Hull’s annual town meeting begins on Monday, May 1 at 7 p.m. at Hull High School. Have you read the warrant? Do you know the background of the citizens’ petitions? The Times has compiled all of our town meeting coverage, at this link.
By Carol Britton Meyer
After serving for 17 years on the school committee and deciding not to run for re-election, Stephanie Peters was honored for her dedication and hard work by a large turnout of students, staff, sports team members, friends, and family on April 24 during her last meeting.
SCHOOL’S OUT. This past week’s school committee meeting was the last for member Stephanie Peters, who decided not to seek re-election after serving 17 years. Family, friends, staff members were among those who gathered to celebrate her contributions and wish her well. [Courtesy photo]
Proclamations were read, kind words expressed, and flowers presented in appreciation of Peters’ efforts to bring the community walking track and turf field to reality and other accomplishments.
State Sen. Patrick O’Connor presented her with a proclamation and told Peters that her name would be read into the Senate record.
Superintendent Judith Kuehn shared a list of what she called “Stephanie’s Greatest Hits” – besides the turf field, these included her role in holding three open houses to highlight what the school system has to offer, a 2012 U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon award that honors schools that are high-performing and closing student achievement gaps, participation in the New England Association of Schools and Colleges decennial accreditation of Hull High School in June 2012, and creation of the 21st Century School program, with the goal of providing Hull students with an education to succeed in the current workforce.
state Sen. Patrick O’Connor presented stephanie Peters with a proclamation from the state house at her last school committee meeting this week. [Courtesy photo]
“Stephanie attended at least 340 school committee meetings, not including budget subcommittee and negotiation meetings,” Kuehn said. “She has also built relationships and earned the respect of other town departments while often not agreeing with their positions. At the same time, she has fought for fair coverage of the schools in our local paper. For many years, the schools were an easy target for what was wrong with the town. She has been consistent in advocating that investing in our schools benefits the entire town.
“Steph always had the mentality of why not us?” Kuehn continued. “She never wants to hear ‘we can’t,’ but works tirelessly to come up with a plan for how to make something a reality. She is all about student achievement and opportunity. She worked tirelessly on behalf of the students of Hull. She attended the Hull Public Schools and wanted to ensure the students had the best educational experience as possible. Mediocre isn’t in her vocabulary.”
“This is just really nice,” Peters, who isn’t one to sing her own praises, told The Hull Times, “I’m a little overwhelmed!”
By Dolores Sauca Lorusso
A proposal to authorize Accessory Dwelling Units in single-family zoning districts in Hull will be on Monday’s town meeting warrant, but both the planning and advisory boards say the proposed bylaw needs further study before being considered.
The ADU bylaw provides for a permitting process for 10 accessory apartments per year within owner-occupied, existing single-family homes. The ADUs will not add to the number of buildings in town or reduce the amount of open space, and cannot be used for commercial purposes.
The idea behind Article 13 is to create “housing choices for people who need help by using stock we have and not using open space,” said Patrick Finn, chair of the zoning board of appeals, which is sponsoring the article. “ADUs are also beneficial for providing multigenerational housing.”
The planning board voted to recommend that town meeting take no action, while the advisory board supports referring the article for study.
Finn said most homes are pre-existing, non-conforming uses within their zoning districts and would trigger an approval process through the board of appeals.
“As long as the board does not find what is being proposed as substantially detrimental to the character of the neighborhood, they would get it,” he said. “This creates a permitted use of accessory dwelling units and limits non-conformities.”
“This is the perfect example of the dangers of slipshod piecemeal approach to major housing,” Planning Board Chair Harry Hibbard said. “Right now there is no appetite for Airbnb in this town. What if two select boards down the road there is an appetite? We just created a bonanza for people with accessory units to use as Airbnb.”
Advisory board member Patricia Cormier agreed with the planning board’s assessment that the article is “piecemeal,” and said she would like to “see more collaboration between the entities that affect this and can effect the change.”
Planning board vice chair and zoning bylaw study committee representative Jeanne Paquin voted against it because she thinks it should be special permit with age and income restrictions. “I want the planning board to take it up and find a solution,” she said. “Zoning should be looked at holistically and thoughtfully. It deserves further study relative to the whole town.”
