We have an opening school. >> That's really important. >> Super important. >> Okay. Ready? Good afternoon. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the April 14th, 2026 meeting of the Town of Cadam Select Board. Please note this meeting is being
recorded and will be available shortly hereafter for scheduled and on demand viewing on any smartphone or tablet device. If anyone else is recording the meeting, including the use of AI note takingaking apps, please notify the chair. Seeing none, pursuant to Governor
Healey's March 28th, 2025 signing of chapter 2 of the acts of 2025 extending certain COVID 19 measures adopted during the state of emergency suspending certain provisions of the open meeting law general laws chapter 3A section 20 until June 30th, 2027. This meeting of
the Cadam Select Board is being conducted in person and via remote participation. Every effort will be made to ensure that the public can adequately access the proceedings as provided for in the order. A reminder that persons who would like to listen to this meeting while in progress may do so by calling
the phone number 1508-945-4410 conference ID 203 386491 pound or join the meeting online via Microsoft Teams through the link in the posted agenda. While this is a live broadcast and simalcast on Chattam TV externity
channel 1072, despite our best efforts, we may not be able to provide real-time access. We will post a record of this meeting on the town's website as soon as possible. The first order of business is to ensure a quorum. Uh, select board member Davis is not with us this evening. I'll call the role. Mr. Dykins,
>> present. >> Mr. Meadows present. >> Mr. Smith, >> present. >> And the chair is present. Uh first item on the regular business agenda is to uh consider the minutes of March 24th, 2026. Is there a motion? >> Motion to motion to approve
>> and a second. >> Is there a second? Okay. Any any corrections? Chair has two >> on page one. Um right up at the top participating from the town. I think we need to add Katie Donovan. she was
present, assistant town manager and chair of I'm sorry, director of the um um community development department as well as um um is it Kristen Chimaza? She was there as the short-term rental
administrator. And on page four uh just in the second paragraph where it says a department of capital asset management it's it's a to change department to division.
>> With that I'll call the role for to approve the minutes. Mr. Dykins >> I >> Mr. Matters. >> Hi. >> Mr. Smith >> I. >> And the chair says I. So it's four to zero. Approved. Public announcements and agenda item requests. I have uh two.
First, item seven, Roman numeral 7 C on tonight's printed agenda to consider a policy on public meeting recording and participation policy for appointed boards, commissions, and committees. and the subcategory of of the request for airport commission to live broadcast
meetings that will be not taken up tonight but will be postponed to our meeting next week due to the unavailability of the chair of the airport commission. The second uh announcement is that uh the board is in receipt of uh communication from the
select board of the town of Harwitch uh today concerning um the Monoy Regional School District and their desire to to um meet together to discuss some issues relative to the agreement between the towns. Um that will that consideration
of that correspondence will be on our agenda um a week from tonight on the 14th. and we have so communicated that to the uh chair of the Haritch Select Board. Any other items from the board? Um Mr. Matters first.
>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um just want to do a little I'm not going to go through the entire roster of um openings for boards and committees, but um at currently we've made great strides over the last year, but we still have 40 openings collectively between all the boards and committees. So plenty of open seats for
those who want to uh volunteer. I do want to highlight just a couple uh committees um that are looking to recruit uh one our cultural council. We have a couple members who um by by requirement are going to have to step down for their service. Um we have been I know the chair has been doing some
recruiting but it would be nice if anyone is interested in the cultural council. Um the HBDC has an alternate position. Um very important committee. Um so HBDC I would highly recommend people to consider u stepping forward serving on alternate kind of getting use
of the use of the process and then hopefully um elevate yourself to a full member. Um the golf course advisory committee has an opening coming up. Um so I want to keep that one rolling. And the one I really want to highlight is um as you all know there's an election coming up and we have two seats for the
uh Monoy Regional School uh Chattam Representative you know committee. uh we only have one official candidate. So there's an open seat. So basically the process is if someone is so inclined um as did last time um a right in candidate
um right in campaign can happen uh I would encourage someone to really consider um wanting to serve the community. Uh we want all Chattam representative seats u filled. Uh we're going to have some interesting conversations with the town of Haritch shortly and I think a full complement of
our resources is in the best interest of everybody. Um just go a little bit further. For some reason that seat is not filled during the election. Um the process will be for the select board and the chatter representatives from the school committee to uh interview and
potentially appoint someone for the remaining um term of that open seat. So, uh, we've done that a couple times, you know, prepared to do that, but I would love someone to step forward and fill that seat during the election. So, please consider. Thank you. >> Thank you, Corey. That's very important.
Uh, Mr. Dykens. >> Yeah, thank you, Corey. I just want to follow up on I was at the playground in Volunteer Park the other day with my grandchildren and one of the fields is in great shape and the Todd Eldridge field is not. So, I just want to make sure that we have a placeholder for following up on fixing up the Todd Eldridge field ball field. Spring is
among upon us and it's, you know, it's time we get in shape. So, I just want to want to be out there. Thanks. >> Are you making that as an agenda item? >> Yes. Okay. >> Do you want me to provide an update because we just talked about that the other day? Sure. So, that was brought up Ashley Park and Wreck. We had uh town staff there. Um, it is weeded to some
extent. Um, right now there's a facilities assessment going on for all our ball fields and tennis courts and pickle ball courts and everything nuts bolts. And um the response when the park and wreck asked that very specific question was
it's not really used or booked that often. Uh we have certain resources. We don't we don't prioritize it. I don't want to mischaracterize but it's not a priority over all the other things that we're trying to work on. So because there seems to be less traction or
interest in that back field, town staff has not put it on as a priority. um they do some spring maintenance, weeding, but it is not upkept in the ways it had been years ago because of resources. That is the response um from last meeting. So,
>> all right. >> So, an agenda item, >> but we'll keep it on as an agenda item. >> All right. Anything else from the board? Anything from the public either in the live a in person audience or online? I don't see any. Okay. The next item on
the agenda is a public hearing to consider as water and sewer commissioners a request for increased sewer flow for 372 gallons per day. GPD for the property located at 25 Post Office Lane Chatam to accommodate a change in use from 3,557
ft of retail 179 gallons per day and four bedrooms 440 gallons per day to 311 square ft of retail 151 gallons per day. Four chairs salon 400 gallons per day and four bedrooms 440 gallons per day
for a total of 991 gallons per day. I'll ask the clerk to read the public hearing notice. Town of Cadam Water and Sewer Commissioners public hearing notice. The Cadam Select Board acting as water and sewer commissioners commissioners, excuse me, will hold a public hearing on
Tuesday, April 14th, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. from the town hall annex large meeting room 261 George Ryder Road to consider a request for increased sewer flow of 372 gallons per day for the property located
at 25 Post Office Lane Cadam to accommodate a change of use from 3557 square ft of retail and four bedroomedroom 440 gallons per day to
3,11 square ft of retails. Four chair salon, 400 gallons per day, and four bedrooms, 440 gallons per day for a total of 991
gallons per day. All interested parties are encouraged to attend either in person or remotely using the team's meeting link in the posted agenda. >> Thank you, Stuart. Um, Rob, are you going to present this? Mr. Fail, our director of public works.
>> Sure. Rob Philly, director of public works. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, yeah, quite simply, it's a change in use uh taking um 546 square ft of the existing retail space and changing it to a four chair salon, which would result in an
increase of 372 gallons per day of sewage flow. Um the water and sewer advisory committee reviewed the request on March 9th and voted to support the increase. >> Is the applicant here? >> Do you wish to speak?
>> Okay. Um any questions? This is a public hearing. Then we'll go to the public. Any >> just more of a comment. It's it's basically it's it's an existing unit. It's the end unit that that is the 546. So we're not talking any structural reconfiguration of the property. It is just that end unit and how it's going to
be categorized. Yeah, I think there'll be some interior work, but yeah, just the change of use makes it an increase in flow. >> All right, thank you. >> Going to be converted to a salon. >> Correct. >> Okay, any other questions or comments from the board? >> Okay, any this is a public hearing. Does any member of the public have any
comment or question? I don't see any in person or online. So, bring it back to the board for a motion. >> Move to approve >> and a second. >> Moved it. Moved and seconded. I'll call the role. Mr. Dyken. I >> Mr. Matters. >> Hi. >> Mr. Smith. >> Hi. And the chair votes I.
>> Thank you, Rob. You have the uh approval. Thank you. >> We have a consent agenda next. There are two items on it. One is the Arbor Day 2026 proclamation, which we do every year, and second to consider the use of
town property at 549 Main Street on December 31st, 2026 from 2:00 p.m. to 10 p.m. for First Night Cadam. Now ordinarily because it's a consent agenda we just take a vote up or down on this but I know that the principles are present in the audience and I will
permit them to make a comment if they wish. I will start with the Arbor Day proclamation if not Dan Young did you want to speak at all to it? >> Yes >> perhaps perhaps you could read the proclamation and which we'll vote.
I know this is an important issue for the friends of trees. >> Thank you. My name is Dan Young. I'm with Friends of Trees in Chadam. By proclamation, Arbor Day will be April 24th this year. Chattam has a Tree City
USA designation and we can all be proud of this. Just last week, Chadam earned its 13th consecutive designation. To earn a designation, cities must meet four standards established by the Arbor Day
Foundation. First, have a department responsible for Chadam's trees. Second, have a tree care ordinance. We have a shade tree law here in Massachusetts as well as our own tree protection bylaw
which was approved at the 2024 annual town meeting. Third, the town should have budgeting and expenditure commitments for tree care. Fourth, have an Arbor Day proclamation and hold Arbor Day
activities. Chattam has and continues to satisfy all four standards. I would like to put the Tree City USA designation into context for us. There are approximately 3600 cities or towns
so designated in the United States. Of these, there are 87 within Massachusetts and there are only four on Cape Cod. So, we can for Chadam. We have an opportunity to build on this designation. Given the
recent storm damage, we can all work to increase our urban canopy and prevent further loss. Whether these trees are along our streets, on residential properties, or other townowned land.
J. Sterling Morton, who originally proposed Arbor Day, said, quote, "Other holidays repose upon the past. Arbor Day proposes for the future. So, let's celebrate Arbor Day and as advocated by J. Sterling Morton, look toward the
future by planting trees and protecting our existing trees. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. Um would uh Steuart, do you would you like to read the proclamation and then we'll take the vote, approve it? We usually read it every year.
2026 Arbor Day proclamation for the town of Chattam, Massachusetts. Whereas in 1872, J. Sterling Morton proposed to the Nebraska Board of Agriculture that a special day be set aside for the
planting of trees. And whereas the holiday called Arbor Day was first celebrated with the planting of more than a million trees in Nebraska. And whereas Arbor Day is now observed throughout the nation and the world. And
whereas trees can reduce soil erosion caused by wind and water, cut heating and cooling costs, moderate temperatures, clean the air, produce lifegiving oxygen, and provide wildlife habitat. And whereas trees in our town
increase property values, mitigate the impacts of climate change, enhance business areas, beautify our community, boost mental health, and are a source of joy and spiritual renewal wherever they are planted. Now, therefore, we, the
select board of the town of Chattam, do hereby proclaim Friday, April 24th, 2026 as Arbor Day in the town of Chattam, Massachusetts. Further, we urge all CI citizens to celebrate Chadam's Arbor Day
on April 24th by planting a tree, sitting beneath one, or taking a walk in the woods or one of Chadam's beautiful parks appreciating trees for all they do for us, our town, and our planet.
