HomeMy WebLinkAboutBoard of Selectmen Minutes December 22, 2008 Morning Meeting_2014020615180817851
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
Minutes of the Meeting of 22 December 2008. The meeting took place in the Conference Room,
Town and County Building, 16 Broad Street, Nantucket, MA 02554. Members of the Board present
were Rick Atherton, Brian Chadwick, Michael Kopko, Allen Reinhard, and Patricia Roggeveen.
Chairman Kopko called the meeting to order at 9:07 AM.
Housing Development/2 Fairgrounds Road
Town Manager C. Elizabeth Gibson explained that a housing development proposal at 2
Fairgrounds Road has been worked on for some time, and consultant John Ryan was engaged to
develop a Request for Proposal (RFP) which would go out for bid to developers to actually develop
the property. Ms. Gibson explained to the Board how the site plan has evolved from when the
Board initially endorsed a conceptual plan consisting of a municipal area, and area for public
safety, a housing component, and open space. The plan has changed somewhat with the public
safety facility being moved to the middle of the property. One reason the Board needs to endorse
the new plan is for environmental permits; in doing so there is a need to give the environmental
agencies an idea of what is going where. Ms. Gibson expressed concern about doing both the
public safety facility (if it gets approved) and the housing development at the same time and said
she felt it is more important to get the public safety facility approved and moving. There is still a
need to go to Annual Town Meeting to get voter approval for a long-term lease option for the
housing component, and the RFP could take time to get out to developers; Ms. Gibson said she
hopes these possible delays will allow the two projects to not start at the same time. Nantucket
Housing Planner Susan Bennett Witte discussed a list of outstanding questions from John Ryan
that he needs answers on in order to move forward in developing the RFP. Ms. Witte said the RFP
will be finished once John Ryan gets his questions answered. After the 2009 Annual Town Meeting
in April, if voters agree to a long-term lease with developers, the RFP will go out to bid to see if
there is an interest. Chairman Kopko said he had no concerns on the timing of the projects and
said he felt they should both get going as soon as possible. Mr. Chadwick said the Board should
consider the money going toward the housing project. He said this could be an opportunity to sell
the property as individual lots, allowing owners to build their own homes immediately. Ms.
Roggeveen said she felt waiting on the housing project seems a better course, and the Town
should not add to the abundance of rental units currently on the market. Chairman Kopko said he
wanted to see the project go forward as the cost of labor and materials is down now and
contractors are looking for work. Ms. Witte said what Nantucket needs, and what this development
will offer, is permanent year-round rentals without the pressure of being “at the whim of a landlord.”
She went on to say that the Nantucket Housing Authority has an RFP in the works already for 50
housing units for sale which would cover the ownership market. Deputy Police Chief Charles
Gibson suggested that regarding the RFP that a timeline should be attached so developers don’t
lease the land then sit on the property waiting for the market to improve. Ms. Gibson said that if
legal challenges are made against the 40B, the Town might want to evaluate at that time whether it
wants to be responsible for the legal expense; also that if 40B comes into play and the project gets
denser that a developer will have to go back and amend the environmental permits and that will be
the developer’s responsibility. Mr. Reinhard said he felt it was important to emphasize that the
project is for long-term affordable housing. Ms. Witte explained the rent would be based on an
occupant’s income. A discussion followed about John Ryan’s four questions. Mr. Atherton moved
to approve the recommendations made by Ms. Witte on John Ryan’s questions (attached),
clarifying that in question number two there should be a 2:1 mix of rentals and ownership; Ms.
Roggeveen seconded. So voted. Mr. Chadwick was opposed.
