HRA: Urban Renewal Plan is ‘99% complete;’ public review sessions to begin in January

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By Carol Britton Meyer

Following the appointment of Max Walder to fill a vacant seat on the Hull Redevelopment Authority until the spring town election, Chair Bartley Kelley provided an update on the status of the HRA-owned 12.5-acre property that runs from Water Street to Phipps Street.

THe boundaries of the HRA property.

“We’ve been working diligently for the past two years on a draft Urban Renewal Plan, which is about 99% complete,” he told the select board this week in a joint meeting for the purpose of filling the vacancy and providing an update.

The HRA will complete the edits on the draft plan at its meeting next Monday and then forward the document to the select board and the planning board and “disseminate this information to the public,” according to Kelly. “We’re basing this document on what we think the community wants and needs. We want people to know what’s going on. A lot of work, studies, and grant money have gone into this process.”

Kelly noted that “people tend to want affordable housing, open space, and more tourism, and right now the HRA parcel doesn’t provide any of that. We have a moral obligation to move forward to [come up with something] that the community wants. We want to get this right, with input from the public.”

A series of meetings involving draft URP presentations will be held from January until mid-March, including at least two separate select board and planning board discussions and two additional public meetings. It was noted that all of these meetings will be open to the public, as are all HRA meetings.

“Everybody won’t be happy, but we want to do what’s good and right for the town,” Kelly said.

Once the opportunity for public input through the select board and planning board and other meetings on the draft wraps up, the HRA will seek the select board’s endorsement of the final draft before the final URP is submitted to the Department of Housing and Community Development.

In the meantime, the draft, once completed, will be sent to DHCD for feedback.

“We’re hoping to get the final draft to DHCD in April, and if the [approval] process moves quickly, the HRA can start interacting with developers,” Kelly said. “One of the benefits of an URP is that it allows us to negotiate directly with them.”

Town Manager Philip Lemnios asked the HRA to include a synopsis of how the different conclusions drawn in the draft URP relating to potential development of the property were reached and to provide supporting documentation “to demonstrate the viability of what the HRA is proposing.”

Kelly assured him that a synopsis will be included with the draft report when it is posted on the town website.

Select Board member Jennifer Constable said community input is key, “regardless of what a developer thinks would work on the parcel. We’ll have to figure out how to merge community input with the data you have in support of the information that’s included in the URP.”

HRA member Dennis Zaia reported that the Cecil Group, which has worked with the town on various projects, has been hired by the authority to facilitate the public discussions.

“Steve Cecil is an adept facilitator,” Zaia said. “He and his team will get the most from the meeting and ensure that everyone feels that they have been heard.”

Kelly noted that plans for the two-way road system, although not part of the URP, are moving forward, which he said “will alleviate a lot of the traffic backups” in the area.

In the meantime, Walder, who has a background in real estate, will take part in HRA and other public meeting discussions.

“I want to bring more energy to the town and would love to be a part of turning [the HRA property] into something,” he said during his interview before the two boards. “I have two years of experience working in a client-facing role (directly with real estate developers), and my professional expertise allows me to bring the perspective of the young professional,” he stated in his letter of interest. His appointment was unanimous.

Steven Greenberg and Adrienne Paquin also interviewed for the position, which became available when Robert DeCoste resigned. After a motion was made to appoint Walder, Select Board member Domenico Sestito made a substitute motion to appoint Paquin that was seconded but failed to move forward on a 5-4 vote. The subsequent vote was unanimous in Walder’s favor.

During the interviews, Constable told all three candidates that the HRA land is one of the last large developable parcels in town and that its location is “central in the community. Whatever ultimately happens, this will be one of the biggest decisions the town has made in a long time,” she said.

Select Board, planners jointly appoint lone applicant for open seat on the planning board

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By Carol Britton Meyer

As part of addressing a full agenda Wednesday night, the select board filled a vacant seat on the planning board and appointed two representatives to the climate action and beach management committees.

JIM PITROLO WAS APPOINTED TO THE PLANNING BOARD THIS WEEK. HE WAS THE ONLY APPLICANT FOR THE OPEN SEAT.

As the only candidate interviewing for the vacancy, Jim Pitrolo said he considers the planning board to be “the gateway to development in Hull” and that he believed that his talents and experience would make him a good fit for the position, and would be a way for him to give back to the community.

Pitrolo has served on various town boards and committees, including currently sitting on the economic development committee, and is involved with the Hull-Nantasket Chamber of Commerce.

The select board and planning board, which met in joint session to fill this position, agreed unanimously to appoint Pitrolo. The vacancy resulted from Irwin Nesoff’s election to the select board.

