HANSON — How, and how much does it cost, to get a private way accepted as a public street in order to keep it in good repair?

A group of frustrated residents of three unaccepted roadways — Alden Way, Gray Lane and Stringer Lane — attended the Tuesday, Aug. 23 Select Board meeting to ask about the legal status of their streets. The session’s agenda had been amended at 10:50 a.m. that day to include the discussion.

Aware that the issue is often an understandably emotional one, Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett set ground rules that speakers remove emotion and “talk about facts” and what the town can and cannot do.

“This board’s job is to look out for the interests of the entire town — not just one group of people vs. another,” she said. 

“At the very least, I think [residents] need to think about having a homeowners’ association at this point,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “You’ve got to think about organizing together and getting an HOA because what we’re hearing is there’s no one point of contact to deal with from the town.”

If they would prefer, they could also continue addressing the issue as a concerned group of neighbors.

One neighbor suggested the discussion leads her to believe another meeting is in order.

“I don’t know how it’s fallen apart this bad that we have to go looking at an HOA or coming up with hundreds of thousands of dollars to correct this ‘terrible neighborhood,’ which in my eyes is one of the nicest neighborhoods that people want to move into,” said Carol Jensen, a 25-year resident of Gray Lane.

Alden Way resident Sandra Crawford, who wrote the letter to Town Administrator Lisa Green asking to be included on the agenda, because residents of the area “have grave concerns about our streets and inaction” surrounding them over the years. Town Counsel land use expert Brian Winner and Planning Board Chair Joseph Campbell also attended the meeting virtually.

Campbell said there are “tons” of unaccepted private ways in Hanson.

Winner stressed the need for a clear point of contact for residents as well as the possible need for a workshop meeting with that town liaison regarding road conditions and infrastructure and potential costs in order to have something to focus on.

“We need for you guys to organize,” FitzGerald-Kemmett told area residents. We won’t use that dreaded three-letter [HOA] acronym, but it allows us to have one point of contact.”

She said the board would decide on one or two members willing to have workshops with them and continue the conversation.

“I was not aware that we purchased [a home] on a private way or private street,” she said. “All my documentation said that it was a public road.”

She and her husband have lived on Alden Way for about two and a half years, discovering last month that it was not an accepted public roadway. All three streets are considered private ways on the town’s list of unaccepted streets.

Crawford has since spent “quite a bit of time at Town Hall” asking questions of Green and the Planning Board as well as reviewing the minutes of Planning Board meetings covering the 11 years.

“We’ve come to realize quite a few things,” she said. “The town had to send a bond back [following one developer’s lawsuit], but I’m still a little confused about how we jumped from what I think everybody in that neighborhood thought — they lived on public roads.”

While that is the past, Crawford said the past affects now and will affect the future. In reviewing the minutes, she found that her home’s previous owners frequently attended Planning Board meetings to ask similar questions.

“It seemed nobody was listening and nobody cared,” she said. “There’s been a lot of talk about the developer not doing what he was supposed to, what the town did not do correctly, how it wasn’t rectified way back in 2011 — but I can tell you this, it is not the fault of the residents that live on that street.”

Residents are not responsible for making road repairs or fixing what was not done correctly, she said. They want to know where Select Board stands on the issue and they want some maintenance attention given to the roads.

“We don’t want to live on one of those roads that is not safe to travel on,” Crawford said.

FitzGerald-Kemmett said that, while she understands the concerns and demand for road repair and maintenance, she said there are “a number of unintended consequences as a result” of any decision to do so on the town’s part.

“We’re setting a precedent,” she said. “There are a lot of private ways in Hanson and we are a town that’s struggling financially. … I think we have to figure out what is the town’s responsibility and then what is the right thing to do here.”

Select Board member Jim Hickey said that, as a board, they have to do better, and volunteered to get together with residents in an effort to find out what is needed to be done.

“Somebody dropped the ball somewhere,” he said. “So, now who’s going to pick it up?”

The town’s Highway Department does plow unaccepted streets, and grades the unaccepted dirt roads, but state Chapter 90 funds used by towns to repair public ways are not available to fund work on unaccepted streets, FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

Town Planner Antonio DeFrias, who said he only had history to go by, said the development in question was approved in 1997 and the developer withdrew and completed the road, but deficiencies in that road were discovered when the developer sought road acceptance. The town hired an outside consultant to review the road.

“That company did a less than stellar job, I guess,” he said, noting that the Planning Board had refused to return the bond money because of continued deficiencies in the road, leading to the lawsuit to which Crawford referred.

“At this point, there is no bond money for this project,” he said.

Campbell said the Planning Board, over the past 10-12 years, has had changes take place over the years either through elections or resignations, leaving open the question as to whether private roads are a priority.

“This, as well as a few other projects have come up almost quarterly,” he said, explaining it was meant to keep track of deficiencies. “For everybody who lives on a private way in Hanson, or that lives on a subdivision – streets are not public ways.”

Gaining acceptance as a public way is a fairly lengthy process, Campbell added, including the need for a Town Meeting vote.

FitzGerald-Kemmett asked what the deficiencies are and how they can be fixed.

