WHITMAN — Selectmen approved line item transfers Tuesday, June 22 to close the books on the fiscal 2021 budget.

Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman said the fiscal 2021 budget, which closes on June 30, is balanced overall as revenues exceed expenditures as approved at the 2020 Town Meeting. The transfers for the individual line items before the board have, or are projected to have, deficiencies at the end of the fiscal year.

“Moving monies between line items in the last two months of the fiscal year or the first 15 days of the new fiscal year upcoming are allowed with the approval of the Board of Selectmen and the Finance Committee,” Heineman said.

The transfers were:

• $1,500 from tax title line to the clerical/collector line to accommodate personnel and outsourcing changes in that office including overtime to handle a backlog of work to finish the fiscal year;

• $5,000 from to the legal line from claims deductible/expenses to handle possible overage in legal services;

• $7,000 to ambulance repairs/maintenance from the Norfolk County Agricultural High School tuition line to pay for unforeseen  ambulance repairs;

• $7,000 to ambulance billing from the Norfolk County Agricultural High School tuition line to pay the billing company;

• Three transfers to auto expense and inspectional services — $500 from building inspector/zoning enforcement, $1,000 from assistant building inspector salary and $1,200 from expense/wire inspector — to pay for maintenance and routine repairs to the building inspector’s vehicle;

• $74 to recording secretary/DPW from union/labor salaries, DPW to pay for secretarial services for one more DPW meeting that was not budgeted;

• $8,000 to the health inspector line from the Visiting Nurses line to fund overlap between the former health inspector to the new one and CARES Act funds are available to cover a lot of Visiting Nurse costs during this fiscal year;

• $4,800 to recreation activities/expense from recreation director salary line to help get the recreation program back on track post-pandemic, especially the July 4 celebration, for which funds were not appropriated, and the park program;

• $2,000 to park programs salaries from the recreation director salary line to supplement programs;

• $5,000 to unemployment compensation from assistant library director line to cover any unanticipated expenses;

• $10,000 to union salaries in the water/sewer labor line from budgeted reserve for water and sewer to cover labor overtime costs involved in repairing last week’s water main break;

• $3,354.93 to water and sewer/gasoline from water and sewer/gas heat to pay for a final delivery of diesel fuel for the fiscal year; and

• $5,542.10 from fiscal 2019 encumbrances for water and sewer to the fiscal 2020 line to pay sewer bill to Brockton.

“There are more than sufficient funds in the Norfolk County Agricultural High School line because the original estimate a year ago of how many students would be attending this school year was lower than what it ended up being,” he said of the ambulance-related transfers.

Selectman Justin Evans asked if some of the expenses were eligible for CARES Act funding, especially ambulance costs. But Heineman said billing issues were not applicable because an increase in ambulance runs were related to emerging from the effects of COVID and the repairs were to the non-COVID ambulance.

Heineman reminded residents interested in serving on the School Committee that letters of interest and résumés are due by Tuesday, June 29 to his email lheineman@whitman-ma.gov.

Selectmen voted to appoint School Committee member Fred Small to the Capital Committee through June 30, 2024, as well as appointing the following persons to fill existing vacancies, some of which had been inadvertently omitted from a previous agenda:

• Chris DiOrio to the By-law Study Committee (member), through June 30, 2022;

• Jake Dodge to the Conservation Commission (member), through June 30, 2022

• Brandon Griffin to the Board of Appeals (associate member), through June 30, 2022;

•Bryan Skuderin to the Conservation Commission (alternate), through June 30, 2024

• William Haran to the Cultural Council (member), through June 30, 2023

• Julia Nanigian to the Cultural Council (member), through June 30, 2024

• Tina Vassil to the Cultural Council (member), through June 30, 2024.

Selectmen accepted the resignations of Wayne Carroll Jr., (effective June 8) and James Cranshaw (effective June 10) from their positions as auxiliary/special police officers as well as the resignation of Norma Gardner (effective June 7) from the position of member of the Historical Commission.

The board voted to appoint Daniel Kelly to the position of special police officer through June 30, 2022 and to appoint Adam Kosterman to the position of auxiliary/special police officer through June 30, 2022.

Selectmen also voted to permit Richard Rosen to conduct the 11th annual McGuiggan’s Pub 5K Road Race on Sunday, Sept. 26, to close off Legion Parkway from noon to 5 p.m., and for a one-day liquor license to serve from a tent at 16 Legion Parkway.

WHITMAN — A joint meeting of the Board of Selectmen and the remaining Whitman School Committee members was held on Tuesday, June 15 at which they discussed naming a substitute member for the balance of the school year.

The town has 30 days to make a decision on a replacement member. Committee member Dan Cullity’s resignation is effective June 30.

“Basically it’s among us to make a decision,” said Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski, noting that he, School Committee Chairman Christopher Howard, Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman and Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak held a preliminary discussion via Zoom last week.

