HANSON —  Selectmen voted Tuesday, July 19 to raise the pay for seasonal Recreation Commission employees at Camp Kiwanee and Cranberry Cove by $1 per hour during a Wage & Personnel Board meeting prior to the board’s meeting.

The raise brings entry-level gate attendants to 50 cents above the state minimum wage of $10 per hour. They had been earning $9.50 per hour.

Camp Kiwanee caretakers earning less than minimum wage were also raised to the $10 minimum rate. Selectmen said the commission should confer with the town administrator regarding future requests for caretaker raises.

Three members of the Recreation Commission — Susan Lonergan, James Hickey and Francis O’Kane — attended the meeting, but Hickey and O’Kane did not take part in the discussion, except to ask a few questions to selectmen through Lonergan, because their daughters work as Cranberry Cove lifeguards.

The raises increase the pay of lifeguards, water safety instructors and beach directors as well as caretakers. The allowable salary range runs from minimum wage to $18 per hour.

Lifeguards were earning between $11 and $13.50 per hour, depending on experience, with WSIs earning $13.50 and the beach director $16. All will receive a $1 an hour raise retroactive to July 1.

Lonergan noted youth employees at Cranberry Cove typically start out as gate attendants and, when they earn certifications as lifeguards, WSIs and, ultimately beach directors, salary rates go up. Hanson residents receive preference in the application process, she said.

“There was some discussion that you would offer them 2 percent and we would like to talk about a $1 an hour raise across the board,” Lonergan said. “I think it’s a way to thank them for coming back and being loyal employees and representing the town of Hanson well.”

Wage & Personnel Chairman Selectman Kenny Mitchell expressed concern that a $1 raise would not be fair as all other town employees received a 2-percent across-the-board increase. A 2-percent raise on an $11 per hour pay rate is just over 18 cents.  The raises will cost $2,400 for the season, with hours reduced after swimming lessons end next month.

“People who are under minimum wage should be brought up to minimum wage, at least,” Mitchell said. “As far as raises, I think we have to be consistent with every other town employee.”

Town Administrator Michael McCue agreed, saying it was not a question of dollars, but of fairness to other town employees.

Selectman Bruce Young pointed out that, as part-time, seasonal employees, the Recreation Commission employees at the beach are not comparable to other town employees.

“I see these as an exceptional type of position,” Young said. “They are strictly seasonal positions. … Their hours are limited, they don’t get any benefits, they make an hourly wage and pay taxes on it. They’re kids trying to earn extra income during the summer, so I don’t equate them with full-time employees who get benefits.”

Town employees receive group insurance and pension benefits as well as salaries, he said.

“These are hard-working kids, dedicated kids who take care of their certifications,” Young said. “I don’t have any problem giving them more than the 2 percent.”

Selectmen Chairman James McGahan agreed as did Selectman Don Howard. In the end, all five approved it.

Lonergan also noted that lifeguards must pay $350 for course work to keep current with certifications out of pocket and that they return to work there year after year. Only gate attendants are new employees.

Selectman Bill Scott had suggested the commission might also consider footing the bill for certification fees, but Lonergan said that was something that has always been required as part of the application process. However, at the suggestion of the Fire Department, the Recreation Commission is paying for waterfront certifications for lifeguards.

“[That] isn’t part of their Red Cross certification anymore, it’s just a pool kind of thing,” she said.

Last year there were 115 beach passes sold. This year there are 117, with lesson signups up 120 percent, according to Lonergan. Seasonal employee salaries are paid through proceeds from passes and lessons, not through town taxes.

Last June, the commission made $8,225 with $12,839 this June — an increase of 56 percent.

At McCue’s urging, selectmen also voted to bring two Council on Aging employees up to minimum wage who are now paid below that level, with Young casting a reluctant vote for it because he was not certain the board was permitted to do so at this time.

Scott advocated paying seniors working through the tax abatement program at minimum wage. McCue said it was possible, but the program caps how much can be paid them so it might affect the total numbers of hours they may work.

WHITMAN — The Board of Selectmen have voted to establish a commercial vehicle exclusion zone on a section of Washington Street between the Route 14/Auburn Street intersection and the intersection with Route 18 toward Abington.

The state prohibits such exclusions on numbered roads, so the section of Washington Street that overlays Route 14 toward East Bridgewater cannot be included. The designation would not prevent large and commercial vehicles from making supply deliveries to businesses in that area.

The town has to submit the exclusion zone designation to the state, which takes four to eight weeks to review documentation and authorize the zone before signs can be posted. In the meantime, the town is considering cautionary signs and is enforcing speed limits.

“My concern is two-fold,” Town Administrator Frank Lynam said. “One is it’s a residential area and two is we just spent money repaving the whole street and traffic like that will destroy it in no time, because those [town] roads aren’t built for that load.”

