Hingham Residents Encouraged to Attend Special Town Meeting

The Town of Hingham’s Special Town Meeting is less than three weeks away and town officials are reminding residents to register to vote.

The Board of Registrars will hold a Last Day Registration Session on Friday October 14 from 1:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Town Office Building for purposes of registering voters for the Special Town Meeting on October 24 at the High School and the Special Town Election, which will follow on October 29.

In addition, voters may register at the Town Clerk’s Office from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Tuesdays and 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Friday.  Eligible voters may also request a mail-in voter registration form from the Town Clerk’s office by calling, 781-741-1410.

The Special Town Meeting needs at least 300 residents to attend in order to hold an official meeting and Assistant Town Administrator Betty Foley expects a full house on Oct. 24.

According to Foley, additional parking for the Special Town Meeting will be held at the South Shore Baptist Church on Main Street and the town will have shuttle buses transporting residents from the church to the Hingham High School.

Foley said Town Officials will mail out the Town Meeting's Warrant Articles to every resident in town by the end of this week.

At this month’s Special Town Meeting voters will be asked to increase taxes to raise money to pay for the proposed new Middle School and Hingham High School Fields Project. 

The town will be asked to allocate almost $35.6 million for the building of a new middle school and $935,000 to pay for the reconstruction of the Hingham High School track, tennis courts and athletic field. According to the School Committee, the tennis courts will be renovated and will cost $60,000, the new track will cost $600,000 and phase two of the project, which includes fixing the field draining issues, will cost $275,000.

The Middle School and Fields Projects are among five articles approved by selectmen for the warrant of the town meeting.  Hingham voters will also get the chance in October to seek alternative renovation options for the middle school, ask the town to reopen the swap area at the town dump, and decide on if a private company can lease the town’s bathhouse.

The Special Town Meeting will be held at the Hingham High School gymnasium.

For the Special Town Election,  polls will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.  Residents must be at least 18-years-old in order to vote.  Since the Spring,

Hingham Polling Locations:

Precincts 1, 2, 3, and 5 Vote at the High School, 17 Union Street.
Precincts 4 And 6 Vote at the Middle School, 1103 Main Street
Precinct 6A Votes At Linden Ponds, 203 Linden Ponds Way (The Derby Clubhouse Building).