HANSON — The town’s Economic Development Committee on Monday, Sept. 13, presented its latest work in the efforts to revitalize the Main Street corridor.

The EDC gave its second presentation during a joint session with the board. Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett, who also serves on the EDC, along with fellow members Ken Sweezy and Jim Geronaitis attended the session.

Geronaitis and Stantec representative Phil Schaeffing and, at times, former Town Planner Deb Pettey, past and present town administrators have worked on a grant to fund and plan for the Main Street efforts, according to FitzGerald-Kemmett.

The local rapid recovery plan, as it is known, includes actionable plans tailored to the unique economic challenges and COVID-19 impacts of downtown areas through a planning grant funded by the Mass. Dept. of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). Hanson is one of 120 communities — mostly medium or small in size — across the commonwealth to participate in the grant program.

The area between Elm and High Streets is being referred to as South Hanson Village, Schaeffing said.

A business survey was conducted in the spring and the EDC has been reviewing project recommendations during the summer toward drafting a plan and public presentation, which is due to DHCD by Oct. 8.

Those project recommendations include building and façade improvements — which is one of the primary recommendations — maintenance and repair and general improvements such as signage. Projects fall into one or more of six categories: public realm, private realm, revenue & sales, administrative capacity, tenant mix and cultural/arts.

Improvements to the pedestrian environment, to improve access to businesses and the MBTA station are looked to in an effort to aid safety to cyclists or pedestrian, which are also safety priorities of the federal Department of Transportation.

Infrastructure improvements to accommodate present and future development and connection to the Burrage Pond trails are being explored, Schaeffing said, as is the encouragement of more housing.

“From a business perspective, having more residents that are living nearby, especially for retail or service-oriented businesses, is helpful for that business,” he said.

“There’s more to talk about on this,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “It’s not our place to be unilaterally saying that we’re knocking on people’s doors and saying, ‘Please come to Hanson and develop this type of housing.’ We’re talking about is there a way for us to develop a zone and work with it so we can effectuate the outcome more than we have the existing 40B.”

Schaeffing said any housing development depends on having regulations in place that permit the development.

Engaging local business owners is also being looked at to help increase sales and encouraging a “buy local” atmosphere as well as facilitating third-party technical support to help increase online sales and marketing.

Selectmen Chairman Matt Dyer said a town-wide visioning process might be the best step to take next.

“We had some really good outcomes with the Plymouth County Hospital property where that was quite the turnout for a committee,” Dyer said.

Sweezy suggested a good approach would be to look at the area in terms of what image Hanson wants to project as a community.

Selectman Jim Hickey endorsed that approach, but had a question about the funding, especially for sidewalk extension.

Sweezy said the main focus is what funding is available now and then

“What do we want it to look like?” FitzGerald-Kemmett said of the zoning and visioning considerations. “Do we want it to be modern … or are we looking for it to resemble a quaint New England town with lighting so people feel safe?”

She noted that the EDC has received feedback that people do not feel safe walking to the MBTA.

“This is really a pivotal time for the town of Hanson,” Dyer said, while agreeing with FitzGerald-Kemmett that none of it will happen overnight.

“A quick-hit that may make some of us feel a lot better … is the façade piece,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “I really hate to use the analogy about slapping lipstick on a pig, but I’m willing to do that if it makes people not cringe when they drive through that area.”

Green elevated

Selectmen voted to change Town Administrator Lisa Green’s title from interim to permanent, pending a good performance evaluation.

“I think that Lisa’s been doing a great job,” said Dyer. “One of the things I keep on hearing, as I make my way through Town Hall is, ‘Well, we’ll see how long Lisa is with us,’ ‘She’s interim,’ and I think, at this point, … I personally would like to keep her and I would like to see her become the town administrator and drop the ‘interim.’”

FitzGerald-Kemmett said she has done an outstanding job after having to hit the ground running.

“Boy, did she get handed a lot of ticking little time bombs, not getting into details, but you guys all know,” she said, but expressed concern that the board take extra pains to ensure proper procedure.

“She goes constantly above and beyond,” Dyer said. “She’s here for the best interests of the town of Hanson.”

Selectmen Joe Weeks said he did not feel he had enough information to make that decision and preferred to wait until after seeing how Green works Town Meeting on her own. Selectman Kenny Mitchell’s absence also concerned him, as Weeks felt the full board should be able to weigh in.

Selectman Jim Hickey said the issue is simple.

“All it does is take off the interim,” he said. “Her contract runs out next August anyway.”

Hickey noted that, if she misses Town Meeting for a training program, it’s because she wants to be a better town administrator.

Town Counsel Kate Feodoroff said that, while the move might be unprecedented for Hanson, it is not unprecedented for other communities.

