WHITMAN – Any override to help resolve the town’s budget should be one to level-service departments as the Select Board should also the difference between a one-year override and a multi-year override. The Select Board intends to delve into the issue deeper when they meet with the Finance Committee on Tuesday, Jan. 21.
“I’m kind of leaning – just my own personal opinion – that we should consider simply a one-year override, the major variable being the hold-harmless situation that the schools’ [are] in,” said Select Board member Shawn Kain. “It’s very difficult to predict out [and it] has a major impact on the town’s finances.”
While the town is not in a deficit now – it was able to balance the books this past year, Kain noted – projections put the fiscal 2026 budget at “a little bit of a deficit.”
“That’s the gap we have to keep our current services,” he said. “Each year our books have to be balanced” between costs vs. revenues coming in.
He added that is a difficult to calculate specifics because the numbers from the state are so difficult to compute effectively, said Kain, who provided a to the Select Board on Tuesday, Jan. 7. Kain, indicated that what he had in mind was, a “bit more of a quick discussion, or at least the start of a discussion.”.
“It wouldn’t be a great scenario if we looked for a three-year override and we came out of [hold-harmless] early,” Kain said. “That would mean, in a sense, we’ve asked for more money than we kind of needed, and I don’t think the town would appreciate that.”
Chair Dr. Carl Kowalski said that appraisal of the situation was correct.
“It doesn’t feel good to say, ‘Hey, we’re asking for a small override and it might be the case that, to hold onto services next year, we’d also have to have an override,’” he said. “But it does feel like the right thing to do.”
“Take it a year at a time,” Kowalski agreed.
Hold-harmless is a provision that ensures school districts receive at least the same amount of aid from one year to the next and can include supplemental funding for districts with declining enrollment. Calculating state aid amounts based on past enrollments and ensuring that all districts receive at least a minimum amount of aid, plus additional per-pupil funding.
He explained that the town could be in hold-harmless for a year or two before emerging from it, or it could be for the next three years, or even just for this year, if the town starts to pull out of it, according to Kain,
Without updated numbers since the presentation he provided at the last budget meeting, he suggested a discussion of the type of the override Whitman is considering.
Finance Chair Kathleen Ottina has said her board is interested in meeting with the Select Board on Tuesday, Jan. 21, according to Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter.
“The obvious [question] being, should this be an override where department heads should consider new services or opportunities to add the things that they’ve been hoping to add over the last five years,” Kain said. “We’ve been asking them to hold off, so that when we put forth the override there’ll be not just be level-service, but … some additional things as well, or should we set the directive that the override that we’re really looking to create is one where we’re just trying to get by. What we’re looking for is not to add an additional financial burden on the people of the town, given the climate with debt that’s going to be added to the rolls.”
Kain, putting himself in department heads’ position, said, “If I knew an override was coming, it might be my opportunity to put in the things that I haven’t been able to get over the last five years that I couldn’t get,” he said. “Which is understandable. But, from my opinion, I don’t think that should be the case.”
Kain argued that, if residents are going to be asked to sacrifice for the town by way of higher taxes, it’s very important that the town demonstrate the sacrifices it is making.
“I think that’s going to be a critical component this year, in particular,” he said. “If people think that we’re adding one more thing and they feel like their taxes are going up that much more, it’s a bad kind of vibe, and a message that’s difficult to stand behind.”
But, he argued if the town can show they are making every effort to get by and in as efficient a way as possible without losing services while asking for more of a tax contribution, that would be a more acceptable message.
“I couldn’t agree with you more,” Kowalski said, “You’re right.”
“One hundred percent,” agreed Select Board member Laura Howe.
“It also should be clear that the override is not specifically dedicated to one department or another,” Kowalski said. “It’s an overall town override because we need some money to keep our services steady, if not exuberant.”
Carter said most of the department heads have submitted their budgets and she has begun scheduling meetings with them individually on their budget submissions.
Vice Chair Dan Salvucci said the board should wait until the final budget bottom line is apparent before they decide if an override is necessary or how much of an override is necessary.
“I don’t want to go for a $3 million override, let’s say, and all of a sudden the budget comes in $1 million more than we need or .. the budget comes in lower, the department heads say, ‘Well, then I want to add this, add this, add this,’” he argued.
Kain agreed, noting that as they file final budgets, the overall aim is to just get by and not adding new items.
Select Board member Justin Evans suggested a multi-year override be considered because of a pension obligation expected to “fall off the books” within about five years.
