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TM to hear cannabis delivery license

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HANSON – Ralph and Alli Greenberg, co-owners of Impressed LLC returned to the Select Board, Tuesday, Sept. 13 to provide an update on their plan to expand their cannabis business at 15 Commercial Way to include a delivery component as well as the grow facility already approved by the town.

Joining Ralph Greenberg in meeting virtually with the board were their equity partner Shanel Lindsay and consultant Ezra Parzybok. 

Select Board members had asked last month that the Greenbergs provide: projected financials for the grow facility; projected financials for the delivery service; and the framework of the delivery service, its rules of engagement and any other information that would be important for the board to know.

The proposal is on the Oct. 3 special Town Meeting.

Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said Impressed and its partner firm La Flora LLC have provided a great deal of in-depth documentation on paper to town officials.

“I’m hoping that you guys are thinking about having somebody at Town Meeting in case there are questions that come up,” she said after the presentation. “As much as we tried to own everything you just said, we’re not going to do it as much justice as you folks would.”

“The one thing I wanted to get out of this tonight and going into Town Meeting, is we really need those [financial] numbers,” said Select Board member Ann Rein said. “I’m telling you right now that townspeople are going to want to see that there’s a real benefit to this. You’ve got a tough fight on your hands if you don’t have some concrete numbers to give to them.”

She also said residents would have to understand the difference between the cultivation business already approved, and the delivery license they now seek.

FitzGerald-Kemmett agreed, noting that it cannot be stressed enough that it is not going to be a brick-and-mortar store.

“What was an eye-opener to me is medical deliveries have been happening all along and we didn’t even know it because it’s very discreet,” she said.

Select Board member Jim Hickey asked questions about town revenue vs the company’s net income growth projections. The figures are based on retail figures, FitzGerald-Kemmett suggested.

Hickey also said questions would also include what drivers would be paid, hours of operation and some other details, which  FitzGerald-Kemmett said appear to be included in the documentation supplied to the board.

Changing government regulations and a possible federal legalization could also have an effect, Parzybok said. Lindsay said they also envision higher set-up expenses in the first year.

Select Board member Joe Weeks said that, while some at Town Meeting will oppose a cannabis business no matter what, and some will urge approval of marijuana in all it’s forms, the vast majority will have to be convinced.

“The town wants to make sure from seed-to-sale that it is not going to fall into the wrong hands,” he said, noting that they want to see that the regulatory documents are Impressed’s policies and procedures to keep the town’s kids safe.

“One of the things I have experience in is not only running a very organically grown, sustainable business, but also a very compliant business and that is what we intend to bring as a partner to Impressed and to the town, a business that is sustainable, that in one that helps the town that helps Impress realize their dream of sustainabilty and also brings needed revenue to the town,” Lindsay said.

Ralph Greenberg said he thought the board should first know a little bit more about the Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) and how they work. The commission conducts a post-final license inspection, which gives businesses the ability to sell product. Some of the product already grown has been inspected and is ready for sale.

The test results provide the business; pricing structure that users and wholesalers will pay.

“I don’t think it’s really prudent to give you a projection [for that reason],” he said. “It will really be a novelty number and it would be fraudulent for me to say anything to you and give you a number as a projection. The market has changed dramatically in the last couple of months.”

Greenberg said that adding a delivery component to the wholesale business could provide them with the profitability from which it would profit.

“I think the big question is, How do we create this delivery component to the Impressed Group and make this the opportunity that we’re all looking for?” Greenburg said.

FitzGerald-Kemmett said the board understands what he is saying but that they are being asked to support adding the delivery component, which they are feeling “quite favorably about,” but stressed that an important consideration for voters is how much money it would bring to the town.

“If we’re not getting any kind of projection on the financials, that’s a very difficult position that we’re being put in, as the elected representatives for our constituents, where we literally don’t have any information to give them,” she said. “We’re being asked to take a leap of faith that we’re going to make some money, but we can’t really tell you how much money.” 

FitzGerald-Kemmett said Select Board members will be expecting at least a low-ball figure that can be presented to Town Meeting within the next couple of years because opponents will attend Town Meeting with made-up numbers in an effort to argue that the town won’t receive enough revenue from the project to make it worthwhile.

 “We have nothing to say whether those numbers are correct or not,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “Those numbers would have to come from you.”

Lindsay, a lawyer as well as equity partner with Impressed LLC, has also been involved in the cannabis business for about 10 years, including a patent for a device that allows medical patients and seniors to make cannabis products for their medical needs. She was also asked to help write the law legalizing cannabis for adults over 21. She has been a member of the CCC advisory board during its initial work and was reappointed for a second term during its crafting of the second set of regulations, including those governing delivery. She is also one of the few female owners of a cannabis business, Lindsay said.

“I am also very excited to help and join [a] partnership with one of the very few female growers in the industry, and also a family business,” Lindsay said, noting that hers is a family business, as well.

Parzybok is a licensing and security expert in the field, Lindsay said.

Delivery businesses are only open to people who meet a number of standards regarding their past, the communities they come from and equity in hiring and participation in the industry.

Lindsay’s business, La Flora LLC, is a partner with Impressed LLC.

“It makes a ton of sense for both of us to work hand-in-hand to make sure that all of the product being grown by Impressed makes it out into the marketplace in Massachusetts,” she said. “It’s important to understand that this is a very, very, heavily regulated product that has many layers of tracking and many different layers of technology to make sure that the product does not end up in the wrong hands.”

