Whitman-Hanson Express

You are here: Home / Archives for Tracy F. Seelye, Express Editor

July 4th in Park returns

By

WHITMAN — After a year of social distancing and limiting association with people outside of immediate households, Americans are sufficiently vaccinated to permit a return to traditional Fourth of July plans this year.

As 2021 began, however, that was not a given, said Recreation Commission member Michelle LaMattina.

“Kathleen Woodward is the new Recreation director and we’re trying to get things back on track after COVID last year,” she said.

On Sunday, July 4, the town’s traditional Independence Day celebration will take place in Whitman Park from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

From carriage and biycle parades to field games and races, music, activities — including those planned by the Whitman Public Library, inflatable games and more. Boy Scout troop/Pack 22 and Sweetie’s Shaved Ice will be selling food and the town pool (for Whitman residents only) will be open until 1 p.m. See graphic on page 3 for full schedule.

LaMattina said that once the Board of Health gave its approval for a July 4 program, the committee knew they were up against the clock.

“But I think the Fourth of July is something that everybody in town loves and it would be missed if we don’t do it,” she said. “We put it together as quick as we could.”

She said next year, the committee may try to make it bigger and better, but for now, just continuing the tradition is meaningful.

“The Recreation Department is active and we’re trying to keep things moving forward,” she said.

Residents will also be able to sign up for the remaining camp openings at the event.

LaMattina said there may have been disappointment at the cancellation last year, but suggested that people recognized it as a reality of the times.

“We’re hoping for a good crowd and [that] people are back and excited to go,” she said. She said the outdoor event may help some residents feel more comfortable attending.

Sponsors include Whitman Police and Fire departments, DPW, Recreation Department, Library, Scout Troop 22 and Sweetie’s Shaved Ice.

School panel begins strategic planning

By

The School Committee met to discuss strategic plan working groups at its Wednesday, June 23 meeting.

“Basically, we’re just going to go around, one-by-one and we’re going to share some ideas,” said Chairman Christopher Howard. “These ideas are meant to be broad areas of focus … we’ll come back [this] week, after we’ve let those ideas soak in and everybody’s had the opportunity to think about that.”

The goal is to ultimately vote on some of the ideas on a rank-choice basis to narrow the list to three ideas, which would be discussed over the summer — through to mid-August — doing a “deep dive.”

Mike Jones, who was away with his family, and Fred Small, who was seeing to a personal family matter, did not attend the meeting.

Steve Bois kicked things off by suggesting “lets get things done that we want to get done,” specifically full-day kindergarten and a return of foreign languages to middle school curricula, if not the elementary grades, as well.

“If this is what’s working for other districts — for places across the country — let’s just do it,” Bois said, noting he has always considered Massachusetts schools to be among, if not the nation’s best. “It’s probably not only to our benefit, but obviously, to the kids’ benefit.”

Michelle Bourgelas agreed with Bois on the language issue, noting that high school students have had the option of taking AP Spanish and earning the opportunity to pass on taking a language requirement in college. Because middle schoolers do not now take a language, the AP option is not available in high school so they will have to take language requirements in college.

Tracking student achievement in elementary grades is important, said Hillary Kniffen, but she asked what is being done to track it in grades six through 12.

Dawn Byers spoke of the need to analyze and address the funding decline, which began in 2009 during the Great Recession.

“My big-picture is district-wide, and it ties into kindergarten, but it’s combining grade levels,” she said. “My thought process is, it helps with equitable class sizes, if you combine all second-graders in Whitman, perhaps, in one school … it allows the teachers to collaborate and evens out the class sizes.”

She said she hoped the list would not be shelved until next year once a particular goal is selected as the primary goal for the year.

“It is going to be a multi-year plan,” Howard said.

Christopher Scriven said his decision behind his running for a seat on the School Committee, to begin with, was to affect change on the culture of the district.

“There’s been a lot going on, so I haven’t pushed hard for that, but I’ve been around long enough — I’ve worked in the district, I’ve seen enough things where … I think we could do better in areas, particularly the ‘average kid,’” Scriven said, stressing he is a “big fan of W-H.”

He said the emphasis on deliverables makes it hard to measure, but he wants kids to feel comfortable in school.

Dan Cullity said all-day kindergarten must be done. W-H is one of only about a dozen districts in the state to not have a full-day kindergarten program, as many districts that do are already shifting attention to full-day pre-K.

“We already missed the boat on that,” he said. “It’s going to be forced down our throats.”

David Forth suggested modernizing tech infrastructure as well as expansion to foreign language to the elementary level.