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Fiscal Year 2010 General Fund Budget Discussion
Ms. Gibson reviewed the 3 December 2008 meeting at which time the Administration gave the
Board initial potential expense reductions. There may be ongoing spending reductions, one-time
spending reductions, and new revenue. As far as ongoing spending reductions, some possibilities
include eliminating the Adult Community Day Care program, reducing funding to Health and
Human Services, eliminating mosquito control, reducing legal expenses, turning off 25% of the
street lights, funding the Town’s contribution to the annual fireworks through the license plate fund,
and reducing coverage and overtime of lifeguards. Also, personnel cuts that Administration first
identified at $650,000 have now gone over $1 million. Chairman Kopko said he would like to get a
breakdown of union vs. non-union salary expenses, and find out what the bottom line is on salary
numbers and total compensation packages. Mr. Atherton asked what the license plate fund was
being used for now; Ms. Gibson said it is typically used for one-time expenses and $100,000 is
being used to renovate Visitors Services’ bathrooms. Ms. Gibson asked the Board what it wanted
more information on in terms of reducing expenses. The FY 2010 budget gap as of today’s meeting
is $3.8 million. Mr. Chadwick said he thinks the Board should recommend an override and that Ms.
Gibson’s ideas were good but only amount to a small amount of savings. Mr. Reinhard said one of
the responsibilities the Town has is to provide services to the community, and if cuts are made and
have serious impacts on these services then he would consider an override as an option. He went
on to say he felt there will be repercussions if programs are “cut to the bone.” Ms. Roggeveen said
the line in the sand has to be drawn soon, but today there are still a few moving pieces, including
the 23 December DEP meeting regarding the landfill. She said the budget will need to be
tightened. Mr. Atherton said this is not a one year problem, that it can’t be solved on an annual
basis, and that a five year plan is needed. He also said the Town needs to determine what the
community wants and what they are willing to pay for. Mr. Chadwick said it is difficult to plan a
long-term budget because the economy will affect it year to year. Chairman Kopko said the whole
picture needs to be taken into consideration, including solid waste, waste water, Our Island Home,
etc. The Board discussed capital overrides and Chairman Kopko said he wondered if they should
be put out as individual warrant articles; the Board talked about the pros and cons of such.
Chairman Kopko asked if cutting $1.8 million from the personnel budget is realistic. Ms. Gibson
said that would mean cutting about 10% of the workforce, or about 30-40 employees, which will
greatly affect the services the Town offers. Ms. Gibson reviewed other potential personnel savings
options, all of which require bargaining for the union employees. Some discussion followed on this
issue. Mr. Atherton asked if Administration is recommending a budget that does not require an
override. Ms. Gibson said yes, the Town needs a balanced budget. Ms. Roggeveen asked about
the status of the library. Finance Director Connie Voges said that at this point the assumption is to
keep them at the minimum funding level required to keep them from losing state funding. Mr.
Atherton asked for an accounting on legal expenses to see use by department. He said it should
be a policy issue in terms of what legal battles should be initiated or defended against. Ms.
Roggeveen said other communities are paying less than Nantucket for legal fees and said she
wondered how they are managing. Ms. Gibson said at some point soon Administration is going to
give the Board recommendations for a balanced budget which is likely to be unpopular; therefore,
they will need input from the Board as soon as possible. Mr. Atherton said that Ms. Gibson’s idea
of a financial work group is a good one and could be a way to communicate with citizens to find out
what they want. Ms. Gibson said if the Town is ever going to be successful with an operating
override it needs to provide voters with a higher level of confidence than they currently have that an
override is needed. Mr. Chadwick said he hopes it becomes a committee not a work group so it
would be posted, and that it should not impact the Administration staff, which he foresees it doing.
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Ms. Gibson told the Board the next budget discussion is scheduled for Wednesday, 7 January
2009.
Waste Options Letter of Agreement
Mr. Atherton moved to execute a letter of agreement with Waste Options to keep the contractual
Consumer Price Index increase at 5% as originally projected by the Town for FY 2009; seconded
by Ms. Roggeveen. All in favor, so voted.
The meeting was unanimously adjourned at 10:30 AM.
Approved the 11th day of March, 2009.