WHITMAN – A presentation to the Select Board and review of the South Shore Tech Regional Agreement amendment, slated for Tuesday, Aug. 20, has been postponed, as SST Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey was unable to attend Tuesday’s meeting due to illness.
Six member towns need to approve the amendment for it to go before special town meetings by January 2025.
While the presentation has been pushed to the next Select Board meeting, now slated for Sept. 17, Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter said she did not see the harm in setting a date for a special Town Meeting on Monday, Dec 2.
“We wanted to pick a date when Tom Hickey is available as well, to speak at each special town meeting to address this issue,” she said.
The SST School Committee meeting in a special session via remote on Monday Aug. 19, approved the regional agreement amendment for forwarding to its member towns for consideration at upcoming Fall special town meetings. The purpose of the amendment is to change, to a four-year rolling average, how debt shares are calculated for member towns.
If, ratified, that change would take place starting the second year of borrowing – fiscal 2027. Shovels are anticipated to go into the ground in fiscal 2026, with construction in earnest in fiscal 2027.
“It’s really to our advantage,” Select Board Chair Dr. Carl Kowalski said Tuesday.
“Absolutely to our advantage,” Carter said. “As new towns join South Shore Tech, and other students come in and our enrollment drops because there are other schools going in, our percentage drops. If we don’t vote this, we would be locked in to a much higher percent, steady for 30 years. This is so important that we have this meeting.”
Marshfield’s recent joining of the district will mean that, once they have enough student enrollment, they will be asked to look back four years as well – getting to that point would likely take until fiscal 2033 for that town to achieve the threshold of four years with of having four years with four grades of students in the building.
“We’re trying to do calculations that allow for the arrival of students from a new community, while building something for the long haul,” Hickey said. “This means that debt formulas will no longer be fixed at the time of authorization. … It’s a pay-as-you-go model until you have enough enrollment to be apples to apples.”
If another community were to join the district in the next several years, Hickey said he envisioned the same process being recommended, and more-or-less a cut and paste job of the process through which Marshfield joined.
“For every change, there’s an explanation about why we’re doing it,” Hickey told his school committee members.
“The timing of this meeting had a lot to do with waiting for officials from the Department of Education to do their final ‘scrub-down,’” Hickey said. “With your approval tonight, the document … we are sending to the respective select boards.”
He said he was sending out via email to those boards holding Town Meetings before January, including Hanson on Oct. 7 and Scituate on Nov. 18.
“I will work with you and your respective towns to engage as these special town meetings approach,” he said, adding that he anticipates all member towns, with the possible exception of Abington, will be scheduling special town meetings between Oct. 7 and Dec. 16.
“Once six communities pass this amendment, and we get the certified results from the town clerks, we will provide [the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education] DESE this information and then they would move forward to bringing this to the commissioner,” he said. There is also a summary sheet outlining changes that just involve grammar, and which are more substantive, according to Hickey.
Since 1960, the apportionment of debt share for each member town has been fixed at the time of its approval based on the average of three previous school year enrollments, and that share has remained the same for the life of the borrowing. This proposed amendment will apportion debt shares instead on a four year rolling average based on changes to student enrollment in each town over time. The first ‘four year rolling average’ calculation will start in FY27.
Hickey provided some context to the change.
“Last year while at a public forum in Whitman talking about our MSBA building project, it was suggested that we consider a change that provided flexibility to this calculation, given that an upcoming MSBA project would lock in town shares for 30 years. The idea made sense, given that the regional agreement uses three-year averages for capital and annual enrollments for operating costs. Working with the regional school officials at DESE was extremely helpful, and while it took several months to review, I’m glad we are at this point to bring this change to our towns.”
For most of 2024 the regional planning subcommittee worked on alternate apportionment models and arrived on a four year rolling average as the best alternative. “The four-year rolling average helps to control for volatility in changes in enrollment. A dip or a spike in annual enrollment would not lead immediately to a change in debt share,” Hickey said.
The other proposed update to the agreement involves the newly admitted town of Marshfield’s calculation for debt share. When Marshfield’s language was approved in 2023, it was based on Marshfield paying an annually adjusted debt share until it had enough enrollment history to calculate a fixed debt share. “The proposed amendment makes an adjustment to Marshfield’s debt share ‘on ramp.’ Basically, Marshfield will pay a debt share based on its most recent enrollment figures until they have a comparable enrollment history to use in a four year rolling average [as with all the other towns] and this parity would occur in FY33,” Hickey said.
For the amendment to take effect, it must be approved by at least 6 of the 9 member town meetings. At this point, seven of the nine towns have scheduled town meetings for somewhere between October and December. Hanson’s special Town Meeting is Oct. 7.
“If we are able to secure at least the required 6 town meeting approvals, we will send to DESE the town clerk certifications [of the town meeting votes] so that the final step in the process can move forward, which is DESE Commissioner approval. The changes can go into effect once that final approval is in place,” Hickey said.
The district will place the proposed changes and supporting presentation material on its website, southshore.tech and will circulate materials to towns as well.
Showtime at Marshfield Fair
The Marshfield Fair is the premier event for Plymouth County 4-H members and young people from across New England. The Marshfield Fair offers open youth participation for kids ages 5-19 exhibiting livestock shows, equine events, dog shows and other agriculture opportunities. Young people play an active role participating at the fair including offering demonstrations, interacting with fairgoers, care and maintenance of the barns, and fair planning.
Youngsters learn valuable life skills through raising and showing animals including responsibility for others, public speaking, leadership, and community service. 4-H members and others also gain experience in animal science, local agriculture and volunteer experience.
The Marshfield Agricultural and Horticultural Society presents many awards for excellence in scholarship, livestock, agriculture, and country craftsmanship. Among these is the Cave Canem Challenge Cup, honoring longtime Plympton resident Rita LaPointe, volunteer leader, teacher, and friend of 4-H young people. It is awarded to the Junior or Senior 4-H dog exhibitor who earns the highest total combined score in both Marshfield Fair Dog Shows.