Small submitted written ideas pointing to full-day kindergarten as a primary goal, and Jones advocated for a deeper dive into facilities and capital goals. Howard, too advocated for early childhood education.

The full discussion can be streamed on the WHCA-TV YouTube channel.

Other ideas mentioned included social-emotional needs of children, uniform start time appropriate for all students, possible class size caps and early college credit classes targeting first-generation college students.

Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak said the leadership team’s goals included continuing with the one-to-one technology initiative, a robust K-8 arts program — which could include languages and/or a life-skills program.

“If we’re doing what’s best for kids, then what do they need?” Assistant Superintendent George Ferro said of an arts/life skills program. “I could contend that I would rather take coding than Spanish, because I’ll take Spanish when I get to college. … What do we owe students in this time frame to make them successful for all aspects of their life?”

Howard said students may not be excited about learning the material needed to pass an MCAS test, but they want to learn.

Spring Street plan reviewed

By

HANSON — Conflict of interest concerns were among the issues surrounding a proposed 40B development, which the Board of Selectmen discussed on Tuesday, June 29 during a review of the MassHousing determination of project eligibility for the Cushing Trails development off of Spring Street.

“The elephant in the room is that the chair of the Zoning Board is also the developer of this and there have been constituents that have raised concern about other members of the board being closely tied to this,” Selectman Joe Weeks said. “To not address that is a little naïve, so I think we have to find a way to have a joint meeting.”

Michael O’Shaughnessy, representing ZBA Chairman William Cushing who is also the project developer, said Cushing is going to recuse himself from the decision to the point where “I don’t expect he’s going to be at any of the hearings.”

Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said that, since the ZBA is an appointed board — with an appointment slated for the same agenda — she expects them to “exercise their duties with as much impartiality as possible.” She also said she expected Cushing to recuse, but that other members of the ZBA, who have professional relationships with Cushing will still be participating in the meeting.

Selectmen Chairman Matt Dyer also suggested that ZBA members call the Mass. Ethics line to get an opinion on the issue and that the town clerk be consulted to determine that the proper ethics paperwork had been filed.

“It’s not unusual for a developer to be a member of a local board, either,” said O’Shaughnessy. “It happens in every town.”

He said the MassHousing letter is the first step to go before the Zoning Board of Appeals. The state agency has asked the developer to address Selectmen’s concerns submitted during the commentary phase.

One was the board’s request that some units be designated as handicapped-accessible.

“The developer is going to work with whoever has a specific need for an ADA unit … to make sure the unit functions for him or her, and we’ll meet their needs,” O’Shaughnessy said. “Generally, just getting into the unit is the issue.”

Grades and ramps are usually the bigger issues, with interior adjustments such as larger doors and hallways also being accommodated.

FitzGerald-Kemmett asked at what point the work would be done and whether the ADA accommodation would be advertised.

“We’re happy to work with your Housing Authority if that’s the best way to make this known,” O’Shaughnessy said. “We’re willing to work with people to accommodate their needs, but we’re not advertising specifically as ADA.”

Selectmen also requested that the developer be more responsive to the local housing needs as identified in its approved 2019 Housing Production Plan, and designate a larger number of three-bedroom units as affordable.

“It kind of ran the gamut as to what your needs are,” O’Shaughnessy said of the town’s plan. “We were focused on providing two-bedroom units and the thought was … some people want to downsize and that’s why we’re pushing the two-bedroom units.”

State and local housing agencies have an agreement that 10 percent of units built must be three-bedroom units and that more were included in the proposal than originally planned because of the Selectmen’s request.

Traffic volume and safety concerns were among the most notable objections to the proposal from Spring Street residents and town officials. O’Shaughnessy said a traffic impact study was filed with the ZBA on Monday, June 28, which he said seems to indicate there will be no impact.

“But it’s a public document,” he said.

Recreational elements the Selectmen requested has been discussed.

“I don’t want to say no and I don’t want to say yes,” O’Shaughnessy said. “I’d like to address that with the ZBA as the permit process goes forward.”

“It seems that quite a few of these things are going to be deferred to the ZBA,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “I understand it’s under their jurisdiction, but yet I’m feeling as though we’re not going to have that opportunity to speak to ZBA, so I’m wondering if we could contemplate how we could open up that line of communication with ZBA to make sure our needs and the things we’ve heard from our constituents are being contemplated by the ZBA.”

Dyer suggested a joint meeting with the ZBA. FitzGerald-Kemmett also suggested an independent review might be advisable, especially of the traffic study.

O’Shaughnessy said the ZBA’s comment period, including an opportunity for the Selectmen to express concerns, would provide such opportunities. He said the ZBA hires its own consultant to review traffic impacts.

