HANSON – The challenge of attracting and retaining quality town employees was tackled by town officials this week.
The Select board voted unanimously to accept the recission of Town Planner Antonio DeFrias’ recent resignation, as well as new terms of his employment, at its Tuesday, Aug. 15 meeting. The Planning Board had also unanimously accepted the recission on Monday, Aug. 14.
The Select Board also voted to accept the updated job description — meeting later that night as the Wage & Personnel Board — which the Planning Board had approved, including grant-writing and reviewing of grant applications, progress reports and close-out documentation he is already doing. The job description also now includes work he also doing on strategic planning goals, fulfilling requirements to bring the own into compliance with the state’s MBTA family zoning laws,
“Because of Tony’s work on this we are compliant with this, which means opens up eligibility for many grants,” Town Administrator Lisa Green said. He will also continue working with the High Street Park Committee, working with MassDOT as the town’s representative and engineers on the $13 million Maquan Street TIP program.
“He’s already been doing [all of] this, but this solidifies and reflects that he is doing this additional work.”
Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett and Green said the town was fortunate to reach an agreement for his return as he was intimately involved in a number of projects including Maquan reuse, the Lite Control property, strategic planning and grant writing in addition to his responsibilities as town planner.
“We are not in an age any longer where employees are a dime a dozen,” Green said “Municipal government is not a place where people are banging down the doors to work.”
She said positions advertised are not attracting candidates for positions.
“We literally have had towns call our employees and try to persuade them to go to those towns for more money,” Green said. “Literally, it has happened in this town.”
‘A lot of poaching’
“Oh, there’s a lot of poaching going on,” FitzGerald-Kemmett agreed. She noted there are at least three area towns looking to hire town planners.
“Currently there are six surrounding communities looking for a Town Planner,” Green said, noting the salary ranges involved.
Duxbury is looking for a planning director at a salary range of $78,000 to $108,000; Rockland is offering $90,000 for a planner; Hanover’s range is $75,000 to $90,000; Acushnet is offering $75,000 and Avon just came online offering $75,000.
Green had suggested that a line item for a grant writer/procurement officer, which was never filled, despite Town Meeting having voted to approve it. The board’s discussion to leave that post vacant and officially shift those duties – which DeFrias has already been doing – to his job description along with all the other additional tasks he is doing.
DeFrais had tendered his resignation in mid-July, which was “met with a great deal of disappointment,” said FitzGerald-Kemmett.
He has been offered $95,000, of which $90,000 which was already been approved at town meeting is effective retroactively to July 1, and when Town Meeting approves the additional $5,000, it will also be retroactive to July 1, along with an additional five days of vacation.
Select Board member David George asked if the salary package would mean taxes would go up and was informed it would not.
A town by-law guides the offer of additional vacation time.
Green said Hanson has been very fortunate in this case because a community pursued DeFrias.
“We are in a time where it’s really important to retain employees,” she said, adding that adding vacation time does not hurt the town. “People now are very focused on a work-life balance. Money is not everything to them.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett also said the board took into consideration the of fact that DeFrias was already doing much more than is typically expected of a town planner. She stressed that he has been doing a “huge portion” of the town’s grant-writing, alone, which had not been part of his original job description. He has also been a huge component of the town’s Economic Development Committee. He is also expected to play a critical role in in the future plans for the Maquan property.
“Universally, the board felt that to try to replace someone of Mr. DeFrias’ caliber and get some traction and actually be able to effectuate change, would probably set us back a year or more – and we’re not being dramatic when we’re saying that,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. The agreement has been universally rejoiced in Town Hall, according to FitzGerald-Kemmett.
“To the person, every employee at Town Hall was thrilled that the board was making this decision,” she said. “It’s the first time that I know of, where the board has aggressively pursued retaining somebody.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett said the board did what any good town would do and discussed with DeFrais what it would take to convince him not to leave as well as why he wanted to go elsewhere. She said there were some personal issues that could not be discussed in an open meeting, but did say salary was one of them.
“We knew a while back, if we did a competitive analysis of salaries in surrounding towns that he was conservatively [speaking] being underpaid anywhere from $7,000 to $10,000,” she said.
With that in mind, they entered into an executive session negotiation with DeFrias and reached an agreement to retain his services.
Green said the terms were that his salary would increase, but he actually accepted a lower salary.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett clarified that DeFrias was initially offered more than the amount settled on, not lowering his salary.
New police officer
In other business, Cameron Carpenter was appointed a full-time Hanson Police officer, contingent on passing a background check, medical exam, psychological exam, firearms qualification and post-certification during the meeting. The appointment would be effective Monday, Aug. 28.
Police Chief Miksch said Carpenter fills a vacancy of more than a year, after the position went unfunded last year.
“It’s kind of tough, hiring cops right now,” he said. “There’s not a lot of people that want to do it.”
He said that, where the department used to receive 40-50 applications for a vacancy, they received 16 this time and, of those, 10 met the qualifications sought. Nine interviews were offered, but three did not show up and they had three excellent candidates out of the remaining six.
Carpenter was offered the position after “a tough decision.”
A W-H graduate who grew up in town and has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Merrimack College, partnering with Mass. Police Training Committee and while attending the academy under that program, he earned his master’s degree in the field.
“He is unique in that he has not worked as a police officer yet,” Miksch said. “That’s a lot of ambition for a young man to take on – for any person to take on.”
He has worked as an assistant caretaker at Camp Kiwanee and has experience in Duxbury as a beach ranger and has also worked as a natural resource officer for Barnstable.