“There are certainly many, many examples of interims that morph into a permanent without doing an exhaustive search because its like a probationary period,” she said. “You have the benefit of seeing people in action as opposed to on paper or how the interview. In that sense, it can be quite positive.”

She said that takes place routinely across the commonwealth.

Dyer also argued that former Town Planner Deb Pettey was hired the same way.

FitzGerald-Kemmett also noted that Green was among the top four applicants of an “exhaustive” search that yielded a hire that lasted 16 months.

Selectmen approved the change 3-0-1, with Weeks abstaining.

HANSON — The Zoning Board of Appeals on Tuesday, Aug. 31 continued it’s public hearing on the Cushing Trails LLC application for a 44-unit comprehensive Chapter 40B permit off Spring Street.

With a year-end deadline to complete this phase of the process, the board voted to continue the hearing to 7 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 9.

The hearing, broadcast as a self-service production submitted to Whitman-Hanson Community Access TV for playback on the Hanson government access channel and WHCA’s YouTube channel, was held in the Selectmen’s meeting room at Town Hall.

“There’s numerous topics that we discussed last hearing, traffic, sidewalks, landscaping, septic systems, culverts, parking, environmental concerns and water,” Cushing Trails attorney Michael O’Shaughnessy said. “I believe we’ve presented to the board information on all these points and I think we’ll be able to satisfactorily address all these comments tonight.”

Joe Pignola, attending through a grant to the town of Hanson from the Mass. Housing Partnership, said his role was as an adviser to the board. “My role is to assist … and help you stay within the lines,” Pignola said. He has been an engineer for 30 years who has served on a ZBA as well as a project engineer for nonprofits as well as privately-owned projects. He has worked on 40B projects for 20 years.

“There’s a presumption that the need for affordable housing outweighs local concerns,” Pignola said. “You start with that presumption.”

Local concerns, he indicated are local bylaws, but Pignola said the ZBA must process the data and listen to concerns and understand what’s going on in the community, watching for issues that overcome the need for local concerns to prevail.

He explained that the applicants must demonstrate there are requirements for project eligibility, site control — they have a purchase and sale agreement — and they must commit to control profits and be monitored in doing so.

Pignola said input from the Board of Health would be advised because of the proximity to groundwater, and that there have been concerns voiced about the nearby landfill, as well.

Overall, at the second meeting stage, Pignola said the process for Cushing Trails is ahead of schedule because they had a peer review done right away.

“It all starts with engaging your other boards and your staff to help you in this complex process,” he said. With a window of 180 days from opening the hearing process to competition, he said the ZBA is looking at the end of the year as a deadline, with an extra 40 days after the hearing closes in which to render a decision. Both processes can be extended on request.

A denial or conditioned approval the applicant does not like, gives them recourse to appeal to housing appeals court, which would decide if a conditioned approval was uneconomic.

Town Counsel Jay Talerman added that while peer reviews identify technical issues that require changes, after that it’s not all technical.

“The next part of it … you get to review what is good for the neighborhood,” Talerman said. “Is density causing an issue that reflects or causes issues that are negative for the neighborhood? … things that cost the developers money.”

Developers then can negotiate with the town to address those issues.

“I’m not saying that discussion will happen here, but when we’re done with all the technical stuff, that is the discussion,” Talerman said. “Nothing in this project jumps out as being so egregious as to warrant a denial, but as an attorney … I’m not here to tell you [that] you shouldn’t say no, I’m here to tell you what the risks and benefits of saying no are. It’s your town.”

While Pignola said the aim is to identify issues that would impact or stop the project, he said nothing he has seen so far that is in that mind-set. Every 40B is more dense than local zoning typically permit, he said, making it necessary to answer whether that density is too much for local infrastructure, including Title V septic regulations.

“The bottom line is, I’m here to help you,” he said. “The applicant wants a good project, the neighbors want a good project, and that should be everybody’s goal.”

A project engineer, landscape architect and an environmental consultant also appeared with O’Shaughnessy to speak about the project. They had worked with the applicant on a 350-page report addressing the concerns of people who live in the area, O’Shaughnessy said.

Civil Engineer Joseph Webby said a guardrail has been added to the plan and a vinyl fence has been relocated and the entire site has been wrapped with a 18-inch silt sock to protect groundwater in the area. No parking signs have also been added to ease traffic flow in the area and assist fire apparatus in accessing the development, if necessary. Post-development calculations have also been revised on utilities and storm water engineering, Webby said.

“We’ve had some incomplete details on a drainage basin,” that’s been completed,” Webby said. More frequent mowing of drainage basins has also been added to the maintenance plan.

Perkins asked what material the guardrail would be made of, which Webby answered that a wood guardrail would be made of pressure-treated material.

