WHITMAN – School Committee Chair Christopher Howard met with the Select Board on Tuesday, June 21 to gauge the board’s appetite to get together and rework the regional school agreement and thoughts on makeup of the current subcommittee.

“I think Whitman is committed to our partnership and definitely looking to stay in the region and fully aware we need to do something with the agreement,” Select Board Chair Randy LaMattina. 

A scheduled discussion with Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak concerning mold remediation at Whitman Middle School was tabled as Szymaniak was out on bereavement leave.

“In several School Committee meetings we have continued to talk about the regional agreement,” Howard said. “As the board knows, that agreement is 30 years old.”

A “subtle amendment” has been done to include statutory changes on the state level, but it is an old agreement and, Howard noted a subcommittee of two select board members and two School Committee members from each town, both town administrators and at least one citizen at-large sat on that “fairly large group,” he said.

“We wanted to approach both the Whitman [Select Board] and the Hanson Select Board and just really ask two simple questions,” Howard said. “One — what is the appetite for us to, because it is a tri-party relationship between the schools and both towns, to get together and rework this? And then two —do you have any feedback on the composition of the committee?”

In the spirit of cooperation and collaboration, Howard said his committee felt it was a good idea to at least have a preliminary conversation to get thoughts from the select boards in each member town before creating the subcommittee

“From an outside persepective, looking in, I thought that committee was a little too large,” LaMattina agreed. “[The size] could have ham-strung things a tad bit, and I think, probably, a lot of the legwork with the regional agreement has been done.”

He said the remaining sticking points to be worked out would require narrowing down the size of the subcommittee.

Select Board member Dan Salvucci asked how Hanson’s Select Board feels on the issue [See story, page one].

“We haven’t met with them,” said Howard, who added he planned to attend the next meeting of Hanson’s board on July 12. “Obviously, it’s a three-way tango, if you will, so we need all three dancing partners to come to the table and do this together.”

Any revised regional agreement would have to be approved by both Town Meetings.

“A lot of the legwork is already done,” said Select Board member Justin Evans, who was one of the Whitman Select Board representatives to the last subcommittee. “I agree with our chairman that less is more in this kind of situation, especially where it has to come back to the full School Committee, both [select] boards and then Town Meeting for final approval. We’re not leaving out any opportunities for public input, it’s just trying to get an agreement together.”

Select Board member Shawn Kain said he would like to see, in the interest of best practices, someone who has been involved in these negotiations and has been involved in regional agreements be consulted for guidance as far as how things are often done.

“Having somebody involved that can really speak from experience … can be helpful, because there’s certainly some hot-button issues that could be a sticking point,” he said.

Salvucci said the subcommittee was able to have input from Whitman’s Finance Committee chair as well as legal counsel, helped update the agreement, but some of the issues such as the statutory formula for assessments was either not discussed, or was assumed to have been. He advocated for a member of the Finance Committee or the state to join the committee. Salvucci worked on the agreement revision in 2017 and Evans did so in 2020.

“We’ve done this a couple of times recently,” Evans said. 

Howard said they are reaching out to the Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools (MARS) and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) also must approve any revised regional agreement.

“I think smaller is better because it has to go through a rigorous approval process,” Howard said of the committee size. “I just don’t know what capacity you’d feel comfortable [with].”

LaMattina said it would require a Select Board member and the town administrator, which Evans agreed to.

“I would say no more than 10 members,” Evans said. “Even 10 is a lot, but it’s manageable.”

On other busines, Auburn Street traffic delays have generated a “Significant amount of complaints from the public, LaMattina said, but he said that, while there is significant impact to area residents and people driving on the street, the sewer force main work being done is crucial for the town.

“We’re trying to work through it,” he said. “We ask people to be patient and follow the signs. … It’s quite a large undertaking, but it is critical infrastructure for the town. It needs to be done.”

LaMattina emphasized that it is not just a developer inconveniencing residents and motorists.

“This is major water and sewer work, and it needs to be done,” he said. “We are trying to figure out, on a daily basis, a better way to do things.”

The week before a bipartisan U.S. Senate deal reinvigorated hope that a gun safety legislation deal is possible to help halt the flow of illegal guns across state lines, institute red flag limitations as well as billions for mental health and school safety programs, among other moves to confront the epidemic of mass shootings in America, W-H School Committee members addressed how to reassure parents and the community about school safety in the district.

“Student safety has been a priority for me since I became an administrator,” Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak said on Wednesday, June 8.

In 2014 the district adopted ALICE training protocols in the wake of the December 2012 Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown, Conn. Szymaniak was the trainer to teach district staff, along with school resource officers (SRO) Kevin Harrington of Whitman Police and William Frazier of Hanson Police.

