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| February 10, 2006 Barnstable Patriot |  |
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The 'old wreck'...
PATRIOT FILE PHOTO
TIMBER! - There's evidence that says this was once a ship, but nothing
conclusive, yet.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE A:1
"I knew immediately what
that was," Bearse said with
a smile.
His home is not more than
roughly a half-mile from the
beach in the area that he's
lived most of his life.
The wreck never had a
name associated with it;
the story his parents told
him was that it originally
wrecked on Martha's Vine-
yard, but was dislodged in
a big storm and brought to
Centerville.
"From the time I could get
to the beach, the wreck was
on the beach," Bearse said.
But whether it is actu-
ally part of a ship is what
Vic Mastone, director and
chief archaeologist for the
state's Board of Underwater
Archaeological Resources, is
trying to figure out.
"Just because people call
it something, doesn't mean
that's what it is," Mastone
said.
There's evidence that the
remains were at one time
part of a ship, but for Mas-
tone the current configura -
tion suggested that it could
have been reused, perhaps
built into a wharf. The
Centerville Wharf Company
operated out of that area
from around 1852 to 1879.
But there are enough
references to the "wreck" in
enough places -historical
pamphlets, town reports
and in the archives of this
newspaper - to give Mas-
tone pause and the wreck
theory more credence.
The Jan. 1, 1931 Patriot in-
cluded the briefest of items
on the removal of the "old
wreck," which was dynamit-
ed and taken away. The 1930
Annual Town Re-
port provides more
information, but still
contends that the
wreck was entirely
removed.
What DPW crews
found in December
suggests otherwise.
As does a photo-
graph, probably from
the 1910s, showing
two women and a
young girl sitting
atop wreckage that
bears a striking
resemblance to what
was pulled from the
beach.
When Robert Whit-
man of Marstons Mills
saw the timbers, he
was immediately con-
vinced it was a ship.
With 40-years of boat
building and repair behind
him, including work for
Chester Crosby& Sons, the
construction to him is not
that of a wharf.
There are other clues
within the piles of timbers,
although they're more dif-
ficult to discern.
"The knees are easy to
recognize," Whitman said,
"but the rest is ... it's a
puzzle, needless to say."
Mastone is consulting
with his colleagues around
the country, showing pic-
tures and providing as much
detail, including what this
paper found this week, to
see what they think.
The answer as to whether
it's the remains of a ship so
far is maybe. If it is a ship,
it was big. The dimension
of the beams are similar to
those found on four-masted
schooners built north of
here in Maine and Nova
Scotia, Mastone said. But he
can't be sure.
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Matheson assesses his time...
PAUL GAUVIN PHOTO
TECHNOCRAT'SADVICE-Chief assessor Paul Matheson retired today, but not before
explaining why he retired early and why the town should look at tax "system" changes
rather than attacking assessors who "only reflect the market."
CONTINUED FROM PAGE A:1
says he is "too young at 58 to retire,
and already wondering what to do,"
his future is as carefully laid out as
are the valuations he has brought
up to par in Barnstable - much to
the chagrin of many a waterfront
homeowner.
The soft-spoken Matheson has
already lined up consultant work
in towns near New Bedford , where
he lives in a condo. He also plans
to remain an active member of the
state's assessors' association.
"I'll be back to visit," he said.
Change At the Top
Meanwhilehisadvice to taxpayers
statewide isto agitatefor changesin
the overall real estate tax system.
"It isn't the assessors,"he said,"it's
the system. Going after assessors is
shooting the messenger. All asses-
sors do is reflect what the market
is telling them."
While he doesn't have an answer
to such the complex issue, he said
some states, such as Florida, limit
the increases in valuations in cases
of elderly on fixed incomes or effect
"some easing of exemptions."
During his 4-year reign, some as-
sessed values shot up by 150percent,
angering many homeowners and
politicizing what is essentially a
technical process. "That's because
there had not been a revaluation for
three years," Matheson said.
"I wasn't born yesterday. I knew
what I was doing when I took this
job and knew what could happen.
I personally knew some of the of-
fice staff here and they had a good
reputation in the state."
Matheson is a former Army inves-
tigator who held the rank of Captain
in Vietnam, and a hardened 10-year
privateeye around Boston. Referring
to the Puzzles gay bar massacre in
New Bedford last week, he said he
worked for one of the lawyers on
the "Big Dan's" pool-table gang
rape case in New Bedford. Puzzle's
is just a few blocks from Big Dan's
bar, Matheson said.
As an assessor, Matheson said he
ran into more outrageous situations
thanthe onesimmeringinBarnstable
during the past two years.
He said he was an associate as-
sessor in Fairhaven,just across the
Acushnet River from New Bedford ,
whenvaluationsalongthe waterfront
went up as much as 400 percent in
the 1990.
"It caused a political uprising.
More than 300 people tried to fill
the upstairs (meeting) room at
Fairhaven Town Hall to the point
that police were called and the
fire marshal threatened to shut it
down.
