OAT Onset All Together

 When an employee moves to management they generally understand the change from an hourly wage to salary and benefit packages. Onset Fire decided to award two management employees nearly $50,000.00 in additional compensation. The annual meeting did not approve this.  OT calculation https://docs.google.com/file/d/1lkOssSe-bASm0IVX8HlEjH-lQgOS_fwX/edit?usp=docslist_api&filetype=msexcel Contract  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NbuRB0onRAN7mHMgs62i3iY6bYwOxIXb/view?usp=drivesdk District response  https://docs.google.com/file/d/1fMVk-G0rQ3DoDrt9jr3fAetSqjEmFz4w/edit?usp=docslist_api&filetype=msword

 Despite my many requests for dates, the warrant closed. The ratepayers have a RIGHT to insert warrant articles! Onset, when will you have had enough? 2021 Warrant

  The "data" accepted and repeated by the Wareham Selectmen, Finance Committee and Planning Board was built on a house of cards. VOTE NO on April 10 Noon, Spillane Field You must be present to vote! REPORT ON WAREHAM RE-ZONING PLAN BY NOTOS GROUP Frederic B. Jennings, Jr., Ph.D. 30 March 2021  Executive Summary of Findings and Opinions  EconoLogistics was retained in March 2021 to examine and evaluate the NOTOS Group’s re-zoning proposal  of ecologically sensitive land in northeastern Wareham, MA from R-130 to a Hospitality, Recreational and  Entertainment Overlay District (HREOD). This proposed business development project is based on a claim that  current zoning and COVID-19 will unduly burden Wareham municipal budgets on a perpetual long-term basis.  A set of studies by FXM Associates has raised concerns for Wareham’s fiscal resilience, supporting this re-zoning  plan as a business solution. The present report examines this argument and the eco...

You be the judge. This is my own transcription of the audio supplied by the District in response to a FOIA request. You may be surprised by what you hear. Audio of Meeting 3 minutes long April 9, 2020 No Roll Call taken. Frank Kowzik is the only Water Commissioner when the meeting opens so the Water Commissioners did not convene. Lisa Morales joined the meeting at 4:59. Pamela Pike calls the Prudential Committee meeting at 5:00 PM. “There will be no public participation the agenda is limited to um, I will entertain a motion to close the warrant and nomination papers deadline.” Charles Kleubler (?) “I make a motion to close the warrant and nomination papers deadline.” Frank Kowzic (?) and unidentified female: Second. [ Kowzic is not on the Prudential Committee and the Fire Commissioners meeting did not convene.] Marcine Fernandes (?) In the background, “All in favor?” (not the chairman) Pamela Pike: “Do we have a second from the Prudential Committee?...

The Town of Wareham commissioned a study to be done to inventory all properties and parcels within a defined area of the town. This study was completed by JM Goldson Community Preservation and Planning in conjunction with Silva Engineering Associates , and took place in the latter half of 2018. The purpose was to determine eligibility for block grant funding under MGL c.121A and c.121B. The results are similar if not identical to prior surveys. In this study, 762 properties were included, 694 of which contained buildings. Twenty-eight percent of the area studied meet the criteria including physical deterioration, abandonment, chronic high vacancy rates, environmental contamination, and/or significant decline in property values. Eighty-six percent of the Village's infrastructure components are in fair or poor condition and contributing to slum and blight conditions. These include water, sewer, drainage, utilities, roadways and sidewalks. The take aways from this include the ...

After an absence and hoping someone else would step up and do it, I went to the combined Onset Fire, Water and Fire Station Building Committee Meeting today. The meeting was posted for 4:30 PM back on September 19th. As I arrived at 4:50 after making the school run and finding the three Prudential Committee members and their paid recording secretary in conversation and signing paperwork, I assumed that I was late and did not interrupt to announce filming. I didn't bring my camera and tripod because I was late. I was very surprised when Fire Chief Goodwin arrived at 5:00 PM and they announced they would open the meeting. What? Hadn't it opened at 4:30? No. They were " socializing said the Chair Pamela Pike," one of them on the clock. That must have been what was happening when Melissa Goodell described Pamela Pike as a "cougar" referring to her younger male partner. There had been a Water Commissioners meeting scheduled for yesterday , September 25th...

It's that time of year when we try to understand what Onset Fire and Water Districts are spending. One elected official receiving family medical, dental and "Boston Mutual" costs the rate payers, us, $ 27,792.00. Let that sink in for a minute. This year, 4 Prudential Committee members and Water Commissioners received Blue Cross. 5 received Dental. And 4 received something called Boston Mutual, which is 25% of all those who received this benefit. However, this District will not reveal how much we spent on these elected officials.  Retirees include both actual employees and past elected officials. As has been the case in the past two years, they spent a great deal of money trying not to answer questions. Here's there response to a FOIA request http://bit.ly/2E75fJt . There's a link to their data on the website http://bit.ly/2E6T9QM The District further claims not to know how much they are paying for each job title, even though they...

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ONSET, MA October 28, 2018 Contact: Philip Schreffler, Esq. Eno, Martin, Donahue LLP, Lowell, MA 978-452-8902 dmartin@enomartin.com general mailbox TAXPAYERS SUE TO PROTECT PARKLAND AND THEIR RIGHTS Taxpayers in the Town of Wareham have filed a lawsuit in Plymouth County Superior Court to protect parkland in Onset decreed forever open and accessible to the public in a 1916 court decision and to stop the demolition of the coastal bluffs. The taxpayers seek an injunction as the Buzzards Bay Corporation imminent demolition of the building and the coastal bluffs. The lawsuit is over the town’s 99-year lease with the Buzzards Bay Coalition. The suit was filed against the town, the Coalition and David Warr, a Wareham resident who claimed an inherited right to assent to the lease. The plaintiffs support the proposed Onset Bay Center, to be located at the site of the current bathhouse sitting on Onset Beach. For the past few years, th...

