2026-09-16 - Board of Regional Commissioners

09:22Okay, sorry about that. Good morning everyone. Um, we're going to get going. I want to welcome

09:29everybody to the uh September 16th, 2026 meeting of the Barnstable County Commissioners. Uh,

09:37Commissioner Alliance is on his way, on her way, excuse me. But, uh, Commissioner Burkstrom is

09:42here. I am here. So, we do have a quorum. Uh, this meeting of the board of commissioners will

09:47be conducted in accordance with applicable law. Persons wishing wish wishing to participate may

09:52do so in person or by accessing this meeting via the posted meeting agenda or um one can view the

10:01meeting via our live broadcast on our Barnstable County YouTube channel which can be found

10:08um you know on the internet or through our website kapecod.gov. So um we're calling this meeting to

10:17order. It is uh 10:16 and I'd like to ask folks to join us in a pledge of allegiance to the flag.

10:28I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic

10:34for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

10:49The next item on our agenda is a brief moment of silence. Um,

10:54I'd like you to join us in a moment of silence to reflect on the bravery and

10:58the sacrifices of all those who have put their lives on the line in service to our country.

11:18Thank you. We're going to move on to item number four, public comment. Welcome, Commissioner Lions.

11:25Thank you. Uh, is there anybody seeking to be recognized during public comment? I don't see

11:31anybody here in the audience, nor do I see anybody online. So, I'm going to move on to the next

11:37item on our agenda, general business. Uh, we have before us today, uh, Brian Bongard, who, uh, runs

11:45the Clean Water Center and our alternative septic system test center. He's been incredibly busy,

11:50uh, with, uh, clean water week activities. So, Brian, it's good to see you. Can you give us an

11:55update on how things are going? Sure, happy to. Uh, good morning. So, it is uh day three of Clean

12:00Water Week or day four if you count Sunday. Um it's been going really well. We had a uh

12:05a ribbon cutting over at the Cape Cod Children's Museum. They just opened a new exhibit called Cape

12:11Cod Poops. Um which is really about teaching kids uh what happens to your wastewater when you flush

12:17the toilet. It's actually pretty neat. If you get a chance to go over there uh at some point,

12:22I highly suggest it. Um Representative Vieier was there for the ribbon cutting. Um and he got he he

12:28thought it was pretty cool, too. So, um that was a great event yesterday. Um and for the remainder of

12:34the week, we actually have 14 more events coming up. um the list of organizations. I just want

12:38to let you know who's um who's holding events. Uh Barnstable Land Trust, Harwitch Land Trust,

12:44Dennis Land Trust, the Orleans Pond Coalition, Association of Preserve, Cape Cod, Town of Mashp,

12:50Sturgis Library, uh quite bay national Estuin Research Reserve, Mass Autobon, Rich Earth

12:56Institute, the Green Center, Robert B. Hour and Horesley Whitten. Um so there are 14 more events

13:02through the week. We have a list of all the events up on uh capecod.gov for anybody who wants to find

13:09out what's going on and where to go and what time. Um and then we will cap off the week here

13:16um starting Friday evening with the presentation of our ripple effect awards. [music] Um we'll have

13:22a little ceremony here with all of the nominees uh and winners or the nominators and the winners.

13:28Um and then on Saturday we're having an event which we've been calling wastewater palooa here at

13:34the clean water center. Um which is really geared toward getting uh uh mostly families involved in

13:40the discussion. Um so we have some things for kids to come and do. Um they get to sit and

13:45sit in our come and sit in our excavator and beep the horn, work the controls and things. You know,

13:49we have a little touch of truck going. We have some wastewater microscopy stations set up.

13:55uh they'll get to build a little microbe out of pom poms and pipe cleaners and stuff

14:00uh a little uh scavenger hunt and then engage the parents in discussion about

14:04uh water quality issues more generally. So, it's been a great week. You know,

14:09it's our first week doing this. Um and we've had a great response across the Cape from all

14:13of our partner organizations and um you know, I'm already starting to think about next year

14:18and hopefully get even more folks involved in the whole thing. So, it's been great so far

14:22and as always, thank you for your support uh in the work that we're doing on this.

