HomeMy WebLinkAbout1978-08-30 TOWN OF NANTUCKET
Nantucket, '~Mas Sachusetts
Me'6ti~g 'of Board of Selectmen
The regular ~eeting of the Board of'selectmen was held wedhesday
evening, August 30, 1978, in the Town Building., All members
were present. The Chairman, Roger Young, called the meeting to
order at 8:08 p.m.
On motion made by Mr. Beach~ and duly seconded~'the minutes of
the previous meeting were approved and reading of same waived.
POLICE DEPARTMENT - HARRY WOOD ~ ·
Mr. Beach read letter from Chief of Police Hopfinger ?requesting
a hearing regarding revokati~n of Mr. Wood's license due to the
fact that Mr. Wood had plea~guilty in District Court on August
25th to Assault with a Dangsrous Weapon (bus). Michael Driscoll,
representing Mr. Wood, stated that Mr. Wood did not plead guilty,
that it was a trumped-up charge, and that~the Board did not
realize all the lies contained in the Chief's letter.- Upon being
questioned, Mr. Driscoll stated that the reason for the $200 fine
was to pay court costs as Mr.'Wood did not wish to appeal. ~It
was Mr. Driscoll's opinion that had Mr. Wood appealed he would
have been found"not guilty.' Chief Hopfinger stated that the
records in the District Court would clarify the issue. On motion
made by Mr. Holdgate, duly seconded, it was unanimously voted'to '
obtain the records of the Nantucket Distric~ Court on this matter
and to hold a hearing on September 13,' 1978.
TRAFFIC - OAK sTREET~ ~
Mr. Beach read a letter fr0m~Chief of Police Hopfinger regarding~
suggested changes in the traffic pattern on Oak Street, including:
making Oak Street one-way westerly; allowing parking on Oak Street
on south side, parallel not angle;_pro~ibit parking on north side;
and publish that-no parking.be allowed within 20 feet of the
corner of. Oak and Easy Streets, and Oak and South Water Streets
and that this ordinance will be enforced. Mr~ Clute stated
that this could be done for. a-30-day,trial'period without the~
approval of the State' .~Jack Gardner pointed~out the severe prob~
lems this would create with the turn~ng of the school bus while
school is in session'-~ Mr. Clut%/suggested that possibly the
children could be discharged on!the Broad Street entrance.-Dish
cussion was held'regarding the benefits of parallel parking and -
enforcement of the present'law-, On motion by Mr. Knott,.duly.
seconded,.it was unanimously voted to allow parallel parking on
south side but to leave Oak Street as a two-way street.
PARKING - TOWN-PIER ' '
Mr. Beach read a letter from Bill Klein~nd anothek letter from
Chief Hppfinger regarding the parking and trash problems in the
parking lot at the Town pier. Several~suggestions were made; mor(
trash b~rrels, limited parking time, and loading and unloading
zonei ~.It was the consensus of opinion that more trash barrels.,
would create more trash and'that people would'use additional
barrels to throw away household rubbish. Also~ the proximity of
the loading zone to the transformer~and~the dangers it presented
if a truck backed into the transformer-hbarricading was one
suggestion. The Board generally felt that loading and unloading
only,'with a 15 minute limit, would he~l~solve the problem. Cars
could stop, load or unload, leave their gear'(CETA employee
stationed there could watch gear), park car across the street,
and walk back to zone. Following further discussion, the Board
d~oided to'~take a~'~iewing/0f'~h~'~a~'in ~Sti0n (th~ P'~SPssed
loading and ~nloading zone)'~On Wednesday/afternoon, September~6thl
at 3:30,p~m.~.~On motion by Mr.~ Koldgate(iduly seconded,';it was
unanimously voted not to allow parking ~n that area between now.
and the viewing except for persons loading'and unloading~gear and
intending to pull out immediately-~-~
With regard to the trash problem in that area, Mr~. K~in-'sug~'ested
that if additional trash barrels were not to'be provided, then
.possibly,when the D.P.W. is emptying the barrels that are there.