“I’m sure he got used to people yelling at him about birds … so I think he can tolerate some stuff,” Miksch joked.
He has also amassed an impressive resume I volunteer work, including at the Lawrence Boys and Girls Club while at college, WHK youth hockey coaching and for the Hanson’s youth lacrosse program.

WHITMAN – Speed limits on Auburn Street are a concern for some area residents following road work on that roadway, prompting a request reducing speeds to 35 miles per hour from Bedford Street to Capt. Allen Way and 40 miles per hour from Capt. Allen Way to the Brockton line.
The petitioners say the speeds are similar those in heavily settled sections of Temple Street. No passing would be permitted between Bedford Street and Capt. Allen Way under the residents’ proposal.
Changing the speed limit would take more than a vote from the Select Board, according to Police Chief Timothy Hanlon.
“It’s not as easy as saying, ‘Let’s change the signs and get it done,’” Hanlon said. “I wish it was that easy, because I think probably, we’re all in agreement that those speeds are too high.”
The process is spelled out by and requires approval by MassDOT following a request from the town to the MassDOT district office, which then would conduct an engineering justification study after receiving proposed numerical speed limits from the city or town. The data is reviewed by the traffic and safety section before the state office of MassDOT prepares the regulation and it comes before the Select Board for approval. They also have to wait until the road is repaved to prove the effect on speeds.
Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter said that after the repaving, the police could use its sign board to survey speeds to determine the direction in which the town should go.
The Select Board voted to begin the MassDOT process now, so it would be in a better position to move forward faster once the repaving is completed.
“Our DPW department has limited the speed very well for over a year and a half and we appreciate that,” Robert Kimball, a resident of the Village at Auburnville, said during the Select Board meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 1. “Moving forward, we’re concerned about the speed. Once the new pavement is put in, it’s going to be a superhighway down there.”
Hanlon did agree that the “natural inclination” on a newly paved road with no bumps for a lot of people is to “put the pedal down a little bit more than you normally would just because the road surface is free of defects. That’s really the issue, I think,” he said. “It’s not just the speed, but once it gets paved correctly, we’re going to maybe see that increase.”
The Department of Public Works has been replacing sewer mains on the roadway, which had kept speeds lower.
Some 25 residents had petitioned the board for a reduction in speeds in 2021.
Kimball said there are two curves on the road in the section in which they seek speed reduction – one is “minor,” but the other, at Beaver Street, is “pretty significant” and there is an issue with site lines for drivers looking to the east as they try to exit Auburnville Way.
There are also no sidewalks on that section of Auburn Street, another concern as some of the elder residents of Auburnville Way no longer hold drivers’ licenses and walk to shops on Bedford Street.
“I know a lot of times, when you try to put a speed limit on a road, they do all kinds of fancy tracking of the speed and then they say that’s what the speed limit should be,” Kimball said. “I would like to see the speed limit put on before we get into that position.”
Prior to construction, sections of Auburn Street had a 45 mile per hour speed limit, he said, adding that the section between Hogg Memorial Drive and the Carousel Family Fun Center roller skating rink had changed considerably over the past 25 years.
“It was a rural area when I lived in another town,” he said. “It’s no longer that.”
There have been 165 new units of housing built in the area in recent years with another entering the design phase now.
Kimball read a list of other roads, some state-owned such as sections of Route 18, that have posted speed limits of between 40 and 35 mph.
“You certainly make a good case,” said Board Chair Dr. Carl Kowalski.
Carter said the current speed limit between Bedford and Beaver streets is 40 mph and from Beaver Street to the Brockton line it is 45 mph.
“There is a process in place for the town to make a request to the MassDOT district office to request special speed regulations,” she said. The steps would include the type of traffic study Kimball referred to, if that was something the board wanted to consider.
Hanlon said the department does receive periodic requests for traffic enforcement, which often involve concerns about speeding.
“We also have a couple sign boards we can put out and we do our own little traffic survey to see where we land as far as how many cars are speeding, how fast they’re going,” he said. The speed boards also record data for the department.
“It doesn’t flash back at you,” Hanlon said about the speed boards’ function. “Your speed doesn’t show up – that’s how we do the survey. It records in the background for every car that comes by.”
The Whitman Police conducted speed studies in March and April 2022, including the area of Auburn Street and Auburnville Way, each time recording speeds on the roadway for a week. The average speed was 34.7 mph toward Brockton and 40,1 mph headed east toward Route 18.

WHITMAN – Town officials are examining two possible avenues toward maintaining the Peaceful Meadows property as agricultural land and keeping the ice cream stand and farm operating.
Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter said one option is a bid being prepared for the Tuesday, Aug. 29 auction by Honrstra Farm of Norwell, who proposed to do just that, should they be the winning bidder. She also plans, with the permission of the Select Board to meet with the By-Law Study Committee to create a Right to Farm bylaw for Whitman residents’ approval at an upcoming Town Meeting, even if the Hornstra purchase does not come to fruition.
“Residents would still be able to enjoy the property, ice cream stand and dairy store that they have come to love in our community, and the 55 acres of agricultural land would be preserved in the future,” Carter said.
In business for more than 100 years, Hornstra currently delivers milk to Whitman customers, she said during the Tuesday, Aug. 1 Select Board meeting.
Another possible avenue is through ARPA, town funds or Community Preservation Act funds for the 55-acres of farmland or open space.
