Whitman-Hanson Express

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Grants part of budget-balancing recipe

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Grants from the School Nutrition Foundation will not only ensure that the W-H Food Service Department continues to provide healthy meals kids like, they will help ease the pressure on towns’ capital matrixes as equipment ages and breaks down.

The SNF’s grant supplied the district with $20,000 Hobard Equipment Grant enabled the district to purchase an industrial mixer for large-batch recipes and deli slicer — used mainly at the high school.

“It would [otherwise] be part of the capital plan or it would come out of our fund, if we had any money in our fund,” Doucette said.

Once awarded, the recipient will work with an ITW/FEG representative to determine what best suits their school district’s needs.

New to her position, Doucette hopes to improve the kitchen facilities in Whitman-Hanson, including replacement of an aging stand mixer and adding a food slicer at the elementary school to offer fresh, daily deli sandwiches while saving on staff time and energy. Doucette also explained that various pieces of equipment are no longer functional, including a commercial steamer, food warmer and a wooden prep area that must be replaced with stainless steel.

“We have like a Subway sandwich line at the high school,” she said. “I’m not sure how that may or may not work here because the kids are so little.”

The schools provide both hot and cold lunch options every day.

Grant applications required information on the average daily participation in lunch programs, how many are on free and reduced lunch plans, whether a district had already received an equipment grant in the past.

School meal programs operate on extremely tight budgets, funded by cafeteria sales and reimbursements for meals served. With revenue declines due to COVID-19 school closures and the shift between distance learning and hybrid models, many school meal programs lack critical funds to purchase necessary equipment and supplies or cover transportation, temporary staffing and other costs associated with current COVID-19 feeding programs.

It is not the only grant the Food Services Department has received of late. Another grant of almost $24,000 through the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) helped replace refrigerated chests for milk, which the district had been renting for nearly $5,000 per month.

“I applied for the Project Bread COVID-19 Rapid Response Grant in the spring of 2020 for equipment to provide bagged meals at the beginning of the pandemic.  We received $3,291.66 for a large portable milk cooler to keep the bagged meals safe for curbside pickup,” she said. “I applied for Dairy on the Go Grant in January 2021 for equipment to serve Hot Chocolate Milk at the high school.  We received $940.00 for a Chocolady (Bain Marie Dispenser).  We hope that having this hot option along with our cold milk will increase our students milk consumption.  We are going to be giving out free samples on Thursday and Friday.”

She applied for the School Nutrition Equipment Assistance Grant in January 2021 for new milk coolers for the district.  The district received $23,646.00 for 10 large portable milk coolers.  It had been been leasing the milk coolers from our milk distributor.

 “Not only does it eliminate a cost, it provides new equipment,” she said. “Basically all I was doing was trying to find money.”

Another milk chest was obtained from Project Bread.

“This grant will save us approximately $5,000 per year in leasing fees and also provide enough milk coolers for all of our schools for many years to come,” she said.

As students are coming back to school, the need is definitely there, said Food Services Director Nadine Doucette.

The Biden Administration is also funding lunch programs across the country so that all student lunches are free through June 2022.

“They’re all free now, so it’s just going to continue,” Doucette said. “I emailed every family that is on full remote still [so they know, as well]. We still do curbside pickup for all families that are full remote. We’ve seen that number drop dramatically, now that the kids are here full time.”

Hanson board shifts labor counsel

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HANSON — The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, April 27, voted to appoint Katherine M. Feodoroff of Mead, Talerman & Costa LLC as Town Labor Counsel for an indefinite term.

Feodoroff said she looks forward to the added responsibility especially during the “complicated time” Hanson is now going through.

At the same time, the board discussed policy revisions to access to town counsel in an effort to control legal costs. Feodoroff will now review the policy and the board will return to the issue next month.

“Since Leo Peloquin left, we’ve had some issues — I’ll just say it — with labor counsel,” said Selectmen Chairman Kenny Mitchell, who said he has been working with Feodoroff for six weeks on personnel issues.

With interim Town Administrator Lisa Green coming on board, he said some direction is required from labor counsel.

“Kate is great,” Mitchell said. “She gets right back to me. She explains things so you can understand it — in layman’s terms. … I think it’s the right move.”

Selectman James Hickey agreed, citing the marijuana grow facility issue as one she explained in terms that were understandable.

“I understood it because I read it about 10 times, but Kate put that very important question into simpler terms so that everyone could understand it,”  he said. “This isn’t going to come out right, but she doesn’t talk like a lawyer — she just talks like people talk.”

Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett concurred, stressing Feodoroff’s responsiveness, but expressed concern that “it’s kind of a one-off appointment.”

There was no search/interview process, as has been the case for other appointments, FitzGerald-Kemmett said of what she was concerned was a Band-Aid approach. The board had also discussed and decided not to retain the same firm for general and labor counsel work.

“I really can’t express how much I appreciate working with Kate, but … do we have a responsibility to do some due diligence around cost?” she asked. “Do we have some responsibility to take a look at fee arrangements?”

Hickey said he views the move as one to get the town through the COVID-19 crisis, and then go through the RFP process for hiring new full-time labor counsel.

“We sat down, we had everyone’s information, and we did those interviews with all the firms we were looking at, and we did do our due diligence and we went trough the entire process — and we still made a mistake,” he said of the last labor counsel hire. “Now, with the way COVID is going, we can’t do that.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett said she read indefinite to mean “pretty much forever,” but said, if the board’s intention is to revisit the issue as Hickey said, she would be “100-percent on board with this.”

Mitchell argued that Selectmen could look at cost, but that a town administrator’s working relationship with a firm is important.

Green said she became familiar with Feodoroff during sewage negotiations between Whitman and Brockton. Green is also a lawyer.

“Having a town counsel who is very knowledgeable and responsive is always extremely helpful, especially when something comes up where you need help right away,” Green said.

Selectman Matt Dyer said he agrees that for the immediate situation, Feodoroff should be hired in that role.

“We’ve got to have a little bit of direction on this, as far as contacting town counsel,” Mitchell said, noting that past practice has been to go through the town administrator or board chairman, but nothing was on paper.

