WHITMAN — Town officials are looking for new applicants for interest-deferred housing rehab loans under a joint grant program with the town of Abington.

The Abington-Whitman Housing Rehabilitation Program assists low- and moderate-income homeowners in specified areas within the two towns with making home repairs they could not otherwise afford.

“We just want to make sure the residents of Whitman know that there are programs available, that there is funding available, to do those types of rehabilitation projects,” Assistant Town Administrator Gregory Enos said. “That goes from lead paint abatement to major renovations up to $35,000 or more.”

The grant, now in its second round of funding, was approved by the Department of Housing and Community Development. The towns have 18 months in which to spend this round of funding, according to Enos, so the towns may apply again.

Whitman has done 18 such projects so far which have included replacement of roofs, windows, walls, heating systems and other emergency repairs.

“We teamed up with Abington because the grants are competitive and the greater need you can demonstrate, the greater likelihood you will be considered favorably for the grant,” Town Administrator Frank Lynam said.

The Abington-Whitman Housing Rehabilitation Program has committed the towns to “10 and 10,” or 20 improvements in the two towns over the course of each grant cycle. The first round of grants was received in 2012, round two in 2014, and a third round is being sought in 2016, according to Lynam.

Financial assistance is provided as a 0 percent interest, deferred payment loan meaning that no interest is ever charged and no payments are required as long as the owners continue to own and occupy their property, according to project consultant Paula Start with Community Opportunities Group Inc., in Boston.

“At the end of the 15-year term of the deferred payment loan (DPL) the loan is forgiven and essentially becomes a grant,” she said.

Lynam noted that, should a homeowner fall short of the 15-year occupancy requirement, the entire loan has to be repaid as part of the property settlement.

“It’s a win-win for the community and the residents. It keeps people in their homes, it keeps the homes in adequate shape, it helps the community because it doesn’t negatively affect the tax base and it provides for human needs,” he said. “They replace roofs, furnaces, siding — things that are life-essential — that they just can’t afford to do.”

The streets included in the target area represent Whitman’s older housing stock, Lynam said.

“The people that have been living there either have been living there a long time or are not necessarily long-term residents but they don’t have the income and ability to do the necessary improvements to make the houses habitable,” he said.

Up to $35,000 per unit can be provided to cover eligible repairs.  Low-income (less than 50 percent of area median income) homeowners can receive 100 percent of project costs. Moderate-income owners (51 to 80 percent of area median income) can receive 75 percent of project costs from the program and would provide 25 percent from personal funds or a bank loan.

“If they are unable to contribute their share it is possible to get a waiver,” Stuart said. “Technical assistance is provided in the sense that our housing rehabilitation specialist, who has 30 years experience in construction, does an initial inspection of the property, and prepares work specs for the homeowner both for issues the homeowner identifies as needs and any other code required repairs.”

Once the homeowner approves the specifications, the specs go out to bid to contractors who register with the program. Community Opportunities Group checks references and make sure they are licensed and insured, according to Stuart. The Rehab Specialist inspects all completed work to be sure it’s done properly and according to the specs. The contractors are required to issue a one-year warranty on all labor as well as any manufacturer’s warranties on materials.

“While we focus in the target areas we can do projects involving needed emergency repairs anywhere within the two towns —leaking roof, failed septic system, accessibility modifications, failed heating systems, etc.,” she said.

Lynam said the program is another example of how regional collaborations can help individual towns.

“We’ve been pretty successful in teaming up,” he said.

In addition to the housing rehab program, Whitman has entered into a partnership with Abington to provide veterans’ services. Whitman and Abington most recently entered into a one-year trial inter-municipal agreement with Hanson for small animal control.

“Regionalization has a bad name around the towns because everybody’s concerned about retaining their identity and their individual authority,” Lynam said. “My focus is, ‘let’s get the job done and if we have to team up to do it, so much the better.’ It’ll cost us less in the long run doing the animal control program with three towns.”

Regionalized veterans’ services, while it’s not saving money in the short term, is providing more services to veterans in both Whitman and Abington, Lynam said.