“This does nothing for affordability; the planning board is looking into an accessory dwelling unit bylaw that would be restricted to elderly and handicapped,” Hibbard said. “Council on aging is interested in this to help seniors age in place; this article does nothing to help that.”
Planning board member Steve White said he agreed with Hibbard regarding the need for aging in place.
“There are good pieces in here, but needs to be crafted differently,” he said.
“It is not that we don’t agree with making Hull more affordable, but [we] don’t think all the pieces are here,” advisory board member Jason Frady said. “[This] provides an income stream for the property owner and argues that makes it more affordable; I don’t think that addresses affordability in Hull.”
Town Manager Philip Lemnios said there are several zoning articles addressing affordable housing in one way or another on this year’s town meeting warrant.
“It is better to send all of these articles to a committee to look at them and develop a comprehensive housing strategy; that is what is being attempted here but runs the risk of having a bunch of unintended consequences popping up,” he said. “Zoning bylaws need to be considered very carefully because they impact the land use of a community and people’s single largest asset is their property.”
Finn concluded he can’t change the main motion without going through the entire process again; however, he would “support any substitute motion that will at least create a permitted use that does not currently exist in Single Family A, B, C. Everyone has ideas as soon as you propose an idea, so I say put your idea on top of our idea and let’s have a good idea together.”
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By Dolores Sauca Lorusso
Voters at Monday’s town meeting will be asked to consider an proposal to delay decisions on developing the Hull Redevelopment Authority’s property, although town officials say the citizens’ petition is “unactionable” and will recommend against it.
Article 22, sponsored by Susan Vermilya, calls for a study of development impacts on town’s resources.
“We are asking for an independent formal study to tell us how much this is going to cost taxpayers,” Vermilya said. “There is a lot of demand on resources and that is not going to go at zero cost.”
“The independent study will look specifically at what changes or upgrades are needed to each of these resources – water, sewer, electricity – costs of those changes, who is going to pay for those costs, and what resource decline might we expect for this development,” she said.
“I believe this is absolutely unactionable because of the independent nature of the HRA,” advisory board member Jay Polito said. “They (HRA) will not take direction from the town; if this passes, they can ignore it because of their charter and the way it is set up.”
The advisory board voted unanimously to recommend unfavorable action on the article.
As a founding member of S.O.S. Hull (Save Our Space), Vermilya said many in town feel “the HRA hasn’t checked all the boxes or done their due diligence about the full impact of this development.
“We don’t want to find out a year into the project that we need a new sewer plant or a new water tower because not there is so much water usage we can’t get water pressure down to the Village,” she said.
Planning Board Chair Harry Hibbard said the availability of services is part of the process of the planning board in reviewing development plans.
“We will hear from the electric company, the sewer department, public safety, water…everyone can chime in and have the opportunity to say whether this is or isn’t a problem,” Hibbard said. “It is my understanding, any system improvements that are required as part of this development will be covered by the developer and donated to the water company.”
Vermilya said she and the members of S.O.S. Hull understand that the select board will approve the HRA’s Urban Renewal Plan acting as “the voice of the community;” therefore, “if the community is concerned we don’t have all our answers to know whether this is good for our town, then the select board should be just as concerned.”
Advisory board member Jason Frady said that if the select board were to reject the HRA plan, it “does not dissolve the HRA and it doesn’t take away their land or money.” In such a scenario, the HRA could choose to engage developers in the bidding process asking them to submit their proposals for the land and omit further public input.
“No one wants to go there. HRA doesn’t want to go there. I don’t want to go there,” Zoning Board of Appeals Chair Patrick Finn said. “That is like the nuclear option…We don’t want to go back to the mistakes of the past.”
“We set the rules of the game; zoning,” Frady said. “If the development meets the requirements of zoning in the NBOD [Nantasket Beach Overlay District] it would be hard to object… The HRA the way it was voted on by the town, has the authority over that piece of land.”
The advisory board said it considers its recommendations in light of whether it can “advise town meeting in one direction or another,” and members concluded that they cannot recommend action that can’t be implemented.
“We have the duty to think about and guide the voters in understanding what we can and can’t force the town to do,” advisory board member Chad Wolfe said. “That doesn’t mean it can’t be symbolic…there is a lot of great symbolism in the town vote.”