“I’m not suggesting that Selectmen can’t contact town counsel — I’m not suggesting that at all,” Mitchell said. He wants the chairman or town administrator to know what is being asked so the question and its answer is known by the entire board to control duplication of effort.

Weekends and after hours calls should be limited to the town administrator or chairman, he said.

“We really need to scale it down as far as cost,” he said. “I think, if the policy is broken then the chairman should put it on the agenda for the next meeting and it should be discussed publically. I mean, we’re all adults here.”

If the inquiry is about the board chairman, and there is concern about confidentiality, then the vice chairman and the town administrator should be informed, Mitchell argued.

Hickey and Dyer agreed it was a good idea.

“You can’t have the chairman of the drainage committee contacting Kate about some crazy problem,” Hickey said. “We need to cut our legal costs, big time.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett agreed on most points, but is a bit hesitant about it because the town administrator works for the board and administrators usually have a close working relationship with town counsel.

“You could run into a political situation where you are stonewalled and you’ve got no recourse to do anything to get the legal advice that you need,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said, admitting that would be a rare circumstance. She also said she would expect the chair to talk to anyone who overstepped one-on-one, but in a “public, humiliating way.”

Other boards should be required to obtain a vote of the board before consulting town counsel. Mitchell agreed on that point.

“I’d like to see this tweaked a little bit,” she said.

She liked the idea of keeping a log and informing the rest of the board of information sought to limit duplication of effort.

SSVT trims debt article

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HANOVER — The South Shore Tech School Committee, in a special meeting, on Monday, April 26 lowered the amount it is recommending for its debt authorization article to $10,516,372.

The funds are aimed at making renovations and “extraordinary repairs” to the school.

Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey recommended revising the article going before the eight member towns’ annual town meetings over the next few months.

“The needs remain the same,” he said of the school with the main building constructed in 1962. “A lot of what we want to do here is to preserve fixed assets. We want this school to go very deep into the 21st Century.”

He argued that borrowing is part of doing that in the most affordable way as opposed to larger annual capital budgets.

The Committee had approved $18,960,537 on April 5, the recommendation approved this week reduced it to $10,516,372 — the equivalent of the first three years of the five-year plan. Financial advisers were able to more confidently forecast lower interest rates over three years, according to Hickey.

“I see this as a more affordable way of us meeting the needs of the school building and students,” Hickey said. “We’re looking for the tools to manage future projects to make them more affordable for our communities.”

The vote has no effect on fiscal ’22 or the assessments sought in that budget, he said, but would start them off with two years of interest-only borrowing. The $10 million would be rolled over into a 20-year bond in fiscal ’25 and more flexibility in interest rates and financing structures at that point. Hickey said he will make the financial analysis available to the towns.

“Since [the April 5] vote, we have learned that the Hanson Finance Committee has taken a vote to not recommend the article,” Hickey explained. “As you all know, our ability to borrow money depends on us being a good partner with our sending communities and, also, our ability to secure all eight towns’ support.”

The debt authorization article and assessment figure was passed by Scituate Town Meeting on Monday, April 12. Cohasset Selectmen have voted to recommend the debt authorization article to voters at their Town Meeting. Hanson, Rockland and Hanover have town meetings on Monday, May 3. Whitman’s will be in early June.

Hickey said that a reduction in the overall authorization shows that SST is working to be responsive to the financial condition of the communities without necessarily watering down the district’s plans.

“The towns have been very willing to communicate, give us time in front of their respective boards of selectmen and finance or advisory committees, so that certainly has been very helpful,” Hickey said at the Wednesday, April 21 meeting.

Hanson’s Finance Committee voted against recommending the debt authorization, setting up Monday’s meeting.

“We all now that this debt authorization article, in order for anything to move forward, is going to require, essentially, the support of all eight towns,” he said, noting the school is going to recommend consideration to using the phase-in plan to reduce the amount to the first three years.

COVID update

As the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) prepares for high schools to fully reopen next, Hickey said SST will be among the schools seeking a waiver from the three-foot social distancing rule because of the size of classrooms at the school.

“I think we’ve done admirable work all year long being in school as much as we have,” Hickey said, saying he asked for a visit from a DESE team to front-load the process of complying with the reopening. He said he will be seeking suggestions on how to maximize the use of space, and described it as a “good visit, short of us making a 750 square-foot classroom into 1,000 square-foot classroom.”

“There’s only so much extra furniture you can take out of those classrooms,” he said.

Hickey said measurements were taken and a “good dialog” took place, but he will have updates on the issue at a later meeting.

In the meantime, the MSBA did not invite SST into the eligibility period for renovation funds, which was expected, and the school will try again.

The Committee approved the application, through a statement of interest, for the next round of applications. That permits the district to make updates to its need.

School budget reduced

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The School Committee has reduced the proposed fiscal 2022 budget by $775,000, lowering assessments to the towns, as well.

The committee voted 7-2-1 on Wednesday, April 14 — with members Dawn Byers and David Forth voting against and Steve Bois abstaining — to rescind the March 17 vote. He then moved that they set the fiscal 2022 school district, and setting it to $56,797, 579.40 — a 2.6 percent increase of the budget. Hanson’s assessment would be $12,646,117.72 and Whitman’s would be $16,104,903.22.

The reduction of $775,000 from the March 17 budget was proposed to come from federal funds.

The new budget figure was passed, 8-2 with Byers and Forth voting no. The new assessments were passed by identical votes, after a vote rejected Byers’ proposal to table the issue for a legal opinion on procedure.

“I think the budget we put forth through the School Committee supports the mission of our school, supports what we need for our kids for next year,’ Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak said April 6. “But I also feel it’s my job as the CEO and CFO, so to speak, of the district to say I’m going to be sitting on a little over $2 million of federal stimulus money.”

While he said he doesn’t have a specific number yet, but has been told it is more than two times the $1 million in ESSER II COVID funds.

The revised plan presented by Szymaniak at the April 6 meeting that failed to pass by a 8-1-1 vote.

Committee member Christopher Scriven, who had been absent on  April 6 made the three motions covering the revised budget total and assessments to each town.

