12 Articles To Go Before Orleans Voters

ORLEANS – Funding requests to purchase land for a new fire station and redevelop the recreational area at Eldredge Park are among the matters headed before voters at next month’s special town meeting.

 There will be 12 articles in total on the warrant for the fall meeting, which will be held Nov. 17 at 6 p.m. in the gymnasium of Nauset Regional Middle School. The select board voted to place articles on the warrant at its Oct. 15 meeting.

 At that same meeting, the board announced it had come to terms with Gregory Monfette, owner of Advanced Family Dentistry of Cape Cod at 56 Eldredge Park Way, on a purchase and sale of the property, which is located next to Orleans Elementary School and in front of the existing fire station.

 Article 8 on the warrant seeks authorization to spend $1.35 million in existing stabilization funding to purchase the .82 acre parcel. The use of stabilization funding means that property taxes won’t be raised to finance the purchase (see related story).

If approved, ground could be broken on construction of a new station as early as May 2027. The dental practice would remain in operation at the site until that time.

 The town has struggled in recent years to find a workable site for a new station, with complications arising over proposed use of Nauset Public Schools land and town land in close proximity to the elementary schools. Parcels on Main Street and Bay Ridge Lane were also explored before being deemed unsuitable for a new station.

 Voters will also be asked to weigh in on the use of $3 million in Community Preservation Act funds to revamp the park and recreation space in Eldredge Park. Plans call for a new 35-by-50-foot half-basketball court with tiered bleacher seating at the far end of the field near the Eldredge Park baseball diamond, six new pickleball courts and a new playground with a track for children’s bicycles. At the opposite end of the park fronting Eldredge Park Way, two new tennis courts are proposed along with a small handball court and a full 50-by-80-foot basketball court. Other features would include four accessible parking spaces, an accessible trail system connecting the park components, water bottle stations and areas for three shaded structures. 

 The project, which is the lone CPA request on the fall warrant, was the subject of back and forth among members of the community preservation committee, which offers recommendations to town meeting on applications for CPA funds. On Oct. 2, the committee voted 8-1 to support the $3 million in funding for the project, less than the $5 million initially asked for in the town’s application.

 If approved, the $3 million would be bonded over a period of 15 years. Charles Ellis of the CPC was the lone vote against the recommendation. He raised concerns that such a large request would hinder the committee’s ability to grant money to other projects in the years ahead. But others found the $3 million figure reasonable for a project that they and others in the committee say is long overdue. 

 Also on the warrant, the planning board is advancing two articles seeking zoning amendments, including one allowing the creation of a downtown housing overlay district. The proposed district would include “the sewered commercial districts between Exit 89 and the Orleans/Eastham rotary,” according to language in the article.

 The amendment would require that all new developments in the proposed district deed restrict half of their units as year-round housing. Additionally, developments with 10 or more units would be required to set aside 10 percent of those units as affordable for people who make up to 80 percent of the area median income in Barnstable County. An additional 15 percent of units would be required to be “attainable” for tenants who make up to 200 percent of AMI.

 The new district, which would include both village-scale and commercial center subdistricts, would also put aesthetic conditions on new developments, governing features such as footprint, building height, roof form and facade design.

 “The overlay district is designed to meet community housing goals by encouraging private investment in missing middle housing,” the article reads. “It promotes a balanced approach to development, emphasizing a walkable downtown that reflects local character.”

 The energy and climate action committee is making another attempt at adopting a specialized energy code. Article 3 will ask for voters’ support for adopting the code after a similar article narrowly failed by 10 votes at the special town meeting in Oct. 2023. 

 The specialized energy code is the most stringent that exists for Massachusetts communities to opt into, Michael Rossi of Performance Systems Development said during a presentation on the code to the select board Oct. 15. The specialized code would apply to both residential and commercial new construction that relies on mixed fuel. Small residences would be required to be rewired for electrification and include a small solar component to help offset fossil fuels. 

 The committee says that adoption of the specialized code is one of the last steps toward securing Orleans’ status as a climate leader community as recognized by the state Department of Energy Resources. That designation could open the town up to qualify for additional clean energy grants in the future. 

 Other articles include a request to assess a 3 percent community impact fee on professionally managed short-term rentals; two requesting the creation of a capital improvement fund and a stabilization fund for “affordable housing and local infrastructure projects”; an article seeking adoption of an affordable housing tax exemption for year-round property rentals; and an article seeking $150,000 in wastewater stabilization funds for “wastewater management engineering support.”

 Absent from the November warrant is a request for funding to purchase body cameras and in-vehicle technology for members of the Orleans Police Department. Last month, Orleans Police Chief Scott MacDonald made a presentation to the board arguing that the time is right for the department to wade into the use of body camera technology, a move he said will allow more transparency and accountability for police. He said the cameras can also better protect officers from erroneous reports that might be lodged against them. 

 The $177,000 for the cameras and technology would have been funded through free cash. However, the town was unable to have its free cash for the current fiscal year certified in time for the Nov. 17 town meeting. Town Manager Kim Newman last week said the article could be readied for voters in time for the annual town meeting in May.