Reaching out to youth: Hanson Congregational Church welcomes new family outreach coordinator
HANSON — Look up the phrase “marketing quotes” on the Internet and what you get is a lot of droll observations on the cynicism of selling product.
That’s not what Tim Johnson is all about, but he is using the skills he learned as a marketing major, combined with his own experiences in the Peace Corps to bring young people into church — specifically, the First Congregational Church in Hanson.
“The way somebody put it recently was ‘Pastors are Jesus’ marketers,’” Johnson said.
He has been hired by the Rev. Peter Smith as the church’s youth and families ministries coordinator. A graduate of Stonehill College, Johnson, 24, is now organizing youth events and other church programs while preparing to study at the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Hamilton, Mass. It is the same seminary from which Smith graduated.
While Johnson grew up in Thomaston, Conn., and knew Smith from his time as pastor in that town, Johnson has earned this job while on the job, as a counselor at summer camp.
“I had seen Tim work with youth at a summer camp and knew that he had a genuine interest in connecting young people with the God who made them and loves them,” Smith said. He added that Johnson’s “experience in persevering in ventures where he was on his own in unfamiliar circumstances” in both the Peace Corps and on a 1,400- mile solo bicycle trip from Connecticut to Florida also recommended him highly for the job.
“I do a good amount of marketing for the church and the things I’m trying to put on with the church,” Johnson said on a recent afternoon in the church library. “I put on events pretty much every month and market them online, but a lot of [it] is just calling people and asking if they’d like to come.”
While that kind of marketing is not precisely what his job description entails, it has been a natural avenue for him as he works to connect with the congregation’s youth as part of his outreach mission to youth and families.
He uses the Internet to advertise programs such as a July 14 yard games tournament on the parsonage lawn and a recent excursion to Scituate for a beach cookout.
He also facilitates a Bible study group, which has been reading “The Case for Faith,” by Lee Strobel, an agnostic investigative journalist for The Chicago Tribune who found faith while trying to debunk it.
“He’s a cool example of how a very critical, skeptical view of Christianity can actually turn around when you look at it,” Johnson said. “You don’t have to come into the church and abandon all logic. That’s the most important thing I want to get across to people — that was my biggest worry about going into ministry.”
While he’s still trying to figure out a definitive career path, which he calls one of the blessings of being a millennial, it definitely includes the ministry.
“A lot of us will have three or four different careers,” he said. “Mine might be ministry and marketing and economics.” But right now he’s leaning toward marketing as he tries out church work such as and gets to know a new community.
He’s used to being new in town.
“I feel very new — just in how much I know and my personal relationships with people here,” he said. “But I feel very comfortable. People here are so welcoming.”
Johnson said he has already been invited to Sunday lunches by several church members, an extension of welcome to a new neighbor.
“In that sense I feel like I’ve been here a long time,” he said. “But I want to serve this church well and in order to do that I need to have a more comprehensive knowledge of the whole town.”
He has yet to find his way to the Commuter Rail station on the first try.
Johnson has done one presentation to introduce himself to the church, but much of that centered on Senegal — and he said he’d like to do a more formalized program on his Peace Corps work.
For 18 months he lived and worked for the Peace Corps in Mboro, Senegal on a two-year mission to help with small business consulting in an economic climate not conducive to such theories.
“In order to be effectively work there you had to, more or less, forget what you were taught in business school,” he said. “Business in Senegal is more of a social endeavor. It’s more about just having enough money to get by and, if you are doing all those American business things, you are essentially stealing from your neighbor.”
But he fell in love with the people.
“I had always wanted to join the Peace Corps,” he said. “That was a life-long goal since I was in about middle school.”
A smattering of French under his belt and an affinity for West Africa in his heart helped land him in Senegal, which is both of those things, as he puts it.
“The friendships were more valuable than anything,” he said of the Peace Corps experience. Some of his new Senagalese friends now connect with him on Facebook. An ocean is not insurmountable in a digital age.
Police mutual aid pact OK’d
HANSON — The Board of Selectmen voted on Tuesday, June 28 to approve a police mutual aid agreement.
Police Chief Michael Miksch explained the approval was necessary to permit Hanson Police Department officers “to act as officers when they witness crime while they’re off duty.”
