While there is still contention between some town officials in Whitman and Hanson over the school assessment funding formula, a meeting with representatives of the Mass. Department of Elementary and Secondary Education was held this week to explain the history of the issue, differences in funding formulas and the worst-case scenario if the divide is not bridged.

School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes stressed the unusual 5:30 p.m., Tuesday meeting time was designed to accommodate DESE representatives Christine Lynch and Michelle Griffin of DESE’s Office of Regional Governance, but that it was also intended to refute social media rumors about the issue, the only one on the agenda.

Members of both towns’ boards of selectmen, town administrators and finance committees attended the meeting, as well.

“There’s been some social media myths traveling around to do with the assessment that the town of Whitman is trying to balance their budget through the town of Hanson,” Hayes said. “That is totally, 100-percent untrue.”

He said Whitman is trying to develop a long-range plan for financial sustainability.

“This assessment issue came up through some other meetings, and it is coincidental,” Hayes said. “It is not one town pitting against the other. I want to make that very clear. … It is two towns — we are a regional school district. This committee’s charge is to advocate for children and get them the best education that we possibly can.”

Whitman Selectman Randy LaMattina said he wanted to head off any social media claims that his town was trying to force Hanson into something.

“I think, now that everyone is on the same playing field, we know what is going to transpire,” LaMattina said. “Now we know where to go.”

“We’ve been two great towns,” Hayes agreed. “Our kids are Whitman-Hanson. Our element is Whitman-Hanson. We’re red and black — we both bleed it, and we want to come to some agreement as a committee, as both boards of selectmen, as residents, as finance committees — we want to come to this agreement.”

Hanson Selectmen Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett thanked the School Committee for arranging for Lynch and Griffin to meet with the town officials.

“The Hanson Board of Selectmen stands ready to respond to whatever decision it is that you guys make,” she said. “I really hate to see it get to a point where we’re going to have to see the state take over.”

School Committee member Christopher Howard asked if the panel submitted language in the assessment provisions for a phased-in approach, would that work?

Lynch said it could be looked at, but was noncommittal at this point beyond saying it would be reviewed.

“What I see is the need to come together and to work toward a solution to get this done,” said School Committee member Christopher Scriven.

While Whitman Finance Chairman Richard Anderson and Selectmen Vice Chairman Dan Salvucci reminded the School Committee later in the meeting that their respective boards had unanimously voted to recognizes the statutory formula as the only acceptable budget method for Whitman.

Salvucci said that, no matter what formula is used, the schools will get their money, but town departments will pay the price.

“We are at our max,” he said. “We are $3,000 over the levy limit, we found that out today.”

Howard replied that Lynch had said at least five times that it is important for both towns to work together and that to come to an immediate conclusion without doing so would be premature.

“The bottom line for the Whitman Finance Committee may not be the same as for the Hanson Finance Committee or School Committee or the Whitman or Hanson boards of selectmen,” Anderson said. “Our responsibility is to recommend to Whitman Town Meeting what is in the best interests of the taxpayers of the community.”

He said the Education Reform Act’s intent was to recommend an assessment formula based on an aggregate, wealth-based methodology. While his board recognizes the challenges facing taxpayers in both towns and the importance of meeting all the stakeholders each year.

“We’re hoping the input [tonight] might sit for a while and maybe your recommendation might change,” Hayes said.  He added that it was important to look at it from the perspective of the future of the school district, as the financial pendulum has swung back and forth to the benefit or detriment of both towns in the past.

Hayes, a Hanson resident, said Whitman did not vote on the agreement, opting to pass over it at Town Meeting, but not because of the assessment issue.

“They had an issue with language in pulling out of the district,” he said. “It had nothing to do with one town paying more than the other, because that was also another myth that was all over the internet.”

Lynch advised the district to look closely at the two assessment methods, and how they impact both towns, to try to come to some agreement.

Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak said the meeting resulted from a request for more information on the assessment portion of the regional agreement at the School Committee’s September meeting.

“What’s in play is the agreement [or alternative] method we’ve been following as a district since 1991 and a statutory method,” he said. “Both are legal methods of assessing.”

The agreement [or alternative] method is based on student population between the two towns and the statutory method uses the towns’ minimum local contributions as a starting point.

Lynch said the statutory method derived as part of the Education Reform Act in 1993, which required towns to reach a minimum local contribution as part of Chapter 70 funding requirements.

“Unfortunately, there was very little consideration for towns that were part of regional school districts,” she said. Most regions were formed in the 1950s with a per-pupil funding formula. An amendment to the Ed Reform Act later permitted regions to revert to using the agreement method.

