Compiled by The Hull Times staff

JULY

The select board adopted a temporary policy to allow public comment on individual agenda items, allowing members of the public wishing to speak on a particular item to do so after being recognized by the chair. The temporary policy is based on guidelines provided by Town Counsel James Lampke and developed with input from retiring Town Manager Philip Lemnios. The discussion was prompted by a complaint from a resident about the board’s disallowance of resident participation at meetings other than public hearings.

The Hull Nantasket Chamber of Commerce announced that its popular Hull-O Trolley would not be making its rounds this summer due to a lack of funding and higher operating expenses.

At its first meeting since the annual town election results were finalized, the Hull Redevelopment Authority elected new officers and agreed to wait until September to schedule additional public forums on its draft Urban Renewal Plan. Later in the month they invited Hull residents to submit their unique visions for the land. The HRA’s goal with their call for ideas was to gather more information to offer additional choices for community consideration.

During the Fourth of July weekend, police received numerous calls reporting fireworks that were too loud or too close to the piping plover nests on the beach. State Police troopers confiscated two wagonloads of fireworks near the Hull Redevelopment Authority.

For the second time since 2021, plans to revitalize the Paragon Boardwalk property were withdrawn by the developer when its attorney requested via letter to withdraw the application for a height variance without prejudice, meaning that the developer would be able to reapply in the future.

Graduation exercises for the Wellspring Multi-Service Centers’ Adult Learning Program were held at the Bernie King Pavilion.

The select board acted on a citizens’ petition bearing the requisite 200 signatures to call a special town meeting related to the potential granting of an additional package store license for the Quick Pick Food Store on Nantasket Avenue. The date was set for Aug. 31.

The select board approved an employment contract with new Town Manager Jennifer Constable following a lengthy executive session. The three-year contract included an annual salary of $190,600 and four weeks of vacation, along with other benefits.

AUGUST

A citizens’ petition for the Aug. 31 special town meeting asked voters to amend the town’s zoning bylaw and overturn the ban on recreational marijuana sales resulting from a related 2018 town meeting vote. Following certification of the required number of signatures, a warrant article asking voters to allow an existing registered marijuana dispensary in Hull to add adult use retail sales would appear on the warrant. In addition, voters at the special town meeting would be asked to approve additional funding of up to $800,000 to cover increases in the cost of restoring the Fort Revere water tower. An additional article would also adjust Hull’s wetlands protection rules in response to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Hull Police Sgt. Scott Saunders was placed on paid administrative leave after being arrested in Pembroke for assaulting a 72-year-old neighbor on July 24. Saunders was charged with assault and battery on a person over 60 with injury. After his arraignment, he was released on personal recognizance and ordered to stay away from the victim. Saunders was hired by the Hull Police Department in December 2004 and has been a sergeant since 2019.

A long-awaited decision by a Massachusetts Land Court judge determined that Graves Light is not within Hull’s boundaries and its owners do not owe property taxes to the town. The 50-page decision included a detailed analysis of historic records stretching as far back as the Colonial Land Grants from 1634 and multiple maps, deeds, and other documents.

A group of Hull residents, led by members of the Hull No Place for Hate Committee and town officials, braved rainy weather take a stand against acts of hate on Nantasket Beach. The gathering was in response to a swastika found on the beach near A Street.

Unexpected repairs to the entrance to the Memorial Middle School would change how students and staff accessed the building when school started in August. Voters at the special town meeting would be asked to spend $300,000 to stabilize the top of the front portico.

Hull Public Library Director Diane Costagliola announced that she would be leaving to take a position as the new director of the library in Sandwich. Costagliola, who was hired in large part due to her extensive library services experience, earned respect and affection for her energy and creativity at the Hull Public Library during the past two and-a-half years.

SEPTEMBER

A majority of the more than 400 voters attending the Aug. 31 special town meeting soundly defeated a request for roughly $600,000 to cover the increased cost of restoring the town-owned Fort Revere water tower. The request for funds was in addition to the 2022 town meeting appropriation of $2.2 million for tower repairs. The town would now evaluate how to proceed with the project with the original budget amount. Town meeting voters approved an initial $300,000 for emergency repairs to Memorial Middle School and $120,000 to replace two pieces of equipment that regulate water flow in the drainage lagoon at Draper Avenue and Newport Road. Voters also supported allowing the sale of recreational marijuana in Hull. The meeting wrapped up in three-and-a-half hours, expedited by electronic voting.

The unexpected discovery of ammunition left over from a police training exercise caused a lockdown on the first day of classes at the Memorial Middle School. The training round had been used in an active-shooter drill earlier in the summer. Training rounds do not have the capability to leave the barrel.

It was a big month for water rescues. Hull Fire Department personnel were called to rescue several people in distress in the water near the former Beach Fire restaurant after they misjudged the timing of the tides. Fire Department staff used their training on water rescues to bring this incident to a successful resolution, as all three people were brought ashore without injury. On two separate occasions in August, beachgoers became rescuers at Nantasket Beach when they jumped in to save people who found themselves in trouble in the water.

The school committee established a draft timeline for hiring the next Hull Public Schools superintendent, with a selection expected to be made by the end of January and a start date of July 1. Current Superintendent Judith Kuehn is retiring at the end of the school year. The New England School Development Council, based in Marlborough, has been hired to facilitate the search.

The beachfront was packed as the crowds came out for the Endless Summer Waterfront Festival, which featured great food, music, games, and all kinds of family fun. The excitement continued with the Nantasket Beach Car Show, which raised funds for local charities and Cops for Kids with Cancer.

The Friends of the Paragon Carousel held its annual Derby Day fundraiser to support the organization as it entered the winter season.