Parzybok, who is also a cannabis education consultant, outlined the procedures and protocols to ensure product safety in Hanson.

“I’ve made it my mission to see these businesses open in the most compliant way,” he said, while making sure communities understand what that means.

Delivery operator’s licenses are separate from courier licenses, which cover those who deliver product to homes from a retail outlet.

“Delivery operator is a warehouse model, and is a perfect scenario for a partnership with Impressed,” he said. “Medical marijuana is a different legal category, which has the exact same product level.”

The main difference is medical marijuana has a much stronger and has been permitted for home delivery from the start in Massachusetts, for both customer privacy and convenience.

He said 32 percent of adults 21 and older in states where cannabis is fully legal have consumed it in the last six months. Alcohol consumption is at 70 percent, but he said cannabis is closing that gap as a replacement for alcohol.

State regulations govern vehicles — which are unmarked generic-looking passenger vehicles — product storage, facility vaults, driver training, GPS tracking software, manifests, ID checks and state-seed-to-sale tracking. Delivery vehicles must pull into an enclosed facility for loading directly from a vault, to which only specific employees have access.

“I’ve made it my mission to help these businesses get opened in the most compliant way, and also to educate the community — to make sure they understand what that means,” Parzybok said. Medical marijuana, for example, is much stronger than recreational cannabis.

As for hard numbers on local impact revenue the town can expect, he said the market is quite volatile, he said, but estimated net income for the town based on  Impressed’s first year is put at $408,297. For the second year it is estimated at $990,848 – $1,091,126 for year three, $1,124,100 in year four and $1,198,195 in year five.

The figures were based on an output of 1,000 of quality product for the first year and the goal of 3,000 pounds of yearly output with a current annual wholesale price of $1,500 to $2,000 per pound. But more producer businesses are coming on board, which is a reason Impressed is seeking a delivery license as well.

“With these figures, we really tried to be conservative,” Lindsay said.

Security cameras and hardwired GPS systems are features of the delivery vehicles, and regulations require licensed agents, who are trained in security practices, to staff the vehicles.

All areas of the business property, inside and out, are also covered by security cameras. Body cameras are also worn by delivery agents, who advise clients, at their doors, that their transactions are being recorded. Little to no cash is used in transactions.

“It’s important to understand that this is a very, very regulated product that has many, many different layers of tracking, many, many, many different layers of technology to make sure the product does not end up in the wrong hands,” Lindsay said.

No injuries in 2-alarm fire

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WHITMAN — Chief Timothy Clancy reports that the Whitman Fire Department, aided by firefighters from area towns including Rockland, extinguished a fire at a home on West Street Thursday morning, Sept. 15.

No injuries were reported as a result of the fire, but two cats owned by the family were killed in the blaze. All five people who live the home were out of the building by the time firefighters arrived on scene. It is reported that a passerby who was walking his dog saw the fire and alerted the occupants, allowing them to safely exit the building by the time crews arrived.

Smoke alarms in the house evidently went off as the residents escaped the fire, Whitman Deputy Chief Al Cunningham said in published reports

The identity of the “mystery man” has been the talk of the town in the week since the blaze.

At approximately 5:35 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 15, Whitman Fire received a call for a structure fire at a two-story residential home at 137 West St. in town. Upon arrival, firefighters saw heavy smoke and fire coming from the rear exterior of the second story of the home.

A second alarm was struck for additional manpower as firefighters began an aggressive attack. Upon entering the home firefighters found that the fire had extended into the first floor of the structure.

The fire was knocked down after approximately 30 minutes. Firefighters remained on scene for hours conducting overhaul of the building. Cunningham said, while it doesn’t appear that the house is a complete loss, it’ll be some time before anyone can live in it.

Fire crews from East Bridgewater, Brockton, Hanson and Rockland responded to the scene, as did ambulances from Halifax and Norwell. Bridgewater Fire provided station coverage.

The fire remains under investigation by the Whitman Fire Department and the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

W-H close to hiring athletic trainer

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Athletic Director Bob Rogers is looking for an athletic trainer — and he is not alone. There are eight schools south of Boston that don’t have a trainer, he said.

Help, however, might be close at hand.

Rogers told the School Committee on Wednesday, Sept. 14 that the district’s trainer told him at athletics first night she and her boyfriend were relocating to California.

Since that time, and even all summer, Signature Healthcare was advertising while Rogers was not, because he thought they were “good to go.”

“As soon as I found out, I contacted every single college in the state of Massachusetts,” Rogers said, noting he contacted each trainer, and a lot of colleges have as many as five. “I sent out over 100 emails I have it on SchoolSpring, I have it on the MIAA site, I’ve been networking all over the place, and we have not been able to find anyone.”

All that networking did produce a highly qualified candidate who has her masters, and passed the program, but still has to take the test in October, with results due back in November.

“My hope is that she could become our trainer for the winter season,” Rogers said. “She has already interviewed with Signature, they like her, they tested her credentials and they feel confident with her.”

Another contributing factor to the current crunch is that the state and national board have changed the rules for credentials, now requiring a master’s degree. Rogers has also contacted the state about a waiver for those rules for the short term and have been working with an EMT to staff athletic events — she is also a W-H graduate, a former Hanson call firefighter and Air Force veteran as well as being at the end of her athletic training program.

