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Firefighters save Christmas

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A holiday house fire has left several families temporarily homeless. While firefighters battled the flames at 97 Linden Street in Whitman, a Christmas tree could be seen still twinkling its lights in the front room on the second floor.

Lucas O’ Connor, a third floor resident, was first on scene as he arrived home to see flames shooting from the building.

“We were coming home from a holiday party and heard the fire alarms going off. When we got out of the car you could see flames on the second floor – we opened the door- as soon as we opened the door it was full of smoke. So I went around making sure no one was in the apartments and luckily no one was,” said O’Connor.

Fire Chief Grenno commended firefighters for making an aggressive interior attack and limiting the amount of damage to the second floor.

“Firefighters worked quickly to limit the damage and I am very proud that we were able to save a bit of Christmas for these families who have been put out of their homes tonight.“

After battling the flames firefighters were able to re-enter the home and remove the already wrapped Christmas presents from all three apartments.

Smoke and water have rendered the homes uninhabitable. For the time being, families from each unit in the triple decker are reportedly staying with relatives.

The Whitman food pantry was also on scene to offer dinners for the holiday to those who were displaced.

Chief Grenno’s estimated damages to the building is $100,000.

Firefighters from Hanson, East Bridgewater, Abington, and Rockland provided mutual aid. The origin and cause of the fire remain under investigation.

 

SSVT unveils FY 2020 budget

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HANOVER — Vocational education costs for the eight communities making up the South Shore Regional Vocational Technical School District will increase by 3.1 percent, but that may not be reflected in local assessments when they are calculated early in 2019.

The School Committee heard Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey’s presentation of the proposed fiscal 2020 budget on Wednesday, Dec. 19.

The proposed $13,816,872 budget represents an increase of $414,933 and a total assessment decrease of $10,216,what Hickey terms, in essence a “level-assessed budget” at the aggregate level.

“At the end of the day, the most important number is, ‘What is the assessment to my community?’” Hickey said. Such final figures await the governor’s budget figures released in January.

As of Oct. 1, there are 645 students, 581 within the district towns and 64 out of district. Whitman, with 145 students, and Hanson, with 76, are among the four biggest of the eight sending towns. Rockland tops the list at 159 students and Abington sends 94. All but Rockland, have seen a decrease in enrollment. Whitman’s was down by three and Hanson by four. Rockland gained five students and Abington declined by 21.

“What I’m happy to say is that, due to the projection that we have relative to non-resident tuition that we are collecting this year and a projection on regional transportation that we will get — 70 percent — the entire increase will be covered by outside revenue,” he said. Hickey is confident, based on last year’s regional transportation reimbursement that it will be the case.

“While those numbers still don’t provide any guarantee of what happens with each individual community, at least at that level, we’re able to strategize how to best deploy those available dollars,” he said

Hickey cautioned that assessments could increase a bit despite drops in enrollment.

“We’re going to say to each town, ‘this is your assessment,’ and it’s going to be based on the non-resident tuition we’re going to give back to them … and getting 70 percent [Chapter 70] reimbursement,” Hickey said Thursday, Dec. 20.

Whitman and Hanson could see increases in assessments but Hickey does not expect even  those assessments to be wildly different.

SST creates zero-based budgets, beginning each fall with classroom supervisors and department heads building a budget from nothing. “Nobody feels that, if I got $50,000 this year, I just have to add a couple of percent and call it a day,” Hickey said. “We start at zero and the way it works is, if you need it, it will be there.”

If there is a “big ask” in the budget, Hickey said it is in a $720,000 request for capital projects including $60,000 for flooring abatement/replacement in the cafeteria and a renovation of the boys’ locker room in the 1962 wing; $230,000 to add to the stabilization fund; and $430,000 for fields upgrades.

“We have an influx of money — one-time increase of that tuition — better to couple it with one-time capital expenses rather than over-building operating expenses that you then have to maintain over time,” he said. There are also no requests for major vocational equipment in the fiscal 2020 budget.

The fields work would involve drainage improvements to the practice field and baseball field, which have both been in poor condition for awhile. Once the improvements are made, the new horticulture department will be key in maintaining them.

“We have deferred maintenance on exterior needs so as to prioritize the building,” he said. “But the timing is right for such a undertaking.”

There was a setback in planning for needed renovations and expansion plans, however.

While the school’s master facilities plan is underway, the district was again passed over for Mass. School Building Authority (MSBA) funding assistance and will be resubmitting a Statement of Interest for funds next year.

At its December board meeting, the MSBA approved only 13 of 56 projects proposed by 70 school districts across the state, Hickey announced.

“But in calling the MSBA … the feedback that I got was that the level of detail we have provided is more than sufficient,” he said. A walk-through done last summer by an MSBA group, while not a guarantee, could lead to a follow-up visit next summer and provide evidence of the information in the district’s past SOIs.

“We have to continue to ask,” Hickey said. The stabilization fund will be used to fund any feasibility studies involved in future invitations into the MSBA core program. “That was the initial reason for starting the stabilization fund several years ago.”

The stabilization fund has grown over that time to a level where it can be used, if necessary to fund larger maintenance issues that might crop up, but Hickey said he sees no reason to tap it now.

