A DAY AT THE FAIR: Fair-goers slid down the giant slide in the mid-day sun on the opening day of the Marshfield Fair Monday, Aug. 23, after being canceled due to COVID last year. At right, Joe Keeley, 13, of Whitman with his goat, Alice, shared some time in the shade during the Marshfield Fair on Monday afternoon. See more photos, page 6.
Photos by Stephanie Spyropoulos
WHITMAN — Fire Lt. Bryan Smith was sworn in during the Board of Selectmen’s meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 24 as the board discussed mask guidelines and procedure for the town administrator’s evaluation.
Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman also indicated a mask mandate for schools may be coming soon from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Fire Chief Timothy Clancy said Smith began his career as one of Whitman Fire’s first high school interns. The program has produced a lot of firefighters for the department over the years.
A 2001 W-H graduate, Smith earned his EMT and paramedic certifications, joining the Kingston Fire Department in 2004. He joined Whitman Fire-Rescue in 2008 as a full-time firefighter/paramedic. He earned an associates degree from Columbia Southern University and recently completed Fire Officer I training.
His wife Jessica and children Annabelle and Colin shared the badge pinning honors with Smith’s father Gary Smith, a retired Hanson firefighter. Smith’s brother is a Holbrook firefighter.
“It’s either in their blood, or there’s something in the water in Hanson,” Clancy said.
After the promotion ceremony, Selectmen began hearing program updates on the Whitman Cultural Council and Dollars for Scholars, but took a brief sidetrack into mask policies, which was revisited later in the meeting.
Dawn Byers and William Haran, of the Whitman Cultural Council had attended the meeting to report on the Council’s new members and recent Community Input Survey as well as upcoming events.
“I’d like you to think about and how we set up our meetings going forward,” Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski said to the board and Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman about the mask Byers was wearing, in view of the fact that a sign on the Town Hall door recommends CDC mask and social distancing guidelines.
Kowalski said he felt terrible that he was not wearing a mask.
“I’d like us to be distanced more than we are today, and set up the room to show we’re thinking about the right thing to do,” he said.
Byers thanked the board for appointing five new members to the Cultural Council over the past two months, bringing it to a full panel of seven. She then introduced Haran, whose report included an overview of the outdoor concert series that begins Thursday, Sept. 9 with a performance by Uncommon Soul from 5:30 to 7 p.m. [See announcement, page 5]. An open house at the Library Community Room will be held from 7 to 8 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 16.
Later in the meeting, Heineman briefed the board on COVID numbers and procedures — reporting that the COVID positivity rate has been rising in Whitman, the state and region, largely due to the Delta and Lambda variants, to which people are more susceptible when they are unvaccinated.
“What we do know is the vast majority of the folks hospitalized or very sick are unvaccinated,” he said.
A plan is being formulated between Fire Chief Clancy and the Board of Health for a booster shot program, after meeting last week. A return to first and second-dose clinics were also discussed but the “feeling was that wouldn’t be a good use of resources at the moment because anyone who wants to be vaccinated now has access through other means,” Heineman said, noting that most pharmacies offer them.
“Schools are primary interest for most folks,” Heineman said and reporting the DESE gave permission to Commissioner Riley to mandate masks. “That seems pretty clear [that] while he hasn’t officially done that yet … in the coming days that mandate will be in place for schools.”
The town’s buildings have been following the recommendations of public health officials, including the CDC, he noted. The Whitman Board of Health has issued a “strong recommendation” for masks for indoor locations, but not a mandate at this point.
“It’s not enough to recommend,” Kowalski adding that only four people in a crowded room for Lt. Smith’s promotion ceremony — two adults and two children — were wearing masks. “It just strikes me a so logical that there are two ways to combat this virus — one of them is to mask up … the other is to get vaccinated.”
Where vaccine mandates are concerned, Heineman said that, while the state’s executive branch and many employers are mandating vaccines, the Whitman Board of Health is still recommending, but not requiring vaccinations.
Selectman Brian Bezanson, who had COVID in January despite following mask guidelines, urged people to get vaccinated as he has since, and said he would recommend, but not mandate, masks.
Selectman Randy LaMattina agreed that it is a personal decision to have a health option.
“My family has been vaccinated … we did that because we trust the science,” he said. “Now people have skepticism. I think this, unfortunately is because a vaccine got politicized and we’re paying the price for that right now.”
