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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOSminutes20110713 AM1 BOARD OF SELECTMEN Minutes of the Meeting of 13 July 2011. The meeting took place in the Public Safety Facility Training Room, 4 Fairgrounds Road, Nantucket, MA 02554. Members of the Board present were Rick Atherton, Michael Kopko, Patricia Roggeveen and Whitey Willauer. Absent was Mr. DeCosta. Chairman Atherton called the meeting to order at 9:00 AM. Mr. Atherton stated he would like to see Item Number III go first. Mr. Willauer made a motion to move item number III to first. Ms. Roggeveen seconded. All in favor, so voted. I. Approval of Treasury Warrant for 13 July 2011. The treasury warrant was approved by a vote of 3-0 vote. Mr. Kopko did not vote. II. Town Administration: Request for Approval of FY 2011 Year End Budget Transfers. Town Manager C. Elizabeth Gibson stated the second set of budget transfers must be approved by July 15, 2012. Irene Laviree reviewed the transfers. Mr. Kopko returned to the meeting at 11:13PM. Ms. Roggeveen made a motion to approve. Mr. Willauer seconded. So voted, 4-0. Ms. Gibson stated there are a series of unpaid bill at the airport. Only way to pay them is to wait until next Annual Town Meeting or schedule a Special Town Meeting. Mr. Atherton reviewed the options the Town can take. Ms. Roggeveen is inclined to ensure the Town meets creditors and asked how the FY12 budget looks. Mr. Kopko asked if a STM is scheduled and if a quorum is met and it passes, when is the money available. Ms. Laviree stated the next AP warrant. Mr. Kopko is not in favor of a STM. Al Peterson, Airport Director, says the issue is if a STM is not scheduled, the Town is obligated to pay these expenses. Airport Commission is willing to absorb costs of STM. Mr. Kopko asked can the airport work out deals with creditors to wait until the ATM. Mr. Peterson said some can, like fuel, but smaller creditors like local catering, this won’t work. Mr. Atherton stated the issue is going to come up at the next regularly scheduled meeting. Ms. Gibson stated it will probably come up at tomorrow’s Finance Committee meeting. Mr. Kopko would like Mr. Peterson and the Commissioners to speak with creditors. III. Discussion Regarding 23 July 2011 Nantucket Triathlon. Mr. Atherton stated that on December 15, 2010 organizers of the triathlon approached the Board for approval of PAP – including signoffs from various Town departments including street closings. Town Administration warned there could be problems. The Board approved as presented. The Board has recently heard from members of the community, haulers, affected property owners, realtors, among others upset with race as many are just learning of the race. Mr. Kopko stated from the outset he understood approval would result in inconveniences for people but didn’t think fully about what inconveniences would be. He hopes to find a way to mitigate. Mr. Roggeveen stated that she didn’t miss the fact that it would inconvenience Madaket. She is here to support what the Board deems a “good community event.” Mr. Willauer stated the need to balance athleticism with venue. Mr. Atherton opened the hearing to public comment. 2 Charlie O’Neil, Operations Manager of P&M Reis Trucking, leaned of closing last week by word of mouth, otherwise he would have raised issues earlier. Mr. O’Neil spoke against lack of access to Madaket Landfill as it will greatly impact trash pickup service. Steven Winslow, WON, just recently found out of road closure and stated they do plan on being open Saturday and requested one lane opening to accommodate haulers. Chris Shannon of Madaket Marine just recently found out and is wondering about access to private property owners and businesses. He requests one lane with extra detail. Charles Stott, Madaket Homeowner’s Association stated those affected, departing renters, arriving renters, cleaning crews, employees at Millie’s, Madaket Marine. The Madaket Homeowner’s Association supports the triathlon but also supports property owners and visitors. He spoke against complete closure of the road. Ken Beaugrand, President of Nantucket Association of Real Estate Brokers, spoke in favor of having one lane open. 1,000 participants versus ten to twenty thousand people inconvenienced. Mr. Beaugrand asked if a charitable beneficiary has been named and does the Town have a policy on this. Lori Smith-Lindquist stated it has financial issues associated with it. You are cutting off revenue source from west end businesses who already have a short season and access to the MSPCA also cut off. Brandon, citizen, stated he supports original decision. He feels mid-day race start more inconvenient. Clare Whitcomb stated she supports all comments made and is representing the “old folks” of Madaket and hope plans made for emergency access – not necessarily via ambulance. She feels there needs to be an escape route. Tom Mlezco, charter fishing captain, runs his business out of Madaket and it would be hardship if he can’t operate. He is in favor of one lane access. Ken Giles feels Madaket Road should never be closed, events should not be permitted, only access available. He is not comfortable with any compromises. There are just too many event participants. Richard Ray, Director of Code Enforcement, stated just because departments signed off doesn’t mean automatic approval. Approval lies with Town Administration and the Board of Selectmen to decide. Mr. Ray stated speaking as a citizen the event demonstrates growth pattern that the Town services cannot support. The event is too large for this island. Ken Panasek stated it is not just an inconvenience, but an economic hardship. 