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Hanson holds voter registration day this Saturday

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There will be a voter registration session held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, Aug.27 at the Hanson Town Hall. This will be the last day to register to vote for the Sept. 6 State Primary election. 

Any citizen may register to vote at the Town Clerk’s office during regular business hours; from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesday. Registration can be done mail-in or online as well. Any resident citizen who will be 18 years of age by Sept. 6 is eligible to register to vote by Aug. 27. 

The rough road to acceptance

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HANSON — How, and how much does it cost, to get a private way accepted as a public street in order to keep it in good repair?

A group of frustrated residents of three unaccepted roadways — Alden Way, Gray Lane and Stringer Lane — attended the Tuesday, Aug. 23 Select Board meeting to ask about the legal status of their streets. The session’s agenda had been amended at 10:50 a.m. that day to include the discussion.

Aware that the issue is often an understandably emotional one, Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett set ground rules that speakers remove emotion and “talk about facts” and what the town can and cannot do.

“This board’s job is to look out for the interests of the entire town — not just one group of people vs. another,” she said. 

“At the very least, I think [residents] need to think about having a homeowners’ association at this point,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “You’ve got to think about organizing together and getting an HOA because what we’re hearing is there’s no one point of contact to deal with from the town.”

If they would prefer, they could also continue addressing the issue as a concerned group of neighbors.

One neighbor suggested the discussion leads her to believe another meeting is in order.

“I don’t know how it’s fallen apart this bad that we have to go looking at an HOA or coming up with hundreds of thousands of dollars to correct this ‘terrible neighborhood,’ which in my eyes is one of the nicest neighborhoods that people want to move into,” said Carol Jensen, a 25-year resident of Gray Lane.

Alden Way resident Sandra Crawford, who wrote the letter to Town Administrator Lisa Green asking to be included on the agenda, because residents of the area “have grave concerns about our streets and inaction” surrounding them over the years. Town Counsel land use expert Brian Winner and Planning Board Chair Joseph Campbell also attended the meeting virtually.

Campbell said there are “tons” of unaccepted private ways in Hanson.

Winner stressed the need for a clear point of contact for residents as well as the possible need for a workshop meeting with that town liaison regarding road conditions and infrastructure and potential costs in order to have something to focus on.

“We need for you guys to organize,” FitzGerald-Kemmett told area residents. We won’t use that dreaded three-letter [HOA] acronym, but it allows us to have one point of contact.”

She said the board would decide on one or two members willing to have workshops with them and continue the conversation.

“I was not aware that we purchased [a home] on a private way or private street,” she said. “All my documentation said that it was a public road.”

She and her husband have lived on Alden Way for about two and a half years, discovering last month that it was not an accepted public roadway. All three streets are considered private ways on the town’s list of unaccepted streets.

Crawford has since spent “quite a bit of time at Town Hall” asking questions of Green and the Planning Board as well as reviewing the minutes of Planning Board meetings covering the 11 years.

“We’ve come to realize quite a few things,” she said. “The town had to send a bond back [following one developer’s lawsuit], but I’m still a little confused about how we jumped from what I think everybody in that neighborhood thought — they lived on public roads.”

While that is the past, Crawford said the past affects now and will affect the future. In reviewing the minutes, she found that her home’s previous owners frequently attended Planning Board meetings to ask similar questions.

“It seemed nobody was listening and nobody cared,” she said. “There’s been a lot of talk about the developer not doing what he was supposed to, what the town did not do correctly, how it wasn’t rectified way back in 2011 — but I can tell you this, it is not the fault of the residents that live on that street.”

Residents are not responsible for making road repairs or fixing what was not done correctly, she said. They want to know where Select Board stands on the issue and they want some maintenance attention given to the roads.

“We don’t want to live on one of those roads that is not safe to travel on,” Crawford said.

FitzGerald-Kemmett said that, while she understands the concerns and demand for road repair and maintenance, she said there are “a number of unintended consequences as a result” of any decision to do so on the town’s part.

“We’re setting a precedent,” she said. “There are a lot of private ways in Hanson and we are a town that’s struggling financially. … I think we have to figure out what is the town’s responsibility and then what is the right thing to do here.”

Select Board member Jim Hickey said that, as a board, they have to do better, and volunteered to get together with residents in an effort to find out what is needed to be done.

“Somebody dropped the ball somewhere,” he said. “So, now who’s going to pick it up?”

The town’s Highway Department does plow unaccepted streets, and grades the unaccepted dirt roads, but state Chapter 90 funds used by towns to repair public ways are not available to fund work on unaccepted streets, FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

Town Planner Antonio DeFrias, who said he only had history to go by, said the development in question was approved in 1997 and the developer withdrew and completed the road, but deficiencies in that road were discovered when the developer sought road acceptance. The town hired an outside consultant to review the road.

“That company did a less than stellar job, I guess,” he said, noting that the Planning Board had refused to return the bond money because of continued deficiencies in the road, leading to the lawsuit to which Crawford referred.

“At this point, there is no bond money for this project,” he said.

Campbell said the Planning Board, over the past 10-12 years, has had changes take place over the years either through elections or resignations, leaving open the question as to whether private roads are a priority.

“This, as well as a few other projects have come up almost quarterly,” he said, explaining it was meant to keep track of deficiencies. “For everybody who lives on a private way in Hanson, or that lives on a subdivision – streets are not public ways.”

