2026-10-28 - Select Board

00:03Please rise for the Pledge of

00:04Allegiance.

00:20Okay, I'm going to toss it over to the

00:22County Commissioners chair. Their

00:24meeting is going to be first.

00:27Um I'm going to call to order the County

00:30Commissioners of Nantucket. It's October

00:3228th. It's just not quite 5:30 on that

00:36clock.

00:37Um

00:38and just a reminder that

00:40um

00:41this is being audio and video recorded

00:43and I'm going to take votes by roll call

00:46as Don Hill is online.

00:49So, I'm going to open up for public

00:51comment.

00:54And

00:55>> Uh It's time.

00:57>> for county.

01:01And I'm going to close public comment.

01:03Um

01:04I don't know of any new business.

01:06And can I get an approval of the minutes

01:09uh payroll and treasury?

01:10>> So moved.

01:13>> And on your motion, Bob?

01:15>> I.

01:16>> Matt?

01:16>> I.

01:17>> Brooke? I.

01:19Don?

01:20>> I.

01:21>> And chair votes I.

01:23Um so, next up we are looking for an

01:27approval of this easement with Nantucket

01:30Electric and National Grid at

01:33Fairgrounds. Was somebody going to come

01:35and talk about that? Are they

01:36>> Tracy's on

01:37>> Tracy's online.

01:37>> I'm online. Thank you.

01:39>> Take it away, honey.

01:40>> I will. Thank you. Um

01:43Tracy McDonald, real estate manager.

01:45Um I'm presenting a request for a grant

01:47of easement from the County of Nantucket

01:49to Nantucket Electric Company doing

01:51business as National Grid for the

01:53underground electric service for the

01:55Tacoma Green Affordable Housing Project.

01:58The easement

02:00is for Fairgrounds Road and the adjacent

02:03bike path

02:04for the benefit of lots 83 and 84 on

02:06plan 2016-58

02:09as indicated on the NGrid

02:11prepared sketch dated April 1st, 2026

02:14included in your packet. The conduit

02:17will run from the existing pole number

02:19eight on Fairgrounds Road under the bike

02:21path to two new pad mount transformers

02:23serving the project buildings noted in a

02:27companion request for a license

02:29agreement coming up in this evening's

02:31select board. I'm requesting the

02:33commissioners approve and execute the

02:34easement pursuant to the authority of

02:36Article 1 of the Nantucket County

02:38Charter.

02:41>> So moved.

02:43>> Second.

02:45>> On your motion, Bob.

02:47>> I.

02:48>> Matt.

02:49>> Brooke.

02:50>> I.

02:51>> Dawn.

02:52>> I.

02:53>> Chair votes I.

02:55Um are there any

02:57commissioner reports or comments?

03:00Can I get a motion

03:00>> adjourn.

03:01>> Second.

03:02>> Um and on your motion, Bob.

03:04>> I.

03:05>> Matt.

03:05>> I.

03:06>> Brooke.

03:06>> I.

03:07>> Dawn.

03:09>> I.

03:10>> Chair votes I. We are adjourned. Thank

03:11you.

03:12>> Thank you, Madam Chair. I will now open

03:14the October 28th select board meeting.

03:18We have

03:19Dawn Hill online, so as with the county

03:21commissioners, all votes will be taken

03:23by roll call.

03:24Um we will accept the agenda as printed.

03:27No changes that I'm aware of and we'll

03:29move to announcements to Libby.

03:32>> Thank you. This meeting is being video

03:34and audio recorded. We have a couple of

03:36vaccination clinics coming up

03:39to be held at the Mid Island Stop & Shop

03:41on Monday, November 2nd and Tuesday,

03:43November 3rd from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00

03:45p.m.

03:46Also at Cyrus Peirce Middle School

03:48cafeteria on Tuesday, November 3rd from

03:5011:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and vaccinations

03:53will be available for flu, COVID,

03:55shingles, RSV, and pneumonia.

03:58More information on the town website.

04:00The May 10th, 2027 annual town meeting

04:03warrant is currently open for citizen

04:05warrant article submittals through

04:07Monday, November 16th at 4:00 p.m. We've

04:11been announcing that there is a pending

04:13home rule petition to amend the charter

04:16to change the signature requirement from

04:1810 signatures of registered Nantucket

04:20voters to 25. That has not passed yet,

04:23but we are encouraging people to get

04:24more than the

04:26more than 25 just in case.

04:28And that is it for announcements.

04:31>> Okay, any opening select board

04:33announcements or comments?

04:38Okay, seeing none. Uh we'll move on to

04:42uh update on public comment questions

04:43from the prior meeting. Um we've changed

04:46the format online a little bit. Um added

04:49the full transcript of the commenter and

04:52the questioner online so that the

04:55public can track a little bit more um

04:58what was said and what we're responding

05:00to. So, I'm going to do my best to

05:02summarize and not repeat all of that. Um

05:06so starting out, Campbell Sutton um had

05:09a suggestion that in the evaluation of

05:12waivers on fines that we that the board

05:15might might have a discussion and then

05:18wait a week, think about it. Um and I I

05:21think she used the phrase talk amongst

05:22themselves and then come back with time

05:25to think. Um the town's response is um

05:28although this was a suggestion rather

05:30than a question, clarification is

05:31warranted. Deliberation among board

05:33members outside of a properly posted

05:35meeting including through a series of

05:37separate conversations would violate

05:39open meeting law and that uh I was

05:41thinking that as Campbell was making the

05:43suggestion. So, uh okay, and Thomas

05:45Berda um had a series of questions and

05:50I'm going to run through them. How did

05:51the town come up with $51 per square

05:53foot for any construction area exceeding

05:56the agreed-upon size? And this relates

05:58to the project at uh Sherburne Commons,

06:01the um MOU between Sherburne Commons and

06:03the town for the construction of our

06:05Island Home.

06:06>> [snorts]

06:06>> And the town's response is this is a

06:08negotiated price agreed with Sherborn

06:10Commons and reflects an estimated market

06:12value of the property.

06:14Um number two, what is the additional

06:16payment due to Sherborn Commons on

06:18October 30th or 31st for beyond the

06:22$200,000

06:24uh dollar negotiated the $200,000

06:26negotiated a couple of weeks ago? Town

06:29response, the $2,040,000

06:31represents payment for the additional

06:3340,000 square feet above the 55,000

06:37square

06:38feet allowed in the original lease that

06:41the town took back from Sherborn

06:43Commons.

06:44That was a mouthful. Okay. Um so in

06:47essence, we're using more land than the

06:49agreement had and so this um

06:52um

06:53pays them for the use of that additional

06:55land that was um

06:57ab- over and above the original lease to

06:59put it in

07:01different words. Um number three, what

07:03is the time frame for providing

07:04replacement employee housing on site

07:07before OIH or Island Home construction

07:10begins? The new Sherborn Common staff

07:13housing is one of the early deliverables

07:15of the project. Some construction

07:17activities on the new OIH may take place

07:19concurrently with the construction of

07:21the new staff housing.

07:24Um town response, there was a section of

07:26his comments regarding road inquiry and

07:29um Sherborn Commons has for some time

07:32had an emergency access road to My Comet

07:35Road. As part of the negotiations and

07:38for occasional access to Sherborn

07:40Commons during construction, that access

07:42road needed to be widened and improved.

07:45The road will be for emergency use only

07:48and will have unobstructed width of 20

07:50ft, will be gravel and will have gates

07:52at either end only to be opened when

07:55needed. Um

07:56Amy Aldridge followed up um on Mr.

08:00Baritus' comments and asked some

08:03questions uh at the meeting a few She

08:06had said she asked a few questions at

08:07the meeting a few weeks ago. Um,

08:10could Sherborn Commons come back during

08:12construction with complaints about

08:14noise, dump trucks, and construction

08:16activity? The town's response, of

08:18course, that is possible, but we are

08:19taking as many precautions as are

08:22reasonable. Construction activities will

08:24be confined to the front of the

08:25property, fencing will surround the

08:27site, and we have ingress and egress

08:29planned to minimize construction traffic

08:32at the entrance to Sherborn Commons. And

08:34we will hold bi-weekly meetings with the

08:36construction manager and administrative

08:38staff at Sherborn Commons. The

08:40construction manager will provide

08:42regular written and verbal communication

08:43of upcoming activity over the following

08:462-week period after each of those

08:47meetings.

08:48Why aren't the existing employee housing

08:51buildings being relocated and reused

08:53elsewhere on the Sherborn Commons

08:54property instead of being moved to

08:56wastewater for town employee housing

08:58while new buildings are constructed

09:00constructed for Sherborn Commons?

09:03Sherborn Commons staff need to be able

09:04to seamlessly transition from existing

09:07housing to new housing. Therefore, the

09:09new must be complete before the old can

09:11be repurposed. Once complete, there is

09:14no further need for the existing staff

09:15housing at Sherborn Commons site. The

09:17town will take possession, relocate, and

09:19in doing so, add 16 bedrooms of housing

09:22for sewer and other municipal staff.

09:25Uh, question three, are these costs

09:27included in the amount presented to and

09:29approved by the voters at town meeting

09:31or will they represent additional costs

09:33to taxpayers? The response is yes, all

09:35these costs are in the project budget

09:37approved at 2026 annual town meeting.

09:41Uh, and that's it.

09:42Um, so now I will open for public

09:44comment for items not on the agenda. Um,

09:48I see several people rising. I'll take

09:50Nat since he got there first.

09:52Okay, and then I'll go online and then

09:54I'll go to Amy. Go ahead, Nat.

09:55>> You want to go to

09:56>> And oh, just as a reminder, um,

09:59Zoom, we've had some technical

10:01difficulties with the Zoom timer. So,

10:03tonight we're going to be running

10:05this separate timer, which because it's

10:07behind me, I've asked Erica to raise her

10:10hand when the speaker has 15 seconds

10:13left and I will

10:14then verbally remind the speaker that

10:16they have 15 seconds left. So, 3 minutes

10:20for public speech.

10:21>> This will be way less than that. All

10:22right. Thank you, Nat Lowell, for the

10:24record. I just want to

10:26shout out a thank you to Drew Patnode

10:29and Victor

10:30for doing something that some of us may

10:33have noticed, maybe not, the widening of

10:36that section of

10:38Bay Grounds and Surfside

10:41while they had it all ground up and

10:43ready to go

10:45cuz that is a really difficult spot for

10:48trucks to turn going on about going

10:51about the road or coming from Valley

10:52Road. That's kind of how you get back to

10:54the boat that way cuz it's you certainly

10:56don't want to go to the school.

10:57So, that is I just wanted to say thank

11:00you for that and these little

11:03improvements go a long way

11:05and this is one of them. So, thank you.

11:09>> Thanks, Nat. Um, who's online?

11:13>> Robert Bates.

11:14>> Okay.

11:16>> Just give me 1 second to get

11:18queued up.

11:22Bob, you just need to um unmute.

11:26>> Good evening, Robert Bates. How is

11:28everybody tonight?

11:30>> Good. Go ahead.

11:31>> Excellent. Well, the reason I'm coming

11:33in this evening is it's kind of going to

11:35be a public safety issue as we move

11:37forward.

11:38Uh Verizon is in the process right now

11:41of getting the approval to shut down

11:46our copper wire service

11:48across the board brought in multiple

11:50states and Massachusetts is one of them.

11:53Shutting down the copper wire service

11:56will remove traditional telephone

11:59service for emergency purposes.

12:01The power goes out

12:04you pick up your copper wire service

12:06phone line

12:07and you can immediately call out. If

12:09your power is out and you're working off

12:12of an internet-based phone.

12:15The majority of the time, as we all

12:17know, when the power goes out, you lose

12:18your internet, you lose your

12:20lose your Wi-Fi.

12:22If they completely eliminate the wired

12:24service,

12:25you will not be able to call in for an

12:27emergency.

12:28Additionally, they're offering to

12:31set you up with a wireless network or a

12:34cellular network.

12:36As we know,

12:38the majority of the island has, at best,

12:42poor cellular service.

12:44And at the height of the season, we have

12:46abysmal cellular service.

12:48Despite them saying they're going to do

12:50upgrades, it's not going to help when

12:51there's 75,000 people here on the

12:53island.

12:55I've spoken to the state because there

12:58in the letter there was a communication

13:00with the state and I've also left a

13:02message with the FCC because you could

13:04also do that. But the town needs to step

13:07up and

13:09as a public safety issue, needs to

13:11communicate with Verizon

13:14to reinforce the need for a wired system

13:18on Nantucket until

13:20and unless they can improve cellular

13:22service and Wi-Fi service on this island

13:25to the point where we do not run into

13:27cellular communication problems.

13:30Um it's just it's a public safety

13:32concern. I know many people didn't If

13:35they don't have a wire If they don't

13:37have a copper wire now, they may not

13:38have gotten this notification.

13:40But I keep my copper wire for emergency

13:44purposes.

13:45It always works when I pick up the

13:47phone.

13:48When you lose Wi-Fi or you lose

13:50internet,

13:52your phone will not work at your home.

13:53As we well know,

13:55we've had many major storms where we

13:58have not had

13:59>> Bob, 30 seconds.

14:01>> We've not had the ability to communicate

14:03with 911 if you had

14:06only had cellular service.

14:08I'd ask that the select board look into

14:10this and

14:12possibly form a

14:13public safety communications committee

14:15or some sort of committee to discuss

14:17with Verizon. Thank you.

14:20>> Okay, thank you.

14:21Uh Campbell?

14:25>> Hi. Good evening, everyone. Campbell

14:27Sutton.

14:28Um

14:29so, just to piggyback slightly on what

14:31he's talking about, I have a landline

14:33specifically because you can call during

14:37times of emergency. And with um which I

14:41want anyway, but even with you know, my

14:43mother who's turning 96 at home, you

14:46need to be able to call out

14:48during you know, storms, whatever, and

14:51we lose electricity. So, I see that as a

14:54huge safety issue at least on my end.

14:57So, it means I don't have to pay for the

14:58landline anymore. So.

15:01Um the other thing I wanted to say about

15:03what I had mentioned about uh

15:05deliberating

15:06um was perhaps

15:09you could go into executive session to

15:12deliberate

15:13you know, it's

15:15um during the meeting or at some other

15:17point. And then when you come out of

15:19executive session, you would make the

15:21minutes available immediately, but you

15:23would also tell the public what, you

15:25know, your basis for your vote um on the

15:29uh issue at hand when it the in this

15:32case, the um permitting fights.

15:35Um

15:36What's the other thing? The other thing

15:38I wanted to say nervously is that um I

15:42have started the Tuesday evening

15:45meetings at the Atheneum again. They're

15:48called Keeping It Local. And it talk we

15:51talk about It's not video or audio

15:53recorded, and we just talk about local

15:56issues. Um with the warrant developing,

15:59we talk about the uh town meeting, how

16:01that works.

16:03Um

16:04and

16:05we go through all of the articles that

16:07come up to make sure everyone

16:09understands what the articles are about.

16:11We're not interested at all in how one's

16:16going to vote. It's about trying to get

16:18people to be informed about the article

16:22that they're going to be voting on. So,

16:24that's 5:30 on Tuesdays at the Atheneum

16:28on the first floor there. So, I just

16:30want to announce that. Thank you.

16:32>> Thank you, Campbell. Anyone else want to

16:33speak in public comment?

16:49>> Hello, all.