Finn, of the board of appeals, and a candidate for the redevelopment authority, said the HRA is not working with a developer but is gathering ideas for what can be built on the property.
“Article 22 is to see if the town will vote to delay decisions on development proposals,” Finn said. “This isn’t a development proposal. It is a collaborative planning exercises with the Town of Hull that incorporates a two-way road plan.”
Despite the advisory board’s recommendation of unfavorable action, voters still will be able to debate and vote on the article at town meeting.
“We are asking to do this to formalize what impact this is going to have…In the end us taxpayers are going to be paying for it, potentially,” said Vermilya.
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By Dolores Sauca Lorusso
“With Hull already having missed potential opportunities for inclusionary housing, I believe that the time to address the issue is at hand, so future opportunities will not be lost,” said George Boylen, who filed a citizens’ petition for the May 1 town meeting to create a requirement for “inclusionary housing of 10% of proposed units for any development over 10 units.”
Boylen said the motivation behind his petition came after a meeting with the select board where a developer, when asked about affordable housing, “seemed to indicate that it did not fit with his business model.” Boylen, who is the town moderator, is sponsoring Article 17 as a private citizen.
Although the advisory board voted to refer the inclusionary bylaw for further study, the planning board will recommend favorable action at town meeting. Both boards agree that the issue of affordable housing in Hull must be addressed in some way. Boylen’s plan would give preference to Hull residents and employees.
“The reason we are recommending favorable action is we got stung three times in the last six months with preliminary subdivisions which served to make zoning changes inapplicable once filed,” said planning board Chair Harry Hibbard. “The Aquarium … Paragon Dunes, and also the HRA, all filed preliminary subdivisions. The planning board is committed to working the kinks out of this; a lot needs to be fixed.”
Advisory Board member Dan Sullivan, who presented Boylen’s article in his absence, agreed. “May only be one more big project in this town, and if someone jumps in with a subdivision application, then we lost any chance of this article to work,” he said.
Steve Kiley of the advisory board countered: “I think the timing of the next project, while unfortunate, can’t be a deciding factor in us making a decision on this article.”
“It is important for a board like us to step in and say if there are flaws to be addressed, not just with this particular article, but in general,” said advisory board Chair David Clinton. “We are recommending refer to study because we believe it should be part of a more comprehensive study related to housing policies in town.”
Boylen said he developed his bylaw by researching other towns, data from the Pioneer Institute, and by material from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. In addition, he found “140 towns or cities in Massachusetts have inclusionary housing bylaws in place.”
“Many communities try to copycat what others have done, but one size doesn’t fit all because there are a variety of considerations,” Town Manager Philip Lemnios said.
According to Boylen, the “language utilized is taken from currently existing bylaws in other towns and modified to address some Hull-specific concerns.”
The proposed inclusionary housing bylaw will give preference to Hull residents and those employed within the town. The bylaw proposal states that “affordable units shall be initially offered to current residents of the Town of Hull who qualify under the income guidelines and who have resided in town for a minimum of five years, to persons employed within the Town of Hull for at least five years, and to persons who, although not currently residents of the town, have previously resided in the Town of Hull for a minimum of five years.”
“I like George’s bylaw because of the local preferences,” said zoning board of appeals Chair Patrick Finn. “If we have too little affordable housing and it is too late, we better use every loophole we can to make preferences for Hull residents, and the elderly… No one wants to create the last remaining units, and finally pass 10% affordable housing, for people to come from out of town.”
Community Development and Planning Director Chris DiIorio said that if state or federal grant money is received for the affordable housing project, there cannot be a local preference; however, preferences for the elderly and disabled can still be made.
Boylen said when he was developing this potential bylaw he was not aware of any action being taken to develop an inclusionary affordable housing regulation.
“When I became aware that the zoning bylaw review committee was considering a potential inclusionary housing bylaw, I forwarded my citizens’ petition to the committee, which decided not to include a bylaw of their own concerning this issue,” he said. “The right action would be to approve this bylaw, so we have something in place that locks in an inclusionary housing requirement, recognizing that it may need certain elements to be potentially amended at a future town meeting.”
