Do you have stuff that’s too bad for the trash? South Shore Recycling Cooperative member towns will host seven household hazardous waste collections this spring. Residents of host and co-host towns may attend at no charge.  Collections are scheduled from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. as follows:

April 23 — Plymouth and Middleboro, at Plymouth DPW, 169 Camelot Dr.

April 30 — Hanover, at Transfer Station, 118 Rockland St. (Rt. 139). Usable latex paint* also accepted.

May 14 — Duxbury and Kingston, at Duxbury Middle-High School, St. George St.

May 21 — Hingham, at Plymouth River School, 200 High St.

June 4 — Hanson, at Plymouth County Hospital, 252 High St.

June 11 — Scituate and Cohasset, at Scituate Highway Department, 68 Capt. Pierce Road. Usable latex paint* also accepted.

Residents of those, and of member towns Abington, Norwell, Rockland, and Whitman may attend collections that their town isn’t hosting/co-hosting at their home town’s expense. To do so, obtain and bring a signed Authorization Form from your town’s responsible department (DPW, Health Dept. or Marine/Environment).  Some towns may limit subsidized quantities to 25 gallons or 50 pounds.

Residents from any town without an Authorization Form may attend for a fee of $24 /10 gal or 20 lbs., or $45 /25 gal or 50 lbs of waste. (Volumes are based on container size, not contents). Commercial generators, call ahead to 1-617-852-3086 to arrange disposal and payment. Please bring a check.

Bring: Oil-based paint**, stains**, automotive fluids**, solvents, gasoline, herbicides, pesticides, photography and pool chemicals, acids, bases, and toxins in secure, labeled containers.

*Usable leftover latex paint will ONLY be accepted at the three collections indicated. The Paint Exchange LLC also accepts it at their Rockland site for a fee of $2/can, and remanufactures it into new paint. To see if your paint qualifies, and for hours of operation, go to ssrcoop.info/, click on “Latex Paint”, or call 339-214-8462. If paint has been frozen, or has an odor, skin or chunks, absorb liquid with cat litter and dispose in trash. Do not bring: industrial, pathological and medical waste, radioactive materials, pressurized gas cylinders or explosives.

**Oil-based paint, propane tanks, motor oil, antifreeze, medical sharps, rechargeable batteries, and fluorescent lamps are collected regularly by many towns and retailers.  Residents should use those services if available.  Go to ssrcoop.info, click on “Other Stuff”.

Stericycle Environmental will conduct the collections.  For more information, call the South Shore Recycling Cooperative at 781-329-8318, or go to ssrcoop.info.

WHITMAN — Whitman Selectmen voted 5-0 on Tuesday, April 5 to place a $1,726,588 ballot question for its share of the assessment increase in the $49,714,344 WHRSD operating budget for fiscal 2017.

With a successful override, Whitman’s assessment would be $12,719,345. The increase would be and additional $1.24 per $1,000 valuation of $357 on a house valued at $288,000 in Whitman.

The 20.15-percent local assessment increase includes an overall  3.5-percent hike inside the levy limit with the balance contingent on a Proposition 2 ½ override in both communities. The total increase outside the levy is $3 million, apportioned based on student population.

Whitman’s override article is separate — Article 55 — from the operating budget in Article 2, “to keep the process clean so people can see what is being asked for,” Town Administrator Frank Lynam said. Article 2 represents the increase inside the levy limit to provide level services to the schools.

“What the School Committee did was split what they needed,” said Selectmen Chairman Carl Kowalski.

Hanson Selectmen voted 3-2 on the same night to place a $1,241,141 article and ballot question for its share of the assessment, which would increase the town’s assessment to $8,956,207.

“Last year, when we did the capital exclusion [for school computer upgrades], it hit everybody in the third and fourth quarter because the first two quarters were estimated bills Lynam told his Board of Selectmen April 5 in a meeting broadcast over Whitman-Hanson Community Access TV. “I found that the town is allowed, if the vote is taken prior to July 1 — and sufficiently early enough to allow the assessor to plan it — if the assessment passes Town Meeting and passes at the election the assessor can vote to add that money to the assessments beginning with the first quarterly bill, so people don’t get two small bills and then suddenly get hit with the value of the override over two bills rather than four.”