16:50My name is Patrick Considine, and I'm

16:52the former 911 assistant supervisor in

16:55the communications department. I'm here

16:57tonight because this past Monday, I

16:59filed a violation against town manager

17:01Gibson with the Massachusetts State

17:03Ethics Commission. Town manager Gibson

17:05has once again inserted herself into an

17:07investigation involving her husband,

17:09Deputy Police Chief Charles Gibson, by

17:11commenting directly on matters currently

17:13under litigation involving allegations

17:15of illegal surveillance and

17:16whistleblower retaliation.

17:19In my opinion, town manager Gibson

17:21should have recused herself on multiple

17:22occasions throughout these proceedings.

17:24Under no circumstances should a town

17:26manager email my personal email address

17:29to comment on pending litigations,

17:31especially when it contains an

17:33inaccurate timeline of events that

17:35involves her husband. I believe her

17:37involvement raises serious conflict of

17:39interest concerns and interference with

17:40the integrity of an impartial

17:42investigation. I have repeatedly

17:44attempted to address concerns involving

17:46both the town and police administrations

17:48directly with the Nantucket Select

17:50Board. Unfortunately, those efforts have

17:52consistently been met with resistance

17:54from town manager Gibson and Deputy Town

17:56Manager Rick Sears.

17:58I have said it before, and I'll say it

17:59again. Under the leadership of town

18:01manager Libby Gibson, employees cannot

18:03have confidence that they will receive

18:05fair treatment, unbiased investigations,

18:07or impartial hearings.

18:09As Nantucket residents, we should not

18:11have to incur significant legal

18:12expenses, unnecessary hardships, or

18:15navigate the challenges of seeking

18:17assistance from off-island agencies

18:18simply to obtain an independent and

18:20unbiased investigation. Residents and

18:23employees should not have to turn to the

18:24Massachusetts Commission Against

18:26Discrimination, the Attorney General's

18:28Office, or the Massachusetts State

18:30Ethics Commission to obtain the

18:31accountability that our own elected

18:33officials should be demanding. Our

18:35elected Select Board members have a

18:36responsibility to understand and uphold

18:38the Nantucket Town Charter, including

18:40their duties when acting as the town's

18:42police commissioners.

18:44In my opinion, the seriousness of these

18:46allegations warranted that multiple

18:48senior-level administrators to be put on

18:50administrative leave pending an

18:51investigation. Instead, the town

18:53continues to cite pending litigation

18:55while allowing the very same employees

18:57and officials whose conduct has been

18:58called into question to remain in

19:00positions of authority.

19:02These include individuals serving in the

19:04offices of town manager, deputy town

19:06manager, police chief, deputy police

19:08chief, human resources, and other

19:10supervisory positions. Pending

19:12litigation should not become an excuse

19:14to avoid accountability, and holding a

19:16position of authority should never place

19:18anyone above an independent

19:19investigation. The residents and

19:21employees of Nantucket deserve

19:22transparency, accountability, and

19:24confidence that allegations of

19:26misconduct will be investigated fairly,

19:28regardless of who was involved, but yet

19:30here we are.

19:31Our year-round employees, residents, and

19:33children should live in a place where we

19:34have a neutral, unbiased Select Board,

19:37and a government who holds everybody

19:39accountable, not just the

19:40whistleblowers.

19:42>> Wrap it up.

19:43>> What?

19:43>> Are you set?

19:44>> Uh

19:46But not just the whistleblowers.

19:48>> Okay. All right, thanks. I was trying to

19:49give you a heads-up.

19:50Okay.

19:52Okay, thank you.

19:54Um all righty.

19:56Seeing no other no hands up online.

19:59All right, we'll close public comment.

20:02And um we do have an item new business.

20:06It is a discussion vote um about sending

20:10a letter to the Department of Commerce

20:12Census Bureau regarding proposed changes

20:14to the 2030 federal census.

20:17Um and Community CDC has taken this up,

20:19and um

20:21did you guys see

20:23Erica, do you want to Can Can you just

20:25know about the 48 hours?

20:27Oh, right. And this was uh not uh

20:30we did not anticipate this within 48

20:32hours. So, it's being added to the

20:33agenda tonight. Thank you, Erica.

20:35So,

20:36um

20:37Did Did the board read

20:39>> I'll move approval.

20:41>> Okay.

20:41>> To send to send a letter.

20:42>> Okay.

20:43>> It's It's important for us to have uh

20:46be able to count everyone that's here

20:48and not have you know and have a full

20:50count.

20:50>> Yes, I'm

20:51>> Yep.

20:52And um

20:53I have one additional [clears throat]

20:54comment that I I'd like um

20:58us to share the letter with um the

21:00Community Foundation and ask them to

21:02distribute to the nonprofit

21:04organizations whose

21:07funding or resources relies on accurate

21:09census.

21:10Um

21:11the food pantry is one of them. The

21:12allocation of food to the pantry is in

21:15in some part calculated based on our our

21:18census. So, it's really important that

21:20it's accurate. So, um I have a motion

21:23from Matt. Do I have a second?

21:26Anybody?

21:28>> Second.

21:29>> I

21:29>> I I just wanted to make mention of

21:31something. I mean, I I I

21:33>> Can someone second for I think

21:34procedural Oh, oh sorry, Don. Thank you.

21:37>> Discuss it?

21:37>> Yep, go ahead.

21:38>> So,

21:39I I got this late, unfortunately. Um

21:42and I read a little bit about it.

21:46Uh

21:46um I

21:47Uh do we normally do things like this?

21:50Is that kind of normal for the board to

21:52send a letter for a federal rule like

21:53that?

21:55I I I just

21:56wanted to know what the process was.

21:58>> Yeah, we we do that often. We did it

22:00with ferry speeds. We've done it We do

22:02it with a lot of stuff. Um

22:04um Section 106 We just did it with

22:06Section

22:06>> Section 106. I know.

22:08>> Yeah.

22:08>> But so This also isn't affecting the

22:10American Community Survey, which is

22:12something else that I think that we rely

22:14on from the Commerce Department. So, I

22:15just wanted to make note of that cuz I

22:17think you use that for the Housing

22:18Production Plan, the Housing Needs

22:20Assessment, and Aging on Intact

22:22Assessment. So,

22:23that's the good news is if it got

22:25changed, you know, and that worked

22:27against us that this survey I think was

22:30not going to change and I think it's uh

22:32other data that is a little bit more

22:34micro data to Nantucket. Yeah.

22:36>> My understanding is the ACS is an

22:38interim between census updates, annual

22:40update, so it relies on the census if I

22:43I believe. So, uh

22:44>> What I read is that it didn't, so

22:46>> Okay, right. So, I could be wrong. Yeah.

22:47>> I could do I just wanted to I I felt I

22:50took a little comfort in that, so

22:51>> Okay. So, I have a uh uh motion and a

22:54second. Any other comments?

22:57Okay, by roll call, Matt.

22:59>> Aye.

22:59>> Bobby.

23:00>> Aye.

23:00>> Jill.

23:01>> Aye.

23:01>> Dawn.

23:02>> Aye.

23:03>> And the chair votes aye. Okay. Thank

23:05you.

23:06Um all right. Uh next up approval of

23:09minutes, warrants, and pending con-

23:13No, minutes and warrants.

23:15No pending contracts. Yeah, okay.

23:17>> Move to approve.

23:18>> Second.

23:19>> All right. By roll call, Bobby.

23:21>> Aye.

23:21>> Matt.

23:21>> Aye.

23:22>> Jill.

23:22>> Aye.

23:23>> Dawn.

23:24>> Aye.

23:25>> And the chair votes aye. Um okay.

23:27Citizen Departmental Committee requests

23:29and reports. Um I'm going to ask Tracy

23:34to take

23:35this one, right? Request for approval

23:37and execution of a grant of a license

23:39with Nantucket Electric, and that's

23:41relates to what we did at County, right?

23:42Tracy, if you want to

23:43>> Um correct. Thank you, um Brooke. Um as

23:47indicated in the previous County

23:48Commissioners meeting, I'm following up

23:50uh sorry, Tracy McDonald, Real Estate

23:52Manager. Uh I'm following up with a

23:54request for a grant of license agreement

23:56from the Town of Nantucket to Nantucket

23:58Electric Company doing business as

23:59National Grid to install an underground

24:02electric distribution system on a

24:03portion of 6 Fairgrounds Road, which is

24:06lot 84 and plan 2016-58.

24:10As previously mentioned, this work

24:11serves the Tacoma Green Affordable

24:13Housing Project and covers the

24:15underground conduit and two pad mount

24:17transformers identified as pad 8-2 and

24:218-3 on the same uh National Grid sketch

24:24dated April 1st, 2026 that was included

24:27in your packet. A permanent utility

24:29easement on town land requires a

24:31disposition of article of an um warrant

24:34article at the 2027 town meeting.

24:37Therefore, to avoid delaying the

24:39project, this license allows the work to

24:40proceed now and terminates automatically

24:43once the permanent easement is approved

24:45um at town meeting and recorded. For

24:48clarity, Fairgrounds Road and the bike

24:50path are owned in fee by the county and

24:53the county can grant an easement

24:54pursuant to the county charter. I

24:57request the board approve and execute

24:59the license agreement in the form that

25:00has been reviewed by town council.

25:03>> Okay, any questions on the board?

25:05Or motion?

25:06>> Move approval.

25:07>> Second.

25:08>> Okay, um Matt and Jill. So, by roll

25:10call, Matt?

25:11>> I.

25:12>> Jill?

25:12>> I.

25:13>> Bobby?

25:13>> I.

25:14>> Don?

25:15>> I.

25:16>> And I vote I.

25:17Okay.

25:19Tracy, you want to take the next one?

25:21>> Sure. Um so, this is really interesting

25:24yard sale matter related to a conveyance

25:27in 2020 of a portion of James Street

25:29being parcel one on plan 2835, which the

25:32town conveyed to the owner of 57 Hulbert

25:35Avenue in exchange for a grant of

25:37pedestrian easement and one big beach

25:39easement.

25:41Um I'd like to introduce attorney Rick

25:42Bodette who represents the owner of 57

25:45Hulbert Avenue to provide the board with

25:47a comprehensive explanation of this

25:49request and the title is issue and

25:51corrective steps he has worked um

25:53through with town council. Attorney Eric

25:56Barth from KP is also online to answer

25:58any legal questions the board um may

26:00have related to these confirmatory

26:02documents.

26:04Take it away, Rick.

26:05>> Rick,

26:06>> [laughter]

26:06>> go ahead. Just bring that mic right up

26:09close so we can hear you.

26:10>> I usually don't I usually don't have to

26:11raise this, but I guess I do today.

26:13>> Yeah.

26:14>> Uh thank you, Tracy. Thank you, Madam

26:16Chair. Rick Bodette, the owner uh the

26:18sorry, not the owner. Uh attorney for

26:21the owner of 57 Hulbert Ave.

26:23Uh I think Tracy's synopsis is is pretty

26:26good. First of all, I do um I do want to

26:28thank your staff, the

26:30that are working on this, Tracy as well

26:32for um getting this on the agenda pretty

26:34quickly knowing that we're on a bit of a

26:36time crunch here.

26:37Um Uh but in general, uh what happened

26:41is in in 2021 this board

26:43uh granted a yard sale parcel and

26:45assigned a deed to my client.

26:48And [clears throat] in connection with

26:49that, uh we granted easements

26:52um

26:53to the town for and I can show you it's

26:56it's on your um

26:58It's on your screen, but uh but may

27:05>> Same thing there.

27:06>> Hand them around. Yeah.

27:07I mean, she's able to see it. Okay.

27:10Um

27:14Hopefully you like this little coloring

27:15project that

27:16cost my clients quite a bit of money,

27:18I'm sure.

27:19Uh but in general, they these are the

27:21easements that we granted to the town.

27:24Uh the first is a 4-ft easement that

27:26runs from the road to the pink, which is

27:28a 2 and 1/2 ft easement. Uh and these

27:31are these are doubled on the other side,

27:33so that's really a 5-ft easement, 2 and

27:351/2 on our property.

27:36And then the yellow is the the beach

27:38easement that we granted to the town as

27:39well.

27:40And uh

27:42at this time my clients are selling this

27:44property.

27:45Uh and through that process

27:48uh an issue arose wherein uh the the

27:51buyer's attorney and his title company

27:54uh realized that um this property was

27:57held in trust by my clients.

27:59And and to keep it simple, that those

28:02trusts ended in 2016.

28:05And we're supposed to be held in a

28:06subtrust called the Article Fourth

28:09Trust.

28:10And essentially, because these tr- that

28:12trust had ended, uh the deed that came

28:15into the trust went to the old trust,

28:17not the new trust. And uh and for the

28:20same reason,

28:21the easements we granted were from the

28:23wrong trust, the old trust, not the new

28:25trust. And so, really what we're trying

28:27to do here is a do-over to redo these

28:30deeds, uh sorry, this deed, to get this

28:32parcel into the proper trust name.

28:35Uh and also redo these easements uh so

28:38that the easements are valid for the

28:39town as well.

28:41In addition, uh the other fix we're

28:43trying to accomplish is

28:45uh this my client's property at 57

28:47Holbrook was subdividable prior to

28:50accepting this yard sale deed into three

28:53lots. And um

28:56and that [clears throat] fact was

28:56discussed at the REACT meeting in 2021.

28:59Um the fact that if uh if the property

29:01is subdividable, it should remain so.

29:04And unfortunately,

29:05uh the standard restriction is in the

29:08the town yard sale deed

29:10uh that you guys granted to my client uh

29:14wherein it says it's not subdividable

29:16anymore. And um so we are asking for

29:18that to be changed to what it ordinarily

29:21would be. Um you know, I think this yard

29:23sale process has been in place since uh

29:262008, 2009. Been practicing that entire

29:28time.

29:30And and two things I think are true and

29:31and that the town has been very

29:33consistent on. And that's one, uh if you

29:35accept a yard sale deed, uh that

29:37shouldn't give you the windfall of all

29:39of a sudden allowing you to subdivide

29:41your property.

29:42Uh and in addition, the other thing the

29:45town has consistently said is

29:47uh if your property is subdividable

29:48before you get the yard sale deed, uh

29:50you shouldn't be punished and and not be

29:52allowed to sub then subdivide

29:53thereafter. So, um unfortunately, uh

29:57they they accepted a deed that um had

30:00that restriction in there and it

30:01probably shouldn't have. So, we're we've

30:03revised that as well. And um and I think

30:05town council's looked at everything. And

30:06so, um

30:08again, I can answer any questions you

30:10guys have, hopefully. But um we hope we

30:12can redo this today.

30:13>> Okay. Any questions or comments from the

30:15board? Um

30:17Matt?

30:18>> one question. Does it say that it's not

30:20subdividable or it's only subdividable

30:22with the select board's a future

30:24approval? I know they're written a

30:26couple different ways. How is it written

30:27in this one?

30:28>> Yeah, it says it won't otherwise be sold

30:30or divided.

30:31>> Okay. So, it's it was the original.

30:33Okay.

30:36>> Hi, Rick.

30:39I can't believe this is still here. This

30:40was here when I was here 10 years ago.

30:42>> Was it really?

30:43>> [laughter]

30:43>> Yeah.

30:43>> Um

30:44>> and I just have a couple of quick

30:46questions.

30:47>> Sure.