A survey needs to be conducted to determine that as well as how doing the work would impact the town before the situation can be corrected, Campbell said. Problems with costs, from prevailing wage costs to actual work needed make the final cost difficult to afford.

“There’s very little that we could do without trespass or something of that nature,” he added.

There will also be hidden problems that are not visible during an assessment, officials said.

“It’s like buying used car,” DiFrias said. “You’re going to do your due diligence to see, ‘Do I want this car as is, or are there things I need to fix before I take it on?’”

He said the town could go back to Environmental Partners and use the 2019 report, paid for with $3,500 from the original bond, or ask them to do another, in-depth report now. The cost is tough to predict, but he said it would cost a couple of thousand dollars.

“I don’t see [it costing] $20,000, but I see it costing between $5,000 and $10,000,” he said.

“We’ve always used Alden Way as the exact reason for how not to build a development [road],” said Select Board member Joe Weeks, who once served on the Planning Board. “I really want to be able to help.”

But he said, the previous court decision forcing the town to return a developer’s bond, causes a concern because once the town accepts such a street, the town owns it.

“What’s clear is improvements need to be made … before the town accepts it as a public way,” said FitzGerald-Kemmett. “In order to do that, you have to look at the funding. Who’s going to fund it, the town or the people who live there?”

She expressed doubt that Town Meeting would be willing to spend the money to make acceptance possible. 

WHITMAN – Voters may be asked, at a Town Meeting this fall, to change the way the town’s treasurer-collector is chosen for that job. The position is currently an elected one, but recent developments at Town Hall have convinced acting Town Administrator Frank Lynam that it is time to consider making it an appointed office.

Treasurer-Collector MaryBeth Carter has accepted a position as a treasurer-collector in Norwell, leaving her position in Whitman on Aug. 26.

“It is going to be difficult to replace her mid-year,” said acting Town Administrator Frank Lynam, noting that it is an elected position. “I had discussed with her in the past, and most recently two days ago, in the event that she agreed to stay on, that I believe the town needs to revisit that [elected] status and go to Town Meeting and the ballot with a request to reclassify the treasurer-collector as an appointed official … so the town is able to select best-qualified candidates.”

Carter’s departure was among the staffing needs and vacancies discussed by Lynam the board at it’s Tuesday, Aug. 16 meeting.

“The treasurer’s responsibility is very significant,” Lynam said. “It invests, at various times an aggregate of $30 million and it’s important that we know the person doing that work has the proper qualifications and credentials.”

While, he wasn’t presenting it as an item to be voted this week, Lynam said Carter has recommended that former Abington treasuer-collector Thomas Connolly be appointed on an interim basis and said he and at least one member of the board should meet with Connolly to discuss the responsibilities and working conditions of the position. Board member Shawn Kain agreed to attend that meeting.

“There shouldn’t be a learning curve in this type of position – just getting to know the town,” Lynam said.

Select Board member Dr. Carl Kowalski said the board was under the understanding that she would be able to do that in time for a vote Tuesday night. Lynam said he and Kain could solidify the details of Connolly’s appointment.

“[Connolly] is an Abington resident,” Lynam said. “None of the candidates were Whitman residents, which is what would be required for an election.”

Select Board Chair Randy LaMattina noted that the board does have the power to appoint a non-resident in an interim capacity.

“He’s also worked in Duxbury and a couple other municipalities since his retirement,” LaMattina said.

Connolly had been an elected treasurer-collector in Abington, but lost his race after that town held a financial reorganization which changed that post as an appointed one, Lynam said. He has since done work in Mashpee, Hull, Duxbury and Bridgewater, as well.

Other vacancies causing concern are that of an assistant IT director, a clerk in the assessor’s office, which will be posted, a recording secretary for the Conservation Commission, a recording secretary with the Finance Committee and a custodian.

There are also two positions on the Conservation Commission also need to be filled, as well as one vacancy on the Bylaw Study Committee, two on the Capital Committee and likely another on the Zoning Board of Appeals.

“We really have an issue with getting an assistant IT director in place,” Lynam said, noting an opportunity has come up in the last couple of weeks.”

Director of Technology Steve Burke at WHRSD as left that position and Lynam is interested in talking to him.

“The challenge, of course, is going to be salary,” he said. The median salary for the position is between $80,000 and $90,000 for a systems engineer-qualified person. He and IT Director Josh MacNeil have discussed engaging Burke as a contract employee until Oct. 1, when the salary can be met within the town’s appropriation.

“This is another issue that makes me really recommend that we have a fall Town Meeting so that we can address all of these needs in a public forum,” Lynam said.

Select Board member Justin Evans agreed, noting the board had recommended a $50,000 salary and Town Meeting approved $65,000.

Kain said that Burke is very qualified and “worth the risk” of contracting with him now, even if Town Meeting doesn’t support the change. The board voted to offer the contracted post.

WHITMAN – Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman has taken a leave of absence, Select Board Chair Randy LaMattina announced after an executive session of the board on Wednesday, Aug.3.

“The town administrator is out on a leave of absence,” LaMattina confirmed Monday. “Unfortunately, I can’t say much more than that.”