Without it, case law only provides policing power within the community unless certain conditions are met, he said.
“It spells it out in very specific terms so that it protects us if somebody comes in from another town,” Miksch said. “We already are part of a permanent mutual aid agreement through … an anti-crime task force. This is similar in a lot of ways. It just makes life simpler.”
It also fosters their participation in regional search and rescue, dive team and SWAT programs, such as the South Eastern Mass. Law Enforcment Council (SEMLAC), and the sharing of equipment. Another use has been a motorcycle unit under development for crowd control and escort services.
“For the cost to us it is a great insurance policy,” he said.
Town Administrator Michael McCue said he has reviewed the agreement with town counsel and there had been no objections raised.
The program was one of the points Miksch made in the first of what will be rotating monthly reports to selectmen by department heads or town boards to provide status updates. He has also asked them to provide him with monthly written reports from which he can update selectmen.
Miksch said the department has handled 8,058 calls, up slightly from the same period last year when between 15,000 and 16,000 total calls were logged all year.
Of the 8,058 calls, 42 have resulted in arrests, 67 resulted in a warrant or summons being requested and 99 motor vehicle accidents.
“These numbers are right on line with what we’ve been doing annually for the past couple of years,” he said. There have been 257 traffic offenses resulting in more than $11,000 in fines. But he cautioned the board against being too excited about the money because most of it goes to the state.
Miksch also reported there have been three overdose deaths last year and was critical of a recent news report placing Hanson as the second-highest number of overdoses per capita in the state.
“Statistics are a really funny thing because you can manipulate them in so many ways,” he said. “That second was six overdoses.”
Fire Chief Jerome Thompson Jr. and Miksch researched the cases they responded to and could only account for three. Brockton had 47.
The others in Hanson reported by the Department of Public Health went by the residency on death certificates.
“We dealt with three overdoses and can’t find the others,” Miksch said.
He said he thinks the town has been out-front in terms of dealing with opioid abuse. East Bridgewater HOPE’s drop-in center has been a service they have called on.
Last year nasal Narcan was administered 34 times, he said. So far this year, it has been used only four times — two of those for other medical issues. One was an unwitnessed asthma attack and the other a heart ailment.
“We’re starting to see the need for more than one dose on people at times,” he said. “When we see someone, regardless of age, the first thing we eliminate is [the possibility of] an opiate overdose.”
There is also an up-tick in requests for licenses to carry firearms with 105 pending at the moment.
He also said use of force, including Tasers, is investigated after the fact and, in six months, the Tasers have only been used three times, down from last year.
Miksch also offers kudos to the work some of his officers have been doing to help Hanson residents.
He credited Sgt. Peter Daley with the work he did on the Dec. 23 Winter Street crash in which a Hanover nurse out for a Boston Marathon Training run had been killed. That investigation led to a grand jury indictment on two felony charges against the driver.
Miksch also thanked the Hanover Police Department for their work on the case.
He lauded DARE and School Resource Officer William Frazier for his work, which has been commended by the School District, as well as for his community outreach work.
Detective O’Brien executed a search warrant on Spring Street earlier this year, seizing more than four pounds of marijuana, more than $4,000 in cash and 40 pounds of edibles, baked with hashish oil.
“People said it was only marijuana,” Miksch observed. “It’s illegal [and] a lot of home invasions that go on revolve around marijuana because it’s a cash business.”
Because it is still in violation of federal law, even where marijuana is legal under state law, money from the trade can’t be deposited in the bank, Miksch said.
The hashish oil-making process is also a fire hazard.
The department has undergone autism awareness training thanks to the fund-raising efforts of Hanson resident Laurie Hammond and, as a result, officers were able to locate a missing autistic boy in about two hours after he wandered away from home in early June. SEMLAC also helped. Miksch commended officers Peter Calogero and Kevin McCarthy for their work on that search.
The chief also thanked Town Meeting voters for the funds to help address radio problems.
Selectmen also voted to appoint Christopher Dominguez and Brent Peterson as police officers and liquor control agents. They had been extended conditional offers of employment about two months ago, but had to pass a background check and Dominguez had to wait to see if his Florida police certification was accepted in Massachusetts. That was granted a few weeks ago.