“I have not kept up my certification as a trainer, but I still follow up,” he said.

As he spoke, members of Congress were negotiating gun safety measures after the Uvalde, Texas massacre in which 19 children and two teachers were murdered.

In addition to ALICE, the district is undergoing a process to ensure buildings are secured.

“We’ve already noticed two issues, one at Whitman Middle and one at Hanson Middle, that we need to improve upon in our secondary entrance,” Szymaniak said.

Elementary Schools have all been reconfigured so that, when people are buzzed in, they are in a vestibule and have to obtain entrance through another set of doors.

“We will be adding that [to the middle schools] this summer as a priority to make sure we have another layer of defense,” he said. “I’ve been in contact with both of our chiefs and we all agree that we are going to move forward with a safety/security audit this summer.”

Some consulting firms are already being talked to, Szymaniak said.

“We know our buildings do well, but we want an outside look at our protocols, our procedures, what we can do differently and I’d like to present that to you prior to the start of school, depending on how soon we can get this audit.”

A similar “soft look” before security changes had been made, was done after Sandy Hook.

When former Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Dr. Patrick Dillon was working in the district an evacuation plan was also created.

“Safety and security is on our plate – it’s never lost,” he said. “We didn’t lose it through Covid.” Another ALICE training had been done in that period with officer Harrington and new Hanson SRO Derek Harrington and staff.

Committee Chairman Christopher Howard, attending remotely, said the issue was one he and Szymaniak had specifically discussed adding to the meeting agenda.

They talked about setting up a night to conduct a forum that can allow every stakeholder in the district to have the opportunity to participate in that conversation.

“It shouldn’t be ‘This is what we are doing,’” Howard said. “It should be a ‘Tell us your thoughts, tell us your concerns,’ so that as Jeff goes forward we can roll that in. I’ve heard from a couple of parents on this specific topic [and] I’m guessing some of you have, as well.”

Howard said it was something on which they wanted to take the pulse of the committee before moving forward.

Member Fred Small said the district held such a forum three or four years ago that was well received and provided a lot of good information.

“What people are thinking. What’s on the horizon and, also some of the things that we’ve done,” he said could be touched on.

Vice Chair Christopher Scriven, conducting the meeting in Howard’s physical absence, said he thought it was a good idea.

“So many of us in the community – and rightly so – are concerned about this,” he said.

Member Hillary Kniffen, who teaches in another district, said is would also be important to hear from the people in the buildings with the students.

“I think the principals have a good idea, but really the people on the ground in the classrooms … would be really valuable and important,” she said.

“They certainly qualify as stakeholders,” Scriven said.

With a consensus from the committee that such a forum is a good idea, Szymaniak said they would discuss a target date some time this summer during the next meeting.

WHITMAN – The gavel, as they say, has been passed to a new generation with the election of Randy LaMattina, on Tuesday, June 7, as Whitman’s Select Board chair – after former Chair Dr. Carl Kowalski announced his intention to step aside after 12 years.

During the Select Board’s reorganization session, Dan Salvucci was re-elected as vice chair and Justin Evans was elected clerk. 

The votes were delayed by the absence of Select Board member Justin Evans on May 25, due to the birth of his first child the day before. The board strives to reorganize during meetings with full attendance.

“I have been chair, as you all know, for a long time,” Kowalski said, in beginning his nomination of LaMattina. “I’ve enjoyed it. It’s been an honor, it’s been a pleasure to work with the people of Whitman, but I feel it’s time for a change.”

Kowalski said the town is entering a “new phase” with a strategic plan in place for the first time.

“The bases for that strategic plan were a couple of things,” he said, including a town-wide survey and a committee that LaMattina chaired, dealing with town finances and whether an override would be needed. That work led to the Madden Report, which “looms large in the strategic plan and what we’re looking forward to,” Kowalski added, pointing to LaMattina’s work on school budget matters, as well.

“That’s obviously going to be a continuing emphasis here,” he said. “I thought it would be a good time to transition the chairmanship to Randy LaMattina.”

Select Board member Dan Salvucci seconded LaMattina’s nomination, calling it “a good choice.”

Evans, pointing to work he has also done on the school budget committee, nominated himself to provide a choice. Member Shawn Kain seconded that nomination, but cast his vote for LaMattina.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for both Randy and for Justin, I’ve been following both you guys for a number of years,” Kain said. “I think both of you overlap a lot with my own priorities, so I think both … could be excellent at the role.”

“Trouble is, you have to vote for one of them,” Kowalski quipped.

Kain supported LaMattina.

