(May 19, 2021 Town officials are scrambling to prepare for a post-pandemic summer, several days after Gov. Charlie Baker announced the state’s mask guidance and capacity restrictions will be lifted on Saturday, May 29.
“It doesn’t give us enough time to plan and educate, and how are we going to enforce or do what we even need to?” Select Board vice-chair Jason Bridges said at Wednesday’s meeting.
The Nantucket Board of Health will meet Thursday, at which time health director Roberto Santamaria said he will recommend it align the town’s guidance with the state’s.
Massachusetts’ official state of emergency is set to expire June 15, after which time the town’s authority over public-health restrictions will be lifted.
Restaurants will be able to keep outdoor dining at their current capacity 60 days past the end of the pandemic. Licensing administrator Amy Baxter said state officials are working with the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission to develop legislation allowing the expanded outdoor dining to continue after Aug. 15.
“They’ve been through a lot in the past year and a half, and the opportunity to go to our new normal is going to be big for a lot of these businesses who have been trying to make ends meet,” board member Kristie Ferrantella said. “This is the first time they might be able to make money this summer.”
So far, 9,129 people have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine on the island. Just over 7,000 of them are fully vaccinated. The hospital is also holding a vaccination clinic at Nantucket Public Schools next Wednesday for students ages 12-18. Santamaria estimates the island is within days of having at least 50 percent of the year-round population vaccinated.
“We may be declaring the state of emergency completed, but our fight against COVID continues,” he said. “We need to continue to make sure we are paying attention to ourselves, to our health, that includes mental health.”
In other news from Wednesday’s Select Board meeting:
Committee Appointments
The board voted unanimously to adopt a new set of changes to its appointments policy for boards and committees, but not without debate.
The town-recommended changes create a talent bank of interested candidates that could be called on whenever a seat is open. The idea is to have a steady list of candidates so the board does not have to wait for last-minute or late applicants.
The board would also hold an additional meeting to review applications before appointments are made each June.
A group of residents had been asking for a do-over. Mary Wawro claims the policy changes the board is currently reviewing, from the creation of a recruitment program called a talent bank, to the prohibition of late applications, is nothing more than a proposal made behind closed doors without public input.
Charlie Stott wants the board to create a workgroup to revise its appointment process.
“This lacks the ardor, spirit and commitment you each expressed last August,” Stott, the co-president of the Nantucket Civic League, said.
Bridges, however, is concerned Stott’s recommendation could be a step too far that could discourage people from participating in town government.
“I think if we get into ‘why I didn’t vote for somebody’ or ‘why I don’t think somebody should be appointed’ or we let the public come in and say, ‘Barbara over here shouldn’t be appointed because of X, Y and Z,’ then very few people are going to apply, so it’s going to be a very small group of people we all know and it’s not going to be inclusive,” he said.
Wawro argued additional changes would not deter participation, but instead increase transparency. She said the current proposal drafted by town officials is bare-bones and needs to be revised.
“It’s extremely disappointing that your reactions to these statements are so defensive,” she said. “It’s surprising. It’s mystifying in itself.”
The board voted to review its policy in two months.
Youth Hostel rented as summer lifeguard housing
The board approved a $45,000 contract with Blue Flag Partners to rent the former Star of the Sea Youth Hostel as summer lifeguard housing. Town manager Libby Gibson said it would accommodate 20 lifeguards through Sept. 15. It was one of 12 contracts the board approved Wednesday night, totaling $574,297.
It also approved $175,000 for new police uniforms and equipment, $120,024 for repairs to the town pier and floating docks, eelgrass surveys and dredging, and $89,922 for fire department paramedic courses for six members of the NFD.
The board also approved a $1.395 million borrowing authorization for the Nantucket Regional Transit Authority to cover fiscal year 2022 operations, including a park-and-ride program opening at the 2 Fairgrounds Road parking lot, which opens May 28.
Applications open for committee appointments
The deadline to submit applications for open seats on the Agricultural Commission, Airport Commission, Board of Health, Capital Program Committee, Cemetery Commission, Conservation Commission, Contract Review Committee, Council for Human Services, Council on Aging, Cultural Council, Finance Committee and as an associate member of the Historic District Commission is Friday, May 21.
Applications for the Affordable Housing Trust, Historical Commission, Real Estate Assessment Committee, Roads and Right-of-Way Committee, Scholarship Committee, Steamship Authority Port Council, Tree Advisory Committee and Zoning Board of Appeals are due Thursday, May 28.
Appointments will be made at the Select Board’s June 23 meeting.
The Finance Committee is holding an online information session on its motions for Annual Town Meeting warrant articles Monday, May 24 at 5 p.m. The meeting is available at https://youtu.be/poJbO08kHLU. Town Meeting is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 5 at the Nantucket Public Schools Backus playing fields. A rain date is scheduled for Sunday, June 6 at 9 a.m. Masks will be requested, not required.
The Affordable Housing Trust is also holding an online forum at 6 p.m. Tuesday called the “true cost of Nantucket’s housing crisis,” with Fairwinds, A Safe Place and the Nantucket behavioral Health Advisory Group.
Surfside Road sewer project ongoing
Sewer work and roadway paving on Surfside Road is continuing this week between Bartlett Road and Miacomet Avenue, closing off the
road between 4 p.m. and 2 a.m. Mondays through Thursdays, and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fridays. Sewer director David Gray said night work will continue northward up Surfside Road, ultimately to Vesper Lane.
The board approved two National Grid requests for handholes and PVC conduit at 245 Hummock Pond Road and on Sherburne Turnpike.
The board also approved a noise bylaw waiver for May 27-28 to clean fluid out of a spilled National Grid transformer at 11 India St.
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May 20, 2021 at 08:30AM
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This Week in Town Government: Select Board - The Inquirer and Mirror
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