“To be honest, it sounds somewhat scripted,” Byers said of Scriven’s motion, adding that she hadn’t seen an agenda before Monday. “Somebody on the committee knew that budget discussion was coming up last Thursday. That’s concerning to me.”

Member Fred Small said he had planned to bring it up, since the budget has been on the agenda at every meeting.

“We don’t have an approved budget, how on earth would it not be mentioned?” said member Mike Jones, attending remotely.

“We have an approved budget,” said Byers and Bois, who had been on opposite sides of the April 6 vote.

“Since I’ve been on the committee we’ve changed the budget repeatedly,” member Christopher Howard said, noting he was trying to figure out what they could do without arguing what they should do.

“I don’t know what the hurry is to reduce the budget to balance a town’s municipal budget,” Byers said.

She made a motion to call legal counsel to get a recommendation on the propriety of Scriven’s motion, as it had originally been an amendment — taken back and changed to a motion to rescind after at least three guides to parliamentary procedure had been consulted.

“We’re just getting tied in the pretzel of how can we have the conversation about the budget because that’s just what we’ve always done,” Howard said when a second motion by Byers to table the budget vote was added to the discussion. “I don’t think we should ever be caught up in the technicalities and not being able to have a conversation about where we’re at and what we’re looking to do.”

Byers argued for tabling the budget vote for legal advice because “reducing the budget and using one-time funds is a patchwork solution.”

Committee member Fred Small asked where the money was supposed to come from.

“It’s great to get on a soapbox, and it’s great to say, ‘Hey, we need more money…’ was there some things that happened years back? Yes. But we can’t go back in time. … We need to deal with realities today.”

“The town should not be cutting an approved budget by using the ESSER funding to kind of cover the spread,” said Brendan Griffin of Temple Street in Whitman, speaking during the public comment period of the meeting. “That funding should be treated as the supplement it is, and spent on pandemic-related expenses and support for both known and unknown needs that the kids will undoubtedly face.”

He said using it to cover special education teachers seems a bit off-base and a little reckless.

Scriven said it is time to look at things from a team perspective.

Byers said she appreciated the long-term team approach.

Business Manager John Tuffy said the fiscal 2021 budget was 73-percent expended by the end of March, compared with 76 percent at the same point in fiscal 2020. He also mentioned a rash of fraudulent unemployment claims, dealt with by many districts victimized by online scammers during the early days of the pandemic, are being worked out by the state and refunds are starting to come back to the district, but that the numbers are still “a little squishy” right now.

Reopening update

“These past few days, I’ve been feeling a mix of emotions,” said junior Anna Flynn, who serves as the student government representative to the School Committee, during her regular student update. “I’ve been happy, yet fearful. I’ve been excited, yet dreadful.”

She said it is difficult to concentrate on schoolwork while “cramped into” classrooms with classmates not seen in a year, and dreading being or faced with being called to the nurse’s office “any second.”

Flynn said her fellow students are exhausted, and she expressed heartbreak that there is no junior prom this year, and that traditions such as homecoming and rally had been canceled.

“I’ve never seen my classmates so anxious and burned out in my entire school career,” she said, noting that they are also nervous about the reduced social distancing guidelines in a school full of people.

She said she and several of her classmates have decided to switch to full remote for the remainder of the school year.

“We decided to take the safe route, rather than risk being in close contact and catching the COVID-19 virus,” she said. But she added that she was “exhilarated” by how serious W-H is taking the close contact situation.

“Even though it can be a very stressful process, I’m glad to have my school take proper precautions and try their best to prevent the spread of the virus during the transition of returning to school full time.”

Hanson outlines override issues

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HANSON — $1.85 million Proposition 2 ½ override question will face residents on the ballot in the annual Town Election from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, May 15 at Hanson Middle School. Early in-person voting will take place at Town Hall. For more information on early voting, residents were urged to contact Town Clerk Elizabeth Sloan.

Selectmen decide whether to place an override on the ballot, which, if passed, becomes a permanent increase in property taxes. It will not be debated or voted on at Town Meeting.

Town Moderator Sean Kealy moderated a forum on the issue, describing the evening “not as a rally of any sort for or against the override, but rather as an informational session so that people could ask questions and hear the answers directly from both elected and appointed officials.”

Kealy said the override comes down to $125 per $100,000 of assessed value.

“The average house of $367,007 in fiscal 2021 would have an increase of around $460 for the year,” Kealy said. “It will work out to about $39 per month.”

He said the override is required primarily due to changes in the W-H Regional School District assessment calculations to the statutory method required by the state. The alternative method used in previous years, was changed last year.

The reduction will hit all town budgets, mostly in terms of personnel, Kealy said.

Following his overview, department heads provided impact statements followed by questions from the audience. Selectmen and the Finance Committees had also received several questions from residents before the meeting.

Fire Chief Jerome Thompson Jr., said he posted a letter on social media about some of his major concerns surrounding budget cuts. In 2000, the department went to 16 firefighters on duty around the clock — a level always strived for, but never maintained until four years ago, he said. Professional standards require his department to show up at fires with at least four people and a lieutenant. Four people on medical calls is also more efficient, he said.

The $464,000 cut in the fire salary line would be four firefighters for the department, which averages more than 1,900 calls per year and an average of about 295 occasions with multiple calls. It is an increase of 700 calls per year.

“Automatically, that drops us down to 12 firefighters, three members on a shift,” he said. “What that means is, on the initial call we could just be showing up with only three people.” If a lieutenant was on vacation, there would be no substitute available, so no supervisor would be there.

“We worked really hard to get up to the current level,” he said, noting that the cuts could affect outcomes and response times. The ability to run a second ambulance could also be impacted, according to Thompson.

He is also concerned about the growing number of housing units in town leading to an increase in calls. A grant can help, but only after firefighters are laid off — and the likelihood is, once they are laid off, they won’t be back.

Police Chief Michael Miksch said his department is affected the same way as the fire department.

“Right now the station is open 24/7 — you’re not getting that in Plympton or Halifax,” Miksch said. About 300 people walk in to his department every month “no one’s coming in for directions. … They’re coming in because they need something from a person.”