“But, they set a higher bar,” Lynch said. “Instead of the two-thirds [of member towns] approval of the budget, which is your typical way to approve a regional school committee budget, the requirement then became that you have to approve it unanimously to use the agreement method.”

There are about 30 two-town regional school districts in Massachusetts.

“You are not unique,” she said. “Many of these districts have gone through this over past years.”

She added that many towns, over time, have come to some agreement, involving some compromise, to move forward and get their budget passed each year without a lot of discussion.

When a budget impasse does occur the Education Commissioner is authorized to set a 1/12th budget for the district under the statutory method until a workable local budget is approved, according to Lynch.

“Should there be no local budget by Dec. 1, the statute also requires the Commissioner to take over fiscal control of the district,” she said. “Under that scenario, the assessments must be calculated under the statutory methodology.”

Hanson Town Counsel Kate Feodoroff asked if the state took over, what does that look like, because she found the state funding source hard to identify in that scenario.

“That final budget [the commissioner] sets for the year, may be more than was set as the 1/12 budget, could be less than, could be the same,” Lynch said. Letters would be sent out to school and town officials asking why they want the money they are asking for in their budget.

“Ultimately, the commissioner will set it,” she said. The statutory method would be used to calculate the budget, using current state aid figures. The commissioner, however takes over fiscal control, approving all line items, collective bargaining agreements, new contracts over $25,000, new hires — basically any financial decision made at the district level.

While Lynch encouraged the School Committee to work with the towns to come up with an assessment method, the committee has the right to propose that method.

The Education Reform Act itself was the result of a lawsuit in which the state was accused of not devoting enough money to education.

School Committee member Fred Small said Whitman’s minimum local contribution was $10,631,538 last year while the assessment was $14,398,151. In Hanson, the required contribution was $8,892,401 and the assessment was $9,670,975.

“There’s a vast disparity in what was spent more than the required dollars,” he said.

Small noted that the committee owes the town a direction as finance committees begin preparing budgets.

HANSON  — Interim Town Administrator Meredith Marini announced to Selectmen on Tuesday, Oct. 22 that MRI, the consulting group conducting the search for a new town administrator, has received 39 applications.

Fourteen essay assignments were sent out to various candidates and MRI is currently scoring those returned essays. Following that phase, MRI will be conducting telephone interviews with candidates and expect to have a list of final candidates to the board by Oct. 31 or Nov. 1 and have asked how many candidates Selectmen want to see.

With three finalists, the interviews may be completed in a single night, but a list of five or more would likely require two.

“The recommendation was, once you have the interviews, you should make a decision quickly because these are good candidates and they are likely to be valued applicants in another community,” Marini said.

Selectmen Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said she would prefer a list of five names as three seemed insufficient from such a large pool.

“We’re not talking about 39, 14 made the cut,” said Selectman Wes Blauss, noting only 14 were sent essay requests.

Selectman Matt Dyer asked how many essays were returned.

Marini said 13 seemed still in play, with 11 already returned and MRI saying they were waiting for two more.

“I really don’t want to put a number on it,” said Selectman Jim Hickey said. “If they have three applicants that they feel we should interview and get it done in one night, then OK, but if they have seven people — which is probably too high of a number — but if they have seven people that they think we should talk to, then it’s seven.”

Selectman Kenny Mitchell agreed.

“I like where you guys are going with this unless they say, ‘We have 14 great candidates,’ then we’re going to have a problem,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

The interviews will be conducted in a public meeting. MRI said they would be willing to work on consecutive days, including a Saturday, if the board wanted to interview more than three or bring two finalists back for a second interview before making a decision.

“I don’t have a problem being here three nights in a row, on television, because this is one of the most important decisions we’ll make as a group,” Hickey said.

MRI has offered to supply questions for the board to ask and will provide a list of questions they can’t ask.

Selectmen also voted to send a letter to Tetra Tech, the licensed site professionals working on cleanup of the National Fireworks site and collecting public comment, requesting that a complete cleanup be done to background at no cost to local or state taxpayers because they are currently in negotiations with the responsible parties.

WHITMAN — Residents will soon be asked to attend a special Town Meeting to fund an engineering study centering on the replacement of a sewer force main which has already required two expensive repairs.

The DPW Commissioners are seeking a $500,000 transfer from sewer and water retained earnings to fund the study. Town Administrator Frank Lynam said the projected cost of a new pipe is in excess of $8 million. The projected cost of a dual system is about $15 million.

“Good ideas come with cost,” Lynam said.

