month and filmed last fall, reviewed the popular Burrage Pond Wildlife Management Area in Hanson. Previous programs offered a look at one-wheeling in Maine and Mountain biking in area parks.

Humor is infused with Ryan Tully’s hiking narration, which included a correction as the episode begins with a view of his van driving along the road between the bogs — accompanied by a record-scratch sound and an advisory that people are not supposed to do that. The Elm Street gate was down that day.

Kind of makes one wonder how the camera got there.

“There were some trucks [where workers were] doing some line work on the electrical wires that day and I drove right in and was told by someone from Hanson Conservation when I was leaving for the day, that I shouldn’t have parked there,” he narrated. “This will be the first of a few blunders during this trip.”

Park on the street is the first lesson here.

He also neglected to wear blaze orange during what was bow hunting season. Ooops. He also forgot there are two Burrage ponds as he paused to gain his bearings, during which periods he narrated into his hand-held camera.

He certainly walked a looong way that day.

The 2,000-acre former cranberry bog property spans both Hanson and Halifax. Because of those origins, he also frequently found paths impassable in the wetter autumn conditions due to water or mud on trails, which are unmarked.

He grades the parks after hiking them, but in this instance decided to hold off until he gets feedback from frequent visitors on what he could do better. His email is rtully@whca.tv.

Tully did another hiking episode at Pond Meadow Park in Weymouth/Braintree, spinning off his own series of Park Review shows.

“Today turned into quite an adventure,” he said. “If you plan to come here, do a little more planning. Don’t just jump into it the way I did.”

Dresser also produced one on one-wheeling – a kind of electric skateboard with one over-sized wheel – on the trails of Old Orchard Beach Forest. Another staffer filmed mountain bike enthusiast Bill Boles on his trail-riding.

“I think that things have semi-permanently changed from COVID and we’re just kind of trying to lean into those new styles,” Dresser said. “People are walking around with a video studio in their pocket with their cell phones, and we’re trying to lean into that, as well.”

To find more information about making an “Outdoor Adventure” show or another show concept at 781-447-4175 or whca.tv.

The program joins popular favorites like Richard Rosen’s “Buzz Around Bees” – The Season 4 debut focused on a new batch of bees and installing them in the hive —  along with Paul Sullivan’s show “The Famer’s Daugther.”

“Somebody said to me, ‘develop some programs,’” Sullivan joked. “I had a couple of ideas, but most of the things I’ve done have taken me ages before they go on the air just because I’ve got a certain vision for it and I keep slugging at it to get that working the way I want it to work.”

For something that someone just wants to get done, it’s a lot simpler, and information on the website can help, he said. 

Whitman Police, Fire share safety tips ahead sweltering forecast

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WHITMAN — The Whitman Police and Fire Departments are reminding residents to take safety precautions during activities in hot weather, as temperatures are expected to be in the 90s later this week.

The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for Plymouth County, including the Town of Whitman, beginning at 11 a.m., Thursday, Aug. 4 to 8 p.m., Friday, Aug. 5. High temperatures and high humidity could potentially lead to dangerous conditions for residents, especially on Thursday when temperatures could climb to the upper 90s.

For residents looking to find relief from the heat on Thursday, the Whitman Public Library and Senior Center will be open regular business hours.

To prevent illness and injuries, the Whitman Police and Fire Departments recommend the following safety tips from the American Red Cross and National Safety Council:

• Drink plenty of fluids, like water, even if you do not feel thirsty, and avoid alcoholic beverages, drinks with caffeine and large amounts of sugar — these actually cause you to lose more body fluid.

• Wear loose-fitting, lightweight, light-colored clothing. Avoid dark colors because they absorb the sun’s rays. Protect yourself from the sun by wearing a wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses, and by putting on sunscreen of SPF 15 or higher 30 minutes prior to going out.

• If you’re outside, find shade and minimize direct exposure to the sun.

• Slow down, stay indoors and avoid strenuous exercise during the hottest part of the day, which is typically around 3 p.m.

• Avoid extreme temperature change and take frequent breaks if working outdoors.

• Check on family, friends and neighbors who do not have air conditioning, who spend much of their time alone or who are more likely to be affected by the heat.

• Hot cars can be deadly. Never leave children or pets in your vehicle. The inside temperature of the car can quickly reach over 100 degrees, even on a 70 degree day.

• Check on animals frequently to ensure that they are not suffering from the heat. Make sure they have plenty of cool water.

• For children, limit playtime at peak sun exposure time and familiarize yourself with the signs of heat illnesses. To avoid burns, if playground equipment is hot to the touch it is too hot for your child’s bare skin.

Heat safety tips for seniors

• Residents are encouraged to check on elderly family members and neighbors, especially those who live alone, those with medical conditions and those who may need additional assistance.

• Heatstroke, heat exhaustion and dehydration can be particularly dangerous for the elderly population.

For more information on how older residents can stay safe during extreme heat, helpful information is available from AARP.

