CHATHAM — Some have argued that a pandemic is the wrong time for the town to take on a big-ticket capital project like building a new senior center. On Tuesday, the town's project team and the select board argued that, in fact, the timing couldn’t be better. The board voted unanimously to bring a request for $8,395,555 to build a new council on aging on a parcel of donated land at 1610 Main St., West C...

Chatham seniors have been waiting more than a decade for a new senior center, watching patiently while other town departments get new, state-of-the-art facilities. Their turn was supposed to come this past spring, but because of the pandemic, they'll have to continue to be patient. “We're in kind of a holding pattern,” said council on aging chairman Barbara Segall. In the spring, selectmen postponed a number o...

CHATHAM – Seniors are among the most vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus, and they can also be the most susceptible to loneliness and isolation even during normal times. In these extraordinary times, local councils on aging are working hard to maintain connections with seniors, maintaining many of their usual services and even launching new ones to try to meet changing needs. “Outreach is particularly busy at thi...

CHATHAM — Not surprisingly, selectmen this week officially threw their support behind the plan for a new senior center at 1610 Main St. The board recommended that town meeting pass the $8.28 million article, despite the fiscal uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. “The issues with the council on aging are not going to go away after we get through this period of emergency,” Selectman Peter Cocolis s...

CHATHAM — Presenting to a nearly empty meeting room, officials unveiled plans Monday for a $8.27 million senior center at 1610 Main St., West Chatham. It was the coronavirus, not any lack of interest, that kept the gallery empty at Monday’s selectmen’s meeting. The session was televised live and citizens could submit questions and comments by email. Featuring spacious activity rooms, a full kitchen and a lo...

CHATHAM — By a solid margin, voters at Saturday’s special town meeting approved spending $75,000 for a feasibility study for a new council on aging building on Stepping Stones Road. But because the land is under the control of the Monomoy Regional School Committee, which has voted against releasing it back to the town, it remains to be seen if a new senior center could be built on the two-acre parcel. The v...

CHATHAM — By a solid margin, voters at Saturday’s special town meeting approved spending $75,000 for a feasibility study for a new council on aging building on Stepping Stones Road. But because the land is under the control of the Monomoy Regional School Committee, which has voted against releasing it back to the town, it remains unclear where – or if – a new senior center might be built. The vote count was...

CHATHAM –The finance committee voted Thursday afternoon to support the March 7 special town meeting article calling for a study of land on Stepping Stones Road as a possible home for a new senior center. Selectmen on Tuesday voted unanimously against the article (see story below), voicing their support instead for building a senior center at 1610 Main St., land that is being donated to the town by William Mars...

HARWICH — Without taking a formal vote, Monomoy Regional School Committee members made it clear last week that they’re not excited at the prospect of providing the town of Chatham with access to 1.5 acres off Stepping Stones Road for a new senior center. Meeting on Feb. 11, the committee discussed the possibility of declaring as surplus the parcel of land between Stepping Stones Road and the Old Colony Rail Ta...

CHATHAM – Selectmen set Saturday, March 7 as the date for a special town meeting to address a petition to consider property off Stepping Stones Road as a possible location for a new senior center. The board has yet to take a position on the proposal, submitted by a group of residents who say the site at 1610 Main St. in West Chatham currently being studied as a senior center location will be too expensive to d...

CHATHAM – A special town meeting will be held to consider an alternative site for a new senior center. A group of residents filed a petition last Thursday to investigate land off Stepping Stones Road that is part of the Monomoy Regional Middle School campus. The wooded 1.599 acres sits between the road and the Old Colony Rail Trail and is not currently being used by the school. Town Clerk Julie Smith certified...

CHATHAM – Even as officials begin a study to determine the feasibility of building a new senior center at 1610 Main St. in West Chatham, interest is growing in an alternative location, land along Stepping Stones Road that is now part of the Monomoy Regional Middle School campus. A few weeks ago, North Chatham resident Fred Crimins asked the board of selectmen for an agenda item to discuss the Stepping Stones R...

Fate Of West Chatham Facility Depends On May Vote CHATHAM – Town officials will begin developing designs and cost estimates for a new senior center at 1610 Main St. after voters at Saturday's special town meeting agreed to accept the donation of the 1.3-acre parcel. The fate of a new senior center will depend on a vote in May on construction funds. Owner William Marsh's last-minute decision to donate the...

CHATHAM — Seeking to boost turnout from young people and senior citizens, selectmen have chosen a new date and time—Saturday, Jan. 4 at 1 p.m.—for a special town meeting laying the groundwork for a new senior center. Holding town meetings on a weekend is a recommendation of the Chatham 365 Task Force, which seeks to make it easier for young, working families to take part in town government. And having a sessio...

CHATHAM — Despite worries about excluding voters who leave town for the winter, selectmen have called a Jan. 13 special town meeting to consider buying land for a new senior center. The warrant, which will be finalized shortly, will include a request for around $200,000 for additional design work, and an article for the purchase of the property 1610 Main St., using $750,000 to be funded by free cash. Because t...

CHATHAM – Rejecting the town-owned Marconi property, selectmen Monday night voted unanimously to pursue the purchase of a private parcel on Main Street in West Chatham as the location for a new senior center. Selectmen favored the parcel at 1610 Main St., owned by Eastward Companies, to take the place of the current senior center on Stony Hill Road, which council on aging officials say is too small for its exi...