August 2, 2019 by Carol Britton Meyer
The Selectmen had a full agenda this week. Here's a wrap-up of what happened at their July 30 meeting, from appointing five new police officers to declaring August 10 Hingham Farmers Market Day.
The town's cable television license with Comcast was renewed. "An important point is that there will be one HD (high definition) channel for public, education, and government programming," Selectman Karen Johnson told the Hingham Anchor. John Rice from the Cable TV Advisory Committee noted that this channel would carry “best of” programming. "The Committee successfully negotiated capital payments as well as a stream of revenue in exchange for the license," Johnson said.
The agenda also included a harbor dredging update. "We are very proud of the efforts of our harbormaster, Ken Corson, in securing a $2 million state grant from the 2019 Dredging Fund established by the state for the dredging of Hingham's Inner Harbor — a vital boating location for the town," said Johnson.
"Ken’s effort will defray the dredging costs that would otherwise have been borne by taxpayers." The dredging project is expected to take place from Oct. 1 through January 31, 2020, which is the entire dredging season.
Interviews took place to fill several police officer positions. "We hired five remarkable candidates for new police officers -- Jake Handrahan, Max Goldstein, Alex Hartman, Kevin Duff, and Christopher Meservey," Johnson said. The candidates went through an extensive hiring process including mental and physical evaluations and background checks. All five candidates were then thoroughly reviewed [at Tuesday's meeting] by the members of the Board of Selectmen as the hiring authority for police officers. "Each candidate expressed a desire to serve the residents of Hingham," Johnson said.
According to tradition, the Selectmen had a conversation about potential goals and objectives for the current year. "We talked generally about our individual and collective goals, being mindful of the time we will need to devote to the water company acquisition transition effort," Johnson said. This conversation will continue at a future Selectmen's meeting.
Also related to the acquisition process, James Taylor and Scott Cyr were appointed to the Water Transition and Evaluation Committee. Further information about the water company acquisition and transition will be available at upcoming Selectmen's meetings.
On a lighter note Saturday, Aug. 10 was proclaimed Farmers Market Day in Hingham in conjunction with National Farmers' Market Week Aug. 4 through 10, which celebrates the bountiful fresh fruit and vegetables available at this time in the summer season.