He said zero deaths have occurred in breakthrough cases of people who have been vaccinates.
“I think people have to get vaccinated,” he said, suggesting that mandating a mask could give skeptics a reason to doubt the vaccine.
“If there’s something that’s more effective right now, it’s the vaccine,” Selectman Justin Evans said.
Town administrator goals
Heineman has submitted a list of goals and objectives to the board as requested at a previous meeting, and Kowalski said they have been working with counsel to refine the evaluation form.
“Not all the goals can be accomplished in a year,” Kowalski said, asking which Heineman thought could be handled in the first year or are most important to him.
Of the 14 goals and objectives he listed, Heineman pointed to improved communication with representatives of the W-H Regional School District concerning strategic planning and the budget process; identifying and pursuing a clear path forward for the Park Avenue School property; bringing a final DPW building plan to Town Meeting and possible regionalization of animal control services.
“Right off the bat, I think getting an assistant town administrator in here before the year is over, or as soon as possible would be one that we should want to handle for this year,” Kowalski said.
“I absolutely agree with Lincoln’s recommendation of trying to develop a better relationship with the school district,” Selectman Randy LaMattina said. He also agreed with the Park Avenue School item.
“There’s nothing on this list that I could say we could take off, it’s developing a timeline after that,” he said. “I think he made it hard for us, because this list of goals alone is almost a strategic plan.”
Kowalski suggested ranking the items he wanted to complete in the coming year for the Sept. 28 meeting.
DFS event
Michelle LaMattina of Dollars For Scholars provided an overview of the second annual Decorating for Scholars event.
“We want to make it a little bigger this year,” she said, indicating that more trees would be available for sponsoring, as well as event sponsorships that provide funds for lights, trees and signs. They are also looking into arranging food trucks and craft vendors as well as local performers and a visitor from the North Pole this year and are changing the time frame to one weekend. The event is planned for from 4 to 8 p.m., Friday, Dec. 10; from 2 to 8 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 11 and from 4 to 8, Sunday, Dec. 12.
The Board voted to congratulate her and the DFS leadership for the success of last year’s inaugural event during a tough time. Michelle LaMattina said last year’s event was one of the group’s largest fundraisers over the past few years.
Randy LaMattina said a lot of people in town made last year’s event come together.
“It was great, and to pull it off in a year that people really needed something, I think it was a boost for the town,” he said.
Whitman Middle School
Heineman and Randy LaMattina serve on the building committee, which had issued a call for a request for services for Owner Project Manager. When the request response came back a subcommittee was to decide on a finalist to recommend to the full committee for MSBA approval. That has since been canceled and is being reissued, according to Heineman.
The committee met Tuesday afternoon and made the requested changes with an expected project price range of $50 million to $85 million. Applications would be due back by Oct.
“The process was put off for a few months, but it is moving forward,” he said.
“I think this whole process is going to be a little bit of a wrestling match, a little bit of a tug of war,” Randy LaMattina said. “There’s clearly a need for a new building. … We’re moving forward in a positive direction.”
The Whitman-Hanson Regional School District voted 6-4 to amend to the mask policy to reflect the recommendation — rather than mandate — of mask wearing by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) at its Wednesday, Aug. 18. The Committee strongly recommends wearing masks. [See story, this page]. They were scheduled to continue discussion on COVID protocols at district schools on Wednesday, Aug. 25.
“Tomorrow, the governor can make a mask mandate,” Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymniak said, noting that state protocols could change and that Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont had mandated masks in his state’s schools Tuesday, Aug. 17.
Szymaniak said new teachers were to report Monday, Aug. 23 and he needed to have some direction. The issue was to be revisited this Wednesday, Aug. 25.
Those expressing disagreement with the vote pointed to concern over variants, discrepancies in where masks are required and social interactions with those who do not wear masks.
“I’m extremely concerned that a recommendation is viewed as an option,” said member Dawn Byers. “This is a public school and I support a universal mask mandate in W-H schools K-12.”
She noted that medical offices, public transportation and Whitman’s Duval’s Pharmacy require masks. Szymaniak recommended to continue following the COVID-19 protocols from DESE and the Mass. Department of Public Health (DPH).
