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town meeting

    TOWN MEETING TACTICS

    Advocacy on Warrant Is Not Subject to Campaign Law

    A website and texts opposing short-term rental articles were anonymous but legal

    By

    PROVINCETOWN — Leading up to the April 3 annual town meeting, texting campaigns both for and against three controversial petitioned articles proposing short-term rental regulations landed in the phones of voters.

    On Saturday, April 1, an anonymous text went out that read, “The citizens’ petitions on short-term rentals need more work… Vote NO on Articles 18, 19, and 20.” It directed voters to a website that said it was sponsored by “Provincetown Citizens for Housing Solutions.” No one’s name or address was given. (The website, provincetownmeeting.com, is no longer live.)

    The petitioners of the articles, Michael Gaucher and Paul Benson (who is a staff reporter for the Independent), sent out texts of their own on Sunday promoting the articles and encouraging voters to attend town meeting. The two sent about 2,000 texts using the campaign communications platform OneSwitchboard, Benson said.

    A final text came on Monday morning from “Provincetown Citizens for Housing Solutions” about the provision in Article 18, proposed by Gaucher, to limit rental certificates to one per owner. Gaucher has stated he is in the process of relinquishing five short-term rental certificates he holds for the Lucy Cross guest house.

    “Article 18 would create a monopoly for the petitioner,” the text said. “Do not let them amend [the short-term rental articles] on Town Meeting floor,” it added.

    At a March 13 select board meeting, Ryan Castle, CEO of the Cape and Islands Association of Realtors, objected to the three articles. Asked if he was involved in the anonymous text campaign and website, Castle refused to answer.

    According to Jason Tait, communications director for the Mass. Office of Campaign and Political Finance, state law does not cover political activity related to town meeting warrant articles and there are no organizational filings or financial disclosures required.

    Provincetown Town Clerk Elizabeth Paine confirmed that there are no municipal regulations on political activity about warrant articles, and she said that no such groups had filed papers with the town. “They are only required to file if it pertains to a ballot question,” said Paine, “not articles at town meeting.”

    The town clerk noted an increase in questions directed to her office leading up to and in the aftermath of the April 3 events. “I feel like we have a whole new group of people that are becoming more involved in civic engagement,” she said, citing rising attendance at town meeting.

    State Sen. Julian Cyr told the Independent he was “rather surprised” to learn that political activity on warrant articles is not subject to the same rules and regulations as campaigns for elected office or for ballot questions, which require disclosures of donors, expenditures, and the people spending the money.

    “In several of the communities that I represent, most notably Nantucket, there’s been a number of interests who have spent money in support or in opposition to articles before town meeting,” Cyr said. “I am seeing a pattern where entities and individuals who are not voters in the town but who do have an interest in it, often financial, are putting a thumb on the scales of our local self-governance. The lack of transparency is disturbing.”

    The state law governing campaign and political activity largely resembles the version that was introduced in 1973. “I think this really calls into question whether we need to update that 1973 statute,” Cyr said. He said his office is in talks with the general counsel at the Office for Campaign and Political Finance and is considering legislation to bring warrant activity under OCPF’s regulatory umbrella.

    TOWN MEETING

    Housing Funds and Emergency Services Get OK

    Controversial articles on short-term rental regulation are postponed

    By

    PROVINCETOWN — In the first 90 minutes of Monday night’s packed town meeting, voters passed Articles 1 through 16 on the 37-item warrant — including an unprecedented operating override to create a full-time emergency services dept., funds for housing at 3 Jerome Smith Road, and a home-rule petition for year-round housing deed restrictions — with little fanfare.

    Participants in Monday night’s town meeting applaud the newly refurbished chairs at town hall. (Photo by Amelia Roth-Dishy)

    But after a break at 7:30 p.m., tensions rose. The rest of the night was dominated by Articles 18, 19, and 20, the short-term rental regulation proposals that had already stirred contentious debate online. Ultimately, all three articles were postponed in a single motion by a 270-170 vote.

    Of seven citizen-petitioned articles on the warrant, only one passed: Article 21 on low-noise fireworks.

    “Welcome to the first town meeting in our newly refurbished and cushioned chairs,” Town Manager Alex Morse said at the start. “Don’t get too comfortable; we want to keep this to one night if possible.”

    Morse then briskly guided the chamber through 16 funding articles, including the Proposition 2½ override in Article 2 to create a full-time EMS department with eight new employees to supplement Lower Cape Ambulance. (See story on page A9). The votes were so lopsided that no official count was required.

    The first item to spur debate was $75,000 in the community preservation budget for 46 planned affordable units at 95 Lawrence Road in Wellfleet. Voters questioned giving money to other towns for housing, with one asking if this was “going to become a trend.” Morse said the Wellfleet development was a “regional project,” with 30 percent of the units open to residents from other towns, and the article passed.

    Under capital improvements, voters questioned the $310,000 in item Z for the urgently needed roof replacement at Harbor Hill after February’s record cold snap. The town voted to purchase the 28-apartment complex at a special town meeting in 2017 by issuing $10.7 million in bonds.

    “We had something called the Cape End Manor once, and a lot of people sat in this very room and voted for it,” Gordon Siegel said. The town-owned Cape End Manor, now Seashore Point, was transferred to nonprofit ownership in 2006 after years of operating at a loss. “I feel like that discussion needs to be had sooner rather than later about Harbor Hill,” he said.

    In a brief discussion of funding pickleball courts at the Jerome Smith parking lot, Morse confirmed that, with the passage of this article, the courts at the Nickerson Playground would be redesignated solely to basketball.

    Before launching into Articles 11 through 16, Morse spoke of the town’s ongoing housing efforts, including the 65-unit Jerome Smith development, future development at 288A Bradford and 26 Shank Painter, housing feasibility studies on 30 Creek Road, Route 6, and the Veterans Memorial Community Center site, and the inclusionary bylaw and reallocated rooms tax. “The biggest priority of the select board and the town is creating more year-round housing,” he said.

    The state’s 10-percent benchmark for subsidized housing came up as some voters seemed to probe whether Provincetown has already done enough. “We’re well ahead of our surrounding communities, and we’re moving above what the state mandates as a threshold,” real estate agent and former guest house owner Rob Tosner said.

    “Many of our average bartenders and hospitality workers in town may not qualify for traditional affordable housing,” Morse said in response. “So, we can’t really just meet the 10 percent and move on.”

    Provincetown Housing Authority member Arlene Weston spoke for Article 11, which transfers $2.25 million to the 3 Jerome Smith project. “We need this so badly,” she said. “It’s a sad situation for us that are in the middle class.” The passage of Article 11 was met with applause.

    The  CCRTA’s flip-flopping support of a pilot program to run early-morning and late-night buses for seasonal workers in Provincetown, as reported by the Independent, got some clarification. “If they do not do it, this is our insurance policy,” select board member Leslie Sandberg said, explaining that $100,000 in Article 14 allows the town to run the pilot program even if CCRTA pulls its support, and will return to free cash otherwise.

    Controversy Ensues

    Both the floor and balcony were packed when the meeting reconvened at 7:45 after a 15-minute recess. Article 17, to reduce single-use disposable plastic products, was indefinitely postponed. “There isn’t enough time to phase this out in the takeout community,” one voter opined.

    A view of Monday’s town meeting from the balcony. (Photo by Paul Benson)

    When the short-term rental articles came up, Town Moderator Mary-Jo Avellar stated that she, town staff, and Town Counsel John Giorgio had decided to introduce and discuss Articles 18, 19, and 20 all at once, though they would be voted on separately. Before the petitioners spoke, Morse said, “We have no data at this time to suggest that STR [short-term rental] restrictions will create more year-round housing inventory.” He mentioned that Provincetown had brought in $2.3 million in rooms taxes from STRs in fiscal 2022.