Like some of his Hanson counterparts, Whitman Selectman Brian Bezanson asked if there were options to a single up or down vote on the issue at Town Meeting.

“I’m all for putting this on the ballot to let the people decide, because 150 people at Town Meeting … 1,000 or more people voting at the ballot box [gives] a better picture, I think, but it would be nice to give them a choice,” Bezanson said.

Lynam said that was not an option, as Selectmen had to certify the ballot question no less than 35 days before the election.

“This is our opportunity to vote to put it on the ballot,” Lynam said. “Only the selectmen can place an override on the ballot. What Town Meeting can do is condition that money. As I understand Chapter 71, when a region submits a budget you have only two options — yes or no.”

He said he views a menu approach impedes the district’s ability to set their numbers.

“We get to say yes or no, not ‘Here’s how we want you to spend your money,’” Lynam said. “You can have those conversations during the budget process.”

Once an override is voted, it’s good until the tax rate is set, according to Lynam. If a ballot question succeeds where a Town Meeting article fails, the sponsor (WHRSD in this case) has until September or October to seek another Town Meeting in an effort to obtain a successful vote in that arena.

“We have elected officials that run our schools, that we put in office to do the best thing for our kids, and if this is what they’ve decided then this is what they’ve decided,” said Selectmen Vice Chairman Dan Salvucci in favoring an up or down ballot question to let voters decide the issue.

Alcohol Policy

In other business, selectmen amended its updated Alcohol Enforcement Compliance Check Policy.

“In discussions with investigators from ABCC, they provided us with a pretty clear outline of how they approach and how they would view our approach to compliance,” Lynam said. “There’s no point in us having a policy that doesn’t meet all of their points, because if we do, we’d be at risk of not being able to support the decisions.”

The policy, with it’s minor changes, will be delivered to license holders by Police Chief Scott Benton.

Kowalski noted the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission had conducted a compliance check in Whitman the week of March 28 and found four businesses in violation for sales to minors — the Whitman Convenience Store, Temple Liquors, Jamie’s Pub and O’Toole’s Pub.

Bernie Lynch of Colonial Power, the largest aggregation consultant in the state, representing 42 of about 80 communities participating in electric power aggregation, which is the municipal procurement of power for residents on and independent basis billed through utility companies, discussed the program with selectmen.

Whitman is working on an aggregation program through Old Colony Planning Council. The program is offered on an opt-out basis.

Aggregation is being put before Town Meeting as a warrant article.

Lynch said the benefits of aggregation include choice, pricing stability, savings through competitive bid process, flexibility and the expertise of Colonial Power.

Towns can also choose the level of green product they select. Billing and outage management remain the same as current practice through aggregation with Colonial Power, Lynch said.

“We kind of improve on that — you can’t get any worse,” he said of outage management.

A couple from Whitman succumbed to their injuries after a rotten tree fell on their car in a freak accident in Abington on Sunday morning during stormy weather.

Franklin Teixeira, 49, who was driving, and his wife Manuela, 52, were identified as the victims by Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz.

Their adult son Frank Teixeira works in the Whitman-Hanson school district technology department.

“At Whitman-Hanson, we are deeply saddened by the untimely loss of Frank Teixeira’s parents.  We are keeping Frank, a valued member of our Technology Department, in our thoughts and prayers.”   Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ruth Gilbert-Whitner.

“The tree, which was rotten and hollow, was completely uprooted and appears to have fallen as a result of the morning’s high winds and snow. The tree fell through power lines and disrupted service at 255 Rockland Street for a time,” Plymouth County DA Timothy Cruz said in a press release.

The incident was investigated by Abington Police, State Police Detectives assigned to the District Attorney’s Office and State Police Crime Scene Services and Bureau of Criminal Investigations.

WHITMAN — Say you needed an old file from Whitman Town Hall. Depending on its age and subject matter, it could either be close at hand or require a search of file cabinets or temporary file boxes in offices all over the building — if you are lucky.

A tour of file storage locations shows records filling old vaults, spaces under exterior and interior stairs, the two stories of former book stacks in the wing of the building that used to house the library, boiler and storage rooms, and the cells of the former police station.

