Whitman-Hanson Express

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Whitman  financial post is headed to ballot  

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WHITMAN — With 101 voters present on Monday, Nov. 14 — just one over the required quorum minimum of 100 — voters backed Select Board requests to change the Treasurer/Collector position to an appointed one and increased the salary being offered a new Town Administrator.

The Treasurer/Collector question will appear on the May 20, 2023 Town election ballot to be ratified, now that Town Meeting has approved it.

Interim Town Administrator Frank Lynam argued in his report, initially placed on the warrant as Article 12 from the board, that both moves were in recognition of recent changes that mean people serving in those positions these days require more advanced certifications. The report was taken out of order and made the first item of business for the evening.

“As an elected position, the sole requirement for the [Treasurer/Collector] role is to receive more than one more of 50 percent of the votes,” Lynam said. “There is no requirement that the candidate have any experience in managing and handling cash or in collecting municipal bills.”

He and former Treasurer/Collector Mary Beth Carter listed some of he requirements of the job today, as the financial market is more sophisticates and a town’s financial security leans mainly on the person in that post.

Carter was appointed by Selectmen Oct. 15, 2005 “following turmoil and resignation in the Collector’s Department.” She was subsequently appointed Treasurer on Dec. 2, 2008 after a retirement, Lynam outlined.

Questions about the appointment route, from Finance Committee member Rosemary Connolly, Town Clerk Dawn Varley and a resident centered on their concerns over taking away the voice of voters in that hiring decision.

Carter echoed Lynam’s remarks that the article is vital to the financial well-being of the town.

“I experienced first-hand the sense of duty and accountability of this position and the integral role this position plays in the town’s finances,” she said.

The positions require one to test for certifications and demand daily that the office-holder maintain cash book and record of all receipts, disbursement, cash balances as well as playing a major role in issuance of payments on all town debts, Carter enumerated. She recited a long list of job obligations including payroll, personnel  insurance, trust funds, enterprise funds and investments. On the collectors side, the responsiblilities include for collecting all money the municipality takes in, payments of refunds, accuracy of information and initiates tax-takings. Basically they handle every single penny that comes into the town and goes out of it.

“If the position is not changed to an appointed position, the town runs the risk of possibly having a person who is unqualified or is inexperienced as a treasurer/collector,” she said. “This position is too important to … have a person who may be popular, however is not qualified for this job.” 

In response to a question about who is responsible for paying for the educational credentials needed, Lynam said the town has always encouraged employees to further their education, but the initiative to learn the job requirements rests solely with the individual. But an elected officer cannot be directed or managed by anyone other than a town election, he said.

“It is very much in the town’s interest to thoroughly scrutinize the qualifications and skills of someone who will have access to and authority to invest, at various times, up to $45 million of taxpayer and ratepayer money on behalf of the town,” Lynam said.

There is little option to address an elected treasurer/collector is not performing, he cautioned, beyond a recall or superior court process.

Appointed persons go through a very public application process before they are hired. The majority of treasurer/collectors in both the area and the state are appointed, Lynam said.

Town administrators, meanwhile, present a salary problem, as Lynam’s research has shown average salaries have increased “well over 25 percent” since he retired in 2020 after 19 years on the job.

Extending the salary range by $10,000 – to a top level of $160,000 – has resulted in better responses to advertisements for the job.

He provided voters with a list of 30 municipalities on the South Shore in which administrator/manager salaries ranged from $142,500 in Acushnet to $215,000 in Scituate. Closer to Whitman, Bridgewater pays $178,607; East Bridgewater $150,000; West Bridewater $156,005; Hanover $158,200; Hanson $145,800 and Abington $150,000.

Whitman’s offering of between $143,000 to $150,000 “produced limited results” Lynam said and market conditions require more compensation than the town was offering. Increasing the range to $160,000 on the top end has already resulted in better responses, he said.

“But unless we are willing to offer competitive compensation, our ability to recruit is extremely limited,” he said.

The $10,000 for potentially increasing the town administrator salary was passed, along with eight other salary line adjustments in Article 13, which had to be amended from a total of $21,065 to 23,065 because of a typographical error. In fact, discussing whether that represented increasing a warrant article raised more attention than the $10,000 request.

Town counsel pointed out that it was, indeed, not an increase because adding up the figures for each line – none of which had changed – added up to the $23,065 figure and not the lower number originally printed in the warrant. In that way, voters were informed of the amount of the article, which was passed.

A salute to service

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HANSON — Instead of the usual program of paeans to patriotism, speakers at the annual Veterans Day Breakfast at the Hanson Multiservice Senior Center Thursday, Nov.10, focused on the future of veterans’ health. The annual program is hosted by the Friends of the Hanson Senior Center.

Home health care programs through the Brockton VA Hospital under its Community Care Program, were discused as were the Camp LeJeune Justice Act and the newly signed PACT Act.

“I thought I’d do something a little different than we have in the past,” White said about the program he planned for the event.  “There have been many recent law changes and additional services that the Department of Veterans Affairs provides that are fairly new, and I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to inform you of [them].”

After celebrating the Nov. 10 birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps, Veterans Agent Timothy White also wished a belated birthday (the U.S. Navy — founded on Oct. 18 — as well as holding a moment of silence in honor of senior volunteer and Navy Veteran Ernest Jutras, who died Oct. 17.

Jutras’ widow and daughter surprised his gathered friends among the town’s veteran community by baking patriotically decorated cupcakes and staying to attend the program, Senior Center Director Mary Collins said.

“We’re so glad that they could be with us this morning,” Collins said.