“I was just envisioning a metal guardrail [like on] the side of I-93,” Perkins said. He also indicated he would expect the entrance of the property be closed off with the 18-inch silt sock at the end of each work day, which Webby confirmed.

Sidewalks would be separated from the roadway by concrete curbing and a four-foot grass strip, O’Shaughnessy said. Visitor parking has also been added to the front of the site and the houses were pushed back on the site plan as much as possible to add an additional parking space at each unit as well as a garage.

“We tried to pull them away from the property line as well,” O’Shaughnessy said.

Evergreen and deciduous trees have been added to the landscape plan to separate the development from the street and other properties and a walking trail has been added around the property. The condominium association would have responsibility for maintaining the landscape of the common areas.

Bill Kenny of River Hawk Environmental reported on citizen concerns about wells located on the Rockland side of the property, including what he described as an important hydro-geological factor — that water at the site flows toward north, away from the site.

Kenny said the DEP tracks, according to state landscaping regulations, the site number it assigns to each project area after a comprehensive assessment to determine where waste and other issues are located in relation to the nearby landfill, followed by the owner’s long-term maintenance and monitoring plan, this case by B Street Landfill run be CDM Smith of Cambridge.

He said groundwater monitoring reports that water quality and flow standard concerns are “not really relevant” because of the northward flow of water [26:00 to 31:00].

“It is my opinion that this development won’t impact anything associated with the landfill,” Kenny said. He added that a swale should carry water away from the property.

One area resident said the report on drainage addressed his biggest concerns about the project — drainage and sidewalks.

“With the latest that they’ve submitted, they’ve shown there won’t be any increase in the rate for volume runoff off site … not at the existing conditions now,” he said of drainage, which had been his biggest concern.

A traffic expert who conducted a peer review of the initial traffic study for the project said, the conservative side the study of the site was satisfactory or above average. He did endorse that some pruning should be done at the site entrance.

“I don’t think you’re wrong moving forward without doing anything down there,” he said.

O’Shaughnessy echoed his contention that, with 61 percent of traffic headed north and about 39 percent headed to the south at the Route 58/Spring Street intersection, during the morning the development would add 13 vehicles and 16 in the evening. The review concluded, according to O’Shaughnessy that it would “not result in a material increase in motorist delays or vehicle queuing.”

HANSON — The process for handling citizen complaints, adopted in 1993 and revised in 2008 and 2016, was discussed by Selectmen at their Tuesday, Aug. 24 meeting.

Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett had asked for the item to be placed on the agenda to ensure that there was “full transparency among the entire board about complaints that we may be getting and that there aren’t situations where, although well-intended, it would be the town administrator and the chair who were deciding how to respond.”

Interim Town Administrator Lisa Green said the process includes a timeline for responding to citizen complaints, which are first submitted to the committee or department they concern in writing. The committee or department then has two weeks to respond and, if the complainant is not satisfied, they can go to the town administrator for a review and response. If that is not found satisfactory to the person raising the issue, it can be brought before the Board of Selectmen.

FitzGerald-Kemmett said there may be instances where responses need to be quicker and, if a response could be made faster than the 14-day window, it would be done.

She wanted to address, specifically complaints about appointed boards and committees. As an example, she asked how a complaint about how someone was addressed at a meeting might be handled.

“I’ll be frank with you, there were times in the last year and a half when our board got complaints and we didn’t even respond to citizens filing the complaint,” she said. “We were aware of the complaints and we just didn’t respond, and that’s completely unacceptable to me.”

She also asked if information about the process was available on the website.

Green said she would look into the website question and where the best place for it would be.

FitzGerald-Kemmett also wanted to make clear the town’s complaint process was not the same as the state’s open meeting law complaint process.

“I’m not saying, ‘Oh, please, file all these complaints,’” she said. “But I do want to make sure if people have got concerns that we are being responsible about having the procedure and form so that people have the feeling that we’re being responsive to their concerns.”

Green said that when she receives a complaint she researches all the information she can about the complaint, including state laws and regulations, and includes information directing people to the appropriate authorities.

FitzGerald-Kemmett also asked how Selectmen would know if any complaints were filed against a person seeking reappointment to a board or committee.

“The policy doesn’t speak to that,” said Town Counsel Kate Feodoroff, suggesting that Selectmen could create a policy on dealing confidentially with complaints and responses.

While she expressed confidence in Green’s ability to handle complaints, FitzGerald-Kemmett said she would like to see a way for the board to proceed with “eyes wide open” on information they would need to keep in mind when reappointments come up.

Green also said she would make sure Selectmen received emails on the situation, which prompted Selectman Joe Weeks to ask why he has had trouble receiving emails so far since his election this spring.

Dyer said the notification process would be a good idea.

