Nantucket Memorial Airport manager fined for violation of conflict of interest law
Nantucket Memorial Airport manager Noah Karberg has paid $4,000 for violating state conflict-of-interest law after the State Ethics Commission probed the leasing of airport land to Nantucket Marine where he was privately a regular customer.
Karberg did not disclose his relationship with the recreational marine vessel sale, service, and storage business that was awarded the lease. That failure to disclose led to the violation, because public employees cannot act in a way that could make others conclude they are unduly influenced.
“This case involves an ‘appearance’ violation by a public employee,” said State Ethics Commission Executive Director David Wilson in a statement. “Mr. Karberg’s conduct as assistant airport manager, particularly his acting officially on the lease while at the same time doing substantial private business concerning his boat with the most likely lessee — private dealings he did not disclose — made it appear that his official actions might not be fair and impartial due to those private dealings."
Karberg, who was appointed as airport manager in January, admitted to the violation in a disposition agreement and waived his right to a hearing.
“This was an important and expensive lesson in transparency, and I plan to move forward and learn from my mistake,” said Karberg in a statement to the Times.
What is the background of the lease transaction?
When Karberg was the assistant manager, he thought of leasing about one acre of undeveloped airport land to Nantucket Marine, which is adjacent to the parcel and is co-owned by John Sullivan and Sergey Chumak.
In July 2019, Karberg purchased a used boat from the company. Over the next three years, he paid the company to do more than $40,000 of work on it, on which he saved almost $8,000 due to a "local boater" discount also available to other year-round islanders. Karberg was friendly with the company’s two owners and considered one of them a friend, according to the disposition agreement.
He texted Chumak with his personal cellphone to suggest that Nantucket Marine use the parcel for boat storage and later emailed him a template letter that Nantucket Marine could use to express interest in leasing the land. He also advised the business regarding the proposed lease.
Later, at the request of the then-airport manager, Karberg took the lead in drafting technical language for a request for proposals to lease the parcel, including recommending the minimum price per square foot for qualifying proposals. In calculating the minimum lease price, Karberg rejected two professional appraisals as too high and made an error that resulted in a substantially lower price.
In August 2022, Nantucket Marine was the only bidder in response to the request for proposals. Karberg, as the sole reviewer designated by the airport’s chief procurement officer, awarded the lease to the company, which signed the 30-year lease in September 2022.
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The commission said it did not find "actual bias, favoritism, or undue or improper influence" in Karberg's awarding the lease to Nantucket Marine. Nantucket Marine and its owners did not violate the conflict of interest law in connection with the lease.
The violation could have been avoided if Karberg had made a full written public disclosure of the private dealings to the airport manager before acting on the lease, said Wilson.
Zane Razzaq writes about housing and real estate. Reach her at zrazzaq@capecodonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @zanerazz.
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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Nantucket airport manager Noah Karberg fined $4K for disclosure error