Salvucci said he was sorry to hear Kowalski’s decision to step aside, but understood it, adding that he felt LaMattina would be a “good fit.”

“We might as well make it unanimous, I’ll vote for Randy,” Evans said. 

“I’m kind of taken aback by it, but I’ve lived in this town basically my whole life,” LaMattina said, his voice breaking as he thanked the board for the honor. “The people of this town have given me a great opportunity.”

He said it was an honor to work with former Select Board member Brian Bezanson, as well as Salvucci and “one of the longest-running” town administrators.

“But there are two Selectmen who stand out from my childhood and now – I would say the Mt. Rushmore of Selectmen – for me personally in this town,” LaMattina said about former Select Board member Dick Cole and Kowalski.

“Getting the nomination from [Kowalski] means the world to me, I’ll tell you that,” he said. “Both men were different, but their commitment to this town is the same.”

He said the way Kowalski has conducted meetings over the past 12 years is “probably unprecedented” in the amount of work he has put in to prepare for meetings and making them flow properly, is a testament to his commitment to the town.

Kowalski also placed Salvucci’s name in nomination for vice chair as someone who has been a “terrific help to me over those years,” always being there when needed, as well as being a dedicated and kind person. The nomination was uncontested.

“I thank everyone,”  Salvucci said on his re-election. “We have a little bit old and a little bit new.”

Cannabis agreements

Kowalski also nominated Evans for clerk, which was seconded by Salvucci.

In other business, the board discussed the process ahead for negotiating host community agreements with cannabis businesses.

“We have had interest from several folks, serious interest from a few entities,” Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman said in seeking feedback from the board about how and when the town should proceed with discussions with the interested parties. “In some ways, there isn’t really a lot to negotiate, it’s really to decide who the board wants to enter negotiations with.”

The town limits the number of cannabis businesses to five, of which no more than three can be retail. Agreements are limited to five years before they can be renewed and the host community agreement and impact fees.

The board may also decide if it wants to encourage local hiring, hours of operation an lock systems, but the latter two may be more accurately with the ZBA.

LaMattina said he has reached out to some surrounding communities on their agreements.

“It seems like it’s a very litigious process and, obviously, in any negotiation, town counsel is going to have to be heavily involved, it appears,” he said. “The agreements themselves seem to be fairly cookie-cutter.”

He suggested it would be a good idea for a couple members of the board, Heineman and town counsel “sit down and see where we’re at and start the process rolling.”

Evans expressed interest in that, having already begun to look at other towns’ host agreements. Kowalski said he would be happy with Justin and Heineman meeting with town counsel. Scott Lambiase was also suggested as a potential member of the group.

Kain asked if there was a way to roll the process out slowly.

“It’s entirely up to the board,” Heineman said. “As long as the process is fair, it doesn’t need to be quick.”

“I’d prefer to be thorough and fair than quick,” Kain said.

An update on the process will be included on the June 21 agenda.

Roads and sidewalks

Heineman said he and DPW Superintendent Bruce Martin, who oversees parks and roads, have been meeting to discuss an acceleration of road and sidewalk repairs in town.

The financing of such work will focus on three approaches, Heineman said: maximizing state Chapter 90 funds, maximizing free cash through June 30 and reviewing planning board performance bonds to determine which ones may be closed to increase free cash amounts available.

He said his work with Martin is aimed at identifying and making sure the list of town roads the state has is as complete as possible to maximize both road miles in town and Chapter 90 funds. Town income level and the number of publically accepted roads are also factors in allocating that funding.

They have identified 12 roads have been accepted that need a state review of paperwork; 16 roads are not on state list, but have been accepted at town meeting; and another 17 unaccepted roads would be acceptable, according to Martin.

State DOT officials have said in writing to the town that road adoption does not necessarily have to go to town meeting, with the Select Board able to do that.

Town accountant Ken Lytle and Heineman have been reviewing old town meetings originally funded by free cash and closing them out by June 30 to return the funds to free cash so they can be certified in 2023. 

There is currently $216,996 in outstanding performance bonds, which developers pay to ensure developments are finished according to Planning Board requirements. There are nine with have significant funds outstanding for at least 10 years, Heineman said. The aim is to find old documentation from the projects to determine what was required an whether it has been accomplished. If they are complete, funds can be released to developers.

“In most cases, it’s likely that these will not be completely finished in that way, but because of the time that’s elapsed, we can … go back, with a Planning Board vote [and] release these monies back to hit our free cash,” he said.

The final four projects under consideration are most recent, where developers may indeed still be working on the projects.

“Nevertheless, I predict there is at least $71,000 there and probably a little bit more … to have released by the Planning Board,” Heineman said.

