**A GRAVES SITUATION.** The lawsuit challenging the Town of Hull’s authority to levy property taxes on Graves Light continues to work its way through the courts. Last week, the Land Court judge presiding over the case delayed the presentation of closing arguments until December. [Jennifer Whelan photo]

By Christopher Haraden

After hearings in Land Court earlier this month, the trial to determine whether Graves Light is within the boundaries of Hull will not be resolved until at least December.

Judge Diane Rubin has scheduled closing arguments in her courtroom for Dec. 9 to allow the lawyers for both sides to file legal briefs and transcripts and to review the 151 exhibits presented during the trial.

The suit, filed in February 2020 by David Waller of Malden, disputes the Town of Hull’s claim that the lighthouse is within the town’s jurisdiction, and therefore subject to local property taxes.

Waller sued after the Town of Hull sent him a tax bill for $3,552.42 for FY20. He maintains that Graves Ledge, prior to his 2013 purchase of the property from the federal government for $933,888, was not previously included in the Hull assessors’ database like other public properties, but was arbitrarily added after he bought it.

“The judge made her decision on the date in response to a request from Hull’s town counsel and to accommodate post-trial briefing,” Waller’s attorney, Peter Biagetti, said this week. “Once those briefs are filed and the closing [arguments] take place, the case will be in the judge’s hands.”

Town Counsel James Lampke said the four-month period for post-trial work by the attorneys is typical in tax disputes like this one, which relies heavily on interpretations of documents and historic maps.

“I requested sufficient time to review the transcripts and research … and prepare the brief, taking into consideration the time of the year, schedules and other demands,” Lampke said.

He added that Rubin set a deadline of Aug. 31 for the filing of transcripts and Oct. 31 for attorneys to file briefs prior to the closing arguments in person on Dec. 9.

Waller said his deed from the federal government describes the property in terms of latitude and longitude, and references Broad Sound Channel, a shipping route in the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. Documents provided by a US Coast Guard office in Virginia indicated that “the property is not located within the corporate limits of any municipality.” In court filings, Lampke disputed this characterization, noting that unlike other states, Massachusetts does not recognize unincorporated areas.

Lampke filed a counterclaim against Graves Light and Fog Station LLC, Waller’s corporate entity, in order to prevent further renovations of the 113-foot-tall lighthouse without permits from the town.

During the trial, Biagetti presented documents and maps dating as far back as the 1600s that he says indicate that Graves Light is not within Hull’s boundaries. Lampke, a lighthouse historian, has introduced other maps that show the opposite circumstance, as well as documents from the federal government that list Graves as part of Hull.

Graves Light has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1981. Graves Ledge was named for Thomas Graves, vice admiral of John Winthrop’s fleet and a resident of Lynn who became America’s first foreign trader.

Under the terms of the sale, the Coast Guard maintains the Graves fog horn and beacon, which began flashing its 2-2-2 signal in 1905. Waller and another family renovated the lighthouse and use it as a vacation home.

Waller said he is acting in good faith and the renovations to the property comply with regulations, and the attempts to collect property taxes are an example of “mistreatment” by the town. Lampke has framed the dispute as a town border protection issue, and asserts that the Town of Hull is not interested in preventing Waller from doing further work on the property, but is seeking clarity on the exact location of the town’s offshore boundaries.