>> Thank you. Um, I have effectively removed this from the consent calendar, so I'll ask for a a vote on this. Um, is is there a motion? >> Move approval. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Moved and seconded. Now I'll call a role. Mr. Dyken. >> Hi. >> Mr. Meadows. Hi.
>> Mr. Smith. >> I. >> The chair votes I. >> Um, >> thank you. >> Have it. We will sign it and post it. >> Okay. The other item on the consent calendar was uh relative to first night. We had a request from the first night
committee uh to um use town hall uh the town offic's basement from 2:00 p.m. to 10 p.m. on December 31st. Is there anyone here from first night? Otherwise, we'll just take it forward on the consent calendar.
All right. I don't hear anyone. Is there a motion to approve this consent calendar? >> I move to approve it. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> All right. I'll call the role. Mr. Dyken. >> Hi, >> Mr. Matters. Hi, >> Mr. Smith. >> Hi. >> And the chair votes. I >> thank you.
Uh, next we have a report from the director of public works on our Chattam Wells PAS and drinking water testing and pumping update for March 2026. Rob. Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. So, this is the uh monthly water supply update for
the month of March 2026. Um the Chattam wells have been pumping 3 to five hours per day and the water tanks did not hit the low level alarm this month. Um as far as the wells five and eight uh treatment plant um things are coming
along very nicely. Uh the painting is complete uh for all the interior work. Uh the backwash tanks and Gak tanks have been uh disinfected and tested. Uh the gak media has been installed uh and backwashed. Um the pumps for wells five
and eight have been started and tested. SCADA programming work continues. The green sand filters have been charged with chlorine. Um we're conducting an early run date. Actually it was this morning um just to get some water in the system and test it. Um and we're hoping to have a D inspection near the end of
the month. Um, if all that works out well, we should be able to have water pumping into the municipal system sometime before Memorial Day. So, for irrigation meter update, um, you've seen this for many months now.
Um, just a a quick update, we've now sold 488 irrigation meters, which is a little over $97,000. Um 536 of those have been installed, which brings us to a new total of 1397 uh operable irrigation accounts in
Chattam. Um there's still four properties that have not paid. Um they have been fined $42,900 a piece. Um we are have a court date on May 19th at the district court to take those four properties and an additional
property owner who has since when he received the court notification he came in and paid for his second meter. So uh hopefully uh the court date will be a wakeup call and we'll get those four people signed up as well. New fines have started for 20 additional
properties because they uh paid for the second meter but they haven't made an appointment to install it. So, um, so we're starting fines all over again, but, um, we'd have to hold people accountable. Um, and we still have, uh, 44 appointments to install through the end of May. A lot of that was postponed
just because of the winter snows. Um, as far as the ongoing, uh, routine maintenance and sampling, everything is pretty uneventful. Uh, things are are moving along. We just completed our 2025 consumer confidence report. Uh we'll
have that on the uh town website shortly. >> What is that? >> It's a annual water report. Uh that's a public information. It shows um kind of a summary of all the testing and the status of all the wells and that and that type of information. It's a pretty
lengthy report. It's it's like a trifold brochure um two-sided. It's like 11 by 17. It's and you need a magnifying glass to read it because there's so much information on there. I didn't need a magnifying glass. Anyway, um last month
we talked about uh looking for additional uh properties that may have leaks or burst pipes. We did find a few more high usage. We've contacted those property owners. We're able to shut the water off. Most likely it was a running toilet or something of that nature. We
have found one where water was coming out of the leeching out of the basement, out of the foundation. We didn't have any contact information for that property owner. we shut the water off and we sent them a letter. Um, but we found probably about five of those properties this winter just due to the
severe uh cold snaps that we had. So, here's our um our monthly comparison to March of 2025. Um it looks severe because the 25% difference but again um 20 2025 was a
very low usage year we're finding on average and u March was no exception. Um of course March of 2026 is a high month. So um so that's the disparity. Some of this could be attributed to the ongoing leaks. Um we haven't found any of the
municipal systems leaking but we you know we have a number of property owners that were leaking. So, um I think some of that can be attributed to that, but it's really hard to say exactly how much. Here's the pumping graph where March 26 is in the pink, March 25 is in the blue,
uh just to show the daily fluctuations. And here it is in a uh in a different format. And here's the uh pumping report for a daily uh level of effort for all the wells. Um you can see our minimum daily average is 406,000 gallons and the
maximum is 829,000 gallons uh with an average of 645,000 gallons. >> Rob, I got a quick question. What are the plans assuming five and a come online the end of May by Memorial Day? What what's the plan for the summer? Are we are we going to give any of these wells a rest or do we have they're all
going to be available to produce water or what's the deal? >> So, we'll bring four online sometime in May. Uh hopefully as well as five and eight. Um really won't be it'll be a rest for all of them because they won't be pumping as long of an hour, you know, as long of a day. So, normally in the
summer where we may be pumping 18 hours a day, they may be only pumping like 14 hours a day. So, I think it'll give them give them a break that way, but we won't be shutting any wells down for the summer. >> I guess that was my question. And four has been tested for stuff >> when we start it up. We will test it
again before we uh enter it into the municipal water. >> Okay. All right. Thanks. >> Here's just a pumping graph that shows that same information, just the level of effort for each well. Here's the year-to- date pumpage report.
Again, we'll be starting well soon and wells five and 8 should be contributing by summer. So, um I don't any any questions here. Okay, moving on. And then here's the same same information year-to- date uh pumping graph.
And then we move on to the year-to- date unmetered water usage. We've started flushing. So, the flushing and blowoffs was at 1.8 million gallons for March. Um, you'll see a sharp increase in that for April. We're still doing a condensed
uh pumping or flushing just because we're still in a drought. So, we don't want to overutilize the water, but we want to make sure we maintain the health of the system at the same time. And here's the five-year comparison for the month of March. Again, you see 20
million gallons is much higher than the average of uh 17.6 million. Um last March was a low month, but um we are trending on the high side. Again, some of that could be attributed to leaks. Um not really sure more people staying in
town year round or coming back early. I'm not I'm not really sure what that has to do with. And here's the Cadam observation well. I know last month it was looking pretty bleak both Cadam and Brewster. Uh you can see a really sharp uptick in the
groundwater recharge which is very encouraging. Um we're so we're currently higher than 2025 and 2021 for Chattams wells. Um but you can also notice where the peaks are with the orange lines which is like the the year-to- date
line. Um we are just about at the end of our seasonal recharge. So, I don't think we're going to be out of the woods, so to speak, but we're doing better than we looked last month. And here's Brewster's observation. Well,
again, this is the the bell weather. Um, again, we were stuck in that trough for a long period of time and um and really a very sharp improvement. Uh we're still lower than we should be. Um but things are looking looking promising.
So, as you know, groundwater isn't the only criteria that the drought task force uses to make a decision. Um, it's based on precipitation, stream flow, groundwater, and lakes and empoundments. I provided a little bit more information this month just to give you a little bit
of background. Um, Cape Cod and the islands, you can see um that blue on the bottom graph, that blue line is uh Hyannis. Um, and we're down about four and a half inches from normal departure. So, we are a little low, but some parts of Massachusetts are down as much as 12
and a half inches. When we go to stream flow, um, you can see Cape Cod in the upper left is December 2025. Um, I think they use Bass River as their
stream flow. Um, you can see it's kind of a reddish color, which is uh is not good. Uh, move over to January, it's still red. February down in the lower left, it's still in the red zone, and it's starting to lighten up a little bit in March. So, that's an improvement. Um,
but still not where we really want to be. We'd like to see it in the green or blue area. And then we will look at groundwater percentiles. Uh, they're much lower. Again, the upper left is January. Um, these are the observation wells that we use. Um, you
can see they're like an orange. They get a little bit darker on the lower left when you go into February, and they're starting to lighten up a little bit when you get into March. So, things are improving. Um, but we're not we're not out of the woods yet.
And lakes and empowerments. This is just basically uh reservoirs. I think they use Garrett's Pond and Barnstable as their gauge. Um we are still in the in the level two area for that. That's the only reporting
um lake on Cape Cod that they use as a gauge. And so here we go with their recommendations. So February declaration was for Cape Cod as a level two. They haven't seen enough of an improvement to change their March recommendation to the
Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs. they would like to remain at a level two. This meeting uh with the drought task force happened a day after the water and sewer advisory committee met, so they didn't have a chance to endorse it. Um I told them what we probably expect that there are no
changes. It tends to be a very conservative committee that reviews this. Um so I would imagine, you know, not speaking for the water, it's a revisory committee, but I think they would uh be happy to endorse remaining at a level two for now. >> Okay. Thank you. Any questions or
comments from the board? >> I like the new slides. I think they're pretty interesting. >> Stuart. Sure. Um Rob, I had a couple of questions that relate to this. Um is there a um is there a study or and
maybe you've mentioned this before so pardon me if you have um a study for um where we draw our water from. Are there two levels? You know, I hear hear hear all sorts of whether, you know, are our
wells shallow wells? Are the residential wells shallower? Trying to determine if if um when we when we hear the the phrase of a uh single source aquifer, trying to better understand that. I can
talk about tides all day long, but this is new. So it's a sole source aquifer is because that's the only way that we get drinking water is from the aquifer. >> The only ways recharge is rain or snow basically. So >> um we have our wells are at different
depths. I think the most shallow maybe around 40t and the deepest goes to a little over 100 ft. And and is that a normal depth for m municipal wells or? >> Yeah, I mean if we look back at the um the observation well, they have um depth
to below land, depth of water below land. So that's what we're looking at. And typically we're in the high 20s, low 30s. So we still have our our well casing down in the water, you know, at least 10, 15 feet. Yeah.
>> Minimum, you know. >> Yep. And does does DP have uh are you aware of D has a study online for the public uh to to take a take a look at describing the um our aquifer and um I'm
just trying to I getting more and more questions in anticipation of the petition article that's going to go to town or citizens petition article. >> I've heard grumblings that the state may regulate private wells at some point. um similar to what the citizen petition is
recommending. Um but I don't know when they would pull the trigger on that. It could be years from now. >> Yeah. And the um do we have a or did we ask I'm I'm trying to recall. Did we have a legal opinion on yet on the citizens petition
article? That's >> is that going to be >> I really haven't been so I'm sorry which one? Town Council is reviewing uh our petition articles. >> Yes, he's he's seen all of them as far as I know. >> Is he going to present any legal
opinions? Um >> I can look that up right now and see if I receive >> or is he just going to inform us if if one has a particular issue? >> I believe he was letting us know. He reviewed them and did make comments on if there were issues with them. if there
weren't, I believe he just said they were okay to be because citizens petitions are placed regardless. So, um, >> yeah, I yeah, I'm aware that the citizens petitions have to be placed. And, um, I know that town council sometimes gives opinions, sometimes that
he doesn't on these citizens petitioned. Trying to get a better understanding when we do and when we don't. Um, but, uh, probably good information. I I think it's open if any board member wants to request an opinion in advance of town meeting or at town meeting. For example,
I intend to ask town council's opinion at town meeting on the um on the Christopher Ray petition concerning the residential tax exemption. I've had some conversation with town council and communication from him >> writing on that one. And um Jill or Rob,
uh have you folks opined on the citizens petition from a science from a science standpoint from a from whether it's uh you know whether it's uh needed or not? Um we placed it and I think we voted unanimously to to to endorse it.
