Special Town Meeting Set for October [VIDEO]

Hingham Selectmen have scheduled a special town meeting on October 24 to ask voters to increase taxes  to raise money to pay for the proposed new Middle School and Hingham High School Fields Project.

In front of a crowd of almost a 100 Hingham residents at last night’s Selectmen meeting, School Building Committee Chair Raymond Estes broke down the cost figures of the new middle school. Estes said that after reimbursement by the Massachusetts School Building Authority, the new school will cost the town almost $35.6 million.  The total cost of the school before reimbursement by the MSBA is $61.7 million. 

“Every dollar we spend on this project is a dollar spent by the tax payers… we spent a lot of time on it,” Estes said.

Estes explained that to achieve this total, the committee has asked designer Ai3 to consider Value Engineering, in other words to look at the schematic design already submitted to the MSBA on August 19 and see where savings or amendments can be made without compromising the educational program required.  

The committee has brought down the cost of the school by seeking options such as reducing the finished carpentry in the lobby areas and auditorium, installing temperate air systems instead of air conditions, removing the dishwashing facility for student utensils and not building an outdoor basketball court.

“We looked at every item in this budget.. because we know it’s important to you,” Estes told the residents at the meeting.

Along with the Middle School Project,  voters at the special town meeting next month will be asked to allocate $935,000  pay for the reconstruction of the deteriorating 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.

Hingham School Committee Chair Linda Hill highlighted the many examples of why the High School Fields are unsafe for both Hingham athletes and spectators. According to Hill, one end of the track is three feet higher than other, the tennis courts are cracking, and the grass fields have problems draining after storms.  The wood bleachers, which were made in 1954 are also falling apart.

Hill said the poor drainage to these fields have caused delays to sports, the deterioration of the tennis courts has caused the tennis team to play their games out of town and the badly worn fields have caused injuries to players and forced the lacrosse team to train in nearby towns such as Cohasset.

“The fields will only continue to deteriorate, and the cost will continue to rise,” Hill said.

Hingham resident and athletic coach David Bailey  said in 2010 his girls soccer team had four ACL tears and one broken ankle because of the rough Hingham playing fields.

“Hingham does not need the best facility, but they need a competitive one and one that is safe,” he said.

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 town would like a private company such as a small food vendor to lease the town bathhouse and construct new bathrooms.  The article concerning the swap area, will likely be withdrawn at town meeting because Hingham Department of Public Works Superintendent Randy Sylvester agreed to re-open the facility last week.  The swap shop is currently open on Thursdays and Fridays.

Following the Special Town Meeting on Oct. 24, there will be a town election on Oct. 29. The selectmen will continue to meet and discuss all of the articles from now until Oct. 24.  Town Administrator Ted Alexiades will also spend the next week crunching the numbers and letting Hingham residents know how much the average tax increase per household will be if the Middle School Project and Athletic Fields project are approved.