Hanover Select Board Demands Answers on Lost ARPA Funding
Officials express concern over $1.1 million loss for Sylvester School project
HANOVER - April 7 - The Hanover Select Board is seeking answers after learning the town lost $1.1 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding that had been earmarked for a Sylvester School rehabilitation project.
During the April 7 meeting, Town Manager Joe Colangelo addressed the funding loss, which became public knowledge after a social media post on Sunday sparked discussion about the situation.
"I'm certainly as disappointed as anyone," Colangelo says. "The Sylvester rehabilitation project was something I've been working on almost since I got here, something I was hoping that we'd be able to do."
According to Colangelo, the town submitted a list of planned projects to Plymouth County in February 2024, including the Sylvester School project. He states the town received no feedback suggesting any projects would be ineligible until around September 30, 2024 – the deadline for obligating funds.
"We didn't find out that we weren't confident that the Sylvester project would be reimbursed until after we would have had an opportunity to really look for a different use for that money," Colangelo explains.
Rather than risk signing contracts for hundreds of thousands of dollars without guarantee of reimbursement, Colangelo says the town opted not to proceed with the project around Thanksgiving.
"It is very unfortunate," Colangelo adds. "I wish that we had some indication that the project wasn't going to work, certainly well before September."
Select Board Vice Chair Rhonda Nyman expresses concern about the situation, noting she first learned of the funding loss while watching the Plymouth County Commissioners meeting of March 27.
"1.1 million dollars to the Town of Hanover right now is a lot of money," Nyman says. "Is this a political game?"
Nyman, who serves as an advisory member to the Plymouth County Commissioners, calls for a joint meeting between the Select Board and county officials to investigate what happened.
"I would like to get to the bottom of it," she says. "I think we should do it sooner than later and see if there was any improprieties in the process."
The situation has taken on political overtones, with Colangelo and Select Board Chair Vanessa O'Connor both referencing comments made by Plymouth County Commissioner Jared Valanzola on a podcast that appeared to blame Nyman for the funding loss.
"I heard this podcast... making it seem like Ms Nyman dropped the ball here," Colangelo says. "Rhonda had nothing to do with this project. I don't know where that came from."
O'Connor expresses dismay at the commissioner's comments, saying she was "horrified to find that one of our elected officials is sitting there kind of bad-mouthing local elected officials and employees that are stepping up to run for positions and to engage and mocking them for political successes or failures that they've had."
Hanover is one of four communities that lost ARPA funding, along with Pembroke, Lakeville, and Duxbury, according to Nyman.
The Select Board agrees to schedule a meeting with the Plymouth County Commissioners to address the situation.
"I'd like to see the county come in that's supposed to be representing us and seems to have plenty of time to talk bad about people on the radio, come and have a conversation with us," O'Connor says.
In other business, the Select Board received a presentation on the upcoming Hanover Energy Choice program, a municipal electricity aggregation initiative approved by town meeting in May 2023 and set to launch this May.
Marlana Patton from Mass Power Choice, the town's consultant for the program, explains that Hanover Energy Choice offers residents three options for electricity supply with fixed rates for 30 months.
"This is a municipal program. It's not a private program that is owned by a private company," Patton says. "It's a public service that's being offered by the town, and it's regulated by the state."
The program impacts only the supply portion of residents' National Grid bills, not the delivery charges. National Grid will continue to deliver electricity, send bills, and handle power outages.
"One big important detail to get out early is that Hanover Energy Choice is not a replacement for National Grid as your electric utility," Patton emphasizes.
The program offers three options: Hanover Standard (the default option) at 13.107 cents per kilowatt-hour, Hanover Greener at a slightly higher rate with 20% additional renewable energy, and Hanover Greenest with 100% renewable energy at the highest rate. All three options currently offer savings compared to National Grid's residential rate of 14.672 cents.
Residents with National Grid's basic service will be automatically enrolled in the Hanover Standard option unless they choose to opt out or select one of the other options. Those who have contracts with other electricity suppliers will not be automatically enrolled but can choose to join.
"Participation is not required," Patton notes. "You have the choice to opt out before being automatically enrolled... or you can choose to participate and then change your mind anytime in the future."
The opt-out period runs from March 19 to April 21. Residents who received notices in the mail bearing the Hanover town seal can opt out during this period if they don't wish to participate.
A second information session will be held at the Council on Aging on April 16 at 1 p.m. for residents seeking more information about the program.
Hanover joins more than 200 other Massachusetts communities that have implemented similar municipal aggregation programs.