Whitman-Hanson Express

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Heat wilts turnout in town elections

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In a low-turnout town election in both communities Whitman voters stayed the course with incumbents and candidates they knew, while Hanson residents voted in some new faces.

Incumbent Whitman Selectman Justin Evans, was the top vote getter in the vote-for-two race between four candidates, earning 698 votes, with fellow former Finance Committee member Shawn Kain garnering 695.

Retired Whitman Police Chief Scott Benton received 564 votes and Finance Committee member Rosemary Connolly took 350.

There were 1,308 voters — 11.78 percent of the town’s 11,114 registered voters casting ballots on the unseasonably hot day Saturday, May 21. 

In Hanson, where there were two open seats — a three-year term opened up when Select Board member Kenny Mitchell decided against seeking re-election, and the two years remaining on the term of Select Board member Matt Dyer, who resigned because of a job change. Edwin Heal won the three year seat in a squeaker with 309 votes to former Selectman and Water Commissioner Don Howard’s 300. 

Ann Rein received 341 votes to win the two-year post, besting Arlen Dias, who received 281 votes and newcomer Marc Benjamino who garnered 213. Health Board member Christopher O’Connell won 74 votes to finish a distant fourth.

There were 949 of Hanson’s 8,117 voters — 11.6 percent — casting ballots on May 21.

Whitman’s Select Board hopefuls said they were just that, if a little nervous, as well as they held signs near polling places.

Despite the murky start to the day, Evans and his supporters came prepared with sunscreen for sign-holding this year, after he and his wife Kathleen were badly sunburned three years ago.

“I think we’re doing alright,” he said as polls opened at Whitman Town Hall. “I’ve put the work in, hopefully the voters reward me.”

Benton was philosophical as he paused to speak with the Express after voting.

“I’m hoping,” he said. “The signs are out there and [I’ve] done the best I could. … I think all the candidates are qualified and good, I think it just comes down to a choice on what the people are looking for.”

Benton said that, win or lose he was glad he entered the race.

Kain, standing outside the Post Office, next door to Town Hall admitted to particular jitters Saturday.

“I’m nervous and excited,” Kain said, noting he had no idea how he would fare. “I’m in a positive vibe, but I’m definitely the underdog.”

But, he shared an anecdote that gave him hope later in the day.

“In the middle of the day yesterday, I was holding signs with my family and friends, wondering if I had done enough to get elected,” he stated in a letter to the Express, noting the heat was getting to everyone and he was beginning to wonder if it would keep people away from the polls.

Then he noticed a conversation his sister, Shannon, was having with an elderly neighbor on a bench on the Town Hall lawn.

“Mr. Schofield walked from Corthell Ave, using a walker, in the heat, to cast a vote in a local election; a veteran. We were all really moved by this,” Kain said. “Shannon drove him home and I found myself reflecting on his actions for the rest of the day. ‘Had I done enough to get elected?’ wasn’t so relevant after that,” he said.

“They say that finding meaning is about being part of something bigger than yourself,” Kain said. “I felt like I was part of something bigger, accompanied by a strong sense of reverence for our community. I am humbled by the support I received and I appreciate the kind words.”

Connolly indicated Monday that she doesn’t run to necessarily win rather than to inform. She said voters had expressed to her concerns that people can afford to live their day-to-day.

“We know that water rates are up, we know the recession is coming and we know prices of things are just climbing and they’re not going to stop, and we need to stabilize and come together,” she said.

Hanson’s newest Select Board members Heal and Rein signal something of a change in direction for the Select Board.

Heal said he had a “relatively high confidence” going into Election Day that he would win the three-year seat.

“I’m for all the citizens of the town — the people that vote and the people that don’t vote,” he said, adding that getting more information out to the town was a priority. “There are a lot of people that don’t vote and don’t get involved because it’s very hard to know what’s going on, and everybody’s got their own opinion.”

He envisioned an “everything Hanson”-type of website, for example, with information of questions like how residents could dispose of mattresses where families can go for a walk, what restaurants and gas stations are in town or similar concerns.

“You look at Facebook, it’s ‘this guy said this guy said that,’ but there is always a truth,” he said. “There’s Democrat, there’s Republican, there’s conservative, there’s liberal, but there is a truth.”

He said that was a goal of his, win or lose.

“I think I’m going to do well, but I hope everybody does well,” he said. 

Woerdeman said he was optimistic about the vote.

“I’m doing good, we’ve got the tactical campaign Jeep out,” he said, gesturing to his vehicle festooned with campaign signs. “It should be a good turnout — it should be low, but it should be good.”