“It should get us to that point when we see more revenue staying in-house, rather than going to the county to cover pension obligations,” he said. “Also, we really need to be having this conversation both with the school district and with Hanson because, looking at a townwide override including the schools, their budget only works if Hanson also funds it.”
Evans pointed out that Hanson is also considering an override, but added it wasn’t clear if it was planned as a one-year or multi-year override.
“There should be some coordination here so we’re all on the same page,” he said. “Otherwise, the district gets a half-funded override.”
Resident Bob Kimball reminded the board that an override is “going to be tough for a lot of people in town,” noting that in his neighborhood on Auburnville Way, there has been one bankruptcy this year as well as on person who has moved out of town and two or three people with reverse mortgages so they can pay their bills.
“If we’re going to do an override, I want to make sure that the [Select Board], the Finance Committee, everybody, understands the hardship that’s going to go on,” Kimball said. “I want you to consider that when you do your deliberation.”

WHITMAN – A level-funded budget year is making for some simpler meetings between department heads and the Finance Committee.
The Building Department and the assessors met with Finance during it’s final meeting for 2024 on Dec. 17.
“Some of these early departments, that were quick about getting back to us, really don’t have a lot of requests,” Vice Chair Mike Warner said after the presentations. “It’s been very standard, so that’s OK.
“We are trying to arrange a joint meeting with the Select Board for January,” said Warner, who added all other January meetings have been scheduled. “We had an issue this evening.”
Warner said he was unaware that he needed to state on the Finance Committee agenda that the meeting with Select Board members would be taking place.
The Select Board met Jan. 7 and plans an additional meeting Jan. 21.
“I don’t know that it matters to anybody which night,” Warner said. “They did share by email the material they were planning to discuss with us.”
The Select Board’s Jan. 7 agenda did not list a joint meeting with the Finance Committee, leaving Jan. 21 as the date for that session.
Warner, Michael Flanagan and Ralph Mitchell attended the meeting, meaning there was no quorum so no votes could be taken on minutes or other pending business
Warner noted that the town’s reserve fund remained at $35,000.
“We have no requests up against it at this point,” he said, adding that no changes or updates had been received from any of the subcommittees, either.
Building Commissioner Robert Piccirilli said he was presenting a “pretty basic” request for a level-funded budget, with a 2.5 percent projected addition to salaries.
“It’s about as simple as it gets,” he said.
Warner asked if Piccirilli had any concerns about line items in his budget.
“I don’t,” he said. “The only one that you’ll see here is the assistant building inspector. We carried over the $510, because that’s what we spent over and above last year for his continuing education and covering for me when I was on vacation.”
Piccirilli said the department had to come back to seek the additional money last year, so for fiscal 2026, the department’s budget projected forward the $510 spend last year.
No longevity issues were involved, based on time in the position this year, but Piccirilli said he would have that next year.
“We’ve got some building that’s coming in the town soon,” Warner said, asking if Piccirilli if there was anything the committee needed to be aware of.
“We do, but this is what we’ve projected that we should be spending,” Piccirilli said. “We’re going to go with it.”
He did add that his department was waiting on receipt of the deputy fire chief’s former vehicle, as the Building Department vehicle is “falling apart, day by day.”
“I do not have any money and it’s not worth putting any money from my budget into repairing it,” Piccirilli said.
Piccirilli also said there are a lot of building code changes coming up, which will require the purchase of new books, but added that hopefully he would have that in the budget to take care of the need.
“The 10th edition will be coming out,” he said. “It’s already out. It’s promulgated. There will be a congruency period until, I think, next June, but we are getting into the new books, so I’m going to have to buy 2021 books.”
That expense would come out of his budget.
“If there’s an education budget [for his department], I’d love to take it out of that, so it doesn’t come out of mine,” Piccirilli said. “But…”
The town administrator’s office maintains an educational training budget, Warner noted.
“There’s been some bits and pieces of it other places, but there’s been some discussion about maybe just centralizing it, but it might be best to see if it’s there, first,” Warner said. “I’m sure that there’s other uses, as well.”
Piccirilli said the energy code is a big change, so his department will be anticipating the need for educational funding.
Board of Assessors Chair John Noska, Principal Assessor Wendy Jones. Christine MacPherson and Heidi Hosmer attended the meeting.
Noska, echoed Piccirilli’s comment that there isn’t much change to the assessors’ budget.
“We’’re looking at the average 2.5 percent increase for wages,” he said, adding that union negotiations could potentially change that.
Jones said it is not anticipated that new building projects might change things at least for fiscal 2025.
