The Hull Town Counsel’s leak to the Hull Times about the Hull Town Manager’s effort to surreptitiously annex the unincorporated area around Graves Light is now a WBZ news story.
“Once they saw that it was a really nice taxable thing that we had built, they just came with a tin cup,” Graves Light’s Dave Waller told WBZ NewsRadio today.
“And I think its just a shakedown.”
Shakedown indeed. WBZ Radio News reporter Karyn Regal called Hull Town Manager Phil Lemnios the morning of October 27 for the town’s side of the story.
Lemnios hid.
“WBZ NewsRadio has reached out to the Hull Town Manager on Tuesday morning for comment,” Regal reported.
The whole day passed and the stay-at-home-in-Natick town manager of the quiet little town of Hull couldn’t return a call to Boston’s biggest news radio station.
“We are awaiting a response,” Regal posted at 4:39 PM, “and will update this article accordingly.”
Here’s the WBZ audio of Regal’s story and Dave’s comment.
All of us at the Graves Light family are overwhelmed by the wonderful outpouring of support after public reports that the Town of Hull is trying to annex Graves so that the lighthouse can be regulated, taxed, and fined.
More than 2,000 people an hour saw the story in the first 12 hours after the news appeared on our Facebook page,
Hundreds expressed their support for Graves Light and their criticism of Hull’s town leadership.
More than a hundred in the first afternoon and night offered their comments. Nobody supported Hull leaders. Anyone can read our Facebook page to see the names of the authors.
Hull residents are furious at town leaders
Several Hull residents expressed frustration at how the town is wasting taxpayer funds harassing Graves when the town can’t even provide reliable electricity through its energy monopoly. Here are some of the comments from the first 12 hours, some of which are edited for punctuation:
Frank S, Hull: “We can’t even get electricity during storms that blow at 6 miles an hour. What the hell are we gonna do with an island?”
Laura B, Hull: “I’m so sorry about this as I live in Hull. I have enjoyed seeing the fruits of your labor and marveled at how much you have accomplished against tremendous odds. I wish the power that be would put more time and energy into keeping our electricity up and running than spending money suing you!”
Ron P, Hull: “Please don’t lump all of the Hull residents in with this situation. I guarantee that the residents of Hull are on your side.”
Tim W, Hull: “That is such bull****, I live in Hull and they want their hands in everyone’s pocket …. you guys are doing an amazing job restoring the lighthouse.”
Karen C, Hull: “So sorry this is happening to you from my own town!”
Bill W, Hull: “More evidence of how inept our Town Manager & Board of Selectpeople are. The townspeople of Hull were never informed or given the chance for input on claiming Graves ledge for free, nor has there been any town meeting as to why Hull wants it now.”
Christine W, Hull: “Hull is terrible with money and running so many dirty schemes. They should tax [Town Manager] Phil [Lemnios] on his years living in Natick.”
‘Shame on you, Hull!’
Here are some of the early comments from around the area:
Jayne W, Tewksbury: “It’s just a grab for property taxes. And with all the improvements you’ve made, they’re imagining a wonderful assessment. Fight this.”
Katherine M, Nantucket: “This is ridiculous and I hope you guys have great lawyers, keep spreading the story. Where is the Boston Globe etc.”
Holly R, Weston: “A land grab is not a good look for you, Hull.”
Sean G: “What service is Hull planing on offering you? Public school? Fire station on island? Police patrol? Have they ever received tax revenue from any owner of graves island since the founding of the town in 1644?”
Ray H, ex-Medford: “Complete waste of time and tax money for the Town of Hull that is nowhere near The Graves.”
Wendy S, Boston: “After all of the beautiful work (and expense). That is outrageous. And you guys were so eager to help the Coast Guard with repairs on Little Brewster. You have been so generous with your time, equipment, expertise, and finances. . . . I don’t think Hull should get a cent . . . .”
Melinda G, Winthrop: “Shame on you, Hull!”
Cassandra C: “When you say, ‘Shame on you, Hull!!’, it seems as though you are addressing the taxpayers, and I doubt any of them are fans of this.”
Boston sought to tax Graves but found no basis
A researcher for the Boston Assessing Department said he tried to find a way to tax the owners of The Graves, but – apparently because Boston recognized that the property is indeed officially unincorporated – found that it wouldn’t be possible. Here’s what he said:
Jim L, Scituate: “In 2014, I researched the Graves Light property and its sale to the Wallers. I worked for the Boston Assessing Department and wanted to determine whether the city could tax it. Initially I thought since Graves Light is in Suffolk County, one of three municipalities in coastal Suffolk County — Winthrop, Revere and Boston — would be able to do so. Bottom line: We determined the city could not tax it. I can’t take issue with anything the Waller family has written in this post.”
