42nd Annual Snow Row set to shove off on April 15 at Pemberton boathouse

On Saturday, April 15, the Hull Lifesaving Museum’s signature rowing race, the 42nd annual Snow Row, takes place at the Windmill Point Boathouse. The race was originally scheduled for March 11, but weather conditions forced its postponement until this weekend. With its one-of-a-kind, LeMans-style start, the race covers a 3-3/4 mile triangular course starting and ending off the beach.

The Race: Check-in: 9-11 a.m.;  Coxswains Meeting at 11 a.m.; Race Starts at noon.

Spectators gather to share in the excitement of the wild and woolly start, unpredictable weather, and gathering of gorgeous boats and athletes (more than 100 boats are participating!). Entirely within view of the boathouse, the event is as much of a thrill for spectators as for participants – a rare opportunity to see, up close, rowers of all ages from all over New England, New York, and along the East Coast, and their stunning array of wooden pulling boats: peapods, dories, wherries, whitehalls, pilot gigs, captain’s gigs and Irish currachs.

Spectator Boat: Back by popular demand, the Snow Row Spectator Boat is a perfect way to follow the Snow Row from start to finish. Boarding begins at 11 a.m. at Pemberton Pier, with the boat shoving off at 11:45 a.m. to witness the one-of-a-kind LeMans racing start. Spectator boat tickets ($20 each) are available online or available on race day at the pier.

The Museum: When the excitement of the Snow Row is completed, stop by the Hull Lifesaving Museum, which will be open throughout the day with free admission to view lifesaving exhibits and collections.

For all the details visit www.hulllifesavingmuseum.org

Easter tradition continues: Egg hunt has united the neighborhood for 28 years

By Dolores Sauca Lorusso 

“It’s 28,000 Easter eggs and counting,” Hampton Circle’s Gisela Voss said of the communitywide egg hunt she and her husband, Dan Kernan, began 28 years ago.

Each Easter, they have hidden a thousand eggs filled with candy, as well as small surprises such as Play-Doh, bouncy balls, and ring pops, for local children to find. This year’s event takes place at 11 a.m. on Easter Sunday, April 9.

The longstanding tradition began when they moved into the Hampton Circle neighborhood and wanted to meet other parents of preschoolers; now they “can’t imagine not doing it.”

“The Easter egg hunt drew everyone together,” Kernan said. “Over the years it has gotten bigger and bigger...People have come to expect it.”

Even during the COVID19 pandemic, the Easter egg hunt pulled the neighborhood “together while apart.” In 2020 and 2021, when it was not advisable to have groups of children together, they had what they dubbed “Easter Egg Takeout” and placed goodie bags on a table in front of their house. They gave out about 50 bags each of those years. They missed the “happy kids” running through the grass searching for eggs all over their yard.

“When we moved to Hull from Brookline we didn’t know anyone…then we met our neighbors and learned the beauty of the ‘Hull family,’” said Voss, adding that she “can’t believe it has been 28 years.”

The event draws between 20 and 50 children, and they all go home with “enormous amounts of candy.”

A section is blocked off for the toddlers and the rest of the kids are lined up by size.

“We let the littlest ones go to the left and as they get bigger we usher them to the right,” said Kernan, “so there is no mowing over.”

“The mad dash is over in about 10 minutes and then come the golden eggs which are harder to find,” Voss said.

Golden eggs have been a special feature of the Easter egg hunt since it started.

“During the early years, Dan would have to spray paint the golden eggs because gold plastic ones did not exist back then,” said Voss. “The golden eggs each have a dollar in them and the winner gets a special prize like a Frisbee, or some other inexpensive toy. But to the kids, finding the golden egg is the real prize.”

Their youngest son, Rio, who is in high school, confirmed this, saying his favorite memory is “finding the golden eggs and growing up to hide them.”

