Nantucket Town Government Roundup, October 30 - November 12

This edition of the Current’s local government roundup includes new information on a delay in the construction of the new Our Island Home and how the town may approach coastal resilience going forward.

• The Affordable Housing Trust’s new year-round rental preservation program, Rooted Renters, looks like a hit: the trust received over 150 applications for the program.
• A population of northern long-eared bats has delayed clear-cutting for the new Our Island Home facility under December 1st, the Select Board has been told.
• As the town reassesses its coastal resilience priorities, Select Board members and other community leaders have raised questions about the elevations used in the town’s coastal resilience plan and the possibility of splitting large, expensive projects into phases. The Coastal Resilience Advisory Committee is now considering both topics. This could be worth monitoring over the next few months.

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

• Former 911 dispatcher Pat Considine has filed an ethics complaint against Town Manager Libby Gibson in the latest escalation of a long-running feud.
• Planning director Leslie Snell has been placed on administrative leave by the Nantucket Planning and Economic Development Commission. A recording of the commission’s executive session was briefly available online by mistake.
• The Select Board is considering doubling parking ticket fines.
• The Land Bank acquired two properties on Madequacham Valley Road for $2.7 million. They then acquired another two properties on Hinsdale Road for another $2.75 million.
• The Select Board has granted Natural Resources Department staff the authority to raise the bushel limit for scallops later this season.
• The Land Bank is adding lights to its dog park on Miacomet Road.
• The Steamship Authority has launched a year-round discounted passenger travel program for qualified veterans living in its port communities