“There were a lot of no-starts,” she said. “I think that might have been impacted by the interest rates, because we did go out and revisit some of those properties that were going to start – the car wash on Bedford Street, four units on Temple Street – not as many as the year before. There were 55 condos [built] in fiscal 2024, but it might change with interest rates coming down.”
Warner mentioned the town’s movement toward the MBTA Communities project, asking about its potential impact on building.
Jones and Noska agreed that it would, as Jones added that a part of the new Affordable Housing Act coming online in February will depend on what the town is going to do, and mentioning the town’s bylaw for accessory dwelling apartments, but not an accessory dwelling unit.
The Select Board on Monday, Dec. 2 voted to refer a proposed amendment of a town bylaw governing accessory apartments in town (Sec. 240-616 accessory apartments) to town counsel and the Planning Board.
The bylaw change would, according to ZBA Chair John Goldrosen, would allow town counsel to review it and refer the issue back to the Planning Board so it can schedule a hearing on the amendment.
Planners are moving quickly on the issue because the state law’s provision takes effect on Feb. 2, but the Planning Board can place an advertisement in the newspaper by the end of January, making everyone subject to the bylaw, even athough it cannot be acted on until the May Town Meeting.
“That’s why we moved quickly on this,” Goldrosen said. The reason behind it is to encourage more housing units, Goldrosen pointed out in response to a question by Select Board Vice Chair Dan Salvucci Dec. 2. He added that the measure covers not only such housing space within a structure, but also free-standing structures on a property.
“It’s a boring department, which is good,” Noska said at the board’s lack of other issues to bring up. “It’s well-funded, it’s structured.”
Jones did mention one of the biggest expenses is the valuation contract with Catalyst Tax & CAMA (computer-assisted mass appraisal), with which Whitman is in the midst of a three year contract right now, ending in 2026.
“Their contract includes … they do all the data collections,” Jones said. “They do all the building permits, inspections, entries, sketchings. They do all the utility valuations as part of the [$7,000] contract.”
The Assessors would do a request to submit proposals (RSP) with three major companies – Catalyst, PK Valuations and Envision Government Solutions.
Any cost differential would not be fully known until the contract is put out to bid, Noska said. He noted that, sometimes when companies grow, they lose that attention that, at one time, they’d give to all towns.
“We’re going to do a big analysis on several things,” Jones said.
Warner, assuming that all companies have their own proprietary data handling method, asked if the shift to a new company might mean some kind of data migration?
Jones and Noska said it would, depending on what the Board of Assessors decides to convert and what they could, potentially keep in-house.
“We’re going to look at all the options,” Jones said.
Earning merit
Scouts from Troop 22 attended the meeting as a requirement toward a communications merit badge, perhaps not expecting to have a discussion on what the Finance Committee does, while the committee waited for members of the Board of Assessors and the Building Commissioner to arrive at the meeting.
“Does anybody know what the Finance Committee does?” Warner quizzed the Scouts.
“Budget for the town, arrange what [funds] will be put where,” one Scout answered.
“OK. So, interestingly, kind of,” Warner said. “Our job is an advisory role. We don’t actually set the budget, we help to define it, figure it out and then work with various departments to talk about money and where it might go and how it might be best used for the town.”
He apologized to the Scouts that the committee’s attendance was down because of illness and holiday demands, but thanked them for coming to the meeting.

The School Committee on Wednesday, Dec. 11, discussed MCAS, the Am I Ready diagnostics and the state assessment, so parents and the community could see how students are doing.
MCAS scores, officials reported are commensurate with end-of-year performance compared with other schools in the state, but the bulk of discussion focused on curriculum in the wake of some parental concerns.
Assistant Superintendent of Schools George Ferro said the district is making moderate progress toward educational targets.
“We’ve done this in the past,” said Ferro of the review. “We’ve done this in different ways. We’ve done it with, simply, what have we done with our curriculum, We’ve done it with an MCAS presentation, we’ve done it with the diagnostics and what our students are learning. Today, we’ve combined it all, because we do live in a different time as far as the threat to the internet.”
He said educators are still not completely certain of where the issue is going to go with respect to graduation requirements.
The district now knows that’s no longer a graduation requirement and that the district has received two different FAQs (frequently asked question filed) from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education as to where they might be going, according to Ferro.
He and Assistant Superintendent of Equity and Compliance, Dr. Nicole Semas-Schneeweis offered the presentation together.
“We’re going to try to give you a synopsis of what we do, why we do it and the reasons for it,” Ferro said. “What we do is based on credible laws.”
Two federal laws govern curriculum – No Child Left Behind and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), both of which require proof of effectiveness in some way in order to secure continuing funding.
