Grant Received for Life Ring Cabinets

Thanks to the efforts of Coastal Resources Director Ted Keon and Harbormaster Jason Holm, the Town has received a grant of $12,000 from the Division of Marine Fisheries for the installation of twelve permanent life ring cabinets at eight popular public waterfront locations.

The installation of the cabinets will improve public safety at these heavily utilized facilities for those accessing the waterfront for recreational fishing and other activities.

The cabinets will be installed at Ryder’s Cove Landing, Little Mill Pond Landing, Municipal Fish Pier (4), Mitchell River Bridge (2), 90 Bridge Street, Old Mill Boat Yard Landing, Trap Dock Pier, and Barn Hill Landing.

“Congratulations to the Town of Chatham for receiving funding from the Healy-Driscoll Administration to enhance the safety of their community fishing piers,” said State Representative Hadley Luddy.  “Fishing is an integral part of our community activities in Chatham, and this funding will benefit our locals and visitors alike.”

Select Board Action - Jan. 28th

Select Board Clerk Shareen Davis was not in attendance.

The Select Board held a public hearing on the application for a new seasonal All Alcoholic Beverages Restaurant license for Ten Yen, LLC d/b/a Namazu Ramen, 643 Main Street, Michael Jacek, Manager. With no comments from the public, the Board approved the application unanimously.

Shellfish Advisory Committee Chair, Bob Davis, provided the Board with an update of the Committee’s activities over the last year. He pointed to the Committee’s advocacy for the 90 Bridge Street project, and its approval at Special Town Meeting, as its greatest accomplishment. He said the Committee will forward proposed uses and regulations for the facility to the Board shortly. He said the Committee was approached about eliminating the ban on commercial aquaculture in Town but a motion to support such was not seconded. He said the Committee remains concerned about access to local waters and any restrictions that may be placed on public access in any location. 

Howard Tansey, Cape Cod Athletics Club, requested the use of Town roads for two events in 2025 – the Chatham Harbor Run on June 22, 2025 and Chatham in the Fall 10K on November 23, 2025. As the only changes to the plans for the races, which have been held for many years in Town, being earlier start times for the races, the Select Board approved the requests unanimously.

Finance Director Carrie Mazerolle reviewed the proposed FY2026 Operating Budgets and Capital Budget requests for all Divisions of the Public Safety Departments. She noted a Capital article proposed for ATM to fund a new ambulance. Fire Chief Justin Tavano discussed the Fire Department’s proposed budgets and noted the grants received that offset costs. He discussed the long lead time required to have a new ambulance in service and the Department’s policy to request funding for new ambulance every other year.

Police Chief Mike Anderson reviewed the Police Department calls for service and the new programs implemented during his tenure. He reviewed staffing levels and the Department’s fleet inventory. He said the Department is requesting annual funding for two new cruisers. He noted the Department’s Capital request for a 4-wheel drive UTV for remote area patrols and responses during large events. Deputy Chief Louis Malzone reviewed the Department’s request for firearm replacement. The new firearms would have a mounted optic system, and the request includes holsters and the required hours of training for each officer. Chief Anderson reviewed the Department’s Operating Budget. Deputy Chief Malzone discussed a request for the purchase of 8 new Tasers, 22 user licenses, and training for five officers to act as trainers. He noted that the Animal Control Officer’s budget is level funded except for contractual increases.

Finance Director Carrie Mazerolle introduced the FY2026 Operating Budgets and Capital Budget requests for all Divisions of the Department of Public Works (DPW) and the FY2026 Water Operating Budget. Director of Public Works Rob Faley reviewed current staffing levels and the DPW fleet inventory. He said contractual increases account for more than half of the budget increase over FY2025. He noted the request for two additional positions in the Parks & Grounds Division which would be offset by the elimination of contracted services for cemetery mowing. He reviewed the operational budgets for each Division and reviewed the Water Operating budget. He noted that a review of water rates was underway. He reviewed the Department’s Capital requests including a new trash truck, new 1 ton pick-up, backhoe, 5-ton dump truck, and several annual maintenance appropriations.

Terry Whalen, Projects and Operations Administrator, noted the capital projects his Department is overseeing, the committees the Department supports, grants it manages, and reviewed his operational and capital budget requests for FY2026

The Board voted to place an article seeking funding for the FY2026 Water Operating Budget on the Annual Town Meeting warrant and voted unanimously to recommend approval of the FY2026 Water Operating Budget for the 2025 Annual Town Meeting.

The Select Board appointed Robert Wilson to the Historical Commission as an alternate member and Robert Dinnie to the Railroad Museum Committee.

Town Manager Jill Goldsmith reviewed her monthly report to the Select Board for December 2024. She shared information on the Board’s budget review before Annual Town Meeting, employee anniversaries for February, new hires, and the retirement of Coastal Resources Director Ted Keon.

The public is encouraged to view the meeting in its entirety through Chatham TVs on-demand archive.

Upcoming Public Hearing

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

February 11

To consider a petition from NSTAR Electric Company d/b/a Eversource Energy to install 30’ +/- of 3” conduit from proposed handhole 189/H1A to customer installed handhole at 14 Bucks Creek Road. 

February 18

To consider a request for a new Seasonal All Alcoholic Beverages Restaurant license for Hemm Fam LLC d/b/a Chatham Moods, 1617 Main Street, Orlando Hemming, Manager

All interested parties are encouraged to participate in-person or through the link in the posted agenda.

Water Quality Webpages Refreshed

A refresh of the Town’s webpages dedicated to our Water Quality Laboratory has been recently completed. The updated content includes information on the Coastal Water Nutrient Monitoring program including interactive maps of the monitoring sites and a video featuring an interview by the Town’s Water Quality Lab Technician Sarah Griscom, PhD of Natural Resource Directors present and past, Greg Berman and Dr. Robert Duncanson, on the importance of the project.

The Program Introduction page includes information about the program, its objectives and importance and the type of data collected by volunteer Water Watchers.

If you are interested and would like to learn more about the water quality data collected, Sarah will be presenting a webinar, "It's the Excess Nutrients! Coastal Water Quality Trends and Future Issues" for the Chatham Conservation Foundation on Saturday, February 8th at 10 a.m. This online event is free, but registration is required.

Affordable Home Available in Yarmouthport

Housing Assistance Corp (HAC) is now accepting applications for sale by lottery of a 2- bedroom, 1-bath ranch-style home at 22 Rhine Road, Yarmouthport.  The application deadline is February 27th at 5 p.m.

The home features 912 sq. ft. of living space in the German Hill area – close to everything! The sale price is $234,100.

Eligible applicants must be first-time homebuyers (with certain exceptions), with income at or below 80% AMI and have less than $75,000 in assets.

Find more information on this home ownership opportunity including online application, income levels, and instructions for filing a paper application on the HAC website.