The liquor control designation allows the officers to investigate business that sell and/or serve alcohol on behalf of the licensing authority.
Building panel sets new course
WHITMAN — As the town’s Buildings, Facilities and Capital Expenditures Committee met to close the book on fiscal 2016 Thursday, June 30 it reorganized, reviewed its responsibilities and looked to the next phase of a Public Works building.
Work on test borings involved in the DPW project, involving a new garage facility, were allowed to start with the new fiscal year July 1 and must be done before a structural engineer is brought in to design a foundation, according to committee member and Building Inspector Robert Curran.
Town Meeting approved funds for site assessment and design within the fiscal 2017 budget.
“If we can stay on this, we can probably have a project scope and reasonable cost estimates before the end of the calendar year,” said Town Administrator Frank Lynam. “[That] would give us a decent amount of time to hold public meetings and hearings and make sure people know what we’re doing and are informed enough to come out and make a decision on it at the next annual [Town] Meeting.”
The aim would be to begin construction — should the project be approved — by about December 2017.
“The major focus of the committee for the next 24 months or so is going to be building a DPW building,” he said.
Lynam said the committee has assumed the duties of the Capital Advisory Committee in addition to its role as a building committee.
“We have tried for several years to get an effective Capital Advisory Committee but, for whatever reason, it just never worked,” Lynam said. He then went to the Board of Selectmen asking for a redefined role for the Buildings, Facilities and Capital Expenditures Committee and dissolve the Capital Advisory Committee. Town Meeting voted to do so by amending the by-laws in May.
“This committee is now charged with capital facilities and capital expenditures,” he said. “We are concerned with ensuring that our infrastructure and major capital purchases are reviewed and evaluated and that a recommendation is made.”
He stressed that, going forward, the committee would “have a voice in all major projects and in all significant capital expenditures” looking at them from both a utility and cost standpoint.
Because of the DPW project, Lynam said he has been urging that department to get “somebody very involved” in the Buildings, Facilities and Capital Expenditures Committee and DPW Commissioner Wayne Carroll was appointed. A Whitman resident and retired Hanson firefighter, Carroll will play an important role on the panel.
“Wayne is what I would call a frugal person,” Lynam said. “He’s willing to pay for what needs to be done but he’s not a ‘let’s throw money at it and see if it works’ kind of guy.”
Carroll was also elected to take over the chairmanship from Lynam, whose duties have increased since the departure of Assistant Town Administrator Greg Enos this spring. Lynam will stay on as a member, as required by his position, and will serve as vice chairman with Selectman Dan Salvucci remaining as clerk.
Right now, Lynam said he has $163,009 in projects pending for the Green Communities grant to deal with, as well as three projects under the Community Compact — $25,000 for a wage and personnel study, $15,000 for solar energy project analysis and some $10,000 for the reuse plan for the old Regal property. Mass Development funded an environmental study that has found cadmium and chromium on the site.
“Chromium can either be your friend or your enemy,” he said, noting he signed an extension agreement with Mass Development, allowing them to continue their research on the 17-acre site next to the railroad station. “We’re waiting for those studies to be completed.”
In other business, Lynam noted that some issues remain which have delayed completion of the Town Hall air-conditioning project. The project account has $69,680 left in it, but some of that has to be reserved to repair the auditorium floor, where past humidity problems have caused it to buckle.
Due to a complication following replacement of the Town Hall’s computer network core switch, the network in place was not communicating with a faster switch, and the slower device for the air-conditioning network was not communicating with the server, causing heat and humidity problems in the auditorium a few weeks ago.
A hub was installed to slow down the network and permit the necessary system communication without affecting the rest of the network.
There is also an issue with smoke controls designed to close the air vents in case of fire that town officials have not been able to link to the fire panel because that panel is proprietory — and license has been taken over by the Tyco Corp.
“Only one company in the world can take care of it, and they won’t give us the codes,” Lynam said. “We are working to get those codes.”
The care and feeding of your workout:Just For You Personal Training adds nutrition store to business plan
HANSON — Expansion may not be good for one’s waistline, but for business it’s an indication of a healthy bottom line. When an expansion offers additional services that complements the main business, so much the better.