They are also stored in a custodial closet containing an inaccessible, but working, toilet that must be flushed once a week lest the water evaporate and cause a buildup of sewer gases. More are kept on the landing and steps of the second floor behind the auditorium.

“What I’m seeking to do is install a record carriage system so that we can store a large quantity of records in compact spaces,” Town Administrator Frank Lynam said of a Tuesday, March 22 vote of the Board of Selectmen to authorize a warrant article for $53,000 to seek funding for the project. “It would enable us to place records that are very haphazardly placed everywhere in the Town Hall and kind of bring them together and organize them, inventory them and have them where they are accessible and reasonably secure. Right now they are in every nook and cranny of the building.”

One of the storage systems will be placed in the selectmen’s office, allowing access from two sides and will compress files to fit more into the space. Four more will be placed in a room behind the lower Town Hall meeting room that is temperature and humidity-controlled to adequately protect records.

“It’s a short-term solution,” Lynam said. “It’s a good solution for five years or so. At some point, we’ll have to have a more viable solution, and I think [the key] is actually getting the state to come into the 21st Century and accept the concept of electronic archiving.”

Lynam had also discussed the situation with the Buildings, Facilities and Capital Expenditures Committee on Thursday, March 3.

“One of our worst traits, or characteristics, is record storage,” he told the committee. “We’re not in compliance with state law in terms of how to preserve records and we’re not in compliance with good business practices on how to secure and protect those records.”

Lynam contacted the state storage system contractor, Delegate Systems, to conduct a site visit and provide a design and estimates on a solution. Their initial quote included $14,864.75 for rotating storage in the selectmen’s office, he said.

Among the problems the system would help solve is the long-term storage of personnel records, according to Lynam.

The state archivist has told town officials that some records, including minutes from meetings, which must be easily retrieved as hard copies, cannot be digitized. Under current state law, for example, e-mails exchanged between public officials must be printed out with hard copies kept on file.

About 20-to-30 percent of files can be stored electronically, but is an expensive project, Lynam cautioned.

“And it won’t replace the need for storage,” he said. “They (state archivists) had consistently rejected it because their concern was, if we create a file today, will we be able to read it 20 years from now. Paper is constant.”

During the five to seven years of secure, organized filing that the new system will buy for the town, Lynam suggested perhaps some method of long-term accessibility to digitized records could be developed. The problem, however, is here now.

“In the big picture, this is not a lot of money to address the issue we’re addressing,” he said.

“I think it’s way past due,” said Building Inspector Robert Curran, a member of the Buildings, Facilities and Capital Expenditures Committee.

Member Christopher Powers voiced support for a more long-term solution, such as electronic storage.

“We’re eventually going to end up there,” Lynam said. “This is something happening all around us and we’re going to be part of that movement.”

WHITMAN — The town  might finally be able to sort out issues regarding their shared sewage situation with the city of Brockton.

Last year, Brockton mayor Bill Carpenter hit Whitman with a termination notice for outstanding payments due dating back to 2013. But at the Whitman town selectman meeting on Tuesday, the board worked on straightening out the issues and explained the situation in detail.

Brockton wanted Whitman to be a common user of their shared sewage system and for the town to share the cost of any repair expenses. While Whitman is willing to pay a share of it, they do not want to be responsible for the neighboring city’s issues when just 160 feet of the town’s pipeline extends into Brockton, Town Administrator Frank Lynam argued.

Recently, Whitman sent Brockton a check for $300,000 to take care of an audited 2013 payment and currently, they have $900,000 set aside to make the payments for 2014 and 2015. They will need to obtain another $600,000 from the Finance Committee to catch up on those payments.

Lynam said that it was not that the town was avoiding the payments. He said that there were errors in the original bill Brockton sent and the town would be more than compliant to pay when Brockton sent a correct bill based off of flow – the method which the town agreed to pay upon originally.

In the past few years, the town has spent $8,000 in audits trying to figure out why they were charged the amount they were instead of what they believed they would be charged, Lynam noted.

Unhappy with the inconsistencies, Selectman Daniel Salvucci suggested that the neighboring town may be hurting for money – which is why the rates could be higher than expected.

