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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBoard of Selectmen Minutes January 28, 2009_2014020616121519931 BOARD OF SELECTMEN Minutes of the Meeting of 28 January 2009. The meeting took place in the Court 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 7:18 PM. ANNOUNCEMENTS Department of Public Works Director Jeff Willett gave an update on current downtown sewer rehabilitation work and reviewed the work schedule for the following week. PUBLIC COMMENT Director of Planning Andrew Vorce informed the Board of an author discussion regarding parking garages, which will be held 29 January at 7:00 PM at the Westmoor Club and 31 January at 1:00 PM at the Atheneum Great Hall. Thomas Barada inquired about the Quaker Road bike path project and the process which led to excavation of the site. Ms. Gibson explained the series of steps which are required by the state to investigate whether burial remains are within the proposed path layout, which includes the excavation of test pits to see if remains are present. She said evidence of remains has been found and the project ceased immediately. She acknowledged that while the site looks alarming, it will be put back to its original condition. Mr. Vorce added that the Town did its due diligence based on the recommendation of the archeological contractor in the field. APPROVAL OF MINUTES, WARRANTS AND PENDING CONTRACTS Approval of Payroll Warrant for Week Ending 25 January 2009. The payroll warrant for the week ending 25 January 2009 was approved by the unanimous consent of the meeting. Approval of Treasury Warrant and Pending Contracts for 28 January 2009. The treasury warrant and pending contracts for 28 January 2009 were approved by the unanimous consent of the meeting. CITIZEN/DEPARTMENTAL REQUESTS Town Administration: Request for Acceptance of Grant from County for Replacement of Roofs of Police Department Building; Loran Barracks Storage Building. Mr. Reinhard moved to accept the grant; Ms. Roggeveen seconded. Richard Cooper inquired if bids for the projects have been awarded yet; Ms. Gibson said no, and reminded the public that Island contractors who are state certified can bid on municipal projects. All in favor, so voted. TOWN MANAGER’S REPORT Overview of Projected FY 2010 Sewer Enterprise Fund Budget. Ms. Gibson noted that some items in the budget have not yet been resolved, and some assumptions need to have more time spent on them. These include the sewer rate modeling report, which is not complete but underway by consultant Mark Abrahams, who will provide the Board with options as to types of sewer rate structures to help the Board decide on increasing sewer rates to address the projected deficit in FY 2010 due to debt service payments for the Surfside Waste Water Treatment Facility, and is tentatively scheduled to be presented to the Board on 25 February. Other items include the Sewer Act implementation, sewer connection permit issuance numbers, and privilege fees. Ms. Gibson 2 noted that because of the projected deficit the Board will need to address closing the gap through rate increases or some other revenue method. Assistant Finance Director Irene Larivee reviewed the details of the FY 2010 Sewer Enterprise Fund budget as well as background regarding prior fiscal years. She said that in FY 2006 that there was a deficit at year end, but that started to change in FY 2007, 2008, and 2009 as sewer rates were increased. Ms. Larivee said that at the 2005 Special Town Meeting within the Annual Town Meeting, it was established that 66% of the debt expense for the Surfside Waste Water Treatment Facility upgrade would be applied to the SEF, with the remaining 34% to be applied to the General Fund, which would be raised through the tax levy. The SEF debt would be offset by a combination of increasing sewer rates for existing users, and privilege fees for new connections. Ms. Larivee said that during FY 2004 and 2005 new permits were averaging about 215 per year, and during FY 2006, 2007 and 2008 permits remained stable at about 145 per year. In FY 2009 the Town began seeing a marked decline for both Sconset and the Town which is a result of a decline in building on the Island. Ms. Larivee reviewed expenses including the debt service payment schedule. Ms. Larivee noted that for fiscal year 2010 there is a projected gap of $226,000 and options for closing that gap include increasing sewer rates, an override to cover the gap, or a General Fund subsidy. She said the last two options are not being recommended at this time. Ms. Larivee said the Finance Committee is scheduled to review the proposed budget on 5 February and as more information becomes known the budget will come back before the Board for further review and adoption. She said further refinements to the FY 2010 debt projections are needed because of sewer projects coming up for borrowing in the February timeframe. Ms. Larivee and Mr. Willett answered questions from the Board at the end of the presentation. Review of Board of Selectmen Endorsement of Annual Enterprise Fund Indirect Cost Chargebacks. Continued to a future meeting. SELECTMEN’S REPORTS/COMMENT Review of Human Services Contract Review Committee Recommendations for FY 2010. Maryanne Worth, coordinator of the Council for Human Services, gave a presentation on the Human Services Contract Review Committee recommendations for FY 2010 funding. Ms. Worth introduced committee members present and said the committee received 13 requests totaling $494,996, and could regretfully not accommodate all requests. Ms. Worth reviewed the history and purpose of the Human Services Contract Review Committee. She then reviewed the agencies who requested funding, the amount of funding requested, and the amount of the grants recommended, totaling $297,900. Discussions followed on the amounts of some of the grants recommended. Ms. Worth noted she would be making a presentation to the Finance Committee with recommendations on 3 February. Chairman Kopko said the Board would vote on the recommendations next week. Discussion Regarding Implementation of Nantucket Sewer Act. Postponed to 4 February due to the lateness of the meeting. Adoption of 2009 Annual Town Meeting Warrant. Ms. Gibson reviewed the draft 2009 Annual Town Meeting warrant with the Board, going through each article. She covered the update showing changes made since the previous week. The Board agreed, regarding Article 11, to rename the Public Safety Facility project, the Police Station per Administration’s recommendation. Mr. Vorce reviewed changes to planning and zoning articles, as well as real estate conveyance articles. The Board discussed questions that came up throughout the review and made decisions on which 3 articles were to stay as part of the warrant and which would be removed. A discussion followed on a charter change proposed by Mr. Chadwick requiring Town Counsel to report to the Town Manager instead of the Board. It was agreed that it would not become part of the warrant. Ms. Roggeveen recused herself from voting on the adoption of the warrant. Mr. Chadwick moved to adopt the warrant for the 2009 Annual Town Meeting and Annual Town Election as amended; Mr. Atherton seconded. All in favor, so voted. Mr. Chadwick asked the Chair if he could put more effort into managing the length of the meetings in the future. Chairman Kopko said he would take Mr. Chadwick’s comments under consideration, and went on to say that he takes issue with the length of the meeting being a problem, as he feels the Board tackled important issues tonight. The meeting was unanimously adjourned at 10:49 PM. Approved the 22nd day of July, 2009.