He said the situation would eventually develop into less of a mystery, but for now he stressed that he was unable to say more.

The executive session, in accordance with MGL Ch. 30A sec 21A subsection 2 to conduct strategy sessions for negotiations with nonunion personnel – the town administrator – because an open session could have a detrimental effect on the town’s bargaining position.

“We need to announce the town administrator is on a leave of absence,” LaMattina said when the executive session was over. “What the board needs to do now is discuss an interim replacement in the meantime,” and entertained suggestions.

Select Board member Dr. Carl Kowalski recommended asking former Town Administrator Frank Lynam “if he could come in and help out as an acting town administrator.”

“Makes sense to me,” Select Board member Justin Evans said.

The board unanimously agreed to the suggestion, and Kowalski volunteered to make the call to Lynam.

LaMattina said Lynam started working Monday and will serve as the acting administrator on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

“As far as any interruptions, we don’t foresee any,” LaMattina said. “Luckily, Frank has kept up enough, he was on the DPW Building Committee. He’s kind of kept in the know.”

The board will met in another executive session meeting Tuesday, Aug. 9.

“We will probably come out and announce we’ve come to an agreement with Frank as the acting TA,” he said. “I can’t imagine it’s going to be a very long meeting, but there’s a lot of formalities right now.”

The next regular meeting is set for Tuesday, Aug. 16.

HANSON — The owners of Hanson’s marijuana growing facility, met with the Select Board on progress toward approval of the delivery/operator license on Tuesday, July 26.

A public hearing will be scheduled on that license after the board votes to permit it.

The business currently has only a cultivation license and, while they have gone through the licensing process for manufacturing, they have not yet received that license, said co-owner Ally Greenberg.

“We’re 90 days into operation, we’re growing, and that’s really all I can say about it,” she said.

Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said that people are anxious to see revenue for the town, asking when they expect to start sending the product out.

“It is in your community agreement that the terms don’t start until we actually produce some revenue,” Ally Greenberg said. “I haven’t seen any revenue [yet], I’m just growing, still.”

Ally Greenberg said the first harvest should be in early September.

“We’ll [then] go through the testing, make sure it’s clean and hopefully get some money back to the town,” she said. “I can’t grow it fast enough.”

Ralph Greenberg said they were excited about the opportunity to be before the Select Board again as they look to create some value for both the town and their business.

“It’s a long road that we’ve started on together, and we’re at a point that cannabis is growing in our building,” he said, cautioning that the market has dropped a minimum of 50 percent since they started the permitting process.

“By the request of this delivery license that we’re looking for today, is a real opportunity for us to make money at this point,” he said. “Without that delivery license, we’ll be brokering our product to the wholesalers and that market is a very, very tough market.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett said residents have been nervous about what a delivery permit would allow, noting that some townspeople were wary about the prospect of a brick-and-mortar outlet in town.

“It is clear they are passionate about this community and their operation,” Impressed LLC attorney Nicholas Gomes, with offices in New Bedford/Fall River and Boston, said. “Cultivation is the core of their business. … What they are, essentially, seeking to do is to add the delivery operator license type.”

He explained that the cultivating means the company would be allowed to warehouse and stores what they produce under their cultivation license in a safe, secure vault. The delivery/operating license would permit the business to make direct sales to consumers through delivery to their house.

Buyers are required to show proof that they are over age 21 and proper delivery procedures are in place before Impressed LLC makes a delivery to a customer’s home.

“By the numbers, the reason why this is a beneficial license for Impressed LLC and the town, is because it is allowing Impressed LLC to not just let it grow its flower and sell it to wholesale purchasers across Massachusetts,” Gomes said. 

According to Gomes, the average price for a pound of marijuana is about $2,500, while at the consumer end of the business, an ounce of marijuana is between $250 and $300 on the retail level, as opposed to about $150 wholesale. 

“The commodity is sold, of course, for a higher value [at] retail,” Gomes said. “The difference between what Impressed LLC can sell its flower for on the wholesale market, compared to what they can do on the retail market … retail is going to be at least a 50-percent markup from that wholesale value.”

The request for a delivery/operator license will permit the company to avoid a rush by consumers and the accompanying traffic concerns, mainly because they are aware of the town’s concerns about the problems by not operating a store font retail business.

“It has the bonus of allowing the town to share in the higher retail prices, while eliminating those concerns,” Gomes said. “No individuals from the public would ever come to the property of Impressed LLC — they wouldn’t be allowed in if they tried — and no walk-in purchase is available.”

He said all transactions would be via online or phone applications.

“This is a logistical business,” Gomes said. 

Gomes said it was possible that so many articles on the same Town Meeting warrant might have been confusing, and advocated placing the delivery license alone before Town Meeting again if it would clarify the issue. If the town wants to restrict deliveries to customers outside of Hanson, they can do so.

He said he does not know of any area towns that restrict deliveries within their towns, but that there are delivery companies in the Bridgewaters, the North Shore, Plymouth and areas to the west of town.

