Whitman-Hanson Express

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Hey, where’s the remote?

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WHITMAN — Staff and volunteers from Whitman-Hanson Community Access TV, as they say in show biz, took its act on the road — or at least across town — for the taping of some of its regular in-studio programs Friday, Aug. 4.

It’s the first such effort, other than football games and of a Hanson Town Meeting, for which the nonprofit organization has used its new transmission truck. Two programs, “Bring It On,” with Bob Hayes and “Andrea’s Fit Yoga” with Andrea Mariani were taped at Hobart’s Pond off Colebrook Boulevard before lighting curtailed the evening’s work. They plan to return this Friday to tape an episode of “Painting with Danielle” with host Danielle Tierney.

Similar programs are being planned for locales in Hanson, said Access Operations Coordinator Kevin Tocci.

“Kevin came to me with the idea and it was going to be one show,” said WHCA Executive Director Eric Dresser, who was Hayes’ guest for his show. “I said, ‘Boy, that’s a lot of work for a 30-minute show. Why don’t we try to tack a couple others on?’”

Dresser said it was too early to discuss details for the Hanson programs, which are still in the early planning stages, as they line up locations and obtain any required permission or permits from governing boards.

“We’d like to visit each of the two towns over the summer,” Dresser said.

Hayes said he was enthusiastic about taking his show on location as he and Dresser chatted while technicians worked to set up cameras, wiring and work out which microphones would best link cameras with the remote truck.

“I think it’s great,” Hayes said. “I know that it’s innovative for WHCA, but it’s been done other years — We’ve done Whitman and we’ve done Hanson and it just shows you that Whitman-Hanson Community Access cable is really being proactive in going after town stuff. We’re showing off the assets of the towns of Whitman and Hanson.”

He also noted that the location choice for the Aug. 4 programs bring some focus back on an area of Whitman with a lot of community history.

“It’s a beautiful place,” Hayes said.

The location also made itself heard in the programs as the wind picked up and a flock of Canada geese honked loudly as they flew from the pond for the evening.

“The ducks must hear me talking as they’re honking in the background,” Hayes said as cameras began to roll for “Bring It On,” and he introduced his guest and location.

“We’re here to discuss with [Dresser] what Whitman Community Access does,” Hayes said toward the camera, noting Dresser was hired in January to succeed the late Steve Roy as the WHCA executive director. “I’d be remiss not to mention we are here in Whitman at Colebrook Boulevard, which used to be known back in the ’70s and ’80s, as a local parking spot, so to speak. … It’s a beautiful place for anybody to come and walk through.”

Dresser has been executive director since January, coming from Hingham where he also served in that capacity on the local community access station.

“I think video is as important now as it’s ever been— if not more,” Dresser said, replying to a question from Hayes about the future of community access television. “I went over my data plan this month on my cell phone because of videos that were autoplaying on Facebook, so if we can help create more professional versions of those videos, if we can get some well-thought-out video statements out there … that’s as important now as ever. I think places like WHCA have a big role in that, in informing and educating individuals in using that technology better and providing that for the folks that don’t carry that studio around in their pocket and want to do something better.”

Dresser also said WHCA is looking for people both to learn technical skills as volunteers and to bring new ideas for the company to pursue.   

Tocci added that Hayes is a valuable volunteer himself, hosting several programs and serving as moderator for some Hanson political forums for WHCA.

“He’s someone who talks about the need to volunteer — and practices what he preaches,” Tocci said. “I can’t tell you how many hours a year he puts in, and if there’s an issue he wants to get it out there to the public.”

Tocci said Hayes is one of 40 volunteers WHCA has cultivated and they are seeking more under Dresser.

Hayes and Dresser both said the remote taping was a success.

“It went great — no issues,” Hayes said.

Dresser indicated that some technical aspects such as wireless equipment can always be an issue when one is taping in a new location, but that he was pleased with the results.

“There’s such a big difference between a studio shoot where you can control the environment, you control the lighting, a lot of times you can control the sound — the geese,” Tocci said. “But the beauty of this is we’re out in the community.”

He noted that passersby were interested and excited about the taping.

Next up for taping on location were Mariani and her assistant Emily Pollock for “Andrea’s Fit Yoga.” An instructor for more than 12 years, Mariani said that, while she also teaches pilates, yoga is better suited for instruction via television as there is less risk for injury if the home viewer does a move improperly.

She starts each yoga lesson with a stretching session to warm up.

“We get into a gentle flow and then we end with a savasana (corpse pose for rest), a meditation towards the end,” Mariani said. “I like to keep the material new and fresh so that you don’t get bored.”

Keeping the audience engaged is key both in her own studio and over the air.

Hanson crunching numbers on highway barn

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HANSON — The Highway Building Committee is looking to educate the public on the need and cost of building a new facility and tearing down — and cleaning the site — of the current building, its chairman, Selectman Kenny Mitchell reported to the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, July 25.

