WHITMAN – The town is looking at a 1,017,394 deficit even as officials have been crafting tighter budgets.
The Select Board heard a budget update from member Shawn Kain and Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter at its Tuesday, Feb. 6 meeting.
The process was begun as a forecast, based on the fiscal 2024 budget and projections of what revenue and expenditures might be for the next budget cycle. The result was a “pretty tight” forecast, Kain said, moving Carter to issue a budget message to department heads in early December that was in line with that forecast to stay within the Proposition 2 ½ increase with no increase in expenses. The total revenue increase over last year is only 1.2 percent for funding all departments, according to Kain.
“The likelihood of an override – certainly a discussion with the schools about an override – is real,” he said.
“We have to balance the budget, that’s the bottom line,” Carter said. “So the tough work is ahead of us.”
Since December, Carter has met with each department head separately to listen to concerns about the department needs. The Finance Committee has gone through a similar process, and more information on revenues is now available.
On Dec. 5, the deficit stood at $273,813, but now comes in at $1,017,394 in a fiscal 25 budget totaling $43,312,919 – with revenues of $42,295,525 in department requests.
“The numbers we were looking at this year are pretty lean,” he said. “At this point we are now ready to begin to formulate the formal budget.”
They walked the board through that information Tuesday night.
The Fire Department, seeking a 15.83 percent increase ($615,529) for salaries and a 12.42 percent increase ($52,945) in expenses, includes adding a firefighter to fill a vacancy created by promotion and contract year for the chief and deputy chief as well as equipment repairs, service contract increases and the ongoing expense of transporting patients due to the Brockton Hospital fire. The Police Department’s salary line increase is 8.05 percent ($274,204) as the chief and deputy chief contracts are up for negotiation, shifts have been unified and police reform makes hiring more complex, but expenses have been held to a .92 percent increase ($3,200).
At the DPW, salaries are up 4.56 percent ($33,865) due to contracts and expenses are increased by 10.64 percent ($190,394) primarily due the increase in solid waste expenses, even as they offset by the trash rate. Capital needs included in transitioning to the part-time use of the armory as the new DPW building is under constructed are also calculated in the expense increase.
Library salary line increases total to 3.81 percent ($14,791) as director and assistant director contracts, other salary increases are contractual. Expenses are up by 29.14 percent ($28,773) due to materials, utilities and maintenance costs.
“If their budget increases, then the amount or money that they spend on books, specifically, has to increase in order to qualify for a significant amount of state funding,” Kain said.
Technology expenses are up 17.03 percent ($46,023) while the salary costs have been kept to a 2.5 percent ($5,777) largely due to software costs.
While the School Department budget wouldn’t be unveiled until the next evening, a level-serviced budget with an increase of 11.12 percent ($1,972,658) is anticipated.
“They knew that this particular year was going to be a drop off, mostly because of the sunset of the federal ESSER funds,” Kain said. “The level-service numbers are expected to increase because of the numbers that came back from the state.”
Carter has included a 5 percent (an increase of $886,975) school budget increase as a placeholder in the budget thus far.
“Anything above that, of course, is going to be a much higher impact to the budget,” she said.
South Shore Tech’s assessment is up by 11.79 percent ($189,177) as a placeholder, as Whitman is sending 14 more students to the school this year.
“When Mary Beth sent her budget message, most of the department heads gave really what they think their department deserves, and they’re advocating for their budget, which they should be able to do so that we and the public understand what their needs and concerns are,” Kain said. “But what they didn’t provide us is what would their department look like if it actually was a 2.5 percent and zero percent expenses.”
He said that is the information they expect to be learning in the coming weeks.
Board Vice Chair Dan Salvucci said that, with three building projects in the works, he does not think an override to balance the budget would pass.
“I think that’s an important discussion for us to have with the School Department,” Kain said. “Obviously, people in the community care about education, they’ve made that clear, it’s a priority.”
He noted the district was presenting a thorough presentation on it Wednesday, Feb. 7 on what it will be able to fund as well as what they won’t be able to fund.
Chair Dr. Carl Kowalski also saw the need for the schools to ask for an override this year.
“I don’t want to be pessimistic about an operational override because we need it to take care of the kids,” he said. “As long as we know that they’re spending their money responsibly, we need it.”
Salvucci said it depends on what the School Committee decides for a budget.
“They need to show that they’re willing to look at both towns and what their budget [outlook is],” he said.
Kowalski said a lot of hard work has gone into avoiding an override to this point.
