WHITMAN — The town’s financial future became a bit tighter Monday, May 1, after voters at annual Town Meeting agreed with requests from the floor for department head raises of 2.5 percent that, in most cases, were not included in the Article 2 budget for fiscal 2018.

“The whole point of setting financial controls is to set the tempo for future bargaining and future expenditures,” Town Administrator Frank Lynam said after the session. “Unfortunately, the message wasn’t perhaps, as clear as it needed to be.”

Lynam also suggested it could be a matter of too little a difference in dollars during a budget year in which one contract is out of synch by 2.5 percent.

“They collectively added up to about $5,000 or $6,000 on a $35 million budget,” Lynam said. “If the Town Meeting was willing to support the votes, I’m certainly not going to be opposed to it. It’s a decision that gets made here.”

He said that perhaps more work needs to be done during bargaining to make sure people understand a lot depends on the town’s ability to make the payments.

“We went almost right up to the levy limit tonight, so it’s going to limit what we can do next year, unless we change significantly how we do business,” Lynam said.

The 2.5-percent department head raises were requested by Michelle Hayes, who is a 13-year employee of the collector’s office.

“This is the first time I can remember that our department heads … are on your warrant [for a] 2-percent pay increase, while the Town Hall employees negotiated with the union for a 2.5-percent pay increase,” she said. “I would like to put them on par with us.”

All five of her amendments — for the town accountant, assessor, treasurer-collector, clerk and building commissioner  — were approved by the voters.

Lynam said the department head salary issue had been intended to “set a standard for the next several years in the direction of salaries and costs,” and that it was very difficult to set one contract against another. He said he would support the Town Meeting’s decision.

Voters did question a $22,752 salary increase (for $86,000 total) for Assistant Town Administrator Lisa Green. The increase was supported by a vote of 96-62.

Michelle Winnett, 308 Raynor Ave., asked why the 35-percent increase was being requested. Lynam outlined that when former Assistant Town Administrator Greg Enos was hired in 2013, his limited experience dictated the starting salary of $63,248 now being paid to Green, who is an attorney and has government experience with the Social Security Administration. Enos had left to take a job with another town for $30,000 more.

Lynam then surveyed salaries in other similar communities, finding Whitman “significantly off” the pay scale.

“My concern, and the concern of the Board of Selectmen, was to recruit and hire somebody capable of doing the job I’m doing and, perhaps being prepared to [take over] when I’m no longer standing here,” he said. The decision was made to offer a salary commensurate with those responsibilities.

Winnett also asked what salary would be offered to an assistant town administrator without Green’s credentials should she move up on Lynam’s retirement. Another resident asked why a more competitive salary wasn’t advertised when Green was hired.

“We didn’t want to go through another cycle of hiring someone for less, training them and sending them off somewhere else,” Lynam said.

He also said he could not forecast the future but added, “It is impossible to do this job without the staff to support it.” He said the hours and responsibility of the job demands a competitive salary.

“There isn’t another town that operates as efficiently as we do, in terms of cost for administration,” he said.

The Board of Library Trustees sought a 4-percent salary increase (to $67,095) for the Whitman Library director, which Town Meeting approved.

Since the Town Meeting approved the other raises, Lynam then asked for reconsideration of salaries for DPW operations superintendent, recreation director, Council on Aging director and technology director, at 2.5 percent increases, which were approved.

Electronic voting

Former Town Moderator Mike Hayes opened the meeting with a report on the Electronic Voting Committee’s work, and articles to authorize it on the annual Town Meeting and to fund costs associated with it on the special Town Meeting warrants. In a squeaker of a counted vote, the funding was approved, 83-81, with the article accepting the  committee’s report  later passing by large margin in a voice vote.

“If you have questions, just bring them forward and we’ll discuss this,” Hayes urged during discussion over transfer of $3,400 for the funding article. “It’s a big change for the town.”