“Basically, the feds tell the states what needs to take place, and the states come up with what they do, they enact it and we have to cooperate,” Ferro said.
Semas-Schneeweis added that No Child Left Behind, demanded that interventions required since 1955 had to be scientifically based and ESSA added the requirement that they also be evidence-based.
“We are mandated to follow this federal law and choose curriculum material that are evidence-based that meet that criteria,” she said. “We don’t determine that. Curriculum developers must go out and make their own studies, submit those studies and then they get vetted. So, when you see a curriculum developer partner with an agency or a third party, that is what they are mandated to do under this law, and that is not always clear.”
Ferro emphasized that no decisions are made without evidence and a proper process.
DESE does that work and lets school districts know which curricula meet those requirements.
“There are regulations and requirements about digital learning as well,” Semas-Schneeweis said. “The pandemic just exacerbated the digital learning requirement.”
The state also has a digital literacy component to its education regulations.
She stressed that digital learning programs must also be active, rather than having students merely sitting at a computer.
Some curricula, such as My Path, adjust to the deficiencies an advancements of students. Ferro and Semas-Schneeweis said.
“Sometimes a parent will say, ‘My child is exposed to material he has not learned,’” Ferro said. “Yes, because at that point in time his diagnostic is saying he’s at a higher grade level than where he’s at.”
Semas-Schneeweis said teachers are an important part of the equation as the instructional piece, making the time to work with those students about 10 minutes a day in a station model.
Committee member Glenn DiGravio asked about the curriculum’s adjustment to students with a deficit and whether they are tested at that deficit level and how students catch up.
“There are no grades on your path,” Ferro said. “It’s helping you in your deficit skills while you’re still in math class at that grade level. … The goal of this is to say where you’re at, what grade level you’re at, what your deficits are, and then give you a plan to catch that up.”
“That’s awesome,” DiGravio said. “I just didn’t want to see students getting left behind and still getting the trophy.”
Member Rosemary Connolly said she assumed the discussion came up because of questions to the schools, asking what the path is if a child is not comfortable in their spaces and with technology at the same time, or a particular tool is helping a child.
Semas-Schneeweis said a teaching team might decide supplemental work is needed,
“No program, curriculum, technology is perfect or is going to replace good teaching,” said committee member Kara Moser. “As a teacher, I also use I Ready, not as a core curriculum, but as with the diagnostic and the My Path – there are some areas that are not perfect, However, I think it is part of thinking holistically, especially when we’re thinking about elementary level.”
Committee member Stephanie Blackman said it is also important to determine if a child who is struggling is it an issue is not being comfortable with the technology or an issue with not being comfortable with the material.
“We have a core curriculum, and this is a supplemental curriculum,” Ferro said.
Committee member Dawn Byers, going into budget season, asked that the committee be able to review the cost vs life cycle of curricula.
Following the curriculum discussion, the committee got down to talking about that parent letter.
The School Committee received a parent letter via the U.S. Postal Service Monday, Nov. 18, which was opened the next day. The letter addressed kindergarten and some of the curriculum features.
“I usually don’t get [mail that way],” Superintendent of School Jeff Szymaniak said. “I usually get everything by email.”
Semas-Schneeweis reviewed the letter to put together some information to present to the committe, according to Szymaniak.
“I didn’t want you to get something blind, because I knew the next question we were going to get was, ‘what is this and what do we do about it?’” he said to the committee.
School Committee member Dawn Byers said her concern centered around parental consent, which was bullet point number three on the letter’s reverse, which outlined the requirement for “parental consent if there is a potential for data collection.”
“This parent seems concerned about consent and approval,” she said, noting that she did a search through district school policy documents, which are available online, including [Sec. IJND] curriculum and instruction, where a section headed “permission and agreement form.”
“My question to follow up, is that our policy says, ‘a written parental request shall be required prior to the student being granted independent access to electronic media,’ and that the required permission agreement form shall be signed by the parent, and also by the student,” Byers said. “I’d be happy to make a motion to send this to our policy subcommittee, if we need to review ‘pemission and agreement form.’”
She made a similar motion to allow discussion on Sec. IJNDb, which is the access policy where there is another signature access agreement, primarily concerning the laptops that go out with students, but also mentions parental signature and agreement.
“Educational software companies don’t collect students’ personal data,” said Committee member Hillary Kniffen, who is also a teacher in another district. “It’s education policy beyond us that companies that bring in educational material electronically do not collect private data from students.”