Personal Trainer and Nutritionist Phil Johnson, owner of Just For You Personal Training, 1000 Main St., Hanson has undertaken just such an expansion.
Last month, he and his wife LaToya opened the doors of the Just For You Nutrition Store in a space once occupied by Attic Fanatic’s display studio in the same building.
Just For You Personal Training has been in business since December 2013, also intended to help expand the business Johnson began in 2010 in Hanover and then Halifax, and it seemed to create a need for the nutrition store almost immediately.
“I just decided to do it because there was nothing like this in the area,” Phil said. “My clients kept asking what they should have, what they should eat. They’d always have to go other places at long distances, so I thought, ‘Let’s go for it.’”
Clients can frequently be overheard comparing notes on items they’ve tried from the nutrition store as they go through pre-workout warm ups in the gym.
LaToya helped her husband put the store together as a kind of convenience store for the health-conscious — and they’ve benefited from strong word-of-mouth and Facebook recommendations.
“It seems every week, more and more people find out about us and come,” she said.
As if on cue, a woman who lives in Avon came into the store looking for Halo Top low-calorie/high protein ice cream.
“It seems like everyone wants that,” LaToya said.
“They’re talking about it a lot at Weight Watchers,” the woman said, noting a serving is only four points on the diet program’s scale based on the nutrient content of foods.
The Johnsons’ market research took them to other health food stores in the area and through countless Internet sites as well as customer requests.
“Phil knew more than me with the nutrition end, because he took classes on nutrition,” LaToya said. “I knew some, but doing the store, I’ve learned a lot more.”
Halo Top was one of the brand names and general food categories customers have been requesting, LaToya said. The dairy-based ice cream is low-fat — only 240 calories per pint — with 24 grams of protein and is organic. It contains no artificial softeners to make it seem creamier (it doesn’t need them), and as a result melts slower.
They also carry non-dairy ice cream such as Coconut Bliss, made with coconut milk, and Ben & Jerry’s non-dairy, made with almond milk.
There are several brands that shoppers at grocery and specialty food stores will recognize, too: Anna’s Swedish Thins cookies, Stacy’s pita chips, Weetabix cereal, Kind health bars, Envirokids cereals, Hodgson’s Mill, Bob’s Red Mill, Simply Asia and Thai Kitchen prepared foods. Nut-free, organic, Indian vegetarian and gluten-free foods are also available.
“There’s a lot of stuff here that they can just grab and warm it up in the microwave or something,” LaToya said. “Some of the stuff you can find in the other stores but a lot of it, you can’t.”
The idea is a convenient way of finding a healthy item you want without having to search through a large grocery store for it.
“You can just come in and you know whatever you’re getting is going to be good for you,” she said.
The aim of the store has always been to carry all different kinds of nutritional supplements and healthy foods.
“We started with the proteins and we did a range of them, and then added the foods,” she said. “We even ended up getting spices.”
Dugouts dedicated to a hero
Whitman native Maj. Michael J. Donahue’s dedication to community and country were again honored Sunday, June 26 — this time by dedication of the home team baseball and softball field dugouts at the Whitman-Hanson Regional High School, from which he graduated in 1990.
“It’s unbelievable what the VFW has done for our community,” said Athletic Director Bob Rodgers. “As they come back to our community, they continue to serve us and teach our young people what it means to give back.”
It seemed as if Maj. Donahue wanted to take part in the ceremony, too, as a breeze lifted away the cloth covering a memorial plaque that was to be unveiled during the ceremony in front of the baseball dugout. One will also be placed at the softball field.
“The wind didn’t want me to wait any longer — it wanted the people to see it,” said outgoing VFW Men’s Auxiliary President Donnie Westhaver who hosted the event.
The dugouts were built with funds raised by the Whitman VFW Auxiliary along with the W-H baseball and softball teams. Army Maj. Donahue, who was assigned to the Headquarters Battalion, XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg, N.C., was killed in action by a suicide bomber in Kabul, Afghanistan on Sept. 16, 2014. He had also worked as an assistant professor at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., before being deployed.