Gaining acceptance as a public way is a fairly lengthy process, Campbell added, including the need for a Town Meeting vote.

FitzGerald-Kemmett asked what the deficiencies are and how they can be fixed.

A survey needs to be conducted to determine that as well as how doing the work would impact the town before the situation can be corrected, Campbell said. Problems with costs, from prevailing wage costs to actual work needed make the final cost difficult to afford.

“There’s very little that we could do without trespass or something of that nature,” he added.

There will also be hidden problems that are not visible during an assessment, officials said.

“It’s like buying used car,” DiFrias said. “You’re going to do your due diligence to see, ‘Do I want this car as is, or are there things I need to fix before I take it on?’”

He said the town could go back to Environmental Partners and use the 2019 report, paid for with $3,500 from the original bond, or ask them to do another, in-depth report now. The cost is tough to predict, but he said it would cost a couple of thousand dollars.

“I don’t see [it costing] $20,000, but I see it costing between $5,000 and $10,000,” he said.

“We’ve always used Alden Way as the exact reason for how not to build a development [road],” said Select Board member Joe Weeks, who once served on the Planning Board. “I really want to be able to help.”

But he said, the previous court decision forcing the town to return a developer’s bond, causes a concern because once the town accepts such a street, the town owns it.

“What’s clear is improvements need to be made … before the town accepts it as a public way,” said FitzGerald-Kemmett. “In order to do that, you have to look at the funding. Who’s going to fund it, the town or the people who live there?”

She expressed doubt that Town Meeting would be willing to spend the money to make acceptance possible. 

Whitman eyes its energy options

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WHITMAN — The Select Board, on Tuesday, Aug. 16 again began discussions about a possible Community Choice Aggregations plan in town.

“This is something the board has discussed before my time here, and I don’t know if it went anywhere,” Select Board member Justin Evans said, saying he was bringing it before the board because he felt it is worth bringing before the annual Town Meeting in May. “I think it’s worth revisiting.”

Such aggregations give municipalities the option of sourcing another electricity provider on behalf of its residents. Hanson is also currently working on such an aggregation. 

“These are often using more renewable energy and are cheaper than the current provider,” Evans said of the community aggregation plans in communities that have already adopted the program.

“We looked at this shortly before I retired,” said acting Town Administrator Frank Lynam, noting then-assistant Town Administrator Lisa Green had been researching it. “The idea behind it is, if we’re going to purchase aggregate energy, we’re going to save some money.”

Lynam said that some people might be resistant to change or may feel that a cent or two per kilowatt hour (KWH) makes it necessary to ensure the benefits are clearly explained to people before the Town Meeting even votes on it.

He said he believes there is still funds left in an appropriation voted two years ago for an energy consultant on a solar study before the town ended up entering a purchase agreement with NexAMP, which has saved the town a significant amount of money.

“This process takes several years,” Evans added. 

Rockland’s community aggregation base rate is about 11 cents/per KWH, in Pembroke it is 10 cents/KWH and in Halifax, it is 10.7 cents/KWH. National Grid’s base rate is 14 cents/KWH for National Grid.

While the town signs a contract, individuals are not required to and may opt in and out. For 100-percent renewable sources, Rockland charges 14 cents/KWH – the same as Whitman’s present rate.

“Right now, any resident can either buy their electricity through a utility, or they can sign a contract with a third party to provide that electricity, although the distribution would still come from their local utility,” he said. “This opens up a third option where the municipality sources electricity from another provider so those individuals could have two base rates or they could find their own third party electricity provider.”

A Town Meeting vote would be required to initiate such a program, followed by development of a plan with the Department of Energy Resources — often done with a consultant — and a citizen review of the municipal aggregation plan before it is submitted to the Department of Public Utilities for review and approval.

Board Vice Chair Dan Salvucci said he is paying less for third-party electricity.

“Anyone can go online and buy electricity from whoever they want and National Grid just bills you,” he said. “Why do we need this?”

Evans said that aspect of buying electricity would remain, but under a community aggregation, the town would change the default provider for residents, giving them the option of going with that new price, going back to National Grid or choosing their own third party provider.

“The towns that do this usually run separate website for residents to select [an energy provider],” Evans said. There are also tiered options for renewable energy sources, from the base rate to others ranging from 100 percent renewable to combined sources. A renewable energy certificate is issued.

“It creates a market for more wind and solar,” he said.

Select Board Chair Randy LaMattina said it was a good “preliminary discussion” that can be picked up for further talks during the year.

“Anything we can do to save money, whether it be one cent at a time, is still saving money,” he said.

Whitman’s ‘Night Out’

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FAMILY FUN: The Whitman Police Department hosted its annual observance of National Night Out at Memorial Field on Tuesday, Aug. 16. Members of the Department’s Auxiliary Police grilled hot dogs and hamburgers, police K-9 units demonstrated their dog training methods, the State Police Air win ‘dropped in,’ and kids got to climb on public safety vehicles, bounce houses and police-themed cut-outs for photos. See more photos, page 6

Images courtesy WPD Facebook

Building the infrastructure of the soul

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WHITMAN —  A small vanilla jar candle with a label advising the observer to be kind sits next to a bright and cheerful arrangement of silk flowers and a framed photo of his family on the Rev. W. Scott Wasdin’s desk. 