3 Bill Santos of Santos Rubbish concurs with Charlie O’Neil and spoke in favor of one lane open. Maureen Phillips, husband is a past participant, feels race has grown too big. She urges race organizers to limit the number of racers and endorses one lane open with additional detail. Greg Tivnan, Assistant Town Manager, stated Town Administration convened event committee to review applications and have met repeatedly with event sponsors. They recommended that if the event went forward the roads needed to be closed for the safety of the racers and the residents. The committee met again on Monday and feel the ship has already sailed, time of day and sign are big issues. If the race were to get pushed back they would allow haulers to operate, service people to work, residents and visitors to get around. It is not perfect. Chief Pittman, Nantucket Police Department, stated a partial closing of Madaket Road not an option he can support. 26 people are already assigned, no additional people available to assign for detail. The bike path is open. Chief Pittman did recommend the event not be held in the height of the summer. Ms. Roggeveen asked can’t the road be opened for part of the four hours after bulk of racers done? Chief Pittman stated no, there are not enough detail officers available. The race last year with Madaket Road open was a nightmare. People will be allowed to get out of Madaket in an emergency and it will be dealt with on a case by case emergency basis. The race sponsor will let the police department know when the road can safely be reopened. Maureen Phillips asked the Board to revisit size of event, limit the number of racer this year. Kim Gurster is not in favor of sharing the road with biker. She had a straggler fall off his bike in front of her car last year. It is unacceptable to have 1000 racers in July/August. Lori Smith-Linquist suggested starting slower racers first. Dave Laviree – P&R committee, race moved to earlier start time. Jamie Ranney, Race Director – Nantucket Triathlon – gave a history of the event and how the race is set up. There are two obligations, promote and run a safe race and balance impacts and inconveniences on Town residents. If the Town doesn’t want the event next year, he won’t do it. He is not interested in jamming it down the Town’s throat. The event needs to be a certain size to support itself. Mr. Ranney stated the revenue to the island is estimated to be $2,000,000 for the weekend with a thousand racers. Mr. Ranney answered questions from the Board. Mr. Kopko asks if WON is willing to open earlier or stay open later. Steve Winslow not a part of the discussion. A discussion was held on race times and possibly changing the race time, WON hours, and road opening and closing times. Chief Pittman stated the need to discuss partial opening of the dump. He has looked at traffic count and it is the same in the AM and it is in the PM. 4 Mr. Willauer is worried about not having sufficient outreach on behalf of the race organizers. Ms. Roggeveen feels it is a very important event. Mr. WIllauer feels the Board was “snookered.” He had no idea the event went from a local event to a national sized event. Ms. Roggeveen stated a possible idea of opening the landfill to haulers only and rentals 8:00 to 9:30, not the general public. 9:30 the road would be closed to all but emergency vehicles and the road reopens at 11:00AM. She suggested asking WON to say open until 1:00-1:30 PM too allow haulers and residents to use dump. Mr. Atherton feels it not practical or reasonable to cancel the event. Place it on the August 3rd agenda for further discussion. Mr. Kopko feels the Board was not “snookered.” The Board should have done its own outreach. Mr. Kopko feels it is a good event and whatever solution the Board reaches everyone is not going to be happy. Maureen Phillips is not against the race but is against the organization of the race, and suggest postponing it until September. Paula Leary, Administrator NRTA, asked the Board to please consider buses in the road closings. Mohammed Nabulsi who is on the event committee feels noon start will work. Chief Pittman is concerned about leaving the dump open for haulers, feels they are going be back up traffic. He suggests looking at a later start because that takes the dump of the equation. Mr. Ranney takes issue with characterization of the meeting attendees in favor of a later start and doesn’t feel the Board was snookered. Mr. Ranney stated he went through an arduous process and wants to keep permit granted but if the Board wants to change the start time, he will work with that. Cindy Lenhart, Compass Rose Real Estate, is concerned with rental arrivals and checkouts and agrees with a later start time. Marge Colley feels the event is too big. Mr. Ranney requested the Board change the start time to 12:30PM and allow for afternoon road closures which will be opened as soon as possible. Ms. Roggeveen would support the change and reminded all to talk to neighbors in Madaket to spread the word. Mr. Atherton may not at all like what’s happening but have come up with a solution. Mr. Willauer wants to ensure athletes’ safety. Ms. Roggeveen moved to amend the permit to 12:30PM start time. Details of road closures to be worked out by staff. Mr. Kopko seconded, asked committee to get word out. All in favor, so voted. 11:03PM a break was taken. The meeting was adjourned at 11:27PM. Approved the 8th day of February, 2017. BOARD OF SELECTMEN JULY 13, 2011 – 9:00 AM PUBLIC SAFETY FACILITY COMMUNITY ROOM 4 FAIRGROUNDS ROAD NANTUCKET, MASSACHUSETTS List of documents used at the meeting: None.