WHITMAN — The Board of Selectmen began the transition process for changes at the top in the police and fire departments while they reviewed progress toward addressing the ongoing budget crisis Tuesday, Aug. 6.

Fire Chief Timothy Grenno indicated he plans to retire by Aug. 1, 2022 and requested Selectmen call for a fire chief exam by spring or early summer of next year. Grenno has been chief for 12 years, appointed in 2007.

“My wife and I are in negotiations right now, and I can tell you that you should hold the assessment center or the written tests now,” he said.

A spring test should provide a two-year promotions list for the town. Civil service no longer provides the exam as most towns across the state are opting for assessment centers, which create any written tests. A date cannot be set until an assessment center prepares an exam and/or assessment process.

The board approved the request and also voted to promote Deputy Police Chief Timothy Hanlon as chief as of Tuesday, Sept. 17 and to promote Sgt. Joseph Bombardier as deputy chief on that date.

Police Chief Scott Benton has informed the board that he plans to retire on Monday, Sept. 16.

“Hopefully, between now and then, we’ll have an opportunity to have the chief here to thank him for his years of service,” Town Administrator Frank Lynam said.

Both Hanlon and Bombardier were the top candidates on their respective promotion lists.

Budget update

Lynam also updated Selectmen on the town budget and Selectman Randy LaMattina updated the board on the Monday, Aug. 4 Override Evaluation Committee session.

Lynam said the town is close to receiving a final draft from the Collins Center on capital planning and that he has received some, but not all, departmental budgets including the requested five-year projections for planning purposes.

There was some disagreement between Lynam and override panel citizen at-large member John Galvin about the meaning of a state Department of Revenue.

Lynam said the DOR indicated that revenue raised, if not used right away, the opportunity to use it for that year is gone forever. However, that money then ends up in the levy limit. Galvin argued that his understanding was that, while the excess levy does need to be appropriated, it does not end up in the levy limit the following year.

“It’s a one-time use,” he said. “If our levy is above the levy limit, any excess levy cannot be used the following year. That’s the discussion Frank and I had at length this morning and I still think we’re not on the same page yet.”

Lynam said he agreed that if the money is not used when it is available, the opportunity to use it is gone, but that the DOR said the levy limit would reflect that money.

“We just got a taste of how daunting this is going to be,” LaMattina said, noting that the Override Evaluation Committee has made a lot of progress after its second meeting. They established a mission statement concerning what the committee is going to do — evaluating the town’s finances and determine whether an override is needed.

He reported that the School Committee will be asking the Mass. Association of Regional Schools for an audit and Selectmen also authorized an independent audit, at a cost not to exceed $10,000, to determine where Whitman is now and what it’s five year financial outlook would be.

“This is something that, I think, really helps us in terms of credible support for presentation,” said Lynam, adding that the Collins Center work does not include a budget review and forecast. “This is a third-party, independent assessment.”

Galvin said if the two independent audits reach similar conclusions, it would provide valuable information about where the town is going financially.

“The key word is independent,” he said.

Heat response

Grenno also opened the meeting with an impassioned defense of his department’s — and the town’s — response to the four-day heat wave from July 18-21 in response to criticism on social media and a resident’s tirade against a member of the department in a local grocery store.

“I feel the need to publically set the record straight to reassure our residents as it pertains to our response to emergency preparedness,” Grenno said. “I’m troubled that I need to come before you this evening to defend our great community, you the board and public safety after a rogue resident took to social media making false claims and statements relating to the recent heat wave.”

The fire chief outlined that the response was in keeping with emergency preparedness plans already in place. Those plans call for a cooling center when: power is lost in town; if a heat wave lasts more than 48 hours; and if the Fire Department begins to see issues with residents. On Sunday, a cooling center was opened because the heat wave had hit the 48-hour mark and, after a vehicle had crashed into a utility pole on School Street and National Grid advised the town that power loss was possible.

“Because of those two issues, we opened the center in accordance with our plan,” he said. “We are on the street. We know what’s going on in our community.”

All information was also relayed via social media, reverse 911 and town websites and, Grenno said, no one uses a cooling or warming center or shelter as long as they have electrical power or during the first 48 hours of a weather emergency.

A cooling center was opened at the Whitman Senior Center on Sunday and the only person who showed up, did so out of an effort to see if they could be of help, according to Grenno. All Housing Authority facilities had power, including in common rooms with air conditioning with generator back-up.

“This resident verbally attacked and bullied one of my members at a local grocery store that day, berating him in public as to why a cooling center was not opened and that my lack of action [reflected] poorly on them as firemen,” Grenno added. “It was so bad that another citizen stepped in.”

