HANSON — The new Recreation Commission officially went to work Thursday, Jan. 26, holding its first meeting to hear a review of work Town Administrator Michael McCue has done as interim director, brainstorm possible recreation events and elect officers.

Serving on the new commission are: Brian Fruzzetti, Rachel Gross and Brian Smith through June 30, 2019; John Zucco and Sondra Allen through June 30, 2018; and Annmarie Bouzan and Diane Cohen through June 30, 2017.

“I appreciate your stepping up to do this,” McCue said. “It’s always difficult to get people to serve on a board, especially one this large. The fact that we actually have a full seven-member board really does say something and is going to make things a lot easier on me, a lot easier on the town and a lot easier on the board itself.”

Bouzan, who has worked as an administrative assistant at Camp Kiwanee about five years ago, was elected chairman, Gross as the vice chairman and Cohen as the clerk.

Selectmen Bill Scott, who also attended the meeting, indicated he would continue, along with a member of the commission, to help McCue interview candidates for recreation director. He had been appointed by the Board of Selectmen to work on the interviews before while there was no sitting Recreation Commission.

“I will still be willing to be part of that if they want me to do that,” Scott said.

“My intention is to still have you do so,” McCue said. “We try to be a team, we’re all pulling in one direction, hopefully.”

Both McCue and Scott left after McCue’s update, and the commission spent more than an hour discussing policies and procedures as well as possible agenda items for future meetings.

Their concerns in that arena involve security protocols, the enforceability of a ban on firearms even for those licensed to carry, billing oversight, the extensive job description for the recreation director, caterers’ responsibilities, use of social media for marketing, cabin upkeep and the event planning process as a whole.

The commission plans on meeting twice a week until the members feel caught up and then will shift to a twice-monthly meeting schedule.

The public meetings are held at 7 p.m. at Camp Kiwanee’s Needles Lodge.

Fruzzetti of 370 Elm St., is an advertising consultant. Gross of 35 Katy-Did Lane, owns an event marketing company and has worked both on weddings and community events for the past 15 years. Smith of 38 Sandy Terrace is a facilities supervisor for Eversource. Zucco of 101 Glenwood Place is also an entertainment specialist, specializing in corporate and social events. Allen, of 188 Elm St., is a life-long resident who has maintained a family pass at Kiwanee and is active in Boy Scouts. Cohen of 767 Pleasant St., is a teacher who moved to Hanson 18 months ago. Her son has taken swimming lessons at Cranberry Cove for about five years.

“Your experience here at the camp and within the town is going to be beneficial in a liaison area,” Gross told Bouzan during the selection of officers. “I don’t know if I’m ready for that. I would love to review the applications for the director.”

The other commission members agreed that Gross’s professional background would make her a good choice for that role.

McCue provided ethics and open meeting regulation forms and copies of new lodge and cabin rental application forms as well as policies and procedures, all of which were drawn up by town counsel. For discounted contracts, the commission will vote on applications for reduced rates and forward the applications to McCue, who will bring it before the Board of Selectmen for final approval.

The new recreation director will recommend contracts for McCue to sign — as he does with all town contracts.

Rental contracts are more detailed on liability issues that had been a concern in the old contracts.

Selectmen will give final approval to the policies and procedures after the Recreation Commission has a chance to provide feedback.

“There’s an awful lot in there that wasn’t in there before,” McCue said. “What I will consider is some additional information, but by and large, the information you have in front of you — that’s going to stay. … I’m very hesitant to tinker with anything the lawyers gave me.”

McCue also provided an update on maintenance projects at the camp.

He has already done a level-funded budget, including a director’s salary, which was due before the commission met. A part-time employee in the Treasurer-Collector’s office is serving as the temporary administrative assistant to the Recreation Commission.

“I’m taking a bunch of trees down, and it’s not because I don’t like the trees — they’re dead,” he said. “Our fear is … if we get a good enough wind, if we get a heavy snow, they’ll come down and crash on this roof.”

He has consulted with the tree warden and Conservation Commission on which trees should be removed and potential impact on the pond. He also plans for a new septic system for the lodge; caretaker’s cottage and bathhouse have been changed because of the number of trees that would have had to be removed in addition to the high financial cost.

“The beauty of this place, the thing that makes this place unique, is the trees,” McCue said.

The lowest bid had come in $50,000 to $60,000 higher than budgeted so the bids were dismissed. The project is now being approached in phases.

He also plans to have a rotting garage on the property torn down as a liability, possibly within the next couple of weeks. That project, too requires input from the Conservation Commission due to the dry streambed near the gatehouse. A fence between the swimming area and an abutter’s property must also be extended to deal with a trespassing problem on the abutter’s land, but the Conservation Commission must also be consulted on that project, according to McCue.

The Recreation Commission will also have to hire lifeguards for Cranberry Cove in the spring for the upcoming summer swimming season, which starts the day after the last day of school.

“The weddings pay for a lot of things that go on up here, but it has to be a hand-in-hand thing,” Bouzan said. “Why have it here in Hanson for all of us to enjoy if we can’t. I’m really anxious to turn that around and make it so it’s a great place for us.”

