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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.

WH 3-D Printer Camp clicks with kids

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If it’s true that once you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door, then Whitman and Hanson students taking part in the summer 3-D Printer Camp at WHRSD should perhaps start preparing to greet their global partners.

Any successful product starts with a solid design.

“There’s so many things we can do with this,” W-H Business and Technology Education teacher Julie Giglia said July 10 on the first day of the second camp session. “Why are we starting with a smaller project? Before we can print anything, we’ve got to know how to design and baby steps lead to bigger steps and practice makes potential.”

The three four-day camps taught by Giglia — and assisted this summer by 2017 graduate Conor Keane of Hanson — began June 26 and conclude with a session from July 31 to Aug. 4.

Keane will attend the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester this fall, where he will study architecture. In between helping Giglia answer campers’ questions, Keane also did some work on a design for the dream house he plans to build one day.

“Practice makes potential,” is Giglia’s, teaching mantra. “Nothing’s perfect, unless your name is Perfect.”

The camp was first offered last year following the school’s being awarded a $1,600 Innovation Station grant from representatives of Otter Products on behalf of its Otter Cares Foundation in September 2015. The grant made the school’s 3-D printer purchase possible and that technology upgrade led to the idea for the camp.

“I think a lot of people are excited with new technology,” Giglia said July 10. “It’s an opportunity for kids to design and make things from scratch — from inception all the way to a prototype.”

Like any summer camp, the 3-D Printer Camp begins with an ice-breaking session so the half-dozen or so participants can get to know each other. Then they watched a video on how the computer-aided drafting software works before starting off with a practice session on drafting dog house with a design by Google SketchUp via 3DVinci.net.

The week culminates on a Thursday afternoon with an open house for the campers’ families from 2 to 3 p.m.

“Sometimes videos put us all to sleep,” Giglia said, interrupting the program to start some practical work on a simple doghouse design to familiarize the students with the software. “We’re starting easy because we build on our knowledge.We can’t just go out and print before we learn how to design. … We learn best when we see things.”

“Before you can be independent, you’ve got to learn to be non-independent,” Keane added.

This writer will admit that the campers, ages 10 to 15, left me in the dust as they mastered the basics before adding extras, such as windows, colors, roofing materials and exterior fencing, while I was struggling with the initial dimensions.

Campers learned the need to follow three axis points to arrive at a three-dimensional drawing. As Giglia offered instructions at the white board, Keane offered individual help where needed.

“This is ‘camping is fun’” Giglia said. “Some people learn at different levels. Don’t compare yourself to Conor, he’s much more advanced.”

One or two campers had made the mistake of recording their doghouse dimensions as inches instead of feet, but their errors paled in relation to their creativity. They also learned about the software’s version of the Cloud storage system — called the Warehouse —as well as how to file their work in folders, the value of the undo key and of saving their work frequently lest computer crashes cost them a lot of work. Work in the Warehouse may be downloaded for incorporation in new projects, including landscape features.

Keane also offered a couple shortcuts to ensure straight lines and angles, too.

By the end of the camp, participants would be able to create items such as rings and key chains from biodegradable plastic filament specifically manufactured for use in 3-D printers, and from which student designs can be reproduced in plastic models. The filament, which can be made from recycled plastic bottle caps, is fed into the printer in order to create prototypes.

“Anything you can use to recycle is a positive thing” she said. “I think kids come away pretty happy.”

The campers can also use virtual reality visors for fun as well as design challenges at the camp sessions.

Giglia, who has taught CAD for seven years at WHRHS, said the camp also fosters an interest in that subject.

Rec panel discusses security

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HANSON — The Recreation Commission heard updates on more than two dozen issues and upcoming projects from Director Marybeth MacKay two weeks after she narrowly avoided being dismissed from her job over alleged performance concerns. The commission also heard a presentation from an ADT Security Services representative on improving alarm and camera coverage at Camp Kiwanee.

A 3-3 vote on June 26  — one member was unable to attend — taken during an open session, provided MacKay with the opportunity to meet in the days since with Town Administrator Michael McCue and commission members from both sides of the vote to discuss concerns aired at that meeting.