A standing fan quietly agitated the cooler, albeit still humid air as he spoke of his journey to Whitman and hopes for his tenure as pastor to the First Congregational Church of Whitman.

COVID and its effects on communities — and his own family — are a frequent reference point as he spoke to the Express this month about his new post.

“For my entire life, even going back to my teen years, growing up in a small-town church — it’s a community,” he says. “That just drives me and serves me and I think that’s what illuminates a light for all of us, in the best of times and the worst of times.”

Like the jar candle, which he lights when he prays with parishioners seeking spiritual guidance, his family lights his life, and is the reason this son of the South is embracing life in a small New England town.

“We moved here in December 2020,” Wasdin said of his family, whom he refers to as his “home team” of his wife of 12 years, Crystal and four children — Josh, Zander, Matthew and Emma — the oldest of which is in “early middle school.”

Born in Bremen, Ga., he majored in religion at Shorter University, a Baptist college in Rome, Ga., and his earned masters from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., where he studied educational administration. Most of his career has been in private education or church work.

This is the first opportunity of his adult years to just focus on the congregational part of his vocation, Wasdin says.

“We need to think of ways that literally has us look at our neighbors and say, ‘How can we feed your souls?” he said of his bridge-building mission. “What can we do program-wise and just being a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on to help our community be healed and breathe and live?”

The ultimate goal is for the church to serve as a lighthouse for whatever one’s needs are.

The family, who have lived in communities all through their native South, most recently lived in Virginia for the last seven years, where Wasdin was headmaster of  the private school, Southampton Academy, Courtland, Va., and a part-time minister. He and Crystal have lived in Chattanooga, Tenn., as well as communities in Georgia, Virginia and out in Elk Grove, Calif.

“Really part of the draw that drew us up here, aside from the spiritual dynamic and this great community and our love for New England … the harmony and synergy between education and medical just seems to work better for us here,” he said. “Our daughter seems to be far healthier [through] her occupational therapy, and her day-to-day just seems much better.”

They started their nationwide search for a church located in a school district where the children could thrive, narrowing it down to California, Massachusetts, Michigan and Wisconsin before the dialog with First Congregational “built the bridge to lead us here,” he said.

Emma is non-verbal autistic and suffered the effects of remote learning during COVID, he said. While Virginia public schools do a fine job, but when the schools were closed the services they had for their daughter, while fine, were insufficient for her needs. 

“Our daughter was in a dangerous, self-injuring free-fall,” Wasdin said. “Everything that we tried to do just wasn’t working.”

That’s when he started communicating with the search committee at First Congregational and let his school know it was time for him to move on.

“All the dots connected together and in the course of about six months of Zooms and dialog as COVID was roaring on, we accepted the call and moved up here just before Christmas in 2020,” he said.

Since moving to Whitman, he stops in for a cup of java and conversation with folks at Restoration Coffee regularly and he and his wife have lunch or dinner at McGuiggan’s or another eatery on a given Monday or Tuesday.

“It’s just getting to know people where they are and what a church should be post-COVID,” Wasdin said, noting that some churches are seeing attendance declines following the pandemic. “We’ve got to be highly strategic in how we care for people, that we connect the dots to their homes, their families, their lives and not be judgmental or sarcastic in terms of where they are.”

Family is what brought him to this church and community, and family is the atmosphere he wants to cultivate for the church.

While he works to introduce himself to his new church and community, Wasdin said he has tremendous respect for the church’s history, adding it was a “little bit of a blank slate” because his predecessor had been away for nearly three years.

“The church had been in interim for many years,” he said. “I had enjoyed the dialog with the interim minister that they had, but in terms of programming, what was intriguing to me was the possibility to do music in a way that would refresh people coming out of COVID and re-engaging with the church.”

The church has also been open to new programs and initiatives, and being a bit entrepreneurial by nature, Wasdin saw it as a good ecclesiastical opportunity.

One such program, on probably the first and fourth Thursday evening each month, a midweek worship service has been added to the church calendar.

The evenings in the fellowship hall feature a very contemporary style of music.

“It’s very casual,” he said. “It’s come as you are.”

The Wasdins prepare a meal and decaffeinated coffee for the service. But if parishioners want to make him feel at home by bringing a baked good or covered dish, there’s no need to brush up on recipes for fried okra or peach cobbler. Anything that someone puts their heart and soul into is appreciated.

“It makes us feel like we’re going back to the roots of the New Testament Church, where everything centered around a meal in terms of the worship,” he said. “But it’s also a way that, we feel, like we’re serving beyond pastoral counseling.”

He hopes to find more ways to connect back to people.

“Coming out of COVID … all of us were battered by the isolation and the inability to have meetings and visit with people and to break bread and have cups of coffee,” Wasdin said. “We’re really trying to visualize as a church [how to do that].”

A regular breakfast with the men’s group is being considered and the women’s group has begun meeting again, having lunches and teas. This fall, he hopes a program for mothers of infants and preschoolers will be ready to start. 

“My roots being a Southerner and a cooperative Baptist most of my career, fellowship for me is a time to come together for dialog, for light bites — coffee, lemonade — more of a networking, friendship making and community moment,” he said.