Garrett Moniz of 88 Woodlawn Circle asked how the votes are stored. Hayes explained that vote totals only, and not information on how individuals cast votes are stored on the Internet cloud, but he admitted there is a risk of hacking.

Town Clerk Dawn Varley also said that devices, assigned a number at voter check-in, would be for ensuring the devices are returned, rather than tracking votes.

“I don’t even know what’s on that device,” she said. “I wouldn’t know what your votes were.”

Denise M. Taylor of Captain Allen Way wanted to know the name of the company — Turning Technology, which the town will be using — and more information on the cost. Hayes said Turning Technology and Option Technology were the two firms providing quotes to the town. The small devices work like a hand-held calculator, Lynam said, explaining that voters would have a time limit to cast votes with their last vote being counted. Voters therefore have the opportunity to change their minds. Final vote totals would be displayed on a projection screen.

Michelle LaMattina of 6 River Birch Circle asked if some kind of security deposit or fine for lost or damaged devices would be charged as the town would be leasing the devices. Hayes said there would be a replacement cost, but not a security deposit

Another voter asked why Whitman’s small Town Meetings require the devices. Hayes said most area towns already using the devices are or a similar size.

Water meters

During the special Town Meeting, Article 4 — which called for a Transfer of $1.87 million to purchase and install replacement water meters — was passed over due to an equal cost to the town involved in intersection work planned to widen intersections, at  routes 18 and 27 and at routes 14 and 27. Old water gates in those areas would be replaced at that time, which is where the additional $1.8 million cost would be involved.

Lynam indicated that, while the new meters are vital for auditing water costs, the town found out about a week ago that MassDOT intersection work will be done next year.

“We would like to step back from this article, have a conversation with public works, selectmen and the Finance Committee to determine what would be in our best interest,” Lynam said. “It may make sense to fund one of the projects by borrowing and paying for it over eight or 10 years … and pay the other costs directly. But that’s not a decision to be making on short notice.”

HANSON — A day filled with all the things she loved — family, friends, children and animals — celebrated the dedication of the Nancy M. Cappellini Children’s Room at the Hanson Public Library on Friday, April 21.

Topping off the festivities, her grandson, Jack, grabbed the corner of a blue cloth covering the room’s new sign to unveil it before a flock of the family’s racing pigeons was released outside the front door.

Despite a steady, chilly drizzle that moved a Hanson Grain-provided petting zoo inside, the library was jam-packed with residents, library trustees and town officials in honor of the former library director who died in December after a battle with cancer.

“It’s unbelievable,” Steven Cappellini said of the event celebrating his late wife. “It’s really nice — a big honor for Nancy.”

As he spoke, the library/senior center’s community room was abuzz with children and their parents, petting rabbits and goats and peering into an incubator of poultry chicks. He said the large crowd was an amazing tribute to Nancy.

The library staff also presented him with a journal in which patrons have penned their thoughts and memories of her over the past few months.

“She would have loved this — kids everywhere, animals, family,” Cara Cappellini said of her mother. “We miss her terribly, but we’ve been so carried by the love and support of the people in the community.”

“It just shows the impact that Nancy had,” Library Director Karen Stolfer said. “It’s great to have all these people here. We were hoping the weather would hold out, but things happen and you have to make it work.”

Kids first

Activities for children included bookmark coloring, balloon animals, face painting and a make-and-take window “greenhouse” in a plastic sandwich bag for vegetable seeds provided by the Hanson Eco-Explorers 4-H Club.

Selectman Bill Scott, who worked with Nancy Cappellini on the town’s Agricultural Commission, noted the day was a perfect celebration of the important things in her life.

“This is a real tribute,” Scott said. “We’re going to miss her dearly — she was a peach. I loved talking to her and working with her on the agricultural issues. She had a heart of gold.”

Scott also noted Cappellini’s sunny personality will be missed.

“You never saw her without a smile,” he said. “She always had a pleasant approach to things. … I’d rather have her here, but this [turnout] is great.”