He said getting the economy going and sound, with the addition of new businesses was a goal of his.

“Without that tax revenue, nothing else that we want to do happens,” he said, noting the marijuana business bylaw was a touchy issue for some people.

Challenger O’Connell, who was chairman of the Board of Health, a position for which he was not running for re-election, said he had no idea how he would do headed into Election Day.

“Four people running for a two-year spot is really pretty rare,” he said. “It seems the Selectmen are trying to take over the Board of Health, where it should be an autonomous body.”

None of the candidates connected with the health board won seats on the Select Board. Where the key issue of the race was concern, he said it was a financial one.

“We have to find revenues for the town,” he said. “I don’t know what people didn’t understand when the FinCom Chairman told them there was going to be a $1.2 million deficit next year that isn’t going to be covered with free cash like this year.”

He said approval of expanded marijuana business in town, as sought by the current manufacturing license-holder has already proven his commitment to work with the town.

Health Board candidate Eric Twiss, who lost out to his cousin, Jamie Rhynd, said he didn’t know what to expect from his first campaign experience, but he felt an open seat was a good opportunity to run. 

Twiss, who received 493 votes is in the food service profession. Rhynd, who is an RN and certified nurse practitioner earned 697 votes for the win.

Her family, holding signs for her while she was off talking to someone, were confident of her chances — and they were right.

“I am thrilled to have been elected to the Board of Health,” she said Monday. “ to my cousin and opponent Eric Twiss on a solid campaign. Thanks to the town of Whitman for putting your faith in me. I look forward to serving our community.”

“She’s the right person for the job,” her sister Nicole Nassrella. “Jamie just wants to do Board of Health, she doesn’t have other aspirations.”

“Congratulations to my cousin Jamie, her and I both ran positive clean campaigns,” he said after the votes were announced. “I’m glad we gave the voters two good options. She will do a great job for the town.”

In the race for a seat on the Whitman Board of Assessors, Christine MacPherson was the winner with 666 votes to Britanny Cavallo’s 452.

MacPherson works in an assessor’s office and said she has waited for a position to open in Whitman.

Hanson voters elected Melissa Pinnetti, forensic psychiatric social worker, to the Board of Health. She ran because she felt the mental health of our citizens and our children received minimal consideration during the pandemic.

“I’m feeling pretty good, I’m hopeful,” she said while sign-holding outside the Hanson Middle School polling location Saturday.

“I think we’ve run a pretty strong campaign. … I think the last two years have highlighted how important the Board of Health really is, particularly in small towns. People don’t think about it … just how important the role is and how much power they have.”

 She declined to give further comment after her win.

“I’m going to hold off on commenting so that I can focus on getting to work for the citizens of Hanson,” she said in an email to the Express Monday.

School gets their goat

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HANSON – Most days the students participating in the WHRHS Transition Vocation Program’s students, including Grace Culley and Riley Miller at Channell Homestead farm on South Street in Hanson, spend their shifts doing the usual chores. 

They muck out horse stalls, feed the animals and, when there’s time, maybe pet the rabbits.

Playing midwife to a pregnant nanny goat was an unexpected addition to the job skills curriculum this month.

Farm owner Christianie Channell had a few errands to run while W-H adviser Sarah Hall and her students were working, and said the goat in question seemed perfectly fine. No signs of going into labor.

“We breed Nigerian dwarf goats, and that day a first-time mom goat had babies,” Channell said this week. “I didn’t think she was going to have babies until that afternoon, and I was out with my 3-year-old son, and I get a call from Sarah saying, ‘Um, I think the goat’s having babies!’”

Dottie, the nanny goat in question, decided she would be giving birth early.

Channell was at least 15 minutes away and told Hall, she was going to have to deliver the kids.

Hall admits she was a little unnerved by the whole thing, but her students knew what to do.

Grace took part in the midwifery. Riley was not present for the excitement.

“It was fun and gross at the same time,” Grace said.

“There was a lot of … um… liquid,” Hall expounded. “But I would say the students were more calm than I was.”

Grace agreed. She remembered that Channell used cloth towels and puppy house training pads to rub the kids vigorously to make sure they were breathing OK, as they had seen in a video the farm made of a previous birth.

They had been having lunch and were looking forward to “snuggle time” with the baby animals before returning to school, Hall recalled.

Grace and her friend Jackie had been checking on the goat frequently at the request of Ms. Channell, “and she ended up having babies,” Grace said.

Channell talked them through the birthing assistance n FaceTime.

“Out of nowhere, she just dropped down and plopped those babies out,” Channell said. “They all came together and [Hall] ended up FaceTiming me, so I just kind of told her what to do. They did everything just right.”

