Back to Advisory Committee Minutes
April 12, 2011 Meeting Minutes
Hingham Town Hall
Present: Committee Members Manning, Asher, MacCune, Ellison, Kirven, Power, Pyles, Marwill, Innis, O'Meara, Dwyer, Johnson, Farrell, Eldredge
1. Call to order
Chair Jack Manning called the Advisory Committee meeting to order at 7:30 PM.
2. Approval of Minutes
After discussion among the members, the minutes of the March 8, 2011 meeting, as amended, were approved by a vote of 13 to 1, with Amy Farrell voting "No".
After discussion among the members, the minutes of the March 10, 2011 meeting, as amended, were approved by a unanimous vote of the members present.
The minutes of the March 15, 2011 meeting were approved by a unanimous vote of the members present.
3. High School Track
The AdCom meeting moved to the North Hearing Room to join the Board of Selectmen for a hearing on the High School track. School Committee Chair Linda Hill presented a summary of the expected costs of the track and informed the BOS and AdCom that while the project had been scaled back from original estimates, the Town's contribution would likely be significantly higher than originally contemplated. Specifically, the $50,000 that had been approved as part of the FY 2012 capital budget would now represent the Town's initial contribution and be used principally to fund the design work. Future capital outlay requests would likely range from $175,000 to $200,000, but could be higher, depending on how much was raised and contributed through private fundraising.
After Linda Hill made her presentation and following some clarifying remarks from the Athletic Director and one of the High School track coaches, some AdCom members expressed concern about the process, especially as this was a significantly different scenario that had been presented to both the Capital Outlay Committee and the AdCom back in March.
Chair Jack Manning took an informal poll of the members present to gauge support for the re-direction of the previously approved $50,000. The AdCom voted 9 to 4 in support of the plan with members Dwyer, Pyles, Kirven and Johnson voting no. Further Committee discussion following the conclusion of the joint session reaffirmed the expectation that all capital requests should engage the normal capital outlay planning and review process.
4. Warrant Articles
Article WW—Sewer Operations consolidated into Public Works
While still in joint session with the BOS, the AdCom heard Article WW as presented by Jon Asher with additional comments from Michael Salerno, Chairman of the Sewer Commission.
The AdCom voted unanimously to approve article WW.
Article AA- Hersey House Lot 143 Open Space to Residence A
The AdCom meeting moved back to the South Hearing Room to hear Article AA.
The AdCom voted unanimously to approve Article AA.
5. South Shore Country Club Bowling Alley Business Plan
Jay McGrail, Director of Operations at SSCC, presented a plan under which the Club would acquire the bowling alley equipment and assume responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the bowling alley. It is expected that the bowling alley would initially operate at a modest profit, but do no worse than break-even. In order to execute the plan, the Club would need to make certain expenditures in 2012 beyond its approved budget. Accordingly, the SSCC Management Committee was requesting that either its 2012 budget be amended or that the AdCom acknowledge that a reserve fund transfer would be required if expenditures exceeded the amount in the approved budget. It was noted that the net effect of such a reserve fund transfer would be zero as it would be offset by unbudgeted bowling revenues. Ted Alexiades confirmed this to be the case. No motion was made nor a vote taken, but there was consensus among the members that the SSCC Management Committee should proceed with the proposed business plan.
6. Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 10:23 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Greg MacCune, Secretary