Whitman had held a memorial vigil in his memory on Oct. 19, 2014 at Whitman Park. On this Sunday, his sister Joanne Nickerson and her children, veterans, some W-H student athletes, Whitman and Hanson town and school district officials dedicated the dugouts in the hope that generations of young people will think of him when they play there.
“It means a lot to our family, just to keep his memory and honor alive,” Nickerson said after the ceremony. “The towns of Whitman and Hanson have been amazing for us. It is a very touching day.”
Westhaver read from a newspaper account of Maj. Donahue’s death and listed the citations he was awarded during his military career: Bronze Star with two oak leaf clusters, Purple Heart, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with two campaign stars, the Iraq Campaign medal with one campaign star, the Korean Defense Service Medal, The Combat Action Medal and the Senior Parachute Badge.
“We’re honored and proud to dedicate two plaques to both home field dugouts,” Westhaver said. “The plaques will be presented to the schools this week and they’ll place them on both dugouts.”
School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes accepted the dugout dedication on behalf of the School District saluted Maj. Donahue’s commitment to country.
“There’s always one message that I try to give to the students and that’s commitment,” Hayes said. “I ask everybody, when you drive by this field — when you look at this wonderful facility — to remember Maj. Donahue. Keep him in your thoughts because he made the ultimate sacrifice for the very freedom we stand here and enjoy today.”
School Committee member Fred Small, who worked with Westhaver to organize the event, also spoke to the gathering, thanking WHRHS Facilities Department and central office staff for the work of constructing the dugouts.
“This has a very special meaning,” he said. “I didn’t know Maj. Donahue, [but] as I’ve gotten involved with Donnie a little bit … you realize how precious our freedoms are and how many people, both in our towns and overseas, are really out there for us.”
Also attending the ceremony, but not making formal remarks were Whitman Town Administrator Frank Lynam and Hanson Selectmen Chairman James McGahan. State representatives Geoff Diehl, R-Whitman, and Josh Cutler, D-Duxbury, were not able to attend. Donahue’s wife and other family members were also unable to attend.
“It was very nicely presented,” Lynam said of the ceremony. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for the schools to develop something they need and recognize a graduate who served his community well.”
McGahan agreed.
“We should be doing more things like this for our veterans,” he said. “What an honor it is to give this kind of recognition.”
July 4 Field Day
WHITMAN — There’s a new twist to the Family Field Day games at Whitman Park this July 4 — at least there’s one in the works — in the form of a greased watermelon relay.
The object would be for teams to pass said melon, slathered in vegetable shortening, from person to person without dropping it. Recreation Director Oliver Amado said the event is probable, but things could change.
What is definite is that there will be a few changes this year to bring out the crowds, including a water slide and police and fire vehicles for the kids to explore.
“We really want to see this take off,” Amado said of the Recreation Commission’s program. “I expect more people than last year.”
The day’s events begin at 8:15 a.m., with the annual 5K Fun Run — registration is from 7:30 to 8 a.m. A bike and carriage decorating contest takes place at 9:30 a.m., with field day games literally running (jumping and tossing) from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The town pool is open, free of charge, for Whitman residents from 1 to 5 p.m.
State Rep. Geoff Diehl, R-Whitman, plans to supply watermelon slices for refreshment and the Boy Scouts will be selling hot dogs, hamburgers, drinks and snacks to benefit Scout programs.
The 5K race will go on, rain or shine, unless there is lightning in the area, Amado said. Other events will depend on the amount of rain in the forecast, with updates available on the Recreation Department’s Facebook page.
The 2015 event was not thoroughly publicized due to the departure of the director shortly before the Fourth of July, Amado said. This year, fliers were sent out to schools and the event and summer park and recreation programs have been publicized more, including via mass e-mail.
The public will also be asked for suggestions at the Field Day about what they’d like to see added in coming years. For example, a basketball-related event is already being explored, and one person had suggested a greased pole-climbing contest for a donated $100 prize at the top — an idea rejected as unworkable.
“There was something about grease this year,” Amado recalled.
Another idea, rejected because of the potential for injury, was from a person in Braintree suggesting the Fire Department spray nontoxic foam on the field for kids to run through.
The potential for collisions in poor visibility rendered it a non-starter, Amado said.
