By Carol Britton Meyer

Bids for the replacement of the seawall along Nantasket Avenue adjacent to the lagoon at the foot of Allerton Hill were due at the end of last week, and once under way, work is expected to take about 18 months to complete, a consultant told the select board last Wednesday night.

The project involves replacing a large portion of the seawall along a section of Nantasket Avenue from Stony Beach to Point Allerton Avenue and beyond, as well as relocating overhead utilities, raising a portion of the road and changing it to one-way, adding a crushed stone path alongside the seawall, and creating an overlook with a view of the ocean. The project calls for the new seawall to be constructed landward of the existing seawall.

**ROCKY OUTLOOK**. The seawall that runs along Nantasket Avenue near the lagoon on Fitzpatrick Way is the subject of a $12.5-million replacement project. The current wall is reinforced by boulders stacked on the seaward side. [Courtesy photo]

Russell Titmuss of GEI Consultants updated the board at last week’s meeting.

The town match for the $3 million state seawalls grant that was awarded is $1 million. A Federal Emergency Management Agency grant will cover more than $5 million of the total cost, which is estimated at $12.5 million, including associated road work. The source of the remaining funding is unclear.

Click here to view the presentation from the select board meeting.

The schedule for the work depends on the release of the FEMA funding. All permit applications have been filed and are under review.

The GEI report resulted from a full condition survey and study, performed in 2019, when the process began, to develop a comprehensive long-term rehabilitation and upgrade of the seawall and to develop short-term and long-term alternatives for repairs and upgrades.

Part of the process is performing a traffic impact and access study because part of the road will become one-way.

“The impacts will be considered before moving forward,” Town Manager Jennifer Constable said.

Public meetings will be held to share information in late February or early March, depending on the weather.

The project, which calls for construction of a new concrete seawall, is among FEMA’s Massachusetts coastal flood and erosion mitigation projects. The project is designed to reduce the risk of flood damage and coastal erosion, increase resilience against sea level rise, and maintain links to the infrastructure, homes, and businesses beyond that area.

The existing deteriorating seawall allows waves to crash over its top during some storm events and is failing due to its age. Erosion is also undermining the toe of the wall.

If the seawall were to fail, flooding would result in the closure of both Nantasket Avenue and Fitzpatrick Way, which are the only means of access to Hull Village and Pemberton Point.

It was noted that the Fitzpatrick Way/Nantasket Avenue area flooded during a recent storm.

“I can’t promise there won’t be any more floods there with the new seawall,” Titmuss said, “but a portion of the wall in that area will be higher.”

Constable observed that “two of the last three storms caused some of the highest tides in history.”

The construction will take about 18 months, with an expected lifespan of at least 50 years. The bids were due back Jan. 18. About 18 contractors have expressed an interest in the project.

In the event of partial failure of the seawall before the work is completed, armor stone from Crescent Beach will be used to fill the gaps.

Constable noted that the select board meetings are recorded and can be viewed on hulltv.net on demand, and that the presentation is available online.

In other business at the meeting…

The board’s Jan. 31 agenda will include an update and possible discussion about recreational marijuana sales, at board member Irwin Nesoff’s request. Two applications have been submitted for host community agreements, and a third is expected.

“We are doing significant due diligence to ensure the board has all the necessary facts and information,” Constable said.

Also, upon Police Chief John Dunn’s recommendation, the select board offered Anthony Bates, Michael McDonald, Thomas Bellew, and Thomas Waters conditional offers of employment as full-time Hull police officers, pending the successful completion of physical exams and the Municipal Police Training Committee-required physical agility test.

Once those steps are accomplished, Dunn will present the appointed candidates for the board’s approval to attend the Municipal Police Training Academy as “student officers.”