A series of public meetings is planned to accomplish that aim, Mitchell said. Town Administrator Michael McCue also attended the committee’s last meeting on July 17, along with a representative from project engineering firm Weston & Sampson.

The Committee and engineers will be working to educate the public on the need and cost for the project both for use of the existing structure at the former LiteControl site — as well as for starting from scratch. They will also be crunching numbers on the potential site cleanup costs at the current highway barn.

An environmental assessment of that existing facility is required in the first phase, which could cost about $15,000. Phase II would depend on what is identified in the assessment, Mitchell said, but could range between $10,000 and $30,000.

“One way or another, we need to know what we’re dealing with on [the current highway barn] property,” agreed Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett. “People want to know, soup-tonuts, how much it is going to cost.”

Mitchell said the cost for taking down the old building and site cleanup is needed, but the two issues cannot be combined, one reason being funding sources.

“Anytime you do demos, you can’t put that in a 20-year debt exclusion,” he said.

“You’re going to want to do it in stages,” she agreed. “But at least people will be fully informed of what the plan is.”

The firm has been working on Highway/DPW projects for a couple of other towns while Hanson has been holding meetings on its project. Cost increases on those projects have moved the company to suggest finetuning the numbers before the committee goes to Town Meeting for the cost of engineering and final design phase.

The engineering costs should be known by Aug 20, Mitchell said.

“That’s going to allow us to do an actual RFP on the building next March and get an actual, physical cost that somebody’s committed to build this building, and then we’ll be able to go to Town Meeting and say … it’s going to cost X-amount,” he said. “We’ll have a number so we’re not playing that Russian-roulette game and we’re not losing that precious time we’re all concerned about.”

Hubbell’s Chief Engineer Matt O’Neill has reported to the building panel on July 17 that the company’s cleanup work at the Hawks Avenue site if 95-percent complete, but planting in the wetlands have not been finished because of the rain.

“He admitted to me that they’re a year behind,” Mitchell said. “This fall, there is no question in his mind, that they’ll be able to do that. Once the permit is closed, from the Army Corps of Engineers, at that point they can subdivide the property and convey it over to the town of Hanson.”

That would not realisticallyhappen before winter,Mitchell reported.

Appointed town boards and commissions that have not video recorded meetings in the past have already begun doing so, McCue noted. Two cameras and tripods are currently available to be distributed for use as needed.

“I have not heard back from the Finance Committee, the Planning Board, or from any of the other elected boards where, obviously, it is up to them,” he said. “We can’t tell them [to do it]. We’re encouraging them, but they need to choose whether they are going to do that or not.”

The Water Commission did film one of its last meetings, using a VHS recorder — one in almost-new condition — but a third digital camera and tripod is being provided to that board, as VHS tape cassettes are harder to come by these days.

Newer cameras record video onto a USB thumb drive, he said.

Former volunteer videographer Richard Edgehille said he could help find tapes for use with the VHS camera. He also argued the filming of meetings could help spur residents to volunteer to serve on boards and commissions.

“If you don’t advertise, you can’t make money,” he said. “If you cover those boards, you’re going to get participation.”

Selectman Don Howard argued that, if more meetings are filmed, residents would opt to stay home and watch meetings on TV.

Edgehille gestured to the nearly-empty chamber.

“Look at the room now,” he said.

“We need new people to get involved,” Selectmen Chairman James McGahan agreed.

Selectmen also discussed public access to the recordings.

“It’s great that we’re recording it, but accessibility is really about getting put out there,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said asking how soon are recordings uploaded to YouTube and how long are they archived there.

Selectman Don Howard said it takes about a week to get the recordings uploaded and McCue said he will look at how archives can be accessed online.

McCue and McGahan met with Arlene Dias of the Cable Access Board of Directors and WHCA-TV Executive Director Eric Dresser on Friday, July 28 regarding the contract with Hanson and may be reporting back to Selectmen on the status of the contract at the Aug. 15 meeting.

In other business, Mc-Cue reported he plans to negotiate for ne request for proposal services as “good business sense to go out there and see what is available.” There is a possibility the town will remain with its current provider, but he wanted to determine if there are other options out there.

McCue also reported he has met with the Library Trustees regarding potential expansion and relocation. He also said he has received a favorable quote on a new ramp for the Hanson Food Pantry and will be drawing up a contract with the bidder, which will also be submitting a quote for windows, to be compared with other price quotes.

Hanson Recreation Director resigns

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HANSON — While they were aware she was looking for a new position, town officialswere a bit surprised on Monday, July 24 when Marybeth MacKay, recreation director since April, tendered her resignation effective Friday, July 28.

Town Administrator Michael McCue said that MacKay had tendered her resignation letter to him during the day July 24 and he forwarded it to the Recreation Commission for action at its meeting that evening.

“They are technically her hiring authority and they accepted her resignation Monday night,” he said.

In the interim, he authorized MacKay to go home early on Monday while he “figured out the best thing to do in terms of going forward,” McCue then met with Recreation Chairman Annmarie Bouzan and both agreed MacKay could return keys, laptop and other items on Tuesday, July 25. She was paid for Monday and Tuesday and was then done for the week.