Hanson mulls future of LiteControl land
HANSON – A proposal from the Mass. Department of Fish & Wildlife to take control of the remaining LiteControl property at 100 Hawks Ave., outlined to the Select Board on Tuesday, Aug. 6 drew questions of cost and long-term land control.
Joan Pierce of the Mass. Dept of Fish and Wildlife outlined for the Select Board, the department’s interest in acquiring the property.
“We are concerned about what is about to happen to the town property, so I felt now is a good time to at least start the conversation and say, Fish & Game would really like to own the town property, so the whole strip along the northern part of Burrage – it’s all going to be open space,” Pierce said.
The issue would have to go before Town Meeting for any final decision.
“I’m a big fan of Burrage, I’m there every day and I think it’s a jewel,” said Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett. “I feel so lucky that we’ve got it in our little town – at least a good part of it.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett said she was initially intrigued by the concept as Pierce explained it.
But, the board had no objection to the idea of protecting the property as a wildlife management area where hunting and fishing would be allowed, but they had real concerns about the prospect of not realizing some remuneration for the property, especially in light of the nearly $500,000 already spent on a feasibility study, only to have the site rejected as a Highway Department location.
“Not to be impolite, but the money really needs to be talked about,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.
Speaking for herself, Pierce said she was ready to recommend to the Fish & Game committee responsible for making the decision about acquiring the land, that they pay to remove the buildings on the land. A “very preliminary estimate” of more than $400,000 to take down the buildings, she said.
“We don’t want the buildings other than buildings we are actively using,” she said. “We would like to have the buildings removed and we would like to take on that responsibility if we are able to acquire the property from the town.”
That said, Pierce admitted that money is always a delicate issue, as is the question of the extent of remaining contamination at the site.
“I don’t want to talk too much about money, because that’s going to be a factor,” she said. “The problem, though, is that we are going to be paying to take down the buildings, which is a big cost.”
It’s almost equal to the assessed value of the property, Pierce said, adding that is why she is not suggesting that the land acquisition would be a windfall for the town.
FitzGerald-Kemmett said she is in no way looking at the proposal as a “windfall,” and could read between the lines to find the tear-down costs and site testing were being suggested as factors that might affect renumeration for the town.
“I can assure you that we’re not in a financial situation to make that decision,” she said. “We’re just not, I can reassure you. We’re looking at an override, we’ve got all kinds of competing demands.”
She also reminded Pierce that the May Town Meeting voted against being an MBTA Community, so much of the MBTA grant money for purchase of open space will not be available. She said it is also, as yet unseen, whether the state might claw back some of the Community Space funding for that reason.
Town Administrator Lisa Green noted, that the LiteControl property abuts to the Burrage Wildlife Management Area, a parcel of about 9.6 acres, was gifted to the town about 15 years ago with deed restrictions on what could be done with the property.
Housing, schools, hospitals, childcare facilities or other similar uses are prohibited because of groundwater or soil contamination.
“It’s been a work in progress trying to get grants or identify [funding sources] like that,” she said.
Town Meeting had voted several years ago to give the Select Board the power to lease the two large portions of the property, including the two large buildings on the parcel. She said Pierce had approached Green about the property a couple of years ago. They toured Burrage and talked about the LiteControl property. It had been “a work in progress” for Hanson as the town sought grants to fund
“She did mention that, basically, the Department of Fish and Game would be interested in acquiring a portion of that property,” Green said.
While that proposal had fallen by the wayside, Pierce did approach Green with another idea at the direction of the state – potentially acquire the entire LiteControl property from the town.
“She has prepared a letter, we have maps, and she is prepared,” Green said, adding that Pierce again reached out to Green to say the Fish & Game Dept. would be interested in acquiring a portion of the property, but State House business caused it to fall by the wayside.
That was also a concern of select Board member Ann Rein, who flat-out asked if the town has more grant options to address the property.
Green said the town has submitted the paperwork for the One-Stop Brownfields assessment cleanup, but Hanson officials are still waiting to hear what that decision might be.
FitzGerald-Kemmett noted the One-Stop grant is an MBTA Communities-related grant program. Green added that the remediation already done with $100,000 in One-Stop grant funds, Hanson would have to reimburse the state for that $100,000 from any amount over $100,000 realized from the sale of the property.
Pierce, who works out of Fish & Game’s Southeastern Massachusetts office in Buzzard’s Bay, is in the land acquisition office where she’s served for about 25 years. The office had acquired Burrage from Morton Cranberries more than 20 years ago.
“We are working with the town – I believe the Select Board is aware of this – to acquire other properties that are still owned by [the company now known as Hubbell],” Pierce said. “Hubbell had indirectly acquired LiteControl.”
The larger portion of the remaining lite control property is about 87 acres and Fish & Game is now proposing that property be split along a diagonal line and we’re hoping that the town is able to acquire – I call it the western 45 acres,” she said. Fish & Game would then acquire the 41 acres that lies right behind the town-owned portion of the former LiteControl property.
Pierce said that Fish & Game is also discussing acquiring a little 1.6 acre square of property, as well.
“Hubbell wants to get rid of the property that it owns in Massachusetts,” Pierce said. “They don’t want to own it anymore. It doesn’t do them any good.”
The company has gone through an extensive cleanup program with the state DEP – they want out,” she said.
At least for now, Hubbell is, however retaining a 7.6-acre parcel where the company is still monitoring ground water as required by DEP– but she has asked them to talk to Hanson officials again, too.
“The Hubbell property is really, really important for how we maintain the property,” Pierce said. “We want to have no conflicting uses abutting the property. This is a very valuable wildlife management area.”
Fish & Game is now doing the title search on the 87-acre property, which will be certified to both the department and the town. A title certification is also being done on the 1.38-acre parcel and an appraisal is being done on the two parts Fish & Game is acquiring.
FitzGerald-Kemmett mentioned the notion that the Highway Department might be relocated there when the property had been gifted to the town, but there were questions about whether there was still contamination on the site and whether the property was appropriate for the Highway Department so close to a wetlands, among other reasons.