Town officials remind residents that personal fireworks are also a poor choice for holiday entertainment.
Selectman Brian Bezanson, during the June 21 Board of Selectmen’s meeting, urged residents to be considerate of neighbors if they insist on flouting the state law prohibiting personal fireworks.
“It’s great that everybody has enthusiasm to celebrate the great country we have,” he said. “You have to remember your neighbors.”
Veterans and people’s pets can both be affected by the noise.
“[For veterans] it can bring back some nasty memories,” Bezanson said. “So think twice before you just, willy-nilly, shoot off these fireworks because it can be devastating to your neighbors.”
ConCom officers out: Selectmen vote against reappointing chair, vice chair
HANSON — The Board of Selectmen have voted against re-appointing Conservation Commission Chairman John Kemmett and Vice Chairman Frank Schellenger.
In a tie vote, with Selectman Bruce Young abstaining, Kemmett’s reappointment was rejected Tuesday, June 28. Selectmen Don Howard and Kenny Mitchell vote for Kemmett with Selectman Bill Scott and Chairman James McGahan voted against him. Schellenger was not even nominated for reappointment.
Several residents, both at the meeting and via e-mail, had voiced support for both Kemmett and Schellenger.
Earlier in the meeting Selectmen also accepted with regret the resignation of Conservation Commission Clerk Brad Kirlin and voted 5-0 to appoint two new members — Sharon LePorte and William Woodward.
Both Kemmett and Schellenger are legally allowed to continue serving on the commission until replacements are appointed, according to Town Counsel Jay Talerman.
The votes came with little comment from selectmen, but followed a heated exchange between Kemmett and Young.
Resident Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett had questioned whether LePorte and Woodward’s past work on wetlands delineations for projects before the Conservation Commission would present a conflict of interest, and supported her husband’s reappointment. Delineations are reviews of land on which development is proposed to determine the boundaries of wetlands.
“I’d like to know if Ms. LePorte has done any work in Hanson, specifically on the Main Street property,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “I’d like to know if [she] has done work on the cranberry site, which has been the subject of quite a bit of contention, particularly with the Board of Selectmen.”
LePorte, recently retired, has worked for 20 years in the environmental field, including three years as Halifax Conservation agent. Woodward, also retired, has worked as a civil engineer for the town of Weymouth and Stoughton as well as doing work in Hanson and Halifax.
“I’m not questioning her credentials,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said of LePorte. “I’m questioning whether she has had a vested interest in a project that has been part of Hanson’s history and is likely to be part of Hanson’s future.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett said it was her understanding that LePorte had done delineation work on the 1100 Main St. site where a developer has been trying to construct a commercial building since razing the old Ocean Spray building a few years ago. She later said the comments were not directed at LePorte, and also asked if Woodward had done any delineation work for Planing Board Chairman Don Ellis.
“I have done some delineation on the property,” LePorte said. “I have no vested interest that I could possibly imagine. …I hope somebody can do something with it, but I can’t state who.”
Woodward said he had done delineation work for “five or six different clients,” but would recuse himself if any came before him on the Conservation Committee.
McGahan said his main goal was to find people who could work well together and respect others.
Young said he was not sure what FitzGerald-Kemmett meant about controversy involving the Board of Selectmen and asked her to explain.
“I have no interest in the Main Street property, other than seeing it’s developed and put back on the tax rolls properly,” Young said.
FitzGerald-Kemmett referred to a Conservation meeting last summer, attended by McGahan, Young and Scott regarding the site, at which McGahan spoke in favor of helping the developer with orders of condition.
“Mr. McGahan made a point of saying at that meeting that he would not reappoint Mr. Kemmett and Mr. Schellenger because of the fact that he thought they weren’t playing ball with [Joseph] Mariangello,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. Mariangello is the developer at the 1100 Main St. site.
She said “playing ball” meant bypassing conservation by-laws, to which Young took strenuous objection.
“I have a real bad problem with that,” Young had said in response to FitzGerald-Kemmett’s comments.
McGahan cut the exchange short in the interest of decorum, but the issue came up again when Kemmett’s name had been placed in nomination.
