Hull Town Meeting Borrows $4 Million to Move Town Hall to Middle School

HULL — May 7, 2026 — Hull Town Meeting closes four-night session with contentious 147-56 vote to borrow $4 million for town hall relocation. Approving the borrowing on May 7 brings the total budget for relocating town offices from 253 Atlantic Avenue to the Memorial Middle School to just over $7 million, with construction costs estimated at $5,252,462 and occupancy targeted for spring 2027. Select Board Chair Erwin Neshoff, speaking as an individual, called the move "long overdue" and argued the project amounts to "less than a quarter of a million dollars a year" over a 20-to-25-year borrowing period. Town Accountant Michael Buckley told voters that $8.1 million in new debt was proposed across the full four-night meeting, adding roughly $300,000 to $350,000 in annual debt service beginning in fiscal 2029. A motion to refer the article back to the Advisory Board for study was defeated 140 to 63. Town Meeting also voted 191 to 11 to authorize the Select Board to acquire an easement at James Avenue Beach and approved a transfer of $6,658,900 in insurance settlement proceeds for the Crescent Beach seawall — a figure Select Board Chair Neshoff said was approximately $3 million above what the insurer originally offered.