HINGHAM – An $8 million pool to replace the defunct one at the South Shore Country Club, $4 million in new windows and doors for the Plymouth River School and $3 million in improvements for the Foster School are some of the eight capital items Hingham officials will ask town meeting voters to approve later this month.
The warrant for the spring annual town meeting is made up of 32 items, including a $138 million budget for the next fiscal year. Town meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, April 30, on the Hingham High School field, 17 Union St.
The town has proposed bonding for $20.6 million worth of capital improvement projects, including spending $2.23 million for five fire department projects: a new engine pumper, new roofs at two fire stations, a new heating and cooling system and new gutters, trim and a portico at one station.
Read the warrant:See Hingham’s full Spring 2022 annual town meeting warrant
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The warrant will also ask voters to approve a temporary tax increase, known as a debt exclusion override, to pay for a new South Shore Country Club pool. Approval would raise property taxes until the $8 million expense is paid off.
An additional $5.4 million is requested for water system improvements that would be paid for by the system’s ratepayers. Customers include include Hull and Cohasset residents and businesses.
Proposal to build a new pool
The largest proposed capital expenditure is $8 million for a new pool at the South Shore Country Club. The old pool closed in September 2019 after 67 years of service. Representatives of the club say its structural integrity was beginning to fail and it could have caved in.
In 2020, residents at town meeting approved spending $500,000 to fund the design and construction documents for two replacements pools: a six-lane lap pool that the high school swim team would be able to use and a beach-entry pool that would be 3½ feet at its deepest.
June 20, 2020:Hingham Town Meeting OKs headquarters project, country club pool
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Plans also call for a spray deck for children, as well as a bathhouse required by the Department of Public Health, South Shore Country Club Executive Director Kevin Whalen said.
The Community Preservation Committee has said it could spend an additional $550,000 to help fund the construction of the pool complex, but only if the article to fund the $8 million project passes.
Christine Smith, the chairwoman of the South Shore Country Club management committee, said the the current project is “shovel ready” after the town paid for the design and plans in 2020.
The current plans call for infrastructure around the pool so, at a later date, a “bubble” or “membrane” could be added to allow swimming outside of summer.
Smith said the pool design has embraced the town’s goal of not increasing the use of fossil fuels, but the current technology for inflating the bubble involves natural gas. She said alternatives will likely be available in the next few years.
The pool would be permitted for summer use only, but building the infrastructure means the town could later make it an all-season facility.
If the request passes, a majority vote would be required at the town election, set for 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, May 14.
The town bought the 1950s facility in 1988 with the understanding that it would be able to pay its operating and maintenance expenses through memberships and private fundraising.
Hingham proposes $1 million in Community Preservation Act spending
The Hingham Community Preservation Committee is proposing to spend a total of $1 million, including the $500,000 that could go to the community pool project. An additional $167,000 would go to the South Shore Habitat for Humanity to build two single-family houses on Whiting Street.
The Hingham Recreation Commission could receive $290,000 to reconstruct the hockey court at Cronin Field, and another $20,000 would be appropriated for “administrative purposes.”
Major planning board overhauls
The zoning board has a proposed a change to the town’s residential accessory uses, which allow professionals to conduct business in their homes. The proposed change would add a clause ensuring secondary uses do not “alter the character” of the house or “impair the neighborhood.”
Community Planning Director Emily Wentworth said the bylaw became a point of contention after Hingham sued a Highview Drive woman for using her house as a “small health club” in 2021. That case settled eight months later, with conditions to reduce noise.
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The planning board is also proposing a 14-page rewrite of its site plan review and special permit review procedures, including provisions to force the protection or replacement of large trees for projects that require a site plan review.
Wentworth said the rewrite is a “refinement” and “restructuring.”
The planning board chairman, Kevin Ellis, said the town administrator’s office demanded all questions on the articles be directed to them.
Assistant Town Administrator Michelle Monsegur said in an email that her office has “never” had a policy of asking town officials not to talk to the press.
Interested in the South Shore Country Club’s pool saga? We’ve got more coverage
June 20, 2020:Hingham Town Meeting OKs headquarters project, country club pool
Jan. 2, 2020:Hingham’s country club won’t have new pool until 2022
Sept. 19, 2019:Country club seeking millions from taxpayers after pool’s failure
June 5, 2018:Hingham Selectmen look to prioritize $100 million in capital projects
March 28, 2018:South Shore Country Club hopes to build three new pools
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Reach reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite at [email protected].