Byers said that wasn’t her biggest concern. “The concern, actually, is the student was given a device and started using it, and the parent said, ‘What if I don’t want my child using it?’” she said. “So, we’re offering consent – it might actually exist.” She questioned if the district was asking a kindergartener to sign a form.
“I don’t see a problem with bringing that to the policy subcommittee,” Szymaniak said.
“It was probably written before all of this, too, so it probably needs to be looked at anyway,” Chair Beth Stafford said.
Szymaniak said a motion may not even be needed, but agreed to work within one if the Committee wanted to. The Committee gave unanimous approval to referring the issue to the policy subcommittee.

HANSON –The Selcet Board voted on Tuesday Dec. 17 to hold off accepting Veterans’ Agent Joseph Gumbakis’ resignation, which was to be effective Friday, Dec. 20, until officials could speak to him in hopes that he might change his mind.
Select Board Member David George said on Friday, Dec. 20 that he had spoken to Gumbakis, who has agreed to stay until a replacement can be hired. The position has been posted, Town Administrator Lisa Green said Monday, Dec. 23. Anyone interested may contact her office at 781-293-2131 for more information.
“He expressed his reasons why,” Green said during the meeting in response to George’s questioning whether anyone tried to talk him out of it. “I can only respect his reasons of why he is choosing to resign.”
She added that he spoke to her of his reasons for leaving, adding that they were things she could not talk someone out of, nor publicly share.
“He’s got personal things he needs to work on and with that, I don’t feel I can talk someone out of stating when they say to me, ‘I need to resign,’ for these particular reasons.”
“I spoke with Joe today and he said he’d stay on as long as we needed him to stay on,” George said. “He would work something out with the town. We really do need Joe. You might not need him and a lot of other people in town might not need him, but people like me and a lot of other veterans in the town need him.”
George said he is not going to go to another town to ask for benefits as a veteran.
“We have one in Hanson, he’s a good guy, and he knows his job,” George said.
“That’s never been an issue,” Green said.
FitzGerald-Kemmett strongly suggested taking the conversation offline at that point, as it seemed to be getting personal.
“We’re running the risk of potentially discussing somebody’s personal situation in an open meeting, which would be completely inappropriate,” she said.
“And I was not going to go in that direction,” Green said.
“If somebody is performing well and doing their job, we certainly want to retain people,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “I think Ms. Green understands that, and in every instance where that applies, she does try to do that.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett suggested George and Green discuss the matter so she could talk to him about Gumbakis’ reasons.
“He’s willing to stay on,” George said. “I don’t think he really wanted to quit.”
George said he wasn’t willing to discuss Gumbakis’ reasons in open meeting, either, but he stressed that he did not think the man wanted to quit right now.
“At some point in time, I know he wants to move out of state,” he said. “At some point in time, but don’t think it’s right now, and I know he loves working with the veterans.”
“Here’s the danger,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “We’re talking about two different things.”
Noting that the board is not meeting again until Jan. 14, she reminded the board that Gumbakis’ resignation is effective at the end of December, she suggested letting Gumbakis know that, should he still wish to resign at the end of the month, the board would accept it.
“But we could also ask that you speak to him and, if he wants to revoke his request to resign, then we will empower you to retain him,” FitzGerald-Kemmett suggested.
The board unanimously supported the motion.
George said the weight of hours are difficult for Gumbakis, but “as a veterans’ agent … there isn’t anything that guy doesn’t know.”
“If he leaves, he’s going to be missed by a lot of us,” George said.
“Clearly, there’’s a level of passion here that none of us could understand to the level that David does,” Board member Joe Weeks said.

HANSON – Everyone loves an ARPA check, almost as much as Christmas celebrations.
The Hanson Select Board, on Tuesday, Dec. 10, were able to extend their verbal thank-you notes to those who made both possible for Hanson this year.
The Board issued its thanks and recognition to the Hanson Holiday Committee and the Plymouth County Commissioners for their hard work in creating Hanson’s Holiday Fest, and efficiently overseeing the distribution of ARPA funds, respectively.
“If you are fortunate enough to go to [the Holiday Fest] every year, then you might think that it just magically happens,” Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “That is not true. There is a committee of people who meet, really at the start of summer, which seems quite shocking, but it’s true, talking about how to fund raise, what organizations are going to take part, etc.”
While she said the Hanson Highway and Police departments who always support the event, she said she thought it would be nice to
FitzGerald-Kemmett had also offered some recognition during the event which was also attended by Board members Ed Heal and Joe Weeks, but she didn’t think sufficient thanks had been offered.
