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Voters OK Fire Station Design Funding
Orleans resident Ken Heritage takes to the microphone during Monday’s annual town meeting at Nauset Regional Middle School. RYAN BRAY PHOTOS
Town Counsel Michael Ford, center, huddles with voters and local officials on a proposed amendment to the town’s new capital improvement budget for the coming fiscal year.
ORLEANS – Despite lingering questions and concerns about its location, voters approved funds to design a new fire station at Monday’s annual town meeting.
Article 12 passed by a 352-134 vote, authorizing $4.5 million for the design. The funding would come by way of a Proposition 2½ debt exclusion, and must ultimately be approved again by voters at the May 20 annual town election.
The current fire station opened in 1987, but the facility no longer meets the needs of a modern fire facility. Fire Chief Geof Deering showed photos illustrating the cramped conditions the fire department is working with in the existing station, where the weight room shares space with the apparatus bay and the main lobby doubles as a first aid area. Deering added that the station lacks space for department training and that the building’s roof has been marred by rodent infestation.
The fire station is one component in plans for a town campus on Eldredge Park Way that also includes a new Orleans Elementary School and possibly a community center. But conceptual layouts of how the buildings might be situated on the 23-acre site have the fire station very close to the elementary school.
“The concern that I have is that there’s been no discussion of that problem,” said David Abel of the 137-foot distance between the new fire station and the new school, as presented on schematics prepared by Galante Architecture Studio.
Elementary school parents and advocates similarly expressed concern with how close a new station might be to the school. Emily Miller called the fire station’s location in the Galante renderings "untenable," while Maxine Minkoff, the former principal at nearby Nauset Regional Middle School, said the station’s close proximity to the elementary school would be a distraction to students.
Judi Schumacher, who chairs the Nauset Regional School Committee, added that the new fire station site would chip into “valuable recreation area” on the property. While she said she supported funding a new fire station, she had concerns about “where we’re putting it.”
But Select Board Chair Mark Mathison said the Galante renderings aren’t set in stone. Instead, he said they served as “an exercise to see how [the town] could best utilize that property.” He said a proper design will drill down to the specific details of what a new station will entail and what the options are for siting it.
“We can’t say it’s 137 feet away from anything, because we don’t know yet,” he said.
Others Monday night urged voters to support the design to move the fire station planning forward.
“I really hope that all of you will fund this article and let us move forward with this incredibly important building,” said Gail Meyers Lavin.
Capital Budget Passes On Reconsideration
In perhaps the most dramatic moment Monday night, voters briefly voted down close to $2.5 million worth of capital projects for the new fiscal year in Article 19. One project in particular, a proposed survey looking at options for sidewalks and multi-use pathways along Main Street from Route 28 to Beach Road, generated significant discussion, with some questioning the proposed $100,000 free cash expenditure.
The article failed to garner the three-fourths majority vote it needed to pass, prompting Kevin Galligan of the select board to ask that someone bring forward a motion to reconsider the article.
“We cannot advance any capital projects for the next 12 months. None,” he cautioned of the repercussions of not passing the new capital budget.
Later in the meeting, Orleans resident Ken Heritage made a motion to reconsider the article, complete with a motion to advance the capital budget with the funding for the Main Street project removed. The reconsidered article passed 370 to 41.
Alice Thomason, who chairs the town’s transportation and bikeways advisory committee that is behind the planning and preparation for the Main Street work, said it was “not appropriate” to pass the budget at the expense of the project. She argued that the survey, if funded, would give voters the information they need about the feasibility of creating sidewalks and multiuse paths along the street.
“The procedure is such that it allows us to do it,” Town Moderator David Lyttle said. “It’s in the town charter.”
Solar Projects Approved
Voters authorized a $5 million debt exclusion for three municipal solar projects at the town’s wastewater treatment facility, water treatment facility and public works headquarters. The article passed 372 to 72.
John Londa, who chairs the town’s energy and climate action committee, said that with the help of federal tax credits, the town would see a 50 percent return on its investment in the first year of solar operations and that the funding would be paid back in full in five years.
While some voters pushed back on global warming as a defense for moving ahead with the solar projects (“The truth is I think a lot of the climate stuff is a hoax,” Clint Kanaga said to audible boos from the audience), Hakeem Jannah of the climate action committee called it “a very attractive business opportunity for the town.”
Voters Pass Funding For Residential Exemption
In the last bit of business Monday, a citizens’ petition seeking funding to allow the town to potentially adopt a partial property tax exemption for full-time residents in town passed 153 to 88.
Article 35 sought the transfer of $13,270 in finance committee reserves to the assessor’s department overtime budget and an additional $6,000 for software upgrades. The article’s petitioner, Tim Counihan, said this would allow the select board to consider adopting the residential exemption at its upcoming tax classification hearing in the fall.