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By Carol Britton Meyer
Roger Lewenberg and Kim Roy were appointed by the select board this week to fill the two community member openings on the town manager semifinalist search committee that will work with the consulting firm Community Paradigm Associates.
ROGER LEWENBERG
Other applicants interviewed April 12 were Stephen Applebaum, David P. Irwin, Susan Mann, Ann Marie Papasodero, Polly Rowe, Amy Whitcomb Slemmer, William Smyth, Francine Townsend, and Stephen White.
The consulting firm will ultimately present who they believe to be the best semifinalists to the committee for their review. The position is open due to the June retirement of Town Manager Philip Lemnios, who will serve in an interim capacity to assist with the transition.
KIM ROY
Lewenberg, a retired judge, had summered in Hull for his whole life before becoming a year-round resident in 2005. He was interested in being a town manager early in his career and spent six months of his undergraduate training interning with the Ipswich town manager. Skills he considers to be of top priority in a town manager include “someone who has good ideas, shares them, and listens to others’ good ideas.”
Roy, currently the human resources director for the Town of Cohasset, has a background in recruiting for municipalities. Before moving to Hull four years ago, she served on the Halifax Select Board and in other government positions in that community.
The qualities she considers necessary include having “great communications skills, integrity, and a real understanding of the community.
“It’s a perfect dance when everyone is on the same plan … working for the greater good of the community and not a personal agenda,” she said.
Before Lewenberg and Roy were appointed, select board member Irwin Nesoff nominated Slemmer to serve as one of the community members, but that motion was not seconded.
After Roy was nominated and appointed and Lewenberg nominated, Nesoff – while acknowledging that Lewenberg “is highly qualified” – said his “only concern” was that some of the earlier candidates “who have been passed over” have been more involved with the town, serving on town committees.
In response, Select Board Chair Donna Pursel said that while involvement with the town is important to look for in the candidates for the semi-finalist committee, “I think it’s important to look at the bigger picture of what [else] can be brought to the table. Town hall experience is not the deciding factor.”
Board member Greg Grey seconded Lewenberg’s nomination.
Roy was appointed on a unanimous vote, while the vote for Lewenberg was 4-1, with Nesoff abstaining.
“We have an unbelievable list of candidates,” select board member Domenico Sestito said. “I’m very impressed by their qualifications.”
The first meeting of the committee is scheduled to take place on Thursday, April 27. Nesoff, the select board representative to the committee, was appointed to serve as interim chair until the committee is up and running. Other members include select board member Greg Grey, advisory board member Patricia Cormier, and school committee member David Twombly.
The committee will meet throughout the month of May and ultimately recommend a list of finalists to the Select Board, which will make the final decision.
While the committee’s meetings will be posted, most of the work will be completed in executive session -- “until the finalist stage,” Lemnios said, although the consultant will be able to share general information about the number of candidates, for instance.
Although the names of the semi-finalists will not be made public, the finalists’ names will, after which the Select Board will proceed with the final selection process.
The committee is expected to present the final candidates to the Select Board around the second week of June.
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By Victoria Dolan
During April break, around 15 students traveled to the Dominican Republic to help serve the community and experience a different culture as part of Project Humanitarian Involvement.
A WORKING VACATION. During their April school break, about 15 Hull High students traveled to the Dominican Republic to serve the community, including improving school facilities and providing assistance with other projects for local children. The Hull students are members of Project Humanitarian Involvement. [Courtesy photo]
Project Humanitarian Involvement, or PHI, is a club that focuses on humanitarian-based service. The club worked with the DREAM project, which works on creating opportunities for people in the Dominican Republic, such as improving literacy skills and academics, as well as providing health information and legal services.
“They do a lot of work with younger kids,” explained club advisor Daniel O’Donnell, “and that’s what our work focused around.” During their week-long trip, the group painted walls, murals, and handicapped-accessible signs for schools. They also spent time playing with young local kids, which “was everyone’s favorite activity.”
However, the trip wasn’t all work and no play. In between serving the community, students participated in a surfing class, swam in a lagoon, and took tours of museums, cultural neighborhoods, and a mangrove swamp.
O’Donnell chose to take on responsibility with the club after the former advisor stepped down because he “always loved traveling,” and “wanted to share that with the students.”