MacKay had accepted a similar position in the private sector at an assisted living center in Middleboro, MacKay and Selectmen Chairman James McGahan said Friday.

“She was off the books as of Tuesday,” he said. She was still within the six-month probationary period.

A call placed to MacKay’s Lakeville home for comment was not returned.

“If it was a perfect scenario, [a municipality would take] a couple of months to fill such a job,” McGahan said of the hiring process she likely went through in Middleboro. “A private company would have a shorter time period.”

“They’d go a lot quicker than us,” McCue agreed. “We knew she was looking, but we had no idea that it was imminent.”

McCue said it has yet to be determined how the process to find another recreation director would progress, but the Recreation Commission will be asked to meet with Selectmen for an open discussion on the matter in the near future.

The previous applicants, interviewed during the process through which MacKay was chosen likely would also be contacted again for new interviews.

“It kind of shortens up the process,” McGahan said. “I have no influence with the Recreation Commission, though.” He noted he has received calls from residents interested in the job, but makes it clear that decision is not his to make, all he can do is pass that information along.

“I don’t want to influence it,” he said.

McCue said the candidate who was in consideration along with MacKay, but at the time was not yet back from living in Dublin, Ireland, would still be a strong candidate this time around.

“There were a couple qualified people,” McCue said. “The runner-up was not back from Dublin. He’s from here originally and had been in Dublin for about 10 years.” He had been about six weeks away from his moving date during the last round of interviews.

“He may be down the street and around the corner and we may be able to speak with him,” he said. “She was always the number one candidate and he was a close two.”

Both McGahan and McCue said they would not be surprised if the June meeting during which MacKay narrowly avoided losing the Hanson job by a 3-3 vote of the Recreation Commission motivated her to look elsewhere.

“There was a red flag there,” McGahan said of the vote.

“I don’t blame her for that,” McCue said of MacKay’s decision to seek a new position. “I would have done the same thing.”

McGahan noted that the automated accounting system that was to be set up for the director to use, as recommended by former Selectman Bruce Young, to develop a more transparent financial system at Camp Kiwanee had been a sticking point for MacKay.

“We knew we had problems on that,” McGahan said of the past contract process for Kiwanee events. “We had contracts that were half signed [before a full-time director was sought], we saw big discounts given … we want an official record and a system that accounts for that.”

MacKay was supposed to take over responsibility for the automated accounting system.

“Bruce had a pretty solid idea for how things should go forward,” said McCue, who started forwarding that process to the new commission when it was formed. “As soon as we hired Marybeth, I completely handed everything off to her.”

Both McGahn and McCue said nothing more was done after that. McGahan said asking a few companies in to demonstrate their software was all that was needed to be done to accomplish the accounting requirement.

“If I were hired as recreation director, that would be the number one item on my list, because you’re talking about money coming in and out,” he said. McGahan acknowledged, however, that the problem of a lifeguard shortage was properly addressed by closing the beach early during the past week for training.

Both McCue and McGahn also agreed that Bouzan and the Recreation Commission is doing a great job.

“Annmarie and I have not always been in alignment, but he does her job and she does it well,” McGahan said.

Recordsetting DARE camp

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The 23rd annual Plymouth County Drug and Alcohol Resistance Education (DARE) Summer Program may be a tough one to top. During the week, campers and staff watched an apparently-successful attempt to set a Guinness World Record while learning leadership and good choices, playing and interacting with new friends.

“The police officers and school resource officers would not be here but for the leadership of the Plymouth County police chiefs, many of whom are here today,” said Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz.

This year, about 50 officers in 23 departments participated, a record number, Cruz noted.

Speaking of records, Mark Kenny of Plymouth has long entertained by walking on his hands, but this week he not only brought his talent to DARE Camp on Thursday, July 27 — water day. He achieved what appears to be a new world record.

Inverted sprinting or walking on your hands while pulling a car was the challenge he set out to attain. Now, in coming weeks, officials from the Guinness Book Of Worlds Records will review video and authenticity of his stunt.

With nearly 500 campers and staff present along with an onslaught of police officers and media he will have plenty of documentation.

Kenny’s family was present to witness their dad’s success. His wife Mary, sons Will, 11, and Johnny, 15 and daughter Katie, 13, were among the crowd cheering, “Move That Car!”

The momentum of the crowd helped him get rolling, said Kenny who pulled a Cooper, which weighs approximately 2,800 pounds attached by a tether around his waist five meters while he walked on his hands, pulling it.

“I want to thank Mark for letting you guys be part of this special event,” Cruz said during his remarks at the Friday, July 28 graduation ceremony.

He has been walking on his hands for 20 years, exercises everyday with resistance and pushing weighted sleds and plans to continue using his talents.

Another impressive personal achievement was saluted during Friday’s graduation ceremony, a Duxbury girl was honored for her honesty in turning in a $20 bill she found under the bleachers in the WHRHS gym on the first day of camp.