>> The two of us recused. Mr. Meadows and I recused. Okay. The three of us endorsed. >> So >> not in any official capacity. >> No. Okay. Thanks. >> Okay. All right. And no other questions? No. >> All right. Thank you, Rob. Thank you.
Report. >> Next item is public comments on the business agenda. Uh this is traditionally for someone who wants to make a comment now as opposed to when the agenda item itself is taken up. But we have only two items on the agenda. So
I'll expect that people Well, there is one. Um, is that you, Nicole? >> Yes. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. >> You want to speak now? You want to speak now rather than when we did?
>> Well, actually, I wanted to speak when Rob was speaking because I had a question. >> Okay. Please go ahead >> on that. >> Go ahead. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, my question is, we haven't spoken about
it in a bit, but uh, close to $100,000 is very nice. Uh, I think it's good work. Um, even though the water department was down, I believe over 600,000 when we raised the rate. So, I'm very
interested in when uh we're going to start looking for the residents that never registered. Um because there seems to be perhaps hundreds of those. Um, and I believe
last year we spoke about I think we spent 15,000 on some kind of an aerial um that was going to be flying over and seeing, you know, who was watering that might not be registered. I just don't
want to see that get lost in the shuffle. >> Sure. >> I think it's important. >> Rob, do you want to >> I'm sorry, Nicole, please. No, I was just going to ask if um I know sprinkler systems are starting to go on now. The um the businesses are sending out
notices. So, I really think that we need to start doing whatever it is we're going to be doing. Now, >> thank you. >> So, I'd like to know what the plan is and when the plan will be implemented. >> Rob, do you want to speak to that? Thank you, Nicole.
>> Sure. I mean the exercise we've been going through for the past year has really been the first step. Um we did um have that AI company come in and and give us some data that we can scrub a little bit further, but we have to
really narrow down the properties that have never purchased the second meter first. It's got to be a sequential thing or else we'll be chasing our tails quite a bit trying to track all these people down. And you know, we want to make sure we're not, you know, wasting time, you
know, pursuing going down rabbit holes and everything. >> Yeah. So, you have to get the first category out of the way first. But the best time to identify those that haven't registered is the summertime when the sprinklers are on. And that's that's been the plan.
>> We we should have the majority of them signed up by the end of May. Okay. And then with the irrigation systems coming on typically around that time frame, that's when we'll uh reassign some resources to try to track the rest down. >> Okay. So we we do have it on the agenda
to address. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Nicole. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> So are there any other any comments on the business agenda? If not, um we'll proceed. First item is to consider requests for the kickball
tournament and block party supporting pals for life foundation at volunteer park on May 6th, 2026 with a rain date of May 12th, 2026. Amy Taliferry, but that's not Amy Taliferry. I know that >> Jennifer Harrison.
>> Yes, please. >> And Dylan's on his way coming in. I don't know where he went. >> Speak to this. >> So, we're here to answer any questions you might have for the PFL tournament, the kickball tournament. Did you want to say anything about it in advance or what? >> It's gonna be wicked fun. Uh we we have a DJ, we have a food vendor, Mom
and Pops is gonna uh provide some food. Uh mobile mixers as well. We're going to have a raffle and it's all going to go towards the charity of the PFL Pals for Life charity. >> That's the same group that um organization that helped with U.
>> Yeah, we do a golf tournament every year. >> Larry's PX, right? Yeah, we do it at Bru in Brewster typically. Um, but it's it's basically we've help anybody who's kind of been put out by any anything beyond their control. Um, we fund, you know, whatever we can for them, whether it be,
you know, expenses in their life or, you know, anything they need to keep them going. It's kind of like a restaurant coalition essentially. Okay. >> So, um, you're looking for three sets of licenses. Any questions or motions from the board?
Well, it sounds great. I mean, I just It sounds great. I'll move approval. Um there's there's three different requests, I do believe. >> Why don't you read them separately? >> Sure. I move to grant permission for the outdoor display of goods under section 208-24D of the general bylaws and the sale of goods and town property under section
208-23 of the general bylaws to Amy Taliferry as a representative of PALS for Life for a fundraising event at Volunteer Park on Wednesday, May 6th, 2026 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with a rain date of Tuesday, May 12th, 2026. >> Is there a second?
>> Second. >> Okay. Um, >> yes. Before we get to that, Brian, I had a question. Um, concerning the vote on page, it's it's
on the end of the U document. The parks and recck commission voted uh four to zero to conditionally approve the use of volunteer park. Do we know what conditionally meant? >> Yes. Um when Amy came before the park and wreck, they were looking to use both
uh fields, the front field and then the Todd Eldidge field out back. There was some uh deliberation about the condition of the field, whether it was conducive to the play or not. Um at the end of that meeting, if the field was uh playable, they could use it or she would seek an alternative location. So it
seems that communication has been brought up um that the both fields will be playable for the for the event. That's my understanding. Hopefully, you mentioned that earlier tonight saying that you were going to check both of the fields. So, if that's on the agenda, that's great.
>> My understanding is um you know, the field is going to have I mean, maybe put Rob on the spot. Um if it's not on a normal maintenance, um if it can be, I guess, prioritized and in preparation, anything if there is anything extra
needs to be done. >> Um I sorry, got to put you on the spot. Uh yeah, I know it it's seldom used. That's why it's kind of fallen off the the radar. So, um you know, if we if we have a need, you know, we'll we'll bring it up to snuff. But, um it's not something that happens overnight either.
It takes a a period of time, but we can we can get it in shape for at least for a kickball tournament. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Okay. Yeah. >> Restaurant bunch of restaurant workers. >> Yeah. You got a bunch of industry guys coming to play kickball. It's not going to
>> Mr. Phillips, you had a question. or comment. >> So that was the condition. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Brian Phillips, 374 Orleans Road. Um do you guys still have openings for teams to register? >> Sure do. >> We do. >> And um how much is it for a team to register for this?
>> 500. >> I believe it's 500. >> 500. >> Okay. And so where would we go if we want to register for this event? >> Right here. >> Yeah, you can speak to one of us. >> But we can send you We have email. Yeah, we can send you all those signups. >> Okay. I just want to make sure just in case you know people wanted to register for this event. And how many people do
you have to have uh to feel the team? >> Uh eight people per team. >> Eight people. Yep. All right. Perfect. I think that's all. Thanks, guys. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. Any other questions or comments? >> Okay. We have a motion um that's been offered on the first item uh and seconded. I'll call the role. Um Mr.
Dyens. Hi. >> Mr. Matters. >> Hi. >> Mr. Smith. >> I. >> And the chair votes I a second motion. >> Mr. Chairman, I move to grant a special one-day entertainment license to Amy Talifer as a representative for Pals for Life for a fundraising event at Volunteer Park on Wednesday, May 6th from 10:00 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a rain
date of Tuesday, May 12th, 2026 for outdoor recorded music and announcements. >> Uh, is there a second? >> Sorry, May 20th is the rain. >> Yeah, it says May 12th on there. I I believe we were actually hoping to be do May 20th. >> May 20th should be the rain date. >> Okay. >> Sorry about that. >> For everything. This for everything.
>> No, just May 20th is the rain. Yeah. Oh, yeah. for everything. >> The prior the prior vote will be amended editorially to say May 20th. >> Okay. >> Rain date May 20th. >> Okay. And there's a second to this >> second. >> Okay. Any comments? See any from public?
Call the role. Mr. Dikkins. Mr. Meadows. Hi. Mr. Smith. >> I. >> And the chair votes I. Third motion. Mr. >> Mr. Chairman. move to grant a special oneday alcohol license for all alcoholic beverages to Amy Tagleria as a representative of Pals for Life for a fundraising event at Volunteer Park on
Wednesday, May 6, 2026 from and we have a question mark about what time we're going to allow alcohol to 5:00 pm with a rain date of Tuesday, May 20th. So, there's a there's a question about when the start for alcohol is, and I think we typically don't really start these things at 10 a.m. I think is what you guys proposed.
>> Right. Right. Right. >> Yeah. Uh, so >> what's the pleasure of the board? >> You know, I'm thinking >> what have we done traditionally, Kathy? 12 noon. >> Typically noon. Yes. >> Typically at noon. >> Okay. Can you live with 12 noon? >> Can you guys live with 12:00 noon? >> Can you live with 12:00 noon? >> Sure.
>> I believe that's fine. Yeah. Yeah. >> Typically, we have not approved 10:00 a.m. We have >> That's Yeah, that's fine. >> Oh, from uh >> people can have coffee until then. >> 12 noon to 5:00 p.m. on the rain date of Tuesday, May 20th, 2026. >> Is there a second? >> Second. And I have a question. Yes. Is this procedurally? So, cuz I mean we're
bound by certain regulations and whatever. Um, so the this area is going to have to be designated with like a they they usually do snow fencing. >> Yep. >> Yeah. It it seems to be in the chart. Um, so there's an understanding that >> alcohol is going to be in that area. I
know ideally people would love to be on the bases doing it. >> Yeah. >> But um, >> we'll keep it contained. >> Yeah. We've got we'll keep it in our control. Cool. >> And we have a police um, >> we applied for a police detail. >> A detail. Thank you. >> All right. Cool. Thank you. >> Okay. All right. We'll call the role. Mr. Dikkins.
