HALIFAX– A man who drowned while boating at Silver Lake Friday, June 3, has been recovered and identified. Shi Hu, 28, of Boston, was found in the water shortly after noon, Sunday, June 5, by State Police divers, according to Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz.

Local officials said that  at approximately 1:23 p.m., Friday, June 3, the Halifax Fire Department and the Halifax Police Department responded to a report that an individual had fallen into the water and was struggling offshore from the Brockton-owned water treatment facility located on Route 36, situated on Silver Lake straddling the Halifax/Pembroke line.

There were multiple witnesses to the incident, both from the water and shore, saying they believed the victim was fishing with a friend, according to officials. The friend was in a canoe, and the victim was in a kayak, which then overturned.

The friend attempted to reach the victim before he went underwater, but was unable to reach him in time. An investigation into how the drowning exactly occurred is ongoing. The victim was not believed to be wearing a life preserver, multiple sources say.

During the initial response, employees at the water treatment facility assisted firefighters by shuttling them on a facilities boat to the last known position of the victim. That initial search was not successful, at which time Halifax officials called for assistance from the State Police, Environmental Police and the Plymouth County Technical Response Team (Dive Unit).

More than a dozen Plymouth County communities responded, and scores of rescuers from local and state agencies were quickly on scene with specialized equipment, coordinated by Halifax Fire Chief Jason Vivieros.

Rescuers suspended the search on Friday evening, after a herculean effort to locate the missing boater with no success. By Saturday morning, the search and rescue mission had grimly turned into a recovery operation.

The State brought in a mobile command post and other assets to assist with the recovery efforts. Personnel from as far away as Rhode Island were seen and a staging area for divers was bustling with activity as firefighters, police, and others supported the efforts of divers in the lake from shore.

Advanced “side-scan” sonar was used to scour the lake bottom, along with cameras and other technologies, which had very low visibility, say sources. Sonar (sound navigation and ranging) uses sound waves to find and identify objects in the water. Side-scan sonar is a specialized system for detecting objects at the bottom of a body of water.

At around 11 a.m., Saturday, about a half-dozen family members of the victim arrived, and appeared to speak with various officials, who sources say updated them on the recovery efforts. They could be seen, visibly distraught, under a tent set up on a lawn near the mobile command post.

Local firefighters and police were seen comforting them and providing them with water and other amenities. The family members left after about two hours. Members of the press were politely asked to keep their distance, which they did, although distraught crying could be heard from hundreds of feet away.

On Sunday, the decedent was finally recovered, under gray skies and a light rain. Although State Police say they actually made the recovery, they did note that it was a “cooperative mission.” Within a couple of hours, almost everyone had left, leaving behind just a handful of law enforcement and fire officials.

Officials say they do not yet know how the man gained access to the lake (and if so, if it was via the treatment facility), although Halifax Police Chief Edward Broderick mentioned that Silver Lake is a popular fishing area, where fishing may be, “Tolerated…”, but, “not encouraged.”

Use of the lake is restricted because it is a component of the City of Brockton water supply. “No Trespassing” signs are widely visible around Silver Lake. Motor boats and swimming are strictly prohibited, but other restrictions Brockton puts on the lake were not specifically known.  Broderick could not say if the man was trespassing on the lake at the time of the incident.

The Plymouth County Tactical Response Unit, via Twitter, thanked all of the responding agencies. In a statement late Sunday evening, Chief Broderick on behalf of the Town of Halifax said, “Our sympathies go out to the family and friends of [the victim of] this tragedy.”

WHITMAN — Officials are working to address how the town will approach businesses seeking to locate round-the-clock operations in Whitman.

Town Administrator Frank Lynam recently received a request from 7-Eleven, which has taken over the Tedeschi’s convenience store locations, to operate the stores on a “24/7” basis in Whitman.

Right now, there is no authority to say yes or no, he told selectmen on Tuesday, May 24, so the business will be told to proceed on “the basis of operating standards.”

Whitman’s store is at the corner of Park Avenue and Washington Street.

