Whitman-Hanson Express

You are here: Home / Archives for News

Heineman picked as Whitman TA

By

WHITMAN — Selectmen on Tuesday, Dec. 22 voted to hire Hanover Finance Director and Treasurer-Collector Lincoln Heineman to serve as Whitman’s new town administrator.

He would succeed Frank Lynam who retired in mid-October.

Heineman and Assistant Town Administrator Lisa Green were placed in nomination for the vote during discussion, prior to which Green excused herself from the Zoom meeting.

The board also voted to begin contract negotiations with Heineman.

Four finalists had been interviewed by Paradigm Consulting representative Bernard Lynch and the board during a lengthy session on Friday, Dec. 18, also conducted remotely.

Also interviewed were Millville Town Administrator Peter Caruso and Shirley Town Administrator Michael McGovern.

“Bernie expertly asked them questions in what seemed like 75 hours [Dec. 18] and revealed a lot about each one of them,” Selectman Dr. Carl Kowalski said. “I was impressed with all of them.”

He joined with selectmen Randy LaMattina and Justin Evans in voting for Heineman based on his strength in financial matters. Heineman has worked with the state Office of Administration and Finance, the Inspector General’s Office and the Scituate Advisory Counsel as well as his work for Hanover.

“To me, it was clear by the interview process and the paper résumés that, in my opinion, there was somebody who stood out to me,” LaMattina said of Heineman. “It was talking about fiscal policy, forecasting, models — where will we be in five and 10 years — and not only talking about these things, but having first-hand knowledge, actually participating in the development of these things, not just a seat at the table where you watched it happen.”

Selectman Brian Bezanson and Chairman Dan Salvucci favored Green for her knowledge of the town and what they saw as the board’s loyalty to her. LaMattina countered that the board owes the town to select the strongest candidate, leaving friendships out of the equation.

After Heineman was selected, the board voted again to make Heineman’s appointment unanimous.

The full interviews, in addition to the Dec. 22 Selectmen’s meeting, can be viewed on the WHCA-TV YouTube channel.

“I thought all candidates brought plenty to the table — everybody had their strengths and weaknesses — and I think we probably couldn’t go wrong with any of them,” said Bezanson. “We’ve made a commitment and an investment to Lisa Green.”

Bezanson argued that former Town Administrator Frank Lynam had been charged with training Green, hired to be his assistant, in all aspects of the job.

“I think that we showed faith in her then and, while maybe she has some shortcomings in the financial part, I believe if she were to get this job … and we hired an assistant town administrator who was proficient in financial aspects that she was deficient in, it would create quite a team.”

Speaking first during the discussion, nominated Green — possibly to a short-tem contract at first — to give her the chance to prove herself in the job.

“We had faith in her then, we [gave] a commitment to her then, I believe that we should do that now,” Bezanson said.

Salvucci moved to second Green’s nomination, which drew a point-of-order objection from LaMattina, who noted the chairman cannot second a motion without first passing the gavel. Salvucci at first suggested passing the gavel to Lynch, but Lynch noted it should be passed to another board member. Kowalski assumed the gavel long enough to allow Salvucci to second Bezanson’s motion, before noting the process was intended to give each selectman an opportunity to speak before nominations were made.

Kowalski congratulated Paradigm for the process, which brought four good candidates before the board for final consideration.

Like Bezanson, Kowalski said he has known Green both as a Selectman and an assistant town administrator for a number of years.

“She is someone who is capable and does a good job,” he said. But he said he was pleasantly surprised by Caruso after he interviewed, as he had questions about Caruso’s résumé, which showed a lot of experience with startups as well as in the position of town administrator. McGovern’s experience with vocational schools in the Lowell and Nashoba region was also impressive, according to Kowalski, but found him to be a “Lowell guy, a city guy.”

LaMattina noted that Heineman has knowledge of South Shore Tech.

“Lincoln Heineman, on the other hand is a real star,” Kowalski said. “He has a unique way of looking at finances and he’s done some things that have been unusual and very successful. He’s a South Shore guy,” Kowalski said. “One of Lisa’s qualities that makes her so desirable is that she is a Whitman person.”

LaMattina agreed with Kowalski, but stressed what was important when the search process started for his primary goal.

“That was somebody I could count on to continue on the road of financial recovery and stabilization that this board has set … in motion,” he said.

LaMattina said Whitman faces a tough financial year and needs to continue on the path of finding solutions through policies and procedures as well as economic development knowledge.

“We need a fiscal policy,” he said. “It’s where we are lacking.”

Evans agreed that Heineman was the best choice.

“Really, we had a ‘choose your own adventure’ situation when we first saw the résumés and heard the candidates during interviews,” he said, while crediting Green with her capacity and commitment to further her education in the job. Evans said he hopes she stays on and learns from Heineman.

