Brewster Approves Sea Camps Funding, All Special Town Meeting Articles Pass

BREWSTER – Monday night’s special town meeting was as straightforward as they come, and voters agreed. All 14 articles passed, including funding for the Sea Camps plan, with only a handful of clarifying questions and no recounts. 

 Article 7 was the most anticipated topic of the night: funding for the Sea Camps capital and special projects. After funding was voted down last winter in a special election, the Sea Camps advisory committee spent the last year redeveloping a phasing and financing plan with input from two value engineers, multiple community forums and key stakeholder interviews. 

 The article proposed an appropriation of $1.07 million from a combination of free cash and $50,000 of water department money. Many of the questions related to the proposed water main replacement design. Currently a water main connecting the Sea Camps bay property sits in a dune close to the beach, which is not sustainable. The water department funding for the project would go to a design to replace the water main and move it to a more suitable location. 

 Resident Chris Powicki inquired about a former version of the town’s local comprehensive plan that extended the Cape Cod Rail Trail through the bay property. He argued that if the water main was moved, it would affect the ability for this project to ever come to fruition. 

 Town Manager Peter Lombardi said talks surrounding the proposal for a Cape Cod Rail Trail extension have dwindled and there is no funding to make that happen. 

 A few residents requested specifics about the water main location. Lombardi reiterated that the funding was for the design, which would determine which location made the most sense for a new water main. 

 Multiple residents also asked about the proposed workforce housing units that will be on the bay property. Lombardi said that this phase of the plan only includes updating two existing structures on the property. One building known as the Westcott House will be turned into two units of workforce housing for town employees and the second floor of the administration building will be updated to include five bedrooms and two offices. 

 While the specifications of the terms and conditions for the housing units have not been developed, Lombardi said it would be a mix of year-round housing for town employees and seasonal housing for summer workers. 

 Frank Bridges, a former member of the finance committee, questioned the assumption of free cash funding. The new financing and phasing plan extends to 2029 with an assumption that free cash will cover around $1 million in financing each year. Bridges noted that free cash is normally used for capital expenditures, and there is no way to be 100 percent certain about what it will be needed for in the future.

 Lombardi replied that the town is making that assumption, but with a proven track record. He said that over the last five years, the town’s free cash has been certified at around $4.5 million each year. 

 “We have a fairly steady, reliable source of funding to apply to all of our capital needs across the organization,” he said. 

 Other remarks included a question about recreation needs with the addition of the tennis courts and a plea to use one resident’s street for the water main relocation. Recreation Director Mike Gradone supported the new tennis courts, saying it would add to existing programming.

 Article 7 passed with a majority vote. 

Voters approved payment of outstanding obligations, the rescission of unissued debt, and the Vesper Pond private road betterment transfer.

Article 4 was an appropriation of $97,000 as a one-time charge from the state for the town’s use of two satellite parking lots for overflow beach parking. The parking lots are located on the Crosby Mansion property; $52,000 of the appropriation will be paid to the department of conservation and recreation (DCR) while the remaining $45,000 will be transferred to the Crosby Mansion revolving fund. 

Powicki asked for details regarding the license agreement with the state’s DCR. Lombardi said the original license agreement dated from 2016 and lasted three years. Unbeknownst to the state and the town, the agreement lapsed while the town was still using the parking lots. The one-time appropriation covers from 2016 through this year. A new agreement will last three years and have a clear schedule of payments. 

Marsha Kell requested that paving improvements to the parking lots never be made for environmental reasons. Lombardi said the town has the ability to improve the lots, but would need permission from the state. 

The article passed by a comfortable majority.

Community Preservation Act funding for two projects including two affordable housing units adjacent to the Washington Chase Bog property and financing for an update of the five-year CPA plan passed with a majority vote. The affordable housing project is sponsored by Habitat for Humanity of Cape Cod and is a collaboration with the Brewster Conservation Trust, which owns a conservation restriction on the property abutting the two parcels. A total of $125,000 in CPA funds will support the two projects. 

 Article 6 requested an appropriation of over $2.7 million for town departments’ special capital projects. The funding came from a combination of free cash and the departments’ own retained earnings. In anticipation of the proceeding article, one resident asked for a clarification of how much free cash had been certified for the fiscal year. That figure is $3.75 million, Lombardi said. The article passed by a greater than majority vote. 

 The proposed acquisition of a conservation restriction on Thachers Bog in Harwich for $300,000 was approved unanimously. Susan Bridges, former president of the Brewster Ponds Coalition, shared the organization's support of the article. The conservation restriction will eliminate any future fertilizer application on the property, mitigating the town’s nitrogen contribution to the Herring River Watershed. The town must adhere to a new state regulation for reduction practices, which the acquisition will cover.

 Articles 9 and 10 were addressed jointly. Article 10 was the acceptance of the short-term rental task force’s final committee report. Rob Leavell, chair of the task force, presented the report. 

 While noting that the report solely offered recommendations for the select board and any other qualifying committees or departments, many residents questioned the next steps, specifically the potential for fees.

 John Martens stepped up to the microphone to ask about the ongoing litigation that is currently underway in appellate court. Amanda Bebrin, select board member and liaison to the task force, said that was accounted for in the report, recommending that many decisions be put off until a ruling is made. 

 Martens argued that residents should vote down the article and the task force should wait to deliver a final report after the court decisions were made. 

 After some additional back and forth regarding timing, the report was approved by a majority vote. 

 Article 9 proposed the creation of a revolving fund for short-term rentals. Two residents questioned the $200,000 spending limit, asking where the appropriation would come from. Lombardi noted that the spending limit had to be declared in order to create a revolving fund, but no appropriation was being proposed at this time. While it is likely that initial funding from free cash would be needed to set up a registration program, the article was not asking residents to vote on a transfer, just the creation of the fund. 

 Steven Jones questioned the timing of the revolving fund creation, arguing that a bylaw will eventually be needed and the revolving fund should be created then. Bebrin said the next steps are not necessarily creating a bylaw — it is solely for the departments, boards and committees to determine the course of action. Lombardi said that creating the revolving fund now would set the town up for success if, at the next town meeting, voters needed to vote on the creation of inspection fees. 

 The article passed by a majority vote. 

 Article 11 authorized the town to go out to bid for a new property valuation contract, which would last five years. The article passed unanimously. 

 A zoning bylaw amendment regarding accessory dwelling units (ADUs) caused some commotion with voters. Many of the changes were necessary to align with state law, but the town worked to preserve as much as possible of the existing bylaw that was previously adopted. 

 Deborah Johnson, a resident on Foster Road, asked for clarification regarding the removal of owner occupancy restrictions.

 “What’s to stop someone from building a rental home and then building another ADU on the same property and renting out both of them?” she asked. 

 Town Planner Jon Idman said there is a guardrail in place to prohibit short-term rental use on either unit on a property with an ADU. The bylaw also contains a requirement that any rental on a property with an ADU must be a year-round rental, which under state law is defined as 10 months or longer. He also said the building commissioner will be responsible for overseeing the regulations.

 Owner occupancy is not something the town can continue to regulate under the new state law, Idman said. 

 The article passed by greater than a two-thirds vote. 

 Voters approved the remaining two articles unanimously. Article 13 asked the town to sign a non-binding resolution to become a pollinator-friendly community. Article 14 sought amendments to the general bylaw clarifying the alewife committee’s charge and extending the membership from three to five voting members. 

 The meeting was adjourned after just over two hours.