“Some of us have been saying for years that, in order for us to serve our students in a way that is appropriate,” he said. “The town needs to say – not only in a survey can we say that we value the students and we value the schools, but they also have to say they are willing to pay for it.”
Board member Justin Evans said town departments are not without blame, either.
“A lot of those asks are well above two-and-a-half percent,” he said. “The money has to come from somewhere.”
Police Chief Timothy Hanlon said his department has been underfunded for years.
Hanson aims to flag down discord
HANSON – If you want to hold your banner high in Hanson, you’ll have to raise that flag on your own pole on your own property.
Only the U.S., state, town and military-related flags such as the POW-MIA flag, will be allowed to be placed on flag poles on town-owned property under a new municipal flag policy now being drafted. Nothing else will be permitted.
Town Administrator Lisa Green has been charged with working with Town Counsel Katherine Feodoroff to write the policy for the Select Board to review and adopt.
“This isn’t to curtail people’s First Amendment rights,” Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “They’ve got a right to protest on town property, they’ve got a right to freedom of speech whatever way they want, but not on our flag pole.”
The Select Board on Tuesday, Feb. 6 voiced support for the policy change as a way to prevent the discord other towns have encountered recently, for example that caused by groups seeking to counter Pride flags flown during LGBTQ History Month each June.
FitzGerald-Kemmett said the policy is an attempt to prevent complaints, lawsuits and appeals, such a with a case in Boston that ended up before the Supreme Court. Town clerks have been approached in many communities by people going through that office asking about use of town hall flag poles.
“Kate [Feodoroff] thought it was a good idea for us to adopt a policy,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.
“We have, along with a lot of other towns, been getting some requests to put various political flags on our flag pole,” said Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett. “I talked to town counsel about this and I also talked to our town clerk.”
Some towns have adopted a process through which groups can apply to have their flag flown.
“I’m just one person, if you guys disagree,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “I don’t want to be judge and jury about whether this cause or that cause, and inevitably, there’s going to be something hateful that we’ll be asked to represent and then you’re getting into curtailing one group versus another and putting your own personal values on it.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett said she didn’t want to put the town in the middle of that, but she asked fellow board members if they had any fundamental problems with such a policy..
“I personally couldn’t agree more the way you just said it,” board member Ed Heal said.
“If you leave it open and you let one person hang a flag, that’s not for policy,” Vice Chair Joe Weeks said. “You’d have to let a whole bunch of people fly a flag – and I’m not even thinking about the controversies – I care about how many flags could be on one flag pole and how big the flag pole now has to be.”
“There’s just no need,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “They have their T-shirts, their bumper stickers, their hats.”
“They also have their own private property,” Weeks said.
Winter fun on Valentine’s Day
By Linda Ibbitson Hurd
Special to the Express
At the top of Elm Street in Hanson during the ’60s there was an ice cream place called Brine’s Dairy Queen where what’s now known as Mo’s Place is located.
Martha Brine, who started and owned the ice cream place, grew up with my father and became one of my mother’s best friends. Behind Martha’s house and to one side were hills where the Brine kids and many of us from Elm Street went sledding. In back of the house which looked down on Elm Street, a spacious field, a farm and homes below, proved to be the perfect place where the older boys made a ramp on one side of the hill where our sleds literally sailed through the air as we rode them over the ramp and landed safely on the snow-covered field, gliding to a stop.
On the right side facing the front of the house was another hill, less steep that was in the direction of where Ace Hardware is now. As long as we followed Martha’s rules, we were welcome. Those who did not were sent home.
I can still hear the shouts of happy voices, laughter, squeals delight and sometimes groans or disappointments when someone had to chase their runaway sled or if there was a tumble or a fall. Some of us had coasters that Bob Ibbitson, a cousin of ours who worked for Coca-Cola had, that were actually big metal signs perfect for coasting and so much fun to ride in. A cousin of the Brines’ who was older, got in a wooden milk box one day as we all gathered around to watch. Some of the girls told him not to do it, most of the boys cheered him on. He went down the smaller hill, the box picking up speed and it flipped, giving him a good knock in the head and tossing him out into the snow. Martha came running out, sent us all home and took him in the house. Luckily he was fine. The box was never seen again.
Martha had started a tradition of setting aside a special day each year for all the parents to come sledding with their kids. One year it happened to fall on Valentine’s Day. It was a beautiful, sunny Winter’s Day and my parents seemed exceptionally happy. The four of us kids got up early to make Valentine cards for mom and dad and they in turn gave us ours and some to each other. Mom was very busy that morning and my sister Penny and I were helping her in the kitchen. When it was time to go to Martha’s, dad loaded the sleds in his truck, and we followed in the car.
