Atlantic Aeolus to store and deliver propane as Nantucket Energy Corp.
BUSINESS
BY PETER B. BRACE INDEPENDENT WRITER
Saying he wants to give Yates Gas some competition and Nantucketers better prices, house mover Phil Marks, III, president of Atlantic Aeolus, is adding propane fuel storage and delivery to his job description.

"We just want to provide a little competition for the other guy," said Marks. "I'm not going to say anything bad about Yates, I've been a Yates customer since I've been here, but I don't think any one person doing one thing by themselves is good for anyone."

At a public hearing for the modification of Nantucket Memorial Airport's special permit for 30 Bunker Road, which Marks leases from the airport, held by the Planning Board at its April 28 meeting, the board determined since propane storage is allowed on airport property, all that Atlantic Aeolus needed was a site plan review, said Land Use Planner Tom Broadrick.

"I think they wanted it cleaned up and delineated according to the plan," said Broadrick. "The board made a determination that a special permit is no longer necessary because the uses are allowed by right, so they just reviewed it under site plan review."

In addition to his house moving operation now leasing 1.8 acres on two lots on the southeast side of Bunker Road, Marks will to set up four, 30,000- gallon propane storage tanks and hopes to operate two delivery trucks from his site. He will begin service with one truck. He will also create a fuel transfer area for tanker trucks bringing over propane from the mainland and for his delivery trucks, and a small office. When done, gravel will be laid down on the lot.

Marks said he hopes to have Nantucket Energy Corp. delivering propane by October, perhaps sooner. If he gets his storage permit from the Board of Selectmen at tonight's meeting and then his building permit, Marks said he would be shooting to begin his tanks installation in early June. Marks added that he would does not expect to be bringing any more propane to the island than is already being transported here, as he anticipates acquiring a portion of Yates Gas customers over time.

Prior to the Harbor Fuel Corporation's purchase of Ramos Gas nearly four years ago, renaming it Nantucket Propane, there were two propane options for Nantucketers: Ramos Gas and Yates Gas, which Liberty Propane of Overland Park, Ks. purchased while allowing Yates to keep its name. But when Yates Gas bought Nantucket Propane on June 21, 2007, Nantucket propane gas users were relegated to buying their propane from just

one company. I