“I wanted to make sure that it was, because I see how hard you guys work and I really think it’s important,” she said. “It’s such a beloved tradition in Hanson.”
The family-oriented event does not charge admission, and is a low-key time to gather with family, friends and community, enjoy the bonfires, sample the wares of local eateries and watch the fireworks.
“It’s a beautiful event,” she said. “We need more of those events.”
Receiving certificates of appreciation were: Hanson Police Sgt. Michael Bearce for organizing the police detail and crowd safety; Amanda Hauk, for social media and organizational work on the event; Highway Department employee Kevin Dykes, who plays a critical role in the event; Bob Hayes, for serving as the official ambassador for the committee and assisting with fundraising, ensuring the event’s sustainability; Fire Department Deputy Chief Charlie Barends, who is non-stop working on fundraising and ideas for connecting with people and getting the word out; Fire Chief Robert O’Brien for his work in organizing the fireworks display; and Committee Chair Steve Amico, for “quietly leading the charge for many years.
“You have had a part in it the last few years, as well,” Amico said to FitzGerald-Kemmett. “So, we thank you for all of your help.”
“That is unscripted, Mr. Amico, and not fitting” she joked.
There may not have been any certificates of appreciation for the county commissioners, but FitzGerald-Kemmett was equally as vocal in her thanks for the work they have done to help Hanson.
“You know how we love it,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said as she opened the meeting. “Show us the money, Jared!”
Plymouth County Commissioners Chair Jared Valanzola and Sen. Mike Brady aide Jimmy J. Valentin.
“This is the cap for me for Hanson, if we are able to get some more money, we’ll work on it, [but] every community is committed to using their full allocation, there very well may be,” Valanzola said.
“Thank you for coming, and thank you for bringing the money,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.
Valanzola attended the meeting to present a $977,095.18 check to the town in ARPA funds to pay for improvements and expansion of the food pantry, Prat Place culvert construction, highway catch basin repair/construction and a Class V ambulance.
“It’s kind of hard to believe,” he said. “It is the season for giving.”
Valanzola noted the Commissioners have pretty much come to the end of the ARPA program, which is scheduled to sunset on Dec. 31.
“The county needs to have all its fun allocated by then,” Valanzola said. “It can still write checks after that day, but all applications need to be in.”
None of the other commissioners were able to attend the meeting and Treasurer Thomas J. O’Brien has been “more or less tethered to his desk to make sure we get these applications out,” according to Valanzola. “When the ball drops, so does the hammer on getting these things out the door on Dec. 31.” Three Commissioners’ meetings are planned before that date too get things out the door.
He said Hanson has been on the forefront of securing these funds among the 27 cities and towns the Commissioners work with, and lauded some of the things the town has obtained with the ARPA funds – purchasing an ambulance, replacing culverts and needs of the food pantry.
“This money is going to do great work for the town of Hanson as well as for our public servants, who dedicate their lives and work hours every day to the town of Hanson,” Valentin, said, urging the town to reach out to Sen. Brady’s office if they need anything.
FitzGerald-Kemmett said both offices were an example of responsive public
service, noting that Brady “is always on it, or he knows somebody who somebody who can help. … he gets the job done.”
But she also sang the praises of the county commissioners.
“You guys have been amazing partners in this ARPA [program],” she said. “You showed everybody how this should be done, and you did it efficiently with very low overhead cost. We are lucky to have Ms. Green advocating for us, but without that partnership on the other side it wouldn’t have been as amazing as it has been, so we thank you.”
Valanzola said the commissioners pride themselves on that, noting Massachusetts is a big state and state officials have to deal with big cities – Boston, Worcester and Springfield.
“Little towns like Hanson sometimes get left behind in that fray,” he said. “But for us at the County level, Hanson is not going to get left behind.”
The commissioners have been proud of demonstrating what good regional government can do, Valanzola said.
“We’re elected by the same people and are accountable to the same people,” he said of the neighbors they are helping. Rockland native, who now lives in Plymouth said he also knows Hanson well.
“These are communities that we’re really entrenched in, and I think that demonstrates [our] commitment to these towns” he said.
As they have kept their low overhead, the final number they have been tracking, 1.25 percent administrative costs. Keeping those administrative costs low has meant more money for Hanson and the other communities they’ve been working with, Valanzola said.

WHITMAN – The Select Board on Monday, Dec. 2 voted to refer a proposed amendment of a town bylaw governing accessory apartments in town (Sec. 240-616 accessory apartments) to town counsel and the Planning Board.
