Finance panel reviews fire, sewer, nursing home budgets

Finance Committee · Meeting of February 2, 2026

Nantucket Finance Committee reviews FY27 budgets heavy on capital asks, from fire engines to a $9.25 million sewer upgrade. Fire Chief Cranston sought one more firefighter and two compact all-terrain engines to replace an aging brush truck. Sewer presenter Dave Gray requested $9.25 million in supplemental funding to finish the Surfside treatment plant upgrade, including a new catch-basin dump station.

Police and Harbor Master budgets included a $603,000 patrol boat replacement and roughly $5.4 million for public safety facility renovations, plus a $1.5 million Harbormaster building supplemental. The sharpest exchange came over Our Island Home, the town's nursing facility, where Vice Chair Joanna Roche told the administrator he was "caught between a rock and a hard place", rising admissions and $1.9 million in private-pay revenue running up against a building with roughly five years of useful life left. No budget votes were taken; the committee approved its agenda and adjournment unanimously.

In the full story:

• The complete report, 900 words

Source: the Finance Committee meeting of February 2, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.