“The town does have some options if we were to purchase the property, however, if the winning bid is a farmer like Mr. Hornstra, we would have no opportunity to exercise the right of first refusal, nor do I think we would want to,” Select Board Member Justin Evans said.
Carter has met with John Hornstra, Jay Rosa of the state’s Department of Agriculture, Scott McFadden of the Wildlands Trust, Town Counsel Peter Sumners, Assistant Town Administrator Kathleen Keefe and Evans to discuss the upcoming auction.
“John Hornstra expressed his interest in purchasing the Peaceful Meadows parcel which includes the ice cream stand, the dairy store, the barns and the original farmhouse,” Carter said. “If he were the successful bidder at the auction, he would plan to have a working dairy farm at the location.”
Hornstra plans to maintain the ice cream stand and possibly expand the dairy store, Carter outlined. He is also interested in purchasing the 55-acres of agricultural land in conjunction with the Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) acquisition program offered by the sate, if it is financially feasible.
“A Right to Farm local option would benefit the town as it relates to the town’s interests in a possible APR entered into with the stats,” she said. “I believe having Hornstra Farm, another dairy farm, take over the Peaceful Meadows property, would be a positive outcome for the town.”
She also encouraged officials unfamiliar with the Hornstra operation to stop by their Norwell farm.
Evans said he also researched how other towns had acquired property like the Peaceful Meadows parcels in the past.
“If the purchase of the 55 acres – if the winning bidder intended to change the use of the property – the town would have the ability to match that winning bid and purchase it for ourselves,” he said.
It could either be placed under and APR or it could be purchased with ARPA funds or town funds for municipal use, or even use CPA funds to preserve it as open space – potentially farmland, trails or a similar use – as several other towns have done, according to Evans.
“I reached out to the town accountant today … and found out that we have about $273,000 in available CPC funds, between open space and the general purpose CPC funds, if we wanted to exercise that right,” he said. “We could also bond the purchase if we wanted to use CPC funds and make those payments with Community Preservation funds we would take in every year.”
The CPC takes in about $200,000 per year.
Vice Chair Dan Salvucci asked how much the property would be likely to be sold for at auction.
“That’s really hard to say,” Carter said.
“A lot more than we’ve got in Community Preservation …” he suggested.
“Oh, yes,” she replied.
Evans said a similar parcel in Rockland – a 36-acre parcel – went for about $800,000 two years ago.
“This [Peaceful Meadows property] is pretty wet, so I don’t know how that will affect things,” he added.

HANSON – “I get to explain the unexplainable,” Abrahams Group President Mark Abrahams said during his discussion of the parameters of Chapter 70 and net school spending for the town’s public schools with the Select Board, Tuesday, July 11.
“Basically, the [Select Board] has asked me to explain how the Chapter 70 numbers work and how Hanson numbers are compiled,” he said. The goal of Chapter 70 is to ensure every school district has sufficient resources to meet its foundation budget spending level through an equitable combination of local property taxes and state aid.
“I’m having a real hard time understanding why all of our numbers are lower than Whitman’s, across the board, and yet we end up with a higher percentage,” said Select Board member Ann Rein.
“That’s because of the wealth of Hanson compared to Whitman,” Abrahams said. “If you look on a per-pupil basis, and you take the local contributions, they’re basically the same … what skews the numbers is that Whitman has more students, they have more foundation budget, they’re going to have more property values, they’re going to have more income – but when you strip it all down and you look at the wealth factors, the state believes Hanson is the wealthier community.”
“That’s the crux of the whole issue,” Rein said. “This doesn’t show us why the state thinks we are the wealthier town. … It just doesn’t make sense.”
One resident asked if Abrahams could provide the exact formula the state uses to determine that Hanson is the wealthier community.
Select Board member Ed Heal suggested it is because the state does not factor in commercial income, rather, it calculates only business property values.
“It’s a very emotional subject and one that we’re still grappling with because it’s fairly fresh that we’ve moved to this statutory method and we really didn’t fully understand what was happening at the time it was being done,” Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said, and asked if new business growth or an influx of lower income people would make a difference in the equation for either town. She also asked if any town has forensically looked into the equations or appealed them.
“It seems almost as though it’s a setup for the average Joe not to be able to figure out how the heck these numbers are arrived at,” she said.
“New growth is a part of the municipal growth factor [in the state’s calculation,” Abrahams said.
“It’s adjusted from time to time, but it remains basically the same thing,” he said. “Remember, I’m explaining the unexplainable.”
State changes
In 2007 the state reviewed the calculation after several towns, with similar figures and demographics ended up with dramatically different numbers, taking two years to develop the new formula.
To explain the new calculations, Abrahams used the preliminary fiscal 2024 budget numbers released in June for his discussion as the state budget has not been finalized, as yet. That preliminary budget included the local portion of $6,584,595,911 under the Student Opportunity Act in Chapter 70 funds – which was $586 million, or 9.8 percent, more than in fiscal 2023. The SOA is now in its third year, putting more money into districts with targeted student populations – mostly students with disabilities, low-income students and English-language learners, for example.
“The district can spend as much as it wants on education,” he said. “The state is calculating a minimum local required contribution, which is based on your wealth factors.”
Required Net School Spending is the sum of local contributions and Chapter 70 aid, otherwise known as the foundation formula, and should be greater than the foundation budget, he said. A District can spend as much as it wants on education with the state calculating a minimum local required contribution based on wealth.
The local contribution is the amount of local appropriation required to meet net school spending for each town in the commonwealth and the local district contribution is the funding allocated to the local school district. Chapter 70 is the difference between the foundation budget and the local contribution which, combined with the local contribution makes up the net school spending.