White also spoke of a Malden Army corporal, who had been taken prisoner of war around Thanksgiving in 1950, during the Korean war, and killed in February 1951. His remains had only recently been returned to his family for reburial.

He then read the Veterans Day Proclamation issued by Gov. Charlie Baker.

Brockton VA Medical Center RN Karen McCabe spoke briefly about non-institutional care, a program she coordinates at the hospital, including home care benefits, under the VA Community Care Program.

“Basically what we do is cover services that might otherwise not get covered or things like skilled or non-skilled  services,” McCabe said. Skilled services include physical therapy needed following hip or knee replacement or daily wound care, and non-skilled are more along the lines of a non-health aide to assist with tasks that mobility impairments make difficult such as bathing, dressing or  those involving finer motor skills such as preparing meals.

Her office processes paperwork and answers questions about co-pays, or services the VA can provide that a private insurance plan may not cover and helps contract with home health aides for non-medical assistance to patients.

“Our assessment would determine how many hours you would need per week,” she said. “That’s long-term, forever, if needed.”

Caregiver support, usually linked to a percentage of how service-related the need in, can also provide respite for a veteran’s primary caregiver.

“Respite is very important,” McCabe said. “Caregiver burnout is real and you want to see that before it gets too bad.” 

Home-based primary care for “complex” cases with a service-connected need, has a waiting list at the moment, she said. Veteran do not have to change primary care physicians to take part in VA programs, and White said he could help veterans or their family members sign up for care programs.

White provided a brief overview of the Camp LeJeune Justice Act and the PACT Act.

“It adds diseases and medical complications as presumptive diseases to Agent Orange exposure,” he said. “They also added geographical locations that were not included in the past.”

Agent Orange coverage used to be limited to personnel with boots on the ground in Vietnam and had a presumptive disease linked to direct exposure to the dioxin used as a defoliant to make enemy troops more visible in jungle terrain. The list of illnesses was later expanded, and included blue water sailors in harbor waters within the path of trade winds carrying the dioxin fumes. The PACT Act expands the list of illnesses and locations further, with Guam and Enewetak — for which the act authorized a study of radiation effects for nuclear cleanup personnel where nuclear testing took place in the 1950s — among them as well as to personnel exposed to smoke and pollutants from burn pits in the Middle East.

He said he can help veterans previously denied with coverage based on the new legislation. Widows of veterans who died of presumptive diseases might be able to receive death benefits.

“My intension here is to get the word out so I can help figure out the case,” White said. “Every case is different.”

Inside the PACT Act is the Camp LeJeune Justice Act, which has been the subject of class-action lawsuits.

“Just about every other day somebody’s in my office asking about it,” White said of law firm TV commercials about the class-action lawsuit over contaminated drinking water at the Marine Corps’ Camp LeJeune in Jacksonville, N.C. “Every one of you has seen one of these commercials.”

He cautioned that, before making that 1-800 phone call, veterans should know that the compensation for any settlement could be used to compensate any funds paid by the VA for past care a veteran may have received, minus a reference fee to the lawfirm advertising.

“This is going to take years if you file,” he added.

­The program was followed by a performance of service anthems and other patriotic songs by the Senior Center’s chorus, The Swinging Singers.

Hanson OKs help for town office staffs

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HANSON – With a nod to the changing demands on town officials in general and Hanson’s in particular, voters in the Wednesday, Nov. 9 special town meeting approved staff additions to the Town Administrator and Conservation Commission offices. Both were approved during the session, which spanned just over an hour in length.

It was the second attempt to complete town business, as the town failed to draw a quorum on the original date of Monday, Oct. 3.

“I thank you very much, from the bottom of my heart for coming out tonight,” Town Moderator Sean Kealy said. “We worried we weren’t going to get a quorum, but I can officially declare that a quorum is present, and that, we, the special Town Meeting of the Town of Hanson is now in session.”

The meeting started with $1,490,984 in available free cash; $1,365,763 in stabilization; $187,637 in school stabilization; $1,426,920 in Water Department surplus; $135,512 in Recreation Department retained earnings and $166,108 in the solid waste retained earnings fund.

One of the staffing articles, sought the transfer $17,659.20 from free cash to make the conservation agent position a full-time one at 35 hours per week. The added 16 hours per week had originally been placed at $26,488.80 in the warrant, but was lowered at the request of the Conservation Commission, Kealy said.

“The number’s lower because the time frame for this fiscal year is shorter,” Commission Chair Phil Clemons said. “This lower number recognizes that it would be more feasible just to plan for January to June.”

He said the position is needed because the position was originally a full-time one and there is still a need for that. The fiscal crisis during the Great Recession in 2010 led many town departments to voluntarily reduce hours to help balance the town’s budget.

“Since then, most departments have been restored,” Clemons said.  “Conservation has not and the conservation agent is considered the head of the Conservation Department — the only non-full time department head.”

He noted that requests for services are up and a part-time conservation office is not serving the public well.

“The job is getting more complex, and more regulations and workshops are happening, and we can’t have our agent go to those things or answer the phones or handle issues,” he said, noting committee members are limited in how they can fill in.

But it was the statement made by West Washington Street resident Joseph O’Sullivan that may have changed minds in the room. He was an abutter of a project on County Road that would have built 10 four-bedroom houses on six acres that were surrounded by 40 acres of wetland.

“That project passed through every board except the Conservation Commission, and through their due diligence, it went through appeal after appeal and the DEP finally rejected it in a 14-page document that cited five different irregularities in what the company had proposed,” O’Sullivan said. “They are, in fact, our homeowners association, because they can use their judgment about the future impact of this.”

