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Town Government Study Committee
Minutes of the meeting of September 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, Curtis Barnes, and Rick Atherton. L
1) Chair John Brescher called the meeting to order at 3:02pm with a quorum.
2) Agenda: Curtis moved approval of the agenda, seconded by Atherton. All voted in favor
3) Public Comment: None.
4) Approval of minutes of July 31, 2019 and August 14, 2019. Tabled until next meeting.
Minutes were not circulated.
5) Review of August 14, 2019 public meeting. John was thrilled with the attendance. No
matter what form of government, it’s all about education and communication. There’s a disconnect
between the public information and how people vote. Both seasonal and year round residents feel
our first step is improving education and communication. Curtis believes this comes from
management. The Town of Nantucket should have a monthly news insert in the I&M. The monthly
e-newsletter is not enough (and it’s hard to find). Campbell feels the website is difficult to navigate.
This hurts the public from finding information and resources. Rick believes education is great, but
our charge is to look at the Town’s Charter. What changes could we implement that would lead to
more effective communication? Campbell - We should improve our communication as well. Our ad
was vague and invited others to tell us if the form of government is working for them. So we
received a lot of comments that should be addressed to the Select Board. Campbell felt our board
was showing favoritism to specific forms of government. She felt our statements showed NVTP they
would have more representation with different forms of government. Rick suggested we take a
picture of the results of our sticker board and put it in our next meeting minutes. Rick thought Allan
Reinhart’s comment were interesting. Allan wanted to have the ability to make decisions more
quickly. Rick was wondering which types of decisions should be made faster. John thinks it would
be beneficial to invite the airport commission to a meeting. You can view our first public meeting at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0O348rkCMtU. Campbell would like to talk with them to see if
there are changes to the charter we could make.
6) Other Business. Rick has been keeping a list of items we should review. We have not
voted as a committee on these topics. Moving into fall, these should be our agenda items.
7) Timeline for Fall and scheduling of additional public meetings. Curtis asked what our
deadline is so we can work backwards from that date. John asked if we would be submitting via
Select Board or through citizens warrant articles. No one was sure. John is going to reach out to
Libby to find out. Campbell said Nov 1 would be the deadline for citizens warrant articles. Next two
meetings: 9/17 @ 3pm and 9/30 @ 3pm. Agenda items will include Rick’s list, feedback from Libby
on timeline, and reach out to Dan Drake. Curtis suggested Dan Drake attend 9/30 meeting. Rick will
reach out to Dan.
8) Kristie made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Curtis, all voted in favor. The
meeting was adjourned at 3:35pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Kristie Ferrantella, Recording Secretary