"We had 1,400 requests for abate-
ments that year out of 8,000 bills,
that's 20 percent. We had lines day
after day for 30 days of people with
abatement applications. And while
that was goingon, some people were
threateningarecall election and get-
ting rid of the assessors and getting
outside appraisers - all the same
arguments we heard here."
Been There Before
Barnstable was deja vu all over
again.
"Assessors all over the state and
other Capetownslookto Barnstable.
It isthirdin the stateinterms of land
area, 4th or 6th in parcels (36,000)
and 4th in aggregate property value
($14.2 bfilion), so with that comes
the political arena thing.
"There aretwo parts to assessing,"
he continued. "The first istechnical,
that is, arriving at equitable values"
based on state-mandated formulas
and the market, "and public rela-
tions, which is the political part."
Matheson views himself as more
the technocrat and, to hear fel-
low employees and supervisors in
Town Hall tell it, a very good one.
Mark Milne, director of finance and
Matheson's immediate supervisor,
(no kinto Councilor Gregory Milne)
said, "It's going to be difficult for us
to replace Paul. The pressure in the
divisionwas immense. He educated
the public and educated the town in
all areas of tax assessing.
"He brought us from tri-annual
to annual assessments, which will
relieve alot ofproperty value spikes.
He'smade many changes internally
that have been good for the town in
the long run,"Mark Milne said, "but
he's also taken a lot of shots from
people who argued over his assess-
ment methodology."
Matheson's successor, Jeffrey
Rudziak, begins next week.
Assessing Votes
As to referenda , he said there
are good reasons for and against
them.
Matheson was always calm at
meetings when trying to educate
citizens on the assessing process,
andjust as calmlytook it on the chin
from Councilor Gregory Milne, who
called for Matheson's scalp.
"That was the only upsetting
political event I had" during the
two year process leading to the
referenda.
Councilor Milne at the timewasin
atight racewithCouncilorBob Jones
in a consolidated precinct.
"Without asking me a single
question he said the revaluation
was seriously flawed, not done by a
competent person,that outside ap-
praisers wereneeded, ta dah,ta dah.
It waspolitical grandstanding onhis
(Milne's) part," Matheson said.
Otherwise, he said there was no
pressure or interference on him
from the administration concerning
day-to-day assessing operations.
"John Klimm runs a military-type
operation with a chain of command
and having been in the military, I
appreciated that."
He said the ballot questions initi-
ated by Councilor Milne resulted
in the split tax and exemptions for
residential homeowners -at the ex-
pense of second-home owners who
had no say in the voting.
Under current law.the 20-percent
shift to non-resident homeowners is
legal, but he predicts alot of people
will question it and advocate for
change, particularly since the same
non-resident homeowners already
pay apersonal property tax and use
fewer services than residents.
The affable and unflappable asses-
sor said he sees the day when prop-
erty taxes may reach a point where
the constitutionality of the current
system is seriously questioned.
Meanwhile, he is taking a vaca-
tion in Florida for a while and will
return to busy himself in the tax
enigma under the his new mantle
of "consultant."
A new way to
pay for lunch
There may be no such
thing as a free lunch, but
the Barnstable schools have
found abetter wayto handle
payments and track nutri-
tion.
After nearly two years of
development, the district's
Educational Technology
Department will launch a
Point-of-Sale (POS) pur-
chasesysteminthecafeterias
in Barnstable High School
on Feb. 28 and Barnstable
Middle School March 2.
The system utilizes a bar-
coded identification card
which is swiped through a
POSmachineat each cafete-
ria register.The card, which
also includes a photo ID, ac-
cesses an' electronic "bank
account" which parents may
load for the students using a
telephone or acomputer,and
worksmuchlike adebit card
account.
Students may also load
their account at the school
cafeteriausingcash,checksor
credit cards.Thiswillgreatly
increaseconveniencebothfor
students and cafeteria staff.
As a security precaution,
when the student swipes his
or her card,aphoto image of
the student appears on a ca-
shiercomputer terminaland
screenlocated atthe register
sothatpositiveidentification
is made.
In the event a student
forgets or loses his or her
card the school willhave the
ability to use the computer
terminal to look up the stu-
dent account, and positive
identification willbemadevia
the photographic image.
Because the card is being
swiped during the purchase,
technologywillbe utilizedto
make a record of what the
student purchases to eat,
and parents or guardians
can request access to those
records to track student
nutritional habits at school
andmonitortheir diets. One
of the driving forces behind
the development ofthisPOS
systemwasto remove socio-
economic and peer pressure
that students may feel when
they are entitled to free and
reduced lunch.
Eligible students will no
longerbe ableto beidentified
byotherstudentsastheypass
through the cafeteria lines,
as their eligibility will be in-
cludedinthe bar-codedinfor-
mationonthe card. Students
maystillcontinuetopurchase
food items with cash,checks
or credit cards.