WHITMAN — Selectmen ordered a Forest Street woman to muzzle and confine her dogs during a meeting Tuesday, Nov. 19 that also featured further discussion of budget and school district assessments.

A public hearing on a dangerous dog complaint by residents Leslie and Michael Leary of 58 Forest St., about the biting and aggressive behavior of what they described as Jill Barden’s Maltese — actually a Coton de Tulear, named Andy, Barden said — and a German shepherd that Barden said is actually a mixed breed with possible shepherd and Australian cattle dog bloodlines, named Scarlet.

Both animals are rescues.

“I did adopt the damaged ones,” Barden said.

Selectmen voted to require Barden to muzzle the dogs when on leash and otherwise keep them confined, as well as directing her to see that the dogs are properly licensed, as recommended by Assistant Animal Control Officer Joe Kenney.

“I am an animal advocate, but sitting in this chair, I have to be a citizen advocate to make sure that everyone feels safe in their home and community,” said Selectman Brian Bezanson. “I take this very seriously and you should, too.”

He said he had the sense that Barden was trying to push the responsibility off on others.

“You have to be in complete control of them 100-percent of the time,” said Bezanson, who also owns rescue dogs.

During the hearing, chaired by Assistant Town Administrator Lisa Green, the board heard testimony by the Learys, three of their neighbors, Barden and Kenney.

“There have been reports of some aggressive behavior,” Green said in introducing the case to Selectmen. “The dogs have been allowed to leave the home unleashed, [the smaller dog has] been reported to have bitten two children unprovoked,” Greed said. “A second dog has been referred to [as] biting another resident. All of these have happened off the dog owners properties and on other folks’ properties.”

She said the hearing was the result of a formal request by the Learys.

Neighbor Bob Wilhelm of 65 Forest St., said the dog issue has just occurred within the last year.

“The dog exhibits dangerous anti-social behavior,” Wilhelm said indicating the larger dog. “It seems to be fine with the owner, but as soon as someone that the dog doesn’t know or recognize [comes near] it tenses up and starts barking and growling and pulling very strongly on its lead. She jerks it and gets it back under control and continues on her way.”

He said it has happened several times this year.

Leslie Leary said her request for the hearing was prompted by an incident on July 3 when Barden’s Coton de Tulear got lose while being walked past her home and bit her 4-year-old son, who was out playing in his yard. The dog’s bite ripped the boy’s shorts and left a bruise with teeth marks on his thigh.

Barden had left the scene by the time Animal Control Officer Laura Howe arrived and, while they were talking with police, Leslie Leary said she saw the bigger dog pick the smaller dog up by the neck and drop it to the ground. Later in the hearing, Barden said that the larger dog has never attacked the smaller dog.

“The smaller dog has always been an issue,” Leslie Leary said. “We’ve had multiple calls to Laura Howe in regard to this dog not being on a leash.”

Leslie Leary also expressed concerns about the safety of children walking to the Conley Elementary School, which is also on Forest Street, as well as for the little dog’s safety as it dashes across the street at people.

“Up until tonight the ‘German shepherd’ is still not licensed,” she said, alleging that the smaller dog was not licensed until a month after it bit her son.

“The dogs’ behavior is a concern, and the owners’ callousness with just us, or the law in general, and responsible dog ownership is just as concerning,” she said.

Her husband Michael Leary said the calls to the town began after they tried to work things out with Barden two or three years ago concerning the smaller dog.

He said he has heard a report that Scarlet (the larger dog) has bitten someone, but could personally attest that Andy (the smaller dog) has bitten both him and his son and has seen bicyclists and joggers get attacked by it.

“There was no apology,” he said. “It was like it was our fault. … She needs to be held accountable. We can’t do it. It doesn’t seem like the ACO was able to do it, so that’s why we’re here today.”

Kenney said he was not present at any of the incidents but had been inside the house regarding a quarantine on the larger dog in 2017.

“The dog did lunge at me twice inside the house,” he said, noting he understood the dog was reacting to him as if he was an intruder. “My concern is that both dogs have been, in multiple cases, involved in issues.” He also expressed concern about the dogs’ proximity to the Conley School, and recommended “some kind of restrictions on the dogs to ensure proper containment” to keep the public safe.

“We do have documentation for three [post-bite] quarantines for the two dogs,” Green said, two for the Coton de Tulear and one for the larger dog.

She said MGL Chapter 140 Sec. 157 defines a dangerous dog as one that attacks without provocation, causing injury.

“We have that, unfortunately,” she said.

Barden maintained she has never lost control of Scarlet — the larger dog — and that the bite incident was actually a case of the dog jumping up and scratching a boy on the arm. She said she spoke to the boy’s family, who was very apologetic and embarrassed about the complaint.

Kenney had told her at the time that they have to treat a scratch like a bite.

“Yes, she’s hard to handle, but I do handle her,” Barden said, noting she has so far spent about $7,000 on fencing her backyard and for obedience training, first at Five Rings in Hanson and lately at Positive Dog in Boston after Scarlet had escaped from Five Rings and was lost in the area for about 24 hours. Described by Leslie Leary as fear aggressive, Scarlet instead ran from people who were trying to help find her because she was scared.

One of the Positive Dog trainers is a consultant for the Boston Police.

“Scarlet has done exceedingly well there,” she said. “She’s a top performer in class.”

Barden said her trainer did not recommend muzzling Scarlet, but favored a pronged collar as a more effective training tool. She uses the collar, as well as avoidance training when out on walks to correct the dog’s behavior.

Budget issues

Town Administrator Frank Lynam reviewed for Selectmen the meeting held last week with members of Hanson’s Board of Selectmen and interim Town Administrator Meredith Marini as well as the Wednesday, Nov. 13 School Committee meeting.

“It is the School Committee’s responsibility to choose which method they would use to assess,” Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski said.