The Town Manager of Hull, our neighbor across the county line in Plymouth, has made a unilateral “land grab” to annex Graves Light and force us to pay property taxes, even though we were never part of the town. We’re not even in the same county.
We’re not going to let a town bureaucrat simply steal us, so we pled our case to the Massachusetts Land Court.
We’ll tell our own story after the the Land Court rules on the matter. So for now, we’ll just cite Hull Times Contributing Editor Christopher J. Haraden’s article published on October 22. As of today the newspaper’s website hasn’t been updated, so we can’t link to the story yet.
Here’s our side of it, as the Hull Times reported:
Dave Waller, who bought Graves Light in 2013, “said this week that his deed from the federal government describes the 10-acre property in terms of latitude and longitude and references Broad Sound Channel, a shipping route in the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. Documents provided by a US Coast Guard office in Virginia indicated that ‘the property is not located within the corporate limits of any municipality’ a concept that [a lawyer for Hull] disputes . . . .”
“‘When we bought the place, [federal documentation] said it was unincorporated territory in Suffolk County,’ said Waller . . . .”
“Waller said he filed suit when the town refused to rescind a property tax bill in the fall of 2019, after he had completed substantial renovations to the lighthouse. . . . Records at the Hull Assessors’ office value the property at $274,100, resulting in a tax bill of $3,552.42 for fiscal 2000.”
“‘Hull kind of came along about six years afterward [from when Dave Waller bought Graves in 2013], and the town manager just claimed it,’ Waller said, recalling that the assessor’s office initially told him that the bill had been sent in error. ‘But then they called back and they spoke to the town manager and that it was correct.'”
“He said that Graves Light was not included on Hull’s assessing maps until shortly after that phone call.”
“As late as this week [October 22], the maps displayed did not show Graves Light on Map 61, although it is listed in the online property database.”
“‘You can’t just look out the window and decide to add something to the map,’ Waller said. ‘It’s more that it seems like a land grab that ruffled our feathers, and we didn’t think that was fair. It just seemed wrong.'”
There’s a lot more to the story, and we’ll link to the original Hull Times article once it’s online.
Two friends alerted us that a certain cribbage board was for sale on eBay, and being the only bidders, we are happy to say that after 77 years, this beautifully hand-crafted game is returned to the watch room on the 5th floor.
Made by (or for) USCG Keeper Peter Rondeau during the war in 1943, the finely made wooden board just needed pegs and cards, which were thoughtfully provided by our pal Lango.
What a wonderful way to spend a quiet hour surrounded by heavy fog this morning!
When first built, Graves Light included a substantial wharf, built of huge granite blocks.
The sea has swept away all but four of the original massive stones. For years, divers have searched the bottom of the harbor around Graves Ledge and never found any of them.
So we rebuilt the wharf with 2-1/2 ton granite blocks recycled from an old New Hampshire railroad bridge. It was a complicated job.
With ACK Marine, we set three courses of granite blocks extending below most of the elevated wooden dock and a bit further into the harbor.
Guiding the blocks into place with precision required calm seas and a dead low tide. ACK set the first of the three courses of granite in a day.
The blocks were set in place in wet concrete with large holes bored through them.
To slow the inevitable destruction by the sea, the blocks were doubly held into place with massive steel pins that run through holes drilled through the entire thickness of each block and down into the ledge itself. Each pin was attached to the stone beneath the sea with high-tech, environmentally friendly epoxy.
ACK Marine then installed the wooden forms and poured a massive concrete slab behind the blocks to try and prevent heavy winter storms from knocking the whole thing to pieces.
Never know until you try!
Extra thanks to Mike S from King Pine for the helicopter photos and Michael B for the breathtaking overhead picture.
Let’s talk about pillows! We found these great old Navy signal flags and sister Sue expertly crafted them into colorful pillows for the patio furniture at the Oil House.
Big week over at the Oil House brings master carpenter Karl and his crew back for a 7th straight season.
While Peter pulled up the mahogany decking, Karl and Sunny, with assists from Rowan, built this magnificent upper deck, complete with a stanchion railing salvaged from a World War II minesweeper.
Graves Light is a historic landmark. At the outermost entrance to Boston Harbor and the tallest lighthouse in the Boston area, Graves Light is privately owned but continues to serve as a navigation aid run by the US Coast Guard.
The new owners welcome the adventurous public to enjoy the sights of Graves Light, but warn that there are no electrical, water, sanitary, first aid, or other facilities of any kind available to the public at the lighthouse or on Graves Ledge.
Graves Ledge is dangerous. Submerged rocks present a navigation hazard. We insist that visitors enjoy the ledge and lighthouse from the safety of their boat or kayak.
Meanwhile, follow us through this website, Facebook, and on Twitter @GravesLight.