The developer has consulted with the Water Commissioners, as they were asked to do on the potential to make some improvements to the water line on Spring Street and is waiting to hear back. Drainage concerns regarding drainage impact on abutting properties have met town regulations, O’Shaughnessy said, but stressed he was not involved in that phase of the planning.

A sidewalk on one side of the street plan has also been eliminated to control drainage problems.

Weeks, who chaired the Planning Board when the Cushing proposal was introduced for eight houses, said it was not approved at that point because of water access issues and asked if they had documentation of the Water Commission saying that is no longer an issue. He said storm water management was also an issue with eight units and asked how it could be less of one with 40 units.

O’Shaughnessy said that discussion centered on replacing the line on Spring Street and not tying into the abutting street, but leaving it dead-ended for installing hydrants.

At the applicant’s expense a water line would be installed from Spring Street to the project, where there is currently no line.

O’Shaughnessy said reduction of impervious pavement and handling of all storm water on site should resolve the issue via above ground retention basin, the infiltration system will be below ground.

“Are there plans to have a collegial conversation with the abutters to try to speak to them about what their concerns may be before you go full-bore into it,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

“We’re happy to talk, and we’ll see if we can resolve the problem,” O’Shaughnessy said. “If we don’t know about it, we can’t do it.”

Selectman Jim Hickey said, while his knowledge of the drainage issue is limited, the idea of removing one of two planned sidewalks to improve drainage posed the question of why.

“Water runoff would be more of a concern if there was sidewalks on both sides,” he asked. “I’m glad I asked you this question now and not in the hallway [as O’Shaughnessy had suggested residents could do if they didn’t wish to speak in a meeting], because that makes absolutely no sense to me.”

State’s police reform enacted

By

HANSON — The town’s Police Department has seen many changes in the past year and a half, according to Police Chief Michael Miksch in his quarterly report to the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, June 15.

Many of those changes are due to the passage of the Police Reform Act, some of which was passed as emergency legislation.

“The governor signed it and they expected us to have everything done the next day,” Miksch said. “That was impossible. Some of them are being implemented in, but one of the first things that needed to be taken care of was a re-do and review of our Use of Force policy.”

Miksch said the effect of that provision wasn’t that bad for Hanson because the department had an up-to-date policy, meaning only minor changes were needed.

“I never thought I’d have to put into a policy that you can’t choke somebody, but I did,” he said. “I thought it was common sense — something that people should understand in Massachusetts. None of us had been trained that way.”

He said in the more than 26 years he has been a police officer that — choke holds, carotid artery holds — has never been taught to us,” Miksch said. “So, we never said, ‘Don’t do it,’ because you were never taught to do it in the beginning.”

The policy was updated in any case, with Lt. Mike Casey doing a lot of that work.

Grants made available to departments across the country through an executive order by President Biden also carried requirements for certain terms of service and policies, one of which governed use of force. The department had to undergo a state accreditation process to prove they had made such policy revisions.

The department received a letter on June 14 that its use of force policy met both federal and state standards. Miksch said his department also incorporates the policy in training between two and four times a year.

Officers will also need to be certified under the reform act. One effect of the requirement has Miksch busy with administrative tasks and he foresees some budgetary impact in future years, but for now the department is in good financial shape.

Personnel changes have also been dealt with and he thanked the town for approving the override to save officers’ jobs.

“We went to regional dispatch a year ago — last June,” he said. “With that, I lost three very dedicated civilian employees who, I’m very happy to say, have actually found other jobs and are working.”

One was moved to serve as Miksch’s administrative assistant and another was transferred to the police academy.

Sgt. Gene Andrews hired just before COVID hit last year, retired after more than 30 years on the department.

“Normally, we’d bring those people in with their families and thank them and bring in the new officers and swear them in,” Miksch said. “When Sgt. Andrews retired, it opened up a promotion and I was very proud to promote Jared Meegan as sergeant who, of course, is banished to midnights where all new sergeants go.”

Four new officers were hired in order to keep the station open after the civilian dispatchers were let go to regionalize that operation. Officers Corey Arsenault and Mario Thompson, who were present or former part-time officers in Hanson as well as Bobby Mansfield, from Oak Bluffs Police and Rick Bekerian from Hopedale were also hired. Officer Chris Dominguez left the department when he was offered a better salary from Braintree.

“Internally, there’s been a lot of changes,” Miksch said. “There’s been a lot of adapting, but overall, it’s going well.”

On a somewhat humorous note, Miksch said a lock is being installed on the door to the police station for the first time ever.