“It can be,” Lynam said.

“It can be a two-step process through which the town also does it,” said Selectman Randy LaMattina. “As of now, there are a lot of variables to it.”

He said any concession or movement off Whitman’s position that the statutory assessment is the only acceptable option for the town, must take Hanson’s position into account.

“You don’t need to slam a door in someone’s face,” LaMattina said. “It’s always better to have it open and have some dialog and see where that goes.”

Lynam also said the town is trying to put a budget together, which is difficult without an assessment figure. The board also selected LaMattina and Kowalski to remain in the Regional Assessment Committee.

“The schools need to understand, that if we had to impose a budget today, we would probably be talking about a level-funded budget,” he said. “There’s a lot at stake here and we really need to get an understanding from W-H as to how we get to a point where the year after year budget is sustainable.”

Kowalski said he found the magnifying the need for a discussion on a simple frustrating. A complex issue, he said, is ensuring the schools get enough funding to do the job they need to do.

“Figuring out whether or not Hanson pays this share or who pays that share of a limited amount of money is not the end at all, it’s the very beginning,” he said.

Lynam urged that an external audit of the school district, similar to the one Whitman hired consultant John Madden to perform for Whitman.

“The value of that audit is opening eyes,” he said. “I think we should consider a similar process for W-H.”

LaMattina said Madden’s draft audit report was presented to the Budget Override Evaluation Committee Monday and a final draft will be sent to Lynam Thursday for distribution to the committee and posting.

“We’re experiencing minimal state aid increases over the last five years averaging about 2.9 percent,” he said. “However our assessment increases over the last five years are increasing 3.12 percent.” The town is about $1.5 million short in the operating budget. Sustainability of the town’s budget is also a concern.

The five-year average on the operating budget is 4.86 percent. Madden said the town is estimating local receipts a little too closely.

“If things are a little off, we could be in trouble,” LaMattina said, noting Madden recommended not using one-time revenue to keep everyone whole. “We knew we were doing that. It’s caught up at this point.”

While there is still contention between some town officials in Whitman and Hanson over the school assessment funding formula, a meeting with representatives of the Mass. Department of Elementary and Secondary Education was held this week to explain the history of the issue, differences in funding formulas and the worst-case scenario if the divide is not bridged.

School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes stressed the unusual 5:30 p.m., Tuesday meeting time was designed to accommodate DESE representatives Christine Lynch and Michelle Griffin of DESE’s Office of Regional Governance, but that it was also intended to refute social media rumors about the issue, the only one on the agenda.

Members of both towns’ boards of selectmen, town administrators and finance committees attended the meeting, as well.

“There’s been some social media myths traveling around to do with the assessment that the town of Whitman is trying to balance their budget through the town of Hanson,” Hayes said. “That is totally, 100-percent untrue.”

He said Whitman is trying to develop a long-range plan for financial sustainability.

“This assessment issue came up through some other meetings, and it is coincidental,” Hayes said. “It is not one town pitting against the other. I want to make that very clear. … It is two towns — we are a regional school district. This committee’s charge is to advocate for children and get them the best education that we possibly can.”

Whitman Selectman Randy LaMattina said he wanted to head off any social media claims that his town was trying to force Hanson into something.

“I think, now that everyone is on the same playing field, we know what is going to transpire,” LaMattina said. “Now we know where to go.”

“We’ve been two great towns,” Hayes agreed. “Our kids are Whitman-Hanson. Our element is Whitman-Hanson. We’re red and black — we both bleed it, and we want to come to some agreement as a committee, as both boards of selectmen, as residents, as finance committees — we want to come to this agreement.”

Hanson Selectmen Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett thanked the School Committee for arranging for Lynch and Griffin to meet with the town officials.

“The Hanson Board of Selectmen stands ready to respond to whatever decision it is that you guys make,” she said. “I really hate to see it get to a point where we’re going to have to see the state take over.”

School Committee member Christopher Howard asked if the panel submitted language in the assessment provisions for a phased-in approach, would that work?

Lynch said it could be looked at, but was noncommittal at this point beyond saying it would be reviewed.

“What I see is the need to come together and to work toward a solution to get this done,” said School Committee member Christopher Scriven.

While Whitman Finance Chairman Richard Anderson and Selectmen Vice Chairman Dan Salvucci reminded the School Committee later in the meeting that their respective boards had unanimously voted to recognizes the statutory formula as the only acceptable budget method for Whitman.

Salvucci said that, no matter what formula is used, the schools will get their money, but town departments will pay the price.

“We are at our max,” he said. “We are $3,000 over the levy limit, we found that out today.”

Howard replied that Lynch had said at least five times that it is important for both towns to work together and that to come to an immediate conclusion without doing so would be premature.

“The bottom line for the Whitman Finance Committee may not be the same as for the Hanson Finance Committee or School Committee or the Whitman or Hanson boards of selectmen,” Anderson said. “Our responsibility is to recommend to Whitman Town Meeting what is in the best interests of the taxpayers of the community.”

He said the Education Reform Act’s intent was to recommend an assessment formula based on an aggregate, wealth-based methodology. While his board recognizes the challenges facing taxpayers in both towns and the importance of meeting all the stakeholders each year.

“We’re hoping the input [tonight] might sit for a while and maybe your recommendation might change,” Hayes said.  He added that it was important to look at it from the perspective of the future of the school district, as the financial pendulum has swung back and forth to the benefit or detriment of both towns in the past.

Hayes, a Hanson resident, said Whitman did not vote on the agreement, opting to pass over it at Town Meeting, but not because of the assessment issue.

“They had an issue with language in pulling out of the district,” he said. “It had nothing to do with one town paying more than the other, because that was also another myth that was all over the internet.”

Lynch advised the district to look closely at the two assessment methods, and how they impact both towns, to try to come to some agreement.

Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak said the meeting resulted from a request for more information on the assessment portion of the regional agreement at the School Committee’s September meeting.

“What’s in play is the agreement [or alternative] method we’ve been following as a district since 1991 and a statutory method,” he said. “Both are legal methods of assessing.”

The agreement [or alternative] method is based on student population between the two towns and the statutory method uses the towns’ minimum local contributions as a starting point.

Lynch said the statutory method derived as part of the Education Reform Act in 1993, which required towns to reach a minimum local contribution as part of Chapter 70 funding requirements.

“Unfortunately, there was very little consideration for towns that were part of regional school districts,” she said. Most regions were formed in the 1950s with a per-pupil funding formula. An amendment to the Ed Reform Act later permitted regions to revert to using the agreement method.

“But, they set a higher bar,” Lynch said. “Instead of the two-thirds [of member towns] approval of the budget, which is your typical way to approve a regional school committee budget, the requirement then became that you have to approve it unanimously to use the agreement method.”

There are about 30 two-town regional school districts in Massachusetts.

“You are not unique,” she said. “Many of these districts have gone through this over past years.”

She added that many towns, over time, have come to some agreement, involving some compromise, to move forward and get their budget passed each year without a lot of discussion.

When a budget impasse does occur the Education Commissioner is authorized to set a 1/12th budget for the district under the statutory method until a workable local budget is approved, according to Lynch.

“Should there be no local budget by Dec. 1, the statute also requires the Commissioner to take over fiscal control of the district,” she said. “Under that scenario, the assessments must be calculated under the statutory methodology.”

Hanson Town Counsel Kate Feodoroff asked if the state took over, what does that look like, because she found the state funding source hard to identify in that scenario.

“That final budget [the commissioner] sets for the year, may be more than was set as the 1/12 budget, could be less than, could be the same,” Lynch said. Letters would be sent out to school and town officials asking why they want the money they are asking for in their budget.

“Ultimately, the commissioner will set it,” she said. The statutory method would be used to calculate the budget, using current state aid figures. The commissioner, however takes over fiscal control, approving all line items, collective bargaining agreements, new contracts over $25,000, new hires — basically any financial decision made at the district level.

While Lynch encouraged the School Committee to work with the towns to come up with an assessment method, the committee has the right to propose that method.

The Education Reform Act itself was the result of a lawsuit in which the state was accused of not devoting enough money to education.

School Committee member Fred Small said Whitman’s minimum local contribution was $10,631,538 last year while the assessment was $14,398,151. In Hanson, the required contribution was $8,892,401 and the assessment was $9,670,975.

“There’s a vast disparity in what was spent more than the required dollars,” he said.

Small noted that the committee owes the town a direction as finance committees begin preparing budgets.

HANSON  — Interim Town Administrator Meredith Marini announced to Selectmen on Tuesday, Oct. 22 that MRI, the consulting group conducting the search for a new town administrator, has received 39 applications.

Fourteen essay assignments were sent out to various candidates and MRI is currently scoring those returned essays. Following that phase, MRI will be conducting telephone interviews with candidates and expect to have a list of final candidates to the board by Oct. 31 or Nov. 1 and have asked how many candidates Selectmen want to see.

With three finalists, the interviews may be completed in a single night, but a list of five or more would likely require two.

“The recommendation was, once you have the interviews, you should make a decision quickly because these are good candidates and they are likely to be valued applicants in another community,” Marini said.

Selectmen Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said she would prefer a list of five names as three seemed insufficient from such a large pool.

“We’re not talking about 39, 14 made the cut,” said Selectman Wes Blauss, noting only 14 were sent essay requests.

Selectman Matt Dyer asked how many essays were returned.

Marini said 13 seemed still in play, with 11 already returned and MRI saying they were waiting for two more.

“I really don’t want to put a number on it,” said Selectman Jim Hickey said. “If they have three applicants that they feel we should interview and get it done in one night, then OK, but if they have seven people — which is probably too high of a number — but if they have seven people that they think we should talk to, then it’s seven.”

Selectman Kenny Mitchell agreed.

“I like where you guys are going with this unless they say, ‘We have 14 great candidates,’ then we’re going to have a problem,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

The interviews will be conducted in a public meeting. MRI said they would be willing to work on consecutive days, including a Saturday, if the board wanted to interview more than three or bring two finalists back for a second interview before making a decision.

“I don’t have a problem being here three nights in a row, on television, because this is one of the most important decisions we’ll make as a group,” Hickey said.

MRI has offered to supply questions for the board to ask and will provide a list of questions they can’t ask.

Selectmen also voted to send a letter to Tetra Tech, the licensed site professionals working on cleanup of the National Fireworks site and collecting public comment, requesting that a complete cleanup be done to background at no cost to local or state taxpayers because they are currently in negotiations with the responsible parties.

WHITMAN — Residents will soon be asked to attend a special Town Meeting to fund an engineering study centering on the replacement of a sewer force main which has already required two expensive repairs.

The DPW Commissioners are seeking a $500,000 transfer from sewer and water retained earnings to fund the study. Town Administrator Frank Lynam said the projected cost of a new pipe is in excess of $8 million. The projected cost of a dual system is about $15 million.

“Good ideas come with cost,” Lynam said.

Both Lynam and Selectmen Vice Chairman Dan Salvucci suggested a contingency estimate of about $900,000, putting any unused portion toward two bills due to the city of Brockton once a sewer contract is completed. Lynam said retained earnings is intended to address situations like this.

“I’m not shopping for other articles right now,” Lynam said, noting the sewer project and perhaps unpaid bills will be the only items on the warrant.

Actual construction work on the sewer line would have to go out to bond.