The bylaw change would, according to ZBA Chair John Goldrosen, would allow town counsel to review it and refer the issue back to the Planning Board so it can schedule a hearing on the amendment, Goldrosen said.
Planners are moving quickly on the issue because the state law’s provision takes effect on Feb. 2, but the Planning Board can place an advertisement in the newspaper by the end of January, making everyone subject to the bylaw, even though it cannot be acted on until the May Town Meeting.
“That’s why we moved quickly on this,” Goldrosen said.
The reason behind it is to encourage more housing units, Goldrosen pointed out in response to a question by Select Board Vice Chair Dan Salvucci. He added that the measure covers not only such housing space within a structure, but also free-standing structures on a property.
He said his concern about that centers on the fact that the present zoning bylaw allows accessory buildings – such as storage sheds – to be within 10 feet of a property line because it was written without consideration that they might be occupied.
“Well, now they might be occupied,” he said, noting they want to ensure proper setback requirements are placed on such uses.
While the amendment is still subject to some changes after public hearings and as the state is supposed to issue regulations and guidelines to clear up some ambiguities in the state law, which has not been done that yet, according to Goldrosen.
“They haven’t done that yet, but they will in the next couple of months,” he said “The town already has an accessory apartment bylaw, which allows, by special permit, apartments within a house to be used by members of the family – you could call it an in-law apartment.”
However, the state recently passed a new statute, which requires towns to accessory dwelling units, not limited to members of a homeowner’s family and not requiring a special permit.
“Unlike the MBTA Communities Act, where there was town action required, this simply overrides any local laws and doesn’t require town action, but the state does allow certain, limited regulation and the purpose of this proposed bylaw is to take advantage of that,” Goldrosen said.

HANSON – Any way you look at it ARPA regulations and the calendar have worked out to give town officials the more pleasant headache of how to spend $350,000 in unused federal money – but a question over if funds approved at Town Meeting for a libarary/senior center generator could be spent on a larger model to help address “catastrophic emergencies” have complicated things.
The remaining projects – totaling some $319,000 were approved and town counsel’s opinion will be sought about the generator issue.
The town has some unexpended ARPA money, that the town didn’t know about, according to Town Accountant Lisa Green.
“Plymouth County reached out and gave us an exact amount of how much we had,” she said.
But Select Board Chair and Town Accountant Eric Kinsherf said $150,000 had been set aside for a library feasibility study and some of the projects that were approved and the task being funded didn’t come to fruition.
“What’s driving this is, by Dec. 31, you have to have the money spent or at least a contract to spend it,” he said.
The total for that unexpended cash is approximately $350,000, and there are, Kinsherf said, some suggested projects on which to spend it, that had already vetted by Green and department heads.
Select Board member Joe Weeks asked what, exactly, happened to the projects? He was already aware of the library project.
Green said under Plymouth County’s oversight, the town applied for ARPA funds for the generator for the senior center and library, which was denied. The library had also requested $200,000 for a new HVAC system, but Facilities Director Charlie Baker was able to bring in a company to maintain and service the current system, which bought an additional three years of life for the systems. The library then sought $150,000 and, through Town Meeting, set aside $150,000 if they were to receive a state grant for the building. But the town was not eligible for the grant after Town Meeting rejected that opened up the $150,000.
Kinsherf said among the projects that could be funded with the remaining funds are:

• $9,600 to Guilfoil Public Relations;
• $10,000 for Highway Department overtime;
• $6,500 for Select Board staff stipend;
• $8,800 for Assessors’ map software;
• $26,750 to replace Police Department computer battery backup;
• $26,900 for a Police Department motorcycle;
• $5,360.34 for a Smartboard for the Police Department training room;
  •$56,000 for a concrete walkway and handicapped ramp at Town Hall;
• $25,000 for five Fire Department radios;
  Police cruisers, storm water management bylaw update, Highway office improvements and additional funds for a portable generator round out the funding projects.
  “I know that at Town Meeting we did appropriate money for a generator specifically for the library and senior center,” Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said.
  She added that she had received a couple of calls from the library and the senior center to remind her that the generator funds had been approved specifically for the library and senior center.
  “When you and I had discussed it,” she said to Fire Chief Robert O’Brien Jr. “you had said this would give us more versatility with a generator we could move around. But then it gets into some questions about who decides who the priority is?”
  O’Brien said that is fairly simple.
  “Between the Police Station and the well field, those are the priorities in town,” he said. They found, after Town Meeting approved exterior hookups on the buildings, they found that all the generators that are in this region will not do the well field or the Police Station because their loads are greater than what he has at the Fire Station.
