HULL — September 30, 2026 — Dropping MAPC halfway through Hull’s master plan would waste $90,000 in taxpayer money, the Select Board was told on September 30, and the Planning Board has no authority to pull the town out of its contract with the regional planning agency. The plan’s second phase is now fully funded, the board heard.
The Full Story
The remarks came as the board reviewed its 2026-2027 Integrated Goals and Objectives, after member Susan Short Green asked whether two master plan steps could come off the list.
The first phase cost $90,000 and the second would cost about the same, Town Manager Jennifer Constable told the board. The town won a highly competitive Technical Assistance Program award for phase two and used its grant match fund to close the remaining gap, leaving the plan 100% funded under the town’s contract with MAPC to facilitate and draft it.
According to Constable, phase one, an existing-conditions assessment with community outreach, was a struggle on both sides, and a Planning Board letter on the process cites grammatical errors and information the Planning Board considers inaccurate in the phase one document. Constable said the consultant should address any inaccuracies, and that MAPC has put more senior staff on the project.
The sharper message was about who controls the contract. The town manager said that during a Planning Board discussion, that board’s vice chair at the time said members did not want the process to go through the town manager’s office.
I just have to say to this board and anybody listening, especially the planning board, that you can’t usurp the town manager’s office
— Town Manager Jennifer Constable (47:18)
Contracting and fiduciary responsibility rest with that office, Constable said, and withdrawing from a contract is not within the Planning Board’s authority. Addressing discussion of Constable’s role as MAPC president, she said there is no conflict of interest and no involvement in MAPC’s work on the plan; Hull is one of 101 member communities that pay MAPC an annual assessment.
Literally that would be a waste of $90,000 of taxpayer funds to redo a process that is only halfway completed and without legitimate contractual reasons for not moving forward.
— Town Manager Jennifer Constable (47:18)
Green also pressed on the two-way road conversion, noting that two citizens petitions passed at town meeting sought to give the Select Board the final say. The project, a collaboration with DCR and MassDOT, is at 25% design, nothing has been finalized or approved, and it would come back to the board and may need town meeting approval, the board was told by the town manager.
Green also sought a goal guaranteeing reliable, uninterrupted power in place of a reference to electrical feeder lines. Framing it as collaboration with Hull Municipal Light Plant, which oversees that infrastructure, was suggested instead. Members said the goals would be finalized when Jerry Taverna returns.