A date has not been determined yet, but a best date — possibly Dec. 2 or 9 — will be voted on at the next Board of Selectmen’s meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

“I think it won’t be a surprise to many people,” Lynam said of the request. “We’ve had two significant failures in the force main as it travels from Whitman to Brockton across Alger Street and into the woods there.”

The DPW procured funding and performed an assessment of the line, finding that there is “significant potential for failure” along it, according to Lynam. The DPW Commissioners met in a joint session with Selectmen on Tuesday, Oct. 22 to discuss needed actions to ensure the town maintains a functioning sanitary system.

“I know Environmental Partners have done some significant work on this, but there’s a lot more to be done,” Lynam said.

The twin force main, which starts at the Auburn Street pump house, is the main sewer outflow to the Brockton pump station, according to DPW Commission member Kevin Cleary.

It was installed in 1984.

“We had two significant breaks over the last couple of years that were well over $1 million,” Cleary said. “We were lucky where they were — they were accessible.”

Since then the DPW obtained funding appropriations and did some land clearing and followed it up with soil borings and analysis.

“They’ve determined that we’ve run a life span,” Cleary said. “The breaks that we had were from the outside [of the pipes] in — they weren’t [from] the inside out.”

The combination of soil, water and acidity rotted the pipes. Soil borings showed more potential problems from similar soil and water conditions in the area.

DPW Commission member Wayne Carroll said the pipe is rated for 30 years, and was installed 35 years ago.

“The next step is we would like to have a Town Meeting to appropriate funds for engineering, permitting, design and getting bid documents together,” Cleary said. “We can’t wait until the spring to start that and then go into typical bid and construction and all that.”

They are looking to doing that work over the winter to present a much better scope of the value of the project and to allow the commission to come before the spring Town Meeting with better information about options and costs.

Both bypassing and sleeving the old main have been discussed as potential emergency remedies, Carroll said.

Cleary said it costs at least $500,000 to repair emergency breaks to the pipe.

In other business, Selectmen voted to appoint officer Peter Aiken as the new sergeant on the Whitman Police Department. Aiken was the top person on the sergeant’s list, as well as the recommendation of Lynam and Police Chief Timothy Hanlon.

Aiken will be sworn in privately, Lynam said.

Selectman Randy LaMattina, who chairs the Budget Override Evaluation Committee, said that panel has met again after delays surrounding a health issue the financial consultant had been dealing with.

The most recent meeting focused on five-year trends and forecast for 2020 new growth — slightly over $1 million — and noted a downturn in excise revenue, whether an economic trend or a billing issue, and that the state is not providing much help in the form of state aid — up only 1.5 percent over five years with school aid up only .59 percent over that time.

“Our budget trends over the last five years are basically proving not to be sustainable,” LaMattina said. “As we go ahead, that’s going to be diagnosed.”

The consultant will be meeting one-on-one with department heads to discuss where they plan to be in the next five years and whether some of their costs are controllable.

“In terms of progress, we are far and away, ahead of where we were last year,” said LaMattina, noting that department heads are coming together and getting information in earlier this year.

Selectmen also approved a request for SDIP, when space is available, to hold automotive insurance surcharge hearings in Whitman Town Hall for the convenience of both the public and hearings officers.

HANSON — Voters at special Town Meeting Monday, Oct. 7, approved funding to support salaries for added police officers — to prevent the need for dark station hours — as the town moves toward a regional dispatch center, as well as to keep the transfer station open five days a week.

“This may be bigger [turnout] than some May Town Meetings,” Moderator Sean Kealy said of the 165 voters signed in by the 7:30 p.m. start of the meeting. “It’s a terrific number for an October Town Meeting.”

The funds available for town business were:  $1,664,097 in free cash; $1,256,343 in the stabilization fund; $135,992 in the school stabilization fund; $885,493 in Water Surplus; $65,205 in Recreation Retained Earnings; and $74,323 in Solid Waste Retained Earnings.

During discussion of a requested adjustment of $60,000 in Police Department salaries under Article 2 — an appropriation to supplement various town departments — Kathleen Marini of Union Street and Richard Edgehille of South Street, both asked why the Finance Committee voted not to recommend the expense.

Both questioned item as well as Article 2 as a whole were approved.

“The Finance Committee voted not to recommend, based on the article as a whole,” Chairman Kevin Sullivan said, noting the vote was due to the police salaries and a $7,000 adjustment for paying off a septic system at Camp Kiwanee.

“This is a little vague,” Edgehille said. “You don’t recommend it, how about an explanation for this audience?”

Selectman Kenny Mitchell said the reason was that, with the move to a regional dispatch center, the town is going to be supplementing the dispatchers with police officers.

“We’re not adding Saturday salaries, we’re just exchanging positions,” Mitchell said. “We’ve been talking about this internally over the past year and a half with the new regional dispatch coming up and we challenged the police chief — he came to us and said he needed this.”

A portion of the salaries will be funded by a state 911 grant.

“When we looked at this and considered the savings that we were going to [see] over the regionalization process, we looked at the potential budge cycle for next year,” Sullivan said. “Over the past few years, we looked as a committee to only add positions when we believed there was a long-term success. We were hesitant to add positions going into what could be one of the most difficult budget cycles that Hanson is going to face next fiscal year and have to cut money out of that salary.”

He stressed that, once that money is approved they don’t want to face the need of removing a police officer if budget cuts are needed.

Police Chief Michael Miksch said the department would be moving toward regional dispatch in July 2020, he was faced with going to a dark station when local dispatchers are no longer needed or staff the station with police officers. He is looking to add four officers between now and the next fiscal year.

“If I don’t have people to staff the station July 1, 2020, I have to fill it either with overtime or take officers off the road, neither of which is acceptable,” he said, noting the time it takes to train officers. Overtime alone would run $32,000 a month if he fills every shift that way.

“That’s all I wanted was an explanation,” Edgehill said. “Public safety first.”

