Present: Susan Murphy, Hingham Planning Board; John Riley, Selectmen, Ben Wilcox, HDIC; Nick Amdur and Alan Perrault Harbor Development Committee; Ken Corson, Harbormaster; Katy Lacy, Town Planner; Joan Williams, Hingham Bathing Beach.
Minutes
The Committee voted to approve the Minutes of July 27.
Updates
Ms. Lacy reported on the status of ongoing project to compile all of the various documents related to land in the Harbor. At this point a significant amount of material related to each of the public and private properties in the Harbor (including deeds, regulatory decisions, etc.) has been collected and placed into binders. An annotated bibliography is also in the works.
Nick Amdur noted an uptick in the level of public outcry about the quantity of goose poop in the park areas near the Bathing Beach and Harbor. He mentioned that he had been approached by someone who manages this kind of situation using a Border Colley. The Committee asked that Mr. Amdur find out what would be involved with this approach in terms of money.
Ms. Murphy asked about the possibility of creating some sort of “Friends of the Harbor” to raise money to fund small projects such as goose eradication.
There was a discussion about the need for secure trash containers at the Bathing Beach. Ms. Williams noted that there had been covered containers placed there, and that the covers had been stolen. They have had more success with trash enclosures, though this does not completely avoid the issue of use for domestic trash.
Mr. Amdur noted that the Coastal Sweep would take place on Saturday, September 19, and was being organized by Adrienne Ramsey.
Joan Williams, Trustee of the Bathing Beach, reported that the bath house was in bad condition, though the fixtures had recently been replaced by the Rotary Club. The committee encouraged her to prepare a “wish-list” that they could use for a cost estimate. John Riley asked whether the Bathing Beach could charge their users, such as the Farmer’s Market, a fee to raise funds for beach operations.
Doug Pilgrim, of Otis Hill Road suggested that someone approach REI or Eastern Mountain Sports to see if they would be interested in making a donation.
Report from Harbormaster
Ken Corson presented an update on a variety of items that he has been working on.
In terms of the Harbor dredging project, Ken Corson reported that there had been a pre-bid meeting, and that the Town would be selecting a contractor in the next week or so. All boats must be out of the Harbor by October 1, and all moorings must be out by October 9. He is working with the High School Rowing team to allow them to keep practicing into October.
Ken also reported that the Department of Waterways will be funding the development of a mooring optimization plan. The final plan should result in a better organized mooring field, and will hopefully include additional moorings including a limited number of new transitional mooring for larger boats.
John Riley asked whether the Division of Waterways could also assist the Town in developing an RFP for running a town-controlled launch and mooring service. Ken said that he would be pursuing this along with other changes to the Town Harbor regulations in the near future.
Ken reported that he had submitted a BIG (Boating Infrastructure Grant) for a new dinghy dock. This would help with the effort to get more transient boats in to visit the Harbor. He also reported that it looked like Hingham and Scituate were selected to receive funding and design for a sewer pump out station that would be located near the Town near and could be used by all boats in the Harbor. The current plan is to store all waste from the system in a 4000 gallon tank that would be emptied periodically (the state would cover 75% of the emptying) John Riley asked if Ken could look into the relative costs of running a sewer line and hooking this system into the Town sewer on 3A.
Report from HDIC on Footbridge
Ben Wilcox, Chairman of the Hingham Development and Industrial Commission, reported that the HDIC had discussed four different alternatives for a pedestrian bridge providing access from Whitney Wharf to the Public Access easement on the perimeter of the property at 3 Otis. Mr. Wilcox indicated that the HDIC preferred an alternative immediately adjacent to the existing sidewalk. In this scheme, the existing sidewalk would be eliminated and a pre-fabricated bridge (with appropriate guardrails, etc.) would hang over the water immediately adjacent to 3A. This would conceivably allow for the construction of a new turning lane on 3A onto Water Street, and could be included as a part of the 3A improvements associated with the elimination of the 3A Rotary. The three alternatives shown further out into the water could not be linked into the 3A project.
The Committee discussed the possibility of whether this scheme could be incorporated into the Project Needs Form recently submitted to Mass Highway. Selectmen Riley said that he would follow up with the other Selectmen to make sure that they were on board, and then contact the Town’s consulting Traffic Engineer, Jeff Dirk, to see about modifying the PNF. Ben Wilcox noted that if the project were not included in the rest of the 3A improvements, that it would cost about $100,000 to construct. Mr. Amdur noted that there was still $40,000 left in a CPC account from the last time that an effort had been made to construct such a bridge.
Mr. Riley also noted that if the project were not wrapped into the Rotary project that the committee should look closely at requesting funds from the Community Preservation Act.
The discussion of proposed zoning changes at the harbor was postponed to the next meeting.
The next meeting was scheduled for Monday, October 5 at 7:30 PM.