“I feel very confident having her, but there are some limitations on what she’s allowed to do, legally,” Rogers said. “We’re doing what we can with that.”

He has also contracted with Peak Therapy, which has worked out very well. A physical therapist comes to the school three days a week when a local doctor — and another local person, Dr. Joel White — comes in three days a week to help students with rehabilitation.

With Signature not subsidizing the school, for the service at the moment, it is the responsibility of W-H, and Rogers has been working to raise funds, including selling Peak Therapy the last $5,000 ad spot on the scoreboard. 

“Funding might end up being a problem because Signature has always helped us with funding,” Rogers said. “We don’t budget for an athletic trainer.”

He said the superintendent, principal and School Committee may have to decide moving forward as the crunch continues and affects the financial sponsorship arrangement.

Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak said a $5,000 signing bonus being offered by Signature caused some confusion in the community.

“That wasn’t us,” Szymaniak said. “We have a contract with Signature who, as a private company, was putting an incentive out there. … And still nobody bit.”

DFS holiday trees weather changes

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WHITMAN — Past experiences with storms during the annual DFS Decorating for Scholars event at Whitman Park have led organizers to ask the Select Board to approve a change this year.

Organizer Michelle LaMattina sought permission from the board to use Town Hall Auditorium on Saturday, Dec. 10 for an afternoon vendor affair to coincide with events surrounding the tree lighting ceremony in the evening.

Select Board voted to approve both the event itself and use of the auditorium, with interim Town Administrator Frank Lynam pledging to get back to LaMattina the next day to confirm the facility’s availability.

Food trucks and performers will also be included in the event. LaMattina said any performers with links to WHRHS are especially welcome. A “special guest” is also slated to make an appearance. This year’s dates are Friday through Sunday, Dec. 9 to 11.

“We try to make it bigger every year to try to raise a little bit more money every year,” she said. “It’s just a good thing for the community.”

Last year, more than $10,000 was raised at the event. LaMattina has also spoken with the Boy Scouts, who want to help out a little more this year, as well as a few other groups.

Weather postponed last year’s vendor event on the Saturday of the three-day festival.

“The year before we had issues with the weather, also,” she said. “Obviously, one of these years were going to get hit with a blizzard.”

Feedback to DFS indicated a lot more people wanted to be vendors and participate in the event the Saturday last year’s storm hit, but they didn’t want to be outside in the cold all day.

Use of the auditorium would permit the organization to have some vendors inside and others outside. Student volunteers work the event as part of the volunteer hours requirement for the scholarship program.

There will also be adult volunteers on duty.

LaMattina was also asking that no charge be asked for use of the auditorium because all the money raised goes directly to scholarships.

DFS has held a tree lighting event in the park for the last two years.

“It’s one of our larger fundraisers of the year,” she said. “The only issue we’ve had is last year somebody stole a tree on us, but, other than that, people love it.”

Whitman moves to fill key vacancies

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WHITMAN — The Select Board on Tuesday, Sept. 13 appointed the six members to a search committee for a new town administrator and discussed the process of appointing an interim treasurer-collector, effective Nov. 1.

“I take pleasure in announcing that Beth Stafford, a former selectman and a School Committee member, has reached out and volunteered to serve on that group,” Interim Town Administrator Frank Lynam said. “I think it’s a great opportunity to bring new and old experiences together to focus on hopefully moving quickly to identify candidates.”

“That’s a constant theme, isn’t it,” Select Board member Dr. Carl Kowalski said.

Chair Randy LaMattina said Stafford is “definitely more than qualified to serve in that capacity

“We’ve always tried to have a diverse selection of [people] on our hiring groups, and I think that keeps in line with that,” he said.

Members of the group will be Stafford, Lynam, Kowalski, Fire Chief Timothy Clancy, Finance Committee Chair Rick Anderson and resident John Galvin.

Lynam said the board had explored engaging other persons to assist as treasurer/collector on a temporary basis, but that did not work out for various reasons. MaryBeth Carter had worked as Whitman’s treasurer/collector since 2006.

“What I failed to notice in the process was we have a home-grown candidate, who has worked for us for close to five years in the capacity of town accountant and he is prepared to take on that new responsibility,” Lynam said of Town Accountant Kenneth Lytle. “As you know, the position is an elected one. We can appoint a treasurer/collector until the next election.”

He reminded the board they have spoken about his recommendation to bring the proposal to change the treasurer/collector position to an appointed one and argued for doing so at a November Town Meeting.

“I’m asking that the board consider appointing Ken as of Nov. 1 to the position of acting treasurer/collector, to be paid at the base rate of the former treasurer/collector,” Lynam said. He noted that Carter has offered to provide some assistance during the transition and he has spoken with the auditors to clarify the process — Lytle will stay in his current role until the end of October to close out work on the fiscal year.

“It is a specific legal requirement that a town accountant not be a treasurer/collector of the community as well, because those are checks and balances,” Lynam said.

“I think we knew when we hired Ken, he’s world-class,” LaMattina said, saying it was a logical choice. “His work performance is fantastic.”

Lynam said the treasurer/collector is one of the most responsible positions the town has, entrusted with the handling and investing of more than $43 million in taxpayer money.