“We try to teach the kids to make life decisions, to be responsible, be respectful and to be honest,” said Hanson DARE and School Resource Officer William Frazier. Hanson is the event’s host community.

Frazier had told her the $20 was hers if no one claimed it at the end of the day. He never saw her again until he called for her to come claim it at the graduation ceremony.

“That says a lot about her, her family and her community,” Frazier said. “So, where are you? Come up and get your $20.”

Frazier thanked Hanson Police Chief Michael Miksch for letting him be part of the DARE program as well as Whitman Chief Scott Benton and his town’s DARE officer Kevin Harrington and WHRSD officials for their efforts in support of the event. Hanson Fire Chief Jerome Thompson Jr. was also lauded for his department’s help in making the camp’s popular water day possible.

More than 20 police departments, the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department and the Massasoit Community College Police Department participated in the camp this year.

“These officers come to camp every day and give your child 110 percent,” Frazier told parents attending the graduation ceremony. “This camp does not exist without the extraordinary participation and dedication of each of these officers.”

Leadership service awards were presented to three campers in the name of police officers who have passed after careers dedicated to their communities — Robert Quigley and Helen Gray of Marshfield Police and Gerald Mont of Whitman Police. Camper Ava Dant was also honored for her work during the year to raise funds to make it possible for kids who might not be able to afford it to attend camp.

Cruz gave special thanks to the work of police and sheriff department officials whose work to control drug trafficking, especially of opiates, putting the money seized from drug dealers back to work in the DARE program to fight future drug problems through programs like the annual camp. He also thanked the nearly 20 businesses who donated food for lunches and snacks provided to campers during the week. The event concluded with the introduction of the 24 DARE camper teams, of which the top three winners of the team cheer competition had the opportunity to demonstrate their rhymes.

Hanson’s new Recreation Director settling into the job

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HANSON — In April, Lakeville resident Marybeth MacKay became Hanson’s new Recreation Director. Having worked a similar part-time position in Lakeville, the Abington native also brings an extensive background in the event-planning industry to her new job.

While she originally majored in interior decorating in college, and worked for a Stoughton flooring company for 13 years, after graduating from Abington High School, MacKay said she found the entertainment business when she met her husband Gordon in 1993. He worked as a video promoter for Polygram Records, and groups such as KISS and Bon Jovi during the music video heyday.

“He got me into moving more into the entertainment business,” she said during an interview with the Whitman Hanson Express Thursday, July 20. “As the music industry changed, we changed, ourselves, into doing family entertainment, fairs and festivals — which he was already kind of doing with some of those music acts already.”

They have a 14-year-old son who, growing up in the entertainment world, is a bit blasé about the bold-face names he’s encountered during travels with his parents.

“When he was 10, he told us he was sick of the traveling,” she said with a laugh. “When I was a kid, I would have been star-struck by a daredevil or a rock star. It’s very normal for him.”

She mentioned a photo she has of her son and singer Eddie Money surfing their iPhones backstage during an event, looking thoroughly bored.

As we spoke, two kayakers paddled along Maquan Pond as the laughter of kids swimming at Cranberry Cove could be heard from our vantage point on the back porch of Camp Kiwanee’s Needles Lodge.

Q

: What kind of family entertainment did you arrange?

A: “We kind of broadened our horizons from just music to family entertainment such as circus acts and educational animal shows, like we have coming up here at Camp Kiwanee Aug. 1 and 8. We also did marketing and looking at the demographics of the fair and the local area, working within their budget, setting advertising, doing public relations. Most were nonprofit events, anything from Renaissance to county fairs. We also traveled quite a bit to Puerto Rico and Spain [with a U.S. government cultural arts exchange program].”

Q: What brought you back to the South Shore?

A: “About four years ago, when my son got sick of traveling, we looked for something local that was within my expertise. Doing events for a town is a lot like doing it for a fair and some towns, like Spencer [in central Massachusetts], own their own fairgrounds.” She’s also worked with the Topsfield Fair, bringing in acts like a rodeo and the Flying Walendas.

Q: It sounds like the recreation job is a good fit for you.

A: “It really is. It is a lot like what I was doing before, only instead of being concentrated over four days, it’s spread out over the course of a year.”

Q: How did you find out about this opportunity?

A: “I came here from the Lakeville Parks Department. I was working there part time and they were looking to stick with part time to stay within their budgets and I wanted to expand to full time. I saw this opportunity come up, it’s a very similar facility with a wedding hall to help pay for [Lakeville’s] Parks Department … instead of having cabins and camping like we have here, they had a beach with soccer and baseball fields, horseshoe pits and both a youth and adult volleyball program through USA Volleyball.”

Q: Were you familiar with the challenges in the Hanson Recreation Commission when you first came here?

A: “A little bit. I had heard something about it, but I really didn’t get too involved.”

Q: What was the hiring process like?