The board approved new procedure for issuing liquor licenses in town. From now on, they will send their rules, regulations and enforcement policies along with the license to establishments in town so that everyone is aware of the rule. The final page of the document will require the business’ signature and it appears as though they will either send it back to the town or keep it at their establishment. That part has yet to be determined.

Liquor licenses became an issue when an establishment in town violated theirs on several occasions and the town came to a conclusion – they did not have any way to strictly penalize an establishment for violating the rules.

With space lacking at the town hall, the board agreed that the archives room needed to be expanded in order to store more files.

“It’s a short term solution,” Lynam argued. “It’ll probably work for the next five to seven years. But then we’ll probably have to go digital at some point.”

Deficit spending was approved, at Lynam’s request, in order to demolish the barn on 215 South Avenue. It was damaged during winter storms and he said it was about to fall apart. While the town might not have had the funding at the moment, he argued that they will recoup the funds and then some when they sell the property.

While spending money may have been an issue, the town did receive a sizable sum from the state — $167,000 to be exact for being what the state of Massachusetts considers a “Green Community”.

Whitman and Hanson have shared a building inspector’s vehicle in recent times and in order to keep the deal in place, the board argued that the costs should be split equally – specifically gas and depreciation.

Using $3,200 from the World War II Memorial Fund, the Whitman Recreation Commission’s request to replace a fence around the basketball and pickleball court, which is located behind the police station, was approved. Pickleball is a game similar to tennis with a racket more similar to a table tennis racket and a ball more similar to a whiffle ball.

Ridder Farm’s request for a 12 General On-Premises Wine and Malt License was approved and takes effect specifically on holes four, 12, 13, 14 and 16.

Rickard D’Ambrosio’s Auctioneer License for DBA Gallery on 605 Bedford Street was approved.

The board set their April meeting schedule and their first meeting of the month will be Tuesday, April 5.

WHITMAN — With the beginning of spring, the town of Whitman will begin a new automated trash pickup system through Waste Management.

Homeowners have already begun receiving informational flyers from the hauling company about the switch, according to DPW Superintendent Bruce Martin.

“The program is what most municipalities are going to nowadays,” Martin said.

The cart manufacturer will be working with the DPW and Waste Management to distribute two 64-gallon, wheeled barrels to every house in town — single-family to three-family dwellings — on Wednesday March 23 with pickup service to begin Monday, April 4. The pickup schedule has changed for some residents, as 300 on the schedule for Friday were distributed between Mondays and Wednesday to even out the workload. Notifications of that change have already been made via mail or robocall.

Multi-family buildings with dumpsters are not part of the town’s trash program.

“The rules for that haven’t changed,” Martin said.

The black barrels will be used for trash and the blue for recycling.

Panther colors were attempted, as many communities go with their town’s school colors, but red is not in the manufacturer’s color inventory and would have incurred added cost.

Every barrel will be marked with a serial number assigned to the address. Barrels are to remain with the property when a house is sold.

Once the program is up and running, new construction will be signed up through the assessor’s office. New subdivisions now under construction have already been included.

“The truck pulls up and the guy doesn’t even get out of the truck,” Martin said. “The [mechanized] arm reaches, out, grabs the trash barrel, empties it and puts it back. The days of trash guys hanging off the back of the truck when its 2 degrees out or 95 degrees out are over.”

Only items inside the barrels will be picked up.

While some seniors have expressed concern about the size, weight and maneuverability of the 64-gallon barrels, Martin said the new barrels should be easier to handle than older trash cans because they have big handles and wheels, and are wider so they have more stability.

Right now, Whitman has a three-barrel limit but the new ones are the size of two barrels, according to Martin, who noted that it may mean going down a barrel on trash, but the recycle volume is much greater.

“The whole idea is to have people recycle more,” he said, noting barrel volume has been one of the most frequently voiced concerns. “The state DEP is pushing everybody to this system, because you can’t keep putting this stuff in the ground.”

Mailers from Waste Management include tips on set-out times, placement of barrels and how to clear a space for them in snowy weather, as well as instructions on what to recycle and how. A holiday schedule and contact information was also included.