“I plan to continue to assist the Recreation Commission and staff in every appropriate way to ensure the continued and future success of Camp Kiwanee,” McCue said in a statement Tuesday morning.

MacKay had reportedly requested the open session in order to defend herself publicly against any statements that might be made about her. A second vote to re-evaluate MacKay’s performance in September also failed by the same tie vote, according to a Facebook post about the meeting.

Minutes of the meeting have not yet been posted on the town website. There was no mention of that meeting’s business at the July 10 session in which MacKay was asked for progress reports on — among other items — caretaker job descriptions, computer software updates, employee packet and key dispersal updates as well as reports on the status of the Gatehouse and alarm procedures. She also presented information on upcoming wildlife programs for children that were approved by the commission.

ADT Territory Manager Suzy McPherson, whose job includes sales of systems to small businesses, gave a presentation on the alarm system upgrades the commission is seeking.

“I met with Marybeth and we had an extensive conversation,” McPherson said. “I understand you have an alarm and camera system here and that you want to have the ability to change the code.”

The commission is concerned with controlling access to Needles Lodge as well as exterior building security, an issue with both the key dispersal and alarm system protocols.

“I kind of think it’s a user issue and something easy, that you don’t need to spend money on,” McPherson said, noting that statement might seem counter to her job as a sales representative.

She said the problem is that anytime the alarm access code needs to be changed —as most businesses do anytime an employee leaves, voluntarily or by dismissal — the alarm company or Police Chief Michael Miksch must be contacted because they are the only ones with the master code.

The master code allows home or business owners to delete and add user codes, McPherson said, adding that even ADT doesn’t want to know the master code because of the liability. Instead, they walk clients through the process of accessing it or send a technician out if a home or business owner forgets it.

“I don’t understand how, because I deal with some municipalities, why don’t you want to know who’s coming and going,” she said of what is known as a pulse system. “If [an employee] wants to hang out with his buddies, if he comes in at 9 p.m. and puts in his code, there can be a record established.”

She said the universal use of one code presents a big liability for the town, but did not “want to throw a price at you if you don’t need it.”

Former Selectman Bill Scott, who attended the meeting, said he is also concerned about the police chief being the one in possession of the master code.

“Personally, I don’t want anyone’s code and I don’t know why our police chief has it,” said Scott, who is also a retired police chief. “He should not have it. Their job is to be objective and respond to any criminal violations.”

While stressing he was not criticizing Miksch in particular, Scott maintained that, “He should have no right to change any alarm in this building. Why that was done in the past, I don’t know.”

Miksch said Tuesday night he does not have, nor would he want, the master code to the alarm system. He said he has the codes for surveillance cameras, but doesn’t want that information, either.

If the commission decided to switch to ADT, McPherson said they would switch out the keypad, the cell communicator in case phone lines go down and the panel.

The process for issuing keys at Camp Kiwanee is also being changed, but there are more bugs to be worked out.

Keys have been issued with engraved IDs in sets numbered 1 to 10 for each of the staff members and letters on the reverse to identify what they are used for at the Camp, MacKay said.

“I’ve got a list of what key everybody has,” she said. “So, if people find a set of keys sitting out in the campground, I can say, ‘Number 7 are Bill’s keys and are there any missing? He signed out for seven keys and here they all are.’”

Chairman Annmarie Bouzan asked how copies are controlled. The new job description covers that issue under the heading “unauthorized use,” which are grounds for dismissal.

Hanson sets Lt. test criteria

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HANSON — Police Chief Michael Miksch is preparing to offer an assessment center for sergeants in his department as part of the search for a new lieutenant — a position that has been vacant for about a year and a half.

“I would like to fill that position again,” Miksch said. “It’s needed. The way I would like to fill it is through an assessment center.”

The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, July 11 voted to approve Town Administrator Michael McCue’s recommendation to contract with Integrity Testing to administer the assessment center. Selectmen also approved the qualifications Miksch had drawn up for consideration for promotion to lieutenant.