“We have not regulated the hours of business, except by license,” he said. “In the case of Tedeschi’s, or 7-Eleven, there will be no license issued by the Board of Selectmen because they are not a common victualler.”

Lynam explained that, in the past, when businesses were opening and required site approval, and the process included an assessment of impact on residential areas, the Board of Appeals would set business hours that would have the least disturbing impact on abutters.

As the location in question in this case is within a business district, Lynam said he sought advice from town counsel, which is “lacking in a firm reason to limit the hours.”

To do so would be considered restraint of trade, Lynam reported. He said he will be receiving a written opinion on the issue, at which time he plans to consult with other communities on their licensing process and come back to the board with a recommendation on whether the town needs to establish an ordinance or by-law providing oversight to hours of operation.

“Lacking any other type of authority, we really can’t regulate those hours,” he said. “By virtue of opening, they have the right to operate a convenience store 24 hours a day.”

The Board of Appeals had “exceeded its authority” in denying another business the right to operate 24/7, Lynam said the business opted to locate in another town. While he is working to identify “when, how and where” such a business may operate to avoid future conflicts.

Selectman Dan Salvucci asked if, should the store sell alcohol, would they be required to cover those products during certain hours and lock it up. He also asked about the number of employees the store plans to have on duty each shift for safety concerns.

“They don’t have a license to sell alcohol and they would have to come to us for that, and that would give us the authority to regulate the business,” Lynam said. “I don’t think it’s our authority to tell them how many people to have working in the store.”

In other business, Selectman Brian Bezanson said that, while 20-percent turnout was very good for a town election, the fact that only one in five voters turned out for an important override vote was “troubling,” and asked if more could be done to increase turnout.

Chairman Carl Kowalski said Lynam had asked him if a town-wide emergency message should be sent out as an election day reminder, but he didn’t think it necessary at the time.

He did agree, however, that something needs to be done to unify the town and motivate people to vote.

Whitman-Hanson Cable Access Executive Director Stephen Roy is being remembered as a gifted musician, talented broadcast executive and good friend.

His loss leaves a “significant void,” in the words of WHCA Cable Access Coordinator Kevin Tocci. Roy, 65, died unexpectedly Sunday, May 15.

“He was a great boss,” Tocci said. “I was fortunate to know the guy for about 15 years and learn a lot from him.”

Roy had a vision, not only about everyday life, but about the cable access organization and how it served its communities.

“The whole region is going to miss him,” said former Whitman School Committee member Mike Kryzanek, who recalled working with Roy on a cable access program titled “Issues & Opinions.”

“He was always quite helpful, always willing to go the extra mile, a wonderful technician, but also a wonderful human being,” Kryzanek said.

Co-workers at WHCA echoed those sentiments.

“I’ve found myself lately just thinking, ‘I’ve got to ask Steve this,’ and then I realize I can’t,” said Producer Carol Brewster. “He was always the go-to guy.”

Brewster said Roy was a patient, calming influence when things go wrong.

“It is a rare commodity,” she said. “He was technically inclined and yet seemed to be able to manage people fairly well. Usually you don’t get those combinations together.”

Brewster came to cable access in 1985 after taking a course at Bridgewater State and wanted to learn more about television production.

“I think he was a very good teacher,” she said.

Roy also met his wife Michele while working at the Brockton studio where she volunteered. She said her late husband was a Kennedy Assassination buff mentioned in 13 different books and working on one of his own, as well as a musician. He was also a devoted dad of two daughters, Simone and Evette.

“It’s hard for them, but we’re going to get through it with the help of all these wonderful people,” Michele said.

For many of those people the wonder was Steve Roy.

‘Make it happen’

Tocci said Roy was all about helping residents of Whitman and Hanson put their own vision on the air.

“He had a saying, ‘Let’s make it happen,” Tocci said. “We have a mission. The mission is to provide local programming and also show people how to create their own magic.”

Whitman Selectman Dan Salvucci agreed Roy will be a hard act to follow.

