Town of Nantucket, MA Article III Select Board

[Amended 4-11-2007 ATM by Art. 44, approved 5-21-2007; Acts of 2019, Ch. 110, approved 11-13-2019]

Section 3.1 Composition, Term of Office and Quorum

The select board shall be composed of five members elected for terms of three years each, so arranged that the terms of as nearly equal number of members as possible expire each year. To qualify for office, each member shall be and remain a resident of the Town. Three of the five members shall constitute a quorum. A majority of the quorum shall be sufficient to set the Board's meeting agenda and to decide any question, except as may be otherwise provided in this Charter.

Section 3.2 Board Officers

Within 30 days following each annual Town election, the select board shall choose one of its duly elected members as Chair and another as Vice-Chair, each to serve until a successor is elected. The Vice-Chair shall, during any temporary disability or absence of the Chair, serve as Acting Chair. The Chair shall:

(a) Execute, and cause the Town Clerk to affix Town seal to, all contracts, bonds or other instruments requiring the signature and seal of the Town and having been duly approved by the select board;

(b) Preside over all meetings of the select board with the right to vote on all questions, absent conflict of interest, and to propose the agenda prior to each such meeting;

(c) Report annually to the people of the Town on the work of the previous year; and

(d) Serve as representative of the select board at ceremonial and civic occasions.

Section 3.3 Power to Acquire Real Estate for the Town

Subject to applicable administrative procedures pursuant to the laws of the Commonwealth or Town bylaw, the select board may, notwithstanding any law to the contrary, vote the following:

To acquire any real estate, including any partial interest therein, by purchase or acceptance of gift; such acquisition being without the necessity of any vote of Town Meeting, but subject to the restriction that any acquisition of real estate by eminent domain may only be effected if first authorized by vote of Town Meeting pursuant to the laws of the Commonwealth and subject also to the availability of any necessary funds appropriated for such acquisition.

The select board shall publish a public notice of such vote in a newspaper having general circulation within the Town. Any such acquisition shall be subject to veto by Town Meeting if a petition as set forth in Section 2.1(b) is filed with the Town Clerk within 30 days following the date such public notice is published.

Nothing in this Section of the Charter shall affect the acceptance of gifts pursuant to c. 44, Section 53(a) of the General Laws.

Section 3.4 Appointment Powers of the Select Board.

(a) The select board may, at a public meeting, exercise the following powers:

(1) To appoint the Town Manager for the purposes set forth in Article IV. Such appointment shall be upon appropriate terms and conditions, including provision for annual performance reviews, in conformity with this Charter and the General Laws. By a majority vote of the full count of members then in office, the Board may remove the Town Manager;

(2) To appoint Town Counsel, and registrars of voters and other election officials (upon the recommendation of the Town Clerk), also other Town officers and employees to the extent so permitted to them by this Charter;

(3) To appoint and, for cause, upon written charges and after a public hearing if so requested, to remove members of the following Town boards, councils, commissions and committees:

Airport Commission, Conservation Commission, Commission on Disability, Council on Aging, Council for Human Services, Finance Committee, Parks and Recreation Commission, and Zoning Board of Appeals; and any other committee for which a Town bylaw makes the select board the appointing authority; also any advisory committee established by the select board and any committee acting for both the Town and the County.

Cause for removals shall be put forward in good faith, and not arbitrary, irrational, unreasonable or irrelevant to the duties of the office, on grounds of incapacity beyond temporary illness, chronic nonattendance or violation of the oath of office.