Three people have already stepped forward to express interest in serving, they and any other interested residents are being asked to submit a letter of interest via to Heineman email [lheineman@whitman-ma.gov] and résumé by June 29 for interviews at a Tuesday, July 6 meeting. Selectmen expect to make a decision at that time, after all names are placed in nomination with votes cast until one reaches the required six-vote majority.

Much of the discussion centered on the question of how candidates are chosen, Kowalski said, noting that while the regional agreement makes clear who makes the decision, but not how.

Kowalski said town counsel has provided the opinion that a majority of those entitled to choose is needed, but if some members do not attend the voting meeting, town counsel opined a majority attending and not having a conflict of interest would be needed.

School Committee member Steve Bois said because there are 10 votes to be cast, a solid decision needed be made now to decide the issue.

“We’re going to have to be solid on the ground rules,” he said.

Committee members concurred with the town counsel’s opinion on the vote threshold, but member Dawn Byers expressed concern with the potential of people being absent.

Kowalski agreed, saying it might be preferred that all members of the two board commit to attend, to know that six votes will decide it.

The procedure was initially intended to nominated people one at a time until one garners six votes.

“There will be no ranked-choice voting,” Kowalski said.

But Selectman Dan Salvucci and Bois advocated a roster of all candidates to be voted on at one time. Kowalski indicated town counsel did not recommend that, but that is the route the panels settled on, although Town Counsel’s letter to Selectmen reinforced Kowalski’s explanation.

“I recommend treating this like a standard board action,” town counsel’s letter read, advocating nominations of one person at a time.

Selectman Brian Bezanson disagreed with the opinion because it does not seem transparent.

“This does not appear to be a transparent process, and I believe we need to have all nominations come before us and if there is a second [nominee] I think everyone should be considered,” Bezanson said, noting that while he appreciated the town attorney’s work, he disagreed. “This appearance of the way this is done smacks of a backroom deal to me — that somebody’s predetermined that they’re going to get this spot.”

Kowalski vigorously disagreed.

“There’s something to what you say, but it has noting to do with backroom deals and transparency,” Kowalski said. “We’re in a room right now, discussing a process, and I don’t know how much more open you can be. … I think we’re being quite transparent.”

School Committee member Christopher Scriven said the letter needed to clarified in terms of process.

Salvucci suggested all names be put in nomination for a vote, as had been done with a DPW vacancy. Selectman Justin Evans agreed, noting that it may take more than one round of votes, as has happed with a recent Library Trustees vote, as well.

WHITMAN — Voters approved the Board of Selectmen’s recommended  $42,473,116 municipal budget for fiscal 2022 — 2.6 percent higher than the current budget — after lengthy discussion on a handful of line items during the Wednesday, June 2 annual Town Meeting. The Finance Committee had recommended a bottom line of $42,462,547.

There were 116 residents in attendance.

The budget was presented as a consolidated financial plan, according to Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman.

“Welcome everyone back to Town Hall as we all continue to navigate this COVID-19 pandemic. I know we’re all happy to be back open and here tonight,” Heineman said. “[The budget] has largely the same service levels in FY 2022 as are being provided currently.”

He explained that the Madden Report, in which a consultant reviewed the town’s financial outlook in 2019, which had forecast an operational override be required.

“This budget does not require that,” he said. “This budget, proposed in the warrant by the Board of Selectmen [and] recommended for passage through the Finance Committee, avoids this scenario for this year … through some targeted spending reductions that do not decrease service levels, but reduce some appropriations to the levels, historically, that have actually been spent.”

He said it also includes some “very limited use of some one-time revenues” to balance the budget while funding fixed increases of health insurance and the county pension fund as the town is required to do — as well as the town’s 4.8 percent assessment increase to the school district.

Both Selectmen’s and Finance Committee recommendations were presented for voters to question, before non-questioned were approved by voice vote and attention was turned to the questioned items.

Heineman also explained that the budget compresses what is nearly 450 line items to about 75.

“It simplifies the budget review for Town Meeting and … improves transparency to be completely clear about how much each department would be appropriated, both in salaries and expenses,” Heineman said, describing it as a snapshot of how the town intends to spend its money in the coming year, allowing departments more flexibility to handle problems as they arise.

Questions raised on budget line items included salaries for the town administrator and assistant TA, as well as salaries in other departments, non-mandated busing costs for the School District and the debt service article for South Shore Tech. All budget lines were eventually passed.

Officials’ salaries

Marshall Ottina of Lazel Strette asked what percent increase was reflected in the $311,278 the Selectmen and Finance Committee were recommending for the two positions.

Heineman pointed out that the increase in his salary brings it to the level that his contract with the town specifies and that the salary for an assistant town administrator was being offered in a range of $92,000 to $105,000 to make the position competitive in the marketplace to attract a good candidate.