The department’s $615,000 salary line cut would mean the loss of six officers. Another vacancy, caused by a retirement would also go unfilled. Fixed costs such as technology can’t be cut, which leaves only officers.

The vast majority of calls are for arrests or domestic situations and sending one officer can be dangerous.

“Use of force issues become more prevalent because the officer has less choices,” Miksch said. “People are also a lot more apt to fight with you when there’s one of you,” he said, noting domestic disputes can be the most dangerous calls. And the police, too, have to deal with multiple-call situations.

Most of the time there is a sergeant on duty, which is important, especially in supervising newer officers, which Miksch said he won’t be able to do with the cuts. The new police reform law means there is even more need for a sergeant on every call than before.

Massachuetts officers are trained a lot better than elsewhere in the country, but any department in the country is one bad call away from chaos.

“In 25 years of being a cop, I’ve never been this stressed over what could happen,” Miksch said, noting such incidents could affect a community. “We don’t want to see CNN trucks out front and being splashed all over the world as a bad community. That doesn’t go away afterwards.”

Like Thompson, he is concerned about the impact of layoffs.

“There are not a lot of people knocking on the door to become police officers,” he said, echoing Thompson’s warning that laid off personnel won’t be coming back. “When I got on, there was 1,000 people for every job. … They’re not out there.”

The station would also have to go dark, Miksch said, indicating it would likely be closed 24/7 if that happened, rather than pull officers off the street.

Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett asked what the impact of laying off so many younger officers off. He said it wouldn’t be felt right away, but it would be felt within the next few years.

Thompson said there have been five retirements in the last six years, but that he “still doesn’t have a young department.

Elder Affairs Director Mary Collins, said her department is already down to bare minimum — herself, a part-time assistant, a part-time custodian and a full-time van driver.

The driver, who has been taking elders to medial appointments during COVID — as an active corps of volunteers used to do — will be the one laid off.

Library Director Karen Stolfer said her department is also operating at bare minimum.

Her biggest concern is in not being able to meet state minimum funding requirements to qualify for state aid to help meet guidelines for services.

The Highway Department has public safety concerns similar to the police and fire departments.

“We’ll get by like we always to … it’s just going to make a difficult situation even harder,” interim Director Jamison Shave said.

School Committee member Christopher Howard, a Hanson resident asked about educating residents about the sources of tax revenues and how Hanson Compares to other communities.

Finance Committee Chairman Kevin Sullivan said 92 percent of Hanson’s taxes come from residential taxes, the highest of any surrounding towns. But the amount of taxes residents pay is lower than any surrounding town except Pembroke.

“All the numbers are either straight from the state or they are available on the town website,” he said.

The total levy is about $20 million.

Whitman also does not have a split tax rate and is about 89 percent based on residential taxes.

“I don’t know what the impact would be as far as staffing cuts,” Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak said. “I haven’t been given a number.”

Since he has been superintendent, 19 positions have been cut. Last year’s budget made it possible to bring back four people. This year’s budget funds level services, while providing funds to aid special needs students through the pandemic as they need more assistance as well as students whose learning progress has regressed.

“Those aren’t going to cost anybody anything this year, next year or the year after because the federal government has given us some money,” he said of the budget up by 2.6 percent, covering only increases in fixed costs.

He explained how he is planning to use a portion of the federal ESSER II funds to reduce the budget by $775,000. [See related story, page 1].

A resident had submitted a question asking why the school budget can’t be cut, or the schools be asked to pay more. The School Committee, last week, voted to reduce the budget and assessment by $775,000.

Selectmen Chairman Kenny Mitchell noted that the School Committee is the only one who can lower the assessment.

Szymaniak also stressed that public safety cuts impact the schools, too, as school resource officers, who help counsel kids with trauma serving as a liaison to him in emergencies, as well as being able to count on response when they call 911.

A resident asked if Town Administrator John Stanbrook was using effective business management skills with department heads to help stave off the need for an override without layoffs.

“Some of the departments are so small, their expenses may only account for $25,000 a year, but their personnel expenses make up the majority of the line item,” FinCom Chair Sullivan said, noting that expenses have been pared down. “That only accounts for a few thousand dollars.”

He noted that a smaller override sought last year was rejected by residents, so the town “started off in a hole.”

“This is not a secret, we raised the flag last year,” Sullivan said.

A resident asked if the situation with the school budget will create an ongoing problem. Sullivan said the override is required to bring the town out of the hole.

Another asked if the state required the statutory method. Szymaniak said it is the state’s preferred method. If a budget can’t be agreed on by July 1, he has to write to DESE to inform them that the district does not have a budget and would have to go on a 1/12 budget.

School Committee candidate Daniel Strautman asked if the override would be reduced by the $305,000 Hansons’s assessment was being reduced. Sullivan said that reduction is already reflected in the $1.85 million override request.

Whitman budget advances

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WHITMAN — The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, April 20, voted to approve Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman’s draft article 2, and approved in-person early voting, subject to Board of Health review, for the annual Town Election.

The balance of the articles will be reviewed during the first meeting in May.

“It was a good team effort by everyone,” said Selectman Randy LaMattina, noting the budget preparation process was complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the deficit the town faced.

He did note that the “bump in pay for a potential hire” should be fully explained to Town Meeting, stressing that no one has been hired yet.

“What we’re doing is putting a salary out there to see [if we can get] the best possible candidate,” he said.

LaMattina said the budget has also reflected the least amount of one-time funds the town has used over the last five years.

Selectman Justin Evans said he would like to see long-time employees paid equitably with surrounding towns first.

“I don’t want to become the town that just pays market rate for the new hires, I’d like to take care of our long-time employees as well,” Evans said. “I love the presentation of the budget and we’ll see how Town Meeting reacts,”

Selectmen also voted to postpone Town Meeting from Saturday, May 3 to Tuesday, June 2, with a rain date of June 3 on the grounds of WHRHS.

“The best option at this point … would be using the high school field for Town Meeting,” said Heineman, noting that the Town Meeting was originally slated for Monday, June 7. The field would still be set up for the Friday, June 4 graduation.

