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Tuning in to support small businesses

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HANSON — Real estate brokerage is one of those businesses where networking drives business. So how does a realtor keep an agency thriving during a pandemic lockdown?

For Peter Kenney, the president, broker and a realtor at the Real Estate Door in Hanson, the answer to a thriving future lay partly in the past.

He had done most of his daily face-to-face networking at the gym or other venues where he would run into friends and acquaintances from the community. All that stopped when COVID forced gyms across the Commonwealth to close for several weeks.

“It’s really the people you meet face-to-face you develop trust with,” Kenney said. “We were cut off from all of that. My background was radio and I said we might as well put up a radio station.”

Kenney returned — as a sideline — to that past life in radio [the BostonPete.com radio network with 22 syndicated shows on the Microsoft platform for 14 years] and brought it into the 21st century by putting his idea online and LPMix.Live Radio was born in May 2020.

Licensed as a radoi station, they have to pay for a service that tracks the songs played to ensure that royalties to artists.

Where he used to feature nostalgia from the “19-teens to the’ ’90s,” if there’s a genre at work here, it’s eclectic classic as Kenney describes it, encompassing rock, America, folk and today’s alternative music.

Pulling into his 502 Liberty St. driveway in Hanson on Tuesday, Aug. 17, this reporter heard Don McLean’s “American Pie” from speakers piping the LPMix.Live stream at, low volume, to the outside. Later in the morning, listeners could hear Foreigner’s ’80s hit “I Want to Know What Love Is,” Stealers Wheel’s “Stuck in the Middle with You” from 1972 and Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats; “I Need Never Get Old” in rapid succession.

“I knew it was pretty easy to pop up a station for us, but community-based, local station, so people won’t forget Real Estate Door — our brokerage,” he said in an interview at his office.

Local artists such as Blacktop Strut, Marnie Hall, Howie Newman Music, Mark Bellwood Music, Dave Mansfield (“Chicken Scratches & Second Chances”), Patrick & Kate, and Bright & Dark Band have been featured on the streaming radio service. Kenney has even been contacted by groups as far afield as the UK looking to be featured on LPMix.Live.

The streaming radio service also gives the musicians a chance to introduce their own songs and promote themselves.

He asked realtor Sue Shiels if she would serve as the in-house weather forecaster.

“At least I don’t have to compete on the TV stage with the local weather,” Sheils said with a laugh. “We’re at that status, we’re getting blamed for the weather now.”

But that also proved to her that people are listening.

Kenney said it also keeps Sheils’ name in the mind of potential clients and, as an advertising platform, it is one of the most economical available to him.

“We do public service announcements,” Kenney said. “She reminds everyone about the water ban and things like that. Coyotes and Boo Boo (the black bear) in the area.”

Kenney gives back to the community — and its businesses — by offering “shout outs to local business.” Local small business owners, or clients and patrons of one, can offer a shout out to the business by calling 781-499-6225 Ext. 123 and the business could be selected for recognition on the live stream.

“They call in on the line and we can use their voice or they can send us a script,” he said. “Helping each other.”

Giving back

The Real Estate Door also has a small free library outside its door for people to share books and help keep the business in mind.

Kenney noted that even as the real estate market is great for sellers, some people, particularly older sellers, are wary of having strangers in their houses due to COVID-19.

The Zoom culture’s ability to bring people together via social media has been felt to a degree with the streaming station.

“We get the emails because we get the requests,” he said. “We set up a voice extension for requests for dedications and things like that.”

Contests have really taken off.

“It made it more interactive for us,” Kenney said. “We make it fun.”

Prizes for contests such as “Guess the Celebrity Voice” include $20 gas gift cards from Ferry’s Automotive, $50 gift certificates and a T-shirt from RC Plumbing of Hanson and a $50 dining card and basket of “cool swag from John Alexopoulos of Radius Financial Group.

One of the tougher voices for people to guess recently was Australian actor Russell Crowe [“A Beautiful Mind”].

“No one could guess that one, but sometimes you can recognize the lines, if you’re a movie watcher,” he said. “There’s at least three winners a month.”

Alexopoulos also records a “Mortgage Minute” and financial planner Josh Singer does investment segments.

“We just want to expand our listenership and keep ties with our community,” Kenney said. “We would love more involvement from local businesses — all working together, keeping the doors open.”

