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APPROVED
Town of Hingham
Advisory Committee
April 15, 2008 Meeting Minutes
Hingham Town Hall
Present: Committee Members Bierwirth, Asher, Barclay, Ellison, Farrell, Friedman, Johnson, Kiernan, Lauter, Manning, Port, Seelen.
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1. Chair Joe Bierwirth called the Advisory Committee meeting to order at 7:35 PM.
2. The Committee reviewed and approved the minutes from the meetings of March 19th and March 26th.
3. Conservation By-Law
Mike Barclay introduced Cliff Prentiss and members of the Conservation Commission, who presented the proposed changes to Article 22, the Town's Wetlands Protection By-law. The primary purposes of the proposed changes are to bring the By-law in line with current State regulations, and to enact regulations more stringent than the State's with regard to vernal pools, fines for violations, and hearing processes. After making several changes to the language of the proposed revised Article 22, the Advisory Committee voted to approve the article.
4. 40R Zoning Amendment
Jerry Seelen introduced Susan Murphy, of the Planning Board, to bring the Advisory Committee up to date on the progress of the proposed 40R Zoning By-law Amendment. Susan gave a brief overview of the proposal. She then summarized the discussions that have taken place to date at the Planning Board's hearings, and the Planning Board's rationale for supporting the proposed amendment, which they voted to endorse in a 4 – 1 vote. Planning Board member Gary Tondorf-Dick, who had voted against the proposed amendment, then gave his reasons for opposition. Jerry gave his reasons for opposing the proposed amendment and the Committee then discussed the proposal at length. Members of the public also participated in the discussion. The Advisory Committee voted as follows on the proposed amendment: 7 opposed, 3 in favor, 1 abstention; Joe Bierwirth did not vote. Amy Farrell, Karen Johnson and Dennis Friedman asked to be recorded in favor of the amendment.
5. Warrant Article 27 – Zoning, Exempt Uses:
The exempt uses zoning amendment was approved at a previous Advisory Committee meeting as Zoning Article D, and is currently in the Warrant as Article 27. Since the Committee's vote, Joe Bierwirth has discussed with Jim Toomey some apparent ambiguities in the original language, and Jim has suggested a new version that removes these ambiguities. Susan Murphy stated that the Planning Board would support the proposed new version. The Committee voted to re-open the discussion of the article, and then voted to approve the new version of the article.
6. CPC Open Space Acquisition – Summer Street Property:
Linda Port introduced Phil Edmundson and members of the Community Preservation Committee (CPC). Linda and Phil brought the Advisory Committee up to date on the progress of the negotiations for the purchase of the Mobil station property on Summer Street. They noted that there are two problems with the status of the negotiations: the anticipated selling price exceeds the anticipated appraised value, and CPC funds can only be expended up to the appraised value; and, the property would be encumbered by a recreational use limitation that is unacceptable to the Town. Linda then presented the proposed warrant article, which includes a provision that would allow the Town to take the property by eminent domain; if the Town took the property by eminent domain, the proposed use limitation would disappear, and the total purchase price, which would be determined through the eminent domain taking process, could be expended from CPC fund. The Committee was divided in its opinion about the prospective use of an eminent domain taking process for this property. The Committee went into executive session to discuss those aspects of the negotiation that are not yet public. The Committee then re-opened the public hearing, and the majority of the Committee voted in favor of the proposed article, including the eminent domain provisions; Mike Barclay, Karen Johnson and Jerry Seelen asked to be recorded in opposition.
7. Hersey Street Property:
The Advisory Committee had voted on 3/19/08 to approve the Town's acquisition of the Hersey Street property currently being used by the DPW. Following the Committee's vote, Susan Murphy had raised concerns about some of the provisions of the Town's purchase agreement with the current owners, particularly regarding liability for remediation of potential hazardous materials. Irma Lauter introduced Susan, who described her concerns in detail. Charlie Cristello and Jim Toomey, as well as the Town's remediation consultant, addressed Susan's concerns to the satisfaction of the Committee.
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 12:45 AM.
The next Advisory Committee meeting is scheduled for 4/28/08, 6:00 PM, at Hingham High School, immediately prior to Annual Town Meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Jerry Seelen, Secretary