    Article 18 sought to limit owners to one STR certificate per person. Petitioner Michael Gaucher addressed “some unfortunate and incorrect information coming from a source outside of Provincetown that has called into question my motivation in creating these articles.” Gaucher operates the Lucy Cross guest house and was given five STR certificates by the town for the property when he inherited it.

    “I did not even know I had short-term rentals until someone kindly posted about it on Facebook,” he said. He has since relinquished the certificates to the town and is seeking a different license for the guest house, he said.

    Paul Benson, the sponsor of Article 20 and a staff reporter for the Independent, acknowledged in his presentation some of the controversy surrounding the articles. “Our system is not set up to let town staff start really hard conversations such as this,” he said. “It’s up to us, our town meeting body, to say that this is on the agenda.”

    Noting that other tourist towns worldwide have adopted similar STR regulations, Benson added, “This conversation we’re having is hard. But it’s not crazy. In fact, it’s long overdue.”

    Gloria McPherson of the finance committee reported its decision not to recommend the three articles because of “possible financial implications to the town’s tax revenues.”

    Just before 8:30 p.m., in the second comment on the three articles, Tosner moved that they be indefinitely postponed. Avellar accepted the motion and told every subsequent speaker — long lines had formed at all four microphones — to confirm that they were commenting on the postponement motion rather than the content of the articles. This soon became a source of confusion and ire in the hall.

    Avellar called Giorgio to the dais multiple times to argue that the proposed bylaws needed to be written “in an airtight way.” He warned that the internal inconsistencies in the proposals, if passed, were “going to create a litigation nightmare for the town.” Commenters spoke for and against the broad concept of short-term rental regulation, although the rule that all remarks had to relate to indefinite postponement made it difficult to discuss the articles in any detail.

    Points of order rang out on why the moderator allowed the articles to be lumped together for postponement. In response to Giorgio’s explanation of why such a motion was permitted, finance committee member and former Town Manager David Panagore, who had previously expressed support for Article 18, asked if the moderator could make one motion “to indefinitely postpone the entire warrant.”

    Others complained that the petitioners had intended to propose amendments to their articles but were not getting the chance to do so. Benson told the select board on March 13 that he planned to amend his article to ask for a one-year moratorium on new rental certificates while a working group explored solutions.

    After a cacophonous half hour, during which Avellar frequently banged her gavel and scolded voters for speaking out of order, the postponement vote was finally called. The 270-170 result was declared at 9:16 p.m.

    Reconsideration Fails

    Benson asked whether it was possible to reconsider just Article 18 instead of all three. At first, Avellar said, “You can bring back whatever you want.” But she quickly corrected herself: “No, the motion was to indefinitely postpone all three articles. In order to bring anything back, it has to be all three,” she said, to a chorus of dissent from the audience. Avellar then consulted with Giorgio. “If you vote to bring back all three, you can amend that to just hear one of them,” she finally said.

    The pushback continued. “The only reason that is true is because you took one person’s question first, which is not democracy,” said one voter, to scattered applause and boos. “I don’t know what their motion is going to be when they come to the microphone!” Avellar responded.

    “I would just suggest,” said Jennifer Cabral, “for all of you on the board, because you all like to work on consensus now, that we never, ever lump discussion of articles together ever again,” a comment that got the loudest applause of the night.

    Avellar muscled the chamber on to Article 21, instituting low-noise fireworks at town celebrations. “It’s about puppies and kitties, so something we can all agree on for a change,” said Shira Kavon, the petitioner. The town’s former fireworks manager approved. “I always asked for more color and less bang,” she said.

    After Article 21 passed, Avellar received a petition from Russell DeGraff to reconsider the indefinite postponement vote on 18, 19, and 20. “I’m presenting this because I believe that we deserve the right to vote on them individually,” DeGraff said, “and most importantly, because the sponsors of these articles deserve the right to amend them to reflect the stakeholder engagement that has already gone on.”

    Benson, the sponsor of Article 20, said, “Article 18 is a copy of a bylaw that has been approved by the attorney general that is in use in other towns in Massachusetts. It deserves a vote on its own.”

    But the motion to reconsider did not carry.

    The rest of the meeting wrapped up quickly with the remaining articles passing without incident.

    “I thought it was a productive and engaging town meeting,” Morse said afterward. “I’m thankful to the voters for their support of the operating budget and of the operating override to bring on full-time firefighters for the first time.

    “At the end of the day, the town meeting voted to indefinitely postpone by more than 100 votes, so it was clear that there wasn’t support for 18, 19, and 20,” he said. “Nonetheless, I think we have an obligation to continue the conversation and see what we can do and bring it back to a future meeting.”

    Panagore expressed concern about “what appears to be a growing tendency to limit the right of town meeting voters to debate motions. That’s what people were most upset about. They felt their right to debate was curtailed by the process.”

    Emma Fillion, a recent college grad who grew up in Provincetown and has moved back, said after the meeting that she was “disappointed and frankly disturbed” by the sequence of events around the indefinite postponement motion.

    “As a young person, I feel like my opportunity to understand the implications of these proposed articles was stolen from me,” she said.

    TOWN MEETING

    Six Citizen Petitions on Truro Warrant Run the Gamut

    From ‘mansion-ization’ to dogs on leashes, Truro voters bring their ideas forward

    By

    TRURO — Town meeting is not until Tuesday, April 25, but Truro’s select board is already discussing six citizen petitions that will appear on the warrant. Petitioned articles are authorized by state law, and for the annual town meeting only 10 signatures of registered voters are required to qualify.

    A petition submitted by Darrell Shedd, a member of the zoning board of appeals, proposes an amendment to the town’s zoning bylaw limiting building gross floor area in residential districts. The petition seeks to close a loophole in the bylaw that allows projects to seek special permits and easily exceed the bylaw’s limits, Shedd said.

    Truro’s current bylaw specifies a minimum residential lot size of .775 acres and a maximum floor area on such a lot of 3,600 square feet. On a one-acre lot, the maximum floor area is prorated to 3,668 square feet, but by special permit this maximum may be exceeded by 1,000 square feet.

    “If you go before the ZBA and ask for 1,000 additional square feet, basically, you get it,” Shedd told the Independent. At a March 7 meeting, Shedd told the select board that “Biblically speaking, it’s ask and you shall receive. I’m trying to make it so 3,668 per acre is the ceiling,” he added.

    The “building gross floor area” section of the bylaw was approved at town meeting in November 2018. Shedd said that his petition seeks to reinforce “the whole point of our vote years ago.

    “We did not want to see mansion-ization in this town,” Shedd told the select board. “We did not want to see Truro become the Hamptons.”

    “You’ve identified a source of frustration for us,” said planning board Chair Anne Greenbaum at the March 7 meeting. “I like this.”

    Greenbaum said the planning board will “dive into this” at its March 22 meeting, before a public hearing on March 29.

    A petition by Shaun Pfeiffer and Violeta Villamil seeks to amend the town’s regulations on dogs. Pfeiffer and Villamil’s petition says that “existing regulations are vague and unclear, and offer no mention of the rights of individuals to be protected from dogs.”

    The article would require that dogs be kept on a leash unless restrained inside a car or behind a fence. Currently, dogs need to be on a leash “unless under the command and visual control by their master, except when used for hunting during the hunting season and while under the control of its owner.”

    A March 3 memo from Health & Conservation Agent Emily Beebe to Town Manager Darrin Tangeman also suggests removing the “command and visual control” language from the town’s leash law.

    “This ambiguous language pertaining to the restraint of dogs by a leash has proven ineffective and extremely difficult to enforce,” Beebe wrote.

    Pfeiffer and Villamil’s petition also permits people to demand that a dog be kept at a distance of 20 feet; if that demand is not met, it permits people to “use any means necessary to stop the dog.”

    Pfeiffer and Villamil’s petition was not on the select board’s agenda on March 7, but during public comment Truro resident Steven Stahl addressed Beebe’s proposal.

    “The impact is going to be draconian and far-reaching,” Stahl said. “There is ample area for both people and dogs. We are not a high-density area.”

    Just after the select board’s 2:30 p.m. meeting, however, was a 4:30 p.m. meeting of the board of health with leash laws on the agenda. That online meeting became raucous, with more than 128 people in attendance; a report will appear in next week’s Independent.

    A third petition from Cynthia Conroy addresses the damaged culvert at the Mill Pond salt marsh, which is currently being assessed by the town’s dept. of public works. Conroy’s petition would “send a nonbinding resolution to the select board that any repair or replacement of the Mill Pond Road culvert will not permanently close/abandon Mill Pond Road to vehicular traffic.”

    This followed a presentation by the DPW and the town’s engineering consultants regarding the damaged culvert. In a memo dated Feb. 2, DPW Director Jarrod Cabral wrote, “My recommendation to the select board is to permanently close the road and install a 95-foot breach with a 10-foot-wide inner channel.”

    Conroy’s petition says that Cabral’s recommendation “is the most impactful choice, and the town has given little or no consideration to the other alternatives.”

    A fourth petition, filed by Martha Magane, calls for an amendment to the town charter that would involve the board of library trustees in the hiring of a new library director.

    At the March 7 select board meeting, Tangeman presented an amendment to policy memorandum #35 regarding the town manager’s powers of appointment, saying, “In the case of the appointment process for the Library Director, the Library Trustees will designate one member of their body to assist the town manager in the review and recommendation of applicants for interviews and then participate as one of the members of the three-person interview panel with the town manager.”

    “What the lead petitioner communicated to me,” said select board Chair Kristen Reed, “is that they want to be involved in the process, and this policy does that.” The town’s charter review committee will be next to review the petition.

    “The only reason a citizen petition wouldn’t go to town meeting,” Tangeman said, “is if it weren’t in proper legal form.”

    The last two petitions are both from Raphael Richter; they have a bit of overlap in their purpose if not their funding. The first is for a comprehensive out-of-school program, or COSP, that “shall provide services before school, after school, on vacation days, and during summer vacation for students enrolled at Truro Central School starting with the 2023-2024 school year.” To fund the program, the petition asks that the town raise, allocate, or borrow $400,000.

    Richter’s other petition is a three-item proposal that would cost $782,500. That petition is called the community livability and sustainability article, and the petition itself says it might require a Proposition 2½ override to take effect.

    The three-item proposal includes the COSP as well as $300,000 for a permanent version of the child-care voucher program, which currently exists in a pilot form that is funded year by year, Tangeman said. The voucher program provides funding for Truro residents, town employees, and local business owners with children ages four years or younger to attend state-licensed child-care programs, with a maximum voucher of $7,500 per child per year.

    The third element includes $82,500 annually toward the salary for a full-time housing coordinator.

    “There’s a tradition in Truro of splitting up these questions,” Richter told the select board on March 7. “In the context of what the community needs, I think it makes sense to consider them all at once.”

    “I’m so grateful that this is the type of thing our community is working on,” said Reed. Her motion that the select board take on the petition and conduct a financial analysis related to the housing coordinator position passed unanimously.

    “The select board can choose to adopt a citizen petition article and modify it,” Tangeman told the Independent. Last year, he said, the eligibility guidelines for the child-care voucher program were adjusted after that warrant article was adopted by the select board.

    BUDGET TALKS

    Town Meeting to Vote on Hiring 16 Medic-Firefighters

    Another override for pier maintenance is likely

    By

    PROVINCETOWN — The draft version of next year’s budget was presented to the select board this week, and although the details are not final, two Proposition 2½ override votes are likely to be on the warrant at the April 3 town meeting. One would be for a new freshwater line at the town-owned MacMillan Pier; the other would add 16 firefighter-medics to the town’s EMS and Fire Dept.

    Deputy Fire Chief Jimmy Roderick and Fire Chief Mike Trovato at town hall after their budget presentation on Monday, Jan. 23. Trovato said he is confident that EMS services will be maintained as the town transitions to a full-time EMS department this July. (Photo by Paul Benson)

    A major expansion of that department has been discussed for years. Last January, Fire Chief Mike Trovato asked the select board that the town’s first full-time firefighter-medic positions be created in anticipation of the closure of the nonprofit Lower Cape Ambulance Association, which has provided ambulance crews to Provincetown and Truro for 86 years. On Jan. 5, LCAA announced that it would end operations on July 1 — a year earlier than anticipated.

    The town had hoped to bring on eight professional firefighter-paramedics this year and eight next year, Morse told the select board on Monday night, but now it will ask voters to fund all 16 full-time positions this year.

    Provincetown has an unusual hybrid emergency service, which includes a paid rescue squad of medics, a contract with LCAA for extra ambulance service, and an all-volunteer fire dept. Trovato told the board that he could hire nearly all of LCAA’s people and avoid a disruption to the town’s emergency medical capacities. (See related story)

    The all-in cost for the proposed expansion is $2,343,500, which includes overtime and benefits for 16 people and an EMS coordinator position that was already created last year, Town Manager Alex Morse told the board. The town will no longer have to pay $1,018,000 to LCAA, however, and the town expects to collect $800,000 to $1 million in ambulance fees, mostly from insurance companies, starting July 1.

    Because it is new revenue, the ambulance fees cannot be included in this year’s budget under state accounting rules, Morse told the board. That means there will be about $1,240,000 in unbudgeted expenses for the fire and EMS dept. this coming year, which will likely be paid for at town meeting with a Proposition 2½ override vote and possibly some free cash.

    “We’re going to try to ask for the smallest amount possible,” Morse said, “but we want a recurring revenue source to support this department going forward, without having to come back over multiple years.”

    The fire dept.’s current budget is $1,430,000, which includes supplies, maintenance, and personnel, although not capital expenses like trucks. That number includes $640,000 for the rescue squad, $85,000 for the EMS Coordinator, and Chief Trovato’s salary of $66,950. Volunteer firefighters are paid $50 per call, and up to 40 people respond to fire calls, Trovato told the board.

    Trovato said the volunteers save taxpayers “an astronomical amount of money” and provide an intensity of response that a professionals-only department could not.

    He also said that Sylvester Consultants, the firm hired last year to plan for the loss of LCAA, had insulted some of his volunteer or “call” firefighters when they came to visit the Provincetown fire station. Trovato asked the select board to recognize the continued value that volunteer firefighters bring to the department, regardless of what the consultants might say.

    Select board Chair Dave Abramson asked Morse to ensure that the new jobs are posted at competitive pay rates with benefits that will be attractive.

    “Our goal is to put up these job advertisements in February, even before town meeting, so we can have some one-on-ones” with LCAA’s existing staff and work on recruitment, Morse said. “It’s not going to be as hard as some people think to fill these positions. The benefit package, the health insurance split — these things make a difference.”

    Another likely override vote that was not much discussed Monday would be for a new water line at MacMillan Pier costing $1.7 million. The town’s free cash balance is not yet finalized, Morse told the board, and the town’s five-year capital improvement plan could also see some adjustments, so the list of overrides that might be needed is still in flux.

    Personnel Changes

    Also in the budget report on Monday night were several new, eliminated, or on-hold staff positions.

    An overage in the tourism fund, which receives a share of the town’s rooms tax receipts, will be used to add a position to the DPW buildings and grounds division “to support and improve the town’s beautification efforts in response to public inquiries and complaints.”

    Select board members had complained in December that the town’s public areas and certain town-owned buildings, such as the tourism office at 330 Commercial St., looked shabby compared to places like Quebec or Istanbul.