Motorcycle crash kills two

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HANSON — A motorcycle crash took the lives of a father and daughter with ties to Halifax and Hanson on Friday night.

Former Hanson resident James Ripley, 58, and his daughter Jenna Ripley, 19, both of Halifax died following the crash on Route 58 Monponsett Street near Hill Road around 9:30 p.m. on Friday, according to District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz’ office.

Bouquets of flowers were seen placed at the base of a telephone pole on Sunday where the pair was killed. Jenna was pronounced dead at the scene, her father later passing away from his injuries at the Brockton Hospital.

A Harley Davidson motorcycle driven by James Ripley was heading south and left the pavement, according to Hanson Police in a written statement.

John Mahoney, who has owned the old Ripley Farm on Main Street for over two decades where the family grew up, said he knows them well.

He called the fatal accident “terrible.”

Jim’s father John Ripley who resides at the far end of the Main Street property was unavailable for immediate comment.

Ripley, who was known for his height, owned a tree company that he took over from his father. He was often seen driving through town hauling logs on his rig.

Mahoney described Ripley as a friendly, good guy, a burly guy — always waving as he drove by in his truck.

The accident remains under investigation by State Troopers, Hanson officers and officers assigned to the Plymouth County CPAC Unit according to District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz’ office.

Engineer grant dispute draws ire

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HANSON — The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, Aug. 12 took issue with a Zoning Board of Appeals vote against supplying information to interim Town Administrator Lisa Green for a grant application for Mass Housing funds.

Selectmn support the non-competitive grant application. Any community that applies, receives funding.

Green said the grant provides civil engineering services as technical assistance to municipalities going through the 40B process.

“When I approached the ZBA, the administrative assistant informed me they already had a civil engineer who was on the staff already who was overseeing all of this, so they declined going forward with the grant,” she said.

Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett asked why the ZBA would be allowed to decide whether Selectmen proceed with a grant application.

“We voted to move forward with the Mass Housing Partnership grant,” she said. “Why are we allowing the ZBA to decide whether we are going to move forward with that or not?”

Green said there was information for the application that the ZBA needed to provide. She said the ZBA felt it would only confuse things to bring on a second civil engineer.

The town pays for the ZBA engineer’s services through applicant’s fees.

“I don’t see it as competing engineering,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “I see it as we’re asking for a deeper dive on environmental engineering questions. …Their engineer only takes it to a certain level and the applicant is paying for it. … With all due respect, I don’t really care what the ZBA thinks of this grant.”

As an elected board, the Selectmen have a responsibility to the town and abutters regarding environmental contamination and stormwater management through a second review by a civil engineer.

“We’re not taking orders from any board,” Selectman Jim Hickey said, noting the Mass Housing Grant is non-competitive — if the town applies, they receive the funding. “This is the board that runs the town.”

Selectman Joe Weeks agreed that the decision rests with the Selectmen.

The board also discussed improving procedures for the application and appointment procedures for filling vacancies on town committees, with an eye toward attracting more residents to getting involved.

“I’ve gotten a little bit of feedback and I’m trying to be responsive,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “We always have an abundance of openings and we don’t always have people signing up for them.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett said she wanted to make sure there is a policy and procedure that immediately acknowledges a person’s interest and application, letting them know it will be considered by the board. They would then be invited to meet with the board and a follow up with them, if they are appointed with instructions for being sworn in and information on who the committee chairman is and how they could contact them.

“I just want to make sure that we’re hand-holding people and being super appreciative of anybody that’s stepping up to be a volunteer,” she said.

Administrative Assistant to Selectmen Greer Getzen said she always follows up with applicants, sending them a letter thanking them for their interest and a date when Selectmen would be scheduled to vote on their application to make sure they are available. She also followed up with information on being sworn in by the Town Clerk.

“During COVID, I supplied [the Town Clerk’s] information, phone number and her email, so that they could contact her to make an appointment,” Getzen said.

FitzGerald-Kemmett wondered if the Town Hall’s appointment-only phase during COVID could be where “things jumped the track a little bit.”

She also stressed it is not intended as a reflection on Getzen or Green.

“This is an inherited and historical issue,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

Getzen replied that her correspondence was even more specific at that time.

“I’m glad to hear that,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said, adding that the current list of vacancies could be reviewed to determine if they are, indeed, still vacant as well as whether there are vacancies not listed.

Chairman Matt Dyer suggested the town’s volunteer handbook be listed among the information offered on the town’s website.

