Meetings Ahead
Most meetings in Eastham are in-person, typically with an online-attendance option. Click on the meeting you want to attend on the calendar at eastham-ma.gov for a link to an agenda and details. All meetings are at Town Hall unless otherwise indicated.
Thursday, Dec. 21
- NRMS School Advisory Council, 4:30 p.m. at the middle school, Room 269
Tuesday, Dec. 26
- Conservation Commission Onsite cancelled
Thursday, Dec. 28
- Board of Health, 3 p.m.
Conversation Starter
Getting Climate on the Warrant
The town’s climate action committee recommended at the Dec. 18 select board meeting that a specialized energy code be placed on the spring town meeting warrant.
Chair Roberta Longley described the code her committee wants the town to adopt. It is a municipal opt-in developed by the state after it adopted the Climate Act of 2021. Its goal is to minimizing greenhouse gas emissions in new buildings. It requires new “mixed-fuel” homes to include solar panels and prewiring for all-electric service. It would add no new taxes or levies, according to Longley.
“It’s up to the people of Eastham to vote on the opportunity to join the 31 Massachusetts communities, including Truro and Wellfleet, that have already opted in,” Longley told the board. She said adopting the specialized code would be in keeping with the commitments the town made in its 2020 climate policy.
At the 2020 town meeting, an overwhelming majority of Eastham voters said yes to “reducing net greenhouse gas emissions from human activity within and by the Town to zero at the earliest technically and economically feasible time.”
In its memo on the proposal, the climate action committee added that it would make new houses more affordable, with any increased construction costs being offset by rebates, tax incentives, and lower electric costs. —Olivia Oldham