“No one would be happier than I would be if we could get the absolute best candidate for a lesser amount,” he said. “This proposal is being offered in recognition that the market has changed.”

Finance Committee Chairman Richard Anderson said his panel has thoroughly reviewed the salary request and that is necessary to attract the right person.

Area towns offer between $98,000 for assistant town managers or administrators in Abington and Kingston to Hanover, where the assistant town manager makes $120,000. Hanson pays $100,000 to an assistant to the town administrator.

“We have set a maximum, a ceiling of what the town would pay for that person, depending on qualifications,” Selectman Randy LaMattina said. “We want to get the best person we can.”

Lisa Green was making $90,400 when she served as assistant town administrator.

Town Clerk Dawn Varley said the salary issue doesn’t sit well with her because of contractual buy-outs. While lauding former Town Administrator Frank Lynam for sticking to his word and not accepting a buy-out of unused time off, “What you don’t see in this line is a buy-out that happens every year.”

Varley said Selectmen had agreed with Heineman to buy back two weeks of vacation time every year, instead of a buy-out the year he leaves or retires.

Other department heads do not receive that contractual consideration. She also urged amending the line to eliminate the buy-out and limit a new assistant town administrator to a 2-percent increase as other departments received.

The motion to amend was not supported, and the original line was passed. LaMattina said Heineman’s buy-back agreement was in the event that he does not use his vacation time, as state law requires if an employee works through vacation time.

“I was the one who ran the revolving door,” Lynam said. “I was the one who hired people and couldn’t keep them because we weren’t paying adequately for the demands of the job.”

He argued it was disingenuous to argue the town was “paying someone who isn’t here yet,” as Varley had maintained. Instead, he argued, the salary range is in recognition that it is very difficult to hire key people who do significant work and significant value to the town, but are not paid enough.

Line items for treasurer-collector salary and town clerk were increased by 7.1 percent and 11.8 percent respectively, while other department heads were increased by 2 percent in the budget based on that 2-percent increase and other avenues of pay that both offices have received, in the interest of transparency.

Non-mandated busing

Another vigorous debate centered on the Selectmen’s proposed $411,746 for non-mandated busing, vs. the $401,177 recommended by the Finance Committee.

School Committee member Fred Small made a motion to amend the article to favor the Selectmen’s recommended $411,746. The amendment was passed.

“The amount that we’ve requested … is the Selectmen’s proposed amount,” he said of the school budget. “That’s what it costs us for non-mandated busing” of students who live within a mile and a half of schools.

Small explained that the estimated $10,000 reduction recommended by the Finance Committee is “just not feasible” because of the cost to do the job of safely transporting students to school.

Anderson said they voted to level fund the line was largely economic, while they also voted for the full assessment of the school budget as voted by the school committee.

He gave three reasons not to support Small’s amendment:

• during a meeting on the issue in February, Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak made a “clear commitment” to evaluate bus ridership and routes to effect cost savings, but no updates had been received;

• each town department has been continuously been asked to submit a budget that level-funds expense lines, but the school department did not make the same effort as most other departments; and

• this is a year in which the school district is negotiating a new contract with the bus company.

“We still have a structural deficit this year, as is evidenced by the fact that we continue to use one-time funding sources to close the gap in our budget,” Anderson said. “The Finance Committee remains dedicated to the safety of our students — as much as the Selectmen, as much as the School Committee.”

Small countered that the district works hard to obtain as accurate accounting of bus ridership as is possible during an annual summer census, so that only the students that are using non-mandated busing will have a seat.

“But if a parent answers that they want a seat for their child, then they’re going to have a seat for their child,” he said. “The district doesn’t make any money doing this. The district doesn’t gain any benefit doing this — this is what it costs us.”

Small continued that Selectmen set policy and have decided to continue non-mandated busing, while the school district merely sends the bill.

Finance Committee member Rosemary Connolly said her vote against the FinCom’s recommendation was because she wanted to see more information from the schools.

SST Debt

Voters approved an article to authorize South Shore Tech to incur $10,516,372 in debt for school renovation and expansion. All eight towns in the region had to approve the article, and Whitman was the only one that had not yet done so.

Whitman’s share of the money is 24.5 percent, based on the last three years of enrollment, according to Superintendent/Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey.

Lynam had cautioned authorizing debt before the scope of work is know.

“My problem is this is an open checkbook,” he said. “We don’t know what work’s going to be done over what period of time and I would like to see a more defined plan.”

Selectman Dan Salvucci, Whitman’s representative to the SST School Committee said the state has ruled that the district maintains the school too well to qualify for state funds.

Hickey said the school provided a multi-year planning matrix outlining how the projects will be prioritized and broken down, which was presented to member towns.

HANSON — No injuries were reported after a fire caused extensive damage to a house at 95 Union Park St., Friday, May 28. Residents were being assisted by The Red Cross, according to Fire Chief Jerome Thompson Jr.