“Because we voted no on retail, that puts almost a firewall around us for anybody to deliver because that would be considered retail in Hanson,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

Town Administrator Lisa Green asked if medical-use cannabis would be allowed for delivery — for homebound clients, for example. Gomes said medical use was permitted to be delivered by courier system, which is a purely delivery service that is not a manufacturer or involved in pricing.

Select Board member Ann Rein asked how the company would be able to ensure that those ordering online were of legal age.

“The benefit of the delivery process the state has come up with is numerous contact points for verification,” Gomes said. A person placing an order would be required to personally show an ID at one of the retail cannabis businesses in the state. There are also teams of two making deliveries – with one remaining in the vehicle for security – and GPS tracking as well as in-vehicle and body camera camera surveillance of delivery personnel in use.

No cash transactions would be made.

Deliveries in completely unmarked vehicles – aiming for the use of EVs and no matching vehicle fleet – would be planned logistically so delivery crews would be out most if not all of the day and not constantly be driving in and out.

FitzGerald-Kemmett asked if there was a cap on the amount of marijuana that could be delivered to any one location.

Gomes said a limit of a flower/ounce or 5 ounces of concentrate would be the individual limit per day.

“When it comes to this issue, you’re going to find that there’s three separate camps of folks,” Select Board Vice Chair Joe Weeks said. “You have people who don’t want marijuana in this town, you have people that absolutely want every form of it and then you have a bunch of people in the middle that want to make sure if it’s here, it’s done responsibly.”

Weeks said it was the people in the middle range of attitude that need to be communicated with in the clearest manner. He asked if there was anything that was clearly written to provide that level of security, predictability and accountability.

“Words are words until they actually become facts,” he said.

FitzGerald-Kemmett agreed that too much was attempted at Town Meeting.

“Fiasco is the word that comes to mind,” she said. “It was just not handled well. We have learned from that and we will not make that mistake again.”

She underscored that what Weeks was looking for was facts.

Gomes said he would confer on the matter with his clients, but suggested sending a formal request to the board requesting its support, having a warrant article placed before Town Meeting and providing specific details in a memorandum format with citation to Massachusetts law and/or regulation. He said he would also provide the steps in the process in writing, too.

HANOVER — It was a bit like Christmas in July for member towns of the South Shore Regional School Committee as the district finished fiscal 2022 with a surplus of about $1.1 million, according to Secretary/Treasurer James Coughlin at the committee’s virtual meeting on Wednesday, July 20.

Assessments for the 2023 fiscal year are being reduced — by $13,486 in Whitman and by $9,074 in Hanson — according to the $740,00 credited from surplus revenue, totaling $65,000 among all eight member communities.

“We haven’t given the towns back any money in a few years because of all these ongoing projects, [but] it was decided that we could give the towns back the $65,000 of our surplus,” Coughlin said.

The $65,000 was being returned proportionally based on each town’s current enrollment, where the motion is based on the three-year rolling numbers to calculate the debt service impact for member towns.

That budget had earmarked $70,000 for debt service and interest payments because it was not known at the time that the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) was “coming into the picture.

“Bottom line is we spend about $13 million for the year,” Coughlin said, noting that it was based on debt service calculations using a three-year enrollment average. “The amount of the refunds might be off a little bit.” 

One of the nine budget transfers voted on July 20 encumbered $1,016,747.98 from the 2022 non-resident tuition to reduce the 2022-23 assessments to member towns. Hanson will get $9,555 back and Whitman will be refunded $17,328.

“Pretty much, this time of the year, we go through the process about what did the [fiscal] year look like?” Coughlin said. “As you can imagine, during the last month of the year, we’re moving money and spending money where we need it, knowing we have surpluses in various accounts.” 

Coughlin noting that the budget is 98-percent closed, with “just a couple of stragglers.” The district was able to place about $103,000 in it’s excess and deficiency account.

Superintendent/director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey said he has been in touch with MSBA that day about when they would be discussing the renovation and expansion project that week. The authority is expected to be in touch in a few weeks to discuss the viability study concerning program and enrollment projections, as the MSBA is waiting for feedback from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) before they begin any bid process for an owner/project manager.

“There is no reasonable timeline to bring this before town meetings in the fall,” Hickey said, indicating that Marshfield is not likely to be joining the district before the fall town meetings. 

Hickey recommended lowering FY23 assessments because we would not be borrowing any money in FY23 while going through the MSBA process.

“There’s no reason to charge the towns money that we know we’re not going to spend.”

It was also the first year-end closure for a new payroll clerk, who did a fantastic job, he said. The school’s purchasing agent has also been handling more bids than is usual.

The committee voted unanimously to approve all the warrant transfers sought.

Coughlin reminded members that $14.6 million and brought in about $14.9 million — $319,000 over the budgeted amount. Anticipated expenses were underspent any more than $855,000. The district received $748,000 in regional transportation reimbursement.

The committee also voted to transfer funds to various functions and had $103,000 to invest in the excess and deficiency line item.

“Everything’s in good shape,” he said.

CARES funding for COVID expenses received through Plymouth County held in an enterprise account for the two years the district received still has a balance of $190,000, but as they go through the process of transferring the funds for items in the regular budget closes out the CARES Act funds, and invoiced all member towns for their share district’s costs, holding that in an enterprise account for the two years CARES Act funds were being received.