Heineman also provided an update on the Strategic Plan, something that Kain urge the board keep as a regular agenda item.

“It provides an intellegent and quick way for us to get updated about something we’ve all collectively agreed upon.” Kain said, adding it would keep the town headed in the right direction.

“For a lot of us paying attention, we see that stuff happening, but I think to make it more explicit for the every day citizen so they can be that much more  knowledgeable at Town Meeting, I really support that,” he said.

One might title it Two Reorganizations and a Baby.

After opening the meeting with what has become the usual somber moment of silence in honor of the people of Ukraine – as well as in memory of the children and teachers slain in a mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas – Whitman Select Board Chairman Carl Kowalski said he wanted to open the meeting on a lighter note.

“You’ll notice there’s an empty chair here tonight, Justin Evans is not able to be here because he and his wife Kathy had a baby daughter this afternoon,” Kowalski said. “Eight pounds, five ounces, 21 inches – a good-sized daughter – and so he’s going to be with them for a little while and he won’t be able to be here this evening, which means we won’t be reorganizing the Select Board this evening.”

Kowalski said it has been the board’s practice to wait for the first meeting at which we have a full board after a town election to reorganize.

“I talked to Justin on the phone just a little while ago and he does plan to be here on June 7,” he said, indicating the reorganization should happen then.

The School Committee and Select Boards welcomed new members and reorganized their slates of officers last week, following the Saturday, May 21 town elections in Whitman and Hanson.

The Hanson Select Board and the W-H Regional School Committee did reorganize last week.

Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak, presided until the School Committee re-elected Hanson’s Christopher Howard as chair in an unusual Monday meeting on May 23.

“Congratulations to incumbent members Beth Stafford, Dawn Byers and Chris Howard for their re-election and [to] our newest member Glen DiGravio for his successful election,” Szymaniak said.

Howard was re-elected chairman with Scriven also returning in the post of vice chair. David Forth was tabbed as secretary/clerk. Steve Bois was elected treasurer and Dawn Byers won the post of assistant treasurer.

 Bois had placed his own name in nomination for chair post and Christopher Scriven nominated Howard for another term as the head of the meetings. Member Fred Small nominated Beth Stafford.

Szymaniak conducted a roll call of members, with a majority to decide the selection. Abstentions were deemed to be no-votes.

Bois failed to receive a majority with a vote of 4-5-1. Howard was then elected with a unanimous 10-0 vote, rendering a vote on Stafford’s nomination unnecessary.

“Thank you all, I look forward to working with you,” Howard said.

Bois also nominated himself for consideration as vice chair, with Scriven and Stafford also nominated. Bois failed to win a majority with a tally of 3-6-1. Scriven was elected by a 7-3 for the win.

The vote for secretary/clerk was between  Forth and  Small. Forth was selected by a 6-4 vote.

Bois’ name was again placed in nomination, this time by Dawn Byers for treasurer. With no competition, Bois was elected unanimously. Forth then nominated Byers for assistant treasurer, as was Stafford, again nominated by Fred Small. Byers was elected 7-3 with one abstention.

The committee then entered into executive session to discuss strategy in regard to collective bargaining with non-union personnel (a new special education director).

The next night, Hanson Select Board reorganized.

In Hanson, this process raised a bit of unexpected drama.

“Tonight we are welcoming and congratulating two new members to our select board – Ann Rein and Ed Heal,” said Town Administrator Lisa Green, who presided until a chair was selected.

Laura  FitzGerald-Kemmett was elected chair with Joe Weeks as vice chair and Rein as clerk.

FitzGerald-Kemmett nominated herself for chair, seconded by Rein. Member Jim Hickey also nominated himself, seconded by Joe Weeks.

“That’s alright, Joe, you don’t have to,” Hickey said. “You don’t have to, that’s OK. I withdraw my nomination.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett was elected by a 4-0-1 vote with Hickey abstaining. When FitzGerald-Kemmett opened the floor to nominations for vice chair an awkward silence was followed by Weeks nominating himself almost in unison with Rein’s intention of the same thing.

“Just so people don’t have to stare at a [silent screen],” Weeks said with a laugh. The vote was unaninmous. Rein nominated herself as clerk when no one else spoke up.

HANSON — Town officials are looking for some influence in the final cleanup phase involved in removing munitions pollutants from the watershed and ponds around the former National Fireworks site in Hanover.

Hanson’s Select Board met jointly with the Board of Health and the Conservation Commission on Tuesday, May 17 to hear an overview of the plan for the ponds and streams on the property, which borders part of the town in the area of Winter and King streets.

“There are some new developments,” Town Administrator Lisa Green, saying that prompted her to invite the company to brief town officials.