Counihan said the partial exemption would benefit 92 percent of year-round property owners in town. He said he’s been lobbying for the select board to consider the exemption for the last four years, but that he has “not felt heard.”
“So while this is solely a select board issue, I thought bringing it to town meeting might give them the nudge they need,” he said. “And I’m hoping that you will help me nudge them.”
Counihan said the exemption will lessen the financial burden on year-round property owners at a time when Orleans and other towns on the Cape are becoming increasingly unaffordable for many working people and families. He said that similar exemptions are being taken up all over the country, including locally on the Cape.
Some voters came to the defense of seasonal residents, who they argued pay property taxes without having any say in town government and local elections.
“Does this seem fair?” asked Douglas Pluciennik.
Town Counsel Michael Ford said that the source of funding, the finance committee reserve fund, cannot be used to support the article. Still others questioned the legality of the article as written.
“You are going to make a great deal or work for lawyers,” said Mark Berson.
But others spoke in support of the article. Tracy Murphy said other Cape towns including Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet and Eastham have adopted or are exploring adopting their own exemptions.
“To the degree that a ‘yes’ vote tonight is a vote in favor of further exploration, further education, getting an answer to questions, figuring out if this is something that can work for the majority of people in our town who need it, I would just encourage you to do that,” she said.
Elsewhere On The Warrant
Voters passed a $53.6 million operating budget for the upcoming 2026 fiscal year. That figure includes a $989,627 operational override that will need to be approved at the town election. It also includes $691,754 to cover increased costs related to salaries and benefits for town employees and elementary school staff, as well as $297,873 in public safety wages.
A five-year capital improvement plan through fiscal 2031 also passed with voters with an amendment to push proposed funding for a new Snow Library out to fiscal 2028. Voters also approved $1.46 million in Community Preservation Act projects through the passage of Article 22.
Another debt exclusion of $40.5 million was also approved to move ahead with construction on the third phase of sewering in the areas of Areys Pond, Lonnie’s Pond, Crystal Lake and Pilgrim Lake. The area includes 259 properties as well as an option for connecting an additional 36. Voters also approved an additional $600,000 debt exclusion to fund additional engineering services as needed for property owners in the area of Meetinghouse Pond.
A $1.6 million debt exclusion was approved for reconstruction of the Goose Hummock bulkhead. Voters passed Article 27, which sought a bylaw revision to allow the town’s two marijuana retailers to apply for and obtain courier licenses from the state’s Cannabis Control Commission. The state’s seasonal communities designation was adopted through the passage of Article 32, while voters also supported a bylaw revision through Article 28 to allow the town’s affordable housing trust fund to support projects up to 120 percent of the area median income in Barnstable County.
Email Ryan Bray at ryan@capecodchronicle.com
Article 12 passed by a 352-134 vote, authorizing $4.5 million for the design. The funding would come by way of a Proposition 2½ debt exclusion, and must ultimately be approved again by voters at the May 20 annual town election.
The current fire station opened in 1987, but the facility no longer meets the needs of a modern fire facility. Fire Chief Geof Deering showed photos illustrating the cramped conditions the fire department is working with in the existing station, where the weight room shares space with the apparatus bay and the main lobby doubles as a first aid area. Deering added that the station lacks space for department training and that the building’s roof has been marred by rodent infestation.
The fire station is one component in plans for a town campus on Eldredge Park Way that also includes a new Orleans Elementary School and possibly a community center. But conceptual layouts of how the buildings might be situated on the 23-acre site have the fire station very close to the elementary school.
“The concern that I have is that there’s been no discussion of that problem,” said David Abel of the 137-foot distance between the new fire station and the new school, as presented on schematics prepared by Galante Architecture Studio.
Elementary school parents and advocates similarly expressed concern with how close a new station might be to the school. Emily Miller called the fire station’s location in the Galante renderings "untenable," while Maxine Minkoff, the former principal at nearby Nauset Regional Middle School, said the station’s close proximity to the elementary school would be a distraction to students.
Judi Schumacher, who chairs the Nauset Regional School Committee, added that the new fire station site would chip into “valuable recreation area” on the property. While she said she supported funding a new fire station, she had concerns about “where we’re putting it.”
But Select Board Chair Mark Mathison said the Galante renderings aren’t set in stone. Instead, he said they served as “an exercise to see how [the town] could best utilize that property.” He said a proper design will drill down to the specific details of what a new station will entail and what the options are for siting it.
“We can’t say it’s 137 feet away from anything, because we don’t know yet,” he said.
Others Monday night urged voters to support the design to move the fire station planning forward.
“I really hope that all of you will fund this article and let us move forward with this incredibly important building,” said Gail Meyers Lavin.
Capital Budget Passes On Reconsideration
In perhaps the most dramatic moment Monday night, voters briefly voted down close to $2.5 million worth of capital projects for the new fiscal year in Article 19. One project in particular, a proposed survey looking at options for sidewalks and multi-use pathways along Main Street from Route 28 to Beach Road, generated significant discussion, with some questioning the proposed $100,000 free cash expenditure.