“In the long term, it’s going to save us money because it allows our veterans’ agents to spend more time assisting veterans in seeking their entitlements through the VA and Social Security Administration,” he said. “Each person that does that comes off the Ch. 115 roles, which is what we pay.”

Chapter 115 is the statute requiring towns to provide minimal benefits for their veterans in need.

By Kaila Braley
Express correspondent

HANSON — In the first initiative sponsored by the nonprofit group, On Solid Ground, founder Lynda Cripps is hosting informational sessions about addiction at the Hanson Public Library between 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. every other Saturday this summer, starting July 18.

The final session is slated for Aug. 29.

Cripps is a registered nurse certified in addiction who has spoken at conferences and conducts informational sessions for businesses. She hopes this program will offer the community an educational resource for those who can’t find reliable resources online, or would prefer to speak to an expert in person rather than read from a website.

“My goal is to be a live person,” she said “If I can save a life, it’s worth it. Or even if I can help someone through a tough time, whether the person is addicted themselves or whether their friend or loved one is.”

Cripps said only 10 percent of those who suffer from addiction are being treated for it.

“I know my town is affected,” she said. “I think the whole South Shore area right now is affected equally. It’s no different than Brockton down the street. It’s just sheer numbers that make it seem worse there.”

While opiates and heroin are the drugs people in the South Shore are most commonly addicted to, Cripps said she can counsel participants in any kind of addiction, including gambling or eating addictions. She will also meet those interested at a different time or location, if they are unable to come to the specified times or would feel more comfortable meeting elsewhere.

Participants can walk in to the Hanson Public Library at the specified times to speak with Cripps one-on-one about any concern they have regarding addiction, whether they may be interested in referrals to medical facilities, information about how to respond to someone who is overdosing or even how to stage an intervention. Cripps emphasized that she available to discuss absolutely any aspect of addiction that someone wants to know about.

Cripps said she is grateful for the space in the library that will allow community members to discretely come to get information about a topic that may make some uncomfortable.

She added that she hopes more education and prevention in the community will reduce stigma and help those struggling.

“It’s a disease, just like hypertension and diabetes,” she said, adding that chemical changes occur in the brain when addicts take drugs or alcohol that prevent them from making rational and healthy decisions.

She added that two longer-term goals for On Solid Ground would be to open a small drug- and alcohol-free home for women in the area, and to develop a scholarship to help recovered addicts get their feet back on solid ground.

While working full time, coming home to two children and taking classes at UMass Boston, Cripps began On Solid Ground a year ago December.

Starting a nonprofit has always been her goal, she said, though On Solid Ground has developed more slowly than she would have hoped. She added that she has built up a network of dedicated professionals who are interested in being involved with projects as the nonprofit develops, but at the moment, she is working on her own.

Her number one priority this summer is to assess Hanson’s need for resources and begin educating and helping those who want more information.

“I just want everybody to know that it’s scary, but they’re not alone,” she said. “There’s somebody here – a live person. I’m not a computer. If somebody wants to just have a good cry, I’ll listen.”

For more information, or to set up another time to see Lynda Cripps, call 774-259-8102 or email osg.foundation@comcast.net.

HANSON —  Redevelopment of the 1057 Main St. site where a former Ocean Spray building was demolished in June 2011 has been stalled ever since due to environmental concerns at the site.

Property owner Joseph Marangiello of Pembroke has now developed a pared-down plan for building on the footprint of the razed buildings, but has had difficulty negotiating the permitting process. He met with the Conservation Commission Tuesday, July 14 to determine the next step — filing a revised or new notice of intent for the project, as the present one dealt only with demolition.

Marangiello has spent more than $1 million on the site since he bought it, including the demolition work. He said that he had, in fact, “given up” on the property for three and a half years, but changed his mind when someone offered to buy the property.

“If he can do it, I can do, too,” Marangiello said.

Selectman James McGahan, who has been working with Marangiello, and former Conservation Commission member Mark Vess have indicated their willingness to assist in the new notice of intent process.

