Hingham Select Board Approves $757K in Contracts for Ambulance, Vehicles, AV Equipment

HINGHAM — May 20, 2025 — Hingham Select Board unanimously approves more than $756,000 in equipment and vehicle contracts at May 20 meeting. The three-member board — Chair William Ramsey, Julie Strehle, and a member identified in the transcript as Liz — approved a $522,955 agreement with Specialty Vehicles Incorporated for a replacement fire department ambulance, a 2024 Ford F-550 with stretcher and hydraulic load system, funded through the town's excess ambulance revenue account within a $540,000 capital allocation. The board also cleared a $179,924 audio-visual contract with the Oakers Company for the new public safety facility — set to open in early June — covering the emergency operations center video wall, roll call room monitors, and building-wide sound system, with installation expected in July. A $53,994.50 chassis replacement for the Bear Cove Park ranger's 1999 Ford pickup rounded out the procurement actions. The board additionally approved the transfer of the Herb Chambers Lexus of Hingham dealer license to Asbury Sharon Lex LLC ahead of a mid-June sale, and heard Advisory Committee leaders present a financial policy overhaul updating the budget growth rate assumption from 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent and converting selected "should" language to "shall."