Sunday mornings remain a very traditional service, however, with the church organ taking a primary musical role, but as autumn nears he wants to change up the musical seasoning a bit with the addition of a little praise and worship music.

“I’ve gotten through that first six months of getting to know the church, their likes and dislikes – their tastes and all – so that my vision is being articulated to our church board, our deacon, our leadership, and everyone seems incredibly supportive, but also realistic,” he said.

He also, keeping in mind that Massachusetts is a very Catholic state, looks forward to building some interfaith bridges.

“I also want our vision to be distinctive,” he said. “To say, ‘It doesn’t matter if you were raised Catholic, or Methodist, or Baptist, or any of those … we want our church to be a place where you walk in, that you feel welcome, that you feel relaxed, where you can be yourself.”

He also wants the congregation to have a voice in church. Literally. From singing, to responsive readings, he wants people to feel they are welcome to take part.

With his four children attending Whitman public schools, Wasdin also wants to introduce himself to the schools as a parent interested in school programs as much as someone who welcomes residents into this church.

“Just to let them know that the lights are on, that we’re here and to let them know about programs that we have,” he said, noting he is also interested in volunteering at the schools. “As a private school administrator for most of the last 25 years, most of the time I’ve had a whistle and a basketball in my hand, coaching to some degree.”

His aim is not to proselytize, but to let people know he’s more than a person “locked in an office, writing a sermon.”

“I may speak with a Southern drawl, but we feel very much like we want to be in this community for many years to come,” he said. “Volunteering and finding ways to serve beyond the church just seems very logical.”

Whitman mulls appointed treasurer

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WHITMAN – Voters may be asked, at a Town Meeting this fall, to change the way the town’s treasurer-collector is chosen for that job. The position is currently an elected one, but recent developments at Town Hall have convinced acting Town Administrator Frank Lynam that it is time to consider making it an appointed office.

Treasurer-Collector MaryBeth Carter has accepted a position as a treasurer-collector in Norwell, leaving her position in Whitman on Aug. 26.

“It is going to be difficult to replace her mid-year,” said acting Town Administrator Frank Lynam, noting that it is an elected position. “I had discussed with her in the past, and most recently two days ago, in the event that she agreed to stay on, that I believe the town needs to revisit that [elected] status and go to Town Meeting and the ballot with a request to reclassify the treasurer-collector as an appointed official … so the town is able to select best-qualified candidates.”

Carter’s departure was among the staffing needs and vacancies discussed by Lynam the board at it’s Tuesday, Aug. 16 meeting.

“The treasurer’s responsibility is very significant,” Lynam said. “It invests, at various times an aggregate of $30 million and it’s important that we know the person doing that work has the proper qualifications and credentials.”

While, he wasn’t presenting it as an item to be voted this week, Lynam said Carter has recommended that former Abington treasuer-collector Thomas Connolly be appointed on an interim basis and said he and at least one member of the board should meet with Connolly to discuss the responsibilities and working conditions of the position. Board member Shawn Kain agreed to attend that meeting.

“There shouldn’t be a learning curve in this type of position – just getting to know the town,” Lynam said.

Select Board member Dr. Carl Kowalski said the board was under the understanding that she would be able to do that in time for a vote Tuesday night. Lynam said he and Kain could solidify the details of Connolly’s appointment.

“[Connolly] is an Abington resident,” Lynam said. “None of the candidates were Whitman residents, which is what would be required for an election.”

Select Board Chair Randy LaMattina noted that the board does have the power to appoint a non-resident in an interim capacity.

“He’s also worked in Duxbury and a couple other municipalities since his retirement,” LaMattina said.

Connolly had been an elected treasurer-collector in Abington, but lost his race after that town held a financial reorganization which changed that post as an appointed one, Lynam said. He has since done work in Mashpee, Hull, Duxbury and Bridgewater, as well.

Other vacancies causing concern are that of an assistant IT director, a clerk in the assessor’s office, which will be posted, a recording secretary for the Conservation Commission, a recording secretary with the Finance Committee and a custodian.

There are also two positions on the Conservation Commission also need to be filled, as well as one vacancy on the Bylaw Study Committee, two on the Capital Committee and likely another on the Zoning Board of Appeals.

“We really have an issue with getting an assistant IT director in place,” Lynam said, noting an opportunity has come up in the last couple of weeks.”

Director of Technology Steve Burke at WHRSD as left that position and Lynam is interested in talking to him.

“The challenge, of course, is going to be salary,” he said. The median salary for the position is between $80,000 and $90,000 for a systems engineer-qualified person. He and IT Director Josh MacNeil have discussed engaging Burke as a contract employee until Oct. 1, when the salary can be met within the town’s appropriation.

“This is another issue that makes me really recommend that we have a fall Town Meeting so that we can address all of these needs in a public forum,” Lynam said.

Select Board member Justin Evans agreed, noting the board had recommended a $50,000 salary and Town Meeting approved $65,000.

Kain said that Burke is very qualified and “worth the risk” of contracting with him now, even if Town Meeting doesn’t support the change. The board voted to offer the contracted post.

Leaving region not right move for Hanson

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HANSON — At this time, de-regionalization — either fully or partially — is not advisable, according to members of the Hanson 

De-Regionalization Feasibility Study Committee member Kim McCoy reported to the Select Board on Tuesday, Aug. 9.

