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Superintendent finalists to be interviewed

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School Committee interviews with the three finalists selected by a screening subcommittee will be held beginning at 4 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 15 in open session at the W-H library.

The finalists are: Sharon Schools Assistant Superintendent for Information Systems and Administration John M. Marcus, a North Easton resident; Lincoln (R.I.) High School Principal Kevin J. McNamara of Greenville, R.I.; and WHRHS Principal Jeffrey Szymaniak of Pembroke.

The search began with a list of 19 applicants, School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes reminded the Committee at the Wednesday, Feb. 7 meeting.

The Committee planned to send representatives to conduct site visits to the three schools between Thursday, Feb. 8 and Monday, Feb. 12 ahead of the interviews. But the entire committee could not go on site visits without requiring the posting of a public meeting.

“These candidates … are currently interviewing with other districts as we speak,” noted subcommittee and School Committee member Michael Jones. “I’d hate to lose any candidate by going any longer [with the process].”

Hayes confirmed that some of the three finalists are, indeed, finalists in other districts.

“I would rather candidates come here and meet with groups, whether it’s teachers, whether it’s families or principals — that kind of thing — I’d rather they come here and meet with them than me go to their schools,” Committee member Robert O’Brien Jr., said.

“I think both [ways] have value, but this is a committee decision,” Hayes said.

“I think it’s most beneficial to us to have those interviews next week,” Committee member Kevin Lynam said. “I don’t want us to postpone this into school vacation and to push it back to the week after that. The deadline of next Wednesday should dictate our decision.”

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ruth Gilbert-Whitner countered that site visits were really an opportunity to glean important information.

“We’ve done both,” she said. “It think for a position of this importance, you need to do both. … I’ve learned from going to site visits that you learn a tremendous amount about the candidates by what that person has you look at, who the people are you talk to, what you see and what you don’t see — and it is extremely helpful.”

Having candidates is equally important — providing a real sense of their inter-personal skills. Site visits are just as important with inside candidates as for those from other districts, she added.

“If they want the job badly enough, they’re going to make it work,” Gilbert-Whitner said.

 

Maquan update

 

With the passage of a transfer of funds from free cash at the Monday, Feb. 5 special Town Meeting in Hanson, work will begin over February vacation — Feb. 19 to 23 — at Indian Head School to contain and abate asbestos in the area where work on classrooms and bathrooms will be worked on later.

“As we know, there’s asbestos at Indian Head — we’ve dealt with that for a long, long time — that will be the beginning of the project which then follows through to the next special Town Meeting which will be held in the town of Whitman on [Monday] March 12 at 7:30 p.m. for the allocation of the remaining funds,” Gilbert-Whitner said. “We’re very grateful to the folks of Hanson.”

The district will also be fine-tuning timelines over February vacation in order to develop a more exact schedule for work to be done in subsequent weeks.

 

Komedy for a Kause fights Duchenne muscular dystrophy

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WHITMAN — For Whitman native Mark Chauppetta the fight against Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy is a personal one — his twin 22-year-old sons, Troy and Andrew, have Duchenne.

But he also sees the need for humor in the world.

“I’ve always liked to entertain people to raise money,” Chauppetta said. “I just hate asking for handouts [when] there are so many worthy causes out there and so many people need help.”

This year, his second annual “Komedy for a Kause” show at Plymouth Memorial Hall will mark his first solo production. Chauppetta has received 501 (C) (3) status for his own fundraising orgnization, The Wheelchair Strong Foundation, of which he is executive director. That title stems from a T-shirt design made by his sons’ online company, twinteeshirts.com.

Proceeds for the Friday, Sept. 29 Komedy for a Kause 2 show will support Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, providing grants to families and to fund adaptive sports, although his mission is to raise awareness and money through entertaining. General admission tickets are $45 or $75 for VIP tickets, which include dinner and a meet-and-greet.

He urges people not to wait until the last minute to purchase tickets.

