Orleans Town Meeting Is Monday

ORLEANS – This year’s annual town meeting is set to kick off Monday at 6 p.m. in the gymnasium of Nauset Regional Middle School. But Town Moderator John Kanaga is hopeful that voters will settle in early.

 At the special town meeting last November, long lines queued outside as people waited to file into the gymnasium, causing a delay in the meeting’s start time. Kanaga said for a meeting that typically spans three hours, sometimes longer, those lost minutes count.

 “Last town meeting I had to delay it at the beginning,” he said. “This time, we just have more articles and I can’t. We have to start at 6.” Kanaga advised voters to show up 15 to 30 minutes ahead of the 6 p.m. start.

 There are 36 articles slated for the spring warrant. Among the warrant’s big ticket items is a $60 million debt exclusion request to fund the construction of a new fire station on Eldredge Park Way. The funding, if approved on Monday, would also need to pass muster with voters at the May 19 annual town election.

 In April, the select board was presented with four design options for a new 39,000-square-foot, two-story station that would front Eldredge Park Way. The station will replace the existing fire station, which opened its doors in 1987.

 On Monday, the town’s fire rescue building committee voted to recommend a structure with a transitional roof design to the select board. The board was scheduled to weigh in and potentially vote on the recommendation at its May 6 meeting, after The Chronicle went to press. 

 The transitional design calls for a peaked roof over the apparatus portion of the new station and a flat roof over the portion of the station that will house the office and living quarters. Both elements will have solar panels affixed to the roof, while an additional 3,800-square-foot solar canopy would be situated behind the station.

 Project architect Ted Galante told the committee Monday that the transitional option would allow for more solar than a “net zero” option with a flat roof over both the apparatus bay and living quarters. The current estimated hard cost for the transitional design is $48.3 million, but Galante noted that does not include what the town would save in electricity costs by having solar power.

 Also on the warrant, voters will be asked in Article 16 to support the use of $600,000 in free cash to purchase a portion of the property at 48 Eldredge Park Way for use in helping site and construct the new fire station. Approximately a half acre of the parcel would be acquired, which would result in the demolition of the building that houses Lower Cape Dental Associates. According to the article, the acquisition would improve site access to the new station and eliminate any impacts to the neighboring Orleans Elementary School.

 Article 19 seeks approval of a $50,482,265 operating budget for the coming 2027 fiscal year, which begins July 1. The figure also includes the Orleans Elementary School budget, as well as the town’s assessments for the Nauset regional school district and Cape Cod Regional Technical High School budgets. 

 Voters also will be asked to support the capital budget for fiscal 2027 through the passage of Article 24. The budget includes $1,352,000 in vehicle and equipment purchases; $1,153,100 in buildings and facilities projects; $115,000 for repairs to a water department storage tank; $537,000 in beach and transfer station projects; $480,000 for an ambulance replacement for the fire department; and $230,000 for a fire department vehicle replacement, communications and video conferencing equipment for the town’s emergency management operations, and well cleaning and pump station repairs for the water department.

 Article 25 seeks to “to raise and appropriate, borrow and/or transfer from available funds” $2.7 million to begin the surveying and preliminary design for the fourth phase of town sewering in Meetinghouse Pond. An additional $2.5 million is being sought through Article 16 for costs related to phase three sewering in the areas of Crystal Lake, Pilgrim Lake, Arey’s Pond and Lonnie’s Pond. 

 There are a number of projects seeking Community Preservation Act funding through the passage of Article 28. In total, the spring CPA package amounts to $2,018,426.25. Revenue for CPA projects come by way of a 3 percent surcharge assessed to residents’ property tax bills each year.

 Among the projects seeking funding are an archiving project by the Centers for Culture and History in Orleans ($50,000); historically appropriate shutters for the Academy of Performing Arts ($7,000); signage, archiving and the preservation of the original cable reel at the French Cable Museum ($15,980); the updating and cataloging of historic records by the town’s historical commission ($25,000); funding for renovations and alarm upgrades at the Northwest Schoolhouse ($12,340); an update to the Orleans Conservation Trust’s trail guide ($25,000); the creation of additional community farming plots at Putnam Farm ($90,625); and a contribution to lower the amount of the bond associated with the renovation of Eldredge Park ($1 million).

 Elsewhere on the warrant, Article 29 seeks $175,000 in additional CPA funding to allow the Orleans Conservation Trust to purchase a 3.7-acre parcel of land at 32 Locust Rd. The acquisition is being sought to allow for “passive recreation and protecting land, freshwater shoreline, and wildlife habitat of Cedar Pond,” according to language in the article. OCT has also secured a $260,000 state grant and gathered $150,271 in donations in support of the purchase.

 Article 31 seeks the use of $215,000 in free cash for additional water quality testing and monitoring in town. That includes continued oystering in Lonnie’s Pond, restoration work at Cedar Pond and an alum treatment in Baker Pond. The funds also would pay for input from water quality experts on how to continue the town’s water protection efforts into the future.

 Article 32 seeks $45,000 in free cash to fund an aquaculture project in Mill Pond. The request is born out of recommendations made in a management evaluation of the pond, which was funded through town meeting last spring.

 Non-financial articles on the warrant include Article 15, which will ask the town to adopt a new local comprehensive plan. This is the first full update of the plan since 2006, outlining a vision for the town’s growth through 2050.

 The warrant also includes two citizen petition articles. Article 34, drafted by resident Tim Counihan, seeks a resolution on the development of a long-range capital plan for the town. Article 35, submitted by Susan Milton, directs the town to create the position of assistant council on aging director and hire a candidate. Town Counsel Karris North recommended against the select board supporting the petitions, citing the questionable legality of each under the town charter.