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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTown Managers Newsletter - 2013 01 23 From the Desk of Town Manager Libby Gibson JANUARY 23, 2013 VOLUME 4, NUMBER 1 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 Town Meetings 2013 Annual Town Meeting The 2013 Annual Town Meeting is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, April 2, 2013. Twenty-five citizen warrant articles were received. We have also developed a “Guide to Citizen Warrant Articles” that has been endorsed by both the Finance Committee and Board of Selectmen. The Guide is meant to assist citizens in preparing a warrant article. The Board has undertaken the unusual step of making Town Counsel available for consultation for citizen articles, before the deadline for article submission. Even so, however, not all those preparing citizen articles take advantage of that opportunity and as a result, articles can sometimes be written which are not legal or which have not gone through the appropriate Town review process. In such cases, it is likely that the articles will not be recommended by the Finance Committee at Town Meeting. The Guide is meant to help people avoid these situations, if they so desire. The Board of Selectmen will be adopting the 2013 Town Meeting Warrant on January 23rd. It will be published in the Inquirer & Mirror on January 31st and the Finance Committee will hold a public hearing on the warrant articles on Monday, February 4th at 4pm in the first floor Community Room at the Public Safety Facility at 4 Fairgrounds Road. The warrant, of course, will also be available on-line following adoption by the Board. The Finance Committee is actively meeting, multiple times per week, to develop its budget and warrant article recommendations. For a schedule of meetings, please see the Town’s website and feel free to contact Martin Anguelov to confirm the meeting location and time. Town Administration News and Updates Current General Town Administration Activities Town Administration arranged for Open Meeting Law workshops with Town Counsel, on December 6, 2012. All committee, board and commission members as well as related staff were strongly urged or mandated to attend. Click here to view the presentation. The workshop, hopefully, cleared up some misperceptions about meeting and agenda postings, meeting minutes requirements and other items related to public meetings. Social Media Policy At its meeting of January 9, 2013, the Board of Selectmen adopted a Social Media Policy. We are excited about using social media to increase transparency in government but also want to balance the need to manage input and make sure the Town’s message is objective and informative. Teen Center During the fall of 2012, Town Administration convened a work group of town and other agencies to discuss reuse/alternatives/options for the Teen Center after learning that Nantucket Behavioral Health Services, which had been contracted to operate the facility, informed us they no longer have the financial resources to continue. The Teen Center closed at the end of the 2011-12 school year. We have received a couple of inquiries from concerned citizens about the closure and while we are working actively to come up with viable options, fortunately there are numerous programs and activities for school-age youth that are offered by a variety of community groups. The option currently being discussed is that the building would be used by the Community School for office space and programming; with a Teen Center component. This will provide needed space in the schools for increased enrollment as well as greater opportunities for programming for all residents (early childhood through adults) served by the Community School. Capital funds will be requested at the 2013 Annual Town Meeting for renovations that will be necessary to meet current building code requirements as well as the additional space needed for the building to become multi-functional. Work Groups Several Town work groups are underway with specific projects, including: Our Island Home Long-term Planning Work Group This group is examining the long-term options for Our Island Home. Municipally owned and operated nursing homes have become rare. There is only one other in Massachusetts (Taunton). While Our Island Home provides a valuable service to the community, in times of fiscal difficulty we should be examining ways in which to reduce or eliminate unnecessary cost to the taxpayer. This is not to say that Our Island Home is unnecessary, it is undoubtedly a valuable asset to the community. The Work Group was convened to look at ways in which the costs generated by the facility