There was a good turnout of parents and kids. One family brought a toboggan, and the sleds and coasters were plentiful. The mood there that day was magical. Everyone was happy and so carefree. Martha was closed to the public that day and joined in the fun. The family with the toboggan offered everyone a turn in it and the coasters were full of both adults and kids and even one of the dogs.
As sunset approached and a full moon shone, I noticed no one was leaving. Martha turned the lights on in the Dairy Queen and the outside spot lights as well announcing the rest rooms were open for anyone who needed to use them. A group of parents were ushering Martha into the building and more parents were going to their vehicles and bringing things inside. Soon we were all inside. Martha seemed a little flustered. The counter inside and the tables were filled with all kinds of food and there was a very large gift on the counter.
One of the mom’s walked over to Martha and began telling Martha how much all of them appreciated her letting their kids come there every Winter to go sledding and making the annual family time there possible with their kids.
“We have turned the tables on you and we wanted to do something special for you this year,” she said. “We’ve brought food for supper and some good desserts. Happy Valentine’s Day to one of the most generous and loving gals we know. Before we all dig in, please open our gift!”
Martha was overcome as we all applauded and waited expectantly for her to open her gift, which was a money tree that she truly appreciated.
Police: State policy won’t support Auburn Street speed limit change
By Tracy F. Seelye, Express editor
[email protected]
WHITMAN – Changing a speed limit sign is not going to solve the problem concerning traffic along Auburn street police officials say.
A traffic study requested by a resident on the speeds along Auburn Street last year saw the Whitman Police concentrate on four locations along the roadway, according to Chief Timothy Hanlon in a recent report to the Select Board. The locations were along a stretch from Washington Street to the Brockton line.
“We do traffic enforcement all over town,” he said. “Sometimes it’s by request, sometimes it’s by necessity.”
Posted speed limits on that section of road are between 40 and 45. It is not considered a thickly settled district.
He gave a location on Temple Street after an overhead light that “everyone was complaining about,” as an example. “[DPW Superintendent] Bruce Martin got that posted as a school zone and then we went from there and did our best to add those traffic signals that identify it as a school zone and we’ve been doing traffic enforcement up there because it’s changed.”
Hanlon said he was aware that residents were among those asking that the speed limit be lowered on Auburn Street in the interest of pedestrian safety as he reported the study’s findings about the roadway that is also state Route 14, to the Select Board on Tuesday, Jan. 9.
“Often MassDOT is asked to address special speed limit concerns by simply changing speed limit signs,” Hanlon quoted from the mass.gov website. “Research and experience, though, have taught us that changing the posted speed limit alone does not typically change the way people drive – at least, not by itself.”
His conclusion was that state officials would not likely favor reducing speeds in the area.
The last traffic study of Auburn Street was done in 2008-09, Hanlon said.
“They didn’t find much of a deviance,” he said. “The 85th percentile of the speed was 45 miles an hour and, based on what the speed limits are … between 40 and 45 miles an hour, that’s where they want to be.”
Select Board member Shawn Kain said he would like to see something done to help the Auburnville population.
For Whitman Police, that would come down to enforcement.
Hanlon said he had additional questions – about a section of Auburn Street east of Bedford Street, which showed the only real deviation, going from the 85th percentile of 38 miles an hour in 2004 to 45 miles an hour; the timing of previous studies and whether there is a specific threshhold for reducing the speeds along Auburn Street.
“They’re not exactly sure what the cause of that is,” he said. “It could be that the traffic counter was placed in a slightly different spot to register a different speed, depending upon how far down in that area that it was placed.”
Hanlon said the exact placement of previous traffic counters was evidently not recorded.
The earliest study he found was conducted in 2004 and others were done in 2008 and 2009, on traffic in both directions. There was also no specific speed threshold.
“If the cars were going a lot faster, would you want to drop it down, and the answer to that is no,” Hanlon said. “This location does have existing special speed limits and that does make it more difficult to change the speed limit, as the existing state law would have to be repealed first.”
After researching the matter on the ma.gov website, Hanlon found that lower posted speed limits “don’t affect driver behavior that much on their own.”
“It’s in combination with other things, like traffic enforcement, and we really haven’t done any traffic enforcement up there since the construction has taken place,” he said. “There was no need for it up there because the roads were all dug up, and now that it’s done, it’s let’s see how this process is going to play out.”
Whitman Police can, however, make enforcement a priority on their own, according to Hanlon.