>> Hi. >> Mr. Mad. >> Hi. >> Mr. Smith. >> I. >> And the chair votes side. Okay. You have it. Congratulations. >> Good luck. Good luck. >> Next is to consider potential options for paid parking implementation. This is a followup from the staff to a previous
vote of the select board. Uh, and I'm going to call on our assistant town manager and director of community development, Katie Donovan, assisted by Rob Philly, director of public works and police chief Mike Anderson. They're both available uh to to offer comment or
answer questions. Katie, >> thank you, Mr. Chairman. I believe also our IT director, Craig Row, is here as well. So, >> um, >> yes. >> So, again, Katie Dunovan, director of community development and assistant town manager. Um, as you'll recall, the board
voted on September 16th, um, in a vote of 3 to2 to endorse the concept of paid parking at the Kate Gould parking lot, um, the town offic's parking lot, and the Oreium or Stage Harbor parking lots, um, the town owned portion of that lot, and to request further recommendation
regarding implementation of using modern parking management technology. So following that um vote, the staff got together and we had um a couple of meetings to discuss um what options
would be available moving forward. And during those discussions um one of the issues that came up um well certainly um we looked at the opportunities for first
for kiosk or apt based app-based parking. So like a um passport um type of scenario on on a smartphone. Um so again,
sorry I lost my space here. Um as we were discussing having these discussions, um one of the biggest issues that came across was the um issue of enforcement. So, we could certainly implement a kiosk or an app-based
parking program. Um, but staff um available for enforcement and u monitoring of parking um was an issue that we had discussed. So staff decided to um have further conversations and then potentially
promote the idea um based on the Eldridge Garage property um of an attendant-based parking and thought perhaps a scenario of a pilot program um for this coming season would be something that we could look at perhaps
in the stage harbor lot. The reason we were looking at that lot was because of um that has the largest number of parking spaces of the lots that were uh recommended for us to look at. Um I'd just like to mention that I had reached out to um the two other communities on
the Cape that have paid parking. Um one is Province Town and the other one is Barnstable. Um Provincetown um for their staffing they have over 20 they have 26 parking attendants for two parking lots. They have 16 parking enforcement
officers and they use not only attendance but they have kiosks and app-based parking as well. Um they have over 10,00 parking spaces that they are um responsible for for that staff. Um in
Barnstable um Barnstable charges in their Ocean Street area but they do not charge in all of their other areas. They don't charge in downtown Hyannis, nor do they charge in downtown Austerville. um they have two full-time year-round parking um staff as well as five
part-time officers. Um so again, when we when we started to look at what it would look like to implement for Chadam, um we thought that perhaps going with a model similar to what we have at the Eldidge Garage might be the best way to go rather than hiring additional staff for
monitoring enforcement. um if we had attendant based parking um then you know with a private company that may be a better option. Um the other um idea that I put forth in the staff report um was just something
to consider for the future. Um the Eldridge Garage parking um management contract comes to an end at the end of this year and we could then look at a more comprehensive parking management program for all of the lots um perhaps
using one company. And so those are um some of the opt two of the options that we've put on the table for this year. Uh we as I stated before, we do have um our IT director and our chief of police and our director of public works who are all in on these conversations if you'd like
to ask them any questions regarding the concerns that they had or you know why this um why we're making the recommendations that we're making. So >> Katie, do do we uh know how much Province Town how much money Province Town is taking in?
>> Just sure. So for their um 10,00 spaces um they took in last year, I think was $2.8 million. >> $2.8 million, >> right? >> How about that? Doesn't nec that I didn't get the numbers for what it costs them to run the programs, but I can certainly reach out to them for that.
>> We should probably get that. Do we know anything about Barnstable? Burnstable was about 500,000 and that um that was also including violations if I might. >> Okay. And and in Province Town paid parking is is it year round paid or just
in the season? >> Um May 1st to November 1st I believe. >> Okay. All right. Um, do um Chief Anderson or um Rob Phley or Craigro have any do any of
you have any comments you want to make proactively or just respond to questions or comments from the board? >> If I could make one more comment, Mr. Chairman. So, just um so I wanted to make sure that we looked at the number of spaces that we had in our downtown lots that we were talking about. Um with
the Eldrich Garage lot, I think we're talking about 225 spaces that we would be looking at between. Yes. Um >> 225, you said? >> Yes. Um >> with those or what? >> Including the Eldridge garage lot. So
there are um let's see. So we have at the stage harbor lot, there are 125 spaces. The public lot um at town hall exclusive of the town employees um is 71 spaces. There are 39 spaces um behind
the Chadam Squire. Kate Gould has 27 spaces. Um and then the Eldridge garage lot has 66. So my quick 66. >> Yep. >> Okay. >> I would also like to note just for everybody's um knowledge that we are not
proposing parking paid parking along Main Street. This was just specifically to the downtown lots that we were looking at. >> Yes. Um, okay. Again, do any of the other department heads have anything you want to add at
this present time? Okay. Um, I just wanted to mention this is on the agenda because the select board voted. I think it was a split vote. I think 3 to two if I remember right. I could be wrong to bring this forward and task the staff to come
forward with a plan for this summer. And uh I know we had a meeting with staff, Mr. Dykins and I attended discuss some of the concerns about enforcability. Um this all um evolves from the work of
the parking solutions working group that's met probably two or three years >> uh in duration. Uh Jeff and I were on that um uh along with various town manager and various department heads. you here you you um precided Katie and
we also had um a report from the Cape Cod Commission that basically said Chadam doesn't have a problem with doesn't have a lack of spaces we just are not organizing the parking correctly. Um, so, uh, with
that, um, I'll ask if there are any questions of the board from Katie. Otherwise, we'll turn to the public for comment and then we'll bring it back to us. I know we don't have a full board tonight. Anyway, Jeff, >> thank you, uh, Dean. Um, so Katie, what
the staff's recommending is a pilot program in the lot behind the Oreium. And how many spaces are there in the pilot pro in that >> area? 125. There were 125 town owned spaces, but I will mention that and I think I mentioned it in the report is
that there are a number of spaces that are privately owned that are actually directly abuing town-owned spaces. >> Um, so it's something that we would need to give consideration to if we were to do this implementation. >> And has anybody talked to the abuer? >> I have talked to um Mr. Rednick who owns
a portion and I know that he I'm not sure if he's here. he had um expressed some concerns and said that he would try to be present tonight. >> Okay. Okay. >> So, so we worked we we worked really hard on analyzing the parking um capacities and the congestion in in the
summer months here in Chadam. I' I've worked on it for I don't know how long and I really too long probably. Um and I really would like to see something happen so we can get a taste of what could be. Um, and you, as I've said
repeatedly for years, I'm extremely interested in a shuttle because we have enough parking capacity in Chadam and there's no reason for the congestion and and the and the that we have during June, July, August, and on into September because we have enough spaces.
It's just we have to get folks from those spaces to where they want to go in town. And I'm convinced that with the upweller and the boat house when it's online is going to be another tourist attraction, wonderful attraction that's going to draw folks to our streets and
we're going to and we have we're going to be have a der of parking there. I believe I think we're going to be we're going to be up up the creek for parking there. So I think a shuttle I'd argue even more viciferously for a shuttle in town. One way to pay for that shuttle to decrease congestion is to have paid
parking. So th the things are those are all tied up for me in my PE brain and you know Joanie Craig I mean we've been working on this stuff forever. So I really would love to see something happen this summer. Um know whether that's uh whether we can approach Miladen as you suggested I think that
that may be the way to go. Um, I'm sensitive to the need for the the difficulty with enforcement, but I also look around at Ptown and Barnstable and elsewhere that do ultimately use apps very successfully. Um, and many other
towns, Plymouth, Ammerst, I mean, many towns in in the Commonwealth use an app successfully. If we would like to implement paid parking, it's noisy. Uh folks have different opinions about it, but I I do believe that folks will I don't believe it's going to pour cold
water on our tour tourist business. I really don't. I honestly don't. Um and I and I think if we're leaving um money on the table and that's what I think and I've thought it for years and and I think if I won't speak for him, but I think Mr. Niccastro
thinks similarly. So I I I would love to get something going this summer. I would if we can. Um, this has taken so long to get even to this point. It's taken a long we we been working on this a long time. Um, and maybe it's, you know, the fault of the board. Um, I don't know.
But I just really would like to get something going. >> Cy, no. Two other things. Never intended to We got emails um folks upset about charging for parking on Main Street. That was never on the table. We're not going to park for We're not going to charge for parking on Main Street.
Number one. too. Um, residents, folks that pay taxes here would not would not be charged for paid parking. They get a sticker similar to that, a parking sticker, if you will. So, so if you want to go downtown and you're a resident, you pay taxes. If you pay taxes here, you're not going to get charged for parking in in in a lot where we have
paid parking. Um, the simplest solution in my mind is to have an attendant um and staff it and it'll pay for itself. And this should be a pilot this summer and I would love to see it happen. I'll be quiet.
>> Corey. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, on the flip side of the coin, um, you know, I've been a Downtown Merchant for 25 years. I have a pretty good idea of, you know, activity that has happened. Um, this pilot program is not going to give us
really any data that that's going to be very beneficial. respectfully. Um we've, you know, we've started, you know, we've avoided going down this rabbit hole from every time we start dipping into it because there's a lot of extra details. Um you know, this is this is trying to
find a funding source for a shuttle. I know there's a lot of support for a shuttle. That's not for discussion night tonight, but the pilot program is trying to lead to a finding a way to finance the shuttle program. um because I think we all recognize putting that on the the
back of all the taxpayers could be a bit of bit of a difficult cell. Um the flaw with this particular pilot program in my opinion is we spent um years trying to take all downtown shop employees and get
them off of the main street parking better turnover, get them into different parking lots. this particular parking lot, it does seem to be a a larger lot for a lot of the employees. So, what you're going to do is you're going to minimize some of that because there's
still going to be some employees that have, you know, stickers that can park for free. They're town residents, whatever. Um, but then there's going to be some that aren't going to have the stickers. So, then you're going to displace them somewhere else. Don't really know where they want to go. You don't want them back on on the main
street. Um, so I'm not sure what the thought process is with that piece of the puzzle. Um, also it's you really can't do it in peace meal because on Main Street the spaces are irregular. There's certain areas
that are narrower and and bigger um larger um um there's a gold mine of parking tickets in certain areas of town. We all recognize where those are. Um, so I I'm c cautious driving too much on the main street. We still have no
twohour parking signs. I don't wanted to put two-hour parking signs, but that hasn't changed. Um, anyone who want to go downtown on a regular basis, there are certain vehicles that park on Main Street 24/7 overnight. Their residents in nearby areas, they still park there. So, that's not going to help the whole
situation. Um, we're never going to alleviate the entire parking congestion issue. It's going to be busy in the summer and quiet in the winter. Um, anyone who goes downtown on an angller's game sees how creative people can be for parking and I don't think it hurts the
character. They park every little nook and cranny on the grass. Um, we've had to make some adjustments over the years to make sure there's public safety and pedestrian safety. Um, but we're not trying to fix a parking problem. it's going to exist at some level. This is
more about revenue source and maybe trying to find a way to bring a a shuttle service into the community. Um, and I don't think this is going to help. So, uh, I welcome public input and I'd really be interested to see what people's thoughts are. >> Thank you. Um, well, let me offer a few
thoughts and then we'll go to the public and, uh, and also to Stuart if he has any to add. Um, I've been supporting and advocating for paid parking probably for eight or nine years along with Mr. Dykens and I'm driven by the desire to
bring in some additional revenues to the town and also to try to regulate the parking problem. I live downtown. The last couple of summers have been crushing if you live downtown or if you try to walk down Main Street. It's great
for business. That's wonderful. But it's not great for people who live in town who want to want to go downtown. We don't go downtown. Try to get to the library, for example. It's very difficult. So, I think there are some solutions
that a parking project could help alleviate. I agree with Corey. It won't totally resolve the problem. Um, I think also the town invests an awful lot of money in personal personnel and
hardscape infrastructure to support the tourism and business industry businesses in town. And we should do that, but I think we should try to get some um assistance in making that happen from
revenues. And I think those revenues could help support a shuttle. And we're not talking it's a narrow Main Street is a narrow one. There's parking on Main Street. So the shuttle would have to be a narrow shuttle, something akin to what um the the LA parking business at the
Eldridge garage uses. Um there are three lots in question that I've had in mind for a while and that's the Oreium lot, Kate Goul park lot, and the town hall parking lot. and we have an issue with the employees not just of the town but of the businesses where
where are they going to park? So that would have to be factored in in any comprehensive plan. I have always advocated as we as we have in place with the Eldridge garage that parking be free
to Chattam residents and taxpayers. Um, I am concerned. I wanted something this summer, but I'm concerned about the issues that have been raised by the staff.