“We were warned at the time that we were gifted those buildings that, if they were not inhabited quickly, their shelf life would erode rapidly,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. She said the town has seen that kind of deterioration already taking place.
“We know the entire property hadn’t gotten a clean bill of health,” she said. “Then we ran into some questions about [whether that is] really a suitable location for a highway building.”
She noted the objections Fish & Game Department’s objections because of the potential that contamination still existed on the site.
Select Board member Joe Weeks asked why the town was even discussing the issue right now.
Pierce said her main two concerns are protecting all the property on the north end of Burrage and Fish & Game is nervous about something happening to the town land in the future.
We would like to have that nailed down, taken care of, so we don’t have to worry about it anymore,” she said.
“We’re not getting anything,” Weeks said. “Are we just giving you the land and lose control – you just get to decide what happens?”
Pierce said the property would be managed as more open space.
“You’re doing us a favor,, but then you’re offsetting that cost by telling us we’re not getting any money,” Weeks said, “So you’re not doing anything for us.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett said she would wait until all the facts are in, but she feels uncomfortable with the direction the acquisition request is taking.
“I know that people are going to be outraged if we get no money for this property,” she said.
Weeks said he’s all in favor of protecting the land.
“I need more information,” he said.
Envisioning budgetary balance
HANSON – Whatever assessment funding formula is finally agreed upon by the towns, “it is important that all parties look at it thinking, ‘We’re going to be taken care of,’” Whitman Select Board member Shawn Kain said during a meeting with the Hanson Select Board about the school assessment formula, during a Tuesday, Aug. 6 meeting with Hanson officials.
“It can’t all be going to the schools, and it can’t all be going to the town departments,” he said. “However it’s defined it needs to be obvious that it’s fair, and I think that’s a key piece.”
Any assessment formula should also be based on and responsive to current data, he noted.
Kain, who introduced himself by way of describing his efforts to bring in a financial consultant to work with Whitman to assist with financial forecasting of a number of years ago, when he served on the Finance Committee.
“Although the town was in decent shape financially, we could see that there were some big roadblocks coming ahead,” he said, noting both towns have used consultant John Madden for that work. “In many ways, he really did help us start to look in the right direction, start to think more strategically about what we do … but, obviously, with this last budget cycle, it’s pretty clear that there is a vulnerability with the formula we use to assess the schools.”
Madden had arrived at a 5-percent guideline following a number of discussions with a working group of town officials.
Kain noted that, in the ensuing years that 5-percent figure had begun to be viewed as a bit arbitrary by select boards in both towns as well as the School Committee. For all parties a strict adherence to 5 percent, without a better understanding of how it was developed, seems lacking, Kain said.
“Although we’ve made progress with strategic planning, I think developing a new formula of school assessment is appropriate,” he said, offering to share a formula he had arrived at as something to consider.
Kain is also working to be on a School Committee agenda to discuss his idea in August or September.
“We appreciate you coming and we do appreciate the ongoing effort for a partnership,” said Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett. “We certainly have been trying to be good partners – I feel we have been good partners – and we’ve got some concerns about the way things went down.”
She said she was aware the Whitman Select Board had a different result from their Town Meeting, but reminded Kain that Hanson ended up having to reduce people’s hours.
“That’s on top of the statutory method that we’re still reeling from, so the feeling of partnership is starting to wane,” she said. “I am like the eternal optimist, and even I’m starting to go like, ‘OK, maybe read the room, here.’”
She suggested that, if they focused on numbers and the facts, and not on personalities, she said she is hoping for more clarity on all sides.
Kain agreed with that position.
The objectives he shared with his own board must be transparent, he said, and the school assessment was something they felt was clearly defined and easy to understand.
“[The public should be able to] see what we are doing, from the beginning, so it’s not like things are being done behind closed doors, it’s easy to understand and it’s kind of explicit – it’s out there for everyone to see,” Kain said.
He added that the process needs to be fair for all parties.
Regarding the 5 percent, Kain said that, in leaner years, that much is viewed as being overly generous to the schools, and in years where there is more revenue, the schools look at 5 percent like it’s lacking.
The 5-percent standard needs to be seen as fair for everyone,” he said. “If we have a good amount of revenue from a particular point, in their view, 5 percent feels like it seems like an awful.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett agreed that a formula needs to be based on current data, noting the Madden report’s leaning on 5 percent might have been based on information that was “a bit stale,” but it was the data Hanson had, and it made them feel confident they could say that 5 percent is what they could afford.
Select Board member Ed Heal said that, in the beginning, a lot of them didn’t even understand the 5 percent.
“There was a 3.8 number thrown out, and a lot of us, including me, reluctantly agreed to go up to the 5 percent,” he said. “But not all of us agree with even the 5 percent.”
He said that 5 percent is still more than Hanson could afford.
FitzGerald-Kemmett noted that the fact that it wasn’t the entire school budget – just the operational assessment – that increased by 5 percent, which was also an important fact to consider, but she also stressed fairness between departments very much was a consideration.
“And we started that conversation early,” she said. “Really early.”
Town departments were given an honest projection of where town finances were and that they would have to hold the line, but they also realized the schools were facing increased costs and they were trying to be sensitive to that, too.
“What ended up really being a bummer was the fact that we were being so consistent and so clear – I mean, we shouted it from the rooftops – this was all we could afford, we don’t have any money… didn’t matter.”
While she knows Kain was not there to solve the relationship problem, FitzGerald-Kemmett said she saw two parts to the situation.
Numbers are important and a better job needs to be done with communication.
Kain agreed, saying the Whitman board felt a lot of that, as well, but he said it’s possible to develop a formula that can help people understand why the number proposed is the number that towns can afford, especially if they take an override off the table.
The towns are looking at it as a Zero-sum game, in that what they take from one department, they must take from others.
“If we want to be transparent, if we want the school assessment formula that we use to be clearly defined and … easy to understand. It’s very important for the public that they can see what we’re doing, from the beginning, and it’s not being done behind closed doors,” Kain said. “It’s out there for everybody to see. I also think it needs to be fair for all parties involved.”