“The educational and financial impacts are too great to recommend de-regionalization at this time,” she said. “Hanson wanted to explore de-regionalization in response to the changes in the W-H regional agreement and the statutory method that’s used to calculate the budgetary contributions. While the committee does feel that de-regionalization isn’t advisable, what else does Hanson have? What are our other options?”

Select Board members agreed, but have suggested the committee stay in place to examine ways the town could affect the direction of the WHRSD in the future to “affect some positive change” for the future.

The possible renegotiation of the regional agreement — which Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett noted was already voted renegotiation of the regional agreement as an avenue the town will pursue — leaving W-H to join another district, how school committee memberships are assigned or trying to start a dialog with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) on how calculations for budget formulas are impacting small towns like Hanson.

FitzGerald-Kemmett said that while no stone had been left unturned before, maybe joining with other similar towns to approach DESE again might be an idea worth pursuing. She also suggested the de-regionalization committee could be repurposed to work on different aspects of how the regional agreement can address Hanson’s concerns.

“It could change DESE’s thinking,” Select Board member Jim Hickey said.

“We are not the only one impacted by this,” McCoy agreed.

McCoy of 71 Cushman St., and the other members — Christopher Ernest, Catherine Coakley and Wendy Linn — worked with Hickey to determine the educational effects, financial impacts, legal considerations of separation and what other considerations exist surrounding separation from the district.

“I think it was worse than we all thought,” Select Board member Jim Hickey said.

“I didn’t come with my mind set when I started,” McCoy said. “But, after seeing the numbers, it’s pretty clear … the direction that we had to choose.”

Consultant firm TMS of Auburn, which produced a 180-page report on de-regionalization, which will be made available online. The firm outlined three choices — full separation, partial separation or maintain the status quo.

A full withdrawal, entailing individual school districts with their own superintendent, school committee and staffing would bring the most autonomy for each town, but would also cost the most — an estimated $24,936,000 per year in addition to the need for a new Hanson high school at about $72 million, McCoy said.

A partial separation of kindergarten through grade eight would cost an estimated $25,970,000, to fund a separate administration and staff governed by a separate school committee as well as the regional grade nine to 12 school committee. A second version of partial separation would cost about $23 million per year.

Hanson’s portion of the W-H fiscal 2023 budget is $13,373,000.

Additional state funding, including but not limited to, Chapter 71 regional transportation funds and will affect curriculum, particularly special education.

“This was not an easy thing to do,” said Hickey about the work of the committee, whose members were chosen by FitzGerald-Kemmett and former board member Wes Blauss. “We only had to do it a couple of times, but for me, working with these people … I felt like I was working with some of the most intelligent people that we have in Hanson.”

Hickey noted that he had requested that he have no input on the formation of the committee.

“When we had our meetings … I would just listen to these people for the most part, because it wouldn’t really be anything else that I could add that they hadn’t already said,” he reported to the Select Board.

“We were blown away by the quality of people that applied,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said of the committee.

McCoy noted that, while not perfect, TMS’ report “did the best they could with what they had.”

“I don’t think the committee’s work is though,” Select Board member Joe Weeks said, noting the quality of life in town is an important issue to keep sight of. “I’d like to see what you think the next steps are.”

Transit seen as key for growth

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It’s time to have a pro-transit administration, according to one candidate seeking the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor — and he says the number one job is improving safety and access to reliable mass transit.

“A healthy, well-functioning MBTA is generating economic growth for the state, is generating jobs, is creating tax revenue that can help the whole rest of the state,” said state Sen. Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow, in a Friday, Aug. 12 interview with the Whitman-Hanson Express. “I think, sometimes, that message is lost because the current governor tends to present the T as a problem for Boston, rather than something that the whole state needs to work on.”

Lesser faces two opponents — Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll and state Rep. Tami Guveia of Acton in the state Primary on Tuesday, Sept. 6.  Republicans, and former state representatives Kate Campanale of Leicester and Leah Cole Allen of Peabody, will also square off in a primary vote Sept. 6.

Lesser is the only candidate from western Massachusetts on the ballot as well as the only one with federal experience, he points out. He stressed that he worked on the White House Council of Economic Advisers in the Obama Administration and knows Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, which could help with communication as the state works with the USDOT’s Federal Transit Authority (FTA) considers whether it will take over the MBTA system, he said.

When an Orange Line train caught fire last month, the video of the smoky blaze on a bridge over the Mystic River illustrated the state of MBTA management for many riders and state officials.

A member of the state Senate Transportation Committee, Lesser said MBTA Genera Manager Steve Poftak and state Secretary of Transportation Jeremy Tesler attended a recent hearing to say the T is safe. Two days later, the Orange Line train caught fire and a woman jumped into the Mystic River to escape.

“There’s no amount of money that can change that culture,” Lesser said. “They just have a disregard for passengers. If your T car catches fire, you don’t get a refund.”

Following the Orange Line fire, a Framingham Line train was stuck with no power or air conditioning during the recent oppressively hot weather. Passengers pried the doors open and climbed a fence to safety. An MBTA bus also caught fire during the past month, and the MBTA has shut down the Orange Line and part of the Green Line.

“It’s really terrible — and safety, obviously, has to be the number one priority,” Lesser said. “We’ve also got to keep an eye toward expanding [rail service] to more places.”