Getzen said a link could be added for that.

More information about committee portfolios and a more straightforward assessment of time commitments required would help market the openings more effectively, FitzGerald-Kemmett suggested.

“I think when you boil it down to that, people may think, ‘I could do that. I have wanted to give back, but I didn’t know what the time commitment was,’” she said.

Curt M. Tarvis II, who was elected to the Cemetery Commission echoed the point that there is little information about committees on the website.

“If there was more information available, you may get more volunteers,” he said.

“I honestly think we are not doing ourselves any favors,” FitzGerald-Kemmett agreed. “We bemoan the fact that … we’re reading all these [vacancies], but we’re not doing anything to help the situation. … If we can get some more people on these boards, it’s more engaged citizens, and god knows, we need more engaged citizens.”

She also said it could be a path to more people running for elective office.

Getzen said that, with a dedicated IT person coming on board, there will be more information on the site.

On venues and citizen’s petitions

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HANSON — While it isn’t yet clear how the Delta variant of COVID-19 might effect the town’s October special Town Meeting, holding the session outside is off the table because of annual concerns about mosquito-borne diseases such as West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE).

Selectmen began taking a look at the options during the board’s Tuesday, Aug. 10 meeting.

“We are quickly approaching October, which is crazy to think — especially with the Halloween candy at Shaw’s being out for a few weeks, now,” Selectmen Chairman Matt Dyer said to open the discussion on the venue and format for the Town Meeting, as well as some of the articles planned on the warrant.

Dyer suggested looking to use the gym at WHRHS again.

“That’s why I asked to have [the discussion] on the agenda,” said Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett. “I just thought, if we want to do that, there’s only about six weeks or something, and I thought that went very well.”

School officials helped set up the socially distanced meeting so people felt safe to attend, which helped attendance, she said.

The issues included on the warrant will likely include a residency requirement to the bylaw for all appointed volunteers, which FitzGerald-Kemmett and Selectman Joe Weeks submitted.

The deadline to submit articles for the warrant is Aug. 24.

FitzGerald-Kemmett sought to clarify that there may come a time, when a long-time town volunteer with a great deal of institutional knowledge, may have to sell their home as they age or are renovating a home and have to live elsewhere for a time.

“I don’t want to paint ourselves into a corner,” she said. “I’d like to have some proviso where the board could make an exception knowingly.”

Interim Town Administrator Lisa Green said neighboring Whitman recently passed a bylaw that addressed that exact issue. She said she would reach out to Town Clerk Dawn Varley to obtain a copy of the bylaw and is planning to also contact Town Counsel Kate Feodoroff for her opinion on the issue.

“This is on an exception basis, with the whole board making a decision on a majority vote,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said of the residency article.

A citizen’s petition being circulated may or may not include that proviso, she said.

“If there’s anyone that would like the town to consider a certain article of business, please check in with the town clerk to make sure that you get all the rules and guidelines on how to create a citizen’s petition,” Dyer said.

One petition, by resident Frank Melisi, has already determined to be invalid because of formatting errors, and Dyer said Selectmen were working with him to help correct the errors.

“I would like for us to talk more broadly about citizens’ petitions and come up with a process … to help people, so that they don’t have this extremely frustrating experience of trying to do what I think is the most pure form of democracy,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

Selectmen’s Administrative Assistant Greer Getzen said a lot of towns have formalized a handout to help guide residents through the citizen’s petition process.

FitzGerald-Kemmett said that, in the past, even when the process had been followed, petitions have been awkwardly or inaccurately worded. She suggested that a remedy would be to pass it by town counsel or to Green to make sure the wording was correct.

Green said that would be up to the board.

“I’m just wondering if the board has an appetite to have our town counsel review these at their hourly rate,” Green said. “I’m willing to help anybody out. I don’t want to steer people in the wrong direction.”

She said some towns with larger legal services budgets can make more use of town counsel in such cases.

Selectman Kenny Mitchell said people seeking to introduce a citizen’s petition should reach out to the Selectmen chairman, send it to Green and let the board review it.

“If it’s something that makes sense, it won’t have to go through the citizen’s petition route,” Mitchell said. “We can create an article, if we agree to it.”

He did not agree with offering town counsel services.

Selectman Jim Hickey agreed, but argued that town counsel review should be allowed in cases where the board does not agree with a citizen’s petition.

