Whitman-Hanson Express

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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“We looked at it several years ago — Hanson had actually voted it and then rescinded it — and there’s a lot of feedback from the School Committee that it is a 30-year-old agreement and there are areas we’re concerned about that are on the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.

The buzz about sand wasps

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HANSON — Call it, perhaps, Operation Sand Wasps 2.0 — the sand wasps are back at Cranberry Cove, but this year, the vibe is live and let live.

Camp Kiwanee Administrative Assistant Dori Jameson said at a Monday, July 18 Recreation Commission meeting that, while the wasps are there and are “ugly looking, they’re scary looking,” they were not seemingly attracted by people’s food and seemed “pretty tame.”

“They’re looking for bugs,” she said. “They’re looking for other insects. Nobody got stung, nobody was freaking out. I just wish there was some sort of organic solution that we could use to move them along.”

She said digging up the beach would be an end game, but asked if bringing in an insect expert would be advisable. An infestation of the wasps forced the closure of the beach in 2021.

“We’d done it last year and it didn’t work,”  Chair Frank Milisi said of the organic pesticide that was tried. “The problem is you can’t go down there with Off! … They said the best deterrent is tarps. I don’t agree with that, but we can’t spray anything down there because of Conservation would need to be involved.”

Milisi said if the wasps are not bothering people, “it is kind of what it is.”

He said the Board of Health could shut the beach down if they wanted to, but he would not pursue that, especially in view of the heat wave that sizzled the state last week.

“It’s ‘Swim at your own risk,’ people know that,” Milisi said.

Recreation Commission also continued its work on reconsidering fees for events and facilities at Camp Kiwanee.

Rates and fees

Jameson said the question of weekly camping rates had just come up this month. Two different parties camping in the north end of the campground both raised the question of weekly rates.

“Right now it’s a daily rate,” Jameson said. “It’s $60 a night for a cabin and $30 a night for a tent site.”

She suggested a weekly rate that trims $5 a night off tent sites and $10 off cabins. Milisi said he had no problem with that rate.

“Weekly rates are pretty much standard, and it’s usually about that [price point],” he said.

Vice Chair Melissa Scartissi suggested rounding the usual $420 rate for seven days to $400 for cabins and reducing tent sites from $210 to $200 on a weekly rate. That was the weekly rate approved.

The Recreation Commission also pared back its meeting schedule to once per month, instead of two and setting the time at 6 p.m.

“If we do need to meet [more often], we can just meet,” Milisi said.

Event fees were discussed as a way of covering caretaker fees, with re-elected Milisi using the example of a $50 fee per event charged to the theater group Drama Kids. Things like bar service should remain on an 80-20 contract, as they are because they operate on a cash-based system.

“I’m just floating around ideas about that,” he said. “But for things like Drama Kids, we don’t have an idea of how many kids are coming. I really want to get out of the practice of going into people’s finances when we don’t need to. I would prefer for it to be a fee-based use.”

With more input from actual vendors, he said the commission could discuss what works for a group such as Drama Kids vs. a paint night or other such events. Vendors will be invited to the August meeting to voice their opinions with an eye toward a decision in October.

Scartissi noted that, where Drama Kids is concerned, since they use the lodge every week, the commission should be covering caretaker costs.

“The issue has been, for the past year or two, we haven’t because of COVID [and] our operational expenses, like to turn the heat on was a real issue,” she said. “Now we’re in a little better place with the increased rates and all that kind of stuff.”

A position remains open on the Recreation Commission, and residents are urged to apply.

At a previous meeting on Monday, June 27, the commission discussed complaints about a “rambunctious group of teen-agers … causing all kinds of mayhem and chaos” at Cranberry Cove.

“I don’t know what we would do to remediate that,” Milisi said. “Obviously, we don’t have people down there to check every day.”

But he said he would like to have an on-staff caretaker who could go to the beach and check out the situation at the beach.

The teens had broken some electrical equipment and were throwing rocks in the water while younger children were swimming during the incident. The teens’ parents had picked them up that night, Milisi said.

If they keep causing problems, Milisi said he might have to look into trespassing charges. 

“That’s such a ridiculous thing to do to a bunch of middle schoolers who just want to come down here and have a good time,” he said.

He stressed that the problems that have taken place have not hindered people from attending the facility.

Regarding a complaint against a caretaker, Milisi emphasized that the Commission does not get involved in personnel issues – that is primarily the jurisdiction of the town administrator and Select Board.