After Gov. Duval Patrick and Lt. Gov. Tim Murray worked to expand rail service to Worcester and improve rail service between 2007 and 2011, with 14 trains a day going into and out of that city, Worcester has been “completely transformed,” he said.

“There’s thousands of new units of housing in the pipeline, there’s hundreds of thousands of square feet of new lab space under construction,” he said. “New restaurants. The WoSox stadium. It’s been a really big benefit.”

A recent WBZ I-Team story has found, however, that problems now extend to “every [MBTA] line and include buses and the Commuter Rail.”

The FTA and Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) are both investigating incidents on the Commuter Rail, run by Keolis, a multinational transportation company based in France, and some foresee a federal takeover of the T down the line. While Lesser doesn’t think a federal takeover is imminent, the Washington D.C. Metro was taken over in 2015, so there is precedent for such a move by the FTA, he said.

“The hope is we can work more in partnership with the federal government to avoid a takeover, but also to get the support we need to make the fixes — that’s really the key.”

In 2014 weekend service on the Fitchburg, Franklin, Greenbush, Haverhill, Kingston, Lowell, and Needham lines was restored after more than two years without it.

Jokes and bad news about the MBTA is not only no laughing matter, Lesser said, it breaks down public trust in the ability of the state to do big things.

Starved of funding for the past 40 or 50 years, he said, 25 percent of the MBTA budget now on debt service that they’ve had for generations.

“It’s crowded out the capital investment, it’s crowded out hiring,” he said. “But the second problem that really isn’t about money, is it’s become a step-child of the state government. There’s no accountability.”

Despite these challenges — or maybe, in part because of them, state Lesser is running for lieutenant governor on a platform that stresses the need for passenger rail improvements in Massachusetts.

“People, I don’t think, realize how much of the state has no rail access at all,” Lesser said. The problem with the rail expansion issue is that some people view it as taking the focus away from the core system.

“Actually, I think the opposite,” he said. “I think the continued health of the system relies on expansion because it’s going to bring new people in and connect more regions of the state.”

Lesser sees potential for it to create more political buy-in around the state for supporting mass transit, as well.

The state has received nearly $1.8 million to improve rail infrastructure, enhance safety, and improve train capacity in Western Massachusetts near Springfield Union Station, a key issue for Lesser, who  said his goal is eventually high-speed rail service to western Massachusetts under the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant program.  Thirty-one other states are also receiving CRISI grant program funding under awards announced on Thursday, June 2.

“It’ll take us a little bit of time to get there, but the idea here is, if you could connect Pittsfield, Springfield and Worcester to Boston — especially the three biggest cities in the state: Springfield, Worcester and Boston — by rail, it would be transformative on a number of levels and would really be a key to taking on some of the biggest challenges that we face,” he said.

It would be the single biggest greenhouse gas reduction project in state’s history, also reducing traffic congestion by removing thousands of cars from the state’s roadways.

“The Pioneer Valley area is one of the worst regions in the country for asthma,” Lesser noted. “Even in eastern Massachusetts, you’ve got really bad pollution and air-quality challenges.”

Another key element of the goal is “taking on the housing crisis,” creating thousands of units of good, affordable transit-oriented development.

“Imagine how many more communities would be able to be connected to that,” he said. “That’s going to be the key to getting housing prices under control. I don’t know how people live in Massachusetts anymore.”

Lesser said building the units would present thousands of really good, high quality jobs in those areas left out of the development around life sciences and tech firms.

The MBTA Communities program requires participating towns to present the guidelines to muncipal legisltive bodies  at a public hearing, and town/city planners must prove that has been done, along with the filing of a form with the state before May 2. The deadline for interim compliance is Dec. 31 and for the action plan, the deadline is July 1, 2023. New zoning regulations must be adopted by Dec. 31, 2024. Towns have until March 31, 2024 to apply for termination of compliance. Both Whitman and Hanson have voted to acknowledge that the program has been presented to them with further discussion to come.

“It sounds to me like they’re trying to address energy issues with the housing crisis, but you also don’t want to lose the flavor of what it is to live in Hanson,” Selectman Joe Weeks during a March 15 discussion. “I’m very eager to see what [planners] come up with — I think it’s going to be an exciting by-law to kind of build and see what you can do.”

While local flavor and the zoning regulations that can go with the issue has been a hot topic, Lesser admits, a recent study indicated the state will be about 300,000 housing units short of the need by 2030.

He said the trend among younger adults is now to seek out smaller homes close to public transportation and near the shops and workplaces of a downtown center.

“I think this is a good example of where a lieutenant governor can work in partnership with communities, because as a top-down it doesn’t work,” Lesser said. The state could offer support to communities through MassWORKS grants to improve infrastructure and traffic patterns, the school center to make sure new students entering a district because of new housing are properly supported and teachers and staff get support they need. … I think that’s a great role for a lieutenant governor, which I think I’m well-suited to do because of the work I’ve done on transit.”

He said voters are also pointing to the state’s severe mental health crisis, especially in the schools, as well as child care affordability.

“For my own family, our child care bill is more than our mortgage,” Lesser said. “I’m hearing from young families all over the state that this is a major source of stress for them.”

Iconic eatery sold

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HANSON — The Old Hitching Post restaurant, once featured on celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s “Kitchen Nightmares” reality TV show in 2012 — and a popular gathering and dining destination in town since opening in the 1950s — is changing hands.

