Copies of the 2024 Annual Town Meeting warrant on a wooden table

Annual Town Meeting Information

2024 Annual Town Meeting begins on Monday, May 13th at 6 p.m. in the gymnasium of the Monomoy Middle School, 425 Crowell Road. Voter check-in begins at 5:15 p.m. Remember, in a Town Meeting form of government, you must attend the Town Meeting to vote on the warrant articles.

The Annual Town Meeting Preview Show is available for on-demand viewing on Chatham TVs YouTube Channel. The show provides a review of all the articles in the Town Meeting warrant.

Annual Town Meeting warrants have been mailed to the households of all registered voters to the addresses listed in the MA Secretary of State's election roles. If you haven’t received one, a limited number will be available at the Town Meeting or you may download the digital version for easy reference from your phone or tablet. The warrant contains detailed explanations of all articles and recommendations on each article's approval from the Select Board and Finance Committee.

Consent Calendar Proposed

A Consent Calendar (or Consent Agenda) groups routine meeting articles into a single item. In so doing, the grouped items can be approved in one action, rather than through the filing of multiple motions.

Any voter may request an item be removed from the Consent Calendar. Removing an item from the Consent Calendar does not require a vote.

The Consent Calendar as proposed:

Article 3 - Prior Year Bills Payment Authorization
Article 6 - Consolidated Revolving Funds
Article 8 - Wood Waste Reclamation Facility Enterprise Fund
Article 22 - Childcare Voucher Program
Article 24 - Stabilization Appropriation per Policies
Article 25 - Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) Liability Trust Fund Appropriation
Article 30 - Community Preservation Committee Administrative Budget
Article 31 - Community Preservation Act - Fund Appropriations

No Motions Anticipated

Articles are included in the Annual Town Meeting warrant by the Select Board with the intention that voters will take action on them, if needed.

Three articles are included in the warrant for which no action is required at this time and, therefore, motions on these articles are not anticipated:

Article 4 - Current Year (FY2024) Budget Adjustments/Transfers (no adjustments or transfers required).
Article 23 - Establish Adult Supportive Day Care Program (Grant funding for the program has been received; see below).
Article 29 - Property Acquisition; 0 Pleasant Street, South Chatham (the property has not been offered to the Town at this time).

Logistics

Primary parking for the Town Meeting is on site at Monomoy Middle School. Drop off area is always available for those with mobility challenges. Volunteers will be onsite to direct vehicles. Secondary parking is available at the basketball/tennis courts on Stepping Stones Road. Parking available at Public Works facility with access to Middle School via Crowell Road sidewalk.

Town Meeting will once again be utilizing electronic voting this year. If you need a refresher or haven't voted electronically at Town Meeting before, take a peek at the public education video featuring Moderator William Litchfield on voting by "clicker."

Annual Town Elections

Annual Town elections are on Thursday, May 16th. Polls will be open at the Community Center, 702 Main Street, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The following Town Officers are being elected this year:

Two Select Board Members for three year terms
One Moderator for a three year term
One Monomoy Regional School Committee (Chatham) Member for a three year term
One Chatham Housing Authority Member for a five year term

There are also two questions on the ballot this year. Each are Debt Exclusion questions which ask if the Town should be allowed to exempt from the provisions of Proposition Two and One-Half, amounts required to pay for bonds issued for the purpose of paying costs associated with the Transfer Station project (Annual Town Meeting Article 17 - redesign, renovation, construction and equipping of the Town's Transfer Station) and the Waterfront Infrastructure Bond (Annual Town Meeting Article 18 - design, renovation, and construction of various projects involving waterfront infrastructure and facilities, including landings and land acquisition costs and facilities).

Sign at the Center for Active Living, 193 Stony Hill Road

Adult Day Care Grant Received

The Town of Chatham’s Department of Community Services has been awarded $273,682.00 by the Massachusetts Office of Elder Affairs for the Town of Chatham Adult Supportive Day Program Startup through the Supportive and Social Day Program Expansion Grant Program.

The funds will be used to establish a non-medical model Adult Supportive Day program at the Center for Active Living, 193 Stony Hill Road. The program will be overseen by one full-time Program Manager assisted by two part-time Program Assistants and one-part Bus Driver. In addition to these new staff positions, funding will also cover health and safety requirements needed to implement the program.