Teacher pay for the summer is part of the June expenditures — a little over $2 million, that reflects summer payroll, with a larger than normal number of people requesting lump-sum salaries in June. 

A couple of them are retiring, and not returning in the fall, he explained.

Among other transfers approved was the shifting of $740,000 never spent to surplus revenue because issues such as supply chain delays that affected long-range planning.

“We’re putting this money back in the pot,’ Coughlin said. Still another transfer involved $920,000 from surplus revenue for the purchase of property in order to expand the campus to allow the expansion and renovation process to continue easier. They also encumbered $387,000 from surplus revenue to begin that expansion work and $230,000 for building renovations and repairs — including expansion of the cafeteria, upgrading security doors and paving/sidewalk upgrades, among other work. Another transfer was for $114,000 to purchase equipment and supplies.

HANSON — Town Planner Tony DeFrias has completed a comprehensive inventory of town-owned property with an eye toward the potential for revenue development by the town.

“Historically, as a board — at least since Mr. [Jim] Hickey and I have been on — we’ve been pretty good about getting properties that were perhaps taken for back taxes, back onto the rolls … and get them sold,” said Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett.

But, she added the town’s Economic Development Committee “really wanted to look at [whether there are] other properties that the town owns that we could leverage” back into private hands as a way to attract businesses to town. DeFrias then took on the task of reviewing the status of town-owned properties to start that process.

There are 72 properties owned or controlled by the town — 17 have public buildings or public spaces and 55 town-owned — he reported to the board on Tuesday, July 19.

“This is perfect,” Select Board member Ed Heal said after DeFrias’ presentation. “Even this is a lot of work.”

“Now that we have this information do we want to do anything with this?” Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett agreed, noting more conversation is needed.

DeFrias recommended the board study the report and plan a future discussion on which properties may be sold and which should be passed along to Conservation or the Water Department.

Disposition of town property falls under MGL Ch. 3OB §16, he said, noting that Article 35 of the 1965 Hanson Town Meeting requires consultation with the Conservation Commission prior to disposition of land as a means of preserving waste land for conservation.

From 1994-2020, 36 of those properties were taken for taxes, with the total amount of taxes owed being $620,814.52 as of Jan. 12, 2021. One of the properties also carries a septic loan.

The properties come under three categories: 12 come under Conservation land, eight are recommended to be considered Water Department Credit land and 11 are buildable or potentially buildable land. Those remaining have specific uses such as drainage or easement, according to DeFrias.

Buildable properties would require further investigation to determine their true potential.

One such 3.30-acres parcel is at 212 Industrial Blvd., another is the 3.34 acres of property at 533 Main St., where the former L.Z. Thomas School Housing Authority apartments are located in a Residence A Zone. Yet another 1.21 acres is the property which includes the Historical Society building is now located at 565 Main St.

“There’s a potential here to create additional housing, and affordable housing for the town,” he said. It’s also part of a larger site because of nearby parcels also on the list.

FitzGerald-Kemmett said the Economic Development Commission has been exploring the possibilities the area near the Bonney House as part of an historical “village,” but she agrees with DeFrias, who said it could also remain where it is. A lot of the plans depend on completed renovations at the Bonney House

“This is one of 100 steps,” DeFrias said. “We’re looking at alternatives.”

The 212 Industrial Blvd., property is at the industrial park within the commercial-industrial zone as well as the marijuana overlay district and falls within a Zone 2 Wellhead Protection District.

“This is a potential vacant piece of land that’s owned by the town that could be sold off for a business or an industrial building,” he said. Board of Health, Conservation Commission and, probably, ZBA approval for site plan would be required before development.

A 1.19 acre parcel at 0 Main St., has potential for several possible uses, including a possible second fire station if that were needed, DeFrias said.. At 0 West Washington St, a larger parcel of 7.17 acres nextdoor to the Water Department building is also in a commercial-industrial zone. But the fact that it is traversed by a 70- foot water main easement in a Zone 2 Water Protection District, means it may be better-suited to a business park with the proper engineering.

“If we’re looking for business and trying to increase our business, there isn’t a lot of room in Hanson,” he said, noting that the properties would all have to be further investigated. “There’s potential there.”

DeFrias also discussed some smaller parcels during his PowerPoint presentation, including two residential property sites at 69 Wood St., and 62 Ocean Ave.

“The board needs to go through the list and decide what we need to do with it,” DeFias said.

By Tracy F. Seelye, Express editor
editor@whitmanhansonexpress.com

WHITMAN — The Select Board, on Tuesday, July 12, voted to establish a policy governing seniors participating in the tax work-off program and adhere to town policy on minimum wage.

Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman noted that voters at Town Meeting had approved an article to permit residents age 60 and over to reduce their real estate taxes by allowing a maximum number of hours each year instead of a maximum dollar amount.

“We have not has a policy for the senior tax work-off program in the past, just sort-of some procedures that were laid out by the Council on Aging,” he said. “It seemed like an opportune time to have a policy to bring clarity on a couple things.”

