Chatham Voters Face Meaty Town Meeting Warrant: 59 Articles On Tap For May 10 Session

CHATHAM – A robust 59-article warrant will greet annual town meeting voters Saturday, May 10. A number of controversial measures — from funding to renovate the Center for Active Living to banning certain aircraft at Chatham Municipal Airport — will make for a lively session.

 Other articles likely to drive discussion include funding for repairs to Monomoy Regional Middle School, a petition to pay a resident’s back taxes and zoning bylaw amendments to establish a West Chatham Neighborhood Center (see separate story).

 The session, which begins at 11 a.m. at the middle school at 425 Crowell Rd., includes nine citizen petition articles and seven requests to file home-rule petitions with the state legislature, four of which were previously submitted but not acted on.

The top financial articles include the $44,154,028 operating budget, an 8.19 percent increase which includes approximately seven new full-time equivalent positions (the salaries of two staff members of the Center for Active Living’s supportive daycare program were previously grant-funded). The town’s share of the Monomoy Regional School District budget stands at $11,210,103, an 8.7 percent increase.

According to the finance committee’s analysis, all of the spending voters will act on at the town meeting — including operating, capital, water community preservation requests, wastewater debt authorization and other spending articles — totals more than $110 million, 38.5 percent higher than the current year’s $94 million in cumulative spending (the finance committee report is included in the warrant).

If all the spending is approved, the tax rate will rise 27 cents to $3.47 per $1,000 valuation, according to the finance committee.

Not included in the above funding total is the town’s share of the middle school siding and window replacement project. School officials project the total cost at $11.5 million; last year $2.5 million was approved toward the work, leaving anticipated borrowing for the remainder at $9,007,030. The town’s share, based on the current regional agreement funding formula, is estimated at $2,088,730. 

Voters must also approve the borrowing at the May 15 annual town election. Harwich voters approved their share of the expenditure at Monday’s annual town meeting (see separate story), and must also OK the debt at the town’s May 20 annual election.

 After a decade of planning and several failed attempts to win approval for funding of a new Center for Active Living for the council on aging, officials decided to instead investigate expanding and renovating the existing facility at 193 Stony Hill Rd. The result is a $5 million request which would come from free cash, which requires a simple majority to pass. The need for a two-thirds town meeting vote to borrow funding doomed previous CFAL votes, which won majorities on several occasions but never reached the two-thirds threshold.

The proposed renovations would add 1,471 square feet of usable space to the building, renovate the lower level to accommodate the new adult supportive day program, and improve the functionality, access and safety of other sections of the building. The funding includes $338,000 for contingencies due to market uncertainties and $150,000 to cover the cost of relocating programs during construction. The total estimated cost, subject to bidding, is $4,949,172. 

By drawing the funding from free cash — which would be available immediately if voters approve, rather than having to wait until the start of the new fiscal year in July — officials hope to pursue an accelerated schedule with bidding in July, construction beginning in August and completion by June 2026. 

 Free cash is also being sought to fund completion of upgrading of the transfer station. The $3,400,000 ($400,000 of which will come from property taxes) will cover reconstruction of the recycling area and the concrete floor in the tipping building. Previous town meetings approved funding for the initial phase of the project. 

 The next phase of the expansion of the town’s sewer system would be funded by $32 million in borrowing through Article 19; the amount also includes $2 million to purchase grinder pumps for properties that need them. Areas to be sewered under this phase include Cedar Street and neighborhoods between George Ryder Road and Meetinghouse Road adjacent to Route 28; also included is design work for the next phase, which extends sewers to the north side of Oyster River and other neighborhoods. The funding — minus the grinder pump expenditure — will be eligible for zero- or low-interest loans from the state revolving fund.

 Of the nine citizen petition articles on the warrant, three deal with technical amendments to the zoning bylaw, two address the composition of the affordable housing trust board, three seek ways to allow the town to pay property taxes for low-income elderly and disabled residents, and the final one would ban certain aircraft from Chatham Municipal Airport.

 While the warrant includes two petition articles addressing the affordable housing trust board, only one will be moved. The measure, submitted by resident Carol Gordon, would reduce representation on the board by the select board from two to one member.

