Gilberti Gets Nod For Brewster Planning Board

BREWSTER – Brewster has a new planning board member to replace Amanda Bebrin, who was elected to the select board in May. In a joint meeting between the two boards July 24, Carmel Gilberti was selected to serve out Bebrin’s term. The appointment runs until next May’s annual town election.

After a slow response to the call to fill the seat, two candidates with strong backgrounds applied for the spot and were interviewed at the joint meeting: Gilberti and former Brewster Assistant Town Administrator Jillian Douglass.

“Historically when there’s been a vacancy on an elected board, there’s been a joint appointment process,” Town Administrator Peter Lombardi said. “Each candidate has been invited to come up and speak to introduce themselves and give some background [on] why they’re interested in the position. Then each of the boards have an opportunity to ask questions.” A motion is then made to appoint a candidate, then both boards take a combined roll call vote.

Gilberti has lived in Brewster for eight years and is a lawyer focused on property law. Her office has been in Dennis since 1997.

“We’ve lived here since 2016, although we knew we were going to live in Brewster long before we bought here,” she said. “We fell in love with the town so much that we got our marriage license here years before we moved. The reason being we loved the simplicity of the town and we loved how it worked to preserve its history.”

She has worked with developers on residential, commercial and mixed-use developments. She was also chief financial officer of InControl Productions, a digital publishing company for a dozen years and a founder of Fizgig Corp., also known as Holysmokes, which imported indoor and outdoor fireplaces. In addition, she served as the CFO and COO for Landry and Arcari of Salem, an architectural design firm, for 10 years.

“I’m an attorney. I’ve practiced for 30 years, primarily in the areas of property based law,” Gilberti said. “I’ve also been involved in other businesses. I like to keep busy so I don’t sit idle very often.”

She’d expressed interest in local government and it was suggested she apply for the planning board spot.

“I like the planning board because it has a dual function,” Gilberti said. “You are doing regulatory work where you are very guided and somewhat restricted. It’s a lot of what I do. You are applying facts to rules and providing the outcome. There’s not a lot of ego or personal opinion involved in that.”

Gilberti noted she strives for win-win situations as solutions.

“I also like the fact that the planning board in this town has the ability to shape the future and to be involved in the zoning and to shape that,” she said. “I thought it would be a good place for me for my background and my interests.”

In response to a question, she suggested her small business experience might help in some of the applications that come before the board.

“I love that the town has a sense of who it is,” Gilberti said. “And it tries to keep with that sense of who it is. We’re Brewster. We don’t need to be another town.”

Douglass was Brewster Assistant Town Administrator under Charlie Sumner from 1990 to 2017 and currently is the part-time administrator for the Barnstable Municipal Affordable Housing Growth and Development Trust.

“I've been a Brewster resident since 1988,” she said. “Having worked for the town I am familiar with our town. My basic reason for coming forward for this position was because I do have a master’s degree in planning. I have experience in the town. I felt like it might be something [where] I could fill a void if it was needed. But Mrs. Gilberti is a wonderful applicant and I certainly will not be at all insulted if that is the selection.”

Douglass worked three years as Chatham’s human resources director after leaving Brewster and worked as community impact coordinator for POAH (Preservation of Affordable Housing) for a year. She is currently on the Brewster Housing Partnership board.

She noted that she’s worked on committees, bylaws and ordinances for the town and has lived in the town for 35 years.

“There are so many things about the town that we have preserved and protected,” she said. “That is commendable because you’ve seen a lot of towns that have not been able to do that, even on the Cape, that have had major changes. The Route 6A corridor is the largest portion of the town that people see. If they don’t live in town that’s what we present to the populace. We looked at what the (build out) potential was and we tightened some things up.”

There could be some zoning changes along Route 6A based on what is in the comprehensive town plan; village centers, mixed use development and such, she said.

“You have a stretched town and you don’t have an identified center. You have what became an organic center which is right around Cumberland Farms that has been identified multiple times for a potential for a change in zoning. How that happens is going to be up to you guys and the citizens of the town,” she said.

Board members agreed both candidates were excellent.

“We have an embarrassment of riches,” Bebrin observed.

Nevertheless, the board voted unanimously to back Gilberti for the position.