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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. 2 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. 3 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.