FUNDING FOR ENFORCEMENT AN ISSUE

To the editor:

I attended the public forum held April 23 on the proposed new regulations the Health Department is developing regarding the licensing and inspection of year-round rental properties. I have some serious concerns and questions about these regulations.

First of all, the Health Officer already has the powers he is seeking by way of the proposed regulations. They exist in the State Sanitary Code which he is mandated to enforce. We have laws on the books which cover these proposed regulations. What is new is the power to set license fees and to establish fines, the primary purpose of which is to fund the expanded Health Department needed to enforce the existing code.

Second, and equally important is the impact these regulations will have on the already difficult housing situation on Nantucket. The cost of owning property on Nantucket is directly responsible for the cost and scarcity of affordable rental units. Many island renters and owners are forced to share quarters in order to meet their basic housing needs. The additional burdens imposed by these regulations will exacerbate the housing problems facing the most vulnerable segment of our population.

The only issue here is funding. The Health Officer says that the creation of these regulations is critical for the safety and welfare of renters. If the lack of enforcement of the existing codes is endangering the public safety, then the Board of Selectmen should provide sufficient funding for enforcement of the existing codes from the broader tax base rather than targeting a small segment of already taxed property owners.

- Ken Beaugrand

TOWN MUST MAKE ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS A TOP PRIORITY

To the editor:

Nantucket has an extraordinary history, as well as a tradition of pioneering involvement in significant technological accomplishments, from the first whaleship crossing to the Pacific to the first Trans- Atlantic wireless station at 'Sconset.

Today the burgeoning menace of global warming, melting polar ice caps, rising sea levels, coastal flooding on an unprecedented level, all of which appear daily in the world press, should be looming very large on our low-lying horizon. Our island and all its history, as well as all of our financial and emotional stakes in it, are in imminent peril; and we seem blithely unconcerned.

However, unlike most of the endangered world, we are uniquely blessed in our intellectual and economic resources to plan ahead to protect against these impending dangers. What is required is vision, preparation and serious planning now. Yet I know of no such actions of any kind presently being implemented or even considered by any of our elected or appointed officials. This amounts to a pathetic and irresponsible waste of a rapidly diminishing opportunity to use our unique resources and good fortune to : (1) Save our island and its history, (2) Protect our collective investments in it, and (3) Hopefully thereby to show this world how to build detailed and specific bulwarks, well-thought-out, against these obvious new realities.

So, I hereby challenge the Board of Selectmen, and all other appropriate instrumentalities and officials, to move this issue to the tops of their respective agendas. Please let us not squander this rare chance by waiting until the first disaster happens before starting to plan for it.

Apossible first step might be to gather a public advisory panel of concerned, on-and-off-island citizens with needed expertise to make creative and constructive suggestions, with a time-table if practical, and a public reporting schedule.

- Stephen J. Jelin

NOT LOOKING FORWARD TO THE SOUNDS OF SUMMER

To the editor:

In the faraway past of my faraway youth on this faraway island I recall a variety of sounds that signified the joyous fact that it was summer. Among such sounds was the whirring of the blades on the hand-propelled lawn mower cutting the grass followed by the whoosh of the bamboo rake collecting the cuttings. Even the snap of hedge shears spelled sun and warmth and growing things. These were lovely sounds to hear because they went along with all the other particular pleasures of the season that we experienced on Nantucket.

The story is quite different now. One almost dreads the coming of summer because along with all the unpleasantries of today's summer life on Nantucket there is the noise. Surely among the worst of the sounds inflicted upon us here in the heart of town are the implements of the landscaping business. The leaf blowers, hedge cutters, lawn mowers are a major assault on human ears and nervous systems.

In our technologically advanced nation it seems inexcusable that the manufacturers of such equipment can't produce less damaging products. Add these sounds to those of the implements used by the building trades and you can find yourself living in a sea of ugly cacophony during those months when you most want your windows opened.

I once saw a man operating a leaf blower that seemed to make very little noise. It made me wonder why all leaf blowers, as well as other nerve shattering equipment, could not be made to operate more quietly. If enough people raised an outcry perhaps this would happen.