The article failed to garner the three-fourths majority vote it needed to pass, prompting Kevin Galligan of the select board to ask that someone bring forward a motion to reconsider the article.
“We cannot advance any capital projects for the next 12 months. None,” he cautioned of the repercussions of not passing the new capital budget.
Later in the meeting, Orleans resident Ken Heritage made a motion to reconsider the article, complete with a motion to advance the capital budget with the funding for the Main Street project removed. The reconsidered article passed 370 to 41.
Alice Thomason, who chairs the town’s transportation and bikeways advisory committee that is behind the planning and preparation for the Main Street work, said it was “not appropriate” to pass the budget at the expense of the project. She argued that the survey, if funded, would give voters the information they need about the feasibility of creating sidewalks and multiuse paths along the street.
“The procedure is such that it allows us to do it,” Town Moderator David Lyttle said. “It’s in the town charter.”
Solar Projects Approved
Voters authorized a $5 million debt exclusion for three municipal solar projects at the town’s wastewater treatment facility, water treatment facility and public works headquarters. The article passed 372 to 72.
John Londa, who chairs the town’s energy and climate action committee, said that with the help of federal tax credits, the town would see a 50 percent return on its investment in the first year of solar operations and that the funding would be paid back in full in five years.
While some voters pushed back on global warming as a defense for moving ahead with the solar projects (“The truth is I think a lot of the climate stuff is a hoax,” Clint Kanaga said to audible boos from the audience), Hakeem Jannah of the climate action committee called it “a very attractive business opportunity for the town.”
Voters Pass Funding For Residential Exemption
In the last bit of business Monday, a citizens’ petition seeking funding to allow the town to potentially adopt a partial property tax exemption for full-time residents in town passed 153 to 88.
Article 35 sought the transfer of $13,270 in finance committee reserves to the assessor’s department overtime budget and an additional $6,000 for software upgrades. The article’s petitioner, Tim Counihan, said this would allow the select board to consider adopting the residential exemption at its upcoming tax classification hearing in the fall.
Counihan said the partial exemption would benefit 92 percent of year-round property owners in town. He said he’s been lobbying for the select board to consider the exemption for the last four years, but that he has “not felt heard.”
“So while this is solely a select board issue, I thought bringing it to town meeting might give them the nudge they need,” he said. “And I’m hoping that you will help me nudge them.”
Counihan said the exemption will lessen the financial burden on year-round property owners at a time when Orleans and other towns on the Cape are becoming increasingly unaffordable for many working people and families. He said that similar exemptions are being taken up all over the country, including locally on the Cape.
Some voters came to the defense of seasonal residents, who they argued pay property taxes without having any say in town government and local elections.
“Does this seem fair?” asked Douglas Pluciennik.
Town Counsel Michael Ford said that the source of funding, the finance committee reserve fund, cannot be used to support the article. Still others questioned the legality of the article as written.
“You are going to make a great deal or work for lawyers,” said Mark Berson.
But others spoke in support of the article. Tracy Murphy said other Cape towns including Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet and Eastham have adopted or are exploring adopting their own exemptions.
“To the degree that a ‘yes’ vote tonight is a vote in favor of further exploration, further education, getting an answer to questions, figuring out if this is something that can work for the majority of people in our town who need it, I would just encourage you to do that,” she said.
Elsewhere On The Warrant
Voters passed a $53.6 million operating budget for the upcoming 2026 fiscal year. That figure includes a $989,627 operational override that will need to be approved at the town election. It also includes $691,754 to cover increased costs related to salaries and benefits for town employees and elementary school staff, as well as $297,873 in public safety wages.
A five-year capital improvement plan through fiscal 2031 also passed with voters with an amendment to push proposed funding for a new Snow Library out to fiscal 2028. Voters also approved $1.46 million in Community Preservation Act projects through the passage of Article 22.
Another debt exclusion of $40.5 million was also approved to move ahead with construction on the third phase of sewering in the areas of Areys Pond, Lonnie’s Pond, Crystal Lake and Pilgrim Lake. The area includes 259 properties as well as an option for connecting an additional 36. Voters also approved an additional $600,000 debt exclusion to fund additional engineering services as needed for property owners in the area of Meetinghouse Pond.
A $1.6 million debt exclusion was approved for reconstruction of the Goose Hummock bulkhead. Voters passed Article 27, which sought a bylaw revision to allow the town’s two marijuana retailers to apply for and obtain courier licenses from the state’s Cannabis Control Commission. The state’s seasonal communities designation was adopted through the passage of Article 32, while voters also supported a bylaw revision through Article 28 to allow the town’s affordable housing trust fund to support projects up to 120 percent of the area median income in Barnstable County.
Email Ryan Bray at ryan@capecodchronicle.com
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