22 Articles Grace Orleans’ Fall Warrant

ORLEANS – Clean water, zoning amendments and what to do about the aging community center building on Main Street are among the issues going before voters at next week’s special town meeting.

 There are 22 articles on the warrant for this year’s fall meeting, which will be held Nov. 16 at 6 p.m. in the gymnasium of Nauset Regional Middle School.

 The warrant includes a number of housekeeping articles such as those pertaining to budget adjustments and paying prior year bills. The warrant also includes a citizens petition article seeking to direct the town to work with the state toward securing a total maximum daily nitrogen load (TMDL) designation for the Nauset Estuary.

 The petition, which will appear as Article 22 on the warrant, seeks $300,000 in free cash to pay for “studies and expenses necessary” for creating the designation, which would determine how much nitrogen can safely be "absorbed" in the estuary. If approved, the article would direct the town to work with the state Department of Environmental Protection and the town of Eastham toward creating the designation.

 “I think that one might be the biggest discussion item on the warrant,” Select Board Chair Mefford Runyon said.

 Petitioners Charlie Carlson, Bill Amaru and Bill Brotherton argue that the town has failed to make headway in addressing nitrogen attenuation in the estuary, which includes Mill Pond. The goal of the article, they say, is to move those efforts forward. 

 “If it’s approved, the petition would draw the state and Eastham into this dialogue about TMDLs,” Carlson said in an interview in October.

 Carlson added that pursuing the designation would not interfere with the town’s ongoing sewering efforts in Pleasant Bay. But Runyon disagrees, saying that the board is concerned about how adoption of a TMDL designation will obligate the town to address the estuary ahead of its place in the town’s current wastewater management plan. The select board and finance committee have both voted against recommending passage of the article.

 The town’s wastewater management plan calls for sewering across 16 phases through the year 2067. Mill Pond is currently slated for sewering in phase 11, which is about 24 years away.

 “If we created a new impaired waiter body that had DEP time requirements on it, it would interfere with the rest of the wastewater plan in town,” Runyon said.

 Runyon also said there may be issues with the petition as written and that parts of it may not be “actionable.” For instance, he said the town cannot direct Eastham or MassDEP to work with it on the TMDL pursuit. But he said he could see the petition potentially passing if those non-actionable elements were separated out from the article.

 “It could win, and nobody would really be heartbroken about that,” he said.

 “It’s not that everybody doesn’t recognize that it’s a worthy cause,” Runyon said. “But what this is attempting to accomplish is something that is probably not accomplishable.”

 Also on the fall warrant, Article 19 seeks an additional $450,000 in free cash to fund “planning, consulting, design, engineering, construction, renovation, and related capital improvements” to the community center building at 44 Main St.

 Talk has circulated for years about what to do with the aging town building, which was the town’s first fire station. In May, $500,000 in funding for the building was approved as part of the capital budget for fiscal 2027. 

 The select board voted 3-2 against recommending the request. While board member Michael Herman said that the town owes it to voters to follow through on plans to address the property, others on the board expressed reservations supporting the funding without a clear plan for how the building will be used in the future. 

 “The board was split on that. I think the prevailing thought process was not that we don’t want to do something there, but whatever that something is has not been developed yet,” Runyon said.

Town Manager Kim Newman in September also noted that the town is looking at spending approximately $2.5 million a year over the course of 20 years to maintain its existing buildings and facilities, including 44 Main Street.

 “And so [$450,000] is a large amount of money,” she told the board. “You could do exploratory work [on the community center] with a lesser amount of money.” 

 Article 6 seeks to amend language in the town zoning bylaw to identify four new uses, including artisan industry, brewery/winery/distillery, self-storage facility and tiny house. The bylaw’s use table has not been updated “in decades,” according to an explanation of the article in the warrant. 

 “The proposed update rewrites the table to foster flexibility for new business models, simplify the permitting process, and ensure consistent regulation,” the explanation reads.

 Article 3 seeks to direct $3,979,702.49 in previously approved funding to the ongoing Eldredge Park renovation project. That money must be expended in order for the town to receive a $425,000 Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities (PARC) grant that has been awarded to help offset the overall project cost. 

 “This article does not appropriate any new funds, as funds have previously been appropriated by town meeting,” an explanation of the article reads.

 Voters also will be asked to support using $100,000 in wastewater stabilization funding for a study looking at nitrogen attenuation in Pochet Marsh. 

 “This study is intended to confirm and demonstrate the potential for the Pochet Marsh…to provide greater nitrogen reduction credits along with recommended measures to maintain a healthy marsh system,” according to Article 21. Performing the study could ultimately allow the town to reduce the number of future sewer phases, according to language in the article.

 A public information session on the fall warrant was held Nov. 10 in town hall after The Chronicle went to press. Town officials will also be in the middle school gymnasium starting at 4 p.m. on Nov. 16 to answer people’s questions ahead of the fall session.

 The recreation, culture and community events department will provide free childcare at the middle school on the night of town meeting. Pre-registration is required by visiting www.orleansrecreation.com.