Residency Status By example, requirements used to determine residency.  Your domicile, or legal residence , is your true home or main residence. You may have multiple residences at one time, but only 1 domicile. You can't choose to make your home one place for general living purposes and in another for tax purposes. Your legal residence is usually where you maintain your most important family, social, economic, political, and religious ties, and it depends on all the facts and circumstances per case, including good faith.   The basic rules that apply when determining a domicile or change in domicile: Each person has a domicile. It may be a: Domicile of origin (where they were born) Domicile by operation of law, or Domicile of choice (done by changing residence) Each person keeps his or her own present domicile until he or she establishes a new domicile in another place. A new domicile may be acquired only by: Abandoning the current domicile Estab...

At this point in time, the citizens of Onset should direct the Prudential Committee to explore joining with Wareham Fire and Water District. The dysfunction, mismanagement and exorbitant cost to taxpayers warrants this. Today, Lisa Morales received a No Trespassing Order from Ben Hughes and Charlie Klueber , falsely accusing her of "aggressive verbal and physical conduct and threats against members of the District's administrative staff during and/or immediately following the joint meeting of the District's public bodies on January 25, 2018." This is absolutely false. Hughes was not presen t, he had left the building, but he signed off on this lie. Since only two clerical staff were present, and Lisa did not speak to Mary McCarthy, this must refer to Melissa Goodell, the $27.50 an hour part-time clerk. Melissa Goodell called Lisa Morales an "asshole" while leaving the January 25, 2018, public meeting, and Lisa did not respond.  Water Commissioner Kowzic...

Most of us have come to expect, if not accept, a level of partisanship and posturing from elected officials. Deliberate lying is beyond what we should tolerate. Filling a vacancy on a committee steering the construction of a $9 million fire house is not the most important public appointment in the world.  But the Onset Fire and Water District Prudential Committee has overstepped the bounds of decency. At the meeting of January 11, 2018, the Committee chairman stated they would fill the vacancy by first contacting those who had submitted written “applications,” i.e. letters of interest. That seemed reasonable. At the Building Committee meeting of January 23, 2018, Chairman and Water Commissioner Frank Kowzic had four letters of interest; and he responded to a direct question, “Have all of these applicants been contacted and indicated they still wish to be considered?” with “Yes they have.” He was looking directly at me, there was no misunderstanding the question nor ...

One of the biggest reasons we are posting these videos is that otherwise this would be called "fake news." You can't make this stuff up, however. The meeting did indeed begin about five minutes before the posted time.  https://youtu.be/v7zLK7EGrkQ Highlights include a motion to accept the minutes of a prior meeting from a member who was not there.  The committee's clerk Cathy Anderson does not seem to be up on the Prudential Committee's plan to contact former "applicants." Today district Clerk Treasurer Mary McCoy stated there was no actual application but letters were submitted. Anderson was surprised that the letters presented to them were from 2015.  Chairman Kowzic stated that the four "applicants" had been contacted and wanted to continue to be applicants.  The Committee waited over seven minutes for Melissa Goodell to copy the four pages. From what can be discerned, the applicants were David Evans, Mr. Lerner, Ed Ransom and...

January 9 and January 11

Wareham Selectmen outline goals for the year By Matthew Bernat | May 23, 2017 2 Increasing foot traffic in Wareham and Onset Villages, organizing town records and pushing for a commuter rail stop are some of the items on the Selectmen's agenda this year. Soon after being elected as the board’s chair last month, Peter Teitelbaum asked all Selectmen to develop goals they’d like to work toward. On Tuesday, members shared some of their answers. Selectman Alan Slavin noted that he’d continue to make transportation issues in general, and finding a site for a bus stop on Merchants Way in particular, his pet project. Additionally, he’ll work closely with Planning Department officials on developing a new master plan for Wareham. The document outlines recreation, commercial and residential goals over a 10-year period. Selectman Anthony Scarsciotti said he would make increasing foot traffic in Onset Village and downtown Wareham a priority. Scarsciotti said he’s already h...

Very slowly information is being extracted regarding the true costs of running the Onset Fire District, through filing of Freedom of Information Act requests. Source: Onset Fire District Records Officer. The District spent a great deal of money on a lawyer to tell us that they are not about to give us public information.  The irony is that they just completed collective bargaining negotiations, and should have had all of this information collected and in use for negotiations. Some information gleaned from this request: The health and dental insurance benefit is very generous.  When considering total "pay" salary plus benefits plus retirement must be considered together.  Each current employee and a Prudential Committee member receive the benefit of $745.00 a month for a single plan or $1,986.00 a month for a family plan for medical only. The Onset Fire and Water District has 85 employees. The Paid Leave benefits are as much as 33 days a year (6 1/2 work weeks). ...

Meeting to “ratify” the Firefighter’s salary increases and transfer money for well repairs.  Officers of the Onset Fire District: Prudential Committee: Charles Klueber Chairman Marcine Fernandes Clerk Pamela Pike Member Water Commissioners: Benjamin Hughes Chairman Kenneth Fontes Clerk Frank Kowzic Member Board of Engineers: Cheif Ray Goodwin Deputy Jeffrey Osswald Deputy William Ellis Clerk-Treasurer: Mary McCoy The Prudential Committee of the Onset Fire District is calling for a Special District Meeting to be held on November 21, 2017 at 7:30PM at the Dudley Brown VFW on Gibbs Ball Park Road, Onset MA The Warrant will be closed on November 9, 2017 and will be posted then.