Dukes County Commission
Minutes
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
5 p.m.
Dukes County Administration Building
9 Airport Road, Edgartown, MA
Present:
County Commissioners: Chair Melinda Loberg, Carlene Gatting, John Alley, Lenny Jason, Tom Hallahan, Beth Toomey and Tristan Israel
County Staff: Noreen Mavro Flanders – County Treasurer, Martina Thornton – County Manager,
Connie Andrade - Administrative Assistant to the County Manager, Sean Flynn-Airport Manager, Chuck Cotnoir – County Emergency Management Director
Others: Leon A. Brathwaite II, Sam Martino– MVTV, Katie Ruppel - Vineyard Gazette
The meeting was called to order at 5:00PM.
Minutes: Martina asked to approve the minutes.
Tristan/Lenny moved to approve the minutes from December 5th, 2012 meeting. So voted. All in favor
Appointment to the MV Commission:
Melinda said we needed to appoint someone from the Dukes County Commissioners (DCC) to serve on the MV Commission Board (1 year appointment).
John/Tristan made the motion to appoint Lenny Jason to the MV Commission. So voted. All in favor.
Legal Opinion Regarding Different COLA’s
Melinda asked the DCC to review the legal opinion that is in their folders for clarification on the issue of the Airport’s choice to use a different Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) stating the airport has the right to choose their own COLA increases each year. A discussion followed. John said it appears very clear. Melinda said it was very clear that the Airport is responsible for setting their own wages and now it is clear that includes setting the COLA’s.
Marc Hanover –SSA Report:
Marc said it was a very good year for the boat line. He also said that yesterday the SSA approved a payment to the Town of Tisbury for half the cost of the VTA bus program which is about $73,000.00. They are talking about a new boat, to replace the freight boat, the Governor. Marc told the DCC he received our letter on the lease and he directed Wayne Lamson to contact the Airport Commission to see if the Steamship can find a second party to take over the lease. A discussion followed. Melinda told him that we are still holding out hope the moratorium will be lifted soon. John said that even if the SSA gets someone to sublet the lease, it would still have to go to the Airport Commission for approval. Melinda said the letter stated that we were going to continue to work on solving the revenue problem for that lot and
if the moratorium is lifted we will be ready to come back to the SSA with a proposal. Marc said he would suggest to the SSA board to wait a year, with hopes the moratorium will be lifted by then. Sean said worse case scenario is 12 months. Marc also updated the DCC on damage to the Oak Bluffs dock which had sustained substantial damage from Hurricane Sandy, well over 1 million dollars. None of the new construction areas were damaged just the old part. Chuck said that he received an email stating that Massachusetts will be qualified for MEMA and FEMA emergency funds, which should cover about 75% of the repairs to the dock. Marc also said the SSA is working on a new website; it should be ready by spring. Marc said RM Packer came to him about the transfer of trash on their barges. Mr. Packer also came to the SSA and asked for permission to take all hazard materials on his barges. This is something the SSA is looking at and it will be part of the considerations for the new boat. RM
Packer is also talking about “haul back” which would make it more beneficial. Lenny asked him if they changed the policy on people coming out of the hospital and getting preferred space. Marc told him that the policy was changed and now the Doctor has to sign an affidavit saying you need to get on the boat as soon as possible. The old procedure was being abused. He gave some examples of situations of misusing the medical notes. Carlene asked if they sent out a notice telling people of the change. Marc said the affidavit form is online and that if someone is receiving chemotherapy that they are on a list for top priority. Lastly, he told the DCC that there would be a $1.00 rate increase each way for cars only, the first rate increase in three years.
Eastville Beach Management Plan:
Melinda said we received a final report from the Eastville Beach Committee, which recommended we have a “standing” committee with representation from the Town of Oak Bluffs, Town of Tisbury and the County of Dukes County. The committee would oversee projects or alert us if maintenance is needed. She approached Oak Bluffs and they chose Greg Coogan for the committee. Tisbury has not made the appointment yet. Melinda recommended the DCC to wait till January to decide who to appoint, once we get the new commissioners in. Tristan said if no one else wants to do it from either Tisbury or the DCC he would do it.
Manager’s Report:
- Supervisory Leadership Development Program: Martina said she has completed the scheduled training and it was very beneficial to her.
- Dog Tags: Martina said that all the towns participated in the purchase of 2013 dog tags and licenses, which were already distributed to each town.
- Auditor: The auditor working on the FY2012 audit from Powers & Sullivan, LLC was here last week.
- FY2014 Budget: The first draft will be presented at the January 9th meeting.
- Warrants: Martina said the warrant article for Vineyard Health Care Access (VHCAP) and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program have gone to Oak Bluffs to be placed on the annual Town meeting warrant for approval. Martina said Sarah Kuh was going to meet with their Town Administrator tomorrow to explain the new figures and that the programs are now 100% funded by the Towns using the 50/50 formula. The County Advisory Board (CAB) asked that we show the true cost of these programs. The rest of the towns will receive the warrant articles before the end of the year.
- Surplus Car: The sale of the Lexus is complete. We had one sealed bid for $50.00. The new owner already removed the vehicle from our parking lot.
- Norfolk County: Martina said the County Manager from Norfolk County called and said they were filing legislation to have $10.00 added to every Registry of Deed’s fee which would be additional revenue for the Counties. She also said Dianne Powers wanted to be part of the discussion. Since this was not on the agenda, she recommended postponing the discussion until the next meeting. A discussion followed. John said we should see how Representative Tim Madden feels about this. Lenny agreed we should wait until the next meeting on January 9th to
discuss further.
- Permanent Endowment Fund: Carlene said she would be willing to continue serving on this committee even though she will no longer be a Commissioner. She took over for John about six months ago. A discussion followed. John said that she should go to the meetings until an appointed successor is qualified. Martina said the advertisements for those positions will be in January.
Old Business:
No old business items were discussed.
New Business:
- John thanked Carlene for her 8 years of service.
- Lenny questioned the new Medical Marijuana Law. It was decided to discuss this topic at the January 9th meeting.
John/Tristan moved to adjourn the meeting. So voted. All in favor.
Meeting was adjourned at 5:40pm.
Respectfully Submitted by:
______________________________
JOSEPH E. SOLLITTO JR., Clerk of the Courts
Documents presented at the meeting and part of the official records:
- Agenda
- Meeting Schedule for the County Commissioners
- SSA Memorandum
- Legal Opinion on Airports COLA
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