NANTUCKET CURRENT 🌊

The Select Board on Wednesday unanimously approved a new five-year lease for the Sandbar to operate the town-owned waterfront concession space at Jetties Beach. Sandbar was the only applicant to submit a bid on the lease, and its proposal had previously been recommended by former town Finance Director Brian Turbitt for approval. Owned by island residents George Kelly and Nick Nass, Sandbar first opened its doors in 2017. The restaurant will open for its 10th season in business on Friday. “We are honored to be given the opportunity to continue our lease at Jetties - huge thanks to the town for another five years of Sandbar! We have a couple of new items Chef Manny (Rojas) is excited to be rolling out from the kitchen, in addition to some fresh merchandise in the retail shop. But we’re most excited about our new offering from the take-out window - ice cream! We couldn’t be more thrilled to begin year 10 on the beach - opening day tomorrow!” Kelly, Nass, and Rojas told the Current on Thursday. The Sandbar’s new lease will begin in 2027 and will run until 2031. In the first year, Sandbar will pay the town $200,000 for the use of the space, with that figure gradually increasing to $256,000 in the final year of the lease. Sandbar will also pass along an average of 7.5 percent of food sales to the town. When the space last went out to bid in 2021, Sandbar faced competition from a pair of bids, including one submitted by the owners of the Madaket-based restaurant Millie’s. A town review committee that year voted 5-0 to award the contract to Sandbar. 📸: @dronenantucket

A Nantucket jury on Wednesday awarded millions of dollars in damages to the neighbors of the Veranda House who filed lawsuits against the owner of the hotel and its staff after the massive fire that struck the historic structure nearly four years ago. Following a nine-day jury trial in Nantucket Superior Court, which came to an end Tuesday afternoon following closing arguments, the 10-person jury reached its verdict just after 3 p.m. on Wednesday. While the owner of the Veranda House, the Rhode Island-based Procaccianti Companies, was ordered to pay a total of $3.5 million to the four neighbors who brought lawsuits in the aftermath of the fire, the damages awarded were far less than what they had been seeking. The lawsuits were filed by Kevin and Kathy Davidson (4 Step Lane), Susan Renzulli (5A Step Lane), and Franklin Harris (5A Step Lane). The neighbors were represented by Jonathan Sweet of Keches Law Group, who, at the conclusion of his roughly 50-minute closing argument, encouraged the jury to grant the Davidsons and Renzulli $3 to $5 million each in damages for the emotional distress caused by the fire. Sweet also suggested $500,000 to $750,000 be awarded to Renzulli for a thigh injury she suffered several days after the fire was extinguished when she fell through the floor of her home while attempting to retrieve belongings. Sweet did not mince words when taking aim at the owners and operators of the Veranda House during his closing argument. “The defendants come in here, admit that it’s all their fault, but they spend years and then two weeks at trial downplaying all the damage that they caused,” Sweet said. I would submit to you, it’s all about dodging responsibility.” “Sure, they paid off some stuff. Good for them. They should have,” Sweet continued. “But they haven’t paid for the most important ones, and that’s the human damages that have been the subject in this case, and that your job as jurors is going to be to evaluate, to include everything that the defendant’s fire took.” Full story at NantucketCurrent.com 📸: @kitnoble

These houses are retreating from Nantucket’s north shore and moving inland. But it’s not due to erosion. One of the Land Bank’s most expensive, complicated, and collaborative projects in its history got underway Tuesday morning as work crews began moving three structures from its new beachfront property on Jefferson Avenue out to Madaket, where they will become deed-restricted affordable homes. The parade of houses squeezed around the intersection of Easton Street and North Beach Street, then proceeded up Cliff Road, and out to Madaket with Barrett Enterprises orchestrating the move, assisted by crews from National Grid and Verizon. The Land Bank purchased the one-acre property at 41 Jefferson Avenue in Nov. 2024 for $26 million, its most expensive property acquisition ever. Over the past year, it has been formulating plans for the structures on the property, and ultimately collaborated with the town’s Affordable Housing Trust to find new locations and purposes for several of them. “It was no small feat,” said Land Bank Commission chair Kristina Jelleme said. “There were many, many moving parts behind figuring out how many units could be taken, who was going to take them, where they were going to go, how they were going to be placed with all those moving parts…We always had this overall view of purchasing the property and moving the houses and having it be a public beach, but when you get down to the logistics of that actually happening, it was no small feat, and I’m just so proud of the team that was put together, and creating year-round affordable housing.” The three buildings that were on the move on Tuesday were headed to the town’s recently acquired property at 158 Madaket Road, which the Affordable Housing Trust purchased last month for $2 million. The two remaining structures at 41 Jefferson Avenue will be moved next week to the Land Bank’s property at 159 Hummock Pond Road, and will become employee housing units for Land Bank staff. Read the full story at NantucketCurrent.com