As the years have passed the event has “evolved.” At first, it was held in just the Voss/Kernan yard, now it has expanded to a couple of the neighbor’s yards around them. It is a community building event where the neighbors pitch in.

“The neighborhood kids switched roles as they got older…now they’re teenagers stuffing the eggs and pondering where to hide the golden eggs on Easter morning,” Kernan said.

“The hardest hiding place we’ve had for a golden egg is when one was hoisted up the flag pole,” Voss added.

The tradition is being passed down generations; the teens and young adults want to bring joy to the younger children.

“Sometimes children will show up late and we have run out of candy,” Kernan said. “The older kids and teens open eggs and fill them with their candy.”
“A few of the original kids are old enough to come with a toddler,” said Voss.

Some eggs are not found until the fall when their hiding places are revealed.

“In the fall we find Easter eggs where no one hid them,” Kernan said, “tucked away where there was once vegetation and a squirrel had carried it off, but couldn’t figure out how to get it open.”

“Twenty-eight years and we have never been rained out,” said Voss. “It has drizzled, but we have never had to cancel the egg hunt.”

Voss and Kernan. agreed that even as empty-nesters they will continue to have the Easter egg hunt.

“As long as people are coming and neighbors with little kids move in to the neighborhood we won’t stop,” said Kernan.

The first egg hunt began with their three-year-old son, Luke, who passed away in 2012 at age 19. His parents say he will “always be a part of the Easter egg hunt tradition;” however, to honor his memory they started Luke’s Light to bring solar lights to places in the world where there is limited access to electricity, such as Ukraine, Haiti, Honduras, and Kenya.

Visit lukeslight.org to see how you can spread light in the darkness during this season of “hope, rebirth, and love.”

Village Fire Station rehab, field work top list of CPC proposals

By Carol Britton Meyer

Even as the Community Preservation Committee prepares its presentation of recommended projects for this year’s annual town meeting, plans are under way for an annual community forum in early June to encourage citizens to start thinking about potential projects for the next round of Community Preservation Act funding.

The CPC is recommending $1.85 million in historic preservation and open space/recreation projects, along with funding for the community housing reserve, for several projects:

- Hampton Circle playground supplementary funding, $99,000;

- Design and engineering work associated with the redevelopment of the L Street playground and tennis courts, $55,000;

- L Street field shade structures, to be installed near the intersection of Nantasket Avenue and N Street, $30,000;

- A consultant to study waterfront access points around town, $28,000;

- Restoration of the Paragon Carousel’s windows, $70,000;

- Village Fire Station preservation: Phase 3 of the plan to rehabilitate and restore the building in an historically accurate way and to bring the mechanical systems up to code, $1.5 million, including $1 million in bonding;

- Community Housing reserve $69,965.

The CPC is waiting to hear back from Stuart Saginor, executive director of the overarching state Community Preservation Coalition regarding some questions concerning the fire station project – specifically, what is and isn’t eligible for CPA funding within the historic building.

The Hull Historical Commission and the Hull Historic District Commission also will weigh in regarding the proposed warrant article.

CPA funding comes from a 1.5 percent property tax surcharge approved by town meeting in 2016 and may only be used for open space/recreation, community housing, and historic preservation purposes.

The state provides a partial match for these funds, which pave the way for the realization of numerous projects that improve the quality of life for Hull residents that the town would otherwise not be able to afford.

Chair Rachel Gilroy presented the CPC’s recommendations to the advisory board recently; the board’s recommendations appear in the town meeting warrant that is mailed to every Hull household. Voters who attend the May 1 town meeting will have the final say.

The annual CPC forum is planned for Monday, June 5, at 7 p.m. via Zoom, with the purpose of providing an overview of the CPA, the process for applying for grants from Hull’s CPA fund, and what types of projects are eligible for funding.

Citizens will also have an opportunity to suggest ways in which CPA dollars might be spent to benefit the community, and to learn more about the funding process. Widespread community participation is encouraged. More details will be available closer to the date.