As a precaution, neighbor JP Smith temporary self-evacuated from his home after police warned him of the flames directed close to his house. He retrieved his dog and kept away from the intense flames. The two homes are located on tight lots in the Monponsett section of Hanson.

Smith was later seen picking debris up in the back yard of his own home. He said he was glad everyone was OK.

From Smith’s side yard the damage could be seen from the house fire including a porch collapse off the dwelling as well as a missing wall were the residents could be seen inside assessing the damage after the fire was extinguished. The blackened siding of the home was visibly melted.

First responders were spread thin, as they were dealing with multiple calls within the community and were only able to respond with two available firefighters, according to Chief Thompson.

The department received assistance at the scene and coverage of their fire station from the towns of Pembroke, Halifax Hanover and Whitman.

Damage caused by the fire was extensive to the exterior of the house with moderate fire, smoke and water damage throughout the interior, according to a written statement from Chief Thompson.

Estimated damage is approximately $250,000. The five adult occupants were displaced and the home uninhabitable.

The cause of the fire is currently under investigation by the Hanson Fire and Police as well as the Massachusetts State Fire Marshal’s  Office.

WHITMAN — After a year of Zoom meetings, remote education classes, FaceTime calls with family and friends and overloading on social media during pandemic lockdown, it may be time for a “Digital Detox.”

Reducing that screen time was the topic of a recent program presented by the Friends of the Whitman Library — perhaps ironically via Zoom recorded for streaming on the WHCA-TV YouTube Channel as the library was still closed to in-person indoor programming on Saturday, May 22.

“It’s about balance,” said Josh Misner PhD, a mindfulness and communications professor at Gonzaga University and North Idaho College. “It’s about how I can return control to myself over my device.”

The number one thing people can do to regain control over digital addiction is committing to turning off your device for a period of time each week, and intentionally notice the difference. He practices device-free Saturdays and family meals.

“You are going to get far richer conversations from people in person than you are in text,” he said.

Misner’s presenation, “Finding Stillness in the Age of Distraction,” argues that we are living in “one of the largest most revolutionary changes in the way that humans communicate since the dawn of time.”

Other examples of such changes through history included the basic development of language, the printing press, the advances of the Industrial Revolution — modern cameras, telephone, radio, film, and satellites —

“We always talk about these revolutions being driven by technology,” Miner said, including the act of writing itself. “It allowed us to store records, to send messages over much longer spaces. It allowed us to analyze communication.”

The length of time between these revolutions shrinks almost predictably in an exponential manner, he argued.

“For thousands of years, every time we have one of these revolutions in communication technology, we have some group of people resisting against that … saying we would lose part of our humanity,” he said.

Misner gave the example that Socrates thought the written language was bound to create a generation of idiots, because people would not be able to remember things the way the had to in years before.

“I’ve heard it said that the two most important inventions of the entire 20th Century were the birth control pill and the solid-state transistor,” Misner said.

The first gave women more autonomy over their bodies and the second allowed reduction in the need for binary computer language and vastly increased computer memory capacity.

With the development of BlackBerry and other smartphone technology, came the resulting bleeding of work emails and other interruptions to our personal lives, he said.

“Because I had my ‘CrackBerry’ for so long, I didn’t realize how sucked in I was becoming — how addicted I was becoming — to checking and clearing all those notifications, how socially conditioned I was becoming, to that ever-familiar buzz in my pocket,” he said.

After an epithet about it in Costco from his wife and a heated argument, he realized he was sending the wrong message to his family.

“I’m a communications scholar and this is a communication problem, so I’m going to do what communication scholars do,” Misner told himself. So he researched just what is going on.

In 1989 it was determined that one edition of the New York Times contained more information that the average person in 17th-Century England would encounter in a lifetime, Misner pointed out. Today, the 4GB available on a top-of-the-line computer hard drive from 1996 can fit on any inexpensive USB stick.

By 2025, it would take 1.8 billion years at the fastest available computer technology, one person to download and store all the information in the world’s computers.

He then gave a glimpse of that information exposure to human behavior.

In 1968, a study by George Gerbner found that people who watched TV more than four hours a day thought the world was a more dangerous place than it really was thanks to violence on the medium.

“I think we can apply that to social media,” he said. “People who are using social media are starting to have an extremely warped view of the world around them.”

The world of politics and the divisions there are the best example of that, Misner argued.

So, what to do?

Find some time, every day to unplug, calm down and focus on one thing at a time.

Practicing mindfulness — being intentional, present-focused and aware, noticing novel developments as they happen and practicing nonjudgmental acceptance — can boost your attention span.

WHITMAN — The three candidates seeking the opportunity to serve Whitman on the W-H Regional School Committee met in a Candidates’ forum at Town Hall Thursday, May 6. Two seats are up for election this year.