“I was taking notes on things he has done in Scituate and Hanover that he might bring to Whitman,” he said.

For his part, Salvucci was concerned about the “jumping around” to different jobs on the part of Heineman and McGovern. He suggested the town accountant could teach Green anything she doesn’t already know.

“I like townies,” he said. “I like to promote from within.”

He credited Green with being a hard worker who has already shown capacity for improving her skills.

COVID update

In other business, Green updated the board on positive COVID test results for the previous two weeks.

“Interestingly enough, Whitman is not the lead in this race,” Green said. “We seem to be right in line with our surrounding towns — our neighbors.”

There were 142 positive test results for that period, or an 8.71 percent positive rate. Abington, meanwhile, saw 183 positive tests, or a 9.8 percent positive rate. With 105 positive tests, Hanson is at 9.61 percent and Bridgewater’s 316 positive tests puts that town at 6.90 percent. East Bridgewater’s 149 positive tests puts them at 8.42 percent and Halifax is at 8.29 percent with its 73 positive tests.

“COVID seems to be running rampant around all of the communities right now,” Green said, noting the new state restrictions going into effect between Dec. 26 and Jan. 10.

She said Town Hall employees are required to wear a mask anytime they leave their desks and walk around the building. Selectmen voted to approve the restictions.

Whitman is requiring any employee with a potential exposure must notify their department head immediately, that official then must inform the town administrator or interim who then notifies the Board of Health. The level of contact will be evaluated to determine the time frame of the exposure.

Exposure of 15 minutes or more is deemed to be at risk and the employee is required to quarantine for 10 to 14 days. The Board of Health then follows up with contact tracing.

“Each case has its unique factors,” Green said. “At least this protocol will let the employee know who they should contact first and then we go from there.”

Kowalski emphasized that the Board of Health are the people who should be giving advice to Selectmen.

“People in Town Hall need to follow it,” he said, adding that just wearing a mask when employees leave the office may not be enough. He advocated for requiring masks anytime someone leaves their desk, even if it is just to go somewhere else in the office.

“This is not a good time,” Kowalski said. “It’s time to remain extra vigilant. Masks and social distancing make a big difference, but they have to be used consistently and not really at people’s choices at whether they feel comfortable doing it.”

LaMattina concurred, noting the Town Hall is a 100-year-old building with “not the greatest air flow.”

Evans urged preparing for the possibility that Town Hall staff could be required to work remotely from home, as well.

Selectmen also voted to call for a Civil Service list to open a place for Whitman at the police academy.

SEMLEC mourns search/rescue officer

By

TAUNTON — The Southeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (SEMLEC) joins the entire emergency responder community in mourning the death of Taunton Police Officer John Borges, who died Dec. 24 at age 49 after battling COVID-19.

Somerset Police Chief George McNeil, the control chief and head of the SEMLEC Search and Rescue Unit (SAR) recalled Officer Borges as the “glue” that held the team together and one of the region’s preeminent experts on search techniques.

“Officer Borges worked the midnight to 8 a.m. shift, and when there was an active search for missing person, he would regularly stay past his shift and continue to work, on his own time. He didn’t even put in for overtime,” Chief McNeil said. “I have been a police officer for 34 years, and I learned new things every time I worked with Officer Borges. He was excellent at his job — the job of finding lost people.”

Officer Borges was one of the founding members of SEMLEC SAR in 2003 and remained on the team through multiple control chiefs and leadership charges in Southern Massachusetts. He possessed a wealth of knowledge on missing persons cases. He was a search and rescue instructor who trained other first responders in the region, including state officials and first responders around the nation. He was also an expert and instruction in Incident Command Systems (ICS).

Chief McNeil recalled a case from 2009 in which a man went missing during a particularly cold night. There was a language barrier with the man’s family, as they only spoke Portuguese. Officer Borges was fluent in Portuguese and was able to bridge the communications gap with the family, an essential task that helped lead rescuers in the right direction. They found the man and reunited him with his family.

“We were involved in many searches together, and when SEMLEC deployed for a search and rescue mission, the people of South Eastern Massachusetts could count on Officer Borges to be there, coordinating the effort to find a loved one,” Chief McNeil said. “He made our communities safer.”

According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, nearly 180 police officers have died of COVID-19 in the U.S. this year. These are people who cannot abide by stay at home advisories and cannot always be socially distant.

SEMLEC is a mutual aid consortium comprised of resources from the police departments of 30 cities and towns. We respond when requested by a chief of police to assist with search and rescue, special events, or major crimes. We also draw on some of the most talented police officers in the region to form the SEMLEC SWAT Team, which deploys when needed to save lives and protect the citizens of southeastern Massachusetts. Members are all sworn police officers from one of the 30 member communities. Our units respond only when called by one of the 30 chiefs of police in our region.