He pointed out that 75 people had written letters of concern from abutters about the houses which would have taxed the water system at about one million gallons of water each year.

While the Finance Committee did not dispute the need for extra hours, they recommended passing over the article because of the town’s fiscal position.

The meeting voted overwhelmingly to approve the article.

That recognition of needed help for overtaxed town employees carried over to the next article seeking the transfer $23,034 from free cash to Selectmen’s budget to hire a part-time administrative assistant for 15 hours per week.

Town Administrator Lisa Green spoke about the request, which was also approved.

“We really saw the value of that this past few months when we had an intern from Bridgewater State University work in the office,” Green said. He helped review policies, draft procurement paperwork and help with other projects that were overloading the office staff.

Resident Kathleen Marini about the fiscal responsibility of the move, noting a full-time person would mean health benefits. 

Ken Sweezey of Matakeeset Street asked if more interns could be sought in the future.

While Green replied that is always a possibility but the town may not always get one, but their intern was paid for 23 hours of pay while the college also offered a stipend. Internships are usually tied to a specific project and are not always available every day. There is also a growing call nationwide for all such internships to be paid positions. 

Green also said the position could be combined with the 19-hour part-time Planning Board administrative vacancy to retain staff.

“That position is, unfortunately, a revolving door type of a position,” she said, noting that people have been hired and trained only to leave for a full-time job in town.

Combining it with the Planning position will give the person hired a 35-hour full-time job — working 15 hours in the Select Board office and 20 hours per week in the Planning Office.

“It will cover the needs of both offices and it will create a position that will encourage the person to stay with the town, so we’re not a revolving door,” she said.

Frank Milisi asked why the Select Board recommended the hire and if they would  be involved in grant writing. Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said the board has “consistently” been getting feedback from everyone they have hired, and from those before their tenure, that the office is under-staffed.

“There was not one town with the same population that we have that only had a two-person office,” she said. “We, honestly, thought that we needed three people, but we felt that was probably an overreach at this point.”

She also mentioned the new salary levels that Whitman would be deciding on at their special Town Meeting Monday, Nov. 14.

“This is a very competitive environment right now, for anybody in the town administrator position,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “We need to retain people.”

Former School Committee Chair Bob Hayes spoke in favor of the article before it was eventually approved, noting that regulations that had once been simpler are now much more complex.

“You have immense, immense things for the town administrator to do and for the paperwork that we all want done,” he said.

Hayes also pointed to the Conservation hours the meeting had just approved.

“I was against it until I heard Mr. O’Sullivan stating why it was needed,” he said. “The same thing is needed in the Selectmen’s office.” 

Select Board member Joe Weeks reminded voters that for several years, the town had the luxury of a well-seasoned and skilled assistant in Meredith Marini, who was able to serve as a temporary town administrator.

Corrine Cofardo, a volunteer on several town committees reminded the meeting that Marini also frequently worked on her own time at night and weekends to complete work. 

“That’s how the job got done,” she said. “That’s why we need this part-time position filled.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett said the board had received a letter from Impressed LLC earlier in the week asking that an article amending Zoning Bylaws regarding medical marijuana facilities and marijuana establishments be passed over until the May Town Meeting.

“They are tied up with trying to finalize their license and they felt that [May] would be a better time for them,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “They also thought by that time, they would have some financial experience to share with us.”

She said the board also asked to have the town assessor provide numbers to indicate the value of the personal property tied up in the building and business and what could be expected in the way of propery taxes.

The meeting was opened with a moment of silence for town officials and volunteers who died since the May Town Meeting: Carroll P. Gagnon, Ernest E. Jutras, Peter Muise, Richard Muncie, Della Snow and William Strait.

Before dealing with the evening’s final article, Kealy asked the meeting to join in a round of applause for Town Clerk Elizabeth Sloan and Assistant Clerk Jean Kelly and the town’s volunteer clerks who checked people into the Town Meeing for their work on the state election the day before.

Maura Healey makes history

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Former Attorney General Maura Healey became a history-maker twice over on Tuesday, Nov. 8 — she was not only the first woman to be elected governor of Massachusetts, she was also the only openly gay person ever elected to the Corner Office.

While former state Rep. Geoff Diehl carried his hometown unofficially by a close 129 votes (3,159 for him and running mate Leah Cole Allen to 2.969 for Healey and her running mate, Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll), the Healey/Driscoll ticket won by a 63.2 percent to 35.2 percent margin over Diehl.

In Hanson, 503 votes separated Diehl/Allen’s 2,704 votes from Healey/Driscoll’s 2,201. There were 5,040 votes cast in the town of 8,117 eligible voters — 62.1 percent of those eligible.

In fact, the race had been called only minutes after the polls closed, a fact that WBZ News reported, angered the Diehl campaign. But by the end of the evening Diehl did concede his loss.

“The people of the Commonwealth have spoken,” Diehl said before calling Healey to concede. “I respect their choice, and I ask everyone who supported me and Leah to give [Healey] the same opportunity for success as I would have asked if the shoe had been on the other foot.”

He said he was proud of the race he and Allen had run, highlighting issues important for people across the state.

“Tonight, I want to say something to every little girl and every young LGBTQ person out there,” Healey said in her Copley Plaza victory speech. “I hope tonight shows you that you can be whatever, whoever you want to be. Nothing and no one can ever get in your way, except your own imagination, and that’s not gonna happen.”

In Hanson, 560 people early voted in-person, with more than 1,500 mail-in ballots, which were being run through the tabulation machines, but not counted Tuesday morning, according to Town Clerk Elizabeth Sloan.

