July 16, 2025 By Carol Britton Meyer
During a packed agenda Tuesday night, the select board approved a contract with CHA Consulting, Inc. for design and permitting services for the new Carlson field pickleball courts and an agreement for the Hingham Police Department to purchase additional drones for public safety purposes; expressed support for the installation of additional Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons to improve pedestrian safety; and supported changes that will add a Route 220 bus stop near the ferry terminal to provide a connection to downtown Hingham.
Julie Strehle, select board liaison for the pickleball project, explained that the number of pickleball courts — initially proposed as 12 — has not yet been decided, and that the promised sound mitigation to help protect the neighbors is included in the agreement.
CHA was selected through a bidding process.
She also explained that tennis courts with pickleball overlays such as the ones at Plymouth River School and Cronin Field are not the same as official pickleball courts and that residents are going to other towns to play.
Hillside Terrace resident Hillary Tutko, an advocate for addressing neighborhood sound and other issues throughout the earlier pickleball courts process — which led to an affirmative town meeting vote last Spring “by a slim margin late at night,” she noted — reiterated the importance of protecting neighbors and addressing their concerns related to noise, traffic, and other issues.
She also expressed concern that the recreation commission agenda in early July didn’t include the pickleball courts discussion that ultimately took place until shortly before the meeting occurred.
High Street resident Susan Wetzel also shared Tutko’s concern “about agendas being changed at the last minute. This is outrageous,” she said. “Agendas should be accurate, and when they’re not, the public will react.”
There will be opportunities for further public input during conservation commission, planning board, and zoning board of appeals hearings — which will offer additional information about the pickleball courts project — as well as other public meetings as the process moves forward.
“CHA offered a very competitive proposal,” Recreation Commission Chair Vicki Donlan said. “They have done a lot of work on pickleball courts throughout the United States — they are responsive and their work is stellar.”
Select Board Chair William Ramsey said that while the board has a limited role in the process, “we will hold public meetings [about the project] as well.”
In other business at the meeting
The board supported using already approved funding from the capital budget for the HPD to purchase six additional drones and related equipment to use in search and rescue missions, for crowd control during large public events throughout town, and also to assist with surveillance and monitoring, accident investigations, tactical operations, and for traffic management as needed. The cost is $78,354.
During a discussion of signing an agreement for Owner’s Project Manager services for the proposed new Center for Active Living building, a citizen asked about public input opportunities as the project moves forward, while another was concerned about the tax impacts in light of the many other capital projects coming down the road.
Christine Smith said while she supports the new CAL, it’s important to look “at the totality” of capital projects in the pipeline and that with a 2/3 vote required at town meeting for the proposal to pass and a majority at the ballot box — where people might vote differently in private than they might at a public town meeting — “it might not pass.” The current estimate is $34 million.
Ramsey noted that town officials have been talking about “other ways to generate revenue outside of property taxes,” including considering the sale of surplus town property “and other ways to raise money.”
CAL Building Committee chair Tom Carey advocated for the project, noting that a new CAL would be a community resource and a “good deal” even while paying off the debt over a period of time.
The July 22 select board meeting — joint with the building committee — will feature an initial presentation on the proposed new CAL by the design team. “We want to get the word out about where we are at with this project and show the proposed layout,” Ramsey said earlier. “This will by no means be the final plan, but we want to hear what citizens like and don’t like about it and go from there.” There will also be other opportunities for citizens to share their comments about the proposed project.
Town Engineer J.R. Frey sought and won select board support for installing additional Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons in various parts of town to improve pedestrian safety through grant funding.
RRFBs are pedestrian-activated traffic control devices that signal drivers when a pedestrian is about to enter a crosswalk.
Frey proposed the following locations:
- Hull Street at the crosswalk near Glastonbury Abbey
- Leavitt Street between Irving Street and Winter Street
- Short Street south of Leavitt Street
- Main Street at the crosswalk west of Aberdeen Road at the Haley Field driveway
- Main Street just south of Arnold Street (no existing sidewalk)
- Cross Street south of Taurasi Road and Myers Farm Road
- Downer Avenue at the crosswalk just south of Planters Field Lane near Foster School that serves schoolchildren
- Lincoln Street near the Old Ordinary, which ties in with planned improvements to nearby Fountain Square.
The installation of an additional RRFB at the middle school using other funding is under consideration.
Ramsey was supportive of Frey’s proposal but asked him to inform abutters who would be affected by installation of the beacons “to give them an opportunity to provide feedback.”
This proposal will go before the traffic committee at its next meeting, along with the proposal to install a roundabout at the Middle/Short/Main street intersection in Hingham Centre. Check the meeting schedule on the town website for the date and time.
- The board supported adding a ferry stop on the 220 bus route at the Hingham Shipyard ferry terminal to provide a much-advocated-for connection to downtown Hingham.
This would involve the removal of two bus stops along the Route 3A corridor — 349 Lincoln St. and Lincoln Street at Sgt. William Terry Drive. Riders, some of whom work at Foster School and local businesses in the area, will be notified two to three weeks in advance before this change is made, according to Claudia Bravo Monje of the MBTA, who attended the meeting.
Ramsey called this change “a big plus for the downtown area” and said it will be publicized widely to attract more visitors to downtown Hingham.