Three petition articles related to helping residents pay property taxes were submitted by resident Seth Taylor. One would ask voters to pay the $65,000 in back taxes owed by a Cedar Street resident. Town counsel has ruled that the article is not legal, and it is opposed by both the select board and finance committee. Taylor said he plans to move the article nonetheless.

Taylor is also proposing that the town accept a state statute that would allow taxpayers to contribute to a fund to help pay the property taxes of low-income elderly and disabled residents. Both the select board and finance committee endorsed the measure unanimously.

Taylor’s third article would allow any voter at town meeting to transfer any amount of free cash into the low-income taxpayer fund. Officials have said this measure is problematic because it would not provide notice of the specific amount of free cash that would be subject to a transfer. It is opposed by the select board and finance committee.

The final, and likely most controversial, of the petition articles is Article 59, the last measure on the warrant. It would limit use of Chatham Airport to so-called Design Group 1 planes, which have wingspans of less than 49 feet. If approved, it would essentially ban Design Group 2 craft, which include turboprop and others with larger wingspans, from using the air field. A similar measure failed to pass last year’s town meeting.

Airport opponents say the larger craft are noisy and pose a safety hazard, while proponents say the larger craft are able to safely land and take off from the George Ryder Road airport. Both the town and airport attorneys say the article is unenforceable and that only the Federal Aviation Administration and the state transportation department can regulate aircraft use of airports. Both the finance committee and select board oppose the measure.

 Voters will also be asked to authorize the select board to refile four home-rule petitions with the state legislature that were not acted on in the previous legislative session. They seek an exemption from prevailing wages for certain projects; the ability to use community preservation funds for housing up to 200 percent of the area median income (AMI); the establishment of a so-called “millionaire” tax property surcharge on sale of homes over $2 million; and the ability of the town’s affordable housing trust to also fund so-called “attainable” housing for those earning up to 200 percent of AMI.

 Approval to file three new home-rule petitions will also go before voters. The measures seek to allow an associate conservation commission member to vote when a voting member is absent; the addition of “commercial fishermen” to the groups that can be targeted under seasonal communities section of the state Affordable Homes Act; and acceptance of a seasonal communities designation under the Act. Chatham has already been designated as a seasonal community under the legislation, but local acceptance by town meeting is necessary to unlock benefits of the designation.

Seven requests for community preservation funds are on the warrant. They include $500,000 for the town’s affordable housing trust; $408,000 to restore and preserve the famous Stallknecht murals at the Atwood House Museum; $275,000 to continue restoration of a historic barn at the Nickerson Family Association campus; $50,035 for preservation of headstones at Union Cemetery; $500,000 to reconstruct the town pier at Little Mill Pond; $140,000 for field studies of salt marshes; and $50,000 to fund an updating of the town’s open space and recreation plan. All of the requests have the unanimous support of the select board, finance committee and community preservation committee.

 Other articles seek $400,000 for dredging; $175,000 for the town’s childcare voucher program; $50,000 from free cash to establish a sewer assistance program (officials are still discussing whether the program would provide grants or loans); $66,000 for electronic visual speed display signs; and $59,175 for airport improvements. Those include replacement of field lighting, the rotating beacon and windsock, parking lot improvements and design and permitting for rehabilitation of the main apron. The funding represents the town’s 5 percent share of the costs, with the remaining $1,124,325 coming from state and federal agencies.

 Article 38 will amend the town’s general bylaws to allow finance committee members to serve on advisory and ad hoc committees. Currently, the bylaw prohibits fincom members from serving on any other town committee.

 In order to save time, 17 articles will be grouped into a consent calendar, according to Moderator William Litchfield. The articles are mostly routine measures and that should not spark controversy, such as revolving funds, childcare vouchers, utility easements and refiling of legislation. Any voter can request to remove any of the items from the list. Proposed consent calendar articles are 4, 5, 8, 12, 19, 21, 22, 25, 27, 28, 35, 36, 41, 42, 43, 44 and 46.

 Childcare is available for the meeting for kids 3 and up. To reserve a spot, email smabile@chatham-ma.gov with parents’ names, child’s name and age, contact information and any medical issues by noon on May 7. Transportation is also available through the Center for Active Living. Space is limited; call Alexis at 508-945-5190 to reserve a seat by noon on May 7.