Stolfer officially welcomed the crowd for the noon unveiling, followed by remarks by Children’s Librarian Kate Godwin, Trustees Chairman Jennifer Hickey and Trustee Linda Wall.

“She had a great impact, not only on the library staff and patrons, but on the whole community,” Stolfer said of her predecessor who had started as the children’s librarian.

Godwin noted Cappellini’s unique impact as a “ray of light for so many” in the community.

“I learned so much from her in the years that I knew her,” Godwin said. “She was the most giving soul. She was the true definition of kindness embodied.”

Hickey’s emotional remarks centered on Cappellini’s legacy and how pleased she would be to see Stolfer, whom she had hired, succeed her as director.

“I know I speak on behalf of all the trustees when I say we whole-heartedly agreed” with Stolfer’s suggestion about naming the children’s room for Cappellini.

“We know that Nancy Cappellini has left her mark on the Hanson Public Library and on generations of patrons and their children,” Hickey said. “The children’s room is a place where magic and adventure are only a page away and Nancy understood this — she instilled a love of library in countless children. Her love and devotion and commitment can be found in every book and on every shelf in this room.”

Her voice wavering, Hickey said the room represents a “perpetual thank-you to Nancy and her family” and will continue to serve as Cappellini saw it — “a home away from home for so many people.”

Wall also extended the trustees’ thanks and noted she counted Cappellini, who started her library career at the Indian Head School, as a friend for more than 25 years.

“Children and family were always very important to Nancy,” Wall said, describing Cappellini as a devoted and effective leader who always showed kindness to others. “We know that Nancy’s award-winning smile is shining on us today.”

Refreshments were served following the ceremonies.

WHITMAN — The Finance Committee is expected to complete work on Article 2 of the annual Town Meeting — the fiscal 2018 budget — during its Tuesday, April 25 meeting.

The committee met Thursday, April 13 to vote on several articles on which it had not yet made a recommendation, or to revote some articles on which new information was available.

Town Administrator Frank Lynam also briefed the committee on plans for a Monday, June 12 meeting involving the TAs of Whitman and Hanson as well as “motivated representatives” from each finance committee and select board to begin the work of outlining the need for an override next year. The School Committee would act as a resource for that committee.

“Unless we can develop a plan that comes from the towns, that has that full support and endorsement, we’re never going to get to the people,” Lynam said. “We’ll start preparing the argument for why we need more money. If that doesn’t work, next year they won’t be even be looking at level-funding — we’ll be looking at cutting both town and schools, because the money just isn’t there.”

Lynam said a funding plan has to be developed for all town and school needs.

Articles recommended April 13 included:

• $70,926.90 from Reserve Appropriation Ambulance Account for third of seven lease purchase payments on a pumping engine;

• $60,000 from Reserve Appropriation Ambulance Account to refurbish a 1990 pumping engine;

• $40,050.28 from Reserve Appropriation Ambulance Account for the first of five lease purchase payments for the new ambulance approved by Town Meeting last year;

• $22,204 from Reserve Appropriation Ambulance Account for a 10-percent match of a regional grant for self-contained breathing apparatus;

• $548,168.72 from available Chapter 90 funds to resurface and/or install surface treatments or line painting to town streets;

• $42,105.55 for the first of four lease purchase payments for a new sidewalk plow;

• $3,500 to purchase firewalls no longer supported for Town Hall computers;

• $11,0000 for a multifunction copier/printer to replace a nine-year-old machine at Town Hall;

• $28,000 for card access controllers and associated equipment for the DPW administration building, Senior Center and west and rear exterior doors at Town Hall;

• $15,000 to replace aging computer equipment at the DPW administration building, Senior Center and Town Hall;

• $10,000 to secure and maintain properties in tax title/foreclosure;

• An article to expand excise tax abatements for deployed active duty military personnel.