“We had more mail-ins this time,” she said. “Now they know that we get it [the ballot] and they actually get taken care of.”

Despite Secretary of State Bill Galvin’s prediction of a low-turnout, Sloan said she has seen and expected to continue seeing a higher-than usual turnout for a midterm election. With almost 2,000 early votes among the 8,000 or so voters in town, Hanson had already hit 20 percent turnout before the polls opened Tuesday.

In Whitman, Town Clerk Dawn Varley said there were 2,329 early votes cast, and 46 absentee ballots, compared with 985 in 2018, the last midterm election. Whitman ended up with 55.37 percent of the towns 11,350 eligible voters casting ballots in some way. There were 6,284 votes cast Tuesday in Whitman.

So who did everyone think was going to end up in the winner’s circle as the day began? Everyone is optimistic on Election Day morning. 

“I think it’s a win,” Diehl said of his chances to WCVB Channel 5 Tuesday morning, after casting his own ballot at Whitman Town Hall. “I think it’s going to be a very close race, but from what I’ve seen with the trends with early voting vs what we’ve seen with our enthusiasm, I think we have a great shot at this.”

Outside Town Hall, Diehl supporter Dan Cullity agreed.

“Hopefully, we sweep the state,” Cullity said. “People are fed up. … High prices, stupid green initiatives that ain’t gonna work — no infrastructure for it, there’s no money for it — stuff like that.”

But in Hanson, where former Select Board member Bruce Young was among the Diehl sign-holders, a 40 percent share of the vote was more expected. Young noted that Republicans in Massachusetts have not been able to break that barrier since 1948.

Diehl supporter Gwen Hunt said she was trying to be hopeful.

Democratic candidate Maura Healey, meanwhile voted by mail, according to WCVB.

“I have to stay positive,” she said, noting she was even more hopeful that challenger Kenneth Sweezy would best incumbent state Rep. Josh Cutler, D-Duxbury.

Her supporters locally expressed confidence in the chances for state Democrats, if they were casting a wary eye on national races.

“I think, statewide the Democrats are going to do quite well,” Whitman Democratic Chair Michael Hayes said as he held signs along South Avenue Tuesday morning. “Obviously, nationally, we’ll have to wait and see about that. There’s concerns about what’s going to happen with Congress, but it is what it is.”

Hayes said he hopes women voters turned out in greater numbers after the Supreme Court Decision overturning Roe V Wade.

“They have to be angry,” he said.

“I hope people get out,” agreed Whitman Finance Committee member Rosemary Connolly. “I hope they’re aware of what’s at stake and really exercise their right to vote and don’t take it for granted — even on the local level, it’s important.”

Hanson Select Board member Joe Weeks said he will be keeping his eye on the governor’s race, meanwhile.

“It’s going to be very interesting to see where Massachusetts ends up falling,” he said. “Are we going to stick Republican or are we going to go back to being Democratic [in the corner office].”

He said he agrees with polls that Healey will win, but said it could be “a heck of a lot closer” than the polls are saying.

“It’s the most exciting day of the year as far as I’m concerned,” Weeks said as he headed into Hanson Middle School to vote. “We’ll have to see what happens. … You really can’t trust the polls, so it’s difficult.”

Hanson Democratic Committee member Kathleen DiPasqua-Egan said she was especially hopeful that state Sen. Mike Brady, D-Brockton wins re-election as well as that Healey takes the governor’s office.

She was less hopeful for national Democrats’ chances. 

“I’m happy to see what a Democrat could do in the governor’s office,” she said. “I hope I see that the things I care about that haven’t been done under the Republican governors will be done.”

She granted that, in either case, there could be disappointment ahead, but said taking a chance with a Democrat was a better decision than voting for Republicans that are 2020 election deniers.

“I don’t want Republicans in who feel that way — who actually supported Trump all the way along and maybe now they don’t, but it’s kind of too little too late,” she said. “I think Maura Healey deserves a chance to prove what she can do.”

There was some ticket-splitting evident, as well as incumbent Democrat William F. Galvin won the majority of Whitman votes at 3,377 to Rayla Campbell’s 2,684.

State Rep. Josh Cutler fell short in Hanson with 1,568 votes to Republican challenger Kenneth Sweezey’s 1,697, but Cutler was ultimately re-elected with 57.2 percent of the vote to Sweezey’s 42.8. Running unopposed state Rep. Alyson Sullivan, R-Abington cruised to re-election, receiving 4,142 votes in Whitman.

On the ballot questions:

Question 1, regarding the constitutional amendment for an additional tax on incomes over $1 million to fund schools and transportation was rejected in Hanson 3,040 to 1,902 as well as in Whitman by a vote of 3,365 to 2,730. The question was passed statewide by a 51.8-percent to a 48.2- percent margin.

Question 2, regarding direct payment of dental benefits to dentists for patient care was approved in Hanson 3,134 to 1,809 as well as in Whitman by a vote of 4,006 to 2,055. The question was passed statewide by a 71.2-percent to a 28.8- percent margin.

Question 3, regarding an expanded number of state liquor licenses issued was rejected in Hanson 3,034 to 1,869 as well as in Whitman by a vote of 3,540 to 2,483. The question was rejected statewide by a 55-percent to a 45- percent margin.

Question 4, allowing driver’s licenses for undocumented residents was rejected in Hanson 3,198 to 1,758 as well as in Whitman by a vote of 3,743 to 2,337. The question was passed statewide by a 53.4-percent to a 46.6- percent margin.