30:48>> So,

30:49your your your property owner owns 2 and

30:521/2 ft of this easement and and 4 ft of

30:55it. The neighbor owns the other four and

30:57the other 2 and 1/2.

30:57>> Yes.

30:58>> The big thing that we had at the time

31:02and you can just clarify this to me is

31:05where it turns from

31:08orange to pink,

31:09>> Mhm.

31:10>> there's a bulkhead there and at one

31:12point there was a fence there with a

31:13gate.

31:14And the whole idea when I was here 10

31:17years ago was we wanted the ability for

31:19someone to carry a skiff down there

31:21to put it on the beach.

31:23And that fence was supposed to go away

31:25and I want to just make sure that one,

31:28the fence has gone away

31:29>> Mhm.

31:30>> and two, that if we're going to change

31:32this and we're going to

31:34put it in another trust, I want it in

31:36there that they can never build a fence

31:38across there with a gate. That has to be

31:40open and easily accessible for someone

31:42to carry a skiff or a

31:44or a kayak or a paddleboard down onto

31:48that beach.

31:49So,

31:50I want to make I don't know how we get

31:51that in there, but I want to make sure

31:53that's in there.

31:54>> Okay.

31:56So, unlike you, I was not involved

31:59>> [laughter]

31:59>> back in 2021 and

32:02like many of the properties that help

32:04people sell, I haven't visited it

32:05either. So, I cannot answer the question

32:08as to whether there's a gate there now.

32:10Um

32:11but

32:12but

32:13if there if there is a gate there, uh

32:16then you know, I did see the react

32:18meeting from 2021. Um

32:20there there was a brief discussion about

32:22it for sure. Um

32:24but I I can tell you if there's not

32:26supposed to be a gate there then and

32:28there is then we can take it down and if

32:29there isn't

32:30there's no reason to

32:31>> idea was to have a 5-ft opening. There

32:34was a fence that went all the way

32:35across. The idea was to have a 5-ft

32:37opening in that fence

32:39where the easement was.

32:40>> Yeah, that makes sense.

32:41>> I I took a look last week and there was

32:44no no fence across. There's a bulkhead,

32:47so you'd still have to go

32:48>> yeah.

32:48>> Yeah, you still have to pull it up and

32:49over.

32:50>> Yeah.

32:50>> You know, and it's you kind of go up and

32:52left and around, but it wasn't like it

32:54was I was around back then, too. It

32:56wasn't like it was back then.

32:58>> I just think what he's right, it should

32:59be written in that this remains

33:01>> Because if you if they subdivide it and

33:03they break it up into three lots

33:05I'm sorry.

33:06>> Yeah.

33:06>> If they subdivide and break it into

33:08three lots, who's to say that the new

33:10owners don't decide, "Hey, we want to

33:11put a fence across here." So, I want to

33:12make sure it's in the deed that you

33:14cannot block this with any kind of

33:17fence.

33:17>> Sure. That's that's fair. And I

33:20>> Before you say anything, I think I'm

33:21going to pitch this to town council

33:23because that we need to make sure that

33:25that um the documents we're going to

33:28approve tonight

33:30protect us on that. So,

33:31>> was what I was going to say is that town

33:33council already changed it to say any

33:35structure that's built in the area has

33:37to come to you guys first. So, that that

33:39was a change they made last week.

33:41>> Okay, great. So, so Eric, I I I'm going

33:44to call on you to make sure that

33:47uh from a legal standpoint, you're

33:49comfortable that what Bobby and and Matt

33:52are talking about is is protected under

33:56these revised documents.

34:01>> Yes, thank you. Um

34:03from my review of these documents over

34:06the past week or so, we are comfortable

34:09with the language in these documents and

34:10feel that they protect the town

34:12sufficiently.

34:14>> Okay, thank you. That's really helpful.

34:15Does that

34:16>> Thank you. That's really helpful. Does

34:17that Does it

34:19>> Is that an echo?

34:20>> [laughter]

34:21>> Uh

34:22>> The The other issue is we have a bunch

34:24of neighbors from across the street and

34:26around the corner that if it's blocked

34:29will be telling us right away. Like

34:31because there were some people there

34:32that were really pretty vocal and they'd

34:35be using it for 100 years, so you know,

34:37I think

34:38you know, I I we have you know, we're

34:40pretty protected.

34:41>> Okay. Anything else or a motion?

34:45>> I'll move approval.

34:46>> Do I have a second?

34:49>> I'll second it.

34:50>> Sorry, Bob.

34:51>> Thank you. All right. Uh by roll call,

34:53Matt.

34:54>> I.

34:54>> Jill.

34:55>> I.

34:55>> Bobby.

34:56>> Reluctantly, I.

34:57>> Jill.

34:58>> I said I.

34:59>> I mean, sorry, Don.

35:00>> I.

35:02We're definitely adding that language.

35:06>> Yeah.

35:07>> Or

35:07>> Yeah.

35:08>> It's in there, I think, is what we said

35:10the way it

35:10>> it, but we take it for sure.

35:12>> All right. And I will vote I. So.

35:15>> Thanks so much. Thank you so much,

35:17everyone. I really appreciate the effort

35:19that went into this. Thank you.

35:21>> Okay.

35:22Um

35:24All right. Um the next step is a request

35:26to designate uh NP and EDC commission

35:29members as special municipal employees.

35:32Who is planning to cover that for us?

35:35>> We have Lauren Goldberg. I think.

35:37>> Okay.

35:37>> Lauren.

35:40>> Good evening,

35:42members of the board.

35:44I'm here. Uh I'm here as indicated to

35:47explain the request for designation of

35:50the NP and EDC members or um member as a

35:54special municipal employee position.

35:57Uh for those of you who um

35:59came to the training, I can uh tell you

36:02that special municipal employees are

36:03treated differently by the conflict of

36:05interest law in two major respects. The

36:08first is that they uh can more easily

36:11hold a second position with the town

36:14that is paid. Um and probably more

36:17importantly for this purpose, they're

36:19able to represent others in matters in

36:22which the town has a significant

36:24interest before boards other than their

36:27own. So, um

36:30designating the position as a special

36:32municipal employee position will make uh

36:35those two things available to the to

36:37members of the NP and EDC. Also, just to

36:40clarify that a regional entity is

36:43considered a municipal agency of every

36:46municipality in which it is represented.

36:49Obviously, uh the MP&EDC only exists in

36:53uh Nantucket. Um so, it is this board

36:56that would make the decision on that. Um

36:59to the extent that one could even argue

37:02that the county would um also uh

37:07be, you know, the governmental entity

37:09that would need approval, no such

37:11approval is required for county

37:13employees. Um they essentially, based on

37:17the characteristics of the committee of

37:18the commission, are uh automatically

37:21special uh

37:22special state or special county

37:24employees for that purpose.

37:27>> Okay. Thanks, Laura. Any questions from

37:29the board?

37:31>> Uh for the public, it doesn't exclude

37:34them from conflict of interest rules,

37:35etc. They still have to follow those,

37:37but they're just they I just want it for

37:39the public to know, this isn't like,

37:40"Oh, you don't have to follow the rules

37:42anymore." You still have to follow it.

37:43If you have a an interest, you have to

37:45still recuse or not do it. But

37:47>> But it also gives them the ability for

37:50someone who has an expertise in a

37:52certain field to serve on this board,

37:54which is very important when you have a

37:56broad range in board like the MP&EDC.

37:59You want people that actually have

38:00knowledge about what they're talking

38:01about. We run into this at CHAB because

38:03we're elected and not appointed,

38:06I can't I can't vote anything to do with

38:08fisheries that I

38:10collect that I make a living on.

38:13So, I have to recuse myself every time

38:14we talk about scallops.

38:16>> Yeah.

38:17>> But

38:17>> Yeah.

38:18>> So, I I would make a motion to approve.

38:20>> Okay. Do I have a second?

38:21>> Second.

38:22>> Okay. By roll call, Bobby.

38:24>> Aye.

38:24>> Jill.

38:25>> Aye.

38:25>> Matt.

38:26>> Aye.

38:26>> Dawn.

38:27>> Aye.

38:28>> And I vote aye. That's unanimous.

38:30Okay.

38:32Um

38:32>> And speaking of which, I'm going to

38:33recuse from this one.

38:35>> Okay. Yes. Uh thank you, Matt. Okay. So,

38:38um

38:40this next item is Should I just explain

38:42it real briefly?

38:43>> to or do you want me to? Thank you.

38:45>> You or me?

38:46>> Uh if you want to do it, go for it.

38:48>> Um so we're just bringing this forward

38:51on the recommendation of town council.

38:53We had a limited board on the 19th. Um

38:58we did have three members present, but

39:00one member had to recuse which left two

39:02members left to vote. Um and out of an

39:06abundance of caution, we are asking you

39:08to um ratify, validate, and confirm the

39:11select board's vote um

39:14from October 19th and to append the

39:16minutes on October 10th.

39:19Sorry, October 19th. Um just to

39:22make it all above board.

39:24>> I actually made the motion to approve

39:25this

39:26um with the stipulation that they bore

39:28underneath the bike path if at all

39:30possible. And the only reason they

39:32wouldn't be is because there was a sewer

39:33main there. So, I'll make that motion

39:35again or to ratify.

39:36>> already already ratified. Just to ratify

39:38the the motion you made at the at the

39:40other meeting. Okay, so I have a motion

39:42second second um by Roll Call. Bobby?

39:45>> Aye.

39:45>> Jill?

39:46>> Aye.

39:46>> Dawn?

39:46>> Aye.

39:47>> And I vote aye. So, that is reaffirmed.

39:51Okay, town manager's report.

39:54>> Thank you. I'm going to turn this over

39:55to Rick. He's been taking you through

39:57the capital improvement plan for the

39:58last several weeks and we have more

40:01tonight.

40:06>> Uh PowerPoint first, please.

40:11>> Good evening. Rick Sears, deputy town

40:13manager.

40:15So, we've been going through these

40:18capital

40:19projects for some weeks now

40:21and we're moving

40:23to the enterprise funds because we kind

40:25of made our way mostly through the

40:27general fund.

40:29So, just a couple uh

40:30slides just to talk about where we are

40:32with the general fund or with the

40:34enterprise fund.

40:36Um you can go to the next slide.

40:38Thank you. So, just um as we talk about

40:41this tonight

40:43the airport, uh Island Home Solid Waste,

40:45Nantucket Water Department, and the and

40:47Stormwater are the the projects are

40:49pretty much up to date. Sewer

40:52I'm going to call it under construction.

40:54So, I would suggest that tonight anyway,

40:57we just

40:59quickly peruse sewer

41:01and focus on

41:04the other

41:06enterprise funds. You can go to the next

41:07page.

41:09Just to set the scene a little bit. Um

41:12currently in the enterprise funds for FY

41:1528, there's $106 million worth of

41:17capital.

41:19In the 10-year plan, there's $530

41:21million worth of capital.

41:24So, I just thought you might that might

41:26be an interesting scene setting for you.

41:28Uh

41:29a little better a little bit better than

41:30half of it is the airport.

41:32Next slide, please, Erica.

41:35And then

41:36where we are right now with the two

41:39funds having not worked on the

41:40enterprise funds just yet,

41:42the general fund through your efforts is

41:46down to $97 million in 28 and $705

41:49million over the 10 million 10-year

41:51period, which is down from $1.2 billion.

41:55But, those are your numbers for FY 28,

41:57there's roughly

41:58currently $203 million,

42:00$204 million in

42:03requests.

42:07So,

42:08you have both ways this time. I I

42:10decided to put the

42:15spreadsheet into the tuck it into the

42:17the PowerPoint, so you can look at it

42:18either way.

42:19My suggestion based on talking to um

42:24Brooke and Dawn is that perhaps what we

42:26how we go through this is

42:29we

42:30just say send it to CAPCOM, yes or no.

42:34And

42:35I think based on some other comments

42:37along the way, maybe we just look at the

42:39first 3 years.

42:42Instead of trying to manage the entire

42:44plan because there's quite a bit.

42:47Does that work?

42:49Okay. So, we have Preston's here. if

42:52there's any questions on airport you

42:54should probably make your way up here

42:55cuz there's going to be some questions

42:57I'm sure. Um

42:59and I'm just going to say uh I don't

43:03this may go pretty quickly tonight

43:04because I'm not sure Mark is available

43:06after all what Mark Willett is available

43:08after all.

43:09And we're not going to do the sewer so

43:11um we may have to we'll probably have to

43:13have a second session just to get

43:14through the first set first ported part

43:16portion of this. So

43:18um

43:20I know if you have had chance to look at

43:22any of these and know whether or not you

43:24have questions for Preston or not and

43:27whether or not you would like to just

43:29send them to Capcom. Um I'll remind you

43:32that by and large

43:34Bobby

43:35>> Uh go ahead Bobby.

43:36>> I just have one.

43:38And it's kind of key. Is

43:41the airport let's we're just on the

43:42airport right now. How much of this

43:45is funded

43:46how much of it is overrides how much of

43:48it is grants and how much of it if it is

43:51overrides is it all funded by the

43:52enterprise fund by revenue by retain

43:55from earnings in the enterprise fund. So

43:58in other words if we have to

44:00Are the taxpayers footing any of this?

44:03You want you want to take it or you want

44:05>> Madam Chair what while um Preston is

44:08coming up here there are no overrides

44:10involved in these airport projects.

44:12>> Well that's what I'm that's what I'm

44:13wondering. That's I just want to clarify

44:15that so

44:16>> Preston can um probably explain

44:18>> federal grant money and

44:20>> But none of it is in a tax

44:22>> The scary number here the 136 million

44:24for

44:25>> That'll be helpful.

44:27That's a favorite. Okay uh I just want

44:29to clarify terminology right?

44:32You're talking about debt exclusions.

44:34Not I mean technically debt exclusions

44:37so

44:38town meeting authorization to borrow

44:40over and above the levy limit.

44:42>> Um

44:43>> Which is a one time.

44:45>> I'm I'm what I'm concerned with is

44:49It's I don't have a problem with the

44:51airport borrowing money if it's going to

44:52be paid for out of the retained

44:54earnings. If it's I want to know if any

44:55of it's being borrowed and then having

44:57to pay for it by the out of the tax.

44:59>> Yes, yeah. That's where I'm That's where

45:00I I'm just making sure we're we're all

45:03agree saying using the words and meaning

45:06the same thing when we use the words.

45:07So, Preston, sorry about that.

45:09Um so, the question is do revenues at

45:12the airport cover all of the the

45:15overhead of these borrowings, I think is

45:17what Bobby's asking, right? Yeah.

45:19>> Right. Uh Preston Harmon, airport

45:21manager.

45:22Uh so, it would most of it would be

45:24retained earnings, no taxpayer money at

45:27all.

45:28Um there is one project in here that

45:29would be uh federally uh funded, which

45:31is a AIP project, which is a snow

45:33removal equipment, which is a snow

45:35blower. That's in uh a 90 and five and

45:39five split, so the airport would be on

45:41the hook for 5% of that.

45:43Um

45:45the vehicles that are listed could be

45:47eligible for state funding, which is

45:49ASMP, which is the airport safety and

45:52maintenance plan. That's an 80/20 split,

45:55and the 20 would be

45:56um local

45:58would be airport funds.

46:00Um

46:01PFOS, I know that's probably a a big

46:02number. The fuel farm expansion is a big

46:04number, but it also would be retained

46:07earnings.