“It requires a skill set that not just anybody can do,” he said. “Ken has a background as an accountant … and has demonstrated his knowledge.”

In other business, the board reviewed its marijuana business host agreement and related social equity policies and procedures with town counsel attorney Peter Sumners and voted to approve the social equity policy, while postponing a vote in the host agreement itself. 

The May Town Meeting approved a bylaw allowing cannabis business zoning in the town.

“That bylaw is still currently at the attorney general’s office Municipal Law Unit awaiting approval,” Sumners said. “They sought an extension from town counsel’s office [and] Michelle McNulty granted the extension through Oct. 5, so we should know [by then] whether that’s approved or not.”

Sumners said he has spoken with the attorney general’s office and reported “no major issues” to be worried about, and forecast that it should largely be approved.

“There’s just a couple of unique provisions that they’re taking a look at, but that won’t have an effect on the rest of the bylaw if they have any issues,” he said. 

In the meantime, the state has also passed new legislation that “pretty drastically” changes some provisions of the cannabis statutes — especially concerning community impact fees.

“That required a substantial revision to a form of host community agreement that we were working with,” Sumners said. A team from the town counsel’s office has reached out to some interested applicants over the summer, identifying locations and trying to move forward with licensing, but they have to enter into a host community agreement first. 

“While the town can’t enter into one of those until you have your zoning bylaw in place, we have been able to speak with them and keep things moving forward to get things ready in anticipation of that bylaw being approved,” he said. 

The legislation change also requires a town to adopt social equity policies and procedures to address impact on people “disparately impacted by marijuana prohibition in the past,” before a host community agreement can be entered into. The Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) is charged with issuing model policies and procedures, but has not done so yet.

He provided a policy to the board that he expects would meet any minimum standards the CCC might issue.

“We anticipate that whatever we come up with, in terms of a host community agreement, is going to be used for every marijuana business,” Sumners said, noting his office has received a lot of positive feedback from potential businesses.

Board Vice Chair Dan Salvucci noted that business would be responsible for financial impact of any need for increased public safety activity or wear and tear on town infrastructure. He asked if it could be increased if a cost, such as the number of police officers, increased.

“If the impact on the town is more than 3 percent of a business’ gross sales, it is still capped at 3 percent,” Sumners said. “The big change over the summer, is we now have to send them documentation of what the impacts on the town are first … and they can last eight years.”

Select Board member Justin Evans said he and Select Board member Shawn Kain have been working with Sumners on the issue and noted that Kain had a suggestion to include the cost of substance use and abuse prevention and education programs in the impact fee.

“It’s something that I think is a responsibility on us as a community to do,” Kain said.

Kain also suggested the formation of a small budget working group to plan for the fiscal 2024 town budget.

“It’s just something to keep in the forefront of where we want to get to when budget season starts, so that we can use it then,” he said. “I think it’s a really important tool that will really help us with some big decisions.”

Little Library = big difference

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You see them all over — little free libraries, adorned with the motto: “Take a Book, Leave a Book,” now one has become the Eagle Scout project of Alexander Nunes of Hanson, who is a member of Whitman’s Troop 59.

Lowe’s donated all the $640 worth of construction materials needed for the project.

“Since they donated the materials, I didn’t need to do fundraising,” he said. Nunes said he isn’t certain of the date for his upcoming Eagle Court of Honor yet, as he is still working to finish his last two merit badges — including hiking.

The project, worked on by a few fellow Scouts and adults who wielded the power tools, took about a month to construct.

“We could only get people together on the weekends, and there were a lot of small details,” he said. “It was well done.”

The kiosk is already in place ad being used, Nunes said, noting he doesn’t have a particular dedication ceremony planned.

“I just wanted to see if people would use it, and luckily, they are using it and enjoying it,” he said, noting that the public has been using it respectfully.

Nunes’ project is one of the Little Free Library [littlefreelibrary.org] non-profit (officially earning its 501(c) 3 designation in 2012) projects across the country. His project is posted at the Head Start building across the street from Whitman Park, looking like a trim, miniature house, painted white to match the Head Start building.

“There’s been a lot of them popping up and I thought one would be good to place near the park,” Nunes said in an interview last week. “I collected donations from anyone willing to give books.”

From here on out, Nunes said he will re-stock it occasionally if it gets too low, but it’s operated on the honor system of take a book/leave a book.

In some places the little free libraries had been stocked with new books, only to be cleaned out by thieve and needing to be completely restocked.

Despite the location in front of the Head Start building, the books weren’t specifically geared toward any particular age group.

He said the design of the miniature building his little free library, as well as the paint job, were meant to represent the town and the style of houses in the area.

The design of the kiosks is in keeping with the origin of the original Little Free Library built by Todd Bol of Hudson, Wisc., in 2009 — a model of a little red one-room schoolhouse in tribute to his mother, a teacher who loved to read. According to the littlefreelibrary.org site, he built more for neighbors and friends who loved the original and a friend, Rick Brooks of UW-Madison, joined the project.

“They were inspired by community gift-sharing networks, ‘take a book, leave a book’ collections in coffee shops and public spaces, and most especially by the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie” the website states.

Brooks and Bol set out to surpass the 2,508 Little Free Libraries — the number Carnegie sought to fund across the English-speaking world. They surpassed that goal in August 2012, a year and a half before their target date. By the end of 2012, there were more than 4,000 of the officially chartered Little Free Libraries in existence, up from 400 the year before.