Incumbent Fred Small and challengers Heather Clough and William Haran attended the forum. But incumbent Vice Chairman Christopher Scriven was unable to attend.

Small thanked his opponents for taking part and noted he was running for his fourth term in office, saying he has “unfinished business” he wants to pursue on the School Committee. He noted both his children are graduates of W-H and are residents of Whitman.

“I have a lot of things I’d like to get done,” he said. “But understanding what the committee is — by myself, I am nothing — I’m just a person. It’s the committee as a whole that has the power.”

Haran, a graduate of WHRHS attended Whitman schools all his public life, and had the opportunity to assistant teach in Hanson Middle School during his senior year.

“Through that, I learned that education is my passion,” he said, promising to stand up for students and parents no matter what. “I’ve seen a culture of under-funding, holding back our students and our towns. I’m running to change that.”

Clough said she is running because she thinks the district can do better for students.

“I’m not saying that we’re not doing great again, I’m saying that we can do better, and that we’re obligated to do better,” she said, citing academic regression because of the pandemic as a huge concern.

Clough said some academic studies indicate younger students will be six or more months behind, especially in math, as a result of the education challenges posed by COVID-19. Trained in special education advocacy, she wants to bring her training with state agencies to work for the School Committee.

“I want to make sure that all of our students get the kind of academic supports that they might not have needed before the pandemic,” she said. “This has been tough for everyone.”

Questions ranged from topics such as: Why would one run after the turmoil surrounding the assessment formula; could there have been a better compromise for the school funding issue; their understanding of the budget and what needs to be done to move the district forward; potential participation by town officials in collective bargaining; state funding support for a new Whitman Middle School; the impact of COVID-19 on education; and the job performance of Superintendent Jeff Szymaniak and his administrative team.

Haran said he wanted to run because the Whitman schools have been such a large part of his life.

“Even in times of turmoil, our kids still need us,” he said. “We still need a School Committee that’s going to stand up for them even if that’s tough to do.”

Clough said it is time to move on from that debate.  Small reiterated the call of unfinished business.

“If not me, who?” he said. “I also want to see us bring a sustainable budget. I believe that is within our grasp over the next few years.”

Offering foreign languages as early as elementary school is one area that should be pursued, he added.

Clough argued that a more gradual approach to a funding compromise for the school assessments could have been possible, but what’s done is done. She said the numbers don’t lie. Whitman taxpayers could have used the $4 million over six years that the town paid instead of Hanson, could have been used for other financial priorities.

Small said Whitman officials don’t know that the figure is $4 million, but there is one person who has made that assertion.

Haran said he believed the switch to the statutory method was done in the correct way, and noted both towns agreed to it at last year’s town meetings. He did say, however, that the switchover should have occurred sooner that it did.

Small outlined his knowledge of the budget process and offered that, to move forward, the revenue sources of new growth and additional levy within Proposition 2 ½ limits the district to about $1 million for fiscal 2022.

“We need to become sustainable,” he said.

Haran argued that establishing a budget subcommittee that analyzes budget needs each year, perhaps ahead of the rest of the committee, would be a good idea. It had also been recommended by a DESE review of the district in 2014.

Clough also advocated for a budget subcommittee “keeping an eye on things that may come down the pipeline as needs for capital improvement and educational programs.

“Educating people about the schools … actual ‘This is what you get when you invest in education,’” she said. “People are more willing to invest when they know they have a personal stake in it, even if they don’t have students within the district.”

All three expressed a willingness to include a town official in collective bargaining negotiations with educator unions. Funding for the Whitman Middle School project was also discussed.

While Clough admitted she did not know the exact funding percentage, the Whitman Middle School as a grade five to eight school, is going to need a lot of work, so an investment in a new building is wise, she said.

Small, who chairs the building committee, said the funding is currently at about 50 percent, with points available depending on design specifics. He also served on the high school building committee. He wants to discuss with administration what the best grade levels would be to place in the school.

Haran also was aware of the reimbursement level and that is fantastic that the town is on the list and should embrace it.

The candidates also discussed their ideas for how to help students catch up on lost learning time due to COVID. Haran said appropriate use of federal relief funds should be used to help a school committee willing to fund schools to help students come back.

“You’re not going to get a committee that’s willing to build back better from this from a committee that hasn’t consistently stood up for school budgets anyway,” Haran said.

Clough said the goal could be achieved by a wide variety of approaches, from a movement break during class to allowing them to have a small hand-held fidget.

“But students are going to require remediation academically,” she said. “They’re going to require tutors possibly, they’re going to require extra help. There may even be students who end up having to repeat a grade or possibly retake the MCAS again in high school.”

Small said the School Committee’s role is to provide resources to help every student who has regressed.

One question initially left Small speechless — the job performance of Szymaniak and his team in terms of preparing the school budget.

