HANSON – The town is finding many hands make more efficient – if not lighter – work when it comes to enforcing codes and running recreational outlets.
The Select Board voted on Tuesday, Jan. 9 to create an Inspectional Services Task Force for code enforcement. It is not a committee, but several town officials working together in furtherance of their day-to-day jobs, Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said.
Fire Chief Robert O’Brien, Deputy Chief Charles Barends, Building Inspector Cary Glass, Health Agent Gil Amado and Green have been meeting regularly on Monday mornings to discuss code violations in town.
FitzGerald-Kemmett said it should not be limited to those officials as Conservation Agent Frank Schellenger or other officials might be included from time to time as their boards or commissions have jurisdiction.
“[It’s] mainly focusing on commercial/industrial code violations,” Green said. “We’ve found these discussions to be very helpful, beneficial – it’s the departments working together addressing complaints that are received and following up and making sure all our businesses are following all the codes – it’s been very helpful to go out to these businesses as the inspectional task force.”
She said they talk about solutions together and with business owners to ensure compliance.
“We would like the board to officially vote to accept this new Inspectional Services Task Force so that we could come up with a mission, some goals, provide the board with some reports of our progress …it allows us all to work together,” Green said.
Amado agreed the task force works well.
“We do have a lot of code violations in the town,” he said. “I think this will work out very well … maybe stop some of these things before they start.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett said the board has expressed a number of times in executive session how impressed they have been on the amount of progress Green has been able to make on some long-standing issues in town.
“It’s been very clear that, when you guys work together and you’re sharing that information, it’s so much more powerful in terms of enforcement and in terms of getting the message … resources and in terms of each of the enforcement disciplines feeling support and not feeling as though they’re on their own trying to … fight the windmills on their own,” she said. “It’s the best of Town Hall working together and I would love to see more of that happening on other things.”
The board also approved the drafting of a warrant article and budget to create the Hanson Recreation Commission.
Vice Chair Joe Weeks had presented an outline to the board to establish some form of recreation committee and what it might be and how the committee would work, how facilities would be maintained and around overlap with other committees and commissions.
“This is just the beginning, it’s just to start the process,” he said. “I don’t know if we specifically want to name things like High Street Park oversight in this, although it might be a good idea, I just want to give a layout at first.”
He suggested a five-person committee that reviews policy, programs, procedures and recommends fee structures to the Select Board, when applicable, with committee input welcomed. He also drafted mission and vision statements to be discussed by the board.
Weeks asked if a committee should be given specific oversight over certain jurisdictions like High Street.
“I guess this is the starting point to figure out what we want to do,” he said.
FitzGerald-Kemmett agreed that the High Street Committee was formed to form the blueprint of the park location [at the former Plymouth County Hospital grounds] but, in doing so, she added, a lot of programming questions have cropped up.
“I don’t have a problem with giving them programming responsibilities at High Street,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “Where it gets weird is [whether] they would be responsible for programming at Camp Kiwanee or working with the Camp Kiwanee Commission.”
Camp Kiwanee Chair Frank Milisi said it would be a cooperative working arrangement.
“That’s one of the joys of a town department, we will work together with you for literally no cost,” he said.
FitzGerald-Kemmett pointed out that it would take a Town Meeting warrant article to create a new Recreation Committee.
“I think this is exactly what I’ve always heard people saying that we need,” she said. “We’ve just never to put pen to paper for it.”
Board member Ann Rein said she was a bit confused about the difference between a commission and a committee. The rest of the board agreed that they did not know the difference, either.
High Street Committee member Alex Stewart said he Googled the terms.
“A committee operates as an internal regulation while a commission is more external,” he said.
“So it’s really a [recreation] commission,” FitzGerald-Kemmett adding the change on paperwork could be easily made.
Milisi said a budget line item for any commission would also be needed in drafting a warrant article.
“You will need money in that account to run those programs,” he said. “That’s the one thing that we weren’t [prepared for] at Camp Kiwanee. You need money for everything. Recreation doesn’t come free.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett suggested some coordination with the Cultural Council, which is funded through the state, the Library and Senior Center.
The Board approved Treasurer-Collector Lisa Clark’s employment contract agreement, which compromises on the use of vacation time. The position comes with a total of 25 days’ vacation time, Green said.
“What we thought was a good compromise on this would be to break the vacation accrual into two separate times,” she said. “Basically, on July 1, 2024, she would receive 12.5 days and then on Jan.1, 2025, she would receive 12.5 days. This way, she’s not being front-loaded the full amount … and there is a clause in the contract that she would be allowed to carry over up to 10 days.”
The Board approved a further modification suggested by Weeks that an additional five days could be carried over, if necessary.
The Select Board had been concerned that someone might use the month of vacation time and then leave the position.
The three-year contract runs through to Dec. 31, 2026.