February 22, 2023 By Carol Britton Meyer
Due to ongoing litigation, the South Shore Country Club pool project remains on hold. The next hearing is scheduled for March 31.
Last fall, several abutters to the town-owned SSCC appealed the Planning Board’s decision granting the Town of Hingham a Special Permit A-3 and site plan approval to construct a new pool facility, which delayed the start and completion of the project.
Town Administrator Tom Mayo confirmed this week that “there is no plan to open the pool this summer” in response to a Hingham Anchor inquiry.
“The town will have a better ability to evaluate a bid and construction schedule as well as the cost of the pool project once the litigation concludes,” he said. “Given that the litigation is ongoing, we can’t provide further comment.”
The appeal followed an affirmative vote at the April 2022 Town Meeting appropriating an amount not to exceed $8 million for the town-owned pool facility. Because the Community Preservation Committee’s $550,000 pool funding recommendation passed under Article 17, the figure named in the related warrant article decreased by that amount.
This agenda item required a two-thirds majority vote, which was achieved — 317 to 95, or 77 percent of the citizens who participated in the vote. In order for the project to move forward, an affirmative vote was also required at the May 14, 2022, town election, which was the final outcome.
The plan includes a handicapped-accessible six-lane, 25-yard lap pool, a zero-depth entry pool, a bathhouse, equipment storage building, and a splash pad.
Although the pool design would accommodate an all-season “bubble” covering, any proposal beyond a summer pool would require future Town Meeting approval on the budget side.
The Hingham Anchor reached out to the attorney for the plaintiffs and also to a SSCC abutter who is one of the plaintiffs asking for comments but did not hear back from either the attorney or the abutter.