The Select Board held a lengthy public hearing on March 5 on five warrant articles (Articles 76–80) proposing additions to the Town Sewer District under section 10 of the Nantucket Sewer Act. After hearing staff presentations, consultant input and public comment, the board took separate roll-call recommendations for each article:

- Article 76 (lots on South Shore Road, Falcon Drive and Rachel Drive): The Select Board voted to recommend inclusion in the Sewer District. Town staff said these properties are in a needs area associated with Myconomet Pond impacts and had been considered in prior gravity-line planning; the board approved the recommendation by majority roll call.

- Article 77 (Monahansett religious/education facility): The Select Board voted not to recommend inclusion. Staff said the parcel is not in a needs area and scoring was inconclusive because the evaluation checklist was designed for residential lots; planning and legal constraints (Dover Amendment / zoning exemptions) complicated scoring. The board voted not to recommend after discussion.

- Articles 78 and 79 (Woodland Drive parcels / related parcels): The Select Board voted not to recommend inclusion for both articles. Town sewer staff and consultant from Weston & Sampson reported that the properties were not included in the capacity analyses for the Surfside wastewater treatment plant in the 2014 CWMP or the 2020 Sewer Master Plan; adding them would require additional capacity or removal of other planned flows. Neighbors and advocacy groups urged the board to preserve treatment-plant capacity for identified needs areas and suggested on-site advanced septic (IA) systems as an alternative. The board voted not to recommend both articles.

- Article 80 (44 Skyline Drive): The Select Board voted not to recommend inclusion; staff said the parcel scored lower on the checklist and was not within the CWMP needs areas or the master-plan flows.

Public input was extensive on Woodland Drive (Articles 78–79). Proponents said they planned deed restrictions for affordability and year-round occupancy and sought sewer to support an affordable project; neighbors and conservation stakeholders warned that the area was not a sewer priority and that adding the parcels would use scarce plant capacity. Town counsel and staff explained that changes to growth controls (bedroom counts, zoning controls) would involve separate legal and land-use processes and that changes to the Sewer Act would be required for some regulatory approaches.

Technical notes discussed at length included whether CWMP/master-plan flows had anticipated wellhead protection zone (WPZ) parcels (staff and the consultant clarified the Woodland Drive parcels were not included in the plant capacity calculations), the existence of a dry-laid sewer in Woodland Drive that lacks design capacity, the limitations imposed by discharge beds and leach-field capacity at the treatment plant, and the current unavailability of three discharge beds due to operational issues. Board members and staff also discussed the need to coordinate potential deed restrictions with town counsel and the Affordable Housing Trust and the town’s limited legal review capacity before Town Meeting.

Why it matters: The board’s recommendations determine whether a simple-majority town meeting vote will suffice (if Select Board recommends) or whether a two-thirds vote will be needed to override a negative recommendation. More broadly, the decisions allocate limited sewer-treatment capacity, affecting where municipal wastewater infrastructure is invested and which areas may rely on advanced on-site systems instead.

Votes at a glance (Select Board roll call outcomes):
- Article 76 (South Shore/Falcon/Rachel): Recommendation to include — APPROVED (Select Board vote: 5–0 recommend).
- Article 77 (Monahansett religious/education parcel): NOT RECOMMENDED (Select Board vote: 5–0 not recommend).
- Article 78 (Woodland Drive parcels): NOT RECOMMENDED (Select Board vote: 5–0 not recommend).
- Article 79 (adjacent Woodland/related parcels): NOT RECOMMENDED (Select Board vote: 5–0 not recommend).
- Article 80 (44 Skyline Drive): NOT RECOMMENDED (Select Board vote: 5–0 not recommend).

Next steps: The articles will appear on the 2025 Annual Town Meeting warrant in their current form; the Select Board’s recommendation alters the voting threshold required at Town Meeting but does not prevent citizens from voting to add parcels. Proponents were advised to provide any additional engineering capacity analyses and to work with town counsel and staff to finalize deed-restriction language if they want the board to reconsider its recommendation before Town Meeting.