Currently, ten Town residents attend the Rock Harbor Respite Program offered through the Town of Orleans.

Article 23 of the 2024 Annual Town Meeting warrant sought the same dollar amount to start-up and staff the program but, as funding has been secured through the grant, no motion will be offered on the Article at Town Meeting. The Select Board will vote to accept the grant at its May 14^th meeting.

Housing Proposal Evaluation Committee Designated

Per MGL Ch 30B, section 6 (e), Chatham’s Town Manager and Chief Procurement Officer Jill Goldsmith, has established a Housing Proposals Evaluation Committee to review affordable and attainable housing development projects at 1533/0 Main Street and 0 Meetinghouse Road properties.

The members of the Evaluation Committee are the seven Trustees of the Affordable Housing Trust (AHT) Board of Trustees and the five members of the Select Board. As two members of the Select Board serve as AHT Trustees, the Evaluation Committee will have 10 members. Meetings of the Evaluation Committee will be posted as joint meetings of the AHT and Select Board.

Below is an anticipated time-lime for the Evaluation Committee to complete its work and move discussions of the development projects to open public meetings:

Potential Joint Meeting on Wednesday, May 15, 2024 (Confirmation Pending)
Following a joint Executive Session on June 5, 2024, the Evaluation Committee will submit evaluation sheets of proposals received for both properties, pursuant to the Requests for Proposals, to the Chief Procurement Officer.
The Chief Procurement Officer will compile the results of the evaluations and prepare a report including recommendations for each of the two properties to be made to the AHT and the Select Board jointly.
On June 11, 2024, the Chief Procurement Officer presents recommendations to a joint meeting of the AHT and the Select Board, at which time the AHT and the Select Board will jointly select the entity or entities with whom the Town of Chatham will work to develop housing at each of the two properties.

Town Manager Receives High Marks

In each year since her hire in 2011, Town Manager Jill Goldsmith has been evaluated annually with a Performance Evaluation instrument developed collaboratively with the Select Board.

Under the Board-approved methodology, Ms. Goldsmith’s performance was recently evaluated for 2023 on six general managerial categories:

1) Personal/Professional; 2) Board Support/Relations; 3) Financial Management; 4) Personnel Management/Organizational Leadership; 5) Community Leadership/Public Relations; 6) Town Operations/Infrastructure.

The Select Board members award “performance points” based on a total of 38 different sub-categories, using a 4-point rating scale for each:

4 points = Excellent/Highly Commendable
3 points = Strong Performance
2 points = Satisfactory/Acceptable
1 point = Improvement Needed
N/O = Not Observed

Based on this point system, Ms. Goldsmith was awarded a composite score of 3.78 out of 4.00 for 2023, slightly higher than the composite score of 3.74 received last year. This score given by the Select Board once again borders on the Excellent/Highly Commendable and Strong Performance. The full evaluation, including comments from Select Board members on each managerial category, approved at the May 7th Select Board meeting, is available for review on the Town’s website.

In her comments on the evaluation, Town Manager Goldsmith thanked the Select Board for their hard work, dedication, and executive leadership and expressed gratitude, particularly during National Public Service week, to all the members of Team Chatham for their willingness to serve and the great work they do every day.

Playground equipment behind orange snow fencing with a sign saying the surface is wet and people must stay off it.

Volunteer Park Playground Update

The Volunteer Park Playground project is nearing completion. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant path was completed last week and the Poured-in-Place play surface has been installed this week. Loaming and seeding has also been completed along the path.

The Poured-in-Place surface takes several days to cure, so it is very important that everyone stay out of the fenced area and off the surface until it is completely set.Thank you for your cooperation!

Blue lighthouse against a red and white striped background with gold stars

Parade Grand Marshall Announced

The Independence Day Parade Committee has announced the selection of Karl Fehrle, a long-time Chatham resident, as the Grand Marshal for this year’s Independence Day Parade.

Mr. Fehrle is a US military veteran of WWII and a member of the Chatham Band, where he plays saxophone and is well know for his solos on “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “What a Wonderful World”. Mr. Fehrle will also soon celebrate his 103rd birthday. What grander way to celebrate him than with a parade!

Welcome Aboard

Team Chatham just keeps getting better! Join us in welcoming two new staff members next week.