“We’ve been running radar in various locations, one of which is Raynor Avenue,” he said. “We can slow people down while we’re there and then, when we adjust as necessary, but we can’t be everywhere all the time, so we have to decide where we’re going to do traffic enforcement and go from there.”
‘Suspected fatality’ in construction accident
HANSON – Police Chief Michael Miksch reported Wednesday, Feb.7 that the Hanson Police Department had responded that morning to a construction incident.
District Attorney Timothy Cruz reported to media outlets later in the day that a “suspected fatality” had occurred as the homeowner was having their basement waterproofed. The homeowner was at home at the time of the accident.
Kingston fire officials had posted on that department’s Facebook page that one person was believed to be dead. That post was not visible on the site at 5 p.m.
At approximately 11:30 a.m., Hanson Police and Fire responded to 50 Dwight St., for a report of a construction incident involving a partial foundation collapse, Miksch stated. The Plymouth County Technical Rescue Team also responded.
OSHA is also on scene and investigating.
The workers were digging when the foundation broke away from the home, trapping a male worker underneath, WBZ TV reported at 3 p.m.. Crews stabilized the house and are using air bags to lift the foundation so that the man’s body could be recovered.
Part of the trench appeared to be filled with water, and first responders seemed to be focused on a part of it where a large piece of the concrete had fallen in, according to the WBZ report.
Police remained on the scene through the afternoon and people were asked to avoid the area.
Hanson board hears planning update
HANSON – Town Planner Anthony DeFrias updated the Select Board on projects in town on Tuesday, Jan. 23, including the MBTA Zoning District and bylaws, Main Street sidewalk improvement design (between High and Elm streets), the Master Plan, 0 West Washington St., the starter home district and Hawks Avenue with which his department has been involved for the past year.
“Each one of those projects were funded, or partially funded, by grants,” he said.
“Can we pause for a minute at the magnificence of that statement?” Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said.
Two grants were received for the MBTA Zoning District, which funded outside consultants. All the others were through the One Stop Master Plan program, DeFrias said.
Hanson is working with a consulting company called VHB to get through the final phases.
“Our district modeling is complete,” DeFrias said of state spreadsheets into which the town’s date had to be entered to determine whether it is in compliance. “It hasn’t gone live yet, but it will be shortly.”
Old Colony Planning Council (OCPC) had begun the data entry process with VHB has added some information and made some adjustments, which made the district a little larger. A subdistrict now falls within the town’s mixed-use district, which the state must approve. Draft zoning bylaws have also been approved for that area following public hearings and now must also undergo compliance review at the state level. That mush be completed 90 days before Town Meeting.
“We’re looking to go before Town Meeting this may to get this approved,” DeFrias said. ‘The Zoning Map will change and there will be an amendment to the zoning bylaws to include this district.”
The Planning Board has closed the public hearing and DeFrias will be presenting the Select Board with the district map and draft bylaws at which time the Select Board will ask the Planning Board to submit a report.
“I know it seems strange that we’re giving you this and then you’re going to have to give it back to us, but it’s part of the statutory requirements,” he said. The Planning Board will then have a public hearing at the end of February and town counsel will have to review the bylaws before moving forward to get it before Town Meeting. The hope is they will receive a ruling on compliance from the state in time for that as well.
“If there’s a hiccup at least we’ll have October [Town Meeting] to button things up,” DeFrias said. “The deadline for this is December 2024.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett asked what happens if it fails to be in compliance or, for some reason, does not pass at Town Meeting.
“Failure to comply will eliminate us from grants,” DeFrias said. “It will also open the town up to liability and legal action. The Attorney General’s office has issued an advisory to all towns that have to comply, stating that it’s the law and, if you don’t follow the law, you’re going to open yourself up to possible litigation and fines under federal housing, Mass. Housing, etc.”
“Doesn’t that help us a little bit with the 40B stuff, as well?” FitzGerald-Kemmett asked.
“It helps us with the affordability, yes,” he said. “All the town has to do is create the district. … They prefer it within a half-mile of MBTA [stops].”
The actual affordable housing stock will be up to the private sector. The district as it now stands would exceed the requirement of supporting 750 units.
“The tough part is the deadline,” he said. “There’s a lot to do, a lot to unpack and at state level, they have a lot of work because a lot of these are now coming in fast and furious.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett said that, for better or worse, the Healey administration is incredibly bullish about housing.
The Mass. Taxpayers Foundation issued a report last year pointing to housing affordability as a major factor toward the state’s trend of “hemorrhaging people,” – the largest outward migration in 30 years – with 110,000 moving out since the pandemic, most between the ages of 26 and 35, and citing the issue as a major reason.
