Brewster Residents To Tackle 29-Article Warrant At Town Meeting

BREWSTER – On May 4, voters will weigh in on 29 town meeting articles, including three citizens’ petitions, three override requests, union contracts, a short-term rental registration and a proposed seasonal community designation.

Arguably, the two biggest articles coming to town meeting weren’t brought forth by the town. Seamus Woods of the Brewster Conservation Trust (BCT) is sponsoring two citizens’ petitions which will be noted on the warrant under articles 28 and 29. They seek to change the use of the Sea Camps Pond Property, preventing any development on the property now or in the future. 

Article 28, if approved, will amend the Sea Camps Pond Property comprehensive plan, changing the label on the 10 acres set aside for affordable housing and wastewater treatment. Under the proposed change, that section of the pond property would be labeled “conservation and water supply protection,” preventing any development work from advancing. This article will require a simple majority and can be taken back to town meeting to be reversed. 

The second article brought by the BCT seeks to permanently protect the property as conservation land under Article 97 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and authorizes the select board to place a conservation restriction on this portion of the pond property. This action would be much harder to reverse, and thus requires a two-thirds majority at town meeting. 

In March, Brewster resident Allison Murray went before the select board to introduce a citizens’ petition that would amend the town’s leash law. Her proposed update will remove language that allows a dog to be under control of a person without an attached leash. The amendment would not extend to the Cape Cod Rail Trail or Nickerson State Park as they are under control of the state. Voters will see this on the town meeting warrant under Article 27.

Four budgets will go before voters under Articles 2 through 8—the town operating budget, the Nauset regional school district budget, the Brewster schools budget and the Cape Cod Technical Regional High School budget. Separately, three overrides will also go before voters totalling $1.98 million: $180,000 for the Brewster schools budget, $550,000 for the Nauset regional budget and $1.25 million for the town operating budget. 

Of the $1.25 million town override, $305,000 will increase the Proposition 2½ tax levy but not impact resident taxes in Fiscal Year 2027. If all appropriations are approved at town meeting, the estimated tax bill for a median home will increase by $449. 

Articles 15 through 22 refer to union and non-union personnel contracts. Seven union contracts are set to expire on June 30. After negotiations, the town has agreed to an extension of all seven contracts, determined by voters’ approval of the town operating override, which will fund these. Article 22 seeks funding for wage adjustments for non-union personnel. This is also determined by the approval of the town operating override. 

Approval of article 25 would amend the town’s general bylaw to include a short-term rental registration and inspection. Regulations for the registration and inspection process are being taken up in a public hearing format. If the bylaw amendment is approved, the select board will host a second public hearing to garner all public feedback and comment regarding the regulations. 

Voters will have the opportunity to accept Brewster’s Seasonal Community designation, which under the Massachusetts Affordable Homes Act gives municipalities creative tools to benefit year-round residents and town employees including grant funding, zoning amendments, attainable housing trusts and offer housing preference for essential public employees. The town can cherry-pick what tools it would like to use. 

Article 11 details around $2.2 million in Community Preservation Act funding. While most of the categories will only seek transfers to the appropriate reserve accounts, two projects request untapped funding totaling $125,000. The first is $20,000 for the Lower Cape Housing Institute, run by the Community Development Partnership. The second is $105,000 to support an assistance resource center in Hyannis, run by the Housing Assistance Corporation.

Article 12 is an additional CPA-eligible request to purchase 2.05 acres of wooded upland off W.H. Besse Cartway, between 41 acres of town-owned conservation land at Long Pond Woodlands and another 60 acres of conservation land on the Sea Camps Pond property. The parcel is earmarked for $300,000 within a bargain sale agreement. The town, if approved by voters, will cover $275,000 while the Brewster Conservation Trust will add in the remaining $25,000. There is a balance of just over $1.8M in available CPA funds for open space purchases.

Article 23, if approved, will create a new revolving fund for the town’s preschool family support program. The first two years, each receiving $250,000 from available overlay funds, was approved by town meeting. This year, the select board amended the short-term rental revenue policy to allocate 20 percent ($240,000) of estimated revenues to fund the program. The creation of the revolving fund would separately account for funding and expenditures associated with the program. 

When the conservation commission was established in 1960, town meeting did not specify a composition for the group. The state gives towns the discretion to appoint between three and seven members, and historically, Brewster has always appointed seven. In years past, it has been harder for the group to achieve a quorum. By amending the bylaw, voters would approve a commission of five members, with the select board’s discretion to appoint two alternates. 

The remaining articles are straightforward requests to appropriate funds.

Article 13 requests just under $1 million in capital and special project expenditures. Funding sources include free cash, reappropriations of prior capital articles, revolving funds, retained earnings and ambulance receipts. 

The third item under Article 3 sources funding from the Nauset Regional School District override. It is an annual capital plan allocation that funds the assessment for the capital equipment and facilities budget for the high school, middle school and central office. The amount for the 2027 fiscal year is $283,007. 

Article 14 seeks to appropriate $375,000 from the cable franchise fee special revenue fund to help enhance the town’s local cable programming. This is funded through residents’ cable bills, which include a line item to provide for the costs of local cable television services.

Article 1 seeks to transfer revenues of $100,000 from ambulance receipts to cover fire department overtime expenses. The water department and golf department operate through enterprise funds, so Articles 9 and 10 seek to appropriate corresponding revenues to budgetary costs for fiscal year 2027 within both departments. 

Town meeting will be held on Monday, May 4 at 6 p.m. at Stony Brook Elementary School. The annual election will take place on May 19.