Nothing in this Section 3.4(a)(3) mandates the continued existence of any such board or the specific number of members appointed;

(4) To exercise the power to disapprove of appointments made by the Town Manager pursuant to Section 3.4(b) or 4.3 of this Charter. All appointments by the Town Manager to the position of Assistant Town Manager, of department head or of any other position pursuant to this Charter, are subject to a vote of disapproval by the select board; provided, however, that such appointments shall take effect unless the select board votes disapproval within a 15-day period following the day on which notice of the proposed appointment is filed with the Board Chair;

(5) To fill by appointment any elective position on a Town board, commission or council, vacant by reason of a member's resignation, death or incapacity beyond temporary illness, but only if the laws of the Commonwealth allow for appointments in such cases, the appointee to serve, any such laws notwithstanding, only until a successor is elected at the next annual Town election; and the successor so elected then to serve for the remainder, if any, of the member's unexpired term; and

(6) To appoint to the Planning Board three associate members to serve in zoning matters as alternates in lieu of any elected alternate, the terms of appointment being of such length and so arranged that the term of one associate member shall expire each year. Nothing in this Charter shall affect the election of the regular Planning Board members in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth.

(b) Any vacancy occurring in an appointed position in Town offices, boards, councils, commissions or committees shall be filled by the select board, the Town Manager or other appointing authority, whichever is empowered to make the initial appointment to the position vacated, for the balance of the unexpired term.

Section 3.5 Further Powers of the Select Board

[Amended by Ch. 97, Acts of 2022]

The select board shall have the power:

(a) To act in the capacity of the Board of County Commissioners;

(b) To establish general Town priorities, goals and policies;

(c) To establish as may be advisable or needed one or more advisory committees to conduct any inquiry or investigation or to make planning, policy or other recommendations;

(d) To adopt rules for the conduct of business and to fix times and places for meetings, to establish all five members as a committee of the whole, and to designate any number of its members as a subcommittee;

(e) To approve or disapprove Town contracts, contract amendments, contract terminations and contract enforcement actions proposed by the Town Manager;

(f) To identify emergency situations and to declare emergencies;

(g) To hear and decide upon license applications as may be provided by Town bylaws or by Special or General Laws;

(h) To hear and decide administrative appeals from the Historic District Commission or from any other Town body as may be provided by Town bylaw or by the laws of the commonwealth; and

(i) The select board shall have the full role of and all of the powers and authority of a board of selectmen under any general or special law and its members and officers shall have the full role of and all of the powers and authority of the members and officers of a board of selectmen under any general or special law.

Section 3.6 Audit Committee.

[Added by Ch. 97, Acts of 2022]

(a) Members. In accordance with this charter, the select board shall establish a 5 member audit committee that shall consist of the chair of the select board; the chair of the finance committee; 1 appointed member from the select board; and 2 members of the Nantucket community. The public members shall be appointed by the select board. Each member shall be a voting member and shall be appointed for 1-year terms.

(b) Purposes, Duties and Responsibilities of the Audit Committee. The audit committee shall represent the select board in discharging its responsibility relating to the accounting, reporting and financial practices of the town and shall have general responsibility for surveillance of internal controls and accounting and audit activities of the town. Specifically, the audit committee shall:

(i) evaluate and recommend to the select board a firm of independent certified public accountants as auditors of the town;

(ii) review with the independent auditors their audit procedures, including the scope, fees and timing of the audit, and the results of the annual audit examination and any accompanying management letters;

(iii) review the written statement from the outside auditor of the town concerning any relationships between the auditor and the town or any other relationships that may adversely affect the independence of the auditor and assess the independence of the outside auditor;

(iv) review and discuss with the finance director and the independent auditors the town's annual audited consolidated financial statements, including an analysis of the auditors' judgment as to the quality of the town's accounting principles;

(v) review the adequacy of the town's internal controls;

(vi) review significant changes in the accounting policies of the town and accounting and financial reporting rule change that may have a significant impact on the town's financial reports;

(vii) review material pending legal proceedings involving the town and other contingent liabilities; and

(viii) review the adequacy of the audit committee charter on an annual basis.

(c) Meetings. The audit committee shall meet as often as may be deemed necessary. The audit committee shall meet in executive session without the presence of staff with the independent auditors at least annually. The audit committee shall report to the full select board with respect to its meetings. The majority of the members of the audit committee shall constitute a quorum.