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MEETING POSTING
TOWN OF NANTUCKET Pursuant to MGL Chapter 30A, § 18-25 All meeting notices and agenda must be filed and time stamped with the Town Clerk’s Office and posted at least 48 hours prior to the meeting (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays)
Committee/Board/s Town Government Study Committee
Day, Date, and Time Wednesday July 8, 2020 10:00 AM
Location / Address “REMOTE PARTICIPATION VIA ZOOM Pursuant to Governor Baker’s
March 12, 2020 Order Regarding Open Meeting Law (Attached); the meeting will be aired at a later time on the Town’s Government TV YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-sgxA1fdoxteLNzRAUHIxA”
Signature of Chair or Authorized Person John B. Brescher
WARNING: IF THERE IS NO QUORUM OF MEMBERS PRESENT, OR IF MEETING POSTING IS NOT IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE OML STATUTE, NO MEETING MAY BE HELD!
AGENDA
Please list below the topics the chair reasonably anticipates will be discussed at the meeting TO JOIN MEETING https://zoom.us/j/92721362736?pwd=RFVCM3dKUDBIR1UySTlpZU8ycm5JZz09 MEETING ID: 927 2136 2736
PASSWORD: 399540 1. Call To Order
2. Approval of the Agenda 3. Public Comment 4. Approval of minutes of June 24, 2020 5. Election of Officers
6. Discussion of report to Select Board 7. Discussion of Future Responsibilities of Committee and topics investigated 8. Other Business 9. Date and time of next meeting 10. Adjournment
Town Government Study Committee
Minutes of the meeting of June 24, 2020. The meeting took place via Zoom. Members of the
committee present were: John Brescher, Curtis Barnes, Rick Atherton, and Tucker Holland.
1) Chair John Brescher called the meeting to order at 10:05 am with a quorum.
2) Agenda: Tucker Holland moved approval of the agenda, seconded by Curtis Barnes. All
voted in favor by voice vote.
3) Public Comment: None.
4) Discussion of remaining tasks in order to finalize report to Town Meeting and Select
Board:
The question was raised by the Chair about what we should be doing with the tasks of
the Committee in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and what the next steps for the
Committee are since many of the Warrant Articles at 2020 Annual Town Meeting would
be tabled, or at least not called and discussed at the June meeting.
The Committee also reviewed the results of the non-binding ballot questions that were
voted on by the electorate in June. Tucker commented that it appeared as though the
satisfaction with Town Government appears to be even. However, this may be
interpreted as approval and appreciation of our local officials during a truly
unprecedented time.
Curtis commented that while the satisfaction appeared to be relatively even, there was
overwhelming support for the Committee to continue to investigate other forms of
Government.
Rick suggested that one of our next steps should be to write a report stating where we
are and present it to the Select Board to see what they would like to do. Another critical
component of our discussion will be to see what the census numbers are when they
come back.
Curtis suggested that in the event we are tasked with investigating Representative Town
Meeting further, that we develop a matrix to analyze how precincts would be set up, how
the population would be divided, etc…and what the next steps for implementing any
change to Town Meeting would be. However, the next step would be to get on the
Select Board’s agenda. Also, Zoom could potentially help with Representative Town
Meeting.
Rick suggested that the Chair or the Committee reach out to the Town Manager to give
them an update on where we are and then request to be on an agenda to discuss our
progress and what next steps the Select Board would like our committee to take.
Tucker suggested using the update to get on the Select Board’s agenda. The report we submit
should be fairly comprehensive and identify what steps we still need to take.
5) Discussion of Non-binding Ballot Question Results
John opined that he assumed that the COVID-19 pandemic and the “shutting-down” of the
Town over the last few months would impact the results. Rick thought that the results could
be viewed as the Town doing a great job.
Tucker, however, was hesitant to draw conclusions from these simple questions - the only
comfortable conclusion is that the voters that turned out would like the options to be
investigated and presented to the community/
6) Discussion of Future Responsibilities of Committee and topics investigated
John asked the Committee what on earth our next steps should be in light of everything
that has occurred over the last three months. Curtis suggested that the next step is to
draft the report and circulate it to the Select Board. Rick commented on what other
Government Study Committees did in the past and that we should include the list of
issues that we've had and the discussion points we've made.
Rick also suggested that we not do a report by committee; let's get a report together and
then reconvene and discuss comments.
7) Other Business:
None.
8) Date and Time of the Next Meeting:
The next Zoom meeting will be held on July 8, 2020 at 10:00 am.
