By Brooke Loring
WHRHS student intern

The introduction of a new principal, Dr. Christopher Jones, Whitman-Hanson High School has experienced many changes within the first months of the 2018-2019 school year. One of those being the introduction of many new and unique clubs.

To name a few, the Fashion Club, the Banned Book Club, and the World Cultures Club, are some of the new types of extracurricular activities provided to students. Whether it is putting their passion for design to the test or learning about cultural traditions, students are able to, as Jones stated, “find out more about themselves.”

Jones also believes that clubs are essential to a school’s culture.

“The more the better…, not only do they enrich the person that joins them, but also the people in it,” he said. “Take the Banned Book Club for example, members are able to learn from each other’s perspectives.”

In order to create a club, students must find a faculty advisor and a proposal to present to Dr. Jones.

“The kids from the Chess Club even sent me a PowerPoint on how to play!” Jones recalled.

“Choice is voice”, Jones concludes, “the choices we make help us spread and share our voice with others.”

By Brooke Loring
WHRHS student intern

This past weekend, students of Whitman-Hanson Regional High School’s Drama Club put on a fantastic production of “Footloose.” Directed by Colleen McDonough, the show was a musical adaptation of the hit 1984 film, of the same name. On stage for three nights, students were able to show off their musical talents to their peers and communities.

Featured student talent included junior Jill Feeney, who played Ariel Moore, and sophomore Tyler Godbout, who played the lead as Ren McCormack, both of which you also may recognize as from the Drama Club’s last spring production of “Mary Poppins.”

As Assistant to the Director, and cast member who worked on the production, I can say that putting the show together within five weeks was extremely stressful for all those involved. However, through hard work, the cast and crew were not only able to put on an amazingly fun show, but were also able to create a close bond that undoubtedly showed on stage.

“This show would not be the same without each and every one of you”, McDonough said minutes before the show on opening night. After a tiresome Tech Week of painting sets, light cues, mic checks and lost wigs, it was incredible to see our show come to life. Of course the show would not have been complete without the talents of our director, Collen McDonough, musical director, Christopher DiBenedetto, student choreographer, Kaylee Diehl, and stage manager, Ethan Lenihan.

With the success of Footloose, the members of the Whitman-Hanson Drama Club cannot wait to see what show they will put on next, for their annual spring production.   

WHITMAN — The Board of Selectmen again approved a single tax rate for fiscal 2019 during their Tuesday, Oct. 30 meeting.

Assessor Kathleen O’Keefe said residential property makes up 89.23 percent of the total valuation, with commercial/ industrial and personal property combined at 10.76 percent.

The levy determined necessary for 2019 is at $1,647,813.53 used to determine a projected tax rate of $15.38 per $1,000 of valuation. While that is lower than the current year’s $16.01 per $1,000, property values have increased, making the average single family home tax bill $262.30 higher.

Assessors advised the single rate.

“To my knowledge, Whitman has never split the tax rate,” O’Keefe said. “The commercial component is such a small percentage of the total valuations.”

Neither a small commercial business exemption — which benefits the property owner, rather than all small business owners — nor a residential exemption — which benefits multi-family home or apartment building owners over single-family homes — were supported by either the assessors or selectmen.

O’Keefe also reported that the excess levy capacity is estimated to be $361,073.25. That reflects the difference between the maximum allowable levy and the actual tax levy.

Town Administrator Frank Lynam reported that the Department of Revenue has certified Whitman’s free cash at $1,146,271 for the general fund and $5,592,861 for the sewer/water enterprise fund.

DPW report

Selectmen also met with the DPW Commissioners and superintendents Dennis Smith and Bruce Martin to discuss the departments long-term needs.

Commissioner Kevin Cleary reported the DPW’s 17 employees not only perform the regular work involved in maintaining roads and water/sewer services, they also work on projects for other town departments to save money for the town. Recent projects include the preschool drop-off driveway at the high school and sidewalk repairs at Whitman’s schools and library.

But the DPW is also doing that work with aging equipment and a budget that has seen only a .3-percent increase over the past 10 years. Funding sources for the DPW budget are the town’s contribution, state Chapter 90 funding, which averages $300,000, and the water/enterprise account. The average cost per mile to repair roads is $400,000.