46:08>> Okay, that's really helpful. Does that

46:10lead you to a recommendation?

46:12>> Yeah, I'm fine with this because this is

46:15a this is an enterprise fund that's been

46:17very good about funding itself. It's

46:19which is what the whole idea is. So, you

46:22know, you you have your own commission,

46:24you've looked at what you need to do,

46:25you figured out what your retained

46:27earnings are, how much your

46:28anticipated earnings are going to be,

46:30and what things you need to do. So, good

46:32job. I could I guess that's a short

46:35answer.

46:35>> So, the recommendation is and they do go

46:38through CAPCOM.

46:39>> Yeah.

46:39>> So, the recommendation stands at the

46:41CAPCOM

46:41>> thing for all three years to CAPCOM?

46:44Get that done real quick. Yeah, that's

46:46fine. Do you think you're going to do it

46:47Do you have any other recisions coming

46:49cuz you did do a big um you recinded

46:52borrowing this last year, like a lot of

46:54money, I think Actually, May.

46:58>> We don't know the answer to that.

46:59>> Okay.

46:59>> Yeah.

47:00>> That's fine. But

47:01>> I can find that.

47:01>> Kudos to you for doing that.

47:03>> [laughter]

47:05>> And I My question was going to be what

47:06percentage of it is going to be grants,

47:08etc.

47:09>> Okay.

47:09>> And Bobby kind of hit on that and a few

47:11other things.

47:12>> Okay.

47:12>> And the other way to think about it

47:14though is it's it's it's not

47:16we all pay for it. It's in our It's in

47:18the fees on our air flights and and

47:20everything else. So, it there's no sort

47:22of free lunch. This is we pay for this.

47:25We just don't see it and so it looks

47:26like free money. You know, so it's sort

47:28of uh

47:29>> Yeah.

47:30>> Yeah, it's sort of interesting. You

47:32know, but I but I agree with Bobby we

47:34should send it to capital and you know.

47:36>> Okay.

47:36>> And um

47:37>> And it's still can just

47:39Sorry.

47:39>> Yeah. Uh Rick Atherton has a question

47:41online and we'll take that.

47:46>> Um

47:48Thank you. Can you hear me?

47:50>> Yes, [clears throat] go ahead, Rick.

47:51>> I I'm sorry. I'm reaching back. I didn't

47:53quite get logged on in time to comment

47:56on the James Street matter.

47:58>> [clears throat]

47:59>> If you allow me, I'd like to make one

48:01quick comment on that and then

48:02>> Rick Rick, it's already done. We've

48:04already voted. So,

48:06um

48:07is it is it related to approving it or

48:10not or or just uh

48:11>> No, I think it's related to making sure

48:15you understand what happened is part of

48:17the negotiations on the one big beach

48:19easements.

48:20You've approved it. That's it. I

48:22understand that. I just wanted to bring

48:25it to the board's attention.

48:28>> Um

48:31Why don't you send us an email

48:33rather than doing it

48:35since we've moved on

48:36>> I'll be happy

48:37>> process-wise.

48:39>> Rick, I'll be happy to do that. It's a I

48:41think an unfortunate

48:44oversight.

48:45>> Rick

48:45>> But it is what it is.

48:46>> Rick, I'm not going to take the comment

48:48because the item we've moved on on the

48:50agenda. So, please just um

48:52express your concerns to us by email or

48:56come to public comment next week,

48:57please.

48:58>> Thank you.

48:59>> Thanks.

49:00Okay.

49:01Uh so, by consensus moving airport to

49:04Cap Com?

49:06Everybody? Okay.

49:08Great. Right?

49:09>> Okay.

49:11>> Uh

49:11are we Is everyone agree for the 3 years

49:14or we just talking about the 1 year?

49:17>> Yeah, well

49:19we I mean, we need we do have to have

49:21something in the SIP so we know what's

49:22coming up. So, I think it's good to do

49:24for the 3 years, right?

49:26>> Yeah.

49:26>> Yeah. I

49:27Sure. I think we're going to leave it

49:29just as it is, but I wanted you all to

49:31look at the first 3 years and make that

49:34determination. So,

49:35>> Yeah.

49:35>> Okay.

49:36>> Yep. Okay, good.

49:37>> Okay, Eric, if you could go to slide

49:39page eight.

49:42Which is sewer and um Drew is here.

49:45Nope. Page eight. There you go. Go.

49:48Drew is

49:49is here and willing to speak to

49:53any of these if you like.

49:55Um I guess what I would

49:57probably be

49:59flagging. Well, I I'm not going to do

50:01that.

50:02So, is there anything

50:06people would like to talk about here

50:08recognizing that um

50:11this could be a challenge to fund within

50:14the sewer enterprise fund.

50:15So, it would be general fund borrowings

50:18to Bob's earlier point.

50:19>> Just asking you a question. When you

50:21said it was under construction and we're

50:22going to review it superficially out are

50:24you saying it's going to come back with

50:26revisions to us?

50:28Then

50:29I would say the best thing to do is does

50:31anyone have a particular concern about a

50:33particular item before they go back to

50:36revise this capital plan for sewer and

50:38bring it back to us presumably

50:42>> should go away or

50:43>> Yeah, I mean, I just I think general and

50:45then we'll sort of make more definitive

50:47decisions.

50:48Yeah. Yeah.

50:50Identify the ones you need more info on.

50:53>> Yeah.

50:53>> I do.

50:54>> Yeah.

50:55>> Start with I the numbers just the round

50:58numbers on this thing just boggle for

51:00mind. We just throw numbers at things

51:02like Surfside maintenance and

51:04administrative facility construction, 15

51:06million. What is that? Is that a

51:08building?

51:10I

51:11>> That is a building.

51:12>> It is a building. All right, so that

51:14should probably come off.

51:15>> Um can I elaborate a tiny bit on that um

51:18and with um supplementation from these

51:21two? Um there are prior appropriations

51:24for design for the building that have

51:25already been approved. Um design is in

51:27progress. However, we have had some

51:29internal discussions about um

51:32putting a bit of a pause on this

51:34building because of concerns with debt

51:36service and the solar enterprise budget

51:38budget overall as well as um

51:42other concerns about our ability to

51:44manage a project like this and the cost

51:46and all of that. So, I probably safe to

51:48say it's somewhat paused

51:50for fiscal 28 anyway.

51:53>> Well, that's 15 million right there.

51:55Um

51:56downgradient sampling wells, how many

51:59wells is it? How many wells do you get

52:00for a million dollars these days?

52:02>> Um HydroPenna, director of public works.

52:04I I don't have an answer to that. To to

52:06Rick's point, this is maybe not under

52:08construction, maybe this is in

52:09development. Um I really haven't had an

52:12opportunity to dive into this stuff.

52:14These are critical wells for reporting

52:16to DEP. I don't know exactly how many. I

52:18think for for example, I think that that

52:20that actually is listed on there twice.

52:22Um

52:24a little bit further down, replacement

52:25of sampling wells construction. There's

52:26another million dollars.

52:27>> I'd like to know how many wells and what

52:29they are.

52:29>> Absolutely.

52:29>> A well is cuz I I

52:31it's been a few years since I put a well

52:33in a house, but it

52:35I don't I mean, a million dollars buys

52:36you a lot of wells.

52:37>> It does.

52:38>> So, and then the last one is the

52:40replacement of the overhead doors, a

52:41million dollars. Can we get

52:43>> Well, we are using

52:44everything well.

52:46>> David Gray's actually online. So, I

52:48don't know if he has

52:48>> I'll respond to all those.

52:50>> Okay, David, go ahead. Thank you.

52:52>> There's nine wells downgradient of the

52:56treatment plant. We've lost four of

52:58them. Four of them are gone due to

52:59erosion.

53:01Um the reason for the cost is uh

53:04specialized equipment to get up into the

53:05dunes to install new

53:09equipment new new wells. They have to be

53:11put

53:13where DEP says they need to be put.

53:15But it's all done by specialized

53:17equipment.

53:19Um

53:21the overhead doors

53:23that were installed back in '08 were

53:25steel doors. They've completely corroded

53:28or rotted away.

53:30We're looking to replace them with

53:31either with stainless steel and or some

53:34type of a

53:36HDPE or a polycarbonate or something. Um

53:40that's why the prices are

53:42I've had estimates of up over $800,000

53:46to replace those.

53:50>> Okay. Thanks. So, more details.

53:54Yes?

53:55>> Yeah. I mean, you got a fund that isn't

53:57doesn't have a lot of money in it.

53:59So,

54:00this money's got to come from somewhere.

54:02So, until this fund gets back to where

54:04it needs to be,

54:06some of these things need to

54:07take a little bit of time out. That's my

54:10opinion.

54:11>> Okay. All right. Any others that

54:14people want Drew, did you

54:15>> Can I comment also on the admin

54:17facility?

54:18>> Oh, sure, David. Go ahead.

54:19>> Currently, we are working out of a

54:21building that's been recycled three

54:23times already.

54:24And [clears throat] the other offices

54:25are in a temporary trailer that's been

54:27there for 7 years.

54:29Um

54:30This is something that we can get all of

54:32our equipment

54:33indoors from outside. Multi-million

54:36dollars worth of equipment and give the

54:38admin facility a proper place to

54:41operate out of

54:43with meeting spaces and everything else.

54:47>> But Madam Chair, I was just going to add

54:49globally speaking, all these projects,

54:51um

54:52you know, the Shimo sewer extension, the

54:53Somerset sewer extension project, those

54:55are general fund funded. So, they don't

54:57impact the debt service line item in the

54:59operating budget. But as you know,

55:00there's there's significant challenges

55:02to adding anything. So, I think you

55:03know, uh our

55:05finance director and I need to with

55:06Tonya Abben take a long hard look at

55:08when debt services retiring and be very

55:11cautious about how we bring on new debt.

55:14Um

55:14there certainly I would assume are some

55:16things that are kind of non-negotiable

55:18hopefully at a small dollar value, but

55:20you know, I I think we're going to need

55:21to be really strategic about how we kind

55:22of

55:23stagger or schedule these types of

55:25things going forward especially

55:27something that's a a big ticket item. So

55:29that like I I said it's really in

55:30development and we're going to continue

55:31to look at that and we'll come back and

55:33um talk about this further with you

55:35guys.

55:35>> Yeah. And and the one that I identified

55:37was the expansion beyond Somerset needs

55:40the Humac Pond north and Humac Pond

55:41south like

55:43now that we're here is that

55:46you know, that's not even going to be

55:47constructed for 3 years. So it seems to

55:49me that that can be pushed.

55:50>> Correct. I I actually think Humac Pond

55:53north is listed on here twice 19 million

55:55in FY29 and then another 26 eight uh

55:59trillion dollars right. So those type of

56:01things we'd like to clean up and try to

56:02be realistic about the timeline for some

56:04of these projects. I think even in terms

56:06of other major capital projects that

56:08other departments general fund

56:09enterprise funds have planned so that we

56:11can try to I think the term Rick's used

56:13in the past is smooth things out right

56:14and find the right home

56:16uh for especially the big ticket stuff.

56:18So

56:19we'll work on that.

56:20>> Okay.

56:20>> Wells are listed twice too Drew.

56:23Right. Thanks David.

56:24>> I think thanks David. This is also a

56:27uh

56:27you also I think Alicia also identified

56:30areas where you can rescind some of the

56:32borrowing. I think it was pretty

56:33significant. But the breakdown between

56:36the general fund and the enterprise fund

56:37is kind of what we need to know there.

56:40Um but on the Somerset sewer design the

56:42$300,000

56:44was the design out of the enterprise

56:46fund for borrowing?

56:48>> I don't know if the design was uh if the

56:53debt service for that is carried by the

56:55enterprise fund.

56:56>> Yeah.

56:56>> So I can certainly follow up with David

56:58as far as the intent of that whether

57:00that's a holdover from a previous

57:02you know, um input into plum or capital

57:04planning software like that. So we'll

57:07certainly refine this.

57:08>> Great. Thanks David. It's nice to see

57:10you.

57:11>> Thanks.

57:11>> Um

57:12and uh look forward to uh

57:15cleaned up version of this for another

57:17day. All right, awesome. Moving along?

57:19>> Thank you, everyone.

57:20>> To your point of round numbers and often

57:22often times by the by the time these get

57:25to Capcom, they need supplemental

57:26documentation. And the supplemental

57:28documentation is often

57:29>> Okay. I get it, but we've already done

57:31one rate increase, and we're talking

57:32about another rate increase in '27, and

57:36when

57:36>> I'm I'm not disputing I'm just saying,

57:38by the time they get there, the numbers

57:39are

57:39>> Yeah, no, I I appreciate that.

57:41Yeah, okay.

57:45>> I

57:46Oh, I I passed over

57:47Eric, could

57:49Could you go back to Oh, it's down

57:51below, isn't it? Uh could you go down a

57:52couple slides?

57:54That right there is fine.

57:58So, I was going to just quickly uh Our

58:01Island Home down the bottom, just I'm

58:03going to say there's just the one ask.

58:05It's for

58:06um

58:07it's money's for general repairs um that

58:10we can't

58:12um

58:13can't really anticipate.

58:16So, that's all that's in the plan for

58:18Our Island Home. That probably needs a

58:20little bit more work, too, as we think

58:22about the new Our Island Home. And And

58:24somewhere out there in '35, '36, '37,

58:27we're probably going to need some

58:28capital money. So, we'll we'll continue

58:30to sharpen our pencils on that one.

58:33Solid waste, since we're here, why don't

58:34we

58:35>> Hang on. Hang on, Red.

58:36>> Just on the waste facility.

58:37>> Uh just on Our Island Home. This is like

58:39stopgap on the old building while we're

58:41building the new building, right? Just

58:42for clarity for the year.

58:43>> We're going to use that old building, so

58:45we should maintain it.

58:46>> Right. Yeah. Okay. Um so, Jill, do if

58:49you want to

58:50Oh, what's No, what is my

58:52>> Has Mark Willett joined, by chance or

58:53not?

58:55>> I'm sure they're using retained earnings

58:57at the water department. I'm not as

58:59worried about them. They

59:01>> No.

59:01>> They're they're very very disciplined at

59:03the water department. I have to give

59:04them a lot of credit about when they

59:05come forward. And they speak a lot about

59:07how they don't like to do projects that

59:09they can't manage.

59:11And I I at the water company one even

59:14though Mark's not here. I would just

59:16I'm comfortable sending it to Capcom.

59:18>> Yeah, me too. Me too.

59:20Okay, consensus. Don, you good with

59:22that?

59:26Yes.

59:27Okay, great. So, we can save Mark

59:29another trip and us another night of

59:31reviewing that.

59:33Okay, stormwater Rick, is that

59:35>> Um yes, stormwater.

59:40Sorry, it's a little odd.

59:43Is Chuck Larson out?

59:46>> Charles is not.

59:47>> Charles is here, I know that.

59:50Yeah, okay. Are you Are you prepared to

59:52speak on any of these?

59:54Great, okay.

59:56So, there's

59:57there's three.

59:59The Children's Beach pump station,

1:00:01Charles. I Well, do you guys have you

1:00:02have I'll have questions you want to

1:00:04hear something?

1:00:04>> My question would be that's a huge

1:00:06number for a pump. I mean, I'd like to

1:00:08know a little more about that one as

1:00:09well. So.

1:00:11>> It's not

1:00:13You need to come up here.