14:30Um, that's great for that update. I appreciate that. Any commissioners questions,

14:34comments for Brian, Commissioner Lions? Um, good morning, Brian. It just sounds like a

14:40lot of fun. And I'm sorry I have not been able to attend any of these. And next week,

14:45I actually am going on a vacation for a change. Last week, I had a I was away. So, but

14:51um it sounds like great stuff and I'm sure it was a lot of fun with the kids. That's right up there,

14:57Rally. That type of humor and [laughter] sure a lot of giggling and uh so I I hope

15:03you're having a good time as well as it's a lot of work. So, thank you. Thank you. Thank

15:13um you know sort of a deja vu here. when I went as a selectman, we I went through uh 12 years of

15:20our wastewater management plan. So, I'm very familiar with what happens when you flush the

15:24toilet and where it goes. [laughter] Okay. And and and how to deal with it. And I'm also aware of the

15:31effects the the um the the bad effects if we don't put in some kind of a system to deal with it and

15:38especially to deal with uh you know, our estuaries and our ponds. will be be affected unless we deal

15:44with their cleaning up our waste water. So this is and also as you probably know Brian quality

15:50of water and the amount of water and its purity is right now on everybody's mind here on the Cape Cod

15:56become a big subject. So you're right you're right at you're the point person right now. So well

16:01we're happy to represent the if I don't like if I don't like the water I'm drinking come right to

16:06you. Okay. Okay. [laughter] Fair enough. Ryan, one last thing. We've had some discussion. Ron, can

16:11you shut your mic up? We've had uh some discussion about uh starting our last couple of meetings

16:18about a water conference, a water summit, state of the aquifer kind of summit where we can bring

16:25in some of the people that here in Barnstable County. We rely on uh scientists from from various

16:31agencies that can assist us in sort of laying out uh an assessment of what's happening with our soul

16:37source aquifer and particularly what's happening in some of the lenses some some of the particular

16:43very specific areas of our uh groundwater uh resources. And um I just wanted to just um just

16:52reiterate that we've we've asked you to help pull this together. Um, and um, I don't know if there's

16:57anything to report at this point. I know it's a little bit early cuz you've been busy with Clean

17:02Water Week, but I know we're going to be getting really focused on that when things settle down

17:07after Clean Water Week is done. And um, I guess I just wanted to just remind my commissioners that

17:13if you have thoughts, have ideas, any specifics, feel free to share them to uh, to Brian. let him

17:19know because uh by the end of next week we're going to be well into the planning for this

17:24this water summit, this state of the aquifer as we call it. And I think one of the things I'd like to

17:29talk to, you know, to our team about is whether or not we should be doing a sort of a state of

17:34the aquifer report periodically, maybe once a year, sort of giving people a sense of uh how

17:41how our water groundwater resources, particularly drinking water supply resources are holding up.

17:46And I'm just sort of suggesting this based on just a lot of the feedback that we've been getting.

17:52Yeah. In our trips around the Cape. So give some thought to that. Um I don't know if there's any

17:59update. I'd be surprised if there is on your end, but I just wanted to once again remind my fellow

18:05commissioners that if they've got ideas, got suggestions, now is the time to get them in. Yep.

18:10No, we're we're ready to receive those ideas and once we, you know, kind of have a better sense of

18:15exactly the direction we're wanting to shift into uh or head into. Um yeah, we'll we'll you know,

18:20start to pull the coalition together and and start getting things set up. We're excited to work on

18:24it. Thanks, Brian. Brian, thank you. We'll see you Friday. Thank you so much. And the next item

18:34on our agenda is new business. Do we have any new business to report? Hearing none, the next item is

18:41the consent agenda. And um in this uh I'm going to ask Commissioner Bergstrom to make a motion

18:52uh on the consent agenda, the first one, because Commissioner Lions may decide to abstain. I move

19:03I move to approve the commissioner's consent agenda items seven Roman numeral 1B through

19:09Roman numeral 2 including 1 A sorry yeah we're wait oh yeah sorry room number 1A as listed on the

19:17September 16 2026 meeting agenda and I will second that motion any discussion hearing none all those

19:25in favor say I I opposed. I abstain. Very good. Next motion. I move to approve the commissioner's

19:33consent agenda items 7, Roman numerals 1B through Roman numerals 2, including all subsections as

19:40listed on the September 16, 2026 meeting agenda. Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any

19:47discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor say I. I. It car opposed. It carries unanimously.

19:54Number eight is the approval of meeting minutes. Uh do I have a motion? Mr. Chair, I move to

20:03approve the um September 9th, 2026 regular meeting minutes as drafted. Second. I have a motion and a

20:13second. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor say I. I. Opposed. It carries unanimously.

20:21Commissioner reports. Commissioner Lions, any reports? Commissioner Bergstrom, any reports?

20:27Nothing. Nothing since last week. Okay, great. Uh, upcoming business. I'm going to turn it over to

20:32uh our county administrator, Michael Dutton. Michael, do we have a report on upcoming business?