Hanson Town Accountant Eric Kinsherf said he loved Kain’s proposal [see inset] because it showed promise for making the budget process easier.
“It’s simple to understand,” he said. “I have some skepticism that the schools would go along with this, but if they did, it would be great,” he said.
Kain said he does want feedback from the schools and hopes to put together a small working group to work on the budgeting details.
Select Board member Ann Rein said she wants to see some indication that the schools are willing to work with the Hanson board.
“We have to keep trying,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.
Select Board member Joe Weeks said his conversations with other parents have revealed there is no one who does not support the schools, “but they just don’t know where their money is going.”
“They’re not seeing it,” he said.
Kain encouraged people to do research on their own.
“There’s incredible power in doing that,” he said. “The state does make it easier for people to see how [funds] are being distributed in a regional school district.”
Brockton Hospital ER back
BROCKTON – About a year and a half of redirecting ambulances, using backup ambulances as much as their main vehicle, paying overtime to ambulance crews and a loss of some flexibility in where patients could be transported, eased a bit on Tuesday, Aug. 13 as Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital reopened some parts of the building, including the emergency room.
“The opening of Brockton Hospital is fantastic,” said Whitman Fire Chief Timothy Clancy, who was traveling for a fire chiefs’ conference in Texas Tuesday. “Not only for the hospital itself to get back in operation after the fire, but, really, it’ll be beneficial to the communities in the area.”
“We’re jumping for joy,” Hanson Fire Chief Robert O’Brien Jr. said Tuesday afternoon, noting it has reopened at 7 a.m. that day. “It has been a huge strain on our system.”
He credited the Brockton Hospital staff for working to help ease the burden on fire departments.
It had not been unheard of that Hanson ambulances were taking 45 minutes to 1.5 hours to get a patient back home as well.
Once an ambulance arrives at a hospital, it’s been taking over an hour for them to get back in town. And ambulance crews have also been responding to another call from the hospitals or a neighboring community, he said.
As a result, Hanson’s Ambulance runs as much as the first ambulance and Whitman has seen a similar increase in demand and transport times.
Clancy said it allows people to get back into a routine if they’ve preferred Brockton Hospital for a long time or their doctors are there.
“I hope the reopening means some of the overall crowding of the emergency rooms is eased and people can get seen in a timely manner,” he said.
Overall, 48 percent of Hanon’s call volume has been second calls while the primary ambulance has been on the road since the fire in February 2023.
“Problem-wise, it’s been multitudes of things,” he said. “Let’s start with Norwood. Norwood hospital being closed a couple of years ago due to the flooding, impacted Good Samaritan,” O’Brien said. “And, with Brockton Hospital shutting down, we do have patients that could go to Good Sam, but then Good Sam’s wait times became even longer and South Shore Hospital over the years, with Quincy Hospital shutting down and [Carney Hospital] shutting down, South Shore Hospital got inundated with people as did B.I. Plymouth.”
Call volume for Hanson Fire, due to South Sore and B.I. Plymouth, the two main hospitals they send patients to going to, as a result of the Brockton Hospital.
“We are doing the best we can to accommodate a patient’s request, but there’s a whole bunch of factors that go into that,” said O’Brien.
Brockton is also Hanson Fire Department’s medical control hospital, with all the paramedics working with Dr. Daniel Muse.
“I will say, he has been phenomenal from the first day they were closed all the way through,” O’Brien said. “He has still maintained our continuing education, and has kept us apprised of everything the whole time.”
After the unfortunate building fire in February 2023, we have been replacing the Hospital’s infrastructure and worked tirelessly to enhance and revamp our facilities,” said Hillary Lovell, manager, marketing provider and community relations spokesperson for Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital.”
“Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital has provided safe, quality healthcare to the community for the past 125 years, and we are dedicated to continuing this legacy for another 125 years and beyond President & CEO, Robert Haffey stated. He is eagerly anticipating the reopening of Brockton
Hospital. He aims to ensure a safer, more welcoming, and notably more patient-centric environment.
A a new Outpatient Surgical facility, designed to be more convenient and accessible for same-day surgical patients, will provide ease of access to care and allowing patients to recover in the comfort of their homes.
While some facilities at the hospital – the Maternity Unit (no labor and delivery), Pediatric Unit and Behavioral Health Unit are still closed.
A newly improved main lobby that offers a more comforting and welcoming environment for all.
An updated Emergency Department that now includes a new 12-unit behavioral health triage unit, ensuring better, and more private care for behavioral health patients.
Other newly-reopened departments are: installation of a new 1.5-megawatt solar array will offset the hospital’s daily electrical power use and contribute to reducing its carbon footprint; the acquisition of two new state-of-the-art Cardiac Catheterization machines to upgrade and enhance the Cardiac Catheterization Lab technology.
Going for gold on the job
HANOVER – What immediately comes to mind when you hear the words “gold medalists?”
If you’ve been among the millions of Americans tuned into the 16 days of Olympics coverage just concluded on Sunday, Aug. 11, you might naturally think of gymnast Simone Biles and swimmer Katie Ladecky and their contribution to the 40 gold medals among the 126 total medals won by U.S. athletes competing in Paris.
But Hanson’s Sofia Grasso and Rook Sulc of Rockland would argue that you should think of graphic design and visual communications. The two – Grasso graduated South Shore Tech in June, and Sulc will be a senior this fall – won gold medals in the annual SkillsUSA national competition in Atlanta this past spring.
“I really like the creative aspect of it,” Sulc said. “I get to express myself a lot more than in other areas. It’s such a big industry and we do so much because we don’t just do designing. “We also do print production, bindery and finishing – there’s just so much that it can go into. I’m going to probably go to college to get a bachelor’s degree … in graphic design and we’ll see where that takes me.”
Grasso, who starts a paramedic/EMT course at Quincy College in the fall as well as taking a CMTI course online right now, with an eye toward following her dad, Whitman Fire Lt. Nicholas Grasso’s, bootprints to a career as a firefighter, said she was initially drawn to the design program at SST because she had been a good artist.
