HULL — Oct. 14, 2026 — Vice Chair Jerry Taverna’s motion to ask the state to change Hull’s Coastal Zone Management grant so the public works garage and municipal light plant stay on their existing sites as separate facilities ended without a vote Wednesday, as the Hull Select Board awaits a staff report on a Monday meeting with state officials. The board approved an $8,990,000 bond sale by voice vote.
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Taverna made the motion after a debate over the state coastal resilience grant that is paying for design of a joint Department of Public Works and Hull Municipal Light Plant facility.
The motion is to request a scope change of the CZM grant, which clarifies that the DPW and light plants, should the light plant be included in the grant or not, be on their existing sites as individual facilities.
— Jerry Taverna, Select board (1:56:25)
Taverna said the board made a mistake in its July vote, which he said pulled the light plant out of the grant process, and called for a revote clarifying that the plant should not be removed entirely . He said the light board voted 5-0 to remain at its existing site. He called the DPW site too small, saying the plan needs another half acre for a salt shed and leaves no room for chip day, and questioned a shift from flood-proofed structures toward bringing in fill.
Officials defended the work. The board was told by Town Manager Jennifer Constable the light plant’s current site at 15 Edgewater Road was found unable to meet the plant’s needs through 2070, which led to the joint-facility recommendation. John Comeau, a member of the Coastal Zone Management Coastal Resilience Grant & Project said the design has been a combined facility since Phase 2. Chris Krahforst, Director of Climate Adaptation and Conservation, put the joint building at $45 million, with $15 million coming from the light plant, and a DPW-only building at $40 million to $45 million.
Constable said the state is aware of the disagreement among town boards, that staff will meet with state officials Monday about a potential change in the grant’s scope, and that it is unclear whether the light plant can be pulled out. She called the project an option for taxpayers rather than a done deal and said the light board’s stance was about exerting authority it does not have.
Board members split. Irwin Nesoff said the town deferred maintenance for decades and that the study does not commit the town to building anything. Greg Grey said the town is only finishing an engineering study, not spending $70 million to $80 million. Taverna said residents worry about costs approaching $100 million once a public safety building, paving and sewer work are added. Susan Short Green said staff should have raised concerns about the July 22 vote right away rather than three months later.
That decision about, like, new buildings, where new buildings are, where buildings are relocated, combining, you know, new facilities, those are major decisions. Those are not day-to-day operations and maintenance.
— Lisa French, a Design Review Board member speaking for herself (1:30:29)
The assistant director of public works said the town has won all four grant rounds, and a public works official later said the grant work must be finished essentially by next May, asking for a revote to continue with a combined facility.
No vote was taken on Taverna’s motion. After a call for a second, he was asked whether he would wait for the state’s answer and declined, but the discussion was ended with staff asked to return with a 10-minute update.