Peddocks, a purebred Labrador Retriever, joined the Hull Police Department as a comfort dog to support students and others in the community by helping to reduce stress and promote wellness in the schools and at town events. The department acquired Peddocks, who is named after the Boston Harbor island, with assistance from a $5,000 grant from the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office. The first comfort dog to serve the Hull Police, 11-month-old Peddocks underwent his comfort dog training at Professional Canine Services in Middleboro and has already gotten down to business. His handler is Hull Police Officer Leanne Marshalsea.

The planning board approved a definitive subdivision plan for the new development at the site of the former Atlantic Aquarium. Filing a subdivision plan locks in current zoning for eight years.

OCTOBER

Demolition of the former Atlantic Aquarium at the foot of Atlantic Hill began and construction of the 21-unit residential building that will replace it moved forward with the anticipated arrival of a building permit. Contractors began demolishing the concrete-block building, constructed in 1972, from the inside out.

The Hull Redevelopment Authority began hearing presentations from citizens on ideas for the development of its property. Several pitches would be heard at HRA meetings over the course of the month. Of the 20 citizen submissions, 10 pitches were given.

Boats awaited the start of the Head of the Weir race in the estuary and come ashore near the boathouse at Pemberton Point. Hull Harbormaster Kurt Bornheim and other public safety officials were out on the water to keep racers safe, while back at the Boathouse Bistro, members of the Rotary Club and other volunteers kept racers and spectators fed with a selection of hearty soups.

The Hull Fire Department purchased and installed the town’s fourth public automated external defibrillator [AED], which can be used to help people experiencing sudden cardiac arrest, at the Dust Bowl field in the Village. The other AEDS are at the Kenberma courts, L Street Snack Shack, and Hull High School/Emma Ryan Walking Track.

A standing-room only crowd packed the first Design Review Board meeting introducing a revised proposal for the Paragon Dunes development. Residents in attendance expressed concern about design and density of the buildings.

A new director of the Hull Public Library was hired. Brian DeFelice, former assistant director of the Scituate Town Library, would begin in November. The selection committee included Town Manager Jennifer Constable, a library trustee, and select board member Jason McCann.

Residents who live near the Hampton Circle Playground remained concerned about longstanding problems with flooding, rain pooling, and poor drainage, problems that they said have been made worse by the town’s addition of fill during the reconstruction of the site.

NOVEMBER

The town received nearly a million dollars in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for the restoration of the outfall pipe at the sewer plant.

The select board voted to maintain a single tax rate for residential and commercial properties during the annual tax classification hearing for FY24, following the recommendation of the board of assessors. The average residential property owner could expect a 3.4%, or $237.52, increase in fiscal 2024 taxes, while the tax on commercial properties was expected to increase by 4.5%, or $366.51.

The Hull Redevelopment Authority decided not to move forward with a definitive subdivision application to freeze zoning on its land for eight years. Instead, the HRA would submit another preliminary subdivision, holding the current zoning in place for seven months while the board continued to review the citizens’ submissions regarding uses of the land.

Veterans Day events included the traditional ceremony at the war memorial at Monument Square on November 11, and a special dinner for veterans and guests sponsored by the Nantasket-Hull Rotary Club and The Parrot.

Several hundred generous volunteers cooked, served, boxed, and bagged almost a thousand Thanksgiving dinners and delivered them, along with bags of donated groceries, to grateful South Shore residents. Also, several hundred more free meals were enjoyed by a large gathering at Daddy’s Beach Club in the spirit of the season.

The results of the 2023 Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exam administered to students in grades 3 to 8 and 10 indicated that there was room for improvement, administrators told the school committee. Overall, students’ post-pandemic performance was showing signs of recovery, with further work needed to accelerate their progress, according to Director of Curriculum and Assessment Christine Cappadona. The year 2023 represents a return to the full state accountability system aimed at improving student performance at all levels since 2019, due to learning losses from the COVID19 pandemic restrictions and school closures.

The crowd attending the annual Thanksgiving bonfire on the Hull Redevelopment Authority property had to stand far back from the intense heat from the flames as one of the largest fires in recent memory lit up the night. Hullonians enjoyed celebrating both the holiday season and the Hull Pirates’ 10-3 victory over the Cohasset Skippers in the Turkey Day football game.

DECEMBER

A standing-room-only crowd packed the meeting room at Hull High School and criticized the latest proposal to build a 40-foot-tall, 132-unit building at the Paragon Boardwalk property across from Nantasket Beach. Residents told the planning board that they wanted to make sure that the development reflected the character of a seaside community while creating a welcoming entrance into town. The key findings of the Design Review Board were that the proposed site lacked adequate public open space and functional parking, and that the building scale overshadowed the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s comfort station and Paragon Carousel complex.

Town Manager Jennifer Constable suggested to the select board that Hull delay action on applications to sell recreational marijuana until new state regulations could be reviewed. Town Counsel James Lampke originally was scheduled to present an update on the process for approving Host Community Agreements with retail marijuana sellers, but Constable recommended that the state Cannabis Control Commission’s new rules and regulations be reviewed to ensure the town’s zoning and general bylaws were in compliance.

The town prepared for the holiday season as Hanukkah and Christmas came. Candles were lit, lobster trap and buoy Christmas trees went up, and decorations shone throughout town. Flying Santa made his annual stop at the Hull Lifesaving Museum, circling Boston Light in a helicopter before landing on the beach near the Spinnaker Island bridge. He was escorted by Hull Police officers to the museum, where he greeted the public.

The townwide winter generators were installed along George Washington Boulevard and tested briefly. The generators provide backup electricity when the transmission lines serving Hull are affected by an outage. They are not able to supply power to spot outages within the town. A subsequent storm would put Hull Emergency Management and Hull Light line workers to the test as they worked into the night to repair localized outages throughout town despite high winds and heavy rain.

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