“So we’re in agreement right now that we’re following this complaint policy, but we’re choosing to amend it to make it clearer?” Weeks said. “Because, there are complaints and I don’t feel I’m involved at all.”

“We’re not saying we’re following that, and my concern predates Ms. Green,” said FitzGerald-Kemmett, who said she was stating her concerns carefully out of legal considerations.

Dyer reprhrased Week’s concern as one of being informed of business before the board as a whole.

“I like the idea of the collective body being the decision-maker and the jury and the decision-maker through the town administrator,” Weeks said. “I don’t feel connected to it, personally.”

He said that whatever language would be required to make the

board collectively the town’s CEO, that is the standard he is seeking. Green said she is willing to look into why Weeks is not receiving emails.

WHITMAN — Fire Lt. Bryan Smith was sworn in during the Board of Selectmen’s meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 24 as the board discussed mask guidelines and procedure for the town administrator’s evaluation.

Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman also indicated a mask mandate for schools may be coming soon from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Fire Chief Timothy Clancy said Smith began his career as one of Whitman Fire’s first high school interns. The program has produced a lot of firefighters for the department over the years.

A 2001 W-H graduate, Smith earned his EMT and paramedic certifications, joining the Kingston Fire Department in 2004. He joined Whitman Fire-Rescue in 2008 as a full-time firefighter/paramedic. He earned an associates degree from Columbia Southern University and recently completed Fire Officer I training.

His wife Jessica and children Annabelle and Colin shared the badge pinning honors with Smith’s father Gary Smith, a retired Hanson firefighter. Smith’s brother is a Holbrook firefighter.

“It’s either in their blood, or there’s something in the water in Hanson,” Clancy said.

After the promotion ceremony, Selectmen began hearing program updates on the Whitman Cultural Council and Dollars for Scholars, but took a brief sidetrack into mask policies, which was revisited later in the meeting.

Dawn Byers and William Haran, of the Whitman Cultural Council had attended the meeting to report on the Council’s new members and recent Community Input Survey as well as upcoming events.

“I’d like you to think about and how we set up our meetings going forward,” Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski said to the board and Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman about the mask Byers was wearing, in view of the fact that a sign on the Town Hall door recommends CDC mask and social distancing guidelines.

Kowalski said he felt terrible that he was not wearing a mask.

“I’d like us to be distanced more than we are today, and set up the room to show we’re thinking about the right thing to do,” he said.

Byers thanked the board for appointing five new members to the Cultural Council over the past two months, bringing it to a full panel of seven. She then introduced Haran, whose report included an overview of the outdoor concert series that begins Thursday, Sept. 9 with a performance by Uncommon Soul from 5:30 to 7 p.m. [See announcement, page 5]. An open house at the Library Community Room will be held from 7 to 8 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 16.

Later in the meeting, Heineman briefed the board on COVID numbers and procedures — reporting that the COVID positivity rate has been rising in Whitman, the state and region, largely due to the Delta and Lambda variants, to which people are more susceptible when they are unvaccinated.

“What we do know is the vast majority of the folks hospitalized or very sick are unvaccinated,” he said.

A plan is being formulated between Fire Chief Clancy and the Board of Health for a booster shot program, after meeting last week. A return to first and second-dose clinics were also discussed but the “feeling was that wouldn’t be a good use of resources at the moment because anyone who wants to be vaccinated now has access through other means,” Heineman said, noting that most pharmacies offer them.

“Schools are primary interest for most folks,” Heineman said and reporting the DESE gave permission to Commissioner Riley to mandate masks. “That seems pretty clear [that] while he hasn’t officially done that yet … in the coming days that mandate will be in place for schools.”

The town’s buildings have been following the recommendations of public health officials, including the CDC, he noted. The Whitman Board of Health has issued a “strong recommendation” for masks for indoor locations, but not a mandate at this point.

“It’s not enough to recommend,” Kowalski adding that only four people in a crowded room for Lt. Smith’s promotion ceremony — two adults and two children — were wearing masks. “It just strikes me a so logical that there are two ways to combat this virus — one of them is to mask up … the other is to get vaccinated.”

Where vaccine mandates are concerned, Heineman said that, while the state’s executive branch and many employers are mandating vaccines, the Whitman Board of Health is still recommending, but not requiring vaccinations.

Selectman Brian Bezanson, who had COVID in January despite following mask guidelines, urged people to get vaccinated as he has since, and said he would recommend, but not mandate, masks.

Selectman Randy LaMattina agreed that it is a personal decision to have a health option.

“My family has been vaccinated … we did that because we trust the science,” he said. “Now people have skepticism. I think this, unfortunately is because a vaccine got politicized and we’re paying the price for that right now.”

He said zero deaths have occurred in breakthrough cases of people who have been vaccinates.