“Hanson, since it sends its students to Whitman-Hanson, the foundation budget is, essentially, the vocational students of Hanson,” Abrahams said.
The state computes the total foundation budget for all districts and takes the shares of Hanson’s foundation budget to the three elements and comes up with the foundation shares, which are then applied to the town-wide contribution.
“For Whitman and Hanson, 90 percent of the foundation budget is for WHRSD,” he said. “This is the calculation, based on foundation shares and this is the starting point for your regional statutory assessment.”
Hanson’s contribution to W-H is $10,600,496 contribution to WHRSD.
Whitman follows the same formula.
The foundation budget is a municipal-based formula, Abrahams said.
To determine each district’s Chapter 70 aid, the state calculates each district’s foundation budget, determines an equitable local contribution (59 percent) – based equally on property values and income levels – as well as state aid (41 percent).
“To determine how much a community should be paying, you first look at the wealth factors,” he said. “The second test is to take 82 percent of the foundation budget, and the state will take the lower of the two. In both Hanson and Whitman’s case, the calculating is based on the wealth factors.”
That provides the preliminary contribution, which is either above or below the state’s calculation of the local contribution effort. Hanson’s equalized valuation is $1.7 billion while its 2023 total resident income is $450 million.
Whitman’s equalized valuation is $2.1 billion while its 2023 total resident income is $554 million. Deflated, it gets $7.5 million from property wealth and $8.4 million from resident income for a combined total of $16 million. It has a $16 target contribution – 49 percent of its foundation budget.
“So the target for Whitman is $16 million,” Abrahams said. “In fiscal 2023, they contributed $13.3 million. Their growth factor is slightly higher than yours, deriving a $13.8 million preliminary contribution. … They have a shortfall similar to your shortfall – 1 percent of their 2023 contribution.”
Whitman’s 2024 contribution is calculated at 14 million — $2 million short of their target.
“There’s a lot of similarities between the two towns,” he said.
Comparison
Whitman’s contribution to W-H is $12,554,000 based on the formulas. The actual school net spending greater than the requirement is 86 percent for the region, according to Abrahams. The statewide average is 23 percent.
“The test is what the households can support,” said FitzGerald-Kemmett.
Heal argued it should not be based on household income.
“Just remember, he’s explaining formulas the state uses … based on the information they receive from the DOR,” said Town Administrator Lisa Green.
“In order for that to be 50/50, the state deflates the [equalized valuation] and inflates the income, deriving $6 million from local property effort and $6.9 million from income.” he said.
Those figure together make up the combined effort yield of $12,929,413 – the first test of what Hanson’s local contribution should be. The “second test” is to take 82.5 percent of the foundation budget and it derives $16.8 million.
“Hanson’s town-wide local contribution, based on its flow factors, is $12.9 million,” Abrahams said. “Divide that by the foundation budget and you get about 63 percent, meaning the town of Hanson is going to contribute 63 percent in local contributions toward its foundation budget.”
Hanson is $1.3 million – or 6.7 percent – short of its $12.9 million local contribution target, so increments are added to the preliminary, depending on how much lower a community is toward its target.
“Since Hanson falls between 2.5 and 7.5 percent, the increment is 1 percent of last year’s number. Therefore, the growth factor – determined by year-to-year increases of certain municipal revenues – is increased by 1 percent to arrive at $11,669,000 as the local contribution for fiscal 2024. Those revenues include property taxes certain state aid and local receipts.
“It is still, $1.2 million short of the target,” he said.
Whitman and Hanson as towns, are non-operating districts that send their students to the regional high school.
He also reviewed state Chapter 70 formulas.
“You’re not going to get additional foundation aid because your base aid exceeds your foundation aid by $100,000-ish,” Abrahams said. “But the state is guaranteeing every district $30 per pupil at minimum (more than $107,00).”
Whitman-Hanson receives $25,196,000 in state aid.
At the same time, enrollment rose by 128 students while the foundation budget grew by $5 million, and the two town contributions grew by $1 million while Chapter 70 aid only grew by $107,000.

HANSON – Acceptance of the private road known as Alden Way must go back before Town Meeting to clear up an issue regarding an amendment to the acceptance plan, Select Board told a number of the private roadway’s residents attended the Tuesday, June 27 meeting.
Residents at the May 1 Town Meeting voted to accept Alden Way among a list of private roads as public ways.
“In taking that next step to doing the takings that we need to do in order to make sure that we’ve got access to those properties to do the things that we would need to do as a public way, we’ve run into some technical difficulties,” Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said of the citizens’ petition for the May Town Meeting.
Jane Medeiros oan associate of Town Counsel Kate Feodoroff, said the Town Meeting vote did not reference one or more of the correct plans.
“I’m not sure if they layout vote of the Select Board [knew of an amendment made to that plan],” Medeiros said. FitzGerald-Kemmett stated they had not known.
“This is a technicality,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “It is a technicality that we intend, as a board, to correct at the next Town Meeting. … We cannot unilaterally decide to do that. Anything having to do with public ways, or takings, or any of that, all have to be decided – as it should – by Town Meeting.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett said Feodoroff wanted the board to inform the residents they are aware of the issue, and that they intend to place, as a Select Board article, on the October Town Meeting warrant.
“It’s good that the missing plan was noticed right away and will be corrected promptly,” Medeiros said, explaining that residents should want to avoid a situation years, from now, when a surveyor might go out to check property lines only to find “what’s on the ground is not in the layout that was approved by the town and recorded.”