“I learned and did really well,” she said, noting she was fascinated by screen printing and – at one point – started her own business with a friend, but divergent interests and the time consumed by their different coop jobs at SST, led them to set that aside, at least for now.
“It was so much fun,” she said.
Sulc got their foot in the SkillsUSA door as a freshman when a teacher asked if they were interested in the program.
That four-level competition had entrants in the design discipline designing a safety poster to present to a judging panel, winning second place in the state competition. There were more competitive levels open to them the following year.
Grasso competed in the screenprinting category. To compete, SkillsUSA entrants must take an exam in their shop, with high scorers advancing to district competition.
“Students could take one or more different knowledge tests to figure out which competition they would be practicing or participating in for this year’s district test,” she said.
With 60 different schools within the six districts, which each crown three winners, but only the top two move on to states.
“I did well in the graphic imaging sublimation (GIS) category, so I went to the districts,” they said. That meant another written test, pitting Sulc against the other 12 district schools competing with first and second-place entrants advancing to the state competition.
In the words of the late North Carolina State basketball coach Jim Valvano, it was a “survive and advance – one game at a time,” he once said of his strategy for the 1983 NCAA tournament.
“It’s pretty scary,” Sulc said of those SkillsUSA exams. “It’s 100 questions and you can’t go back [and change an answer] because it’s on the computer.”
After waiting a couple of weeks, entrants receive their scores, knowing that only the top two scores meant a ticket to the states.
As for their category, graphic imaging sublimation seems complex, Sulc said, but it’s really not.
“It involves transferring printed images onto different products,” they said. “If you’ve ever seen a coffee mug with someone’s dog on it, you know what it is.”
District competitions are conducted at Blackstone Tech, but Sulc competed at Shawsheen Valley Tech in Lowell, where questions focused on OSHA requirements and SkillsUSA symbols and culture questions, but for states, they had to create two projects, including skills such as color separation, register printing and other technical skills.
“States are more difficult than nationals,” Grasso said. “My teachers and advisors got me where I am today.”
At nationals, one adds the pressure of filling up the World Congress Center in Atlanta with the most talented of your peers from vocational schools across the country. There is some downtime for students to see some of Atlanta during the competition week, Sulc said.
But for Grasso, much of that free time was devoted to preparing for the business of the competition.
“At times, it was stressful,” she remembered. “I’d feel like I messed up [on a test], but I kept my head high and believed in myself. … I knew that, if I wanted to get first, I had to work for it.”
Still, the week offered some fun when the competition was over.
“We had so much fun,” she said. “There were so many things to do.”
Besides everything going on at the WCC there was a festival happening that week, as well.
“We didn’t get to head to it, because we were so tired,” Grasso said of the competition which included an employability test as well as a screen printing technology orientation and a written knowledge test.
“It was different at the states than at the nationals,” Sulc said. “It was different products and we had to do different tasks. At states, it’s one day – over four hours. You get everything all at once and you do all of the tasks. At nationals, it’s spread over a few days and you’re given a time slot.”
Competing students had to get through six or seven stations, taking them from the creation of a digital design, printing it on a pair of socks, and transfer three other designs onto a wooden panel, a bag and a coffee mug.
That was followed up with a quality control problem.
Another challenge for Grasso, who uses an automatic press at her co-op job, was the work involved in every part of the printing process, including the muscle strength involved.
“They gave us a bunch of products that had minor defects and we had to find the defects and tell them whether it was something we could sell,” Sulc said. “It was kind of tricky because there were some without any defects and there were some where it depended on how you could see it.”
“Basically, that’s what I do, now,” Grasso said with a laugh. “Ever since I’ve been in the shop, I correct everything.”
The opinion-based nature of that distinction made it challenging, Sulc said. That was followed up by a mock job interview.
Between classwork and the experience of the nationals exercises, Sulc said they are more apt to notice small details in products as a consumer.
“It’s usually small little things that no one else will see,” they said, noting that she noticed a tape mark on one of their projects, but judges missed it.
At the conclusion of the competition, everyone’s work was displayed, giving students a chance to see how well their competition performed.
“I thought that everyone did so well,” they said. “Last year, when I won fourth, it didn’t seem as close.”
There are also design competitions at nationals in photography, graphic communications and advertising design within the Design and Visual Communications umbrella.
“It’s such an amazing experience, even if you don’t medal at all,” Sulc said. “You get to meet people from across the state and the country.”
SST’s focus on professionalism, not only in their shops, where they often produce materials for member towns, but there are job interview projects in English classes.
SST sends schematic design budget to MSBA
HANOVER – The South Shore Tech School Building Committee voted in a special meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 13 to submit a schematic design budget of $276,449,480 to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) by the required Thursday, Aug. 15 deadline. There will be a final schematic design vote at the end of the month to submit all schematic design documents and the MSBA will begin its review process.
“We have a budget,” said Chair Robert Heywood of Hanover.
The budget was being submitted on Wednesday, Aug. 14, according to Kevin Sullivan of LeftField, the owner-project manager firm working with SST.
MSBA had approved the project to move into the schematic design phase at its April 24 board meeting.
The district’s share of the cost at this stage is projected to be $167,581,808.
The project has also received a basis of grant of $176,213,157 and an estimated MassGrant of $107,119,978, before contingencies are factored in.
The district also has a base reimbursement rate of 55.00 percent, Sullivan said. However the projected reimbursement rate was increased because the building construction intends to meet higher environmental standards and also because the district has shown strong capital maintenance practices.
The Building Committee approved a total project budget is $276,449,480. The project team projects that the district will receive a MSBA grant of $107,119,978, leaving approximately $167,581,808 at the local level. The local share of 167,581,808, notably, is over $7 million dollars less than the projection made at the Preferred Schematic Report (PSR) phase earlier this year.
Based on maintenance and capital planning practices has meant the district has received 1.79, which means hard work done to preserve the building’s condition.
Most districts receive a 1.5 or lower.
“Getting this 1.79 percent is impressive,” Sullivan said. “It doesn’t happen that often.”
Additional reimbursements shave another $7 million from the preferred schematic report, according to the budget Sullivan reviewed for the committee.