Sullivan said the Kiwanee septic payment had not been recommended because Camp Kiwanee is intended to operate independently.

Recreation Commission member Joan Fruzzetii countered that taxation can, and has, been used to fill the gap if the Enterprise Fund fails to do so, and that funds had been put aside twice for the septic system.

“What happened in the past, happened in the past,” Sullivan said. “I can only deal with what we’re dealt with right now. I’m not going to debate it, I’m just giving you what our decision was.”

The Town Meeting amended an article seeking to increase funds for salaries and expenses the Transfer Station Enterprise Fund at the May 2019 annual Town Meeting by $55,000 – to $100,000 for salaries and $208,000 for expenses. The amendment was unanimously recommended by both the Board of Selectmen and the Finance Committee, but the change was sought from the floor by Indian Head Street resident Bruce Young, to increase the Salary line in the Article by $21,473, that amount coming from Free Cash.

Young’s amendment brought the salaries back to their original Requested amount, originally proposed by the Board of Health in May of 2019, which was $121,473 and was approved by an overwhelming voice vote of the Town Meeting

Board of Health Chairman Arlene Dias had described Article 4 on the Monday, Oct. 7 warrant as a housekeeping measure.

Young noted that the May Town Meeting was provided a Health Board proposal to fund salaries at the transfer station for $121,473, but voters had to accept this Finance Committee recommendation of $60,000 because the town had insufficient funds to permit the Town Meeting to amend it to fund salaries for the whole fiscal year.

“If we should support the article …what would happen is, and [the Board of Health] has already voted on this … we would be, for the first time in the history of the transfer station, closing it Monday and Tuesday and [it] would only be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday,” Young said. “I want to remind everybody that we had new permits to get in the transfer station this year [that cost] $30 per vehicle and everybody went down and bought them on the assumption that the transfer station would be open five days a week.”

He equated the article to a bait and switch.

Sullivan said the article as originally written was supported by the Finance Committee on the Board of Health’s determination of what was needed to run the transfer station for the remainder of the year.

Resident Joe Peligra said that, while he understands transfer stations are not required by the state, Hanson’s facility is operated as a service to the town and there is a growing number or people using the transfer station.

“We were told that the transfer station should be self-sustaining,” Dias said. “The only way for us to do that was to cut the budget and the only way to do that was to cut two days a week.”

Edgehille said that the wording of the article did not make the closing on those two days clear.

“Your not being honest with the public,” he said.

Sullivan said the reduction of service was intended to keep the service, which was losing money, as a resource to the town.

“The number of people who jumped off when private hauling was offered — I don’t have the exact figure, but I believe it’s around 40 percent of the town uses the transfer station — the number needs to be higher for it to be a self-sustaining enterprise,” Sullivan said.

There are two employees at the transfer station and the facility has to be closed at lunch hours because one person cannot work alone for safety reasons, Dias said.

WHITMAN — The Board of Selectmen, in a joint meeting with three other committees working on the town’s fiscal crisis, heard a report Tuesday, Oct. 8 on the Capital Improvement Plan drafted by UMass, Boston’s Edward J. Collins Jr., Center for Public Management.

The work was funded by a Community compact Grant.

“We’re going to have a talk at the next Selectmen’s meeting about re-energizing capital projects and getting a clear sense of direction of how we want to go,” said Town Administrator Frank Lynam.

All supporting materials for the report will be provided to the town, said Collins Center team leader Sarah Concannon.

“I think we need to look at all the capital projects that are listed and prioritize,” agreed Selectmen Vice Chairman Dan Salvucci.

“What we really need, I think, is to assign this work to the capital planning group,” Lynam said. “They’re going to have to analyze and present that information.”

Ultimately, the way Lynam hopes to see that work progress is to review and prioritize the information, and present it to the Selectmen and Finance Committee, with recommendations as to how to move forward. That is a project he estimates will take about two months.

“We have to get out of the idea of doing one project here and one project there, and start putting together a comprehensive plan,” he said.

Concannon and her team members, management expert James Tarr and finance expert Stephen Cirillo, made the presentation to a small audience and the committees at Town Hall Auditorium. A fourth member of the team, David Colton, could not attend.

“This wasn’t a quick process,” Concannon said, noting that her team met with all town department heads. “We really appreciated the time your staff spent with us. Without their participation, we really can’t do our job well.”

The team researched the town’s capital needs and reviewed online forms filled out by department heads before talking with them in detail. They then score projects to facilitate conversations on project priorities.

In Whitman, she noted that public works capital projects make up about 65 percent of the $24,849,969 in 142 total requested project costs — with water and sewer alone making up one third of the total, or $8,690,500 — Whitman schools [$3,886,000] represented 15 percent and the regional high school another 8 percent [$1,983,000].

The total costs of requested projects were then compared to available resources. The team also looked at available grants. The final plan was narrowed to 115 projects totaling $26.7 million. Of that, 88 percent, or $23.6 million is local investment — $9.2 million from the general fund, $13.6 from the enterprise fund and $790,000 from ambulance receipts — and another $3.1 mill from non-local sources, Concannon said.

Tarr outlined the basics of capital plans — major, non-recurring expenses, typically costing more than $5,000 to $10,000 with a useful life of at least five years. Capital improvement plans are comprehensive, multi-year projects encompassing all funding sources and departments with financially viable project details.

“We take into account the spending capacity of the community and we factor that in, and, if we reach a certain cut-off point, then we start asking about choices,” Tarr said. “Do we make a distinction as to what is a necessity and what is something that can be put off.”

