February 28, 2006
Regular Session 7:34
Mr. MacIver, Ms. Tully, Mr. Edmundson
Voted - to accept the minutes of February 14 and February 21, 2006
Ms. Tully advised that the Central Fire Station Building Committee had received the unanimous support of the Conservation Commission, Historic Districts Commission and the Zoning Board of Appeals. The Committee is anxious that everyone understands there will be additional cost. Construction costs have gone up and the Historic Districts Commission put nine conditions on the project approval, all or which have added to the cost. The project is presently going through value engineering and the appeal period for the Zoning Board of Appeals decision.
Mr. Cristello told the Board that the Traffic Committee had recommended that the driveway from Burr Road be made one way going into the parking lot. This recommendation was in response to Ms. Meyer's comments about the poor visibility exiting the lot due to cars parked along Burr Road. The Traffic Committee suggested that rather than eliminate needed parking it would be advisable to make the driveway one way. All vehicles will be required to exit the lot by way of the circular drive at the front of the building.
Voted - to make the entrance from Burr Road to the Town Hall parking lot one way and to erect signs prohibiting vehicles from exiting onto Burr Road.
The Board received a letter from Basil Cronin regarding the possibility of relocation of the mailbox on Burr Road to the Town Hall Driveway. Mr. Cronin's letter noted the difficulty of accessing the present location due to cars parked along Burr Road. The Board agreed that there was probably sufficient room to locate a third mailbox by the existing Town Hall boxes at the end of the driveway.
Country Club Budget Revision
The Country Club Management Committee decided to add about 75 permit holders in order to increase revenue. The increase in the number of permit holders was made based on a recommendation from Tom Landry. This increase will allow sufficient money to increase capital spending by $50,000.
Voted - to revise the Country Club budget to $1,445,282, the total sum to be funded from Country Club revenue.
Ms. Tully noted that there was some discussion at a previous meeting about the warrant article regarding snow removal on sidewalks. This proved to be a difficult topic and perhaps a public education campaign should be undertaken. Ms. Tully said she had created a list of possible solutions that she has emailed to Ms. Sneath for discussion at the merchants' meeting this Friday.
Lease of Barnes and Steamboat Wharves
Mr. Cristello advised that a submittal from Lincoln Sailing was received in response to the RFPs issued for Barnes and Steamboat Wharves. The proposed Barnes Wharf agreement is a ten-year non-exclusive lease that calls for an annual report or meeting with the selectmen. The proposed Steamboat Wharf lease is for five years and requires Lincoln to build a deck at the end of the wharf to allow the public to use the property more comfortably. The Department of Public Works had done a clean up of the area and the fishermen will be able to continue to use the facilities. Mr. Cataldo said that Lincoln is pleased with the terms and will be responsible for all utilities. Mr. Edmundson explained that these leases were a result of the thought that it was appropriate to memorialize the terms of the relationship between the Town and Lincoln Maritime Center. The intent was not to raise a rent but rather to make sure that people continue to have access and use of the wharves. The Town will also reap benefits in terms of improvements to the wharves. Mr. Amdur said the Harbor Development Committee supports Lincoln and just wants to emphasize that the Committee feels very strongly that continued public access is a key element in the use of the wharf. The Board will take this under consideration and vote on it next week.
Warrant Articles
The petition article submitted to rescind funding voted for the public works facility. It would seem that there is some confusion regarding the votes on the articles from last year's town meeting. Mr. Edmundson suggested that the proponents of the article might want to prepare a substitute motion. Mr. Reeves said the intent of the petitioners was to rescind all of the money not yet spent and remove funding, not to kill the project, so that a win-win project could be configured for everyone.
Voted - to recommend a motion of no action on the petition article.
Public Works Building Committee Article
Mr. Garrity advised that the permitting process continued during 2005. The Order of Conditions was received in June. The Conservation Commission suggested a revised drainage plan for both the public works facility and the athletic fields by creating two detention basins: one to catch an runoff from the public works facility to a lined detention basin and a second detention basin to catch any runoff from the fields. About a year and a half ago the proposed building was turned slightly to act as a buffer for the abutting residential neighborhoods. All heavy truck traffic will be directed to the rear of the building via a new road. The Planning Board sent a favorable recommendation to the Board of Appeals on December 7; the final ZBA hearing is scheduled for March 7; the ENF was determined to be adequate; and there is only one permit to go prior to having a fully permitted project. The original budget was $8.8 million, which was determined to be too high. The unit prices were reviewed, particularly those for the site work. The DPW bids were reviewed and were found to be much lower than those obtained by Gale. By incorporating those quotes into the budget rather than using Gale's unit prices for earthwork the cost was reduced from $8.8 to $7.6 million.
There is approximately $725,000 from prior appropriations still available for the project. If the committee were to get $6 million they could build Phase 1 of the DPW complex except from the cold storage. This is the reverse of the previously considered approach. It was concluded that all the fields should be built because of economies of scale. The building of the two basketball courts, skateboard park and concession building could be postponed. The Phase I budget of $6.6 million less the $725,000 of available funds equals $5.9 million to be funded at this year's town meeting. Ms. Tully commented that this is well though out and vetted. Mr. Edmundson said he was very impressed that the committee has been able to reduce costs through creative approaches to construction management. He suggested that possibly the basketball court and skate park could be added and still remain within the $6 million. He suggested the Town propose to fund the athletic facilities and let private groups fund some of the amenities such as the press box, scoreboards, etc. Mr. MacIver agreed that he liked the principle of letting the groups help by coming to the assistance of the Town by raising funds for some of the non-core items. The build out would be two years or less. Mr. MacIver suggested it might be advisable to construct the buffering elements as soon as possible in the construction process.
