Nantucket Town Government Round-Up, February 27 - March 12

In this edition of the Current’s government roundup, the town has announced a transition to a new lead town counsel from its law firm KP Law, and a divided Finance Committee has decided to recommend against a new Our Island Home skilled nursing facility. 

• During Wednesday's Select Board meeting, town manager Libby Gibson said the town's lead attorney, John Giorgio, will be retiring in June and handing over his responsibilities to the town of Nantucket to KP Law's managing partner Lauren Goldberg. "So I just wanted to take a minute to express my appreciation and gratitude to all the Boards of Selectmen that I've had the honor and privilege of providing legal services to over the last, I think it's 14 years, and to say that Nantucket has become very near and dear to me," Giorgio told the Select Board on Wednesday. "It has really been a pleasure for me, and I'm sort of hanging up my, or taking down my shingle, I guess is the right analogy, just because I'm ready for retirement, and my kids are insisting, basically, that I retire. So I just wanted to assure all of you that you know the legal services that we have provided are not one person by any stretch of the imagination, and I am delighted to say that Lauren Goldberg, who's here with me tonight, is going to take over those reins, and I have complete confidence that she is going to be able to provide those services, to coordinate them in a way that's seamless, and I know you're going to be very happy and pleased."
• Nantucket Public Schools Superintendent Beth Hallett provided a federal funding update during Tuesday’s school committee meeting in which she indicated no Title I grants were consolidated or eliminated for the 2027 fiscal year. However, the amounts are varied and dispersed across the state based on the 2020 federal census data, which has Nantucket’s population at 14,255. As a result, Nantucket will be seeing a reduction in funding from the federal level.

Hallett said the U.S. Department of Education also indicated there would be a 10 percent drop in Massachusetts’ share in the National Poverty Level from 1.45 to 1.31, which means there will be a “significant decrease” in Title I funding for the state and, as a result, to Nantucket. Title I funding focuses on socioeconomic need. Hallett said this funding is primarily used for its summer school programs and that they will do their best to make things whole with the operating budget.

“We are a small district. We receive a small amount for Title I,” Hallett said. “I think next year’s allocation is around $131,000, so like I said, I think that is enough for us to still comfortably support our Title I programs and staff.”
• The Finance Committee has endorsed a compromise reform proposal for the Nantucket Economic Development Commission, supported by both the Commission and a group of citizen petitioners led by Hillary Hedges Rayport.
• On a narrow 5-4 vote, the Finance Committee also voted to recommend a town employee housing project that the Capital Program Committee had recommended against. On a unanimous vote, the FinCom voted to support the $25 million upgrade for the public schools' athletic complex at Vito Capizzo Stadium, which includes an artificial turf field and synthetic track.
• The Select Board has authorized the funding for the Affordable Housing Trust’s new rental preservation program, which will pay homeowners to continue to rent their homes year-round to Nantucket residents and workers.

And here are the stories we have covered in full over the last two weeks:

• After a spirited debate on Monday that once again featured emotional arguments in favor of the new facility and caring for the island’s elderly population versus dire warnings about the project's daunting financials, the Finance Committee voted 4-3 in favor of a motion not to adopt the spending proposal at Town Meeting.
• In a lengthy story published last week, the Current took a long look at the Nantucket municipal government’s enforcement strategies. Read more here.
• The geotube erosion control project along the Sconset Bluff is approaching “complete failure,” Conservation Commission chair Seth Engelbourg said last Thursday after the Sconset Beach Preservation revealed a secondary collapse in addition to a previously reported failure allegedly caused by vandalism.
• For now, the Nantucket Regional Transit Authority is charging some of its electric buses with propane generators.
• The Board of Health held a roundtable discussion on the benefits and risks of artificial turf as it considers an island-wide ban.
• The Seonset Bluff Walk will have new recommended hours this summer: 8:30 A.M. to 7:30 P.M. The Select Board endorsed the change following a recommendation for stricter hours from the Sconset Civic Association.
• The town has been awarded a $175,000 seasonal communities grant to advance affordable housing efforts. Some of the funds will go to the Affordable Housing Trust.
• A proposal before the Planning Board would redevelop the land that currently hosts Roastd into seven residential units, office space, and a new home for the popular coffee shop.