“My understanding is, what was approved is not exactly where the road is,” she said. “There was a modification.”
“Your plans are fine,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said of one resident’s question as to whether modifications to the plan were properly made prior to Town Meeting. “But what isn’t fine is the article that was presented to Town Meeting – what we accepted were the old plans before those changes were made.”
Then as the law firm tried to figure out what needed to be taken as right-of-way from each of the respective homeowners, it was discovered that the lines of demarcation for the roadway were different from what Town Meeting vote on in May.
“Your deeds, your plot plans … are all accurate,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. The resident further said residents were told there would be no land-takings.
“This has all been about land-taking,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “In order to make this road public, there has to be land-taking.”
“We’re trying to fix it for you, so it gets totally fixed.” Board member Ann Rein said. “If it’s not fixed totally right now, it’s going to come up again and again.”
Member Joe Weeks said that, by sponsoring the new article, the board can also make sure it is vetted prior to Town Meeting to ensure no more clerical errors are included. The board had no standing to vet a citizen’s petition before it went before Town Meeting in May.
In other business, pond management responsibility was discussed, stemming from a discussion at the Conservation Commission since its not in that body’s jurisdiction and is a town resource, Selectman Ed Heal said.
FitzGerald-Kemmett said it’s a “weird thing” as it is not a wetlands issue and there can be Board of Health components, too. While past town meetings have allocated funds for pond management, it does not seem there are clear jurisdictions for it.
“But it doesn’t seem there’s anyone whose sole responsibility is to manage the ponds,” she said.
Conservation Commission Chair Phil Clemons said he believes it is true that most Hanson residents like the fact that there are so many ponds in town.
“I think it’s also true that we can’t trust the ponds, lakes or whatever term you wish to use, just to take care of themselves and be fine,” he said. “There’s too many people, having too many impacts over too many years and decades for that to be true anymore.”
Water quality, largely affected by plants, are issues that have been addressed in different ways by area communities, with Hanson mostly been paying attention to what has been done elsewhere.
“We’ve had the luxury of not having to do a whole lot, but we think those days are pretty much past,” Clemmons said.
Since the Wetlands Protection Act and Rivers Protection Act, the work load of Conservation Commissions and agents has increased.
“Despite our ambitions and things we actually have done in some cases already it probably is not realistic to expect the Conservation Commission to also assume pond management.”
He suggested it might be time to look at things done in other communities, with the need to build up a methodical approach, comparing it to the way a physician analyzes the symptoms of illness.
“There definitely has to be interplay with the Conservation Commission,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said to Clemmons’ agreement.
She asked Town Administrator Lisa Green to think about the issue and think of ways the town might address it and organize around it, reporting back in the fall.

HANSON – The Select Board on Tuesday, June 27, reviewed the fire department’s last six months, as it prepared for the future by celebrating the swearing in of two new fire lieutenants.
Lt. Tyler Bryant was a fire department intern when in high school in 2008, joining Halifax in 2010 and serving that department until 2014, when Chief Robert O’Brien said Hanson “stole him away from Halifax.” He was promoted to lieutenant with the retirement of Kevin Mossman.
“He is incredibly talented when it comes to hazardous materials and hazmat stuff,” O’Brien said. “He deals with all that for gas meters and we’ve got a plethora of them that have to go on all the apparatus.”
He calibrates the meters every month.
“Tyler, honestly, is always there to help people out,” he said. “He’s helped me immensely with the transition. He’s done an excellent job, he and his shift, in a short period of time training wise – as all the lieutenants have.”
He also serves as the department’s mechanic and has begun working toward an associate degree in fire science administration.
He was pinned by his fiancée Christina and children Cameron and Caden. Town Clerk Elizabeth Sloan administered the oath of service to both men.
Lt. Thomas J. White also graduated W-H in 2008, is an Army reservist, where he has also served as a firefighter with the 468th Engineering Detachment, deployed to the Middle East in 2020. A Hanson native, he was hired as a Hanson call firefighter in 2015 and as a full-time firefighter in 2018. He was promoted to lieutenant in April.
“TJ is our fire prevention lieutenant,” O’Brien said. “He has hit the ground running. There’s quite a few changes that the deputy and I are starting to put together.”
On personal note, O’Brien said that when his son, Christopher was deployed with the infantry during the same operation White had served in the year before.
“TJ was able to sit him down and go through everything ahead of time,” O’Brien said. “That just goes to the type of person that TJ is. Even with Christopher home now, he’s like, ‘Here’s all the things you need to get done for the military’’”
White’s mother Susan pinned on his new badge.
We thank all of you guys for stepping up,” Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “I know a transition’s been a little tricky, as transitions always are, but we appreciate what you guys are doing to make it happen, and everything you do every day.”
Department review
O’Brien then provided his report on the department for the board.
The department has responded to 1,008 calls – 911 or service calls only, not inspection requests – over the last six months as of 7 a.m. Tuesday. Of those, 168 have been multiple runs at the same time, and it had happened twice in the previous 24 hours – including mutual aid and ambulance being brought to both responses.
“We’re not the only department dealing with this,” he said, noting Hanson has received mutual aid 28 times and provided it to area towns 58 times so far this year. “We could be quiet for four hours and then the floodgates open up.”
The department tracks multiple runs, to the depth of multiple call runs, as there have been occasions were seven calls have come in at once, O’Brien said.
