Community Engagement Meeting on Affordable & Attainable Housing  - Wednesday, February 15th

The second of three community engagement meetings on affordable and attainable housing development scenarios on recently purchased properties on Main Street, West Chatham (the former Buckley property) and Meetinghouse Road, South Chatham (the former Diocese of Fall River property) is scheduled on Wednesday, February 15th, at 5:00 pm, in the Town Offices Annex on George Ryder Road. Remote participation is available for those who are unable to attend.

Town representatives, along with Consultants Barrett Planning Group and Dodson & Flinker, will continue an inclusive community visioning process launched in December 2022 to guide the direction of future development on each Town-owned property. The Meetinghouse Road site was purchased exclusively with Affordable Housing Trust funds and will have affordable housing, while the Main Street site will likely have a combination of both affordable and attainable housing.

During the meeting, Barrett Planning Group will provide project background information, including an overview of the longer-term timeline that will follow this visioning process. Landscape architects Dodson & Flinker will present several design concepts to illustrate the development potential of each site. The concepts presented will not represent official plans for either property; they are solely for discussion purposes to allow the community to respond to a range of options for housing types and overall site configuration.

Following the December community meeting, the project team determined that the online survey included in the project scope would be best utilized to allow the Chatham community to provide feedback directly on the concept designs. Thus, the visual preference survey originally slated to occur in January will now launch immediately following the second meeting. The survey will now include questions about each concept design, in addition to more nuanced visual preference questions relating to architecture, landscaping, building type, and more. This will allow Dodson & Flinker to refine preferred concepts based upon community feedback received from the February meeting as well as the online survey.

Following the February meeting and online survey, the Select Board/Affordable Housing Trust/Town Staff will determine preferred concepts for Dodson & Flinker to refine, incorporating input from both community meetings and the online survey. Revised preferred sketches will be shared at the third and final meeting of this process this spring, date to be announced. The design concepts for each site will ultimately inform Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for future development in keeping with a grounded, feasible community vision for each site. This visioning exercise is the beginning of a longer-term development process; following this engagement effort, the Town will begin to focus on the development of each parcel.

New COVID-19 Test Kits Available

The Health Division has received a new shipment of COVID-19 test kits available for free to Chatham residents. If you previously received tests kits from the Town, please check their expiration dates. If your test kits have expired, stop by the Health Division, the Community Center, or the Center for Active Living to pick up a new one.

Coffee with the Chief
Cartoon image of a grey pipe running through brown dirt under green grass

Sewer Construction Update

Work for the week of February 13th – February 17th:

Sewer work on Meetinghouse Road continues. Work is progressing north from the Rt. 28 intersection. The detour utilizing Morton Road remains in place. Traffic heading to Commerce Park may be accessed from Route 28.

Sewer work is expected to commence on Middle Road on February 15th or 16th. Site work at Pump Station #3 Meetinghouse Road/Rte. 28 is tentatively scheduled.

Site work at the Queen Anne Road pump station site (40 Queen Anne Road; SE corner of Queen Anne Road and Oyster Pond Furlong) continues. On February 16th multiple detours are expected to be in place as follows, signage and police details will be in place to assist motorists:

Traffic from Absegami Run and Oyster Pond Furlong will be routed through Chatham Village Market/CVS back entrance.

Queen Anne Road will be closed at the intersection of Queen Anne Road, Main Street, and Depot Road. Traffic will be routed to Main Street to the rotary.

Queen Anne Road will be closed starting at the intersection of Oyster Pond Lane, Queen Anne Road, and Adams Lane. Traffic will be routed up Adams Lane to Main Street.

Police details and signage will be in place to assist motorists in reaching their destinations.

Gold codfish in a blue circle surrounded by the words Barnstable County Massachusetts

HOME Consortium Public Comment

The Barnstable County HOME Consortium, through the Barnstable County Human Services Department, has prepared a DRAFT HOME-ARP Allocation Plan (“Draft Plan”), which outlines the strategy and planned expenditures of federal HOME-ARP funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This one-time allocation must be used to assist a qualifying population of individuals or households who are homeless, at risk of homelessness, fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence and other vulnerable populations by providing housing, rental assistance, supportive services, or non-congregate shelter. Barnstable County was awarded $1,556,508 in HOME-ARP funds, which will be administered through the Barnstable County HOME Consortium. The Draft Plan outlines the activities and goals planned to address the needs of the qualifying population of Barnstable County. Allocated funds must be spent by September 30, 2030.

The Draft Plan will be available for a 21-day public review comment period from February 13, 2023 through March 7, 2023. Copies of the Draft Plan will be available for public review online and in person at the Barnstable County Department of Human Services, 3195 Main Street, Barnstable, MA during normal business hours. Interested parties can also call 508-375-6622 to request a copy.

The Consortium will hold a VIRTUAL PUBLIC MEETING to receive public comments on the Draft Plan on  Monday, February 27, 2023 @ 4:00 p.m. via Zoom or you can call into the meeting by dialing +1 929 205 6099 and entering Meeting ID Code: 814 8149 1441.

Interested parties are invited to submit written comments to the Draft Plan by March 7, 2023. Comments or questions can be directed to Renie Hamman, HOME Program Manager, P. O. Box 427, Barnstable, MA 02630 or to [email protected]. All comments received relative to the Draft Plan will be summarized and included in the final submission of the plan. Please contact the HOME Program Manager at 508-375-6622 or for additional information.

Urgent Need for O Negative Blood

The Cape Cod Hospital Blood Bank is in urgent need of O Negative blood donors. While all blood types are needed on a regular basis, there is currently a shortage of O Negative in particular.

If you or someone you know has O Negative blood, please consider making a donation at an upcoming blood drive.

February 14th  10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Northside Methodist Church, Brewster
February 15th 12 noon to 6 p.m. Chatham Works, North Chatham
February 16th 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Federated Church of Orleans, Orleans

Appointments are required at all blood drives. To make an appointment visit the Blood Donor online portal.

Next Select Board Meeting - February 14, 2023 @ 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#.

I. Minutes

February 7, 2023

II. Public Announcements and Agenda Item Requests
III. Public Hearing
A. Utility Hearing; Old Queen Anne Road Guys and Anchors

IV. Public Comments on Business Agenda
V. Business Agenda (Board Discussion Items)

A. Consider Donation Acceptance; Three Benches in Riverbay; Eagle Scout Community Service Project
B. Seasonal Population Estimate; Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission
C. FY2024 Budget Review/2023 Annual Town Meeting Articles Review/Votes:
a. Monomoy Regional School District FY2024 Budget and ATM 2023 District Agreement Amendments
b. Cape Cod Regional Technical High School
c. Community Preservation Committee (CPC) Recommendations

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!