Weeks agreed with those suggestions, arguing it helps protect the board as well.

“Cover all the bases,” he said. “Maybe we should have a larger, open conversation about the use of town counsel related to these things.”

Weeks also said that, while there is a recall law in Hanson related to elected officials, one does not exist pertaining to appointed officials. He argued removal authority should be built into appointing authority.

“One of the things we’ve been trying to get clarification on is removal of appointed officials at any given moment,” he said. “I think it’s time we had that conversation for the only reason being if we do put a residency requirement in there, we have no backing, from my understanding, to remove them.”

He argued a lot can happen in the span of a three- or five-year appointment if people move out of town.

Dyer suggested the wording of such an action should be ironed out for discussion at the next Selectmen’s meeting.

Whitman Cultural Council seeks volunteers, community input

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Whitman residents of all ages have fond memories of summer concerts at the bandstand in the park, Council on Aging programs, Youth Library events and more, all funded with grants from the Whitman Cultural Council (WCC). Unfortunately, in person events and concerts were cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. Also, a lack of volunteers on the Council prevented residents who were involved from meeting in person to plan events as they didn’t have the quorum necessary (four out of seven members) to approve grant funds from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.  However, things are looking better! Outdoor restrictions have been lifted and the WCC is thrilled to have five new volunteer members appointed by Selectmen since June 8.

Since the end of June, the Council has met several times and is in the process, that is guided by the state, of approving FY21 grant funds to artists and organizations who applied last year.  Our goal is to schedule programs, shows and events as soon as possible, based on availability of the performers.

The Council is also in the process of creating grant funding priorities for 2022.  In order to do this, we are collecting feedback from residents in a Community Input Survey. We would like to hear from you about the cultural events and programs that you would be interested in attending in our community.  A link to the online survey is posted on the homepage of the town website: whitman-ma.gov and paper copies are available at the Whitman Council on Aging, Public Library and outside the Town Clerk’s office at Town Hall.  The survey is open until Aug.17.

Follow us on Facebook (facebook.com/WhitmanCulturalCouncil), Twitter @CouncilWhitman and Instagram (WhitmanCulturalCouncil) to get the latest news and updates! For more information, email: culturalcouncil@whitman-ma.gov.

 The Massachusetts Cultural Council (massculturalcouncil.org) is the largest grassroots cultural funding network in the nation. The Local Cultural Council (LCC) Program enriches the cultural life of all cities and towns in Massachusetts. Led by municipally appointed volunteers, LCCs award over $4 million every year, supporting 6,000 cultural programs that include everything from field trips to lectures, festivals, and dance performances.

The WCC is a local agency supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency. Current Members appointed by the Whitman BOS are: Erin Johnson, Anthony Taylor, Dawn Byers, Tina Vassil, Julia Nanigian, Will Haran and Julianna Dunn.

Credit where it is due

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HANSON — The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, Aug. 10 voted to permit department heads to access town debit cards to make purchases for the town, requested by Fire Chief Jerome Thompson Jr.

The cards would carry a $5,000 limit and so far have been authorized for Thompson, the police chief, highway director and interim town administrator.

Selectmen’s Administrative Assistant Greer Getzen said a lot of times computer subscriptions must be paid up-front. Interim Town Administrator Lisa Green added that, in many cases it is the only way software companies will accept payment.

A “check-in” after three months will be provided to Selectmen on how the program is going and how cards are being used.

Selectmen Chairman Matt Dyer said that Thompson told him in a telephone conversation that department heads have had store cards in the past, which permitted them to make needed purchases, but a lot of retail chains are no longer using that type of card.

“This is more for emergency purchases,” Dyer said. “Sometimes they have to run over to Shaw’s and get more gloves, or whatever, until the next order comes.”

He said Thompson told him that at times the Highway Department would borrow the card used in the past to make purchases they needed.

“It might be a good practice now just to have it, seeing that a lot of the stores are no longer allowing the store cards to be set up,” he said. “But it’s one of these things where it’s only the department heads that could use them and we should have a policy in place [for proper use].”

Dyer stresses that provision should not be a reflection on department heads, but is basically good management.

Green said Thompson had updated the request to include some non-emergency purchases.

“There will be a limit on the card and would be monitored by the Town Accountant and Treasurer/Collector,” she said. “The police have also put in for a similar debit card.”

Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett asked if the board could expect other departments to be making the same request down the road.