“This event is going to get as big as ‘Comics Come Home,’” he said. “Our lineup this year is crazy.”

A Denis Leary fundraising show in Boston, Comics Come Home benefits the Cam Neely Foundation for Cancer Care.

The Komedy for a Kause 2 bill of performers is designed to bring in a wide range of age groups and includes Jimmy Walker — JJ from the 1970s Norman Lear sitcom, “Good Times” — as well as Lenny Clarke, Rocky LaPorte — who has appeared on the reality show “Last Comic Standing” — and Dan Miller, Johnny Pizzi, Christine Hurley and Jerry Thornton, all three of whom appeared at last year’s show. Hurley is the headliner and Thornton is hosting the event.

“She is becoming, bar none, the best female comic in the industry right now,” he has said of Hurley, who is a sweet-natured mother of five off stage. “All Christine Hurley does is [dump] on her husband Jimmy Hurley. She’s so funny and a little blue.”

“Lenny Clarke is one of the nicest, most charitable guys you will ever meet,” Chauppetta said.

Thornton is a “local guy turned sports radio personality” at WEEI and a former Hingham court officer, Chauppetta said last year.

Kicking off the show is “American Idol” contestant William  Hung, whose infamously bad version of Ricky Martin’s “She Bangs” made him a household name.

“He had 15 minutes of fame and made millions off of that one TV appearance on ‘American Idol,” said Chauppetta. Now an engineer for the city of Los Angeles, Hung paid for his college degree with the money he made from that TV audition.

Chauppetta has also asked his wife if he could bring Hung along with them to his W-H 30th reunion the next night. She said fine.

“It’s going to be a very eclectic show,” Chauppetta said of Komedy for a Kause 2. “I like to put on the unknown, I like to surprise people. I like to make people laugh. My shows are kind of high-intensity, kind of like my personality.”

He recalled that, when he was 21 and living on Warren Avenue in Whitman with his parents while working as a corrections officer, “something pushed me to leave the Department of Corrections and go out to California to be an actor.”

His parents were not exactly thrilled, and the gamble didn’t bring show-biz success, but he used the opportunity to learn how to be a private investigator and put the skills he has amassed over the years to work for his charity as well as his sons, whom he calls his passion and inspiration.

“I’ve put together a powerful board of directors,” Chauppetta said. That board includes Plymouth County DA Timothy Cruz, Thornton and others. Chauppetta’s daughter Elizabeth is the foundation’s president.

“Last year’s event was so successful that Komedy for a Kause 1 raised $30,000 for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy,” Chauppetta said. “We were a third-party vendor last year, meaning we collaborated with the Jett Foundation who solely specializes in DMD.”

He said the decision to hold the show in 1,500-seat, arena-style Plymouth Memorial Hall was dictated by the venue’s size.

“I’d love to have it in Whitman, I’d love to have it in Hanson, I’d love to have it in Brockton where my business is located , but there’s nowhere big enough,” he said.

Chauppetta decided his skills as a private investigator with solid media contacts, besides the Express, he will be talking to KISS-108, WROR, the Hill-Man Show on WAAF and other local papers and cable TV stations as well as Facebook.

“Facebook works,” he said.

SSVT panel OK’s new facility study

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HANOVER — The South Shore Vo-Tech Capital Projects Subcommittee has green-lighted a request for qualifications process for an existing facilities assessment at its meeting Monday, Aug. 14.

The vote came after a discussion of planning “the first and most important steps in working toward an ultimate goal” of creating a master facilities plan for the school by the end of this calendar year, according to Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey.If the study completed by this December, a proposed project could be included in the fiscal 2019 budget.

“There is simply no way we can handle our educational needs within this building footprint,” Hickey said. “You’re going to need something with a high ceiling and a free-standing out building could be part of that.”

The plan would also outline the available land on which the district can build.

The district already knows at least one out building is needed for the automotive shop or a greenhouse for the new horticultural program, as well as targeted expansion within the current building’s footprint — such as a possible second floor for academics. Hickey said examples of specific need should be included in any building study.