A: “I applied back in November and I know there had been some delays — I know they changed the job description — and I was interviewed in February. They hired me in March and I started on April 3 after I finished in Lakeville.”

Q: Did that give you time to hit the ground running with programs?

A: “It’s very difficult for the summer. Summer is when everybody wants everything to happen and you’re competing against all those fairs and festivals because those same animal educators — we have Marla Isaac coming up at 2:30 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 1 with birds of prey — and on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, she’s at fairs and festivals. We’re kind of limited as to what we can do this summer, but we’re hoping to hit the ground running, I’ve got a lot of great ideas, for the fall, after-school and half-day programming like Wicked Cool Science.”

Q: Did starting the job in April also put you behind with the beach programs?

A: “With lifeguards, it’s a national shortage. The National Parks and Rec Association for the last three years, has been putting out information in their newsletter on the crisis with lifeguards, which they attribute to a few different things. A lot of parents are having their kids concentrate on their education over the summer. You’re seeing more kids choosing to go to summer school to get more time in. The other factor they attribute it to is the cost of becoming a lifeguard. It can cost an average of about $300 to become a lifeguard and it’s an entry-level position. Towns and recreation departments have budgets to think about. … I think it’s a great opportunity for a kid because there’s nothing better than being outside. Lifeguarding also teaches kids social interaction, leadership and gives them more responsibility than just ringing up at the supermarket. It probably looks really good on a college application.”

Q: You mentioned some programs you are planning, what other potential is there for increased community use of Camp Kiwanee?

A: “I think the rentals are going really well, and that’s a good thing, because the rentals help pay for the programs and salaries of the staff. … It would be nice to maybe expand some things down at the beach, because we get such a great response from the swimming lessons. It would also be nice to have some kind of a summer program here with the camps … to give kids a few days so they don’t have to travel to some of the Y camps.”

She said the narrow access road and limited parking creates a problem with planning larger festival-type programs at Kiwanee.

Q: What do you like most about the job so far?

A: “I like working with people, I really do. I find that everybody has an interesting story. I enjoy meeting people — you never know who you’re going to meet and what they’ve done.”

Q: What are some of the bigger challenges?

A: “Just getting used to a new culture. It’s very different here from Lakevillle, where they were more sports-oriented [at the Parks Department]. Here they are more arts-oriented. But I also have that experience with fairs and festivals.

“Growing up, I knew about it and had a friend who worked for the Lakeville School Department who was actually the beach director here and had done all the jobs growing up.

“We’re surrounded here by beautiful nature and I think that’s the programming that’s probably really a best fit. … People can learn about why [animals]  are here.”

Hull weighing link with SSVT

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HANOVER — Representatives from the town of Hull attended a portion of the South Shore Vo-Tech’s Thursday, July 19 meeting to ask questions about the ongoing discussions centering on the town’s possibly joining the SSVT region.

“I’m going to try to answer some of the questions I picked off when I visited them last month,” said SSVT Committee Chairman Robert Molla during the meeting broadcast by Whitman-Hanson Community Access TV. “One of them was how did the new towns we brought in in 1992 affect it and how did the populace accept joining our club?”

Hull Board of Selectmen representative Jennifer Constable updated the SSVT board on her committee’s work on the issue to date.

Hull voters, in 2016, voted favorably on a Town Meeting article forming the South Shore Vo-Tech Exploratory Committee, which has been “learning as much as we can about voke-tech,” and discussing the issue with its own school district, she said.

“We have decided on two tracks of assessment in terms of how we will get to whether or not we make the recommendation,” Constable said.

That decision is slated to come before the town’s 2018 Town Meeting.

She said one track involves the level of interest among Hull residents. The other involves the feasibility of the financial assessment for which the town would be responsible. The Hull officials invited SSVT representatives to attend an informational session in September and noted that Hull officials and interested residents could attend the SSVT open house on Saturday, Oct. 14.

Hull is also hiring a consultant to assess the financial impact on the town.

“We will take that information into consideration when we decide whether or not we do or do not recommend the feasibility for the town to join the district,” she said.

Whitman SSVT representative Daniel Salvucci talked about the process that town went through in joining the district in 1982-83. One of his sons attended SSVT, studying drafting, as did his son’s wife — who is now an engineer.

“There was really no vocational education [in Whitman] for children,” he said. “When [W-H] regionalized fully, K-12, there were children who were seeking a vocational education and we couldn’t offer it. So we had to look to the closest school system that offered vocational education, and that happened to be South Shore Vo-Tech.”

As the district was a regional one both Whitman and Hanson joined SSVT together.

“It’s been great,” he said. “We have had no bad feelings or [thoughts we were] doing the wrong thing for our children.”

While Whitman voters have, from time to time, asked why the SSVT assessment — which is based on the number of students from each town — has been so high, they have never questioned the quality of education.

“If a child wants a vocational education, who are we to say no?” Salvucci said he argued to Whitman voters at the time. He also noted there are no user fees for sports at SSVT. “It’s all there.”