Without a capital plan, Tarr said, municipalities may face negative effects on public health and safety as well as legal liability; staff inefficiency or ineffectiveness; costly emergency repairs; poorly managed or timed projects; inconsistent capital costs that can have an impact on the operating budget; and financial disorder that can have a negative effect on bond ratings.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to recognize the work that the UMass Collins Center has done,” said Finance Committee Chairman Richard Anderson. “I think this really puts us in a good position to move forward with our shared goal of making a comprehensive strategic plan a reality. This is an excellent foundation for that.”

The Building Needs and Capital Projects Committee as well as the Budget Override Evaluation Committee also attended the meeting. Some officials present serve on two or more of the committees.

Anderson added that he noticed that 38 percent of the total dollars requested for capital projects are for water and sewer, a situation he did not find surprising.

“I think it’s pretty evident to a lot of people in this room that this is a department that’s had its share of deferred maintenance over the last couple of years,” Anderson said.

“A planning study is going to result in a capital plan,” she said. “The water and sewer did include at least one or two planning studies.”

Salvucci said one of the main needs remains infrastructure, in particular a DPW facility.

“It’s obvious that, even though we’re downsizing facilities, it’s something that’s needed,” he said. Concannon agreed.

“Whitman is not alone in facing the need for a new DPW facility, because many across the commonwealth were built in the ’50s and ’60s,” she said. “The fact of the matter is, they’re just at the end of their life span.”

While they are typically on the back burner, DPWs perform a critical function of municipal government. Concannon said there were five planning studies included in the

A policy of debt management was recommended in creating a capital plan.

“A policy gives you discipline,” said Cirillo.

Concannon said their plan is intended to run from fiscal 2021-25, adding there is time to have a policy in place by the time the fiscal 2021 budget is calculated.

Finance Committee Vice Chairman David Codero asked if there were specific towns with which Whitman can be compared.

“We don’t go out and find a group of comparable towns when we do the financial analysis,” Concannon said. “What we do is we bring to bear information that our team of finance experts have, as well as the experience we have over the last three or four years, doing 30 to 35 of these projects.”

Lynam asked if the Center was aware of other communities contemplating a general override to commit capital funds.

“I’ve seen it in Wellesley, I’ve seen it in a couple other places, but is that common or uncommon?” he asked.

Cirillo said the technique is “very rare,” but he knew of a number of general overrides in which a portion of funds was dedicated to raising the level of debt permanently.

Lynam said it is a strategy through which the town can practically assess kick-starting a formalized capital plan.

He also said he and Concannon have discussed a change in the way emergency vehicles are purchased, identifying them as things that should be developed in a pay-as-you-go — or cash — basis.

“[Currently the town has been] taking small commitments and dragging them out, opposed to establishing a funding mechanism that says, ‘This we’re going to pay for each year,’” Lynam said. “It doesn’t make sense to formalize a program to lease-purchase vehicles over three years, when the outright cost is $50,000 to $60,00.”

“Debt is a tool,” Concannon said. “A lease is a tool. The reason we came up with an alternative strategy for replacing cruisers [is] because they’re smaller-dollar … you don’t face the same pressure to lease the cruiser [because there is a plan].”

HANSON — Selectmen voted on Tuesday, Oct 1 to stand by the current alternative school funding method for calculating the upcoming fiscal 2021 budget, and to send a letter to W-H Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak requesting information outlining how Hanson’s share of the regional school budget is calculated.

The vote came following an outline of the events surrounding the issue and leading up to a vote by Whitman Selectmen on Tuesday, Sept. 24 to support only the statutory funding method preferred by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).

“I guess I look at things a little bit differently than maybe others do,” said Hanson Selectmen Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett. “There’s been a lot of rhetoric that I don’t intend to engage in — I don’t think it’s productive, in fact I think it’s counterproductive — it’s very difficult to get together with people and negotiate when you’ve got people hurling insults.”

She outlined a background of the funding issue, going back to 1991 when the present regional agreement was approved, basing funding on student population. Usually a 60-percent share for Whitman and 40 percent for Hanson.

“Historically, and without incident, that methodology has been used to assess the towns,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

Two years ago, the region opted to revise the regional agreement to update it reflecting schools that have closed or been built since 1991.

“Unbeknownst to anyone in Hanson, language was added to the revised regional agreement that changed the assessment method to be a statutory method,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “Under that assessment method, Whitman would pay less than it is currently paying, and Hanson would pay more as a result of the criteria used to measure wealth in a community.”

She noted that Whitman has still not executed the revised agreement and, while Hanson has done so, Selectmen have placed an article on the Oct. 7 Town Meeting warrant to rescind that previous Town Meeting vote as not being to Hanson’s advantage.

Whitman finances

The Whitman Budget Override Evaluation Committee, established to review that town’s financial crisis, “discovered what they thought was an inequity in the way the towns were being assessed and insisted the towns use the statutory method,” FitzGerald-Kemmett stated. During a visit to Hanson Selectmen recently Szymaniak estimated that shift would transfer about $1 million in assessment from Whitman to Hanson.

She also mentioned the 24-member regional agreement committee proposed by the School Committee on Sept. 18.

“We agreed to be part of discussions as a show of good faith,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said, even while they did not commit to renegotiating the agreement. “Now we find ourselves in a position where the Whitman Board of Selectmen have effectively let us know they’re not interested in opening up a dialog. Their actions have made it clear that, despite what the school’s attorneys have said, and despite what our counsel has said, that they’re going to bulldoze through and insist upon the statutory method being used for assessments. Well, here in Hanson, we make decisions based on facts, on data and on the law.”

However, Whitman Selectman Randy LaMattina, on Tuesday night, and School Committee member Fred Small, on Wednesday, said school counsel has amended their position on the funding formula question since the Wednesday, Sept. 18 School Committee meeting.

“I can understand people disagreeing, and them having a different point of view over in Hanson than maybe we have in Whitman — and that’s cool,” Small said. “She conveniently made the point, ‘our attorney, along with the school’s attorney feels that the only method is the agreement method.’ That’s not true.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett took issue with Small’s charge.