“I think people have to get vaccinated,” he said, suggesting that mandating a mask could give skeptics a reason to doubt the vaccine.

“If there’s something that’s more effective right now, it’s the vaccine,” Selectman Justin Evans said.

Town administrator goals

Heineman has submitted a list of goals and objectives to the board as requested at a previous meeting, and Kowalski said they have been working with counsel to refine the evaluation form.

“Not all the goals can be accomplished in a year,” Kowalski said, asking which Heineman thought could be handled in the first year or are most important to him.

Of the 14 goals and objectives he listed, Heineman pointed to improved communication with representatives of the W-H Regional School District concerning strategic planning and the budget process; identifying and pursuing a clear path forward for the Park Avenue School property; bringing a final DPW building plan to Town Meeting and possible regionalization of animal control services.

“Right off the bat, I think getting an assistant town administrator in here before the year is over, or as soon as possible would be one that we should want to handle for this year,” Kowalski said.

“I absolutely agree with Lincoln’s recommendation of trying to develop a better relationship with the school district,” Selectman Randy LaMattina said. He also agreed with the Park Avenue School item.

“There’s nothing on this list that I could say we could take off, it’s developing a timeline after that,” he said. “I think he made it hard for us, because  this list of goals alone is almost a strategic plan.”

Kowalski suggested ranking the items he wanted to complete in the coming year for the Sept. 28 meeting.

DFS event

Michelle LaMattina of Dollars For Scholars provided an overview of the second annual Decorating for Scholars event.

“We want to make it a little bigger this year,” she said, indicating that more trees would be available for sponsoring, as well as event sponsorships that provide funds for lights, trees and signs. They are also looking into arranging food trucks and craft vendors as well as local performers and a visitor from the North Pole this year and are changing the time frame to one weekend. The event is planned for from 4 to 8 p.m., Friday, Dec. 10; from 2 to 8 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 11 and from 4 to 8, Sunday, Dec. 12.

The Board voted to congratulate her and the DFS leadership for the success of last year’s inaugural event during a tough time. Michelle LaMattina said last year’s event was one of the group’s largest fundraisers over the past few years.

Randy LaMattina said a lot of people in town made last year’s event come together.

“It was great, and to pull it off in a year that people really needed something, I think it was a boost for the town,” he said.

Whitman Middle School

Heineman and Randy LaMattina serve on the building committee, which had issued a call for a request for services for Owner Project Manager. When the request response came back a subcommittee was to decide on a finalist to recommend to the full committee for MSBA approval. That has since been canceled and is being reissued, according to Heineman.

The committee met Tuesday afternoon and made the requested changes with an expected project price range of $50 million to $85 million. Applications would be due back by Oct.

“The process was put off for a few months, but it is moving forward,” he said.

“I think this whole process is going to be a little bit of a wrestling match, a little bit of a tug of war,” Randy LaMattina said. “There’s clearly a need for a new building. … We’re moving forward in a positive direction.”

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

HANSON — The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, Aug. 10 voted to permit department heads to access town debit cards to make purchases for the town, requested by Fire Chief Jerome Thompson Jr.

The cards would carry a $5,000 limit and so far have been authorized for Thompson, the police chief, highway director and interim town administrator.

Selectmen’s Administrative Assistant Greer Getzen said a lot of times computer subscriptions must be paid up-front. Interim Town Administrator Lisa Green added that, in many cases it is the only way software companies will accept payment.

A “check-in” after three months will be provided to Selectmen on how the program is going and how cards are being used.

Selectmen Chairman Matt Dyer said that Thompson told him in a telephone conversation that department heads have had store cards in the past, which permitted them to make needed purchases, but a lot of retail chains are no longer using that type of card.

“This is more for emergency purchases,” Dyer said. “Sometimes they have to run over to Shaw’s and get more gloves, or whatever, until the next order comes.”

He said Thompson told him that at times the Highway Department would borrow the card used in the past to make purchases they needed.

“It might be a good practice now just to have it, seeing that a lot of the stores are no longer allowing the store cards to be set up,” he said. “But it’s one of these things where it’s only the department heads that could use them and we should have a policy in place [for proper use].”

Dyer stresses that provision should not be a reflection on department heads, but is basically good management.

Green said Thompson had updated the request to include some non-emergency purchases.

“There will be a limit on the card and would be monitored by the Town Accountant and Treasurer/Collector,” she said. “The police have also put in for a similar debit card.”

Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett asked if the board could expect other departments to be making the same request down the road.

“Are we setting some type of weird precedence here?” she asked. “I recognize Jerry’s going to need stuff and I don’t want him or his guys having to pay out of pocket or somebody having to put it on their personal credit card and get reimbursed. That’s not the way we should be rolling.”

Green said Police Chief Michael Miksch has told her that he pays for a Go Daddy website on his personal card.