Szymaniak said the district received close to 500 responses to his communication about state COVID recommendations for the fall, ranging “all over the place.”
That made up the committee’s public comment segment on the issue.
“I appreciate everyone who chose to respond,” Szymaniak said. “I want to make sure that folks in the community know that those responses will be … on our website.”
He said he is not permitted to ask vaccination status, but if parents inform the school nurse, it can help with contact tracing.
Chairman Christopher Howard stressed for the public than no one on the School Committee are doctors or epidemiologists.
“We try to be as informed as we can, we rely on the guidance of those that provide it,” Howard said.
“I have a second-grader who hasn’t had a regular school year,” member Hillary Kniffen said with some emotion. “I want nothing more for her, but I also know in our strategic plan, it says that we need to keep kids safe.”
She said that families who want to have their children masked deserve some safeguards in place. There should also be a benchmark as to when masks can be removed.
“Based on these comments, I also have a concern, myself, of the culture of school buildings,” Kniffen said. “I am pleading with families. Regardless of your persepective, you [should] teach your children to be kind, because you don’t know what other families are going through.”
Member Fred Small noted that a face-covering policy still in effect “references guidance that’s no longer there.” He also noted that summer camp program had no mask policy and, while some children wore masks, they were treated respectfully.
“We’ve got this,” said member Steve Bois, who works at the JFK Library where only six people are allowed entry at once. “We can do this.”
He supported the DESE and DPH guidelines.
Member Michelle Bourgelas noted that the American Academy of Pediatrics and the CDC recommend universal masking K-12 regardless of vaccination status. The Mass. Medical and Mass Academy of Pediatricians are asking Gov. Charlie Baker to mandate masks K-12 as well.
“There are other authorities besides DESE,” she said.
“One of the pillars of our district is a safe school environment for our faculty and staff, students and whoever our visitors are, said Szymaniak. “As of March 13, 2020, it has been challenging at best to maintain a safe environment — that pleases all, to make decisions that please all, and open school.”
He noted that people have had differing opinions since school doors closed on March 13, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The district has followed the recommendations of the DESE and DPH from the outset. When the school year ended on June 16, “I thought we were going to open like 2019 all over again,” he said. “We had high hopes that we wouldn’t have a conversation about masks and social distancing and all I knew was we were going to have a lot of hand sanitizer, because we got cases and cases and cases of that.”
With that in mind, he asked lead nurse Lisa Tobin to request a statement from both towns’ boards of health and the school physician, based on his intent to ask the School Committee to maintain and follow the DESE and DPH guidelines.
“Seeing what’s going on with the rest of the country’s school systems, I don’t think we should act individually,” Hanson Health Agent Gil Amado stated. “Mass. Counties are now in the CDC high-risk category. I believe the governor, along with DESE/DPH, will come out with other guidance in the near future,”
School physician David Belcher said he felt the proposal was “as good as it’s going to get at this moment.”
“People need to be aware that this is a fluid situation and if COVID numbers climb quickly after the start of school, universal masking may be necessary,” he said, although he added he hoped it would not be the case. “The Delta variant appears to behave a little differently and affect children more.”
Whitman Health Agent Daniel Kelly reached out to board members individually about the DESE recommendation, and will not be able to discuss it as a board until Aug. 24. But the board is in support of DESE’s recommendation — with some changes.
“The number one consideration is the safety of students and staff,” Kelly wrote. “The board recommends the use of masks in all schools to keep everyone as safe as possible.”
The district received a memorandum requiring full-time in-person education of all school districts and programs for the 2021-22 school year from DESE and the DPH on June 30 of this year.
“I am not allowed to offer a remote program for next year,” Szymaniak said.
The memorandum quoted CDC guidelines that vaccinations and continued masking was recommended for all K-12 schools and — because in-person instruction is so important — schools without universal vaccinations should implement physical distancing to the extent possible. DESE and the DPH noted Massachusetts has among the highest vaccination rates in the nation and the efficacy of the vaccine.
Vaccination rates for 12- to 15-year-olds in Hanson are: One dose — 249; fully vaccinated — 198; 16- to 19-year-olds One dose — 402; fully vaccinated — 358. That represents 39 percent for 12- to 15-year-olds and a 63 percent for 16- to 19-year-olds.