He said bullying is unacceptable in any venue, but confronting a firefighter in public to the point where others take notice and comment “is not only ignorant, but repugnant,” Grenno said.

“The type of attitude or politics this person displayed has no place in our community,” he said.

WHITMAN — The town’s Override Evaluation Committee met for the first time on July 22 to evaluate the town’s financial needs and assess recommendations it would seek to make regarding an operational override in the fall.

Serving on the committee are: residents John Galvin and Christopher George as citizens at-large; Finance Committee members David Codero and Scott Lambiase; Fire Chief Timothy Grenno; Public Works Superintendent Bruce Martin; Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak; School Committee member Dawn Byers; Selectmen Justin Evans and Randy LaMattina, Town Administrator Frank Lynam and Assistant Town Administrator Lisa Green.

The meeting, held in the Selectmen’s Meeting Room in Town Hall, is being rebroadcast on Whitman-Hanson Community Access TV. The next meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m., Monday, Aug. 12.

The committee organized officers July 22, electing LaMattina, who had expressed interest in the post as chairman. LaMattina was not able to attend the meeting. Lambiase was elected vice chairman and Lynam as clerk.

“Obviously, I think I know what our community needs are overall, but I think the focus of the committee, most important here … is how we’re going to get from here to Town Meeting and get the information out,” Lambiase said.

While a Town Meeting is currently planned for October, Lynam said he would prefer to push it back to November if it means the town’s financial need would be more clearly understood in the process. The committee’s meetings are public and the issue will also be discussed frequently by Selectmen.

Lynam said the short-term task is to take the information already available and information on five-year expenditure estimates that he has requested on capital needs.

“Because no one has responded, I’ve compromised and asked for three-years’ estimates,” he said.

A proposed draft of a capital planning document Collins Center at UMass, Boston had composed — following an earlier version Lynam had sent back to address errors — were to be discussed with the center by Lynam and Selectmen Carl Kowalski and Dan Salvucci this week.

If the draft is acceptable, a public meeting will be scheduled to review it, Lynam said.

The replacement of a primary sewer main between Whitman and the wastewater treatment plant, which has come to town officials’ attention since the capital plan update was requested, will be significant in the upcoming budget. That work is estimated at more than $8 million within the “cheapest alternative” plan, he said.

“We are looking at whether there are impact funds, or anything else, that can help us with it but year-to-year you’re just going to get things that are going to skew the numbers,” Lynam said. “We need a long-term budget [of] at least three years … because the longer you go in an expenditure budget, the less accurate it’s going to be.”

Current budgets and projected expenditures for the following year, based on needs, are calculated for separate town government and capital needs budgets from each department.

“I’m actually confident that, if we just get these things together in a formal way and we look at them as part of a total picture, we should be able to put together a plan that works and can be given to the public in a way that makes sense,” Lynam said.

Grenno said his department has just completed its five-year plan “based on where we are today,” a cumbersome and time-consuming process.

He asked if the override is intended to make departments whole.

“The budget has to reflect what you believe is necessary to operate your department appropriately,” Lynam said. “Some of us can really accurately predict what our budget numbers are going to be because there’s very little room for variance. Others can’t.”

George said the committee should be looking at what the town is missing compared with towns around Whitman, adding that he is aware of where the schools fall short as a parent, but is not as well informed about other departments.

“What does that mean for you?” he asked. “That’s hard for me to see from a Fire perspective or a DPW perspective, or even a police perspective, so I think that will be helpful as you give us that five-year projection.”

Lambiase said the committee must also discuss what cuts would need to be made if an override question fails. He argued an Economic Development Committee, if not hiring at least a part-time town planner, make sense.

“The challenges are immense,” Lynam said. “Small towns can grow on small businesses and do well. As it sits today, we have a fairly productive downtown business center and we have a stretch of business on Route 27 and on Route 18, but trying to grow that business, we have to come up with things that attract people and when you are in our position TIFs are not an option.”

Tax Increment Financing, which provides tax-breaks to attract businesses, would not help Whitman’s need for revenue.

“People think they are over-burdened with taxes here and it couldn’t be further from the truth,” Lynam said.

They also discussed the format of a question — single question or menu approach — scope of work and timeline.

“I’m absolutely opposed to a menu,” Szymaniak said. “If we’re going to be sustainable as a community … it has to be all together.”

A tier of financial options, with every department having a piece of the override was preferred if a menu option were to be offered.

They also discussed going to a regular special town meeting in the fall, as Hanson does, for capital needs.