Personnel requests for the year are low, with only a part-time school resource officer, a JV golf coach and stipends for after-school music and art program advisers included.

The $11.78 million in projects on the Master Facilities Plan are not being addressed in the 2020 budget.

“Having a stabilization fund is very important, but under no circumstances do I see this as anything more than our local version of OPEB (other post-employment benefits),” Hickey said. “We’re attempting to make a good effort to fund for things in the long-run, that we’re going to need. … But for now, I don’t see any crisis and so we’re not going to ask for something we don’t need.”

Staff spotlight

The School Committee also heard an update on the new Horticulture and Landscape Construction program during a Staff Spotlight on the department’s new instructors Tom Hart, who helped start the program last year, and Cassi Johnson.

Both are graduates of Norfolk County Agricultural High School and the Stockbridge School of Agriculture at UMasss, Amherst.  Hart was a landscape operations student at Norfolk, and earned a associate’s degree from the Stockbridge School and a bachelor’s degree through the university, taking jobs with commercial landscaping firms after graduation.

“We’re really excited about this new program,” Hart said. “Our ultimate goal for the future is to get these kids involved in small outdoor projects on the school grounds … getting involved in the industry and, essentially, growing the program to what we want it to be.”

Johnson focused on ornamental horticulture at Norfolk and earned an associate’s degree in horticulture from the Stockbridge School and a second associate’s degree in business from Massasoit Community College. She also worked with golf courses and interior landscapers and flower shops and was a manager in the floral department at Wegman’s, and earned her bachelor’s degree in environmental science from Southern New Hampshire University when she decided to pursue a career in education.

“We definitely have a focus with landscape instruction, but we also get to touch upon things like greenhouse management — we have a greenhouse going up — and floral design,” Johnson said, noting the hope with the latter is to participate in a lot of community events. “We have a lot of ideas … and we’re just looking forward to building the shop and gaining more students.”

Whitman man to serve 5-7 years

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BROCKTON – Daniel Nash, 33, of Whitman, who was found guilty of raping a woman at a Jan. 25, 2014 house party, was sentenced to serve five to seven years in state prison on Thursday, Dec. 13 in Brockton Superior Court, announced Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz Thursday.

Nash was found guilty of two counts of rape, one count of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14 and one count of photographing an unsuspecting person in the nude.

Judge Robert Gordon presided over the five-day jury trial ending in a guilty verdict Dec. 3 and sentenced Nash Thursday. Nash asked for a two-year custodial sentence through his Brockton-based attorney Joseph Krowski, Jr., while Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sprague asked for eight to 12 years in custody.

Gordon sentenced Nash to serve five to seven years in state prison at MCI-Cedar Junction (a maximum-security prison in Walpole), to be followed by two and one half years in the house of correction, suspended for two years. After that, Nash will be on probation for three years under the conditions that he stays away from, and not have contact with, the victim; that he wears a GPS monitoring bracelet; that he registers with the state Sex Offender Registry Board and that he undergoes sex offender treatment.

A representative for the district attorney’s office stated that the commonwealth was satisfied with the sentence.

Nash, a former State Street Bank account manager, held a birthday party at his Whitman home in 2014. The victim, his then-fiancée’s sister, arrived at the party and stayed overnight. The following morning, the victim woke up and called Whitman Police to report that she had been sexually assaulted by a person at the party, believed to be Nash, and the victim also believed there was a video of the incident, according to the release and court records.

Whitman Police investigated and interviewed Nash, who eventually admitted to the assault. Nash consented to a search of his cellphone by Whitman Police where a video of the incident, which he had attempted to delete, was located, court records also state.

The ADA, Sprague, first read the victim’s impact statement into the record, saying to the judge that the victim was too emotional to address the court even though she was present.

The victim asked, several times, for the maximum sentence, “not a slap on the wrist,” through the ADA.

Sprague herself asked for a sentence greater than those suggested by the Superior Court sentencing guidelines, noting several aggravating factors in the crime, including that the defendant was especially vulnerable because she was intoxicated at the party.

“The defendant did not express remorse for his actions … He, in fact, tried to blame the event on the victim’s flirtatious behavior with him earlier in the evening and his own intoxication, which was greatly exaggerated. The defendant then denied these allegations to the victim’s family, causing a termination/alienation of the family relationships and bonds the victim had with her mother, stepfather, and sister,” stated Sprague in a sentencing memorandum.

The defense relied heavily on Nash’s lack of a criminal record in arguing for a lenient, but custodial, two-year sentence. His attorney, Krowski, noted that he had never been in a fist fight, never had a detention in school and didn’t even have a speeding ticket. He said the incident was “an aberration in Mr. Nash’s otherwise impeccable record.”

“One moment in time … cannot define a man,” he stated in a sentencing memorandum.

He also argued that Nash was engaged to the victim’s sister at the time of the crime, and they got married despite the pending charges. The victim’s parents also attended the trial in support of Nash, he said.

“They recognize that the crimes were truly an aberration, completely inconsistent with his character as a caring husband and loving son-in-law,” he stated in his sentencing memorandum.

He also said that about 50 letters had been written in support of Nash.

The arguments did not particularly persuade the judge, who in a somewhat rare move, according to court personnel, handed down a written, six-page sentencing ruling which he read to the court, after deliberating for about 15 minutes following the victim impact statement and hearing from the two opposing parties.

