By Carol Britton Meyer

Plymouth County Commissioners Jared Valanzola and Gregory Hanley presented an American Rescue Plan Act check for $595,000 to the select board last week toward the sewer department ocean outfall rehabilitation project that began in December. This is on top of additional ARPA funding of $986,803 last fall.

The work involves extending diffusers above the ocean bottom and removing accumulated sand, gravel, and sea growth from the outfall pipeline. This priority project will help ensure reliability, public health, environmental integrity, and restoration of outlet capacity. The targeted completion date is spring of this year.

**ALL IN FOR OUTFALL.** Celebrating the award of a $595,000 grant to pay for work on the sewer outfall pipe last week were, from left, select board members Greg Grey and Jerry Taverna, Plymouth County Commissioner Gregory Hanley, US Rep. Stephen Lynch, select board members Brian McCarthy and Irwin Nesoff, county commissioner Jared Valanzola, Town Manager Jennifer Constable, and John Struzziery assistant DPW director and director of wastewater operations. [Photo courtesy of James Lampke]

US Rep. Stephen Lynch was present at the meeting, acknowledging the Town of Hull’s continuing successful efforts to seek various grants.

“Hull has overperformed regarding accessing grants,” he said. “It’s a two-way process. We need to fit Hull’s needs into buckets of available federal resources. It’s a complicated process.”

Lynch went on to attribute Hull’s success at winning grants to the “due diligence of local Hull officials. Congratulations – it’s been a refreshing experience working with you all.”

Hull also received ARPA funding to rehabilitate the pump house, work that is expected to begin this summer, as well as seawall restoration grants.

Lynch explained the difference between ARPA and the earlier emergency CARES Act, which provided funding to communities, including Hull, “to help them stay safe during the pandemic and to replace tax revenues they would have received if the economy had not shut down.”

The message behind ARPA, he said, was that it was time “to get things going” again, providing funds to communities to help generate economic activity following the pandemic.

Lynch’s parting words were that Hull “is doing better than most communities in terms of its financial position. [Town officials] have been more careful in making internal funding decisions than most other towns I’ve visited recently.”