HANSON — Impressed LLC cleared the first regulatory hurdle toward opening a cannabis cultivation facility at 15 Commercial Way when the Board of Selectmen approved a revised host agreement with the company on Tuesday, July 23.

There were no questions asked by the board or residents attending the meeting before the 5-0 vote was taken.

Selectmen Chairman Laura Fitzgerald-Kemmett summarized the changes sought by the board after a draft of the agreement was discussed July 16.

Those changes — which Impressed LLC agreed to incorporate into the host agreement — include odor mitigation and water conservation practices, board approval before any transfer or sale of the business ownership and payment of a 3-percent impact fee to the town for five years. The company may not apply for a nonprofit or agricultural tax exemption and has agreed to pay for the services of an independent third party, hired by the town, to peer reviewing plans for the facility.

“I cannot conceive that there is anything in Massachusetts that is as heavily regulated as cannabis,” said Selectman Wes Blauss.

“We tried to put in the kitchen sink there,” said Town Counsel Kate Feodoroff.

Fitzgerald-Kemmett noted that Impressed LLC has been “very responsive” to terms the town has asked for in the agreement.

“This is just the first of many chapters,” she said.

The company must now comply with all applicable local regulations as well as obtain a license from the state’s Cannabis Control Commission and comply with the CCC’s regulations.

Fitzgerald-Kemmett also noted that residents had originally voted by a 51 to 49-percent margin to support the state ballot question legalizing marijuana use in the state.

“Since that date, there have been several town meetings and ballot votes regarding marijuana-related businesses in Hanson, where the voters have had the opportunity to let the Board of Selectmen know their wishes with respect to marijuana-related businesses,” Fitzgerald-Kemmett said, reading from a prepared statement. “This board takes its role as the licensing authority seriously. It is our job tonight to determine whether the draft host agreement is acceptable to us and whether it is in the best interests of the town to agree to enter into this agreement with Impressed LLC.”

Town by-laws currently ban the sale of retail marijuana, but allow other cannabis-related businesses to locate in the zone that includes the Hanson Industrial Park on Commercial Way.

Impressed LLC has held several public outreach meetings, as required by the CCC, as their attorneys negotiated a host agreement with town counsel.

Vehicle chargers

Selectmen also voted to set a fee of $1.50 per hour for the two electric vehicle chargers installed at the upper rear parking lot at Town Hall. Each charger has two plugs.

The fee covers a portion of a $250 per plug networking fee, that electric vehicle owners can ping off to locate the chargers when their vehicle needs a charge.

Selectman Jim Hickey did not like subsidizing the networking fee, but Selectman Matt Dyer argued that, without the network’s advertising of the charging stations, it would be difficult to make them successful.

The board decided to try the project for a year and review it.

Cooling town

In other business, Fitzgerald-Kemmett read a statement lauding town employees and volunteers for helping residents cope with last weekend’s heat wave. She said such work behind the scenes is typical of the way they work together to get things done.

“It’s important to occasionally take some time to express our gratitude for all that they do, and this weekend was a perfect example of people working tirelessly for the benefit of the town,” she stated.

The Hanson Public Library extended its hours on Saturday and opened from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. Cranberry Cove extended its hours each day by two hours.

She said the Cove crowd on Saturday reminded her of Nantasket Beach.

“Quite a few people ended up taking advantage of these extended hours, but these types of things don’t happen magically,” she said. “On behalf of the Board of Selectmen, I hope you’ll join me in thanking the director, board and employees at both the library and the cove and … [Interim Town Administrator] Merry [Marini] as well as Hanson Fire, Police and Highway for helping to get the word out.”

WHITMAN — In a joint deliberation with the Finance Committee on Tuesday, June 9, which also met that evening, Selectmen approved line item transfers required before closing the books on fiscal 2019.

Selectmen Vice Chairman Dan Salvucci said the Finance Committee had to vote on the transfers before Selectmen could vote.

“These should have been voted last week, but the Finance Committee didn’t have a quorum and today is the last day to make any of these moves for fiscal 2019,” Selectman Brian Bezanson said of a scheduled July 2 Finance meeting.

Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski, who is traveling, and Selectmen Justin Evans were absent from the July 9 meeting.

Some transfers had been previously approved by Selectmen and had to be voted by the Finance Committee.

A transfer of $45,816.28 from Line 123 to Line 124 to fund vacation time accumulated by Police Chief Scott Benton was approved after some vigorous discussion.

“I don’t think its any secret that the chief of police is planning on retiring within the next year, possibly within the calendar year,” Town Administrator Frank Lynam said. “While we are developing policies to prevent this type of accrual in future years, we’re obligated to pay unused vacation on termination of employment.”

