Members still have 26 articles to consider starting at 7 p.m. April 28 at Hingham High School.
980 voters cast their ballots in the article to appropriate money to fund the construction of a new Center for Active Living. 510 voted yes, and 470 voted no, far from the two-thirds majority required.
After over an hour of debate, residents moved to end discussion and begin voting. The voiced vote was unclear, and the town will now take a ballot vote.
Appropriating money for the Center for Active Living construction requires a two-thirds majority at town meeting, followed by another majority vote at the town election.
Multiple residents have raised environmental concerns about constructing a senior center at the proposed location. They say that the construction would fell trees and threaten important wildlife.
"We need to preserve what makes Hingham special. And part of that is green open space," one resident said.
Only one member of the advisory committee voted against recommending funding the Center for Active Living construction project, arguing that an upgrade is needed, but the proposed plan is too large and expensive.
The proposed building is twice the size than new facilities in Wellesley and Scituate, the member said. He also said that the town estimated that maintaining the building would add over $200,000 per year to the operating budget.
He cited a 2013 study that found Hingham's seniors were more concerned about rising taxes than the small size of the Center for Active Living.
In advocating for residents to vote in favor of the project, select board chair Bill Ramsey said that the Center for Active Living provides an important community for seniors and improved his own mother's quality of life as she aged.
He argued that if the article is not passed tonight, rising costs and inflation would delay or kill the project.
"Before you tonight is an opportunity to show that sense of caring for some of our most vulnerable residents," he said.
Debate over the controversial Center for Active Living project has begun with the opening of article 12, which would allow the town to appropriate the necessary funds to construct a new building to host the Center for Active Living. A contracted architecture firm created a $25.8 million design for the Center, which serves residents over 65 and currently operates out of town hall.
Proponents say that the current space is inadequate for the growing senior population, and opponents take issue with the large spending.
The town would take out a loan to fund the construction, and an official said the tax increase would be .3% per year over the next five years, or a $16 per month increase for properties at or below the median value.
Voters approved funding unpaid fiscal year 2026 expenses that were not funded at last town meeting because they were "extraordinary or unforeseen."
This article is proposed every year and funds overspending of snow and ice clearing and other budgets. The advisory committee recommended the article 13-1.
The one member of the advisory committee who voted against recommending the article explained that she believed some of the expenses that could be covered by the fund were structural, not extraordinary. She argued that the town could reasonably expect special education and some municipal expenses, and the operating budget should have covered them.
"Because these expenses are not reflected in the town's operating expenses, we do not see the full cost of services," she said. "The longer we use this approach to support ongoing expenses, the harder it is going to be to unwind them."
She acknowledged the practical need to approve the article but advocated for the town to cover some of its expenses in the future.
At nearly 9 p.m., voters have passed the first nine of 38 articles on the warrant.
That is a 4.4% increase from fiscal year 2026 with a 2.5% tax increase.
A resident made a motion to freeze the fiscal year 2027 library payroll at the same number as fiscal year 2026, arguing that the $2 million proposal was too high for a 12-person staff. Voters rejected the motion and approved the proposed payroll.
The payroll is a 2.4% increase over fiscal year 2026, though the town's memorandum of agreement guarantees 3.5% increases to other payrolls, said the director of the Hingham Public Library.
"We need people in the children's department, the reference department, the circulation department," she said. "We have a lot that we take care of, and I think you'll all agree that our staff is top-notch."
Voters rejected two motions to adjust the school department's payroll after a discussion on how teachers should be compensated and how schools should react to cyberbullying.
According to an article published by the Boston Globe April 9, a male Hingham middle school student made a fake nude image of a female classmate and was not punished by the school. One resident held the article and proposed a decrease to the school department payroll, saying he was not comfortable voting to give the school department millions of dollars until a school official acknowledged the issue.
Superintendent Kathryn Roberts responded but declined to speak on that specific case, instead describing the district's curriculum for digital skills. "This current era is very challenging to navigate," she said.
Another resident proposed increasing the school department payroll to $62,677,620, which he said is a 4% increase over fiscal year 2026. The advisory committee recommended a payroll of $61,502,914 and argued against the resident's proposed increase.
"If there are open issues to be resolved, it will be done during the collective bargaining process," an official said.
A resident made a motion to increase the payroll for the conservation department by $1 in thanks to the department for work near her property. The motion passed, bringing the payroll from $256,291 to $256,292.
Residents passed $105 million of the proposed $173 million operating budget without discussion.
Residents held six items in the budget, which means that voters have time for discussion of the items before voting: payroll for conservation, expenses of GAR Hall, payroll for the school department, payroll and expenses for the Department of Public Works, and payroll for the library.
The advisory committee is recommending that the town appropriate $7.75 million of its unassigned fund balance to "much-needed" capital projects, the advisory committee chair said.
Voters fixed the salaries of select board members at $2,000 and the salary of the chair at $2,500.
Members of the board of assessors will receive $1,800 per year, while the chair will receive $2,000.
Members of the municipal light board will receive $214 per year, paid from the receipts of the Municipal Light Department.
Voters approved the town receiving the reports of its committees and boards and continuing all committees except the Energy Action Committee, 2017 School Building Committee and Public Safety Facility Committee.
They also approved the town receiving the report of the personnel board, which "provides funds to pay for currently undetermined financial obligations of the Town relating to salary increases, fringe benefit changes, and job reclassifications for non-School Department employees." That includes wage increases for the police department, fire department and department of public works. The total funds raised are $346,000.
Town meeting members voted to elect Laura Boyle to the committee in charge of the Hannah Lincoln Whiting Fund, a $15,733 grant.
They also voted for the town to assume liability for any damages incurred by the Department of Conservation and Recreation during its work within the town, in accordance with Massachusetts general law.
Town meeting voted against changing the order of voting on articles in the warrant after a resident motion.
A town meeting member moved to vote on articles 12 through 15, which all relate to the Center for Active Living, after article 20, arguing that they would be controversial and that town meeting should consider other articles first. Others residents disagreed, saying that some members had planned their schedules around the order of the articles.