Nantucket Town Government Roundup, August 7 - 20

This edition of the Current’s government roundup includes new information on a battle over whether to allow the demolition of a small garage on Union Street and the shakeup at the top of the Nantucket Memorial Airport.

• The Historic District Commission has officially denied the demolition of a small garage at 43a Union Street for a second time after a Superior Court judge overruled their previous denial and remanded the case back to the HDC for further review. The case will now likely return to Superior Court. In its official denial, the HDC argues that the garage is historically significant because of its “modest scale and close-to-the-street siting,” and that it “contributes to the historic character, pattern, and setting of Union Street.”
• The town has released a new health and human services community needs assessment. Select Board member Bob DeCosta said health and human services should be a top priority of the town. “This is the core of our island. These are the people that are struggling week-to-week to make a paycheck,” he said. “We throw a measly $600,000 at it? This is ridiculous. We need to fix this, and we need to figure out other places we can take money from and give it to this department. As long as it’s used properly, this should be the number one priority for us, I think, personally. When I look at all these other things that we spend money on, this should jump to the top of the list.”
• In response to repeated questions about pending contracts at recent Select Board meetings, town administration will now be including more information about each contract by default in the Select Board’s agenda packets.
• The Airport Commission has ratified its vote to make Preston Harimon the acting manager of the Nantucket Memorial Airport after the sudden ouster of former manager Warren Smith. Pending contract negotiations for his full contract, Harimon will make $200,000 a year, which is a roughly $44,000 raise for him and a $15,000 increase over what Smith was making.
• Joanna Roche was appointed chair of the Finance Committee, and Peter Schaeffer was appointed vice chair. Howard Matz, recently appointed to the Finance Committee, will remain on the Capital Program Committee. He previously served as an at-large member of the latter committee. Anthonie Goudemond will replace Roche as the Finance Committee’s representative on the Contract Review Committee.

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

• Nantucket’s bus driver shortage is so bad that the superintendent suggested the possibility of bringing in the National Guard to bus students to school at a recent School Committee meeting.
• The Select Board has suspended the Muse’s liquor license for two days next June for repeatedly selling alcohol to minors.
• The Select Board and Planning Board have voted unanimously to advance Nantucket’s housing production plan to the state for final approval.
• Developer Alan Worden has withdrawn his proposal for an equestrian club on Land Bank property on Milestone Road.
• The Select Board is poised to award four rental car medallions each to a pair of new car rental agencies on-island.
• The Conservation Commission looks poised to grant the Sconset Beach Preservation Fund approval to repair a portion of the controversial erosion control geotube array along the Sconset Bluff that was damaged in alleged act of vandalism last January.
• The Select Board has begun to prioritize over $1 billion in proposed capital spending for the next ten years.