While Hanover is “leading the charge” on the project, Select Board member Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

“We have a piece of it in Hanson and we thought we needed to have a little bit more of a voice — or, at least, a voice — in what was happening,” she said, noting at least four board members wrote in during the remediation plan’s public comment period for Phase 3. She asked if the towns were being consulted on remediation plans before they proceeded with the “full-on cleanup.”

“Because none of the people responsible own any of this property, the preference was [to] get rid of it and take it away,” said Ronald Marnicio, Tetra Tech’s national discipline lead for risk assessment. “When you get to that point, there’s not too many other choices.”

The company Tetra Tech, a global consulting and engineering firm that helps clients address water, environment, infrastructure, resource management, energy and international development challenges based in Pasadena, Calif., is cleaning up munitions at the site. The munitions response is scheduled through 2024, while that is being done the design is being completed and permitting will take about a year, so the first digging would likely not happen until 2025 or after.

Looking ahead

Select Board member Kenny Mitchell asked what the area would look like in five to 10 years.

“It’s up to you guys,” Marnicio said. “It should be clean and useable for just about anything.” Hanover would remain classified as recreational land, but most of the land in Hanson is private property.

“In Hanson, it might look pretty much like it’s looking right now,” he said.

Conservation Commission Chairman Phil Clemons said he would like the work approached less like a regular engineering project and more like the “visionary, large-picture, long-term fix that it ought to be” and that no one would regret.

Marnicio said Phase 3 of the cleanup, what is being called the “final remedy,” is addressing chemical contamination in most of the ponds and streams on the property in both Hanover and Hanson. Most of the work is being done in Hanover.

“When the facility closed, it was quite apparent that there was a lot of burial and dumping down there,” Marnicio said.

Most of the contamination has been found in Hanover. Hanson’s land is located at the bottom third of the fireworks site around what is known as Factory Pond, was used as a test site and disposal area when the fireworks factory was in operation.

The site is being cleaned up under the Mass. Contingency Plan, which according to Marnicio, is not quite like the federal Superfund program. MCP is voluntary program.

Site assessment has been going on for “quite a few years,” partly because of the size of the site and the impact on soil, sediment and groundwater.

“Originally, our clients [owners of the fireworks property] were paying for all of this, so it was phased to keep the ball moving,” Marnicio said. “But it took a few years to get the whole thing characterized in terms of what was out there and what do you have to do to clean it up.”

The second phase of the MCP process in 2019-2020, drew up options for cleanup efforts and evaluation. In June 2021, the Mass. Department of Environmental Protection approved the remedial action plan, laying out requirements of the cleanup, including how much sediment would have to come out and acceptable levels that could remain.

Because none of the responsible parties own the property

“One of the things that has changed over the last couple of years is the magnitude of the munitions response,” Marnicio said. “[It] has to be completed before the cleanup of the sediment in the ponds.”

The discovery of additional munitions has extended the phase before the final remedy.

That was FitzGerald-Kemmett’s concern. 

“We’ve been pulling things out of there since 2017,” Marnicio said. “These numbers are really kind of staggering — 18,300 items were explosive and were removed and exploded by the Mass. State Police Bomb Squad.”

There was also a lot of inert material, which resembled munition, but would not detonate. Still, Marnicio said it was “not a good thing to have in a public property.” More than 10,000 tons of contaminated soil has been shipped off the site. The cleanup in the upper portion of the property is about 75 percent done.

 “We believe when the place closed down, they bulldozed a lot of things into [Factory] pond,” he said, noting that a copper dam will be installed on the outside of an upper area of the pond to bring water level down and remove contaminants in dry conditions.

Final remedy is designed to remove mercury and lead from the sediment in ponds. Estimated cost of Phase 3 is between $64.7 and $95.1 million. State figures the cost as being between $72.6 and $106.5 million.

“This is not going to cost the taxpayers in either town any money, I’m assuming,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “And I’m assuming … ‘the potentially responsible parties’ will be paying, or who will be footing the bill for this massive cleanup?”

Marnicio said the potentially responsible parties were paying for it, the trust fund set up when one party went bankrupt has been paying for all the munitions response work and some of the characterization work.

MassDEP and the Department of Defense have been working on a consent decree to figure out who pays after the trust is depleted. 

FitzGerald-Kemmett said the town does not have the money to do so and did not contribute to the problem, and should not be expected to pay any costs.

After digging

“After we dig, there’s always been the question of to what degree do we need to put material back in,” Marnicio said. “Do we need to restore wetlands?”

Exposing material that had been underwater also triggers more regulation and they have to work with private citizens who own property along the Hanson portion of the property.