With Town Moderator Michael Seele asking for a switch to June 2, which would be “95 percent a good option” with Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak, Heineman reported.

The board also approved the election warrant for May 15 with an eye toward approving the entire Town Meeting warrant at a later date, voting on article 2 only.

The board also voted the Town Meeting warrant in order for the Finance Committee to be able to make their recommendations.

Heineman made some “non-substantive” changes to the warrant, breaking out the salary lines for town clerk and treasurer as elected officials in compliance with state law.

“There is no change to the bottom line,” Heineman said.

The also received feedback from ZBA Chairman John Goldrosen regarding a $202 reduction from the final request for the board’s budget.

Heineman said they were not singled out, but that the ZBA was one of several boards that have not fully spent their appropriations over the years. He did not rule out transferring funds later if they are needed, suggesting a reserve fund transfer could be made during the year.

Early voting

Town Clerk Dawn Varley said state law extended changes to voting rules, due to the pandemic, until June.

“It is required,” she said, of early voting by mail, estimating that it should cost about $800, but some people don’t trust the mail. She recommended conducting in-person early voting during Town Hall hours only from May 10 to May 13 for the Saturday, May 15 town election.

Early voting differs from absentee in that only disability, religious objection or absence from town are acceptable excuses for the latter.

Kowalski said his two concerns were cost and COVID. While he said Varley had cleared up the cost concern, the town’s status in the red zone at the moment presents a concern.

LaMattina also reminded the board they had just decided not to permit people in Town Hall because of COVID.

“We want to encourage voter participation,” Kowalski said. “On the other hand, a knotty problem is the pandemic.”

Evans noted that, because Town Hall has to be open anyway, it made some sense to spread them out a bit over a few extra days.

She said there were 300 early voting by mail voters in 2020 and expects about the same, if not more because of some contested races.

“The voter themselves are doing all the process,” she said.

“We are still in a pandemic and the state is offering it for a reason.”

Heineman said the board received a redlined copy of the current COVID-19 protocols, adopting an advisory that employees on personal travel are no longer required to quarantine. Employees are still urged to avoid unnecessary travel.

Heineman had suggested amending the COVID-19 protocols, specifying that town services are available by appointment only, in designated areas outside town buildings, to advise in-person services be available by appointment only.

The town is still in the red zone.

“I want Town Hall to be open, but I want people to be safe,” Salvucci said, asking how the Board of Health felt about it. Heineman had not discussed it with them. “It’s a real tough decision.”

LaMattina asked if the town would be better off simply suspending the travel policy for now, especially if the pandemic flares up again. Heineman said the policy would automatically require quarantine.

“We’ve been following the Board of Health’s recommendations all along,” said Kowalski who requested that Heineman discuss the issue with them.

The board passed the revisions excluding travel guidelines.

“Clearly we have more work to do,” Heineman said.

He also said a Civil Service list has been requested for Fire Chief Timothy Grenno’s replacement.

He has received what he believes is the official list, but is waiting for confirmation.

Kowalski said he would like to meet with the top candidate,  but took care not to describe such a meeting as an interview.

Salvucci said it would be a good opportunity for that person to introduce themselves to the community.

WMS update

Heineman also updated the board on the MSBA’s elevation of the Whitman Middle School to the feasibility stage. [See page 7].

The Building Committee must still decide if it will be a grade five to eight or grade six to eight school.

“It’s about getting the project done in the most fiscally responsible way to benefit our students,” LaMattina said.

Memorial Day plans are also being dicussed, Heineman said, noting that right now, parades are still not permitted.

The VFW is still planning to visit cemeteries in town on the morning of Memorial Day, beginning at 9 a.m., asking for suggestions from residents for other ways of honoring those who gave their life for their country.

Lisa Green named Hanson TA

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HANSON — Former Whitman interim Town Administrator Lisa Green has been hired to fill that role in Hanson after interviewing with the Hanson Board of Selectmen for an interim post on Tuesday, April 13.

Town Administrator John Stanbrook had submitted his resignation to the board in executive session that night, effective June 1, which the Selectmen accepted with regret.

The Board of Selectmen voted to make Green a conditional offer, pending a background review and agreement on a contract.

“Thank you for this opportunity and I will do the best job I can for the town of Hanson,” she said.

“After speaking with Lisa and after listening to her answer these questions tonight, I know that I would support her in this role and I would be very excited to have her come aboard, work with John and continue to be the town of Hanson’s interim administrator,” Chairman Kenny Mitchell said.

Selectmen were told on April 6 that MRI, the firm that conducted the last Town Administrator search, has indicated their current fee to conduct a search is $9,800, reduced by $1,000 because the town had used their services to hire Stanbrook less than two years ago.

“They seem to think there’s some real good talent out there for a replacement for the town administrator,” Mitchell said at the time.

MRI said their process would take about 12 weeks.

He and Hickey sat down with Green recently to discuss her interest and ability to take on an interim position in Hanson.

“Her answers to both those questions was yes,” Mitchell said. “Either way, we’re going to need an interim.”

Selectman Jim Hickey argued that evening to “put that $8,000 on hold with MRI” and interview Green about coming on board to help the town.

“We know Lisa,” he said April 6. “Lisa knows us, which is kind of a nice feeling.”

That discussion led to an invitation to Green to interview with the board this week.

Mitchell told Green the board had her résumé and would be asking a few questions, beginning with his about why she felt she should be hired.

Green said she grew up in Brockton, spending a lot of time in Whitman and Hanson and is very familiar with the town. She allowed that Hanson has its challenges, as far as economic development and financial challenges.

“I feel I can bring a lot to the table to start working to address the challenges in those areas,” she said, stressing her experience in grant writing and management.

“I’m very passionate about municipal government,” she said. “I really want to see the town succeed in all different ways.”

Mitchell also asked how she would deal with the town’s fiscal challenge and she said the town needs to have a discussion with the schools as to where they can bring their costs down.

She said she has already been looking at town finances to determine where economizing can be done from Hanson’s side.