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HRA delays next sessions as consultants compile public input, financial data

By Dolores Sauca Lorusso

The Hull Redevelopment Authority plans to delay its third set of public meetings from late April until the end of May so the HRA can “refine the plan” while incorporating the public feedback and financials, said Chair Bartley Kelly.

Kelly said the extra time will be for “slowing it down…so we can make something that works.

“We are moving forward based on the comments from the last week at the public meetings,” Kelly said. “Consultants are consolidating all that information and we will continue to work toward that going forward…Then we will reconvene; hopefully at that point we have the financials. [We] want to help everyone understand how it works, what works, what doesn’t work, what can be paid for, what can’t be paid for, and how we move forward on this.”

Some attendees questioned how the HRA was gathering more input if it did not plan to hold the April meetings.

“We didn’t want to go back to another meeting without having more information,” Kelly said. “We are taking the comments from the first two sets of public gatherings and we are going to incorporate those into the plans. Then bring back the financial information we’ve got and more graphics to meetings in late May. If we have to have meetings after that, we will… If we had another meeting in April, we would be spinning our wheels because we won’t have new information to add.”

Susan Vermilya, a founder of Save Our Space, a group that is seeking to put the HRA’s plans on hold, asked about the changes that would be made for the next sessions.

“We are still working through that,” Kelly responded. “We are not ready to answer those questions yet, but we are taking the information we have and trying to make refinements.”

HRA members continued to address questions from the public that have been posted online, including a request for the authority to show the state Department of Conservation and Recreation’s master plan at one of the meetings.

“We don’t present the DCR master plan; it is available through the town website,” Kelly said. “If you look at them together, the HRA and DCR master plan work well together. They don’t cross over on each other’s land. They would fit nicely together.”

Director of Community Development and Planning Chris DiIorio confirmed “the Unified Work Plan puts it [HRA and DCR master plan] all together, and that is one of the plans referred to in the Urban Renewal Plan.”

Kelly said the HRA would work to post “graphics that show the change to the roadway plan, because it does significantly widen that bayside parcel that will be public open space.”

A “concerned citizen” posed a question about the beach being referred to as open space, and whether “the people that purchase the condos will think that is a private beach…you may want to rethink taking the beach parcel out of the draft as open space.”

“The open space part of this project is going to be worked out as we move forward,” Kelly said. “When this is developed, the open space parcels will end up back in the hands of the redevelopment authority, so we can guarantee it can be maintained and supported. It [open space] would not go with any development.”

The HRA has not yet set the dates for the May meetings, but pledged to promote them to the public.

“There have been a number of requests that have been thrown around to use the electronic signs to notify the community when there is going to be a large-scale meeting,” HRA member Dennis Zaia, said.  Kelly said he spoke to the police chief and will get a notice up on the sign as soon as they have new dates for the meetings. He also added if there is time, they may be able to get a message in the next light bill mailing.

At the last board meeting, Zaia also several new business discussion items, including addressing the management of the public bus system; economic feasibility of a summer shuttle bus to connect to the Cohasset and Nantasket Junction train parking lots, as well as the Pemberton ferry; illustrating what it would look like if a developer were to max out the property compared to how the Urban Renewal plan is currently envisioned; utilizing the hotels’ occupancy excise taxes to collect data on the current hotels’ performance; beginning a formal dialogue with the Trustees of Reservations at World’s End, and initiating a conversation with the select board about converting the current town hall into affordable housing.

Zaia said he wanted to “enter into the conversation, and for the record, these ideas to hopefully get people to start realizing we may need to start opening our eyes a little wider.”

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Organizers say membership growing in group seeking alternatives to HRA’s plans

By Dolores Sauca Lorusso

Asserting that “once open space is gone, it’s gone forever,” a citizens group is seeking to delay decisions on the disposition of the Hull Redevelopment Authority property so that alternatives other than residential and commercial uses can be studied.