Hanson eyes the Health Board budget

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HANSON — Board of Health Chair Arlene Dias fielded some tough questions on the state of the department’s budget during a meeting of the Select Board on Tuesday, Aug. 30 ahead of the special Town Meeting next month.

“We’re trying to really urge transparency in the budget process, and the only way we do that is if we’re consistent across the board,” Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

Just prior to the May Town Meeting, the Select Board had asked that the Health agent provide them with a budget plan similar to one provided by the Recreation Commission, outlining any austerity measures the Board of Health might be able to implement to narrow the town’s revenue investment required to keep it solvent.

FtizGerald-Kemmett said Dias had indicated to her that the whole Health Board had not discussed it yet, but some members had a conversation about the issue at their last meeting.

“They wanted to take a look at it before I presented it to the [Select Board],” Dias said, noting that the Board of Health’s next meeting is not scheduled until Sept. 28.

“Well, that’s not going to be sufficient because we’re shutting the warrant tonight,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said, noting that the Select Board would next meet Sept. 13 and strongly suggesting that the Board of Health schedule a “one-off meeting” to “have a conversation about this and make it a priority.”

She said that otherwise a stalemate would loom at the Oct. 3 special Town Meeting.

Dias said she submitted the Health Board’s article as a placeholder. FitzGerald-Kemmett said a placeholder could be put in, but it could not be included in the warrant when the board closes it without having a conversation about the Health Board’s budget.

The warrant closes on Tuesday, Sept. 20 with the “drop-dead date” for submitting information supporting a warrant article would be this week’s [Sept. 13] meeting.

“I certainly think [a one-off meeting] is justified, given the alternative,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. 

Diaz said that, in going over the warrant articles earlier that day, the Heath Board realized it would probably see a budget shortfall.

“We thought we had enough to cover everything through program revenues, and we may be short a little,” she said, noting she would have to talk with Town Accountant Todd Hassett, but she anticipated it being less than $50,000. “We have to shore that up.”

Quasi-revenue sources, such as for cardboard recycling, comes in as a credit so it doesn’t appear as revenue, were one example of areas where Dias said could show “what we truly get for revenue.”

“This will be an ongoing request for you guys,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said about the budget reviews.

Select Board member Jim Hickey stressed that the situation is not Dias’ fault, and FitzGerald-Kemmett agreed. He said the Health agent and board should have held meetings with Hassett right after the spring Town Meeting, instead of the Select Board’s waiting all summer for the information.

“She picked up the ball here, and I want to be careful how I say this, which is not a strong suit  so this should be good,” she said. “Typically, it would be a department head that would be presenting the budget, and I think Ms. Dias is trying to be responsive to what this board has asked, knowing that we were not satisfied with what was presented to us the prior two times that we heard from them.” She acknowledged there is a lot of ground to be made up.

FitzGerald Kemmett put it another way, asking Dias what steps the Health Board or agent have taken since the May Town Meeting, taken to address the Select Boards information requests. 

Dias said she could not speak for Health Agent Gilbert Amado, but said that she met with the Health agent three weeks ago when Hassett provided help with the article and his office was closed Aug. 30.

FitzGerald-Kemmett thanked Town Hall personnel for helping get the warrant squared away during Town Administrator Lisa. Green’s medical leave.

“I want to extend a huge thanks to Beth Sloan and Jean Kelly [in the Town Clerk’s office] and Jeanne Sullivan [in the Collector’s offie] and Todd Hassett, all who have stepped up in Lisa’s absence … to work with us on the warrant.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett also thanked Town Counsel Kate Feodoroff for prioritizing the town’s town meeting warrant needs.

“The warrant is actually in much better shape than one would have expected given the circumstances,” she said. “They’ve all worked together as a team to get it … where we’re at.”

The board was asked to discuss and approve a new rental agreement for the Nathaniel Thomas Mill, but FitzGerald-Kemmett expressed some confusion about the context of the request, but tabled the matter.

“We’ve got a revised Thomas Mill application here, but I don’t really have a comparison of what it was before and what precipitated the change,” she said. “So I think it’s probably not the most urgent of matters at this moment, and I would therefore suggest that we not discuss it.”

Mass. voters cast ballots in primary

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Come November, voters will be choosing between Democrat Maura Healey — currently the commonwealth’s attorney general — and Republican Geoff Diehl — former state representative from Whitman.

Pundits cast the race pitting Diehl against an historic all-female ticket lead by the out LGBTQ Healey, as a “referendum on Trumpism” in Massachusetts.

Healey focused on her past bipartisan approach to the attorney general’s office and saluted the leadership of Gov. Charlie Baker, thanking him for his service to the state.

“Gov. Baker has led with respect and worked with both parties,” she told supporters during her victory speech Tuesday night. “He’s refused to engage in the politics of division and destruction that we’ve seen across this country.”

She said her campaign would be about making the state more affordable, growing the economy toward opportunity for all and protection of reproductive freedom.

Diehl focused on the state’s population loss and the focus on big government over individual freedom, calling Healey “the people’s worst nightmare” leading the state down a path of higher taxes and radical legislation.

“With this campaign we are going to be redefining politics as usual here in Massachusetts,” Diehl said, noting he appreciated opponent Chris Doughty’s call conceding the race, and pledging to “work together to defeat a radical attorney general who wants to be our governor.”