9) Adjournment:
A motion was made by Rick and duly seconded by Curtis to adjourn at 10:45 am.
Respectfully Submitted,
John B. Brescher, Chair
To: Town Government Study Committee From: John B. Brescher
Date: July 8, 2020
Re: Draft Report to Select Board
Dear Members of the Select Board:
Over the past three years, the Town Government Study Committee has been meeting on a monthly or bi-monthly basis on the charge of analyzing the role and efficacy of the form of Town Government for the Town and County of Nantucket.
Over this time, the Committee has met with various members of the public, employees and staff of the Town of Nantucket, as well as elected officials to receive their feedback and opinion on the form and function of the Town Government.
While the Committee was on track to deliver a report at 2020 Annual Town Meeting, the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts sidetracked the Committee’s mission. Nonetheless, as we approach three years of activity on this Committee, the Committee thought it prudent to update the Select Board on what the Committee has done and the role of the Committee moving forward:
Items Reviewed: 1. The Basic Form of Government in Nantucket:
The Committee reviewed the basic form of government in Nantucket, Open Town Meeting, and sought to identify any problems or concerns and ways to improve the function of Government. The Committee, without making any determination, reviewed the four types of
government available in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts: Town Council with Mayor or Town Manager, Representative with Town Manager, Town Meeting with Town Manager. Some of the factors and considerations the Committee reviewed while looking at these
forms of Government were:
• Ease of decision making;
• A cumbersome election process for representative
• Which forms are further removed from citizen participation
• The requirements for ballot approval of overrides and debt exclusions
• The realities of needing quorums at annual and special Town Meetings;
• The number of signatures for open town meeting articles;
• The length of presentations at Annual or Special Town Meetings;
• The time of any town meeting such as summer/winter.
2. Organization of Local Government:
The Committee also reviewed the organization of Nantucket’s government. The Committee concluded that it would be advantageous for the public and the local officials
for a comprehensive organizational chart to be submitted and displayed. This, in turn,
would help elimination confusion with respect to which department has jurisdiction over which issue. 3. Examine the Audit Committee:
After discussions with the Finance Director and the Chair of the Finance Committee, the Town Government Study Committee submitted a warrant article relative to updating the audit committee.
4. Code Enforcement:
The Committee recommended that the role of code enforcement be clearly explained and spelled-out in order to eliminate any confusion there may be when a violation occurs. M
5. Election and Appointment of Committees
CAN’T RECALL WHAT WE OPINED ON THIS 6. HDC Charter
The Committee suggests having a more comprehensive amendment to the HDC Charter to better address any inconsistencies and mechanisms for appeal. 7. The Town Government Study Committee:
Is the role of the Committee clear enough to be a charter amendment? 8. Establishment of a Licensing Commission or Board
The Committee heard from members of the public and the Select Board regarding the
licensing duties of the Select Board. It seemed prudent to the Committee that if the Select Board deems it appropriate to create its own Licensing Committee, this could be done administratively and would not need any type of charter amendment. This type of Commission would be a step in lessening the amount of time the Select Board spends on
certain issues.
9. Parking Commission: NOT SURE WHAT WE WANT TO SAY; PERHAPS CURTIS CAN WEIGH IN
BECAUSE I’M NOT SURE HOW THIS WAS LEFT IN MARCH.
10. Establishment of a Sewer Commission
Similar to the Licensing Board or Commission, in the even the Select Board wants to set up a Sewer Commission, further due diligence should be done to better understand the
roles and responsibilities of waiving sewer fees, etc…
11. Ways to integrate Wannacomet and Airport operations with the Town I FEEL LIKE WE PUNTED ON THIS TOO…
12. Revisions to the Parks and Recreation Commission I’M HOPING LINDA OR CAMPBELL CAN ADDRESS THIS; IT WAS SOMEWHAT
STYMIED BY THE WARRANT ARTICLE AND I’M NOT SURE WHAT WE
SHOULD/SHOULD NOT SAY… 13. The creation of a Town Ombudsman to settle disputes
After a lengthy review of this issue with members of the public and Town Counsel, the
Committee concluded that it was not feasible from a legal standpoint to create an ombudsman or a position that could settle disputes between citizens and the Town. There are already legal mechanisms in place to resolve such disputes and having a position like this would erode the checks-and-balances in place.
14. Review of Airport statute as enterprise fund, etc… The Committee was cautiously optimistic, but cognizant of potential unintended consequences of this warrant article. KNOWING THAT THIS ARTICLE IS PENDING,
I’M NOT SURE WHAT WE WANT TO DO…
15. More…..?