The department is currently staffed with one lieutenant and three firefighters per shift, with two new hires reporting for service in September.
“Eventually, we’re going to have to look at staffing,” O’Brien said, explaining he is looking at the prospect of putting five on a shift in order to ensure there is a lieutenant is in town to cover the station and manage responses when multiple medical calls are going on and both ambulances leave town.
“I’m asking everybody to think outside the box and let’s throw it against the wall and what sticks works, and whatever doesn’t, we go back to the way we’ve been doing it,” O’Brien said of his taking over as chief with the retirement of former chief Jerome Thompson Sr.. “It has been a big change for everybody.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett said the energy is palpable.
“Everybody is very engaged and forward-thinking and it’s wonderful to see,” she said.
“It’s just fun watching you guys just love being firefighters and just enjoying it,” said Vice Chair Joe Weeks. “Not that it wasn’t happening before, but sometimes shaking things up, people in new roles, everyone just seems so enthusiastic and so engaged and so positive.”
“We’re excited to see what this team can do,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.
O’Brien gave Deputy Chief Charles Barends a lot of credit for that.
He also credited his firefighters and lieutenants for the creative ideas they’ve brought forward to address challenges facing the department. That includes grants such as the SAFER Grant, which covers medical insurance, cost of living costs and much more, excluding overtime costs, for the first three years of a new hires’ work.
“If we were to hire four people, through health insurance and everything in, you’re probably looking at $100,000 a firefighter,” O’Brien said.
He also cautioned the Select Board that he grants are not awarded next until in March or April 2024, and would not actually be seen in action for two years and five years before the town would have to budget for those funds.
“If it’s not going to be sustainable, then obviously, we can’t do it,” he said, pledging to work with the board and finance committee to determine if the grant could be sustainable.
FitzGerald-Kemmett said if the five-year financial planning approach the town is moving toward, the SAFER Grant becomes something they should want to think about.
“We’re going to need to build that in,” she agreed.
October Town Meeting needs include a simple correction to one of the department’s articles for two staff members’ overtime while new recruits were attending the fire academy were mislabeled as for fiscal 2023, when it was for fiscal 2024. He also said capital improvements, including $390,000, from the ambulance account to replace Ambulance 1 is needed. The 2014 ambulance could take as long as 18 months to two years from the date an ambulance is ordered until it is delivered.
Tower 1, the department’s aerial ladder engine, dates back to 1995. Federal grants have proven elusive for this need, however, O’Brien said.
“The last two years, it has made it to the very end [of the grant process], and then been denied,” he said. “We’re going to see how far along it goes this year, because the further along it goes and the older it gets, the more likely it is that the federal government will give us some grant money toward it, up to $1 million.”
Capital plans
The price tag for such a vehicle now stands between $1.7 million and $1.8 million, however with “no frills, off the showroom floor.”
“A lot of departments are getting away from custom-ordering big pieces like that,” O’Brien said.
Engine 1, dating from 2013, is out of service as work continues to determine just what is mechanically wrong with it.
The department has also been updating its Emergency Management plan, and is offering National Incident Management System (NIMS) class for elected officials outlining their roles and responsibilities during a state of emergency.
“You’re not signing your rights away … if, god forbid, there was a massive hurricane that blew through here and now federal urban search and rescue task forces were coming through the area,” he said. “Hanson is still in control.”
Select Board members expressed enthusiasm for such training.
He also discussed creation of a medical reserve corps of volunteer nurses, doctors and others to work with shelters when they are needed.
On the subject of emergencies, O’Brien noted that hurricane season has begun and with it, the fire department is stepping up social media campaigns on generator and home oxygen safety.
He is also discussing with Whitman Fire Chief Timothy Clancy, the potential for regionalizing Whitman’s Citizen’s Emergency Response Team (CERT). Open houses are being planned for those interested.
Initiatives begun over the last six months, which the department is continuing:

• A feasibility study for fire station renovation that O’Brien said is not planned for the near future;
• Drones, which require a pilot’s license to operate and are partially grant-funded, can be used to find people lost in Burrage Wildlife Management Area or in building preplanning or in assessing buildings during an emergency; and
• Use of the Maquan School for firefighter survival and/or active shooter training.

WHITMAN – The town will a have at least a taste of the rainbow this month after all, as the Select Board voted 3-2, on Tuesday, June 20, to support a proclamation from the board to declare June as Pride Month.
The proclamation supports a project to paint a crosswalk and walkways at the Whitman Public Library parking lot in rainbow colors while displaying the Progressive Pride Flag on town buildings as a way of expressing support for members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Supporting the proclamation were Chair Dr. Carl Kowalski, Justin Evans and Shawn Kain. Member Laura Howe voted no because of objections some residents had voiced over the library’s location across the street from Holy Ghost Church. She said she would support it and Pride flags elsewhere, because she had heard no opposition to the basic idea.
Vice Chair Dan Salvucci opposed the proclamation because, he argued, it would open a “Pandora’s box” of organizations demanding to fly their flags and that only the U.S. flag, the state and town flags – as well as the POW/MIA banner – should fly at town buildings.
A second 3-2 vote accepted a gift of Pride flags and other supplies from the nonprofit Whitman Pride organization.
In the end, neither Salvucci nor Howe signed the proclamation.
Whitman Pride official Christopher DiOrio, after the meeting, applauded the vote.
“I’m happy with the 3-2 vote. I think it’s a good step for the community to show that it’s inclusive, or at least our Board of Selectmen, speaking on behalf of the people that voted them in to create and show our community as being one of inclusivity,” DiOrio said. “Symbols do matter.”