“Collaboration is key. There are other economic opportunities to explore,” said Susan Vermilya,

a  founding member of S.O.S. Hull – Save Our Space – who said she believes strongly “economic development does not equal buildings.”

“Twenty years ago, there was the No Way HRA,” said S.O.S. Hull member Harriet Bosy, who recalls the No Way HRA core group with which she was involved having 15 members. She said S.O.S. Hull has a couple of hundred members and is growing. “There are so many great minds in the group. We want to open their eyes to other opportunities.”

S.O.S Hull’s Mission is to “pause” current HRA proposals to allow additional time for townspeople to propose alternatives to maintain open space, as well as consider community-focused economic opportunities, rather than private development.

The S.O.S. group began in early February and started to create avenues of participation via a website, email, and Facebook.

“The group started out of feedback from fellow citizens,” Vermilya said. “The initial intention was not to start a big group, but as people started to hear of what was going on, they all wanted to be a part of it… figuring out a better way.”

Bosy believes there needs to be “more inclusive awareness in the town” and requested that the select board put a non-binding question about voters’ preferences on the May ballot. Calling it “premature” because of the HRA’s ongoing review of its Urban Renewal Plan, the board declined.

The founders said the goal of the S.O.S Hull is to find a compromise.

“It is not the intention of the S.O.S., as some have commented, to torpedo or bring the HRA to their knees,” Vermilya said. “We want to come together to do something wonderful for the community that fulfills the mission, the town can get behind, and stops all the years of turmoil.”

The HRA is “taking away an important element of their mission which is a sense of place…sense of community in town is slowly deteriorating,” Vermilya said.

“I feel sorry for the kids in town. Carnival gone. Bonfire gone. If the Dunes gets built, the mini golf and arcade will disappear too,” Bosy said. “Little by little, kids’ activities will go away. There are not as many kids as in previous years, but still a lot of kids.”

Vermilya and Bosy said S.O.S. Hull is concerned that rising sea levels and climate change will affect this area, which is in a flood zone and is considered a barrier beach and coastal dune. The Weir River has been designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern.

“They were not talking much about climate change 60 years ago when the HRA was formed… now it is a big problem,” said Bosy.

“As seen in the Woods Hole Oceanographic report, and YouTube videos of the No-Name Storm of 1991 and storms of 2018, the area consistently floods,” Vermilya said. “One large flood in that area could increase flood costs make the town unaffordable.”

Instead of building condominiums and a hotel in an area that is subject to flooding, S.O.S. Hull seeks alternative uses, such as passive recreation and activities for the community and visitors.

“Building in a flood and velocity zone is putting the development in harm’s way,” said Bosy.

S.O.S. Hull members says they are confident there are viable options other than those in the Urban Renewal Plan, which features some open areas with mixed-use buildings on the 13-acre site.

“There are a lot of ideas flowing,” Vermilya said. “[We] need to zero in on a few that have feasibility and are revenue-producing.”

Concerns have also been raised about decreasing parking capacity for beach visitors who may patronize local businesses.

“Parking is a big issue in town. and the HRA only has 500 spots…decreased from 900 during COVID” Bosy said. “Events need parking too. It all has to be figured out.”

Vermilya said the HRA earns revenue from parking and concessions each year, but the money does not go to the town’s budget.

“They are using the money to pursue a mission the town isn’t getting behind,” she said.

Open space proponents, along with members of S.O.S. Hull, say they do not want future generations of Hullonians to miss the opportunity to stand on one of the rare spots where they can see both the sunrise and the sunset over the water.

“It is evident the town wants a voice,” Vermilya said. “We ask the HRA to please consider this.”

Do you have an opinion on this story? Click here to submit a letter to the editor.

Parsons proposes ‘balanced approach’ to HRA development

Edwin Parsons is a candidate for the Hull Redevelopment Authority. I am a committed and experienced leader who understands the importance of thoughtful and responsible development in our community.'

