February 18, 2026 By Carol Britton Meyer
The select board addressed a full agenda Tuesday night, including voting “no action” on two citizen’s petitions for the upcoming Town Meeting regarding the establishment of a youth commission and the transfer of a parcel of land related to the proposed Center for Active Living (CAL) project. They also heard an update from Real Estate Counsel Susan Murphy on the CAL permitting process – which is now complete.
Henry Buckley submitted a citizen’s petition asking voters to support the creation of a Youth Commission similar to the ones in Lexington and Weymouth, which he explained to the board.
His vision is the creation of a youth advisory committee comprised of Hingham residents ages 14 to 18 and to sponsor an awards program for youth who perform community service.
The overall purpose, he said, is to plan, promote, and participate in community service and educational initiatives “that engage and empower Hingham’s youth.”
While the select board appreciated Henry’s vision and efforts, they voted “no action” unanimously, in part out of concern that such a commission would involve town hall staff – who they said would not have the time to dedicate to such an effort due to current workloads.
The board did not rule out revisiting his idea at a future town meeting, pending further information and discussion.
The advisory committee also reviews citizen’s petitions.
Anita Ryan explained to the board the citizen’s petition she submitted regarding the land swap approved at Town Meeting 2025 involving the swapping of about seven acres of town-owned land near Plymouth River School for approximately five acres of town-owned land on Bare Cove Drive – the proposed location for the new CAL – with the board also voting “no action” on this citizen’s petition.
The citizen’s petition is only relevant if the CAL vote does not pass at Town Meeting this Spring, according to Ryan. “I’m saying that if we don’t build a CAL in that protected open space of Bare Cove Park, then the parcel at Plymouth River identified in the land swap should still be conveyed to the conservation commission and protected because it has such a high conservation value – regardless of what happens with the CAL,” Ryan told the Hingham Anchor in response to a follow-up after the meeting.
Following Ryan’s comments during the meeting, Select Board Chair William Ramsey noted that after doing some research, he learned that the school committee – which has control of the Plymouth River parcel – “has the ability to do what they want with their land, and even if Town Meeting supported the citizen’s petition, the school committee is not bound by [that outcome]” – information he said was confirmed by town counsel.
Ramsey further stated that when talking with the school committee about other subjects, he has not heard “that they would want to do anything but preserve the land in its natural state,” also noting that a large part of that property is wetlands and a stream.
“To be clear, it is the town that has selected this [parcel] at Plymouth River and suggested/offered it to be conservation land,” Ryan told the Hingham Anchor. “My petition encourages the town to follow through on its own determination that this land should be protected forever [and be conveyed to the conservation commission]. It is not legally or on paper protected open space. . . . We have an opportunity to [do that] today.”
CAL permitting process now complete
Also during the meeting, Murphy explained that the necessary town and state (related to allowing a change of use for the Bare Cove Park Drive site) permitting process wrapped up recently, with the conservation commission (related to wetlands in the area), planning board, and zoning board of appeals approving the project. The ZBA issued a special permit.
The new CAL could not be built at the proposed location on Bare Cove Park Drive without Town Meeting and state legislature approval.
The planning board review related to “site design, the character and scale of the buildings, the architecture, storm water, utilities, safe pedestrian and vehicular access, traffic management, safety along the roadways, and lighting,” Murphy said.
She also explained the difficulties involved with a proposal by a number of citizens to consider purchasing the former Hitchcock Shoes building on Beal Street as a possible site for the CAL.
Even if the site was feasible, the delays involved in pivoting from the current plan would be very costly and involve additional town meetings and significant project delays, according to Town Administrator Tom Mayo.
“If this option came up years ago, it might have been viable, but we’ve already spent roughly $2 million on the feasibility study and schematic design,” Council on Aging member Joshua Ross said. “I don’t think it’s viable to change midstream, and there would be a human cost, because dozens of people have been putting work into this [project] for years. I think we’re well beyond any other options at this point.”
Mayo noted that the proposed CAL is “purpose-designed” to meet the needs of Hingham’s older residents.
For details about the CAL project, go to https://www.hingham-ma.gov/1080/Center-for-Active-Living-Building-Projec.
A replay of the meeting will be available at www.harbormedia.org under “Video on demand.”