Both Lynam and Selectmen Vice Chairman Dan Salvucci suggested a contingency estimate of about $900,000, putting any unused portion toward two bills due to the city of Brockton once a sewer contract is completed. Lynam said retained earnings is intended to address situations like this.

“I’m not shopping for other articles right now,” Lynam said, noting the sewer project and perhaps unpaid bills will be the only items on the warrant.

Actual construction work on the sewer line would have to go out to bond.

A date has not been determined yet, but a best date — possibly Dec. 2 or 9 — will be voted on at the next Board of Selectmen’s meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

“I think it won’t be a surprise to many people,” Lynam said of the request. “We’ve had two significant failures in the force main as it travels from Whitman to Brockton across Alger Street and into the woods there.”

The DPW procured funding and performed an assessment of the line, finding that there is “significant potential for failure” along it, according to Lynam. The DPW Commissioners met in a joint session with Selectmen on Tuesday, Oct. 22 to discuss needed actions to ensure the town maintains a functioning sanitary system.

“I know Environmental Partners have done some significant work on this, but there’s a lot more to be done,” Lynam said.

The twin force main, which starts at the Auburn Street pump house, is the main sewer outflow to the Brockton pump station, according to DPW Commission member Kevin Cleary.

It was installed in 1984.

“We had two significant breaks over the last couple of years that were well over $1 million,” Cleary said. “We were lucky where they were — they were accessible.”

Since then the DPW obtained funding appropriations and did some land clearing and followed it up with soil borings and analysis.

“They’ve determined that we’ve run a life span,” Cleary said. “The breaks that we had were from the outside [of the pipes] in — they weren’t [from] the inside out.”

The combination of soil, water and acidity rotted the pipes. Soil borings showed more potential problems from similar soil and water conditions in the area.

DPW Commission member Wayne Carroll said the pipe is rated for 30 years, and was installed 35 years ago.

“The next step is we would like to have a Town Meeting to appropriate funds for engineering, permitting, design and getting bid documents together,” Cleary said. “We can’t wait until the spring to start that and then go into typical bid and construction and all that.”

They are looking to doing that work over the winter to present a much better scope of the value of the project and to allow the commission to come before the spring Town Meeting with better information about options and costs.

Both bypassing and sleeving the old main have been discussed as potential emergency remedies, Carroll said.

Cleary said it costs at least $500,000 to repair emergency breaks to the pipe.

In other business, Selectmen voted to appoint officer Peter Aiken as the new sergeant on the Whitman Police Department. Aiken was the top person on the sergeant’s list, as well as the recommendation of Lynam and Police Chief Timothy Hanlon.

Aiken will be sworn in privately, Lynam said.

Selectman Randy LaMattina, who chairs the Budget Override Evaluation Committee, said that panel has met again after delays surrounding a health issue the financial consultant had been dealing with.

The most recent meeting focused on five-year trends and forecast for 2020 new growth — slightly over $1 million — and noted a downturn in excise revenue, whether an economic trend or a billing issue, and that the state is not providing much help in the form of state aid — up only 1.5 percent over five years with school aid up only .59 percent over that time.

“Our budget trends over the last five years are basically proving not to be sustainable,” LaMattina said. “As we go ahead, that’s going to be diagnosed.”

The consultant will be meeting one-on-one with department heads to discuss where they plan to be in the next five years and whether some of their costs are controllable.

“In terms of progress, we are far and away, ahead of where we were last year,” said LaMattina, noting that department heads are coming together and getting information in earlier this year.

Selectmen also approved a request for SDIP, when space is available, to hold automotive insurance surcharge hearings in Whitman Town Hall for the convenience of both the public and hearings officers.

HANSON — Voters at special Town Meeting Monday, Oct. 7, approved funding to support salaries for added police officers — to prevent the need for dark station hours — as the town moves toward a regional dispatch center, as well as to keep the transfer station open five days a week.

“This may be bigger [turnout] than some May Town Meetings,” Moderator Sean Kealy said of the 165 voters signed in by the 7:30 p.m. start of the meeting. “It’s a terrific number for an October Town Meeting.”

The funds available for town business were:  $1,664,097 in free cash; $1,256,343 in the stabilization fund; $135,992 in the school stabilization fund; $885,493 in Water Surplus; $65,205 in Recreation Retained Earnings; and $74,323 in Solid Waste Retained Earnings.

During discussion of a requested adjustment of $60,000 in Police Department salaries under Article 2 — an appropriation to supplement various town departments — Kathleen Marini of Union Street and Richard Edgehille of South Street, both asked why the Finance Committee voted not to recommend the expense.

Both questioned item as well as Article 2 as a whole were approved.