could be reduced, and to review long-term options. The current facility is outdated – it is based on an institutional model of operations which is no longer how nursing homes are being operated. The physical plant needs substantial work. A discussion that has been underway for a few years is whether or not to rebuild the facility elsewhere under current models of operation or re-do it, in place. Coastal Management Plan Work Group The CMP work group meets the 2nd and 4th Monday at 4:00 pm at the Public Safety Facility and is currently working on establishing “sectors” within which certain-types of the erosion control measures would or would not be appropriate. The group is also examining options for Town-owned property which are or may become threatened by erosion. Sewer Planning Work Group This group meets about once a month and is currently waiting for additional data that is in the process of being compiled from our wastewater management consultants (Woodard & Curran) in order to review and make its recommendations. Events At its December 12, 2012 meeting, the Board of Selectmen and I recognized Town employees for Years of Service and presented those present with special Years of Service pins. Those achieving significant years of service (pins presented in 5-year increments) were: Terry Norton of Town Administration, John Brescher of Planning and Land Use Services (PLUS), John Rocket of the Police Department, and Maneewan Kyomitmaitee of Our Island Home, five years of service; Leslie Snell of PLUS, Charles Kymer of the Fire Department, Andrea Mansfield of Wannacomet Water Company, and Frederick Wellington of the Airport, ten years of service; Jennifer Erichsen of the Police Department, John Davis of the Airport, and Cindy Stetson of Our Island Home, 20 years of service. Town Administration will issue service awards at a later date to those not in attendance: five years of service – Irene Larivee/Finance, Jeffrey Nicholson/PLUS, Nathan Barber/Fire, David Pekarcik/Fire, Jessica Gage/Registry of Deeds, Keren Rowe Thomas/Our Island Home, and Jennifer Pask/Human Services; ten years of service – Elizabeth Brown/Finance, Patricia Giles/Finance, William Ciarmataro/PLUS, Joseph Swain/PLUS, Jared Chretien/Police, Brendan Coakley/Police, Hendy McKenzie/DPW, Willy Leveille/DPW, Robert Holdgate/Airport, Noe Pineda/Airport, Robert Tallman/Airport, Jessica Mason-Wilson/Our Island Home, Denise McCarthy Ricketts/Our Island Home, Hopie Robinson/Our Island Home, Lisa Toney/Our Island Home, and Henrick Wallace/Our Island Home; 15 years of service – William Larrabee/PLUS, Jerry Adams/Police, Ted Muhler/Airport, and Debra Bechtold/Our Island Home; 20 years of service – Angus MacVicar/Police, Jennifer Ferreira/Registry of Deeds, and Robert Inglis/DPW; 25 years of service – Stephen Murphy/Fire; and 30 years of service – Melinda Burns/Police, Charles Gibson/Police, and Patricia Dargie/Our Island Home. Projects Hummock Pond Road Bicycle Path The Hummock Pond Road Bicycle Path project is close to completion. If you have been down Hummock Pond Road in the last two months you will have seen tremendous progress. We are grateful to the voters for approving the project ($3.2m) at the 2012 annual town meeting and subsequent election, as well as to an anonymous donor of $500,000 which will be used to offset the debt service of the project and was instrumental in seeking the approval of the voters. Friends of Hummock Pond Road Bike Path, a volunteer, non-profit group was also instrumental in securing approval of the project and raising funds for it. By next summer, we expect to have a fully completed, beautiful bike path which will address many safety concerns for pedestrians and bicyclists along that road. Stay tuned for upcoming information about an Opening Ceremony in June! Downtown Sewer Rehabilitation Project This project will begin the week of January 21st. Click here for a map of the streets that will be affected and additional information about the project. Because of the scope of the project, it will be started now, temporarily halted for the summer and will begin again and be (hopefully) completed by the spring of 2014. Tree Removal Unfortunately, the two large trees next to the Pacific National Bank have had to be removed. They were becoming precarious in terms of age and instability. Fortunately, thanks to Congregation Shirat Ha Yam, the Town was gifted with two Valley Forge elm trees, which will be planted this spring. Announcements Flagpoles The flagpole at the Milestone Rotary was recently replaced. Thank you DPW! Millie’s and Massasoit Bridges Both bridges have been identified by Massachusetts Highway Department bridge reports as being in need of