Kemmett had asked if anyone could name a project, since he and Schellenger had been commissioners, that had been denied. No response was forthcoming.
Young then asked if Kemmett could name an instance when he had been pressured by any selectman or member of another board to “turn a blind eye to the conservation by-laws” or wetlands protection act to push a project through.
“That’s a difficult question,” Kemmett said, indicating he has felt intimidation. “Sometimes when someone is sitting in a room, especially where there’s a large group of selectmen, and a contentious project … and they don’t seem to feel the Conservation Commission was not voting in a positive way, it would seem intimidating and at that point it might seem that was a problem.”
Young became angry at the suggestion that selectmen would attend a meeting in an attempt to intimidate another board.
McGahan has said the Conservation Commission has to work better with the public in general practice, and said Wednesday he would like to thank Kemmett and Schellenger for their service to the Conservation Commission and the town.
“Honestly, its time for a change,” he said.
Selectmen also voted for a slate of appointments to town boards and commissions, replacing former Town Administrator Ron San Angelo with current Administrator Michael McCue on those boards San Angelo served.
Mitchell, who has served on the Parks and Fields Commission since before he was elected to the Board of Selectmen, was changed to a non-voting member until Town Meeting can vote to change the Commission’s by-laws.
“It is my understanding he is a very valuable member of this commission,” McCue said. “He can still participate … In the interest of that going forward I would make that suggestion.”
Resident Thomas Hickey, a former history teacher and currently superintendent/director of South Shore Regional Vocational Technical High School, was appointed to the Historical Commission through June 30, 2017.
Vo-Tech students looking ahead
HANOVER — Students at South Shore Regional Vocational Technical High School are aiming to become more involved citizens next school year.
New Advisory Council representative Jacob Cormier of Hanover outlined the big plans SSVT students have for community service projects next year for School Committee members June 15.
Cormier is a state delegate to the Business Professionals of America, a post he sought and campaigned for on his own, according to Assistant Principal Mark Aubrey.
“We have a few goals for next year, the Student Government wants to increase student involvement in school,” Cormier said. “We also want to add to student involvement in the community.”
They’d like to plan a semi-formal as an additional dance, establish a powder-puff game in response to increasing student interest and a speaker on drug and alcohol abuse.
Community projects sought include: a student trip within the country to showcase student skills and participation; another Haunted Hallway event for local children; a mini-golf fundraiser, Putting for Patients, to benefit the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; volunteering for the Prom Angels dance for special needs young adults; creating a unified sports program in which disabled youths may participate; and becoming involved in Special Olympics.
“I think it’s one of the first times we’ve had a list of wants from an incoming member,” School Committee Chairman Robert Molla said. He asked Cormier to make the requests available to the committee in writing for consideration.
In other business, the committee once again gave “exemplary” scores to Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas Hickey on his annual evaluation.
“The superintendent is hard on himself,” one member wrote in his or her evaluation. “His personal standards are very high, and that’s why he is so good at his job.”
“Our school district has never been run as great as it is currently with today’s advanced state standards,” wrote another.
“The superintendent is not afraid to make changes to improve efficiency,” still another stated.
“My self-evaluation had me as ‘proficient’ in the four major categories,” Hickey said. “I appreciate those of you who made those kind comments and hope that I can continue to live up to them.”
The School Committee honored two departing members before its Wednesday, June 15 meeting, presenting governor’s citations, as well as plaques and rocking chairs bearing the SSVT seal.
Abington representative Adele Leonard has served five years on the committee and Rockland representative Gerald Blake has served almost 20 years and is a SSVT graduate.
The committee also saluted its student of the month for June, sophomore automotive student Alexander Gear of Rockland; staff member of the month, science teacher Matthew Fallano and bestowed appreciation on Susan Rossi, administrative assistant to the superintendent-director.
Gear was honored for his hard work outside of school, completing an outdoor classroom for the Memorial Park School in Rockland as his Eagle Scout project.
“One of the jobs of a vocational school is not only to give them trade skills, but to make them good citizens,” Aubrey said. “When his teachers were told about it, they were kind of taken aback by the [award], because in class Alex is the quiet one who goes about his business, does his job and doesn’t do it with a lot of fanfare.”