“The Finance Committee voted not to recommend, based on the article as a whole,” Chairman Kevin Sullivan said, noting the vote was due to the police salaries and a $7,000 adjustment for paying off a septic system at Camp Kiwanee.

“This is a little vague,” Edgehille said. “You don’t recommend it, how about an explanation for this audience?”

Selectman Kenny Mitchell said the reason was that, with the move to a regional dispatch center, the town is going to be supplementing the dispatchers with police officers.

“We’re not adding Saturday salaries, we’re just exchanging positions,” Mitchell said. “We’ve been talking about this internally over the past year and a half with the new regional dispatch coming up and we challenged the police chief — he came to us and said he needed this.”

A portion of the salaries will be funded by a state 911 grant.

“When we looked at this and considered the savings that we were going to [see] over the regionalization process, we looked at the potential budge cycle for next year,” Sullivan said. “Over the past few years, we looked as a committee to only add positions when we believed there was a long-term success. We were hesitant to add positions going into what could be one of the most difficult budget cycles that Hanson is going to face next fiscal year and have to cut money out of that salary.”

He stressed that, once that money is approved they don’t want to face the need of removing a police officer if budget cuts are needed.

Police Chief Michael Miksch said the department would be moving toward regional dispatch in July 2020, he was faced with going to a dark station when local dispatchers are no longer needed or staff the station with police officers. He is looking to add four officers between now and the next fiscal year.

“If I don’t have people to staff the station July 1, 2020, I have to fill it either with overtime or take officers off the road, neither of which is acceptable,” he said, noting the time it takes to train officers. Overtime alone would run $32,000 a month if he fills every shift that way.

“That’s all I wanted was an explanation,” Edgehill said. “Public safety first.”

Sullivan said the Kiwanee septic payment had not been recommended because Camp Kiwanee is intended to operate independently.

Recreation Commission member Joan Fruzzetii countered that taxation can, and has, been used to fill the gap if the Enterprise Fund fails to do so, and that funds had been put aside twice for the septic system.

“What happened in the past, happened in the past,” Sullivan said. “I can only deal with what we’re dealt with right now. I’m not going to debate it, I’m just giving you what our decision was.”

The Town Meeting amended an article seeking to increase funds for salaries and expenses the Transfer Station Enterprise Fund at the May 2019 annual Town Meeting by $55,000 – to $100,000 for salaries and $208,000 for expenses. The amendment was unanimously recommended by both the Board of Selectmen and the Finance Committee, but the change was sought from the floor by Indian Head Street resident Bruce Young, to increase the Salary line in the Article by $21,473, that amount coming from Free Cash.

Young’s amendment brought the salaries back to their original Requested amount, originally proposed by the Board of Health in May of 2019, which was $121,473 and was approved by an overwhelming voice vote of the Town Meeting

Board of Health Chairman Arlene Dias had described Article 4 on the Monday, Oct. 7 warrant as a housekeeping measure.

Young noted that the May Town Meeting was provided a Health Board proposal to fund salaries at the transfer station for $121,473, but voters had to accept this Finance Committee recommendation of $60,000 because the town had insufficient funds to permit the Town Meeting to amend it to fund salaries for the whole fiscal year.

“If we should support the article …what would happen is, and [the Board of Health] has already voted on this … we would be, for the first time in the history of the transfer station, closing it Monday and Tuesday and [it] would only be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday,” Young said. “I want to remind everybody that we had new permits to get in the transfer station this year [that cost] $30 per vehicle and everybody went down and bought them on the assumption that the transfer station would be open five days a week.”

He equated the article to a bait and switch.

Sullivan said the article as originally written was supported by the Finance Committee on the Board of Health’s determination of what was needed to run the transfer station for the remainder of the year.

Resident Joe Peligra said that, while he understands transfer stations are not required by the state, Hanson’s facility is operated as a service to the town and there is a growing number or people using the transfer station.

“We were told that the transfer station should be self-sustaining,” Dias said. “The only way for us to do that was to cut the budget and the only way to do that was to cut two days a week.”

Edgehille said that the wording of the article did not make the closing on those two days clear.

“Your not being honest with the public,” he said.

Sullivan said the reduction of service was intended to keep the service, which was losing money, as a resource to the town.

“The number of people who jumped off when private hauling was offered — I don’t have the exact figure, but I believe it’s around 40 percent of the town uses the transfer station — the number needs to be higher for it to be a self-sustaining enterprise,” Sullivan said.

There are two employees at the transfer station and the facility has to be closed at lunch hours because one person cannot work alone for safety reasons, Dias said.