1:00:14>> Have to have to come to the mic,

1:00:15Charles. Thanks.

1:00:17>> It's not just a pump. Um

1:00:20that

1:00:22quote pump station originally was built

1:00:24as a gravity

1:00:26outfall,

1:00:27um which didn't work and then it was

1:00:30converted to a pump station,

1:00:32which didn't work

1:00:34uh because the the wet well was never

1:00:37designed um and because of that the old

1:00:40pumps burned out.

1:00:42We've been limping along for

1:00:45uh

1:00:4610 or 15 years with something that's not

1:00:48working and

1:00:50Fuss & O'Neill um looked at a design 5

1:00:54years ago when Rob McNeal was at DPW.

1:00:57They came up with a design. It was never

1:01:01um and I think some of the this

1:01:03um funding was back from that time.

1:01:07Um

1:01:08it has not been approved at all.

1:01:12Uh so, we're looking at relocating the

1:01:14the pump station. It's not in the right

1:01:17place.

1:01:18Um

1:01:19so it's not

1:01:20just the pumps. The pumps I think are

1:01:22identified for a million dollars, which

1:01:24seems reasonable.

1:01:26Um the pump station itself has to be

1:01:28relocated.

1:01:30>> Where's it going to be relocated to?

1:01:32Where's it going to be relocated to?

1:01:33>> So we haven't even gotten to that. We're

1:01:36um we're involved in a a stormwater

1:01:39master plan

1:01:41um

1:01:42with Hazen and Sawyer. That's part of uh

1:01:45We're looking at that pump station as

1:01:47well as other locations for pump

1:01:49stations.

1:01:51>> Okay.

1:01:51>> And it all addresses the flooding

1:01:53problems we have and

1:01:56North Beach, East End, Easy Street,

1:01:59Washington.

1:02:00>> I was on the board when this went in.

1:02:02>> Okay.

1:02:02>> And I was down there

1:02:05poking my head around a lot watching

1:02:07this whole process.

1:02:08I'm going to

1:02:09This is why I'm very

1:02:11cautious about this. I was literally

1:02:14standing there

1:02:15the day they installed the pump

1:02:18because they said, "Well, the gravity

1:02:19feed won't work." We spent a lot of

1:02:20money to put that whole system in down

1:02:22there and then it didn't work.

1:02:24And I asked the contractor, "Is this

1:02:25going to fix our problem?" The

1:02:27contractors were there installing the

1:02:28pump. They looked me dead in the face

1:02:31and said, "No."

1:02:32And I said, "What do you mean, no?"

1:02:34And they said, "This isn't going to fix

1:02:36it."

1:02:38But I said, "Well, why are you putting

1:02:39it in?" "Our job's not to design it. Our

1:02:41job's just to put it in." We paid those

1:02:44engineers a ton of money and we got

1:02:47I I know I can't I'm going to I don't

1:02:49say the wrong words here and end up on

1:02:51getting sanctioned. So I'm not going to

1:02:52say what I want to say, but I don't want

1:02:54to see that happen again. So

1:02:57Uh $10 million is a lot of money for

1:02:59this and I want to make sure it's right

1:03:00this time. Because or we should have

1:03:03some type of recourse to go after these

1:03:05guys that designed this crap because

1:03:07that's what's there right now.

1:03:08>> Well, the problem was it was designed in

1:03:11piecemeal fashion. So it wasn't designed

1:03:13as a pump station and then it was trying

1:03:16to reuse the gravity uh outfall system

1:03:21with tide gates. It's It's complicated,

1:03:24but they but the

1:03:26It wasn't It wasn't designed as a pump

1:03:28station, and that was part of the

1:03:30problem.

1:03:31>> So, what I'm hearing is there's there's

1:03:34an analysis that's happening that it's

1:03:36going to

1:03:37decide what's actually needed to be

1:03:40designed and constructed. So, it feels

1:03:42as though

1:03:44is that this is early.

1:03:48>> Oh, yeah.

1:03:48>> For '28. So, so this probably can move

1:03:51out on the timeline is what I'm hearing

1:03:53because we got we have some

1:03:54comprehensive analysis work to do first.

1:03:57So, we talking maybe about design money

1:04:01first before we're we authorize

1:04:03construction money.

1:04:04>> be possible. I wasn't involved in

1:04:06running these numbers and and

1:04:08scheduling. So, I That's possible,

1:04:12although

1:04:13that existing system does not work

1:04:15correctly. So,

1:04:17you know, it

1:04:18if there's flooding there, the existing

1:04:21pump can't handle it.

1:04:23>> So, should we ask CapCom to analyze it

1:04:25further in more detail rather than

1:04:26having us trying to do it?

1:04:28>> Yeah, just it's a big number.

1:04:31>> Well, I

1:04:31>> I want to make sure the num- the system

1:04:33is, you know, I do If If we're designing

1:04:36it, do we need 10 million to design it?

1:04:38That's a good

1:04:39>> That would be a no. You're going to

1:04:41phase it.

1:04:42>> Yeah. Yeah.

1:04:44Sometimes Sometimes

1:04:45>> it doesn't work. It hasn't worked from

1:04:46the day they put it in. I know that, but

1:04:48it I mean it

1:04:49>> But I just advise you that Okay.

1:04:52>> Let Let Let me control the room a little

1:04:54bit more. Jill.

1:04:56I I do think sometimes we're conflicted

1:04:58about giving design money and then going

1:05:00back and asking for more money to do it.

1:05:02I mean,

1:05:03infrastructure project like this I'm

1:05:05sort of I can't believe I'm saying this,

1:05:07but I'm sort of tempted to say

1:05:10you know, for them to go in with the

1:05:11full amount. It is complicated. It is

1:05:14going to take a while. I I mean

1:05:16we can have more specific language in

1:05:18the warrant, actually,

1:05:21um that says this amount for design and

1:05:23this would be for construction. Like we

1:05:25can we can say we want it in the

1:05:26warrant. So, maybe that's something to

1:05:28think about when you ask for the larger

1:05:30amounts.

1:05:31But, my bigger problem with stormwater

1:05:33is that there's no revenue source. So,

1:05:35>> I was just going to say, is this going

1:05:36to be an override?

1:05:37Or Yeah, excuse

1:05:39>> It will be on the taxpayers at this

1:05:41point in time cuz there's no revenue

1:05:42stream in stormwater.

1:05:43>> When we discussed this, you know, 5

1:05:46years ago, 10 years ago, whenever it

1:05:47was, there was some concern about it

1:05:49being Is this going to be underwater? Is

1:05:51it going to be running all the time?

1:05:52Shouldn't this be in a different place?

1:05:53Should it be, you know, the corner of

1:05:55Easton and, you know, around the corner?

1:05:57Should it be at higher ground, you know,

1:05:59where the Mad Hatter crossing where the

1:06:00Mad Hatter used to be? Right. Like that

1:06:02was the stuff we talked about. And

1:06:05And we kind of got answers and kind of

1:06:07didn't and and it sort of

1:06:08into So, I guess what There's two

1:06:11things. I think is it Are we phasing it

1:06:13and how much do we need to phase it and

1:06:14how much we need to do the for the

1:06:16second part of it? And the other thing

1:06:18is once we get the plans, how can we

1:06:19double-check that they're right this

1:06:21time? You know,

1:06:23so those are the two things that I'm

1:06:24hearing. You know, Bobby's 100% right.

1:06:26We shouldn't be,

1:06:27you know, designing something and if we

1:06:29have to spend a little more to have it

1:06:30work right, then let's do that. But,

1:06:32let's make sure it's right. So.

1:06:34>> Okay. So, so do we want, um

1:06:38I know Chuck Larson's

1:06:40very involved in this. Charles, would he

1:06:42have more details for us than you're

1:06:44able to provide tonight? Is it worth

1:06:46having him come back or do we want to

1:06:47have Cap Com review it with them

1:06:49together and make a recommendation?

1:06:52>> I'm comfortable sending it to Cap Com. I

1:06:54just I One of the things that I think,

1:06:57and this this isn't necessarily this

1:06:58project, this is to in general, is we

1:07:01need to have some type of

1:07:03recourse when we hire consultants and

1:07:06engineers to design stuff for us that it

1:07:09doesn't work. We can't just let them

1:07:11keep getting away with this. We need to

1:07:12go after them.

1:07:14You know, this There needs to be some

1:07:15type of guarantee in in these contracts

1:07:18that says your design is something

1:07:20that's actually going to work. Not,

1:07:21well, "Oh, well, we thought it would,

1:07:23but it didn't. So, here you go, you have

1:07:25to spend a couple hundred million more,

1:07:27and you will fix it for you. It's crazy.

1:07:30I mean, private business would never let

1:07:32this happen, and just because we're

1:07:33government, we shouldn't let it happen,

1:07:35either.

1:07:36>> I also want to add, we have different

1:07:37departmental leadership now, and

1:07:39hopefully

1:07:41um

1:07:42that will help as well.

1:07:43>> Can I ask one more question about this?

1:07:45Did you all ever talk about betterments

1:07:46for this, or didn't some Weren't there

1:07:48some homeowners that talked about

1:07:52wanting to contribute money to this at

1:07:53some point?

1:07:55>> I

1:07:56I don't think it was through any kind of

1:07:57a betterment structure. It was

1:08:00Sometimes the Brant Point Association

1:08:02says, "How can we help?"

1:08:04>> Right. And that's kind of as far as it

1:08:06gets.

1:08:07>> Yeah, but Brant Point is is an ideal

1:08:10spot to be talking about betterments.

1:08:12There's a lot of properties there that

1:08:15can that can share in this, that are

1:08:16completely getting the benefit. They're

1:08:18getting 80 or 90% of the benefit from

1:08:21all the pumps that are going to be

1:08:22needed and everything else. And so, this

1:08:24is we shouldn't be

1:08:26I know that it's sort of betterments are

1:08:28a dirty word, and people don't like to

1:08:29vote them. The The staff doesn't like

1:08:31them, and the public doesn't like them.

1:08:33But, if we are going to be paying for,

1:08:35you know, if we're going to be able to

1:08:36fund places like

1:08:38Brant Point, then we're going to have

1:08:40to, you know, we're going to have to

1:08:42deal with it. So, anyway.

1:08:44>> I Mount Chair, um I'm sorry, go ahead.

1:08:46>> No, go ahead.

1:08:47>> I'm just going to say, um I think David

1:08:48wants to say something, but before he

1:08:49does, um a couple things. This isn't

1:08:52really a project that lends itself to a

1:08:54betterment structure. I don't know how

1:08:56you would figure out yeah, how each

1:08:58property what each property would pay.

1:09:01Number one. Number two, um this project,

1:09:04quite clearly, is not ready for fiscal

1:09:0628.

1:09:07>> Yep.

1:09:07>> And it is um part of the sewer master

1:09:11plan as or storm water master plan,

1:09:13sorry, as Charles said, and it it needs

1:09:16a lot more refinement, and there are

1:09:19many other factors that

1:09:22lend to the idea that, again, it's not

1:09:25ready for 28. There is no money in the

1:09:28sewer enterprise fund for this project.

1:09:30It would have to be a debt exclusion and

1:09:32I don't think we're ready for that

1:09:33either right now.

1:09:34So, um

1:09:36that all says move it out and bring it

1:09:39to capital sure and talk talk it over,

1:09:41but

1:09:42it's not ready for 28.

1:09:44>> Can I

1:09:47to the chair?

1:09:48>> Yes, go ahead.

1:09:50>> We're going to be on a shorter timeline

1:09:51at capital this year. So, is it possible

1:09:54that we can just not put things on that

1:09:56we really don't think are going to go

1:09:57forward cuz I don't we're not going to

1:09:59be meeting

1:10:0032 times like we did last year, I don't

1:10:02think.

1:10:05>> No. I mean, hopefully yes, but what I

1:10:07what I wanted there is just for this

1:10:09this one project that we're talking

1:10:11about, there's a prior appropriation of

1:10:12$4.3 million of which there still

1:10:14remains $3 million. So, if you did push

1:10:16it out and we did need money

1:10:18to continue some planning work

1:10:21or study,

1:10:23we have it. So, makes it easier to push

1:10:25it out.

1:10:26And and I

1:10:27>> Okay, I have David's hand on online,

1:10:29David Greish. So, I just want to give

1:10:31him an opportunity to weigh in.

1:10:34>> Thank you, Brooke. Just a couple things.

1:10:36This $10 million number originally came

1:10:39from the a former DPW director. This was

1:10:41before

1:10:42our time

1:10:44as [clears throat] as far as the sewer

1:10:45department and storm water division

1:10:46went.

1:10:47And so, this came back from

1:10:50a DPW director in the past. Um

1:10:55the

1:10:56there has been discussions of even

1:10:58possibly moving the pump station up to

1:11:00the back corner of the lot

1:11:02and incorporating it with some public

1:11:04restrooms. That's been talked about. So,

1:11:07there's a lot of work that still needs

1:11:09to be done on this.

1:11:10Um

1:11:13emergency power etc. like that. You have

1:11:15to be able to put a

1:11:16transformer down there that's raised

1:11:18elevated over 6 ft and

1:11:20there's a lot to it. Um

1:11:23So, this uh

1:11:26as far as new management, this wasn't

1:11:28done under my management or the sewer

1:11:30department's management. This was done

1:11:31prior to to us.

1:11:33>> That's what I was referring to, yes. I

1:11:35thought so.

1:11:36>> Okay, thank you.

1:11:38>> David, I was not throwing you under the

1:11:39bus publicly.

1:11:40>> And my point wasn't betterments for this

1:11:42specific project. My point is there's

1:11:45going to be hundreds of millions of

1:11:46dollars that are going to be needed in

1:11:48that area that we need to be fun-

1:11:50getting some of that funding back in

1:11:52some manner. And so

1:11:54I I think that's you know, we've got to

1:11:56just keep an op- an open mind to that. I

1:11:58wasn't saying we're going to better this

1:12:00particular project, but that's one if

1:12:02one pump's going to be $5 million

1:12:05it's going to it's going to be a lot of

1:12:07money. It's going to be needed down

1:12:08there. So

1:12:09>> So it sounds like

1:12:11I'm hearing push it out a year.

1:12:14Use the existing funding for the

1:12:16planning that we need before we come up

1:12:18with a number for capital, right? And

1:12:20then the other two stormwater items

1:12:24um C Mom

1:12:26um rep- that that replay- that's been an

1:12:28ongoing project, right? So do we want to

1:12:31have Cap Com review that?

1:12:33as

1:12:35ongoing?

1:12:37>> Yeah, I mean

1:12:38how are we going to fund that?

1:12:41>> Article 10 goes into the budget.

1:12:43>> else.

1:12:45Yeah, I mean again I I

1:12:49it's [laughter] hard to really say that

1:12:51you're going to look at a project where

1:12:52you don't know how you're going to fund

1:12:53it. It It I know

1:12:55>> Somehow some way you you managed to

1:12:57figure it out, but in this particular

1:13:00instance we know they have no revenue

1:13:01source. So I'm with Matt. I I don't I'm

1:13:04looking at betterments even if that was

1:13:05complicated for that pump. Um David has

1:13:08a say again. Go ahead, David.

1:13:10>> The uh

1:13:11the new stormwater regulations that have

1:13:13been are just about complete are going

1:13:15to incorporate um these betterments etc.

1:13:19like that. Those have not been set yet.

