DPW director requests $1.2 million for final design of new Nantucket public works facility

Drew Paddnout, director of public works for the Town of Nantucket, asked voters to approve Article 17, a request for $1,200,000 in supplemental funding to complete the final design of a new Department of Public Works facility.

Paddnout said the project has been underway for 10 years and that this request represents the third and final phase of design. "Article 17 seeks $1,200,000 in supplemental funding for the final design of a new DPW facility," he said, adding that the town has requested the same amount the previous two years as evidence of steady progress.

The request is funded from what Paddnout described as "certified free cash." "The funding source identified by town administration and the finance department is certified free cash, so approval at annual town meeting would not have an impact on local property taxes in any way," he said.

Paddnout said a DPW facility work group, alongside staff and consultants, has been reviewing the project and pursuing value engineering to reduce cost and scale. "We're working on a smaller, more efficient design of a facility that should make construction funding more palatable when the time comes," he said, noting that concerns about the facility's size and cost had been raised previously.

He urged support for the article so the project "which benefits all of us" can move forward and concluded his remarks with thanks.

The presentation in the transcript was a statement in support of Article 17; no motion or vote on the article appears in the provided transcript.