In other business on June 27, Hanson Public Library’s Lizzie Borden event was approved for Oct. 20 at Needles Lodge, Camp Kiwanee.

When minutes can take hours

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HANSON — The Select Board on Tuesday, July 19 revisited the workload facing their administrative staff, including how that issue will affect preparation for the Oct. 3 special Town Meeting.

The firm due date for articles will be Aug. 23.

“For annual Town Meeting, we were gracious and did accept warrant articles after the due date,” said Town Administrator Lisa Green, “This time, unfortunately, that cannot happen. We have one person in the Select Board office. We can’t accept any articles past Aug. 23.”

“We’re shutting it down,” Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett agreed about the deadline.

Green also noted that a survey of area towns’ staffing numbers in the Select Board office involved communities with larger populations than Hanson. She said the current conditions, which serve to perpetuate the revolving door at the Select Board office does no one any favors.

“I did some additional research and looked at other towns,” she said. “It’s very hard to find towns with exactly the same population in the area.”

She researched Lakeville (pop. 11,523) has three people — a town administrator, assistant town administrator, and executive assistant to the select board and town administrator; Hanover (14,833), with a larger commercial base and budget has a town manager, assistant town manager,  an HR director, a director of public affairs and a communications specialist; Freetown (9.206) has an interim town administrator, an executive assistant and an administrative assistant; Kingston (13,708) has a town administrator, an assistant to the board of selectmen, and assistant to the TA and selectmen; Acushnet (10,559) has a town administrator, and executive assistant and adminstrative assistant; Holbrook (11,405) has a town administrator and assistant to the town administrator.

Holbrook recently approved a third position — a third, 19-hour per week position — at Town Meeting.

Neighboring Whitman (15,121) has a town administrator and an executive assistant. They have had an assistant town administrator position and are now looking to hire a Human Resources/grant writer/procurement officer. West Bridgewater (7,707) has a town administrator, assistant town administrator and an executive assistant.

“I got a lot of blowback from various and sundry people,” board member Ann Rain said. “I have to say they refuse to see the need, and I find that very interesting.”

She said the town does have the need for another person in the Select Board office.

“I’ve watched the need,” she said. “Just because we didn’t have it before, doesn’t mean we don’t need it now.”

She stressed that things have changed, especially with the number of Freedom of Information Act requests now being seen by the office.

“People have to realize [that] things move on,” she said. “I’m saying this very specifically, so it’s heard.”

She said an organizational study done about 2009 should be looked at with an eye toward how much change has taken place in the past 13 years.

FitzGerald-Kemmett also pointed to the work involved in processing online liquor licenses.

“You would think that going from paper to online would be easier, but it actually is way more [complicated],” she said. 

Rain said she is not advocating using town money frivolously.

“You can’t have this going on where we’re losing people because there’s too much work,” she said, “We can’t have that. We need to fix it and we need to fix it with another person.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett added that, if the board wants to add communication and updated website, the lack of adequate staff means they are barely able to get through the day-to-day,

“I see [Green’s] car here at all hours of the day, she’s working weekends … we’re not trying to spend anyone’s money unnecessarily,” she said.

Green said she had heard a comment that someone should take minutes during the meeting and tried doing that but said it was very tough to keep up with the conversation and type at the same time.

“Especially you, because you are an integral part of the meeting,” Rain said.

“There isn’t a board member here that isn’t trying to keep the fiscal responsibility and the fiduciary responsibility paramount as our responsibility as selectmen,” board member Joe Weeks said. “I think it’s financially irresponsible to try to do more with less.”

He said the current situation is paying someone too much to “sit there and take minutes.”

Weeks also cautioned about the potential liability for the town in the event of an error.

“It could cost us millions of dollars, when really what we need to do is just to fund a position,” he said. “That really is the risk that you run.”

Rain said she is seeking people to volunteer to serve with her on the refreshed Highway Building Committee.

Massasoit’s All-American catcher

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BROCKTON — First year student-athlete Bryce Evans racked up some more hardware following the conclusion of the 2022 Massasoit baseball season, earning NJCAA All-American Third Team honors recently announced by the national office. 

The Hull native became the first Massasoit baseball student-athlete to earn NJCAA All-American accolades since pitch Jake Stearns was selected back in 2016. He also becomes just the 31st Massasoit baseball student-athlete to earn the accolade in program history. 