In other business at the meeting, Donna Pursel was appointed to represent the select board on the Climate Action Committee, which will play a central role in defining the town’s policies and strategy in addressing the impacts of climate change in Hull. The first meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 6, at 7 p.m. It’s anticipated that the committee will meet quarterly.

Nesoff was appointed to represent the select board on the Beach Management Committee, which meets on a monthly basis. The BMC is preparing to review and update the current beach management plan.

The select board also continued its end-of-year license renewal process, approving the Sandbar’s all-alcohol, common victualler, and entertainment licenses; Paragon Arcade’s all-alcohol, common victualler, auto amusement, and entertainment licenses; Shoreline Kitchen and Bar’s all-alcohol, common victualler, and entertainment licenses; A Street Liquors’ all-alcohol as a package store license; The Village Market’s all-alcohol as a package store license; Toast’s wine and malt as restaurant and common victualler licenses; and common victualler licenses for Hull Jade Restaurant, L Street Pizza, Scoops Ice Cream Company, Weinberg’s Bakery (and also approved a change of hours to closing one hour earlier), and To Dine For. The board also renewed livery licenses/badges for Seaside Transport, a lodging house license for The Nantascot Lodging House, and a Class II Wholesale license for West Corner Autos, Inc.

Hull pledges support for joining AARP’s network of ‘age-friendly communities’

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The select board this week authorized Chair Jennifer Constable to sign a letter to be sent to the American Association of Retired Persons pledging the Town of Hull's commitment to creating an age-friendly community and environment at the suggestion of the Council on Aging during a recent meeting.

The board also supported joining AARP’s Network of Age-Friendly Communities, an affiliate of the World Health Organization’s Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities.

This program supports the efforts of cities and towns to be “great places for people of all ages.”

Joining this program is one of the key recommendations from the recent needs assessment aimed at enhancing the lives of Hull’s growing senior population now and in the years to come.

This AARP network is based on the premise that communities should provide safe, walkable streets, age-friendly housing and transportation options, access to needed services, and opportunities for residents of all ages to participate in community life.

There are no membership costs.

-- Carol Britton Meyer

Upcoming workshop to explore climate change’s impact on Hampton Circle area

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By Carol Britton Meyer

Residents living in the Hampton Circle neighborhood are encouraged to attend a Climate Adaptation Workshop on Dec. 7 for an overview of flood vulnerability in their neighborhood based on climate change projections.

The workshop will be hosted by the Hull Climate Adaptation and Conservation Department and the sewer department, both which are exploring options to address flooding in the Hampton Circle area. This includes the proposed reconstruction of the Lt. Joseph D. McLaughlin Playground, which is subject to frequent flooding. This event will provide an overview of flood vulnerability based on climate change projections, introduce adaptation options.

The workshop, which will run from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., will be held in the Hull High School Exhibition Room. It is funded by the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness program of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.

Residents who live on Marginal Road, Moreland Avenue, Hampton Circle, and Bay Street – as well as others interested in the topic – will have the opportunity to offer feedback.

The Hull Community Development and Planning Department is working with Hampton Circle residents to reconstruct the McLaughlin playground, subject to an environmental review conducted by the state and other considerations.

“The current proposal calls for a new play structure with an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant pour-in-place surface and walkway, parking, a new swing set, benches, plantings, and a rain garden-type feature to better manage stormwater and to attempt to improve ocean flooding drainage,” Director of Community Development and Planning Chris DiIorio explained earlier.

As part of the process, the CDP submitted an Environmental Notification Form to the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs on Oct. 31 to initiate review of this project.

This is due to the fact that the land where the playground existed is located in an Area of Critical Environmental Concern.

In addition, because the town plans to use some federal funding for this project, a Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act review was triggered, resulting in the ENF. MEPA will make the determination as to whether an Environmental Impact Report is required for the project.

For additional information about the effects of climate change on Hull, visit the Climate Adaptation and Conservation Department website at www.town.hull.ma.us/climate-adaptation-and-conservation.

Endangered sea turtle dies after stranding on beach, despite Hull family’s rescue effort

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By Carol Britton Meyer

RESCUE ATTEMPT. The McFadden family found a Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle, the rarest – and the world’s most endangered – species of sea turtles stranded on the beach last week. Despite their best efforts, and those of the New England Aquarium, the turtle did not survive. [Photo courtesy of Joel McFadden]

While a Hull family’s efforts to save a sea turtle recently found on the bayside beach that runs along Strawberry Hill had a sad ending, they are glad they had the opportunity to help the rare creature.

While walking along that part of the beach last week, Corvid Martinez and his father, Joel, came across the 1.5-foot-long sea turtle, an endangered species, which was not moving and appeared to be lifeless.

