Press from Rep. Garrett Bradley

Hull Times article: Selectmen support plan to hike DCR parking fee to $7

Do You Have a Reservation? State Sen. Robert Hedlund and State Rep. Garrett Bradley discussed potential increases in fees at the Department of Conservation and Recreation's Nantasket Reservation parking lots with the Selectmen this week. [Roger Jackson photo]

Selectmen this week signaled their support for legislation filed by state Rep. Garrett J. Bradley [D-Hingham] that would raise parking fees at the Nantasket Reservation, with the resulting revenues to be used solely for public safety and maintenance functions at the state-administered beach.

The bill that Bradley authored would raise current rates from $3 per vehicle to $7, "not unreasonable for a day at the beach on a safe and clean reservation," he told selectmen Tuesday. Senior citizens who currently pay $2 would pay $4 if the state Legislature approves the proposal.

Selectmen have long complained that, although the state owns and operates the Nantasket Beach Reservation and Fort Revere Park under the aegis of the Department of Conservation and Recreation, Hull provides a large share of emergency response services without compensation for the associated costs.

Last year, Hull's legislators Bradley and state Sen. Robert L. Hedlund [R-Weymouth], who also attended Tuesday's meeting successfully lobbied for a $200,000 appropriation to reimburse the town for police, fire, and emergency medical services provided at Nantasket, only to see the funding rescinded in the wake of state budget cuts.

Bradley said he hit upon the idea of the parking rate surcharge with the revenues designated for the establishment of the Nantasket Beach Reservation Trust Fund based on a similar arrangement the DCR has for its state park in Salisbury. The goal, he said, is to guarantee that the DCR has a management plan in place every year that is not subject to yearly fiscal appropriations by the state Legislature.

Although the State Police has primary jurisdiction on the Nantasket Reservation, Bradley said the agency told him that they are planning to fund just 600 man-hours for Hull coverage this year. In the early 1990s, before the Metropolitan District Commission police force was merged into the State Police, the MDC stationed 54 officers on the Nantasket Reservation, Bradley said.

While vetting his proposal to raise parking rates, Bradley told selectmen that he asked the DCR what the agency's safety plan is for Nantasket and was stunned to hear the response: Dial 911.

Under Bradley's proposed legislation, a representative of the DCR must meet each year with Hull officials to discuss the maintenance and safety plan for the next calendar year and to detail the balance and expenditures from the Nantasket Beach Reservation Trust Fund. The State Police would continue to patrol Nantasket, but local police and EMTs would get the right of first refusal to provide the backup services visitors need and be reimbursed for those services.

While selectmen expressed strong support for the bill and signed a letter to that effect to be sent to the chairman of the Ways and Means committees in both the House and Senate, several beach merchants were wary that a substantial increase in parking would drive down attendance at Nantasket, particularly in a tough economy.

Bradley has met twice with members of the Hull-Nantasket Chamber of Commerce and other beach businesspeople to hear their concerns and suggestions. He said his original proposal, to add a $10 surcharge to the current parking rates, garnered a lot of negative response, both from merchants and beach users.

Selectmen lauded Bradley for "taking on the 800 lb. gorilla in the room," as Town Manager Philip Lemnios put it, to try and relieve Hull taxpayers of the burden of being "the DCR's safety valve."

"We are staffed for 11,000, not 30,000, which is how many people are here on a good summer day," Lemnios said. "Parking rates haven't risen since 1993. It was very unpopular, but he [Bradley] took an incredible leadership stance to take on this problem and get the parties to consensus."

Hedlund cautioned selectmen that, even if the Legislature passes the proposal, "It's only a stopgap measure."

The senator said he's been trying to get the state to own up to its responsibilities at Nantasket since he was first elected, about 20 years ago, but didn't get a lot of support, or credit, from local officials. "No one then was tossing bouquets at me. I just had a lot of people waving at me as I went over the cliff," Hedlund said. The senator said that he didn't support Bradley's first proposal and hadn't had time to thoroughly investigate the current version, but would probably lend his support to the legislation and try to guide it through the Senate.

"I still think you [Hull's officials] would do better to look at the big picture, long-term, as more of a solution than going after people who park," Hedlund said.

Selectman Dennis Blackall emphasized that, to local officials, police and EMT services at Nantasket are not just a dollars issue, but a safety issue. If Hull's personnel are tied up providing services on the beach, they're not available to local residents who may them and, in any case, are footing the bill for public safety response on the peninsula. Similarly, they say, Hull then has to call upon its equally cash- and manpower-starved neighbors for mutual aid.

Bradley said that he has been assured by DCR officials that, if the legislation is passed during the current session, the agency will recommend that Gov. Deval Patrick sign the bill so that Hull could see some revenues for this summer season.

While Hull's legislators were discussing pending issues, Meschino briefed the pair and her colleagues about transportation funding for local bus and commuter boat service.