“In arriving at its sentencing decision, the Court has placed greatest emphasis upon the truly egregious nature of the offenses themselves,” Gordon stated, describing in detail the crimes Nash committed, and that “[a] more appalling mistreatment of a member of one’s own soon-to-be family is difficult to conceive…”

The judge noted that “[a]s for the victim’s character, the Court finds that the evidence at trial intensifies rather than mitigates its judgement of the Defendant in this case … this woman was especially vulnerable to Mr. Nash’s brand of predation. Far from lessening the blameworthiness of his actions, these facts mark the Defendant as a bullying exploiter of the powerless, convinced that a victim in a distressed condition was somehow not entitled to even the most basic protections of the law.”

Following that, he added, “It is, perhaps, true that no person should ever be judged to harshly for their single worst moment in life, and I am reminded of this trope as the Court contemplates a proper sentence for Mr. Nash. That said, there are boundaries of human decency which, once crossed, require due reckoning in a society that strives for justice. This is, sadly, such a case.”

Finally, he noted that the law authorized him to sentence Nash to up to 20 years’ imprisonment on each offense of rape, but that the sentence was in line with the Superior Court sentencing guidelines for someone with no criminal record.

Asbestos found at JJ’s Pub property

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HANSON — Hazardous material, specifically asbestos, has been found in the burnt remains of the former JJ’s pub, 16 Liberty St., Hanson. Town Administrator Michael McCue announced the findings to Selectmen at a brief Tuesday, Dec. 18, meeting. McCue has been in contact with Hanson town counsel Katherine Feodoroff and Building Commissioner Robert Curran, about to the ongoing situation.

McCue said that there was no public health hazard as the asbestos was not in the air, but that it would need to be cleaned up properly, causing costs to skyrocket from an original estimate of $14,000.

Feodoroff places a complete site cleanup at roughly $40,000 in an email to the board, which could rise due to procurement regulations, and because the debris will need to be hauled off-site for decontamination processing.

Town officials are bracing themselves to take on the full cost of a proper cleanup, as the Dec. 31 deadline for JJ’s owner Patricia Harrison, of Bourne, to erect a fence on the nuisance property approaches.

“I just want to clean the damn thing up,” said Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett.

Feodoroff states that it is not necessary for her to go to court, as Selectmen had previously requested, to further expand a court order obtained against Harrison as it is already quite expansive, quoting the order in her email:

“[S]hould the Defendant fail to satisfy [the court ordered requirements] on, or before, but in no event later than Dec. 31, 2018 then Plaintiff, Town of Hanson, may enter onto the subject Property, without the need for further action by this Honorable Court, and take any and all actions(s) reasonable and necessary to erect said fence and screening and abate the nuisance … [A]ll necessary expenses incurred by the Town shall be paid by the Defendant, and shall constitute a lien against the property … until it is paid in full,” ordered Superior Court Judge Rosemary Connolly earlier this December.

Feodoroff wants to record the order with the Plymouth County Registry of Deeds so that the order is binding on any subsequent owner of the property, she states.

Whether or not there is actually a buyer for the property is not readily apparent, according to McCue, although Harrison has asserted that she does to the town and to the Express, previously.

McCue said this has not been independently verified.

Selectman James Hickey pressed this point, visibly frustrated, asking, “Can we assume there’s no potential buyer?”

McCue noted that regardless of who pays for the cleanup, a lien on the property will mean that the town should eventually get its money back, whatever the cost.

Selectman Chairman Kenneth Mitchell said that the town must do its due diligence if it’s going to be spending so much money on the cleanup.

Empty building occupies officials

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WHITMAN — Selectmen will ask state DEP case manager Kathryn Carvalho to attend a meeting in January for advice on town liability regarding the abandoned former BFI (Business Forms Inc.) building at 602 Bedford St.

“In accordance with Chapter 116 of the Building Code, I think we should do something to protect that building,” advised Building Inspector Robert Curran at the Tuesday, Dec. 18 meeting of the Board of Selectmen. “In the interest of public safety, we have an issue.”

Curran recommended either heating the building, winterize the sprinkler system or turn the existing sprinkler system into an air, or dry system. But he warned it could be expensive and the Building Department has no funds to do anything with it.

“We don’t even know if the heat works, it’s been shut off,” said Town Administrator Frank Lynam, noting that town counsel has ruled the town is not allowed to deficit-spend to provide for the building, and there is a question of what the town can do with a building it does not own.

Selectmen were not willing to assume liability for the building, nor the cost of cleaning the site, which is contaminated.

“This is not a road the town wants to remotely go down until I was 110-percent sure that we would have zero liability on the site,” said Selectman Randy LaMattina. “I would say stay out of it.”

Selectman Scott Lamibiase suggesting condemning the building.

“I vote we put a big red ‘X’ on it, you guys stay out of there when it does catch on fire,” he said to Fire Chief Timothy Grenno.

The property was owned by Décor Novelties until its sole stock holder died 12 years ago, according to Lynam. A tenant worked out of the building, and payed the taxes, until June when he dropped off the keys and a hand-written note that he was leaving.