And if we're talking just about a pilot on on the the Orpheium property, I'm frankly not convinced it's going to be worth the hassle to try to get it in place. Um, I I somewhat half jokingly several years
ago said we should just put someone with a rope there in a chair. And that's essentially what we're probably talking about. But we have a couple of entrances to that lot. And we have a a compounding um fact that that uh and a complicating
fact with the adjacency of a privately owned parking lot and that will add some confusion. The second option that's being proposed is a comprehensive approach for the three main lots downtown
uh to um be considered for next year, not 2026, but 2027 um and to put out an RFP to design and put out an RFP and see what we get back. That will be the same year when the um contract is up at the Eldridge and then
the board could and the town could consider um whether we want to implement it. But we'd have an we'd have a chance I I hope working with uh the chamber and the merchants and any other and the and the butters to see if we could design
something that would be workable. Uh, I just hope we don't lose the the the opportunity to bring in a substantial amount of money when the town could benefit from it. Uh, and um, I guess those are my initial opening
comments. We we we did receive three letters. This is a not a public hearing, so I generally don't read letters except at public hearings, but if the board wants me to, I'll read them. With that, I'm going to ask Stuart, do you have any comments before we open it up to public? >> Uh, sure. Yeah.
>> Go ahead. >> Are we going to be commenting after we hear from the public as well? >> Sure. Sure. Whenever you want. Yeah. >> Yeah. I I'll I'll wait till we hear from >> Okay. Well, I'm going to open it up for public comment. I'm going to I see the first person did have the hand up for a while. Now it's down. Is guess I assumed
that was Miss Miss Gibbs. Is that you, Elaine? Did you still want to talk? >> Uh yes. It's not showing that it's raising my hand when I click on it. >> Okay. It's um showing now. >> I just go ahead. >> I just have a brief comment. If we're
trying to uh in decrease the congestion downtown, I think this is all in reverse. If you have free parking downtown and then the stage harbor lot is paid parking where you have to walk
up hills quite a hike around town. People are going to keep driving around down Main Street looking for free parking space and then they're going to go around and go down cross street and come up stage harbor. Even if a car does that twice, you are doubling the amount
of traffic downtown. And I would do it if I were visiting a town. I'd say I'm not going to pay for this lot that's really far away. I'm going to let's go see if we can get one on Main Street that's free. So, I I think you have to consider human behavior and what you're
really trying to accomplish. And if you're trying to reduce congestion downtown, I think it's just the reverse. And I think the idea that, you know, when you talk about a town that has a thousand parking spaces, it sounds great, but we don't have that many and
it's not one big lot. They're scattered all over the place and that creates additional costs. I I think it's, you know, it sounds good, but after you pay all those people and increase the staff and all that kind of thing, it's going to be very expensive and it's going to increase uh traffic downtown. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Any public comments? Yes, Jerry. >> Jerry, is it Jerry? >> Barry Barry is >> Barry Dollet. Uh North Chatam. I have
been in business um in the 400 block and now at 402 for the past seven years. Um so I call myself a victim of the Eldridge lot. Um we saw the parking study where the Eldridge lot is
underutilized and it's underutilized because it's a paid lot. And I can't tell you how many people come into my shop and say, "I drove around for an hour before I could find a parking place. I couldn't and I finally paid at
the Eldridge lot. They drove around for an hour because they didn't want to pay. It's either all or nothing because you're not going to solve the congestion problem by having free parking and paid
parking. It's gonna create a bigger problem and and I've witnessed it since paid parking came into existence at Eldridge. >> Thank you. Anyone else? Yes, ma'am. >> Good evening. Uh Jennifer Zag. I'm the
director of St. Christopher's Episcopal Church, which immediately abuts the Oreium lot or the stage harbor lot. Um, we have a number of concerns. Uh, some have been voiced here already. Um, only one of my six staff members is a resident of Chadam. Uh, the rest of us
live in other towns and come to work there. What are we going to do? We come and go regularly. Am I going to have to stop at an attendance booth to ask if I can come and go? Um, we have members that come for daytime meetings who live in Brewster, Orleans, Harwitch, Chadam.
Uh, is this going to discourage meetings? Um, even more importantly, um, and this is Martha Higgins, who is, uh, our junior warden who is also a resident of Chattam. We have an AA meeting that meets once a week. Is that are the members of the AA community coming for
support going to have to pay to come to a meeting? Um, our food pantry is open twice a week. are people who are patronizing the food pantry going to have to pay um to come and pick up food? It's complicated. We don't have any parking spaces of our own. We sort of
abut Mr. Rnick's property. The ownership is unclear to us. Um but we are using the main lot. We host public concerts, uh weddings and funerals. Do I have to put notices to people, you know, grieving families? I'm sorry. Your guests at your funeral are going to have
to pay in the lot immediately behind the church. Um All of these sorts of things run through our mind. Um we operate the uncommon thrift shop which is a business behind the Oreium. Our volunteers again come from various neighboring communities as well as Chadam. Um how
how is this going to work for them and will that discourage our function? I I just don't even know how we are going to function. Um yeah am I gonna what what am I going to have to do to be able to work um and do the business we need to do?
There is a limited hand there are two handicap spots in that lot that the town doesn't even own. The handicap spots are right in front of the public bathrooms on not town parking property. We have a lot of patrons with handicap and
mobility issues that need to park near the church. Um so we're we're just wondering what is being done to address those issues. Um, as someone who directly abotss that lot and sees the traffic for all of the 10 to 12 weeks of the summer and and
lives it, I I can't go do a visit uh to an elderly parishioner at 2 p.m. in the summer and expect to come back. Um, I have to plan my day around it. So, I'm I'm used to accommodating it, but I just want to raise those issues for you. The food pantry, the AA meetings, the
community meetings, the church meetings. So, >> and and the many members of our parish who do not live in Chattam. >> Yeah. So, thank you for listening. >> Thank you very much. Anyone else? >> Yes. Hi, I'm Ashley Bido. I own All Points
Beautiful in Chadam and I also own my space. So, I pay taxes here um as well as other taxes. So, here I am. Um I've had my business for 12 years. Um I think that if you're going to have paid parking that it should be in every
space. I don't think that there should be designated spaces obviously. Um but I'm not in favor of paid parking um at all. I have a staff of 10 to 12 people that work for me on a daily basis in the summer and they do drive around in the
lot back there for over an hour looking for parking. And when they can't find parking, they do find parking behind the community center, maybe behind the library. Sometimes they sneak into the Cape Cod 5 parking lot. I mean, they do everything that they can as a, you know,
18 to 22 year old kid. Now, what that registers to me is unsafe because I want the girls that work for me to be able to pay like to park in a place that's close to my business because at night time when they're walking to their cars, sometimes we have to shop around them.
And so, for me to think about my staff and for them to have to like go to like some far off land to park, that doesn't really work for me. um it would create a lot of mistrust and you know these things that women don't shouldn't have to think about but it's something that
women on honestly still today have to think about. Um that's something that is um is not I am not in favor. Now let's say we have shuttles that are running to these different various places that have lights in them and different like our
parking lots are not lit well at night. That's just a main thing that should be just fixed. Um, I know that they're privately owned and if anybody's listening, please light the lots. Um, they're afraid at
night when they're walking to their cars. Um, a lot of the staff will pay will park on the main street. Again, I agree with that. Like, we do not want our staff to be parking on Main Street. I've had to write notes on certain people's cars that are um, you know, employees over at
the captain's table. they constantly park in the main street. Um, and then there's residents that are parking on the main street as well that are congesting everything. Now, again, if you're going to go the route of the paid parking, staff absolutely needs a
sticker um as well because or applying for a sticker through the business or whatever, there has to be some type of thing where that we're not being where they're not having to pay for parking. Um, I think this is a really bad idea. Chadam is a very welcoming space and I
would argue with both of you, do you shop in our shops on Main Street? I know you want to go to the library, but if you aren't like a patron, like one of the gifts of Chadam is that we're welcoming. We have a lot of women that come here and they shop and they have
their kids. They're they have like four or five kids that they have in tow. Do you think that they want to deal with the parking situation? Absolutely not. They want to go get some candy with Corey. They want to come shop with me and with Anita. They want to have a great time
with their kids. They don't want to think about this stuff. So, safety, accessibility, um there's a a number of people that will park out in front of my shop and they like come in and they're like, "Is it okay if we park here?" And it's like, "Absolutely. Don't we want to be the
friendliest town?" Like, it's we're we're backwards in a lot of ways. Like, we don't do food trucks. We don't do any of this stuff. But as far as like our space in this town, we're like, "Welcome everybody," you know, and again, Ptown has a lot of
spaces. I get it. That's millions of dollars of revenue. We have 200 spaces. I don't know what that's going to do. Anyway, thank you for listening to me. >> Thank you. Yes, ma'am. Hi there. I'm Sharon Hayes. I'm one of
the owners of Yankee Ingenuity. Uh we're celebrating 55 years in business next week. And we kind of have a bird's eyee view of the town hall parking lot all day long, all summer. as cars drive around, drive around, drive
around. Um, and I agree with Ashley and with Barry that it's got to be all or nothing because otherwise people are just going to circle around Main Street, circle around Main Street to get a free spot. Um, and it's just going to add to the
congestion. Um, I also think it's really important to hear from the business community and the churches um about what their opinions are because you really need to build consensus around this from all the stakeholders.
Um, we see a lot of people go back to their car. There's people changing diapers in their cars. They're putting their dog in their car. They're getting the leash. They're getting the thing they forgot. they're going back to the car to put a couple of shopping bags in.