“This also gives us an unbiased look at what we’ve got when we go to do something,” said School Committee Chairman Robert Molla of Norwell. “This is just a piece of the puzzle.”

The master plan’s major goal, would include components to be used to inform an engineering firm on the repair or replacement needs the school is seeking to expand the school building and accommodate new educational standards and increasing enrollment.

“This document will also help when going to towns for a legitimate, verifiable need,” Hickey said of the needs of SSVT’s 70-year-old building.

Hickey also reviewed what some “end products” and request for qualifications (RFQs) would look like. The bulk of that presentation focused on a facilities plan that KBA Architects produced for Tri-County Vocational. An RFQ details information on what a school district or municipality wants to see in a construction project — to be used as the basis for a plan proposal.

The subcommittee would then wait for firms to respond, choosing three applicants to interview.

“There are firm criteria in here to determine whether or not the firms are eligible,” Hickey said. “My research is showing there are two ways of doing this.”

The panel can require a “not-to-exceed fee” in the proposal if they wish as a way to control the scope and cost of a firm’s engineering study.

“What we would need to do is make very clear what we want and what we don’t want, but we would have to either state that up front or in the form of an addendum,” Hickey said about components that may have been overlooked. “They could ask those questions, we could answer those questions and then we would supply any answers to questions asked, making it completely transparent to anybody who seeks them.”

Committee member Robert Mahoney of Rockland asked if the state could provide a vetted bid list of engineering firms for the facilities plan work.

“It’s not so much the pricing as it is approved state to use, kind of like the bid process for machinery,” he said.

“It’s the authority to get on a government project,” added Molla. “They pre-qualify you to bid.”

Hickey said such a list would be helpful and he would look into it.

One process of selecting proposals, starts with an examination of its qualifications and not the price proposal, he said, with price negotiated after a firm is selected. Some municipalities notify RFQ bidders that there is a not-to-exceed clause in effect, limiting the amount they are willing to pay for an engineering study.

“Everybody has a budget,” Hickey said, noting he does not want to spend the entire $125,000 booked in for master facilities planning and other design fees on the master facilities plan alone. “This kind of plan does not include the actual design of anything.”

Member Kenneth Thayer of Cohasset asked if there was funding built in for unanticipated cost overruns on such a plan.

“We’re basically going to tell them what we want,” Molla replied. “Those are things we know. They’re going to go through and say, ‘you can’t do this without that.’ It’s not them telling us what they think we need.”

Brookline High School did an educational master plan in 2015 at a cost of $105,000. Lincoln Public Schools did one in 2016, contracting with a firm for $40,000. Lexington spent $75,000 and Cape Cod Academy, a private school, paid $59,000 for a master plan in 2014. Tri-County Vocational spent $125,000.

“I personally don’t think that we would be spending that much money,” Hickey said. “We are not the same size and we have done some recent planning and our circumstances are such that parts of this building are in very good condition.”

He advocates being very specific about what parts of the building need review and which do not, making the school’s previous study data available to an engineering study contractor.

“Out of this should come a 10-year capital facilities maintenance plan that we should be able to debate, reprioritize, move things around,” he said. “But this outside analysis should give us a roadmap for the next 10 years.”

The major goals cover specific needs under the heading of architectural, civil or site requirements, structural, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, hazardous material and a capital improvement plan and cost estimate. A second goal would include a location for a greenhouse, a space needs analysis the percentage of  classroom use —including the amount and how much of the school day in which it is used — and identification of all buildable land on campus

“This is what we could bake into the RFQ,” Hickey said. “The firm should have a draft of the highest-priority items, unofficially, to the superintendent by Dec. 1.”

License hearing is continued

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WHITMAN — An Open Meeting concern has prompted Whitman Selectmen on Tuesday, Aug. 15 to continue a public hearing considering allegations about the alcoholic beverage license issued to O’Toole’s Pub.