“Are we setting some type of weird precedence here?” she asked. “I recognize Jerry’s going to need stuff and I don’t want him or his guys having to pay out of pocket or somebody having to put it on their personal credit card and get reimbursed. That’s not the way we should be rolling.”

Green said Police Chief Michael Miksch has told her that he pays for a Go Daddy website on his personal card.

“I’m going to bring each request to the board, Treasurer/Collector and Town Accountant and get their thoughts on each request,” Green said. “I thought it’s the will of the board to decide on this request.”

Green said the Treasurer/Collector has already begun talking to banks about setting up the cards.

Selectman Jim Hickey, while noting that department heads do know best what their needs are, asked how many cards would be set up, or would it be just one card used by all department heads with Green holding the card and overseeing the use of it.

“What if it’s an emergency at night or something?” FitzGerald-Kemmett asked.

“I disagree,” Selectman Kenny Mitchell said in response to Hickey’s suggestion. “That’s just a pain. … I think we have trustworthy department heads that handle their budget and giving them a card is a convenience. They’re not buying personal stuff, they’re buying something for their departments.”

Hickey said he understood that as Mitchell continued.

“If we don’t trust our department heads with a credit card, then we’ve got bigger issues,” Mitchell said.

FitzGerald-Kemmett, while stressing she trusts the department heads, the $5,000 figure did catch her a little off guard and that there should be checks and balances.

Dyer suggested that, if the card is used, the receipt and a purchase order form be handed in the next business day for the financial team to initial off on.

Mitchell said he knows that Chief Miksch puts departmental purchases on his personal credit card, and reimbursements do not include the sales tax, because towns are exempt from sales tax while individual citizens are not.

Reclaiming summertime

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WHITMAN — While August by no means signifies the end of summer vacation it is the culmination of seven weeks of the Whitman Park and Recreation summer program.

The summer experience, which has averaged 75 kids weekly, has been a joyous celebration of returning to see friends; engaging outdoors in nature and seeing unmasked   friends reunite after a long evolving school year.

New Camp Director Kathleen Woodward has been with the program for this past year. She emphasized that although recreation is finished this week the pool along with swimming lessons are still open and available.

Families can purchase pool passes and swimming lessons as part of the Town of Whitman. Information on the pool is available on the Town of Whitman website.

Camp Director of Recreation Gabby Callahan has served as both a camper and counselor over the last six years. She is now in her senior year of nursing at Fitchburg State University. She is leaning towards pediatrics.  She loves working with kids and is passionate about the recreation program. Along with her staff in the recreation department it is rewarding to have a hand in generating a positive outdoor experience for campers, she added.

The camp has been around for decades and has hosted countless families who undoubtedly have memories of the park including stories of squirrels that have finagled a lunch or two.

Callahan reminded the campers on Monday during day one of session seven that unzipped, unsealed snacks are fair game to the little critters in the park. The group shared a snicker at the incident in a previous session in which a tricky squirrel carried a brown-bag lunch up the tree before anyone noticed.

Each morning the campers check in, find their age groups, donning bright blue T-shirts they chat with friends until morning circle.

Rotation stations include entertainment such as: crafts, gym time and free play on the playground, swim time and sports with long time camp counselor Sports Director Nick Kardoose.

Themed crafts are always a suggestion as often times creative campers will come up with different ways to use the supplies such as: folding old fashion paper airplanes. The timeless generational pastime has been as popular as the Gimp braids used to make handmade bracelets.

Tether ball during game rotation is a hit as well as board games and free block that it is worked in for a lighter period of structure.

There is disc golf, kickball, relays, dodge ball, to name a few. Swimming is daily and for anyone who decides not to swim they can enjoy board games or sidewalk chalk.

Town Hall is the rainy day shelter when it is a complete washout for outdoor activities. It can be harder on rainy days but a new projector has allowed for movies. Camp counselors will bring in items that will engage or prompt activities such as a toy they had growing up. It can spark interest and is always age appropriate.  The location is in use for town related business so it makes it a bit harder to let go and run wild like the good old outdoors.

Science walks, lava lamps, using nature to create designs have been just a few of the hands on activities over the last two months.

Olympic week kick off during session number four was a build up to the Olympics. Campers created the Olympic ring symbol using paper circle plates among others daily projects.

“We had a huge emphasis on team building and working together so we incorporated mentoring with the older kids assisting the younger kids,” she said.