He said people wondering if they are worthy or safe to come out in a community, they are not going to see a piece of paper on a wall – they’re going to see that flag and rainbow crosswalk.
“They’re going to see all of those things and they’re going to know that, at least for that brief moment in time that, ‘I’m OK, and that I’m worthy and that I’m somebody, and that at least somebody in the community is looking out for me.”
The American Civil Liberties Union has reported that a new record number of 417 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the country since Jan. 1.
School Committee member Fred Small had suggested the proclamation itself simply be displayed in a town building instead of Pride flags or rainbow crosswalks.
But Town Counsel Peter Sumners said the proclamation, as a form of “government speech” would preclude such challenges.
“Following the advice of counsel, before [the May 23 meeting], we were being very cautious about this and we wanted to make sure that we understood the distinction between public speech and private speech,” Kowalski said. “We didn’t want to do anything that would encourage private speech we didn’t particularly care for, so we decided to take a break and look it over.”
While Sumners was researching the legal aspects of the issue, Kowalski said Evans researched what other towns were doing from which Whitman could borrow. One was that the town could simply proclaim some actions to express support for members of the LGBTQ+ community. Once such proclamation by the Braintree City Council, was used by the board almost word for word.
Whitman’s proclamation recognizes the rainbow as a symbol of “pride, inclusion and support for social movements that advocate for the LGBTQ+ community,” and that the town is “committed to supporting visibility, dignity and equity for all LGBTQ+ members in its diverse community.”
It supports the rainbow crosswalk at the Whitman Library – from the parking lot to the ramp at the rear entrance as well as from the front entrance – and progressive Pride flags on poles at Town Hall in recognition of Pride Month to encourage support and advocacy for LGBTQ+ residents and their contribution to the cultural, civic and economic success of the town.
Symbol of justice
“The symbolism of these crosswalks and flags is a reminder to all of us to embrace the principal of justice for all and to eliminate prejudice wherever it exists,” Kowalski read from the proclamation.
Salvucci objected to the inclusion of non-governmental or POW/MIA flags.
“If people want to display whatever they want to display on their house, on their private property, that’s up to them, they can do it,” he said. “As far as town property, I think they should stick to, as I said, state flags, town flags and [the] American flag.”
Sumners said the board’s proclamation prevents the “Pandora’s box” of requests that Salvucci feared.
Sumners said his understanding was that the message was to be conveyed in a way that was clear that it was from the town and not by any third-party group on town property.
“This [proclamation] is the board speaking on behalf of the town to say , ‘This is what we believe in,’” he said. “The government can choose to speak or not speak without opening up a forum for everyone to speak, or there are occasions, like public comment, when you do open up a forum for people to speak.”
He said the proclamation lands squarely in the realm of government speech.
Kowalski added he and Sumners talked about having a policy vs. a bylaw.
“This was the way to get it done now and it’s a way that we’re not going to be in any kind of jeopardy from any other group,” he said, noting that a number of towns have done a proclamation.
Kowalski noted that, while in Norton recently, he saw that town’s electronic message board was lit blue and yellow in support of Ukraine.
“The town had no problem proclaiming, ‘Pray for Ukraine,’ for probably a limited amount of time,” he said. “I personally don’t think we should have a problem proclaiming this at all.”
While the board had been under the impression that the library had signed off on the proposal, initially brought by Whitman Pride, there had been a change in leadership at the Library Trustees, and the new chair wanted more time to get the kind of information Sumners had supplied to the Select Board. They are expected to vote on it next week.
“The library does things like support women’s rights, Native American rights, African-American rights, and to me it’s on the spectrum of civil rights and the way that the library would celebrate those kinds of things,” Kain said. “Working with the library to do something really positive in the community is something I support.”
Salvucci then suggested that painted sidewalks doesn’t mean Pride month, it’s “Pride forever.”
Kowalski noted someone had suggested using chalk.
“That would mean we’re recognizing the value of the LGBTQ+ community before it rains,” he said to Salvucci’s vocal disagreement.
“We’re all elected, and we’re only elected from the people,” Howe said, noting that she heard a lot of complaints about the proposal, “but not for the reasons people are arguing about this.”
Location concerns
She said that, while not one person who spoke to her failed to support the LGBTQ+ community, they were concerned and upset about the crosswalk’s location.
“I just wonder, and it’s just a question please don’t laugh at me, could this be put somewhere else, like at the park, which is a town property,” she asked. “I honestly don’t want to see our community torn apart over something that … has not been a single thing I have heard.”
Former Selectman Brian Bezanson, Finance Committee member Rosemary Connolly and Small were permitted to speak, although the discussion was initially intended to be among the Select Board.
Bezanson, said he is an acquaintance of the man who took the city of Boston all the way to the Supreme Court – despite losing at every lower court along the way – to win the right to fly a Christian flag at City Hall after the Pride flag had been displayed. Ultimately, it led to the Satanic Temple flag being flown at Boston City Hall.
He said the Select Board has enough to do tending to the “nuts and bolts of the community” instead of social justice, an example of overstepping boundaries that opens up a Pandora’s box.
“Our charge here is to tax, spend efficiently, make this government effective for all its citizens,” he said. “It has nothing to do about anything else.”
He argued there are nine other awareness month observations and to fly the flags of any of them would be pandering while real problems such as veterans’ suicides, drug overdoses and other problems are ignored.