“We don’t have sewer,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “Septic alone in this area, with the proximity of wetlands is going to be problematic.”
“This is really being forced upon us, basically,” said Select Board member Ed Heal. “It’s good to have housing, but I don’t want to be forced into doing it.”
Vice Chair Joe Weeks said a lot of people come to Hanson because they like the bedroom community aspect of it.
The way the law now stands, DeFrias said, Hanson could end up losing grants without the program, which could hurt the town.
Main Street
An existing conditions survey in June 2023 on needed pedestrian improvements along Main Street, has led to 25 percent completion of a design for the project for street scape improvements including sidewalks from High Street to Elm Street, DeFrias said.
PDF of plans are available in the Planning office for review and a public hearing is slated for the first Planning Board meeting in February. Sidewalks are called for on both sides of the roadway. Additional grant money will be applied for to fund construction.
“It’s nice to have plans, but I’d like for us to get grant money and actually get some physical things off the ground,” DeFrias said.
Additional projects
Hanson is working with OCPS on the master plan project and there is a survey on the Planning Department website s part of the project that DeFrias is urging people to participate in it.
On the 0 Main St. project, he noted Hanson has been assigned a “House Doctor” – a certified engineering company – to examine the property, which is adjacent to the existing Water Department location, the survey work, resource location and soils to compile a preliminary plan determining the most viable plan for that property, DeFrias reported.
The grant for the Starter Home District has funded execution of the contract so a consultant can be chosen to determine if there is a place for a district where create affordable starter homes with 1,850 square feet of livable area can be built under Chapter 40Y.
Another grant of $100,000 will look into possible Brownfield redevelopment on Hawks Avenue, looking at what the town owns.
Other grant projects include culvert and Camp Kiwanee drainage projects and researching a switch to electric vehicles for some departments and charging stations under a National Grid project. FitzGerald-Kemmett expressed apprehension about EVs as public safety vehicles. DeFrias said there are options for that type of vehicle, but ultimately it is up to what the town chooses.
He said he could arrange a meeting to go over more information about the program.
Kiwanee store making a return?
HANSON – Camp Kiwanee is working to restore and return a camp store, to sell snacks and drinks, and possibly town and/or Kiwanee merchandise beginning next summer.
Camp Kiwanee Commission Chair Frank Milisi and Town Aministrator Lisa Green will also work on determining the legal ramifications of selling merchandise at the store as the board voted to support the project with that caveat at its Tuesday, Jan. 23 meeting. The board approved a motion to approve the store once the questions cleared up.
The location is an elongated strcuture between the lodge and the camp fire house, Milisi said.
“We have [the] budget to fix it up as a store,” Milisi said. “We have the idea of selling pre-packaged snacks there during the summertime and also stuff for camping – wood, mosquito repellant – [and] we have the idea of selling some Camp Kiwanee merchandise up there – sweatshirts, hats, some of the bumper stickers that the hikers throw on their stuff.”
The commission is also discussing the option of having the store open when weddings are booked at the camp.
He said that, while it would not be full-fledged this year, it would be used for small things during when Cranberry Cove opens up, including the sale of passes.
“It’ll bring some revenue into the camp,” he said. “We’re working with the Board of Health already to get their blessing on going ahead and doing that.”
They have also spoken with the building inspector and contacted a contractor to do any structural improvements needed, including any necessary electrical upgrades for putting in refrigerators.
“We’re excited for it and kind of want the Select Board’s blessing to move ahead with that,” he said. He also said he was not sure if a business license was necessary.
Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett raised the need to look into regulations that may pertain to the sale of town and/or camp merchandise.
“You’re going to need to talk about the town selling merchandise,” she suggested. “We don’t want to run afoul. … You may need a friends group.”
Milisi said he knows other towns with shacks at beach areas that do sell things, but he did not know the specifics of their arrangements.
“I’m sure we can get there,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “You’re just going to have to be thoughtful and make sure we don’t have any pitfalls.”
Lakeville shelter
The board voted to approve and sign the annual partnership agreement with the Lakeville Animal Shelter to house dogs taken in by the Hanson animal control officer. This year, includes an assessment fee of $250 to help fund improvements to the shelter as required following inspections by the Mass. Department of Agricultural Resources.
“Basically, this is an agreement to get us through the next year,” said Town Administrator Lisa Green noting the assessment would be paid out of the animal control budget line. “This will hold us over until we’re able to, hopefully, open up our own shelter.”
