Board Debates Revitalizing Economic Development Committee

CHATHAM – The town’s economic development committee has been inactive for several years, and while members of the select board say they want to get it up and running again, a debate is brewing over exactly what the committee will be charged with doing.

 Only four residents remain on the seven-member committee, established in 2012 to conduct studies of specific economic issues. Interviews are scheduled with two candidates for the three open seats, but in the meantime select board members last week debated whether to make changes to the group’s formal charge.

 One of the potential conflicts that’s emerging is whether the economic development committee (EDC) should focus on the year-round community, summer tourism or both.

 “I think we’d all agree that it’s not just about tourism,” Select Board member Shareen Davis said during the board’s April 1 discussion. “It’s about the economic development and welfare of the town, including infrastructure and various needs [of] year-round businesses.”

 Resident Elaine Gibbs argued that the committee should be focused on promoting a sustainable year-round community that attracts families, rather than on tourism. Much of the town’s infrastructure — including police, fire and other town staffing levels as well as water, sewer and other utilities — is based on the summer population numbers, she said. That impacts the town’s character, she added.

 “We’ve never done a zero-based financial analysis of the hard and soft costs of tourism, and I believe that should be a priority,” she said. “And we should be ruthlessly objective in recognizing what we have done to Chatham because of tourism.”

 The EDC’s current charge directs the group to undertake initiatives that will increase year-round economic development opportunities “without creating significant adverse impact on our community character or natural environment,” noted board member Dean Nicastro. He said he’d like the charge to be more explicit regarding support for maintaining the community’s year-round character and sustainability.

 “We certainly welcome tourism, and it’s important to the community,” he said. “But we also have to keep in mind the potential impacts on our infrastructure to support tourism. There’s a tension there.”

 Board member Jeff Dykens said he sees the EDC as helping to build year-round economic development.

 “That means attracting business, that means building business, that means creating jobs,” he said. “That’s always been at the core of what I always thought the EDC was.”

 It’s important to recognize that the town continues to have a seasonal economy, said chair Michael Schell, who is the liaison to the EDC.

 “That’s how people feed themselves, that’s how people make a living here, and we can’t completely ignore that,” he said. Yet the town’s character and the needs of year-round residents need to be taken into consideration, he added.

 “Working with community sustainability is something that’s really important in my word,” said Davis. “And I think a committee like this could have some great benefits to looking at how we achieve those goals.”

 In the past the EDC has conducted studies on water rates, the economic impact of off-season events and demographics. Its work contributed heavily to the Chatham 365 recommendations in 2019. 

 The first step in revitalizing the EDC is getting new members, said board member Cory Metters. Without a full committee, “we’re just spinning our wheels,” he said. Davis said the board should look for members who can look at the “dollars and cents side” of issues, while Nicastro suggested that members of town boards, especially the planning board, be included.

 “I think it’s important for this committee to understand the implementation of what’s going on at the planning board in terms of development of the town, and other boards,” he said.

 Board members did not want to make any changes until the EDC has more members and can meet. Metters said he wants the charge to be “crystal clear” so that the group’s work doesn’t overlap with other committees.

 “We want to keep it constructive and productive,” he said.

 Schell said the board should duplicate what the board did with the Aunt Lydia’s Cove committee, which had been inactive until the new members were recruited. With clear leadership, the group was able to bring the board a new charge and name change (it is now the working waterfront advisory committee).

 “Now it’s up and running,” Schell said. “That is the model I had in mind for economic development.”