Our town has a unique opportunity to transform 15+ acres of open space. I know that this project requires careful consideration and collaboration. I recognize the challenges that past attempts at development have faced, and am committed to ensuring that any development on this land is consistent with the values and character of our town.

I am an advocate for a balanced approach that includes space for community events, green areas for a park, and affordable housing that will make a positive impact on our community. Unlike some proposals that call for excessive and overwhelming housing developments, I recognize the importance of keeping the development smaller, reasonable, and sustainable.
Let’s work together to create a vibrant and thriving community that we can all be proud of.

Summary of qualifications:
• Age 68

• Graduate of Hull High School
• Grew up in the Village
• Air Force: Vietnam, Disabled Veteran
• Father of two adult children
• Member of the zoning board of appeals
• Member of the affordable housing committee

No Place for Hate invites Hullonians to join the ‘Feast of Conversations’

Hullonians are invited to join in the 2023 Spring Feast of Conversations later this month to learn more about the rise of hate crimes and incidents nationwide and in Massachusetts, and to launch a townwide discussion of our response to those types of events.

Sponsored by the Hull No Place for Hate Committee, Hull Lifesaving Museum, and Wellspring,

“Let’s Be Honest About Hate” takes place on Sunday, April 30, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Nantasket Beach Resort. The event is free.

Background information from Hull’s Police Department’s civil rights officer and from the assistant director of the New England Anti-Defamation League will set the context for the main activity, which will be small breakout group discussions.

These groups will explore why it is crucial to address hate incidents and crimes, and the impacts of doing nothing. We will talk about community standards for respect and inclusion, what our community’s standards might be, and how we – as neighbors, parents, teachers, town employees, elected officials, business owners, students, retired residents, and others – can be proactive in keeping Hull a welcoming, safe community.

Comments from participants will guide NPFH in drafting community-wide guidelines for responding to hate crimes and incidents.

NPFH hopes that this spring 2023 Feast will build on past friendships and continue to grow respect and appreciation among us.

We hope you will join the conversation!

A good sport: Wishing the ‘Sermonator’ well as he puts himself ‘out to pastor’

Regular readers of Alan McCall’s “In the Sport-light” column know that this week’s is his last, as he is retiring from sportswriting after 40-plus years.

Putting down the pen after so long – he started writing about baseball for his hometown weekly as a teenager and never looked back – is bittersweet, both for him and for all of us, as we will miss his contributions in these pages. It’s rare for a community to have someone as talented and dedicated as Alan writing about its local athletes on a consistent basis. Hull kids are indeed lucky!

But as much as we will lament his absence, his retirement is prompted by the fulfillment of a longtime goal, as he pursues a vocation in the ministry. Or, as he termed it, he is giving up a passion to pursue a calling.

Alan is studying to obtain his pastor’s license so that he may lead a congregation on the South Shore – or, as he says, putting himself out to pastor. His Times readers already are familiar with some of his theological thoughts, which “The Sermonator” contributed during weeks when there was a break in the sports world.

In addition to writing his column, Alan has been a coach for several local youth programs and a commentator for Hull Community TV, so his contributions will be missed far beyond the pages of the Times.

We know that our readers join us in wishing Alan well as he embarks on an entirely new playing field!

If you have local sports news to share, please send items to sports@hulltimes.com by Tuesday at 8 p.m. Thanks!

Town meeting voters will consider reversing ban on retail marijuana sales

By Dolores Sauca Lorusso

A citizen’s petition headed to town meeting will ask voters to amend the zoning bylaw and overturn a five-year old ban on retail marijuana sales in Hull.

The proposal would allow Alternative Compassion Services (ACS), the town’s existing medical marijuana dispensary, to add adult-use retail sales. Adding retail sales will require a special permit issued by the planning board and a license granted by the select board.