“You start doing the math [and] it doesn’t go very far,” Cleary said. “Everybody here can probably come up with a list, whether it’s their own street, the streets they drive down … it continues to be an issue. … We stretch that Chapter 90 money as far as we can.”

Roads and Parks Superintendent Martin said it may take a three-year hiatus from repairs to amass the money in order to repave Auburn Street alone, which is the town’s responsibility even though it is shared by Route 14.

Much of the dump truck fleet dates back to 1999 and the only backhoe is 32 years old.

Selectmen agreed that the DPW not only needs funding for road repairs and some new equipment but a new building as well — and argued that its workers are underpaid.

“I would vote for a new building in a second,” Selectman Dan Salvucci said. “We’ve made so many cuts over the years that our equipment is old, our buildings are old.”

“The bottom is always the DPW,” said Selectmen Brian Bezanson. “These guys deserve more money, they work hard. I just don’t understand how we, as a community can let this happen and I’m embarrassed to say that this needs to be at the top of the list and, now that we’re in a financial pinch, it’s even harder to do.”

He said the town has to be tougher with the state in how it disperses Chapter 90 funds.

Selectman Randy LaMattina agreed that it needs to be addressed.

The aging sewer system and lack of a backup generator to keep waste flowing in the event of main breaks were also highlighted. Commissioner Wayne Carroll noted that a recent sewer main break on Auburn Street was caused by pipe corrosion from the outside in, and said the cause has still not been determined.

“It’s got to be a soil source of some sort,” Carroll said.

The building shortcomings include the need for workers in the garage to use the restrooms in the VFW across the street as well as showers to permit them to clean up after working sewer main breaks. But the OSHA regulations that went into effect in July are a bigger concern as the building does not meet the new regulations, particularly for worker safety. For example, there is no eyewash station at the garage.

“I firmly believe we can put a building together for under $5 million,” Lynam said. “It’s a matter of getting it queued and prioritized.”

Salvucci said part of the problem is that people look at the DPW building as a garage.

HANSON – Have you heard the story about the Puritan who threw a bowling ball away in the privy?

It may seem like the set-up line for a joke, but early American outhouses are providing archaeologists with a trove of information about our cultural history. Besides unusual finds such as the 17th century bowling ball, archaeologists have found information about the shoes people wore, the toys children played with and other details lost to the changing urban landscape.

Archaeologist Joseph Bagley discussed this, and other sources of historic artifacts at the Hanson Public Library Thursday, Oct. 16 as he spoke and offered a slide presentation about his book, “A History of Boston in 50 Artifacts.” Bagley has been the archaeologist for the city of Boston since 2011 and has also worked on several excavations of native American sites from Maine to Georgia.

Copies of the book, for which he has signed over his copyright and proceeds to the Boston Landmarks Commission, were on sale at the event where he signed copies.

“Don’t think whole plates,” Bagley said in describing the type of artifact most often unearthed. “Think rusty nails, broken windows, broken dishes, animal bones – that kind of stuff.”

So it becomes clear where much of the pieces are found.

“The one thing every historical archaeologist dreams to find is … a privy,” he said. “We love them for a couple of reasons.”

They were essential sanitary requirements for urban areas before indoor plumbing and yards were smaller, so large preservation areas are not required. The excavations of the Big Dig unearthed “a ton of archaeology.” They are also deep, which allows a lot to happen at ground surface, without disburbing what may have been tossed in there – besides the obvious use – including, kitchen waste, toys, deceased pets, and much more.

Volunteers dig

The community archaeology program on which he serves depends heavily on volunteers to do its field work, as he is the only full-time staff member.

“We got rid of the barriers to our digs,” he said. “We wanted archaeology to be approachable and accessible … so people could just walk off the street, walk up to us digging, ask us what we’re doing and get involved with us.”

The most recent project on which he has worked has been a dig at the Malcolm X landmark-designated property in Roxbury, seeking information about him and his family, unearthing thousands of artifacts to learn more about the civil rights leader before he changed his name from Malcolm Little. Deeper that in the yard, they also discovered thousands more pieces dating back to the 1600-1700s.

“[That] was a bit of an annoyance because all of my research said nothing happened on this site until 1860 when that house got built,” Bagley said. “That wasn’t true, so we had to go back … and we found out we were close enough to an historic mansion of Elijah Seaver.”