Revolving account expenditures; school, police and fire department building debts; Title 5 loan debts; an OPEB liabilities assessment; police cruiser, motorcycle, radios and Taser purchases and/or payments have also been previously recommended.

The committee is divided over the $310,000 fire department override to hire three new firefighter/paramedics, plus a $20,000 transfer from the Reserve Appropriation Ambulance Account to equip the new hires.

Chairman Michael Minchello said he was not convinced the hires would reduce overtime, but Lynam said the article could not direct the fire chief in how to assign staff.

“Why not wrap this into a town-wide override next year?” Minchello said.

Vice Chairman Randy LaMattina said the increasing call volume, with no staffing increase since 1972, dictates that the personnel are needed.

“He makes a solid case of needing that extra man [per shift] for functionality,” LaMattina said. “This is a tough one. … My vote is to let the voters decide.”

Not recommended April 13 were articles for:

• Raise and appropriate $119,675 to purchase and equip a 2017 International 35,000-pound plow truck;

• Raise and appropriate $48,500 to purchase and equip a 2017 Chevrolet K 3500 4X4 truck with plow;

Three citizen’s petitions seeking acceptance of Paul Street as a public roadway, a town donation of $1,500 to Health Imperatives’ violence intervention and prevention programs and a by-law change to the membership of the Finance Committee were also not recommended in past votes.

Lynam said DPW Highway Superintendent Bruce Martin is aware the truck articles would not be recommended.

“He would like it, but he really wants the [sidewalk] snow plow,” Lynam said, noting that any unused Chapter 70 funds at the end of the year would be earmarked for a new plow truck next year.

Minchello said that the sidewalk plow was necessary for the safety of children walking to school in winter.

“It spent one night [broken down] on one of the side streets and they had to tow it,” he said. “Without the sidewalk plows, this is why they delay school a second day after a snowstorm.”

HANOVER — It’s a program offered at many Massachusetts high schools at the request of colleges. South Shore Tech seniors participated in the school’s eighth annual Credit For Life Fair at the school on Thursday, April 6.

“Colleges are finding that they were having kids come into college and racking up unbelievable amounts of debt before they even left college — and this wasn’t because of college debt, the problem was they were amassing credit card debt,” fair coordinator and Math Department  Head Tina Palmer, told the studetns during the morning breakfast meeting in the cafeteria before the fair.

The students, required to attend school that day in professional attire, were then asked to recite the program’s mantra in unison:

“If I don’t have a plan for my money, someone else will.”

“That means that if you don’t budget every dollar that comes into your household, then — all of a sudden, two days after payday, you’re saying, ‘Oh, dude, I’ve got no money left and it’s another two weeks til payday,’” Palmer said. “You need to budget yourself. … You cannot live when you don’t have enough money to cover your costs.”

Her use of the term “dude” may have drawn some laughter, but by this time, SSVT students know this is serious business.

Students were graded on the project, right down to being scored — on a scale of 0-3 — on their professional attire, or lack thereof. Each student also started with a portfolio complete with budget, calculator and note pad.

The challenge?

Find their monthly net income on the budget and live within it. Each student had to stop at 14 booths — from career counseling and clothing to housing, insurance and life’s luxuries — before a mandatory stop at the Rockland Trust Credit Counseling booth to make sure their budgets balance. Students seeking a “second job” to balance their budgets were required to show a need.

“It’s expensive out there and it’s getting more expensive all the time,” Palmer said. “insurance costs are rising rapidly, housing is not far behind, so what we need you to understand is that not everyone is going to be what we consider successful at this budgeting process because some of you aren’t going to make enough money.”

She stressed that is where they need to have a talk with an adult who can help them figure out how to make enough money or cut back on some expenses.

Students opting to live with roommates were required to go through the booths as a group, because they would have to budget together with some shared costs.

“You’re going to make a lot of decisions today,” Palmer said. “You’re about 25 years old today so you need to decide am I living alone? Do I have one roommate, two roommates? Are you going to buy or lease a car?”