“There are frustrations that I have,” Small said. “I believe that the superintendent means well in everything that he does, and [he] wants to see the absolute best for our children.”

But he also said Szymaniak is a realist about the challenges facing school districts and committees. While Small lauded the team Szymaniak has formed and the work that they are doing — while COVID has caused disruptions — he said he wants to move at a faster pace, which he has addressed with the Szymaniak.

Haran said Szymaniak is a hard worker who does a good job of running meetings and getting information to parents and running the schools.

“I do have frustrations, as well,” he said. “For me, it comes during budget season. He could do more to advocate for the district goals that he and the committee are setting forth for themselves.”

“I believe that Superintendent Szymaniak is doing a pretty good job,” Clough said. “He’s only human. He does as much as he can and he advocates for all of our students.” Her only critique, she said, applies to anyone — more listening and community outreach.

Other questions focused on the need and importance of full-day kindergarten; other issues — such as out-of-district special education costs, the culture in the partnership with Hanson, and hold harmless allowance from the state — were also discussed.  Visit the WHCA site at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTTbXJv_Rpo.

WHITMAN — Selectmen and the Board of Health have agreed on a series of recommendations aimed at gradually reopening Town Hall.

The Board of Health has concurred with Selectmen on reopening Town Hall for in-person early voting in the annual Town Election, according to according to Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman. The Board of Selectmen last month approved early voting from May 10 to 13 during regular Town Hall office hours.

The Health Board also recommended a return to in-person meetings with town officials by appointment only with each department cleaning their area after each visit. That change would go into effect immediately.

Health officials also recommended removal of the temperature screening station from the lower Town Hall entrance, leaving the hand sanitizer station in place. Department heads have hand-held temperature scanners. The Board of Health also concurred with Selectmen changes in the travel policy.

The Health Board’s recommendation for reopening Town Hall for regular business, however, was to wait until the town has been in the green for three weeks, but changed the guideline to the point at which 50 percent of statewide residents over age 16 are vaccinated against COVID-19.

Selectmen accepted the recommendation to remove the temperature screening station, agreed with the change in standard for opening after the 50-percent statewide vaccinations level has been reached and to permit one-on-one in-person meetings in Town Hall during their Tuesday, May 4 meeting.

After a lengthy discussion Selectmen voted to go along with the Health Board’s recommendation to follow the state guidelines.

“That gave me some pause when I was considering the Board of Health’s recommendation,” Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski said. “We live in Massachusetts, but we also live in Whitman. It’s been a red zone until very recently.”

The state vaccination range is now between 36-38 percent.

Whitman is currently at about 30.1 percent vaccinated, according to the latest figures available, but only 2 percent of the 4,000 residents under age 19 have been vaccinated. For the older, more vulnerable populations have higher vaccination rates — 67 percent of those age 75 and up; 71 percent of ages 65-74; and it trickles down to 20 percent of ages 20 to 29 and “falls off a cliff” under age 20.

Overall, Evans said, the town is in line with state averages.

Kowalski said he does expect the figures to improve, but urged staying with current access limitations for Town Hall at least until Town Meeting.

“I’m hopeful that things are going to change over the next month or so,” he said.

“My strong recommendation is that we open all town buildings, with the exception of the Council on Aging and, possibly, the library at the same time and make sure everything is open in the same way,” Heineman said. The COA could conceivably reopen a week later because it serves a particularly vulnerable population — which has had a chance to be vaccinated.

Selectman Dan Salvucci asked if all town buildings would be properly equipped for protecting residents, such as with Plexiglas shields. Heineman said that was tasked to the facilities manager.

“I personally, if I was to make a recommendation, would be to stay status quo until after Town Meeting,” Selectman Randy LaMattina said, noting that Whitman has been out of the red — but not yet in the green — for about two weeks.

Selectman Brian Bezanson mentioned President Biden’s announcement this week that the administration expects about 70 percent of Americans to be vaccinated by Independence Day.

“Things seem to be breaking our way,” he said, while agreeing with LaMattina that there is a need to remain cautious. Still, he said he is hearing “a lot of grumblings around town” as to why Whitman has not yet reopened.

Kowalski said the state is sending some positive signs, closing mass vaccination sites and stressing local doctors as the source for vaccines.

“Maybe that will take care of Whitman better than we’ve been taken care of before,” he said. “We’ve talked for years that the problem for Whitman is that no one can get there from here, that’s one of the reasons we don’t have a great business [tax base]. …. It’s hard to get here from any place else, likewise, it’s hard for us to get someplace else.”

The temperature screening station, used to determine admittance to Town Hall, will be removed after technical problems brought its usefulness in doubt.

“It was a good thing to try,” Heineman said. “But it’s extremely sensitive — it doesn’t really work that well.

Bezanson noted he registered a temperature of 107.9 and then gave a normal reading after he stepped back and wiped his forehead.

