HomeMy WebLinkAboutTown Managers Newsletter - 2012 03 13
From the Desk of Town
Manager Libby Gibson
MARCH 13, 21012 VOLUME 3, NUMBER 3
Town of Nantucket
16 Broad St.
Nantucket, MA 02554
P: (508) 228-7255
F: (508) 228-7272
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ANNOUNCEMENT: during March, a helicopter
will be flying low over the Tom Nevers area in
association with an Army Corps of Engineers
project to identify unexploded ordnance in
Formerly Used Defense Site (“FUDS”) areas.
For more information, click here.
Town Administration News and Updates
2012 Annual Town Meeting
As you hopefully by now know, the 2012 Annual Town Meeting will be held on
a Saturday this year (March 31). Months ago, the Board of Selectmen agreed
to experiment with a Saturday Town Meeting in the interest of trying to make it
easier for people to attend. Other Massachusetts towns that have a Saturday
Town Meeting include Westborough, Plymouth, and Westford. The Finance
Committee, Planning Board and Board of Selectmen have completed their
Motions and Comments on the 98 articles in the 2012 Annual Town Meeting
Warrant. The warrant is in the process of being printed and then mailed to
Nantucket voters, in accordance with a requirement of the Town Charter that
the warrant with motions be mailed to voters seven days prior to the Town
Meeting. Despite the hours and hours of meetings and effort that is put into
the development and completion of the warrant articles, motions and
comments, there are inevitable changes that occur after the document has
been sent to the printer. These are generally known as Technical Amendments
and are taken up at the beginning of the Town Meeting. The Finance
Committee will be meeting again on March 22 at 4:00 pm (Public Safety
Facility Training Room) and March 27 at 10:00 am (Public Safety Facility
Training Room) with the Moderator to review, among other Town Meeting
issues, the Technical Amendments.
Financial Issues
One of the Board of Selectmen’s Goals for 2011-2012 related to achieving an
unqualified audit opinion for the fiscal year 2011. On February 21, 2012, the
Audit Committee met to review the draft audit and associated management
letter with the Town’s auditor (Renee Davis of Powers & Sullivan). I am pleased
to report that we did achieve an unqualified audit opinion for which the Town’s
Finance Department deserves recognition. A lot of hard work and transitional
issues have occurred over the past year in the Department and we are very
pleased with their efforts and progress. The final audit and management letter
may be found on the Town’s website by the end of this week. Also at the
February 21 Audit Committee meeting, we reviewed a second interim report
from Kathy Griffin and Mark Abrahams of the Abrahams Group which
conducted an organizational review of the Finance Department in 2008. The
report contained 36 recommendations, many of which relate to internal
controls. An interim report was also conducted in 2009. This second interim
report indicated progress toward completion of many of the remaining
recommendations, most of which are those which require a longer-term effort
to implement across departments.
Marine Department
Our Town Biologist, Tara Riley, recently returned from a 9 week trip to
Zanzibar. The following is an account of her trip:
On December 14, 2011, I travelled to the island of Zanzibar off of Tanzania to
embark on a 9 week project to help train two Muslim students on shellfish
hatchery techniques. The project is coordinated through Wood’s Hole
Oceanographic Institute under Dr. Hauke Kite-Powell and began in 2009. It is
funded by the Island Creek Oyster Foundation and the McKnight Foundation’s
Africa Grants Program of Chicago, Illinois. The ultimate goal of the project is to
enable 6 groups of women from remote villages in Zanzibar to develop shellfish
husbandry skills for field grow-out of locally produced shellfish seed from a new
hatchery in Stone Town. Currently the women are harvesting wild shellfish
stocks that are becoming increasingly difficult to reach due to infrequent low
tides and over-harvesting. The women need a reliable source of shellfish seed
to plant in accessible areas. If successful, this model would more than double
their annual income which is currently around $100 per year. The hatchery in
Stone Town was started in 2010 and is the only shellfish hatchery in East
Africa. My charge was to teach local students the “ins and outs” of shellfish
culture. We concentrated on experimenting with the various algae diets that
are required to “ripen” the gonads of the Blood Arks (clams) so that they could
spawn on a reliable basis. We were successful in establishing an adequate
routine to ripen and spawn the shellfish. We had three successful spawns
where the clams did very well through their larval phase. Future challenges will
include handling and treating bacterial loads associated with water quality to
ensure healthy shellfish through their final grow-out stage. Although the island
has many challenges and most people live on about $1 per day, the local
people are among the happiest and most optimistic that I have ever
encountered. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to participate in this
project that turned out to be rewarding on so many levels. Spending that
amount of time immersed in an unfamiliar culture really can put things into
perspective and you really appreciate the things we take for granted in our
every day life. I provided locals with skills that will hopefully in the end
contribute to a reliable source of protein, and they were able to show me the
beauty of their island through their kindness and welcoming culture. I learned
that each day is a gift, and I plan to live my life that way. I am looking forward
to applying my renewed energy and enthusiasm towards Nantucket’s shellfish
program for a successful 2012!