The hearing will resume on Tuesday, Sept. 19 — to be the sole item on that agenda — as town officials inform two people involved in a fight at the 24 Raynor Ave. pub on Jan. 6, 2017 that discussions of the event could make them identifiable, even if their names are not mentioned.

A criminal investigation of the incident is still pending.

Pub owner Tom O’Toole has not yet had the opportunity to address the incident, but his lawyer David Flanagan said “we’re here, we’d like the hearing tonight.”

Flanagan had asked that witnesses not use names of those involved in the incident.

“They were redacted from the exhibits,” he said. “I don’t know any of the names — I haven’t received one name on a police report.”

Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski asked if there was any way viewers of the cable broadcast of the meeting would be able to identify those involved from witness testimony.

“If it becomes clear to anyone watching this [meeting] video that he or she is being spoken about, whether names are mentioned or not, then that person had the right to have notice and to be here,” Kowalski said. “It’s not enough to not say the names.”

Town Attorney Matthew Tobin said the Open Meeting Law requires a board to provide notice. Any testimony those persons may give, if they opt to attend a hearing could be done in executive session, Kowalski said.

“That’s the issue, the right to be in executive session,” said Town Administrator Frank Lynam.

Tobin said that right could be waived, but it is the right of those people whose identity or reputation is at stake to make, not the board’s.

“The fact that a meeting is publicly posted does not eliminate a necessity to provide notice to someone who may be discussed.” he said.

Flanagan said he understands the privacy issue, but said he and his client had no standing on the issue.

“This is between you two,” he said of discussions between Kowalski and Tobin on how the involved parties would be notified.

Tobin had outlined the timeline of the investigation and hearing postponements made to ensure a more definite statement of the allegations against him was provided to O’Toole so he could prepare his defense.

Lynam explained the hearing had been postponed more than once “due to a number of issues.”

An individual involved in the fight was injured.

“The board is now hearing from the licensee as to what occurred and why the event should or should not have been found in violation of his all-alcohol license,” Lynam said.

Tobin said the original hearing notice letter was dated March 31 and the board voted on March 28 to notify O’Toole of the alleged violations of his liquor license.

“It has been rescheduled a number of times, most recently by a notice dated July 31,” Tobin said. “A supplemental notice was issued Mr. O’Toole at the request of his counsel … in response to a request for additional information.”

That request provided O’Toole and his attorney with a list of exhibits as well as copies of them, audiotapes and a copy of a videotape that was provided by the pub to Whitman Police. They have also been provided a list of potential witnesses to the incident prepared to testify at the hearing.

Flanagan had advised Tobin that he would stipulate to Whitman Fire-Rescue documents and that Fire Chief Timothy Grenno was not required to testify at the hearing. Selectmen excused Grenno from the hearing.

During an executive session at the Aug. 15 meeting, Selectmen viewed a video of the fight, asking police officials including Chief Scott Benton and Deputy Chief Timothy Hanlon and a detective into that session, presumably to answer questions.

“We have concerns that, displaying that video in open session would likely offend the privacy interests of those parties affected by that video,” Flanagan said in requesting it be viewed in executive session and the board agreed.

Kowalski’s concern about supporting witness testimony was raised when, back in open session, Flanagan asked that witnesses attending to offer testimony not mention the names of those in the fight.

Tobin agreed that Kowalski’s concern over adequate notification was valid and that the records produced to Flanagan had been redacted.

“That’s what was a red flag to me, because I’m not sure,” Kowalski said. “It is possible that people can figure it out if they know of the events.”

Tobin also said the persons involved in the fight, and subject to testimony even if unnamed, are entitled to receive advance notice of their right to attend such a meeting.

“I can’t anticipate what their response would be,” Tobin said, adding that the issue had not been directly encountered in the case to this point.

“I’m simply asking the witnesses not to use any names,” Flanagan said. He said it would protect those involved in the fight, the police department and the district attorney’s office.