“I’m going to bring each request to the board, Treasurer/Collector and Town Accountant and get their thoughts on each request,” Green said. “I thought it’s the will of the board to decide on this request.”

Green said the Treasurer/Collector has already begun talking to banks about setting up the cards.

Selectman Jim Hickey, while noting that department heads do know best what their needs are, asked how many cards would be set up, or would it be just one card used by all department heads with Green holding the card and overseeing the use of it.

“What if it’s an emergency at night or something?” FitzGerald-Kemmett asked.

“I disagree,” Selectman Kenny Mitchell said in response to Hickey’s suggestion. “That’s just a pain. … I think we have trustworthy department heads that handle their budget and giving them a card is a convenience. They’re not buying personal stuff, they’re buying something for their departments.”

Hickey said he understood that as Mitchell continued.

“If we don’t trust our department heads with a credit card, then we’ve got bigger issues,” Mitchell said.

FitzGerald-Kemmett, while stressing she trusts the department heads, the $5,000 figure did catch her a little off guard and that there should be checks and balances.

Dyer suggested that, if the card is used, the receipt and a purchase order form be handed in the next business day for the financial team to initial off on.

Mitchell said he knows that Chief Miksch puts departmental purchases on his personal credit card, and reimbursements do not include the sales tax, because towns are exempt from sales tax while individual citizens are not.

HANOVER — Superintendent-director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey told the South Shore Tech School Committee, at it’s July 21 meeting, that the window replacement project is expected to begin during the third week of August.

Hickey said the school also plans to open on Aug. 31 with a full regular season of sports.

“It will go into the school year, but it will not have an impact as the company will transition to work in the second shift,” Hickey said of the window project’s potential effect on school routine, noting the district is having regular meetings with the design team and the project manager.

As for the potential for continued mask and social distancing regulations, Hickey said in a recent interview that he is waiting for guidance from the state, but he has met with administrators “kind of bracing ourselves for that in view of information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the more contagious nature of the COVID Delta variant.

“The mask part would be easy to implement,” he said. “The spacing part may require us to have to take a half a step back.”

He also expressed concern about the potential transportation impact if there was guidance from the state and some adjustments might be needed for classrooms in such a case.

So far, no new regulations have been received, but the school has already begun to examine increasing classroom capacity.

“At this point, for a lot of districts, it’s going to be kind of wait and see,” Hickey said. “If it [effects] space, I hope a decision is made sooner, rather than later.”

SST is also continuing to work around the building as they “return classrooms to some version of normal” and is making some renovations to the school’s lecture hall.

“You’re all familiar with our space crunch, so we’re going to be making multi-purpose use of our lecture hall to allow for library media specialists to be able to use that and have us use it more often.”

Hickey said the lecture hall is the last part of the school that may be going under-used. While maintaining the current seating, a mezzanine is being added to allow more versatility in use.

The committee voted to encumber a transfer of $1,487,382 in nonresident tuition to be applied to the fiscal 2022 budget and reduce the assessments to the district towns.

The winter budget presentation will outline the anticipated offset numbers.

“This information was predictable,” Hickey said of the presentation that had projected fiscal 2022 town assessments.

“We assume/project we will have this tuition money when we assess the towns in the following year,” Hickey said this week.

The committee also voted to credit $59,293 in surplus revenue for warrants payable from the 2019-20 budget. They also voted to debit $24,238 from surplus revenue to accrued salaries in the 2019-20 budget.

The Committee voted to encumber $398,000 in surplus revenue for building, grounds, equipment and supplies or any other recommendations by the superintendent-director. Another encumberance of $740,000 from surplus revenue for design, renovation and construction costs identified in the 2018 facilities master plan.

A sixth transfer of $134,151 from surplus regional transportation was approved to the regional transportation fund. Another $103,849 was voted from surplus revenue to bus costs and $80,000 was transferred from surplus revenues to the school lunch enterprise fund to cover COVID-19-related revenue decreases.

The committee conducted its year-end reorganization, again electing Robert Heywood as chairman and Robert Molla as vice chairman.

The Committee entered into executive session to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation. The committee adjourned from executive session.

[Editor’s note: This version corrects an error in which the drivers were connected to the wrong vehicles. The Express apologizes for the error.]

Two local men received serious injuries following a motor vehicle crash in Whitman on July 22 at approximately 9:30 p.m.

A medical helicopter air-lifted Jesse D. Farra, 31, of Whitman the operator of the motorcycle, to Tufts Medical Center for multi system trauma following the crash.

In a joint press release through the offices of Police Chief Timothy Hanlon and Fire Chief Timothy Clancy, the accident which occurred in the area of Bedford Street route 18 involved, a 2017 Subaru BRZ, which had collided with a motorcycle, a 2020 Harley Davidson FLHCS.