“We made the mistake of bringing it home so it would not be destroyed,” Joel told The Hull Times. “When we arrived, our [partner/mother], Melany McFadden, who teaches oceanography [at a local college], knew to call the New England Aquarium Sea Turtle Rescue Hotline.”

Corvid, Joel, and Melany were aware of the fact that sea turtles “are very endangered from humans hunting them, ocean pollution, and entanglements in fishing and shrimp trawling gear,” she said.

The NEA Marine Animal Rescue Team vehicle arrived within 45 minutes and picked up what turned out to be a Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle, the rarest – and the world’s most endangered – species of sea turtles.

“They are also the most common to have cold-shock in the Cape Cod Bay area,” according to McFadden.

As it turned out, the sea turtle had a very weak heartbeat, but passed away overnight.

“This was both a sad experience and an amazing one to see a sea turtle up close,” McFadden said.

According to the rescue staff at the aquarium, any wild animals found on the beach should never be removed.

“In the case of turtles, they should be moved above the high tide line so they don’t get washed back out into the ocean, and then a call should be made to the hotline at 617-973-5247,” McFadden explained.

Nearly all species of sea turtle are now classified as endangered, with three of the seven existing species being critically endangered, research shows.

The Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Rescue Hotline responds to calls about distressed sea turtles from Boston and surrounding communities to the New Hampshire-Maine border.

Sea turtles in this area do not typically come ashore unless they are seriously debilitated from extreme hypothermia or dehydration, pneumonia, shell or bone fractures, or other issues, according to the New England Aquarium website.

“Other people have seen turtles washed up on the bayside of Hull as well over the past several years,” McFadden said. “Sea turtles are common in our area in the summer and fall, feeding on crabs and other animals in the warm water currents. But when the winds and weather patterns switch, the turtles can end up in water below 50 degrees, which causes their systems to shut down, and the current patterns in Cape Cod Bay and the Gulf of Maine trap them in the region.”

As their body temperatures drop, the sea turtles can’t swim and get blown by the wind into shore.

Joel said he is saddened “to see the loss of another sea turtle, whose populations are so endangered due to human activities such as fish and shrimp trawling, pollution, and the increase of strandings due to cold-shock events in our area related to turtles traveling further north into Cape Cod Bay and the Gulf of Maine, due to the warming of our oceans as a result of human activities.”

Part of the aquarium’s mission is to rehabilitate endangered sea turtles, with an average of 300 turtles treated each year. Treatment can last between two and eight months, sometimes longer. Most of the sea turtles that arrive alive at the aquarium recover and are released back into the ocean.

“For more than 100 million years, sea turtles have covered vast distances across the world’s oceans, filling a vital role in the balance of marine habitats,” according to the World Wildlife Fund website.

WWF is committed to stopping the decline of sea turtles, works for the recovery of the species, and has a symbolic Adopt a Sea Turtle program.

According to Massachusetts Audubon, it’s very important to recover stranded turtles as quickly as possible. “Do not assume a turtle is dead —turtles that appear lifeless are often still alive,” according to its website, which further notes that it’s illegal under both state and federal law to harass sea turtles or transport them without a permit.

For anyone who comes across a stranded sea turtle on the beach, the following simple steps are recommended, in addition to moving it above the high tide line:

* Never grab or hold the turtle by the head or flippers.

* Cover it with dry seaweed or wrack.

* Mark it with an obvious piece of debris, such as a buoy, driftwood, or branches.

* Call the hotline: 617-973-5247.

Off the Wall at Hull Town Hall  - Your Government's Meeting Schedule

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Are you interested in learning more about how your local government works? Find out when Hull’s boards and commissions are holding public meetings by visiting www.town.hull.ma.us and clicking on the “calendar” icon, or scanning this QR code with your smartphone. 

Under the state’s Open Meeting Law, each public meeting and agenda must be posted at least 48 hours prior to the meeting, so be sure to check the site often for new postings, time adjustments, and supplements to the main agenda. 

Some meetings are in person and some are held remotely; if the meeting is to be held online, the access link and other information will be included on the meeting posting. 

Developer files plans to tear down former aquarium, build four-story, 21-unit complex

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THE NEXT WAVE. The developers who purchased the former Atlantic Aquarium have filed plans for a four-story, 21-unit residential building with parking underneath. Construction of the complex, which will be built on the existing foundation, is expected to begin in the spring and be completed in 2024. [Courtesy photos]

By Christopher Haraden

Calling his concept “a solution to an eyesore,” the new owner of the former Atlantic Aquarium property filed plans last week to tear down the long-vacant building and construct a four-story, 21-unit residential complex at the base of Atlantic Hill.