O’Toole’s had been disciplined once within the last four years for license violations and has been advised of the town’s liquor license regulations, according to Tobin.

“Prior discipline within that four-year window is something that may be considered by this board, consistent with the rules and regs, consistent with the board’s authority … in determining what, if any, discipline is appropriate based upon the incident that occurred on Jan. 6.”

Flanagan provided Selectmen with an information packet, including the 2015 disciplinary decision in which he highlighted areas that will be part of his argument in the present matter.

New direction on Rec director

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HANSON — The Recreation Commission voted Monday, Aug. 7 to present a warrant article before Town Meeting to reduce the recreation director’s position to 20 hours, as they address what they deem a more pressing problem — facilities upgrades and repairs at Camp Kiwanee.

The 4-0 vote — members Diane Cohen, Rachel Gross and John Zucco were unable to attend — reflects the commission’s continued commitment to programs, they said, while addressing needed repairs. The commission is slated to meet again at 6 p.m., Monday, Aug. 14.

“I do not think we’re going to get away with not having a director,” Chairman Annmarie Bouzan said. “I understand that … I feel like the money aspect of this is really important. But we have to come to a happy medium, so maybe we have a facilities manager that comes in and, for the moment, they can only work 19 hours — that’s not enough.”

Member Brian Smith argued the commission would be better off going to a part-time director and save the full-time costs for the facilities manager they need.

That’s where a Town Meeting warrant would be needed, because the recreation director’s job description as voted at last year’s October special Town Meeting reads 35 to 40 hours.

“That’s going back to Town Meeting and saying, ‘We want to change this at Town Meeting to a 20-hour position,’” Bouzan said.

Smith also argued it would be easier to hire a recreation director on a part-time basis than a part-time facilities manager.

“I really tossed this around because I just feel like we need what we need,” Bouzan said. “The bottom line is if there was somebody here that knows about [managing buildings] … it would benefit the town and the camp at the same time.”

“The facilities are much more important at this time,” member Theresa Cocio said. “Caretakers can’t do everything.”

Members plan to contact an architect to perform an assessment of the repair needs the commission can prioritize and include in an updated job description for a full-time facilities manager position — paid on an hourly basis — to either serve the Recreation Department or to be shared with other town departments.

There is already a facilities manager position listed with the town’s Wage and Personnel Board, so once the job description is ironed out, commissioners said all that would be needed would be to hire someone.

That would ultimately be a Wage and Personnel decision.

Bouzan said she has presented a draft of such a job description to Town Administrator Michael McCue, who has forwarded a copy to Wage and Personnel Chairman and Selectman Kenny Mitchell and to Selectmen Chairman Jim McGahan.

“It’s not like we’re reinventing the wheel here, so we don’t need to go to Town Meeting to get that job approved,” she said. “It’s just kind of trying to find funding for it.”

Bouzan said McCue and selectmen are asking the commission to expand on the list already presented in the job description.

“We need this more than anything else,” Smith said. “If we had another event coordinator and then put that money from the director’s position [it could make the difference in hiring a facilities manager].”

“This place has run for how many years without it,” Cocio agreed.

Smith said the camp’s seasonal use makes it feasible to share such a manager with other departments if necessary.

“If we put somebody full time on this, maybe in a year, you get a lot of repairs done,” Smith said. “After that, it’s maintaining.”

A priority list or repairs, which a consultant can help with, can help the commission compile a matrix, Bouzan said.

“I just feel that’s what we need right now, because we’re out in left field,” she said. “We’re catching stuff and screening cabins and looking at septic designs. Honestly, I don’t think we have a part-time crew that could do half the major things that are on these [repair] lists.”

That’s where a facilities manager’s expertise in knowing how to prioritize and when to seek contractors to do work would be important, according to Smith.

Commission members also argued the manager could also effectively prioritize and assign repairs as well as work on grants for more expensive repairs.

The commission also made its formal vote to accept the resignation, effective July 24, of former Recreation Director Marybeth MacKay, which had not been done previously because the resignation was received the day of the meeting and could not officially be placed on the agenda.

