HRA mulls change to in-person meetings, extends deadline for survey after no firms respond
/By Carol Britton Meyer
The Hull Redevelopment Authority addressed a full agenda Wednesday night, from extending the deadline on the solicitation of services for a townwide survey about potential uses for the property to considering returning to in-person meetings with a virtual option.
Chair Bartley Kelly welcomed Charles Richardson, who was appointed last month to fill the vacancy created by Dennis Zaia’s resignation until the 2026 town election.
“Thank you for stepping up to the plate,” he said.
Much of the meeting was a back and forth about various uses for the property and related topics, including different views of what citizens would like to see there – whether community/open space, projects that would generate tax revenue, or some combination of the two.
“Whatever we do, we all want what’s right for the town,” Kelly said.
Regarding the townwide survey, the specifications for the questionnaire design and analysis are posted on the HRA website at hra02045.com as part of a solicitation for services. The goal is to encourage as many people as possible to respond.
After HRA Technical Operations Manager Mark Hamin reported that there have not been any responses by the October 14 deadline – unless any had been dropped off at town hall that have not yet been collected – the board unanimously agreed to extend the deadline until October 29.
Outreach will continue
In the meantime, Hamin will continue reaching out to prospective respondents with the necessary qualifications, and board members will do the same. The board will revisit the survey at its October 27 meeting and decide next steps, depending on whether there have been any responses by that time.
Requested services include working with HRA members on the design of effective survey questions and the submission of a report that will integrate the survey results and findings.
The company hired to perform this service will also analyze public responses to the survey questions, which will help in the creation of the HRA’s Urban Renewal Plan.
Other options include modifying the solicitation specifications to increase interest or thinking about another approach as to how to conduct the survey, as suggested by Hamin, if necessary.
Richardson noted that only 350 residents responded to the 2001 survey, and the one conducted in the 1990s, 600. He questioned the “validity of a survey” if the results don’t represent the majority of the townspeople.
“The whole point of doing this survey is to have feedback from as many people as possible – to get as many to respond as we can get in this 10,000-person town,” HRA member Adrienne Paquin said.
‘We’re getting better survey responses these days’
Resident Susan Vermilya pointed out that an independent survey in 2024 resulted in roughly 800 respondents, including 631 from Hull, and that the results were published in The Hull Times. “We’re getting better survey responses these days, which is encouraging,” she said.
Hamin noted that best practices from a planning and redevelopment perspective call for presenting different scenarios rather than an open-ended survey process.
There also was some discussion about the plan to revise the current draft Urban Renewal Plan and a general consensus that the URP process and the survey should be done concurrently.
Kelly discussed at length what he would like to see on the property, including housing with an affordable housing component and projects that would provide economic development opportunities for the town and generate tax revenue, as well as open space for the public.
There are “major projects coming down the pike,” he said, including the town hall, which is in a deteriorating condition, and the potential light plant/DPW barn combined facility, among others. “Without economic development on the HRA property, all those projects will be on taxpayers’ backs,” he said.
‘Not HRA’s responsibility to provide funding to the town’
In response, Paquin said she feels it is not the HRA’s responsibility to provide funding to the town, although it has done so in the past.
“We get to decide what our mission is,” and she objected to what she called “a scare tactic” used by Kelly that “it would all be on the backs of our citizens if we don’t agree to develop part of the HRA property.”
She further called the tax revenue argument “disingenuous,” asserting that Kelly incorporates “the same propaganda and talking points at every meeting. We will find out how people feel after [town election results are in],” a point also made by Kelly earlier after being elected seven times to the HRA. “Dan [Kernan] and I were also elected,” Paquin noted.
Kelly responded, “I have one word to say, touché!”
Kernan suggested asking citizens their thoughts about the importance of the HRA property generating tax revenue in the survey.
During a number of topics of discussion, Kelly said it is important to “get this show on the road,” referring to revisiting the draft URP and other issues.
Kelly also provided a brief parking lot vendor update, noting that this year’s operator owes the authority $73,500, a figure that could go higher considering attorney fees and possible “further damages,” according to Kelly. The board may meet in executive session next week about this issue.
Board could switch to in-person meetings, or hybrid
At Richardson’s request, the board talked about the possibility of returning to in-person, rather than continuing with Zoom, meetings – with varying points of view expressed by members of the board and the audience.
While in-person meetings can be more effective and foster better communication in some members’ view, Zoom meetings tend to attract a larger number of participants due to the convenience they offer. As an example, there were more than 35 people on Wednesday’s Zoom meeting at 8:30 p.m.
Hamin noted that while he personally sees the benefits of in-person meetings, the state Legislature extended the allowance for virtual meetings after the pandemic for a reason.
“It’s been recognized that virtual meetings significantly increase access to and the level of participation at meetings, among other benefits. The HRA should weigh the advantages and disadvantages and realize that abandoning virtual meetings will sacrifice a significant level of accessibility and participation,” Hamin said.
Following the discussion, it was decided to hold a Zoom meeting on October 27 and to discuss various options at that time – including hybrid meetings that combine Zoom with in-person – after Kelly does further research in the meantime, or holding one of the two monthly HRA meetings in-person and the other via Zoom.
A replay of the meeting will be available on demand at Hull Community Television’s website, www.hulltv.net.
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