Constable said she wanted to make it clear that no one in Hull was advocating saying no to any child wishing to pursue a vocational education.

“It’s just there is that sticking point — to determine if we can afford that buy-in cost,” she said.

Molla reviewed the SSVT student populations, and average per-pupil cost, per town’s local educational budget. With SSVT picking up transportation costs to SSVT, he argued Hull would pay lower per-pupil costs than the current cost of about $20,000. He added the board is open to negotiation on the buy-in cost, so it could be considerably less.

“When do you rent and when do you buy, and in order to determine that, you’ve got to figure out how deep the interest is,” said Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey said. “Information is good and we stand ready to help in as many forums or opportunities as we can. … You’re here to figure out and ultimately make a recommendation. ”

Molla had also suggested that an informational program on WHCA-TV could be helpful.

“I think the third-party analysis will yield a lot of good information,” Hickey said. “Now there’s another year’s worth of data available.”

One Hull committee member asked about where SSVT graduates head after commencement, to work or higher education?

“Every one of our students has a job,” Molla said. “Most of the students — electrical is one shop — probably have their career jobs by their junior year, because we have an excellent co-op program. Automotive is another.”

Hickey said the numbers change year-to-year, but noted that every student has a career plan by graduation.

“If it’s a direct-to-work field, there is a place for them,” he said. “Where they’re headed next might include some post-secondary education [65-percent of 2017 grads planned to do so]. … There are a lot of success stories out there.”

SSVT has also begun tracking graduates up to five years after commencement for even more accurate numbers.

Five years ago, SSVT changed admission policy to accept nonresident students — when places are available — but all resident students scoring between 60-100 points are admitted before nonresident students and finally residents with scores below 50 are accepted.

In other business, Hickey said work on revisions to the regional agreement is essentially complete, but will not likely be ready for presentation to town meetings this fall.

Freshmen will be invited in for “Freshmen Fiesta” on Aug. 15 to familiarize themselves with the building and a cookout lunch.

W-H WILL looking ahead

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Members of Whitman-Hanson WILL, an anti-opiod abuse community group, met at the WHRHS library on Wednesday, July 19 to review past programs, a 2016 youth survey and current opioid overdose data.

The group will hold another meeting at the school’s library at 1:45 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 21 before planning a community-wide session at the Hanson Public Library on a date to be determined in October.

“We want to include the community in some of our discussions, because we have been primarily focused at the school and with law enforcement throughout Whitman and Hanson,” said Amanda Sandoval of the Brockton Area Opioid Abuse Prevention Collaborative. “We really want to have the voice of the community  involved.”

Attending the July 19 meeting were police chiefs Scott Benton of Whitman and Michale Miksch of Hanson; police officers Daniel Connolly of Whitman, and Elisha Sullivan of Hanson and Hanson DARE School Resource Officer William Frazier; W-H Principal Jeffrey Szymaniak, Adjustment Counselor Erin Monroe and Athletic Director Bob Rodgers as well as Ed Jacobs, the director of grants and sponsored projects from the Plymouth County DA’s office; Sandoval and Anna Dowd of the Brockton Area Opioid Abuse Prevention Collaborative — as well as a few community members. Member Maureen Leonard of WHRHS was unable to attend, so Symaniak provided an overview of past programs through the school.

Szymaniak echoed Sandoval’s message that the group wants to branch out into the community  in its efforts to being the message of making good choices regarding drugs and alcohol that are already being addressed at the school level.

“We really hit the ground running in 2014 and I think we’ve managed to do a lot in a small amount of time,” he said. “This is an important group.”

Past programs have included the drug-free community survey Rodgers reviewed, the PhotoVoice program depicting students’ artistic representations of their substance abuse concerns, guest speakers for students and the community as well as the Hidden in Plain site mock-up of a teen bedroom and how drugs can be hidden from parents.

Szymaniak noted how he has had to attend the funerals of too many former students, including three recently in Scituate, where he used to teach.

Sandoval suggested the meetings could alternate between school and community-based meetings such as the one they are planning for the Hanson Library in October.

One parent at the meeting asked for a parents’ program on cell phone applications teens use to communicate about things they want to hide from parents.

“Rather than meeting parents when they’re in this desperation phase where they don’t know where to go, they don’t know where to turn, I think it’s important to be proactive,” she said.

Benton and Miksch reported that overdoses are statistically holding steady — from nine fatalities among 49 overdoses in Whitman in 2015 to three fatalities among 41 overdoses in 2016 and — so far this year — three fatalities among 19 overdoses.

“Before you are going to see a significant drop from 49 to, say, 25 or 30 it’s going to be three to five years,” Benton said. “This has been going on for several years. … Those are sobering numbers when you consider we’re a 14,000-15,000 community.”

Death certificates are not always clear as to whether opioid overdoses are a main cause of death, he noted.

“When you can go in and say of these 38 cases, all of them were overdoses, not some are pending, you can go to the governor and keep saying, ‘We need money,’” Benton said.