He started his talk about the book with a slide of a spear point dating back to 5,500 and 7,500 years ago.

Bagley said his pet-peeve is histories of Boston that begin in 1630.

“If you made a timeline of Boston history, 1630 is in the last three feet of a 100-foot timeline,” he said. The people of the area go back at least 12,000 years.

Saugus, Ipswich and Canton have seen more findings than Boston from these early periods because of the changes made to the landscape over the last four centuries.

Bowling for Puritans

Then he came to the Puritan bowling ball.

When it was first found, it was assumed to be a newell post, but the hole gave it away. Owned by Katherine Nanny Naylor, a wealthy woman whose father the Rev. John Wheelwright and his sister Ann Hutchinson had been banned from Boston for heresy.

Katherine married a wealthy man who left her as administrator to her children’s inheritance. She also obtained the first divorce – from her second husband – on grounds of her husband’s cruelty and adultery.

“Her wealth gave her acertain privileges that other people wouldn’t have in Puritan Boston,” Bagley said. “Bowling was illegal. … The way that we’re interpreting it is that Katherine, because of her wealth and social status in the community, was able to do things that other people were not able to do.”

A toy belonging to Tory merchant Charles Apthorpe’s son Thomas – and bore the child’s name – was another valuable find. Thomas Apthorpe, later became a paymaster for British troops, fled Boston to England after Evacuation Day, March 17, 1776.

He also spoke of how dish shards and bits of Hebrew Bible pages found on the site of the African-American Meetinghouse, shed insight into how African-Americans and, later, immigrant populations assumed their place in the history of Boston during the 19th century.

Bits and pieces that may first seem insignificant can, therefore, be very valuable indeed, requiring a great deal of back-up research, Bagley said.

The scale of work

“The dig itself is the smallest component of an archaeological survey,” Bagley said. A recent 11-day dig required him to prepare for it beginning in July and he will spend the rest of the winter on his report.

That bowling ball in the privy may also lead to another  book for Bagley — he is currently looking into writing about the life and times of Katherine Nanny Naylor.

By Brooke Loring
WHRHS Student Intern

It seemed like enough — $536.28, was how much I had in my bank account, after paying for a month’s worth of rent, insurance, student loans, groceries, a late credit card payment and more. Many of my classmates believed that to be a good thing, but the adult volunteers and teachers thought otherwise.

After being given an occupation that fit our interests, and a net monthly income, the senior class of Whitman-Hanson got to take a step into the real world Wednesday, Oct. 10.

The Credit for Life Fair has been an event at Whitman-Hanson for four years now, and gears students, specifically seniors, toward preparing for their financial future.

“Today you are going to get a chance to learn by doing,” was how WHRHS principal, Dr. Christopher Jones, put it.

The fair has been prepared for since the spring by school officials, the WHRHS Business department, as well as parents and funded by a variety of sponsors including the Panther Education Trust, Mutual Bank, Jack Conway Real Estate, and many more.

Held in the school gym, students had to use their monthly income to successfully pay for a month of housing, insurance, credit and lending, student loans, food, transportation, retirement plans, and luxuries, without going into debt — a sort of mash-up between the board games of Monopoly and Life.

Students were also able to win prizes and gift cards, as part of a raffle.

At the end of the fair, many students reflected on what they had learned. For example, one student, Morgan Kerins, believed the whole event to be, “a kind of eye opener.”

Savannah Hyde was also thankful for the experience.

“I like how much information we got about everything,” she said. “We’ll definitely be more prepared for the future.”

Others like Ashley O’Brien, who didn’t know what to expect, admitted that it changed her mind about her future plans, but for the better.

“It made me realize which careers will work best for me,” O’Brien said.

As a student that participated in the event, I can say for sure that it was a wake-up call. Many of us students had considered finances to be a problem to be solved later. Little did we know how fast life actually moves. The Credit for Life Fair taught us how  to stay on budget, but most importantly, it taught us how to prepare for the future.

The WHRHS Credit for Life Fair was sponsored by Mutual Bank, Massachusetts Division of Banks, Granite State Development Corp., Panther Education Trust, Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc., Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority, Jack Conway Real Estate, Eastern Insurance, Bridgewater Savings Bank, Edelman Financial Services, Webster Bank, and Residential Mortgage Services.