    The town’s health dept., which normally has two employees but has had only one since fall 2021, is now officially budgeted for one person. Health Agent Lezli Rowell has been promoted to health director, Morse told the board, and the agent position will be left open while the four Outer Cape towns work to implement a shared public health program later this year.

    That program, outlined in an application for American Rescue Plan Act funds that the four towns submitted to Barnstable County, would include a mental health clinician, a public health nurse, and a certified nurse’s assistant. Monthly wellness clinics would offer screenings, education, and other kinds of preventive care for free, and the mental health clinician would offer free care as well.

    Provincetown’s previous five-year mental health plan has been superseded by this new four-town collaboration, Morse told the Independent on Monday.

    “As I told the select board last year, I don’t think we have the internal capacity to implement the five-year plan as it stands, and I think we are bringing many components of it to this regional collaboration,” Morse said. “A lot of the mental health and substance abuse challenges go across multiple communities.”

    The five-year plan, which was presented by former Health Director Morgan Clark in spring 2021 before she resigned, envisioned two crisis counselors who would offer emergency mental health services to Provincetown residents to help address a severe lack of mental health care on the Outer Cape.

    The ARPA grant application would fund one free mental health clinician for the four Outer Cape towns, though the program could conceivably grow from there, depending on how the towns chose to fund it moving forward. The county should be announcing the winners of this round of grant funding in April, according to ARPA grant manager Kara Hughes.

    Finally, the emergency management and marine coordinator position that was created after Rex McKinsey was moved out of the harbormaster’s job in 2019 has been eliminated. DPW Director Jim Vincent, who previously advised the town on Chapter 91 compliance, will become the town’s Chapter 91 manager for an additional $10,000 stipend, and DPW Deputy Director Sherry Prada will become the emergency management coordinator, also for an additional $10,000. Police Chief Jim Golden will remain the town’s official emergency management director.

    “That position was kind of a hybrid, with job duties being reassigned several times,” Morse said. “It was funded at town meeting last April,” but that money was never spent, as McKinsey resigned on June 30 last year, Morse said.

    “We’ve actually already started paying those two stipends,” Morse said, as Vincent and Prada took on extra duties after McKinsey resigned. “We’re just bringing those two stipends onto this year’s budget.”

    TOWN MEETING PREVIEW

    Warrant Articles on Housing and Flood Prevention Face Voters

    Funds for Harbor Hill and Ryder Street dune to be considered

    By

    PROVINCETOWN — Like much of the summer season this year, town meeting in Provincetown is going to arrive later, leaner, and al fresco. Originally scheduled for early April, at the height of the pandemic, it was moved to Monday, Sept. 21, at 5 p.m. and outdoors, to the St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church parking lot at 11 Prince St. The warrant has been trimmed and adjusted to not be overlong. Even so, voters will be asked to consider some noteworthy articles.

    This map shows parking, check-in, and gathering locations for Monday’s annual town meeting.

    Harbor Hill

    If past is prologue, then the longest discussion will likely be about Article 11, which allocates $595,000 from the general fund for a year’s worth of bond payments for the Harbor Hill market-rate rental housing project.

    In advance of the originally scheduled April town meeting, then-Town Manager Robin Craver argued that the general fund, and not short-term rental tax or marijuana tax receipts, was the right source of money for the bond payments.

    “When people talk about the debt service like it’s a subsidy or an addition, they’re counting it twice,” said Craver. The $10.7 million that the town voted in 2017 was a debt authorization, not an expenditure of cash, said Craver. “That $595,000 is your mortgage payment. It’s not like you’re throwing $595,000 to the wind. You’re investing in a property, and at any point you’ll be able to sell it.”

    There are 28 apartments at Harbor Hill; 25 are currently rented. The Year-Round Market Rate Rental Housing Trust hired two outside experts this year, one to do a capital needs assessment on the buildings, and one to do a financial viability analysis on the project overall.

    The capital needs assessment identified $1.7 million worth of work that is needed over the next 20 years, about 50 percent of it in the next five years, according to the report. The financial viability analysis is just getting underway. It is supposed to assess management costs, maintenance costs, and the potential for other sources of public or private money.

    “We have a broader set of housing needs than just Harbor Hill,” said select board member Louise Venden. “We need to not just think that as long as we can fund Harbor Hill, everything will be OK. If you look at the range of people whose housing needs are not being met — we need to be more careful about how we spend the town’s money.”

    Ryder Street Dune

    Article 8 is a step toward the construction of a man-made dune designed to stop seawater from flooding the center of town via Gosnold Street. In January 2018, a nor’easter pushed a swell of seawater into Provincetown Harbor that, at high tide, flowed over the beach and into downtown. Numerous homes and businesses suffered damage, especially along Bradford Street near town hall.

    The Ryder Street beach without a barrier dune in October 2019. (Photo Paul Benson)

    Conservation Agent Tim Famulare expects the Ryder Street dune project to be mostly funded by state and federal grant money, but that process, while cheaper, can be extremely complex.

    Article 8 authorizes the town to acquire access rights across the beach-facing end of several properties, because the town’s permanent right to access and maintain the dune is a prerequisite for the grants. The article directs the select board to negotiate for the access privileges (or easements) with the landowners and to take them by eminent domain if necessary.

    If eminent domain were used, an assessor or a court would decide the fair compensation to be paid to the land owners. The flood-protection value of the dune could be balanced against any harm to the land owners’ other interests, however. The assessor was still developing formal cost estimates at press time, but they should be available later this week, said Famulare.

    Senior Housing at Maushope

    Buried within Article 9 is funding to acquire land for supportive senior housing. The Provincetown Housing Authority (PHA) runs the Maushope building off Harry Kemp Way, which includes 24 state-subsidized apartments for seniors and people with disabilities. Article 9 includes a grant of $425,000 from community preservation funds for an adjacent parcel of land, where the PHA hopes to build 10 to 15 new units.

    “Supportive housing means there’s laundry services, cleaning services — maybe there’s a common kitchen and somebody comes and cooks dinner,” said Kristin Hatch, director of the PHA. “It’s people who aren’t so sick they need a nursing home, maybe aren’t rich enough for assisted living. It’s been shown there’s better health outcomes when there are more people around, checking in.

    “We see the need here for affordable housing for seniors,” continued Hatch. “We’re a small, state-chartered agency, but there’s a lot of state-level expertise we can draw on to put this project together and find the funding streams.” Affordable housing typically involves combining state and federal grant money, tax credits, financing, and rental revenue streams, which collectively cover the cost of the project. Getting the right parcel at the right price is the first hurdle.

    “It’s all theoretical until you actually have the land to develop,” said Hatch.

    Indigenous Monuments Expert

    Plans for a memorial to the Wampanoag people bogged down in 2019, and select board member Lise King advocated for the town to contract with a specialist in indigenous representation and public art. Article 13 allocates $12,600 for that purpose. The specialist would evaluate possible locations, artists, and budgets, and report back with at least one public art proposal for the town to consider.

    CIVICS

    Wellfleet OK’s Water Main and Firefighters

    Officials hit a home run at first-ever outdoor town meeting

    By

    WELLFLEET — Standing on the pitcher’s mound at the Wellfleet Elementary School ballfield, Moderator Dan Silverman pitched a no-hitter on Sept. 12, with voters approving all the articles that came before them at the town’s pandemic-inspired outdoor annual town meeting.

    The crisp and sunny weather may have helped bring out 200 voters, double the reduced-because-of-Covid-19 quorum of 100. Many voters looked like they were in a witness protection program, with hats, sunglasses, and masks. But they sat far apart and got the business of town government done in just under four hours.

    The sound system worked well, and voters were able to stay in their seats to ask questions by beckoning “microphone wranglers,” posted throughout the outfield with microphones on selfie sticks.

    All the articles on the warrant were adopted, with the exception of those that were indefinitely postponed for various reasons, including the fact that four did not survive a Proposition 2½ override ballot on Sept. 8. Those were: a new police cruiser for $50,000; a fire command vehicle for $55,000; a public works backhoe for $168,000; and a new transfer station guard shack and canopy for $55,000.

    Voters hold up their cards at Wellfleet’s outdoor town meeting. (Photo K.C. Myers)

    Six budget overrides were approved both at the ballot and at town meeting. The most costly was for borrowing up to $3.8 million to replace a water main for the town’s secondary public water source. Jim Hood, chair of the water commissioners, said the town hopes to receive “a substantial portion” of the cost in grants.

    The water main upgrade is to fulfill the state requirement for a secondary or backup system should the first fail. Wellfleet’s primary water source, the Boy Scout Camp wellfield near the Council on Aging, pumps more than enough water for the town’s current peak use: 100,000 gallons daily. Current peak daily use is just over 63,000 gallons. But the secondary water source on Gristmill Way uses a four-inch main that can handle only 40,000 gallons a day.

    By replacing that with an eight-inch pipe, the neighborhoods of Old Hay Road, part of Route 6, and Briar Lane would also get access to town water. This could add 80 customers in all to the municipal system, including some on Briar Lane that do have water quality problems, Hood said. And since the water system is funded by user fees, additional hookups help spread the cost.

    Lastly, an additional 9,000 gallons a day will be needed if the town is able to construct a proposed 46-unit affordable housing complex on Lawrence Road. Though this is within the capacity of the primary system, it would further tax the secondary system.

    Select board member Helen Miranda Wilson said she didn’t like that proponents were unnecessarily tying the affordable housing project to the water main or that they were “recruiting” users to help pay for the water system.

    “Hooking up people who don’t need water is environmentally a very bad idea,” Wilson said. “Groundwater is our most precious resource.”

    Kathleen Bacon, a former select board member, said town meeting voters were actually sitting on top of the proposed affordable housing complex’s septic system. Tying the water to the housing project is a way to secure a state grant for the water expansion, she added. The necessary override for the project passed at the Sept. 8 election, 501 to 239.

    Town meeting voters also agreed to hire two new firefighter-paramedics, which will allow the fire dept. to have three people on each shift for 24-hour coverage, said Fire Chief Richard Pauley. The $148,000 for salary and benefits is a permanent tax increase and will cost the owner of a $538,524 home $35.12 a year. It passed at the ballot, 460 to 280.

    Voters also approved $110,000 to engineer a sprinkler system at the Wellfleet Elementary School. Somehow, Pauley explained, sprinklers were not included in a major school renovation in the early 1990s, although legally required. “Someone waived that requirement and it should not have been done,” Pauley said.

    There was some debate about two petitioned articles, one a ban on the sale of single-use plastic water bottles, and the other a nonbinding referendum to change the state seal, which features a Native American image topped by a colonial swordsman’s disembodied arm.

    Justina Carlson and Mike DeVasto, both select board members, said the ban on water bottles, which will go into effect on Sept. 1, 2021, encourages the use of carbonated beverages and Gatorade. People with jobs outside or on the water need to stay hydrated and may not be prepared for this ban.

    “I think behavior shouldn’t be legislated,” said Carlson.

    Carlson also argued against a petition to change the state seal. Though her own great-great-grandmother was “a full-blooded Cherokee Indian,” she said, she was not in favor of the “erasure of history.”

    TOWN MEETING PREVIEW

    Eastham Will Vote on Family Support and Water System Fund

    The town’s operating budget is down by one percent

    By

    EASTHAM — The warrant for the Sept. 26 annual town meeting has arrived in mailboxes and is now available on the town’s website at eastham-ma.gov.

    Voters will be asked to act on 36 articles ranging from the usual operating budgets and capital acquisition requests to support packages for local families and the reduction of plastics in the environment.

    In what would be a first for the town, Article 1 seeks to establish a water enterprise fund.

    “We’re growing up,” said Town Administrator Jacqui Beebe. “We have a utility.”

    The water enterprise fund would track the system’s revenues and costs, establish reserves to fund capital needs and repairs, and identify any subsidies the fund receives from the town’s general fund. While the municipal water system will seek a $144,406 subsidy from the general fund this year (that’s in Article 2A), Beebe said the utility is expected to break even once 2,000 customers are connected, which will probably happen within the next year or two, she said.

    The town’s $30,422,389 operating budget, in Article 2, represents a 1.04-percent decrease from last year’s budget.

    Beebe said the Covid-19 pandemic prompted the decrease in anticipation of reduced revenue from state sources and the town’s own receipts. She also cited the need to keep free cash reserves.

    Capital acquisitions requests, in Article 3, total $619,000 for various upgrades, repairs, and replacements. The largest capital request, though, is in a separate item, Article 4. It seeks $400,000 to create a capital expense fund for recurring expenses. The funding would be used only for capital projects, and, according to a finance committee report, would reduce frequent override votes for capital items, reduce town borrowing costs, and improve the town’s bond rating. Its passage would be contingent on a Proposition 2½ override vote on Oct 6.

    In its first year, the tax implications of the appropriation for a home with a median value — which in Eastham is now $449,000 — would be $62.86. New police radios and new 911 system equipment to make the town’s compatible with the state’s are high on the list of potential spending from the fund.

    A number of articles are aimed at assisting residents who are struggling financially, starting with a $50,000 request, in Article 5, to fund the town’s betterment program. It would allow residents to borrow water connection fees and repay the amount through their annual tax bills over time.

    Hardship and senior tax deferrals would be subject to a lower interest rate if voters approve Articles 21 and 22, both of which reduce interest rates on deferred tax payments to 3 percent from the current rate of 8 percent.

    Article 23 asks the town to establish a tax relief fund that taxpayers could voluntarily donate to, through a designated area on their tax bills. The fund’s purpose would be to defray real estate taxes for low-income elderly and disabled residents.

    A Family Support Package, in Article 8, seeks $490,500 to fund a year of services for families, including five full days of preschool for every resident 4-year-old, five half days for every resident 3-year-old, school lunch and other nutritional assistance to all resident children enrolled in the Nauset school system, and additional human service grants for the summer free lunch program and elementary after-school program. It also includes funding for the Affordable Housing Trust to develop options for affordable and workforce housing goals. Funding of the article is contingent on an Oct. 6 Proposition 2½ override vote. Town officials estimate the additional annual tax cost on a median-value home would be $71.84.

    Visitors service board funding of $12,000, in Article 9, is sought to fund landscaping, lighting, holiday decorations, Windmill Green improvements, flower island support, and summer concerts ($8,000). Article 10 seeks $18,000 for the chamber of commerce’s information booth.

    Future planning and programming funds are sought for the T-Time Development Committee ($20,000) and the 400 Commemoration Committee ($10,000) in their combined Article 11 request.

    Two articles look to reduce plastic in the environment but in different ways. Article 18 seeks to establish a bylaw to reduce reliance on single-use plastics in town and reduce hazards to wildlife caused by helium balloons. The article would also phase out single-use plastic checkout bags, plastic straws, and polystyrene disposable food service containers and cutlery.

    Article 19 asks the town to adopt a bylaw prohibiting the sale of noncarbonated, unflavored drinking water in single-use plastic bottles of less than one gallon. The select board supported the article but said they wanted to bring the bylaw up for another vote before its effective date should it fail to pass in surrounding towns. The water bottle ban was approved at Wellfleet’s Sept. 12 town meeting.

    Town meeting is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 26, starting at 10 a.m. at the Nauset Regional High School football field. It’s an outdoor event; the rain date is Sunday, Sept. 27, at 1 p.m.

    CURRENTS

    This Week in Truro

    By

    Meetings Ahead

    Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to truro-ma.gov and follow the “helpful link” to Truro Channel 18.

    Thursday, Sept. 17

    • Climate Action Committee, 10 a.m.