If towns and cities began to ban such noise the manufacturers would be forced to respond sooner or later. But the American people have become so inured to harsh, loud sounds and so accepting of them as inevitable that those of us who deplore having to live under such circumstances are forced to put up. However, we don't have to shut up and perhaps Nantucket will some day do something to restore declining quality of life in this respect as well as other respects.

- Adrienne A. McCalley

CAPE WIND IS NOT A DONE DEAL

To the editor:

The state's recent determination that Cape Wind's environmental impact report is adequate and the subsequent media coverage of this project "milestone" would have us think that the construction barges that will transport the 130 turbines and the pile drivers that will drill these 18 foot diameter behemoths 85 feet into the seabed are on their way. Headlines like "State Approves Cape Wind Plan" and "Mass. environmental agency OKs Cape wind farm" leave the public thinking that Cape Wind is a reality. But these sound bites don't convey the true status of this project or the fact that a federal agency, the Minerals Management Service (MMS), and not the state, has the final word on this project.

In fact, MMS is only at the beginning of its review of Cape Wind, with a draft environmental impact statement still to come. And MMS just announced that its review, started soon after the agency took over lead status from the Army Corps in August 2005, is taking longer than expected in an effort to conduct it "in an appropriately deliberate and diligent manner". By contrast, the state made a rush to judgment on Cape Wind taking just 30 days to review Cape Wind's massive environmental report, and as little as 7 days to study all of the public's comments on it before reaching a decision.

While Cape Wind complains that their project is being scrutinized more than any other energy plant and that opponents are merely being obstructionist, the federal review process has raised critical issues, especially for a project that is the first of its kind in the nation, is being proposed in a heavily conflicted and environmentally sensitive location, and was first proposed in a regulatory vacuum. Questions that weren't even on the table in the beginning of the process are now being addressed. Would the 130 turbines cause radar interference for the many vessels navigating Nantucket Sound? What would be the effect of 40,000 gallons of transformer oil rapidly hitting our beaches in the event of a spill from Cape Wind's transformer substation? Is South of Tuckernuck Island, an area to the southwest of Nantucket, a better location for a wind plant?

On the state side, the recent decision represents but the start of a series of state reviews. Cape Wind needs to get a consistency determination from the MA Office of Coastal Zone Management; a MA Highways permit; a water quality certificate and either a license or a variance under the Chapter 91 waterways licensing program from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). This latter program, based on a legal principle that dates back nearly 2000 years, holds that the air, the sea and the shore belong not to any one person, but rather to the public at large. And Cape Wind, recognizing that getting a variance under this law is a more daunting task than a license, has already challenged DEP's initial determination that they require a variance.

At the local level, Cape Wind needs a host of authorizations as well including approval from the Cape Cod Commission, a wetlands order of conditions from Barnstable and Yarmouth, and approval from both towns' conservation commissions.

At this point, Cape Wind has only one conditional permit, for the transmission cable, from the MA Energy Facilities Siting Board, and a certificate of adequacy from the state on its environmental report. So for those wondering how close this project is to becoming a reality, consider the myriad local, state and federal permits that govern this project, and MMS' recent announcement of a longer and more thorough federal process - one that will ultimately determine this project's fate. On top of this gauntlet of reviews, there is still the fact that Cape Wind needs to secure financing for this $1 billion capital investment.

Cape Wind has to obtain each and every one of the 20-some-odd local, state and federal permits that govern this project. Those who recognize that Nantucket Sound is simply the wrong location for such a project because fishermen's livelihoods would be at risk, residents and tourists that travel through Nantucket Sound would be in danger, and the very heart of the Cape and Islands would be irreversibly changed, still have many opportunities to make their voices heard. One permit denial by any one of the reviewing agencies preserves Nantucket Sound as it was intended to be when it was first designated a state ocean sanctuary in 1970. One permit denial also leaves the door open to find an appropriate site for an offshore wind project that would actually help grow this important industry rather than bog it down with a controversial and irresponsibly sited project.

- Audra Parker Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound