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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTown Managers Newsletter - 2010 09 03 From the Desk of Town Manager Libby Gibson SEPTEMBER 3, 2010 VOLUME 1, NUMBER 4 Town of Nantucket 16 Broad St. Nantucket, MA 02554 P: (508) 228-7255 F: (508) 228-7272 Contact Us! Town of Nantucket Website Newsletter Archives Subscribe to the Newsletter Governor Deval Patrick on his August 5th visit to Nantucket. He met up with the Board of Selectmen, other Town officials and Representative Timothy Madden for a tour of the landfill and an update about a proposed wind turbine at the landfill site, where a radio tower was recently removed. The state has provided a grant of $390,000 for design and construction of the turbine. Pre-permitting work is currently underway. Governor Patrick held a Town Hall meeting at the Unitarian Church following his landfill visit. Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Work on implementation of the Board of Selectmen’s 2010-11 goals is underway, with monthly reports given at a Board meeting. Planning for the FY 12 budget is among the top priorities. At the Board’s August 18th meeting, we reviewed preliminary projections and assumptions for revenue and expenses for FY 12. Based on a downward revenue trend and a less downward expense trend, we will again be facing difficult program, service, expense and personnel decisions in FY 12, without additional revenue. In September, the Board will be reviewing current Town fees, financial policies and FY 12 capital project requests. One of our administrative goals is to move to more standardization in budget process and format of budget documents. The second week of August, the Assistant Finance Director Irene Larivee and I attended the Government Finance Officer’s Association annual “Budget Academy”. We received a lot of useful and pertinent information which we intend to incorporate into this year’s budget process. Water Quality We are actively working on developing a strategic plan for water quality management, including harbor, beach, pond and groundwater quality. An outline of the plan is nearly complete, with the necessary information to be compiled over the next several months, along with meetings with stakeholders and the public. The goal is to have a draft plan by early 2011 for Board of Selectmen adoption. Some of the components of the plan are expected to include: establishment of local standards of water quality, with identification of strategies to maintain those levels; a process for regular review, evaluation, reporting on and updating the plan; a central on-line inventory or index, with links, to reports and studies that the Town and other agencies have done on Nantucket water quality. The plan will also identify progress the Town has made in various areas of water quality, such as development of a Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan; septic system inspection regulations; and adoption of a Harbor Plan; in addition to current efforts such as the Estuaries Project for Madaket and Nantucket Harbors and the Article 68 Work Group which is examining the regulation of fertilizer use. Public Education & Government Cable Channel (PEG Channel) We are on the verge of finalizing an operator’s agreement for the PEG channel. The PEG channel is funded through a 3% surcharge on cable television bills. The Town will issue a Request for Proposals for an operator for the channel. We hope to have something up and running, if not the full-blown PEG by the end of 2010. The Public Safety Facility at 4 Fairgrounds Road will house the “G” part of the channel. It is intended that all or most Town board, committee and commission meetings will be held at the PSF and may be recorded for the public to view on the PEG channel. Energy Initiatives We have a number of “pots boiling” with regard to energy initiatives: as noted above, pre-permitting work is currently underway for a wind turbine to be located out at the landfill where a radio tower was located for many years. We are currently examining feasibility of the size of the turbine(s); financial issues, including payback time and scenarios; where and how the turbine(s) would arrive (in all likelihood any turbine will be too big to travel through downtown and will have to make landfall somewhere closer to the site). We have executed a professional services agreement with a consultant to review feasibility of a solar farm at the Surfside Wastewater Treatment Facility and the Airport and Wannacomet Water may be undertaking similar reviews for their properties. We have been approached regarding the possibility of establishing a Nantucket “Micro Grid”, which essentially would coordinate, integrate, track and monitor energy use on the island so as to potentially reduce energy use during peak demand times and create energy assets which could theoretically be sold. We have worked on the preparation of a draft Climate Action Plan. Two public forums were held in July and August and the draft plan reviewed by the Board at its August 18th meeting. The Board agreed to extend the comment period on the plan into November. Nantucket Community Association Annual Forum The Board members and I attended the NCA’s annual forum for seasonal residents on August 17th. We look forward to this opportunity to answer questions and provide information. This year we had what might have been the best turnout yet, in the several years that the forum has been held. Next year we hope to hold the forum at the Public Safety Facility. Employee News Our own Assessor, Deborah Dilworth, taught a course called “Income Approach to Value” at the 55th annual “School for Massachusetts Assessing Officials” held in August. While Debbie hasn’t quite been our Assessor for 55 years, she is well- known in the Commonwealth for her expertise and knowledge of assessing. She has served on various advisory groups and panels regarding assessing issues, state-wide. We are lucky to have her! Nantucket Trivia Question of the Month: Where is Snake Alley? Email me your answer by September 17th for inclusion in the October newsletter. AUGUST QUESTION & ANSWER Q: Where was the Town Building before the current building at 16 Broad Street was constructed? A: Union Street near Salem Street. Correct answers from: Jim Lentowski, Linda Roberts, Flint Ranney!