    Friday, Sept. 18

    • Community Forum to Meet Town Manager Candidate, 9 a.m.
    • Library Trustees, 11:30 a.m.

    Monday, Sept. 21

    • Zoning Board of Appeals, 5:30 p.m.

    Tuesday, Sept. 22

    • Select Board, 5 p.m.

    Thursday, Sept. 24

    • Zoning Board of Appeals, 5:30 p.m.

    Conversation Starters

    Covid-19 Update

    As of Sept. 9, Truro had one active case of Covid-19, 15 resolved cases, and no deaths.

    A Town Manager Perhaps

    The select board have another candidate to interview for the town manager job. His name is Darrin Tangeman, and he’s currently the city manager of Woodland Park, a Colorado town of about 8,200 people.

    Tangeman was hired to lead Woodland Park in 2018 with a beginning salary of $125,000, according to the Mountain Jackpot News. He was previously the chief administrative officer of Pueblo West, Colorado, a job he started in 2015. A chief administrative officer is equivalent to a city manager in that particular form of government, according to Tangeman’s resume.

    Prior to that, Tangeman was a U.S. Army Special Forces Officer — a Green Beret — for 11 years.

    In his resume, Tangeman wrote that he “led a complex and politically sensitive international mission to capture Joseph Kony and counter [Kony’s] Lord’s Resistance Army in a region spanning four Central African governments and requiring coordination with four U.S. embassies.”

    He is the fourth contender for the position of Truro town manager, after two of three finalists dropped out, and the majority of the select board did not want to hire the third.

    If Tangeman and the select board cannot reach an agreement, the select board will need to create a new screening committee and draw out a new pool of candidates. Already officials have reviewed about 80 resumes since the current town manager, Rae Ann Palmer, announced her retirement last fall.

    Beginning Sept. 17, there will be a whirlwind of interviews with Tangeman, who did not return an email seeking comment. A virtual community forum to meet him is set for 9 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 18.

    At deadline, the select board was still finalizing a time to interview him on Monday, Sept. 21. They will deliberate before their regularly scheduled meeting and possibly vote on a job offer on Tuesday, Sept. 22. Check the town website for meeting times. —K.C. Myers

    CURRENTS

    This Week in Truro

    By

    Meetings Ahead

    Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to truro-ma.gov and follow the “helpful link” to Truro Channel 18.

    Thursday, Sept. 10

    • Climate Change Action Committee, 10 a.m.
    • Housing Authority, 4:15 p.m.
    • Zoning Board of Appeals, 5:30 p.m.

    Friday, Sept. 11

    • Board of Health, 10 a.m.
    • Community Preservation Committee, 4:15 p.m.

    Monday, Sept. 14

    • Conservation Commission, 5:30 p.m.

    Tuesday, Sept. 15

    • Cemetery Commission, 10 a.m.
    • Board of Health, 4:30 p.m.

    Wednesday, Sept. 16

    • Commission on Disabilities, 3 p.m.
    • Planning Board, 6 p.m.

    Conversation Starters

    Covid-19 Update

    As of Sept. 3, Truro had one active case of Covid-19, 15 resolved cases, and no deaths.

    Quorum Goes Way Down

    The quorum, or minimum number of voters necessary to pass town meetings articles, was reduced from 100 to 25 on Sept. 8 because officials wanted to make sure they could hold the town meeting and get the 2021 budget passed.

    Gov. Charlie Baker has allowed towns to reduce their quorums as low as 10 percent of usual quorum requirements. Since most towns delayed their town meetings until fall, municipalities are now down to the wire to pass budgets, set a tax rate, and get the tax bills out, said Town Manager Rae Ann Palmer.

    Towns around the state are dropping quorums dramatically. Dennis’s went from 150 to 15, said Truro Moderator Monica Kraft.

    Truro could have gone as low as 10. But the select board settled on a slightly higher number, 25 voters. Board member Stephanie Rein said she wanted to go to 40, otherwise “we’re not honoring the true democratic process.”

    The annual town meeting will be held on Saturday, Sept. 26 at noon at the Truro Central School ballfield, which offers 26,000 square feet of space and room for 300 chairs with safe social distancing, said DPW Director Jarrod Cabral. —K.C. Myers

     

     

    CURRENTS

    This Week in Truro

    By

    Meetings Ahead

    Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to truro-ma.gov and follow the “helpful link” to Truro Channel 18.

    Thursday, Sept. 3

    • Climate Change Committee, 10 a.m.
    • Finance Committee and Select Board, 4 p.m.
    • Zoning Board of Appeals, 5:30 p.m.

    Tuesday, Sept. 8

    • Council on Aging Board, 10 a.m.
    • Select Board, 5 p.m.

    Thursday, Sept. 10

    • Zoning Board of Appeals, 5:30 p.m.

    Conversation Starters

    Covid-19 Update

    As of Aug. 28, there were zero active cases of Covid-19, 15 cases considered recovered, and no deaths.

    Town Meeting Preview

    With the annual town meeting scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 26 at noon, it would be helpful to start thinking about the warrant articles and how you want to vote. Advance planning may save time and get people home faster. This year the meeting will be held outdoors at the Truro Central School ballfield.

    To get a preview of the warrant articles, join a remote meeting with the select board and the finance committee on Thursday, Sept. 3 at 4 p.m. The meeting will also be recorded and can be watched later on Channel 18.

    For instructions on how to watch the meeting, follow the link on the Truro town website truro-ma.gov. —K.C. Myers

    CURRENTS

    This Week in Provincetown

    By

    Meetings Ahead

    Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch.

    Thursday, Aug. 27

    • Water & Sewer Board, 1 p.m.
    • Planning Board, 6 p.m.

    Friday, Aug. 28

    • Local Comprehensive Planning, 10 a.m.

    Tuesday, Sept. 1

    • Conservation Commission 6 p.m.

    Wednesday, Sept. 2

    • Historic District Commission, 4 p.m.

    Thursday, Sept. 3

    • Zoning Board of Appeals, 6 p.m.

    Conversation Starters

    Covid-19 Update

    As of Aug. 25, there was one active case of the virus in town, and 31 cases were considered recovered. There has been one death as a result of Covid-19.

    Town and School Staff Tested

    A pilot program to deliver faster Covid-19 test results for local business owners wanting to test asymptomatic staff came off smoothly when over 100 Provincetown and Truro municipal and school staff members got tested at MacMillan Pier on Thursday, Aug. 20.

    Provincetown Health Director Morgan Clark said over 100 people voluntarily took the test and the results were returned within two days. She would not say if anyone tested positive, explaining that if there were just one positive result among town staff it would be easy to identify that person in this small town.

    In any case, the pilot program showed great promise for Provincetown and Truro businesses who want to test employees in the future for two reasons, Clark said. One, the PCR tests, which are the most reliable available, came back fast; earlier popup test results took over a week to come back. Two, each test cost only $70 as opposed to $150 in previous testing.

    “This is all brand new, and to run an asymptomatic program takes a lot of back-end work,” Clark said. “I’ve been working on it since July.”

    Lower Cape Ambulance staff administered the tests to patients. Cambridge Innovation Center and the Broad Institute conducted the molecular PCR tests.

    If there is interest, then the tests would be offered for asymptomatic workers in Provincetown and Truro starting in September, Clark said. Business owners would pay for the tests, while the towns and Lower Cape Ambulance would pay administrative and personnel costs.

    Town Meeting Will Be Outdoors

    Voters can enjoy the crisp fall weather for town meeting this year, as it will be held outdoors, on Monday, Sept. 21, at 5 p.m. The location, St. Peter the Apostle Church parking lot at 11 Prince Street, will make it convenient for those who are praying for a short meeting.