Superintendent-Director Thomas Hickey told the students the fair is the culmination of three programs throughout the year aimed at preparing his graduating class for life’s next chapters. The school hosted a career fair in the fall.

In January, the school observed Alumni Day, during which graduates came back to talk about what they are doing and their goals and tough decisions.

He used a lesson from an old driver’s ed class he took to sum up the goal of the day.

“The instructor said, ‘Don’t focus so much on right where the car is, if you want to be confident you’ve got to keep an eye on where you want the car to go,’” Hickey related. “We have been saying that to you all year.”

The SSVT fair is sponsored by Rockland Trust with 55 volunteers from the MBTA, AAA Southern New England, David B. Richardson Insurance, Housing Solutions for Southeastern Mass., United Way of Greater Plymouth County, AKKA Karate Studios, South Shore Bank, Rockland Federal Credit Union and the South Shore YMCA.

WHITMAN — The Buildings, Facilities and Capital Expenditures Committee has begun the process of whittling away at the town’s fiscal $757,000 budget gap, in its capacity as a capital advisory committee to review capital projects the panel wants to recommend at Town Meeting Monday, May 1.

No vote was taken at the Thursday, March 30 meeting, at which Town Administrator Frank Lynam said he was seeking out whether any committee members had strong feelings about particular articles.

“From year-to-year, we are allowed to increase our spending by what we can raise in tax and local receipts (excise tax, permit fees and charges),” Lynam said during the meeting. The town also depends on ambulance receipts and local aid from the state minus the state’s MBTA assessment to the town.

There is $31,197,460.78 now available for appropriation with Article 2 budget requests at $30,011,588. Other raise and appropriate articles not considered capital spending come to another $502,000 along with capital requests totaling $1,296,000 for a total of $31,809,791 not including a $145,000 deficit for snow removal costs.

“Not all of that money is going to happen,” Lynam said. “Some of those requests are going to be trimmed, but it’s a working number right now.”

Citizen’s petitions seeking a $1,500 donation to a Brockton organization that counsels victims of violence and sexual abuse, and to pave Paul Street — an unaccepted road — have already been cut. The former was cut only because the town does not have the funds to spare, according to Lynam. Where Paul Street is concerned, he said the town is not legally permitted to use municipal funds to pave or maintain private ways.

Lynam said he is also removing an article seeking $10,000 to secure and maintain tax foreclosure properties “not because I don’t think we need it … but I’m going to have to look for other funds.”

capital projects

On the capital requests side of the warrants, items up for review March 30 included $13,000 toward lease agreements for three 2017 police cruisers, $11,050 for new Tasers and $63,557 for 26 Motorola radios. Lyman said Police Chief Scott Benton has indicated he may forego the radios until next year. The radios, Lynam noted, are a public safety concern when Whitman Police respond to multi-town incidents since Whitman’s older analog radios do not permit communication with East Bridgewater Police dispatch, among other problems. Newer radio systems other towns are using are digital.

A Fire Department request for a new vehicle is a question mark, as the money may be needed to cover all services and reduce the load inside the levy, Lynam said. Four other Whitman Fire capital requests are seeking funding through an ambulance revenue transfer, including $40,000 to participate in a regional grant for safety equipment. Lynam is recommending support of all four articles.

The DPW’s request for $119,675 for a 2017 plow truck, to begin replacing a fleet of five 20-year-old DPW trucks, initially bought with amassed Chapter 90 funds the town would have otherwise lost, will not be recommended by Lynam, despite the need, because of the budget gap.

“They’ve taken a lot of element abuse,” Lynam said. A new pickup truck at $48,500 should also be put off for another year, he recommended, and $166,698 for a new second sidewalk plow is doubtful, as well.

Highway Superintendent Bruce Martin said the older sidewalk plow he wants to replace breaks down after a couple of hours of plowing.

“We towed it at least twice off the side of the road this past winter,” Martin said. “The biggest calls I get after a storm is from parents asking when the sidewalks are going to get plowed.”