For more information, call Waste Management at 800-972-4545, the DPW at 781-447-7630 or visit whitman-ma.gov.

“I just want people to be patient with the new program, give it a try,” Martin said. “I think it’s just going to be a learning curve for people.”

HANSON — Selectmen will interview the four finalists for the Town Administrator position starting at 6 p.m., Tuesday, March 22.

The search committee released the names of the final four — Michael McCue of Mansfield, Gregory Enos of Brockton (currently Whitman’s assistant town administrator), Sarah Smith of East Bridgewater and Chawner Hurd of Plainville — of seven semi-finalists they interviewed Feb. 24 and 25. This second round of the search process attracted 30 applicants. They were listed in no particular order or ranking as to preference.The selectmen’s interviews with finalists are open to the public.

Executive Assistant to the Board of Selectmen Meredith Marini will now forward questions used in past interviews to the selectmen for their review.

Selectman James McGahan also encouraged residents to submit their questions for consideration.

Search Committee Chairman Kenneth McCormick said the increased salary range approved at the October special Town Meeting, along with a revision of the job description, helped attract a better pool of candidates this time.

“You did an excellent job chairing that committee,” said Selectmen Chairman Bruce Young, who served on the search panel.

“I had an absolute blast,” McCormick said. “People that I worked with on the committee were professional and very good at deciphering what we needed to pick and the route we needed to go.”

The committee had worked together to formulate its goals, he said.

“You want to do it right,” he said.  “We’ve had some good, but not long-term town administrators in the town, and that [longevity] is one of the things that we want. We want someone who’s going to be vested, outside the box — not your typical town administrator.”

Key considerations included environmental awareness and budget experience.

“I believe we got it right,” McCormick said.  “We got the cream of the crop, I think, for [selectmen] to pick from when you do your interviews.”

He thanked selectmen and the town for allowing the committee to start over when it was not felt that the first search attracted enough qualified candidates to present more than two finalists to selectmen after a third withdrew.

The hope this time around is to have a new town administrator in place, and working along side interim Town Administrator Richard LaCamera by the end of April.

“Hopefully you’ll be impressed —  because we were — with the  candidates,” McCormick said.

McCormick, who had never served on a board before, lauded the dedication and diversity of his committee.

“That’s one of the reasons I picked you,” said Selectman Kenny Mitchell. “I’d never seen your name on any board or any committee.”

McCormick replied he saw the opening and decided to “give it a whirl.”

The Search Committee will meet one more time to approve minutes and dissolve itself.

How it adds up: Legislators and school board discuss Chapter 70 funding

When the W-H Regional School District budget is rolled out Feb. 3, it will consist of two scenarios — one reflecting the increased costs in a level-service budget and one a student-success budget — according to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ruth Gilbert-Whitner.

The latter would add $3 million to the level-service budget to bring back cut library and art programs, decrease class size, bolster writing skills and improve science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) instruction.

“What we’ve been doing in our district planning is looking at where we’ve been, where we are and where we’d like to be three years from now,” Gilbert-Whitner said at the Wednesday, Jan. 13 School Committee meeting. “Clearly, where we are today we’re seeing that revenue has been stagnant but costs that we have no control over continue to increase.”

The School Committee, Hanson Selectmen, teachers’ union members and several concerned residents heard presentations from state representatives Josh Cutler, D-Duxbury and Geoff Diehl, R-Whitman, as well as state Sen. Mike Brady, D-Brockton, on how the state calculates aid such as Chapter 70 funds to the district are calculated and affect the budget.

They also touched on the budget impact of unfunded state and federal mandates.

“I don’t think any of us here are comfortable with the lack of full funding for education,” Diehl said. “But the ground beneath us is moving constantly. The Foundation Funding Formula known as Chapter 70 is under review and at the same time we are trying to navigate changes caused by the adoption of Common Core.”

Gov. Charlie Baker’s budget will be delivered to the House at the end of the month on the heels of a second year in which state revenues have failed to meet expenditures, Diehl noted.

There is, for example, only $1.25 billion in the state’s stabilization fund, “a historic low which is below the national average” and affects the state’s credit rating, Diehl added. State borrowing is also nearing its allowed limit.