Schools keep wary eye on COVID cases

By

As surrounding towns of Abington, Rockland and Bridgewater-Raynham have had to return to fully remote learning due to COVID-19 spikes in their communities, Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak is working to keep W-H on it’s hybrid plan

“Honestly and truly we’re kind of hanging on by our fingertips and toes right now to try and stay in school,” Szymaniak reported to the School Committee during its Wednesday, Dec. 16 meeting. “Last week, the numbers were pretty high, we’ve leveled off a little bit.”

Members Christopher Scriven and Fred Small attended the meeting via phone. Small has been doing so for a few months and Scriven was ill.

Another member David Forth was absent, and quarantining after a possible exposure to the coronavirus.

There were 29 positive students from Dec. 9 to 16, according to Szymaniak — 20 of those became positive while in quarantine as many of the positive cases are among siblings. Seven staff members tested positive during that same period.

There were 142 students and 21 staff were in various stages of illness between Dec. 1 and 16. Many of those have tested out and completed quarantine.

Lead Nurse Lisa Tobin is required to report the number of student in a building the past seven days, but the district tracks the students who have already been in quarantine. There have been no teacher-to-student transmissions, Szymaniak said.

The district was shut down for snow removal during the Thursday, Dec. 17 storm so students in the Friday cohort could be at school before the planned switch to all-remote on Dec. 21 and 22 as a dry-run to see how it will work if needed later.

Szymaniak said he has spoken with both boards of health and reported that officials in Whitman and Hanson are concerned with social interactions over Christmas break.

Assistant Superintendent George Ferro reported W-H is among the 68 percent of Massachusetts schools meeting 35-hour time-on-learning standards during hybrid learning.

“We are fine for all the models we are using,” he said.

Athletic Director Bob Rodgers said there has not been a single transmission of COVID through sports participation so far this year. Parents will be allowed to attend home games, but because of crowd restrictions all Patriot League games will be streamed online.

Szymaniak said he has met with the Whitman Finance Committee and that the fiscal 2022 budget picture is still unclear.

“We don’t have direction from the Commonwealth yet, from the governor’s office to the Board of Education to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education,” he said. “We’re all hanging out there in limbo.”

He said he is not the only superintendent with that frustration.

Szymaniak also told the FinCom the district does not plan to complicate things financially by adding, or adding back, programs.

“I don’t feel it’s the time,” he said. “We still don’t know what school is going to look like next year.”

Neither a new no-cost all-day kindergarten program or a return of middle school foreign language is planned for the coming year.

Transportation issues are also unclear.

Giving back

WHRHS Principal Dr. Christopher Jones presented the proceeds of the National Honor Society’s 11th annual Miles for Meals 5K and one-mile walk. The event, held virtually on Oct. 31 this year, raised $2,190 through Go Fund Me as participants were encouraged to walk/run the event in costume and share photos on social media.

“This is another wonderful thing that happens here at Whitman-Hanson,” Hayes said, suggesting that more advance publicity of such and event could help raise more donations.

“That’s a teacher and a group, during COVID, coming together and thinking outside the box to make sure we’re still taking care of our community. You’re seeing that in every school. They’re doing things differently.”

The WHRHS Key Club has also just completed a toy drive.

“There’s a lot of giving going on, a lot of charity,” Jones said. “The creativity that’s going on for people to get around the traditional face-to-face type of things is fantastic to see, and shows the spirit of giving that these kids have — and the type of community service that they’re displaying — isn’t just something for show.”

Committee member Dawn Byers also commended the WHRHS Panther’s Den store, which has converted its holiday sales to online shopping.

She and Jones stressed the effort is led by the Visual Merchandising students.

“The class set that up and set up a website to do virtual merchandising instead of out of the store and now they have curbside pickup,” he said.

Cannabis business clears another hurdle

By

HANSON — The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, Dec. 15 voted to approve a draft special permit decision, with approved adjustments, for Impressed LLC’s proposed marijuana product manufacturing business at the town’s industrial park.

The Zoning Board of Appeals, for its part, approved the draft site plan approval as prepared by and with conditions assigned by town counsel.

Selectmen and the ZBA continued the public hearing for a special permit pertaining to the proposed for 15 Commercial Way back on Nov. 17.

The hearing had been continued regarding drainage and wastewater filtering, HVAC systems for odor mitigation and tax revenue to the town.

“Any waivers we would make or permits we would allow, a condition of approval would be conditional on Conservation Commission approval,” ZBA Chairman William Cushing said. “Since ConCom has jurisdiction over storm water, we should defer to them.”