“I’ve known Steve Roy probably from the time he started in Whitman at our cable studio,” said Salvucci who, as selectmen chairman at the time, was involved in contracting Whitman-Hanson Cable Access. “He did a fantastic job. … He not only knew about what went on behind the camera, he knew how to fix a camera. He was just amazing.”

Even those new to local public service, knew Steve Roy.

“I’ve known him for years,” said first-term School Committee member Alexandra Taylor of Whitman.

State Rep. Geoff Diehl, R-Whitman, who used to work in television in Los Angeles, said Roy was an advocate of getting people to do their own cable access shows.

“He ran it efficiently with a great staff,” Diehl said. “The guy really understood that content from the people in town was what would make people watch that station.”

He recalled how Whitman-Hanson Cable Access was “must-see TV’ sometimes. Diehl’s wife KathyJo Boss had been on WHCA performing with her dancing school as a kid and that viewers felt a connection with such programs as they watched the children in the community grow up.

“The good news is that he was in a vocation that he loved,” Diehl said.

There are many people in Whitman and Hanson, in all walks of life, who have worked with Roy on local programming.

“I worked with Steve Roy for over 30 years,” said Hanson resident Mark Vess. “He was an incredibly talented man. His musical abilities, his electronics abilities and his personality were exceptional.”

Wings Over Hanson

Vess, in fact, reminisced with Roy during a Hanson Selectmen’s meeting on April 19 about their production of a program titled “Wings Over Hanson,” which Roy said was one of the most popular programs he ever worked on and had one a local cable award.

“You were in the plane and you were hanging out of the plane taking the camera work, right?” Hanson Selectmen Chairman Bruce Young said to Vess during that meeting.

“That is correct,” Vess replied. “It couldn’t be done today, I don’t think.”

“Can you guess how many people were watching at home, hoping you would fall out of the plane?” Young said.

“Literally dozens,” Vess rerplied with a laugh.

Vess said Saturday that he valued the opportunity to know and work with Roy.

“I am extremely saddened at his passing, and I think there’s going to be a giant hole in cable TV communications as well as his personality,” Vess said. “He’s going to leave a big pair of shoes to fill over there and he’s very much missed already.”

Producer Paul Watson is another WHCA colleague who has known Roy “for about 30 years,” a phrase one hears a lot from those who knew and worked with him.

“I’m one of the late-comers to that one,” Watson said. “Steve was one of those guys I went to when I got stymied by something because I knew he’d have a solution.”

He also remembers Roy as “just a nice guy to talk to.”

“His sense of humor was very dry, very wry and at times, extremely outrageous,” Watson said.

Lost friend

Young, who had also worked with Roy since the days when Continental Cablevision was the contracted service also expressed sorrow over the loss of a man he counted as a friend.

“Steve Roy’s passing leaves a tremendous void in cable access in Hanson,” Young said. “He was the rock that really held it together for all these years and the man was a true believer.”

Young also noted Roy’s skill in passing on his knowledge of television production to those wishing to learn it.

“I have no idea how the process works, but those are going to be hard shoes to fill,” he said.  “You would be hard-pressed to find anyone as skilled and as dedicated as Steve was.”

Thursday, May 12, at 2 p.m. was the last day to submit for letters to the editor in regard to the annual town elections on Saturday, May 21.

HANSON — In a Town Meeting that impressed even Town Moderator Sean Kealy with its smooth going, Hanson voters acted on 37 articles in less than two hours Monday, May 2 — with no discussion at all on the W-H regional school budget or override articles.

“This is great,” Kealy said at one point, urging the crowd to attend more town meetings.

After the meeting, School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes said he was not surprised by the lack of discussion on the school articles.

“It was pretty much cut-and-dried [as to] what it was going to do,” he said. “It’s got to go to the vote, and that’s what everybody wanted, anyway. The people of Hanson have always been good to the school district.”

Kealy had explained that the individual expenditures involved in the Student Success budget, listed in the warrant and read aloud by Selectmen Chairman Bruce Young, would not be a subject for debate.

