Annual Report Town of Hingham 2009 1 Table of Contents GENERAL ADMINISTRATION Selectmen ................................................................. 5 Town Administrator ................................................... 8 Town Clerk Elected Officers and Appointees .......................... 10 Births ................................................................ 27 Deaths .............................................................. 33 Marriages .......................................................... 41 Annual Town Meeting......................................... 43 Special Town Meeting ........................................ 73 Appropriations ................................................... 75 Elections ........................................................... 83 Building Department ................................................ 87 Conservation Commission ......................................... 88 Personnel Board ...................................................... 89 Planning Board ........................................................ 90 Zoning Board of Appeals .......................................... 92 PUBLIC WORKS Dept. of Public Works ............................................... 94 Municipal Light Plant ................................................ 98 Sewer Commission ................................................. 100 PUBLIC SAFETY Emergency Management, Department of ................. 102 Fire Department .................................................... 103 Police Department ................................................. 106 Harbormaster .................................................. 108 Traffic Committee ............................................ 111 EDUCATION, HEALTH AND HUMAN CONCERNS Affordable Housing Trust ........................................ 113 Bare Cove Park Committee ..................................... 115 Bathing Beach, Trustees of ..................................... 117 Beautification Commission ...................................... 118 Cable TV Advisory Committee ................................. 119 Community Preservation Committee ........................ 123 Country Club Management Committee ..................... 125 Cultural Council ..................................................... 127 Development & Industrial Commission ..................... 128 Elder Services, Dept. of .......................................... 130 Energy Action Committee ....................................... 132 2 Fourth of July Parade ............................................. 134 Grand Army Hall .................................................... 136 Hannah Lincoln Whiting Fund ................................. 137 Harbor Development Committee ............................. 138 Health, Board of .................................................... 140 Historic Districts Commission .................................. 142 Historical Commission ............................................ 144 Long Range Waste Disposal & Recycling Committee ...................................................... 146 Memorial Bell Tower Committee .............................. 149 Open Space Acquisition Committee ......................... 150 Plymouth County Mosquito Control .......................... 151 Public Library ........................................................ 154 Public Schools ....................................................... 160 Public Works Building Committee ............................ 162 Recreation Commission .......................................... 163 Scholarship Fund Committee................................... 165 School Building Committee, 2006 ............................ 167 South Shore Recycling Cooperative ......................... 169 375th Anniversary Committee ................................. 174 Veterans' Services .................................................. 176 Wastewater Master Planning ................................... 177 Water Supply Committee ........................................ 178 Weir River Estuary Committee ................................ 180 FINANCES Accountant ............................................................ 182 Assessors .............................................................. 189 Contributory Retirement Board................................ 190 Treasurer/Collector ................................................ 195 Report Compiled and Edited by Betty Tower Special Thanks to Kate Richardsson, IT 3 Caroline Gibson and Kathy Glenzel Caroline Gibson is the Administrative Secretary in the Department of Elder Services. She was nominated unanimously by the Council on Aging for the 2009 Customer Assistance Award. Although her workload is heavy and varied, Caroline accomplishes it all “quietly and efficiently, despite constant interruptions.” The Council further stated that Caroline “serves the Town of Hingham and Department of Elder Services in a manner which exemplifies true customer service”. The recipient of the 2009 Productivity/Efficiency Award is Benefits Coordinator Kathy Glenzel. As stated in her nomination of Kathy, Selectman Laura Burns noted that Kathy accomplished the transition of over 300 retired teachers from one health plan to another with “grace, perseverance and over-work”. She goes on to say that every retiree she referred to Kathy expressed his or her gratefulness for her help. Marie Berard, a Hingham teacher for 40 years, now retired, who also nominated Kathy, wrote how Kathy went above and beyond her job to solve a problem that had gone on for several years in a “totally professional” way. 4 Bruce Rabuffo, Laura Burns, John Riley Board of Selectmen lthough the economy may be showing some signs of life as we write this report, the process of creating the FY 2011 town budget Ais taking place in the worst environment for municipal finance since the Great Depression. Legislative cuts to local aid continue, and local receipts (fees, excise taxes, etc.) continue to decline. The town population is growing, which is not the case in many other South Shore communities, and the demand for services is increasing. Nevertheless, the need to accept budget cuts in order to make ends meet is all too plain. The dramatic difficulties of balancing the budget this year has drawn the attention of the Board of Selectmen to some long-standing budget pressures which must be addressed for Hingham to continue to successfully meets its obligations. Therefore, the Board this year set three new goals for our budgeting process which we hope will change the direction of the town’s budget going forward. These three goals were (1) begin appropriating to a trust fund which will meet our more than $60,000,000 liability for retiree health care benefits in the future, (2) cease the practice of using the town’s fund balance to pay for capital needs, and (3) halt the downward trend in our fund balance which threatens the fiscal health of the town and our ability to finance urgent needs. 5 We are pleased to report that the FY 2011 budget recommended to Town Meeting meets these goals. While painful sacrifices were required to achieve this, we feel we have put the budget process on a new footing which will show fruit year after year, if we maintain this discipline. Not so pleasing are the effects of the current economic climate on our town departments, most of which will be curtailing services in the next fiscal year one way or another in order to meet their budgets. While this is inevitable in the environment in which we find ourselves, we would like to commend all of our department heads and employees for going to work so willingly and competently on the unpleasant task of identifying what we must forego. There has been good news, as well, this year. The fall of 2009 saw the opening of the new East School, constructed under the supervision of the skilled and hardworking School Building Committee. The alleviation of classroom crowding at the elementary level is the result, and on behalf of the town, we thank the School Committee, school administration, and School Building Committee for the many hours of careful attention this task required. The new Department of Public Works facility on Bare Cove Park Drive was completed and opened this year as well. Thanks go to the staff of the department and to the multi-talented DPW Building Committee which has finished its task after almost a decade of work on it. The consolidation of DPW operations in the new facility made possible a comprehensive reorganization of the Department of Public Works. This work was initiated by the Selectmen, and carried out based on the recommendations of the new Superintendent of Public Works, Randy Sylvester. Public Works services will be delivered more efficiently and cost-effectively as a result. The Board of Selectmen also implemented the creation of a new Community Planning Department, accomplished by merging five departments into one: the Planning Department, the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Conservation Commission, the Building Department, and the Historical Commissions. Following the trend developing in towns around the state, this reorganization is the first step towards creating a more streamlined permitting process, making it easier for applicants to apply for and receive permits all in one department. The move resulted in some cutting of costs, and more efficient allocation of staff resources. 6 We congratulate the new Director of Community Planning, our own former Town Planner Katy Lacy. Both departmental reorganizations are expected