The move came after resident complaints resurfaced about trucks using Washington Street as a bypass of heavier traffic on Bedford Street (Route 18) as they travel to and from a school construction project in Abington to East Bridgewater.

Lynam said the Old Colony Planning Council (OCPC) conducted a traffic study of Washington Street last year when the town began experiencing heavy traffic — both by volume and weight — finding between 100 and 150 or more large trucks were using the road per day.

Abington has also been asked to review the OCPC findings because of the impact on the intersection with Route 18.

At the time, Lynam spoke with Abington Town Manager Richard Lafond and asked him to speak with the construction project manager “to encourage” them to use Route 18.

State roadways such as Route 18 are designed and constructed to handle a high volume of heavier vehicles. The OCPC report was done in compliance with Department of Transportation regulations pertaining to setting weight limits on roads.

Data collected indicates the percentage of heavy vehicle traffic north of Temple Street on Washington is “quite high,” while the volume to the south is a bit below the 5-percent threshold the state uses before considering a heavy vehicle exclusion, according to the report summary.

“However, in the big picture, it’s clear the trucks are using Washington Street as a travel route and the logical start and end points for a potential heavy vehicle exclusion zone would be from Route 18 in Abington to Route 14 in Whitman,” the report stated.

It also charted Washington Street traffic speed from Route 14 to Route 27 — with the average at 28 mph and 85-percent of motorists driving at 39 mph. North toward Abington 85 percent of traffic was clocked at 31 mph. Heavy vehicles made up 16.2 percent of that traffic volume. From the Park Avenue four-way stop to the Abington line the average speed was 43 mph, “which supports the issue of vehicles picking up speed after they clear the stop sign,” Lynam said. Trucks made up about 11 percent of those vehicles.

“That’s important to know because the 85th percentile is what they generally use to set the speed limit,” Lynam noted.

Residents began complaining about the traffic on Washington Street in December and Lynam asked Police Chief Scott Benton to look into the traffic patterns on the road, which initially led to a reduction in the heavy truck traffic. Residents have let both officials know the problem has returned.

Pamela Kane, a Washington Street resident, has been particularly concerned about the situation, Lynam said.

Benton, who had not yet reviewed the traffic survey, has talked about the traffic problem with Lynam and Kane.

“It’s a quality of life issue,” he said. “I do think this is a good move for the board to make.”

The noise and vibration from compression release engine brakes on the trucks — known as Jacobs engine brakes, or Jake brakes — has also been the subject of resident complaints Lynam and Benton said.

One man said he was having coffee in his kitchen when a truck hit the Jake brake and “he said ‘my whole house shook,’” Benton reported.

The board also voted 4-0 to review and update the job description of the assistant town administrator position and the approach to take in seeking a new person for that job. Selectman Lisa Green recused herself from the discussion because she is interested in applying for the job.

Green cited her experience as an attorney for the Commonwealth working for the Social Security Administration, and her work as a selectman with an interest in the management of the town.

Whitman has been without an assistant town administrator since Greg Enos left in April to take a human resources manager job elsewhere.

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 — in addition to other management duties.

“We are approaching a year with four contracts up for renegotiation,” he added. “I don’t think there’s any question in my mind that the town is best served by maintaining the position of the assistant town administrator and I would like the board to consider moving in that direction.”

Voters at the May Town Meeting approved the line item to continue funding the position’s salary.

“I think we need to look at the description of it,” Selectman Dan Salvucci said of the assistant town administrator post. “We felt as if we needed one before, and it seems we still need one. … Do we want someone that will step into [Lynam’s] shoes eventually, or do we want somebody that just wants to be a good assistant?”

Selectman Chairman Carl Kowalski and Selectman Scott Lambiase volunteered to work with Lynam on reviewing the job description and salary — about $63,000 — offered.

“Clearly, we want to hire someone who’s capable of functioning in my role when I’m not here,” Lynam said. “My biggest concern right now … surrounding towns are compensating people at a much higher level than we are.”

He noted one of the factors in Enos’ decision to leave was the then-$61,000 salary, which is less than some of the department heads with whom he was asked to work in a management or administrative role.

The town is negotiating with the Collins Institute at UMass, Boston to conduct a broad-based wage and personnel survey of Whitman town employees in part because of Lynam’s concern about salary parity with other communities as well as job descriptions and expectations.

“I don’t think this survey will prevent us from making a reasonable analysis here,” he said. “But I think we have to talk about it a little bit and recognize we’re not going to hire somebody at the funding that the line presently has.”

Depending on the hiring cycle, there may be sufficient funds available to offer more money to start, but another Town Meeting vote would have to follow to increase the salary going forward if that is done, according to Lynam.

Selectmen, meeting next on Aug. 30, should have more information from the job description subcommittee’s work, with an eye toward hiring someone by the end of September or early October.

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.