For the season, Evans, a catcher, also earned NJCAA Region 21 First Team honors. 

In his first year with the Warriors, Evans hit an impressive .463, ranking 11th nationally in batting average and posted percentage of .511 on-base and .752 slugging, also among the NJCAA national leaders.  

In conference play, Evans was even better, posting an eye popping .641 batting average, .681 on-base percentage and 1.231 slugging percentage for the year. He led Massasoit in hits (56), runs (38), doubles (15), homers (4), extra-base hits (23), batting average, on-base percentage and slugging for the season. 

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.

New search for clues in Murray case

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The family of a Hanson woman, missing since 2004, asked people in Whitman and Hanson to light a candle for her Friday night, July 15.

Police personnel in two New Hampshire towns again searched areas of Landaff and Easton, N.H., for missing Hanson woman Maura Murray on Wednesday, July 13.

The ground search encompassed an area off Route 112 and “is not the result of new information in the case,” New Hampshire Attorney General John. M. Formella stated in a press release about the search. “It is part of an ongoing investigative process and will consist of a more extensive search of surrounding areas previously searched in a more limited fashion.”

Because the investigation is ongoing, Formella and State Police Col. Nathan Noyes said no more information would be released at this time and asked the public to respect the privacy of residents in the area and to stay off private property.

“My family is aware of the search efforts and are working closely with law enforcement at this time,” said Julie Murray, Maura’s sister. “We ask the public not to interfere with the investigation. We will share information as appropriate. We are encouraged by the active efforts to find Maura and remain hopeful for a resolution.”

Anyone with information about Maura Murray’s disappearance is asked to call the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit at 603-223-3648 or email Coldcaseunit@dos.nh.gov. More information about Maura and ongoing efforts to find her and bring her home may be found at mauramurraymissing.org.

The FBI created a Violent Criminal Apprehension Profile in Maura Murray’s case in January 2022, which her sister has said in published reports is a way for multiple agencies and different jurisdictions to share information. Bone fragments had been found at the base of Loon Mountain in September 2021, but were not connected to Murray. The fragments may even date as far back as the 18th Century, officials announced at the time. 

The bone fragments were found in “existing soil,” according to New Hampshire State Police sand were not moved there with radio carbon dating placed a 95-percent certainty that the bones are from a person dead from sometime between 1774 and 1942.

Authorities had previously dug in the basement of a home along Route 112 in April 2019 – with the present owner’s permission – after ground-penetrating radar used by a private investigator indicated the ground under the basement had been disturbed, but no credible evidence was recovered.

Murray, a Umass, Amherst student at the time, went missing on Feb. 9, 2004 after her car crashed on Route 112 in Haverhill, N.H. The 21-year-old student – who was a graduate of Whitman-Hanson Regional High School and had attended West Point for a time – has not been seen since.

Route 112 leads into a section of White Mountain National Forest.

Her family has not given up hope that an answer to the mystery surrounding her disappearance will be found.

Police had received two calls from residents  around 7:30 p.m., in the area of the crash reporting a car off the road, a local bus driver later told investigators that he saw a woman standing next to the black Saturn. He told police, according to a report on Boston Channel 10 news, that he asked the woman if she wanted him to call police, but said she told him she had already called police and AAA. 

When police arrived, according to reports, the car was locked and facing the opposite direction from where she was driving.

He called police anyway.

One resident told WMUR since the incident, that no tracks were seen going into the woods in the area, suggesting she had stayed on the road before she disappeared. Some believe “someone locally grabbed her who knows the area,” as Maura’s father Fred put it, and would know how to get around without being seen.

Other residents have told reporters they doubt it was a local person that may have been involved.

Murray, described as 5-foot 7-inches tall, weighing about 120 pounds at the time of her disappearance. She has brown hair and blue eyes and was last seen wearing a dark jacket and jeans. Her case status is that of a missing person, whose disappearance is considered suspicious.

She was a nursing student at Umass at the time of her disappearance, and had  damaged her car (estimated at about $8,000) in a collision with a guardrail.

The day before she left the Umass campus, she sent an email to instructors the there was a death in her family and that she had to be away. Her computer showed a search for directions in Burlington, Vermont and she made a call to Stowe, Vermont, but no reservations were made.