In other business, the commission discussed $78,000 in Community Preservation funds earmarked for the north campground, but which come with restrictions on its use.

“I thought it might be in the best interest of the Recreation Commission to just return the money saying we can’t use it right now and go for a bigger grant for the gatehouse,” Bouzan said.

No decision on the funds have been made at this time.

The previous commission had accepted the funds in 2014 or 2015, she pointed out noting that needs at the south campground is also a bigger priority right now. The funds must be used for materials only on exterior work on the cabins and the north end is not used as extensively right now.

While the commission need only use a portion of the funds in the first year to retain it, the restrictions limit the use to where it is least needed, members agreed.

“I don’t want to hold onto this money when they can use it on other funding sources,” Bouzan said. She said she will email CPC Chairman Thomas J. Hickey for some guidance on the issue.

Test sample finds West Nile

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WHITMAN — Whitman residents were advised by reverse 911 calls on Friday, Aug. 4 that a positive test for West Nile Virus has been found in one of the town’s sample traps.

The finding makes Whitman one of 59 positive samples in 36 Massachusetts communities so far this year. While there are moderate zones of risk in eight counties — Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Worcester, Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin and Sussex. Plymouth County, and the rest of the South Shore, the Cape and Islands remain in the low-risk category as of Monday, according to the Mass. Dept. of Public Health.

There have been no positive tests in either people or animals to date, the DPH reported.

Local health authorities said this week there is no cause to close athletic fields to public use as yet, but urged parents to take precautions of making sure family members use an insect repellent with DEET before outside activities between dusk and dawn.

“Unless it’s for [Eastern Equine Encephalitis] EEE, they don’t usually close down as far as the games and all that,” Whitman Health Agent Alexis Andrews said. “We do have an update on the [town] website, but it’s the usual plans in effect as far as taking precautions, but there aren’t any restrictions as yet.”

Hanson has not seen any test samples with positive WNV results at this point, according to Health Agent Matt Tannis on Monday.

“To limit exposure, it is recommended that residents avoid outdoor events between dusk and dawn, wear long pants, a long sleeve shirt and socks, use a repellent with DEET and remove areas of standing water around the home,” Whitman advised on its website whitman-ma.gov.

The Board of Health on Tuesday, Aug. 8, received the call from the DPH and notified Town Administrator Frank Lynam, who as the town’s public information officer, alerted residents about the positive test sample.

“He did a great job because it was out and he got the fact sheet out and everything,” said Health Board Administrative Assistant Elaine Williams.

Health Board Chairman Eric Joubert agreed.

“We did a good job on the website, too,” he said. “Spray before you play — and people shouldn’t wait for West Nile to be found anyway. Every year, it comes.”

Williams also indicated on the website that residents should contact Plymouth County Mosquito Control if they wish to have their neighborhood sprayed against mosquitoes.

“The town does not spray,” she said.

The board discussed advising youth sports coaches, perhaps through Recreation Director Oliver Amado Jr., to put out signs or to advise parents about the use of repellent with DEET. The state’s Children’s Protection Act already requires schools and day cares to have a mosquito control plan within their Integrated Pest Management plans.

“The Boston area is usually a focus of WNV activity, but this year we are seeing evidence of widespread WNV infection in mosquitoes with particularly significant activity in and around Worcester and in the Pioneer Valley,” DPH Deputy State Epidemologist Dr. Catherine Brown said. “I encourage everyone to use the tools of prevention, including applying mosquito repellent with an EPA-registered ingredient according to the directions on the label, wearing clothing to reduce exposed skin when weather permits, draining standing water to prevent mosquito breeding and repairing window screens to keep mosquitoes out of your home,” she said. Dr. Brown warned that “August and early September are when we see most of our WNV infections in people.”

WNV is usually transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito. In 2016, there were 16 human cases of WNV identified in Massachusetts.

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.