The hand sanitizer station will stay in place.

Heineman wondered if the next step wasn’t to accept Board of Health recommendations for in-person, socially distanced, mask-wearing meetings. Kowalski said that really meant reopening Town Hall.

“Because once Town Hall is opened, whenever it happens, I believe masks and social distancing are going to be part of it,” Kowalski said. “At least, for a while.”

Limited, face-to-face interaction is not reopening Town Hall, LaMattina said. Reopening is opening the doors so people can come and go, with no contact tracing.

The Town Meeting warrant was approved by the board, including an article permitting the moderator to allow non-voting residents or visitors to speak at town meetings.

Several W-H students have citizen’s petitions on the warrant, involving plastic bag and polystyrene bans, Evans noted.

“They are currently not allowed to speak on behalf of the bylaw proposals they’re putting forward at Town Meeting,” he said.

LaMattina asked if there was a time frame, or “plastic exit strategy” for businesses to phase out use of the materials.

Heineman said both petitions indicate a starting date of January 2022 and permit the Board of Health to exempt a retail establishment for six months if it is found that the requirement would cause undue hardship or there is need for extra time to go through an existing inventory of plastic bags.

“I’m behind the article 100 percent,” LaMattina said.

Selectmen also approved calling for a promotional list from civil service for police sergeant and lieutenant. There is no current active list for either rank.

HANOVER — The South Shore Tech School Committee, in a special meeting, on Monday, April 26 lowered the amount it is recommending for its debt authorization article to $10,516,372.

The funds are aimed at making renovations and “extraordinary repairs” to the school.

Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey recommended revising the article going before the eight member towns’ annual town meetings over the next few months.

“The needs remain the same,” he said of the school with the main building constructed in 1962. “A lot of what we want to do here is to preserve fixed assets. We want this school to go very deep into the 21st Century.”

He argued that borrowing is part of doing that in the most affordable way as opposed to larger annual capital budgets.

The Committee had approved $18,960,537 on April 5, the recommendation approved this week reduced it to $10,516,372 — the equivalent of the first three years of the five-year plan. Financial advisers were able to more confidently forecast lower interest rates over three years, according to Hickey.

“I see this as a more affordable way of us meeting the needs of the school building and students,” Hickey said. “We’re looking for the tools to manage future projects to make them more affordable for our communities.”

The vote has no effect on fiscal ’22 or the assessments sought in that budget, he said, but would start them off with two years of interest-only borrowing. The $10 million would be rolled over into a 20-year bond in fiscal ’25 and more flexibility in interest rates and financing structures at that point. Hickey said he will make the financial analysis available to the towns.

“Since [the April 5] vote, we have learned that the Hanson Finance Committee has taken a vote to not recommend the article,” Hickey explained. “As you all know, our ability to borrow money depends on us being a good partner with our sending communities and, also, our ability to secure all eight towns’ support.”

The debt authorization article and assessment figure was passed by Scituate Town Meeting on Monday, April 12. Cohasset Selectmen have voted to recommend the debt authorization article to voters at their Town Meeting. Hanson, Rockland and Hanover have town meetings on Monday, May 3. Whitman’s will be in early June.

Hickey said that a reduction in the overall authorization shows that SST is working to be responsive to the financial condition of the communities without necessarily watering down the district’s plans.

“The towns have been very willing to communicate, give us time in front of their respective boards of selectmen and finance or advisory committees, so that certainly has been very helpful,” Hickey said at the Wednesday, April 21 meeting.

Hanson’s Finance Committee voted against recommending the debt authorization, setting up Monday’s meeting.

“We all now that this debt authorization article, in order for anything to move forward, is going to require, essentially, the support of all eight towns,” he said, noting the school is going to recommend consideration to using the phase-in plan to reduce the amount to the first three years.

COVID update

As the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) prepares for high schools to fully reopen next, Hickey said SST will be among the schools seeking a waiver from the three-foot social distancing rule because of the size of classrooms at the school.

“I think we’ve done admirable work all year long being in school as much as we have,” Hickey said, saying he asked for a visit from a DESE team to front-load the process of complying with the reopening. He said he will be seeking suggestions on how to maximize the use of space, and described it as a “good visit, short of us making a 750 square-foot classroom into 1,000 square-foot classroom.”

“There’s only so much extra furniture you can take out of those classrooms,” he said.

Hickey said measurements were taken and a “good dialog” took place, but he will have updates on the issue at a later meeting.

In the meantime, the MSBA did not invite SST into the eligibility period for renovation funds, which was expected, and the school will try again.

The Committee approved the application, through a statement of interest, for the next round of applications. That permits the district to make updates to its need.

WHITMAN — The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, April 20, voted to approve Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman’s draft article 2, and approved in-person early voting, subject to Board of Health review, for the annual Town Election.