Now that’s a proper sunset 🤩 🎥: @ty._.fly > @kitnoble > @csleeps77 > @jasongraz

A little rain didn’t dampen the spring tradition of opening day at the Hospital Thrift Shop Monday morning. Despite a few showers, the line of people waiting to get in stretched down India Street nearly to Centre Street before the ribbon was cut and shoppers raced into the store in search of some of the best deals in Nantucket. Today’s opening marked the Thrift Shop’s 97th year in business selling donated used goods to support Nantucket Cottage Hospital. Last year the Hospital Thrift Shop, which is open from mid-May through mid-October, donated a record $660,000 to the hospital.

Shortly after the trendy pajama boutique and lifestyle brand Roller Rabbit arrived in downtown Nantucket last summer, it made headlines. Just not the kind it wanted. The Roller Rabbit store on Centre Street was found in violation of Nantucket’s so-called chain store ban, otherwise known as the formula business bylaw. In a July 7th enforcement order, Nantucket Building Commissioner Paul Murphy ordered Roller Rabbit to “immediately cease all business activity. Its sign at 44 Centre Street came down at the peak of summer. Yet less than one year later, Roller Rabbit is still in business in downtown Nantucket, having recently reopened its doors for the season. How was this allowed? The company simply made a few minor tweaks, and Murphy agreed that the changes brought it into compliance with the chain store ban bylaw. The store is now dubbed "The Roller Rabbit General Store." The company has altered its design from its other locations and modified its merchandise so that 50 percent of the items are not Roller Rabbit products, which are not carried in its 13 other stores across the country. “This concept is intentionally distinct from our traditional Roller Rabbit stores in both name and execution, but most importantly product assortment - we will have a multitude of different brands both local and national that are not our own...” wrote Hānnah Kinser-Sampedro, Roller Rabbit’s vice president of visual merchandising and store design, in a Jan. 22 email to Nantucket building commissioner Paul Murphy that was obtained by the Current. “We believe the above complies clearly with the stipulations as written in the ‘formula business’ bylaws.” After reviewing Roller Rabbit’s changes, Murphy agreed. “Based on what you have provided to me, you will be allowed to open in the FBED (formula business) exclusion district,” Murphy replied to Kinser-Sampedro on February 3. Roller Rabbit has now signed a two-year lease for the 44 Centre Street location. Full story at NantucketCurrent.com

Highlights from Nantucket’s 2026 Annual Town Meeting: Article 11 - Our Island Home: In a reversal, Town Meeting voted 959-321 to support a $137 million (total cost) proposal to move Our Island Home to Sherburne Commons after defeating the plan last year. The largest capital project to ever go before Town Meeting, the new Our Island Home is slated to keep the state’s only municipally owned skilled nursing facility open for the foreseeable future. The project still needs majority support at the ballot box in the upcoming local election. Article 12 - High School Athletic Facilities Improvements: Town Meeting voted 719-281 to support the Nantucket Public Schools’ proposal to renovate the athletic facilities at Vito Capizzo Stadium, including a an artificial turf field and synthetic track. It also requires approval at the ballot. Article 13 - Town Employee Housing: Voters approved spending $7 million for nine bedrooms of town employee housing at Waitt Drive on a 432-137 vote. A previous version of the project, seeking $14 million for up to 20 bedrooms, came up short of the two-thirds needed to pass in 2025. Article 14 - LORAN Barracks Repairs: An article seeking $5.4 million in funding for the next phase of repairs at the LORAN barracks used as seasonal housing for the police department’s community services articles earned a majority but failed to reach the two-thirds threshold and was defeated. Article 15 - Somerset Sewer Extension: A $45 million expansion of Nantucket’s sewer system into the Somerset area was approved at Town Meeting, but voters amended the town’s proposed funding formula to reduce the financial burden on those required to connect to the system, shifting the entire project cost to the tax base. Full coverage at NantucketCurrent.com

Madam Moderator Sarah Alger. National Treasure. Thank you Sarah for 30 years of wit and wisdom leading us through Nantucket’s Town Meetings. 🙏🫡 🎥: @ournctv