20:48I make that mistake. Um, yes, we have uh some upcoming business here. Next meeting will be in

20:56um MASHBY on September 30th and tenatively we were are looking at

21:02uh an opportunity to further the discussion on uh water supply on the upper Cape water supply

21:09um and issues surrounding uh or issues on uh on Falmouth's uh challenges uh as well

21:15as uh the upper cape water supply collaborative and their work. Um,

21:20we do have tenatively scheduled and it may have to be pushed off to a future meeting, but we

21:25do have tenatively scheduled uh an update from Joint Base Cape Cod and the contamination issues

21:32uh that or an update on the the cleanup and the contamination contamination issues on the base.

21:38Uh we also have on the schedule uh jointbased Cape Cod master planning update with mass development

21:45uh who is begin begins to start up in earnest on the uh on the uh master plan uh project.

21:52And then finally uh the upper Cape composting initiative that uh the county is spearheading

21:58uh with the four upper Cape towns. And so that is uh that's coming up and happy to add

22:05uh additional items if uh if need be or delete items as need be. So any questions for uh the

22:14county administrator? Commissioner B. No. Okay. Commissioner. Okay. Lions down. All right. Uh

22:29let's see. Item number nine. We did that. We did 10. Now we're on to county administrator. Staff

22:36reports. Are there any staff reports, updates from our county administrator? I do have a couple. And

22:44uh one is just to keep you a breast of our progress uh on the FY28 budget. Uh as you know the

22:53um Assembly of Delegates uh worked on a resolution uh providing suggestions to the commissioners on

23:00the FY28 budget. Uh we will uh translate some of that into a draft budget message for your

23:08review. Uh not uh probably not until uh either late October, early November once we uh get a

23:16much better handle on our projected revenues. uh but that will be coming your way and uh and

23:21I trust that we'll have a challenging budget year but uh but that is not anything particularly new.

23:28Um I also want to let you know that uh we have been doing a fair amount of work on uh financial

23:34long-term financial planning and Carol uh and I will be presenting something uh to the board

23:40uh once we finalize uh our long-term financial plan or update our long-term financial plan. So,

23:46that is also in the works. Um, and I do have um although they're not online,

23:52but I do want to announce um that we have a new employee in the uh Children's Cove

23:59uh department and that's Emily Nasudi and she is the child explor exploitation program coordinator.

24:06Uh so it's uh a critically important position for us to fill and uh and we will get uh uh

24:14Emily in front of you as as soon as possible. I was hoping they could join online but it does not

24:20appear that they are there. So um so that's all I have. Commissioner Bergstrom. Yeah, excuse me.

24:26In the discussion about the bud ongoing budgets, we had this discussion last week and not clear.

24:34We have we have money set aside for what they call revenue contingency which we specifically

24:39to be used. We have a budget shortfall. But now there's two kinds of shortfalls. One is because of

24:44the vagaries of the of the real estate market it may dip down below what we anticipated. The other

24:50is whether or not the the simply the expenses are continue to go above what our ability to to

24:58um to ability to cover with with existing revenue. So the question really going forward and I don't

25:04know how well the assembly dealt with this is under what circumstances do we use the revenue

25:10contingency funds. Do we use it on a case-by case basis you know until it's done or we do we use it

25:16assuming that maybe next year will be better so in the overall budget discussion I think that's

25:21something that should be cleared up. I completely agree and I I that's something that we've worked

25:27on over the last year or so um is to to set up guidelines or or guard rails about how that that

25:33particular fund can be used and I think um I think that's important because that sort of defines

25:39whether it's just a temporary blip or a long-term structural problem and we want to make sure that

25:45that we're not uh allowing that fund to be used to perpetuate a long-term structural problem. So

25:50um so we're we're very sensitive to that. The other piece that I just want to let you know

25:55about is that we are uh also sensitive to the fact that uh um FEMA is not going to be

26:03um providing money anytime soon uh in the event of natural disaster. Uh twice they've turned down

26:10the state's uh request for funds to to offset the cost of the the blizzard last winter. Um we we see

26:18that as um a major issue uh Capewide. Cape is is obviously more exposed than the rest of the state

26:25to to natural disaster, whether it be blizzard, hurricane, so forth. Um, so we're investigating

26:31uh the possibility of of setting aside funds into a new fund that would be used specifically

26:37uh to offset some of the costs Capewide regional costs of of dealing with emergency uh events.