“I just want something done with the property,” McGahan said after the Conservation Commission meeting. “It’s been too long this way. It looks run down. It looks awful and I’d like to see some progress.”

Several town officials have pointed to the site along the busy Route 27 corridor as a priority for economic development. Marangiello has three businesses he wants to build for on the site.

“I know something needs to be done with it,” McGahan said. “I’m also going to recommend strongly that he has an architect speak to him … he can’t do these things himself.”

Marangiello, a woodworker originally from Italy, has also been dealing with a language barrier and unfamiliarity with the zoning process. He pledged to obtain a copy of the NOI on Wednesday, July 15 and to obtain the assistance he needs.

The new project Marangiello is proposing will be a 23,000-square-foot building on the foundation left from the 2011 demolition — down from the 60,000 square-foot plan he proposed in the past. The larger building would have encroached on nearby wetlands.

“What he’s proposing is a little different from what he received approval for,” Town Planner Laurie Muncy told commission members. “I had him come in to talk to you before he gets any deeper in drawing up plans and kind of get some feedback from you.”

Conservation Chairman John Kemmett asked if Marangiello had complied with all the orders of condition on the original notice of intent covering the demolition work.

Marangiello said he was uncertain about that.

“We should probably figure that out first,” Kemmett said. “The notice of intent that you have with us right now is pretty specific about what was to be done, what you were planning on doing at that time. But now you’ve changed that.”

The original notice of intent has been extended and is good through 2018.

“I’m sure you do plan to rebuild and I hope you do it, but in order to do it, you have to comply with the regulations that we have,” Kemmett said. He added that Marangiello needs to solidify his new proposal in a set of drawings and provide a notice of intent so the commissioners “have a place of discussion.”

Kemmett said the property has been an issue — under different owners — for the entire eight years he has served on the Conservation Commission. Vess indicated there had been issues at the site going back about 35 years.

“You could close the old [NOI],” added Conservation member Frank Schellenger. “It would be more likely that it would be easier to amend the one that exists. … Let’s face it, this site has a lot of issues and there’s a lot of history there and it’s not [Marangiello’s] fault. It’s not an easy site to approve.”

Schellenger also raised the issue of past environmental problems at the site.

Marangiello had admitted in 2011 that there were problems with the first company he hired for demolition. He then brought in Envirotest Inc., of Boston, to draw up a removal plan accepted by MassDEP, and Environment Resources Services in Middleboro to do the abatement and removal work when asbestos was detected at the site. Asbestos was initially confined to a 90-foot pipe, but became mixed into other debris as friable particles during the first phase of demolition.

Water flow into the foundation has also been a problem.

Seniors celebrate sport’s arrival

WHITMAN — The most popular sport you’ve probably never heard of has come to Whitman — pickleball — and it now has a home court at the old Memorial Field basketball court.

The Whitman courts opened for the sport, which has been played in the United States and Canada for 50 years, on Tuesday, June 30.

About 18 people had expressed interest in the program, said co-organizer Pat Goldmann. She and Betty Geary have been visiting other senior centers in the area to talk about the game they love in hopes of increasing that number.

“We’re just getting started today,” Goldmann said. “As you can see, we’ve got enthusiasts here.”

As she spoke, one doubles game was winding down and another quickly started. Since one net was not yet available, Goldmann used the second court to instruct neophytes in the rules of the game.

“I had seen it before and thought, ‘We could do that,” she said. “As you can see, we have some interest.”

Play will continue from 9 to 11 a.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays until late fall weather forces them indoors, but those who have access to a net may play anytime.

According to the U.S.A. Pickleball Association’s website usapa.org, pickleball is paddle sport created for all ages and skill levels combining elements of tennis, badminton and ping-pong. The rules are simple and the game is easy for beginners to learn, but can develop into a quick, fast-paced, competitive game for experienced players, the USAPA states.

Senior citizens across the country have really taken to it, though it has multiple-generation appeal.