The students have been working at the farm since the beginning of the school year.

“They’ve been such a blessing,” said Channell, who said they would be doing a summer program as well and next school year.

The farm does other summer programs, including horseback riding lessons as well as running a farm stand that sells goat’s milk products. 

“We make all-natural body products,” she said. “I milk the goats every day. [The goat’s milk products] are really very beneficial to your skin.”

The WHRHS program places the students in real jobs at Dollar Tree, Meadow Brook, All-American Assisted Living and Channell Homestead to provide real job site experience. The students were also involved in renaming the program that was once known as the post-graduate program.

These students now have a bullet point in real-world experience of having to think on their feet to add to their résumé.

Man killed by MBTA train

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HANSON — A man was struck and killed in Hanson by an MBTA commuter rail train, according to Hanson Police, whose officers were called to the scene to assist MBTA Transit police. 

According to published reports, Transit Police Superintendent Richard Sullivan said the man, who was not identified, was trespassing “directly in the right of way” when the train hit him. While the incident is under investigation, Sullivan indicated that foul play was not suspected.

The Boston Globe reported the victim was a 31-year-old man.

Hanson Chief Michael Miksch, said the Transit police called Hanson to assist them with securing the scene.

“It was not a scheduled train,” Miksch said Monday. “Empty trains are not uncommon at night to deliver cars to Kingston and … during the winter snow trains plow the tracks at night.”

The MBTA had halted commuter rail trains along the Kingston Line at Hanson, transferring passengers between Hanson, Halifax and Kingston while the tracks were closed for the police investigation. Regular service had resumed by 10 a.m., Sunday.

An Abington High School senior, Katelyn McCarthy was killed by a commuter rail train on the Kingston Line the week before when she was walking along the right of way in the area of Birch Street, according to published reports about the investigation of that incident.

Counselors were made available to students at the school Monday.

SST closer to MSBA funds

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HANOVER – The South Shore Tech Regional School Committee on Wednesday, May 18 discussed a pair of “homework assignments” related to the schools expansion-renovation application from the Massachusetts School Building Association.

Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey said the MSBA has asked vocational schools in the funding pipeline to provide information – without the agency knowing the size of the school – on the vocational programs it might consider how they might meet strong labor market demands through the use of Chapter 74 funds.

That information will be forwarded to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for a preliminary review.

“It’s all just potential,” he said. “MSBA wants to know, up front, from the Department of Education, would this be a viable program?”

DESE’s career and vocational unit take a close look at the data to determine, based on the same labor market data SST uses, to make that determination.

No assessment from the school about how it would need to expand to meet the educational program need, would be due for some time, Hickey explained.

The committee voted to forward the information to the MSBA. The second vote of the evening earmarked $900,000 – an estimated amount based on similar projects and school sizes, that the school would need to conduct feasibility studies once approval for the next round is received from MSBA.

“They want to know that, at the local level, there is support for this,” Hickey said. “There are no guarantees, but if, in fact we do move further into the pipeline and we are accepted, part of that money that is involved in that feasibility study will be reimbursed.”

If it were approved today, that reimbursement rate would be about 55 percent, but the MSBA does not dictate the amount schools should budget.

In other business, the students at South Shore Tech Gay/Straight Alliance Club is setting up a Transition Threads, a clothing drive program in which clothing may be donated to that other students in the school or community can do a “shopping day” to obtain free clothing they would not feel comfortable buying in a store in front of their parents or other people.

“They don’t have to come out of the closet, but they can still get clothes that make them feel comfortable,” said student body president and School Committee representative Grace Michel of Pembroke. 

The GSA has also collected more than $200 that will be converted to gift cards.

Fireworks site cleanup plan outlined

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HANSON — Town officials are looking for some influence in the final cleanup phase involved in removing munitions pollutants from the watershed and ponds around the former National Fireworks site in Hanover.

Hanson’s Select Board met jointly with the Board of Health and the Conservation Commission on Tuesday, May 17 to hear an overview of the plan for the ponds and streams on the property, which borders part of the town in the area of Winter and King streets.

“There are some new developments,” Town Administrator Lisa Green, saying that prompted her to invite the company to brief town officials.

While Hanover is “leading the charge” on the project, Select Board member Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

“We have a piece of it in Hanson and we thought we needed to have a little bit more of a voice — or, at least, a voice — in what was happening,” she said, noting at least four board members wrote in during the remediation plan’s public comment period for Phase 3. She asked if the towns were being consulted on remediation plans before they proceeded with the “full-on cleanup.”

