Hull Town Meeting Votes to Seek State Charter Change, Strip Manager of Light Plant Role

HULL — May 5, 2026 — Hull Town Meeting voted 236-82 to authorize the Select Board to petition the state legislature to strip the town manager of her role as municipal light plant manager and restore statutory authority to the elected Municipal Light Board, rejecting by 245-69 a substitute motion to send the matter to a government study committee. The vote on Article 40, a citizens' petition brought by Light Board Commissioner Jake Valancourt, follows the passage of a nearly identical but legally deficient article in May 2025 by a margin of 116-83; the Select Board had already forwarded the corrected petition to a legislative subcommittee before Town Meeting convened. Light Board Chair Tom Burns told voters the utility has "no dedicated light plant manager" and that since 2001 nearly $2 million in ratepayer funds have been diverted to cover public safety costs that he said belong in the town budget. Advisory Board Chair Jason Frady recommended referral to study, citing unresolved questions of accountability and infrastructure planning, while Vice Chair Chad Wolf broke publicly with that position, saying further study would not yield "a materially different outcome." A motion for reconsideration, which Valancourt called "defensive in nature" to prevent a later revote with fewer voters present, failed 214-90. Town Meeting also approved $1,335,000 to mill and overlay Manamit and Samoset avenues, $750,000 for seawall and coastal infrastructure work, and $400,000 to advance feasibility and begin preliminary design for a new combined police and fire headquarters estimated to cost roughly $60 million when fully scoped; a bylaw to provide $1,000 annually to 19 volunteer boards for administrative expenses failed narrowly, 114-105.