CHATHAM — The health board is close to finalizing regulations that would require owners of summer rental properties to register with the town starting this year, with new rules on short-term rentals to be enforced next summer. The public will have a final chance to sound out on the new rules at a public hearing next week. The four-page regulation, posted on the town website and available at the annex, will be ...

CHATHAM — Curiosity isn’t just a habit for Monomoy Regional High School senior Christie Beckley: it’s a defining character trait. It’s how she was raised, and it’s what’s propelled her to a dazzling high school career and a future full of promise. On March 9, the school committee presented Beckley with the 2023 Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents’ Award for Academic Excellence. She has the self...

CHATHAM – Volatility in investment markets last year played havoc with the town's trust funds, resulting in value losses in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. In a report to the select board March 21, representatives of Bartholomew and Company, the Worcester company that administers numerous town trust funds including the OPEB trust, said the double-digit losses in 2022 were historic. “We haven't seen do...

Davis Unopposed For Select Board CHATHAM – Only one contested race will appear on the ballot for the May 11 annual town meeting. Three candidates are vying for two seats on the Monomoy Regional School Committee. A third unexpired term on the committee had no takers, however. Incumbent Select Board member Shareen Davis will run unopposed for a third term. “Though it simplifies things to run unopposed f...

Neighbors Voice Concerns Over Netflix Production CHATHAM – The biggest film production in town since “The Finest Hours” is set to begin rolling on April 3. Filming of the six-episode Netflix series “The Perfect Couple,” based on the novel by Elin Hildebrand, will continue through the second to the last week of June, with the final cleanup of locations beginning July 3, according to a filming permit approved...

CHATHAM — A package of water conservation regulations — including one that would extend the rules to properties that use private wells — won’t be included on the upcoming annual town meeting warrant. The select board is open to discussing bylaw amendments, but said they were received too late to allow a full public vetting before town meeting. On March 13, the water and sewer advisory committee voted to recomm...

CHATHAM — Thanks to a mysterious underwater obstruction and other challenges, the replacement of the bulkhead at the south jog of the fish pier is now slightly behind schedule. Town officials are still hopeful that the work will be done before commercial fishing picks up in earnest later this spring. “We were never able to determine what the obstruction was, or to remove it,” Health and Natural Resources Direc...

Buying Property For Town Pool Not Feasible, Officials Say CHATHAM — At last year’s town meeting, petitioners asked town officials to take a close look at purchasing the former Chatham Health and Swim Club for use as a town swimming pool. Architects recently completed their evaluation and concluded that it would take a large investment to buy the property and make the building suitable for municipal use. The se...

CHATHAM – It's been three and a half years since the Chatham 365 Task Force delivered its final recommendations to the select board. A review of the recommendations shows that while quite a few have been implemented, many others remain in the discussion stage or unaddressed. The progress that's been made, however, has not been insubstantial. Town meeting has been moved to Saturday, the immediate future of the ...

'Perfect Couple' To Begin Filming In April CHATHAM – Chatham will stand in for Nantucket in a six-episode Netflix series based on Elin Hilderbrand's novel “The Perfect Couple.” Filming is tentatively scheduled to begin in mid April and will be completed by the end of June in various locations around town. Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman is reportedly set to star in the series, although casting has not ye...

CHATHAM — On Monday, Rob Faley started work as Chatham’s new DPW director. He was greeted by a flurry of meetings, lots of unfamiliar faces, an office that’s in the midst of being renovated, and an approaching storm expected to bring an inch or two of snow. As first days go, it actually wasn’t that bad, Faley said. After all, the same storm would likely bring more than a foot of snow to Vermont, his previous h...

Town To Seek Its Own Surfboat After Station Downgrading CHATHAM — Saying the Coast Guard has abdicated its search and rescue responsibilities, town officials are taking steps to ensure the safety of commercial and recreational mariners by asking voters to appropriate money to purchase a surf-capable vessel to be operated by the harbormaster department. “It is a function of the U.S. Coast Guard to do this...