“We have no ownership rights to the building,” Lynam said, noting that the town does not wish to incur liability for the 42,000-square-foot site, which had been a print shop for years and is contaminated. He said the worst-case scenario if the building is left as is would be that the sprinklers would freeze and burst, the Fire Department would shut the water service down, place a red “X” sign on it, perform exterior operations only and “it sits there for 20 years.”

LaMattina researched the site on the DEP website and found that the site contains chlorinated solvents, PCBs, metals, oil and gas.

“It’s slightly shy of being a Superfund site,” he said, reporting that the cleanup cost was estimated at about $400,000 in 1995. “I don’t know why the town would even remotely involve ourselves with that piece of property.”

Lynam said the stockholder’s heirs have stated they want nothing to do with the property, either.

“Right now, we have this building sitting there,” Lynam said. “The electricity’s on, the heat is off and it’s sprinkled.”

Curran was asked to assess the property, which he did on Nov. 2, and report to the Board of Selectmen. He found that the sprinkler system is active and the water is still on at the building, but there is no heat.

A lawyer with an association to the deceased owner was contacted, hoping that it would “flush somebody out that would help us do something to this building to protect it,” Curran said.

No response was received and Curran conducted a second inspection, in relation to Chapter 143 Sec. 8, along with a Fire Department official and an engineer with no interests on either side of the issue on Wednesday, Dec. 5.

“The building is empty,” Curran said. “It’s broom-clean, it’s in fairly decent shape, the sprinkler system is on and if we don’t do something, the sprinkler system will fail.”

Curran said he does not recommend shutting down the sprinkler system, nor does Grenno.

But Grenno did suggest the option of letting the sprinkler system freeze and then condemn the building in the spring, letting it remain empty.

“This is a unique situation because, generally, we find out a property has been abandoned because the sprinkler system freezes and we get the fire alarm,” Grenno said. “This was brought to our attention after they dropped the keys off and said ‘We’re all done with it.’ In good conscience as fire chief, I’m not going to order a sprinkler system shut down inside a vacant warehouse.”

If an automatic fire alarm called the department there and the front door was found to be jimmied open with smoke visible, “we’re going in,” Grenno said. “The safest thing in my mind is the system is going to freeze and trip the fire alarm. We’re going to go up there, we’re going to shut the sprinkler system down and then [have the building boarded up] to arson standards and the building is going to sit there for 100 years.”

Budget update

Earlier in the meeting Lynam distributed to the board several budget-related reports concerning the town’s fund balances, recap forecast within the levy limit and local receipts as informational documents. He also provided models of formats for reporting revenue and appropriations with historical information being “backfilled” by the town accountant.

“This is the first part of what we hope will be a more clear and transparent budget publication for people to look at and understand,” he said of the format he borrowed from Brookline. “It’s a good start for us to help understand the process.”

Lynam said he is creating a level-funded budget that funds what the town is committed to do right now and, based on what it would look like “if we negotiated things differently.”

Selectman Brian Bezanson asked if the town was “taxing to the max.” Lynam said it was not because figures are not available on the excess levy, or taxing to the max, until a couple of days of the tax classification hearing in mid-October or later.

Another town meeting would be required to set that tax rate.

Selectmen also discussed the Wednesday, Dec. 12 School Committee meeting at which preliminary budget figures were reviewed [see story, this page].

“I have to say, the superintendent clearly has his heart and his head I the right place at the same time,” said Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski. “They informed us of the state, at this stage of the game, of the budget deliberations of the School Committee.”

As Kowalski spoke, Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak and members of the administration and School Committee were meeting with the Finance Committee.

Kowalski lauded the “totally open, totally transparent” approach Szymaniak is taking, including the plan to open every School Committee meeting for the remainder of the budget season with a discussion about the school budget.

“I was really impressedwith the superintendent’s attitude around the whole [thing],” he said. “He knows what they want to come up with is a budget that will somehow satisfy everyone — probably an impossible task, but that’s his goal.”

LaMattina, who also attended the School Committee meeting said the presentation was “one of the most detailed budgets we’ve seen so far this early’ from the school district.

“Things look hopeful and I think Mr. Szymaniak and [Assistant Superintendent George] Ferro are going to be on board with working with the town to produce something sustainable,” LaMattina said.

An early look at school budget

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Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak presented a proposed draft version of the fiscal 2020 regional school budget to the School Committee on Wednesday, Dec. 12 at a meeting attended by town officials, state Rep. Josh Cutler, department heads and residents from Whitman and Hanson.

“We thought it prudent to get into the budget, and discuss where we are with the budget,” said School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes. “As you know, our budget is a lot dependent on what happens with the governor’s budget, so these numbers are preliminary off the history we’ve taken over the last [seven] years.”

Hayes said the intent was to give select boards and finance committees an early indication of what the schools’ numbers might be, with a budget discussion planned for every School Committee meeting until the May town meetings.

“It will give the towns the opportunity to see what the budgets of the departments are, where we’re going, how we’re going to get there and how we can possibly make it all work,” Hayes said.

The official school budget will be rolled out in February.

“I just wanted to apologize and take ownership if I have misled anybody in the process of this budget,” Szymaniak said, noting he had planned to give the finance committees the first look at it, after internal talks began in November. “Nothing formal has come out.”