“It’s mainly looking to where we can reduce expenses,” she said. “We also need to look into revenue sources that the town has not tapped into yet.”

She said she is fully prepared to get information out to residents about why an override is needed.

Hickey asked what she knew about the board members or personnel in town departments as well as her interest in the job over the long term, in view of the town’s past record of changeover in administrators — a topic she had brought up in prior discussions with him.

“You all have a passion for Hanson and for what you do. … Everybody is volunteering their time for the good of Hanson … and I look forward to working with you all,” she said about the board and town employees. “We all have the same goal of making Hanson a better place for the residents.”

In terms of her future, she noted she has lived in Whitman for 20 years without a history of “job jumping.”

After working in travel, she went to law school when the industry hit the wall post-9/11, and discovered a love of municipal government and when “things went in a different direction with the town of Whitman I made a decision to leave.”

“I left a federal job, which not many people do,” she said when the assistant town administrator job became available.

“I will stay on as long as you allow me to stay on,” she said.

Selectman Matt Dyer asked Green to review her greatest strengths and weaknesses, as well as to review a difficult decision.

“Some of my strengths are my passions, my tenacity to, once I get an idea in my head, I want to see it through. Resilience is another,” she said. “No matter how many times you get knocked down, you have to get back up.” She also admitted that tenacity could be counted as a weakness.

She recounted an investigation she was charged with making into a complaint about the inappropriate behavior of some town employees hired to work a Town Meeting during a session.

Green said she would prioritize the town budget as well as meeting town employees and preparing for Town Meeting, in response to a question from Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett about her first goals in the job. She said her management style is a collaborative one.

“I’m not a micro-manager,” she said, beyond making clear what the expectations are. Communication with residents is also extremely important, she said.

Selectman Wes Blauss asked for an example of her mentoring someone coming into the field. She said she had done that when she worked for Social Security’s general counsel’s office.

Budget revision fails

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There were no changes made to the fiscal 2022 school budget and assessments at the School Committee meeting on Wednesday, March 7, despite a proposal from  Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak that would trim the budget by three quarters of a million dollars.

The measures failed by a vote of 6-1-1 with member Dawn Byers voting no and Chairman Bob Hayes abstaining. Member Chris Scriven was absent.

Hayes said Monday the budget would be discussed again at a meeting on Wednesday, April 14. Budget votes must make up two thirds of the 10 total members, whether they are present or not.

“I can’t believe I’m sitting in this chair saying, ‘Maybe the School Committee can reduce my budget,’ because I’ve always fought to increase the budget,” Szymaniak said, noting that Whitman is still calculating a budget and Hanson would be looking at an override “no matter what.”

“I don’t think it would sit well for me to not share an idea of how to reduce our budget and have it potentially, if we don’t reduce it, fail at town meeting,” he said. “I feel very comfortable being able to do this.”

Szymaniak proposed using the funds over those three years to balance the remediation and intervention programs, some special education programs and Chromebooks — totaling $775,000 for a proposed budget of $56,797,579.40 — a 2.6 percent increase of the budget. Hanson’s assessment would be $12,646,117.72 and Whitman’s would be $16,104,903.22.

The new round of federal stimulus money can’t be used to pay teachers, but may be used for remediation of COVID-related expenses.

Without helping the towns, he could be faced with pink-slipping people and the goal this year is to avoid that.

Chairman Bob Hayes reported that legal counsel has opined that, once a budget is set, the figure cannot be increased — only decreased — as Hayes had described at the last meeting.

“The reason for it, is the budget has to be presented to the towns 45 days before Town Meeting,” he said. “That gives the town the opportunity to set their budget.”

The school budget makes up a larger portion of town budgets than other departments.

“There’s nothing that says at Town Meeting a budget line can’t be increased,” he said. “But it can also be decreased.”

Szymaniak said he has received a written copy of the opinion, and would share it with the committee.

He also noted Hanson’s move to place an override on the Town Meeting warrant and will hold a forum on the issue April 20.

“I think the budget we put forth through the School Committee supports the mission of our school, supports what we need for our kids for next year,’ Szymaniak said. “But I also feel it’s my job as the CEO and CFO, so to speak, of the district to say I’m going to be sitting on a little over $2 million of federal stimulus money.”

While he said he doesn’t have a specific number yet, but has been told it is more than two times the $1 million in ESSER II COVID funds.

“We will get this money, it’s just a matter of when,” he said. “I don’t feel comfortable not giving you an opportunity to potentially reduce the operating budget to assist our two communities, when they’ve asked for some assistance in the district budget.”

He prepared information for the committee to use to reduce the budget, to give the towns a strictly level-serviced budget.

The Committee opted to reopen the budget discussion to do that.

The $2.1 million to $2.2 million in ESSER III funds must go over three fiscal years, Szymaniak said. It would not be prudent to use $2 million in one year, and he didn’t know if the state or federal governments would allow that in any case.

“We are not going to cut any services,” Szymaniak said. “We’re just reallocating who’s going to pay for the services — and the good people of the federal government are going to pay for the services.”

He said he would not make the suggestion if he didn’t think it would be successful.

School Committee member Dawn Byers said using the ESSER III funds for operating expenses “doesn’t make any sense to me at all.”

A Mass. Assoc. of School Committee program she participated in offered advice on ESSER III — plan accordingly, communicate wisely with your communities and discuss it among committees to “prepare for the cliff” in 2024 when it won’t be there any more.

She specifically expressed concern about using it for special education or Chromebooks, which will need replacing again.

Committee member Fred Small said Hanson is in a difficult place this year and anything the committee can do to help would be in everyone’s self-interest so the School Committee can go on to do long-term planning.

School reopening

Szymaniak reported on the Monday, April 5 school reopening that if he were to assign a grade to the day’s experience it would be a B+ to an A-.

He said there were a “couple little hiccoughs here and there with transportation” between buses running late and traffic patterns a little off at certain schools.

“The best thing was getting into elementary classrooms,” he said, noting he managed to pop into the classes at most schools. “The teachers were ready to go, the kids were ready to go and I saw a lot of happy eyes.”