Meghan Sylvester, owner of Hullistic Health and Wellness at 175 George Washington Blvd., filed the petition to allow ACS, which has been operating in town for the required one-year minimum, to obtain the right for adult-use retail sales.

Sylvester, a business neighbor to ACS, says she “has gotten to know the owner and witness the value of the quality product they provide to our community at large. The major reason I brought forth this petition is I would like to see ACS thrive and continue to serve patients in a health-based way that is beneficial. … There is also the tax revenue that will be lost without having these recreational sales.”

“We are a small, locally run company and support other local businesses and charities. Our adult-use license will automatically bring 3% of the 20% state tax into town,” ACS Outreach Coordinator Ellen Kasper said in a recent email to The Times. “Hull was a ‘yes’ town in the statewide cannabis legalization in 2016. We feel this reflects a positive sentiment towards regulated cannabis and hope that the ban will be successfully overturned at town meeting in May.”

Anne Murray of Summit Avenue reminded the planning board and packed room of attendees that in 2018 there was a “large outcry in town against recreational marijuana.” She continued to “speak against the article,” but made sure it was clear to the group she is very much for medical marijuana, but not retail sales.

Voters narrowly rejected retail marijuana when two ballot questions were approved at special election in March 2018.  The first question, to amend the town’s general bylaws and ban the sale, cultivation and testing of recreational marijuana, passed by a 1,010 to 856 vote. The second question, to amend zoning bylaws prohibiting marijuana retail shops, was approved 1,027 to 833.

“I don’t want to see it expand into recreational. The town has enough issues and I only think it will bring more issues,” Murray said. “When the zoning went through, it went through with people in abutting areas not knowing what was planned for that. I don’t live near there; my concern is for people I know over there who were, quite frankly, blindsided by it.”

Planning board Chair Harry Hibbard interjected: “I have to address that. Anyone who was blindsided by that was not paying attention. We held plenty of hearings, there was an extensive education process around it. … As to bringing in problems, I have been saying this for years now, and I will continue to say it. It is not going to bring in the bad element; it is going to bring in the financial guys from Cohasset and the lawyers from Hingham.”

ACS President and CEO Steve Werther was unable to attend the planning board meeting on March 22.

“I don’t see it as disruptive. Cannabis has been legal for years. It is going on and no one has noticed,” he said in a phone interview. “We have been in business in Bridgewater for five years and have tremendous experience. … The positive reasons outweigh any negative side effects. Also, look at the rest of the state. There have not been any problems.”

Janice Bissex of Glen Street in Melrose drove an hour and a half to attend the planning board meeting, where she stood for a couple of hours until her message was heard. She explained that she spent most of her life being opposed to medical marijuana.

“Frankly I grew up in the ‘just say no’ generation,” she said.

It wasn’t until her 85-year-old father was in severe pain and had a very poor reaction to opioids that Bissex began to research medical marijuana, learning it has been used “medicinally for like 1,000 years and only been illegal for 80 years.” Now, after leaving her business of 15 years, she is a licensed holistic cannabis practitioner, helping people with “pain, anxiety, insomnia, autoimmune diseases and all the things that find relief using medical cannabis.”

As the owner of Jannabis Wellness product, Bissex wanted to show her support for ACS.

“I have visited dozens of dispensaries around the country and Massachusetts, and I have to say your little dispensary here in Hull is probably the best,” she said. “Melrose receives $1.6 million in tax revenue from their one dispensary. So economically it is a good idea, but more than that, it is a service that is being provided that is really top quality.”

Patrick Finn of Telegraph Avenue asked the board to “recommend favorable action on this article…For anyone that has any bias against cannabis, I would say take that out of the equation and look at it as a simple town of Hull business wanting to expand and survive.”

“This is a citizen’s petition, and it goes to town meeting regardless of what we [the planning board] think, the select board thinks, or the advisory board thinks,” Hibbard said.

Werther said ACS will hold outreach events for residents to ask questions.