He based the policy on one he wrote for Hanover when he served as Town Manager there. 

Whitman will differ from the town’s current practice in that the board had recently voted that town employees should be paid minimum wage. There is also currently no cap on the number of tax work-off employees, but the proposed policy recognizes there might be with the 125 hours — now at $8 per hour, but possibly more — there might be some increased interest, which might require capping the number of people included in the program.

“Tax work-off employees are employees,” Heineman said. “They’re employees of a different kind. It’s up to the board what the hourly rate would be — it doesn’t have to be minimum wage.”

But his proposal left it to Select Board consideration to possibly have it at minimum wage.

There are currently 32 slots available under program guidelines, all of which have been filled.

“This would make it so there could possibly be a cap of 35,” he said. “If there were more applicants for the program … how would a determination be made about who was in the program and who wasn’t?”

Heineman’s policy proposal would give preference to those already in the program, establishing a first-come-first-served waiting list, provided that those on the waiting list would be well-matched by their skills and background to open positions.

Vice Chair Dan Salvucci asked what a position should pay per hour for a 125-hour post to take $1,500 of their taxes.

Heineman said it would be $12 per hour. The present minimum wage is $14.25 per hour (taking about $1,800 of property taxes) and rising to $15 per hour on Jan. 1. Right now a senior in the program working 100 hours at $8 per hour has $800 taken off their property taxes.

Heineman said the program is not required to meet the minimum wage requirements.

“I don’t think it meets the intent that we set when we set that policy, though,” Chair Randy LaMattina said. “I see tremendous value in this program. It’s helping out seniors in two ways, financially by way of taxes, but most of us have known these people from the time we voted the first time until last election. These are dedicated seniors that also get a lot, personally, out of this program.”

LaMattina said he had no problem going to minimum wage for the program.

The Council on Aging manages staffing through the program.

“I certainly would support it going to minimum wage,” member Shawn Kain said. “I feel like it’s a benefit they should be entitled to, not something [where] they should jump into a lottery and potentially get [sunk].” He advocated removing the cap on the number of participants.

“The question is, how much can the town [afford to] take off its taxes?” Salvucci asked. “Can we lose the revenue and still give services to the town? You’ve got to think on that issue.”

“And are there 100 positions to fill?” member Justin Evans asked.

Heineman said he expects the increase in hourly pay, along with the cap of 35 positions, the policy would take only about another $23,000 out of the overlay account, which funds it. The account typically carries $125,000.

“It would come out of taxes and reduce the excess levy,” he said.

LaMattina said he would like to see, monetarily, what the policy rules would do with the new rate.

“This program has been, I think, relatively stable,” he said. “If interest was out there, or if the need was out there, it can be amended.”

HANSON – The Select Board discussed the workload in the Selectmen’s office – and whether there is, or has been adequate staffing to keep up with it – during the Tuesday, June 28 meeting.

The topic came up as the board was voting to recognize with regret the resignation of Administrative Assistant Lucia Silveira. She is the second assistant to resign over the workload. Administrative Assistant Greet Getzen resigned following the Oct. 4, 2021 special Town Meeting, during which disparaging remarks about her performance in the job during a discussion about a request for $9,179 to hire a recording secretary to help with the backlog if meeting minutes. The separation process between Getzen and the board was finalized on Nov. 2 2021. Silveria was hired in Jan. 10 2022.

The board is looking to a Town Meeting warrant article and need to discuss affordability and sustainability with Town Accountant Todd Hassett, further documentation and a task breakdown over who would do what in the Select Board office.

“One of the things we’ve been discussing with Lucia and Town Adminstrator Lisa Green is, quite honestly … with the prior town administrator and executive assistant … is the volume of work that the office does is leading to burnout – rapid burnout,” said Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett. “I got thinking about why is that happening.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett questioned whether too much is expected of too-small a staff, whether they are not paid enough, a matter of prioritizing – or a bit of all those things.

“I did ask Ms. Green to take a look at the towns around us and see how they are staffing this office and what are the jobs that are being required of this office in this current time that weren’t necessarily required, say, five or 10 years ago,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “I want to be clear that Lisa is not complaining. That’s not why it’s on the agenda. This was my observation, saying, ‘Holy [self-censored]. This is a lot of work.’”

FitzGerald-Kemmett said the Select Board has a lot to do and needs the staff to get it done, especially when they meet every week.

“It’s probably two days’ worth of work [preparing] for every meeting that we have,” she said. Volunteers, however, such as seniors volunteering for tax abatement, can’t do quite a bit of the work – which is privileged and confidential.

Green reported that of the towns close to Hanson – all of which are close to the same population – all have three staff members in the Select Board office. Abington has a town manager and two administrative assistants, one of which concentrates on media coordination and other activities; Rockland has a town administrator, and assistant town administrator and an executive assistant; Pembroke has a town manager, an assistant town manager and an executive assistant; Easton has a town administrator, and assistant town administrator, a human resources coordinator and an executive assistant; Halifax has a town administrator, a select board assistant and a select board secretary and Plympton – with a population of 3,000 – is the only nearby town with only two staffing the Select Board office: an administrator and an administrative assistant; and East Bridgewater has a town administrator, an assistant to the town administrator and a principal clerk,

“We’re the only town around, other than Plympton … that has only two people in the Select Board office,” Green said. “It’s not shifting papers around. Our office requires reading, learning, writing, creating documents.”