Town counsel agreed with that assessment.

Installation of the HVAC system must undergo an independent third party peer review, by a firm hired by the town, to obtain a certificate of occupancy and a building permit, paid for by the business. After discussion, Selectmen changed the requirement to an engineering audit.

It also empowers the Zoning enforcement officer to issue cease and desist orders if problems arise from violations of the permit if an investigation were to conclude that took place.

Selectman Matt Dyer voiced concern over whether an independent auditer would know what they are looking for in conducting the inspection.

“Or be better qualified than the inspectors you have already hired,” agreed Selectman Wes Blauss.

“We need to ease up a little bit and deal with being more welcoming to businesses that do want to open up here because I don’t want to scare away businesses over permitting,” Dyer said. “I know what it’s like. My dad has a lot in town he was interested in doing something with, and at times, he was just ready to throw his hands up and walk away.”

He questioned whether other companies would want to bring start-ups to Hanson in view of the “nightmares” that have gone on.

“With the engineers looking at it and having it reviewed, I think it’s good enough,” Dyer said.

Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmet strongly disagreed.

“I think our role is to be welcoming to businesses, but this is the first business of this type that we’ve had,” she said. “What’s the point of having a hearing and having people express what their concerns are … if we’re not going to advocate for the citizens.”

She said that she supports Impressed LLC and business in town generally, but said Dyer’s concern about discouraging other business is a false argument.

“When you’re operating a business of this size, $2,000 [should not be prohibitive],” said Cushing, noting the cost of a peer review  should not impose a hardship on the business.

Impressed LLC co-owner Ralph Greenberg said his company was willing to facilitate an engineering audit if the town required one.

Police issues

Selectmen voted to approve Police Chief Michael Miksch’s recommendation to appoint Richard Bekerian as a full-time police officer, effective Feb.1.

Miksch said the switch to a regional dispatch system cost the department its five civilian dispatchers and needs four sworn officers — to work in-station — to keep the station open.

“We’re kind of finishing up that hiring,” Miksch said. “We had somebody scheduled for an academy. They’re not able to take that academy in early February … and we have an alternate (Bekerian) lined up.”

Bekerian, of Bellingham, grew up in Whitman and has been a police officer in Hopedale for the past two years. He was an auxiliary officer in Whitman before that. Bekerian has also worked as a diesel mechanic and a building superintendent in North Easton.

“He wanted to be a police officer [so he] left his job as a diesel mechanic, sold his house, moved back in with his parents and used the funds from selling his house to put himself through a municipal police academy at the State Police Academy,” Miksch said.  He took a job at Hopedale because it was the first department that was hiring. He wants to join the Hanson department because he and his wife, who is from Weymouth want to come back closer to home.

“He’d be a great addition,” Miksch said.

Bekerian must pass medical and psychological examinations and a background check before he is sworn in.

Selectmen also approved memoranda of understanding with the police union pertaining to collective bargaining — including a 2 percent cost of living increase — and emergency dispatch issues.

Wording regarding the impact on work hours from the shift to a regional dispatch center was tabled until the next round of bargaining according to that MOA.

Selectmen had also voted during an executive session to approve a 2 percent raise for Chief Miksch, effective Jan. 1.

First steps towards FY 2022

By

HANOVER — South Shore Tech officials have unveiled a $14,682,668 fiscal 2022 budget — and increase of $276,477, or 1.89 percent — representing a higher level of in-district enrollment along with a reduction in non-resident tuition, which will otherwise lead to a revenue shortfall of nearly $150,00.

No changes, meanwhile are projected in regional transportation reimbursement.

The district’s School Committee heard Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey’s fiscal 2022 budget presentation during its Wednesday, Dec. 16 meeting. SST uses a zero-based budgeting process to create spending plans. The final budget figures are not expected before the Wednesday, Jan. 27 meeting — the day Gov. Charlie Baker releases his budget. The budget certification vote has been slated for Wednesday, Feb.17.

Principal Mark Aubrey said there have been 206 applications an increase for the towns of Abington and Hanover and flat in all other towns except Hanson, where they are lower. The school usually sees about 300 applications at about this time, but because of COVID, Aubrey said the admissions officer has not been able to get into schools.

Assessments, based on minimum local contributions, capital, transportation and other costs above the minimum local contributions as well as debt service are calculated into the local assessments.

“The department heads did a wonderful job prioritizing and knowing this is a lean year that we would expect on the state level, and also on the local level as dollars are spread through educational and non-educational departments in each of our towns,” Hickey said.

The school district continues to control costs by long-range planning, use of grants to cover costs for technical equipment and personnel, industry donations and in-house talent.