So, the idea of a shuttle, I think people are not really gonna like that idea very much because they want to go back to their cars. Um, and we're not Province Town. And there's that's a really good thing that we're
not Province Town. Um, I also think that a lot of people when they find out they have to pay to park in Chattam, they'll go to Harageport or they'll go to Orleans, which is free parking. So, I think that it's going to really
depress um our sales because people are just well, I think sales are already somewhat depressed because people are like, "Oh, I don't it's raining. I'm not going to go to Chadam on a rainy day because I won't find a parking place." Um, but there are spaces available if you know where to look. Um, and you know
what time of day to shop and so on. It can be managed. Um, and I would prefer for for it to be we all all three of us owners of Yankee Ingenuity would prefer to have free parking. I think it's a two-month problem. I don't think it's a 12-month problem. I don't even think
it's a three-month problem. I think it's July and August. Um, so and I really wish that we would have some meetings with many more business owners because I think you'll find that most business owners are not in favor of this idea. Even though it would generate revenue,
it also creates a lot of problems and you might have to hire three or four more uh town employees to make it work. So that's my two cents. Thanks. Thanks for listening, >> Mr. Robenheim. David Oppen. I'm um as I know I own the
Wayside in for 29 years and I own the Mayflower Complex and some other other properties. Um I think the whole idea of paid parking is uh not something that's going to really bring us any meaningful revenue whatsoever because uh when you start talking about province and that
that huge lot right down by the water which is managed, it generates a huge amount of money. it. You you park there and you spend the day in Province Town. We have a bunch of little parking lots all over town. For us to manage to to to have paid parking in those lots, manage
them, uh deal with any of the the stuff that goes along with it is going to be labor intensive and the return is going to be minimal. I think we should stop thinking about this. I think the there's been a better education recently about different parking lots. I think the idea
of a shuttle going up and down Main Street is not something that I'm fond of. The idea though of getting people to park elsewhere and bringing them into town is we're going to have a horror show down on Bridge Street this year. I mean, once that's drawn, I mean, that's there's no parking. There hasn't been parking for years and now we just
created a draw that's going to be unbelievable. Um, the day there is not congestion downtown Chadam is the day our businesses are not going to be doing well. Let's I think we should be glad there's congestion because it means we're doing well. You know, a few years ago before the pandemic, we worried about the internet destroying retail.
And now the pandemic came, everybody was down here. It got more crowded. All sorts of weird things happened. We're getting back to competing against the internet and everything else. And downtown Chattam is a draw. The people here do a really good job with their shops. um they take great pride in it
and people should be able to come here and and spend their money and enjoy themselves and as somebody else said we should be the friendly town that doesn't charge people to park. Thank you. >> Thank you, David. Yes. My name is Crystal Mara. I work downtown at Violets. I have worked there for many
years. Getting to work is a big enough challenge. I don't want to complicate it further. Finding good staff is extremely tough. I do not want to complicate that further. I don't want more parents to have to bring their teens into town because they
live off ca uh out of Chattam and they don't want their kids to have to pay for parking. I just don't want to complicate things. I think uh parking is going to be unnecessarily expensive for the town to run. As many people have stated, we have a lot of small lots. We're going to
have people who are going to want to find those few spots that aren't requiring payment. And also about three years ago, my husband and I were in Province Town and we tried to use that paid parking. It
was our anniversary. It was actually in October, but it was a holiday weekend. Guess what? We got in an argument about that on the way to dinner to celebrate our anniversary because it was really complicated to figure out how to get on the app, where we had to go, where the kiosk was, and we kind of had a bad
start to our evening because of that. Another time, I tried to use paid parking in Ptown because my doctor's office had some kind of a situation and their lot was full and I ended up just going in without signing up for the app because I couldn't figure out how. So, I cheated the system inadvertently because
I couldn't figure out how to work it. I finally just had to get to my appointment. And honestly, I don't see that shuttle being a big draw for people. I think we spend a lot of effort and money to get people to come to Chadam. Let's give them a bone. Let's
let them have some free parking and just make things easy. Thank you. >> Thank you. I'm going to go online next to Miss Buren. >> Yes. Thank you. I very much support everything all of the previous speakers
have said and there's no need to repeat all of that, but I would look at it in a different angle, too. We're now almost at May. And if you're actually considering a plan for this summer and it includes a residential exemption, how
would you implement that now that stickers have already been sold? Would it just be if you have a dump or a beach sticker that you're already exempt? And who would be looking at those? And how would that work when you're using an app? This has not been
thought through. There's no plan. And therefore, it's can't be implemented in time for Memorial Day weekend if that's what you're looking for. It's not well thought out. and for all the races that all the previous speakers
have said, there's too many problems with this plan and it's unfortunate for Chadam to even have to be considering this. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Kennedy.
>> Thank you. Um, I'm a reluctant public speaker, so forgive me. I'm here uh to speak in opposition of the paid parking. And I feel bad right now because I feel like I'm piling on because I know the reasons that you have for thinking about it are good. But um I'm also here representing
my family who owns the Colonial Building. Um we're also um I'm representing the High Wheeler Association, which is the group that owns the other 110 parking places behind the Oreium Theater. And I might add, you guys call it the Oreium parking lot, but
if you looked at the uh map, the parking lots right behind the ORM are owned by us, not by the town. You have to go further back into the lot away from the Orphium to even find uh your parking places. And I don't say that to be mean, but I'm saying goodness gracious, it's
not the Orpheium parking lot. It's it's not owned by the town. There are on our property, we have 110 parking places. We have four restaurants, 10 retail shops, 10 apartments that all use those parking
places. Um, and if the town somehow said, "We're going to have parking on their paid parking on theirs and not on ours," you can imagine everybody's going to park in our parking places. So, people that live in those apartments, people that frequent those restaurants, uh, and go to these retail shops would
be out of luck. Uh, we also have a lot of the theater parking in the afternoon. Uh right we're right behind them. We have the church with weddings, funeral services. We have a beauty spa and nail salon. There's a bank there. There's six apartments in the colonial building and
there's four above the restaurant called Vieiera. The church uses the parking for services. The church office uses the parking uh for their employees. Um, there's a private way that hasn't been discussed that's designated by the
town as two ways, but we block it off as one way because there's not enough room for people to go to and fro between the church and the old Franklin building. Was that is that what it is? Um, we maintain that lot. We plow the lot. We keep it clean. We're not a nuisance to the town. We don't cause them any issue
other than to provide free parking. But we don't want our tenants to lose parking. We don't want our restaurants to lose revenue because there's no parking. And and I will say when everybody's talking about how much revenue it's going to generate, I would imagine that everybody that works at
those uh restaurants and hotels and anywhere up and down the retail shops, they're going to want to go there and and park in the freest parking they get. So they're going to be in our parking. Uh so what are we going to do? We'd have to start charging for our parking, which
we don't want to do. So it's it's really a complicated issue. Um, ironically, if you guys want more parking downtown, I'll build a parking garage down there. So, let's just keep that as a separate matter. You need more parking places, you got to build more parking places. They're not going to happen by taking
money away from people who are trying to shop. And again, I apologize for piling on because there are legitimate reasons to do this, but a study was done a while back and said there was really only 78 days of the summer that there was an extreme parking problem. Now people can
say yes people are driving around looking for parking but if you look back at the parking lot behind the Oreium and the Colonial Building are there one or two spaces are always available most of the time there are except for seven or eight days out of the year. Uh so we're not really sure. It just feels like and
I think it's actually been said a revenue grab. We have the lowest tax rate in in Chadam of any any place in Massachusetts. And if they just said, "Let's just if they the town wants more money, just ask for it and the people in town will pay for it." So I don't think the people are reluctant to pay for a
shuttle, if you guys want to do that, just a tiny increase in taxes will pay for it, rather than this problem we're going to create by having free parking and not free parking. And I don't know why, but I'm as guilty as anybody. I hate to pay for parking. is stupid
because it's not that much money, but I will drive a long way to avoid parking. So, I guess in conclusion, we got to be aware of the unintended consequences. And I'll give you a really good unintended consequence. Everybody's street in Chadam, people can park right
in front of your house unless you have a no parking sign designated by the town there. So, if you start really pushing people away and saying you got to pay, they'll just pull up on these, you know, million-dollar homes and park in their front yard because you, in fact, there was a little issue here recently in
front of the uh Pandeon and the um uh what is it? The funeral home and the funeral said, "You can't use our parking place." And they went and did some research and said, "Well, you can't stop us. This is a street through Chadam. We'll park along the street." And so, they end up parking. If you notice when
you pull into Pandeon, there's parking on the right hand side against the funeral home because they're allowed to park there. So, I don't think you want to create a situation where people are going to be pulling up to avoid free parking or to avoid paid parking where they're starting to pull into people's yards and park because that's allowed in
Chattam except for a few streets that are designated no parking. So, thank you for listening and I appreciate I I really did want to pile on, but I had to say this because Ron Rnik can't be here tonight and I promised that I would speak on his behalf. >> Thank you. Any other comments in the
audience? Yes. Way in the back. >> Joan Joan Craig um West Chadam. I was on the parking study group. I initially wrote a letter in July of 2021 with some key points with regards to the
whole parking issue. I wrote it to the traffic safety committee of which I am chair. I am not representing the traffic safety committee. I am right representing myself as a member of the parking study group. This has been kind of a rude awakening. I for me anyway. I
wish many of you especially in the retail business had come to our forum which we had two years ago maybe um asking for input with regards to the idea of paid parking um back a number of years ago uh prior
to Katie checking in with Province Town. So it was probably about three years ago that I did speak to the head of the group down there. And yes, it is a much larger parking situation down there. And at that time, I'm I'm interested that
it's now 2.8 million. At that time, the gentleman told me it was 2 million of which 1 million was specified and restricted for the use of overseeing the parking situation in Province Town. The other million went into the coffers of
the town itself. Granted, it would not be that amount here, but the study group was looking at parking issues and looking at the idea that there are many areas throughout the nation that do paid parking. Uh many
towns that are not destination places in Massachusetts who do paid parking and they do a very simple um they mentioned passport. There are even other ones that you simply go into your phone, you plug in the
number there, and then you get on your credit card a $225 um payment for two hours of parking or whatever you might in fact decide to charge per hour. We never said in our study, as um Mr.
Dykens mentioned we we made the decision that we would not do paid parking on Main Street. We also as a consensus made the decision that we should have three-hour parking on Main Street. That
gives individuals the um opportunity to shop and have lunch. Um the ruling right now is 2 hours and it's not implemented and there's no signage for it. Um I would agree with Mr.
Desolates and we all felt that way earlier too that it is all or nothing and that the individuals in the 400 block and those others down in that part of town are suffering from the fact that there's paid parking there and nowhere
else. So I say to you, you've got that additional issue. If it's either all or nothing, what do you do with the garage parking? because that has been an issue with a number of the retailers in the past. Um,
Meadden who oversees the lot has offered some many suggestions such as doing the shuttles and they are golf carts, extended golf carts that would that he uses now that can be um you call him,
you can be dropped off, you can be picked up. one of the major issues and I think um Mr. Smith can also relate to the fact that the fish pier has been very difficult over the years with
regards to the parking issues and that could in fact take pick up and drop off individuals from a designated area thereby getting the parking situation at the fish pier lessened and less
dangerous. Um, I would also bring up the fact that there is a parking lot by the baseball field that is very, very dark at night, that is unpaved, that is unlined, that has the potential to have
a lot more parking spaces if it was paved and lined and in fact lit. As was mentioned earlier, that place is utilized a lot um for athletics. There is a restaurant there. Um, it's very,
very dark at night, very dangerous, and that's another area that's underutilized. It was brought up in the study by the Cape Cod Commission, and that hasn't been mentioned at all. Um, I personally am in favor of paid parking. I have the
app. I use it in Florida. I use it off Cape in Metro West. It's simple. It's easy. And um I do feel there is a parking issue, but I also feel whatever the decision is, you've got to take into
consideration that you currently do have a paid parking lot. And in fairness to those individuals who have retail on that end, uh it should be all or nothing. Thank you. >> Thank you. I'm going to go online again. Meredith Fry.