McCue made the recommendation based on their program and as the low-bidder for the testing.

Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett asked if McCue and/or Miksch had “kicked the tires” on Integrity.

“They have quite a lengthy resume,” McCue said. “We’ve done that sort of search.” Miksch said he had no objections to that firm.

Miksch himself was hired through the town’s work with BadgeQuest on an assessment center. Evaluators would be captain level or above, and likely would include chiefs or deputy chiefs.

Miksch said he was partial to BadgeQuest, which was the assessment center he went through, but had no objection to Integrity Testing as he had placed it close behind BadgeQuest in his ranking of the five bidding assessment companies. Hanson Police Department also used a BadgeQuest assessment center for its last sergeant’s exam, promoting three off that list.

“It’s not your typical, multiple-choice Civil Service exam, although Civil Service does recognize assessment centers now,” Miksch said. “Being non-Civil Service, we can determine how we want to do promotions.”

The process combines a written portion, often as a report, following a practical exercise. No dates have been set for the assessment center yet.

“I like the assessment centers because they test the individual’s abilities, knowledge and skills,” Miksch said. “You either know something or you don’t. There’s no guessing if it’s A, B, C or D — you have to put out and produce.”

While all five Hanson Police Department sergeants will be welcome to take the assessment, only two meet the criteria required for advancement to lieutenant right now. For the others, it is a chance to go on the list at their three-year mark and to enable them to move on if they wish to take another opportunity.

To qualify for consideration for the lieutenant’s position, applicants must have three years of employment as a full-time Hanson Police sergeant. Tie scores will be broken by seniority and the score list will be active for two years and points will be given for advanced degrees, seniority and veteran’s status. A one-year probationary period is also included.

“Who would know more about the position you wanted to fill than you?” Selectman Jim Hickey said. “I think it’s a formality that we’re doing this.”

Credit where due

Miksch also took the opportunity Tuesday night to credit the officers and detectives who worked two recent theft cases, as well as those who are working to control the opioid overdose problem in town.

Hanson officers working the case of an armed robbery attempt at the Dunkin’ Donuts on Liberty Street June 14 were Sgt. Eugene Andrews and officers Marc Vigneau, Dan Godwin, Jared Meegan and Brent Peterson.

“This was the third time we’ve had a robbery or an armed robbery in the area,” Miksch said noting past incidents at Mutual Federal and Rockland Trust banks. “These [officers] have it down to a science. They go in, do a very good job of working together — knowing who has what cameras — they know the town, they know the businesses and the people, and they wrap up some of these things fairly quickly.”

Meegan was singled out for his observations of the would-be robbery suspect’s behavior and description earlier in the evening at Shaw’s supermarket, which proved invaluable to making an arrest, Miksch said. Meegan was a member of the Wellfleet Police Department before coming to Hanson three years ago.

“The officers did an outstanding job,” Miksch said. “The most notable one would be officer Meegan. … On his normal patrol earlier in the evening, he saw a vehicle with a male and a female in it that just didn’t sit right with him.”

Meegan then remained at the Shaw’s lot and ran the vehicle’s license plate, which came back to some Quincy residents. Other officers investigating the Dunkin Donuts incident — gathering surveillance camera footage from area businesses — noticing that one suspect was wearing the same pair of distinctive shorts Meegan had described as worn by the male at the Shaw’s incident.

“That was a big key for this,” Miksch said. “For us, a lot of things — one might say — is dumb luck, but I think sometimes you make your luck. In this case, they did.”

Detective Paul O’Brien worked to secure arrest warrants, two of which were from Norfolk County for Quincy evidence, which also helped Quincy Police clear three armed robberies, Miksch said. Abington is now looking at two others.

While the officers were in Quincy on June 16, Officer Elisha Sullivan and Sgt. Michael Bearce took a call for the breaking and entering of a vehicle at Shaw’s.

“They got some great information from a witness,” Miksch said. “The dispatcher David Munn did some great work putting a broadcast out very quickly. The Whitman Police stopped them at the CVS on Bedford Street.”