To be called The Residences at the Aquarium, the new building will be constructed on the foundation of the existing structure, which was built in 1972. The proposal is a mix of three one-bedroom units, 12 two-bedrooms, and seven three-bedroom units. The three-bedroom units are two stories each and occupy the upper two floors. Each floor is designed to “step back” toward the Atlantic cliff and provide an open-air balcony. The complex would have parking underneath the building and an outdoor pool to the side.

Developer Jonathan Leavitt, of Brookline, and fellow managing partner Enrique Darer paid $1,450,000 for the two-story, concrete-block building on Aug. 19. Leavitt said he and Darer submitted plans to the town late last week for review, and hopes to begin construction in the spring, with completion set for 2024. Although taller than the current aquarium, the proposed building meets the zoning regulations of the Nantasket Beach Overlay District and does not require a variance, Leavitt said.

“Nantasket Beach, and Hull in general, is a wonderful historic beachfront community that has managed to preserve its identity and cohesion right up through the present day,” Leavitt said. “We hope that by upgrading this unused site to create flagship new residences, we will contribute to the overall growth and continuing revival of the beachfront neighborhood, of which we look forward to being a part.”

Leavitt said he plans to discuss the project with abutters, many of whom objected to the previous owner’s proposal to operate a marijuana cultivation facility. He said initial conversations with nearby condominium owners have been positive.

“There is an official process to go through, and we will reach out to the neighbors to discuss their feelings on the project outside of the hearing,” Leavitt said.

Plans call for a parking garage on the first level of the new building. The developer said the narrowness of the site, as well as limitations of the property’s boundaries, ruled out commercial uses.

“I just don’t think that this is the place for permanent, year-round-retail,” Leavitt said, adding that the sidewalk and strip of grass now in front of the building are not part of his property. “I can’t even plant shrubs or trees in front of the building without permission.”

He said a final decision has not been reached about whether the 21 units would be rented, or sold as condominiums.

“Current indications are there will be a strong demand for luxury condominiums at the beach. But we do not have a crystal ball, and are subject to the same market forces as everyone else,” he said. “We will assess the market closer to the spring of 2024, and make a decision about selling versus renting based on circumstances at that time.”

School Committee honors scholars who earned state, national academic awards

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By Carol Britton Meyer

A number of high-achieving Hull Public Schools students were recognized at this week’s school committee meeting, with a crowd of parents present to show support and to cheer for them.

There hasn’t been a group that large at a school committee meeting for some time, Chair Stephanie Peters noted.

“It’s exciting!” she said.

Superintendent of Schools Judith Kuehn announced that Bridget Fleming was recognized recently by the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, which annually provides an award to a senior from every school district in the state related to class standing, cumulative average, class rank, and leadership, and presented the award to Fleming.

Kuehn praised her as a leader who exemplifies “academic and civic excellence with ease and grace and is well-respected by her peers and the staff.” Fleming has also received numerous sports and other awards.

The recipients of the National School Development Council Academic Growth and Student Leadership in Learning award were also announced: TD Doty, who was not present, and Brennan Minucci.

This award is presented to high school seniors who have consistently pursued a high level of academic effort and who have also served as positive role models for fellow students. Recipients also exemplify admirable character and accomplishment.

Doty has been involved with bullying prevention and in conversations about inclusion and acceptance, Kuehn said. He is also involved in the theater arts program in costume design and as a member of the stage crew.

Kuehn called Minucci “a kind person who has shown much growth and resilience during his high school career. A shining example is his work in the athletic department.”

Due to an injury, Minucci had to step away from participating in sports but continues to support Hull athletes in his role as Athletic Director Connor Duhaime’s “right hand man” after completing an internship,” according to Kuehn. “Brennan is also an excellent student.”

Principal Michael Knybel presented certificates to two HHS students who were named in the National Merit Scholarship Program by the College Board: Matthew Sullivan and Austin Bongo.

Sullivan was recognized for an outstanding score on the junior PSATs after placing among the 50,000 highest-scoring participants nationwide of all students who took the PSAT in the fall of 2021. “This means Matthew is in the top 3% in the nation,” Knybel said. 

Bongo, who was not present, earned Academic Honors for the College Board National Recognition Program. Students who may be eligible for this award are those “who have achieved a GPA of 3.5 or higher and have excelled on the PSAT or have earned a score of 3 or higher on two or more AP exams; who are African American or Black, Hispanic American, or Latinx, or Indigenous; and/or attend school in a rural area or small town,” Knybel explained.

Knybel also recognized Veronica Fleming for achieving a perfect MCAS score in Grade 10 mathematics.

“Perfect scores are pretty rare,” he said.