By Brooke Loring
W-H student intern

WHITMAN — This past weekend, the town of Whitman put on the first ever Great Pumpkin Classic Car Show in an effort to raise scholarship money for Whitman-Hanson’s Class of 2019 and the town’s recreation programs. Held at Whitman Middle School, dozens of community members (as well as automobile aficionados) participated in a variety of Halloween-themed activities, raffles, and contests. Food from the Away Café food truck was featured as well. This event was thanks to a collaboration of Whitman Assistant Town Administrator Lisa Green, Recreation Director Oliver Amado, and Whitman-Hanson’s Dollars for Scholars.

Also among those who attended were student volunteers, DFS Administrator, Michael Ganshirt, said he hoped students learned from the experience that, “when you give back to the community, the community gives back to you.”

Overall, the event raised $1,742 for this year’s graduating class of Whitman-Hanson Regional High School. Due to the event’s success, hopefully this becomes a new and unique tradition for the town. The Great Pumpkin Classic Car Show brought the community together for a fun and festive Sunday.   

BROCKTON – Alfred Russo, 75, who had already been arrested in late August on arson charges in the burning of the abandoned J.J’s Pub, 16 Liberty Street, in Hanson, has been indicted along with two new co-conspirators, Patricia Harrison, 59, and Wayne Cummings, 49, all of Buzzards Bay.

According to a statement by District Attorney Timothy Cruz, Russo was indicted on one count of burning of a dwelling and two counts of arson causing injuries to a firefighter. Harrison and Cummings were each indicted on one count of burning of a building.

The Plymouth County Grand Jury returned the indictments on Friday, Sept. 28.

The fire, which Hanson Fire Chief Jerome Thompson, III, said nearly reached four alarms, destroyed the commercial property — abandoned for approximately five-years — adjacent to the intersections of Liberty Street and East and West Washington Streets. Investigators deemed it to be an estimated $400,000 loss, according to court documents.

The fire sent two firefighters to area hospitals, Lieutenant Sherilyn Mullin as well as Timothy Royer, who both sustained heat-related injuries, and had to miss some work due to these injuries, stated court documents.

It took some time to extinguish, due to the full involvement of the structure, according to a previous statement from the district attorney, and many towns and the state responded or provided station coverage for Hanson during the incident, according to Thompson.

Harrison is the owner of the abandoned property and Cummings is Harrison’s longtime boyfriend. The indictments allege that the pair conspired, and assisted Russo, in the arson of the building.

In a police interview, the owner of the Hanson property, Harrison, said she and the defendant, Russo, a friend, were together at her home when she received a call from her real estate agent about the fire. Harrison’s boyfriend, Cummings, says he was out walking the dog when he received word of the fire from Harrison.

Yet both Harrison and Cummings identified Russo’s Jeep, in Hanson, when shown it in later interviews from cameras across from JJ’s Pub at times proximate to the fire, according to the State Police report.

Video surveillance from Dandel Construction Corporation was used to identify a party park a vehicle on the side of the building, enter through a door and remain inside for nearly eight minutes, according to the report. The party then exits, enters a vehicle and drives away. About six minutes after the party exits the structure, smoke is visible venting from the roof, it continues. Less than nine minutes later, fire is visible out of a side window.

When investigators went to meet Russo at his home in Bourne two weeks after the incident, police say he, “spontaneously stated that he was driving his Jeep in Hanson on the day of the fire.”

Russo, who was then taken for a voluntary interview at the Bourne Police Department, stated that he had been in Hanson on the day of the fire for a cookout at Cummings’ sister’s house, but didn’t end up attending because he didn’t feel well, according to the report.

He freely admitted to driving to the JJ’s Pub property, purportedly to move a generator, but said he never went inside, according to police.

In an interview with the Express, Russo blamed the fire on “spontaneous combustion,” and noted that his presence there was a “bad coincidence.”

The Hanson Fire Department’s official Twitter account tweeted: “Great Job by everyone involved from the investigators from the State Police and Hanson Police to the District Attormeys [sic] Office for getting these individual [sic] indicted.”

Fire Chief Thompson had previously been publicly critical of the Judge who originally arraigned Russo when he was first arrested.

The three will be arraigned at a later date in Brockton Superior Court.