Also supervising on the trip was guidance secretary Julie Galluzzo. Asked to join the trip due to her Spanish fluency and familiarity with participating students, Galluzzo said the students were “wonderful to travel with” and “their behavior was exceptional.”
Both Galluzzo and O’Donnell think the students took home valuable lessons from their time in the Dominican Republic. Not only did they brush up on their Spanish speaking skills, but O’Donnell thinks they “were able to learn a lot about being flexible and going with the flow” as plans changed throughout the trip.
Galluzzo noted that “a lot of kids reflected back on their own situation here, and how good they have it” compared to some of the extreme poverty they witnessed. “For some kids it was eye-opening.”
Victoria Dolan is The Hull Times school correspondent. This column reflects her student viewpoint. For questions or comments, please contact dolan.victorialani@gmail.com.
The Hull Unified Basketball Team participated in the first-ever season of play in the sport under the Massachusetts Unified Sports program run by Special Olympics Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association. It allows students with disabilities the opportunity to play sports alongside their peers in a fun and supportive environment.
FIRST SEASON IN THE BOOKS. The Hull Unified Basketball Team has completed a successful first season. [Photo courtesy of the Hull Public Schools]
The Hull Unified Basketball Team has 15 co-ed students and is coached by Hull High School teacher Hannah Hutchinson, South Shore Educational Collaborative Mini School teacher Dan Tramontana and SSEC Mini School assistant teacher Mackenzie McDonald.
The team has regularly scheduled practices, one to two times per week, and competes in regular season games.
The first game was held on March 16 against Pembroke. In the end, Hull came up short, 26-20. During the second and final regular season game on March 27 at Memorial Middle School, the Hull defeated Canton, 39-27.
“It was amazing to watch these students build their confidence and form new friendships throughout the season,” said Superintendent Judith Kuehn. “I want to thank all students and staff who volunteered their time to make this season so special.”
The Hull Unified Basketball Team participated in the Unified Basketball Post-Season Jamboree, an event in which unified teams from surrounding districts play in a tournament of shorter games against a variety of opponents.
Family members, friends and students attended the jamboree at West Bridgewater Middle-Senior High School on March 30 to celebrate the completion of the first-ever Massachusetts Unified Basketball season. To kick off the event, Hull student-athletes participated in a parade into the gym, where they sang the national anthem before facing both Canton and West Bridgewater.
“I truly loved coaching our Unified Basketball team this year,” said Coach Hutchinson. “It was amazing to see the sportsmanship and camaraderie these student-athletes exhibited in each practice and throughout the entire season.”
Following the tournament, players were awarded ribbons from Special Olympics Unified Sports as a symbol of their hard work and successes throughout the season.
“The first season for the Hull Unified Basketball team brought even more success than we could have ever imagined,” said SSEC Mini School Program Director Maureen Gattine. “I am greatly looking forward to continuing this program for many years to come.”
By Dolores Sauca Lorusso
As the sewer department plans to maintain a level-funded operating budget for the coming fiscal year, many capital improvement projects in the pipeline may necessitate an upcoming rate adjustment.
THE HULL SEWER TREATMENT PLANT IS AT 1111 NANTASKET AVENUE.
“We are 62% through the year and have 37% of the budget for the year left…The total department (FY24) budget is same total as last year (FY23),” Permanent Sewer Commission Chair Richard Mattila said at last month’s commission meeting, “but in reality, this is kind of skewed to the fact that the debt service is down 18% while capital expenses are up 78%.”
The sewer department’s forecasting will frame the way it is thinking about the capital plan.
“We will be looking at the rate structure to see if it will remain sufficient to support ongoing capital improvement programs,” said Director of Wastewater Operations/Assistant Director of Public Works John Struzziery.
The department’s budget is an enterprise fund, meaning that revenues from sewer fees are used to offset expenses. Struzziery stressed the fact “the bottom-line budget is staying the same as last year. We paid down one of the bonds so there won’t be principal and bond interest…then some expenses went down, while others went up.
“We are contracted with another service called WaterWorks that is looking at what our expenditures are in capital projects projected over the next number of years and offering revenue projections,” Struzziery added. “It is another tool to assess whether the rates are adequate to support what we are looking to meet. [It] may mean an interim rate adjustment and might be sooner than later.”