Meredith. >> Hi. Yes. Uh, Meredith Fry, 18 Cross Tree Hollow, North Cadam. Um, honestly, I have to agree with all the shop owners. Um,
it's not Chadam. It's not our vibe. We don't have enough parking to uh enforce paid parking. It's complicated. There are other solutions. I feel like
the school is a big parking lot and if people really want to get into town, there could be one driver. They could get dropped off, drop off their family, go park, walk from the school, walk from the Catholic church, walk from the community center. That this is a
two-month problem. And I think um to create paid parking is absolutely the wrong way to go. Thank you. Anyone else? Brian Phillips. Uh Brian Phillips, 374 Orleans Road.
Unlike Mr. Kennedy, I do like to pile uh on because um I've uh spoken out against this project maybe three or four times and I'm usually the only one. So, I'm really glad everybody showed up this time. Um you know, I guess to keep it short, you know, it really hurts uh part
of Chadam's uh charm. um you know, we're not New Jersey, we're not Connecticut. Um and it's a good thing we're not. And then, uh you know, it hurts our businesses. And then I think after the church went, I didn't think there's any way you could possibly uh do paid parking. So, uh thanks a lot. And um
hopefully you guys don't pass this. Thanks. >> Thank you. Any other comments from the audience? Yes, sir. Hi, I'm Nick from Art Nova on Main Street and I have concerns about employees who aren't residents in the
town of Chadam and I think a lot of businesses have that concern and also I mean this might be a question are the community resource officers able to
are they giving funds in the parking lots as well as Main Street or >> and >> they they um currently issue tickets in the lots. Katie, do you want to speak to that or the chief >> chief Chief Anderson, do you want to
speak to this, please? >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh thank thank you for bringing this up because uh the police department's dog in the fight is only enforcement. Um currently uh the the persons responsible for
parking enforcement are the police, the community service officers, and certain members of the harbor masters division. um when this was brought out. Um my only concern at the end of the day is if
there was paid parking, the fingers would have been pointed at the police department for the enforcement or the lack thereof. And the reason why I was nervous because there there would be a lack thereof is
we do probably the best we can in enforcing free parking in town. Now add the paid parking. Uh that would almost require a dedicated person to manage that.
So when the group met and again I've been meeting with the Parkinson Solutions Group since 2022, they've done a lot of work. At the end of the day when the the options were given in front of town staff,
the one that was most appropriate in the police department's opinion was the uh parking valet service only because that lot that
was identified had less independent variables that the town lot, town hall lot currently has and the bandstand parking lot currently has. And again, there there are variables behind the the orphium. Uh but at the
end of the day, the the the the valet service that lot would be administered and maintained by that entity or that contracted company. Uh, I
was relieved that that wouldn't have to fall on us. But um I hope that answered your question. But but just to the to the town in general, um the you know the the police department was was behind this pilot project because in in the
police department's opinion out of all of the options other than all or nothing that this pilot program uh in our opinion if if it was approved it would have been the best option
uh the best chance for a good a good uh outcome. Uh but again, my only concern was the the fact that this would have increased the enforce enforcement uh responsibilities uh with resources that that I don't have.
>> Thank you, Chief. >> Okay. Thank you. >> And sir, do you have anything more to add? >> Oh, yes. >> Yes. >> I just want to say perhaps the shuttle can be paid for by tickets enforcement on Main Street. >> Yeah. And then
and paying for parking. I mean, there are families where $10 can be the difference between going out to dinner or not. And paying for parking will be that factor. And I think we should be advocating for all people that want to visit Chadam.
>> Thank you. >> Thank you, sir. Um, could we please get your name again? I'm >> We need to get your full name. >> So, Nick Heeney from Art Nova. >> Great. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um Barry, before you go a second time, let me ask if anyone else Yes. Yeah.
>> Rebecca Hobec, um 47 White Pond Road. I also have worked downtown, um at Jackie and Violets for 30 years, so I know the parking very well. um just beyond the two churches that actually utilize the
lot for funerals and and um weddings. I think that alone is a reason not to do it. But I don't. So logistically, that back lot that you're talking about potentially using to charge for parking,
it has one, two, three, four, actually five entrances and four exits depending on where you're coming from. If you come from 595 Main Street and go back through Mr. a redneck
property. And then there's two two that two entrances that you could get into the public lot from there. You have the one where you come down from Main Street next to the um what used to be the Ben Franklin building that is supposed to be
an entrance only, but I see all the time people use it as an exit too, which is logistically not good. And then the main parking. So, I don't even know how you would cut that off and not create a
bigger issue with people looking for even paid parking in just that lot. Um, so between those just couple things and then what Ashley said, my employees, you know, I mean, I think there's lots of
good points. I appreciate I actually did attend a couple of the parking meetings in the 2000s, early two, you know, 2010 or whenever it started and I was against the parking then. I think you've done a really good job doing the research, but
I just don't think with what we have going on, it's something that could logistically even work. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh, if no one else, Barry I have a question. Um, can you tell me
what the town makes after expenses from the Eldridge lot? >> Katie, do you have that those numbers? I don't I can certainly get them, but I think that um I can give a >> basic I think it's $5,000 per month for
June, July, and August, and $1,000 per month in um May, and October. I can I can certainly get you >> more specific figures, but >> if that's what it is, I think that's really minimal.
I'll just point out that the parking on the Eldridge is a legacy of the recommendation of the Eldridge committee that I served on and uh and it was presented to the select board and we adopted it. That's why it's in place. We have a contract with Mr. Madens that
runs through next year. >> That's correct. It's actually up >> this would be the final summer. >> This would be the final summer on that contract. >> Okay. Thank you, >> Mr. Chairman. >> I'll give you a chance. Yes. Second time. So, this is probably a silly question,
but the revenue from the tickets that people get in town, where does that money go? And um how much money per year do you get from that? >> So, that goes into the general fund to offset the tax rate. >> Okay. >> It's not in a segregated fund.
>> So, what would the town be getting? like is this going to go into the same fund or is this going into a different fund from the parking? >> We haven't determined that yet. So, um there's some towns that do what they call an enterprise fund of parking. So, it pays for itself. The expenses can come out of it, but we haven't gotten
that far in the planning yet. Um the uh the arrangement that we have with Eldrich Garage and potentially if we were to do a pilot program and the lot with a similar type of service is that that they would pay the town a certain
dollar amount either per car and then they'd able be able to keep revenues that they generate as well to offset. So is the curiosity of all this to create more revenue for what then just like just because if it's all going to whatever maybe increasing the parking
tickets because people do park poorly on Main Street which is a problem for everyone for the traffic for the people that are have businesses here they park poorly in the lots in the back. Um,
obviously that's like I know I'm just asking what if that would be a solution to a revenue. >> Sorry to interrupt you. The the select board did vote to increase the parking fines. >> Okay. >> And so that just happened last year. You'll you'll see some spaces that have
or maybe all at a $75 yeah $75 fine. Um higher for the the handicap spaces, but it it used to be $50. So, um, that happened, I believe, two years ago, Katie, if that's the case. >> Do we know how much, excuse me, do we know how much, cuz the question was
asked, we bring in on tickets. >> We do know. I think the police chief actually may know that. >> Chief Anderson, this data is a little maybe a couple of months old. um
when we instituted the new parking ticket software in 2024 um and with the CSOS in 2024 the police department only wrote 284
tickets in 2024 as as compared to 1397 7 in 2023 with the increase in the parking violation fee from 23 which was about 70,000 and went up to 2024 to about
145,000. 2025 we had an additional community service officer. Not sure if that was really the cause of the rise of the amount of tickets, but we increased the tickets from 2084 to 2247. 2247
tickets in 2025. Uh, and the revenue from the police department tickets was about $167,000. >> Is that money actually being collected or they are they paying their their fines? Do we know, Chief? I I'd have to dig deeper in the software, but it when
this data was taken, there were still some tickets that have yet to have been paid and there still were some tickets that were in the queue to be disputed or appealed, but that's the ballpark. >> Okay. Thank you, Chief. >> Okay. >> Thank you. That did you have anything?
>> I guess I'm just curious if the money is just going into like a fund, why can't that pay for the shuttle that we want to do? And I also think that it shouldn't the shuttle shouldn't just be about parking. I think it should be accessibility to the Fish Beer, which is obviously a congested area. I send
people up there all the time to go eat lunch and, you know, things like that, but also to the different museums that are around town. It shouldn't just be about parking. It should be like increasing visibility to the things that aren't just on the main street where people shop because >> I'd like to see the chamber step up and help with that as they've done in some
other >> I think that they have a very uh heavy plate. You know, >> I understand that some years ago we had a downtown working group. Mr. Oppenheim was on it. I was on it. And the chamber stepped up at that time to encourage
their employees not to park in some of the lots. and they put out brochures which we had placed in kiosks around town to encourage people visitors to park at the community center and elsewhere and it had some success. So I'd like to see the chamber think about that resuming that. I know you're not speaking for
>> I'm not a part of the chamber but I'm just saying that like if we have you know tickets obviously that are driving revenue to the town. I mean maybe $25 isn't enough to add on to them. Maybe they should be $150. You know, I mean, I hate to say it, but >> I'm happy to raise the tickets even higher because there are people who come
into this town who don't care how much the cost of a ticket is, they'll pay it. >> I mean, I think if it's 75 or 150, it's really not a big deal, you know, if they're already, you know. >> Okay. >> Thank you. Did you have anything else? Thank you, ma'am. Yes. >> Janice Rogers, 579 Main Street. Um, I
just really have one simple question. Has thought been given to the hours that this would be enforced? Like would you have a parking attendant 24 hours a day or you know between certain hours of the day? And it does speak to the fact that lighting in a lot downtown alone but
also in a lot of the parking lots is not great. >> Well, I think those those types of details would have to be worked out in as part of the plan if we were going to implement it, but I don't think there's a for firm um proposal. Katie, do you want to speak to that?