Nantucket Energy Office
The Nantucket Energy Office, funded through a grant from ReMain, has been
working on a variety of energy-related projects including wind, solar and
energy conservation. Lauren Sinatra, Energy Coordinator, reports the
following:
As part of the Mass Save Initiative (www.masssave.com), several energy
specialists will be on Nantucket from Monday 4/23/2012 thru Friday 4/27/2012
to perform up to 80 NO-COST residential energy audits. This is a service
offered to us by National Grid and the Massachusetts Department of Energy
Resources (DOER) to promote energy efficiency programs and to help residents
and businesses better manage energy use. To sign up for a no-cost Home
Energy Assessment:
1) Please call (866) 527-7283
2) OR, email Lauren Sinatra (lsinatra@nantucket-ma.gov): the name on
your electric account (with National Grid account number), property address
and phone number, year and style of home, and type of heating fuel
Curious to know what to expect from the home energy assessment? Please
read about one resident’s satisfactory experience below:
“Our energy assessment from Mass Save took a little less than two hours.
The consultant reviewed my electric utility bills and did a thorough analysis
basement-to-attic. At the end of his review, he sat down with me to go over
his recommendations for conserving energy in my home. He cited quick and
easy upgrades I can make immediately, like air sealing, and actions I may
want to take over time, like better insulating the attic. The air sealing process
is offered at no cost and is worth $700 to $800… that’s right, free! The
insulation would need to be assessed by another consultant with whom I
arranged an appointment. If we do decide to move forward with that project,
up to 75% of the cost can be subsidized by Mass Save and I can qualify for a
0% loan (max $10k) up to 7 years through the HEAT loan program. The
incentives just seem too good to be true! My energy specialist also looked at
signs of moisture and if there was any safety concerns. He even looked at my
furnace and water heater, citing that there is more efficient equipment
available today but the equipment I have doesn’t need to be immediately
replaced. My Mass Save consultant offered me free goodies like compact
fluorescent lights, low-flow shower heads, and programmable thermostats. On
top of that, we talked about Energy Star appliances and how I could reduce my
consumption by 20 to 30%.”
For more information, please visit: www.MassSave.com.
Community Service Visit
I was invited, along with Wendy Hudson, Deborah Dilworth and Melissa
Philbrick, to attend a meeting of Girl Scout Troup #80789 on Saturday,
February 18 to speak about our experiences as women working on various
fields. The girls asked many great questions, were very gracious and I think
the speakers all learned some interesting things about each other!
In Memoriam
Our sincerest sympathies go to the family of Marina Finch who passed away on
March 5. Marina served as an EMT, call firefighter and was a former member of
the Town’s Harbor & Shellfish Advisory Board.
MARCH TRIVIA QUESTION
In what year was the “new” (current) Our Island Home, dedicated?
ANSWER TO FEBRUARY TRIVIA QUESTION* Where is Rhoda Weinman’s dog, Frazier, going to be next week?
Answer: Westminster Dog Show
Answers submitted by:
-- Erika Mooney
-- Jim Lentowski (who was good enough to provide even more details: 136th
Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, at Madison Square Garden, New
York, New York)
-- Catherine Stover
-- Diane Holdgate
-- Leslie Forbes
-- Kate Hamilton
-- Penny Dey
-- Penny Snow -- H. Flint Ranney
*This was the most responded to Trivia Question, yet!
As always, ideas for future e-newsletter topics are welcome!