“Because none of the people responsible own any of this property, the preference was [to] get rid of it and take it away,” said Ronald Marnicio, Tetra Tech’s national discipline lead for risk assessment. “When you get to that point, there’s not too many other choices.”

The company Tetra Tech, a global consulting and engineering firm that helps clients address water, environment, infrastructure, resource management, energy and international development challenges based in Pasadena, Calif., is cleaning up munitions at the site. The munitions response is scheduled through 2024, while that is being done the design is being completed and permitting will take about a year, so the first digging would likely not happen until 2025 or after.

Looking ahead

Select Board member Kenny Mitchell asked what the area would look like in five to 10 years.

“It’s up to you guys,” Marnicio said. “It should be clean and useable for just about anything.” Hanover would remain classified as recreational land, but most of the land in Hanson is private property.

“In Hanson, it might look pretty much like it’s looking right now,” he said.

Conservation Commission Chairman Phil Clemons said he would like the work approached less like a regular engineering project and more like the “visionary, large-picture, long-term fix that it ought to be” and that no one would regret.

Marnicio said Phase 3 of the cleanup, what is being called the “final remedy,” is addressing chemical contamination in most of the ponds and streams on the property in both Hanover and Hanson. Most of the work is being done in Hanover.

“When the facility closed, it was quite apparent that there was a lot of burial and dumping down there,” Marnicio said.

Most of the contamination has been found in Hanover. Hanson’s land is located at the bottom third of the fireworks site around what is known as Factory Pond, was used as a test site and disposal area when the fireworks factory was in operation.

The site is being cleaned up under the Mass. Contingency Plan, which according to Marnicio, is not quite like the federal Superfund program. MCP is voluntary program.

Site assessment has been going on for “quite a few years,” partly because of the size of the site and the impact on soil, sediment and groundwater.

“Originally, our clients [owners of the fireworks property] were paying for all of this, so it was phased to keep the ball moving,” Marnicio said. “But it took a few years to get the whole thing characterized in terms of what was out there and what do you have to do to clean it up.”

The second phase of the MCP process in 2019-2020, drew up options for cleanup efforts and evaluation. In June 2021, the Mass. Department of Environmental Protection approved the remedial action plan, laying out requirements of the cleanup, including how much sediment would have to come out and acceptable levels that could remain.

Because none of the responsible parties own the property

“One of the things that has changed over the last couple of years is the magnitude of the munitions response,” Marnicio said. “[It] has to be completed before the cleanup of the sediment in the ponds.”

The discovery of additional munitions has extended the phase before the final remedy.

That was FitzGerald-Kemmett’s concern. 

“We’ve been pulling things out of there since 2017,” Marnicio said. “These numbers are really kind of staggering — 18,300 items were explosive and were removed and exploded by the Mass. State Police Bomb Squad.”

There was also a lot of inert material, which resembled munition, but would not detonate. Still, Marnicio said it was “not a good thing to have in a public property.” More than 10,000 tons of contaminated soil has been shipped off the site. The cleanup in the upper portion of the property is about 75 percent done.

 “We believe when the place closed down, they bulldozed a lot of things into [Factory] pond,” he said, noting that a copper dam will be installed on the outside of an upper area of the pond to bring water level down and remove contaminants in dry conditions.

Final remedy is designed to remove mercury and lead from the sediment in ponds. Estimated cost of Phase 3 is between $64.7 and $95.1 million. State figures the cost as being between $72.6 and $106.5 million.

“This is not going to cost the taxpayers in either town any money, I’m assuming,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “And I’m assuming … ‘the potentially responsible parties’ will be paying, or who will be footing the bill for this massive cleanup?”

Marnicio said the potentially responsible parties were paying for it, the trust fund set up when one party went bankrupt has been paying for all the munitions response work and some of the characterization work.

MassDEP and the Department of Defense have been working on a consent decree to figure out who pays after the trust is depleted. 

FitzGerald-Kemmett said the town does not have the money to do so and did not contribute to the problem, and should not be expected to pay any costs.

After digging

“After we dig, there’s always been the question of to what degree do we need to put material back in,” Marnicio said. “Do we need to restore wetlands?”

Exposing material that had been underwater also triggers more regulation and they have to work with private citizens who own property along the Hanson portion of the property.

“I am really shocked at the thought of draining such an important little ecosystem,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “We all know restoration, once those things go backwards, it’s hard to restore them … only time does that, with the right conditions.”

Marincio said most of the area has contamination within the top six inches of the sediment.

She asked what would happen if a resident did not give permission for remediation on their property.

“I honestly don’t know how that would be handled,” Marnicio said.