Selectmen on May 12 approved a request by Council on Aging Director Barbara Garvey to set off an unused basketball court behind the Police Station on Essex Street for the unusual low-impact sport named for a cocker spaniel who liked to chase tennis balls.

“After the painful jokes I made [Garvey] actually explained to me what pickleball was,” Town Administrator Frank Lynam had told Selectmen. “But it didn’t help, so I went online.”

He found a three-minute report from the erstwhile CBS Early Show, which he screened for the board to explain the sport.

Local seniors who had been playing in Abington expressed interest in a location on which to play in Whitman, according to Lynam, who said the basketball courts in question would require some rehabilitation. He said some seniors are willing to help with the work and suggested the DPW might help fill in overgrown areas and level it out.

The DPW also painted the pickleball court lines. Nets for the sport are portable and easy to set up.

“It wouldn’t cost much, but it would be an opportunity to offer a program to seniors that we don’t currently have,” Lynam said in May. “I think it’s worth trying to see if there’s any interest in it.”

The number of people filtering in to play, or to learn how, on June 30 may have answered any questions on the matter.

Geary and Goldmann’s visits to area senior centers to talk up the sport didn’t hurt, either.

“Folks around here have played and practiced, now we have people from other towns coming,” said Garvey.

As an indication of the game’s popularity with seniors across the country, Garvey noted that The Villages retirement community has 180 pickleball courts on its grounds.

“I have two little courts on a basketball court, but we’ll see,” she said. “It’s fun — I’ve whacked it a couple of times.”

The USAPA site provides a full rundown on the rules, including how to make a serve, service sequence and scoring as well as the double-bounce rule, non-volley zone, line calls and faults.

Pickleball fans are also reaping the benefits of physical activity, especially senior players.

“Regular exercise and recreation are very important for older adults and the good new is it doesn’t have to be for hours at a time,” said Chris McLaren of Old Colony Elder Services.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention points out that the loss of strength and stamina attributed to aging is in part caused by reduced physical activity. But CDC figures indicate that by age 75, about one in three men and one in two women engage in no physical activity. One solution, according to the CDC is the establishment of community-based physical activity programs that offer aerobic, strengthening, and flexibility components specifically designed for older adults.

“Pickleball sounds great,” McLaren said. “It seems like something that many people can easily do and there’s a social aspect to it — people play with each other — so it gives people a physical activity, but also a chance to get out and see other people.”

WHITMAN — Whitman Carousel Family Fun Center held an open house with family and friends of local skaters on Monday night to help defray costs for more than a dozen local skaters who are competing in the 2015 USA Roller Sports Figure Skating Nationals in Albuquerque N.M. from July 19 to Aug. 1.

The night hosted performers of all ages who are traveling to New Mexico as well as beginners and intermediates who are not traveling but performed their first routines — such as brother and sister Christopher, 6, and Laura Miller, 5, of Brockton. The pair skated with light-up skate boots, which glowed neon, and their performances earned enthusiastic applause.

Skating is a family affair for the Urzua children of Whitman. Five of the six siblings skate and have accomplished great skill all learning from their mother in the very skates she wore as a child in their toddler years.

Now mother Betty Urzua works at the Carousel center as does eldest brother John, 21, a manager at the complex.

Family ties

The family, who are from Spain, are fourth-generation skaters dating back to their great-grandparents, who owned a skating rink in Michigan.

“Daniel, Ethan and I all learned on our mother’s skates.  Our grandfather told us he could skate before he could walk,” said John. “I am most comfortable in skates.  It’s freedom and I felt like I am flying,” he said.

The younger brothers Joshua, 11, and Isaiah, 13, have excelled in their skating. Even though they only began official lessons since September at the skate center, it is quite clearly in their blood.

Both boys placed in regionals last month in Fairhaven, Mass.

Each said they enjoy practicing and they like seeing their own improvements along with the abundant exercise. Joshua performed for the crowd on Monday, with his young sister Elsy, 7, who sparkled in a baby blue uni-tard as she twirled on wheels.