26:43And that is um that is something that we'll we'll talk about internally and then and then

26:48come back to you with a proposal. Yes. And then obviously there's a natural disaster somewhere in

26:56the country. They petition the president where declare a natural disaster and that unleashes

27:02the funds to use it. But of course if something happens countywide, we have to decide who's going

27:06to who's going to decide that it's a natural disaster and then to release the funds. But if

27:11it's going to be you No. And that I mean that begs that's a great point and it sort of begs

27:18uh also setting up guard rails around or or clearly defining what that money can be used

27:23for. Um you know I think we what we will see going forward commissioners I think we will see

27:31um states continue to petition for help. um we may see at least for another year or two um the Trump

27:40administration denying those requests particularly if they come from so-called blue states. So my

27:46hope is is that whatever we're dealing with here may be of short-term in nature until some degree

27:51of normaly comes back to this program because I think quite frankly this bipartisan interest in

27:57the Congress having worked in the Congress for 26 years I can assure you that if there's a program

28:04that does have tremendous bipartisan support it's this one. I've seen it firsthand and uh I do think

28:10that um this is a this is a temporary situation, but I think we should be prepared for it. I'm glad

28:17we're having this conversation and I'm glad that you're actually taking a look at it. Um I think

28:22um in those instances where the governor seeks request and is denied, I think those

28:27to me would be the the trigger mechanisms where we provide help. uh and I think it's a terrific

28:35uh initiative to be looking at how we might be able to in provide support. Um what I found

28:41interesting is in the blizzard of 2026 while the state's request for help was denied uh many tribes

28:48were granted relief and help financially which I thought was interesting. So, on the one hand,

28:55the disaster qualifies for federal help for uh the tribes uh in the northeast,

29:01but for the non-tribal governments, um it doesn't, which I thought was a pretty much points out the

29:08hypocrisy of what's going on uh with FEMA. Not that I not that I Commissioner Lion, not that I

29:15begrudge uh any any um help and assistance to the tribes, but we all know what what it was about,

29:22but um I'm glad somebody got something. Thank you. Um I think when we have this discussion,

29:30what might be helpful is is to be thinking of a revision or a potential add-on uh to our financial

29:38policies. I think our financial policies are terrific. Um, they've been highly touted. Um,

29:46S&P likes our financial policies. I think this is something that maybe warrants an amendment

29:52uh that we can adopt and consider or consider first then adopt. And I would like to suggest we

29:59think about that approach. That's I think that's exactly the approach that we're contemplating.

30:07Are there any more uh county administrator staff reports, Mr. Dutton? Uh that is it for right now.

30:16Okay. Now, for the folks that are watching, we're going to be going into executive session and then

30:22we will not come back out in public session once the executive session um is completed. So, I am

30:30going to read into the record a motion and I'll ask for a second and um we'll go from there. So,

30:38I am moving to enter into executive session for discussion pursuant to Mass General Laws 30A 29,

30:47excuse me, 21A subsection 2 to conduct strategy sessions and preparations for negotiations

30:55with non-UN personnel or to conduct collective bargaining sessions or contract negotiations with

31:02non-UN personnel. Christy Senator, Director, Cape Cod Commission. Discussion pursuant to

31:09general laws chapter 30A 21A subsection 7 to comply with or act under the authority of any

31:18general or special law or federal grant and aid requirements. Approval and or release of executive

31:25session meeting minutes pursuant to the Mass General Laws chapter 30A sub section 22 subsection

31:33F and executive session meeting review approval and release of executive session meeting minutes

31:42um considering approval of the June 10th, 2026 executive session meeting minutes. Uh number two,

31:51review of the release of executive session meeting minutes dated August 7th, 2019,

31:59August 14th, 2019, December 22nd, 2021, March 16th, 2022, March 23rd, 2022, February 14th,

32:152024, and June 10th, 202 26. All these are executive session meeting minutes. And finally,

32:25discussion pursuant to Mass General Laws 3A section 21 subsections A3 to discuss

32:33strategy with respect to litigation if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect

32:38on the litigating position of the public body. And the chair so declares as again

32:44I I so declare that such a discussion in open session will have a detrimental effect. And the

32:50case involves Edgartown Zoning Board of Appeals and the Martha's Vinnie Commission versus the

32:55Massachusetts Housing Appeals Committee and the Edgartown Gardens LLC. And uh following that,

33:03we will not return into open session. So could I have a second? Second. We have a second from

33:10Commissioner Burkstrom. Is there any discussion on this motion? Hearing none, I'm going to ask for a

33:16roll call vote. Uh, Commissioner Bergstrom. Burkstrom votes I. Commissioner Lions. Lions

33:23votes I. Commissioner Forest votes I as well. We are now in executive session.

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