Health Agent Gil Amado noted that everything has to be approved by DEP.

“The balance is you destroy it to save it,” Marnicio said. “There are requirements to re-establish wetlands and there are multiple-year monitoring that the restoration requires. It is risky, but that’s part of the plan, to put things back.”

He said groundwater was something that’s been measured since the ’90s.

“Fortunately, groundwater has not been a concern,” Marnicio said.

FitzGerald-Kemmett also spoke to the groundwater contamination and long-range health concerns residents have been speaking about and posting on social media.

“That kind of problem depends on your exposure over time,” he said. “I don’t think there’s been an increase in contamination.”

As they do the munitions removal they are cleaning soil cleanup goals for the final remedy, Marnicio said.

He also spoke to Select Board concerns about air-quality during the soil and sediment removal.

“What we’re most watching is particulates,” Marnicio said, noting that wind-direction is constantly monitored to make sure they are not going off-site. Work is stopped with air quality monitors sound alarms.

“Truck traffic on-site when it’s very dry will beep,” he said. “We determine what the cause is, [and] if we can determine that cause right away we can try to fix it or use water sprays.”

While it’s never happened yet, if the cause can’t be found, work will stop until it is found and addressed.

“There needs to be some robust communication,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. Marincio said Hanover’s website tracks needed information and makes it available to residents.

Select Board Chair Matt Dyer said he would prefer 24-hour monitoring of the ponds to the continuous monitoring being planned once digging begins.

During the second year of the work the wetlands will be allowed to fill back up and close the dam down. Hanson areas are relatively shallow with a limited amount of sediment needed to be removed.

Moving a memorial

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Many traditions around the world — perhaps most notably Mexico’s Día de Muertos — hold that, so long as a person is remembered, they live on.

With such thought in mind, the W-H School Committee is supporting an effort to move a memorial stone from the former Maquan School to Indian Head Elementary.

The School Committee had received a request from state Rep. Josh Cutler, D-Duxbury, through Hanson Town Administrator Lisa Green, to move a memorial stone placed at Maquan School in 1977 to honor the memory of Ruth Masters, a teacher at the school who was murdered in Miles Standish State Park while riding her bicycle.

Since Maquan School has closed, Cutler noted, the stone is now almost completely hidden from view.

“I believe it should be moved to a location more fitting, perhaps Indian Head,” he wrote.

Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak said he had no issues with moving the stone, but wanted to first run it by the committee.

“You don’t usually move memorials and that building is no longer ours,” he said. “I want to keep to the memory of Ms. Masters, but before we put anything on school grounds — or move it — I just wanted the board’s thoughts.”

School Committee member Beth Stafford, a retired teacher, asked to add a little to the story.

“Ruth and I were team teachers at Maquan and we taught fourth grade together,” she said. “I was out on maternity leave when this happened. Ruth and her daughter would stop by just about every Friday afternoon to see us and she had told us she wouldn’t be stopping by [that day] because they were going on a family outing at Miles Standish.”

Stafford received a phone call that weekend that they had found Masters’ body. Eric Anderson, who had already been serving a 20-year sentence for attacking a woman in Maine was convicted of Masters’ murder in 2003 when he was 76. He died in prison in 2016.

“It was really tough on the kids, because they had a little long-term sub for me at the time and now she was gone,” Stafford recalled. “The kids all thought that I died, too, because I wasn’t there.”

“Oh, my goodness,” Committee Chairman Christopher Howard said.

The principal had asked Stafford to come in to the school and show the kids that she was all right.

“Ruth was a very kind, quiet person,” she said. “The memorial was set up a little after all the ceremonies and everything. I’m really happy to know that the memorial will be kept somewhere safe and the elementary school would be appropriate because she taught fourth grade.”

Howard said with time, people forget.

“I think with some of the memorials, sometimes the story gets lost because it’s a stone,” Howard said. He and fellow Hanson Committee member Mike Jones both attended school at Maquan and said they were not even aware the stone was there.

“Maybe within the school, there’s a way to explain what the stone represents and who it represents and the story behind it,” he said. “Then you remember the person for who they were and not just what happened to them.”

Szymaniak recalled that when last year’s WHRHS graduation on the football field was postponed because of thunder storms, “people were all over Dr. [Christopher] Jones [the principal] about why it was delayed.

“Someone said do you know where the kids are graduating and who the field’s named after?” he recalled, noting that Coach Dennis M. O’Brien had been struck and killed by lightning on the field.

Committee member Dawn Byers said locating a memorial to a fourth-grade teacher would be meaningful at a school where fourth-grade students are taught.