Most of the skate club choreography is ballroom method although there are numerous different styles of skating throughout the sport.

John and Deedee Viola are coaches at the Whitman center along with daughter Jodee and her husband Scott Cohen the pairs are set to travel with their teams.

The techniques they teach use quad skates, the traditional four wheel booted skate.

Over the years Scott Cohen said he has seen changes in popularity to the inline skate boot, which some teens use during skate times.

“What is old is new again as now the quad skates are making a comeback,” he said.

David Renna has been skating since age eight and after college in his early 20s he hung up his skates.

“I took a hiatus for 30 years,” he said. But upon his return and in the best shape of his life the fifty-something skater is heading to New Mexico in late July.

Renna who is from Malden travels to practice and skates 16 or more hours a week. He estimates his commitment to physical health and his upcoming competition are some of the best choices he has made.

He joked that skating changes as you get older, falling seems a lot harder on the body, so there is less jumping and elegant ballroom choreography — he leaves the splits and daring tricks to the younger ones.

He will compete in esquire team dance and master solo this month.

Residents sought to fill five at-large seats on selection panel

HANSON — The Board of Selectmen voted to form a local search committee for the town administrator selection process, instead of hiring a consulting firm — and by a narrow margin opted for a panel of seven members.

Town Administrator Ron San Angelo leaves on Aug. 14 to become Southbridge town manager.

Selectmen further voted on Tuesday, July 7 to appoint Chairman Bruce Young, as the board’s representative to the search committee, along with a member to be named from the Planning Board and five citizen at-large members.

Residents interested in applying for an at-large seat on the search committee must apply to the selectmen’s office at Town Hall by Friday, July 17. The board will make the appointments at the Tuesday, July 21 meeting.

An elected member of the Planning Board was suggested as that board is well acquainted with town By-Laws.

The board will also interview available interim administrators on July 21.

The fee range from the consulting firms — which would create a town profile, advertise the position, screen applicants and perform background checks — runs from $8,500 to $17,000.

“To spend $15,000 to hire a firm I think is crazy,” Selectman Kenny Mitchell said.

Selectman James McGahan agreed, but argued that a screening committee “has got to be a good mix” of residents and officials.

“It shouldn’t be everybody who agrees with one another,” he said. “There should be different backgrounds, different opinions, Democrats and Republicans, the whole deal.”

“I don’t think we need [to worry about] the D and R, but I get your point,” said Mitchell, who served on the police chief search committee with Selectman Bill Scott before either of them were elected to the board.

“I think it should be done with residents of the town,” Selectman Don Howard agreed. “They know what the town of Hanson is. ”

Residents Mark Vess of High Street and Richard Edgehille of South Street also advocated for a local committee.

“There’s been a lot of unofficial volunteers already to help you do the job,” Vess said.

“I think your decision is very wise,” said Edgehille, noting he did not think the town got “the best bang for the buck” out of the evaluation of town government the UMass, Boston-based Collins Center consultants performed when René Read was town administrator.

The 3-2 vote on a seven-member search committee marked the only disagreement over the issue between board members. Young, McGahan and Howard all supported seven members, but Mitchell and Scott both felt the number had been unwieldy on the police chief search panel.

“I think the more input, the better,” McGahan said.

All previous town administrator searches had used five-member search committees, Executive Assistant Meredith Marini said.

Marini had also served as interim town administrator in the past, but declined to do so this time. Available retired town administrators, who work as interims on a free-lace basis, will be asked to interview with selectmen on July 21.

Public service

In other business, selectmen surprised resident Iris Morway with a proclamation honoring her for her work to beautify town traffic islands and veterans’ memorial corners.

“If the individual had known that this would take place, I don’t think the individual would have come because she’s the kind of person that doesn’t want recognition,” Young said in announcing the honor.

Morway noted she was not alone in the beautification of Hanson.

“It’s been a pleasure to do it and it wasn’t just me,” she said. “We did have a garden club at one time — there are still a few other girls involved. It is our community and we like to put our best foot forward.”