For Whitman 12- to 15-year-olds: One dose — 430; fully vaccinated — 337; 16- to 19-year-olds One dose — 537 (the number of fully vaccinated was apparently omitted). That represents 50 percent for 12- to 15-year-olds and a 63 percent for 16- to 19-year-olds.
“We’re under the state average for both,” Szymaniak said.
Tobin said she is applying to the DESE to test in all district health clinics.
Test and Stay affects quarantining. A rapid test is given to staff and students identified as close contacts to a COVID case. Tests are administered for five straight days as long as they remain asymptomatic and test negative they do not need to quarantine. Symptomatic testing allows a student to stay in school if they test negative.
“This fall DESE and DPH strongly recommends that all students in kindergarten through grade six wear masks when indoors, except students who cannot do so due to medical conditions or behavioral needs,” the memo stated. “Masks are not necessary outdoors and may be removed while eating indoors.”
The agencies also recommend that unvaccinated staff in all grades, unvaccinated students in grades seven and above and unvaccinated visitors wear masks indoors. They recommended that vaccinated students be allowed to remain unmasked.
Those at high risk for disease from COVID, or with a household member who is at high risk, is encouraged to mask regardless of vaccination status.
“Any child or family who prefers to mask at school should be supported with this choice,” the memo continued. A federal order requires all students and staff to wear masks on school buses. Masks must also be worn in school health offices.
District and schools are also encouraged to maintain and establish a “robust testing” program for COVID-19, including both diagnostic testing and screening and pool testing provided at no cost to districts — especially important during cold and flu season.
DESE and DPH indicated they will be releasing updated contact tracing and quarantine protocols.
The School Committee presented its strategic plan working group presentations at the Wednesday, Aug. 18 meeting.
Public comment was sought in advance of the meeting and was not scheduled for the meeting itself, out of fairness to the large number of people who submitted comment in advance.
“We’ve received as much public comment as I’ve ever seen, being part of a School Committee, in advance of this meeting,” Chairman Christopher Howard said.
A number of meetings were held throughout the summer, working with the district’s leadership team and administration, to review the district’s strategic plan to identify what their priorities, as a group, should be.
“I can tell you they were here bright and early on the day after a holiday,” Howard said of the group with which he worked. “I can tell you they were here several other times, and I know other groups were here several other times. … This is a volunteer effort.”
Howard described the presentations as “point in time” shares of information, as the work is far from being completed.
Each of the three groups — one-to-one laptop initiative, K-8 related arts curriculum and early childhood education — were given about 15 minutes in which to make their presentation, with time allotted for a brief question and answer time after each one. He also encouraged the public to send written thoughts, comments and questions about the presentations.
Howard explained that a lot of what the other two working groups were looking at depend on the district’s technology capabilities.
Assistant Superintendent George Ferro’s team — which included Steve Bois, Mike Jones and Beth Stafford — kicked things off with their presentation on a one-to-one laptop initiative. The group had two formal meetings and several subsequent meetings with the group, district IT or administrative teams, as information was gathered.
“We might be a little bit different than the other two groups, because we are actually going to enact this initiative for the start of this school year,” Ferro said. “Where we left off last year with COVID and so many Chromebooks out [with families], we had to find out if this was doable.”
They had to inventory the devices and make sure they could provide equipment to students and teachers.
Stafford said that, while COVID was a terrible thing, the pandemic showed what was needed for today’s education, who had it and who didn’t and how it could be provided for students who lacked access to technology.
Those students were loaned Chromebooks and internet access during last school year.
“What it has led to is that we’re able this year to provide for grades three to 12, a one-on-one Chromebook for each child to go home and to be responsible for to bring to school for the coming year,” she said. Kindergarten to grade two classess will have access to half sets of devices in the classroom.
Ferro said students in grades three to 12 will receive a loan agreement form and will, when parents return the signed form, receive a charger and a Chromebook, including care instruction for students and how to use it in instruction for teachers.
Bois said a grant will also allow the retirement or repurposing of some devices.
Ferro said the at-home learning funding is from a non-competitive federal grant must be awarded, and is administered by the FCC.
“If you have aging devices, or you have students with no connectivity, or you have students with not enough devices in the home … they can be provided with a Chromebook for at-home use,” Ferro said. The district’s aging software made them eligible for the devices they sought. Almost half the district’s more than 3,500 devices age out next year, with the goal to replace 1/6 of the stock each year.