“It should follow the fourth grade where she taught,” Byers said.

In other business before the School Committee, Szymaniak also thanked residents for supporting the district budget at town meetings.

“I can’t say thank you enough to the taxpayers of both communities [for] supporting the regional school district in their capital items and in the district budget,” Szymaniak said. “We will be working hard to make sure we are working efficiently and effectively, but putting our students and our faculty forward in the next fiscal year.”

He also thanked the School Committee for staying forward-thinking in the budget process a win for the district and students.

Select Board salutes Bezanson

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WHITMAN – The Select Board said farewell to colleague Brian Bezanson during his final meeting on the job Tuesday, May 10, presenting him with a gifts from the Board and a small reception after the meeting.

“I know we’re all very appreciative of Selectman Bezanson’s  18-years of service on the Board,” Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman said. “We wanted to make sure, collectively, that we recognize that.”

“Brian Bezanson, this is your life,” Selectman Randy LaMattina joked.

State Representative Alyson Sullivan’s General Court Citation and a gift – of a gardening stool and pads to kneel on for weeding – were presented to honor what Heineman described as Bezanson’s many years of selfless service to the town.”

Sullivan apologized for her rough voice, which had been giving her trouble, but added that “it never stops me from showing up, especially for a friend like you, Brian.”

“I can’t really put into words how thankful I am to you, as a member of this board, over the last three and a half years, for myself up at the state level, and prior to that, while running for office,” she said. “I know this [decision to retire] was not a decision that you made lightly.”

She said that, while he may no longer be on the board, she does not believe his service to the town is done in any way, shape or form.

Her citation noted his exceptional public service for the town.

“I really appreciate that,” Bezanson said after the citation presentation, saying it was a complete surprise. “It’s been an honor and privilege to serve the community this long, and it’s been an honor working with you all.”

He credited the support of his family and the citizens’ “keeping me going, knowing that we do good here” with his longevity.

“On to gardening,” he said. “It’s been a wild ride.”

Board Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski thanked Bezanson for his years of service to the town.

“I will miss you all,” Bezanson said. “It’s probably been, other than my family, one of the highlights of my life.”

Bezanson made the motion to adjourn his final meeting, heard saying as it concluded, “Whose idea was this…?”

The board had earlier approved the town’s security camera policy governing park cameras, approved at town meeting the previous week, with very little discussion.

The Freedom of Information Act requirements on how long camera recordings must be kept on file will be followed.

With Town Meeting approval of a full-time facilities manager and Robert Curran’s looming retirement, hiring for the nonunion position will follow the personnel policies now in place, Heineman said.

The vacancy announcement and job listing would be made public via advertising in the newspaper and online as well as posting at Town Hall for 10 business days.

After applications are in, interviews will be conducted with specifics about the interview process to be decided when the application window closes.

It is a separate position from the building commissioner for which interviews were already underway.

Covid update

Kowalski had also read a letter from Whitman Housing Authority Executive Director Eileen Gibson, expressing appreciation for the work Covid Coordinator Danielle Clancy and the Whitman Fire Department did in providing vaccine and booster clinics for its elderly and disabled residents.

“We are blessed to have such a great team on the Fire Department who took such good care of our residents during the administration of the vaccines and who provide life-saving care for our citizens every day throughout the year.”

She gave special thanks to Danielle Clancy, who has managed the needs of the town as health agent while working tirelessly to organize clinics, maintain staffing and inventory and to register patients, “all while taking care of people unable to leave their homes and some of the town’s most vulnerable citizens,” Gibson wrote.

Fire Chief Timothy Clancy also provided a Covid-19 update to the board, reporting reported there was still 43 positive cases in town, “although a few more have come in during the last day.” 

Whitman’s positivity rate is 5.2 percent – the last time the positivity rate was that high was the third week in February. 

“This was not unexpected with the Easter holiday,” he said, pledging to continue monitoring the rates. The vaccination rate is now at 68 percent. 

The fire department is ready to restart vaccination clinics at a moment’s notice as soon as the CDC says it should be done again.

Hanson police probe roadway incidents

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HANSON – Chief Michael Miksch updated a reported hit-and-run incident that occurred last week involving a bicyclist.

On Thursday, May 12 at approximately 5:50 p.m. Hanson Police responded to a reported hit-and-run involving a bicyclist. The male cyclist had suffered serious injuries and was taken by medical helicopter to a Burlington trauma center. 

He remained in the hospital as of, Saturday, May 14. Hanson Police were provided with limited footage at the time of the incident that showed a small white crossover SUV striking a mailbox and child’s playset on the side of the road. With the assistance of the local media and citizens the vehicle was located. The operator of the vehicle, having seen their car on the local news, came to the Hanson Police Station early Friday morning.