  “We needed a minimum of a 125-kilowatt generator,” he said they were told by a technician testing the Fire Department generator. During their talk it became apparent to O’Brien that, “if the Police Station goes down, the Fire Station goes down, the Town Hall goes down and the library/senior center goes down.”
  The new phone system in town offices are based out of the Police Station as is the majority of the town’s IT system.
  “That is why we went to the external hookups a year ago,” he said.
  Legal
  considerations
  FitzGerald-Kemmett countered that the Town Meeting vote was specific about a generator going to the library/senior center, and the Water Department runs its own budget.
  “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be that way, but the Water Department has their own money that they control,” she said. “That’s what we pay our water bills for and I think, if they need a generator then they ought to make the case for a generator out of water funds.”
  O’Brien countered that all the buildings have generators, but a portable generator should be prioritized as a back-up.
  “We know Town Meeting had voted for a generator for the library/senior center, but what I was personally looking at was trying to be more feasible,” he said. “As we know, money is tight, and if we’re able to get one generator that, while it is the library/senior center’s [and is housed there as the main user] if, during a major storm, the Police Station goes down, Charlie Baker or somebody can go take it, tow it there and hook up their stuff.”
  He did agree with FitzGerald-Kemmett that the issue will have to go back to Town Meeting.
  The difference between the generators being discussed is $30,000. The generator O’Brien discussed has an $80,000 price tag plus another $41,000 to do the transfer switch at the library/senior center and the outside hookups, as have been installed at the other buildings and the well field.
  “So we’re still talking about a generator for the library/senior center, it’s just a different type of generator,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “We don’t need to take a vote tonight.”
  But she wanted to hear where the board was leaning.
  “I think it’s incredibly smart,” Weeks said. “But it just comes down to what the town voted for vs what they’re potentially going to get. It’s overlapping issues we’re dealing with.”
  He wanted to hear the library/senior center opinion as well as a legal one from town counsel.
  SST vote
  South Shore Tech Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey for a “preliminary discussion” on the Jan. 20, 2025 town Election on the school’s building plan.
  “Once that ballot goes through, the town will move forward with how we pay for [it],” Town Administrator Lisa Green said, indicating the discussion was just to establish a time line and introduction.
  “It’s a special District Election that the same ballot question will be on at polling places at all nine of our disrict towns,” Hickey said. “The question is really not a debt exclusion, it’s not an override. “It’s merely a question of, ‘do the voters in the nine towns support the project or not?’ So, it’s a yes or no vote.”
  If the project passes, each community will have to figure out its own path to figuring out how its community is going to pay for it,” Hickey said, adding that nearly all the district’s communities will go for a debt exclusion.
  But if the project passes on Jan. 25, the most popular choice would be to ask voters to approve a spending formula on a spring ballot question.
  He’s been telling towns that the high-water mark of their bonding costs would hit in 2030 of 2031.
  In the first year, the district would probably borrow about $11 million, paying $350,000 in interest, 12 percent of which would be Hanson’s cost as the fiscal 2016 installment, based on a division by enrollment percentage.
  “I’m hoping that, by the end of this month, I’ll have a projection of tax impact,” Hickey said.
  The MSBA approved the project at the end of October, costing about $164 million in total, divided between nine towns, as Marshfield has joined the district.
  “When we put out our numbers, one of the things that I’m looking at carefully is separating fact from projection,” Hickey said. “I can tell every town what their share would be in fiscal 2026 and ‘27 because we have those enrollment numbers in the can.”
  But for 2028 and beyond, the predictions take on the accuracy of a 10-day weather forecast.
  “I do feel comfortable saying that Hanson is one of four communities out of the nine who consistently wants to enroll more children than there are available seats,” he said. “I can look at that [available unused seats] and make a projection.”
  Right now, he said Hanson is probably looking at a 10.5-percent share of the cost, if all towns stay constant with their enrollment.
  Select Board member Joe Weeks asked what happens if the issue fails at the ballot in some towns, but a majority votes yes.
  “It’s a district-wide election, so it’s treated as one entity,” Hickey said. “It’s not town-specific.”
  Voting would be only in-person or by absentee voting.
  The School Board will officially vote the warrant on Nov. 20.
  Weeks then asked what happens if towns that approved the project in January fail to pass the funding articles at Town Meeting or Town Election?
  “That’s probably the best question that could be asked at this early stage,” Hickey said. “If the project is approved, then each community is obligated, so the messaging has to be clear … if there’s a municipal debt exclusion and the debt exclusion fails, the project dies.”