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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBoard of Selectmen Minutes October 28, 2009_201402061612226681BOARD OF SELECTMEN Minutes of the Meeting of 28 October 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 6:10 PM following a meeting of the County Commissioners. Chairman Kopko noted agenda item IV. 1. has been withdrawn. ANNOUNCEMENTS Town Counsel will be available for citizens to review “How to Prepare a Warrant Article” on Wednesday, 4 November 2009 from 2:00-4:00 PM at Town and County Building Conference Room. Town Manager C. Elizabeth Gibson noted there are only two Board meetings in November on the 4th and 18th, due to the Veterans Day and Thanksgiving holidays. PUBLIC COMMENT Jim Mullen of Surfside said at last week’s meeting the Board authorized Planning Director Andrew Vorce to review the Town’s “One Big Beach” easements. He asked the Board if they were willing to place easements on their own properties, questioned if the Town provides insurance for “One Big Beach” easements, and requested the Board to reevaluate the “advantages” of the “One Big Beach” easements. APPROVAL OF MINUTES, WARRANTS, PENDING CONTRACTS Approval of Minutes of 11 March 2009 at 6:00 PM; 13 March 2009 at 9:00 AM. The Minutes of 11 March 2009 at 6:00 PM and 13 March 2009 at 9:00 AM were approved by the unanimous consent of the meeting. Approval of Payroll Warrant for Week Ending 25 October 2009. The payroll warrant for week ending 25 October 2009 was approved by the unanimous consent of the meeting. Approval of Treasury Warrant and Pending Contracts for 28 October 2009. Ms. Gibson reviewed the various pending contracts. The treasury warrant and pending contracts for 28 October 2009, with the exception of the ground lease with Servant Healthcare Investments, were approved by the unanimous consent of the meeting. Town Counsel Rod Hoffman reviewed the revised amended and restated lease and discussed where the Town is in its negotiations with Servant. A discussion among board members regarding the lease and current negotiations followed. Mr. Reinhard moved to approve the ground lease with Servant; Ms. Roggeveen seconded. Mr. Hoffman added that the motion should include the condition that non-substantive changes can be made if needed. So voted, 4-1. Mr. Atherton was opposed. CITIZEN/DEPARTMENTAL REQUESTS Site Design Engineering, LLC: Request for Approval on Behalf of the Applicant, Harbor Terrace MRD, to Reconstruct a Portion of East Creek Road. This agenda item was withdrawn. 1 PUBLIC HEARINGS Public Hearing to Consider a Request from Site Design Engineering, LLC on Behalf of the Applicant, 68 North Liberty Realty Trust and 72 North Liberty Realty Trust, for a Variance from the Town of Nantucket Sanitary Sewer Policy, Adopted January 6, 1999 and Amended June 26, 2002, to Allow Construction of 650-Foot Low Pressure Sewer Force Main Within the Gingy Lane Subdivision Roadway. Chairman Kopko opened the public hearing. Dan Mulloy from Site Design Engineering spoke in favor of the request, noting the type of system being proposed is used elsewhere on the Island, and that the sewer system will be owned and maintained by the homeowners association. Department of Public Works Director Jeff Willett said he reviewed the design, has no objections, and recommends the Board grant the requested variance. Chairman Kopko closed the public hearing. Mr. Chadwick inquired whether the privilege fees will be paid before the building permits are issued. Following some discussion, Mr. Atherton moved to table the matter until 18 November 2009 to allow time to research Mr. Chadwick’s question; Ms. Roggeveen seconded. All in favor, so voted. TOWN MANAGER’S REPORT Traffic Safety Work Group Recommendation: Approval of Daytime Loading Zone and Nighttime Parking at 5 West Creek Road, with Conditional Easement Provision. Transportation Planner Mike Burns said the request originates from the applicant, who wants to open a new restaurant and hopes to have a loading zone which can be shared by other businesses on West Creek Road. He added that once the application is approved by the Planning Board, it will come back before the Board for a request to accept the easement. Attorney Arthur Reade spoke in favor of the application on behalf of the applicants, Bert and Sarah Dickerson, and reviewed the details of the loading zone/parking area. Mr. Reinhard moved to approve the daytime loading zone and nighttime parking at 5 West Creek Road as presented; Ms. Roggeveen seconded. All in favor, so voted. Traffic Safety Work Group Recommendation: Approval of Requested Curb Cut at 24 Hussey Street Resulting in Elimination of One Parking Space. Mr. Burns reviewed the request. Mr. Reade, representing the prospective purchaser of the property, said the property is currently owned by the Maria Mitchell Association as multi-unit apartments, and will be converted to a single-use family dwelling, which will result in less of a demand for parking in the area. Ms. Roggeveen moved to approve the curb cut request at 24 Hussey Street as presented; Mr. Reinhard seconded. All in favor, so voted. SELECTMEN’S REPORTS/COMMENT Committee Appointments: Human Services Collaborative Work Group and Sewer Act Implementation Work Group. Chairman Kopko reviewed the various voting and non-voting member seats available for the Human Services Collaborative Work Group appointments and proceeded with the following representative appointments: Clergy – one seat and two applicants - by paper ballot, Jacqueline McGrady was appointed and received votes from all five Board members. The following were appointed by unanimous consent: school – Robert Pellicone; Finance Committee – Christy Kickham; Advisory Committee of Non-voting Taxpayers – C. Louis Bassano; Board of Selectmen – Michael Kopko. Community Members – two seats and four applicants – by paper ballot, Neil Paterson and Jack Gardner were appointed. Mr. Paterson received votes from Mr. Reinhard, Chairman Kopko, and Mr. Atherton. Mr. Gardner received votes from all five Board members. 