Green said the town had not been assessed a fee in prior years. Dog owners pay a $25 per day boarding fee when they retrieve their dogs from the Lakeville shelter. A $20 drop-off fee had not been billed to the town, Green said, in response to a question from Weeks about language in the agreement. She said it is unclear whether the animal control officer has been paying that out-of-pocket.
“He has not come to us for reimbursement,” she said.
“He also said he hasn’t been dropping a lot of dogs off there,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “He said he’s essentially been our shelter.”
Weeks said he asked because the Lakeville Shelter’s fee structure opens up opportunities for Hanson to explore, such as a $50 late fee, immunization fees and “a lot more than just $250.”
“It doesn’t spell out necessarily who pays what, but … there are opportunities here where we can kind of adopt some of this stuff and apply it to ours, if we don’t already have some of this.”
Board member Ed Heal also suggested that more information be obtained about the fees and who is expected to pay them.
“It would be good to have some numbers,” he said. “How many dogs are we sending to Lakeville in the past five years and how long are they there for and who’s paying the fees. Do we have anything [on that]?”
Weeks said even if Hanson Animal Control Officer Joe Kenney is paying the fees out of his own pocket, “I still don’t feel right about that.”
“Whether he’s paying it, or he’s keeping the animal, neither of these options are long-term sustainable,” FitzGerald-Kemmett agreed.
Weeks said that, going forward, there should be some kind of an escape clause to prevent the town being billed for being absolved of financial responsibility of Lakeville does not send a bill in a timely manner.
Sworn to serve Whitman
WHITMAN – The ranks of the town’s public safety departments officially increased on Tuesday, Jan. 23 with the swearing-in ceremonies for new firefighter-paramedics Justin Everson and Joseph Lasko as well as new police officers Roger Kineavy and Alyssa Andrews as part of the Select Board’s meeting, in the Town Hall Auditorium.
Fire Chief Timothy Clancy thanked the board and Chair Dr. Carl Kowalski and Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter for the evening before introducing his new personnel who had been hired off the Civil Service list after completing the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy and one-year probationary period with the department.
Everson started Aug. 8 2021. Having grown up in Pembroke, he is now a resident of Abington.
“Justin has proved himself to be a great addition to our department,” Clancy said. “One thing you can say about him – he’s committed to training. You always see him out there working on skills.”
He was Clancy’s first official hire as chief of the department.
Lasko started Nov. 14, 2022. He grew up in Marshfield and also now resides in Abington.
“I believe they’re neighbors,” Clancy said of his new crew members, and like Everson, Clancy described Lasko as an asset to the department.
“We see Joe out always training, reviewing equipment and looking to better himself,” Clancy said. “Most recently, he approached me about becoming a member of the regional technical rescue team.”
Lasko also holds an associate’s degree in fire science.
“Both these firefighters came to our department as an unknown, which is kind of different for our department we usually know the people we’re hiring,” Clancy said. “I can say they have proven themselves to be great additions to our department, the service of our town and a benefit to our community.”
After being administered their oath as firefighters by Town Clerk Dawn Varley, Justin Everson’s mother Elizabeth Dwyer pinned on his new badge and Joseph Lasko’s new badge was pinned on by his mom Karen Lasko.
Police Chief Timothy Hanlon said both had attended the 75th ROC Plymouth Academy.
Alyssa Andrews, a graduate of W-H, lives in Whitman. She holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Southern New Hampshire University. Before attending the police academy, she worked for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at Logan Airport.
Roger Keneavy lives in Whitman with his wife Bryn and their 6-month-old daughter. A graduate of Weymouth High School, he attended Quincy College and Petersburg College in Florida. He is a Marine Corps veteran, who served one tour of duty in Afghanistan and received the distinguished Purple Heart. He had worked for four years as a Plymouth County corrections officer before attending the police academy.
They both began their field training with the Whitman Police Department after graduating last week from the police academy.
After Varley administered their oaths, Andrews’ badge was pinned on by her grandfather, Wayne Andrews, and Keneavy had his badge pinned on by his wife.
State’s history is a whale of a tale
WHITMAN – Considering that the whaling industry has been outlawed in the United States since 1941, whaling culture still has an impressive hold on us.
The blue, green and white logo of the erstwhile Hartford Whalers NHL team – now the Carolina Hurricanes – is still widely thought to be one of the best logos in sports. The H for Hartford sitting atop a stylized W for Whalers, both toped with cetacean flukes has always been eye-grabbing.
During the COVID lockdown of 2020, the stir-crazy global community became enthralled with a certain New Zealand whaling sea shanty, “The Wellerman,” which was written about a whaling supply ship owned by the Weller Brothers. Written in perhaps the mid-1800s – the Weller Brothers were bankrupt by the 1840s – the song relates how eagerly whaling ship crews looked forward to its ships’ visits bringing much sought-after sundries like tea, rum and perhaps letters from home.