Sandoval said all 27 police departments in Plymouth County are on board, sharing their data for realtime reporting of overdoses. It has revealed that almost half of all overdoses are not happening in the towns where victims reside, a statistic that is helping get them the help they need via programs such as Project Outreach.

Miksch noted that the high mark for deaths for Hanson residents was 20 in 2015 — and it shocked him because only half those fatalities occurred in Hanson.

Both he and Benton also said overdose deaths ranged in age from teens to adults in their 60s.

Combined with East Bridgewater HOPE, offering informational meetings in Plymouth and East Bridgewater as well as Project Outreach’s goal to have an officer, counselor or both visit the home of overdoses within 24 hours with information on rehab services.

“There’s no judgment,” Miksch said of the program.

Jacobs said the national statistic for overdose deaths is 16 per 100,000. There were 41 among Plymouth County’s approximately 500,000 residents in 2013 and 80 in 2014.

Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid frequently originating in China and Mexico, is the game-changer police said because it is more powerful and takes more Narcan to counteract. Drug-sniffing dogs can’t smell fentanyl and it presents a danger to police as it can be absorbed through the skin.

Sandoval said there have been three overdoses at Brockton Hospital where fentanyl had been added to marijuana the victims were smoking.

Bottle/Can Drive supports W-H boys’ soccer

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The W-H boys’ soccer team is holding a bottle/can drive from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, July 22 to raise funds in support of the soccer program. Please help by bringing your empty bottles and cans to the Whitman-Hanson Regional High School (front entrance on Franklin Street).

O’Toole’s hearing postponed

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WHITMAN — A public hearing on the status of the alcoholic beverage license issued to O’Toole’s pub, already delayed by legal negotiations, has been again rescheduled — this time, officials say, for the final time. The matter will be on the agenda for the Tuesday, Aug. 15 selectmen’s meeting.

Whitman Selectmen were scheduled to conduct a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday, July 18 about the license at the 24 Raynor Ave. business following police investigations of disturbances at the pub, but Town Administrator Frank Lynam noted that he communicated with town counsel last week to confirm the plan to move forward. On Monday afternoon, however, after an email had been forwarded to O’Toole’s lawyer to confirm that all legal hurdles were cleared, that attorney requested additional information from the town.

“We responded and are providing them with copies of a recording and other items that are being requested,” Lynam said. “That will go out [Wednesday, July 19]. The hearing will be scheduled for Aug. 15 and it will occur.”

He said it was the third postponement of the hearing.

Energy grant

Lynam also noted that — after Assistant Town Administrator Lisa Green had announced last month that the town had received a $197,000 green communities grant for boiler replacement at the Fire Department and Library as well as an energy management system for the Library — the approved grant amounts were reduced by the calculation of expected energy savings from the new boilers.

That means funds will have to be used from the Fire Department revenue account for that boiler. At the Library, a $17,050 request to make up the difference in the $80,000 worth of improvements to the Library ran into a snag. Director Andrea Rounds has told Lynam she does not want to use available trust fund money for the work.

“Frankly, we don’t have the money available to make up the difference right now,” he said. “I guess we’ll be having a discussion in August and either the additional money will be available or we’re going to have to pass on that opportunity for the boiler and energy system.”

“That’s a lot of capital to pass over,” Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski said.

Lynam also noted the town, via the Library, had received $300,000 in a bequest from a patron for things other than library operating expenses.

The current boiler is original to the 1988 construction of the Library building.

“So, we’ll have a boiler that’s worth about $30,000 or $40,000 that we only have to pay $17,000 for — why wouldn’t we do that?” Selectman Dan Salvucci said.

“That’s a question we’ll have to ask,” Lynam said.

Salvucci also reminded motorists using side streets as detours during a DPW paving project on School Street to drive slowly.

“If you’re detoured on a secondary street, watch your speed, there’s lots of kids playing,” he said.

In other business, the board voted 3-0 to appoint Laura L. Howe to the post of primary animal control officer — on an on-call basis from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. — and Mary A. Drake as secondary animal control officer, pending both women’s completion of mandatory hiring processes. Selectmen Randy LaMattina and Scott Lambiase were absent.

“Laura has expressed great interest in serving the community in this capacity,” Lynam said.

Nita Sault was appointed to a vacancy on the Whitman Cultural Council. Both Howe and Sault had run for seats on the board of Selectmen in the May annual Town Elections and had expressed interest in further involvement in town activities after their campaigns fell short.

Selectmen approved a resolution to authorize the signing of a lease-purchase agreement for a sidewalk plow as supported by voters at the May 1 Town Meeting.

Lynam explained that, in order to complete the lease-purchase agreement, there are documents to be signed on behalf of the board.

Selectmen also approved a Class II auto dealer’s license for Ricardo Miranda Filho for his business RT Auto Sales & Repair at 288 Essex St.

The building inspector had no concerns about the application, provided the business removes all inoperable vehicles from the premises and that cars are displayed according to the site plan.

