Although there is nothing noticeably different in the layout of the intersection of A St. and Beach Ave., a complicated land swap between the town and a homeowner has narrowed A St. by 20 feet and cleared the way for construction of a beach-access ramp for people with disabilities.
According to documents filed at the Plymouth County Registry of Deeds on Aug. 28, the town agreed to discontinue a section of A St. adjacent to the home of Peter and Susan Bourikas and swap the 2,703-square-foot parcel for land the Bourikases own across the street from their property at 183 Beach Ave.
The land deal was approved by town meeting voters in May to accomplish two goals – to ensure that the access ramp is on town-owned land and to correct a mistake by Building Commissioner Peter Lombardo that allowed the Bourikases to build an addition that covered more of their lot than Hull’s zoning laws allow.
The error was discovered when Peter and Lynn Schwartz, who live next door, notified the town soon after their neighbors began construction. The Bourikases sought relief from the zoning board of appeals and town meeting in 2005; neither body granted them a reprieve from the zoning requirements. In July 2005, a Plymouth Superior Court judge agreed with the Schwartzes and ordered the addition torn down; the Bourikases have appealed the judgment. Their attorney, Gerard F. Mackin Jr. of Weymouth, said this spring that the court case could take another three or four years to be settled.
ON THE DRAWING BOARD – Plans for CJ’s Café remain on hold as proponents Randall Parrott and Terri Feldman weigh how to respond to an appeal of the couple’s special permit filed by neighbors of the commercial building at 17 Nantasket Rd. [Rendering courtesy of Randall Parrott]
By Lucy Wightman 04.SEP.08
Although a proposed café next door to The Oakland House received municipal approvals earlier this year, a “For Rent” sign remains in the window at 17 Nantasket Rd. while a neighbor’s appeal works its way through the courts.
Hull residents Randall Parrott and Terri Feldman, who have owned a Planet Smoothie franchise in Braintree for eight years, won approval of a food-service license from the selectmen in May.
“Our idea was to offer excellent products in a nice atmosphere, with a comfortable place to sit and gather, like an extension of your living room,” Feldman said.
On Aug. 18, Richard and Debra Chase of Westminster Rd. filed an appeal in the Brockton Division of Superior Court, citing residential and commercial abutters’ “near unanimous opposition,” excessive hours of operation, close proximity to the playground, parking issues, zoning descriptions, and previous Special Permit denials.
Of the complaint, Parrott says, “It seems redundant and irrelevant to what we are trying to accomplish, since we worked hard with the board [of appeals] to address all of the issues in the complaint. Our options are to wait for rezoning, town meeting, court, or they could withdraw their complaint.”
Richard Chase and the abutting neighbors have a long history with the building owners: “The building had two businesses early on, then four, and none of them are open past 6 p.m. The owners of that building have done nothing to work with us, which is part of the reason 39 out of 40 residents around here signed our petition,” Chase said. “Randy [Parrott] hasn’t come to us yet to talk about all of this, but we would be willing to have a discussion.”
Parrott said he is waiting for the complaint to be heard before proceeding with his plans for the café.
“It needs to play out without our involvement at this point. There are other places to go where our business idea could thrive, but we really wanted to do something in and for the town we live in,” he said. “Certainly if things resolve, we will get right back into it, no problem.”
The obstacles they must clear to open their new business pale in comparison to the previous challenges the couple has overcome.
• Left in the dark. Where were you when the lights went out this weekend? Like every other Hullonian, in the dark for several hours on Sunday evening and early Monday morning. Hull Municipal Lighting Plant Operations Manager Richard Miller said the 7:45 p.m. outage was caused by a tree that fell on Hobart St. in Hingham, severely damaging a power line that feeds Hull.
Work crews from Massachusetts Electric repaired the wiring after about 45 minutes, and agreed to hold off on the major work, which required several hours of darkness, until after midnight.
“Mass. Electric was very cooperative in waiting until 1:30 a.m. to do the repairs,” Miller said. “We were able to get the bars and restaurants emptied out and businesses were closed so that we would have little disruption. Also, we were able to notify the police and fire departments and give them time to prepare.”
Still, most residents were caught off guard. At 8:04 p.m. Sunday, a Samoset Ave. resident called the police department, saying that she was stuck in her electric reclining chair due to the lack of power. An officer was dispatched to help her back to her feet.
During the second blackout, an 84-year-old woman on Sagamore Hill was taken to the hospital after falling down the stairs. Another elderly resident called police because she needed help finding her cane and flashlight in the dark.
Miller said he notified Hull’s light commissioners and public safety personnel of the expected outage. He said the light plant fielded some calls from ratepayers, including some questions about why the town’s windmills couldn’t generate power to keep the lights burning.
“Our hands are kind of tied when something like that happens … the entire town is fed by lines that come through Hingham,” Miller said. “I was out there when they fixed it, and believe me, when they turned it on to us, we turned it on to you.”