4-H Club sprouts in Hanson

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HANSON — Alpacas, and chickens and goats, oh, my! Not to mention horses and rabbits and ducks — the young members of the new Chicks and Chaps 4-H Club love them all.

The new club draws its 20 members from Whitman, Hanson, Rockland and Halifax at the moment.

Special needs preschool teacher Sarah Wall of Whitman, is the leader of the group, started in August and held a Family Farm Day Oct. 29 at Channell Homestead, South Street in Hanson, with club members in costume for the Halloween-themed event. 

“I was in 4-H from the time I was in fourth-grade all the way until I graduated high school,” said Wall, who was dressed as a Minion for the Family Farm Day. “I was huge into 4-H, It was something I did with my dad for years.” 

Wall’s daughter, Lillian, also enjoys 4-H.

“It’s a good experience and a good time,” she said of her work with horses and goats in the club. “I like to learn about the goats a lot.”

So far, Lillian found a talk and demonstration on horse’s hoof care by a professional farrier to be the most interesting.

Ashlyn Savastano of Halifax became involved through the Channell Homestead, where she works in the barn, and is also particularly keen on horses and goats.

“Just being with the animals and being on the farm,” led her to get involved.

She started in a rabbit club named the Briar Patch Bunnies. While working at the Channell Homestead farm with students in the WHRHS Transition Vocation Program last year, Wall began discussing the possibility of a 4-H Club with farm owner Christianie Channell, but Wall said she didn’t have the information on how to go about it.  

“We kind of teamed up and a lot of people had said to me there’s a really big need for this in the community,” Wall explained. “Because we have this beautiful venue and access to all these animals, and a meeting spot, this was perfect.”

A bake sale the members ran brought in $121 for club programs and projects.

Horse project members are more “horse enthusiasts and riders,” none of them actually owns a horse at the moment, but their goal is to show all the animals they work with at the Marshfield Fair next year.

A couple of those horse enthusiasts were handling the pony rides inside the barn as eager visiting children in costume led their parents all around the farm to look at, feed and pet the animals. 

“The animals are always at the forefront of 4-H, but I think what a lot of people don’t realize about 4-H is there’s so much more about community service and leadership,” Wall said. “They also learn about the government.”

Wall attended a 4-H youth leadership program in Washington, DC when she was in high school as well as the National 4-H Congress in Memphis, Tenn., another year.

“When I was in high school, [it seemed] there was a stigma attached to 4-H,” she said. “People think it’s only agriculture. Even though that is such an important part of it, I always say to these guys that I can’t stress enough – service is going to be above everything else for us.”

The farm does other summer programs, including horseback riding lessons as well as running a farm stand that sells goat’s milk products. She had a table with her soaps and other goat’s milk products at the Farm Day.

Channell has given members talks on goat anatomy as well as the care of goats and horses and one of the club’s junior leader has been giving member riding lessons, as well.

They generally hold meetings of the 4-H Club twice a month in the Channell Farm bar, but winter meetings are planned for once a month at the library.

While less hands-on winter meetings will still concentrate on the animals, doing lessons on crop harvests and animal husbandry.

The club, like the others in the area are operated through Plymouth County Extension and UMass. For more information on the Chicks & Chaps 4-H Club check out their Facebook page at facebook.com/ChicksandChaps4H.

Hanson names new ZBA members

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HANSON — The Select Board on Tuesday, Nov. 1 voted to appoint an associate and a voting member to the Zoning Board of Appeals, following a discussion regarding the ZBA and “future mitigation efforts, and to schedule a hearing in which ZBA members mentioned in the report of the investigation, may address information in it.

“There’s nobody here that’s going to tell you that investigation didn’t take far longer than we would have liked, and I completely recognize that for all of us — and I do mean all of us — it made a difficult situation even more difficult,” Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said of the delays in completing the probe. “There’s a lot of pent-up emotion around this investigation.”

She cautioned that discussion about the report had to be kept to a general basis because specific reference to the conduct of any individual could not be conducted in an open meeting unless it was posted as a hearing.

FitzGerald-Kemmett also said the report represented an illustration of how the town can improve it’s vetting process of applicants for town positions.

Applicants for the voting three-year term were William Cushing and Michael Fleming. Applicants for the three-year associate membership were Christopher Costello and Joshua Pratti. 

Cushing and Pratti have been serving in their respective roles before resigning rather than accepting a second temporary re-appointment earlier this fall.

Fleming was appointed to the voting member slot by a vote of 4-1, with Select Board member Jim Hickey opposed. Costello was appointed as the alternate member by the same vote.

FitzGerald-Kemmett noted that the town received the results of the ZBA investigation as they were meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 11. The investigation was prompted by a unanimous vote on a citizen’s petition at the October 2021 fall Town Meeting, and the Select Board approved hiring an investigator who was hired in November 2021.

Catching up 

The Select Board received it the following day and the ZBA were given copies and public the opportunity to view it the following week on the town’s website hanson.ma.gov.

“As the appointing authority of the ZBA, we knew it was our responsibility to do so,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said, noting that Town Administrator Lisa Green was made the point person for documentation requests.

Difficulty in obtaining necessary documentation, personal matters the investigator had to attend to and some people’s failure to fully cooperate with the investigation contributed to the delay.

FitzGerald-Kemmett said there were things that came up during the investigation, that had it been assigned a probe of a wider scope, would have added to the cost.

“We tried to stick to what the original citizen’s petition was [about], so that we were reflecting the will of the people,” she said.

“It’s a learning experience, that’s all I have to say,” Select Board member Ann Rein said.

Board member Ed Heal said it would be very hard to keep to generalities and expressed uncertainty about the next steps would be.