Diehl pledged “for the first time” to run a campaign toward November focused on “we the people — our freedoms, our rights and our prosperity.” He also pledged support for empowering parents to keep Healey’s “political agenda out of the classroom.”

Diehl has been endorsed by Donald Trump, who said in his remarks to Diehl’s supporters Monday that Diehl would “rule your state with an iron fist.”

Turnout was 22.5 percent of Whitman’s 11,239 voters and 26 percent of Hanson’s 8,170 voters.

“Primaries really don’t do that well, but we’ll see,” said Michael Ganshirt of  the Whitman Town Clerk’s Office, who estimated turnout would be about 20 percent.

Locally, Healey won Whitman by 1,144 votes to Sonia Chang-Diaz’s 142 votes, while Diehl carried his home town with 969 votes to Chris Doughty’s 241. In Hanson, Healey garnered 880 votes to Chang-Diaz’s 15 and Diehl won with 881 votes to Doughty’s 268.

For Lieutenant governor, things were more dramatic over the course of the evening as the also-rans started the evening as state leaders in early voting, but eventually, Diehl’s running mate Leah Allen took 681 votes in Hanson to Kate Campanale’s 372; and in Whitman, Allen won with 801 votes to Campanale’s 321.

On the Democratic side, Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll won Whitman with 673 votes to state Sen. Eric Lesser’s 375 and Tami Gouveia’s 189. In Hanson, Driscoll garnered 516 votes to Lesser’s 290 and Gouveia’s 116.

In her victory speech, Healey saluted outgoing Gov. Charlie Baker’s leadership on behalf of Massachusetts.

Local Democrats were looking for executive experience in a lieutenant governor, according to Whitman Select Board member Justin Evans, as he held signs for Democratic candidates near Town Hall.

“I think she is a quintessential executive,” said attorney Chris DOrio. “If she were asked to take over for the governor, she sits in the chair and gets the job done. Her exective experience is what really drives me. She turned Salem around in her term there and I think she could do the same in the Corner Office one day if Maura Healey decides to move up or move out, I think Kim does a great job as governor, too.”

Diorio was also waging what he termed a “rather quixotic effort” online to garner write-in votes for Plymouth County Sheriff, needing 1,000 votes to attain that goal. At presstime, it was not clear whether his four-day social media campaign was successful.

“I got into this race because I believe in Massachusetts. We have the best people, innovation and know-how in the world. As Governor, I want to harness that potential, bring people together and build a state where every person and every business can thrive,” Healey said in a statement after she carried the Democratic primary. “Thank you to every voter who believed in that vision and made their voices heard in the primary. Thank you to every volunteer and supporter who put in the hard work to get us on this path to making history. We’re going to spend the next two months getting after it to earn every vote. This is a campaign for everyone.”

“I am tremendously humbled and honored to have received your support at the polls today,” Diehl told a cheering crowd in Weymouth. “Now, it’s on to the general election.”

There were trouble spots during the day’s voting:

• Uncontested races on both sides of the political spectrum up and down the ballot across the state;

• Polls having to stay open until midnight in Barnstable because a vault where ballots were stored for security could not be opened; and

• At least one voter, who declined to be identified charging that a sign-holder for the DA Tim Cruz campaign at the East Bridgewater school complex told them polls in East Bridgewater had closed at 6 p.m., dissuading them from voting.

“That did not happen,” said Cruz Campaign Manager Patrick Nestor on Wednsday morning. “I was there and none of our people acted that way.”

Pundits cast the race pitting Diehl against an historic all-female ticket lead by the out LGBTQ Healy, as a “referendum on Trumpism” in Massachusetts.

Healy focused on her past bipartisan approach to the attorney general’s office and saluted the leadership of Gov. Charlie Baker, thanking him for his service to the state.

“Gov. Baker has led with respect and worked with both parties,” she told supporters during her victory speech Tuesday night. “He’s refused to engage in the politics of division and destruction that we’ve seen across this country.”

She said her campaign would be about making the state more affordable, growing the economy toward opportunity for all and protection of reproductive freedom.

Diehl focused on the state’s population loss and the focus on big government over individual freedom, calling Healy “the people’s worst nightmare” leading the state down a path of higher taxes and radical legislation.

“With this campaign we are going to be redefining politics as usual here in Massachusetts,” Diehl said, noting he appreciated opponent Chris Doughty’s call conceding the race, and pledging to “work together to defeat a radical attorney general who wants to be our governor.”

Diehl pledged “for the first time” to run a campaign toward November focused on “we the people — our freedoms, our rights and our prosperity.” He also pledged support for empowering parents to keep Healy’s “political agenda out of the classroom.”

Diehl has been endorsed by Donald Trump, who said in his remarks to Diehl’s supporters Monday that Diehl would “rule your state with an iron fist.”

Turnout was 22.5 percent of Whitman’s 11,239 voters and 26 percent of Hanson’s 8,170 voters.

“Primaries really don’t do that well, but we’ll see,” said Michael Ganshirt of  the Whitman Town Clerk’s Office, who estimated turnout would be about 20 percent.