One machine is being depended on to plow the 21 miles of sidewalks, which can put the DPW behind three or four days after a big storm.

The article seeking $80,000 from free cash to complete accessibility modifications to Whitman Park is needed, however, to prevent costing the town $1,000-a-day fines from the state’s Architectural Access Board as of Aug. 1, Lynam reminded the committee. The original deadline was June 2016, but has been extended to July 31, 2017.

“As it turned out, what we thought was adequate for the playground wasn’t, we have to do additional work there,” said Lynam, noting the park walkways must also be completed. “I look at free cash as a capital source.”

Other priority articles include  $28,000 to install card access to Town Hall, the Senior Center and DPW administration building.

“We have an issue within the town where we can actually identify who [it is], if somebody goes into these buildings after hours,” said IT Director Joshua MacNeil. “I’m trying to get this into the state IT grant, and if we do, then I can take it off the list.”

Lynam said a card system would remove the need to change locks every time there is a security concern; persons no longer accorded building access can have that access removed via computer.

The school district’s $216,000 in capital requests for Whitman school buildings and $452,578 for the town’s share of capital requests for the regional high school have already been reduced, as Lynam has removed five articles from the list.

“I would be in favor of safety issues,” said committee member and Selectman Dan Salvucci. “Repair the sidewalks, the [sidewalk] cracks at the middle school.”

“They should be up to the most current security requirements,” said Building Inspector Bob Curran.

Fire panel replacements, rooftop units and univents, WMS gym floor, WMS loop driveway, funding for a survey prior to placing traffic lights — which could be done by Old Colony Planning Council — and a high school water heater are being cut or questioned. Lynam said he is also placing a question mark on the roadway repair at the high school because of the cost.

Hanson has already voted to support the high school articles.

HANSON — A familiar face inside the snack shack at the Botieri Field, Lori Sawtelle of Hanson always dedicated her time to helping others and shared her love of baseball with hundreds of Little Leaguers.

There will be an un-fillable void as baseball season begins next week, friends have said.

Lori Sawtelle lost her courageous battle with cancer last week. She was only 47 years old. A mother to Ryan and Ashley and married for 24 years to husband Scott, who has also been a staple at the field, Sawtelle is described as a dedicated and giving woman by all who knew her.

A committed volunteer in the community and an employee of the Hanson Middle School, Sawtelle is remembered by former Hanson Little League Board member Greg Collins.

“In a global perspective she literally was there running the snack shack nearly every night,” Collins said. “We knew she was there and it was in good hands. Things ran smoothly. … As a board member we were confident things were done right. She was loved by all.”

Collins said Sawtelle “literally knew everyone” — all the kids by their first name and their parents, as well.

“She was always at the ballfield and a constant in a positive sense,” he recalled. “It was always about the kids and making a better experience about the greater good of the town. She was a baseball mom through and through but it was more than that. She has left a mark. There is a void and she will be missed.”

Hanson Fire Lt. Rob O’Brien, also a HLL board member, knew Lori as a principal at the snack shack and echoed her unwavering commitment to the youth in the community.

O’Brien’s son Chris would often volunteer to assist Lori, who welcomed the hands at the snack shack. She even gave him a few catching tips as he developed his skills at that position, O’Brien recalled.

“Chris would get a hot dog from Lori at the end of the night. It was the kind of lady she was.  She was always kind to him,”said O’Brien.

Those who remember Lori extend throughout the community at-large.

“The passing of Lori Sawtelle is a great loss to the Whitman-Hanson Regional School District and the community of Hanson,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ruth Gilbert-Whitner said in a statement. “We are deeply grateful for her many contributions to the school system and community.  At Whitman-Hanson, we are keeping Lori’s family, co-workers, students, and friends in our thoughts and prayers”

Scott Sawtelle has also been active as a coach since his son was 4. Hanson LL Board of Directors President Mike Joselyn spoke of Scott and Lori as friends and former neighbors.