They are working within the district and through federal funds to start a cycle of funding the estimated $270,000 per year that renewal goal with require.
“This is the new curriculum textbook in a very closed way,” Ferro said.
Heather Kniffen presented a review of the K-8 related arts curriculum group’s work. She, Christopher Sciriven, Superintendent Jeff Szymaniak and Michelle Bourgelas served on the group.
“We’re talking about long-term implementation, Kniffen said. “This is not something that we, like the tech group, would be able to work on this year. This is definitely a multi-year project.”
The goal is to engage students and make them look forward to going to school — something that now declines in middle school years — through choices of subject and equity between middle schools in each town.
“The sooner that children are exposed to different cultures and different languages, the more empathetic they become and better human beings, because they understand people,” Kniffen said of the curriculum’s benefits. She added that music and art have behavioral benefits.
A Life Skills class option, described as a Home Economics 2.0 class, is also being discussed, Szymaniak said.
“You might be learning Home Ec. Stuff, you might be learning CPR, you might learn how to change a tire, what a checkbook is — all the types of things that parents talk about ‘I wish my kid knew,’ give them an opportunity to experience some of that in middle school, so as they matriculate to the high school, they have some idea of some of those life skills” he said.
Technical skills, including robotics, are also included.
Challenges to incorporating the program include hiring qualified teachers, intricacies of a middle school schedule, available instructional time and not viewing it as a Band-Aid approach.
Some immediate action steps being taken include determining student interest.
“I’m psyched about this endeavor,” Scriven said. “Particularly in getting kids to want to come to school.”
Szymaniak acknowledged that the scheduling issue is a hurdle, but added the district has time to do that work.
“The key piece here is foreign language should be an academic course,” he said.
Dawn Byers reviewed the work she, Fred Small and David Forth did regarding early childhood education.
Their recommendations are to implement access to high-quality, no-tuition full-day kindergarten in the 2022-23 school year and — in the long-term, to form an Early Childhood Education Committee to focus on and support the short-term goal as well as expansion of universal early childhood education to 3- and 4-year-olds. Questions for administration were regarding: building/classroom space; staffing; transportation; engagement with town leadership, community and families; and financial costs.
She introduced the presentation with a trailer for the film “No Small Matter” about the challenges low-income parents, especially, are having providing their children with the best start on education with children’s earliest years.
Forth reviewed the districts current offerings of half and full-day tuition-based preschool and kindergarten. Preschool tuition costs between about $1,3000 and $6,500 with enrollment limited to 80 students. Kindergarten tuition is $3,200 for the full-day program with 238 pupils. There is no charge for half-day kindergarten.
The state average for full-day kindergarten is 98 percent, with 62 percent of Whitman kindergarten pupils attending full-day classes.
Six of seven surrounding communities offer no-tuition full-day kindergarten. Hanover charges $3,750.
Small lauded Byers’ leadership of the group before discussing its goals.
“Ms Byers did a yeoman’s share of the work here,” he said.
The goal is to share the benefits of, and create a pathway for, high-quality early childhood education for Whitman and Hanson’s 3- to-to-5-year-old pupils with a long-term vision of universal high-quality, no-tuition preschool and pre-kindergarten.
Byers said there are educational, equity and economic benefits of high-quality early childhood education. That includes a greater contribution to society as adults.
Asked about the cost, Szymaniak said his charge to the group was to come up with the reasons to support such a program.
“I didn’t want the folks to get bogged down with the dollars and cents,” he said. “This is a ‘Why?’ Why to we need to do this? You’ve given me the why, I can give you the ‘How?’”
“And the how much?” Howard said.
Howard also welcomed Whitman’s recently-appointed member Beth Stafford. The former Whitman Middle School teacher was appointed by the town’s Selectmen to fill a vacancy when Dan Cullity resigned for family matters.
“If we’re starting our children young, and we’re putting everyone on the same playing field, we’re investing in prevention, not in remediation,” Small said. “When that student’s in third grade, we don’t have to have those reading specialists.”
Teachers won’t have to be spending time in first grade trying to catch the 38 percent of half-day kindergarteners with those who attended full-day K.
“That’s a cost-savings, and that’s a direct benefit,” he said.
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.”
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.
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.
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 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.
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.