HomeMy WebLinkAboutTown Managers Newsletter - 2010 10 01
From the Desk of Town
Manager Libby Gibson
OCTOBER 1, 2010 VOLUME 1, NUMBER 5
Town of Nantucket
16 Broad Street
Nantucket, MA 02554
P: (508) 228-7255
F: (508) 228-7272
Contact Us!
Town of Nantucket Website
Newsletter Archives
Subscribe to the Newsletter
Through grants from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and the Schmidt Family Foundation, along with private donations, Nantucket Public Schools recently installed a NorthWind100 wind turbine adjacent to the football field.
The 100kW turbine is expected to reduce the high school electricity costs
by 20-30%.
Emergency Management
September started out with predictions of a severe hurricane (“Earl”) over
Labor Day weekend. Police Chief Pittman convened the Town’s emergency
management team at the Emergency Operations Center, the shelter at
Nantucket High School was opened, preparations were put into place to
address potential public infrastructure damage, as well as after-storm
measures. In addition, a Nantucket Storm Resources web page was
developed on the Town’s website. As we know now, the “hurricane” turned
out to be little more than a mild nor’easter. However, it was an excellent
training opportunity and it gave us and the public confidence that we are up
to the task of dealing with a major storm.
Fiscal Year 2012 Budget
On September 10th, Selectmen Kopko, Willauer and I attended the monthly
Cape Cod Selectmen’s Association meeting, which is held in Bourne. The
speakers were Town Managers from Eastham, Falmouth and Sandwich and
the topic was budget challenges for FY 2012. Of course, most municipalities
are facing similar challenges. Nantucket has been fortunate not to have, so
far, experienced the dramatic decline in services and personnel that many
other cities and towns have. Over the last 3 budget cycles, we have put a
variety of temporary measures in place to avoid major cuts. Those temporary
measures may be coming to a close for FY 2012. In order to make the
structural change that is needed in order to address declining revenue and
growing expenses, we need to look at how we operate and make changes.
Changes are likely to include actions such as department consolidation,
service and program reductions or eliminations. These changes will not be
easy but they are necessary. We need to determine “what we want and how
bad we want it” as it was put at the Selectmen’s Association meeting by one
of the managers. At the same time, we may want to consider revenue
increase possibilities in order to maintain services or programs that are
considered necessary. The 2009 Report of the Ad Hoc Fiscal Committee
outlined several possibilities. As the FY 2012 budget process develops, the
Board of Selectmen will be considering a variety of options.
The monthly Cape Cod Manager’s Association meeting was held here on
Nantucket in September. We discussed FY 12 budget issues as well as had a
tour of the recycling facility at the landfill.
I presented the Board with recommendations pertaining to FY 12 capital
projects at its September 22nd meeting. The Capital Program Committee met
on September 28th to begin its review process and will continue to meet on
Tuesdays at 9:00 am in the Town Building conference room throughout
October and November.
Community Meetings
The Nantucket Civic League held its annual meeting at the Sconset Casino on
September 13th. This year’s meeting featured a panel of two individuals
(Melissa Philbrick of ReMain and Town Transportation Planner Mike Burns)
discussing downtown parking and traffic congestion mitigation options.
Subsequently, at its meeting on September 15th, the Board of Selectmen
charged Planning Director Andrew Vorce and I to come up with an
implementation plan for three proposals: a direct shuttle from a satellite
parking lot to the downtown; paid parking downtown and continued
investigation of a parking garage close to Candle Street. ReMain’s recent
report on these issues will be posted on-line later in October, following a
presentation to the NP & EDC on October 4 at 7pm at 2 FG.
I want to thank the Advisory Committee of Non-voting Taxpayers (ACNVT)
for their dedication and diligence. This Committee meets regularly throughout
the year and frequently during the summer. The ACNVT is comprised of
individuals who love Nantucket and have generously offered their various
expertise and interest to the Town in maintaining our community.
Town Administration Initiatives
As of September, 2010, the Nantucket Teen Center is under the management
of the Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP). The Town is leasing
the facility to ASAP at no cost, with the Town continuing to cover utility costs
and provide maintenance as needed; however, the Town will no longer staff
the facility with its personnel. ASAP will be providing new and expanded
programming at the facility on First Way with its personnel. A well attended
Open House was held on September 18th. There are a lot of exciting things
ahead for the Teen Center!
This fall, the Town is fortunate to be partnering with several of its unions and
Harvard Law School’s Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program to examine
the Town’s collective bargaining process, with the outcome meant to be a
standard template which can be used going forward for negotiations. This is a
unique opportunity and we are enthusiastic about it.
Employee News
Beginning in October, there will be a quarterly Board of Selectmen agenda
item to publicly acknowledge employee years of service, with the
presentation of service award pins. This was formerly done at the annual
Employee Appreciation Day; however, that event is undergoing review with
employee input during FY 2011.
Nantucket Trivia Question of the Month:
Who was the first female Nantucket Selectman?
Email me your answer by October 22nd for inclusion in the November
newsletter.
SEPTEMBER QUESTION & ANSWER
Q: Where is Snake Alley?
A: Snake Alley runs next to Academy Hill and connects to Lily Street
Correct answers from: Jim Lentowski, Linda Roberts, Leslie Snell, Barbara
Gookin, Mark Voigt, Penny Dey