Although Sawtelle’s health was failing she made sure to attend and cheer on the boys championship games last season, Joselyn said. Photographing each player with the trophy and emailing a copy of the photo to their family.

“She was selfless.  It is just what she did and she made other people better because of who she was,” he said.

Last fall Paul Clarke of Hanson, also a board member for HLL, was a driving force in establishing a fund to assist in defraying the cost medical care for Lori. She was present at the walking event and at the finish line, which coincided with the Damien’s Freaky 5K run.

Many who participated in the event have commented through Facebook upon hearing of her passing.

Hanson Little League posted photos of Lori from last year’s fall event and commented on the tremendous loss.

“We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Lori Sawtelle. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Sawtelle family during this difficult time. Lori fought her cancer with courage and always had an upbeat outlook. She was always there for Hanson Little League through the years. She will be missed.”

The Whitman-Hanson Regional High School baseball team, on which Lori’s son Ryan plays, attended both her wake and funeral in support of their teammate, according to Whitman Assistant Town Administrator Lisa Green, whose son is on the team.

“The entire W-H community is saddened by the passing of Lori Sawtelle, a Hanson Middle paraprofessional and most importantly husband to Scott and loving mom to Ashley and Ryan,” WHRHS Athletic Director Bob Rodgers Tweeted Friday, March 24. “Ryan is one of our best student-athletes who is loved by all of his teammates.”

Whitman’s Board of Selectmen honored her memory in their pre-meeting Moment of Silence Tuesday night.

A memorial fund has been set up in her name to reduce the financial burden on her family at the web site You Caring  at: youcaring.com/sawtellefamily-783695.

Content from Lori Sawtells’ obituary [See page 13] was used in this article.

By Cameron Myette
Express correspondent

HANSON — Selectmen voted 5-0 Tuesday, March 21 to support the School Committee’s timeline for closing the Maquan School by the fall of 2018.

After a meeting last week concerning the closing of Maquan, members of the School Committee — including Chaiman Bob Hayes — and Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ruth Gilbert-Whitner met with Selectmen to discuss the future of Maquan School.

The detailed discussion, which lasted more than an hour, focused on whether to continue to keep the school open for another year or to initiate an immediate shutdown of the building.

Gilbert-Whitner said she  was tasked with organizing focus groups and described the School Department’s research into the issue.

“We really wanted to do an in depth look at what would be the impact … needed to look at the programs, age ranges of students, moving from one program to the other,” she said of a variety of considerations involved. “What would it take to move one facility into another and what kind of retrofitting needs to happen.”

Members of the Hanson Public Schools took an in-depth look at closing the building and potential up-front costs involved [See related story].

Three focus groups were created to brainstorm ideas and create a matrix of sorts into what problems would arise from closing the school. The first focus group was of the building principals. They analyzed space issues, age ranges and potential difficulties with educational programs for students.

The second focus group was special education programs and how these systems would be impacted, in particular compliance with current regulations. Finally, the third focus group discussed pre-school and how it would operate.

One definitive conclusion that was brought about from this third group was that there would never be room for a pre-school if the students were to be moved to the high school. This fact motivated the idea that the closing of the Macquan School in the Fall of 2018 was feasible for the town community.

Selectmen questioned the option of keeping the building open.

This decision would result in concerns with the outdated sprinklers, heating system, and security infrastructure that currently exists in the building.

Selectman Bruce Young raised questions concerning logistical spaces and what the septic system could handle.

Arguments were made that if the school were to be kept open too long, costs would rise in order to maintain the school at an appropriate operational capacity, especially throughout the winter.

Yet students remained at the center of the discussion.

It is important to note that program laws in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have changed over the past 20-30 years, school officials noted. Enrollment designs must be made for today’s world, some members argued.

Before a final decision, another discussion focused on the impact of this decision, including realigning resources, retrofitting classrooms, and what this closing means for students.

