Hospital Chief Nurse Appointed To Board Of Health

The Select Board voted 4-1 on Wednesday to appoint Nantucket Cottage Hospital chief nursing officer Amy Beaton to the Board of Health, filling the last vacant seat on a board that has seen exceptionally high turnover in the last three months.

The Select Board also appointed Capital Program Committee member and Planning Board alternate Howard Matz to the Finance Committee, replacing Jill Vieth, who resigned after winning election to the Select Board. Matz beat out Benjamin Reppert and Kit Murphy, receiving votes from all Select Board members save chair Dawn Hill, who voted for Murphy.

The other high-profile appointment Wednesday was for a seat on the Affordable Housing Trust, where incumbent Forest Bell was chosen by the Select Board over the other candidate, firefighter Ray DeCosta, on a 3-1 vote. Vieth was the lone vote for DeCosta. DeCosta is the son of Select Board member Bob DeCosta, who recused from the vote.

Beaton’s appointment to the Board of Health comes after a tumultuous year for the Board of Health, which was engulfed by a controversial debate over a proposed artificial turf field slated for installation at Vito Capizzo Stadium. Beaton will fill a seat previously held by Jim Cooper, who resigned in protest after the Select Board removed Ann Smith and Meridith Lepore from the Board of Health during the first round of appointments last month. Smith and Lepore had expressed criticism of the field. Tom Dixon, the Select Board’s previous representative to the Board of Health, did not run for re-election this year, meaning that incumbent Kerry McKenna is now the only member of the Board of Health who was serving when the turf field debate began last winter.

Matt Fee cast the lone vote for former town of Nantucket Health Department director Richard Ray, with the other four members voting for Beaton.

“I am interested in serving on the Board of Health because I care deeply about the health and well-being of the Nantucket community and would welcome the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to public health work on the island,” Beaton wrote in her application. “I am committed to thoughtful, evidence-informed decision-making that supports the health and safety of residents, visitors, and the broader island community.”

The debate over the turf field has cooled in recent months after it was approved by Town Meeting and Smith, Lepore, Cooper and Dixon left the Board. The Nantucket Public Schools, which proposed the field, are still negotiating some aspects of the proposal with the Nantucket Land and Water Council, a local environmental advocacy group, but an agreement has been reached on testing for the field materials, and there has been little discussion of the field at recent Board of Health meetings.

Instead, the Board of Health has spent much of its time on septic systems. At its last meeting, the new Board signaled a more lenient approach to septic regulations than the previous Board, dropping restrictions on a proposed Woodland Drive housing development and giving one homeowner permission not to connect to town sewer.

The Select Board also appointed former Coastal Resiliency Advisory Committee chair Mary Longacre to the Committee she previously ran over retired astrophysics professor Geoff Clayton. Hanley Construction co-owner Thomas Garrette was appointed to the Zoning Board of Appeals as the lone applicant.