Tents have been pitched at the high school and inspected on Tuesday to allow students to eat lunch outside and space apart as well as for some classes to be held outdoors.

There was also a challenge with desks ordered for Whitman Middle School.

“Nothing is ever easy, but we got it done,” he said.

The desks the town of Whitman helped the district order with COVID funds are on back-order, according to Assistant Superintendent George Ferro, and will be delivered the first week of May. In the meantime, desks were obtained from Sacred Heart School, which is in the process of downsizing. Another 150 desks were borrowed from Stonehill.

Ferro said the desks will be kept when they are delivered in May because it is not known when Stonehill would need theirs back and there could still be social distancing protocols in place for September.

“The not-so-great part about opening is I have three positive [COVID] cases at the high school right now from a social interaction last week,” Szymaniak said. “In turn, I have 34 close contacts [in quarantine] out of that social interaction.”

There are four positive cases and seven close contacts at Whitman Middle.

“Nothing has been transmitted through school,” he said.

The DPH contact tracing guidelines have not changed, despite social distances have closed to three feet, which has upset some parents. But Szymaniak defended school nurses who were doing their jobs.

“To get mad at my nurses, to yell at my nurses, to threaten or to have us have to call the police on you, is not appropriate,” he said, noting it had happened that day.

Superintendents are calling DESE to ask them to work with DPH to adjust the distances involved in the contact tracing protocols.

There have been some behavior problems due to the social-emotional challenges of the past year.

Grenno sets WFD retirement date

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WHITMAN —  Fire Chief Timothy Grenno has submitted a letter to the Board of Selectmen signaling his intention to retire, effective July 9. Selectmen voted to accept the resignation with “utmost regret” during their Tuesday, April 13 meeting. The board also met with the Finance Committee during the session which unveiled the town’s fiscal 2022 budget.

Selectmen also began the process for finding Grenno’s replacement by seeking a fire chief’s list from Civil Service.

Grenno has been with the department since joining as a call firefighter in 1984, full-time since 1992 and promoted to lieutenant in 1999. He became fire chief Sept. 12, 2008.

“I had but two primary goals in being your fire chief — to assure all of  my members go home at the end of their tours and to leave the fire service a little better than when I entered,” Grenno wrote in his letter, read during the meeting by Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski. “I have fulfilled both those goals … now it is time to turn the reins over.”

Kowalski thanked Grenno for his 37 years of service on behalf of the board. Grenno thanked the board for its support, counseling, mentoring and discussions.

“You couldn’t ask for a better board than the one we have right now and I thank you very much,” Grenno said. “I walk away happy.”

Selectman Dan Salvucci, whose son had been a Whitman call firefighter, thanked Grenno and his predecessor for guiding him.

Kowalski quipped that it was, “Really a pleasure to have a chief who knew how to use punctuation when he was writing.”

Selectman Brian Bezanson thanked Grenno, not only for his career in service to the town, but for the last year and a half in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The town is grateful to have you and your department for the pandemic, and everything that we’ve gone through as a town,” Bezanson said. “We couldn’t have asked for better service and dedication while this tragedy has taken place.”

Selectman Randy LaMattina echoed that sentiment.

“The last year and a half probably was one of the most trying of your career and, without a doubt, you had this town ready to do the right thing by our citizens,” LaMattina said. “I don’t think there’s a doubt in anyone’s mind that we were ready if we were called on and that’s primarily because of you.”

Selectman Justin Evans, as the most recent member of the board, said his work as Fire Department liaison during COVID was eye-opening.

“Seeing all the work you’ve been putting in — and the whole fire department has been putting in — this last year-plus, it’s been trying for all of us, but I’m glad to have [had] you running the department and the Whitman Emergency Management Service,” Evans said.

Budget review

Getting down to budget business, Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman said Whitman, like many area towns has “reentered the red with respect to COVID-19” mainly due to clusters among school children, but that it would have an effect on reopening Town Hall and potentially on scheduling Town Meeting.

The budget includes $1,564,075 in requested expenditure increases over the $41.4 million fiscal 2021 budget, and actions taken to close the budget gap, including $603,300 in reductions to department requests.

The major budget cost-drivers are the $1.2 million school assessment increase, a $197,000 hike from Plymouth County Retirement and a $91,000 increase from increased enrollment at Norfolk Aggie.

New revenue is foreseen as $108,000 in excess overlay revenue and $50,000 in new real estate and personal property tax growth “based on conservative analysis.”

Projected state aid is a bit over $3 million at this point, minus $206,000 in expenses.

“There are funds in here for nominal raises for both union and nonunion staff,” Heineman said, including a slight increase in the salary offered for an assistant town administrator to increase the applicant pool by bringing the salary more in line with the market.

The town’s free cash balance is at 1,058,634, of which $594,000 is being asked to help fund the budget.

“We do not have sufficient free cash available to fund what we want to do in terms of capital [$956,000],” he said.

More of that work could be undertaken if the school district succeeds in using federal ESSER III funds to reduce it’s budget and, thereby, assessments to the towns.

Costs for the three high schools — W-H, South Shore Tech and Norfolk Aggie — as well as pension costs have continued to rise.

He said he was recommending a “semi-consolidated budget,” in which departments present requests by salaries in one line and expenses in another.

FinCom Chairman Richard Anderson said he appreciated the joint meeting with Selectmen, noting they have met with all town departments since last summer.

He said the biggest hurdle was the fact that there was not yet a solid number from the school district, but said that while he has concerns about the consolidated budget approach, his committee has not yet had time to review the budget, which they had just received.

“We’re putting the onus on managers to manage properly,” LaMattina said. Kowalski said Selectmen also need time to digest the budget, stressing no vote would be taken that night on warrant articles.

Members of the two boards noted the budget document needs to be put before residents, and Heineman pledged to post it on the town website.

“It’s a little bit of sticker shock, absolutely,” LaMattina said. “We are providing more information than the townspeople have ever seen. …It’s going to be a matter of getting that information out, making sure people can see it.”