Owners Andrea and Sprio Garnavos officially bought the restaurant from her father Tom Kessaris in 2014. Kessaris bought the business in 2005. Now they are selling it to Lori and Jason Cook of Pembroke, who also have a strong business legacy in Hanson and the area. The Cooks plan to keep the Hitching Post name.

“It’s been a really good 17 strong years,” Garnavos said. “It’s been home to us. We’ve made so many friends. I thank the community — Hanson, all the surrounding towns — we’ve had a really good run, and these two are going to have a great run.”

The Select Board, on Tuesday, Aug. 9 approved an application to transfer the on-premises restaurant and alcoholic beverages license from the Old Hitching Post, 48 Spring St., to Jason Cook said the situation in which Garnavos is parting with the restaurant — all employees are staying — made the smooth transition possible.

Garnavos said the restaurant is in the process of being sold to the Cooks, which Garnavos expected to be complete within 10 days. The Cooks are the joint owners of Somewhere Else Tavern in Pembroke. Lori Cook owns the Fork in the Road Deli in Bryantville.

“Andrea is excited to hand over the reins to us because she things we are a really good fit for it, and we feel the same way,” said Jason Cook, who will manage the Hitching Post. “We’re excited to take over and be more of a part of Hanson.

“What she has set up for us is just a fluid transition, because she’s already done the homework and we’re grateful,” Lori Cook said. “We probably wouldn’t have undertaken it if it wasn’t for her.”

“Amazing,” Jason Cook added.

“I’m so happy for you guys,” Garnavos said. “We’re all so happy we’re together.”

“Let’s go have a drink,” Lori Cook said as they exchanged compliments after the board had voted.

“You’ve gotten back what you’ve put out there, and these guys have, too,” Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett. “It’s a love-fest with you guys and it’s great.”

“It’s bittersweet,” said Select Board member Joe Weeks said to Garnavos. “You’re an amazing family legacy, so it’s really sad to see you go, but I’m really enthusiastic about a great transfer.”

Lori Cook said financing has been approved for the purchase, but there are a “few more pieces” to finalize in the transaction.

“We are happy to go back to the Hitching Post, I worked there many years ago,” Lori said. “This will be a new endeavor for Jason, but we’re Hanson residents and we’re excited about this new branch in our tree.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett said the Cooks and Garnavos have been great community partners through their businesses already both in Hanson and in Pembroke.

“I’m just thrilled that the business is going to continue, that we have [new] owners who are responsible and have had a long record in other communities and within our own community, of doing business,” she said. “We welcome you as business owners to Hanson. We’re thrilled about it.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett said she received an email from the Conservation Agent, seeking to ensure that the board lets the new owners know they have to maintain an occupied residential apartment on the Hitching Post site in accordance with the original ZBA approval of the restaurant. The Conservation Commission also has a perpetual condition that the catch basin at the end of the parking area has to be cleaned once a year, reporting the completion of that to the commission.

He also noted the commission has not yet received a certificate of compliance for the septic repair at the location “and it would behoove the owners to record it.”

“I’m just passing that on,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. Garnavos said that certificate of compliance has already been recorded, prompting FitzGerald-Kemmett to suggest they loop back to make sure the Board of Health and the Conservation agent now have that information.

Lori Cook has owned A Fork in the Road since 2005, surviving both the great recession that began in 2008 as well as the COVID pandemic.

“That was interesting, but we made lots of friends in the community that way,” she said of doing business amid the recession. “We all helped each other, that’s part of the business structure in our company.”

She also owns Somewhere Else Tavern on Route 27 with Jason, who has owned AB Tent Rental, in business for 35 years, and his mother has lived in Hanson for more than 40 years.

“We’re always happy to be involved in anything that’s going on in the town,” he said. “The fire department, the police department are always welcome at Lori’s place or our place for lunch.”

He has supported the DARE program with free tents for the last few years.

“We always like to help and be part of,” he said noting the new venture will be a little different as he takes on a management role at the Hitching Post.

Starting as a small coffee shop in the 1950’s, the Hitching Post has grown, after many renovations and expansions, to a full service restaurant and tavern. 

https://www.restaurantji.com/ma/pembroke/somewhere-else-tavern-/

Blazing new trails for girls

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WHITMAN — Samantha Kenn always liked to tag along with her brother Daniel, so when he became interested in joining the Boy Scouts of America, so did she.

At the time, however, only Girl Scouting was an option for girls. Scoutmaster Dr. Michael Warner says she tagged along anyway and in 2008 began earning unofficial merit badges.

By the time Boy Scouts of America (BSA) policy had changed and Samantha — or Mantha, as her brother calls her — officially joined Whitman’s Troop 22 on Feb. 1, 2019, it took her only three years to achieve the historic position as Whitman’s first female Eagle Scout on May 30, 2022. Her Court of Honor was held Saturday, Aug. 6 at the Cardinal Spellman Center.

She had planned to have her project completed by Christmas 2020, and again by Christmas 2021 after COVID-imposed pause.

