7:00 PM Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Task Force Members Present: Susan Murphy, Hingham Planning Board; John Riley, Selectmen; Ben Wilcox, HDIC; Alan Perrault, Harbor Development Committee; Peter Fee, Trustees of the Hingham Bathing Beach; Katy Lacy, Town Planner, Ken Corson, Harbormaster.
Minutes
The Task Force voted to approve the minutes of March 31, 2010.
Member Updates/Recent Correspondence
Bathing Beach
Ms. Murphy and Mr. Fee reported that a Memorandum of Agreement had been completed between Trustees of the Bathing Beach and the Hingham Farmer’s Market. At this point the Special Permit hearing for the Farmer’s Market is scheduled for June 10. Ms. Murphy suggested that the Bathing Beach Trustees should follow up with DPW to get a striping plan completed so that can be included in the application package.
The group brainstormed about the possibility of getting pro-bono services for an architect to develop preliminary plans for an improved bathhouse.
The goose control program is currently underway, and Judy Saint Clair and Zinger the dog have already made a few visits to the Bathing Beach site. There are still some geese on site, but much less than before. John Riley will get in touch with DPW to make sure that someone gets out there to clean up the goose droppings remaining from the winter.
Town Parking
Ms. Murphy noted that Town Meeting had approved the warrant article allowing the Town to enter into an agreement with the owners of 3 Otis to lease parking spaces at the Harbor Lot. The owner of 3 Otis Street, Nick Bonn, has drafted an agreement and the Selectmen will take this up at their meeting on May 11.
Ms. Murphy asked whether there was still an issue with Stars Employees parking at the Harbor Parking lot. In the past, Stars employees had been advised by Hingham Police to park near the Harbor to prevent customers from running across Route 3A. The group was unclear whether this was still a problem. Ms. Murphy agreed to follow up and find out.
Nick Amdur asked if it would be possible to dedicate the funds generated though the parking lease to the creation of public restrooms at the Harbor. Everyone agreed that restrooms were needed, but John Riley noted that he would like to hold off on the issue until such time that they had a chance to look into the creation of a Town-owned marina that would include restrooms.
26 Summer Street
The owners of 26 Summer Street are seeking a Chapter 91 License to make permanent the 10A float currently attached to the existing Ch. 91 float system. They need to first amend their existing Special Permit, which includes the site plan approved for the former owner and includes a large building.
Harbor Master
Ken Corson provided the HTF with the scope of work put together for Amendment #2 to the Dredging Contract, which would include 1) A Hydrographic Survey of the Weymouth Back River; 2) A mooring layout for the Weymouth Back River, 3) A Permit Application to the Army Corps of Engineers for the Weymouth Mooring Fields ; 4) Full Conditions Survey; 5) Mooring Management System including 6) Hardware and 7) Technical Support. The next step would be to run this scope by the Selectmen for their approval. Funds for this project would come from the Waterways Division of DCR.
Former Mobile Station
Mr. Riley said that he would find out from Jim Toomey the status of the Conservation Restriction required by the CPC for the former Mobile Station property, which was purchased using CPA funds.
Barnes Wharf/Steamboat Wharf
The group discussed the two properties currently being leased by the Lincoln Sailing Center, Barnes and Steamboat wharves. At this point LMC only uses Barnes Wharf for its operations, though they had originally planned on expanding to Steamboat Wharf to accommodate the Rowing Program. At this point the Selectmen are planning to meet with the LMC to discuss their future plans and any proposed revisions to the terms of the lease contract. Task Force members expressed support for full public access, and expressed concern that Harbor improvements efforts would eventually displace those that used Steamboat Wharf for more low key activities such as fishing, sketching, and relaxing.
Overall Harbor
Susan Murphy brought the group back to the idea of proceeding with a waterside harbor plan. Specifically, the Town needs to come to some sort of consensus about the best use of the water sheet in the Harbor, so that those seeking to expand water-side operations can get a more clear sense of whether this jives with Town goals for the water. This issue has come to a head in the past with the placement of the slips at 3 Otis, and its impact on the Town mooring field, and is currently in focus again with the request on the part of 26 Summer Street to expand their private slips in such a way that could potentially impact users at the Lincoln Maritime Center.
Ken Corson indicated that this could well be a part of the scope of work put together by consultants CLE as part of Amendment #2 of the Dredging Project. Ken noted that he would get in touch with Carlos Pena at CLE to see if he could come and speak with the HTF at their next meeting about how towns can use a full conditions survey to facilitate harbor planning.
The next Harbor Task Force Meeting was scheduled for Wednesday June 9, 2010.
The Meeting was adjourned at 9:05 PM.
Respectfully Submitted, Katy Lacy