“We don’t have control over it,” Kealy said. “We either give them the money, or we don’t give them the money.”

He explained School Committee meetings are open to the public and concerns could be expressed directly to them. Young also outlined that Article 6 appropriates the funds, but the ballot question must authorize spending.

After the article passed without discussion, resident Joseph O’Sullivan sought reconsideration in the hope that his motion would fail. Kealy asked for his reason, explaining the Hanson Town Meeting tradition required a “compelling reason,” such as correcting a mistake in wording or calculation.

“We have never done it to close out an issue,” Kealy said. “I do not want to set that precedent, so is there a compelling reason other than you just want no monkey business later on?”

“I want no monkey business later on,” said O’Sullivan, withdrawing his motion.

Kealy reported there were 268 voters present when the Town Meeting began at 7:40 p.m. The 10-minute delay was allowed so that people still in line to sign in by the 7:30 start time could do so. A few more voters arrived after Town Meeting convened.

The town’s free cash balance at the beginning of the special Town Meeting, which was conducted first, was $885,030.

One article that received some unexpected debate within the special Town Meeting was a proposal to spend $3,000 from free cash to pay for a person to come in and scan oversized Planning Board documents onto a digital format. The program was begun last year,

New resident David Pell of 33 Great Cedar Drive asked why the town didn’t buy its own scanner, which could save money in the long run.

“We’re paying $3,000 on an ongoing basis,” Pell said. “I think it would be cheaper if we bought ourselves a printer.”

Capital Improvement Committee Chairman John Norton pointed out that the town owns such a printer. The Historical Society worked with the Community Preservation Committee to obtain one, which is housed at the Hanson Public Library.

“If they walk over to the library, they can save $3,000,” he said. On a counted vote of 172-84, the Town Meeting took Norton’s advice and rejected the Planning Board’s article.

“Once again, welcome to town,” Kealy said to Pell with a laugh after the unanticipated exchange.

Discussion also cropped up in the annual Town Meeting regarding  the Maquan School roof repair project under Captial Improvement projects on which there had been a hold placed by selectmen until the board’s pre-Town Meeting session .

Selectman James McGahan, in a meeting of the Board of Selectmen prior to Town Meeting, advocated leaving the figure at $322,000 in case the roof repair came in higher than the current estimates received from Gale Engineering.

“We expect this price to be less, but any difference between the price [goes] back into free cash,” McGahan said at the time, and repeated his reasoning during the Town Meeting session.

Young had argued for reducing it to $150,000. Hayes agreed with McGahan’s approach.

“Another issue to think about is we have to do this work in the summer,” Hayes said during the selectmen’s meeting, cautioning that under-funding the project could delay it because additional funding would have to wait for the October special Town Meeting. “If we can’t do it in the summer, we’re back to the next summer.”

One resident asked how the animal control officers’ hours, which she found inadequate, could be increased. Kealy and selectmen pointed out that, as a regional service, changes would have to be negotiated with partner communities Whitman and Abington. It was one of only four minor questions asked about the $22,621,024 budget article.

“It almost seemed too easy to get through that article compared to previous years,” Kealy said. “It might seem easy, but it’s not. It took a lot of effort by the Finance Committee and the Board of Selectmen with the help of all the town departments, the school board — a lot of work went into this and it’s really a testament to their hard work that we were able to do this so smoothly.”

Town Meeting also gave unanimous support to the establishment of a Memorial to John Ferry at the intersection of Winter and Liberty streets, also voting to support the expenditure of $2,000 for a marker there.

Veterans’ Agent Bob Arsenault said the highly decorated WWII veteran was worthy of the honor, not only for his wartime service to country, but also for a lifetime of service to community.

“John did many things for many people,” Arsenault said. “He was a quiet one. … Many people, for one reason or another, couldn’t afford to have their vehicles fixed. … John would put it on the cuff.”

He also said that Ferry was known to provide reconditioned used cars to some residents who could not afford to buy a car.