“There is no lock,” he said. “[It’s a] good and a bad thing. We never needed it — there was always somebody there to say, ‘Hi!’ We plan on keeping someone there to say, ‘Hi!’ but unfortunately, because of the nature of operations within the department, there’s a desk officer when you walk in, now.”

Closing books on fiscal 2021

By

WHITMAN — Selectmen approved line item transfers Tuesday, June 22 to close the books on the fiscal 2021 budget.

Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman said the fiscal 2021 budget, which closes on June 30, is balanced overall as revenues exceed expenditures as approved at the 2020 Town Meeting. The transfers for the individual line items before the board have, or are projected to have, deficiencies at the end of the fiscal year.

“Moving monies between line items in the last two months of the fiscal year or the first 15 days of the new fiscal year upcoming are allowed with the approval of the Board of Selectmen and the Finance Committee,” Heineman said.

The transfers were:

• $1,500 from tax title line to the clerical/collector line to accommodate personnel and outsourcing changes in that office including overtime to handle a backlog of work to finish the fiscal year;

• $5,000 from to the legal line from claims deductible/expenses to handle possible overage in legal services;

• $7,000 to ambulance repairs/maintenance from the Norfolk County Agricultural High School tuition line to pay for unforeseen  ambulance repairs;

• $7,000 to ambulance billing from the Norfolk County Agricultural High School tuition line to pay the billing company;

• Three transfers to auto expense and inspectional services — $500 from building inspector/zoning enforcement, $1,000 from assistant building inspector salary and $1,200 from expense/wire inspector — to pay for maintenance and routine repairs to the building inspector’s vehicle;

• $74 to recording secretary/DPW from union/labor salaries, DPW to pay for secretarial services for one more DPW meeting that was not budgeted;

• $8,000 to the health inspector line from the Visiting Nurses line to fund overlap between the former health inspector to the new one and CARES Act funds are available to cover a lot of Visiting Nurse costs during this fiscal year;

• $4,800 to recreation activities/expense from recreation director salary line to help get the recreation program back on track post-pandemic, especially the July 4 celebration, for which funds were not appropriated, and the park program;

• $2,000 to park programs salaries from the recreation director salary line to supplement programs;

• $5,000 to unemployment compensation from assistant library director line to cover any unanticipated expenses;

• $10,000 to union salaries in the water/sewer labor line from budgeted reserve for water and sewer to cover labor overtime costs involved in repairing last week’s water main break;

• $3,354.93 to water and sewer/gasoline from water and sewer/gas heat to pay for a final delivery of diesel fuel for the fiscal year; and

• $5,542.10 from fiscal 2019 encumbrances for water and sewer to the fiscal 2020 line to pay sewer bill to Brockton.

“There are more than sufficient funds in the Norfolk County Agricultural High School line because the original estimate a year ago of how many students would be attending this school year was lower than what it ended up being,” he said of the ambulance-related transfers.

Selectman Justin Evans asked if some of the expenses were eligible for CARES Act funding, especially ambulance costs. But Heineman said billing issues were not applicable because an increase in ambulance runs were related to emerging from the effects of COVID and the repairs were to the non-COVID ambulance.

Heineman reminded residents interested in serving on the School Committee that letters of interest and résumés are due by Tuesday, June 29 to his email lheineman@whitman-ma.gov.

Selectmen voted to appoint School Committee member Fred Small to the Capital Committee through June 30, 2024, as well as appointing the following persons to fill existing vacancies, some of which had been inadvertently omitted from a previous agenda:

• Chris DiOrio to the By-law Study Committee (member), through June 30, 2022;

• Jake Dodge to the Conservation Commission (member), through June 30, 2022

• Brandon Griffin to the Board of Appeals (associate member), through June 30, 2022;

•Bryan Skuderin to the Conservation Commission (alternate), through June 30, 2024

• William Haran to the Cultural Council (member), through June 30, 2023

• Julia Nanigian to the Cultural Council (member), through June 30, 2024

• Tina Vassil to the Cultural Council (member), through June 30, 2024.

Selectmen accepted the resignations of Wayne Carroll Jr., (effective June 8) and James Cranshaw (effective June 10) from their positions as auxiliary/special police officers as well as the resignation of Norma Gardner (effective June 7) from the position of member of the Historical Commission.

The board voted to appoint Daniel Kelly to the position of special police officer through June 30, 2022 and to appoint Adam Kosterman to the position of auxiliary/special police officer through June 30, 2022.