What started as a single-voice work by Scottish tenor Nathan Evans, saw successive singers add bass, baritone and other vocal ranges as well as instruments – and the video blandishments of several popular memes.
People were bored and it was a catchy tune.
Whaling crew descendant, and New Bedford Whaling Museum docent Charles R. Chace brought a different taste of whaling’s hey day and decline to the Whitman Public Library on Saturday, Jan. 27 by way of a talk titled “Whales and Whaling History.”
“Ever since man has lived next to the seashore, they’ve been using whale products because whales die and wash ashore,” he said. “Then they learned how to hunt them a very long time ago.”
At first, that meant sending boats out after sick or dying whales close to shore and hunting them. By the time 20th-century factory ships were created, they were killing 50,000 to 60,000 whales a year, mainly to feed the post-WWII starving peoples of Europe.
A global moratorium on hunting was imposed in 1983. But Japan has since begun hunting again, Chace said.
Chace, whose grandfather Jonathan Chace and great uncle, Capt. Charles A. Chace of Westport, were both whalers, and whose great aunt had been a first mate on some of her husband’s voyages, combined tales of his family’s eexperiences with notes about whale biology and the demographic changes of whale crews to weave a story about some of the final years of whaling in America.
Family business
President of the Descendants of Whaling Masters, Chace was named for his great uncle, who spent 40 years making whaling voyages.
“I grew up listening to his stories and I learned some things about whaling from him,” Chace said, noting that his grandfather was the first member of the family to go whaling, followed by three brothers and his son, Charles. Chace’s great aunt Emily married Capt. Ed King and went to sea with him several times. Capt. Charles A. Chace’s wife Rachel went to sea as an assistant navigator on several voyages before they began their family.
Chace’s great uncle had also been a docent of the whaling museum before him.
Chace himself has developed a love for whales and has been a supporter of measures to protect them from the threats of the modern world and a changing environment. As an educational docent at the Whaling Museum, he has been trained to discuss the exhibits, the feeding, breeding and birthing of several whale species, and the equipment and methods used to hunt and process them. His talk was sponsored by the Friends of the Whitman Public Library.
“My grandfather died young, and he raised my father, [Stuart]” Chace said of the whaling captain for whom he was named. “He lived to be 93.” The elder Charles Chace died a month before he was invited to another instance of whaling in our culture, the debut of the movie adaptation of “Moby Dick,” starring Gregory Peck in 1956.
“Gregory Peck was going to pick him up and take him to the movie,” Chace recalled. Instead, he and his mother attended, sitting two seats behind Peck in the theater.
Whale biology
His talk focused on the differences between baleen and toothed whales, their ranges, eating habits and ways in which whale’s bodies helped them survive the ocean depths. He also discussed the mechanics of different types of harpoons.
Baleen whales swim along the surface, taking water in and then pushing the water back out through the baleen, licking small zooplankton caught in it, and swallowing. Baleen was used for women’s corsets, umbrella stays, buggy whips – many things that would be made of plastics today. Baleen sold for about 80 cents a pound in the 1850s.
Blue whales, humpbacks and fin whales, however, have lower-jaw skin that expands as they take in water expelling the water to sift out zooplankton as they breach.
Right whales, he noted, got their name because the now-highly endangered breed was considered the “right whale” to hunt.
“We’re trying hard to save them,” Chace said of the right whales, of which there are now only about 350 left. “They are slow swimmer, easy to catch and float after they die. Grey whales fight back – they called them devil-fish.”
Sperm whales, the largest toothed whales, live in harems and feed on the giant squid that live at depths of a mile and a half. They find their prey by sonar and swallow it whole, returning to the surface in stages because they are subject to the bends, as humans are.
To dive down there to begin with, sperm whales have a hyper-efficient bloodstream with a higher factor of hemoglobin than humans to help store oxygen. Their spines are also not directly connected to their ribs, allowing them to exhale before sounding, as their rib cage folds inward to protect their lungs.
Sperm whales are capable of sounding for more than an hour.
They were hunted for the spermaceti in their head, which is part of their sonar.
Chace offers more tales of whales and the whaling industry – including terrible food and living conditions of crews – visit the New Bedford Whaling Museum [whalingmuseum.org].
Whitman eyes competitive energy costs
WHITMAN – The Select Board on Tuesday, Jan. 23 voted to begin drafting an energy aggregation plan with Good Energy L.P., a Municipal Energy Aggregation consulting company, for a competitive energy pricing plan for residents.
