Time to Fall Back...

And just like that… it’s over! Daylight Savings Time ends this weekend. Remember to turn those clocks back one hour Saturday night.

And remember to change the batteries in your smoke detectors and check the expiration dates on your CO monitors, too!

Red white and blue pin buttons with Vote written across the center

Election Day November 5th

The State/Presidential Election will be held on Tuesday, November 5th in the gymnasium of the Community Center, 702 Main Street. Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. All precincts vote at the Community Center Early voting concluded on November 1st. Voter registration for the State/Presidential election is closed.

While many in Town have chosen to vote by mail or through in-person early voting, a large turnout is still expected on Election Day. Please use caution while driving through the Community Center parking lot and follow the established one-way traffic pattern.

To ensure the check-in experience at the polls is as stress-free as possible, we encourage Voters to Check their Voter Status and Precinct online before they come to the polls. Make sure to include the correct zip code!

There will also be personnel, a large State-issued Precinct map, and a large, printed Precinct Street List in the lobby of the Community Center to help voters locate their correct Precinct and locate their correct check-in line.

The ballot is two-sided, so please do not forget to vote both sides of the ballot! Sample ballots can be found online.

Under MA state law, holding political signs, wearing political apparel (t-shirts, hats, buttons, pins, stickers, etc.), handing out campaign literature, etc. is prohibited within 150 feet of the polls. Anyone wearing these types of political items will be asked to cover or remove them before they are allowed to enter the polling location and cast their vote.

Need a ride to the polls? Call the Center for Active Living at 508-945-5190 to arrange free transportation – flexible scheduling is required as rides to the polls will be scheduled around existing medical transportation appointments.

Town Clerk's Office Closed Tuesday, November 5th

Staff will be busy working at the polls all day! We apologize for any inconvenience.

hand holding multicolored paper doll chain in a circle

Community Services Forum Monday

In recognition of the needs identified by the Lower Cape Community Health Needs Assessment presented to it on Monday, October 21st, the Board of Health will hold a Community Services Forum on Monday, November 4th. Representatives from the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod, SHINE program, Chatham’s Center for Active Living and the Fishing Partnership will present information on the programs and services each offer to meet the needs identified by the Assessment.

The Forum begins at 4 p.m. in the large meeting room on the lower level of the Town Office Annex, 261 George Ryder Road, at 4 p.m. and remote participation is available through the link in the posted agenda. The meeting may also be viewed live on Xfinity channel 1072, streamed through the Town’s website, or viewed on Chatham TV’s YouTube channel.

Mooring/Mooring Waitlist Renewals Issued

Mooring and Waitlist renewals are due to the Harbormaster no later than December 31st! Renewals were emailed out on October 31st. If you did not receive yours in your Inbox, and cannot locate in your Junk mail file, please contact the Harbormaster's Office for assistance.

Select Board and Town Manager seated at the dais in the meeting room

Select Board Action - Oct. 29th

The Select Board held three public hearings at the outset of their meeting on October 29th. Two petitions from Eversource Energy to 1) install conduit in the Right of Way of Training Field Road to provide new underground service for a new building at 114 Training Field Road (Town-owned Water Treatment Facility) and 2) to install conduit under Capri Lane to provide new underground service to 35 Capri Lane were both approved.

Several recommendations from the Traffic Safety Committee were considered in the third public hearing. The Select Board approved an extension of the “No Parking” zone on Shore Road in the area of the Hawthorne Motel, the installation of a “Curve” sign with 20 mph speed advisory plaque attached on Fox Hill Road, and the installation of two new additional stop signs on Barcliff Avenue at its intersection with Old Harbor Road.

The Summer Residents Advisory Committee (SRAC) provided the Select Board with an update on its activities from the past year and the key issues identified as being priorities for summer residents. SRAC suggested that the impacts of short-term rentals regulations should be monitored, as should the supply of potable water in the Town’s system. The SRAC continues to monitor the sewer project and its short-term and long-term impacts to property owners.

The Board approved the annual opening of the 2024-2025 Bay Scallop season on November 1st as requested by Shellfish Constable Renee Gagne.