1:13:21We're basing [clears throat] all of the

1:13:22numbers off of

1:13:25other communities in Massachusetts as

1:13:26well as other coastal communities up and

1:13:29down the coast. Um Charles has been

1:13:31working extremely hard on those

1:13:33regulations and

1:13:35they're just about ready for prime time,

1:13:37but

1:13:39that's where all of our numbers are

1:13:40going to come from and that's where the

1:13:41revenue streams will ultimately come

1:13:43from.

1:13:47>> Yeah, that's a good point because um,

1:13:49we're we're looking at 2029 for those

1:13:52regulations to be in place which um,

1:13:55starts that enterprise funding and the

1:13:58source for

1:13:59funding for this type of thing.

1:14:01>> Yeah, it it feels like the big project

1:14:03needs to be aligned with that time.

1:14:05>> It's I feel like we're dragging the cart

1:14:07before the horse here, you know, we

1:14:09don't have the money, we don't have the

1:14:10funding in place, but we're going to

1:14:11start the projects and just

1:14:14>> Uh

1:14:16They've got money to keep going for a

1:14:17bit.

1:14:17>> one thing I would just want to break

1:14:19bring up is that that pump station is

1:14:21not operational right now and so that

1:14:23part of that original 4 million funding

1:14:26may need to be used for bringing that up

1:14:29to so it at least it works.

1:14:32>> Which is another reason it's good to

1:14:34keep that money together a little bit

1:14:35even if you want to carve it out um, and

1:14:38separate it for design versus

1:14:42yeah, maintenance. Okay, so so uh

1:14:46I think where I'm at is

1:14:50let's have Cap Com look at it and figure

1:14:53out where it should be aligned relative

1:14:54to existing funding and what needs to

1:14:57get done to to get to a number

1:15:00that either might be paid for by the fee

1:15:02structure or otherwise. And so have a

1:15:06have a preliminary review at Cap Com

1:15:08rather than taking it off their list for

1:15:09this year,

1:15:10but bottom of the list priority-wise

1:15:12maybe. Um

1:15:14Jill, does that feel all right?

1:15:17>> Yeah, I think it's fine. We've looked at

1:15:18this before at Cap Com, so this isn't

1:15:20new for us.

1:15:21They've talked about it before.

1:15:22>> I have a question.

1:15:23>> Yeah.

1:15:25>> Cap Com's going to look at all of this,

1:15:27this 97 million.

1:15:29>> It's 200 million, Bob.

1:15:30>> I know.

1:15:32We're We're to look at all of this and

1:15:34is it going to come back to us?

1:15:37For all and we're going to get to look

1:15:38at each individual item as as whether if

1:15:41it's an override, whether we're going to

1:15:42put it forward or not.

1:15:43>> Yes.

1:15:45Libby, do you want to talk about it?

1:15:47>> a recommendation. That's it.

1:15:49>> Yeah, well, there's information we don't

1:15:51have yet about what funding will be

1:15:52available, such as free cash.

1:15:54>> Right.

1:15:55>> And so

1:15:57the the capital projects for fiscal 28

1:16:00will come back to you following the

1:16:01capital program committee's review.

1:16:03They'll have a report with

1:16:04recommendations. In the middle of all of

1:16:06that, we will get our free cash

1:16:08certified, and finance and town admin

1:16:10will come in with some recommendations

1:16:12on funding.

1:16:13>> Okay. And how And also how much it might

1:16:15be able to be rescinded. That was the

1:16:17other thing they're working on. So

1:16:19>> Thank you.

1:16:20>> So we'll look at it as

1:16:22in the big picture.

1:16:23>> Okay.

1:16:23>> We'll get another review. Yeah.

1:16:24>> Um the one thing that I would just want

1:16:26to touch on it

1:16:28is

1:16:29when Matt talked about betterments. And

1:16:31this this project, this Children's

1:16:34Beach, does it does make everyone who

1:16:37lives in the Halbert Avenue area in

1:16:38Brant Point and Eastern Street and all

1:16:40that area better. If

1:16:43the way that

1:16:44what drives me a little bit crazy is

1:16:46suppose we need to move the pump station

1:16:49a block or two away, and we need you

1:16:51know, 20 square feet of land to put this

1:16:53pump station on.

1:16:56I'll bet you a dime to a

1:16:57dollar to a dime, whoever owns it is

1:16:59going to want market value for that 20

1:17:01by 20 piece of land.

1:17:03They're benefiting from it, but they

1:17:05won't give us a little postage stamp of

1:17:07land to put the pump station on. It's a

1:17:09little bit hypocritical as far as I'm

1:17:10concerned.

1:17:12You know,

1:17:13you don't want to help us? We'll just

1:17:15let your yard flood every storm.

1:17:18We're not going to help you, either. I

1:17:19mean, nothing says we have to help

1:17:21people who build in a flood plain.

1:17:23There's no law that says we have to

1:17:25build all this stuff. So if the

1:17:27neighborhood isn't going to work with

1:17:28us, why are we working with them?

1:17:32>> I'm not sure we know that yet, but so

1:17:35>> I was just going to say to to be fair,

1:17:37we don't know that yet and we haven't

1:17:38asked them about any land

1:17:41at all.

1:17:41>> I'm wrong.

1:17:43>> Okay, it's a good candidate for a

1:17:45betterment.

1:17:46In principle, I got you Bobby. Okay.

1:17:49All right, so um we'll

1:17:52we'll send these to Capcom.

1:17:54With the idea that the big one's

1:17:56definitely going to be pushed down the

1:17:57road.

1:17:58But I think what I'm worried about is

1:18:00the emergent need

1:18:02of a non-functioning pump station and

1:18:03then if there's a capital need for that

1:18:05that doesn't exist already.

1:18:07>> Mhm.

1:18:07>> Yeah.

1:18:08Okay.

1:18:09All right.

1:18:09>> So

1:18:11can we move Should we move on to Can we

1:18:12go back to Nantucket Water Company for

1:18:14department for a moment because Mark

1:18:17kindly went into the office to um

1:18:20take any questions that you might have.

1:18:22So if you can think of a good question

1:18:24to ask him so he didn't go back in

1:18:25needlessly, that'd be great.

1:18:27>> Hey Mark, basically you got a thumbs up

1:18:29to move everything to Capcom, but was

1:18:31there anything you want Anybody have any

1:18:32specific questions for Mark while he's

1:18:34here? Thank you for coming.

1:18:37>> I guess for me Mark, I just wondered

1:18:38about the employee housing.

1:18:40>> So there's a few things that are

1:18:42probably going to change on that plan.

1:18:44Um

1:18:46the metal storage building for 1.2

1:18:50uh

1:18:50currently the PFAS structure that we're

1:18:52building around our PFAS plant is a

1:18:54metal building.

1:18:56We actually extended during

1:18:57construction, decided to extend that pad

1:19:00and make the building big enough. So

1:19:01we're going to have like a 30-ft storage

1:19:03bay on the end of it.

1:19:05I may not have to do the metal storage

1:19:07building if I can fit everything inside

1:19:09of there.

1:19:11Which I'm hoping to do.

1:19:13Um

1:19:14we're looking at a pipe rack system

1:19:15where we could go inside that 30-ft

1:19:17space and get all of our our pipe and

1:19:19and big 12-in ductile, 8-in ductile

1:19:21fittings inside that space.

1:19:24And then I wouldn't need that metal

1:19:25storage building.

1:19:27>> Okay, terrific. And I know the auditor

1:19:29talked about that.

1:19:31>> Yeah, and

1:19:32the employee housing was really the

1:19:35commission was looking at a house move.

1:19:37That kind of fell through.

1:19:39Um

1:19:40so realistically that probably could get

1:19:43bumped to FY29.

1:19:45>> Okay.

1:19:48Okay.

1:19:49Mark, as usual, you're a problem solver.

1:19:52Yeah.

1:19:53Okay, great. Thanks, Mark. Um thanks for

1:19:56dragging yourself in for what ended up

1:19:57to be not a lot of questions. So

1:20:01we appreciate your diligence.

1:20:03>> Thank you.

1:20:04>> Okay.

1:20:05Um

1:20:07so I think all that's left is solid

1:20:08waste, right? So Jill's going to recuse

1:20:10on this.

1:20:13Yeah, yeah. Just

1:20:17>> I guess Mike

1:20:18Madam Chair, through you.

1:20:20>> Yes.

1:20:21>> I guess my question is do we really need

1:20:22a second scale?

1:20:27>> Um

1:20:28Er Erica, do you mind going to the

1:20:29sound? Oh, it is not, sorry. Um

1:20:32so um we uh I think it was June we had

1:20:35uh an issue with the existing scale. Not

1:20:37surprisingly, there are no local vendors

1:20:38that can service or repair the scale. Um

1:20:41it

1:20:42it was thankfully only out for a day and

1:20:44change. Um I will say when you talk to

1:20:46the landscaping community, this is the

1:20:48number one thing that they ask us for.

1:20:50Um

1:20:51part and becau- partly because obviously

1:20:53there's a risk of just having the one

1:20:54scale and over redundancy, but the

1:20:56queuing issues of getting vehicles in

1:20:59a lot of vehicles that come to the solid

1:21:02waste facility do not have a tare

1:21:03weight. So they actually have to weigh

1:21:04twice. They weigh going in when they're

1:21:06full and then they come back around and

1:21:07weigh again uh to get the weight of the

1:21:09vehicle so that the delta is what they

1:21:11get charged for. Um so this there's

1:21:14there was a previous appropriation for

1:21:16the scale, but frankly it it was

1:21:18probably just about enough to purchase

1:21:20the scale. No civil site work, no

1:21:22utilities, etc. Um and the existing

1:21:25scale house is a posted stamp. It's not

1:21:28large enough to service two scales. It's

1:21:29also decrepit. Um and so this is very

1:21:33much a product of something that we hear

1:21:35loud and clear from the public and from

1:21:37the

1:21:37commercial entities that use the scale

1:21:39uh than anybody is that a second scale

1:21:42is top top priority.

1:21:46>> Okay.

1:21:48My guess, my question then is before we

1:21:50do we

1:21:52I

1:21:54go there a bit and I use the scale a bit

1:21:57and I have I'm one of those people that

1:21:59has a way in and way out and it's a

1:22:01freaking nightmare because not because

1:22:03of the fact that there's one scale,

1:22:05because the fact that the way the whole

1:22:06thing's configured, there's no way you

1:22:08got dumpsters going one direction the

1:22:10other, you got trucks going in and out

1:22:12of the recycle building, you got guys

1:22:14going down this, you know, going down

1:22:16the scale.

1:22:17Then you got to come around and make a

1:22:19loop. They got to It's just how are they

1:22:21going to How is a second scale going to

1:22:22fix all that? There's not room There's

1:22:24barely enough room for one scale there

1:22:26now. Are they going to

1:22:27You know, I just I

1:22:29I see this as a Pandora's Box where,

1:22:31"Oh, yeah, we got to get a scale. Now we

1:22:33got to redesign it. Now we got to put

1:22:34down, you know, 6,000 square foot of

1:22:37asphalt and before you know it, this

1:22:39number gets tripled."

1:22:41>> We This is This number's actually based

1:22:43off of a cost estimate that our

1:22:46consultant Sanborn Head did for us for

1:22:47last year and then we punted this from

1:22:49last year to this year.

1:22:51Um

1:22:52I I hear what you're saying. Included in

1:22:55that is civil and site work and I think

1:22:57it's an opportunity to clean up the flow

1:22:59of traffic in and out of the site. It's

1:23:00certainly less than ideal. Part of

1:23:03this effort is doing some work with the

1:23:06reclaimed soils that are adjacent to

1:23:08that area and changing the lane

1:23:09configuration in and out so that it does

1:23:11flow better. That's That's a secondary

1:23:13benefit to just having a second scale.

1:23:17>> No U-turns if you're weighing in on one

1:23:19and weighing out on the other.

1:23:22>> But they won't That's not what they'll

1:23:23end up doing.

1:23:25It's not going to be one with one scale

1:23:26in one scale out. It's going to cuz

1:23:28they're going to have too many trucks

1:23:29that already have weights. They'll have

1:23:31They'll have a semi on one scale,

1:23:33they'll have a

1:23:35pickup truck with grass cuttings on the

1:23:37other one. They're still going to have

1:23:38to make the loop and come in and out.

1:23:40>> I I believe it is one scale for in, one

1:23:43scale for out. Obviously, if one scale

1:23:45is offline, then we're only using one

1:23:47scale and we kind of go back to today's

1:23:49configuration of just using the one

1:23:50scale being shared by everybody in some

1:23:52U-turns in circulation.

1:23:54I will admit Chris Chris Lowe is

1:23:55unavailable to join tonight and

1:23:57certainly get some more information on

1:23:58circulation and and some of those

1:23:59details, but

1:24:00>> the site plan.

1:24:01>> Yep.

1:24:02>> Just so I can get an idea of in my head

1:24:04as to what they plan to do cuz there

1:24:06must be a plan drawn somewhere.

1:24:07>> There absolutely is. It's already in the

1:24:09supplemental documentation for CAPCOM.

1:24:11So,

1:24:12I can certainly get that to you.

1:24:13>> Okay. I guess I'll make a motion to send

1:24:16this to CAPCOM.

1:24:17>> Okay.

1:24:18>> I'll

1:24:18>> Second. We're doing it by motions. Okay.

1:24:20>> Well, just consensus to send it.

1:24:22>> now that you've made a motion, it's been

1:24:24seconded, I'll take a vote. Matt?

1:24:25>> I.

1:24:26>> Yeah.

1:24:26Bobby?

1:24:27>> I.

1:24:27>> Jill?

1:24:29Jill's not here. Dawn?

1:24:31>> I.

1:24:33>> And Brooke says I. Uh okay. So,

1:24:37>> Sorry, Madam Chair. Did you want me to

1:24:38talk about any any of the other

1:24:40>> Do you guys have projects that are on

1:24:41here? Skip.

1:24:42>> I'm happy to run through some of them

1:24:43with you.

1:24:43>> Any others?

1:24:44>> If you'd like to.

1:24:45>> Um for landfill, no. They're

1:24:48that's just a just a big number.

1:24:50>> What is the emerging technologies in

1:24:52year three? Do we

1:24:54Is that hope Is that hopeful?

1:24:56>> thinking. Right now it's Right now it's

1:24:57most definitely a placeholder. Um as I

1:24:59mentioned, I get

1:25:01a number of times and even at annual

1:25:03town meeting, we we are always actively

1:25:04evaluating alternative technologies. One

1:25:07of which would be pyrolysis or a biochar

1:25:10um

1:25:12process. It's challenging because

1:25:14there's not many facilities you can go

1:25:16physically see in real life. Uh but

1:25:18there are some examples out there and so

1:25:19I know Chris uh our solid waste manager,

1:25:21George Aronson, our consultant have

1:25:23visited these types of facilities. We

1:25:24had a vendor come out to Nantucket to

1:25:26see our operations, see how we source

1:25:27separate, see what waste we're

1:25:28generating, um and start to put those

1:25:31pieces together. It is again very much a

1:25:33placeholder.

1:25:34That dollar value is not really based on

1:25:36anything nor may you know, there's also

1:25:38very good chance it may not be ready by

1:25:40FY30, but we want to put it out there

1:25:42that, you know, this is something that

1:25:43we're, you know, actively evaluating and

1:25:45associated with that is some of the

1:25:47other stuff that you see on there. Um,

1:25:49other capital investments maybe a a year

1:25:51prior or or subsequent to that to

1:25:54facilitate a changeover. Um, so that's

1:25:57that's what that's in there for.