He and district Business Services Director Christine Suckow had met with a budget working group over the fall to develop a capital plan for the next five years. He presented the budget numbers to the Whitman Finance Committee Tuesday, Dec. 18, despite some social media claims that it had already been discussed.

Szymaniak stressed he would not have done that before presenting even preliminary numbers to the School Committee.

“They represent their folks in the communities,” Szymaniak said of the department heads and town officials attending. “I represent the kids and the 600-plus employees here. I want to do my best for them.”

The budget at this point — and Szymaniak also stressed its preliminary status — is $53,457,929 [See site-based breakdown at top right]. That represents $2,934,748 over current budget of $50,523,181 for a level-service budget. Szymaniak said the preliminary numbers do not include revenues.

“This is a discussion,” he said. “This isn’t our formal presentation to the community.”

A budget book will be presented to town officials and the community in February, but the rough numbers provide information on the issues the schools are facing.

“We get Cadillacs for Chevys [price-tag],” Szymaniak said of teacher and administrator salaries. “But we won’t be able to maintain that if we’re not successful in a level-service budget next year. I will need to go back and do some damage to the good things and the positive things that we’ve done.”

Szymaniak ran through each school’s site-based expenses, especially utilities, custodial, transportation, phone and trash fees as well as district technology, facilities, debt, tuitions and special education and administrative costs.

Also included in technology services — at $1,371,365 — are salaries, contracted services, equipment maintenance and replacement, supplies and travel. Facilities costs — at $1,498,591 — include salaries, snow removal, contracted services, supplies, building and equipment maintenance, emergency repairs, fuel/oil, gas, police details and overtime.

Special education costs — at $6,177,353 are up by $750,000 from fiscal 2019 and include tutoring services, administrative support salaries, supplies, summer materials, travel, contracted services, legal costs, out-of-district placements and summer salaries.

Administration costs — at $4,103,043 — include central office salaries, School Committee expenses, supplies, legal costs, principals’ salaries, curriculum directors’ salaries, photocopying costs, contracted services and instructional materials.

Insurance — $8,171,802 —and debt — $890,938 —are also included in debt calculations.

“These are rough numbers, but I wanted people … to understand where we are,” Szymaniak said. “We are not adding any programs. What [Assistant Superintendent] George [Ferro] and I have done is restructuring things that we currently have and renegotiating … which might make some funds available to add programs out of the current level-service budget. We’re not adding people, we’re restructuring positions to potentially add services that are needed in the elementary schools.”

The district employs 664 staff members, including daily substitute teachers. There are 3,823 students enrolled in W-H, ages 3 to 22.

Ferro noted that the district is “on the hook for 100-percent of transportation costs” of students educated by out-of-district placements in special education programs.

School Committee member Fred Small agreed that the district is obligated to pay those transportation costs.

“I think the one key that’s missing, obviously, is to fine-tune what the revenue side is going to look like,” Small said.

Transparency

While he agreed that some people object to the level of administrative salaries, Szymaniak ($164,532 to increase to $168,645) said he and Ferro are transparent about their pay, which he said is in line with the rest of the state, excluding areas of western Massachusetts, where the cost of living is lower.

“Whatever you need to know, you just have to ask a question,” Szymaniak said, noting he is always available to answer resident’s questions on the phone or in-person at his office or even a local coffee shop. He will not discuss budget issues on social media, he said.

“I will not answer questions on Facebook,” he said. “I can’t win.”

Hayes reminded residents that the annual reports of both towns list salaries of all School Department employees.

“There is nothing hidden in this budget,” Hayes said. “This is a large operation for both towns to run and it gets expensive.”

Per-pupil expenditures in W-H, as of last week’s figures from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, show the district spends  $12,175.19 compared to a state average of $15,449.62.

W-H gets a bit less than 50 percent of its budget from the state.

Cutler discussed the state revenue picture with the School Committee.

The legislature has already begun its budget process with the consensus revenue hearing last week, Cutler said. Revenue growth for fiscal 2018 was stronger than previous years and fiscal 2019 is so far 4.1 percent over benchmarks, with potential for upsides, as surpluses are now called. For fiscal 2020, predictions are in the range for a $29.2 to $29.38 billion, or an increase of 2.9 or 3.5 percent, including a reduction in state income tax.

“On the economy, generally speaking, if I were a meteorologist I’d classify as it as mostly sunny with a chance of showers,” he said. “They were careful not to talk about the word recession — nobody wants to talk about that word —they did stress this kind of growth can’t continue, it’s not sustainable.”

Cutler said a recession is not forecast for 2020, but a slowdown is not ruled out.

Unfunded mandates

School Committee member Christopher Howard asked if Szymaniak could quantify all the unfunded mandates facing the district. Small suggested the under-funded mandates be included in that list as well as areas where revenues can be increased.

“What I would like to see our state do, somehow, is tie up our Chapter 70 money to a percentage,” he said. “Instead of a $20 to $25 increase per pupil, if the gave us a 2 or 2 ½-percent increase … I think we could solve a very large problem.” Increased state reimbursement for regional transportation, circuit-breaker funds and homeless transportation are the areas he cited were local representatives to the General Court could advocate for the district, according to Small.

The average cost to run W-H buses every day is $8,811.64, according to Szymaniak.