The operator was cooperative with police. After interviewing the operator and examining the vehicle, it was determined that the vehicle was not involved with the crash of the bicyclist. The vehicle had damage that was consistent with striking the mailbox, but no other damage.

Further investigation allowed police to obtain more video evidence from other sources, which showed the mailbox hit-and-run occurred between 10 and 13 minutes prior to the cyclist being injured. 

The cyclist was seen on video passing the mailbox area on video after the white SUV had left the scene and a neighbor had removed the debris from the roadway.

Additional dashcam footage from a private citizen also shows the cyclist passing the area approximately 10 minutes after the SUV had struck the mailbox. 

The bicycle is an electric bicycle, capable of speeds up to 30 mph. The bicycle appeared to be traveling at a high rate of speed prior to the crash. At this time, it appears the cyclist may have lost control and crashed.

“Law enforcement’s job is to seek the truth in all instances. In this case it is an important reminder that it is just as important to clear the innocent as it is to charge the guilty,” Chief Miksch said. “We thank everyone who came forward and offered assistance as we investigated the details of this incident, as well as the Massachusetts State Police Troopers from the Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Unit and Troopers assigned to Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz’s Office for their assistance during the investigation.”

The operator of the SUV will be summoned to Plymouth District Court at a later date for leaving the scene of an accident causing property damage. Their name is not being released at this time. The incident remains under investigation by the Hanson Police Department.

Miksch also said Hanson Police areinvestigating a report that a suspicious man approached children Saturday and asked them to get inside his vehicle.

At approximately 9:50 a.m. Saturday, Hanson Police units were dispatched to the area of 500 Whitman St., where a caller reported that his son and friend (under the age of 12) were approached by a white man with a short buzz-cut haircut and glasses believed to be between the age of 35-40 years old.

The man allegedly asked the children if they wanted any toys. The children stated no, and then the man told one of the kids to “just get in” to his van. Both children fled the area and returned to their residences to inform a parent.

Hanson units checked the area and found video feed from a neighboring resident. The video feed shows a white work van, possibly a Ford E-Series E-250 cargo van with roof racks and running boards. The children involved stated the van had rust and writing on the back, but were unable to recall what the writing was. The van made two passes by the children and on the second pass the man interacted with them.

The video feed shows that the van remained in the area for a minute or two before interacting with the children and then left the area heading towards East Washington Street.

Hanson units checked the area and a BOLO was sent out.

Anyone who may have witnessed the incident or has any information is asked to call the Hanson Police at 781-293-4625.

Rhynd seeks Whitman Health Board seat

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By Jamie Rhynd
Old High Street, Whitman

My name is Jamie Rhynd. I grew up in Whitman and moved back 14 years ago to raise my family and rejoin the community I loved as a child. I attended Whitman-Hanson and Regis College in Weston. For the past seven years I have been a practicing Pediatric Nurse Practitioner at a local primary care practice. Prior to that I worked several years in both Boston and community hospitals. I’ve also served as a college professor, substitute school nurse in Whitman, and mentor to students entering the field of nursing. As a healthcare professional I am passionate and committed to the important work of the Board of Health to safeguard the town’s health and environment. If elected I will advocate for services to promote health and well-being for all residents, particularly the most vulnerable members of our community, including children and seniors.

As a pediatric nurse practitioner and parent, I have seen first-hand the impact social isolation and societal disruption secondary to the Covid-19 pandemic has had on children and teens. The

Board of Health has a responsibility to work with the health department and other town leaders to advocate for expanded mental health resources and services. As we move into the next phase of this pandemic, communication with our residents will be even more important and the Board of Health will need to be proactive in its strategies. Effective communication is a fundamental skill for public servants and one I have the chance to utilize on  a daily basis when explaining complicated medical information and transmitting advice in a manner that can be easily understood and adhered to.

I believe my qualifications as a Nurse Practitioner and my first-hand knowledge of disease transmission and infection control makes me uniquely qualified to serve on the Board of Health. I am passionate about leveraging my skills to help others, and if fortunate enough to become a member of the Board of Health, I will be able to expand my ability to make a positive impact in our great community. I humbly ask for your vote and support on May 21.

[Editor’s note: Jamie Rhynd submitted this announcement several days ago, but it was lost somewhere in email bulk mail filters, so we post it online now.]

Another go at Whitman DPW building

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WHITMAN – The town has again received a green light to design a new DPW building.