>> Sure. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So, um, in the staff report, I had noted that if the board was to move forward with it, there would have to be key key policy considerations, including days and hours of operation, the fee structure, the duration of the parking season, um, time limits and enforcement policies, and um,
the continuation of free parking for residents and tax taxpayers with a valid sticker. >> Well, I think everyone's given a lot of thought to this. I think you put a lot of work into it, but I also live on Main Street and I see what happens with, you know, you'll have cars spinning around making U-turns um trying to find the
free spaces. And I think that we have surrounded by two towns. Harport is getting more built up, more stores, more restaurants. People will go to the towns that they don't have to pay to park. So, I I think it could hurt business on Main
Street. >> Thank you. That's it. Yes, ma'am. >> Yes. Alan McKe, 184 Indian Hill Road North. Um, I just had a question for you. Has there been any sort of financial projections looking at what the revenue versus expenses delta would
be? Um, I mean, I feel if the main driver here is revenue, that's a huge um decision uh point that we need to consider before thinking about moving ahead. >> Katie. >> Yes. So um again looking um
if the board were to move forward those were things that we would have to consider based on the type of um parking that we would do with what we would look at the fee structure. So we haven't we we don't have any revenue projections just based on the fact that we haven't made those key policy cons decisions at
this point in time. >> Sorry just just to follow up. It seems to me it's a little then a bit of the chicken or the egg. Um >> sure I understand. So I think that um just the staff was asked to bring forward considerations for the board to
consider um for paid parking implementation and this is that that first step that we're doing for um some you know for these options. >> Again going back to the point of revenue is really the driver here. I think that's a really important factor to bring into the preliminary discussions
before we even think about options. I I think that's why it was called a pilot program. But I will tell you in the staff meeting that I attended, I think the um Mr. Mr. Row, our IT directors, projected that it could bring in as much this pilot program if it were implement
could bring in as much as $150,000. Am I right, Mr. Dens? >> One last thing about the shuttle. My understanding also is that the town in the town of Plymouth, the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce paid for a shuttle. It's an electric shuttle. Is that correct, Mr. Dens? That's my recollection. >> That's correct. So, I I think uh you
know, I'm hap I think this board and the town staff would be happy to work with the chamber and the mer merchants to deal with the parking issue. We've done it in the past. Uh any other comments from the public? I don't see any more. I'm going to bring it back to the board. I'm going to begin
with Stuart because uh you haven't had a chance to speak yet. >> Sure. And thank you, Dean. Um the uh a lot of the questions have been answered that I was taking notes on. Um
the the revenue that we're getting from the Eldridge Garage uh parking seems to be somewhat minimal. Uh that in itself is somewhat of a pilot program. So I don't know if we need another one. Um,
you know, I'll go towards I can go different directions on on questions, but you know, ch I hate to how this is going to sound, but Chadam is not hyenas. Chattam is not Province Town, and we
don't have paid parking in Haritch downtown, Dennis, uh, downtown, uh, Orleans downtown. Um, I'm not sure where the re I mean I I know the revenue is going to go into the general fund unless we have a dedicated
account, but I'm not sure we, you know, it's kind of like a well, it's going to be spent on these improvements. I I like a little bit more definition on where the money would actually go uh to do what job, to do what improvement. Um
the uh so town meeting are we going to if we were to adopt this which it doesn't sound like well I don't know if we're going to adopt it but uh town meeting does do they have to provide funding for this this year I I I looked back in the
September meeting um the town you guys were going to come forward like you are and we were going to go uh and then we would go to town meeting for any follow-up or funding. Is that not necessary? >> No. with the with the fact that we would
be doing an attendant if or recommending or you know >> so if they were town staff there may be >> if it were town staffed it may be or if we needed to um purchase um any type of technology or contract with a an app-based company uh kiosks we would
have needed to go to town meeting but because we were looking at an attendant based um it would actually be an RFP process to um seek somebody to come in and run the parking lot. Yeah, I mean it may be worthy to have a discussion, maybe we are before we sign a contract
with the Eldidge Garage Parking as to really whether we want to continue this because the numbers are telling me that this is I'm not sure what we're accomplishing there. Um the the other thing is and I've mentioned this at a few you know I didn't support this in September. I was on the losing side. Um
but the I really think we should and this is not an easy effort. I think the police have tried on a couple of occasions and others, but the traffic rules and regulations are archaic. They might be 50 years old. And it seems to me if we're going to
look at the entire community because this parking issue is everywhere um that we want to start with uh that comprehensive review as opposed to just kind of peacemealing a parking issue or
paid parking here and not here. Um, I I don't I certainly don't think we're ready for this year and um it's it's really not something I you know I didn't support in September and I haven't heard anything that would that would change my mind at the moment. >> Thank you.
>> Any other comments from the board? >> Well, yeah. I mean, I feel like Cisphus rolling the rock up the hill to be honest with you. I I I I appreciate Joanie Craig's uh comments immeasurably. Thank you, Joan. Um we worked closely for for years on a parking solutions
working group and uh I would have loved to have seen this turnout when we had those meetings then and had some input. Um because I really I really appreciate the input this afternoon this evening. Um some excellent points have been made.
Um our church activity uh question mark the parking lots themselves and lighting is a question mark. It's something we really need to deal with. Enlarging a parking lot, I think, is something that makes a lot of sense. Um, near the community center. I I still would advocate vehemently for a shuttle bus
narrow. It could be a golf cart. It could be a narrow shuttle bus, Mr. Robenheim. Um, but we we are we've invited tourists very successfully to this town, which supports our downtown merchants immeasurably. But it also has created an enormous strain in July and
August on on our resources downtown. Ashley, I don't go downtown in the summer. I shop in the spring and the fall and the winter downtown. I don't go downtown in the summer. It's too crowded. I can't find a place to park just facitiously. But so I don't I really don't go downtown that much or or at all. So it's
too crowded. So to to think that you know it's wonderful for the merchants, but it's not great for everybody else to be honest with you. And and we've tried to tackle this for years. So I I um I'm willing to keep trying to tackle it to be honest with you. And I'm willing to
to and I sounds to me like it's too late for a pilot this summer. I I I've I'm going to give up on that. I I I' I've heard you. I don't think we're ready. I think it's seven months in September and we should have been dealing with this all along rather than suddenly in April right before the summer. It's too late.
So I I realize it's too late. I'm I'm I'm mature enough. I understand that. However, I'm not willing to just let it go. Um I'm not We are extremely congested July and August, guys. If anybody sits here and says we aren't, I don't believe you. Um, so I'm and I'm
willing as a select board member and as a resident of town to try to deal with the issue and have been all along. So, uh, I'm going to give up on the pilot program for the summer. I'm not going to support it. Um, but I'm not giving up on trying to solve and alleviate the parking the parking congestion and the
congestion downtown in the summer. I'm not. So, um, you know, I think it's too bad Shere's not here. Uh I I think I don't know what kind of a vote we're going to take, but I think it's too bad that she's not here to hear this. She can certainly listen to it um again. And
you've raised excellent questions and um uh I really appreciate your input. Um but I'm also not willing to give up. >> Thanks. >> Any other comments, >> Mr. Chair? I I just want to say that um
if if this was an easy thing to accomplish, I think the town would have maybe done it 15 or 50 years ago. So, I I just want to thank the town staff for trying to carry out uh the select board's uh direction and putting the research together.
Thank you. And and we're however the board votes, we we are pro- innovation. And if there's any way we can innovate to make this easier, if that's the board's direction, we will certainly do it. Um, again, it's it it was so many pros and cons to work
through the nuances and if I I appreciate the board's patience with us bringing it to you in April, and we'll certainly continue and follow the board's direction. So, I just wanted to thank you for that. >> Well, thank you, uh, Jill. I I'll echo your your compliments to the town staff
for bringing this forward. And um I'll take issue with a comment that was made earlier as to why we're even considering this. This is our job as select board members to consider ways to improve the town to bring in revenues to the town. We have a lot of expenses, capital
expenditures. So I I I I don't apologize for that one bit. Um it's great to see the merchants here. supported the business community in this town and all the time I've been on this board. But the only time the merchants show up is when we propose something. They showed
up in force back in 2016, I think it was, when we wanted to enforce, we had voted to impose a 2hour parking time limit on Main Street. Stuart referred to the parking regulations. The regulation in force
right now in place right now is one hour parking. Isn't that right, Chief? I think it's one hour. It's not enforced because we don't have signs. We could put up the signs tomorrow and then you'd have a real problem with people. But I'd like to see some some um and I know there's a lot on the plate and these are
hard times for everybody economically, but I'd like to see the merchants association and the chamber try to address some of these problems. It is not just um uh uh automobile
traffic that's a problem downtown in the summer. It's the ability to walk up and down Main Street that's a problem. I know summer residents who have come up here and they left for the entire month of August. They live on my street because it was a terrible situation a
couple of years ago. Um and it just wasn't worth it. They went back home for that month and they came back at the end of the summer and stayed an extra month. So, there are some real issues with that. Um, I'm not going to support, as I intimated earlier on a pilot program this summer,
and frankly, I'm not going to support this issue any longer during my time as select board. I'm done with it. Period. You don't have to applaud. I'm done with it. I put in as much effort on this as I can. And I'll leave it at that. I'm not going to ask for a vote. I don't think
there were votes to implement anything tonight. >> Okay. All right. >> Yes, Joan. >> Just following up on the issue of the one lot that is a paid for lot. I would
like you to consider making that lot a lot for the retail um businesses to have their staff park there for free. >> Yes, that you can come in after Barry. You
>> We've got somebody else coming after >> you go after Barry then you >> Barry. Um, as much as I hear that if I put if you put all employees down that end and all the employees who
they're not going to stop at our shops, the the the my business is based on tourists and if we just have employees in that lot, I might as well just throw the keys away. I'm I'm done. I'm done. Like you, I'm done. Thank you. I
>> I'm going out of business. Yes. >> All right. So solution maybe. So in Wellfleet there are surf cams. Okay. To look at the surf. So if guys are looking or people that surf want to go look at the
waves, they can see if there's surf, right? So what if our parking lots have parking cams? It's not an expensive choice, right? It's a streaming service online. The
town could potentially do something like this where some people that want to have access to the parking lots can go on there and they can see if they want to come downtown. People that are going to come shop on an impulse are just going to come down and they're going to deal with all the traffic, but people who might not want to come down. what if there was
something else in place for you to be able to see if there was an option and for the different public lots, you know, different, you know, different areas that, you know, you could have a chance and, you know, if you live 5 to 10 minutes away, the likelihood that that spot is still going to still be there.
And then of course, you know, the there's different places in Massachusetts where you can see that um it's like a high tra, you know, using it like a green light, yellow light, you know, type of energy. But obviously the cam, I think, just speaks mountains of
like what's happening, you know, so you could have a stream of that um in different areas so people can see what the different lots are doing and they can have a better access to them. And I know it's not generating money, but it could be the accessibility that we're
all looking for, and it wouldn't cost a lot of money to do in my opinion. >> Thank you very much. >> Okay. Uh unless there is a motion, I'm going to deem this matter completed for tonight. No action taken. >> No action taken.
>> All right. Thank you. Thank you everyone. Thank you for your comments. We appreciate them. Um the board uh is going to go into executive session. Um under item eight, executive session, Massachusetts >> participation policy >> general laws chapter 3A
section 21 paragraph 6 to consider the purchase what >> have a policy on the communication. >> No, that's been deferred. >> Okay. Okay. Okay. Sorry. >> That's all right. We'll start again. Um, the next item is executive session under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 3A
section 21 paragraph 6. Can we take the conversation out of the room please to consider the purchase exchange lease or value of real property parenthesis 231 Croll Road and 243 Croll Road. If
the chair declares that an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the negotiating position of the governmental body with no return to open session. I'm going to offer the motion seconded again. >> I move that the board go into executive session under Massachusetts General Laws
chapter 38 section 21 PN 6 to consider the purchase exchange lease or value of real property parenthesis 231 Coral Road and 243 Coral Road. If the chair declares that an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the negotiating position of the governmental body with
no return to open session. >> Second. >> Moved and seconded. I'll call the role. Mr. Dykins. >> I. >> Mr. Mattis. >> Hi. >> Mr. Smith. >> I. >> The chair votes I. We are going into executive session. We will not return to open session.
Good night. Chadam.