Launched on Maura Murray’s 38th birthday, the website offers the public never before seen photos of Maura, a repository of news reports dating back to 2004, and an opportunity for people interested in the case to get to know Maura up close and personal.

Another feature is a blog post that is regularly updated, as a way for the family to put out information to keep the community informed. A contact tab will allow site visitors to communicate with the family, as well as a contact tab that provides email updates on important case developments when and if they come out.

A tip area provides a place for people to provide new information.

Grants aid police mental health  efforts

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HANSON — The Hanson Police Department will soon be obtaining a new “officer” – a golden retriever comfort dog, to be used primarily in the schools.

Chief Michael Miksch said he expects the dog to make frequent visits to the Senior Center, where School Resource Officer Derek Harrington is also a liaison officer.

During his regular report to the Select Board, Miksch briefed members about the comfort dog program, a mental health clinician he is pursuing to share with three other area departments and an accreditation process, the department is now undergoing, and that he expects certification to be completed within a year and full accreditation “before I go.”

The Select Board unanimously approved the comfort dog program and related memorandum of understanding concerning the animal.

The department has been awarded a $5,000 grant from DA Timothy Cruz’s office for a comfort dog, which the schools had asked for, but, while the dog will be largely used by the School District, the grant is designed for police departments.

Miksch admitted he was skeptical at first, but has since seen the value of the dogs.

“If you asked me a couple of years ago, I would have been like, ‘There’s no way I’m buying a pet for the cops,’” he said. “Having a little bit more of an open mind and actually researched it a little bit more, these things are unbelievable.”

It can’t be called a therapy dog because the department can’t provide a service, but it can be used as a comfort animal.

“The way part of this started was the schools had mentioned they would really like one for the guidance office, but I told them, ‘I’m not ready to do that,’” he said. He looked into grants, which were for law enforcement. Cruz’s grant – funded through drug seizure money – will pay for the dog itself, even while it will spend most of its time in the schools. 

A memorandum of understanding was negotiated with the union, where the main concerns were, how the dog would be used, who would care for it, and who would be responsible for any financial issues. They took no additional salary for it.

“My goal is for a $0 program for the taxpayers,” Miksch said, noting the training program receives a lot of public donations and officers are interested in doing side fundraisers. There will, however be liability and health insurance – perhaps about $2,000 a year – needed for the dog, but that can be covered through the regular police budget.

The department is working with Golden Opportunities for Independence (GOFI)  which trains therapy and service dogs as well as comfort dogs.

Seven police K-9 comfort dogs –mainly from Norfolk County – are already in the program, working with schools.

For any remaining costs, Miksch said a couple people have already offered to make donations directly to GOFI, a 501 (c) 3 organization.

Select Board member Joe Weeks, who has worked with Children and Family Services said it will be a great morale booster for the town.

 “There’s really no downside to what you’re doing,” he said.

Miksch said it would also be an asset for the senior center, where some people have expressed enthusiasm because, while they love dogs, they are unable to have a large dog anymore and would welcome a visit.

“I told officer Harrington he’s going to be the second-most popular person in town – after the dog,” Miksch said.

“Town Hall employees do need a little visit occasionally,” Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett. “When she’s ready, we’d love to have a little visit.”

Miksch said the dog could stop by as early as next week.

After the dog’s service, it may remain with officer’s family unless there are training lapses or other problems.

The dog, a 5-month-old female is already showing a talent for tracking and can be used for soft track searches for missing autistic or elderly persons.

“We’re not sending Cujo out there with a muzzle on to find them and scare them,” Miksch said. “Foofy dog’s going to sit down next to them and lick them and they’ll be happy and everything will be wonderful.”

Miksch said he is also working with the towns of Carver, Plympton and Halifax to get a grant through Children and Family Services in New Bedford and Plymouth for crisis intervention that would fund a clinician at one of the three area stations to reduce the need to transport people to the hospital on psychiatric calls and for follow up when there is a need for mental health services.

“We’re cops,” he said “We know [when someone’s] not right or we know [they’’re] OK, and sometimes there’s a really big gray area,” he said. “This is going to help a lot.”

Accreditation process involves a review of 179 standards that have to be met by the department.

“The good news is, we do those things either in practice or in writing,” Miksch said. “But it’s time to put it all together in writing.”

There has also been changes in police officer training standards as part of the state’s police reform law, mandating certain changes, which Hanson is also following.

He said department regulations are also being updated, which hadn’t been updated since he was hired in 2013.