1:25:59>> Great, thank you.

1:26:01>> Terrific. Uh, so does that do it?

1:26:04I I um, Jill, bef- you you want to come

1:26:07back? I think we're done with solid

1:26:08waste.

1:26:09Um,

1:26:11so just to recap,

1:26:14uh, we're going to get a a second look

1:26:16at sewer.

1:26:17>> Correct.

1:26:18>> And and otherwise,

1:26:20um,

1:26:21m- most of it got sent to Cap Com.

1:26:24>> Yeah. No, that that it's great

1:26:25direction. It's it's it's fine. I I

1:26:27think just on that last $10 million item

1:26:30that we just talked about, I think maybe

1:26:32we should be

1:26:33thinking about having a parking lot for

1:26:36something like that where we don't know

1:26:37where it's going to happen because when

1:26:38we have to send this to Hilltop

1:26:40Securities for them to do the debt

1:26:42analysis, I'm not sure we want that

1:26:43something like that in there. So we

1:26:46anyway.

1:26:48>> I agree. That's why I'm saying I don't

1:26:49want to look at stuff that we don't

1:26:51think is realistic. So we should push it

1:26:52off.

1:26:55>> Well, I don't know that it's not

1:26:55realistic. I just don't know where we

1:26:57know we don't know where it is. So where

1:26:59to put it. So I just don't want them to

1:27:00model it.

1:27:02Anyway.

1:27:03Okay, I'm done. Thank you.

1:27:05>> All right, thanks Rick. Any other

1:27:07wrap-up comments, Jill?

1:27:08>> I'm just worried about the big number.

1:27:10We're at $200 million. This is what we

1:27:12did last year. Like I I'm positive we

1:27:14can't do $200 million this year. I'm

1:27:17100% positive. I'm

1:27:19>> Well, we did $200 million in overrides

1:27:21last year.

1:27:23>> Yeah, well Bob also

1:27:24>> Plus whatever we have

1:27:24>> Bob, well this money's borrowed. Maybe

1:27:26$6 to $8 million will be free cash. This

1:27:28is all borrowed. This is all new money.

1:27:31These are all new taxes. You can call it

1:27:33a raise in appropriate. You can call it

1:27:34for

1:27:35It's still new money.

1:27:38Uh, so the way I see this process going

1:27:40is we have paired down the list

1:27:41significantly. We're asking Cap Com to

1:27:44review and rank. And then we will have

1:27:46have

1:27:47about what's the number, like betw-

1:27:50you know,

1:27:51with evaluation from Hilltop, with all

1:27:53of the assessment of our borrowing,

1:27:56rescinding, all of that, we'll

1:27:59we'll make a decision like where where's

1:28:01the cut line?

1:28:03After CapCom

1:28:04brings its recommendations, and

1:28:07and we always have the option to pull

1:28:09something up from below the cut, you

1:28:11know, the cut line or not or, you know,

1:28:13tweak it. That's ultimately our decision

1:28:15in the end. But CapCom does the deep

1:28:17dive on our behalf.

1:28:20>> I I think I I know I Sorry, go ahead.

1:28:23>> Go ahead.

1:28:24>> I I know I've said this in the past. I

1:28:26mean, to me

1:28:27what we decide here is what's really

1:28:29important. I

1:28:30I love CapCom. They we we do very

1:28:33diligent work. And actually, we've

1:28:34recommended against a lot more than

1:28:36what's actually gone in on a number of

1:28:38occasions, especially on the debt

1:28:39exclusions. I'd say we recommended

1:28:41negatively many, many times over many

1:28:44debt exclusions. But

1:28:47>> [clears throat]

1:28:48>> on the whole, I think you have to

1:28:50consider that if we put it in the

1:28:52warrant, we, the select board, are in

1:28:54charge of the warrant on these items.

1:28:56And if we put it in the warrant, we're

1:28:58sending a signal to people that we can

1:29:00afford to do this or we're asking them

1:29:03to afford to do it, right? And so,

1:29:05that's what some of the

1:29:08there's a little discrepancy for how I

1:29:10view these things from previous select

1:29:11boards. I think people in the past have

1:29:13said, "We're just going to put it in the

1:29:15warrant and let the voters decide."

1:29:17And I think that we have an obligation

1:29:19to say if we put it in the warrant, we

1:29:21think we can afford to do this. And

1:29:23that's kind of where I'm struggling

1:29:26myself because I want to, as I said

1:29:28before, respect the taxpayer and protect

1:29:30the taxpayer.

1:29:31So, CapCom will look at all these things

1:29:33and make recommendations. I think it's a

1:29:35very responsible committee,

1:29:37but

1:29:38um ultimately, how we pay for these

1:29:40things is what's important. And

1:29:42I I don't It shouldn't amazing people's

1:29:44taxes again.

1:29:46>> Amy.

1:29:47>> Hi. Amy Eldridge. I just want to thank

1:29:50Jill for

1:29:51saying that because I think that's

1:29:53key. I think a lot of people don't pay

1:29:55attention to the functions of the town

1:29:58and then they just show up at town

1:29:59meeting and think that because

1:30:02the powers that be

1:30:04said it's on the warrant that it's that

1:30:06we've got the money to pay for it and

1:30:08they don't know and fully understand

1:30:11how it's getting paid for. I mean, it's

1:30:13crazy that people don't understand their

1:30:15tax bill.

1:30:16Like what is prop two and a half

1:30:17override? What is your assessment? How

1:30:19that merges together and that's the bill

1:30:22you get

1:30:23every quarter for your taxes. I mean,

1:30:24it's

1:30:26simple, but there are so many people who

1:30:28don't understand and like, "Oh my gosh,

1:30:29that's why my taxes went up that much."

1:30:31I'm like, "Yes." And if you don't attend

1:30:32town meeting, if you don't show up to

1:30:34these select board meetings and other

1:30:35meetings

1:30:37to learn this stuff, then you just kind

1:30:39of go about making

1:30:41votes thinking that we can afford this

1:30:43stuff and we can't. I mean, this is

1:30:45what's going to impact whether or not I

1:30:47can afford to stay here.

1:30:49I am a island native.

1:30:51I inherited a home on Nantucket that I

1:30:54can barely afford

1:30:56in a neighborhood that I'm going to get

1:30:58taxed out of that's been in my husband's

1:31:01family since the 1960s.

1:31:04I mean, if they didn't see what we have

1:31:06now, I mean, if my father-in-law, 89

1:31:08years old, could predict Sconset would

1:31:10look the way that it does now,

1:31:13I don't think we'd be living out there.

1:31:15And every time people build these 2.5, 6

1:31:19million-dollar estates in my

1:31:21neighborhood, I don't have to do a

1:31:23single thing

1:31:25to my property to have the assessment go

1:31:28through the roof.

1:31:30And I'm going to get

1:31:34I'm going to get pushed out of the

1:31:36exemption rate based on the value of my

1:31:38land

1:31:40because of where I live and not because

1:31:41I chose

1:31:43to live there and I want my family to

1:31:44continue a long-term island legacy that

1:31:48my in-laws

1:31:50and their in-laws

1:31:52wanted our

1:31:53wanted our family to have and I just

1:31:54think that we have got to come to a

1:31:56point where we decide

1:31:58that we have to say no to a lot of

1:32:00things. I understand there are things

1:32:01that we have to have to run.

1:32:04But to Jill's um point, like this is

1:32:07getting crazy.

1:32:08And a lot of people just follow what

1:32:11they see in the warrant. Oh, well, the

1:32:12town put it there, so it's got to be

1:32:14okay. We can afford it. People, wake up,

1:32:17smell the coffee. We can't.

1:32:19>> Thanks, Amy.

1:32:20>> Um okay.

1:32:22Um

1:32:24Thanks, Rick.

1:32:26See you gone?

1:32:27>> I'm probably [laughter]

1:32:28right. Hey, Rand.

1:32:29>> I'm going to go right to the bar.

1:32:30>> Um okay. Libby, town manager monthly

1:32:33report.

1:32:34>> Thank you.

1:32:39Okay, so I tried to categorize these

1:32:41into uh different areas. So,

1:32:43administrative updates. We're obviously

1:32:45working on the 2027 annual town meeting.

1:32:48We have initial prep underway,

1:32:49conceptual article review with the

1:32:50board. You'll have another review of

1:32:52potential articles next week. Town

1:32:54Council has held

1:32:55um sessions with citizens.

1:32:58Beach businesses. We've talked about

1:32:59this before. We have an internal work

1:33:01group working on this. Um we're meeting

1:33:03I think we're meeting next week to check

1:33:05in on some amendments to beach

1:33:08regulations and the process for beach

1:33:11businesses and we'll be bringing these

1:33:13concepts to the board hopefully before

1:33:15the end of the year.

1:33:16Collective bargaining. Lots going on

1:33:18there. We still have some contract

1:33:19negotiations with contracts that aren't

1:33:21settled yet and we are processing a

1:33:23number of different grievances. Um

1:33:25cannabis social equity policy. Um so,

1:33:29Brooke brought this back from MMA like 2

1:33:32years ago

1:33:34and it was you you did cuz you went to a

1:33:36um you may have gone to a session about

1:33:38this and it was coming

1:33:41a in 2024 that municipalities were going

1:33:43to have to adopt a social equity policy.

1:33:47So,

1:33:48it was kind of pending Cannabis Control

1:33:50Commission regulations and those didn't

1:33:52get finalized till

1:33:54well after that. So, it it's come home

1:33:58to roost now. And we got a letter

1:34:01recently from

1:34:02the Cannabis Control Commission saying,

1:34:04you need to adopt this, or else you're

1:34:06going to be in violation of

1:34:08the regs. So, we've had some discussions

1:34:10with Town Council about about this and

1:34:12and I'm awaiting

1:34:14um some documents that we're going to

1:34:15need to

1:34:16have reviewed by the um

1:34:19Cannabis Advisory Committee, and then

1:34:21they will be brought to you hopefully

1:34:22for a simple adoption, and hopefully

1:34:24there will be not too much more involved

1:34:26in

1:34:27>> a Cannabis Advisory Committee?

1:34:28>> We do.

1:34:29>> Is it like one person on it?

1:34:31>> It has a Yeah, the board rep is Don,

1:34:33yeah.

1:34:34>> It's me.

1:34:35>> Well, there's No, there's there's some

1:34:36other people on it.

1:34:37>> There's There is an open position if

1:34:39anyone wants to

1:34:41apply.

1:34:44>> Um next slide, please.

1:34:47Some more administrative updates.

1:34:48Obviously, the fiscal 2028 budget

1:34:50development. We've nearly completed our

1:34:52departmental reviews, and we are meeting

1:34:54tomorrow, um town admin and finance

1:34:57staff to start

1:34:58structuring how we're going to get our

1:35:00budget recommendations complete for your

1:35:02December 9th meeting.

1:35:05As you know, we had your annual

1:35:07strategic plan retreat retreat on

1:35:09October 6th, and following that the

1:35:12There's a summary report that we usually

1:35:14give to you along with the draft plan

1:35:16update for your review and approval, and

1:35:17hopefully we'll get that done before the

1:35:19end of the year or very early January.

1:35:21Um this lengthy thing here, Title 2 Web

1:35:24Accessibility Rule. This is something

1:35:26coming in Massachusetts for

1:35:29municipalities, and

1:35:31it's website content that must mean must

1:35:35meet these new federal accessibility

1:35:37standards, and they are things like, for

1:35:39example, PDF documents have to be

1:35:42accessible. You can't just post a PDF

1:35:45document on the website. It has to be in

1:35:47a different format

1:35:50for visual impairment and perhaps other

1:35:53reasons. And that's going to mean,

1:35:55hopefully we don't have to go back in

1:35:57time and convert every single PDF

1:36:00document on the website to something

1:36:02else. There may be by the time that this

1:36:07is re-

1:36:08definitively required, and AI way to do

1:36:11that. I would imagine somebody's

1:36:13figuring that out right now, but

1:36:15all documents

1:36:17going forward would have to be in this

1:36:19and and that's just the tip of the

1:36:21iceberg. There are many, many other

1:36:23um accessibility requirements for

1:36:25websites, and we've talked to our

1:36:27communications manager about this. She

1:36:28is very much aware of it, heading it up,

1:36:31and has attended some

1:36:33informational sessions about it, and we

1:36:36discussed recently that she'll come to

1:36:38you maybe early next year to review the

1:36:40implementation planning for this. It's

1:36:42it's a big deal.

1:36:45Some other administrative updates, real

1:36:47estate matters. Um the yard sale program

1:36:49is something we haven't been able to get

1:36:51to full on recently because of many

1:36:54other real estate matters, including

1:36:56some of those easement items that are

1:36:58listed below there, and a number of

1:37:00other items.

1:37:02The manager and I have talked about

1:37:04working on top priority queue projects

1:37:07as long as well as messaging to people

1:37:09who have yard sales pending. When are

1:37:12they going to get to them? I mean, we do

1:37:14have some of these are years in the

1:37:15making. And we have very limited

1:37:18resources to work on them, and

1:37:22um

1:37:23trying to get to it.

1:37:25>> Libby, is there a possibility of

1:37:27outsourcing that work at the expense of

1:37:29the recipient department?

1:37:31>> talked about that. We need to figure out

1:37:33a scope of services for something like

1:37:35that, and how it would be managed, and

1:37:37how it would how it work. And that's

1:37:39just

1:37:40sitting down to try to figure it out.

1:37:42>> Another thing to do.

1:37:43>> Another thing to do.

1:37:43>> The other thing in along those lines

1:37:46uh is

1:37:48I think we're charging a dollar a square

1:37:50foot if Tommy is right, and we were

1:37:52buying we just did

1:37:53we just bargained and paid had to pay

1:37:55$51 a square foot for something we own.

1:37:58So, uh you know, so I think you know,

1:38:00we're looking for income. That might be

1:38:02one of the places that we could bump it.

1:38:03Now, we don't want to bump it a lot, but

1:38:05it should go up a little bit probably.

1:38:07And maybe we should ask that committee

1:38:10to look at it, you know, so.

1:38:12Because I that would be one way to in

1:38:15increase income

1:38:17for the ones we are doing, so.

1:38:19>> Uh Tracy.

1:38:23>> Hi. Um so we did take that Matt to react

1:38:28over the summer and we had Rob Rainey

1:38:30come in and talk about um the base um

1:38:34price factor and you know, we kind of

1:38:37reviewed the impact and the fact that um

1:38:42the the program's being run a little bit

1:38:44differently now where they cover the

1:38:46engineering costs and all, they hire

1:38:49attorneys and they have all this legwork

1:38:51they do in advance um to try to get it

1:38:54to a point where the town can convey it,

1:38:57but they take on all those costs

1:38:58themselves. So, they are essentially

1:39:00paying and then they pay our legal fees

1:39:03as well, as you know, when we convey the

1:39:04parcel. So,

1:39:07um

1:39:08you know, it needs to it it is part of

1:39:10this overall review to to break it down

1:39:12a little bit and see if that price that

1:39:14that price factor can go up, but but

1:39:17that was what the discussion was at the

1:39:19committee over the summer, but we did we

1:39:21did look at it.

1:39:24>> Thanks, Tracy.