Gross said she would like to see farmers’ markets take place at Kiwanee, community pot luck suppers and other community events.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” Gross said.

WHITMAN  — Fire Chief Timothy Grenno is again seeking additional firefighters with EMT or paramedic/EMT certification for the department in his fiscal 2018 budget — this time only three — in an effort to deal with steadily increasing call volumes and a staffing level that has not changed since 1965.

Two years ago, Grenno had asked for eight additional firefighters, but the department did not receive the grant funding sought to pay a portion of that effort.

This year’s request, which will cost an estimated $292,700 including benefits for the three firefighters, will enable the fire department to add a firefighter to each shift to increase safety, fire response and patient care outcomes, Grenno argued.

While noting that a part override more than 12 years ago failed, as did the grant application two years ago, Grenno said he is seeking the funding for the new firefighters outside the levy limit.

“All I’m asking for is to let the taxpayers have the final say in this eventually,” Grenno said. Selectmen are expected to vote on Town Meeting warrant articles within the next few weeks.

Grenno is seeking a separate override question if there is a school override put before the voters.

At $292,648 — rounded up to $292,700— he said the tax rate impact would be 19 cents per $1,000 valuation or $56.18 increase in a tax bill on an average home of $291,413.

“I’m not trying to meet national standards, I’m not trying to get the big pie in the sky, I’m just trying to get us so that the majority of people that we see and the majority of responses that we go to are fair and equitable across the board,” he said. “This is a goal to increase efficiency, productivity and patient care.”

Grenno made his presentation to the Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee on Tuesday, Jan. 24, a week after his official budget presentation to the Finance Committee.

Selectman Daniel Salvucci asked if the cost for the new firefighters could be funded within the levy limit.

“[It] sounds like a lot of money,” Salvucci said. “But it isn’t a lot of money in one way.”

Budget challenges

Town Administrator Frank Lynam said insurance costs, the school budget and other line items are expected to increase and the only way to meet Grenno’s request is to increase the levy limit.

Lynam said, since Whitman is a residential community with 93 percent of revenues coming from residents’ taxes, people must decide what kind of community they want to be.

“That’s all I’m asking,” Grenno said. “As fire chief, my job is to come before you and present the state of the fire side of public safety in the town. … I’m not in the ballgame to take from other people’s budgets.”

Lynam said all the town’s fixed costs increase each year by 4 to 5 percent.

“The only thing that enables us to keep up with it is the combination of growth and increases in the levy limit,” Lynam said. We’re not expecting to see much support from the state. … This is our job.”

Finance Committee Chairman Michael Minchello said he and Grenno have also talked about that, but there is a concern within his committee about overtime costs.

“I totally understand where the Finance Committee is coming from,” Grenno said. “Their job is money, my job is public safety and we have a very difficult time — and sometimes can’t do it — with five people a shift.”

The Whitman Fire Department became a full-time service in 1965 with five members per shift. In 1973, with an ambulance service added to the department, staffing levels remained at five per shift, where they remain today.

In 1965 call volume for both fire and medical emergencies was 496 runs during the year. Last year, call volume was up to 2,664 runs.

Medical emergencies make up 64 percent of all responses.

When calls come in, priority EMS calls — chest pain, shortness of breath, seizures and overdoses, for example — all five firefighters on a shift respond. For non-priority first calls — such as orthopedic cases — three firefighters respond, leaving two and possibly a shift commander to respond to subsequent calls, Grenno explained.

“We’re pretty good [on national treatment standards] on the first call out the door — four persons, most critical task, at least 80 seconds faster,” he said. “Four people on a priority call is the ultimate. Three is OK, two persons is substantially less. Second EMS calls or EMS calls secondary to a fire incident are somewhere between the three and two-person less effectiveness in patient care.

“That’s where we stand today and, to me, that is unacceptable,” Grenno said. Last summer, the department had to respond to an overdose call with one firefighter aided by police officers.

The cost

In the past three years there have been two house fires that caused $100,000 damage, but Grenno said the damage could have been limited to $20,000 to $25,000 with full staffing available.

Last year, the fire station was empty 18 percent of the time due to call volume, with subsequent calls dependent on mutual aid, which helps but takes from 20 minutes to an hour to get to a call.

Patient demographics have also “changed substantially,” Grenno said, and include Baby Boomers hesitant to call for help until a more serious condition develops, and another group “who call us for everything.”

The call-back system for summoning off-duty firefighters is also a problem due to second jobs, or family demands when a spouse has to go to work.

Minchello asked if Grenno had given thought to sending four members out on priority cases, as required by the national safety standards, instead of five. Grenno said that has been considered, but would break up a two-person engine company, which is also against safety standards.

The department’s current policy is, when secondary calls come in, if personnel have to go by the station they pick up the extra ambulance. Many secondary calls, however, occur in the same area to which the first response was dispatched.

Ambulance funds

Minchello also asked about past plans to fund new staffing from the ambulance account.