Finance Chairman Richard Anderson said his committee’s collective concern was for the policy, which while still in development, is “long overdue.”

Salvucci wanted to know if there were any employees who could be grandfathered under any policy change.

Lynam recommended setting aside what is anticipated to be unexpended funds in the police salary line to lessen the financial impact when the chief does retire. The funds would be encumbered in an appropriation number created for that purpose, according to Lynam.

Finance Committee Vice Chairman David Codero said department heads had told his committee over the last budget season that they would be able to absorb any increases to their line items in order to save money for the town.

“This line item transfer is going to represent about $80,000 of money that was transferred from one police account to another,” he said. “The concern that I have is that, in a fiscal year that we were asking department heads to really tighten the belts, we’re getting $80,000 of transfers for unexpected expenditures. I don’t think it was prudent for that particular department head to have $80,000 to be sitting in an account when it could be used for other town services.”

Lynam argued the $80,000 represents 2.2 percent of the entire police budget. Unlike Town Hall or other departments, where schedules and costs are fixed, “in public safety, we have a number of items that are unpredictable.”

Line-of-duty injuries, for example, cannot be foreseen and not all shifts are always filled, he argued.

“If we were not doing these transfers, at the end of the year, we would be turning back $80,000 to the General Fund,” he said. “That money could easily have been spent by filling shifts we didn’t fill and for doing things that we probably should be doing that we don’t do because we’re trying to be fiscally prudent.”

He added that the only reason the transfer is being sought now is that the opportunity now exists to do it without needing to go to a special Town Meeting vote — which may still need to happen depending on how things play out.

“We’re paying for something that, essentially, the town agreed to,” Lynam said.

Benton asked what the $80,000 figure represented. Finance officials said it was cumulative transfers, including $12,000 in unanticipated costs for computer repairs.

“I come to the Finance Committee every year and I tell you that we don’t fill about 500 to 700 shifts and I tell you I can’t anticipate snow, emergencies and things like that,” he said. A mild winter helped this year.

“I didn’t know we were going to have a joint Selectmen/Finance Committee meeting that wasn’t posted, I didn’t know my name was going to come up, I didn’t know we were going to get into this, but I have no problems with getting into it,” Benton said.

Benton said he told Lynam that he thought transferring the funds was preferable to crippling the Police Department budget for the next year.

An additional $355.28 (over the $750 already approved by Selectmen) for a shortfall in payment for hours worked by the Selectmen’s administrative assistant was also approved. That salary covers hours that are uncertain from year to year, according to Lynam, who said the $355.28 — an additional shortage found when year-end payroll was completed — is being transferred from a line used to fund all salary increases when contracts were settled last year. Both boards approved the transfer.

A transfer from Line 172 (Norfolk County Agricultural High School) of $12,000 for legal costs was approved by both boards. A transfer from Line 256 to Line 257 of $2,230.42 for the FICA payment based on total salaries paid, a figure that is not clear as a year-end total until the June payroll is complete was approved by both boards. A transfer from Line 48 of $140.30 to Line 50 to close a minor shortfall in salary for the treasurer-clerical employee in the collectors’ office was approved by both boards.

Selectmen also voted to increase ambulance rates for the first time since 2016, at the urging of Fire Chief Timothy Grenno.

“It’s a sign of the times,” he said. “Insurance rates are going up. Also, some legislation has been filed — which sits in conference committee right now — which will limit the level to which you are able to bill insurance companies for the use of emergency services.”

That bill would include a rollback date governing when rate increases would be allowed, after which it would be limited to a benchmark of 2 or 3 percent, Grenno said.

“These rate increases are in line with what our billing company has recommended,” he said. “It is the same Medicare billable rates which most of our neighboring towns are using.”

Salvucci said he has noticed that Whitman has, in the past, been much lower than neighboring towns.

The Board of Selectmen appointed a nine-member Budget-Override Evaluation Committee.

Serving on the committe will be: residents John Galvin and Christopher George as citizens at-large; Finance Committee members Codero and Scott Lambiase; Grenno; Public Works Superintendent Bruce Martin; Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak; School Committee member Dawn Byers; Selectmen Evans and Randy LaMattina and Lynam.

“The town cannot show that we are approving it — even though we are approving [of] it — the taxpayers have to make that decision,” Salvucci said of the committee’s title.

Police Chief Scott Benton said he and Grenno had decided to have one public safety representative on the committee.

Grenno asked why there was no representation of the town accountant or assessor’s office on the committee, but Assistant Town Administrator Lisa Green said the accountant would be actively involved, reviewing figures.