“I am really shocked at the thought of draining such an important little ecosystem,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “We all know restoration, once those things go backwards, it’s hard to restore them … only time does that, with the right conditions.”

Marincio said most of the area has contamination within the top six inches of the sediment.

She asked what would happen if a resident did not give permission for remediation on their property.

“I honestly don’t know how that would be handled,” Marnicio said.

Health Agent Gil Amado noted that everything has to be approved by DEP.

“The balance is you destroy it to save it,” Marnicio said. “There are requirements to re-establish wetlands and there are multiple-year monitoring that the restoration requires. It is risky, but that’s part of the plan, to put things back.”

He said groundwater was something that’s been measured since the ’90s.

“Fortunately, groundwater has not been a concern,” Marnicio said.

FitzGerald-Kemmett also spoke to the groundwater contamination and long-range health concerns residents have been speaking about and posting on social media.

“That kind of problem depends on your exposure over time,” he said. “I don’t think there’s been an increase in contamination.”

As they do the munitions removal they are cleaning soil cleanup goals for the final remedy, Marnicio said.

He also spoke to Select Board concerns about air-quality during the soil and sediment removal.

“What we’re most watching is particulates,” Marnicio said, noting that wind-direction is constantly monitored to make sure they are not going off-site. Work is stopped with air quality monitors sound alarms.

“Truck traffic on-site when it’s very dry will beep,” he said. “We determine what the cause is, [and] if we can determine that cause right away we can try to fix it or use water sprays.”

While it’s never happened yet, if the cause can’t be found, work will stop until it is found and addressed.

“There needs to be some robust communication,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. Marincio said Hanover’s website tracks needed information and makes it available to residents.

Select Board Chair Matt Dyer said he would prefer 24-hour monitoring of the ponds to the continuous monitoring being planned once digging begins.

During the second year of the work the wetlands will be allowed to fill back up and close the dam down. Hanson areas are relatively shallow with a limited amount of sediment needed to be removed.

WHITMAN – The town has again received a green light to design a new DPW building.

During the special Town Meeting on Monday, May 2, Whitman voters unanimously approved the expenditure of $1,098,100 for creating shovel-ready architectural plans for a new DPW building at 100 Essex St.

The funds, to be spent under the oversight of the Building Committe and Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman will also be used to hire an owner’s project manager.

The funds would come from three sources  – $713,765 from water and sewer retained earnings, $234,335 from free cash and $150,000 from the capital stabilization fund.

Engineer Ziad Kary from Environmental Partners Group, who worked with the DPW on the conceptual design, gave a brief PowerPoint presentation on his work.

“The existing facility is dated, it is beyond repair, and the driver behind this is a new facility to replace the old one,” he said. The 170-foot by 100-foot – or 17,500-square-foot – plan replaces the 200-by-100 plan the town had previously rejected. The old building would be razed and utilities would be relocated into the new facility.

“This would bring in all water, sewer and highway [equipment] under one roof,” he said. “This is a basic, basic building, comprised of structural steel and insulated panels.”

There will be vehicle wash bays, storage and maintenance space as well. The next step is to appoint an owner’s project manager, who would bring in a design engineer to see it through construction – anticipated to be a two-year project. 

Harvard Street resident Cindy Landeville asked if the town has looked into any grants for the building.

Heineman said the project is still in the early stages.

“Certainly, if there are any grants that may be available, we [the town] will agressively seek them,” he said. “At this time, there’s no grants that we’re aware of, that would assist us in building the Department of Public Works building. … These monies, if approved by Town Meeting, would allow for the project to move forward.”

He said the two DPW superintendents are always looking for grants and the town is working to fill a position, part of which would entail writing grant applications.

Elm Place resident Jerry Blumenthal asked if the building plan includes the DPW administrative offices and where equipment will be maintained and stored while the new building is being constructed after the old one is torn down.

The administrative offices will remain in the current building and equipment will be maintained and stored where they in other buildings on the property.

Highway and parks Superintendent Bruce Martin said the maintenance operation will stay in the back garage, where it is currently run, and costs have been calculated for temporary buildings so employees can work and equipment that must be inside can be stored. Some equipment would be outside during construction.

Another resident asked whether the funds for the actual construction work would come out of a debt exclusion or free cash.

Beyond seeking grants, Heineman said that since 60 percent of the building would be used by the Water and Sewer Department, they would seek funds from the retained earnings balance in the water/sewer enterprise fund.

“After all those pieces are drawn down, I think it’s likely to assume that there will be some portion that will be in a debt exclusion,” he said.

If the Town Meeting does not approve the funds for a debt exclusion, the building would not be built, according to Heineman. 

