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Residents press Select Board on town website downloads, cell service reliability and implementation of community impact fee
Summary
During public comment on July 23, residents raised problems with the town's new website, inconsistent cell coverage, and asked for town action on a short‑term rental community impact fee and compliance with registration and advertising rules.
At the start of the Select Board meeting on July 23, multiple residents used public comment to press for action on three distinct infrastructure or administrative issues: the town's recently launched website, spotty cellular service on the island and the implementation and enforcement of the short‑term rental (STR) community impact fee.
A longtime resident, Cathy Campbell, told the board she was unable to download meeting packets as she had before the site change and asked whether departments and the public were engaged in the website redesign and whether an offline download option could be restored. "The user interface on your website needs to be really, really consumer friendly," she said. Town staff acknowledged the complaint and said staff would follow up after the meeting.
Separately, resident Matthew Peel and others described inconsistent cell phone coverage island‑wide and urged the town to investigate whether capacity or tower coverage was the issue and whether additional infrastructure is needed. Peel said the problem is becoming a public‑safety concern when callers and first responders cannot reliably complete 911 calls.
On the community impact fee, Penny Dye asked the board to send a letter to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue clarifying the Select Board's earlier deferred implementation and whether leases signed before Oct. 1, 2024 are captured by the local 3% fee on owners of two or more short‑term rental properties. "The Department of Revenue does not agree with that," Dye said, and requested a written statement from the finance office or board. Dye also said Nantucket Neighborhoods First has asked that platforms and real‑estate advertisers accept only listings that include a Nantucket registration number to comply with recently effective local registration and advertising rules (chapters referenced in public comment as "chapter 123" and "chapter 338").
Town staff responded in part: the town said it had supplied guidance to real estate professionals and would provide the requested DOR‑related correspondence so residents could review it. Board members asked staff to follow up and encouraged residents to provide specific examples and documentation for enforcement actions.
No board votes were taken on these public requests on July 23, but staff committed to follow up and provide written responses and clarifications in subsequent communications.