The Hanson victim’s property, as well as property from a number of other thefts, was recovered. Sgt. Peter Calogero also became involved in the case, working to obtain search warrants based on forensic evidence from cell phones and is working to return property.

“There was some great stuff in a two-day period that these guys did,” Miksch said.

Opioid battle

In addition to carrying Narcan to deal with opioid overdoses, Hanson officers have also been working within the limitations of legal restrictions imposed on narcotic evidence at overdose calls to arrest drug dealers.

Miksch said funding from Plymouth County DA Timothy Cruz’s office and the Sheriff’s Department have established a database to track incidents of overdoses as well as providing information to officers to “work our way up the supply chain” and make arrests of dealers.

Hanson officers are also working with groups such as East Bridewater HOPE and the Outreach Program in Carver and surrounding communities — which have since merged their efforts. The goal is to have an officer and a counselor show up at an overdose victim’s home within 24 hours to provide treatment information and a bed at a rehab facility.

Over the past 10 years, an average of two people a year reporting Hanson as their last address, died from opioid overdoses, based on statistics from Whitman-Hanson WILL. Since then, the number of reversals — people that have been saved — have increased thanks to the counseling programs.

“We’ve been doing a lot,” Miksch said. “You don’t see it … but detective O’Brien and officer Sullivan are my two outreach people right now. Every city and town in Plymouth County is involved in adding information to this database.”

MassWorks briefs Hanson Selectmen

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HANSON — The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, June 27 heard a presentation from MassWorks Infrastructure Program Director Erica Kreuter on the program and how it can help provide funding for town projects.

“MassWorks oversees five different grant programs,” said Town Administrator Michael McCue. He has experience with the offices’ Small Town Rural Assistance Program (STRAP) grants from his tenure in Avon.

“It was a godsend,” McCue said of the $500,000 grant Avon received.

Kreuter summarized the program and answered Selectmen’s questions. Grants under the MassWorks umbrella also include those for public works development, Community Development Action Grants, the Growth Districts Initiative, Mass. Opportunity Relocation and Expansion and Transit-Oriented Development programs.

“We are always available to discuss any applications,” she said. “We really saw an opportunity to create one program designed to work on infrastructure and designed to unlock immediate private investment.”

That investment has to be kept in line with the state’s sustainable development principles such as multi-family housing, economic development in distressed areas and roadway safety in small, rural communities.

Among the projects MassWorks has worked on include the $2 million T Wharf project in Plymouth, the $25 million Assembly Square T Station in Somerville and the Market Street extension of Mashpee Commons at $901,250.

Selectmen Chairman James McGahan asked about the type of job creation involved in the program.

Roadway projects, such as drainage work, in conjunction with a water and sewer project was one example Kreuter provided.

Transit and re-use of previously developed sites and regional projects are among the office’s continuing investment goals. There have been 716 applications for $1.7 billion in total requests for projects since 2011. More than $418.3 million has been invested in 215 projects selected across the state.

“It is an extremely competitive grant program,” Kreuter said. “Anything over $2 million has to demonstrate significant private development.”

In other business, the board approved an Eagle Scout project for a 5K cross country course at WHRHS proposed by Caleb Parkinson, a member of Whitman Boy Scout Troop 22.

Parkinson, a member of the cross country team, needed Selectmen approval because the entire trail route is within the town of Hanson.

Work will involve filling in a trench dug by a teacher for a previous project and a bridge over conservation land. He will also be meeting with the Hanson Conservation Commission on the project. Hanson Boy Scouts and some teachers have also indicated a willingness to help with the work.

“This is for the actual meets,” Parkinson said.

Selectmen expressed enthusiasm for the project in casting their votes in support.

Selectmen also approved the completed street prioritization list with the crossing in front of the Dunkin’ Donuts at Liberty Street and County Road, the crossing in front of Town Hall at Liberty and Winter streets, the intersection at the middle school on Liberty Street, the sidewalk on High Street from Main Street to the Plymouth County Hospital site, a bicycle lane on Route 58 and a similar project on Main Street.