Locally, Healy won Whitman by 1,144 votes to Sonia Chang-Diaz’s 142 votes, while Diehl carried his home town with 969 votes to Chris Doughty’s 241. In Hanson, Healy garnered 880 votes to Chang-Diaz’s 15 and Diehl won with 881 votes to Doughty’s 268.

For Lieutenant governor, things were more dramatic over the course of the evening as the also-rans started the evening as state leaders in early voting, but eventually, Diehl’s running mate Leah Allen took 681 votes in Hanson to Kate Campanale’s 372; and in Whitman, Allen won with 801 votes to Campanale’s 321.

On the Democratic side, Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll won Whitman with 673 votes to state Sen. Eric Lesser’s 375 and Tami Gouveia’s 189. In Hanson, Driscoll garnered 516 votes to Lesser’s 290 and Gouveia’s 116.

In her victory speech, Healy saluted outgoing Gov. Charlie Baker’s leadership on behalf of Massachusetts.

Local Democrats were looking for executive experience in a lieutenant governor, according to Whitman Select Board member Justin Evans, as he held signs for Democratic candidates near Town Hall.

“I think she is a quintessential executive,” said attorney Chris DOrio. “If she were asked to take over for the governor, she sits in the chair and gets the job done. Her exective experience is what really drives me. She turned Salem around in her term there and I think she could do the same in the Corner Office one day if Maura Healy decides to move up or move out, I think Kim does a great job as governor, too.”

Diorio was also waging what he termed a “rather quixotic effort” online to garner write-in votes for Plymouth County Sheriff, needing 1,000 votes to attain that goal. At presstime, it was not clear whether his four-day social media campaign was successful.

“I got into this race because I believe in Massachusetts. We have the best people, innovation and know-how in the world. As Governor, I want to harness that potential, bring people together and build a state where every person and every business can thrive,” Healy said in a statement after she carried the Democratic primary. “Thank you to every voter who believed in that vision and made their voices heard in the primary. Thank you to every volunteer and supporter who put in the hard work to get us on this path to making history. We’re going to spend the next two months getting after it to earn every vote. This is a campaign for everyone.”

“I am tremendously humbled and honored to have received your support at the polls today,” Diehl told a cheering crowd in Weymouth. “Now, it’s on to the general election.”

There were trouble spots during the day’s voting:

• Uncontested races on both sides of the political spectrum up and down the ballot across the state;

• Polls having to stay open until midnight in Barnstable because a vault where ballots were stored for security could not be opened; and

• At least one voter, who declined to be identified charging that a sign-holder for the DA Tim Cruz campaign at the East Bridgewater school complex told them polls in East Bridgewater had closed at 6 p.m., dissuading them from voting.

“That did not happen,” said Cruz Campaign Manager Patrick Nestor on Wednsday morning. “I was there and none of our people acted that way.”

Regional pact panel formed

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The School committee on Wednesday, Aug. 24 approved a 10-member Regional Agreement subcommittee — made up of a School Committee and Select Board member from each town and both town administrators as voting members; as well as a finance committee member, citizen at large from both towns, the superintendent, assistant superintendent, the district business manager as non-voting members.

The School Committee will vote on membership of the subcommittee at its next meeting.

The Committee rejected a proposal by member Fred Small that the subcommittee be charged with hiring the Mass. Association of Regional Schools (MARS) to facilitate the work to ensure it is legally sound, following a discussion of the feedback received from both select boards regarding the Regional Agreement.

Chair Christopher Howard met with the Whitman Select Board on Tuesday, June 21 and both he and Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak attended a meeting of the Hanson Select Board on Tuesday, July 26. Both meetings, broadcast by Whitman-Hanson Community Access (WHCA-TV) are available on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/user/WHCA9TV/videos). 

“If we’re forming a committee among our partnership [between the towns], I have full confidence we can lean on [the committee] to do due diligence,” Vice Chairman Christopher Scriven said of the MARS requirement. “Of course we’re going to consult with MARS. I feel it’s a bit of an overstep at this point.”

Both select boards indicated a preference for a more streamlined subcommittee with fewer members than worked on the last review of the document. 

“They both would like to move forward,” Howard said. “They both see the need to update the regional agreement for a variety of reasons, and the general consensus — general, because I think we got there in both meetings, but there was certainly some discussion — was to probably start small.”

Howard said there was clarity around the opinion that it was “a really big committee” last time.

He suggested the School Committee could form the subcommittee right away unless some members needed more time to review the select board meetings. The committee indicated its willingness to proceed with that discussion.

The panel would be a subcommittee of the School Committee, and Howard’s suggestion was to include one School Committee member from each town, one select board member from each town, both town administrators as voting members; with the superintendent, assistant superintendent, the district business manager and a finance committee member from each town as non-voting members.

Howard told both select boards it was preferable to start small and add to it, if necessary.

“I’ve never seen a committee get smaller,” Howard said. “The charge right now is we’ve got to build something, then we can figure out who’s going to be on it.”

Committee member Beth Stafford agreed with that approach.

“If you start with a smaller group you’re more likely to get full participation,” she said.

Member David Forth suggested adding a citizen member from each town, regardless of their voting status.

“The question I had is how would the quorum work for voting members and nonvoting members?” he said because any changes to the agreement must go through the School Committee and both select boards and town meetings in both communities for ratification.

“There’s a lot of opportunity for participation and transparency from anyone that wants to along this entire way,” Howard said. He also said his thinking was that the quorum requirements would only apply to the voting members.