Recognizing heat illnesses

Heat Cramps

Look for: heavy sweating during intense exercise; muscle pain or spasms. If you have heat cramps:

• Stop physical activity and move to a cool place

• Drink water or a sports drink

• Wait for cramps to go away before you do any more physical activity

• Get medical help if cramps last longer than 1 hour, you’re on a low-sodium diet or if you have heart problems.

Heat exhaustion

Look for: heavy sweating; cold, pale, and clammy skin; fast, weak pulse; nausea or vomiting; muscle cramps; tiredness or weakness; dizziness; headache; fainting If you expect heat exhaustion:

• Move to a cool place

• Loosen your clothes

• Put cool, wet cloths on your body or take a cool bath

• Sip water

• Get medical help if you are throwing up, your symptoms get worse or symptoms last longer than one hour

Heat stroke

Look for: high body temperature (103°F or higher); hot, red, dry, or damp skin; fast, strong pulse; headache; dizziness; nausea; confusion; passing out. f you expect a heat stroke:

• Call 911 right away – heat stroke is a medical emergency

• Move the person to a cooler place

• Help lower the person’s temperature with cool cloths or a cool bath

• Do not give the person anything to drink

Learn more about heat illnesses at https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/extremeheat/warning.html.

SST OKs assessment refunds

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HANOVER — It was a bit like Christmas in July for member towns of the South Shore Regional School Committee as the district finished fiscal 2022 with a surplus of about $1.1 million, according to Secretary/Treasurer James Coughlin at the committee’s virtual meeting on Wednesday, July 20.

Assessments for the 2023 fiscal year are being reduced — by $13,486 in Whitman and by $9,074 in Hanson — according to the $740,00 credited from surplus revenue, totaling $65,000 among all eight member communities.

“We haven’t given the towns back any money in a few years because of all these ongoing projects, [but] it was decided that we could give the towns back the $65,000 of our surplus,” Coughlin said.

The $65,000 was being returned proportionally based on each town’s current enrollment, where the motion is based on the three-year rolling numbers to calculate the debt service impact for member towns.

That budget had earmarked $70,000 for debt service and interest payments because it was not known at the time that the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) was “coming into the picture.

“Bottom line is we spend about $13 million for the year,” Coughlin said, noting that it was based on debt service calculations using a three-year enrollment average. “The amount of the refunds might be off a little bit.” 

One of the nine budget transfers voted on July 20 encumbered $1,016,747.98 from the 2022 non-resident tuition to reduce the 2022-23 assessments to member towns. Hanson will get $9,555 back and Whitman will be refunded $17,328.

“Pretty much, this time of the year, we go through the process about what did the [fiscal] year look like?” Coughlin said. “As you can imagine, during the last month of the year, we’re moving money and spending money where we need it, knowing we have surpluses in various accounts.” 

Coughlin noting that the budget is 98-percent closed, with “just a couple of stragglers.” The district was able to place about $103,000 in it’s excess and deficiency account.

Superintendent/director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey said he has been in touch with MSBA that day about when they would be discussing the renovation and expansion project that week. The authority is expected to be in touch in a few weeks to discuss the viability study concerning program and enrollment projections, as the MSBA is waiting for feedback from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) before they begin any bid process for an owner/project manager.

“There is no reasonable timeline to bring this before town meetings in the fall,” Hickey said, indicating that Marshfield is not likely to be joining the district before the fall town meetings. 

Hickey recommended lowering FY23 assessments because we would not be borrowing any money in FY23 while going through the MSBA process.

“There’s no reason to charge the towns money that we know we’re not going to spend.”

It was also the first year-end closure for a new payroll clerk, who did a fantastic job, he said. The school’s purchasing agent has also been handling more bids than is usual.

The committee voted unanimously to approve all the warrant transfers sought.

Coughlin reminded members that $14.6 million and brought in about $14.9 million — $319,000 over the budgeted amount. Anticipated expenses were underspent any more than $855,000. The district received $748,000 in regional transportation reimbursement.

The committee also voted to transfer funds to various functions and had $103,000 to invest in the excess and deficiency line item.

“Everything’s in good shape,” he said.

CARES funding for COVID expenses received through Plymouth County held in an enterprise account for the two years the district received still has a balance of $190,000, but as they go through the process of transferring the funds for items in the regular budget closes out the CARES Act funds, and invoiced all member towns for their share district’s costs, holding that in an enterprise account for the two years CARES Act funds were being received.

Teacher pay for the summer is part of the June expenditures — a little over $2 million, that reflects summer payroll, with a larger than normal number of people requesting lump-sum salaries in June. 

A couple of them are retiring, and not returning in the fall, he explained.

Among other transfers approved was the shifting of $740,000 never spent to surplus revenue because issues such as supply chain delays that affected long-range planning.

“We’re putting this money back in the pot,’ Coughlin said. Still another transfer involved $920,000 from surplus revenue for the purchase of property in order to expand the campus to allow the expansion and renovation process to continue easier. They also encumbered $387,000 from surplus revenue to begin that expansion work and $230,000 for building renovations and repairs — including expansion of the cafeteria, upgrading security doors and paving/sidewalk upgrades, among other work. Another transfer was for $114,000 to purchase equipment and supplies.