“There’s a lot of individual information in here,” he said.

FitzGerald-Kemmett suggested the investigator’s points about reorganization and difference in style of minutes — which were too vague and open to interpretation — but he did not conclude that there was any detriment in the way the ZBA reorganization was done.

“At the very least, we probably want to do some additional training around disclosures and when they are required to be made, under what conditions and to whom they should be made,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said of the report’s recommendations, which could apply to all boards and commissions.

Regarding the issue of missing disclosure statements, first mentioned in July 2021, when Town Clerk Elizabeth Sloan was asked about them. Up until last month, FitzGerald-Kemmett said, no one filed disclosures directly with the Select Board, they were always filed with the clerk, who would forward a copy to the board.

Sloan stated in an email to Green, that the disclosure from Kevin Perkins, during the scanning of the forms in fulfillment of public record requests from several individuals, “was not put back into the file.” She was later able to locate it and apologized to Perkins, when it was rumored there was no disclosure from him.

Cushing added the disclosure’s whereabouts became a concern when the state Ethics Commission called Perkins about it after he had called the clerk’s office looking for it and it was not on file.

FitzGerald-Kemmett said she fully accepts Sloan’s explanation and apology and felt no need to question her.

Heal noted there have been recent by laws or rules changes instituted to improve the process, and echoing the thought that the situation has been a learning experience.

“It is very hard to do this without mentioning names,” Hickey agreed, describing the report as “65 pages of not that much.”

Vice Chair Joe Weeks moved that a hearing be held on the report’s findings concerning Perkins and fellow ZBA member Sean Buckley, who is an alternate. Hickey sought an amendment to the effect that Cushing be added to the list for a hearing if he were to be appointed back to the ZBA later in the meeting.

Cushing was a member of the ZBA until about three weeks ago, resigning in protest against efforts to reappoint him for a temporary term pending the conclusion of the investigation. Now that the investigation is complete, he is seeking re-appointment, and said he welcomes a hearing.

He specializes in permitting, disclosing during his 2015 application his profession as a builder and developer.

He said he is well-versed in planning and zoning, as well as in storm water management, permitting aspects of Conservation, Board of Health and all other aspects.

Cushing is a resident of Hanson holds a bachelor’s degree and has worked exclusively in the real estate business.

Fleming is a 15-year resident has been a member of the Agricultural Committee and said he was asked a few weeks ago to sign up for the ZBA. He said he sees the position as an opportunity to “get my feet wet” in town affairs.

A production mechanic for a Boston liquor company, Fleming said he has no conflict of interest disclosures to make. He said he knows Hickey and Rein, but no other members of the Select Board.

No friendship
conflict 

FitzGerald-Kemmett stressed it is no conflict for anyone applying for the ZBA or any other board to know someone or to be friends with someone on the Select Board.

“There is no one person here that makes anything different for me,” Fleming said, pointing out three other past and present town officials in the room who he knows.

FitzGerald-Kemmett said she had been called out for not curtailing a cross-examination of an applicant about board members he knew and that she was not going to make the same mistake, before she halted the line of questioning.

“It is not our intention to make anybody who is applying for a volunteer position in town, particularly for the first time, to feel as though you’re not welcomed,” she said.

Pratti indicated he wanted to be considered for both positions. He served on the ZBA as an associate member before resigning over the temporary reappointment issue.

A licensed construction supervisor and home improvement contractor, Pratti holds a BS degree in electro-mechanical engineering. He said he is conversant in zoning regulations and Title V regulations from his work on septic and drainage systems.

“I don’t know how you could be more qualified for this position,” he said.

Pratti, for whom the investigation showed no information about his conduct, said he resigned out of frustration because he felt he and Cushing were considered guilty before the results of the investigation were in.

Weeks said he was wary of appointing someone who would “handcuff” the town in their own interests. Pratti countered that he only missed one meeting as an alternate, which speaks for his dedication to the position.

Seeking an alternate position, Costello is a 15-year Hanson resident who has worked in heavy civil construction for 25 years. He holds a degree in construction management from Wentworth Institute of Technology and is currently employed as an MBTA project manager overseeing new capital construction projects. He said he has no disclosures and knows no members of the Select Board.

In search of a home for history

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WHITMAN — How to make use of the former Police Station at the rear of Town Hall has been an open question for some time. During the Tuesday, Oct. 25 Select Board Meeting, Whitman Historical Commission member Marie Lailer made the organization’s pitch to use at least part of the facility, among possible locations for a Whitman Museum.

“We have a lot of town support for this,” she said. “The pieces of history that have found their way into our office, the DPW office, the Fire Station, the Police Station, just to mention a few, deserve a place to be preserved and protected.”

Concerns discussed involved the presence of asbestos, load-bearing walls, the need for secure storage areas for current town documents and ADA-compliant access to the site.

Lailer cited a Select Board discussion in January 2022, during which the commission asked the board to commit to moving the commission’s office and establishing a museum at the former station.

“The space is ideal, given it’s location in a current town building with handicapped access, but much work would need to be done before a move of our valuable historical collection could be completed,” she said. “All of this will take funding to make the interior suitable for this type of endeavor.”

South Shore Tech has already offered it’s assistance, but Lailer added, it would take great commitment of both time and money to make the proposal a reality.

The Commission is “at the gateway — for the first time — to request funding through the town’s newly approved participation in the Community Preservation Act and have applied to the CPC for additional funding “above the 10 percent automatically provided through the program to historical ventures,” according to Lailer. All donated historical documents, maps and memorabilia will be displayed in a way that residents can access for information and “enjoy the detailed history that is currently crammed into our office.”