Whitman School Committee member Dan Salvucci asked if COVID costs would continue to be included in the 2022 budget.

“One of the grants we have does have a longer [COVID-related] shelf life, which is good news,” Hickey said. “That has been on my mind, but I think by-and-large with the additional personnel and resources we have, I’m not adding substantial dollars for COVID expenses.”

He began with a celebration of accomplishments over fiscal 2021.

“Normally, I would have a long, bulleted list, [but] I can summarize it here in an obvious way, that from March 13 — almost a year, now — we have learned so much about teaching and learning in a pandemic,” Hickey said. “I couldn’t be happier with the efforts that our kids and our families and our staff are making.”

Looking to the future and goals for “the other side” of the pandemic, Hickey said the plan is to focus on pre-COVID priorities, some of which have been impacted by COVID-19:

• focusing on high-needs and economically disadvantaged subgroups who need to score proficient on MCAS;

• expanding social emotional learning initiatives while reconnecting with the school community;

focusing on larger capital projects in the facilities master plan and submitting a statement of interest to MSBA; while

• improving attendance and participation in the school’s breakfast program.

Hickey also envisions some teaching and support personnel additions, including an English language learner instructor, horticulture aide and part-time nurse support. These additions are expected to cost $76,660.

Capital requests in the budget include $35,000 for parking space expansion, $760,00 for a window and roof replacement project and $100,000 for partial design funds for master plan projects.

Whitman sets TA queries

By

WHITMAN — The Board of Selectmen are scheduled to spend the bulk of the day Friday, Dec. 18 interviewing candidates for town administrator.

Former Town Administrator Frank Lynam retired in mid-October, with Assistant Town Administrator Lisa Green named to serve in an interim capacity during the process of selecting his successor. Green is also one of the candidates being interviewed.

The interviews will be broadcast on Whitman-Hanson Community Access TV — no online streaming will be available — starting at 9:45 a.m. with Millville Town Administrator Peter Caruso. Green interviews at 10:45 a.m. with Hanover Finance Director Lincoln Heineman at 1 p.m. and Shirley Town Administrator Michael McGovern at 2 p.m.

The Board of Selectmen contracted with Community Paradigm Associates of Plymouth on Sept. 22 to conduct a search for the town’s new town administrator. The vote was 4-1, with Selectman Brian Bezanson voting for Municipal Resources Inc., (MRI), of Meredith, N.H.

Paradigm’s Bernard Lynch said his firm is the most active recruiting firm in the state with more than 50 town administrator searches to its credit. Recent area searches have included Pembroke, Plympton, East Bridgewater, Lakeville and Rockland. They are also currently working with Kingston.

“We know the region very well, we know the manager world very well,” said Lynch who has served as a town administrator for 30 years and Petrin has done so for nearly 40 years in Massachusetts. They generally get pools of 30 to 40 candidates.

“The list of towns [they serve], basically in our area, is very impressive,” said Selectman Dan Salvucci.

Hanson plan drive-through COVID testing dates

By

The Town of Hanson and the Accu Reference Medical lab will host a COVID-19 drive-through testing clinic on Saturday, Dec. 19 and Sunday, Dec. 20 at the Hanson Middle School, 111 Liberty Street from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.

Everyone (non-Hanson residents, also) are welcome to participate whether they have health insurance or not. All participants must be at least 1 year old.

There is no cost for those participants who are uninsured. The contractor is receiving money from the federal government to cover the costs of participants who are uninsured.

Please bring your health insurance card (if applicable) and a government picture identification card such as a driver’s license along with a completed registration form under the Board of Health tab at hanson-ma.gov. If you could make a copy of your license and health insurance card and bring it with the completed registration form it would expedite the process.

You do not need to have your physician sign the form.

All participants must remain in their vehicles at all times (this testing is available for drive-ups only; no walk-ins). All participants should leave adequate time to wait in line for testing and the length of the wait time depends on the number of participants. No appointments will be made.

The test will be the PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction)/Molecular test (the nasal swab test). Results will be available within 48-72 hours. Results will be obtained by accessing Accu Reference Medical Lab patient portal at https://results.accureference.com/patientportal/index.html – If you do not have access to the web site, you can call 877-733-4522.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health will be notified about all positive and negative test results. The Town will receive information about positive test results for residents of Hanson through the State’s MAVEN system.

Assessing the financial cost of COVID

By

WHITMAN — Fire Chief Timothy Grenno expressed concern to the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, Dec. 15 about “the perfect storm brewing” around the impact of a firefighter’s job-related injury and the overall impact of COVID-19 on the department’s budget.

Grenno asked for the board’s discretion and advice on how they wished him to proceed with the budgeting issue, as he forecast that he is looking at another $40,000 to $50,000 in costs if the injured firefighter is out as long as doctors have suggested.