During the special Town Meeting on Monday, May 2, Whitman voters unanimously approved the expenditure of $1,098,100 for creating shovel-ready architectural plans for a new DPW building at 100 Essex St.

The funds, to be spent under the oversight of the Building Committe and Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman will also be used to hire an owner’s project manager.

The funds would come from three sources  – $713,765 from water and sewer retained earnings, $234,335 from free cash and $150,000 from the capital stabilization fund.

Engineer Ziad Kary from Environmental Partners Group, who worked with the DPW on the conceptual design, gave a brief PowerPoint presentation on his work.

“The existing facility is dated, it is beyond repair, and the driver behind this is a new facility to replace the old one,” he said. The 170-foot by 100-foot – or 17,500-square-foot – plan replaces the 200-by-100 plan the town had previously rejected. The old building would be razed and utilities would be relocated into the new facility.

“This would bring in all water, sewer and highway [equipment] under one roof,” he said. “This is a basic, basic building, comprised of structural steel and insulated panels.”

There will be vehicle wash bays, storage and maintenance space as well. The next step is to appoint an owner’s project manager, who would bring in a design engineer to see it through construction – anticipated to be a two-year project. 

Harvard Street resident Cindy Landeville asked if the town has looked into any grants for the building.

Heineman said the project is still in the early stages.

“Certainly, if there are any grants that may be available, we [the town] will agressively seek them,” he said. “At this time, there’s no grants that we’re aware of, that would assist us in building the Department of Public Works building. … These monies, if approved by Town Meeting, would allow for the project to move forward.”

He said the two DPW superintendents are always looking for grants and the town is working to fill a position, part of which would entail writing grant applications.

Elm Place resident Jerry Blumenthal asked if the building plan includes the DPW administrative offices and where equipment will be maintained and stored while the new building is being constructed after the old one is torn down.

The administrative offices will remain in the current building and equipment will be maintained and stored where they in other buildings on the property.

Highway and parks Superintendent Bruce Martin said the maintenance operation will stay in the back garage, where it is currently run, and costs have been calculated for temporary buildings so employees can work and equipment that must be inside can be stored. Some equipment would be outside during construction.

Another resident asked whether the funds for the actual construction work would come out of a debt exclusion or free cash.

Beyond seeking grants, Heineman said that since 60 percent of the building would be used by the Water and Sewer Department, they would seek funds from the retained earnings balance in the water/sewer enterprise fund.

“After all those pieces are drawn down, I think it’s likely to assume that there will be some portion that will be in a debt exclusion,” he said.

If the Town Meeting does not approve the funds for a debt exclusion, the building would not be built, according to Heineman. 

“The overall expectation of the project includes these monies this evening, and if these monies are appropriates by Town Meeting this evening, it would reduce the overall projected cost of the project,” he said.

Two residents asked why the design and OPM costs would be sought when the funds had not been secured to build the building.

Building Committee member Fred Small said the Whitman Middle School funding process, governed by the state’s MSBA, operates in a similar way. It provides an accurate barometer as to what a building is going to cost.

“This is the right way to do this, it’s proper and lord knows, it’s overdue,” he said,

Former Town Adminstrator and member of the DPW Building Committee Frank Lynam noted that he has been through a number of projects with the town.

“In order to appreciate what’s being presented to you today, you need to understand the ground rules,” he said. The Public Works Law requires that any building project exceeding $2 million done by any municipality to hire an OPM and a designer or architect can’t be selected until an OPM is hired.

“In order to start this process – and we have been looking at this since 2008 – we first have to get enough money to hire an OPM and to seek an architect to design the building,” he said.

With the final designs and cost estimates are done, it can be brought back to Town Meeting for ultimate approval and funding.

In other business, the Town Meeting approved a raise in the minimum wage paid to seniors taking part in the tax abatement program.

Article 47 on the annual warrant sought to set the maximum seniors can work off their property taxes to 125 service hours each year. In response to a resident’s question, Heineman said if the article passed the Select Board would discuss the amount each participant could receive in exemption per hour. Right now the maximum amount a single person could work off is $800, roughly coming out to $8 per hour, working a total of 100 hours.

“If this passes … I want to suggest that $8 an hour is not enough and that is should be higher,” he said, noting that the board had recently adopted a policy to pay all municipal hourly employees at least the minimum wage.

While the minimum wage is not necessarily what will be decided on, he said, it would be higher than $8 per hour.

Municipalities are exempt from minimum wage regulations, but may choose to raise salaries.

An article to lower the number of people required to achieve a quorum at town meetings – to 50 for an annual town meeting and 100 for a special town meeting – was also adopted, without discussion.