Struzziery described WaterWorks as an “inexpensive, robust tool that gives a lot of what if scenarios based on different actions.” He said the sewer department contracted with WaterWorks the end of February and is now “inputting the data, validating the data, and reviewing it to fully understand what it all means.”
“The vulnerability assessment done about a year and a half ago puts the plant at the top of the town infrastructure that is at risk,” Mattila said.
Struzziery explained how many of the capital projects in the works serve to mitigate this risk by ensuring reliability, redundancy, and resiliency. Updates to the HVAC system are complete and it has been “replaced to the second floor of the control building, so it is not damaged by flood in the future.”
The HVAC system was damaged by flooding 10 years ago; since then the plant has been working on interim systems to keep the system running and meet code requirements.
“The primarily goals were to get things back in order because it was in a disrepair, and to maintain the treatment functionality of the plant…So much damage set our priorities back, then COVID hit too,” said Struzziery.
In April, the plant will begin moving electrical systems to the second floor; this project will run for two years. The influent pumps will remain in the same location but will be replaced by “dry-pit submersible pumps,” so they are not vulnerable to flooding.
The aeration system is being improved because a well-designed system is a “key component of the filtration process” and has a direct impact on the level of wastewater treatment. The goal is to “give redundancy of aeration” by replacing the two older tanks so they match the two newer ones.
Struzziery said other building improvements “not as significant” as the HVAC, electrical, influent pumps, and aeration system will be made because they are necessary for “structural reasons.”
The design of the pumping station at Pemberton, across from the high school, is complete. “Production is expected to start later this year…we are awaiting grant approval from the Environmental Protection Agency,” said Struzziery. According to the EPA, the agency provides “financial and technical assistance to small and rural communities to establish and improve wastewater treatment services to lower the risk of harm to public health and protect the environment.”
The ocean outfall cleaning and rehabilitation project will continue to clean the sewer department’s “undersea discharge pipe and diffuser field and protect the diffuser heads from potential damage.” This rehabilitation project is contained in Article 10 on the May 1 town meeting warrant article because the American Rescue Plan Act funding has been applied for, and to be eligible, the selected use for the funds must receive approval.
There are 36 diffusers, and 1.5 years ago air excavation was used to expose 11 of the pipes and put extensions on them. The ARPA funding will be used to do the same for the remaining 25 pipes, which were also buried when the ocean bottom shifted over the years.
“The project allows us to clean sand out of the main outlets to restore capacity,” said Struzziery.
The sewer commission is considering a policy whereby sellers of real estate connected to the Hull sewer system without documentation, will need to have their service inspected at their own expense to update the town’s records. This policy will identify and remedy problems in older piping, minimize backups and service calls, as well as reduce infiltration and inflow to the sewer system. This policy primarily affects properties connected to the older sewer lines in town where records are not available.
The department decided that homeowners should be responsible for the cost of the inspection.
“It is hard to justify distributing a half-million-dollar cost among all sewer ratepayers when it only benefits a handful of property owners,” said Brian Kiely, assistant director of wastewater operations. “For the homeowner to order the service through a drain cleaner as part of the inspection process will cost between $500 to $700. For the town to do it will be a minimum of $500 per home times 1,200 affected homes, totaling $600,000.”
The Coastal Zone Management-funded design of the earthen, vegetative, and concrete berm to protect the wastewater treatment facility from coastal storm flooding has been completed, and the department expects to hear about a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency by the end of 2023.
“If funding is received, the design will be finalized, and construction will begin after some of the other capital projects are completed,” said Struzziery.
By Dolores Sauca Lorusso
A proposal on the May 1 town meeting warrant proposes to deny town permits to property owners who are encroaching on the former railroad bed without permission. Resident Randall Gould said the plan would ensure that the railroad right-of-way, which runs the length of the peninsula, would remain available for public use.
THE 1992 RAILROAD BED STUDY COMMITTEE REPORT CONTAINED RECOMMENDATIONS FOR USES IN EACH SECTION OF THE PROPERTY. IT IS AVAILABLE ON OUR HOME PAGE.