Selectmen also voted to permit Richard Rosen to conduct the 11th annual McGuiggan’s Pub 5K Road Race on Sunday, Sept. 26, to close off Legion Parkway from noon to 5 p.m., and for a one-day liquor license to serve from a tent at 16 Legion Parkway.

Two facing drug charges

By

BRIDGEWATER — The W.E.B. Major Crimes and Drug Task Force, consisting of the Whitman, West Bridgewater, East Bridgewater, Bridgewater and Bridgewater State University Police Departments, reports that two men were arrested on multiple drug charges this week.

Marlon Teixeira, 31, of Bridgewater, was charged with: Trafficking Fentanyl Over 200 grams; Trafficking Cocaine Over 100 grams; Trafficking Percocet; Unlawful Possession of a Firearm; Unlawful Possession of Ammunition. Additionally, Djestiny Andrade-Fonseca, 20, Brockton, was charged with:  Unlawful Distribution of a Class A Drug (Fentanyl) and Unlawful Distribution of a Class A Drug (Fentanyl).

As a result of the investigation, the State Police assigned to the Plymouth County DA’s office Narcotics Unit sought and obtained a search warrant for an apartment on High Street in Bridgewater (Teixeira’s residence). The warrant was executed on Sunday, June 13.
Teixeira was located in a camper in the rear of the property. State Police found approximately one kilogram of fentanyl inside the camper and a 9mm Glock firearm with a high-capacity magazine. State Police also seized an additional 523 grams of fentanyl, 249 grams of Percocet, 125 grams of cocaine and $142,193 in cash.
As a result, Teixeira was placed under arrest and arraigned in Brockton District Court Monday, June 21.

During the investigation, Andrade-Fonseca was also located inside the camper and was identified as an alleged runner for Teixeira. He will be arraigned in Brockton District Court at a later date.

“These arrests were the result of several weeks of investigation on behalf of multiple local and state agencies, and we are fortunate to have been able to take large quantities of drugs off the streets without incident,” East Bridgewater Police Chief Paul O’Brien said.

The investigation is ongoing.

These are allegations. All suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

They also serve…

By

WHITMAN — Pat Tibaudo is not always recognized as a veteran — sometimes even overlooked as such while volunteering during DAV Poppy sales or marching in parades in a VFW uniform. It’s a reason she has a “Woman Veteran” bumper sticker on her car.

It’s not a unique situation, VFW Director of National Security and Foreign Affairs Sarah Maples wrote in an essay in The Atlantic magazine in November 2017.

“Without the uniform, there is no outward indication that these women are veterans, Maples wrote. “Women are often denied recognition for their military accomplishments.”

Far from seeking glory for her own service, Tibaudo is, however, determined that women veterans receive due respect.

She is a 30-year veteran of the U.S. Naval Reserve, deployed to war zones three times, including to Spain in a storekeeper unit in the Supply Support Battalion from 1990-91 during Desert Storm (she also was assigned brief excursions into Kuwait). She was deployed to Iraq in 2006 and in Afghanistan detached to an Army unit as an individual augmentee in charge of training local troops and overseeing a women’s barracks — among a few other jobs — and has served as the first, and so far the only, female commander of the Whitman VFW.

She is currently an adjutant with the Whitman post, joining the organization in 1995.

“I volunteered when they needed people for bingo, when they needed people for color guard,” she said.

The Whitman VFW Color Guard ended up being the state color guard as well as the local unit.

“Every weekend I was marching for something,” she said.

Tibaudo said she stays with the post because there are not enough veterans joining and helping with volunteer projects, such as the Voice of Democracy, right now.

“I just have a good feeling every time I’m doing something,” she said.

Tibaudo is in charge of the  Whitman VFW’s annual Christmas party for Brockton VA patients and volunteers to pack food for veterans at Patriot Place.

She says there is nothing she would do differently, if she had the chance.

“I have no regrets,” she said. “The men are so used to having women now in the military, that it’s no big deal. … We watch each others’ backs, that’s what it comes down to. We’re there for one purpose — the mission.”

Being overlooked is mostly a civilian blindspot.

She relates a story of a time when, wearing a Navy veteran cap, a woman asked who she borrowed it from, assuming the answer would be a husband or male relative.

“I said, ‘It’s mine,’” she recalled. “How many times have people, even in my uniform, have pushed me to the side and thanked the guys?”

Such difficulties with the veterans’ community are rare, Tibaudo stressed, but they do happen. When she returned from Afghanistan, she was awaiting surgery in Virginia and went to a local VFW with a friend and were kicked out.

“I don’t know if they didn’t believe me or not, but I had to leave,” she recalled. “I showed them my regular military ID.”