Kain argued that the library offers programs that further the civil rights of everyone and this was one way to support that mission.
Evans said it was not a groundbreaking move the town was making.
“In the years pre-COVID, there was a Pride flag in the library for a number of Junes,” he said. “The COA had Pride flags in flower boxes for about a year and since the killing of Sgt. [Michael] Chesna, I believe the Thin Blue Line flag has been on the back of the fire engines for a couple of years now.”
Connolly said, while she is compassionate about the veterans’ deaths, there are examples in town where veterans are honored, including monuments, even while more could be done.
But, she added that 17 percent of youths in Massachusetts identify as gay and nearly half of those have seriously considered suicide, according to the Trevor Project.
On the same day as Whitman’s proclamation was voted, the attorney general in Tennessee forced Vanderbilt University Medical Center to turn over names of transgender patients during an investigation into billing practices for trans health care. The move sent a panic through the community of trans youth in Tennessee and Kentucky, according to the advocacy group Rainbow Youth USA, which fielded more than 375 calls from youths in crisis within 10 hours.
“There’s a lack of those symbols that we love our children,” Connolly said. “We love our children the way God makes them.”
She is also a parishioner at Holy Ghost and invoked Pope Francis’ admonition to “invite and love” the LGBTQ+ community.
“In that regard, I would say that this rainbow says, ‘We love our children,’” she said.
Bezanson challenged Evans’ being included in the vote because he had to leave the room during the first meeting. But Town Counsel Michelle McNulty explained that no longer applied because the original proposal by an immediate Evans family member, as a member Whitman Pride, was not the party putting forth the proclamation for a vote. The proclamation was brought for a vote by the Select Board as a form of speech on its own behalf.
“At this point in time, what is before the board is very different,” she said. “At this point in time you are taking government speech. Government speech, you control.”
Evans said he had contacted the state Ethics Commission, whose concern was about the appearance of undo influence because his wife was one of the people making the request and he filed a disclosure of with the Town Clerk’s office saying he could continue with his duties. The fact that the Whitman Pride request is no longer before the board because it was voting on the proclamation.
“This is the smart way to do it,” DiOrio said. “If they want to create a policy down the road, they can.”

HANSON – Aside from end of the fiscal year concerns, May and June are busy months for the Hanson Police Department, as officials work to wrap up training for the year as part of police reform, which requires Chief Michael Miksch to report to the state by June 30.
Every officer’s training for the year, ensuring standards are met and any issues raised through complaints are addressed, are included in that report.
“A lot of this isn’t a big deal for Hanson,” Miksch told the Select Board in his regular report on Tuesday, June 6. “We’ve been doing the requirements.
Officers are completing the required 40 hours of in-service, including at least eight hours of firearms training – Hanson usually does 12 – and periodic use of force and pursuit policies review.
“The important things,” he said. “We want to make sure nobody gets hurt and we’re doing the right thing and keeping the liability for the town down.”
Miksch said officers are also being trained in laws surrounding human trafficking.
“You wouldn’t think that’s something that really would affect Hanson, but it affects every community,” he said. “You never know when it’s going to creep up, either through business fronts, or – for that matter – when we stumble across some people who might be transitioning through.”
Three officers are going to that training at the end of June, paid for and supplied by a grant through the office of DA Timothy Cruz.
Miksch said his department has received just under 5,000 calls so far this year, which he said, is actually a little low for them.
“I think I have a reason for that,” he said. “It isn’t that people are behaving better, I think it’s the way that we’re documenting some things.”
Of the calls received, there have been 34 arrests – mostly for OUIs or domestic disputes – which are usually challenges every year, he said.
The department has also been working to renew its accreditation over the past nine months. It’s a process that requires Hanson Police to meet 394 specific standards, most of which are already being done.
“It’s just [that] we haven’t put them on paper,” Miksch said. That includes training and records maintenance procedures.
One or two individuals have to be dedicated to the accreditation work, so personnel has been moved around, and the work on rules and regulations is almost complete.
“A lot of the things we do are taught to [officers] in the adacemy .. specialized training or in our own in-house training, but, it wasn’t always on paper and most of our policies are out-dated,” he said. “The high-liabilty ones are kept up to date, but a lot are out-dated.”
Sgt. Peter Calogero has drafted policies to address about 300 of the standards, now they have to get them out to officers and keep them up to date and, over the past year, some standards have already been changed.
It will likely take another two years to first be certified and then accredited.
Miksch is also working with Plymouth County Outreach Hope to place Narcan boxes – one of which is already installed at the Hanson Public Library where staff had requested one – at Town Hall and the senior center and the Fire Department has reached out to offer training.
A substance abuse resource in Plymouth County, PCO Hope is funding the project through a grant. The boxes are similar to ones in place for cardiac emergencies in public buildings.
“They are an extremely helpful resource for us,” Miksch said of PCO Hope. “They assist us when we have overdoses or if we have anybody with some sort of substance abuse.”
PCO Hope aids the department in getting people who need it, treatment hospital placements or outpatient care, as well as resources for families of those refusing hospital care as well as tracking statistics. The department is averaging one outreach a month.
“That translates into about one or two of our residents not making it a year,” he said, but noted that eight out of 12 times such an emergency call is responded to, a person goes for treatment or at least accepts initial help from outreach workers.
He said a warrant request for some of the $8,900 in opiod money the state received and is sending to the town to help fund PCO Hope, now funded through federal grants that are drying up in October.
Miksch also discussed staffing, maintenance and cruiser replacement challenges.