John P. O’Rourke, director of marketing and municipal affairs at Good Energy LP, , briefed the board on the service before their vote, which backed up a Town Meeting vote last May in support of the pricing approach.
He said Whitman is about a year away from being approved by the Department of Public Utilities.
The goal is to provide more competitive choices and longer-term, stable electricity rates, normally contracts are from two to three years, he said, noting that National Grid, changes its rates every six months.
“Aggregation only impacts the electricity supply side of the bill, the relationship with National Grid does not change,” O’Rourke said. “The only thing that changes is the name of the supplier on the bill and the rate charged. All other relationships that residents have with National Grid now stay in place, also any low-income or discount services also stay in place – that may be important for some of your senior citizens.”
Infrastructure, administration, billing and outages or problems with service are still taken care of by National Grid, O’Rourke explained.
Good Energy LLP is a national energy aggregation firm based in New York.
“Being a national company, we have plenty of backup to our team here in Massachusetts,” O’Rourke said of the company which has 20 years of experience on the national level and combined it with local experience, entering the Bay State market in 2014. It now has 68 client communities – with 52 active plans, three that were just approved by DPU four more pending approval soon, more plans in development and two new committed clients for which they are starting to develop plans – in the state.
Several of those communities, including Marshfield, Norton, Rockland, Scituate and Carver, are located in the South Shore area.
“It recently became the largest aggregation of its kind in the country,” he said. “Good Energy is active in all states that have municipal aggregation.”
Aids town
application
The company does “all the heavy lifting” through the Department of Energy Resources (DER) and DPU approval process, and then monitor and manage the plan, providing officials with a portal to determine how it is functioning in real time, he noted.
Board member Shawn Kain asked about consultant fees, which O’Rourke said are 1 mil per kilowatt hour – about 1/10 of one cent per kilowatt hour – paid by the competitive supplier, not the town.
“That’s our fee,” O’Rourke said.
Kain also asked if an agreement could be amended mid-term for a better cost.
That is not allowed for, O’Rourke said, but said a town could make adjustments at the end of the term and the town picks out the plan that is most advantageous to residents. Contract renewals are begun about six months before expiration.
Select Board Vice Chair Dan Salvucci, who said he frequently seeks out more competitive rates online, how the plan is selected, and customers are informed.
“This is an opt-out plan,” O’Rourke said. “Once the plan is launched, there’s a 30-day period where the residents get a customer information letter. It explains the program and, of course, before that, there’s more information that comes out.”
Customers can either do nothing and become part of the plan, or opt out of it, which affects only those under the basic service of National Grid. It does not affect anyone who has already chosen a competitive supplier.
“They are not notified at all,” he said.
The town is provided with a matrix including three or four suppliers bidding on the town’s electricity load, and offer a grid of pricing over different time period from 12 to 36 months out. The town selects the one they feel is most advantageous to residents, who then can decide whether to opt out.
About 10 to 12 percent of most residents in any community already actively seek out alternative energy suppliers as Salvucci does.
“Most people are still on basic service,” O’Rourke said.
“I think what everybody is looking for is lower electric bills,” Salvucci said. “It’s that simple.”
Anyone who comes into the aggregation can get out of it at any time without penalty or termination fee and go back to a third-party supplier or go back to the utility, O’Rourke said. Last year, when National Grid was 33 cents per kilowatt-hour, Good Energy was in the 10 to 11-cent range.
“It was a home run during that period of time,” he said.
“It seems like your program fills in the gaps for people that are afraid to go out and look, because it’s a very scary world and there are a lot of scam artists,” Select Board member Laura Howe said, adding that she liked the fact that people could get out at any time.
O’Rourke said they also go out for bids at the most advantageous times of the year.
“We’re not going to go out to get a bid in a market that isn’t good for you,” he said. “We sit on the same side of the table as you.”
Good Energy is also researching getting into the natural gas market for customers, as well.
Board member Justin Evans, who noted he has a potential conflict of interest letter on file with the town clerk because he works for the DPU – although not on aggregation – and has asked for an opinion from state ethics, said he can be involved on the municipal side.
He said he and Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter researched the issue and liked Good Energy because of its large customer base, which can lead to more competitive pricing.
Small businesses and school districts can also be included in the aggregation and could be negotiated separately for better rates at their level, but they do not want to interfere in any relationships with municipal or school accounts unless they are approached.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 23
- 24
- 25
- 26
- 27
- …
- 200
- Next Page »