“The overall expectation of the project includes these monies this evening, and if these monies are appropriates by Town Meeting this evening, it would reduce the overall projected cost of the project,” he said.

Two residents asked why the design and OPM costs would be sought when the funds had not been secured to build the building.

Building Committee member Fred Small said the Whitman Middle School funding process, governed by the state’s MSBA, operates in a similar way. It provides an accurate barometer as to what a building is going to cost.

“This is the right way to do this, it’s proper and lord knows, it’s overdue,” he said,

Former Town Adminstrator and member of the DPW Building Committee Frank Lynam noted that he has been through a number of projects with the town.

“In order to appreciate what’s being presented to you today, you need to understand the ground rules,” he said. The Public Works Law requires that any building project exceeding $2 million done by any municipality to hire an OPM and a designer or architect can’t be selected until an OPM is hired.

“In order to start this process – and we have been looking at this since 2008 – we first have to get enough money to hire an OPM and to seek an architect to design the building,” he said.

With the final designs and cost estimates are done, it can be brought back to Town Meeting for ultimate approval and funding.

In other business, the Town Meeting approved a raise in the minimum wage paid to seniors taking part in the tax abatement program.

Article 47 on the annual warrant sought to set the maximum seniors can work off their property taxes to 125 service hours each year. In response to a resident’s question, Heineman said if the article passed the Select Board would discuss the amount each participant could receive in exemption per hour. Right now the maximum amount a single person could work off is $800, roughly coming out to $8 per hour, working a total of 100 hours.

“If this passes … I want to suggest that $8 an hour is not enough and that is should be higher,” he said, noting that the board had recently adopted a policy to pay all municipal hourly employees at least the minimum wage.

While the minimum wage is not necessarily what will be decided on, he said, it would be higher than $8 per hour.

Municipalities are exempt from minimum wage regulations, but may choose to raise salaries.

An article to lower the number of people required to achieve a quorum at town meetings – to 50 for an annual town meeting and 100 for a special town meeting – was also adopted, without discussion.

Whitman and Hanson select boards discussed outstanding issues in their last meetings before the Monday, May 2 town meetings in both communities — though most of those issues were concentrated in Hanson as the town continues to work its way out of a deficit.

Hanson’s annual “dress rehearsal” for it’s town meeting on Tuesday, April 26 saw several articles up for a final recommendation vote by Selectmen, following Finance Committee votes — some of which featured a strong difference of opinion between the two boards.

Articles concerning the request for an outreach person for the Council on Aging and requiring the audio or video recording of all town boards and committees were the subject of particular debate.

“We’d love to add more people to provide better services for this town, but the money is not there,” Finance Committee Chairman Kevin Sullivan said. “You’re digging a bigger hole.”

“That is part of the social contract we all sign when we’re in a town and we have to provide services — to our elder folks, to the schools and highway, etc.,” Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said, arguing that the town has given “extremely short shrift” to senior residents.

“I look at this as the need for my snowplow,” Collins said, noting that the town’s mission in budgeting is to give departments what they need to successfully do their jobs. “Services are equally as important as the tools that you need to clean off the roads.”

The snowplows, meanwhile — sought by the Highway Department — to replace vehicles that were 18 and 22 years old were recommended by both boards — at a total of $299,000.

In Whitman, Selectmen briefly discussed the warrant article seeking security cameras at Whitman Park in view of an agenda item concerning a draft of a security camera policy for the police and fire station and Town Hall where they are already in place and for and the library parking lot, where cameras are planned.

No action was taken, as it was the first time the draft appeared on the agenda, but Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman noted that, after conversations with IT Director Josh MacNeil, it made sense to have a policy in place regarding authority over cameras and data storage.

Hanson’s debate over a Council on Aging outreach position began before the full Select Board convened, as the Wage and Personnel Board took issue with the Finance Committee’s unanimous vote against recommending it. Selectmen Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett and Jim Hickey were especially vocal in their disagreement, but postponed the conversation until the full meeting, which Senior Center Director Mary Collins was attending.

Selectmen voted to recommend the article.

“This past year, during open enrollment for Medicare, I saw over 100 clients in about a 30-day period,” Collins told the joint meeting of Selectmen and the Finance Committee. “It was incredibly intense, it took up a great portion of my time and I had other issues that I needed to attend to in my position as the director of Elder Affairs.”

She requested a part-time outreach person be hired to assist with both the Medicare paperwork as well as the outreach she now does.

“I find that I have to be in two places at the same time, which is virtually impossible,” Collins said.

The annual budget for the Hanson Multi-Service Senior Center is a little over $100,000, including Collins’ salary as well as a 19-hour administrative assistant and part-time custodial position.