“He loved the town of Hanson and I think this is only appropriate for us to do for him,” Arsenault said, indicating a dedication ceremony is being planned for early September.

Public information

Voters were also given questionnaires on open space use preferences from the Conservation Commission prior to checking in at Town Meeting and a demonstration of electronic voting devices was also presented in the Hanson Middle School lobby.

“I’m not quite sure whether I’m in favor or opposed to [electronic voting] at this point,” said Kealy about the work of the special committee he appointed to report back to him, selectmen and the Finance Committee at the end of the year or sooner.

Residents in Whitman and Hanson will convene in town meetings on Monday, May 2.

In Whitman, the sessions begin with the annual Town Meeting at 7:30 p.m., for which a quorum of 50 registered voters is required. The special Town Meeting is slated for 7:45 p.m., requiring attendance of 150 registered voters to meet quorum. Voters meet in the Whitman Town Hall auditorium.

Hanson convenes both the annual and special Town Meeting at 7:30 p.m. in the Hanson Middle School auditorium, requiring 100 registered voters to meet quorum.

Town Meeting warrants for both towns are now available online.

Both communities’ town meetings will set municipal budgets, including local assessments to the Whitman-Hanson and South Shore Vo-Tech regional school districts.

The WHRSD budget’s 20.15-percent local assessment increase includes an overall 3.5-percent hike inside the levy limit with the balance contingent on a Proposition 2 ½ override in both communities. The total increase outside the levy is $3 million, apportioned based on student population.

Whitman Selectmen voted 5-0 on Tuesday,  April 5 to place a $1,726,588 ballot question for its share of the assessment increase in the $49,714,344 WHRSD operating budget for fiscal 2017. Hanson Selectmen voted 3-2 on the same night to place a $1,241,141 article and ballot question for its share of the assessment, which would increase the town’s assessment to $8,956,207.

Whitman’s annual Town Meeting warrant also includes a total of 54 articles, with 15 articles on the special Town Meeting warrant. Annual warrant articles range from equipment and capital improvement expenditures to by-law amendments pertaining to yard sale permits and dog control regulations — increasing fees for animals picked up by control officers as well as for leash and bite violations and striking a section on outlawed breeds.

Another Whitman article seeks town action on a proposed aggregate agreement for electricity rates from an alternate supplier to National Grid.

The special Town Meeting warrant seeks an $8,000 transfer between accounts to pay for the recent special state senate election, removal of an unsafe building on South Avenue, adjusted bills for Brockton sewer service, equipment lease/purchases, school repair reimbursements and acceptance of a gift to the town of a parcel of land on Auburn Street.

In Hanson, the annual Town Meeting warrant will take up a total of 25 articles, with another 13 on the special Town Meeting warrant. As in Whitman, Hanson’s annual warrant articles include equipment and capital improvement expenditures. There will also be an article proposing the contracting with the state to accept state funding for reconstruction or improvement to town roads as well as seeking  funds for repairs to the Maquan School roof. Another seeks voter approval to name the intersection of Winter and Liberty streets in honor of John Ferry, as well as the funds needed to place a memorial marker.  Voters will also be asked to place the Smith-Nawazelski Conservation Area under the care and custody of the Conservation Commission. The special Town Meeting warrant seeks to transfer funds to pay for school repair reimbursements, stabilization fund investment and water purchase from Brockton while High Street water tank is being rehabilitated as well as for acceptance of a land donation on Hawks Avenue.

Whitman’s Electronic Voting Study Committee will present an informational report on its findings during Town Meeting and a similar panel in Hanson will provide information on the subject  outside Town Meeting.

WHITMAN — A second informational program was conducted by the Electronic Voting Study Committee, including a demonstration of the Turning Technologies devices, in the Selectmen’s Meeting Room of Whitman Town Hall on Tuesday, April 12.

The town’s IT Director Josh MacNeil and Town Clerk Dawn Varley, both members of the committee, handed devices out for those in attendance to try.