The recreation program did remain closed over 2020 during the height of the Covid Pandemic.

“We were so excited we got to run this year. It was up in the air and we received the OK. We are so excited. Kids need to be outside, interact and giving them something like this (program) is incredible,” said Callahan.

Reese Cordero a 2021 graduate of Whitman Hanson is also among the counselors this year at Park and Recreation. She was playing football during game time at the basketball courts. Taking turns with runners and hikers the lively group had a lot of energy to burn despite the dampness on Monday and looming rain.

Codero is planning on majoring in criminal justice at Roger Williams University in the fall. Her goal is to become a DARE Officer and work with the youth population.

She grew up in Whitman and said what she loves about Whitman Park and Recreation is seeing the happiness on their faces (campers) having fun and just being kids.

Visit the Town of Whitman website for information on sign-ups for all ages swimming lessons and family open swims which runs through Labor Day.

Wasps force beach closure

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HANSON — With a return to hazy and humid summer heat forecast this weekend, Hanson residents will have to find an alternative method of cooling off — Cranberry Cove is closed for the foreseeable future because of sand wasps.

Tarps are covering the beach and yellow caution tape bars people from the beach and kayak launch areas. Police and fire services have also been notified of the closure.

“The beach is probably going to be closed a week, maybe two, while we wait to see if [tarps laid over nests] are enough to get rid of them,” according to Town Administrator Lisa Green, who said the situation was brought to her attention early last week. “It’s not a seasonal closing as of yet.”

Camp Kiwanee has closed off the entire area, including the boat ramps and the parking area with yellow caution tape.

“There were some type of insects flying around the beach over there,” she said. “We don’t want to risk anyone getting stung and having an allergic reaction.”

Two exterminating companies were called and did come to the beach. One said the sand wasps were not their area of expertise, the other put “some type of powders” down, but it did not impact the insects at all, Green said.

“Health Agent Gil Amado brought me out there on Friday [July 30] and the wasps … were literally swarming the higher beach,” Green said. “It looks like a little tornado that they’re swarming in.”

Town officials purchased some large, industrial-strength tarps, as a lot of organic insect experts suggest online, to cover the area and restrict their access to ground nests.

“They would either die or move out,” Green said her research indicated.

While they bear a resemblance, sand wasps found at the cove (species Bicyrtes quadrifasciata), are not as aggressive as their  “social” cousin the yellow jacket, according to entomologist Blake Dinius with the Plymouth County Commissioner’s Office. But sand wasps don’t like being disturbed or sudden moves, as one makes while swatting them away.

The major concern is such sudden moves by beach-goers could lead to stings, and problems for people with allergies to bee stings.

“I’m working with the board of health on this topic,” Dinius said in a phone interview Monday, Aug. 2.

“They are almost completely harmless,” he said. “I cannot say they are completely harmless, because if you provoke them enough, they could possibly sting you. … The risk is low, but it’s still there. I just takes is one person that’s allergic, sits on the beach and swats at them.”

For such a person, that one sting could be deadly.

Green said one of the Camp Kiwanee caretakers had been stung.

“My first concern is having anybody — adult or child — getting stung,” Green said.

“I think it’s a smart decision for the town to close off the beach for now,” Dinius said.

Another way sand wasps differ from yellow jackets and hornets is that they do not live in large-colony nests they would aggressively defend. But that difference also points to why the beach was closed.

“If they are under a threat of a danger, that is where you could possibly get stung,” Dinius said. “With people who may be allergic to stings, I can definitely see why the Board of Health would be concerned about this kind of situation.”

The sand wasps — as the name suggests — prefer sandy soil free of vegetation.

“I can almost guarantee you that, if I walk into your yard, I’m going to find sand wasps,” he said. “A large aggregation like is going on at Cranberry Cove is a pretty unique situation that I haven’t ever seen before.”

Dinius said he wonders whether their presence is possibly due to nests in other spots — higher along the Maquan Pond shoreline or in nearby cranberry bogs — being too wet.

“With all the rain we’ve been getting, it makes me wonder if possibly some areas where they used to nest, that water level’s higher, or the vegetation has grown up and over,” he said. “I don’t know.”

He said he is not sure about the efficacy of the tarps, but he said he really does not feel chemical sprays are the answer either from a public health, environmental or cost-efficiency point of view.

“You’re not going to spray your way out of this,” he said.