“I will try to make the place better,” Filho said  in brief remarks to the board after their vote. “We’ll put nice signs there, better cars there, and keep it clean.”

Selectman Brian Bezanson lauded the Recreation Commission for the annual Fourth of July Family Field Day program.

“They do a great job and they’re giving up their holiday to do it,” he said. “I want to thank all the volunteers.”

SSVT eyes its growth options

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HANOVER — Faced with the need for expansion to accommodate new educational standards and increasing enrollment — and having been passed over twice in recent years for MSBA funding — South Shore Regional Vocational Educational Technical High School is preparing to make the argument to go ahead with the work on its own.

“We want to serve the communities and the taxpayers who are sending their students here, certainly, but the status quo isn’t good enough anymore,” said Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey. “Knowing what we want and asking once is important.”

That means preparing information to present to member communities illustrating the need for expansion, as well as how it can be done, with or without borrowing funds, to accomplish all the goals.

On Thursday, July 13 members of the SSVT Regional School Committee’s Capital Projects Subcommittee met to discuss that work, with the issue slated to go before the full committee on Wednesday, July 19.

“The Capital Projects Subcommittee is a logical place to start in terms of determining what steps we might take,” Hickey said. “A well-documented plan is expected to address that across the board.”

The aim is development of a master facilities plan encompassing the relative health of the building, such as Tri-County Vocational in Wakefield produced last year. Hickey supplied copies to the subcommittee for reference.

“We all know the motivation for the discussion — increased enrollment, increased demand — the building is not getting any younger,” Hickey said. “We know we need more space, what’s inside the space we have needs to be modernized, and there’s no guarantee that we’re going to get any support from the [Mass. School Building Authority] MSBA.”

The state funding agency has limited funds and an increasing number of applicants, some with more acute need. SSVT’s stabilization fund allows the school to plan and present an adequate argument to the member towns.

Possible out-buildings in which to place shops to free up space for other purposed in the main building are an option. Such self-contained buildings that are affordable within a budget year, are about 6,000 square feet are the type of project that the school can fund on its own in a single budget year. That size is considered helpful, but is not likely to be a lot in “the world of vocational shop space,” Hickey said.

The school, surrounded by wetlands does not have a lot of buildable space available and it uses a septic system because sewerage is not available.

Larger projects, perhaps a larger one that can be funded through borrowing or through a “deeper part of the stabilization fund, something that we could not have our kids in their shops do” are also possible.

“There’s not a whole lot that our kids can’t do,” said committee member Robert Mahoney of Rockland. He noted that the panel is not looking for the funding for a $100,000 feasibility study or a $6 million building. “We’re coming [to towns] for X-amount of dollars to buy eight out-buildings that’s going to be very minimal to bring us up to where we need to be.”   

Septic capacity should also be included in any feasibility study in case an expansion project triggers the need for adding a wastewater treatment facility for the school, Hickey advised. Septic capacity hinges on the demand and number of fixtures in the building.

When the new wing was completed in 1993 there were 460 students at SSVT with 650 expected as of the 2017-18 school year.

Hickey said that, while enrollment in sending towns is trending down, SSVT’s enrollment for those towns is holding steady — with out-of-disctrict enrollments increasing.

“We’ve got to stop what we’re doing,” Cohasset member Kenneth Thayer said “We’ve got to expand the building, get the building up to snuff. Students should be able to come in and go to school here. We want to add to it.”

He forecast that the new horticulture/landscaping and plumbing programs will be very popular, necessitating new space. He advocated that, if five out-buildings can be constructed, it may be cheaper to do now than “down the road.”

Hickey said, given present space constraints, the horticulture program may have to limit its first class to about 12 students. Building toward 50 by the time those freshmen graduate.

“Other then metal fabrication-welding, every shop has a footprint that is smaller than the Department of Education’s recommended square footage,” he said. Metal fabrication used to share space with industrial technology, which was discontinued 15 years ago.

The autobody shop is also being required to expand with another, enclosed, bay for welding aluminum. Certification for the program will hinge on that.

“It’s not a crisis right now, but NATEF [National Automotive Technician’s Education Foundation] has told us that, when we come back in 2020 or 2021, we won’t be able to certify the program if the existing footprint does not contain a segregated area for aluminum work,” Hickey said. “It’s that the industry is doing more aluminum work, and if you do regular collision repair work, and aluminum work, it could contaminate equipment.”

There was some good news on the feasibility study front, however.

Hickey said the school has an advantage in that it has local people who know construction and know the building well. Engineering firms would spend time obtaining that information.

“If you ask me what programs are most limiting with their space, I’m going to tell you it’s the ones that are over-subscribed and it is not safe to have the ratios,” he said. “We’re going to talk about the heavy-equipment programs.”

Mahoney wants to see out-buildings used to accommodate present students, rather than using them to attract more at this point.  Weight, ceiling height requirements and MSBA time limitations following previous roof projects limit options for adding another floor to the school.

“The good news is we have the capacity to look into this,” Hickey said.