Town Meeting: Voters approve funding for proposed Country Club pool, public safety facility, and a new Foster School

May 1, 2022 By Laura Winters and Carol Britton Meyer. Photos by Joshua Ross.

More than 400 Hingham registered voters gathered on the sun-drenched Hingham High School multi-purpose athletic field Saturday afternoon to consider 32 warrant articles, related in part to a proposed new South Shore Country Club pool, Foster Elementary School, and public safety facility, new tennis courts at the high school, and a proposed Fiscal 2023 $138 million town budget, including $62.7 million for the schools. Voters were in a "yes" mood, approving every article, many of them unanimously.

When citizens arrived at the high school, warrants in hand, they were greeted by dozens of enthusiastic volunteers holding signs for their candidates of choice in the May 14 town election.

Before the journey through the warrant began, Congressman Stephen Lynch addressed the crowd, sharing information about funding and assistance to Ukraine, also noting that Hingham has long had the highest number of young men and women who are accepted into  our nation’s military academies of any community in the district he serves.

Articles 1 through 16 passed unanimously, including the proposed town budget and $4 million for window and door replacement at Plymouth River School and other repairs or replacements as needed to "materially extend the useful life of the school and preserve an asset that otherwise is capable of supporting the required educational program." The town has applied for a Massachusetts School Building Authority construction grant to cover part of the cost.

Resident Ed Johnson said that he was on the energy efficiency audit committee in the 1980s, at which time the window replacement for PRS was first recommended.  Now after all these years, Johnson said he's pleased that he’ll see them replaced in his lifetime.

Article 16 asked voters to appropriate from available funds up to $2.2 million to be expended by the Select Board to pay for a new fire engine pumper, new roofs for Fire Station One and Three, and replacement of the Station One HVAC system, gutters, trim, and portico. The deputy fire chief and Building Department will oversee the work.

A Linden Ponds resident asked if it would be possible to add solar panels to the design. While there's a commitment to make the project as "green" as possible, all of the details have not yet been worked out.

During the portion of the meeting when Community Preservation Committee recommendations were discussed, a hold was placed on the article related to appropriating $550,000 from the town's Community Preservation Act funds to be put toward construction of a new pool complex at the Country Club. This led to a lengthy discussion regarding the proposal, which was conducted at the same time as the discussion under Article 18. The four CPC projects were ultimately approved by voters, including the recommendation to place $20,000 in the Community Preservation General Fund; $166,840 to be used by South Shore Habitat for Humanity to create two new affordable single-family homes at 302 and 304 Whiting St.; and $289,815 to reconstruct the Cronin Field hockey field also passed.

Article 18 -- seeking funding for the proposed Country Club pool -- required a two-thirds vote to pass. Voters were asked to authorize borrowing of up to $8 million. Because the CPC's $550,000 pool funding recommendation passed under Article 17, the figure named in Article 18 is expected to decrease by that amount.

While Article 18 ultimately won Town Meeting approval, Town Moderator Michael Puzo was in doubt as to whether there was a two-thirds majority from the initial voice vote, after which a standing vote was called. Once the tellers had tallied the votes by row, it was announced that the two-thirds vote had been achieved -- 317 to 95, well more than 2/3^rd’s of the citizens who participated in the vote.

In order for the project to move forward, an affirmative vote is required at the May 14 town election, such a vote at the polls being required by State law, this being as a so-called “debt-exclusion” under Prop. 2 ½.

Articles 19 through 32 were also approved, including authorization to borrow for water capital improvements for the Weir River Water System; funding for pre-construction costs for a potential new Foster School ($3.1 million) and the proposed new public safety facility at 335 Lincoln St. (up to $1.6 million); reduction of the speed limit to 25 miles per hour on any roadway in a thickly settled or business district that is not a state highway, in the interest of public safety; the possible transfer of care, custody and control of a portion of transfer station property to the Hingham Municipal Lighting Plant for the construction and operation of a new electrical substation as the first step in the process; Hingham High School tennis court rehabilitation (the School Committee and school administrators have identified $300,000 in available Athletic Revolving Funds that will be applied to the total cost -- not to exceed $864,000); and amending the zoning-bylaw related to residential accessory uses.

At the beginning of the Article 23 Foster School discussion, School Building Committee Chair Ray Estes acknowledged the contributions of the late Edward J. Schreier, a longtime School Committee member, to the Hingham Public Schools.

After about three hours from its formal opening, Select Board Chair Joe Fisher moved that the 2022 Annual Town Meeting be dissolved. The motion was seconded by many stalwart citizens and adopted by unanimous voice vote.