“The push-back that I hear at the state level in terms of the regional school transportation issue is they don’t want to give 100 percent,” Cutler said. “They feel if they do that, town’s don’t have skin in the game.”

Small countered that the district has skin in the game, having changed starting times on bus routes to save money and made efforts to obtain a better contract.

“Lack of competition when you go out to bid on a busing contract is really, really a big problem,” he said.

Learning the ropes in retail

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By Brooke Loring
WHRHS Student Intern

The WHRHS store, The Panther’s Den, has been doing extremely well during this holiday season. Teacher and overseer of the store, Brian Maiorino, says that a large part of the store’s success is because of the class connected to it.

Maiorino refers to Visual Merchandising, a class that has been available to students, at the high school, for two years now. Maiorino co-teaches the class alongside Visual Arts teacher Marcus Casey.

The class is the only co-taught general education class at the school, which combines retail and design.

“We are both creative, and like to think outside the box”, states Maiorino, “The perfect business partner has strengths that are your weaknesses, and weaknesses that are your strengths.” They both admit, however, that at times co-teaching can be difficult, “Finding common planning time for both of us is sometimes hard to do, and every assignment must be linked to one of our specific areas.”

Despite the difficulties, the class is very successful, and contains almost 50 students.

“We realized both of our classes (Photography II and Retail) were missing a hands-on approach”, said Maiorino. The store and the creation of the class, ultimately became the solution. The class is directly linked to the Panther’s Den, and allows students to design, select, and market products to the school community, “It is a very student-driven program”, states Maiorino. The class is currently working on a rewards program, and recently finished designing advertisements for new winter products.

“We are very fortunate to have an administration that supports us, and our ideas, to grow the related arts program in the school,” he said.

As a student of the class, this writer finds it interesting to see how important marketing strategies are for selling a product. I have also never experienced a class that is so much influenced by students. When we create designs of products and advertisements, the whole class votes on what we eventually choose, which allows everyone to be able to contribute. It is also cool to see the designs and advertisements we make around the school. Plus, being a part of the class has its perks, like a 10-percent discount.   

Roofer faces more charges in area

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WAREHAM — Matthew Will, 37, of Halifax, owner of Five Star Discount Roofing, was in Wareham District Court Friday, Dec. 7, facing six larceny-related charges stemming from two Middleborough Police Department complaints alleging he took deposits by check for roofing and household contract work from six residents of the Oak Point 55-plus community in Middleborough, cashed the checks but did not start or complete the work as promised.

Will faces similar charges in Plymouth District Court, stemming from Kingston and Hanson allegations.

These charges are in addition to a long list of others, including a separate case also stemming from alleged crimes at the Oak Point community, in which Will is facing 15 counts of larceny over $250 by false pretense. A pre-trial conference was conducted on that case after the arraignments on the latest charges.

Judge Douglas J. Darnbrough presided over the proceedings, to which Will had been summonsed. His Plymouth-based attorney, Jack Atwood, pled not guilty on his behalf. At one point, Will attempted to address the judge, but Atwood stopped him from speaking, bellowing “Be quiet!”

Police and court reports paint a picture of a once reputable roofer unable or unwilling to keep up with the amount of work he had committed to, and the Middleborough Building Inspector, Robert Whalen, alerting police to complaints about Will while continuing to issue building permits despite warnings from Oak Point residents.

Whalen, in a phone interview Dec. 10, stated that disputes between contractors and homeowners are outside of his jurisdiction, but that in an effort to protect the community, he contacted Detective Simonne Ryder, of the Middleborough Police, regarding Will when Whalen had received about ten complaints.

As of press time, Will is facing a total of one count of larceny over $1,200 by false pretense, two counts of larceny over $1,200, 19 counts of larceny over $250 by false pretense, one count of larceny under $250 by false pretense and one count of forgery of a document.

There are 23 area households in three communities claiming they have been victimized to date, who have lost a combined $153,197.34 in monies given for work not done, with individual losses ranging from $695 to $15,569. Most of these victims are over age 55, and many are quite elderly, according to police reports. The alleged victim who lost the most money is 78 years old.

Grievances against Will date back to at least 2017, according to public records. But by late May, 2018, enough residents from Oak Point had lodged complaints to catch the attention of the building inspector, Whalen, at which time authorities noticed Will’s insurance and building licenses had expired, according to police reports.

The detective opened a weeks-long investigation into Will on May 22, but police took no action on the inquiry until early August, by which time the number of alleged victims had grown and multiple police departments were investigating Will.

The report also stated that the building inspector was dealing with the issue, personally inspecting jobs and warning residents not to give 100 percent deposits as some residents had been doing.

Some residents were attempting to sue Will in small claims court for their losses, while the investigation was in-process.

The building department was giving Will five licenses at a time because he said that he had 30 open jobs in Oak Point, records say. The report states that he was only able to complete a handful of those jobs over the course of a few weeks and had effectively disappeared by Aug. 1, 2018.

Between June 21, and the day before Ryder’s first complaint was written on Aug. 2, there is no record of any follow-up by the detective on the matter in court files. The alleged victim in Kingston hired Will on July 15, and the alleged victim in Hanson hired him on July 31.