Town Meeting voted 719-281 on Monday to support the Nantucket Public Schools’ (NPS) proposal to renovate the athletic facilities at Vito Capizzo Stadium, an emphatic win in the school system’s years-long quest to upgrade the ageing infrastructure behind the high school. Overcoming opposition from voters concerned about the potential harmful effects of an artificial turf field slated for installation in place of the current football field, the $26 million project cleared what may be the toughest obstacle in its path Monday night, but several hurdles remain before NPS can break ground. The project, included on the Town Meeting warrant as Article 12, still needs the support of a simple majority of voters at the ballot box on May 18th, and there remains a chance that the Board of Health could intervene to stop the use of artificial turf. The Board of Health’s next regularly scheduled meeting is May 21st, and it is likely the issue will be on the agenda again. The Board has considered several responses to artificial turf, including an island-wide ban and stringent testing requirements, and it is unclear what restrictions, if any, they may impose. The Board’s dynamic may also soon change sharply, as several members will see their terms expire in June and may struggle to find the Select Board support needed for reappointment amid heavy criticism from the Select Board surrounding the Board of Health’s handling of the turf discussion. But the Town Meeting vote is a major step forward for the project, which has been at the center of one of Nantucket’s most hotly contested debates for the last seven months and has been under consideration by NPS for years. Full story at NantucketCurrent.com

🎤 CURRENT VOICES 🎤 The 2026 Annual Town Meeting is here. Nantucket residents across the island have packed the high school’s auditorium and gymnasium to speak their minds and exercise their rights on the 84 articles set to be voted on over the course of the next two days. The Current spoke to island residents as they were arriving Monday afternoon to learn more about what brought them to town meeting this year and what they’re looking forward to. Presented by @ackreds

Patrick Considine, the town of Nantucket’s 911 dispatch assistant supervisor, spoke out at Wednesday’s Select Board hearing to allege retaliation and discrimination amid an ongoing grievance over dispatchers’ ability to work third-party details. One day later, Considine says the town fired him. “The allegations brought forth against me by (Nantucket Police Chief Jody) Kasper and (Town of Nantucket Human Resources Director Amanda) Perry, which are fueled by Arthur Parker’s report, a former Police Chief with a questionable past himself, are their last efforts to silence me,” Considine said in a statement provided to the Current. “I thought I made it crystal clear last night, that we will not be silenced. I look forward to clearing my name, exposing the corruption and I invite you all to tune in to the next Select Board meeting on Wednesday, May 13. I am just getting started”. Following Wednesday’s Select Board meeting, the Current reached out to Chief Kasper regarding Considine’s allegations. On Thursday, the town’s communications department shared this statement from Kasper: “While I would like to share more information, I am not able to do so at this time,” Kasper stated. “More broadly, as Chief of Police, I have a responsibility to address concerning behavior within our work environment. I hold myself and members of this department to the high standards that our community expects and deserves. When those standards are not met, it is my duty to ensure that the matter is addressed appropriately. I remain committed to maintaining a department grounded in professionalism, integrity and service.” Considine was informed of his termination from his position on Thursday afternoon, even though a town investigation into his conduct was completed back on January 27, 2026, according to documents reviewed by the Current. That investigation was allegedly conducted by Arthur Parker, a private investigator hired by the town of Nantucket who has worked on behalf of numerous municipalities across Massachusetts, and previously served as the chief of police in Carver, Mass. Full story at NantucketCurrent.com Video clip via @ournctv

For the past 26 years on “The Strip” along Broad Street, a constant presence greeting locals, workers coming over on the ferries, and summer visitors has been the smiling face of Gita Nakarmi Mali, one of three owners of the iconic restaurant Stubbys. “I love Nantucket. This is my home,” Nakarmi said. “Let’s say the dream home, right? It is paradise. It’s a place where everybody greets everyone. We have a couple people who come early in the morning. We have a little chat here and there, like five o’clock. We usually open at 5:30 a.m., but for the people there at five, we do a little community service here and there. And then everybody appreciates our food. We try our best. Every year we learn, but we are still learning. It’s not an easy job.” Nakarmi moved to Nantucket in 1999 from Nepal on an H-2B work visa and received her green card in the mid-2000s. She got her start at Stubbys about 12 to 18 months after her arrival, and worked her way up before ultimately becoming a partner in the business. Nakarmi says she has built a great life on Nantucket with what she described as many blessings, but nothing is more important to her than her two boys. “I’m blessed to have my two boys,” Nakarmi said. One of her sons – Saugat, 30 – was born in Nepal while her other son, Sujal, 20, was born and raised on the island. Saugat manages the Stubbys Boston location, where he is also a part owner, and both of Nakarmi’s sons have spent years working for Stubbys on the island. Nakarmi was a regular employee for years before recently buying out the stake of Skip Cabot, one of Stubbys’ original founders, as he prepared to move off-island. She does a lot of work behind the scenes, from making schedules and handling paperwork to running the back kitchen during busier hours. Her favorite part of the job is engaging with customers. “I think the customer service is my favorite thing,” Nakarmi said. “I am always happy to work. It is great knowing people, greeting them, and trying to serve them good food. I believe good customer service is a community service, right?” Read the full feature at NantucketCurrent.com 📸: @charitygrace_photography