But, while that can be frustrating, the Avon native, who now lives in Norwood, always had an interest in serving. Her brother was in the Army. While he was at first adamant that she not join the military, he later changed his mind.

“In the end, he ended up being my biggest supporter,” she said. “It’s my way of giving back.”

She was initially drawn to the Navy Reserves in 1979, giving thought to transferring to the Army after her second deployment, but stayed with the Navy, even as she was attached to an Army unit in Afghanistan a “Sand Squid,” as Army personnel called her. She retired from the Navy as a chief. She was working in civilian life as a storekeeper so the Navy assigned her to supply, later called logistics.

During her military career, Tibaudo earned certification for driving an explosives forklift so she could transport ordnance as  supply personnel. She also drove and up-armored Humvee as a lead convoy driver in Iraq on occasion.

“The guys requested me [as a driver], because — one thing about a Humvee, if you take too sharp a turn, it tips over — if you tipped over the gunner’s gone,” she said. “To me, that was precious cargo I was carrying.”

When she joined, she had been divorced with two young children and said the Navy Reserves never saw her status as a single parent a deterrent.

“I just had to make sure that I had somebody, in case I got deployed, that would be responsible for them,” she said.

She has definitely traveled a lot of the globe in 30 years.

“I was one of the lucky ones, I came home,” Tibaudo said, becoming quiet-spoken, as she demurred from going into in detail about her military experiences beyond general job descriptions. “When you sign that piece of paper …” she said, her voice trailing off. She retired from the Navy Reserves in 2010.

She still worked her civilian job as a nursing assistant for the cardiac floor at Brockton Hospital, where she worked for 25 years.

Meeting outlines vote process

By

WHITMAN — A joint meeting of the Board of Selectmen and the remaining Whitman School Committee members was held on Tuesday, June 15 at which they discussed naming a substitute member for the balance of the school year.

The town has 30 days to make a decision on a replacement member. Committee member Dan Cullity’s resignation is effective June 30.

“Basically it’s among us to make a decision,” said Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski, noting that he, School Committee Chairman Christopher Howard, Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman and Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak held a preliminary discussion via Zoom last week.

Three people have already stepped forward to express interest in serving, they and any other interested residents are being asked to submit a letter of interest via to Heineman email [lheineman@whitman-ma.gov] and résumé by June 29 for interviews at a Tuesday, July 6 meeting. Selectmen expect to make a decision at that time, after all names are placed in nomination with votes cast until one reaches the required six-vote majority.

Much of the discussion centered on the question of how candidates are chosen, Kowalski said, noting that while the regional agreement makes clear who makes the decision, but not how.

Kowalski said town counsel has provided the opinion that a majority of those entitled to choose is needed, but if some members do not attend the voting meeting, town counsel opined a majority attending and not having a conflict of interest would be needed.

School Committee member Steve Bois said because there are 10 votes to be cast, a solid decision needed be made now to decide the issue.

“We’re going to have to be solid on the ground rules,” he said.

Committee members concurred with the town counsel’s opinion on the vote threshold, but member Dawn Byers expressed concern with the potential of people being absent.

Kowalski agreed, saying it might be preferred that all members of the two board commit to attend, to know that six votes will decide it.

The procedure was initially intended to nominated people one at a time until one garners six votes.

“There will be no ranked-choice voting,” Kowalski said.

But Selectman Dan Salvucci and Bois advocated a roster of all candidates to be voted on at one time. Kowalski indicated town counsel did not recommend that, but that is the route the panels settled on, although Town Counsel’s letter to Selectmen reinforced Kowalski’s explanation.

“I recommend treating this like a standard board action,” town counsel’s letter read, advocating nominations of one person at a time.

Selectman Brian Bezanson disagreed with the opinion because it does not seem transparent.

“This does not appear to be a transparent process, and I believe we need to have all nominations come before us and if there is a second [nominee] I think everyone should be considered,” Bezanson said, noting that while he appreciated the town attorney’s work, he disagreed. “This appearance of the way this is done smacks of a backroom deal to me — that somebody’s predetermined that they’re going to get this spot.”

Kowalski vigorously disagreed.

“There’s something to what you say, but it has noting to do with backroom deals and transparency,” Kowalski said. “We’re in a room right now, discussing a process, and I don’t know how much more open you can be. … I think we’re being quite transparent.”

School Committee member Christopher Scriven said the letter needed to clarified in terms of process.

Salvucci suggested all names be put in nomination for a vote, as had been done with a DPW vacancy. Selectman Justin Evans agreed, noting that it may take more than one round of votes, as has happed with a recent Library Trustees vote, as well.