Chase J. Siereveld, 21, of Halifax, the driver of the Subaru was also injured. Both vehicles sustained serious damage. A State Police Reconstruction C.A.R.S. unit was summoned to the scene as part of the investigation in the area of 674 Bedford Street.

“From the initial reports it appears that the motorcycle was heading southbound on Bedford St. and had passed the intersection at Temple Street,” according to Hanlon.  “The car was heading northbound and turned in front of the motorcycle attempting to enter the parking lot at Papa Gino’s/Whitman Liquors.”

The accident is still under investigation by the MSP C.A.R.S. unit, according Hanlon.

 

 

 

 

WHITMAN — Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman updated the Board of Selectmen on the work of the Whitman Middle School Building Committee at the board’s Tuesday, July 20 meeting.

Heineman and Selectman Randy LaMattina both serve on the building committee, which has been meeting nearly every month.

“Right now, out in the world, the bid document for soliciting an owner’s project manager [has been of interest],” Heineman said. “Bids from prospective owner’s project managers are due back on July 28.”

It incudes an estimate of the total cost of the renovation or replacement of the Whitman Middle School, estimated to be between $50 to $85 million. The grade configuration of the new or renovated middle school — whether it will be grades five through eight or six through eight — is an ongoing question right now and could mean a larger price tag if the school must house four grades instead of three.

“I think everybody on that committee knows the shape [of the school],” LaMattina said. “Obviously the MSBA knows the shape for the Whitman Middle School to get picked in the first go-around for refurbishment or replacement.”

The project timeline includes eight months for a feasibility study and schematic design, 10 months to a year for the design phase and bidding phase including construction document development is expected to take another 10 months to a year with the final construction phase taking two to three years.

“I think that might be sort of aggressive, but I want to make sure the board and the public knows what’s out there in this solicitation for a bid for owner’s project managers,” Heineman said.

Right now, interviews are expected to be done by an evaluation subcommittee to be appointed by the School Building Committee with the awarding of a contract tentatively planned for early October.

LaMattina said the cost estimate is based on “exactly how the building sits right now” a grade six to eight construction with no performing arts center.

He added that he wished he could say everything has gone smoothly on the building committee, but stressed they are people who do not want to see a failed project.

“We know we need a new school and I think some fiscal issues have caused a slight division,” LaMattina said. “It’s still very early, but I think, for myself, and Lincoln agrees — and some other members on there —we know we need a new middle school … and we’re going to try to do it in the most fiscally responsible way so that we get a project that passes.”

He said it is not certain where the responsibility lies right now for the number of grades in the school, but stressed that educational needs will carry the extra grade.

“The superintendent and assistant superintendent have definitely submitted an academic plan where they could justify it,” LaMattina said. “The cost factor, we don’t know yet.”

HANSON — Residents of the Spring Street area had the opportunity to question specifics of a proposed development — including some 40B units — at a zoning hearing last week.

The ZBA held a public hearing Tuesday, July 6 on the application for the Cushing Trails LLC project proposed on Spring Street. The comprehensive permit would allow construction of 40 for sale condominium units in 20 duplex-style buildings on about 9.6 acres, some of which are intended as 40B units.

The plan has been recommended to go through a peer review on the traffic study and the hearing was continued to 7 p.m.. Aug. 31.

Attorney Michael O’Shaughnessy made the presentation as he had done for Selectmen last month. O’Shaughnessy and architect Jamie Kelleher from Axiom Architects and Joseph Webby of Webby Engineering, as well as a representative of the firm that conducted the traffic study updated the board on the plan, before residents spoke and asked questions.

“I understand there’s a lot of anxious people in the room,” said ZBA Vice Chairman Kevin Perkins, who presided over the hearing, asking for those attending to be respectful of others who are speaking. “If it gets out of hand, we’re going to have to adjourn the meeting and continue it.”

Chairman William Cushing, who has involvement with the project, was not present.

Residents attending the hearing focused on water and soil quality, traffic and pedestrian safety, impact on emergency services and school bus routes as well as damage residents claim work on the site has caused to homes in the area.

Christine Cohen of Spring Street, who thanked the ZBA members for volunteering to serve, nonetheless expressed concern over potential conflicts of interest.

“If you guys are making decisions regarding this project, can I ask questions?” she said.

Perkins said she could, but not at that time.

“I believe all the members of the board have submitted documents with the town clerk regarding that, but you can check with [that office] if you’d like,” he said.

Town Counsel Jay Talerman, who attended the hearing, said he is aware of the questions but said it is not his function to vet the ZBA members. He said he has held confidential discussions with Perkins and that ZBA members have the same resources to ethics training as anyone else in the state.