Gould’s proposal, contained in Article 22, would “establish a bylaw that requires all town departments to only issue permits to abutters of the George Washington Boulevard Extension if they currently hold a license by the town.” The description references the title of the plan of land filed at the Plymouth County Registry of Deeds in 1938 and would apply to all of the railroad property, not just the section near George Washington Boulevard.
The advisory board will recommend no action on this article at town meeting because it is “non-binding and does not present an actionable plan,” members decided at a recent meeting.
“I do not believe such a bylaw would be approved by the state, which is a requirement of most bylaws,” Advisory Board Chair David Clinton said. “Town meeting can’t restrict employees, officials, boards, and departments from doing their jobs.”
According to the Railroad Bed Right of Way Study Committee’s final report in 1992, the Town of Hull has an easement on the former railroad property and can control its use.
“The land was conveyed to the town by the trustees of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad Company in 1938, and accepted by the town in town meeting, this conclusion is supported by a report by Lawrence A. Kellem, Esq. dated August 5, 1966,” according to the report, which is available on the town’s website by clicking here.
“We spent $50,000 to take over the railroad right away that runs the length of the town from the Old Colony Railroad Company to Hull High School to Weir River,” Gould said. “Everyone that encroaches is not compensating the town for use of the property…they have encompassed the railroad with fences, hedges, bushes, houses, and whatever.”
The railroad bed study committee, established by the select board on July 9,1990, reported that its membership “was in total agreement that the railroad right of way is a valuable asset to the Town of Hull, and the long-term protection of that asset should be of paramount concern to town officials.”
Gould believes this has not changed today, and the town needs to reestablish its rights in the railroad bed.
“Abutters of the railroad bed property need to understand that they do not own or have any right to the property which runs the length of the town,” Gould said. “The railroad bed is public property, and the town must be reimbursed for private use of that property.”
Advisory board member Bob Carney said he is “fascinated” by the railroad bed, and would “love” to see it used for the town.
“There are ways,” he said. “If you really wanted to do this you could call it a tax and not give permits to people who are behind in their taxes.”
Town Counsel James Lampke explained it is not possible to stop people from getting building permits because of a separate dispute over using the railroad bed; however, “there is a process created by state law that the town adopted which says we can deny licenses and permits, of all different types, if someone owes the town money.”
As the article is written, Carney described this hypothetical situation as an unintended consequence: “An elderly woman whose property encroaches (on the railroad bed), she does not have a license, her furnace goes in the middle of winter; the building inspector says you can’t have a permit to fix your furnace.”
“The railroad right-of-way committee always wanted that piece of land that runs through the town to be an open bike path, or whatever,” said Gould. “They always wanted it to be kept by the town for public use.”
At 2019 town meeting, voters approved an article to carry out the right-of-way committee’s plans, but Gould said it has not been accomplished.
“According to the bylaws of the town and description of the town manager’s job, they are supposed to initiate whatever is voted at town meeting and this has not been done,” Gould said.
“Better presentation for warrant than 2019, but still has a couple holes in it,” said advisory board member Dan Sullivan. “For example, it asks us to set up a bylaw, but doesn’t say the select board will be the licensing authority.”
“We didn’t disapprove of your previous action (in 2019) we said no action because there were too many variables to be reconciled,” Sullivan said. “I fear history repeating itself. As presented, this is one of those situations where I am going to vote ‘no action,’ even though I love the sentiment.”
“There is a list of people who have applied for and obtained licenses from the town to use a portion of the railroad behind their property…there is not a list to know who is encroaching and not encroaching,” Lampke said. “You have to have a survey done of the railroad bed to see who is encroaching and who is not encroaching. We looked into that and it was very expensive.”
Clinton said there is a mechanism in place if the town is planning to do something with the railroad bed property.
“If the town were to want to do something with the land they could go and tell them they have 30 days to quit,” he said.
Members described the railroad bed’s uncertain status as the “third rail of Hull politics” – also a historic reference to the Nantasket Beach Branch of the Old Colony Railroad’s status as the first electric railroad in the country (although, according to the Hull Historical Society, the electrification in Hull was by overhead wiring, not a track-mounted rail).
Click here for the warrant for the May 5, 2025 Annual Town Meeting
• Town Departments at Work: The role of each part of your local government
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• Assessed Values-Property Lookup