1:39:26Okay.

1:39:28Okay, so some easements have been worked

1:39:30on, the 61A with 64 Old South Road was

1:39:33worked on.

1:39:38Um more administrative updates. We have

1:39:39some professional development coming up.

1:39:42Town-wide sessions next week. We have

1:39:44years of service recognitions on

1:39:46November 6th, that's a Friday. That is

1:39:48where employees eligible for years of

1:39:50service pens will be presented with them

1:39:52um here in the training room. And as the

1:39:54board knows, you are um invited to that.

1:39:57The cabinet is doing a retreat jointly

1:39:59with the town of Sandwich on Friday,

1:40:00November 13th and we're very excited

1:40:03about this. Um the town manager of

1:40:05Sandwich and I talked about this at the

1:40:07end of the Mass Municipal Managers

1:40:08annual conference last spring. And we

1:40:11really liked the presenter at that

1:40:13conference and agreed that we would try

1:40:15a joint retreat. And Sandwich is

1:40:17hosting, they're going to pick us up at

1:40:19the boat, bring us back, and provide all

1:40:20the food.

1:40:21So, we're excited about that. We have

1:40:24some professional development MMA

1:40:25webinars underway. Um, Eric and I did

1:40:28one today. Um, other town employees may

1:40:30have done them as well, and it's a a

1:40:32three-part series underway right now.

1:40:34They've MMA has been putting on some

1:40:37really good webinars on all a whole

1:40:38variety of topics.

1:40:40The ICMA annual conference was last

1:40:43week. Both deputy town managers attended

1:40:45and reported that it was very well worth

1:40:47it.

1:40:48>> I'm just going to say to my fellow board

1:40:50new board members, if you're not getting

1:40:52the emails from the MMA about their

1:40:54webinars, you should sign up. They're

1:40:56doing stuff every week and and I've

1:40:59attended a ton of them and learned a

1:41:00lot. Um, it's I know it's time, but it's

1:41:03an opportunity. Sometimes things pop up

1:41:05and I'm like, "Wow, I really need to

1:41:06know that."

1:41:08>> They are often very timely, and often

1:41:10they're at lunch, so you can eat your

1:41:12lunch and listen to it at the same time.

1:41:13>> Yeah, I I I did attend one.

1:41:16And it was about debt.

1:41:18And it did not apply to us, so that kind

1:41:21of bummed me out, but I will give it

1:41:22another try for some of their other

1:41:24ones.

1:41:26>> Offshore wind, there was an annual oil

1:41:28spill exercise at Mass Maritime on

1:41:30October 21st. Our liaison, Bob

1:41:34Bostrowski, attended it.

1:41:35As you know, the Section 106 advocacy is

1:41:38underway. Bob has monthly liaison

1:41:40meetings with the Vineyard Wind rep. And

1:41:42he and I are as well as Rita Carr of the

1:41:45Nantucket Historical Nantucket

1:41:48Preservation Trust are working on with

1:41:50the Community Foundation on the

1:41:52Community Wind Fund grant issuances.

1:41:55>> So, so I just want everyone to know I

1:41:56received a text message

1:41:59alerting

1:42:01me as a select board vice chair, among

1:42:03others, of an exercise that Vineyard

1:42:06room was doing.

1:42:08So, I was delighted that

1:42:12the promises they made about

1:42:13communication are actually happening.

1:42:15Like so they they now have to text

1:42:17there's a list of like eight or 10

1:42:19people in the town whenever they do

1:42:22anything

1:42:23they text our group. And I got the first

1:42:26text and I cheered a little cuz it was a

1:42:29little bit of a win.

1:42:33>> Okay, the capital improvement plan reset

1:42:36you are very well familiar with this and

1:42:38this slide just lists out all of the

1:42:40things that we've

1:42:41been doing and while Rick is now

1:42:44returned.

1:42:45Um

1:42:46I want to recognize his hard work on

1:42:48this entire effort. It's been a very

1:42:51significant amount of time in addition

1:42:53to the many other things that we're

1:42:55working on.

1:42:56And as noted there, once these resets

1:42:59are complete, we do have an analysis of

1:43:02analysis of the debt service and the

1:43:04budget impact in conjunction with our

1:43:06financial advisor. So, that is um

1:43:09in the works with the finance

1:43:10department.

1:43:14Projects and improvements. Backster Road

1:43:16erosion control measures, you are I

1:43:18believe familiar with each of those.

1:43:19There are at least three of them. The

1:43:21harbormaster building, hopefully a bid

1:43:24will be issued by next week at the

1:43:25latest and there is logistics planning

1:43:28going on to deal with how we're going to

1:43:31where the staff is going to go and where

1:43:32the operations will take place during

1:43:34construction.

1:43:35Our Island Home, I won't go really too

1:43:37deep into this. You do have another

1:43:39update next week, but this just lists

1:43:41the items that are ongoing with that

1:43:43project right now.

1:43:45The public facility

1:43:47uh restrooms uh renovations are

1:43:50underway.

1:43:51Um that has started with Sconset and the

1:43:54solid waste facility. I think downtown

1:43:55starts after stroll, right after stroll.

1:43:57Thank you.

1:43:59Stormwater master plan, you heard a bit

1:44:00about that tonight. That will involve

1:44:02projects, regulations, budgeting, and

1:44:03staffing. Somerset sewer needs area

1:44:05extension, there is a public

1:44:07informational session next Thursday, the

1:44:095th at 5:30. It's virtual. We're working

1:44:12on outreach right now for that. There's

1:44:14a Somerset Lane bike path easement

1:44:16issue. We're attempting to resolve that

1:44:18and that is going to be the subject of

1:44:19your one of your executive session items

1:44:22next week.

1:44:23And if all goes well, issue uh

1:44:27procurement for construction will be

1:44:28issued in early February.

1:44:32The Wade Drive workforce housing project

1:44:35phase one site clearing and mobilization

1:44:37was completed last week. The foundation

1:44:40permit is approved and excavation, I

1:44:42think, has started. There was a bit of

1:44:44an incident with some trees and I'll

1:44:46just read you what uh the report that I

1:44:49um got on a summary of what happened.

1:44:52Last week during high winds, a tree on

1:44:54the abutting property at 15 Amelia Drive

1:44:57Amelia Drive uprooted, fell onto the

1:44:59property's rear parking lot. It struck a

1:45:01parked vehicle. No one was injured. The

1:45:03tree's roots did extend well into the

1:45:05town property. That afternoon, the town

1:45:07arborist assessed the remaining trees

1:45:09along the line and recommended removing

1:45:12them for public safety purposes. The

1:45:14town asked the property owner for

1:45:15permission to access the property and

1:45:17remove the trees, but so far the

1:45:19property owner has declined that. So,

1:45:20we're working on

1:45:22how to address that.

1:45:24Last Friday

1:45:26the Well, I guess the way we addressed

1:45:28it was last Friday, the tree warden

1:45:31uh did determine that the trees were a

1:45:33public safety hazard and recommended

1:45:35moving them as soon as possible and they

1:45:36are now removed. 16 trees in total,

1:45:38including the one that fell onto the

1:45:40abutter's property.

1:45:43WPI teams are very well at work. There

1:45:47are a couple of town teams. One is

1:45:50working on

1:45:51downtown street stuff and enforcement um

1:45:54possibilities and the other is working

1:45:56on stormwater issues and um I met with

1:46:00the stormwater group today and other

1:46:01town staff is meeting with them at

1:46:03various times and they will be giving

1:46:04their

1:46:06annual presentations on December 9th.

1:46:10And I think that is it and I'm happy to

1:46:12answer any questions.

1:46:14Any questions? Comments?

1:46:17Thank you, Libby.

1:46:18Uh

1:46:19okay, any committee reports?

1:46:23>> I was going to talk about deer.

1:46:25>> Um

1:46:26we have a Shellfish meeting on

1:46:29November 3rd.

1:46:30And I believe Craig is joining us and

1:46:32we're getting a presentation on the

1:46:34dredge plan.

1:46:35Um no one has really seen it. Well,

1:46:37we've talked with

1:46:39Fitch about it quite a bit, so it'll be

1:46:41interesting to see um

1:46:45if the they actually have

1:46:47dredge-ready plans and

1:46:49how much money is left in the

1:46:51appropriation and how much he thinks

1:46:53it's going to take to

1:46:55to actually do the dredging. Um and

1:46:59I just would like to give an attaboy to

1:47:01the town. I got stopped today by a

1:47:04builder who

1:47:06is in the process of pulling some

1:47:08permits and stuff and um

1:47:11he went down to the building department

1:47:13and I guess they've been digitizing all

1:47:15of the uh

1:47:16all of the files and

1:47:18um he thought it was going to turn into

1:47:20a nightmare because they there was

1:47:22rumors that the plans were going up the

1:47:24the files were going on filing and it

1:47:25was taking two or three weeks and he

1:47:27couldn't get access, but he said

1:47:29it would it went pretty smoothly and

1:47:30it's great that they're all going to be

1:47:31online and hopefully

1:47:33we'll get everything digitized over the

1:47:36next, I don't know how many years, but

1:47:38we we had the same conversation at

1:47:40Shellfish the other day about how

1:47:42instead of having to

1:47:43go here and physically buy a shellfish

1:47:46license, it should the

1:47:48we should be able to do all the stuff

1:47:49online. The forms should be there. We

1:47:51should just be able to go in, put your

1:47:53debit card, credit card in, buy your

1:47:56commercial scallop license, your family

1:47:58scallop license, your beach permit, all

1:47:59these things online and not have to

1:48:02drive all over the island and go from

1:48:04this place to this place to this place.

1:48:05So, hopefully we'll get there.

1:48:07>> Yeah, we spend like $250,000 a year

1:48:09doing that and we have for a long time.

1:48:11Maybe more.

1:48:13>> It's it's very good.

1:48:15But that's a good capital item.

1:48:17>> Yeah, the digitizing process you're

1:48:18talking about, too.

1:48:19>> Yeah.

1:48:19>> Yeah.

1:48:20Any other Can you force

1:48:21>> isn't a committee report, but just kind

1:48:23of more of a general comment. There's a

1:48:25question seven is coming up on Tuesday

1:48:28on the vote, and it's uh the state, and

1:48:31it will basically it will allow

1:48:33single-family homes to be built in

1:48:35residentially zoned areas as long as the

1:48:37land on which it is constructed is at

1:48:39least 5,000 square feet, has at least 50

1:48:42feet of land bordering the street, road,

1:48:44or public way, and has access to public

1:48:46sewer and water.

1:48:48So, it's fairly popular. It's probably

1:48:50going to pass. It's going to have a huge

1:48:52impact. One of the requirements that the

1:48:54state has when uh someone does something

1:48:57like this is a statement of fiscal

1:48:59consequences.

1:49:01And so, the statement uh of fiscal

1:49:03fiscal consequences for this says, "As

1:49:05required by law, statements of fiscal

1:49:07consequence are written by the Executive

1:49:10Office of Administration and Finance.

1:49:13If the proposal Here's the Here's the

1:49:14statement. If the proposed law enables

1:49:17the growth of housing in communities, it

1:49:20could provide positive new growth

1:49:21revenues to municipalities. However, it

1:49:24is difficult to project the potential

1:49:26scale of new growth tied to the proposed

1:49:28law.

1:49:29The proposed law thus has no discernible

1:49:32material fiscal consequences for state

1:49:35and municipal government finances."

1:49:37So, basically what that says,

1:49:40in a so I can understand it, proposed

1:49:42law is hard is no discernible material

1:49:45fiscal consequence. It's hard to figure

1:49:46out how much it's going to cost.

1:49:48Therefore, it doesn't have any cost.

1:49:50That is why we as a country and a lot of

1:49:54towns are in the trouble we're in. We

1:49:57make laws and rules, and we don't like

1:49:59figure out what is it going to How are

1:50:01we going to What's this going to do to

1:50:02us? How much more sewer are we going to

1:50:04need? How many more houses? How many

1:50:05more teachers? And And we get And then

1:50:09we go along for 20 or 30 years, and

1:50:12we're able to defer it and defer it, and

1:50:14our rate is low, and oh, this isn't this

1:50:15great. And then we end up in the

1:50:17situation we're in now, where all the

1:50:19costs are coming due, and we're stuck

1:50:22with huge costs, and we don't know how

1:50:24we're going to pay for it. And it's

1:50:26because we didn't think about how we're

1:50:27going to pay for it and charge a little

1:50:29bit all the way along. And then the

1:50:30state is trying to fix this, but then,

1:50:33oh, it's too hard to figure it out, so

1:50:35we're just going to say it doesn't have

1:50:37an impact. It could have This is These

1:50:39things have huge impacts.

1:50:41And I think so anyway, that I I'm sort

1:50:43of speaking to the choir here, and I've

1:50:46been talking about it forever, but I

1:50:47just I that to me is just irresponsible

1:50:51on the state's part to say this is

1:50:53really hard to figure out, therefore we

1:50:55will say it doesn't have an impact so we

1:50:57can push this thing through.

1:50:59And so anyway, that's my rant for

1:51:01tonight. I shouldn't have done that to

1:51:02start the meeting, but I forgot.

1:51:04>> Has planning

1:51:06done an analysis in as to how many

1:51:09buildable lots this will add to the town

1:51:11if this goes through?

1:51:13>> Not yet. No point in analyzing until it

1:51:16passes, first of all, cuz it's it's

1:51:18being imposed, but there is already

1:51:21conversations about

1:51:23um at least maybe being able to through

1:51:26seasonal communities add year-round deed

1:51:27restrictions to them

1:51:29if they're if they are allowed it um if

1:51:31this goes through.

1:51:33So, uh yeah, this is this is a really

1:51:36tough one.

1:51:36>> We're still We're suing Somerset

1:51:38>> We're talking about beyond

1:51:39>> We're We're suing Somerset

1:51:41>> about housing.

1:51:42>> We're suing Somerset to protect the

1:51:43water the groundwater, and it's

1:51:45basically going to allow every one of

1:51:46those lots to be subdivided.

1:51:48Cuz they're all 10,000 square foot lots.

1:51:50>> Yes.

1:51:52>> Yeah.

1:51:53>> Yep.

1:51:53>> And and it's And this is And this is the

1:51:55stuff that the land council and some of

1:51:57the other crazies like myself have been

1:51:59talking about for years that this all

1:52:01comes with a cost. And now we are seeing

1:52:04the cost.

1:52:05And and we've got people There's two or

1:52:07three

1:52:08uh

1:52:09citizens that are asking us not They

1:52:10want to rescind the Somerset sewer

1:52:13because they're afraid it's what it's

1:52:14going to cost them and what it's going

1:52:15to do to their neighborhood, etc. So, so

1:52:18we really this it I think it's becoming

1:52:20very clear that we have

1:52:23you know, that we've really got to dive

1:52:25into some of this if we're going to

1:52:26solve it. So, anyway, thank you.

1:52:28>> Okay, thanks Matt. Anybody else?

1:52:32Okay, the most important motion of the

1:52:34night.

1:52:34>> Do we Do we have no executive session,

1:52:36all right? Motion to adjourn.

1:52:38>> Second.

1:52:39By roll call, Matt. Bobby.

1:52:41>> Hi.

1:52:41>> Joe.

1:52:41>> Hi.

1:52:42>> Don.

1:52:43>> Hi.

1:52:44>> And I vote I. Thank you, everyone.

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