Fallano was really surprised by his award, as he was at the meeting, as he was there primarily to support Cormier as the student representative.
He was selected as staff member of the month for his teamwork as a mentor team member to new teachers, School Council member and as Student Council and National Honor Society adviser as well as an effective teacher.
Rossi was honored by the school committee for her “tremendous support in preparation for meetings every month.”
DPW aid program is Ok’d
WHITMAN — As snow piled up during the first months of 2015, Fire Chief Timothy Grenno, director of the Whitman Emergency Management Agency said he had little difficulty in borrowing several front-end loaders and dump trucks to help clear streets.
The state, through the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), however, has advised that the town enter into a public works mutual aid program to prepare for future emergencies.
Selectmen approved the proposal, 4-0, on Tuesday, June 21. Selectmen Chairman Carl Kowalski was absent.
“This is a necessity for us if we wish to avail ourselves of assistance from the state and other local, regional and statewide agencies in the event we have an incident or occurrence that requires additional aid,” said Town Administrator Frank Lynam. He said the town has done so in the past without a specific agreement, but that the state is now requesting mutual aid agreements.
“It’s typically not what you’re going to see with police and fire, where every time they get a run they have to reach out to nearby communities,” Lynam added. “This would be extraordinary circumstances, where either we need help or some other community needs help and we’re able to provide it.”
The DPW will be acting on the request on Tuesday, June 28.
“This was brought to my attention from MEMA,” Grenno said. “They didn’t have on file a signed agreement for the DPW. This just allows us to legally bring, if we have [for example] six water main breaks in town and the DPW needed assistance.”
Pouring permit
Selectmen also approved the town’s first Farmer Series Pouring Permit since adopting the program two weeks ago. Old Colony Brewing Inc., was awarded a permit for its new location at 605 Bedford St.
The permits are designed to promote local agriculture by allowing shop owners to offer what they produce as well as package goods. The fee is $350. Selectmen’s approval is subject to the approval of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission (ABCC) and receipt of mailing, advertising and permit fees.
Old Colony Brewing President Dennis Nash explained the application.
“This is for a business that has been operating and is now relocating to what perhaps would be a better location,” Lynam said.
Nash echoed that thought.
“We opened about two years ago on Temple Street and we decided to start a small business to see if this would work,” Nash said of the microbrewery he and his two partners began. “Whitman has been great. We were packed every time we were open and ran out of a lot of beer, which is good.”
He said the combination of the permit and new location would help expand the business’ services.
“This permit will allow us to give samples, to have the community come in and talk to us more,” he said. “It will help us grow the business and have more people come in and get the beer. … We lost some business, where people didn’t want to buy the beer because they couldn’t try it.”
Nash said the business also purchases local ingredients and sees a lot of customers coming from other parts of the state.
Store expands
The board also approved an application by DJ’s Country Store (Deborah Johnson) for a common victualler’s license at the convenience store at 535-2 Plymouth St. The request, explained by General Manager Joel Richmond will permit the store to expand the ability to serve customers who wish to consume to-go foods ad beverages while playing Keno or shopping.
Approval is subject to receipt of license fee and a final inspection and approval by the Board of Health.
The store already operates a self-serve coffee bar, according to Richmond, who said the store plans to add self-serve fountain drinks and packaged snack foods either purchased from vendors or made in the restaurant the company owns next door. No food preparation will be done in the store, which would be limited by available space to 8 to 10 seats.
ABCC penalties
In other business, Lynam updated the board on penalties handed down after a compliance audit performed in town by the ABCC. Two were issued suspensions, which were in turn suspended and one was given a warning — all conditional on no further violations. O’Toole’s Pub was issued a four-day license suspension, with two of those days suspended, for serving alcohol to minors. The pub will have to close for the remaining two days, which will be done on Wednesday, Aug. 3 and Thursday, Aug. 4. O’Toole’s is permitted to seek an alteration of the punishment through an appeal to the ABCC.
Selectman Dan Salvucci urged residents to attend a public hearing at 7 p.m., Thursday, July 28 at Whitman Town Hall to discuss intersection changes at routes 18 and 14 and routes 18 and 27.
“We’re trying to make those two intersections safe,” he said.
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