The proposed $100 million Our Island Home nursing facility received backing from the Finance Committee on Tuesday, pushing what would become the most costly municipal project in the island’s history to Town Meeting with a favorable recommendation.
Although some members voiced significant concerns regarding the price and the town’s current financial support of the municipal nursing home, the majority of the Finance Committee felt that the town’s duty to care for elderly residents requiring skilled nursing care outweighed these worries.
“This is a moral decision,” stated Finance Committee member Peter N. Schaeffer, who had previously opposed the $8 million appropriation for the facility’s design but changed his stance after discussing the matter with staff and residents of Our Island Home. “Financially, it doesn’t make sense. It’s a moral issue. Do we choose to save our elderly who are unwell and require nursing care? Or do we tell them, when the time comes, ‘Goodbye. Go find somewhere on the mainland.’ But there’s nothing available on the Cape. The Cape is at capacity, and you’re going to be two hours away by the time someone comes to visit. This is your last home on Nantucket, no questions asked.”
The final vote from the Finance Committee was 6-3, with Chris Glowacki, Stephen Maury, Joanna Roche, Rob Giacchetti, Jeremy Bloomer, and Schaeffer endorsing the motion for Town Meeting. Finance Committee chair Denice Kronau, along with Jill Vieth and Joseph Wright, voted against it.
Wright presented the strongest argument against the town’s appropriation of the $100 million necessary for the facility’s construction, labeling it fiscally irresponsible. According to a pro forma prepared by the town’s Finance Department for the project, Wright noted that the annual taxpayer contribution for Our Island Home will rise from the current $5 million to $14.5 million annually over the next 25 years.
“This is a very costly operation,” Wright remarked. “In an ideal world, you would do everything for everyone, but the world isn’t ideal, and the question is whether you can afford it… This project has no economic advantages. It binds us to a poor business model for 25 years. If we build this facility, we are committing to this endeavor indefinitely. I agree it’s a benevolent and morally commendable undertaking, but I question if it is a prudent financial decision.”
If island voters approve it in May, the $105 million appropriation will cover the construction of a 60,000-square-foot, 45-bed nursing facility at the Sherburne Commons campus off South Shore Road, featuring enclosed courtyards and photovoltaic solar arrays. Some rooms will be sizable enough for the potential addition of a second bed should Our Island Home need to expand capacity. The new structure would ensure that Nantucket remains the only municipality in Massachusetts that owns and operates its own nursing home.
Given Nantucket’s geography and land costs, it is challenging, if not unfeasible, for a private entity to manage a nursing home on the island. As such, in the absence of a town-operated facility, those requiring advanced, specialized nursing care may have to relocate to the mainland. Town leaders are concerned that without voter approval for the appropriation at Town Meeting in May, Nantucket will likely close the existing Our Island Home and exit the nursing home business altogether.
This reality weighed heavily on the Finance Committee members during their discussions on Tuesday.
“If we start from the premise that we’re going to care for this segment of our community, then this is the right project,” asserted Finance Committee member Chris Glowacki. “The proper diligence has been conducted. The $100 million is a substantial figure, but that’s the cost of constructing such a facility. We must care for each other in ways that wouldn’t occur in a commercial setting or elsewhere.”
The Finance Committee also thoroughly discussed the costs associated with the new facility and its impact on island taxpayers.
Brian Turbitt, the town’s finance director, informed the committee that an average year-round residential property assessed at $2 million with the residential tax exemption would experience an annual tax increase of $271. For properties without the residential exemption, the annual tax increase would be about $700. Turbitt indicated that the town has set up a tax rate calculator for island property owners to gauge their specific tax rate increase related to the Our Island Home project and other items on the Town Meeting warrant.
“Overall, tax rates would need to rise by 10 percent to finance this single project,” commented Finance Committee member Jeremy Bloomer, who ultimately supported the positive motion. “It’s a cash deficit of $14 to $15 million annually – before inflation.”
Select Board member Dawn Hill Holdgate, a long-time advocate for the new Our Island Home project throughout her four terms on the board, attended the Finance Committee meeting on Tuesday to further champion the new facility. She underscored that voters have already signaled their intention to remain in the nursing home business by approving a $5 million permanent operating override at the 2021 Annual Town Meeting to support Our Island Home’s operating budget.
“There’s a fundamental choice here,” Hill Holdgate articulated. “The real question is: do we want Nantucket to take care of this portion of the population? Because otherwise, we’re going to have to send people elsewhere, likely far away. And yes, there are 45 beds available at any one time. Those beds can turn over; they can serve short-term rehab, or a younger individual may temporarily stay there after knee surgery. We moved forward because we passed the $5 million override, which indicated that the community wishes to care for their own and continue in this field. Yes, the price tag is unprecedented. But this trend won’t stop; every future building will come at a higher cost.”
If voters endorse the expenditure at the Annual Town Meeting in May followed by a subsequent ballot vote, the preliminary timeline anticipates construction starting in June 2025 and concluding by December 2027. Three firms responded to the town’s request for proposals, leading to Consigli Construction being selected as the construction manager at risk, or CMR, in June.
If the preliminary timeline is maintained, construction would complete over a decade after the Town first approached voters for support of a new facility at the Sherburne Commons site in 2017. Initially, that proposal was turned down, leading the town to spend several years exploring the possibility of a new facility at the existing Our Island Home location on East Creek Road, which overlooks the harbor. In 2021, however, the Select Board opted to pursue a new OIH building at Sherburne Commons, and Town Meeting subsequently approved $8.5 million in preliminary funding for the design in 2022.
Once the new facility is operational, the town plans to repurpose the existing Our Island Home property on East Creek Road into a new senior center.