repair. Appropriations were approved at the 2011 and 2012 annual town meetings, procurement accomplished and the work is in the process of being done. Click here for an announcement about these projects. FEMA Flood Map Changes The Federal Emergency Management Agency is in the process of revising its Flood Maps. Click here to see notice. Town Administration will be presenting additional information on this process and reviewing the map/zone changes at an upcoming Board of Selectmen’s meeting. Get to Know Your Town Volunteers This monthly feature contains questions to a member of a Town board, committee or commission about their interest in serving and some other information about them. Jeanette Topham (recently appointed to the Airport Commission) agreed to be interviewed for this month’s e-newsletter: Q. How long have you lived on Nantucket? A. I was born and raised on Nantucket almost seventy-five years ago. My husband and I are both Nantucket-born and raised our seven children on island. Q. What is your job? A. I have always felt my most important “job” was to be a good wife and mother. I am retired from owning my catering company for over thirty years, which was my “paying job”. Our daughter is still managing Jeanette Topham Catering. Q. What Town committees or community volunteer groups have you served on? A. I have served on many committees for the Town and other local organizations. I was a School Committee member in the 1970’s for six years, and Town Government Study Committee for its existence. I also served as a Nantucket Chamber of Commerce Board member for six years, am a Brant Point Courtyard (a timeshare) Board member for 9 years. I am a Eucharistic Minister and Lector at St. Mary’s, Our Lady of the Isle church, was a St. Mary’s Guild member and Catechism teacher/leader for 30 years. I was A Safe Place Board member for ten years. I am presently on the Commission of Disability and serve as its representative to the Nantucket Regional Transit Authority (NRTA), Nantucket Scholarship Committee and was recently appointed to the Nantucket Airport Commission. Q. What interests you about serving the Town that makes you want to be involved? A. I want to contribute in a small way to making Nantucket a community in which residents can enjoy and maintain a quality of life that makes the island a place of which we can be proud. I want to bring honesty and believability to our elected officials. I feel we, as a community, deserve oversight by those serving on Boards and Commissions to do the “right thing”. I think the most rewarding aspect will be if I accomplish those efforts. Q. What is the most challenging part about serving? A. The challenging part, at the present for the Airport Commission, is to get our financials back on track and have the community have faith in our efforts. I believe we are on the right track and with the town’s support we should be successful. Q. If you could change one thing about Town government, what would it be? A. If I could change one thing about Town government it would be to have regularly scheduled evaluations of all town employee contracts from top to bottom to see if changes can be made to job descriptions, compensation and travel for employees who live off-island. I would like supervisors to be “working/hands on” positions. This is not a disparagement against our town employees but as a retiree on a fixed income and a husband who needs twenty-four hour care, I am always concerned regarding methods that can save money for the town and the residents. Q. What is your favorite spot on the island? A. My favorite place on island is to be with our family, no matter where, whether it is at our home or watching our grandchildren at an Accidentals and Naturals Concert, dance, piano recitals, the Boys and Girl’s club playing basketball or at Nantucket High School football, hockey, lacrosse games, as well as Honors programs, always with pride and joy to observe them in their accomplishments and endeavors. I have enjoyed serving the community in many different capacities and hope that I may continue. Thank you Mrs. Topham! In Memoriam My father, H. Flint Ranney, passed away on December 21, 2012. The community support to me and my family has been tremendous and we are so grateful for it. Thank you. JANUARY TRIVIA QUESTION Whose nickname is “Signs Lines & Fines”? FALL TRIVIA QUESTION In what year did the Governor of Massachusetts sign a bill repealing a law which excluded automobiles from Nantucket? 1918 Correct answers submitted by: Correct answers: Nate Barber – had the DATE: April 24 Jim Lentowski – had the date too! Jeanette Hull Catherine Stover Diane O’Neil As always, ideas for future e-newsletter topics are welcome!