Winter said she is only the second in the 60-town Cranberry Harvest District Council of Eastern Massachusetts. There have been only 2,000 female Eagle Scouts nationwide so far.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my life, it’s a person is a person,” said Scout leader Rob Preskins, noting that when Samantha joined the Troop, he felt they should merge. “Different people can do different things and makes no matter who you are or where you come from, the color of your skin or your gender. And I’m so glad that Troop 22 took on Troop G, because they came in, they saw and they conquered — and it was awesome to watch. We had front-row seats.”

He said Samantha led that charge.

In presenting his gift to his Troop’s newest Eagle — a talking stick he made that he joked she didn’t need — Winter said she was everything.

“I always thought there’s no reason for us to be separate and I’m glad that we’ve shifted as an organization,” he said. “But I don’t think that that would have mattered to you. You’d have done it all, even if you couldn’t have earned the badges, you would have still done it anyway — just to show up your brother.”

He said Samantha reminded him of his daughter Emily, who wanted to be a Boy Scout, which was not permitted at the time.

Her parents Jim and Tracey also spoke about their inspiring daughter.

“When they first introduced the idea of letting girls into Scouts, I said, ‘I don’t like the idea,’” Jim Kenn Jr., said, noting he felt girls would change the social dynamic, but at the same time his daughter was doing the work and earning Weblos pins while hanging out with her brother. “I didn’t want it to happen. I was against it. … All along, she was doing it and I realized how much of a hypocrite I was. This was wrong.”

He realized it was less about the boys than it was about limiting the opportunities for girls.

“There wasn’t anything about Boy Scouts that she didn’t like, other than she wasn’t allowed to be part of it,” Tracey Kenn said, noting she was wearing her “mom clothes” in recognition of her dual roles as Samantha’s mother and scoutmaster. 

Before the BSA allowed female members, Whitman Pack 22 had created a program permitting younger siblings of any gender to join in activites.

She said Samantha has excelled at school, as well, becoming a member of the French Honor Society, Pre-med Society, Yearbook Committee, Students Against Destructive Decisions and Dollars for Scholars, and has been accepted into 10 colleges — including nine nursing programs, three honors programs and two psychology minor programs. 

“She is very driven,” Tracey Kenn said. “What isn’t written in that program is her desire to always be better than she was yesterday. … What also isn’t written is the struggle of being a strong female in an organization that is primarily men and boys and balancing as to not appear too bossy, but also not submissive.”

Samantha will attend Regis College, majoring in nursing this fall.

 “I’m very proud of you,” Eagle Court Committee Chairman Geoff told Samantha in declaring the ceremonies opened, referring to the challenge presented by her project — a built a 12-by-20-foot, raised pavilion at Hobart’s Pond in Whitman. “That was a lot of work and there was a lot of frustrations involved, and you kept plowing through it.”

Winter said the huge project was very much in keeping with Samantha’s big thinking. 

He credited her for bringing in actual experts for the architectural plans and building, joking that if it had been left to some of the Scoutmasters it’s possible the structure might still be standing, but he couldn’t guarantee that.

Samantha raised more than $13,000 for supplies and materials and led more than 90 Scouts, friends and family members in doing the 1,224 hours of work for the town of Whitman.

“You’ve been a driving force in my Scouting experience and everyone else’s Scouting experience,” said her friend Acadia Manley, who joined a couple months after Kenn. “I just want to thank you for everything you’ve done.”

Samantha’s friend and fellow Eagle Scout Zekar-Yah Henry directed Scouts in the ceremony opening and closing and lit the ceremonial candles representing the Scout Oath and Scout Law.

Other Scouts from Troop 22 described the various requirements and accomplishments of rank advancements in Samantha’s Trail of the Eagle and her brother presented the Eagle Charge — the rights and responsibilities of this ultimate rank before she received her Eagle badge from her mother Tracey Kenn.

In turn Samantha awarded a Mentor Pin and a new tool belt to John Bergeron and each of her parents.

In another break with Scouting tradition, she awarded her mother’s pin to her father James R. Kenn Jr.

“Throughout my journey, I have given my Mother’s Pin to my dad, because my mom got all Danny’s pins and I like to show my appreciation of my dad,” she said.

“Wow!” said a voice from the audience.

“You go, Jim!” shouted another.

“You are a mother,” joked another.

She also presented pins to her grandparents, James R. Kenn Sr., and Gail Gorson, in honor of the hours in which they passed along their wisdom to her.

“You’ve been so much to me in the last 18 years, my friend … and my rock” Daniel Kenn said. Pledging to always be her best friend, even though her room would make a really nice 3-D printer room, he joked.

Selectman Justin Evans presented a proclamation from the Select Board declaring Aug. 6 as Samantha Kenn Day in Whitman. Ed Miller, a legislative aide of state Sen. Mike Brady presented her with a citation from the state Senate in honor of her Eagle Scout achievement.

American Legion Commander Richard Cameron presented her with a Good Citizenship Citation and a check for $100. VFW Commander Roger Hendricks presented her with a congratulatory letter and a check as well. 

“Today’s Scouts are tomorrow’s leaders,” Hendricks said, adding that by breaking the glass ceiling she left a path for other young women to follow. “You have established yourself as a leader. … You are an Eagle. We will watch you soar.”

Henricks then asked all the Scouts to join him in saluting Samantha.

A representative of former state Rep. Geoff Diehl — who also attained the rank of Eagle Scout in his youth —  also presented his congratulations and a gift.