Meeting in a special session on Wednesday, Sept. 19, the School Committee voted 6-0 to accept the resignation of assistant superintendent for pupil services Kyle Riley and post the position as director of student services on an interim basis to complete the school year.

The position was posted immediately after the meeting because state law requires the position be filled by Oct. 1.

Members Christopher Howard, Robert O’Brien Jr., Christopher Scriven and Alexandria Taylor were unable to attend.

“As you know, that position was formerly a director of student services, it was changed last September by the School Committee and the assistant superintendent position was formed,” said Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak said. “I’d like to go back to the director of student services and I need your approval for that.”

The salary for a director will be lower than that of an assistant superintendent, but the duties are similar.

“The director of student services incorporates special education, homeless transportation, special education transportation and English-language learners as well as home-school students,” Szymaniak said. “When we looked at it as an assistant superintendent it was a little more as a decision-maker in Central Office. As we put together a flow chart of superintendent, one assistant superintendent who has hands in a lot of different things and this as a true director position — much like many of the districts around us.”

Szymaniak also reported that he has advised Hanson Town Administrator Michael McCue about the committee’s Sept. 12 vote to extend the Maquan School turnover date to Oct. 31.

“Does everybody understand we’re not mowing that field anymore?” Committee member Michael Jones asked.

Szymaniak replied that he believes the Maquan Re-Use Committee is discussing such particulars.

“We’re not going to have any obligation to do that,” Szymaniak said. “I think that’s going to be something that, if they ask us to do that, there might be a fee … but our responsibility to that facility is going to turn over Oct. 31.”

He said the town is now discussing how to secure the building and the district is working with town officials to purchase materials to board it up, for which they will seek reimbursement from the town.

Dates for the municipal and public yard sales will be announced at the Wednesday, Oct. 10 School Committee meeting.

He fights for others.

Physical therapist Brett Miller of Hanson, owner of 110 Fitness — a wellness center in Rockland — has found both his mission and passion lending his voice and including people who sometimes need a helping hand.

A onetime boxer, who still trains fighters, Miller was seeing patients with Parkinson’s disease during his in-home physical therapy visits.

He had something of an epiphany after watching a “60 Minutes” feature by journalist Leslie Stahl, who highlighted the Rock Steady program and its proven changes and improvements for patients. Stahl’s husband Aaron Latham has PD.

In May 2016, Miller became certified in the Rock Steady non-profit program and, as an affiliate, he opened Rock Steady Boxing South Shore in Marshfield that August. Attendance was overwhelming.

“The program went nuts,” he said.

They quickly outgrew the space and opened the Rockland gym. It’s the largest boxing and wellness center in the world for people with Parkinson’s disease, Miller said. He envisions fighting through the future at 110 Fitness and for people living with Parkinson’s disease and other disabilities.

“Creating a giant circle of compassion and not leaving anyone behind,” is how Miller describes it.

Miller feels his personal outlook of loyalty and encompassing others began with his military background — he was a special operations medic in the Army for eight years.

The gym is an all-inclusive center, however of the 105 people who work out nearly all are living with PD. The mission of 110 Fitness is to leave no person behind so that they may reach their full potential physically, mentally, and spiritually by inspiring them to give their 110 percent effort in order to find the greatest balance in their lives.

The physical therapy-based program is a non-contact, intense boxing fitness program designed to improve function, quality of life, strength, flexibility, and balance for people with Parkinson’s disease. Rock Steady boxing is the only medically and clinically proven exercise program to reduce, reverse, and delay the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, according to the 110 Fitness website.

Miller announced the newest program this month at 110 Fitness — boxing in the water. In collaboration with the Gold Fish Swim Center (in the adjacent building) boxing in the water will be a program for all levels of PD.

Boxing H20 is the first of its kind. The center also has popular fitness trend classes such as: drumming circles, meditation, pound, reiki, massage, peddling for PD cycling classes, art workshops, bowling events, free weekly guest speakers, care givers and young onset support groups. To see a full list of classes, times and membership information visit their website 110fitness.org.

Meet Fred

Freddy Maitland, 72, (boxing name: Fast Freddy) of Hanson was all smiles as he did core work and visibly perspired during his boxing class last week at 110 Fitness. Diagnosed approximately seven years ago he had depth perception and visual changes around stairs. Wife Kathy Maitland, a nurse for nearly 40 years said her husband made strides in delaying the progression of symptoms but didn’t have the typical signs that neurologists looked for in PD patients.