She classified the expenditure as a “very small amount in the $32 million budget for the town.”

“The last few years have been very, very difficult with COVID in addressing the issues that our seniors have,” she said, noting that many have become quite isolated and have needs that need to be identified. That work is more difficult when the time is not allotted to get out of the office and address the need.

The position Collins is seeking pays $19 per hour. Selectmen Chairman Matt Dyer said the yearly salary range on the position is $14,381 to $22,824 for a position without benefits.

Even attracting a qualified person at the midpoint of that range might be challenging, Collins said.

“It is a very competitive job market,” FitzGerald-Kemmett noted.

Hickey said he and Collins have talked about the need for an outreach assistant quite a lot, and he told her he would speak for it to both boards and let the voters at Town Meeting decide.

“I know you can’t change your vote,” he said to FinCom Chair Kevin Sullivan and member Erin Barr. “But I would be talking directly to you and to the rest of the board tonight.”

He argued that the article language describing 30 percent of Hanson’s population as being over 55 is wrong. It’s really 41 percent, with 33 percent being age 60 or over.

“That’s why, in the last couple of years it has become more of a workload for Mary and her staff,” he said. Hickey serves as the board’s liaison to the Senior Center and is there at least three times a week. He also said that older residents throw away less trash, which affects the solvency of the transfer station and their lower incomes affect the school budget.

FitzGerald-Kemmett suggested that, perhaps, people don’t understand that the senior center provides a social outlet as well as assistance for benefits and legal services.

“You are literally a connector for all of these services,” she said to Collins. “I’m not surprised that our population over 55 has increased dramatically, and in fact, we’re going to continue to see it increase.” She pointed to recent developments of over-55 housing communities in town and said the trend can be expected to continue as school enrollment decreases.

“I’ve said it many times, and I’ll say it until the day I die, ‘Mary is a saint and we’re lucky to have her,’” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “We’ve [received] a lot of positive feedback over the years about an unsung hero she is.”

But that unsung hero status has translated into many years when FitzGerald-Kemmett suspected deeply that Collins needed help, but didn’t want to ask for it. 

“The fact that you’re here asking for help says a lot to me and I would like to find a way to 100-percent support this,” she said, noting that the vote taken that night to remove the free cash subsidy from the transfer station could help with that.

Sullivan said that, starting with a deficit of more than $1.1 million in the town budget, cuts had to be made, the use of free cash carefully controlled and none of the staffing requests from any department were funded.

“The only way to [add positions] is through free cash and free cash isn’t quite free,” he said. “So how do you hire these people and then fire them next year?”

Right now, he said free cash is the only way to pay for the position. The override last year was enough to keep the town above water, but Sullivan warned that taxes would have to be raised in the next few years as it is.

“That is a fact,” he said. “We pay the lowest taxes around. … That is unsustainable. The only way to add these positions is to raise taxes.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett acknowledged the hard work the Finance Committee has done to close the gap as closely as it has, but suggested there were other areas where more savings were possible. She offered the suggestion of not refinishing the gym floor for $25,000, citing the opportunities to raise the meal tax as all surrounding communities have done, revenue from taxes and community impact fees from the new marijuana business, and new building projects are also in the pipeline.

“This is $22,000 and I, in all good conscience, cannot vote against it,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

On recording equipment for meetings, Sullivan said the money to purchase equipment was not available, but Dyer indicated WCHA-TV has cameras available for use. Health Board member Arlene Dias said the community access station also trains volunteers to use the equipment. Sullivan argued that could pose an undue burden on committee members, to which Dyer objected, noting that he also has used his own computer to audio record meetings and prepare minutes.

“I think this is what the town needs because there’s a lot of speculation out there where we don’t know what’s going on on these committees” he said.

FitzGerald-Kemmett agreed, saying that minutes frequently don’t capture the nuance of a meeting the way a recording does.

“If we’re going to have a more transparent town government … I think [this] is very important to the town,” she said. 

The Health Board has approved the $100 transfer station sticker fees, according to Health Agent Gil Amado projected it would take three years to make the facility solvent and no longer in need of free cash subsidies. This year’s subsidy is $165,000. Other towns working on a pay-as-you-throw basis are “hitting the fees pretty hard,” he said.

“I asked for a plan, a sheet to be able to break everything down instead of just throwing numbers around, and we don’t have that tonight,” Dyer said. “I don’t support just continuing to use free cash to fund the transfer station. … There doesn’t seem to be the will from the Board of Health to charge what it costs to operate the transfer station.”

Sullivan said the FinCom is taking the transfer station on as its focus to try turning things around.