Cullity resigns seat on committee

By

Whitman School Committee member Dan Cullity announced his resignation from the panel, effective June 30, during the Wednesday, June 9 meeting. He had already sent a letter to the committee indicting his intention to resign due to family issues that would limit his ability to devote significant time to the responsibilities of the office.

“It would not be fair to the district if I could not give it 100 percent,” he said, reading from the letter. “It was a tough decision that I was making.”

Cullity said his wife and family are his top priority.

“My biggest regret here is not seeing the fully funded kindergarten and, really, that’s a missed opportunity,” he said noting full-day pre-K is now the focus of lawmakers. “Every child deserves an education, not just the ones who can pay for it.”

He wished the rest of the committee success, hoping they have a great year.

The School Committee was scheduled to meet jointly with Whitman Selectmen on Tuesday, June 15 to discuss the process of appointing someone to fill the vacancy. [See story, page one]

“We know that’s a tough decision and we appreciate your commitment to the committee and we understand,” Chairman Christopher Howard said. “At least, I understand. For me, family always comes first.”

The Regional Agreement contains a provision that explicitly covers this type of situation, Howard said. If a vacancy arises, Selectmen and remaining committee members from the town concerned appoint a member within 30 days who will serve until the next election.

“Our collective charge at this point is to try and make sure that that group comes together,” Howard said, noting he wanted to limit discussion since the issue was not posted on the agenda.

The School Committee recognized Facilities Director Ernest Sandland as the recipient of this year’s Dr. John F. McEwan Do What’s Right for Kids Award, which recognizes an “unsung hero(s)” who is/are a member of the district staff or team demonstrating extraordinary vision, creativity, competence and execution of his or her job responsibilities. Margaret McEwan presented the award.

The award carries a cash award he can use for professional development or a project that benefits his department.

“John believed that a school is not a building, but a community of support that maximizes personal growth and development for all students and staff,” she said. “By providing a safe and protected learning environment to deliver in-person learning for students and staff, by improving the design of air flow with the installation of the I-Wave [ionized air filtration system]… and by reconfiguring classroom and office setup for social distancing during the COVID pandemic, I know that John truly valued Ernie Sandland.”

She said Sandland knew air quality would be an issue as soon as the pandemic began and started to research safe and effective ways to help with the problem.

“Due to Ernie’s early diagnosis, research and persistence, all classrooms and buildings were equipped before students arrived at the beginning of the school year,” she said, as many other school districts faced supply delays. It also helped with the agreement to a memorandum of understanding with the WHEA on working conditions for teachers during the pandemic.

The School Committee approved a new bus contract with First Student, done through a collaborative bid with Abington, according to interim Business Manager John Tuffy. The contracts were drawn up between the bus company and each individual town.

“We went out for a three-year bid with the fourth and fifth years being optional, and solely an option of us (W-H) as to whether we’d accept a fourth and fifth year,” Tuffy said. “That’s a decision to be made down the line.”

The bid process was open for a month, resulting in three inquiries, two organizations asking for bid packages and one bid — from current provider First Student. Tuffy said the package was affordable based on what was budgeted by the district and includes a first year increase of 5.7 percent; and increases of 3 percent in years two and three as well as increases of 3 percent if the district chooses to extend the contract to years four and five. He called the increases in line with what he has seen in other districts and were lower than the rate of increase after the last contract process when the first year increase was 9 percent; the year two and three increases were 4 percent and the last two years saw 3 percent increases.

Tuffy’s interpretation of contract language leads him to believe changes can be made later, if needed.

“I think there will be an additional conversation in the future pertaining to busing, but that doesn’t mean that we can hold off here,” Howard said.

Tuffy said the district is charged for the bus, not the number of runs a bus makes.

In other business, the committee discussed the establishment of a strategic plan working groups to work through the summer in an effort to coordinate budget efforts for next fiscal year. Some sessions would be open to the public.

“If we’re going to put the time in, it needs to turn into action,” Howard said. “It gives us a degree of organization and clarity.”

The first session will be an open meeting from 6 to 8 p.m., Wednesday, June 23.

Hanson cannabis pact update

By

HANSON — The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, June 15 approved a new round of negotiations on the marijuana facility host community agreement (HCA) based on the new venture into delivery service.

Impressed LLC has approached the town to expand its cannabis growing and manufacturing operation to include delivery service. The Cannabis Control Commission issues two different types of delivery license — courier and operator.

Couriers are allowed to pick up product from an existing licensed facility for delivery elsewhere, while an operator license can pick up, store and re-label the marijuana for resale.

