A Zoom-based Mariner House Board of Directors (BOD) meeting on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, using the Mariner House Zoom account and recorded by the Zoom host, which is Tracy Canty, and which constitutes the official and approved recording of this meeting.
Attending the meeting were regular and active Board members: Pat Catchpole, Kerric Harvey, Mark Thurston, Bob Vanasse, and Property Manager Tracy Canty. Absent were: Tammy Rausch (traveling), and Ranelle Brew.
A quorum of the voting members having been reached, Bob Vanasse called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST).
PROPERTY MANAGER’S REPORT
Island News
Headline Event: In its own version of the traditional Groundhog Day seasonal prophecy, Nantucket’s weather seer Quentin the Quahog squirted the water from inside its shell to the right, rather than to the left, when he was opened on February 1st. Quentin is pried open to ascertain how long Nantucketers can expect to see winter weather continue. According to local lore, a squirt to the left indicates that an early spring is on the way. This is good news for the island, although less pleasant for Quentin, who gave his life in the effort.
You can see Quentin make the ultimate sacrifice at: https://nantucketcurrent.com/news/quentin-the-quahog-predicts-an-early-spring
Bivalves feature unusually large in this month’s BOD minutes, since in other island news, a new and somewhat puzzling issue has arisen in this winter’s scallop crop. There’s a new a parasite affecting some of Nantucket’s scallops, causing them to appear mottled with small black dots as a result of the parasite feeding off of the mollusk’s internal organs. Thus far, there seem to be no adverse effects from people eating these so-called “Dalmatian scallops.”
Moving onto dry land, HGTV has designated Nantucket as “…one of the most charming small towns in the United States.” Building (and permitting) continue to move forward on several major construction projects, including a 24-hour gym and salon and the relatively vast Richmond Group affordable housing project on Old South Road. “Affordable housing,” as understood within the context of the Old South Road enterprise, begins at $4,300/month to rent an apartment suitable for one-to-two people.
Two less upbeat news items: A recent drug bust netted approximately $250,000 in cocaine, and Mass General – the flagship Massachusetts hospital and medical organization on the mainland, which now also operates the Nantucket Cottage Hospital – is laying off hundreds of employees. This overall reduction in Force (RIF) is anticipated to affect Nantucket Cottage Hospital largely in terms of its administrative staff.
“Dunes” restaurant has closed, to be replaced by an upscale steakhouse called “Billy’s on Broad.”
Finally, it has been a long, cold, windy, and unusually snowy winter on Nantucket, with many boats to and from the mainland cancelled and/or delayed. People are ready for Quentin to be right about better weather coming soon.
Mariner House Updates
* Mariner House occupancy during January 2025 was 13%.
* Improvements and updates continue to be made to the Mariner House website. The “Bulletin” area information has been made clearer and the section itself is more user-friendly.
*Tracy is in the process of having the unit-by-unit photo galleries updated as well as adding several exterior shots of the property. With input from Pat Catchpole, she’s taken bids from three different photographers and, after discussion, the Board supported her recommendation to approach one of them with a tentative contract offer.
*During the discussion, Pat brought up the possibility of including a floor plan of each unit, noting that it often helps potential renters make a decision, and introduced the BOD to the “Cubicasa” app as an easy way to achieve this. We looked at the more elaborate options that this app has to offer, notably, the 3-D rather than the 2-D version of a floor plan, but felt that the 2-D version was probably a cleaner and more accessible version for Mariner House purposes. Bob asked Tracy to inquire with the photographer about the added costs of including both types of floor plan in the new visuals for our website.
Other Business
* Tracy reported that the Mariner House annual property taxes have been signed off on by president Bob Vanasse and filed in good time for this year’s submission.
* The search continues for a new attorney to take care of the Mariner House’s legal needs. The primary issue here is the difficulty of finding a lawyer who is willing to represent an unusual property such as ours. Our current but retiring lawyer, Joe Guay, has said that he will approach an associate of his on the Cape, and both Bob and Kerric volunteered to inquire with personal contacts. Mark provided some historical background on the shape and duration of the issue. Ideally, whomever takes over will have an overlap period before Joe retires completely.
*Meanwhile, Joe continues to pursue the “Complaint to Quiet Title” strategy to clear several of the units suffering from title snarls that are also in or approaching foreclosure or are in similarly inert conditions.
There being no further business at this time, Kerric made a motion to adjourn, Mark seconded it, and Bob adjourned the meeting at 7:35 p.m.
Minutes submitted by:
Kerric Harvey,
ACK MHA BOD Secretary,
March 10, 2025