At the last Select Board meeting, the list of 110 annual appointments triggered the need for the office to generate 87 letters the next day so those folks could come in and get sworn in, she said.

“We are bombarded with records requests,” Green added, much of it requires research, redacting where required and compiling information. “We answer the phones, we answer complaints – open meeting law complaints. Private roads have been a big issue lately. For two people trying to do all this work – it is exrtemely overwhelming.”

Minutes requests are the most time-consuming.

“Minutes don’t take minutes,” she said. “It takes hours to generate meeting minutes.”

Two or three-hour Select Board meetings can mean six to eight hours to generate accurate and can include executive session information, all done while people drop in for other business.

“That’s in addition to preparing the Annual Town Report … to the two Town Meetings which, as you can see … half of the year is spent talking and planning for Town Meeting,”  FitzGerald-Kemmett. “And then, I think most importantly, all the personnel issues.”

The board has also been urging Green to obtain grant money and town-owned properties sold and onto the rolls.

“The previous board spent a lot of time advocating for not just another administrative assistant and/or assistant town administrator, but we were also talking about an HR person that we can bring in to take some of that burden off of [Green] as well,” said Select Board member Joe Weeks. “We should continue on with that.”

But the need to continually “put out fires” gets in the way.

“It’s a perfect opportunity for us to sit back and take it seriously,” he said. “No municipal government run off of a revolving door of staff.”

Select Board member Jim Hickey expressed concern about how the town would be able to afford the salary of another staff member.

“I just feel sorry that we’re losing someone that I barely know, but I know she’s been effective and there is nobody in the wings to come and take her place,” said Select Board member Ann Rein. “It doesn’t sound like that is a good plan in the long run.”

Rein said the best plan would have been to find help before Silveira reached the point “where you needed to walk.”

Select Board member Ed Heal said that every time he goes into the office, “both these two are working as three people.”

Ethics disclosures

The board also discussed the disclosure of potential conflict of interest from Conservation Committee Chairman Phil Clemens. The routine form in which town officials outline upcoming issues before their board or committee that could potentially cause a conflict of interest for them.

“Historically, it was not always the practice of this board to receive disclosures and to discuss them in an open meeting, which to me always seemed contrary to the very principal of disclosing things – particularly if you are an appointing authority,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. 

Clemens indicated he had no comments to make other than his wish to understand the process, as he was uncertain if his was a typical situation.

“But, as an abutter to a potential project we can see coming, I just thought I’d try to get out ahead of it,” he said. Clemens said his main question was whether he should leave the room when Conservation discusses the project, should it come up in the future.

“We can’t opine on what you should be doing,”  FitzGerald-Kemmet said. She advised Clemens that he could call the attorney of the day at the state Ethics Commission with specific questions. “The lens that we’re looking through, primarily, is, ‘Is there something you’ve disclosed here that would give us pause [concerning] you being appointed to a position [by] this board.”

Clemens said that whenever a project of any significant size is proposed to a town board, abutters are notified, in this specific situation the abutters potenitally affected by an upcoming project is the First Congregational Church, where he is a moderator at the church’s business meeting as well as a member of the congregation.

“Who knows what the discussions might lead to?” he said. “I would be concerned about appearances as things get further down the road.”

He indicated he would consult the Ethics Commission.

“You’re on the right track and disclosing … and being aware,”  FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “That’s like half the battle.”

She asked that Clemens update the board on what the Ethics Commission’s ruling is.

Strategic plan

In other business, the board heard a presentation from Anne Donner about the town’s strategic, for which Town Meeting voted funding. Donner recently worked with the town of Whitman on their strategic plan.

“As unbelievable as it might seem, the town of Hanson has actually never had a strategic plan, which would be a vision … that is put together by collecting the thoughts of various department heads and stakeholders and gives us a point in time [as to] what we think the priorities for the town should be,”  FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “We’re not flipping and flopping on our objectives in terms of where our money’s going to be spent, where our resources are going to be spent. We have a vision.”

While priorities may change, this would provide a starting point, she indicated.

Donner, a management consultant since 2004, has worked in both the public and private as well as nonprofit sectors, and described a strategic plan as an organzational management activity to focus energy and resources, set priorities, strengthen operations of an organization and provide agreement around the intended outcomes.

She has already begun gathering data and interviewing department heads and Select Board members to learn their perspectives on what the town’s priorities should be. A citizens’ survey will be conducted in August. A workshop with stakes is being planned for after Labor Day.

HANSON — The Select Board met virtually with Sprague Energy regarding the town’s municipal electricity supply contract for municipal buildings while an aggregate plan is explored to offer a group price for all town residents.

The board voted to authorize Town Administrator Lisa Green to negotiate a 36-month electricity contract with Sprague to get the town through the period before the aggregation goes into effect — during which energy costs pose a concern. 