    But with only 30 articles —and 11 of those just routine housekeeping — it already looks like this will be a shorter town meeting than Provincetown’s usual marathons, which often extend beyond three nights. This time, since it is outdoors to allow for social distancing and to prevent Covid-19 virus spread, officials limited the articles on the warrant, said Assistant Town Manager David Gardner.

    If it rains, the meeting will be delayed until the next evening. Parking will be next door at the Grace Hall lot.

    To get a head start on the warrant, a virtual forum to discuss the articles will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 16, at 6 p.m. —K.C. Myers

    CURRENTS

    This Week in Truro

    By

    Meetings Ahead

    Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to truro-ma.gov and follow the “helpful link” to Truro Channel 18.

    Thursday, Aug. 27

    • Historical Commission, 4 p.m.

    Tuesday, Sept. 1

    • Board of Health, 4:30 p.m.

    Wednesday, Sept. 2

    • Planning Board, 6 p.m.

    Thursday, Sept. 3

    • Joint Finance Committee and Select Board, 4 p.m.

    Conversation Starters

    Covid-19 Update

    As of Aug. 25, there were zero new cases of the coronavirus and 15 cases that had been resolved.

    Town Meeting on a Saturday Afternoon

    Who says the New England town meeting tradition never changes? This year, annual town meeting will be in the fall, not the spring. The select board voted Aug. 25 to hold the meeting outdoors and on a Saturday. Town meeting is now set for Sept. 26, at noon, with a rain date of Sunday, Sept. 27. Town officials wanted to take advantage of the daylight hours while accommodating working voters.

    Voters will gather at the Truro Central School ballfield in chairs that will be set up in groups of two, with a minimum of six feet between each pair.

    Those who want to show up for this historic event — and town officials suspect attendance may be greater than usual because people crave social interaction — should wear masks and jackets and bring hats and sunscreen. But town staff also plan to have sunscreen and bug repellent there for free. Masks will also be available.

    Other details to consider: Officials will hand out brightly colored voting cards so that it will be easier to count votes. The town’s dept. of public works staff is ordering hand sanitizer and disinfectant for microphones and other surfaces.

    Then there is the matter of the actual warrant with the articles to be approved by voters. The warrant is still being finalized. A pre-town meeting, to take place on a date not announced by the Independent’s deadline, is being planned so that voters will be prepared. —K.C. Myers

    currents

    This Week in Eastham

    By

    Meetings Ahead

    Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting you’re interested in to read its agenda. That document will provide information about how to view and take part remotely.

    Monday, Aug. 31

    • Eastham 400 Commemoration Committee, 10:30 a.m.
    • Select Board, 5:30 p.m.

    Tuesday, Sept. 1

    • State Primary Election, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
    • T-Time Development Committee, 5 p.m.

    Wednesday, Sept. 2

    • Board of Assessors, 11 a.m.
    • Cape Cod Regional Governmental Assembly of Delegates Public Hearing, 4:30 p.m.
    • Community Preservation Act Committee, 5:30 p.m.

    Thursday, Sept. 3

    • Zoning Board of Appeals, 5 p.m.

     Conversation Starters

    No Residential Exemption This Year

    While Eastham’s select board agreed at their Aug. 17 joint meeting with the board of assessors not to adopt a residential tax exemption this year, the board will give the exemption another look for 2022 as a means to assist Eastham residents struggling economically as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

    “It’s not the best tool,” Chair Jamie Rivers said of the exemption Saturday. Establishing the exemption for this year would have resulted in additional costs, as it would have delayed the issuance of tax bills, resulting in more borrowing.

    The select board will schedule discussion of the exemption for tax year 2022 later this year and will continue look for new tools to help Eastham families, said Rivers. “If we have to use it, we will,” she said Saturday.

    Both Aimee Eckman and Rivers spoke in favor of the family support package as a preferred means to assist local families financially.

    “We have to pull out more tools as we move through a year that has been so challenging for so many families and now moving into a school year where parents are going to find it even harder to work full time,” said Rivers.

    The family support package will be Article 8 on the draft warrant for next month’s town meeting.

    Warrant Articles Approved Again

    The select board voted Aug. 17 to approve the entirety of the draft town meeting warrant with few changes to the similarly approved warrant put before them last April. Six articles from the April warrant were dropped, the most notable being the Nauset Regional High School building project.

    A special pre-town meeting discussion of articles is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 10, from 6 to 8 p.m.

    Eastham 400 Plus

    Funding for the 400 Commemorative Committee survived a motion to shift $5,000 of its $10,000 request to the T-Time Development Committee. The two committees share Article 11, which asks for $20,000 for the T-Time project and $10,000 for the 400 Committee.

    The shift was recommended by the finance committee as the T-Time committee would face greater needs, said board chair Jamie Rivers.

    Town Administrator Jacqui Beebe described the 400 committee’s work so far as “exceptional,” but expressed concerns over its growing budget. “It just seems we agreed on a budget and the budget got larger. It should be wrapping up at this point and not escalating even more.”

    400 Committee vice chair Tom Ryan noted that, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, other towns including Plymouth and Provincetown had extended their commemorations a year.

    “I think we really have to be part of that, to have the voice of Eastham and the benefits to Eastham be extended,” said Ryan.

    Board member Aimee Eckman suggested the board recommend the full request.

    “I think they did submit a pretty solid budget as to how they’ve been spending their money and what they plan to spend it on,” she said.

    The board voted unanimously to support the $10,000 request.

    Single Use Water Bottle Ban

    The board voted to recommend a petitioned article prohibiting the sale of single-use plastic water bottles in Eastham, with the caveat that the ban would be rescinded before its Sept. 21, 2021 effective date should surrounding towns reject the proposal.

    “I would like to see Eastham in line with its neighbors on something like this,” said chair Jamie Rivers. “For us to step out of line and to make it more difficult for the towns around us would be doing a disservice to the movement.”

    The finance committee had voted unanimously not to recommend the article out of concern that should the ban pass in Eastham but not surrounding towns shoppers would just purchase the bottles in those towns, board member Arthur Autorino noted.

    According to board member Aimee Eckman, the ban had already passed in Orleans. —Linda Culhane

    currents

    This Week in Eastham

    By

    Meetings Ahead

    Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on a particular meeting to read its agenda.  That document will provide information about how to view and take part remotely.

    Tuesday, Aug. 25

    • Conservation Commission, 6 p.m.

    Wednesday, Aug. 26

    • Open Space Committee workshop, 3 p.m.; meeting, 4 p.m.

    Conversation Starters

    Will It Go Round in Circles?

    The Route 6 Corridor Improvement Initiative study is moving forward past backups caused by Covid-19 and hopes to examine overlaps with Eastham’s Strategic Plan and the T-Time Initiative.

    “We’re starting to put together some alternatives. We want to have a public information session to kind of vet those alternatives,” Eastham Town Planner Paul Lagg told the select board at its Aug 17 meeting.

    Included in the alternatives are potential roundabouts at Massasoit Road and the T-Time property, raised medians with landscaped plantings, and protected left turns.

    A roundabout at the T-Time location would facilitate traffic in and out of that property as well as provide opportunities for vehicles to change direction on Route 6.

    “If we can work with a little bit of the T-Time property itself we don’t think we’ll really have to do any takings on the other side to get the siting for it,” he said.

    While the study did consider reducing the number of lanes, Lagg said that was a “nonstarter” with the Mass. Dept. of Transportation.

    “How does the state say that the traffic is different?” asked board member Arthur Autorino.

    “It’s OK to do it in Wellfleet but it’s not OK to do it in Eastham?”

    “If I had gotten a good answer to that I would share it with you, but we never did,” said Lagg. “It’s more of ‘This is the way it is’ and they’re not going to decrease the lanes. Why do we have to be a four-lane race strip only to slow down at the town line?”

    Board member Aimee Eckman noted that the number of curb cuts in Eastham is about 10 times that of Wellfleet over the same distance, contributing to traffic backups with even a three-lane approach with a center turning lane, as traffic turning right would create backups.