“All these elements provide a background of uncertainty about the future, but we’re tackling those challenges each and every day to turn it around,” he said.

Most of the discussion was devoted to an effort to explain the Foundation Funding Formula and how it might be changing.

Foundation formula

Currently, the formula includes district enrollment — including demographics, grade level and special education, English proficiency or vocational program involvement as well as income data — factoring in 14 enrollment and 11 program areas. Communities are assigned minimum local contributions to the school budget as well as an “extra local contribution,” or target share. Falling short of the target share can affect the amount of Chapter 70 funds a district receives. Local contributions are based on property values and aggregate resident income.

Hanson’s contribution of $1,322,998 is currently 7.66 percent below target share and Whitman, at $1,170,654 is 4.82 percent short. The district has invited Department of Elementary and Secondary Education representative Melissa King to an upcoming meeting to further explain the Foundation Funding Formula.

“We’re about 1 or 2 percent over the foundation budget, while towns around us were meeting that state pupil average, or getting closer to it, are well above their minimum budget,” said Whitman resident Chris George. “That either comes from state aid — which we know they’re not getting — or it comes from the taxpayers.”

A member of W-H Support Our Schools, he said the choices were to go after other town departments or choose to raise the revenue base.

“It’s time to pay the piper,” George said. “We benefitted for years, we shouldn’t be putting it on the backs of our kids.”

W-H receives the third-highest state reimbursement of the state’s regional schools, but is 29th of 87 regional districts in per-pupil spending — 10th from the bottom in per-pupil expenditures among all state public school districts.

“Whitman and Hanson are both residential communities with very little commercial infrastructure, but we’re weighted the same as a Braintree that has South Shore Plaza,” said School Committee member Fred Small. “We’re weighted the same as Brockton that is a city that has malls and many businesses and a lot of commercial enterprises.”

He said state funds fall short of what the district needs and puts the burden on the back of the taxpayer.

“The one-size-fits-all formula is what’s discouraging,” School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes. “It makes W-H look like they get a lot because [we’re] third in regional schools, but there are other parts of this budget that it fails in. … You can’t just pick a number and say, ‘That’s enough.’”

Hanson Interim Town Administrator Richard LaCamera said the problem has been ongoing for a number of years.

“To funding provided for the W-H Regional School District is  [near] the bottom of the state,” he said. “To think this coming year that we’re going to get a significant increase in state aid, I think, is unlikely.”

All Hanson’s town budgets have been level-funded for fiscal 2017 with only about $650,000 left to spend for all departments, including school assessments.

“It’s going to be very difficult,” he said.

“We’re very aware that W-H gets a significant percentage of its budget from the state,” Gilbert-Whitner said. “We’re also realistic in knowing that’s not going to increase at a level that’s going to solve our problems.”

Her major concern, however, was that regionalization was approved by voters because of the promised state funding as an incentive for it.

“Something was done to W-H at the state level that hasn’t been fixed,” she said. “The towns, I believe, believe in education, but they have revenue issues that have to be addressed.”

Cutler noted that he, Diehl and Brady have all worked in municipal government and understand the challenges and frustrations.

“There’s two issues here,” he said. “One is the size of the budget and how much you get from the state year to year. … The size of the pie we have control over … how the pie gets divvied up is all done by formula.”

Each year, Chapter 70 aid is increased by $25 per pupil for the 201 districts where local contributions do not permit an overall increase in Chapter 70 aid.

Small asked the legislators to work toward increasing that to at least $50 per pupil, but $100 to $200 would really be needed to come closer to closing the gap.

Under-funded
mandate

Diehl also indicated the state has also backed off full transportation reimbursement — now at 66 percent of the WHRSD $1.2 million transportation cost for students living 1.5 miles from school — as a way to force districts to “put skin in the game” and prevent some districts’ practice of billing unworkable bus schedules to the state. He argued 66 percent is still too low and noted the local legislators are working to try and get the reimbursement increased.

Hayes also pointed out that regional schools are not permitted to charge for, or opt out of busing students.

A federal mandate to provide transportation for homeless students from shelter facilities to their “origin district,” was initially unfunded and is still underfunded, Diehl argued.