Questions raised included:

• What would happen with state wide testing and computer labs?

• Would the budget be based on the state of past town budgets? And even questions on where staff members would park are concerns in this important yet aggressive decision to change the way in which the Hanson Public School system operates.

The future use of the school building, including the gym, was of great concern to the town community.

Some recommended an engineering study of the building to see how it could be used in the future, which would cost approximately $25,000 to $30,000 dollars. Others saw this as an opportunity to rent the building out as elderly housing.

No information from the school’s report was up for a vote. That decision is set for April 12 to permit officials to obtain more information needed concerning funding and potential uses for the school.

WHITMAN — The Fire Department’s newest acquisition is a state-of-the-art ambulance that not only improves patient care and data transmission to hospitals, but can also help prevent back injuries for responding firefighter/EMTs.

It also saves money toward eventual replacement, as the “box” containing patient care equipment can be removed and placed on a new chassis, cutting the cost of any new LifeLine vehicle by almost half. It is the third LifeLine ambulance, which are built by Specialty Vehicles.

Chief Timothy Grenno said Monday the ambulance, already in service, replaces a 2000 Wheelcoach vehicle, which will now be auctioned off  — most likely as scrap after a lot of hard miles.

“It was no longer a viable piece of equipment for an ambulance,” he said of the decommissioned vehicle.

The new $265,000 ambulance was paid for from the ambulance reserve account revenue, including $80,000 from an appropriation approved at the 2016 Town Meeting for the deposit on the order.

“That’s the same account we purchase all of our equipment out of, so nothing comes out of tax dollars,” Grenno said. “Although the up-front cost is expensive, the attraction to these ambulances is that Specialty Vehicles has a tremendous remount process.”

The expensive part of any ambulance is the boxy body containing patient care equipment. In 10 years, when the new ambulance is ready to be refurbished, not only will the box be transferred to a new chassis, but the box will also be refurbished and updated.

The first such ambulance bought by the Whitman Fire Department is a 2009 vehicle, up for refurbishment in two to three years.

That process is expected to cost between $150,000 and $180,000.

“You have to put the money out first to get the quality ambulance and, after that, you have the option to ‘refurb,’ as long as the box stays in good shape and it’s not beat up,” Grenno said. “That’s all about demand on the vehicle. As our calls increase, the demand on the ambulance is increased.”

Call volume to the department for medical emergencies has steadily increased since 1965. The new ambulance also addresses the increasing technology demands of patient care, Grenno said.

The state requires a patient care report for all patients carried in ambulances, which must be transmitted to hospitals wirelessly. “It’s everything that we do — it’s an electronic report of how the patient presents, what we do for treatment, medications we give them and everything else,” he said. “It’s made our response more efficient.”

The new vehicle comes with Wi-Fi to make that possible. Air cards used with the older ambulance were unreliable and subject to malfunction or failure.

A bridge program between the computer-aided dispatch system and the AmbuPro patient care reporting system the department uses provides an automatically feeds all the needed information about a call to first responders and saves time — which saves lives.

Gurneys have also changed over the years, from those requiring manual raising and lowering and lifting into the ambulance to a fully automated gurney that eliminates a lot of that lifting and helps prevent back injuries.

Grenno said the loading system on the new ambulance helps prevent that kind of injury, with push-button controls that adjusts gurney height and loading onto the vehicle.

“Everybody that started in EMS prior to battery-operated and non-lifting stretchers has back injuries,” he said. “If you have somebody that has a back injury then the minimum amount of time that they are going to be out if it’s a significant back injury is six months. Generally, it’s close to a year.”

Beyond insurance costs connected to such injuries, it can cost thousands of dollars in overtime to cover that shift.

“We don’t want our guys to get hurt,” Grenno said. “We try to buy equipment that makes their job safer.”

A liquid ride suspension system also provides a smoother, more stable ride than air ride systems that were susceptible to wear and tended to waiver back and forth “like a cruise ship.”