    The next phase will be to get public feedback. Lagg said a session for that purpose might take place in November or after the holidays.

    Town Meeting to Kick Off

    This year’s town meeting, postponed from its usual May 2020 scheduled date due to Covid-19, will be held outdoors at Nauset High School’s football field on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 10 a.m., with a rain date of Sunday, Sept. 27 at 1 p.m.

    Saving Lives and Money

    Fire Chief Kent Farrenkopf delivered good news at Monday’s select board meeting, reporting that his department had received the American Heart Association Mission Lifeline EMS Gold-plus award for implementing quality improvement measures for the treatment of patients who experience severe heart attacks and strokes.

    “I want to thank my staff,” said Farrenkopf. “They’re highly professional and highly trained.” Eastham’s fire dept. has progressively received the bronze, silver, gold, and gold-plus Mission Lifeline awards over the last five years, he noted.

    “Kudos to my people and the professional level that they work at,” he said.

    The initiative provides tools and other resources to support heart attack care following protocols from the most recent evidence-based treatment guidelines, the chief noted.

    Eastham’s fire dept. has received the Assistance to Firefighters grant for $47,715 to replace an air compressor used to fill breathing air. Since the compressor’s installation at the fire station in 2001, the manufacturer has gone out of business. “We can’t get the computer boards,” said Farrenkopf. “The last time they fixed it I think they had to go on Ebay to get an old one to put into it.”

    The replacement compressor is expected to cost about $50,000, with the grant covering 95 percent of the cost. The town will be responsible for the remaining $2,400. 

    Do You Have an Appointment?

    The select board voted unanimously to appoint Stephen Wasby to the planning board to fill a spot left vacant by Lauren Barker’s resignation.

    Wasby’s appointment as a full member of the board was the subject of some discussion, as select board member Arthur Autorino at first asked whether the current alternate member, William Craig, should be advanced to full member status.

    “What we’re saying is that when Lauren leaves, Steve comes in as a full time and not as an alternate,” said Autorino. “We bypass and change what we normally do.” Autorino agreed that Wasby was more experienced than Craig.

    Board Chair Jamie Rivers supported appointing Wasby as a full member. “This board has a perfect opportunity to appoint someone who has a wealth of knowledge with regard to zoning, planning, the inner workings of the town of Eastham, and is very capable,” she said. “I think it would be a lost opportunity if we didn’t put Mr. Wasby on as a full-time member.”

    The board voted to approve Wasby’s appointment subject to his resignation from the zoning board of appeals.

    “My biggest concern was that we’re trying to have an administrative office at town hall that is welcoming and that people like to come to and don’t feel intimidated,” said Autorino “[Wasby] could in fact intimidate some of the applicants.”

    Contacted Tuesday morning after the select board’s discussion, Wasby said he would behave no differently on the planning board than he has on the zoning board of appeals. He said he would continue to help applicants as well as call out problems. “This isn’t a tea party,” said Wasby. “This is serious stuff.”

    The select board also appointed John Bumby to the historical commission by a unanimous vote. —Linda Culhane

    The Middle School Will Go Hybrid

    Principal Julie Kobold announced on Aug. 14 that she has changed her mind about bringing back all middle school students on Sept. 16.

    After many people expressed concern about returning to classrooms in person, Kobold said she has adopted a hybrid model for the fall, so that students will be in the building two days a week and at home for three.

    Kobold was able to bring everyone back with three feet between student seats, which is the minimum suggested by the state. But many people argued that six-foot distancing should be the standard to prevent Covid-19 infection, and with that standard, not all the students could come back to class at once.

    “We had estimated a need for 33 cohorts in the original three-foot distancing plan,” she stated in an email to parents. “By extending physical distancing to six feet the number of cohorts rose to 42. The middle school does not have the space for that many cohorts. As a result, we are moving to a hybrid option, where students will be in the building two days a week and learn remotely three days.”
    Students will attend on Mondays and Thursdays or on Tuesdays and Fridays. During in-school days, students will remain with their group and have four core subjects and two specials such as gym or the popular “Adventure Ed.” Wednesdays will be remote for all and “we will introduce a number of different academic opportunities on those days,” she stated. —K.C. Myers

     

    currents

    This Week in Eastham

    By

    Meetings Ahead

    Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on a particular meeting to read its agenda. That document will provide information about how to view and take part remotely.

    Monday, Aug. 17

    • Select Board, 5:30 p.m.
    • Eastham Elementary School Committee, 6 p.m.

    Tuesday, Aug. 18

    • Charter Review Committee, 5:30 p.m.

    Wednesday, Aug. 19

    • Planning Board, 5 p.m.

    Thursday, Aug. 20

    • T-Time Community Development Subcommittee, 5 p.m.

    Conversation Starters

    Covid-19 Update

    As of July 30, the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Eastham was 14. The number of cases increased from 12 reported on July 23, according to the town’s website.

    Bylaw Amendments

    The planning board will hold two public hearings on Wednesday, Aug. 19 starting at 5 p.m. on proposed zoning bylaw amendments and proposed re-codification of the zoning bylaw. Both will be voted on at the annual town meeting in September.

    Amendments are proposed for sections covering districts, administration, residential site plan approvals, wind facilities, and marijuana.

    The second hearing will allow public comments on the proposed re-codification of the zoning bylaw. A copy of the proposed amendments and the new bylaw, with a markup version of the current bylaw, is on the town website at eastham-ma.gov/planningboard/pages/proposed-zoning-bylaw-amendments-town-meeting-may-2020.

    Elementary Reopening Plan

    The Eastham Elementary School Committee will meet on Monday, Aug. 17 at 6 p.m. to discuss its school reopening plan.

    The Nauset regional school committee voted to approve an education plan for reopening at a meeting of all district school committees last week. But the Eastham Elementary School Committee opted to wait until its Monday meeting to vote on a plan for its school.

    Right now, the plan is to have elementary students either attend school five days a week or learn virtually five days a week based on parent choice.

    When Is Town Meeting?

    Annual town meeting is tentatively scheduled for Monday, Sept. 21 outdoors at the NRHS football field, but that could change. On Aug. 3, Town Administrator Jacqui Beebe and the select board discussed the best time and place to hold the meeting.

    The football field seems like the most viable venue in town to hold a socially distant town meeting. It would have enough space for participants. But Laurie Gillespie-Lee, administrative assistant at town hall, said she had reached out to the National Seashore about hosting town meeting at the amphitheater located at the Visitor Center, though she added that she had not yet heard back from Supt. Brian Carlstrom or Deputy Supt. Leslie Reynolds.

    Other issues that came up are accessibility, weather, and technology.

    Beebe said setting up the technology outside will be difficult.

    “I think that’s going to be the biggest challenge,” she said. “How do we get everything set up on a football field and then if we have rain, we have all of our technology hanging out there to dry, literally.”

    There won’t be any presentations at this year’s town meeting because a projector screen will not be set up as it usually is inside the high school gymnasium.

    Mike Caliri, video services coordinator for the town, said, “The one thing that’s been most concerning me is how we’re going to get the handicapped in and out of there and where they’re going to be,” he said.

    The walk from the high school parking lot to the football field could be troublesome for some people.

    “Any outdoor venue is going to have a huge amount of walking,” Beebe said.

    Special parking will most likely be designated in spots closest to the field and a designated seating area for people with disabilities may be made as well.

    The select board also discussed whether to hold the meeting on a Saturday or Sunday instead of Monday, Sept. 21, to possibly attract more people and begin the meeting earlier in the day.

    A vote on a firm date and a rain date is expected to be made soon.

    Town Hall Still Closed

    Town hall will remain closed until at least the week before Labor Day, according to Jacqui Beebe. She had considered reopening town hall this week but ultimately decided against it. —Ryan Fitzgerald

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