“We’re obviously aware that in small towns there can be conflicts and I think the chair’s been really thoughtful on it,” Talerman said.

Perkins said that, if anyone had reason to recuse themselves from the meeting, they were not present at the meeting.

The meeting was broadcast by Hanson’s community access channel and is available for viewing on the WHCA-TV YouTube channel­­­­.

Holmes Street resident Gary Banuk, a retired chemist, asked about the development’s proximity to the Rockland dump, and was told it abuts that facility.

“I have things that worry me about the contaminants that would be at the bottom of that dump,” Banuk said. “In the old days everything was thrown in the dump.”

“We’re going to build a subdivision next to soil that wasn’t good enough for a dump, now we’re going to have people up in there,” said another resident, who noted the original plan to expand the Rockland landfill was denied.

Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett’s questions included whether there are any one-bedroom units in the development, whether affordable units will be clustered next to one another and whether they would abut the Rockland town line.

Jane Downey, who lives in the house on Spring Street surrounded by the development, said water from a 36-inch drain looks to funnel water from the development into her back yard. She also asked who would pay for foundation cracks and other damage to her home since site work began at the development.

Webby said a foundation survey could be required and the developer could potentially be responsible for repairs.

O’Shaughnessy said no one-bedroom units are proposed and affordables will be dispersed throughout the development.

Perkins had opened the hearing by reading letters from other town boards and then provided the applicant — Chairman William Cushing — or his representative, the opportunity to give an overview of the project.

“We might have time for abutters in the public comments [but] we’re going to try to get through the application process,” Perkins told the meeting in the Selectmen’s meeting room. “If we have time today, we’ll get to the public, if not then we’ll do that next week.”

The Planning Board’s letter indicated they had voted 3-0-2 on June 28 against approval of the project. A second vote by the same margin on June 30 recommended a re-evaluation and resubmittal of a storm water management engineering and apply the same re-evaluation submittal to all septic proposals.

The building inspector’s letter indicated he had no concerns over the proposal, “however, building permits must be issued prior to the start of construction.”

Deputy Fire Chief Robert O’Brien’s June 17 letter on behalf of the Fire Department indicated that using the name Williams Trail for one of the street names in the development is not acceptable as Hanson already has a Williams Way. While hydrant locations appeared to be acceptable, it would require final approval from the Water Department.

Conservation Agent Frank Schellenger wrote on June 17 that Conservation has no comment on the project as it lacks jurisdiction under the Wetlands Protection Act or the Hanson Wetlands Protection By-law, but the Commission would review the septic plans when the Board of Health forwards them.

Webby said the streets and cul-de-sacs are in the same location as when the project was designed as a 20-unit development. Drainage, he said, is still sufficient. Septic service will be installed and all utilities will be underground. O’Shaughnessy said the development will feature condominium-style ownership with the condominium association responsible for maintaining roads and common areas.

The traffic study concluded that the development would add between 30 and 40 vehicle trips during peak morning and evening rush hours, resulting in little vehicle delays over current conditions. Vehicle lines of sight meet or exceed requirements for safe operation, the study concluded.

Perkins asked how the traffic study was conducted.

Road trip counts were obtained on current conditions along Spring Street at the approximate location of the site, adjusting the count for the effects of COVID as well as seasonal averages, with estimates of trip volume from the project impact based on the Institute of Transportation Engineers manual that is the industry standard. Registry of Motor Vehicles accident histories of the area were also studied, the ZBA was told.

Recommendations of road specifications include a roadway of at least 20 feet in width that can accommodate the turning needs of fire apparatus.

The safety of a sidewalk with a Cape Cod berm was raised, with the recommendation that a grass strip separate the roadway and sidewalk for pedestrian safety. No parking along roadways was also recommended, as was a berm or swale to control runoff from the roadway.

“This seems to be a recipe for disaster,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said of the roadway plan and short driveways at some units, who also touched on the sidewalk safety issue. “If somebody has a party or people over … are we thinking about having the proponent to have some kind of a parking lot?”

Perkins said some kind of guest parking area should be included in the plans. He also stressed separation of sidewalks from the roadway were important.

“My biggest concern is the drainage,” said Patrick Brennon of Armory Engineers in Marshfield.

O’Shaughnessy said he met with the Water Commissioners several weeks ago to discuss extending the water line to the town line with Rockland and improving drainage on Spring Street.

Kelleher reviewed the design of the homes. O’Shaughnessy said the 40B units have not been designated yet, but will be indistinguishable from the way market priced units will be designed, although Mass Housing requires a certain number of three-bedroom units for a family blend.

O’Shaughnessy said there are now eight three-bedroom units — originally having proposed only four to Mass Housing — and 22 with two bedrooms.

“Quality wise, structurally, they are identical to the other units,” he said. “No different.”