Grenno explained that the Governor’s Task Force for Health Insurance, to reduce costs across the state, met recently with the Legislature’s Health Committee without representatives of public safety, hospitals, private ambulance companies invited. Only insurance company representatives were in attendance to look at cutting health insurance costs and are beginning to look at pre-hospitalization services such as ambulance services and walk-in clinics. One of the proposals is to reduce ambulance transport coverage Medicare and Medicaid rates across the board, and the department is losing money in that new practice.

“That would be devastating to our department,” Grenno said.

The Whitman-Hanson Regional School District scored well on this year’s audits — by receiving a finding of an “unmodified opinion,” which is the best opinion possible, according to audit firm representative Dan Sullivan on Wednesday, Jan. 11. Another report, filed with federal accounting officials found no “significant deficiencies or material weaknesses over financial reporting or of compliance.”

“Having ‘no findings’ is a major accomplishment,” Superintendent of School Dr. Ruth-Gilbert-Whitner said in congratulating Director of Business Services Christine Suckow on the audit results. “This is something to be greatly respected.”

Clifton Larsen Allen, which has performed the district audit for the last three years, began preliminary fieldwork for the latest audit in April 2016, according to Sullivan. Primary work is begun in November when the books on the fiscal year are closed.

“Management and staff, consistent with prior years, were responsive to all our questions and available to us throughout the whole audit,” Sullivan said. “The end result was actually a smooth audit process.”

He added there were no disagreements with district management during the audit and district officials knew what the firm needed and were prepared.

“The school district is audited by an accredited auditing firm yearly,” School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes said. “It is also audited by DESE (the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education), because we receive federal money and state money. … There’s always been questions as to what’s going on with different finances. Every single year we are audited by a private company.”

The audit reports were part of a School Committee meeting devoted to preliminary budget discussions ahead of the Wednesday, Feb. 1 rollout of the fiscal 2018 W-H school budget.

The Clifton Larsen Allen audit was broken up into two groups — the Government Y statement of debt position and activities as well as the fund-based financial statement, which deals with current funding sources.

Long-term financial liabilities of pensions and other post-employment benefits (OPEB) are included in the Government Y report. The fund-based report centers on revenue coming in and payments going out.

The district’s net position is about $30 million, including net investment and capital assets — about $59.2 million — and includes building, equipment of about $66 million less the current outstanding debt of $7 million. Restricted net position is $1.9 million, of which $600,000 is related to Circuit-Breaker funds and $1.3 million consists of other special revenue funds.

An unfunded pension liability and unfunded OPEB liability create a combined $30.8 million deficit. Annual OPEB costs were almost $5.1 million, up from $4.8 million the year before — the total unfunded OPEB liability is about $55 million, with the whole liability to be brought in during fiscal 2018.

“It’s put out over the years,” Hayes said. “It’s not a liability that’s got to be paid. Most towns, most school districts have these liabilities because of other post-employment benefits.”

“There’s no requirement to fund this at the moment,” Sullivan agreed.

Long-term debt has decreased from $14.8 million to $6.6 million because the district entered into a debt refinancing in fiscal 2015, which crossed over fiscal years.

Fund financial statements show the general fund, the most important as it relates to operation of the district, shows a balance of $2.7 million, which is $169,000 higher than the previous year.

“You are very conservative with your revenues, so you probably collected about $150,000 more in revenue than you planned and you turned back about $583,000 in expenditures that you didn’t use,” Sullivan said, adding that the year before there was about $150,000 from unused encumbrances. “Since we’ve been doing the audit, that’s been pretty much how it’s been working … it’s a position of strength.”

The committed fund balance, or excess and deficiency line item, is at $950,000, up from $750,000 from the previous year. The signed fund balance reserved for encumbrances in fiscal 2016 budget, but still in processing at year-end.

The unassigned, or free-and clear, fund balance stands at almost  $1.4 million. That figure, Sullivan said, represents 3 percent of revenues.

“The reason why we look at that is that your revenues could fluctuate 3 percent and you have enough unassigned fund balance to cover anything if it happened,” he said. “The chances of your revenues fluctuating are pretty non-existent because 90 percent are made up of assessments and Chapter 70 monies, which are very constant.”

District Treasurer David Leary also advised that the committee vote to assume two bond authorizations at the auditors’ request — one to rescind $283 left from the bond on the high school building, the other to rescind an outstanding $281,300 from the Maquan feasibility study. The board unanimously approved both requests.

“We’ve got a very strong debt position in this district,” he said, echoing Sullivan’s report. “It’s pretty unusual to find a place where the only thing that you owe is the money on this building, which is a little over $6 million and a short-term note for technology.”

The district maintains a solid AA bond rating from Standard & Poor’s with a stable outlook.

He also suggested the committee authorize him to invest some $400,000 worth of scholarships in the treasurer’s custodial care in an effort to “do a little better” in increasing their yield.

“Right now they are sitting in small savings accounts,” he said.

“As you can see in hearing from our treasurer and our auditors, WHRSD appears to be in good financial and business management condition right at this particular time,” Hayes said.