“This [business] has the storage build in because it’s an existing facility,” said Town Counsel Kate Feodoroff. The town would receive 3 percent in community impact payments and 3 percent from sales tax.

“They’ve asked us to negotiate another HCA, or an amendment to an HCA to authorize me I will then go ahead and do so,” she said.

Town Administrator Lisa Green added that owner Ralph Greenberg is willing to give Selectmen a tour of the facility, needing only a request for a day and time.

Tours can be either individual or in groups, but Feodoroff cautioned against deliberation if a group of three or more tour together, or it would be in violation of the Open Meeting Law.

Selectmen also asked Feodoroff to weigh in on policy regarding it’s opening process for opening Cranberry Cove each year.

Selectmen Chairman Matt Dyer stressed he understood the decision to open Cranberry Cove in advance of the recent heat wave was done with good intentions, but noted there has been a “breakdown in communications for a couple of years now,” that needed to be addressed.

“Opening up the cove is a lot more than saying, ‘The Cove is open. Enjoy,’” Dyer said. “There’s a lot of safety aspects behind it.”

He advocated a sign-off process that stipulates the Recreation Commission has made such a decision after talking to police and fire officials, had the building inspector check the docks and from the Health Department regarding water testing. He also advocated that Selectmen be notified.

Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett noted there had been some concern expressed about the lack of lifeguards so early in the season.

Recreation Commission Chairman Diane Cohen said she liked the idea of a department head signoff process.

Recreaction
vacancies

During the process of the board’s annual vote to appoint members of various town committees, Recreation Commission member Juvelyn Hartwig read a statement criticizing divisions on that panel as she removed her name from consideration for reappointment.

“It has been a rewarding experience — well, most of it,” said Hartwig, who has served on the Recreation Commission for two years. “It’s also inspired me to become more involved in our town.”

She has also been a Rotarian for 15 years in the town, where she has lived for 18 years.

“I am saddened that I have to show you this poster of my accomplishments tonight as a Recreation Commission member,” she said as two girls held up posters listing her works. “I am disappointed, to say the least, to see a pattern of behavior, and response to that behavior, from citizens in our town government.”

She said that, while Hanson is a diverse community, volunteers and appointed officials are not supported well by town government and some individuals.

“To think that my associations with civic and nonprofit relationships have been questioned as self-dealing or some financial interest is insulting and alarming,” she said. “Reappointing me, I know, is causing some of you a great deal of distress.”

After speaking with legal counsel, Hartwig said she felt she would have more impact as a volunteer or private citizen than as an appointed official. She is founding a group called Hanson Families for Change toward that end.

“I hope everyone realizes how sad that is,” she said. “Just because it’s what has been, it doesn’t mean that it can’t be changed.”

Dyer thanked her for everything she has done for the town.

Later in the meeting, Selectmen voted to appoint Audrey Flanagan and Franklin Milisi to the Recreation Commission following a brief interview with each of them, as well as candidate Nathaniel Mastico.

“We had several applicants for these vacancies,” Dyer said.

Dyer recused himself from Flanagan’s interview because she served as his campaign manager. Selectman Jim Hickey, who worked with Flanagan on girls’ softball said he would not recuse himself.

“I think in a small town such as us, when you work with someone over an amount of time and they make you successful or you make them successful, the success is there,” he said.

Hickey said he reviewed the situation with both town counsel and Town Clerk Elizabeth Sloan and was told there was no conflict of interest.

Flanagan said she has more than 20 years of experience with Hanson Recreation and has served on the Commission for several years in the past.

Flanagan is currently chairman of the Hanson 200th Anniversary Committee, that had planned several events that had to be cancelled last year because of COVID.

“We’re still hoping to salvage some of the year,” she said. “We’re talking about a couple of smaller events to end the year and try to put some closure to the 200th.”

She said her goals include increasing subsidies for Recreation programs through booking weddings and events and to work with the CPC to seek grants to renovate the caretaker’s house as an office and museum as well as returning family camping weekends and the theater program.

Milisi said he wants to see process changes in various revenue streams at the camp to help it financially. He works in the financial technology field and has experience in the restaurant business and has some suggestions for improving the kitchen to help make it more viable for catering.

His acknowledgement of some of his pro-override political work in town drew a question from Hickey on whether he had advocated funding the schools over other departments at this year’s Town Meeting.

“I believe that the transfer station is an excessive capital cost to this town and it wasn’t presented in that way,” Milisi said. “But there was no point in time when I said fund the school and cut the Police Department or anything like that. … That is unacceptable.”

He also provided a list of ideas for events for children, as well as adults — such as dance nights — that can bring the entire community to Camp Kiwanee.