Whalen said that he reported Will to the Southeastern Massachusetts Building Association, which should have notified other local building inspectors about Will, according to Whalen.

He will next be in Plymouth District Court on Wednesday, Dec. 21, at 9 a.m. for two pre-trial hearings. The three Wareham District Court cases have been continued to March 4, 2019, at 9 a.m. as well for pre-trial hearings.

Will cannot be reached by phone or email and the investigation in Middleborough is ongoing, police said.

Regional 911 costs increase

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WHITMAN — The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, Dec. 4 approved an increase in the cost of the inter-municipal agreement for fire dispatch services. The Selectmen declined, however, to support a process by which the town could seek home rule legislation to increase the number of All Alcohol Package Goods Store Liquor licenses permitted in town.

Town Administrator Frank Lynam said the current fire dispatch agreement with Holbrook provides 911 primary answering service as well as Fire Department answering and dispatch. Holbrook is moving toward a major upgrade of their facility and systems, resulting in a request for more financial support from member towns.

“I was a little taken aback by the first proposal,” he said of an initial request for a 25-percent increase. “[Fire Chief Timothy Grenno] did go back to Holbrook to have a discussion on it.”

That led to a gradual increase of 10 percent in fiscal 2020, 16 percent in fiscal 2021 and 14 percent in fiscal 2022. That would increase the current assessment of $54,000 to $80,000 at the end of the three years, subject to funding at Town Meeting.

A civilian dispatch system for 911 services would be “the wrong side” of $250,000, Lynam said they were told at a conference on dispatch services several years ago.

“The need to have coverage for fire is really essential, because once two calls are out there’s nobody left in the station,” Lynam said. Holbrook takes the calls, analyzes them and dispatches servies.

Grenno said the new facility in Holbrook is largely funded by a $4 million grant from state 911, but increased operational costs were also expected.

“They are planning ahead,” Grenno said. A return to town dispatch would take a firefighter off the floor each shift and onto the dispatch desk and cost the town more than $300,000 per year in firefighter salaries.

The decision came with an eye to the town’s bottom line as officials grapple with costs of the budget in general.

“We’re going to develop a budget that’s sound for the town and the schools, and we’re going to present the arguments for why that budget is needed — and it will be tied to an override, because there’s no way the levy can support it,” Lynam said. “We also have to be prepared at that point, if the answer is no, to work with a small budget.”

The Selectmen were invited to the Wednesday, Dec. 12 School Committee meeting to discuss that issue. The School Committee has asked for guidance from the towns as they develop that spending plan.

Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski said he had recently spoken with a School Committee member who stressed the schools are only seeking a level-service budget, which Kowalski said is reasonable.

“But then, if you think of every other department … they would like to have a level-service budget this year, too, but they’re all being told to anticipate maybe a 3-percent or 6-percent cut in their budget,” Kowalski said. “So it’s not a enjoyable year to have.”

Selectman Brian Bezanson said the work being done doesn’t mean much until the citizens have the final say.

Kowalski said a pre-Town Meeting should be held, to which the voters would be invited and officials could explain their budget needs and options the town has.

“We are purveyors of information,” Bezanson said. “They decide what dollars get spent and where they get spent and sometimes we forget that.”

Kowalski said the community assessment survey being conducted with Bridgewater State University will give the town a clue about how voters are thinking.

Lynam indicated that the project has resulted in 576 online responses and 150 or more paper surveys waiting to be reviewed as of Dec. 4.

“I suspect we’re going to see more because I got my survey in the mail on Monday [Dec. 3],” Lynam said, forecasting that a total of between 1,000 and 1,500 surveys could be completed. “They were apparently divided up over time.”

He said he has seen posts on Facebook to the effect that the town is looking for validation for the need to increase revenue, and said he does not think that is the case.

“I think it was a very objective, structured survey that really asks what people think,” Lynam said. “It’s going to help us with [planning for] the long term.”

Alcohol licenses

Selectmen voted 3 to 2 not to consider the request of Dinesh Kumar Patel, of  DJ’s Country Store at 535 Plymouth St., for an additional All Alcohol Package Goods Store Liquor license in town.

Previous DJ’s co-owner Joel Richmond spoke for Patel at the meeting, noting that Patel has 30 years’ experience in the package store business, owning stores in Quincy and Canton.

“It’s a matter of competing and staying effective in the marketplace as small businesses,” he said of Patel’s request, noting DJ’s would be the only package store on that side of town.

Current licensees are located on Temple Street and on South Avenue.

“This is a license we don’t currently have the authority to issue yet,” Lynam said of Patel’s request. “Each community is limited by population as to how many licenses they can offer.”

Whitman is permitted 15 Section 12 licenses (on-premise consumption), three off-premise licenses and five package store licenses. Additional licenses must be approved by Selectmen as in the interest of the town and how many more the town would ask for, Town Meeting and Town Election approval, and home rule legislation in the General Court.

“The other question we have to ask is where that leaves us as a community,” Lynam said. There are three requests, including Patel’s, for package store licenses, he noted.

“The question out there is, ‘Is there a need for an additional package store?’” said Selectman Scott Lambiase. He and selectmen Randy LaMattina and Kowalski did not think there was such a need. Selectmen Dan Salvucci and Bezanson were willing to leave a decision on that to Town Meeting.