“What we’re looking at here is using these devices to count votes silently, which would eliminate the way we’ve been doing Town Meeting for a while now through acclamation votes or through standing counts or the secret ballot process that we already have in place,” said Town Moderator and Study Committee Chairman Michael Seele.

The Study Committee will be making a report to Town Meeting May 2.

Sample articles were shown at the Study Committee meeting on a projection screen, much as they would be at Town Meeting, with “yes” or “no” prompts from which voters would choose by a numbered keypad on the device resembling a remote control that is smaller than a smartphone.

Thirty seconds were allowed for voting on each of six questions. When polling opens, a counter appears in a square in the lower left-hand corner of the screen and a vote counter shows only the number of people casting votes until the 30 seconds elapse. Results are reported in the form of a bar graph on screen at the close of each polling window.

Committee member Robert Trotta said 30 seconds, as it ticks down, seemed like a long time, but MacNeil said the time window is customizable.

“You have a pretty good amount of control with the software,” he said.

When one sample question received a 50-50 split decision, MacNeil noted how important exact counts are at Town Meeting.

“On two-thirds votes, it calculates it for you right away,” Varley agreed.

Questions raised

Seele said the last informational session had raised questions concerning voting security, power failures and handicapped access that the committee could not yet answer, so Turning Technologies representative Greg Alexander was brought in via conference call.

Alexander said the devices operate on a radio signal similar to wireless landline telephones.

“We take a very small portion of that frequency and there are 82 different channels that we use within the frequency,” Alexander said.  “I’ve been with Turning Technologies for over 10 years now [and] there has never been any interference issue.”

Turning Technologies works on Department of Defense and hospital contracts all over the world.

“There’s nothing in the technology that defeats it, but there’s proprietary information in the response card, or clicker, as many people call it, and the receiver,” he said.

Only information from town-owned devices would be accepted by the computer, so someone could not stand outside the hall could hack in via their own personal devices.

“This is not going to affect how Town Meeting is run, it’s only going to determine how the votes are going to be taken,” said former Town Administrator Michael Hayes, who serves on the Study Committee.

Data collected before any power failure would be saved through a back-up storage following each question for which the device is used, much like the autosave option on computer software such as Mircosoft Word.

“When the power comes back on, it would just be a question of getting that computer up and running and the data would be stored on that particular machine,” Alexander said. MacNeil said computer backups and building generators will keep the computers up and running.

Alexander said the moderator could always decide if a revote were necessary.

Turning Technologies does make a device for the visually impaired, with Braille letters on the buttons and a vibration instead of an LED screen, to tell when information has been accepted by the software. Many federal agencies using them ask that 10 percent of total devices ordered be designed for the visually impaired, but Alexander said that may be too high a percentage for Whitman’s needs.

Voters may change their minds on a vote, but the last answer entered is the one registered with the software and counted when the voting window closes.

No personal information is entered onto the device, Varley said.

“Somehow we’ll have to record the device number,” just to ensure they are returned, she said. But stressed no information about a voter or voting activity is stored in it.

“We don’t want to know how each person votes, that’s the whole purpose of it,” Varley said. “Once you leave the auditorium, the device has to stay in the auditorium. You can’t go in the ladies’ room and vote from in there.”

But the potential for people voting for each other is still a concern, Seele and Varley said.

“There’s no town that’s been using these for more that three or four years,” Seele said.

Next steps

A by-law change would have to be made to permit permanent use, but a rental trial can be conducted to see how the devices work for Whitman, according to Hayes and Varley.

One person attending the meeting expressed support for the idea, but was concerned about cost. Varley said they are $47 each plus $400 for the receiver, or $7,449 for 150 devices, according to a quote from Turning Technologies. It costs $1,095 to rent 100 devices plus $4 for each added device.

The cost for customized devices, for example, would cost much more.

“We can always borrow [extra] devices, we can also rent them,” she said for Town Meetings that draw larger crowds of voters.

Software is a free plug-in from Turning Technologies.

Resident Joshua Kimball suggested a poll of users after a first trail to determine how voters like it.