In addition to their regular duties, Select Board members serve on various committees related to housing needs, possible school consolidation, and other issues.
Donna Pursel was appointed to the Housing Production Plan Committee, with Chair Jennifer Constable serving as an alternate, during a recent Select Board meeting.
Town Manager Philip Lemnios explained that the committee was created following the receipt of a state grant to work with a consultant to develop such a plan.
“The committee is charged with creating a catalogue of existing kinds of housing in Hull, to analyze the data, and to take a look at the town’s demographics to identify gaps in housing and to help determine what additional types of housing are needed,” he said.
Board member John Reilly was appointed to the planning committee related to potential school consolidation with regard to the recently completed Best Educational Use of School Facilities Study.
School Superintendent Judith Kuehn, Lemnios, a member of the School Committee, and Reilly will act as liaisons to discuss aspects of the report and to set a timeline for a potential decision once the study has been fully vetted in the community.
An ad hoc committee will also be formed to study the various options and then to make a recommendation to inform the School Committee, which will make the final decision.
The planning committee will help decide the composition of the ad hoc committee, which will include Kuehn, Assistant Superintendent David DeGennaro, Lemnios, a member each from the Select Board and the School Committee, and possibly a teacher and parent from each school building, among others. A student might also be asked to serve on the committee.
School Committee Chair Jennifer Fleming and member Ernest Minelli were recently appointed to the ad hoc committee, with Minelli also serving on the planning committee.
In other business at the meeting, Reilly was appointed as the Select Board’s interim member of the Zoning Bylaw Committee until the board can name someone with more expertise in this area on the board’s behalf.
The purpose of the committee is to study different aspects and to report back periodically to the Planning Board to update the zoning bylaws and zoning maps.
The membership of this permanent seven-member committee will consist of the building commissioner or their nominee, one member of the Select Board or their nominee, one member of the Planning Board to be appointed by its chair, one member of the Board of Appeals or their nominee, and three citizens of the town appointed by the Planning Board.
Appointments will be for a three-year period, staggered to ensure continuity on the committee.