“We want to make as many people comfortable as possible,” he said. “If you don’t agree with us, that is OK. We respect people have different opinions and are happy to talk about it.”

The business has established an FAQ page at www.acscompassion.com, and Werther said he would respond privately to questions emailed to info@acscompassion.com.

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Select Board declines to support non-binding HRA ballot question, calling it ‘premature’

By Carol Britton Meyer

In response to a request from the Hull Redevelopment Authority that the select board hold off on placing a non-binding question on the May 15 election ballot about the use of the HRA property, the board agreed to do so this week, calling any such ballot question “premature.”

HARRIETT BOSY IS A MEMBER OF THE GROUP OPPOSING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HRA SITE.

In addition to a letter from HRA Chair Bartley Kelly requesting a delay while the board works on the Urban Renewal Plan, an attorney for the HRA sent a “comment letter” to the planning board to ask that it also withhold its support for a separate proposal to rezone the land to public open space. [See related story.]

Hull Village resident Harriet Bosy appeared before the select board recently to explain her request to add a question to the ballot that would ask voters if they prefer open space and recreation or residential and commercial development for the HRA property.

Because there wasn’t enough time for her to gather the required signatures before the deadline for submitting a citizen’s petition, the alternative was for the select board to decide. Following a lengthy discussion at that meeting, the board took Bosy’s request under advisement and revisited it again this week.

The draft URP is currently being presented at public meetings hosted by the HRA to hear what the community would like to see on the various portions of the property.

Once the draft version is finished, it will be presented to the select board “for their consideration and approval, amendment, or denial even,” Town Manager Philip Lemnios said.

He cited a lack of context if such a question were to be placed on the ballot at this time and that the HRA “would have grounds to appeal the outcome to the Department of Housing and Community Development and other state agencies” involved with the URP process.

The select board concurred with Lemnios’s recommendation that the best course of action would be “to allow the HRA to complete their process and present the URP to the board to analyze and to get input from citizens, and part of that process could be a recommendation to move forward with a referendum question.”

Select Board member Irwin Nesoff said while he thinks now is not the right time, he “certainly would support this type of referendum question after the HRA proposes the plan to get a sense of the temperature of the community when there is an actual proposal for them to respond to.”

Lemnios said that part of the rationale behind waiting relates to the “very contentious period between the HRA and the select board shortly after the HRA was formed [decades ago], with lawsuits back and forth. It was a tumultuous time in the history of the town.”

He also noted that the HRA is a separately elected body and that the select board has no direct authority over the HRA.

“If the HRA believes the select board acts in an arbitrary manner that is not well-reasoned, it’s a pretty good bet that they will take an appropriate legal response to that,” Lemnios said. “It’s a question of timing.”

In the early 1980s, HRA members successfully sued the town and select board members; the court found in favor of the redevelopment authority members.

After supporting the ballot question when the select board first considered it, member Domenico Sestito said that after a period of reflection, he feels now is not a good time.

“Placing a question on the ballot at this time would be of no service to the town, because we don’t know what we would be voting on,” Chair Donna Pursel said. “We’ve waited this long; let’s wait a little while longer. It wouldn’t be good to rush into this.”

At the same time, she said, “I applaud the attention and passion and involvement citizens are giving to this issue.”

Nesoff asked if Bosy, who attended the Zoom meeting, could have an opportunity to speak, but Pursel declined, since the board had already decided not to support moving the referendum question forward.

“We’re not accepting public comments tonight,” she said.

Resident Anne Murray said she was concerned about the board not allowing public comments at some meetings.

“I think the board needs to rethink this policy,” she said.

Sestito requested that a review of the select board’s rules and regulations be placed on the next meeting agenda “for a discussion about how to govern ourselves. I do have strong feelings about public input.”

In other business, the board entered into executive session after the meeting to discuss strategy relative to litigation concerning a breach or possible breach of contract/agreement, license violations and other actions.

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