Mariner House Board of Directors Meeting: Minutes of August 19, 2025

A Zoom-based Mariner House Board of Directors (BOD) meeting was held on Tuesday, August 19, 2025, using the Mariner House Zoom account and recorded by MHA Zoom host Tracy Canty. That recording constitutes the official and approved recording of this meeting.
Attending the meeting were Board members: Ranelle Brew, Mark Thurston, Kerric Harvey, Tammy Rausch, Bob Vanasse, and Property Manager Tracy Canty.
Absent was Pat Catchpole.
A quorum of the voting members having been reached, Bob Vanasse called the meeting to order at 7:06 p.m. (EDT).
Please Note: There was no Board of Directors meeting held in July, 2025 due to the lack of a quorum of members being available.
PROPERTY MANAGER’S REPORT
Island News, reported by Tracy Canty
* Nantucket is experiencing a major drought, which is troubling in many ways but at least constrains the notorious tick population.
* The Town has voted to distribute (8) new “medallions” for licensing new car rental operations.
* Vice President J.D. Vance visited the island recently on a fund-raising tour, raising around $3 million dollars.
* Vineyard Wind activity is picking up again. The company has addressed complaints about intrusive and possibly harmful nighttime light emissions, although it is not known if this will be a permanent part of their industrial practice in waters off Nantucket.
* Speaking of utilities (although the power generated by Vineyard Wind is not intended for island consumption), Nantucket is experiencing a great deal of pressure on its island water supply. Discussions and some plans abound regarding opening a new well, that would increase Island water about 10%.
* Earlier in August, a Bruce Springsteen-themed cover band called “Bruce and the USA” provided some musical genre variety at the annual Boston Pops concert. Duly noted was the
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high-end whimsy of some concert-goers sporting formal dress, including sequined gowns, on the beach.
* In darker news, there have been at least (3) bomb threats, this month, called in against vehicles parked outside of the Ralph Lauren store on Main Street. Motive is unknown; the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been called in as part of the investigative team. (NB.: False threats against people and/or property that use social media, digital means, and/or electronic communication is called “swatting,” and has become a growing problem in many communities. It is now classified as a form of criminal harassment.)
PROPERTY REPORT
Mariner House Updates
* July 2025 saw a 96% occupancy rate at the Mariner House.
* Vehicular damage was done to the “old-time” lamp-post of the corner, to the point where the post is now gone entirely. It is thought that a dump truck knocked it over; it is hoped (and rumored) that it will eventually be replaced.
* A second light post in the area was damaged by a different car accident. In the early morning hours of July 26, a Jeep Wrangler was rolled outside of 42/44 Centre Street, resulting in damage to an art gallery display front, damaging as street lamp, and destroying a tree. All three people in the Jeep at the time were transported to the Nantucket Cottage Hospital and treated for non-life threatening injuries.
Old Business
* The new “Mariner House” sign, essentially a replacement for our severely weathered and disintegrating historical plaque, has been installed on the Centre Street side of the building, to the general delight of those Board members who have seen it thus far. On behalf of Board, President Bob Vanasse thanked Tracy for all of the work that went into getting the sign, including its design and content, as well as expressing his personal pleasure with how the whole thing turned out. This sentiment was echoed by the rest of the Board.
New Business
* Ranelle shared with the Board her recent experiences looking for a real estate lawyer on the island (in this case, outside of Mariner House pursuits) which, essentially, replicated our on-going difficulties in finding a replacement for the retiring Mariner House lawyer Joe Guay.
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Various Board members, and Tracy in particular as Property manager, have been working on this issue for some time now. Events continue to unfold.
* Tracy introduced the topic of finding a date for the 2025 Annual General Members Meeting, open to all Mariner House owners, which is traditionally held in person in Hyannis concomitantly with an online participation option for those who need or prefer it.
*Discussion about potential dates for this year’s meeting ran into some scheduling challenges among the Board that are still being ironed out. Several members will likely avail themselves of the “Zoom option” and attend the meeting virtually, but we’ll know more once a date has been fixed.
*A related discussion ensued about whether or not the in-person option for the Members’ Meeting should actually be dropped, which would then make the virtual option the only way to participate. We currently offer a hybrid event in which people can attend in person, by phone, or by using a “Zoom-style” screen connection.
*The discussion began with the Board re-affirming that retaining the in-person option for attending the meeting did not affect or prevent any one from taking advantage of the virtual attendance option, which has been in place for years. That having been confirmed, a thoughtful and production conversation developed, with the following heads of discussion.
* Several points were raised regarding the low attendance rate of the in-person meeting and the difficulties presented by getting to Hyannis in order to attend it, as well as the cost-saving aspect of making the meeting online-only and thus avoiding the room rental and amenities fees incurred by in-person gatherings.
* Bob asked Tracy how many members typically attend the meetings in person as compared to by online means, as well as what it usually cost to run the in-person aspect of the meeting.
* Tracy estimated that it’s around $150 for the room rental and $15-16 per head for the provided boxed lunch. The number of members who attend the meeting in person varies widely from year to year, which is also the case, interestingly, in terms of the number of members who join the meeting through online means.
* Bob voiced a desire about using modern technology to conduct modern-day Mariner House business; Mark, Ranelle, Bob, and Kerric all touched upon the challenges of traveling to Hyannis for the meeting, although as noted in the discussion, having our current “Zoom-style” option available as an alternative to physical attendance already does address that issue.
* Mark, Tammy, and others asked if the Mariner House By-Laws specified that the Annual Members meeting be held in person, which the remainder of the Board saw as an important question and the logical starting point for subsequent decision-making.
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* Kerric raised the question of whether continuing with our current practice of offering a hybrid meeting might help to create a sense of Mariner House community since it gives owners the opportunity to meet with Board members face to face in a social setting as well as an official one, and to speak with Board members, as well as with other owners, one-on-one instead of always in a group. The unique nature of the in-person version also highlights the Members Meeting as something “special,” not just a sheerly functional undertaking.
* At the close of the discussion, Kerric asked that we table an actual decision about shutting down the traditional in-person version of the meeting until the next Board meeting in order to provide time to think about the issue as well as get the answer to the By-Laws question. This informal motion was accepted by the rest of the Board, and thus the issue will be discussed again at the September Board meeting.
There being no more new business, and a motion to adjourn having been seconded, Bob Vanasse adjourned the meeting at 7:36 p.m. (EDT).
The next Mariner House Board of Directors meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. (EDT) on Tuesday, September 16, 2025.
Minutes submitted by:
Kerric Harvey,
ACK MHA BOD Secretary,
September 8, 2025, 2025