Fast Freddy has a cornerman who assists him with exercise in his level of boxing.

Corner men are what Miller calls his 40 volunteers who assist with classes. They vary from family members, nurses, to dedicated physical therapy students from local colleges in Boston, remaining with boxers throughout the class for extra assistance.

During class Fred Maitland worked hard as the liveliness in the gym environment triggered a wave of energy. The music was just like any other high paced fitness class with intense movement, rotating boxing bags, colorful gloves and lots of water.

Fred had some setbacks physically in progression of his PD symptoms after a bout of the flu and pneumonia last year. He continues to attend 110 Fitness where he puts on a gait belt for stability and does several exercises sitting down.

He laced up the gloves and punched his way to delay further cognitive decline. Wife Kathy was thrilled at the camaraderie at the gym aside of the physical benefits. He has been attending for two years.

“Fred was sick in the hospital and the friends we have made here had decorated a huge card and everyone signed it,” she added.

Helping vets

Miller’s wellness center is the largest in the world with a boxing program for Parkinson’s patients. He is launching an adaptive boxing program for disabled veterans in October 2018. They will also be working with an adaptive boxing program for youth and young adults a first in the country, he said.

Teaming up with the Friendship Home in Norwell and the State of Massachusetts DDS program  the youth boxing will include over a dozen young people living with  down syndrome, autism, and physical disabilities, Miller is looking forward to continuously adding to his educational programs and variety of opportunities to embrace all. They also host a women’s empowerment boxing class for those affected by domestic violence after teaming up with DOVE of Quincy and South Shore Women’s Center of Plymouth.

The gym also recently received grants through the National Parkinson Foundation and the American Parkinson’s Disease Association, which Miller has used for program development.

During their second anniversary celebration the 110 Fitness scholarship foundation  raised $65,000 to defray membership costs for people who cannot afford to attend the gyms valuable PD programs.

The event drew 400 people with guest speaker American Ninja Warrior Jimmy Choi of Chicago as their keynote speaker. Choi was afflicted by early onset PD and motivates others as he did to manage and rise above his disabilities.

Choi also spent time boxing and visiting the gym during the same weekend.

Miller is proudly involved with the Michael J. Fox Foundation and the Davis Phinney Foundation. This month he rode 30 miles on a tandem bike with a friend who has PD raising  $10,000 for the Fox Foundation.

About Rock Steady

The foundation of Rock Steady Boxing a non-profit group offers training for qualified individuals. Rock Steady Boxing, the first boxing program of its kind in the country, was founded in 2006 by former Marion County (Indiana) Prosecutor Scott C. Newman, who is living with Parkinson’s.

Newman began intense, one-on-one, boxing training just a few years after he was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s at the age of 40. Newman witnessed the dramatic improvement in his physical health, agility and daily functioning through the intense and high energy workouts. Newman’s quality of life improved dramatically in a short time due to his fighting back against Parkinson’s disease.

The Parkinson’s disease foundation estimates there are more than 1 million people in the United States diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and more than 60,000 people are diagnosed each year, according to their website.

WHITMAN — Selectmen voted to authorize the town to contract for wireless remotely controlled LED streetlights as part of the town’s conversion program on Tuesday, Aug. 28 and is also reviewing a report on liaison assignments.

Both projects were spear headed by Assistant Town Administrator Lisa Green, who reported on them to the board.

Consultant George Woodbury of LightSmart Energy Consulting, LLC is working with the town on the conversion project and has reviewed various LED programs and companies, including the one Selectmen opted for, which permits remote adjustment of the brightness of the lights in specific areas. With the board’s vote, Woodbury is prepared to move toward finding the best, most cost-efficient supplier for the town.

The town’s streetlights have already been mapped via GPS.

“He can look at each particular area and recommend the best wattage design for the streetlight that will meet the needs of that area,” Green said. He also provided preliminary cost figures, and recommended the remote control option.

“In the future it allows the town to do other things as well with the lights, as far as any type of surveillance or policing, so it gives us a lot of opportunities to plan in the future,” she said.

With the grant money the town has received through the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MRPC), National Grid’s incentive programs and Green Communities grants, the system is very affordable for the town, according to Green. The only cost incurred would be a net cost of $14,500 for one-time software costs above the conversion costs covered by the grants.