The project was also under budget for the feasibility study.
“These are estimated costs,” Sullivan stressed. “We’ve done our best to manage costs, based on the information we have and based on our experience on quite a few MSBA projects.”
But until MSBA does their review in August and September, the exact ineligible costs will not be known. These exclusions are things the MSBA does not typically pay for. An example Sullivan gave was removal of contaminants such as underground tanks, if found on a site, and a number of them will be based on price caps.
“There are caps on every single part of this budget, to be honest,” he said. For example. MSBA never participates in the remediation of ceiling or floor tiles.
“These are projections, and I believe they are conservative projections,” Sullivan said of the budget totals he presented.
The preliminary design budget for the preferred schematic had been 260,000 gross square feet.
“We were tasked, as a project team to find ways to make the building more economical – responsibly of course – and to make it more efficient,” Sullivan said. “I think, with some hard work, especially by the architect and the folks at the Vo-Tech, here we are with a schematic design for the building [in which] the size has been reduced to a gross square footage of 249,365 square feet.”
In terms of cost, the changes have reduced the cost by $1.7 million ($2.1 million with mark-ups)
“This is one of the most important milestones in the MSBA’s process,” Sullivan said of the reason for three estimates – including one for $223,603,801 from the construction firm now on board – which maximizes the grant obtained from MSBA and reduces the original estimate by some $2.1 million.
The preferred schematic cost estimate of $283,595,433 has been brought down to the current total schematic cost of $276,449,480.
LeftField had been tracking the district’s share at anywhere from $176 million and $178 million with an MSBA reimbursement between $105 million and $107 million during the preferred schematic design phase. It is now being tracked from $167 million to a little over $169 million with an MSBA reimbursement of between $106 million to $109 million. The district’s share has gone down “significantly,” Sullivan outlined.
“In my experience, this type of cost regression is very unique,” Sullivan said. “It doesn’t happen a lot in MSBA projects. Typically, you’ll see the progression, but this whole project stayed almost exactly the same. Sometimes costs go up a little, sometimes it goes down a little, but in this case, it has gone down significantly, and I think that’s a direct response to your team’s hard work.”
Heywood asked if Sullivan’s firm sees this kind of cost regression often.
“We don’t see this often,” he replied.
“This is an exciting time,” said Mateo Battista, vice president and project executive at Suffolk Construction.
The savings had started in the feasibility phase.
“We’ll probably have money left over from that feasibility budget,” said Superintendent/Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey. “Because the district funded the feasibility study with stabilization, when we’re looking at the local balance [local share of the project costs] at the end, we’re not actually financing that because we’ve already earmarked it.”
Sullivan also said some of the purchase of the adjacent house as administrative offices was that about 2,000 square feet of ineligible space for reimbursement in the new school building was absorbed that way.
“The result was a reduction of ineligible costs by the MSBA,” Sullivan said, noting it saved an additional $2 million – and the property did not cost nearly that amount.
“So we saved a lot of money by buying this property and moving [those offices] over here that you did not have to put in the new building,” Heywood said.
Another big portion of vocational building project budgets are the furnishings and technology costs, according to Sullivan, noting it is another area where spending caps apply.
“For as long as I can remember – and I can remember back to 2008 – that type of cap is exceeded in every school [project], even elementary schools,” he said. “On Vo-Tech schools, which require significantly more, that’s what results in a pretty significant exclusion.”
Committee member George Cooney asked if the furnishings and technological equipment for the new school would be moved in during the summer – and if there would be employment opportunities for SST students in that area.
“That’s a firm yes,” said Suffolk Senior Vice President Christian Riordan of the moving schedule. “There’s opportunities for student employment during the entire project. We’re committed to that.”
The next steps for the project are: submission of the Schematic Design Report to MSBA by Aug. 29; MSBA Board of Directors meeting on project approval on Oct. 30 and project approval votes by each member town in January 2025. The Schematic Design Report will be reviewed and voted on by the SST Building Committee on Aug. 27 or 28.
Hanson Library grant at risk?
HANSON – The stark message on Hanson Public Library’s web page made the problem clear – maybe.
“The state Senate recently passed an Economic Development Bond bill that would prohibit municipalities from receiving library construction grant funds if they are not in compliance with the MBTA multi-family zoning requirement,” the message reads.
“We’re not saying anything about MBTA one way or the other,” Hanson Library Director Karen Stolfer said. “Our main concern is, it’s tied into our grant.”
She pointed to the important role the public library plays in a small community like Hanson – as an educational resource second only to the schools, a community resource.
“Just to have that in jeopardy of losing funding …” she said.
Stolfer said that, with the failure of the House and Senate committees to reach a compromise, the funding issues could get pushed to next year. The MBTA Communities Act could impact other funding for town grants and funding sources.
“That’s kind of good news for us because, obviously, it could come up again,” she said. “The senate version of the Economic Bond Bill says you have to be in compliance [with MBTA Communities], the House version doesn’t. … they couldn’t come to an agreement.”
Another point of concern for Stolfer is that the funding comes in two pieces.
The one now pending, up to $100,000 in matching funds for what has already been spent, will reimburse expenses laid out for preliminary work such as planning, including schematics for a potential library, and a second phase after a project attains all the necessary approvals, comes by way of a construction grant in the “millions of dollars.”
The first grant, which has already been applied for, stands to reimburse for the more than $77,000 already spent on the new library project planning, including grant money and trust funds the library already had, Stolfer said, stressing it was not all town money.
“We had to spend that money to meet the requirements to apply for the grant,” she said. “We just have to let them know our concerns and say, ‘This is what can happen – that Hanson could lose a new library and it’s a needed resource in town.’”
She said the alert was posted, along with state officials’ contact information as a way to give residents a way to voice their opinions on the funding issue.
“That [second grant] wouldn’t be until further down the line,” she said.
While Stolfer said there may have been other sticking points, the MBTA Communities portion’s effect on grants is, and has been, her main concern, with hopes for funding of a library building project riding on it.
