A sign in a door window that reads Closed for the Holidays. The door is surrounded by winter greenery.

Holiday Closures

The Community Center will be closed on Sunday, December 24th. Town Offices, the Community Center and the Transfer Station will be closed on Monday, December 25th for the Christmas holiday.

May all who celebrate have a day full of comfort & joy!

A gymnasium full of people seated in chairs and in the bleachers

Annual Town Meeting Scheduled

The Select Board have set the date for the 2024 Annual Town Meeting on Monday, May 13th. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. and will be held in the gymnasium of the Monomoy Regional Middle School.

Childcare will be available for ages 3 and up. More details to follow.

Town of Chatham seal with two lighthouses

Opioid Settlement Funds at Work

The Town is putting funds received through the Commonwealth’s settlement with producers and distributors of opioids to work for the benefit of our community.

The Town has received over $74,000 in abatement funds and has entered into contracts with three local organizations to provide programs and services that fill identified community needs.

Recovery Coach Kelly Connolly has begun holding office hours at the Police Station, 249 George Ryder Road, every Wednesday from noon to 4 p.m. and is also available by phone at 774-209-3230 during those hours. Kelly can assist individuals seeking recovery from substance use and alcohol use disorders to achieve the most positive health, wellness, and recovery outcomes. Kelly’s position is made possible by abatement funding for three years and is provided by Outer Cape Health Recovery Services. The Recovery Coach program accepts all participants regardless of insurance status. If you or someone you know would benefit from these services, please reach out to Kelly.

Fishing Partnership Support Services (FP) is also committed to mitigating the detrimental impacts of the opioid epidemic, particularly in fishing communities, which have been hard hit by opioid use disorder. The Town has contracted with FP for one year to conduct at least one annual Opioid Overdose and Naloxone Distribution (OEND) training with enhanced CPR/First Aid course on Cape, to translate OEND and opioid use disorder materials into multiple languages including but not limited to Spanish and Brazilian-Portuguese, and to provide continued professional development of an FP Cape Cod Navigator to learn best practices for OEND training to support the local community.

Behavioral Health Innovators, Inc. provides the Positive Alternative To School Suspension (PASS) program to Monomoy Regional High School. For the 2023-2024 school year the PASS Supervisor has been tasked with developing a PASS program for Middle School students and will be engaging with the Monomoy Regional School District to offer that program locally. Additionally, Behavioral Health Innovators, Inc. has been tapped by the Career Education Coordinator at Monomoy High School to train students as mentors to 6^th graders to help educate them about why substance use is dangerous and how it can negatively impact their futures. The abatement funding from the Town will support this work for this school year.

As additional settlement funds are received over the next 17 years, the Opioid Funds Working Group, made up of representatives from the Town’s Police, Fire, Health, and Community Services Departments and local mental health and human service professionals, will evaluate current and emerging community needs and identify programs and services to best meet those needs.

Police Chief Anderson speaks to participants in the Reassurance Program during their holiday luncheon at Chatham Bars Inn.

Annual Reassurance Program Luncheon

On Wednesday, December 13th, the Police Department hosted the annual holiday luncheon for participants in the Town's Reassurance Program. They were joined by Fire Department personnel and Center for Active Living staff.

The Reassurance Program is offered to all members of the community, regardless of age, but is of particular value to senior citizens, persons with disabilities, those who live alone, persons who care for another person in their household, or anyone that has a challenge that puts them at increased risk in their home.

The Reassurance Program is completely voluntary and a free service offered by the Police Department in conjunction with the Fire Department and Center for Active Living.

Participants in the Program call a designated phone number at the Police Department daily to check in with the dispatcher. If a participant does not call in during the designated timeframe, the dispatcher will call their home. If contact is not made, a police officer is sent to the participant's home to conduct a wellness check. If the responding officer believes the Program participant is home but unable to come to the door, the officer or Fire Department personnel will make entry to the house.

Program participants are encouraged to install a lockbox, available through the Fire Department, which is installed outside the home and contains a spare key to their residence, to facilitate quick access. Lockboxes are heavy duty units that can only be unlocked by Fire Department personnel.

If you have questions or need assistance registering for the Program, please call the Police Department at 508-945-1213 or the Center for Active Living at 508-945-5190. The registration form is also available online on the Council on Aging's website.

Last Coffee for retiring Police Officer John Whittle on Friday, December 29th from 8:30 - 10 a.m. at the Police Station

Ask the Town Manager

Do you have a question about Town government or are curious about how or why it works the way it does? Please email your question to Shanna Nealy and we will use this space to bring the answers to you.

Map showing the 2023-2024 First Night Shuttle bus route

Map of shuttle bus route and First Night venue locations.

First Night - December 31, 2023

First Night is fast approaching! It will be a busy day around Town.

To make the most of it, plan around the temporary road closures and traffic restrictions necessitated by some of the activities.

The Town photograph will be taken at 12 noon on the front lawn of the Coast Guard Station. Northbound traffic from Bridge Street and Morris Island Road will be detoured onto Silverleaf Avenue if the Lighthouse Overlook parking lot becomes too congested.