now they could check out %he area and pick up any~trash lying,
about....Lengthy discussion was held with'regard to transients
using the slips,~the charge of $20 not being enforced, obtaining
applications for the winter months,,etc."Mr..Klein'stated that
he had not received notification from the Board to the effect ' '
that the $20 fee'was in force. -It was also determined that the
ladders had left Ft.'Lauderdale on Monday (August 28th)-and
delivery was expected in seven days.' Alan,Holdgate'stated that
the entire complex was becoming.too big forgone man at small pay~
and the Board should begin to think in terms of.a full-time
dockmaster. The. Board's decision was to advertise'the slips f6r
winter rentals, and Mr. Young proposed that~the situation be dis-
cussed with the Finance Committee on September 5th,~and some pro-
posals be forthcoming, f6r the September 16th meeting. 'Mr.,Hold-
gate also thought it was bad to have scallop~season opening on
November let, but under the terms of the leases a new boat~could
not go into the slips until October 31st.~ It was his opinion tha~
this was not giving the scallopers much time to get their gear
ready for the coming season. '~ ~'
It'~as'the general opinion of tSe~entire Board~that the adminisT'
tration and maintenance of the Town'Pier'should be looked at.very
carefully/and that workable guidelines should be set and enforced.
NANTUCKET PUBLIC 'SCHOOLS '~ O~FICIAL 'SCHOOL ZONE ,'/_ '~
Mr.'Beach read a letter fr0m El±nor M. Gersman reque'st±ng tha~'
Atlantic Avenue be designated an official school.'zone.-.Mr. Jack
Gardner,advised the Board that this had been requested'before'in
connection with the Beach Street School ahd that the H.D.C..had~..'
turned:the~request down' ",He also.informed the Board'.that in order
to make this an official, school'zone,,it requires.that signs be
placed within 500~feet of school and that.there-would be six-
locations for flashing red lights necessary~-~-It was'his opinion
that someone should'check into the'law." 'It was-the'decision of
the Board to table this item until the law had been-investigated.
i ? ......
Mr. Beach:informed.the Board that a letter had been received ~from
Mrs~,Keiser~with'regard to her neighbor's dogs which are tied up
thirty feet from her bedroom window and bark all'night.'~Mrs-?5.
Keiser stressed the~seriousn~ss'of~the;problem and commehted on
the cooperativeness of the Police Department and.the~Dog Warden
but stated that nothing had'helped ~ ~She questiohed what further~
steps could be taken to alleviate the problem~-~After discussion,:
on motion by Mr.'~Buc~ingha~,duly seconded~~it was unanimously.
voted that the Chairman,- Roger Young,~in c0njunction-with the
Chief of Police, be authorized to take whatever steps are neces-
sary to alleviate this problem as'soon as possible.
MIACOMET RACEWAY - DEMOLITION DERBY ,~;~.i- ~,.~;> 0,,,~, ~ ~ ~'~-.~a' ~ '~- ..... ~,~' '~ ~,~ <
Mr. Beach'read a-letter from Mrs..Jean Hughes;'Vice President of
Miacomet Raceway'requesting'to"sell~'beer at~the'Dem61ition Derby
to be held Saturday, ~September 2nd, 1978,.11:00 a.m..,to 4:00 p.m.,
or from 12:00~p.m..to 4:00'p.m.'on Sunday, the rain dat~.'~,.On~.
motion~to grant permission this request, duly seconded, it was
unanimously voted to inform Mrs. Hughes that her request had~been
grantedl~ ~ -~ ·
Mr.~Beach read letter from Stanley Meredith resigning'his position
on the Airport Commission due to circumstances~of a personal
nature.'On motion by Mr. Buckingham,,duly seconded,' it was unani-
mously voted to accept Mr. Meredith's'resignation with regrets
and to send him a~letter in appreciation for all his work.
OUR ISLAND 9ACANc~ES , -~~ ~ ~, ' ~'
Mr. Thurber advised the Board,that the~e~we~e SeverelY'trade'
vacancies at the Island Hom~ and'a vacancy on the Building Com-
mittee due to Mr. Todd's resignation, and that these vacancies
had been advertised.
STATE 'ANNUAE D.P.W.' MEETING " ~,
Notice was read of the pending state Annual D~P-.w. Me&ting to be
held September'13th at 2:00~in the Town Building and the Chairman
informed the meeting that anyone who wished to attend was welcome
to do so~
I S- NEW'ENGLAND TELEPHONE COMPANY - · : -,
Mr.'Beach advised the Board that these peti~i6ns had been dis-
cussed the previous week and,that notices had been posted. No '0ne
had responded.~ Mr. Beach moved end'was second that the petitions
be approved It was unanimously so voted
Discussion was then held on the appropriateness of the "whale"
signs,as streets.signs.- '.Opinions were expressed that they looked
good, fine,'~like cookie cutters, too cute, etc. ~' This item was
tabled until'further public reaction~ was received.-. ~ ~.~
MR. RINGBL0OM - DOWNED PISOT ~'%~ ~ ~7~. ~,
Mr.,Beach read a letter from Mr~ Ringbloom in which he thanked all
the,various,townspeople and~agencies involved.in his rescue~when
his_.%~ght aircraft went into the sea off'Cisco Beach.
