Back to Advisory Committee Minutes
Town of Hingham
Advisory Committee
Hingham Town Hall
Present: Committee Members Seelen, Asher, Dwyer, Eldredge, Ellison, Farrell, Friedman, Innis, Lauter, MacCune, Marwill, Mooradian, O’Meara
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The Committee reviewed and unanimously approved the minutes for both February 2nd and February 4th 2010.
The Committee discussed the possibility of another meeting with the School Committee regarding the FY11 School budget. It was agreed that a Committee meeting for March 1st would be posted to provide another opportunity for Committee members to hear public input. The Committee will convene at the regularly-scheduled meeting of the School Committee.
The suggestion was made and acknowledged that the Committee should schedule time to discuss the School budget prior to the meeting at which the Committee votes on the School budget. The March 9th meeting agenda has been amended to include such discussion time.
A suggestion was also made that the Committee should discuss the FY12 budget calendar a month or so after this year’s Annual Town Meeting.
The Chair made the following points regarding the School Department’s potential use of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) Federal stimulus funds:
- ARRA grant funds are not part of Warrant Article #6, so the budget the Committee votes will not include ARRA funds
- ARRA grant funds are treated as Special Revenue and, therefore, do not affect the Fund Balance calculations
On a non-budget matter, Committee feedback regarding the test web site was positive. Accordingly, the web site will be made public as quickly as Town Manager of Information Systems Steve Becker and Systems Analyst Kate Richardsson can effect the promotion to production.
Department |
% Change from FY10 |
Comments |
Veterans’ Services |
16.97% |
YTY increase is driven primarily by a projected increase in State-mandated veterans’ benefits. |
Celebrations |
17.89% |
The $1,700 increase is mostly attributable to the Memorial Day veterans’ luncheon. Committee recommendation: Consider purchase of sound equipment to eliminate repetitive rental costs for Memorial and Veterans’ Day ceremonies. |
Library |
-4.91% |
The budget reduction is being accomplished mainly through attrition and the elimination of Sunday and children’s weekday nighttime hours. Amy Farrell recused herself from the discussion. |
Recreation Commission |
-.2% |
A portion of the Director’s salary and all other salaries and expenses are funded through the Recreation Revolving Fund. Jerry Seelen and Greg MacCune recused themselves from the discussion. |
The following proposed zoning amendments were reviewed and voted.
# |
Proposed Article |
Committee Vote |
A |
Re-zone former Mobil Station site to ‘Official and Open Space’ |
Affirmative--Unanimous |
B |
Changes to zoning-hearing fee structure and process |
Affirmative--Unanimous |
C |
Miscellaneous changes to Schedule of Uses and Definitions |
Affirmative--Unanimous |
D |
Changes to parking-quantity regulations |
Affirmative, as amended. Laura Marwill and Dennis Friedman asked to be recorded as voting ‘Nay.’ |
E |
Changes to outdoor-lighting-design requirements |
No Action. Lizzie Eldredge asked to be recorded as voting in opposition to the recommendation for ‘No Action.’ |
The Chair requested that any questions regarding the proposed Harbor Overlay District article be forwarded to Amy Farrell in preparation for the Planning Board’s hearing on February 18th and the Committee’s March 18th discussion.
The Chair reviewed the upcoming schedule of budget and article hearings and committed to summarizing them in an email to Committee members as well as in meeting agendas available on the Town web site and in the Hingham Journal.
The Chair noted that the Committee meeting originally scheduled for February 11th to review remaining Public Safety department budgets would be cancelled.
The Committee’s next scheduled meeting is on Tuesday, February 23rd.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:26 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Jonathan R. Asher, Secretary