HomeMy WebLinkAbout_07092019-7538
Town Government Study Committee
Minutes of the meeting of July 9, 2019. The meeting took place in the PSF, 4 Fairgrounds Road,
Nantucket, MA 02554. Members of the committee present were: John Brescher, Campbell Sutton,
Kristie Ferrantella, and Tucker Holland.
1) Chair John Brescher called the meeting to order at 1:30pm with a quorum.
2) Agenda: Kristie Ferrantella moved approval of the agenda, seconded by Tucker Holland.
All voted in favor
3) Public Comment: None.
4) Approval of April 8, 2019 minutes. John noted that these minutes were not ready for this
meeting. Campbell moved to hold this item on our agenda for the next meeting. Tucker Seconded.
All in favor.
5) Election of officers. John noted that with only 4 of the 7 members, we may want to hold off
on elections. Campbell moved to wait until our next meeting. Seconded by Tucker; all voted in
favor.
6) Discussion of telephone conference with Town Council. John provided an update of issues
we’ve received and the idea behind a complaints committee. Lauren Goldberg spent 1.5 hours with
the committee on May 16, 2019 and said it was not in line with other communities to give one
person power over other departments. She discussed the possibility of too many unintended
consequences. Town council advised to not move forward with complaints committee or
ombudsman. Lauren suggested adding accountability to charter so there is a clear chain of
command and residents can easily find who to talk to. Kristie will add this to our document of “things
we’ve reviewed and considered“.
7) Discussion of Novak Report. The committee member who wanted to discuss this was not
present so it was moved to our next meeting agenda.
8) Discussion of summer public hearings. The committee member who wanted to discuss
this was not present so it was moved to our next meeting agenda.
9) Discussion of Nantucket Historical Commision Proposal. The committee member who
wanted to discuss this was not present so it was moved to our next meeting agenda.
10) Timeline for summer. We will host public hearings this summer to receive input on our
report. Tucker suggested we share what we’ve been doing. We could use survey dots to get a
greater feel of what people want us to focus on. Kristie said we should continue to have meetings
into September and October to reach the Year Round residents. Campbell suggested a late
afternoon. Tucker suggested 4:30-6:00pm on July 31st. Tucker will work with Erika and Florencia
on promotion and putting an ad in the I&M. John will work on providing the same handouts we
brough to Town Meeting in April. Tucker suggested a second meeting for August 14th, 4:30-
6:00pm. We will have committee meetings to prepare for the sessions on July 26th at 1pm and
August 5 at 1pm. After our August 14th meeting, John would like us to have a more regular meeting
schedule.
11) Other Business.
a) Campbell asked if we had a regular meeting schedule. John explained that we
have met on a “when needed” basis. Tucker will look into an open meeting space
for a regular meeting time and get back to the committee.
b) Campbell asked if we would be responsible for warrant articles and at which Town
Meeting. John said April 2020 is our goal.
c) John is meeting with the advisory committee of nonvoting tax payers on Saturday
at 10am if anyone would like to join. Please let John know if he needs to post a
meeting.
12) Tucker made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Kristie, all voted in favor. The
meeting was adjourned at 2:17pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Kristie Ferrantella, Recording Secretary