Kerri Kelly has been appointed as Chatham’s newest Council on Aging Outreach Coordinator. Ms. Kelly will begin her employment at the Center for Active Living (CFAL) on Monday, May 13th.

Ms. Kelly has a strong background in outreach, medical service coordination, case management and HIPAA compliance. Most recently, she worked as a School Based Navigator/Community Health Worker at Outer Cape Health Services where she specialized in care coordination and community outreach. Prior to this position, Ms. Kelly served as the Executive Administrator to the CEO at Housing Assistance Corporation.

Christine Boorack has been appointed as Chatham’s newest Police Department Administrative Assistant. Ms. Boorack will also join us on Monday, May 13th.

Ms. Boorack comes to Chatham from the Cape & Islands District Attorney’s Office, where she has served as an Administrative Assistant since 2016. In this position, she provided a wide range of administrative support to the District Attorney and Assistant District Attorneys including preparing subpoenas, compiling court documents and attending to records requests, processing and maintaining summons, motions, affidavits, Criminal Justice Information Services reports (CJIS), handling scheduling needs, and providing excellent customer service to service recipients of the District Attorney’s Office and Superior and District Courts. In this role, Ms. Boorack has had constant interface with and provided assistance to local police departments, including Chatham PD.

Chatham Town Seal with silhouette of a speaker at a podium inside it

Upcoming Public Hearings

The Select Board will hold the following public hearings during its regularly scheduled meetings beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the large meeting room at the Town Office Annex, 261 George Ryder Road.

Remote participation is available through the link in the posted agendas.

May 21

To consider a petition from NSTAR Electric Company d/b/a Eversource Energy to install 40' +/- of 1-4" conduit from proposed handhole 16/H3A to customer installed handhole 16/H3B at 229 Main Street, Chatham.

All interested parties are encouraged to participate.

Triangular yellow "Area Closed due to Shorebirds" sign in place on a beach

Coastal Waterbird Report; May 9th

According to Mass Audubon Coastal Waterbird Program monitors in Chatham, as of May 9th there were twenty-two pairs of Piping Plovers reported on Chatham beaches. Eight nests are reported.

Least Terns and a pair of American Oystercatchers have been seen foraging at local beaches.

Please keep out of closed areas marked with signage and fencing.

Cover of the 2023 Annual Town Report featuring the Tall Ship Lynx

Annual Town Reports Available

The 2023 Annual Town Report has been posted to the Town website. Download your copy today! Hard copies are available at the Town Offices, 549 Main Street.

The front and back covers feature the Tall Ship Lynx's fall visit to Stage Harbor.

Red lighthouse on a background of sea, shore and sky with light beams emanating from the top

Monomoy Regional School District News

John Dickson, a history and social studies teacher at Monomoy Regional High School in Harwich, has been awarded an American Lawyers Alliance Teacher of the Year Award for 2024.

The American Lawyers Alliance awards honor United States public and private high school teachers who have made significant contributions in the area of law-related education. Selection is based on how the teacher: furthered the understanding of the role of the courts, law enforcement agencies, and the legal profession; helped students recognize their responsibilities as well as their rights; encouraged effective law-related education programs in their schools and communities; and increased communication among students, educators, and those involved professionally in the legal system.

“This award exemplifies Mr. Dickson’s dedication to developing the next generation of informed and empowered citizens through dynamic and transformative civics education,” said Monomoy High Principal Jennifer Police.

Dickson will be honored at the Annual Meeting of the American Lawyers Alliance at the University Club of Chicago on Friday, August 2, 2024

Cartoon image of toxic chemicals in bottles and spray cans

Household Hazardous Waste Collections Begin Tomorrow

If you've been setting aside your household hazardous waste material all winter for safe disposal this spring, tomorrow, Saturday, May 11th, is your first chance to get that stuff out of your shed, basement, or garage.

Chatham residents may bring their household hazardous waste to the Harwich Transfer Station, 209 Queen Anne Road, Harwich from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. Just follow the signs and check in with the on-site volunteers. Not sure what to qualifies as household hazardous waste? Download the reference brochure for all the answers.

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!

Subscribe to The Mainsheet

Subscribe today to have the latest issue of The Mainsheet delivered directly to your inbox each week! Sign-up through Notify Me! by entering your email address and clicking on the envelope icon next to the "Government" subscription list.

Town of Chatham website www.chatham-ma.gov