The Carnival Caper Road Race steps off at 3 p.m. and begins and ends in front of the Chatham Squire. Runners will follow the race route east on Main Street, right onto Main Street, left on Water Street, right on Silverleaf Avenue, left onto lower Main Street passing the Lighthouse, and left onto Main Street back to the Squire. Traffic will held along the route as needed.

The Noise Parade begins at 6 p.m. at the intersection of Main Street and Cross Street. Participants will march west on Main Street, through the Rotary to the Community Center and Veterans Field for the fireworks. Main Street will be closed to vehicle traffic from approximately 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. or until all participants have cleared the roadway.

New this year, Depot Road from Old Harbor Road to Post Office Road will be closed to vehicle traffic beginning at 5 p.m. Hitching Post Road from Depot Road to Old Academy Road will be closed to vehicle traffic except for vehicles utilizing the Elementary School parking lot. The area directly in front of the Fire Department will be closed to the public including pedestrians and those viewing the fireworks for public safety reasons.

Hoping to visit as many venues as possible this year? Plan to use the shuttle buses which will operate between 1 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Busses will run from the Rotary to the Middle School via Old Harbor Road, Depot Road, Crowell Road and return via Crowell Road and Queen Anne Road to the Rotary. Drivers will stop at various venues as requested.

Listing of contact phone numbers and email addresses to report utility outages

Don't Miss This Opportunity! Help us Improve Communications

Time is ticking away for you to take the Communications Survey. We are working toward improving the Town's communication with the community and we need to your input.

Whether you are a full-time or part-time resident, visitor, owner of a business or work in Town, we want to hear from you! Please take a few minutes and help us do a better job of keeping you informed of Town news and community events. The survey is available online and will be open through December 31st.

Black key on a key ring with a white house shape on an orange background

MCI Rental/Housing Opportunity

The deadline to apply for the three openings in the MCI Rental/Housing Savings Program administered by the Chatham Housing Authority is Tuesday, January 16th.

The MCI/Escrow Program is a five (5) year home ownership program that puts a portion of rent paid into escrow. That money is then available to the renter for the sole purpose of purchasing a home on Cape Cod at the end of the five years.

Each available home is three bedrooms. Minimum household income is $72,000. The monthly rent on each home is $1800.00 not including utilities. Rent cannot exceed 30% of income.

Application packets are available online and may be obtained at the Chatham Housing Authority, 240 Crowell Road during regular business hours, Monday - Thursday 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. and Fridays 9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Green square with the image of Cape Cod in darker green with white hiking boot prints along it

First Day Hikes with CCF

The Chatham Conservation Foundation (CCF) joins other Cape conservation groups in offering #FirstDayHikesCapeCod on January 1, 2024.

Join Executive Director Lauren Arcomano in welcoming 2024 with a guided walk along CCF's Frost Fish Creek Trail. The trail meanders along the eastern edge of Frost Fish Creek, offering walkers glimpses of an old cranberry operation which has reverted to open wetlands. Bring your binoculars to get a good view of the “winter locals" of Frost Fish Creek, including buffleheads and other ducks!

Walks are offered at 10 a.m. and 12 noon. Registration is available through the CCF website.

Two blue cartoon sharks playing with a beachball

Effective Parenting Strategies

The Monomoy Family Early Childhood Resource Center is offering a special program for Harwich & Chatham parents and guardians of 3-5 year olds on Tuesday, January 9th at Harwich Elementary School, 263 SSouth Street, Harwich. Two hour-long sessions of "Effective Parenting Strategies for Your Child - A Coffee Chat with Cindy Horgan" will be held beginning at 9:15 a.m. and 1 p.m. in the School's Activity Room.

Ms. Horgan is the Executive Director of the Cape Cod Children's Place and an early childhood development specialist. This is a unique opportunity to ask questions and share information about effective parenting of preschool and kindergarten age children.

Light refreshments will be served. Email your RSVP to Lucy Gilmore or call 508-430-7216 x 3044.

Next Select Board Meeting - January 9, 2024 @ 5:30 p.m.

All are welcome to attend and participate in our open and public meetings. The agenda for each meeting is posted 48 business hours prior to the scheduled meeting time and can be accessed through the Select Board’s webpage.

Attend in-person at the Town Office Annex, Large Meeting Room. Join the meeting on-line or participate by phone by dialing 1-508-945-4410 and entering Conference ID 203 386 491#.

The Mainsheet

The name of our e-newsletter was selected from submissions by our community.
In nautical terms a mainsheet is the line connected to the boom which allows a sailor to control the speed of a boat. We think that is fitting for an e-newsletter that can be used to quickly send out important information to our community or at a more leisurely rate for less pressing matters. It reflects Chatham’s maritime history, is reminiscent of the front page of a newspaper, and it is a fun play on Main Street, where you go to be part of all that is happening in Town!

Town of Chatham website www.chatham-ma.gov