The Board approved a request to reduce the membership of the Cultural Council from nine to seven members to help ensure the establishment of quorums for meetings.

Police Chief Michael Anderson and IT Director Craig Rowe provided an update on the success of the parking ticket software system implemented this past summer. They noted that tickets were issued by five Community Service Officers (CSO), four of which worked downtown and one monitored other parking hotspots, along with Police patrols. A feature of the new software is that unpaid parking tickets are flagged at the MA Registry of Motor Vehicles and license and car registration renewals may be held up until the fines are paid.

Barnstable County Commissioner Ron Bergstrom and Chatham Assembly Delegate Randi Potash discussed their opposing views on 2024 local Ballot Question 6 which seeks to amend the Barnstable County Charter as proposed by the Assembly of Delegates to amend the fiscal provisions of the Charter to codify the Delegate’s Finance Committee’s powers and duties and authorize the Delegate’s to amend operating budgets proposed by the Board of Regional Commissioners.

The Select Board voted to continue working toward the goals and objectives as set in fall of 2023 with a modification to a goal regarding education as suggested by Monomoy Regional School District Superintendent Scott Carpenter, subject to periodic review at least annually as part of the budgeting process.

In the annual review of the Intermunicipal Agreement with the Town of Orleans on the management of Nauset/North Beach, no need for a joint meeting was identified and the two towns agreed to review the agreement, which expires June 30, 2025 in January.

The Select Board discussed the recommendation from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund Board of Trustees to allocate the responsibility of developing the request for proposals (RFP) for development of the Stepping Stones Road property for home ownership to the Trustees. It was suggested that the Trustees develop the RFP subject to Select Board approval. It was further suggested that the Planning Board and the Community Housing Partnership also review the draft RFP.

The Select Board voted 3-2 to grant control of RFP development for homeownership development on the Town-owned Stepping Stones Road property to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund Board of Trustees.

The Town Manager's Monthly Report for September 2024 was reviewed.

The meeting may be viewed in its entirety through Chatham TV's on-demand archive.

Kali Burnham being sworn in by Assistant Town Clerk Amy Burrow

Newest Team Member Joins the FD

Kali Burnham has been appointed as Chatham’s newest Firefighter/EMT. She began employment on Monday, October 28, 2024.

Ms. Burnham is a former Chatham Fire Department Intern, who has trained with and learned from our Department members. and. She currently serves as Volunteer Firefighter for the West Barnstable Fire Department and has extensive customer service experience gained in employment in the retail and restaurant industries. She is a graduate of Monomoy Regional High School and has earned an Associate’s Degree in Fire Science from Cape Cod Community College and is certified as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT).

Pet food drive at the Community Center Nov. 1-23

Person in orange vest standing on a large pipe in the ground with an excavator in the background

Sewer/Road Construction Update

November 4th - November 8th

Meetinghouse Road/Morton Road Sewer Extension Project

Site work at Pump Station #3 (Meetinghouse Road) and Pump Station #4 (Twine Field Drive) is expected to continue.

Stage Harbor Road Sewer Extension Project

Site work is expected to continue at the pumping station site (Old Mill Boat Yard/Harbormasters Garage).

Queen Anne Road Pump Station

Pavement marking is expected on Monday, November 4th. Police detail(s) will be on-site. Site cleanup and restoration work is expected (40 Queen Anne Road; south side of Queen Anne Road and Oyster Pond Furlong intersection). Police detail(s) will be on-site.

Mill Pond Pump Station

Sewer work will continue on Mill Pond Road. Road closures are expected for Mill Pond Road and Homestead Lane, local traffic only. Police detail(s) will be onsite to assist motorists.

**Please note that work associated with the Mill Pond Pumping Station will close access to the Town Landing**

Oyster Pond Sewer Extension Project

Sewer and water work is expected to begin on Pond View West. Access will be limited; police detail(s) will be onsite to assist residents.

Paving

Road reconstruction/paving work will be conducted on Old Harbor Road from its intersection with Shore Road north to the Stony Hill Rd/Scatteree Road intersection. Access will be limited; police detail(s) will be on-site to assist residents.