The town is expected to realize $72,658 annual savings with the new LED streetlights once the project is complete. Maintenance costs are estimated at $11,000 per year. Right now, the town pays National Grid close to $69,000 per year for maintenance.

“One of the major reasons to make the initial investment in the controls, is we would have the ability to set schedules for when the lights go on, when they go off, and to adjust the intensity as needed,” said Town Administrator Frank Lynam. “It gives us the ability to address the needs of neighborhoods as well as providing the general light controls that exist now, where they’re either on or off.”

Lynam also noted police often prefer darker conditions in which to perform their duties.

“Right now, to perform the controls, you’d have to physically climb the pole to make the adjustments,” Lynam said.

Liaison research

Selectmen have asked Green to draw up a handbook specific for the board, by Christmas if possible, in order to settle questions first raised in July by Selectman Randy LaMattina.

She said she has a working draft fashioned toward how the Whitman board already works.

Green, with the assistance of the board’s Administrative Assistant Laurie O’Brien, researched the current practices of 24 towns across the state, asking if they had a handbook focused toward the Board of Selectmen and if any members of that board were appointed as liaisons to town departments.

They also asked how those liaisons were designated.

“There isn’t one practice that each board of selectmen follows,” Green said. “There were a lot of different variations.”

In some towns, selectmen are only appointed as liaisons to other boards or committees. Other communities only name liaisons as needed.

“There were a few towns that had Board of Selectmen choose departments based on interest and other factors,” Green said. “In some towns the [selectmen] chair did assign the liaisons, in some towns they talked collaboratively on assignments, they would volunteer … based on interest and other factors.”

Selectman Scott Lambiase asked if boards with liaisons tended to be those with town administrators instead of town managers.

Green said that didn’t tend to be a factor.

“The nice part of any of these [MMA-based] handbooks is they are not etched in stone,” Lambiase said.

Only two of the towns — Hamilton and Acton — had their own selectmen’s handbook, which provided for liaisons. Duxbury also has liaisons, but to boards and committees.

Most towns use the Mass. Municipal Association’s manual for selectmen, according to Green. The MMA does not cover liaisons in its manual.

“It gives us some choices here,” Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski said. “It’s up to us to decide what we want to do.”

Lynam said the liaison practice in Whitman dates back to before the town administrator provision as a way to keep selectmen informed about what other departments were doing to “avoid chaos.”

The current practice of having selectmen ask for assignments based on interest is a carryover from that time, Lynam suggested.

“I’m not aware of any town with a town administrator that has liaisons,” he said.

In other business, Lynam reported that the town will consider joining in a class action lawsuit vs. opioid drug manufacturers, following a recent conversation on the matter with Police Chief Scott Benton.

“It is similar, in some respects, to litigation that occurred with the smoking producers and tobacco companies,” Lynam said. He sought advice from town counsel on the issue when it first came up about a year and a half ago, but it was not then known if the state was going to join the effort as it did with tobacco.

He spoke to the associate house counsel last week, asking for current materials on the lawsuit in an effort to determine if it now makes sense to step in on the project.  If the town joins a suit — and if it is successful — attorneys will receive 25 percent of proceeds with the rest divided proportionately with the plaintiffs signed on, with the possibility that the state could step in and supervise such a distribution.

Lynam said he will make a recommendation at the board’s next meeting.

Clarification

In last week’s Express, Lynam noted that part of his very preliminary research on the fiscal 2020 budget indicated the school budget could increase by 5 percent, or $1.5 million.

Lynam stressed on Thursday, Aug. 30, that the figure is not necessarily the operating assessment to be voted by the School Committee in March.

“The 5 percent in and of itself is not necessarily a back-breaker until you consider that the $23 million we get from the state for Chapter 70 money, last year increased by $120,000,” Lynam told Selectmen. “It’s minimal, which means virtually all the increase will be on the burden of the two towns.”

The total fiscal 2019 school budget was $50,406,029 with Whitman’s assessment at $13,270,185 of the $22,183,526 assessed to the towns. Lynam’s estimated calculations so far put the total fiscal 2020 school budget at $52,926,330 — up $2,520,301 — with Whitman’s assessment possibly as much as $14,750,296 of the $24,583,827 that could be assessed to the towns.