POLICE INVESTIGATION COMMITTEE ,,~. i_?~.- ~ ~ i~-'/~<'.~ ~ ~.~ "' :~i~/. '~ licepo
Mr. Beach read a letter from James DeWitt Richard,~ former
officer of Nantucket,~outlying his thoughts,and reactions and
history with regard~to-the recent evaluation of~the Nantucket~
Police Department.'~i~-Mr. Richards~informed the Board'that he had~ ~
been told that he would have an opportunity~to speak to the~ ~.,;
Investigating Committee that afternoon but.then found that the
official report-had already been distributed.~"Mr.'Knott~informed
the Board that'it was his mistake' as~he~was~under, the impression~.
that the ~eport would not be released until the next morning. Mr
Richards continued by reading.another'letter which he delivered~
this evening~and in which'he,further outlined'situations which he
thought were definitely~a problem with the'Department.. Mr.'Knott
told him that~the Committee could only report on what ~as'said to
them and they had to'assume that everyone who testified told the~
truth. Mr. Richards said many.people who were willing to testify
were not called before the Committee and should have been because
their testimony would have been important.
Mr ' '~ckingham i~f6rmed ~.~:R~chard$".'that' the C6mmittee had done-
the very best'job it could under,,th~ circumstances.%,He~told them ~
that they had'talked with~three resignees on the Island'and was
asked why off-Islandlresignees had not been 6ontacted-~ ~ Mr.
Thurber~informed~.the meeting that they~actually~had five out of
seven letters from off-Island resignees.. Mrs. Richards then
stated that her husband had not been contacted, and Mr. Knott~'~
replied that ~t had not been done.intenti°nally'~'?Li°nel Starr.
then informed the Board that William Eisnor had Offered to take
time off from work in California to come before~the,c°mmittee bu~
had not heard from them~again.L~ Mr.'Knott,informed the Committee
that he had told Mr Eisnor to put it in writing and that he
could come if he wanted to.~ ~.~ - ':~ ~"~ ~ --~ ~ "'~,
Roger ,Young: "The Committee has done the work~and has come to a
conclusion. I would like to see the report implemented and,.'
~supported by the Finance Committee and the Townspeople- ~ The P01ic
Department is not growing. 'If we had more people, we could
accomplish more,
~r. Charles~M~Yhew,then rose tO thank the ~oard~o~ behalf of the
residents around the Half-and Half House. ."There has been an
improvement--keep~the Police over there.''~ ~he Chief then stated
that when the men were there it was an-improvement; however,.~they
pulled the man-off that area one night and had problems again.
Consequently, a man would again have to be station there.
Rev,'Metters~h&n t00k %he"~i0or to refer~t~ a ma~er~frOm,the
previous week. He applauded the Board for the stand-they to°k '
with regard to the takeover by B.U~'of the. Tom Nevers Head prou
perry. In his opinion, it Was nothing but "an academic boondoggle
"I would.like to comment for the record that I feel strongly3-~'' '
that the Nantucket School of Design and~Art-is not a substantiall~
viable organization ' -It seems'to me from what I know of the facts
that it is a highly personal oPeration and I would say that the
role of the Rhode IsIand School of Design'is'peripheral''~?'It''
-would be highly.ill-advised to ~llow property to get into the
'handsof~any institituion which might not survive. ,I would simpl~
add to t~e position you took that I think you~shOuld raise s.
questions vis a vis Nantucket School of Design~and Art.!'
~:Ern~s~-_ Whelde~ then i~qui~ed Why n~thi~g ~ad~be~d°~'~
~about the taxi stands.~-'~ Mr Young stated-that the problem had
brought to his attention but he found that a directive from~the~/
Board of Selectmen had not been'sent out.-?Since thenl a letter
has been sent to all the tour and taxi peoPle_.
There b~ing no further business to come before the Board, on
motion duly made and seconded',,it was unanimously v~ted to
~DJOURN at 9;50 p.m. .
Re~pectfuily submitted,
dhai(r~an c- ~