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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBoard of Selectmen Minutes January 8, 2009 Executive Session_2014020616121444931 BOARD OF SELECTMEN EXECUTIVE SESSION - Minutes of the meeting of 08 January 2009 at 9:00 AM. The meeting took place in the Conference Room, 16 Broad Street, Nantucket, MA 02554. Members of the Board present were Rick Atherton, Brian Chadwick, Allen Reinhard, and Patricia Roggeveen. Chairman Michael Kopko was absent. Also present were Town Manager C. Elizabeth Gibson, Assistant Town Manager Malachy Rice, Town Counsel Paul R. DeRensis, and Executive Assistant to the Town Manager Erika Mooney. Vice-chairman Roggeveen called the meeting to order at 9:00 AM. Approval of Minutes Approval of Minutes of 29 October 2008 at 4:00 PM; 6 November 2008 at 9:00 AM; 3 December 2008 at 1:00 PM; 4 December 2008 at 9:00 AM; and 8 December 2008 at 12:00 PM. Mr. Reinhard moved to approve the minutes; seconded by Mr. Atherton. So voted unanimously by roll call vote. Waste Options Nantucket (WON) Update Mr. Chadwick said he objected to the WON agenda item being discussed in executive session and said he feels all discussions about WON should take place in open session. Vice-chairman Roggeveen agreed with Mr. Chadwick and suggested updates be given at the weekly Selectmen meetings. Solid waste consultant George Aronson joined the meeting via conference call. Ms. Gibson said all future WON discussions, with the exception of contractual discussions, could be done in open session, starting at the 14 January meeting. Vice-chairman Roggeveen said she, Mr. Atherton, Ms. Gibson, and DPW Director Jeff Willett attended a meeting with David Ellis of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on 23 December 2008, which was also attended by Mr. Aronson and Whitney Hall and Charlie Gifford of WON. The key point of the meeting was to discuss landfill closure issues. Mr. Aronson reviewed the background information for the 23 December meeting and said by 1 June 2009 Phase 1 of the landfill has to be capped and closed and the Town needs to demonstrate to DEP that the closure is complete by 18 July 2009; if the landfill is not closed on 1 June then fines could start 2 June on a daily basis. Mr. Aronson said the plan has been to actively mine that portion of the landfill to defer the closure. He went on to say that in order for the mining to continue and to defer the closure, the DEP has to issue a new consent order or amend the current consent order. Mr. Aronson said Mr. Ellis spent a lot of time discussing issues other than the closure, such as gasification, renewable energy, wind turbines, and solar cells. A discussion ensued among the Board and Mr. Aronson concerning gasification and what the DEP’s hopes are for a pilot gasification program on Nantucket. Mr. Aronson said gasification has not been done successfully yet in the US and said he told DEP that if WON wants to institute a gasification program on Nantucket at its own cost then it should be no harm to the Town. He said Mr. Ellis wants a draft plan for accelerated landfill mining by the end of January. Regarding accelerated mining costs, Mr. Aronson stated he is scheduled to meet with Mr. Hall on 9 January and he hopes Mr. Hall will have a preliminary plan with some estimated costs. Mr. Aronson clarified that mining would be the justification for putting off closure of the landfill. Mr. Atherton said he would like the Board to get a list of options, i.e.: the Town eliminating the construction and demolition (C&D) operation, mining the landfill vs. closure, etc., what it means for the FY10 Solid Waste Enterprise Fund (SWEF) budget, and what it means if an alternate C&D station becomes permitted and opened and how that will affect the SWEF budget. Vice-chairman Roggeveen said this information has to be open session material and the public needs to be informed of what’s going on with the landfill. After some further discussion as to potential proposals from WON, the conference call with Mr. Aronson was ended. 