“The town isn’t in compliance and the potential for this version [of the bill goes forward, then we would not be eligible for a grant,” Stolfer said.
The next round of grants will be announced in October and the status of the bills, combined with any potential impact of a lawsuit some towns are pursuing against the MBTA Communities program cloud the future for Hanson’s library plans.
“There’s so much work that we’ve obviously put in, and when the application deadline was May 31, we met all the requirements, and now, the possibility that that could be changed, just seems really unfair,” Stolfer said.
Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said the issue is not that clear-cut and pointed out that the MBTA Communities article, which was rejected majority of voters at the May Town Meeting did not involve the library grant at the time.
“Quite frankly, we didn’t anticipate that [the state] would pull the MBTA Communities card on us,” she said. “Although, ironically, at Town Meeting we were talking about MBTA Communities, at the time there was a list of grants that were off the table if we didn’t pass it. We were aware of those 13 grants. This was not one of them.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett said the town was also aware the grant sought by the library was a competitive one.
“With the financial shape that we’re in right now, even if we get that grant, I don’t know – the way that that grant works is that it’s a reimbursable grant, which means we’ve got to come up with the money up front and then get reimbursed,” she said. “I don’t think it’s happening.”
While the House passed a similar bill in June, that legislation does not link the library construction grants to the MBTA Communities requirement. The Senate version of the bill retains the language, and a joint conference committee session on Monday, Aug. 6 was unable to reach a compromise, the Mass Municipal Association was reporting, according to Stolfer said as she encouraged residents to call state legislators “if you would like to express your opinions regarding this matter.”
According to the MMA, the Senate bill (S. 2856) includes many of the same investments as the House bill (H. 4804), including:
- $400 million for MassWorks grants for local infrastructure
- $100 million for the Rural Development Fund
- $150 million for the Public Library Construction Program to help municipalities update and rehabilitate these essential facilities
- $100 million for grants, through the Seaport Economic Council, to provide support for the state’s 78 coastal municipalities to withstand and adapt to the impacts of climate change
- $400 million for climate technology bonding authorizations.
A House-Senate conference committee also was unable to reach agreement on a proposed multi-billion-dollar economic development bond bill, including these provisions, which the governor filed in March as the Mass Leads Act.
“In the closing hours of the formal legislative session for the year, the Legislature enacted a $5.16 billion housing bond bill, but couldn’t reach an accord on a multi-billion-dollar economic development package or a climate bill aimed primarily at promoting clean energy,” the MMA reported. “The housing bill is intended to kickstart housing production across Massachusetts, and the House and Senate had passed different versions in June.”
Hanson residents had been advised at the May Town Meeting that a grant for programs at the Multi-Service Senior Center was in danger of a clawback or denial if they rejected the MBTA Communities Bylaw, but FitzGerald-Kemmett pointed to the actions of the Healey administration as bearing some of the fault for the situation, clapping back at municipalities unwilling to go along with the MBTA Communities program.
“This isn’t going to be the last of it,” she said. “I’m sure there’s going to be other little ‘gotchas’ along the way.”
She would have preferred the administration had approached it differently – adding grants beyond the ones already planned and applied for, that would have been attached to the MBTA program, instead of taking away grant programs for which municipalities would have been eligible.
“Sometimes, I swear, these guys don’t think about [the] basic psychology of people,” she said. “You’re going to take something away from somebody for not complying with something they didn’t know they had to comply with.”
Gov. Charlie Baker may have passed it, but Gov. Maura Healey is the one enforcing it – which is the real issue, FitzGerald-Kemmett argues.
There are few, if any alternatives for the town’s fronting the money, FitzGerald-Kemmett argues.
“I guess we could look for federal grants or there are private grants that we might be able to get, but of course, they would be competitive too,” she said. “But, if we don’t get the state money, this is just absolutely not happening. We don’t have the money for that.”
The $70,000 already spent in the planning stages of the library project now represent funds that could have been spent on something else, FitzGerald-Kemmett noted.
“We’ve got a million other things we could have spent that money on, a generator for the senior center/library – a bunch of other stuff,” she said.
Opponents of the MBTA Communities, incensed by the apparent overstep of state government rejected the bylaw, vowing to fight it in the courts.
But there is no class action lawsuit, FitzGerald-Kemmett said.
“We’re going to have to put money away because we’re probably going to end up getting sued by the state,” she said. “Not only are we losing money and we’re going to have to defend ourselves.”
While the law only requires towns to establish a district defined as “a zone of reasonable size in which an allowance for as of right multi-family housing is permitted” within a half-mile of public transportation, must comply with all Hanson building codes or be denied, and has been discussed at multiple public hearings by the Planning Board and the Select Board, which were sparsely attended and “when asked for input, the Planning Board received input from one office,” according to Campbell.
At the May Town Meeting Town Administrator Lisa Green said the Attorney General has required towns to comply with the law or risk lawsuits and classification as ineligible for forms of state funding, including grants.
“We don’t even have an estimate of what it would cost to fight this,” she said. “They are very serious with this. We’re trying to preserve the grants we’ve received in the last couple of years totaling $2 million.”
Stoler, meanwhile, has been hoping for compromise language to salvage a $100,00 grant to fund the planning stages of a new Hanson Public Library, expressing concern that the nearly $75,000 in funds already invested in the project might go to waste, to say nothing of additional grants, potentially totaling more than $1 million for actual construction.
Whitman OK’s new WHCA-TV contract
WHITMAN –The Select Board on Tuesday, July 23 approved a new contract with Comcast, finalizing contract terms between the town and the cable television corporation, governing the operation of Whitman-Hanson Community Access TV.
Whitman’s special cable counsel William Solomon briefed the board on the contract negotiations during the Tuesday, July 23 Select Board meeting.
He’s worked for the town for about 25 years, starting when the town was transitioning from a company-run program.
“There’s no better program in the Commonwealth,” he said of the current WHCA board and employees. “I work from Pittsfield and North Adams to the Vineyard and there’s no better program than you have here in Whitman-Hanson.”
