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Home My WebLink About2006-09-09 " RECEIVED TOWN CLERK'S OFFICE NANTUCKET. MA 02554 ADVISORY COMMITTEE OF NONVOTING T AXP A yI9is 0 2 2006 Minutes of meeting at 9:30 A.M., SATURDAY, SEPTE"M=ER 9, '006, X-tX~.4wJ in the CLERK: LtvJ) 2 Fairgrounds Road Meeting Room. 1. Present: Roger Ernst, Bob Shapiro, Bill Sherman, Jay Strauss, Terry Sutphen, plus guest speaker Brian Chadwick. 2. Acting Chair Terry Sutphen called the meeting to order at 9:35 a.m. Minutes of the 8/26/06 meeting were approved, subject to confirmation. 3. Chair Terry Sutphen introduced Brian Chadwick of the Board of Selectmen who led off with a comment on overrides under Prop 2 Yz. Overrides to provide funding for the Town's operating expenses have been avoided until 2006 largely because of new growth. With year-to- year increases in the real estate tax levy capped at 2 Yz% and operating expenses increasing at closer to 7%, the extra percentage increase allowed by the State's reckoning for new growth has been critical to balancing the operating budget. But now growth is slowing. Success in budgeting has and will come from closer cooperation between the BOS and the FinCom. FinCom has accepted the lead in developing a 5-year forecast. 4. Brian Chadwick concurred in ACNVT views that spending Town money well was of greater concern than maximum frugality. Much effort is going into making Town departments efficient and well managed to get best results from dollars spent. Paring back on needed Town services tends to prove more costly in the long run. 5. On zoning, managing growth is important but finding politically acceptable limits, e.g., on second dwellings and 'studios,' has no ready answer. Protecting the island's limited supply of commercially zoned areas has current focus due to economics favoring residential development in RC zones. Affordability of homes is a key to maintaining the Nantucket working community. Abuse of zoning by 40B developments could be curbed with implementation of Open Space zoning of conservation land. For the present, however, serious objections have been raised by the Conservation Foundation. NCF's ability to fund acquisitions has depended on land valuations based upon usual residential zoning of its property. 6. Brian affirms the BOS emphasizing its responsibilities in setting Town policy. Perhaps BOS appointment of members to regulatory boards, rather than their election, would make for more coherent " Town policy, but Brian did not express a firm position on this. He did stress the importance of evenhandedness in applying rules and regulations, in enforcement as well as in board decisions. [The Town Government Study Committee has been weighing appointment versus election. In the County government, all three of the department heads are elected (Sheriff, Registrar of Deeds and County Clerk).] 7. As to assuring beach access for the public, eminent domain takings may be needed. He expressed concern, reflecting upon a recent Supreme Court decision, that takings not be targeted to benefit private development. 8. Answering a specific question about proprietors' roads, he understood that the County has no obligation to maintain them but the police can act when laws are violated on such roads. 9. Brian stressed going directly to parties involved for clarity when conflicts arise. Citing some concerns about the handling of non- criminal citations by the Clerk Magistrate of the District Court, he recommended getting clear about the law and facts of a citation, then discussing the disposition of the citation with the Clerk Magistrate to understand her viewpoint. An appeal to the Court from her action is possible but unlikely to prove fruitful. I O. Brian Chadwick was thanked for his forthright presentation of his thoughts on matters of concern to ACNVT members and to summer residents. The meeting was adjourned at 11 :40 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Bill Sherman