2 Sherburne Commons Mr. Atherton commented that a for-profit running a business on free Town-owned land is a big issue. Ms. Gibson said Mr. Rice and she met with Our Island Home (OIH) Director Pamela Meriam and the Town’s nursing home consultants regarding the possibility of a nursing home at the Sherburne Commons site. Ms. Gibson noted the consultants indicated a likely low level of interest by developers to include a nursing home at the site, mostly for financial reasons. Vice-chairman Roggeveen said it is a policy issue whether the Town is willing to lease the Sherburne Commons land to a for-profit entity and that maybe the Board should think about changing the lease agreement to a revenue agreement. Mr. Atherton concurred. Mr. Reinhard also agreed. Vice-chairman Roggeveen said the Town could possibly leverage the rental cost with a new facility for OIH. Mr. Atherton said he would like to have some different options examined. Mr. DeRensis suggested that instead of acting on Sherburne Commons’ attorney Melissa Philbrick’s warrant article request, which would take away control of the site, the Board could work with Ms. Philbrick to prepare a document which could note that the Town would be willing to work with potential buyers; Vice-chairman Roggeveen said this possible letter for Ms. Philbrick should be a public discussion. A-1 Taxi Litigation Vice-chairman Roggeveen said she wanted the Board to think about getting a second opinion on legal serves for the A-1 Taxi lawsuit and the viability with respect to the case. She said she anticipates the legal expenses to be high and wonders if the lawsuit should be defended. She said her concern is purely economic and wonders if the Town should settle with A-1. Mr. Atherton asked how much the first lawsuit cost; Ms. Gibson said between $10,000-20,000. Vice-chairman Roggeveen said that maybe the Board should put a ceiling on legal spending for this case. Mr. DeRensis said if they lose the case it could become a civil rights issue and property rights issue. Mr. DeRensis will provide a budget from his office as to the costs to defend this lawsuit as well as a list of what needs to be done. Sherburne Commons (continued) OIH Director Pamela Meriam, consultant Bruce Glass, and architect Charlie DeMarco joined the meeting. Ms. Gibson reminded the Board that about a year ago these individuals attended a Board of Selectmen meeting to discuss possibilities of moving the nursing home to the Sherburne Commons site. Mr. Glass reviewed feasibility options: 1) continue as-is, the Town operating a fine quality home with much to be desired in terms of the physical plant, the living conditions there, and running at a loss to the Town; 2) close OIH which would require moving 40-plus Island residents to different homes off- island; or 3) find someone to take over OIH. Mr. Glass reviewed what’s happening at Sherburne Commons - currently in bankruptcy, operating at a low level, the bank has hired an investment company to market the property. He said Sherburne Commons has real problems with marketing and the floundering real estate market is affecting sales into assisted-living facilities; the cost of building on the Island is prohibitive and the property will be expensive to acquire. He said any investor will most likely be a for-profit group. Mr. Glass said OIH cannot be moved into the main building at Sherburne Commons as it is not designed or rated properly for fire protection and can’t be converted; Sherburne Commons is licensed as an assisted-living facility and cannot be used at all to house a nursing facility. Mr. Glass suggested that the best solution is an outside developer comes in, takes over Sherburne Commons, and builds a new nursing home, but that is very unlikely. Mr. Glass said OIH currently has a facility licensed by the state meeting stringent federal regulations and is not compatible with assisted- living. Mr. DeMarco also reviewed various plans having to do with a nursing home component at Sherburne Commons. Mr. Glass said if the Town built a new nursing home on the property it may be more attractive to potential buyers. Discussion followed as to the issues associated with building a new nursing home including, cost, zoning, code compliance. Mr. Glass said his suggestion is to do nothing now and see how it plays out. Mr. DeRensis suggested the Board have a discussion with Ms. Philbrick 3 as to including a nursing home component in the marketing package. It was agreed that vice-chairman Roggeveen and Ms. Gibson would speak with Ms. Philbrick in an informal and very general way, letting her know that the Board would like OIH to be part of Sherburne Commons’ discussion. Mr. Atherton asked for a future discussion regarding re-evaluating the Board’s directive to administration on union negotiations in light of the economy. The meeting was unanimously adjourned by roll call vote at 12:17 PM. Approved the 7th day of May, 2009. Partially released the 24th day of March, 2010.