He also credited Executive Director Eric Dresser, whom he referred to as a “one-person show,” in regard his programming and technical skill, for his contributions to the license renewal process.
“We’re here today, hopefully to get a vote of approval
The facility’s building on South Avenue was owned by Comcast at the time.
Comcast Senior Government Affairs Manager Michael Galla said the 10-year license is what the town and Comcast negotiated – a “normal time period we conduct with all our licenses with our towns.”
Solomon said that, while Galla is a tough negotiator, he has “great insight into figuring out how much does the town care about community television and PEG access and what are those needs.”
“That’s why I think we have an excellent license,” Solomon said, adding that Assistant Town Administrator Kathleen Keefe efforts helped the town obtain a better contract. “There’s a lot of things to do and I know cable isn’t always first.”
There will be public, educational and government (PEG) programming support for the WHCA team – 4.75 percent of gross annual revenues – and Comcast will be increasing the capital dollars that were in the last license to $280,000 over the 10 years – or $28,000 per year to the town as well as a high-definition channel to be provided within the first 24 months.
Solomon also mentioned the improved picture on two of the PEG channels to serial digital interface (SDI), which will require encoders and the hi-def channel, which will also require an encoder.
The Select Board and WHCA would decide together what the hi-def channel would be used for.
“It turns out that there is a strong interest among the towns to have the government channel be the high-definition channel, because when you do your presentations, people at home can read the graph, can read the spreadsheet and can follow along,” he said.
Comcast was looking for some initial funding – $10,000 – for the encoders, Solomon said, adding he has seen numbers ranging from $20,000 to $30,000 for the equipment.
“It’s the major aspects of the contract, which is in Article 6 of the license,” he said. “Those are the main aspects that allow your PEG access to operate.
“I know our community access has grown over the years,” Select Board Vice Chair Dan Salvucci said. “It’s unbelievable, what they’re doing.”
“As a company, we are actively invested in that,” Galla said. “It’s an impressive operation and we’re happy to be a partner of it.”
Extension of cable service, if needed would carry no density requirement, Solomon said, noting all Whitman residents now have the ability to connect to cable.
There will still be a senior discount for those over age 65, Solomon said, stressing that the $2 discount is voluntary on the part of Comcast under the Cable Act.
“Most companies don’t provide it,” he said. “We’re grateful that they continue to provide that senior discount.”
There is a financial qualification, but there are more categories of qualification in Whitman than elsewhere.
Vets abatement plan OK’d in Whitman
WHITMAN – The Select Board has approved a new policy for a tax veterans’ abatement program approved at the May 2024 annual Town Meeting.
Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter has been discussing a Veteran Citizen Property Tax Write-Off program with Veterans’ Services Officer Shannon Burke and Assessor Wendy Jones, to help veterans work off a portion of their property taxes.
“It’s similar in a lot of ways to the senior work-off program,” Carter said during the Tuesday, July 23 Select Board meeting.
She said Burke has written the program policy so the program will be limited to no more than five veterans per program year, but could be further limited by the availability of staff to provide proper supervision.
“The VSO will see who’s interested, check with departments, see who has a need for a volunteer, similar to the COA [Council on Aging],” Carter said. “They will be able to make the minimum wage up to the cap.”
She reminded the Board that the program was approved at the May 2024 Town meeting, to the policy is just to go along with that.”
Right now, the salary cap is $1,500. While the COA has recently increased its tax abatement program salary cap, [the veterans’] program is written that way, without a specific dollar amount.
“It just says, ‘Up to the limit,’” Carter said of the salary listed. And there is no specific age requirement that one has to meet with funds coming out of the real estate and personal equity line of the budget each year – just as the funding for the senior abatement program does.
“The only differences are there is no age limit of veterans and you have to meet the status of a veteran, based off the federal definition of what a veteran is” she said.
“It will open it up, too, because we have a lot of younger veterans who could use the help, and they’re looking. This is a way for them two work for the town and get a financial break from the taxes.”
They are trying to open up the process because they are not eligible for the senior work off.
Select Board member Laura Howe asked about the reason for limiting the program to five participants.
“We’ll start with the five and see what the future brings,” Vice Chair Daniel Savucci said.
Resident Bob Kimball of Auburnville Way asked what would happen if there were, say, 10 applicants for the five spots.
“How do we give the veteran that needs it the most, the ability to [participate]?,” he asked. “Do we give it to people who have Purple Hearts? Do we have people with a disability? We want to make sure that the right veteran gets it.”
Burke said all applicants … will be put in the right order, according to the most need,” noting that, if they are receiving another exemption, they would go on the list below someone receiving no exemptions and “could really use the program.”
“We’re trying to get as many veterans as much help as we can,” she said. “Obviously, our most needy are going to go at the top and the ones that can wait a year or so are going to go toward the bottom. It’s going to depend on who applies and where they are.”
Select Board member Shawn Kain asked if, during the implementation of the program, the board could be updated on it to determine how much demand there is for it.
In other business, the board was updated on work done under a grant from the CPC and Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC) and the next steps to conduct a survey to assess and document some 140 selected architectural and cultural resources in town ahead of the 2025 celebrations of Whitman’s 150th anniversary. Th inventory will be presented to the town as part of that observance.
“The properties are ones that have not been previously surveyed, but can be considered endangered in Whitman,” said Mary Joyce, who thanked Carter and Assistant Town Clerk Kathleen Keefe and the town’s IT team for helping “moving some things forward that were stuck.”
Survey results will be submitted to the MHC for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places and provide an article for the 2024 warrant to provide the town with a demolition delay bylaw, providing plaques to properties indicating historic significance of Whitman.
Joyce also said the Commission will establish community resources for the schools and interested members of the public and have already been asked by the architectural firm working on the new Whitman Middle School for some historical items to show within that building.
Key milestones met include: participation in a MHC workshop; submission of a single audit in June; finalization of a scope of work with the MHC, which was approved in late July; development and drafting of an requests for quotes now in final review with the MHC with execution of the contract between now and 2025 left to achieve.
Select Board members agreed to Joyce’s suggestion of providing a periodic update on the project’s progress.
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