“It’s only going to get worse,” he predicted. “Over the last several years, we’ve trimmed our budgets, and trimmed our budgets to maintain what we can maintain.”

The firefighter may require surgery and will be out three to four months, Grenno said. One of the budget lines cut has been on the Injured on Duty (IOD) line.

Typically funded at $50,000 per year, it was funded at $20,000 for the current fiscal year and is now at -$1,534.

“I don’t have the budget money to continue to cover that person, which would result in me running short,” Grenno said. “We’re in the middle of a major pandemic — my guys are seeing COVID cases and suspected COVID cases everyday.”

The COVID ambulance has made 59 runs already, he said, noting the department runs six-person shifts generally because of the demand for service.

Board Chairman Dan Salvucci if there was any way funds could be transferred into the IOD account at the Wednesday, Jan. 27 special Town Meeting.

Interim Town Administrator Lisa Green said she has passed the issue to the town accountant so he could look at some different line items where money could be transferred. She expected a report by Wednesday, Dec. 16 and that he had already suggested the streetlights and non-mandated busing lines as possible sources. Articles will be added to the special Town Meeting warrant, Green said.

Grenno also expressed concern that the CARES Act funding source dries up Dec. 30 unless it is extended. The department has spent $48,000 in COVID-related overtime to date.

“If, on Dec. 31, I have a shift exposed and I have to quarantine guys for seven days or whatever, one shift is a little over $7,100, two shifts is $15,000, and that’s me,” he said, adding he was not sure about the Police Department’s overtime numbers. “If I start to lose people I don’t have the money to back-fill those shifts.”

He added that the fall COVID issues are “magnified by 300” over levels seen in the spring.

“My big concern is, next week is Christmas, and then we have New Years, and no one is sure what is going to go on after that, and if I lose a shift, we’re facing big problems,” Grenno said. “We don’t know what COVID is going to do to us this winter.”

He said the Board of Health also asked him to speak about their budget problems. One of the board’s temps is paid with CARES Act money and, if they don’t receive continued funding after Dec. 30, it will be “extremely difficult” to perform COVID recording and contact tracing.

Green said, unfortunately she sees no change coming in federal financial policy until the new administration takes office.

Selectman Randy LaMattina advocated developing a COVID line at the special Town Meeting to prevent continuing needs for transferring funds.

“I would hate to make a decision right now, that we’re going to decide that our Fire Department is going to ride short-shift during a pandemic,” LaMattina said. “That’s a Town Meeting decision.”

Salvucci agreed, saying left-over funds after the pandemic can be used to back-fill other accounts.

Green was asked to discuss such a line item on the special Town Meeting.

Vaccine update

Grenno also offered more details about the town’s drive-through vaccination plans for Whitman Middle School, starting with the Phase 3 round of vaccines. The vaccinations would be for Whitman residents only, he said explaining that the Mass Dept. of Public Health as said each community will receive its own supply of vaccine.

He said the state reached out about an updated plan about a month ago because they do not want indoor vaccine operations.

“The plan has been updated and we’re good to go,” Grenno said. “We’re about to sign off on an agreement with Brockton Hospital, which is going to store the vaccine for us. … Everything is still up in the air on the vaccination program.”

He noted that DPH has not yet firmed up its dispersal plans outside of health care providers.

Pfizer’s vaccine must be stored at -86 F and can only be out of the freezer for two hours, limiting the number of doses available at a time and slowing the process, according to Grenno.

Johnson & Johnson is nearing the release of a vaccine that does not require storage at freezing temperatures.

“There’s a lot up in the air,” Grenno said. “Logistically, we’re set — we’re ready to go — if they came out tomorrow and said, ‘We want you to vaccinate your senior population in town, then we could do that, but I don’t expect to see that until probably late April or early May.”

Whitman already has 34 nurse volunteers signed up to administer the vaccine and firefighters are now in talks about their role. Whitman Fire has purchased 400 rapid tests and has contracted with Professional Ambulance in Cambridge to help with testing procedures and testing of town employees could begin next week, should any become exposed to COVID-19 and develop signs and symptoms.

Faster test results could reduce quarantine times and lower overtime costs, according to Grenno.

COVID places strain on food pantries

By

Whitman and Hanson food pantries, may be seeing greater demand for their services due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but residents who can have been pitching in to help all summer — and those efforts have been continuing.

Whitman’s Boy Scouts have been the latest to contribute.

Cub Scout Packs 59 and 22, and Boy Scout Troop 22, collected 8,000 pounds of food this month to help the pantry’s need to help fight food insecurity in town, according to Director Bruce Perry.

