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Advisory Committee
October 17, 2006 Meeting Minutes

Town of Hingham
Advisory Committee
October 17, 2006 Meeting Minutes

Present:  Port, Bierwirth, Alvarado, Barclay, Burns, Ellison, Farrell, Kiernan, Lauter, Manning, Reardon, Seelen

Chair Linda Port called the meeting to order at 7:31PM in the Town Hall Building.

The Committee reviewed and approved the minutes from the September 12, 2006 meeting.

Chair Linda Port announced that Jim MacAllen has resigned for health reasons.  She thanked Jim for his service and wished him well on behalf of the Committee.

Alan McDonald presented an update for the School Facilities Study Committee.  In addition to the Committee, Superintendent Galo, David Killory, members of the present and past School Committee were in attendance. 

• An updated ten (10) year enrollment study is planned.  Planning still includes extended/full day kindergarten.
• The project is based on the opening of a new elementary school in the fall of 2008 to be used as "swing space" for a fifth/sixth grade academy while the Middle School is under renovation.
• The amount of funding Hingham can expect from the Commonwealth School Building Program is still up in the air, but Hingham is in constant conversation with the Commonwealth.
• The Committee is evaluating what they will present to Town Meeting 2007.

The Chair thanked the Committee for their efforts to date and asked that the Advisory Committee be kept up to date on the progress of the project.

David Killory announced the School Tour will be on November 18th beginning at the Middle School at 8:00AM.

Linda Port opened the next segment of the meeting addressing Ballot Question 4: Repeal of the Community Preservation Act (CPA) in Hingham, with an explanation of why the topic was put on the agenda.

• The intent was to provide an open forum for discussion of the topic.
• Linda personally invited the proponents, who declined to attend. 

Bill Reardon addressed the "conflict of interest" issues raised by the proponents of Ballot Question 4.  There are no issues with the Advisory Committee discussing and/or taking a position on the CPA in general and the Ballot question in particular, according to Town Counsel.

He also addressed the need for members of the Advisory Committee to disclose potential conflicts of interest.  He then stated, for the record, even though his wife, Kathy Reardon is involved with the Hingham Land Conservation Trust, this did not present a conflict of interest for him as a member of the Advisory Committee.

Val Talmage and several members of the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) discussed the history of the CPA in Hingham.  She said the CPC decided not to take a public position on Ballot Question 4.

Jim Doyle, representing the Harbor Development Commission, spoke in opposition to Ballot Question 4.

Ron Cluff, on behalf of the Bare Cove Park Committee, spoke in opposition of Ballot Question 4.

After a lengthy discussion, the Advisory Committee voted on two items.

• The Advisory Committee voted unanimously to make a recommendation to the Town on the Ballot Question 4: Repeal of the CPA.
• The Advisory Committee voted 10 to 1 to recommend to the Town that it vote "no" on Ballot Question 4.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:07PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Irma Lauter
Secretary