• Lodging more complaints. After being told they must wait until Oct. 7 to discuss their concerns about the crumbling, town-owned lodging house at 301 Nantasket Ave., Sagamore Hill neighbors are now asking Building Commissioner Peter Lombardo to use his authority under state statute to condemn the two buildings on the site and order them removed.
BRAIN FOOD – Teachers new to Hull’s school system participated in an orientation this week that included a bus tour of historic sites around town, hosted by John J. Galluzzo. The group was then treated to lunch, hosted by the O’Brien family, owners of Jake’s Seafood. Shown above are, from left, school committee members Kevin Richardson and Cathy Bowes, Ed and Barbara O’Brien of Jake’s, and Superintendent Kathleen Tyrell. [Roger Jackson photo]
By Christopher Haraden 28.AUG.08
Hull
High School has been named one of the 50 “Smartest Public High Schools” in Eastern Massachusetts in the latest issue Boston magazine.
In the survey of 141 public schools, Hull High ranks 21st in “cost efficiency” – a criteria the magazine created to evaluate “academic performance against dollars spent” – and 55th in overall academic performance.
Schools Superintendent Kathleen Tyrell said the magazine, “an outside, independent, and objective source” validates the work of the school department.
“School committee members are very pleased, and I certainly have a lot of appreciation for the staff, students, and their family members who have helped us get there, and the townspeople for supporting the public schools,” Tyrell said as she announced the news at Tuesday’s selectmen’s meeting.
Boston representatives did not respond to a request for more detail on the formula used to create the rankings, which will be published in the September issue. The magazine said the analysis was compiled by a professor at BabsonCollege.
A Nantasket Ave. woman and a Rockland man were arrested Friday night and are facing drug charges after a caller alerted police that a car entering town was being driven erratically.
Lindsey Bazinet, 20, of 637 Nantasket Ave., and Kenneth J. Molloy, Jr., 27, of Rockland, were arraigned Monday in Hingham District Court.
Bazinet, a 2005 Hull High School graduate, was charged with possession of marijuana and prescription drugs, as well as receiving stolen property over $250.
Molloy is facing charges of possession of drugs with intent to distribute and operating with a suspended license. He also had seven outstanding default warrants for various vehicular infractions, as well as shoplifting and operating under the influence.
To register their displeasure with an Aug. 17 Boston Globe Magazine article that they say unfairly portrayed Hull as having “a cancer crisis,” the selectmen this week voted to withhold advertising from the paper until the Globe prints an apology or retracts the story.
“There’s no cancer crisis in town,” said Selectman John D. Reilly, a lifelong resident who proposed that the town stop advertising in the Boston newspaper “unless absolutely necessary.”
The town frequently advertises employment and bid opportunities in the Globe, among other notices.
Reilly and his colleagues decried the Sunday magazine’s cover story, written by Charles P. Pierce, as inaccurate and misleading. The piece, which described Hull as a town “where cancer lurks on almost every corner,” included references to Massachusetts Department of Public Health statistics that claimed that, in Hull, men were 180 percent more likely to have leukemia than men statewide, and ovarian cancer rates here are double that of the state. The article also said that Hull women are 3.5 times more likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer than female residents of Cohasset.
Gov. Deval Patrick last week rejected a proposal that would have reduced the average water bill in Hull by 15 percent per year.
Patrick removed a line item from an environmental bond bill that sought to extend a 10-year-old state rebate program. The subsidy absorbed part of the cost of Aquarion Water Co.’s $40-million Hingham treatment plant, built in 1995.
The original rebate program ended Jan. 31, and a bill to extend it for another decade has stalled in the state Senate. Under the program, Aquarion customers in Hull, Hingham, and North Cohasset received a “treatment facility surcharge credit” of about $97 on their water bills each year.
Hull’s representatives on Beacon Hill said this week that they are “disappointed” in the governor’s decision, and Aquarion has pledged to continue work to renew the subsidy.
Separately, Aquarion has filed for a 21.4-percent increase in its base water rates. That application is being reviewed by the state Department of Public Utilities, which has postponed any rate adjustments until April 1.
![ON THE DRAWING BOARD – Plans for CJ’s Café remain on hold as proponents Randall Parrott and Terri Feldman weigh how to respond to an appeal of the couple’s special permit filed by neighbors of the commercial building at 17 Nantasket Rd. [Rendering courtesy of Randall Parrott]<p>](clients/hulltimes/9-5-2008-9-41-39-AM-4614770.jpg)
![BRAIN FOOD – Teachers new to Hull’s school system participated in an orientation this week that included a bus tour of historic sites around town, hosted by John J. Galluzzo. The group was then treated to lunch, hosted by the O’Brien family, owners of Jake’s Seafood. Shown above are, from left, school committee members Kevin Richardson and Cathy Bowes, Ed and Barbara O’Brien of Jake’s, and Superintendent Kathleen Tyrell. [Roger Jackson photo]<p>](clients/hulltimes/8-29-2008-7-45-54-AM-9611412.JPG)