“This amount raised was the most ever in a Scout Drive and it was a result of all the hard work by the scouts and their families, and also to the generosity of the residents of Whitman,” he said noting it was done almost entirely through social media and word of mouth. “It is truly amazing how the Whitman community comes through when asked.”

Perry said the COVID-safe collection yielded twice as much as last year’s donations. People were asked to drop off donations at the Congregational Church.

“It was fantastic because our resources from St. Vincent DePaul in Stoughton has pretty much [dried up],” Perry said. “We haven’t been able to get anything out of there, because they didn’t do any of the Thanksgiving or Christmas baskets like they usually do.

Whitman’s pantry typically pays $10 per meal with a turkey and all the fruits and vegetables required for a holiday meal.

“They didn’t have the funds, for one thing, I don’t think,” he said this week. “They just said they weren’t going to be able to do it. I think it’s also because of the high demand coming out of Greater Boston Food Bank.”

Perry said that when St. Vincent DePaul couldn’t promise anything to client communities this year, they decided to ask local pantries to try to meet their needs on their own.

“One thing that helped us out was the Wahlberg Fund,” he said. “They helped us out this year with a lot of the things that St. Vincent DePaul usually helps with.”

The Wahlberg Fund supplied 100 turkeys, fruit and vegetables.

“This is the second year they’ve helped us out,” Perry said. “I think a lot of people had planned on another $1,200 [in federal stimulus money] coming to them and, unfortunately, it hasn’t so we have seen a slight increase in the number of people that need help — and not just one-time help, these are folks that have been coming back the last six or eight months since COVID started.”

The pantries in both towns were also faced with the COVID-related cancelation of annual summer fundraising events such as the McGuiggan’s Pub 5K, a Freetown triathlon where pantry volunteers worked in exchange for a donation, a K of C golf tournament and other fundraisers — which meant a loss of between $12,000 to $16,000.

Claire LaMattina’s “Whitman Strong” sign project brought in $15,500 for the pantry. A similar lawn sign project raised about $3,000 for the Hanson Pantry, according to Director Christine Cameron.

“We’re in very good shape,” she said. “Our contributions have been phnomenal, we have huge community support.”

While they are seeing some new people coming in for assistance, Cameron said the client numbers have remained fairly steady.

“Somebody up there is watching over us,” Perry said. “This was the perfect year for her to do something like this, because it made up for the lost revenue that we usually get from all those fundraisers as well as the number of people we help.”

Personal donations of all or part of stimulus checks from other residents has also helped.

The pantry will be giving out 125 holiday meal baskets and has donated close to $5,000 in gift cards to the Whitman Area Toy Drive, who also refer families in need to the pantry.

The pantry usually raises about half its donations over the last three months of the year.

At Thanksgiving, students at Whitman’s Louise A. Conley Elementary School raised $584 for the Whitman Food Pantry and $567.64 for Whitman Animal Control, according to district officials. The funds were matched by the school’s Parent Advisory Council (PAC), meaning each organization received over $1,100.

In addition, one of the school’s longtime friends, Sandy McCarthy, presented the school with yet another matching donation from her company, AEW Capital Management, to add to the gift.

The school’s typical Thanksgiving celebration needed to be cancelled this year, but in its place the school held a special fundraiser, “A Dollar for Dinner, a Penny for Paws,” to raise money for the projects.

“I am so humbled by the generosity of our community, but even more so by the commitment and feeling behind it,” Principal Downey said. “Our students made beautiful cards that were delivered to both the Food Pantry and to the Senior Center. They worked diligently to make something special, something that anyone would be honored to receive. This is what we are all about. Yes, we want our kids to work hard every day, but more importantly we want them to be good neighbors, good friends, and good citizens.”

This month students at Duval Elementary School collected 500 pounds of food to donate to the Whitman Food Pantry for Christmas baskets. Staff from the food pantry picked up the donation at the school Friday, Dec. 11. Several Student Council members assisted Whitman Food Pantry staff with Friday’s pick-up, helping sort and load the shelf-stable food onto a truck. Those members include Joshua Ahola, Jackson Barbosa, Meriem Fleury, Izobel Gilchrist, Alayna Loring, Tristan Lacandula, Isabella Mateus, Sabrina Spadorcia and Maxwell Sarhanis.

The Holiday Food Drive is an annual tradition at the school.

“Seeing as how most of these kids are only in-person two days a week, we were hoping we would still be able to donate a fair amount to the food pantry this year,” said PTO parent Kimberly Sarhanis. “But we should have known that the Duval community would not let this difficult year get in the way, and instead they pulled out an amazing, generous donation of 500 pounds of food.”

Area businesses, such as North Easton Savings Bank, have also supported the pantry.