But Forth argues that because it goes through town meetings, it is important for citizens fro both communities involved in the review.

“I also kind of like that you’d have three from each town, so if it’s three to three, it kind of forces [them] to find consensus,” he said.

Small, however, recommended a subcommittee of two School Committee members from each town, a select board member from each town, and a citizen’s representative from each community as voting members. He suggested the administrators could be nonvoting members without finance committee members included.

Member Dawn Byers agreed with Small’s voting members, but argued that two members from town finance committees were important more than citizens at-large for an eight-person committee.

“I think that (the Mass. Association of Regional Schools) MARS should be consulted and ask them to come in and help construct [the committee],” Small said. “Granted, we have a foundation to work off of, but they would know what updated laws and rules and regulations are, even compared to four or five years ago.”

Howard said placing two School Committee member from each town, it opens the door to two select board members from each town.

“Now we’ve gone from a committee of six to a committee of 10 just like that,” he said, snapping his fingers. “If I was a member of either select board I’m not sure I would say, ‘Yeah, we’re going to have two School Committee members, but we’re only going to have one select person.”

Small said it’s important to have citizen members in order to gauge their opinions.

Green is out on medical leave

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HANSON — Town Administrator Lisa Green is out on a temporary medical leave, elect Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett announced at the board’s Tuesday, Aug. 30 meeting.

The board had met in executive session Monday, Aug. 29 under Mass. General Law provisions regarding the physical condition or competence of an employee.

“Naturally I can’t provide any details [about Green’s health], that would be violating HIPAA, nor do I think people necessarily want to hear the gory details,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “With that said, we’re obviously in a critical time since we are knee-deep for preparations for Town Meeting which is one of the most important days of the year for the town.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett said that, working with town counsel, the board was able to identify a candidate who has acted as an interim for in the past 

The Select Board entered into an agreement with Kevin Donvan to serve as interim town administrator for a period of up to three months at a rate of $75 per hour, which FitzGerald-Kemmett is quite reasonable for the job he is going to be doing and is expected to do He is deeply experienced, having served as tow administrator for other towns and has also served on the Abington select board and “has quite an impressive résumé.” 

Donovan started his role on Wednesday, Aug. 31 and planned a department head meeting for that day.

“With Lisa’s medical situation, the board wanted her to focus on getting well,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “She’s really been trying to be a hero by coming in — and I think she’s ended up causing more problems [for herself] by coming in — so we really said to her, ‘You need to take care of yourself and we want to give you the opportunity to do that.’ But we need to steady the ship and bring somebody in to make sure we’re getting the day-to-day business done.”

Green will be using sick and vacation time while she recovers as preferable to the rules of the Family and Medical Leave Act. Te board will figure out a transitional period back to the office when she is better.

“There might be a time wen she is working remotely part-time and Mr. Donovan is working part-time and then at some point, she’ll come back to the office,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

Donovan should be a good fit as he helps the board catch up and keep up with work while Green is out, she said.

“We were impressed. He has a great sense of humor, which is going to stand him in good stead. … He knows his priority is to get the Town Meeting warrant done and he knows what he’s coming into and what’s expected of him.”

Selectman Jim Hickey said he agreed that Donovan was very knowledgeable.

“Right now, the most important thing for us is Town Meeting, and he’s been through it many times,” Hickey said.

Donovan will be working with the Hanson Select Board full-time for the first couple of weeks to onboard the new administrative assistant and potentially beyond a couple of weeks, if town business requires it.

“The thought process is he’ll pull back to 20 hours a week and be on-call full-time at no charge to the town unless he physically has to come into the office,” she said.

The Select Board voted on Tuesday, Aug. 30, to appoint Jake Matyi as temporary administrative assistant and intern to the town administrator, and Lynn McDowell as the new executive assistant to the town administrator. Select Board member Anne Rein was away on a long-planned vacation Tuesday.

“We’re hopeful that, between [Donovan] and Jake and Lynn, we’ll get things back on track at the office,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “We can’t wait for you to start,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said of McDowell’s Wednesday, Sept. 7 start date. McDowell attended the Aug. 30 meeting.

Matyi, who was not in attendance at the meeting is a student at Bridgewater State University, who will be stepping in to serve for about five to six weeks to assist in the town administrator’s office.

In other business, the board approved a conditional offer of employment to police officer Michael S. Maliff Jr., to fill a vacancy, which opened when an officer transferred out of the department in June, according Chief Michael Miksch. Maliff must pass the required medical and psychological exams and a background check before officially joining the Hanson Police Department.

“Normally, I get 50-plus résumés and letters, and we got, like, 20,” Miksch said. Of those 20 applicants, about six met the minimum requirements posted, but 10 were interviewed, based on their backgrounds.

“Mike Maliff is the one who came out on top,” he said.

Maliff grew up in Whitman and is a graduate of WHRHS. He is currently an officer on the Oak Bluffs Police Department on Martha’s Vineyard, where he has served since 2013. He is working on his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.

“One of the things that’s impressive with Michael is he’s part of the drug task force [on the Vineyard], so he’s done some detective work, and he’s also a field training officer,” Miksch said, noting that, ironically, he will have to go through field training with the Hanson department. “He’s fully academy trained, which will save us a lot of money … he looks like he’ll be a very good fit for the department.”