Inaction at JJ’s angers board

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HANSON — The Board of Selectmen has lost patience with JJ’s Pub owner Patricia Harrison on her continued failure to meet court-ordered Dec. 15 clean-up deadline regarding debris from the July 5 fire that destroyed the building.

Selectmen authorized Town Administrator Michael McCue to give Town Counsel Katherine Feodoroff the green light to go back to court on Monday, Dec. 17 to seek enforcement of the clean-up order until it is cleaned or the property is sold to someone who will clean it up.

“From what we’re hearing, the property is under agreement,” McCue said during the Tuesday, Dec. 11 Board of Selectmen’s meeting. “I don’t disagree with this board [that] we want to see something in writing, but all that being said, it’s my strong opinion, along with the Building Commissioner [and] town counsel … that it’s not going to be cleaned up — and we’re not entirely sure that the new person who is supposedly buying this property is going to clean it up.”

Feodoroff recommended that Selectmen authorize her to go into court Monday, but was not necessarily seeking that OK yet, as she was trying to reach the potential buyer’s attorney to determine their real intentions.

“If there really is a buyer, that buyer is going to want to clean it up” McCue said, suggesting he come back with more information at the Tuesday, Dec. 18 with Feodoroff ready to go to court Dec. 19, if necessary.

McCue had argued against wasting more time and money going back to court against the current owner, and waiting until it can be determined if the property has been sold.

Selectmen were not feeling as lenient.

“We can’t control that, and I think this board has voted enough on that,” said Selectmen Chairman Kenny Mitchell. “If it’s not cleaned up on the 15th, send [Feodoroff] to court on Monday morning. If the property’s conveyed to a new owner, then we deal with that.”

Mitchell said that would not be a bad idea in any case, because a new owner would likely clean it up. He said the board was behind “Whatever it takes to get the damn fence up” or the debris cleared.

Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett agreed.

“Let’s get on with it already,” she said.

She said residents are fed up with the continued presence of the pile of burned debris at the site.

“You’re saying all the hearings and [court] orders and everything else that we’ve had with the current owner are going to be right out the window if that property is sold to somebody else,” FitzGerald-Kemmett asked McCue. “We’re going to have to start all over again?”

McCue said that would be the case if the property changes hands.

“How do we know if it’s in the process of changing hands right now?” she asked.

“We don’t know,” he replied. “Through the Building Inspector, we have it on rather good authority that it is going to be sold and I can’t confirm that.”

Mitchell said Harrison’s lawyer sat in a Selectmen’s meeting in October, saying the property was going to be  conveyed.

“I want Kate in court at 8:30 a.m. on the 17th,” he said. “We don’t want to talk about it anymore. Keep moving forward until somebody can bring me a deed that’s conveyed with a new owner. Then we can stop.”

McCue said a vote authorizing court action is required each time the property owner fails to comply with a previous order.

Sewer district

In other business, Selectmen voted to authorize McCue to explore a potential sewer district along Main Street (Route 27) in South Hanson with the city of Brockton and other state and local entities.

McCue has already attended one meeting with legislators and area officials “to start the conversation.” FitzGerald-Kemmett had also raised the issue at a recent meeting of the Old Colony Planning Commission (OCPC), McCue noted. OCPC indicated they would be willing to assist with evaluations and other groundwork, but the town will have to apply for a technical services grant.

“I think we’ve reached the point where, not only do I want the board’s support in going forward with requesting this grant — which we will get — but I want the board to, on a more official level, support the exploration,” McCue said. “You’re not making a commitment to go forward with a sewer district, but it is a rather massive undertaking.”

Brockton and Whitman — for carrying costs through Whitman’s system — are among the area communities involved, along with state legislators and other state government officials.

“I think it’s an extremely worthwhile endeavor in moving forward our vision for that particular stretch of road in South Hanson,” he said.

FitzGerald-Kemmett said she has also talked with state Sen. Mike Brady, D-Brockton, and state Rep. Josh Cutler, D-Duxbury, and OCPC to find out what they can do collectively to help.

“There’s a lot of hurdles, we’re not looking to bankrupt the town of Hanson to do this project — so it’s all about state funding, grants — and because it’s contiguous to a lot of very important bodies of water, and I have reason to believe that there might be some grant money and then we can talk about how the rest of this project could be funded,” she said. “This is just a preliminary discussion.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett said that, while the issue has been raised before, Brockton had not been open to allowing new connections in the past but are now revisiting it.

“Brockton has had the capacity,” McCue agreed. “They’ve had a great deal of capacity for years, but for whatever reason … wouldn’t allow any hookups.”

Maquan reuse

Selectmen also approved a request for proposals on the reuse of Maquan School. Survey responses from residents overwhelmingly favored use of the building for a community/senior center, but the Reuse Committee is not opposed to leasing at least part of the land or other underused properties in town.

“People want us to keep some playing fields there and they would like that community center/senior center,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “We keep hearing the middle school-aged kids have got nowhere to go … they’re getting into trouble, and I think with the opioid epidemic and all the other dangers out there, we can’t really risk having nowhere for them to go.”

The library has already begun studies on expanding at their existing space, but the Senior Center officials have expressed interest in using a portion of Maquan.