“Although some members of the School Committee and the District may have received information regarding the assessment methodology from DESE and from the school’s attorney subsequent to the Sept. 18 WHRSD School Committee Meeting, nobody from the Hanson Board of Selectmen or their office was made privy to that information until Oct. 3 when the School Committee Chair shared it with me.” FitzGerald-Kemmett stated Friday. “If the information had been made available to us, it would have been part of our discussion and would have helped inform our decisions. For Mr. Small to suggest otherwise is preposterous and dangerously close to slander. Further, it does nothing to help move this discussion forward in a civil and cooperative way. “

Change of opinion

LaMattina had emailed Small a couple of questions to submit to DESE Regional Governance Director Christine Lynch after the Sept. 18 meeting, asking if both methods of assessment must be publicly discussed at a School Committee meeting prior to setting a budget and if the 1991 agreement, listing the alternative method handcuffs a regional school committee.

“In her email back to me, Christine’s very specific where she also states that she’s contacted our attorney,” Small said. “The man misspoke.”

Lynch also clarified methodology in which the school’s attorney was not well-versed.

“It does not limit the School Committee to only present the method defined in the agreement, the School Committee may choose to use either method,” Small said Lynch’s explanation stated. “They know that, but Laura Kemmett refused to even state that last night.”

He said the information from Lynch will come out at the next School Committee meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 9.

Small also pointed out that, should a budget go to a super town meeting, the statutory method is the only method that can be used. To describe it otherwise is a “big disservice to the residents of Hanson, to all the parents of the Whitman-Hanson Regional School District.”

The Education Reform Act of 1993 abolished anything a district has spelled out in another agreement, Small said. An agreement/alternative method did not even exist until 1996.

FitzGerald-Kemmett also said she had spoken with Whitman Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski several weeks ago, at which time “we agreed that the path forward would probably be for us to lay all the numbers on the line and have a civil dialog. Apparently, others did not get that memo.” Kowalski was not present at the Sept. 24 Whitman Selectmen’s meeting.

“It was before we had a lot of information and other viewpoints,” Kowalski said of the cinversation with FitzGerald-Kemmett. “That’s probably not inaccurate. I don’t foresee Whitman looking backwards and trying to reclaim money that we didn’t receive but we should have, but what we should do is look forward.”

Kowalski said he was the one who asked for the assessment funding item be placed on the Sept. 24 Selectmen agenda and had urged Town Administrator Frank Lynam to bring the issue to some kind of a vote with the intent that Selectmen should be asking the School Committee to use the statutory agreement.

“Immediately after the meeting, I texted all the members and told them, ‘good job,’” Kowalski said Wednesday morning. “They looked at everything rationally and were very clear.”

Whitman resident Shawn Kain, who had urged Whitman Selectmen not to back Hanson officials into a corner at the Sept. 24 meeting, attended Hanson’s meeting, as well.

“There are good people out there who want to have that conversation,” said Selectman Matt Dyer, gesturing toward Kain­­­­­­­­­­. “Having a conversation doesn’t hurt.”

Hanson letter

The letter Selectmen approved is designed to obtain information aimed at allowing the town to fully explore its options, which include de-regionalization of K-8 schools, renegotiating the regional agreement, litigating, etc., FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

“The Hanson Board of Selectmen stands by the current alternative school funding method for calculating the upcoming 2021 fiscal year budget,” the letter drafted by interim Town Administrator Meredith Marini concluded. “The Board further believes this information will provide a better understanding of the cost per community.”

The letter seeks the following information from Szymaniak:

• A breakdown of costs for each district school, including utilities, insurance and maintenance;

• The number of all employees in each school, their salaries and benefits costs;

• The number of students in each school, including special ed students and the town where they live;

• Transportation costs; and

• A detailed explanation of the savings from the closing of the Maquan School, indicating if, and where the staff was relocated.

FitzGerald-Kemmett said the town is aware that enrollment in Hanson schools is declining rapidly and that there are two schools in Hanson to Whitman’s three, and that “a disproportionate amount of special education costs — perhaps as much as 86 percent — are attributable to Whitman.”

“Given all that, I am hard-pressed to see how any objective person could reasonably believe that Hanson needs to pay more,” she said. “Nevertheless, we will take a look at the data, and we will take a look at the law and the facts.”

She also took exception to attempts to portray Hanson as a wealthier town trying to take advantage of Chapter 70 funding meant for Whitman.

“Here in Hanson, we also have folks living at, or below, the poverty level,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said, noting her experience as a food pantry volunteer and board member. “In addition, here in Hanson, we have a lot of multi-generational households, which statistically looks like a high per-household income unless you drill down to see that there are four, five or six adults living in a house.”

Hanson is not a wealthy community, she said.

“We are a community living within our means and with our financial house in order,” FitzGerald-Kemmett she said.

“If they’re complaining about the way that Hanson’s valued, it’s not that anybody’s taking away money,” Small said. “The state’s not giving them money. Their beef is with the DOR (Department of Revenue) and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, not with Whitman.”

Story updated on Friday, Oct. 4.

The School Committee has voted to form a 24-person committee to renegotiate the school assessment method within the regional agreement. The panel can’t convene, however until after Hanson’s Oct. 7 special Town Meeting, which will address a new vote on the regional agreement.

The School Committee’s vote came at the conclusion of a public hearing on the issue at the Wednesday, Sept. 18 School Committee meeting. Two selectmen, two finance committee members, two citizens and three School Committee members from each town, along with town administrators as well as representatives from the Mass. Association of Regional Schools (MARS) and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) as non-voting members will make up the new committee.

Citizens interested in serving should contact the Superintendent’s office at 781-618-7000.

“Let’s sit down, sit around a table and work it out,” said member Fred Small, who suggested the formation of the committee. “Let’s work together and find a fair way to move forward.”