2 Senior community member – one seat and two applicants – by paper ballot, Toby Greenberg was appointed and received votes from Ms. Roggeveen, Mr. Reinhard, and Mr. Chadwick. Department of Mental Health – Cheryl Bartlett was appointed by unanimous consent. Department of Public Health – Chairman Kopko noted Steve Jokum has verbally volunteered to serve as the DPH representative. Mr. Jokum was appointed by unanimous consent. Sewer Act Implementation Work Group – Jim Kelly was appointed as a member of the public by unanimous consent. Ms. Roggeveen and Mr. Atherton were appointed as Board representatives by unanimous consent. Chairman Kopko noted the work group is now constituted with two Board members, Mr. Kelly and staff, which the Board agreed on. Ms. Gibson noted two additional matters for her Town Manager’s Report: Mr. Atherton had inquired about the status of the Quinn Bill, which she is working on preparing; she noted that Police Chief William Pittman, Human Resources Director Patricia Perris, and she plan to attend the annual Massachusetts Municipal Association labor conference on Friday and that the Quinn Bill will be discussed there. Ms. Gibson said she is planning a review of the FY 2011 budget at the 18 November 2009 Board meeting and plans to have some departments make presentations on potential service reductions. Chairman Kopko noted that the Scholarship Committee still has a vacancy. Erika Mooney offered to fill the seat and was appointed by unanimous consent. Initial Review and Discussion of Prioritization of Ad Hoc Fiscal Committee Final Report Recommendations. Ms. Gibson said Town Administration plans to undertake an in-depth staff-level review to see what elements of the Ad Hoc Fiscal Committee report can be incorporated in the FY 2011 budget. The Board discussed elements of the report noting various ideas that need to be explored regarding viability and financial impacts. Ms. Gibson noted she would like input from the Board on what they deem is important and what they feel is realistic for FY 2011. Town Manager Performance Evaluation Protocol and Policy Discussion. Chairman Kopko noted he asked for this matter to be on the agenda as he feels there should be a more formal and official review and evaluation of the Town Manager. A discussion followed on the timing of the evaluation and the process for the evaluation and if the evaluation should be released to the public. Chairman Kopko read the evaluation language as proposed by Ms. Gibson and the Board offered changes to it. Ms. Gibson will incorporate the suggested changes and forward a revised document to the board for review. Review of Scope of Services for Independent Review of Town’s Legal Services (continued from 21 October 2009). Chairman Kopko said it was the Board consensus last week to hire an independent consultant to review the Town’s legal services, and now the Board is proceeding to review the language of the scope of services. Mr. Atherton noted he emailed ideas on the scope of services to Ms. Gibson this afternoon. It was agreed to hold off on the discussion until Mr. Atherton’s comments could be circulated to the Board. Discussion Regarding Board of Selectmen Access to Documents (continued from 21 October 2009). Chairman Kopko said he has drafted a policy regarding the Board’s access to documents, noting he brought this matter forward because this summer he was not allowed access to a draft 3 4 copy of the Abraham’s Report by the contractor, the Town Manager or the Assistant Town Manager. He said two issues are at hand: first, the actual document involved, and second, as the people’s elected representative, he feels he has the responsibility to know what’s going on and to get as much information as he sees fit. He added that he asked Town Counsel for an opinion on the matter and was told by Counsel that the Board should have access to the report. A discussion among Board members followed on the difference between an individual Selectman’s request for documents and a request from the Board as a whole. Ms. Roggeveen said she feels no individual Selectman should require information from Town Administration without the full support of the Board. Mr. Atherton said he feels draft documents prepared by contractors should be shared if requested, and moved that the draft Abraham’s Report be distributed to the Board; Mr. Reinhard seconded. Ms. Gibson said that now that the final Abraham’s Report has been distributed, she is happy to get the Board copies of the draft and any documents between Town Administration and the contractor. She added that there are reasons why draft reports are not circulated to Board members, mostly to protect the integrity of the process. Mr. Chadwick said he feels the motion is not needed. Mr. Reinhard said he feels the proposed policy is unnecessary and that this was an “unfortunate exercise”. Ms. Roggeveen said the Board seems to be in consensus that the policy is not needed. Chairman Kopko added that his policy was a matter of principal, not about an individual document. No further action was taken. Committee Reports. Individual Board members gave status reports for the committees on which they serve as representatives or liaisons. The meeting was unanimously adjourned at 9:12 PM. Approved the 22nd day of September, 2010.