HomeMy WebLinkAbout_03112019-7146Town Government Study Committee
Minutes of the meeting of March 11, 2019. The meeting took place in the Wannacomet Water
Company Training Room, 1 Milestone Road, Nantucket, MA 02554. Members of the committee
present were: John Brescher, Curtis Barnes, Rick Atherton, Kristie Ferrantella, and Tucker
Holland.
1) Chair John Brescher called the meeting to order at 1:04 with a quorum.
2) Agenda: Rick Atherton moved approval of the agenda, seconded by Curtis Barnes. All
voted in favor
3) Public Comment: None.
4) Ratification of approval of minutes of January 28th and February 11th. Linda Williams
notified us that a quorum does not count call-ins. Curtis moved to approve, seconded by
Rick. All voted in favor. We could not vote on March 4, 2019 meetings as they were not
sent out.
5) Discussion of handout to Select Board and 2019 ATM.
Curtis feels we should present topics we are pushing forward and ones we are not
pursuing. We were contacted by the I&M to discuss our position on Teresa Williams’
article. Linda Williams responded to say it’s out of purview.
Rick recommended we make a motion to take a stand. John wants to state our position
on our handout.
Tucker asked if there was urgency or if we could hear his report. We were pushing to be
ready for the Select Board meeting this Wednesday, but it seems we were not put on the
agenda. We have asked to be on the agenda before ATM.
Tucker investigated an ombudsman. He spoke with Town Counsel and no other town
has this in Massachusetts.
Kristie recommended having a short one page that shows the topics we are investigating
and ones we are not moving forward with, with a link at the bottom to our website. We
should have a full report on our site.
John can talk with Florencia about updating our site.
Topics to investigate:
1. Form of Government (mayoral, council, representative TM)
2. Examine adding two independent members to Audit committee
3. Develop an Org Chart with a clear explanation of responsibilities to Town Admin
and Select Board
4. Strengthen code enforcement and coordinate with Town Counsel
5. Election of Planning Board alternatives v. appointment. How does HDC do it?
6. Should the Town remove HDC appeals from the purview of Select Board? We
are one of the only in the state that sends appeals to Select Board.
7. Separation of powers/responsibilities for Select Board and Town Manager
8. Investigate creating a licensing commission, parking commission, and sewer
commission.
9. How better integrate Wannacomet and Airport operations with Town
10. Review role and charter provisions for the Park and Recreation Commission.
11. TGSC future term/role
Type out as “Should we.. Should we not”
Topics not to pursue:
1. Review committee mission statements on a regular basis
2. Review the process for making appointments to boards/commission. This is an
administrative task
3. Maintain a list of interested citizen volunteers for appointments to Boards and
Commissions. We feel the Town is already doing this
4. Determine if the Town should hire a grant writer.
5. Utilize professional representative to seek state and federal funding.
6. Coordinate and clarify the permitting process for building, planning, HDC,
licenses, etc.
7. Investigate other towns’ standards for eminent domain takings
Kristie will put this into a template.
6) Public hearing. Should have in July with seasonal residents. Mondays from 5-7pm.
Tentatively, July 15, 2019 form 5-7pm. Should be taped.
7) Next meeting is March 25, 2019 at 1pm, Wannacomet Water Company
8) Tucker made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Curtis, all voted in favor.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:11pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Kristie Ferrantella, Recording Secretary