The balance of the articles will be reviewed during the first meeting in May.

“It was a good team effort by everyone,” said Selectman Randy LaMattina, noting the budget preparation process was complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the deficit the town faced.

He did note that the “bump in pay for a potential hire” should be fully explained to Town Meeting, stressing that no one has been hired yet.

“What we’re doing is putting a salary out there to see [if we can get] the best possible candidate,” he said.

LaMattina said the budget has also reflected the least amount of one-time funds the town has used over the last five years.

Selectman Justin Evans said he would like to see long-time employees paid equitably with surrounding towns first.

“I don’t want to become the town that just pays market rate for the new hires, I’d like to take care of our long-time employees as well,” Evans said. “I love the presentation of the budget and we’ll see how Town Meeting reacts,”

Selectmen also voted to postpone Town Meeting from Saturday, May 3 to Tuesday, June 2, with a rain date of June 3 on the grounds of WHRHS.

“The best option at this point … would be using the high school field for Town Meeting,” said Heineman, noting that the Town Meeting was originally slated for Monday, June 7. The field would still be set up for the Friday, June 4 graduation.

With Town Moderator Michael Seele asking for a switch to June 2, which would be “95 percent a good option” with Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak, Heineman reported.

The board also approved the election warrant for May 15 with an eye toward approving the entire Town Meeting warrant at a later date, voting on article 2 only.

The board also voted the Town Meeting warrant in order for the Finance Committee to be able to make their recommendations.

Heineman made some “non-substantive” changes to the warrant, breaking out the salary lines for town clerk and treasurer as elected officials in compliance with state law.

“There is no change to the bottom line,” Heineman said.

The also received feedback from ZBA Chairman John Goldrosen regarding a $202 reduction from the final request for the board’s budget.

Heineman said they were not singled out, but that the ZBA was one of several boards that have not fully spent their appropriations over the years. He did not rule out transferring funds later if they are needed, suggesting a reserve fund transfer could be made during the year.

Early voting

Town Clerk Dawn Varley said state law extended changes to voting rules, due to the pandemic, until June.

“It is required,” she said, of early voting by mail, estimating that it should cost about $800, but some people don’t trust the mail. She recommended conducting in-person early voting during Town Hall hours only from May 10 to May 13 for the Saturday, May 15 town election.

Early voting differs from absentee in that only disability, religious objection or absence from town are acceptable excuses for the latter.

Kowalski said his two concerns were cost and COVID. While he said Varley had cleared up the cost concern, the town’s status in the red zone at the moment presents a concern.

LaMattina also reminded the board they had just decided not to permit people in Town Hall because of COVID.

“We want to encourage voter participation,” Kowalski said. “On the other hand, a knotty problem is the pandemic.”

Evans noted that, because Town Hall has to be open anyway, it made some sense to spread them out a bit over a few extra days.

She said there were 300 early voting by mail voters in 2020 and expects about the same, if not more because of some contested races.

“The voter themselves are doing all the process,” she said.

“We are still in a pandemic and the state is offering it for a reason.”

Heineman said the board received a redlined copy of the current COVID-19 protocols, adopting an advisory that employees on personal travel are no longer required to quarantine. Employees are still urged to avoid unnecessary travel.

Heineman had suggested amending the COVID-19 protocols, specifying that town services are available by appointment only, in designated areas outside town buildings, to advise in-person services be available by appointment only.

The town is still in the red zone.

“I want Town Hall to be open, but I want people to be safe,” Salvucci said, asking how the Board of Health felt about it. Heineman had not discussed it with them. “It’s a real tough decision.”

LaMattina asked if the town would be better off simply suspending the travel policy for now, especially if the pandemic flares up again. Heineman said the policy would automatically require quarantine.

“We’ve been following the Board of Health’s recommendations all along,” said Kowalski who requested that Heineman discuss the issue with them.

The board passed the revisions excluding travel guidelines.

“Clearly we have more work to do,” Heineman said.

He also said a Civil Service list has been requested for Fire Chief Timothy Grenno’s replacement.

He has received what he believes is the official list, but is waiting for confirmation.

Kowalski said he would like to meet with the top candidate,  but took care not to describe such a meeting as an interview.

Salvucci said it would be a good opportunity for that person to introduce themselves to the community.

WMS update

Heineman also updated the board on the MSBA’s elevation of the Whitman Middle School to the feasibility stage. [See page 7].

The Building Committee must still decide if it will be a grade five to eight or grade six to eight school.

“It’s about getting the project done in the most fiscally responsible way to benefit our students,” LaMattina said.

Memorial Day plans are also being dicussed, Heineman said, noting that right now, parades are still not permitted.

The VFW is still planning to visit cemeteries in town on the morning of Memorial Day, beginning at 9 a.m., asking for suggestions from residents for other ways of honoring those who gave their life for their country.