 “I don’t blame you for looking into aggregation, but because that’s not going to happen for another year and a half to two years, it’ll leave you extremely vulnerable where the town could [end up paying] double, triple, potentially quadruple the supply rates that they’re paying right now,” Sprague Energy Portfolio Manager Robert Savary said, in reaching out to Green regarding the town’ electricity purchasing.

Green noted that the town has been working with in regard to a plan to join a bulk-purchasing arrangement — an energy aggregate — with the aim of saving money on natural gas costs.

“We are entering an aggregate group, but that’s still a year to two years out,” Green said. “We thought it would be a good idea, since energy costs are expected to sky rocket over the next few months, to have Sprague give us a presentation and see what they can do to save money on our electricity.”

Select Board member Ed Heal asked what Savary if the town entered into a short-term contract, would it also renew in December and what would that financial impact be.

Savary stressed he was discussing one-, two- and three-year contracts.

“You don’t want to sign a one-, two- and three-month contract, because that would put you absolutely in the middle of winter, which would be devastating,” he said.

Savary said the Mass. Public Utilities Commission (PUC) website can provide a list of alternative energy suppliers residents can contact and what their rates are.

“Make sure if you are going to do that, when you check off the boxes, that you check off “fixed rate,” not variable, that’s the most important thing,” he said. Early termination fees is another benefit residents should look for.

“If you could put something together that we could pop up on our website, that would be amazing,” Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “This is going to hit a lot of people in the pocketbook.”

Headquartered out of Portsmouth, N.H., Sprague has been in business since the late 1800s, said Savary, who has worked with the company for about 13 years.

“Because we are so big — we’ve got 10,000 customers — we’ve developed such a great relationship with every electric supplier out there,” he said. “I do mean every legitimate electric supplier.”

He said his job is to help customers navigate upcoming changes in energy costs. Those changes can have roots in power plant costs, transmission and distribution systems, weather conditions, regulations and international upheavals, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

He addressed natural gas and electricity costs, specifically.

“We are in a really precarious situation right now in New England with regard to natural gas electricity costs,” Savary said. “If you haven’t heard, or you haven’t seen pricing already, it’s going to get real bad real soon.”

The U.S. House passed the Consumer Price Gouging Prevention Act in May, with every Republican and four Democrats voting against it, but it stalled and is unlikely to pass in the evenly divided Senate. 

Both versions of the bill seek greater transparency around gas prices and would give the Federal Trade Commission additional authority to monitor and crack down on allegations of price gouging by energy companies and the Senate version would require the U.S. Energy Information Administration to publish more information about markets to help ensure fair competition and transparency.

Savary forecast that natural gas, where Hanson is now paying 81 cents per therm with the utility, has contracted rate Hanson signed for in January is 70.8 cents per therm.

That contract expires in April 2024.

“On the gas side, you’re very well protected right now,” he said, recommending they talk again about six to eight months before that contract expires.

Price indexes

Natural gas, traded on the NYNEX, and was trading at $5.44 per unit, but two weeks ago that price per unit was $9.30. This week it was back to about $6.30 due to influences such as an explosion at a CNG terminal in the Gulf of Mexico, which forced natural gas back into the pipeline before it could be converted to liquefied natural gas (LNG), offering a temporary supply boost.

“We do not expect that it’s going to stay there,” he said.

Hanson is currently saving about $3,200 on it’s annual natural gas costs within its contract.

“That savings is going to grow tremendously over this next coming winter,” he said.

Electricity is another story, Savary said.

The current utility rate is 10.37 cents per kilowatt hour (KHW), with the current contracted rate of 9.6 per KHW, which is good until December 2022.

National Grid has already announced its new rate is going to be 21.01 cents per KWH by August.

“That is a huge jump,” he said. “August, September and October are traditionally some of the least expensive months of a year for traditional electricity costs. That tells us that we are prepared to go into a winter and there’s going to be some crazy, crazy rates.”

He said Eversource Massachusetts, last winter, was charging 31 per KHW. Since New England utilities generally follow each other’s rates, Eversource New Hampshire has informed its large accounts that their rate in January will be 48 cents per KHW — their current rate is about 12 cents per KHW.

“That just shows you what’s happening in the future and why you want to go ahead and get things under control now,” Savary said, noting his customers are all going for 36-month contracts (with a current rate of 15.3 cents per KHW, which allows a price that can help them weather the energy price storm, as he called it, relatively unscathed. Had Hanson been ready to sign an agreement for 36 months in January 2022, the rate would have been locked in at 12.49 per KHW.

“The short-term is the most dangerous term,” he said. “There’s nothing on the horizon that tells us the market is going to take a dip anytime soon.”

He said the Russian war on Ukraine, the Gulf explosion — with gas reversing in the pipeline and being transformed into LNG for shipment to Europe — as key price factors.

Sprague is not permitted to contract with residents for their electricity rates, but noted the rate increases would hit residents and said he would make himself available to the board in case they wished to look at their residential rates as a courtesy.

“I appreciate that, but I do question whether we should be afforded a privledge that isn’t afforded to the rest of the citizens in town,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “There may be pitfalls for the unwary in that.”