White Lighthouse on blue background encircled by gold rope

November Flash TV Available Now

Meet the Center for Active Living’s Outreach Coordinator Kerri Kelly and learn about what she does for the community in the November edition of Flash TV. Also featured are some of the programs and services offered by the Department of Community Services at the Center for Active Living and the Community Center this month!

Veteran's Day Observance

The Town’s annual Veteran’s Day observance will be held at the Community Center, 702 Main Street, on Monday, November 11th at 11 a.m. Town officials will join members of our Police and Fire Departments, and US Coast Guard Station Chatham personnel honoring all who have served our country.

If you are interested, please consider volunteering to serve on our Public Ceremonies Committee to ensure Chatham continues to honor those who have served in our armed forces and those who gave the last full of devotion to our country through our traditional Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day programs.

Xander Foresman and Harbormaster Jason Holm on the H271 boat

Middle School Internship with Harbormaster Completed

This week the Harbormaster Division, led by Harbormaster Jason Holm, completed an internship with Xander Foresman. Xander is a Chatham summer resident and an 8^th grade student at Inly Middle School in Scituate. Most internships hosted by the Town are high school and college level, so this was a first for the Division. The idea behind a middle school internship is to foster a student’s interest in potential roles for the future through an authentic work experience.

Xander was able to participate in the MassDEP First Responders and Geographic Strategy Testing exercise in Orleans. This provided Xander with classroom and underway immersion into the world of maritime pollution response. He also received tours of the Chatham Fire Station, Police Station and Coast Guard Station Chatham getting a behind the scene look at our most vital emergency response partners. He assisted with the relocation of float docks and helped prep for our winter haul-out of floats in Stage Harbor. His final act as intern was to hit “the button” and send out the mooring permit and waitlist renewals to over 2000 customers!

All in all, a great week and a fantastic opportunity to showcase the role of the Harbormaster in Massachusetts.

Single Family Home Lottery in Yarmouthport

Attention Summer Residents/Second Homeowners!

The Summer Residents Advisory Committee wants to connect with you! The Summer Residents Advisory Committee (SRAC) was established in 1996 as the Non-Voting Taxpayers Advisory Committee (since renamed) whose members work to give summer residents a voice, give Selectmen the benefit of their information and views, give fresh outlooks to the Town, and take a position and make a case for or against town matters.

The SRAC meets weekly on Friday mornings at the Town Office Annex, 261 George Ryder Road, in the summer months and will be meeting remotely through the winter. Your participation is welcomed in these meetings!

You can stay informed of these meeting dates/times and the topics that will be discussed by going to www.mytowngovernment.org, choosing Summer Residents Advisory Committee from the dropdown menu, and clicking on "Subscribe to Email Alerts for this Board."

You can also subscribe to the Summer Residents notification list through the Town's website to receive information via email or text specific to the interests of summer residents/non-voting taxpayers/second homeowners.

Gulf of Maine Offshore Wind Lease Sale

As discussed by representatives of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) in their presentation to the Select Board on October 8th, the BOEM conducted an offshore wind lease sale for areas in the Gulf of Maine on Tuesday, October 29th. This was the first commercial sale for floating offshore wind on the Atlantic coast.

The lease sale resulted in two provisional winners of four lease areas.

Avangrid Renewables, LLC won the lease of 98,565 acres approximately 29.5 nautical miles (nm) from Massachusetts for $4,928,250 and 124,897 acres also approximately 29.5 nm from Massachusetts for $6,244,850.

Invenergy NE Offshore Wind, LLC won the lease of 87,854 acres for $4,892,700 located approximately46.2 nm from Maine and 117,780 acres for $5,889,000 located approximately 21.6 nm from Massachusetts.

According to the BOEM, the resulting $5.4 million in bidding credits represent binding commitments by companies to invest in over $2.7 million in workforce training and domestic supply chain development, and an additional $2.7 million for fisheries compensatory mitigation.

The awarded leases do not authorize the construction of any offshore wind facilities. They provide the right to submit a project plan for BOEM’s review. BOEM will develop an environmental impact statement (EIS) to analyze specific impacts of any project proposals before making decisions on whether to approve a proposed construction and operations plan.

Next Select Board Meeting - November 12, 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!

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.