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.

“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.