In order to request the CPC funds, a sign-off is needed from the Select Board. That also involves allocating a space for the museum.

“We have talked to many residents regarding our hope, and feel this location is perfect for many reasons,” Lailer said, mentioning parking and accessibility at a town building with historic importance — and a part of it that has sat, empty, for many years.

“I would love other suggestions, but where are they?” she said.

That long-vacant status may continue for a while.

“We have discovered some challenges down there,” Select Board Chair Randy LaMattina said. “Such as asbestos, that needs to be removed. We also have some disability compliance issues that would have to be rectified because of the stone steps up and the steps down … from room to room.”

“It’s not a level facility,” interim Town Administrator Frank Lynam said. He also expressed concern about building security since the lower-level emergency exit goes out that way and, he said, the cells should be considered as vault areas.

Lailer said the cells were not included in the space the commission is considering, and agreed that a walk-through with Lynam might help the board envision the proposal better.

“I thought that would be a perfect place, too, until I started walking through it again,” Vice Chair Dan Salvucci said. “But that was way back when. … now we have more things to look into.”

Accessibility codes now take into consideration the width of doors and the height of steps. He also said the asbestos removal would have to be completed before SST students would be allowed to do any work there.

Salvucci also expressed concern over the fact that all the walls in the police station area are load-bearing, which could effect the cost of any renovation work.

Lailer suggested that the museum could work with existing walls, each room could be dedicated to a different aspect of town life and services.

Select Board member Justin Evans noted that the Historical Commission had been asked to return estimated costs for renovating and retrofitting the building to the board. He also said the board needed to hear recommendations as to what to do with unneeded existing equipment, “odds and ends the town is using and where the funding would come from.

Lailer said the commission is only interested in using the old police station, and stated that CPA money can be held in saving for a future project. She also asked for former Building Inspector Bob Curran to provide a walk-through to discuss cost factors during which he pointed out electrical work and other things that needed to be done.

She said the recent building inspector informed them that a walk-through wasn’t in his job description.

“I don’t know where to go from there,” Lailer said.

Evans said a $90,000 request for state funds through state Rep. Allyson Sullivan did not make the cut in budget discussions. Lailer said she is looking for additional grants.

Lynam also suggested the possible use of the former Park Avenue School and has consulted town counsel opinion.

“The process of taking over that particular property requires us filing a complaint in Superior Court, getting the attorney general to join us in setting aside a restriction that should never have been in the deed,” he said. Several ideas have been considered for its use in the past, but the deed specified the land be used for “school purposes” only.

They are also in talks to invite John Campbell to bring his extensive historical museum to the facility in the future. If he does make that decision, the commission would like to name the facility in his honor — the John Campbell Historical Museum — in recognition of the collection he displays in the former Regal Shoe Building on South Avenue.

SST moves ahead at MSBA

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HANOVER — The South Shore Tech School Committee at its meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 19, voted to move forward with the feasibility study process for planned renovation project at the school. The Massachusetts School Building Committee voted to do so on Wednesday, Oct. 26.

“Our next hurdle, or milestone, is that we will go out to bid, hopefully in December looking for an owner’s project manager and, hopefully have somebody hired by January,” Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey said this week. “Everything has to go back to MSBA to get their approval.”

The MSBA would not likely vote on an OPM until February.

“Whenever the next possible time is for us to move the needle, I want us to be ready,” he said.

Hickey said he doesn’t see anything going to the towns for any action until at least 2025.

“This is the document that MSBA asks districts, at the School Committee level, to vote on, which essentially confirms that we’re aware of the terms an conditions of this program,” Hickey said. ‘Our district will get 55.63 percent reimbursement on the $900,000 that this committee set aside earlier this year for costs related to the feasibility study.”

The costs would include the owner’s project manager and the designer. He said the MSBA voted to advance the project on Oct. 26, which begins the process of developing the documents with which to seek an owner’s project manager and, later in 2023, a design firm.

“That part of the process will take us through, probably, the spring of 2023,” Hickey said this week.

The School Committee will reconfigure into a building committee by 2023, for the project.

Hickey stressed the 55.63 percent reimbursement rate is not the rate for the rest of the project, that will be recalculated when the project gets nearer to the actual construction phase.

The committee also voted to contract with KP Law, formerly Kopelman & Page as the lead firm for procurement procedures involving the planned renovation project at the school and potentially to assist in a future.

Hickey expressed his appreciation for the Legal Review Committee’s help with procurement matters at the school, noting that the resource is helpful in concentrating on the non-educational portions of district business.

“There are matters that our district has to deal with that don’t always involve education,” Hickey said. He explained this week that he asked the School Committee to take on another law firm whose expertise is areas of construction and procurement so issues in those areas or regarding MSBA questions could be answered by experts.

“I have used KP Law when we had insurance issues, but we didn’t pick them, our insurance company assigns a counsel to something,” he said. “This is the first time that we, as a district chose to retain them as counsel.”

Stoneman, Chandler & Miller, the district’s existing counsel will continue to represent them on education-related matters.

“We’re just adding to the bullpen,” Hickey said. “Anything with MSBA, we need somebody who’s been there, done that with reviewing a contract or hiring a project manager and designer.”

KP Law will assist with procurement and the regional agreement update that might be triggered if Marshfield joins the region in the very near futur, as well. 

The new window installation project should be completed by the second week of November, Hickey said, noting that, with work done on the second shift, there has been no detrimental effect on instruction.