The wasps don’t have an official common name, but he suggested one based on the “service” they provide.

“You can call them stink bug-eaters,” Dinius said. “I saw them bringing [to their nests in the sand] a lot of the stink bugs that invade people’s homes in the fall and winter.”

A native sand wasp, they are supposed to be in this area, according to Dinius.

Nests consist of a single female and offspring. If one can walk over the nest, they would most likely just buzz around you or fly away.

The sand wasp’s life cycle is 27-44 days in length, with 33 days being the average. They come out in late July and usually last until about the third week of August, but some parts of the country have seen them nesting until November, depending on the weather.

They tunnel in the ground, usually only six to eight inches, forming one to three chambers that are provisioned with multiple stink bugs per egg to feed each developing pupae.

They remember where the nest hole is after burying it to find more food.

“One female is going to have multiple burrows,” he said.

SST looking ahead to new school year

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HANOVER — Superintendent-director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey told the South Shore Tech School Committee, at it’s July 21 meeting, that the window replacement project is expected to begin during the third week of August.

Hickey said the school also plans to open on Aug. 31 with a full regular season of sports.

“It will go into the school year, but it will not have an impact as the company will transition to work in the second shift,” Hickey said of the window project’s potential effect on school routine, noting the district is having regular meetings with the design team and the project manager.

As for the potential for continued mask and social distancing regulations, Hickey said in a recent interview that he is waiting for guidance from the state, but he has met with administrators “kind of bracing ourselves for that in view of information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the more contagious nature of the COVID Delta variant.

“The mask part would be easy to implement,” he said. “The spacing part may require us to have to take a half a step back.”

He also expressed concern about the potential transportation impact if there was guidance from the state and some adjustments might be needed for classrooms in such a case.

So far, no new regulations have been received, but the school has already begun to examine increasing classroom capacity.

“At this point, for a lot of districts, it’s going to be kind of wait and see,” Hickey said. “If it [effects] space, I hope a decision is made sooner, rather than later.”

SST is also continuing to work around the building as they “return classrooms to some version of normal” and is making some renovations to the school’s lecture hall.

“You’re all familiar with our space crunch, so we’re going to be making multi-purpose use of our lecture hall to allow for library media specialists to be able to use that and have us use it more often.”

Hickey said the lecture hall is the last part of the school that may be going under-used. While maintaining the current seating, a mezzanine is being added to allow more versatility in use.

The committee voted to encumber a transfer of $1,487,382 in nonresident tuition to be applied to the fiscal 2022 budget and reduce the assessments to the district towns.

The winter budget presentation will outline the anticipated offset numbers.

“This information was predictable,” Hickey said of the presentation that had projected fiscal 2022 town assessments.

“We assume/project we will have this tuition money when we assess the towns in the following year,” Hickey said this week.

The committee also voted to credit $59,293 in surplus revenue for warrants payable from the 2019-20 budget. They also voted to debit $24,238 from surplus revenue to accrued salaries in the 2019-20 budget.

The Committee voted to encumber $398,000 in surplus revenue for building, grounds, equipment and supplies or any other recommendations by the superintendent-director. Another encumberance of $740,000 from surplus revenue for design, renovation and construction costs identified in the 2018 facilities master plan.

A sixth transfer of $134,151 from surplus regional transportation was approved to the regional transportation fund. Another $103,849 was voted from surplus revenue to bus costs and $80,000 was transferred from surplus revenues to the school lunch enterprise fund to cover COVID-19-related revenue decreases.

The committee conducted its year-end reorganization, again electing Robert Heywood as chairman and Robert Molla as vice chairman.

The Committee entered into executive session to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation. The committee adjourned from executive session.

Women’s soccer team plays for bronze medal vs Australia

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The Mewis sisters will not be bringing home Olympics gold medals. The United States women’s national team fell to Canada, 1-0, in Tokyo, snapping a 36-game unbeaten streak.

“Devastated to say the least not to be competing for a gold medal,” said USWNT forward Alex Morgan.

The team will play its sixth and final game of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Aug. 5 when it takes on Australia at 5 p.m. local/4 a.m. ET in the bronze medal match. The game will be played at the Ibaraki Kashima Stadium in Kashima, Japan and will be available for viewing in the United States on the USA Network and Telemundo with streaming coverage also available through NBCOlympics.com and through the Telemundo Deportes App.