The meeting with the Finance Committee started with Kowalski reading a letter into the record at the request of FinCom member Kathleen Ottina, in which she expressed outrage that he had not ruled LaMattina out of order for remarks at the March 23 budget meeting with the School Department and School Committee.

Kowalski said he regretted that Ottina felt the need to write the letter but said he understood what she was talking about. He also felt the need to permit LaMattina to respond, since the complaint was about him.

LaMattina apologized for putting Kowalski “in the position where you have to feel the brunt of Ms. Ottina’s outrage over parliamentary procedure.”

He also affirmed for the board that “if the time should arise again that I should feel the need to call out a department head for unfactual statements or speak upon untruthful statements by an elected official” he would make every effort to be properly recognized before speaking and would try to make his point in a “less abrasive manner.”

Kowalski said he noted when watching the recording it was apparent LaMattina had raised his hand, but that it was not evident during the meeting.

Kowalski read another letter from the DPW Commissioners about their unanimous vote to proceed with the sewer force main project at an estimated cost of $14,471,950, including all construction costs, restoration of easement and replacement of manhole covers and other ancillary work.

School panel taps Stanbrook as business director

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Hanson Town Administrator John Stanbrook has been selected as the new business and finance director for the Whitman-Hanson Regional School District, effective July 1, pending successful contract negotiations.

Stanbrook has been serving as Hanson’s town administrator for the past year.

The School Committee, meeting Wednesday, March 31 met with the candidate for the position. Interim Director John Tuffy has been serving the district in that capacity since the departure of Christine Suckow.

Tuffy has worked with Stanbrook before, when Tuffy was business manager at Silver Lake Regional and Stanbrook served on the School Committee there.

Eight candidates applied for the position, with four brought forward to be interviewed by the search committee — made up of School Committee members Christopher Howard and Fred Small, Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak, Assistant Superintendent George Ferro and Tuffy — Chairman Bob Hayes reminded School Committee members.

“I think the elephant in the room is that you currently work for the town of Hanson, so now you’re applying for a position with the district,” School Committee member Dawn Byers said. “To me, that gives the appearance of a conflict of interest.”

She said she has concerns about that relationship and that people on both sides may have preconceived notions and expectations derived from the relationships that are “naturally created from your current position.”

“I don’t think this starts with a clean slate for our district,” she said.

Small asked who she meant by “some people.”

“I think the real problem is that more people are not asking questions about this interview process right now, to tell you the truth,” she said.

Howard said five people conducted the interview with Stanbrook, but if the committee believes it was a waste of time, they could conduct more interviews over and over again.

“I do think there was a process where there was a request for people that were interested in doing the interviews,” he said, noting he offered to give his spot to someone who wanted to be on the search committee more. He also noted there were no other qualified candidates.

“You charged me with finding the best possible candidate,” Szymaniak said. “Sometimes it will ruffle feathers in other districts, other communities.”

He said that Stanbrook was the best candidate from the available pool.

“The piece that came through from [two Hanson Selectmen Szymaniak asked] was character, character, work ethic, character, and numbers,” he said. “He’s a character man, he’s a numbers man, he’s trustworthy and he will work his tail off to do his job.”

Stanbrook said he consulted the Ethics Commission for an opinion and there is a disclosure on file with the town clerk’s office in Hanson.

Two candidates failed to show up for scheduled interviews.

Stanbrook said he was excited to apply for the position and to answer the committee’s questions. Of the two remaining candidates, Stanbrook received the search committee’s unanimous backing, according to Szymaniak.

“We did interview two candidates who were very qualified for the position,” Szymaniak said. “After discussion, the five of us recommended to you John as a qualified business manager who will help us, in my opinion, lead us with a solid business plan for the future — something that I think is desperately needed for this regional school district, something that we haven’t had in my tenure as a principal and a superintendent.”

He said the district has struggled to put forth a plan acceptable to both towns.

“I think John’s qualities in municipal finance, and his passion for school finance … he truly wanted to be a school business manager and, I’m going to say, he ended up on the wrong side of the tracks in municipal finance,” Szymaniak said.

Szymaniak described Stanbrook as a “numbers guy” who he feels very comfortable working with.

“He will support our office well,” Szymaniak said. “He will support his people in my office well and I think he would support this district very well.”

Small said that Stanbrook is a very well-rounded candidate who combines a lot of strong experience from both the school and town sides. Howard agreed that Stanbrook is also strong with numbers and asked him to share how he came to that background.

Stanbrook noted he was finance director in Mansfield where he had also applied for and was a finalist in the search for a school finance post in that community. Before his final interview the Mansfield town manager was let go and he was asked to step in as interim as well as finance director and — for a brief period — town accountant.

“I was going this way when I was pulled the other way,” he said. “That’s what I like to do. That’s where my head is at. … I can do other things, and I don’t mind doing other things, I have other tasks that I could perform, but this is what I like to do. This is why I get up in the morning.”

After dealing with COVID for a year, Stanbrook said he took the time to address what he really wants to do.

“When the opportunity came up, I felt it was important to go for it,” he said.

Ferro said one of the things that drew the search committee to Stanbrook was his diversity and his ability to wear different hats while maintaining a keen focus on the numbers and the mission and vision of where the district needs to go from a financial standpoint. Tuffy said Stanbrook’s experience with school finance as well as town finance would be valuable to the district.

“He’s also been in our chairs as an elected School Committee member in the town of Halifax,” Small said. “He understands a little bit of what we go through.”

Byers asked about Stanbrook’s licensure for the position.

Szymaniak said Stanbrook’s license is ready for review and he had to take tests with DESE to accomplish that, which were not available because of COVID, once he took them he passed both tests. The no-shows were licensed in Rhode Island and Connecticut, respectively, and a third was not licensed.

Byers also asked about the qualifications of the other candidate interviewed by the search committee, but Szymaniak said he did not feel it was appropriate during Stanbrook’s interview.

She also asked what his current staff would say about his work style.

“I’m not a hard-core disciplinarian, but we get stuff done,” Stanbrook said, feeling his staff would support him. “I’m task-oriented but I feel we can do that with a general joie de vivre, you don’t have to be angry all the time.”

He has some experience with the MUNIS accounting system.