The select board and light board have voted to remove the light plant from the proposed joint DPW/Light plant building at West corner, shown above.

By Carol Britton Meyer

In an effort to clarify the select board’s authority over the town manager/light plant manager, Town Counsel Brian Winner this week shared a seven-page analysis of the July 22 select board vote to remove the light plant from a planned joint project at the site of the current public works garage.

The 3-2 vote directed Town Manager/Light Plant Manager Jennifer Constable to remove the Hull Municipal Light Plant from a Coastal Zone Management grant related to the joint light plant/DPW facility. The light board opposes the joint facility and requested that the plant be separated from the plan.

The select board also voted at that meeting to direct Constable to approve $110,000 requested by the light board to fund a feasibility study concerning construction of a garage at the existing Hull Municipal Light Plant site on Edgewater Road.

The board asked Winner for his opinion as to whether the board had the legal authority to direct Constable to take these actions.

In summary, Winner said the select board “appears to have the authority to direct Constable to remove HMLP from the CZM grant application.”

However, he said, the board’s authority to compel approval of a specific $110,000 expenditure “is less certain” because there’s a risk of “intruding upon the manager’s assigned authority.”

Click here for town counsel’s current analysis and past legal opinions

Select Board Chair Brian McCarthy expressed frustration that plans for the proposed joint facility appear to be moving forward, with another grant recently awarded despite the light board’s, and the select board’s, majority opposition.

“This project is not going to happen,” he said. “Will the required two-thirds of town meeting voters approve this potential $60 to $70 million project?”

Constable suggested putting the proposed joint facility on an upcoming agenda for a full discussion, although she said there is currently nothing new to report.

“The state is aware that there may be a change in the scope of the project,” she said, noting that project engineers determined that a joint facility is the “most cost-effective way to move forward. …I feel very responsible for doing what will have the least financial impact on residents as possible.”

However, Constable said, “if the board thinks the best policy decision is not to have a joint facility, that would be your decision to make. I suggest having an additional conversation.”

“The board has already made that decision,” select board member Jerry Taverna responded.

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