Looking on the bright side of energy bills

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HANSON – When former Select Board member Matt Dyer bought his first home, a 1991 fixer-upper on Woodbine Avenue, he knew it needed renovation and updating, so while he was at it, he installed solar panels on the roof.

So far, it’s paying off, with his September electric bill showing a savings of $729 on the year so far. For those interested in calculating potential savings on their home with solar power, a search for Solar Savings Estimator online can calculate the installation cost as well as the estimated savings after 20 years.

The solar panels come with a 20-year warranty, which is about the same as an asphalt roof.

“I love it and I’ve been a really big advocate of it,” Dyer said of the solar panels, noting that there is only one other house in Hanson with a Tesla solar roof. Even with the projections on the cost of electricity this winter, Dyer expects he will finish the winter heating season with a credit on his electric bill.

“Here I thought I’d be the first,” he said of his Tesla panels.

There are a handful of homes with the more common variety of solar panels.

In the year in which he lived in the house before getting the panels, his electric bill was about $50 per month, now it’s minus.

After tax rebates and state incentives, the panels only cost $13,000 so he added the storage battery to his home for the interconnection program. Federal tax programs returned 27 percent of the total project cost – which is going up to 30 percent with the recent federal legislation passed this year, and state tax incentives totaled another $1,000 off taxes, plus, through the MassSave interconnection program for the battery, the state buys back power via check through the battery during peak energy use periods at a rate of $214 per kilowatt.

Dyer also has net metering – on a sunny day, when his meter is filled up and he is producing more electricity than he’s consuming, it goes back to the grid, which is how he ended up with the $729 credit on his electric bill.

While critics of solar power point to widespread power outages during grid failures or storm damage, he explained solar does not really work that way.

He had the system up and running during the Nor’easter that knocked out power for several days. His neighborhood was without power for a week, but he had electricity the whole time and offered his home to neighbors to warm up and charge their phones and other devices.

“I’m trying to show other people that there are other ways to live a 21st-Century life being carbon-neutral,” he said, noting the solar battery provided power for a day and a half, until the sun came out again.

“This battery stores 13 kilowatt hours,” he said. “What that translates to for Matt Dyer – and it’s all about how much I use it and how I use it – for me to live minimally and try to extend it as long as I can, I can get about a day and a half to two days.”

His main furnace also works off natural gas and a wood pellet stove in the living room has reduced the need to use that. He also just bought a pellet stove grill, so he can use that during a power outage rather than the stove, which is an electric one.

“I’m still working on the house,” he said on a recent afternoon. And, while projects like this one can turn into money pits, Dyer found that solar panels not only saved him money, but the roof needed replacing when he bought it out of foreclosure in 2020, so he faced a choice – a traditional asphalt roof and installation of solar panels later.

“My life revolves around the environment,” Dyer, a forester for the state, said. “So I felt this was a great opportunity to show people that I can live off the grid.”

He was looking at between $15,000 and $20,000 on a new roof, with solar panels down the road potentially costing about $16,000 more than adding them during the roof work. 

Tesla solar shingles were just starting to roll out at the time, so he looked into them and asked for an estimate, which came in at about $35,000. The price was competitive and the materials used would not look much different than the asphalt shingles he had been considering

“The whole roof just looks like a big thing of slate,” he said. “One of the things about solar that everyone complains about is no one likes to see the panels on their roof for whatever reason.”

Going with Tesla’s solar glass he decided, the house would be more attractive to more people, both from an aethetics as well as a cost-saving vantage point.

While Tesla owner Elon Musk’s political activities create a bit of a conflict for Dyer, he said he couldn’t argue with the price and quality of the product.

“That was my problem going this route,” he said. “But I bought this house as a starter home for $213,000.” The idea is to sell it in a few years as a carbon-neutral house.

Neighbors have already been asking about the panels, if for no other reason than when the panels arrived, Dyer’s driveway was filled with huge boxes. A team of six installers worked on the roof, plus electricians sent to install everything.

“I have a little [carbon] footprint,” he said referring to the pellet stove. “It’s not as large as most.”

Since the pandemic hit right after he closed on the house, while he was still working, he did have plenty of time to work on other aspects of renovating the house. A new septic system went in – which raised the front lawn and required the importation of some large stone blocks for landscaping to the site with the help of his dad.

He has been tracking the progress of the work on his Instagram page.

“There was no flooded basement,” he said. “I’m so surprised that there’s no history of it flooding, there’s no hints of it being flooded. It’s wild, because we have the streams that comes from the ponds and the drainage from Aurthur Court right behind my house – and no issues.”

He built a deck on his vacation. Most people might go to the beach. “We’re still working on it,” he said.

Holiday trees benefits DFS scholarship program

By

Dollars for Scholars is kicking off the holiday season with the third annual “Decorate for Scholars” in the historic Whitman Park Dec. 9 to 11. 

Residents, businesses and community organizations can sponsor a tree for $100 and decorate the tree in a creative and festive manner. The tree sponsors will receive a five-to-six-foot tree, lights, a stand, and a sponsorship sign. There are a limited number of trees available. If interested, please contact Michelle LaMattina at mlamattina1974@gmail.com or 781-589-3151.

Additionally, there will be a vendor fair indoors at Town Hall and outdoors in the Park from 2 to 8 p.m.Saturday, Dec. 10. Please contact Dollars for Scholars if you are a craft vendor and interested in participating. Food trucks, performers and event sponsors are also needed. For more info, please contact Michelle at mlamattina1974@gmail.com or 781-589-3151.

Dollars for Scholars is an all-volunteer nonprofit which raises and awards scholarships to graduating high school seniors from Whitman and Hanson.