Distribution is done through consultations over the phone with clients, who then pick up the meals at a proper social distance outside the pantry. No one is allowed inside.

Whitman and Hanson students active in the WHRHS Key Club hosting a Food Drive after Thanksgiving to support the Hanson and Whitman Food Pantries.

The Key Club is partnering with the National Honor Society, Food for Thought Club, and the nonprofit organization Project 351. Their goal is to stock the pantries before the December holidays, so people/families will have access to the food they need to enjoy these times. Food items may be dropped off until Dec. 18 to the Student Dining area, the gym and the main office. Cash or gift cards to local businesses should be put in an envelope and brought to either Mrs. Edkin’s or Mr. Szkutak’s rooms.

Whitman holds 20th annual Toy Drive

By

The 20th annual Whitman Area Toy Drive is working hard to gather donations, as they are weeks away from the Christmas holiday in a year of apprehension and doubt.

“We want these kids to have something under the Christmas tree … and COVID is not going to stop Christmas in Whitman,” said a determined President of the Whitman Area Toy Drive Donnie Westhaver.

Along with Vice President and co founder Jane Plasse, Westhaver said the organization is unwavering in their mission to meet the need of families in Whitman.

Seeing the community prevail over this year’s health and financial challenges of 2020 has been heartwarming for organizers as they look toward another drive-by toy drop off  this week being hosted in Abington to benefit the Whitman Area  Toy Drive. The community is encouraged to provide a toy for those in need.

The call to lend a hand in filling Christmas wishes is being answered as members of the community have amped up donations.

On Sunday, Dec. 6, Whitman Police held their sixth Annual Stuff-A-Cruiser benefit to assist the toy drive outside at the Whitman police station — filling nine cruisers in total throughout the day. Sunday’s turnout was larger than years past.

School Resource Officer Kevin Harrington extended a thank you to everyone that brought toys to their annual Stuff-A-Cruiser. He also thanked his partners in the event Whitman Officer David Hickey, Plasse and Westhaver for what they do for the community.

“Without people like you those in need would not be able to provide a Merry Christmas for their families. A big thank you to the Whitman community for your generosity during these trying times!” Harrington expressed in a social media post.

The community support is unwavering even though the changes of this year’s drive started with “mild concern,” Westhaver said.

Toll booth fundraisers normally set up in the Town Center had been cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions placing a deficit of $3,500 that the non-profit would have had at this time in December compared to past years, according to Westhaver.

Other donors have stepped in to help close that gap.

This week, Plasse and Westhaver were presented a “sizeable” donation from North Eastern Savings Bank on Bedford Street helping to offset the loss of other fund raisers that had been successful in past years but had to be cancelled this year.

We are concerned with the safety of all staff included (due to CDC regulations) we find that this is the safest way to continue the toy drive this year for the families to do their pick up via a drive through process, he said.

They are asking that residents be patient as they are answering as many direct messages and phone calls daily.

“We are taking a wish list for the children and we are going to do the best we can. We cannot allow parents to come in to the pavilion like in years past to pick out or handle the toys,” said Westhaver.

The plan, as in almost all events is to use the drive through method of distribution.

As of right now  there will be announced times for pick up as details become  finalized, organizers are asking for those in need to privately direct messages on Facebook to their  Whitman Area Toy Drive page.

In the meantime, the toy drive is also seeing people helped in the past, stepping up to give back.

Westhaver’s heart was warmed on Sunday after receiving toys from a woman who had been down on her luck several years ago.

She had received help from the toy drive and was giving back to help others now that she is back on her feet, he said.

Having a moment such as this was exactly why they continue to do the toy drive, he added.

An easier modification that can also assist the toy drive directly is a new Venmo account; reducing contact for people who wish to donate to cash orders but are socially distancing from outside events. Cash was used online for the Black Friday sales and free delivery specials allowing for increase in momentum as the shelves are expanding each day.

Residents are reminded Marcello’s sub shop, and Duval’s Pharmacy has a toy drop box as well as the main lobby at the Whitman police station.

Westhaver also commended the continued work of the Food pantry of Whitman St. Vincent De Paul who they work closely with in providing holiday meals.   A giving tree at the Holy Ghost church in Whitman is also a direct benefit to the Toy drive.

Abington Colony Cares for the Community located at 277 Washington Street on Dec. 11 from 5-8 is hosting a toy drive-up -drop off.  

Santa’s helpers will be outdoors with boxes excepting food pantry (non perishable) donations and unwrapped toys.

Some recent trends for tweens include LED lights in new decorating fads for bedrooms.  Westhaver said there are also requests for crafts, sketch pads, art supplies and gift cards to local businesses, nails salons, and coffee shop treats.