Voted - to support the DPW building article and to include the recommended budget plus the funds for skateboard park and basketball courts approve a new appropriation not to exceed $6.0 million.
The Board noted that approval of this would not increase the tax rate and would not include an override.
Retirement - Veterans Credit for Disability Retirees
This article would extend the same veterans benefit to disability retirees as regular retirees already get. Basically this was an inequity in the system that the legislature sought to remedy.
Voted - to support the article entitled Retirement - Veterans Credit.
Community Preservation Committee Articles
Ms. Talmage said the Community Preservation Act allows funding for open space, historic preservation and community housing. The Community Preservation Committee would like to amend the by-laws to set aside 5% for recreational uses throughout the town. The existing set-asides are 10/10/10. It is not clear to the Committee whether the townspeople want to spend money on recreation. The committee is proposing to see if the town meeting wants to permit funds to be used for recreational projects such as athletic fields.
Initially there were two parts to the warrant article on community housing. The Committee has decided not to move forward with the gap-financing program. The pilot rehabilitation loan program would be for amounts up to $50,000 for significant structural repairs necessary to keep the structure intact such as roof repairs, sill replacements, window replacements, etc. The loan would be secured by a mortgage that would accrue interest so that when the property was sold the principal and accrued interest would be repaid. The Committee is proposing $250,000 to be set- aside for this purpose for the program. The committee voted to make this available to any income-qualified person in town, regardless of age. The committee will be working with the Housing Authority on this since it has experience in being able to create fair systems for the allocation of resources. Ms. Tully asked if there was any documentation on what other towns have done. Mr. Edmundson expressed concern that not all the details are in place saying that he would want to make sure that there are enough details in place that the program would work. The Board will take the matter under advisement.
There is a 3.8 acre piece of property on Scotland Street that abuts McKenna Marsh. The property has a small house on one section of the parcel. The proposal is to acquire the property using funds from the both the housing set aside and the open space set aside. The landowner is willing to sell to the Town at the assessed value, which is likely less than the market value. The two-bedroom house is in good shape. The Housing Authority has already walked through the property and is willing to administer the rental property. A net of three acres will go to conservation. The proposal is to acquire the property and allow access to the house via the private way. Neighbors spoke in support of the proposal.
Voted - to support the Community Preservation Committee warrant article for an open space and community housing acquisition at 132 Scotland Street.
There are two additional open space acquisition possibilities. The first is on Glad Tidings Plain. Mr. Hastings has entered into a purchase and sale agreement for the property located at 730 Main Street. The land behind the existing house is wooded. The intention was to build on the backland. It was unclear whether he would be able accumulate additional properties. The specter of a subdivision street in the backland was frightening. The CPC contacted the Hingham Land Trust and devised a plan that they would negotiate an agreement with Mr. Hastings for the backland and ask neighbors to contribute either land or conservation restrictions on their properties. Mr. Hastings indicated a willingness to sell the back lot for $495,000. There is some question as to whether the deal will hold together.
The Board voted on the following Community Preservation Articles discussed at a previous meeting:
Voted - to support the Community Preservation Committee article for Cushing Pond weed removal in the amount of $34,000.
Voted - to support the Community Preservation Committee article for Bare Cove Park Restoration in the amount of $405,000.
Voted - to support the Comminty Preservation Committee article for a harbor plan in the amount of $60,000.
Voted - to support the Community Preservation Committee article for completion of the GAR hall restoration in the amount of $14,000.
Voted - to support the Community Preservation Committee article for fully engineered construction documents for the downtown Hingham steetscape restoration in the amount of $20,000.
The Board will take the Community Preservation Committee recommendations on the Hingham Center Cemetery fence and the Glad Tidings Plain purchase under advisement.
Mr. Davenport advised the Board that the Community Preservation Committee would like to acquire a conservation restriction on a parcel of almost five acres off Hersey Street. There are several old houses along the street with open backland behind. The property would include unlimited pedestrian public access. An appraisal has been obtained but the committee is questioning some of the assumptions behind it. Mr. Edmundson asked if the Committee had defined what type of property is most desirable in terms of open space acquisition. This parcel does not have great access to the public and does not appear to be able to be developed. The Board will take this article under advisement.
A petition article to reduce the rate of the community preservation was submitted by Mr. Patch and others. The proponents were not present to speak to the article.
Voted - no action on the article to reduce the surcharge rate under the community preservation act.
There were several articles approved at last year's Annual Town Meeting that require special legislation that have not been acted upon by the legislature. In order to have a current town meeting vote it will be necessary to place these articles on the warrant for this Annual Town Meeting.
Voted - to open the warrant for the April 24, 2006 Annual Town Meeting and add the following articles:
Special Legislation re: Short-term borrowing and betterments
Special Legislation re: Connecting Central Fire Station to MWRA sewer
Special Legislation re: Site-specific liquor licenses
Voted - to close the warrant for the April 24, 2006 Annual Town Meeting.
Selectmen/Town Administrator's Reports
Ms. Tully commented on the articles by the League of Women Voters and Cathy Salisbury. This is a twelve part series that will cover topics from the authority of local government through town meeting to this year's town election. The League was hoping to work in conjunction with the Board and help with training in the fall. Mr. Edmundson said that the Board is still not ready to give an update on Erickson but we are having discussions and hopefully will be able to update the public within the next couple of weeks. Mr. Cristello reported that the scoring data had been received from the Office of Commonwealth Development and Hingham scored 93 which, based on the numbers on the Commonwealth development website, would mean the town was number 8. This score should help with the PWED grant. The only items left on the Bare Cove Park/ Project Turnabout project are the legislation and the meeting with the fields people and Mr. Hastings regarding the field house design.
Meeting adjourned 10:00pm.
Betty Foley, Clerk
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