Small said his hope is that school administration would, in a “very short period of time” put together a budget showing the increase projections for the next five years, as well as educational priorities.

“Regardless of this situation, we still need to move forward,” Small said. “We’ve got to regain what we lost last year and then step forward from there.”

Former Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ruth Gilbert-Whitner and School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes, had noted before Gilbert-Whitner’s retirement, that the regional agreement was antiquated, Hayes said.

“It had schools that were not in the district any longer, such as [Whitman’s] Park Avenue School, which had been closed,” he said. “It did not reference the Hanson Middle School. We thought maybe it was time to make the regional agreement into the 2019 [version]. … It was not intentionally started to change any agreements or change any formulas — it was an update.”

A committee worked on the current agreement, which was approved by the School Committee in June 2018, Hanson voters in 2018 and passed over at Whitman Town Meeting this past May.

“Over the past two months, this has been [occupying] the central administration admin team about what the regional agreement is from 1991, what the amendments in 2018 did and something [Assistant Superintendent George Ferro] and I became aware of — that there are two methods of assessing communities via a regional agreement,” Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak explained. “There was no malice and there were no illegalities, as far as the assessment method made from the start through [fiscal] 2020.”

He said the agreement is legal and binding.

Based on the statutory assessment method state education officials implied should be used, Szymaniak said, Hanson’s fiscal 2020 assessment would have been $10,718,657 — or $1,047,682 more than the $9,670,975 it was assessed under the alternative method currently used. Whitman would have been assessed $13,350,469 under the statutory formula compared to the $14,398,151 as had been assessed.

“We don’t have an amended agreement, according to our attorney, according to DESE,” Szymaniak said.

Hanson Selectmen have voted to place an article rescinding its approval of the regional agreement on the Oct. 7 Town Meeting warrant as officials seek a solution to the issue.

“There’s a lot of emotion in the communities right now, and I’m asking for a reason, I’m asking — for our kids — because what I’m afraid of is not having a budget for our students in July of 2020 and being level-funding,” he said. “You’re going to see people wanting drastic cuts and de-regionalizing and so-forth. … I’m hoping we can have a calm, educationally based conversation moving us forward.”

Up until the fiscal 2020 budget under which the district is currently operating, the district has been using the alternative — or agreement — method. DESE is already in the process of changing that wording from “alternative” to “agreement.”

“We’re looking into who knew, who should have known, or who should have advised, members of the regional school district amendment committee or the School Committee, past and present, of these methods of assessment,” Szymaniak said. He added that past and present School Committee members have told him they were never able to make a decision about a choice between a statutory or alternative assessment method because they were not aware of the options.

He said he does not believe Selectmen or Finance Committee members in either town were made aware of the methods.

“I hold [the Mass. Association of Regional Schools] MARS a little accountable,” Szymaniak said, noting that in minutes he has read from the Regional Agreement Committee, MARS was never distinct in describing the two methods.

“It is implied in the new Regional Agreement, the one passed by Hanson in November 2018, and passed by the School Committee in June 2018 and passed over in May 2019 in Whitman, that the district is going to use the statutory method,” he said.

The statutory method takes into account a town’s minimum per pupil expenditure designated by DESE — the minimum local contribution — which fluctuates based on inflation, wage adjustment, income, property values and municipal revenue growth. Anything in a budget over the minimum local contribution goes to the regional agreement, based on pupil population, for any other operating expense.

There is no requirement for unanimous agreement by both communities to use the statutory method.

The agreement/alternative method uses strict per-pupil representation to assess the communities, the method currently used by the district. Both communities have to pass the assessment methodology prior to the budget distribution or at town meeting in order to use this method. If one town does not vote the budget forward and the other does, it does not constitute unanimous agreement for the method to be used.

The budget then goes back to the School Committee, which can opt to hold a district-wide meeting — also known as a super-town meeting — to vote on the statutory method as the only option open to the district by DESE regulations, according to Szymaniak.

If there is no budget in place by July 1, Szymaniak must inform the commissioner of education, who will place the district on a 1/12 budget based on level-funding to the previous year.

WHITMAN —  Selectmen Randy LaMattina defended to work being done by the Budget Override Evaluation Committee as a preliminary investigation and not, as social media has portrayed it, and effort by “Whitman attempting to pick the pockets of the town of Hanson.”

LaMattina also sought to dispel any aspersions that there has been any nefarious behavior or elicit actions as completely false. The assessment method was to be further discussed with members of the School Committee and state education officials in a public hearing during the School Committee on Wednesday, Sept. 18.

“There’s been considerable talk about an assessment issue with the school district,” LaMattina said, noting the committee’s role in the issue is simple. “Myself, along with a couple other members, through various venues over a period of time, believe there may have been an issue with how the assessment was being handled. We thought that warranted a very solid look.”

The committee used that opportunity to “present some facts and make sure the issue was looked into properly,” he said.

“I don’t want anyone at this present time — it’s very premature — to assume anything you’re reading on social media,” LaMattina said. “We don’t know what, when or if this ultimately pans out. I would say preliminary opinions are in the favor of what the original belief was, but, again, [it’s] still very premature.”

As for a statement on social media that this is “Whitman attempting to pick the pockets of the town of Hanson,” LaMattina said the accusation is “entirely off base.”

“This was a red flag that members of our committee — which, I would hope, any person or taxpayer out there watching would expect out of their appointed and elected representatives — would look into properly, and that’s what we’re doing at this point,” he said.

Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski was absent from the meeting.

LaMattina said the Budget Override Evaluation Committee was scheduled to meet Monday, Sept. 16 to hear a preliminary report from consultant John Madden concerning the state of the town’s finances.

In other business, the board voted to maintain the trash fee at $285 while retaining the senior discount.