2025 Was A Year Of Change For Harwich

 HARWICH – It was a year of change for the town in 2025, starting at the top. 

Town Administrator Joseph Powers departed when his contract expired on June 30 and Assistant Town Administrator Meggan Eldredge left shortly thereafter to take the community development director’s position in Yarmouth. 

With the departure of Powers, who served as town administrator for a little more than five years, Acting Town Administrator Tony Schiavi came on board in July. Eldredge’s position has yet to be filled. Schiavi filled a couple of longstanding department head vacancies with the appointments of Eleanor MacKay as building commissioner and Jennifer Mince as finance director. 

With the town having trouble filling and keeping several department heads over the past several years, Select Board member Donald Howell commented, “It seems like the doors at town hall have an exit sign on them.”

The search for a new town administrator is nearing a conclusion. On Dec. 22 the town’s screening committee, working with Groux-White Consultants, presented the select board with three finalists: Geoffrey Gorman, town administrator in Marion; James P. Kreidler, a former town manager in Winchendon; and James P. McGrail, town administrator in Middleborough (see story on page 1).

 It was also a year of large development proposals. Pine Oaks Village IV received a comprehensive permit for 242 housing units in North Harwich. A comprehensive permit was also filed for 60 affordable housing units on the former Marceline land, owned by the town’s affordable housing trust, in the Pleasant Lake section of town. Campanelli Company has a proposal for 28 rental units in Harwich Port and Davenport Companies is converting offices into 10 rental units in West Harwich. The Cape Cod Commission is conducting a development of regional impact review for a proposal to demolish the historic Snow Inn and reconstruct a 72-room hotel on the Wychmere Beach Club site.

 With the average residential property value in Harwich reaching $910,000, the town has been searching for ways to address affordable and workforce housing. Mid-Cape Church Homes Inc., the nonprofit that owns 163 units of senior housing in three locations in town, sought to address the shortage with its Pine Oaks Village IV proposal, which calls for the development of 242 units of housing on 32 acres in North Harwich. Seventy percent of the units will be reserved for tenants with area median incomes of 80 percent or below. The project was met with vocal opposition from residents of the area.

 Beginning last spring, the appeals board held eight public hearing sessions on the project. Traffic, environmental issues and the absence of community amenities were major focuses of opposition. Following the guidance of peer engineering consultants, the appeals board approved the comprehensive permit in December.

 The appeals board received another comprehensive permit application for the Marceline property, a portion of which the affordable housing trust is leasing to Pennrose, Inc. to construct 60 units of income-restricted housing.

As was the case with the POVIV project, traffic concerns have been raised, especially regarding the intersection of Pleasant Lake Avenue and Queen Anne Road. The appeals board is scheduled to hold its first comprehensive permit public hearing on the proposal Thursday, Jan. 8 at 1 p.m. in town hall.

The Campaneli Company proposal to construct 28 condominium units on the Sundae School ice cream property at 606 Route 28 in Harwich Port kept the planning board busy since last March. The project was met with opposition from people throughout the town arguing that the project is too large for the property and does not fit into the character of the neighborhood

The developers listened to the opposition and on Dec. 9 presented the planning board with an alternative plan, reducing the mass and scale of the building by 42 percent, changing the units from condominiums to rentals, and providing more recognizable neighborhood design characteristics. The changes were applauded by the planning board, which is scheduled to vote on the multifamily use and site plan review special permits for the project on Tuesday, Jan. 13. 

In West Harwich, where 10 housing units on the former West Harwich Schoolhouse property were constructed by developer John Carey this year, Davenport Companies received approval from the planning board to convert office space at 72 Route 28 into 10 rental units. 

As the year ended, the Cape Cod Commission began deliberations on a proposal by Wychmere Harbor Real Estate LLC to demolish the historic Snow Inn along Wychmere Harbor and replace the existing 32-room hotel with a 72-room building with a restaurant and lounge. In the commission subcommittee’s first hearing on Dec. 16, the size of the proposed hotel and traffic levels were issues raised by residents of the neighborhood. The subcommittee will meet again on the project Jan. 7, and the project is scheduled to go before the full commission on Jan. 22. 

 There was a change in plans for the development of a veterinary science and environmental science campus proposed by Cape Cod Regional Technical High School on the town’s conservation land at 374 Main St. in North Harwich. Superintendent Robert Sanborn announced in November a new plan to locate the campus at the school’s Pleasant Lake campus instead. “The decision is definitely driven by cost,” Sanborn said, adding that school officials are also looking at downsizing the project. Sanborn said Cape Tech will continue to lease the Main Street site which will be used as the school’s field site.  

In October the Harwich Conservation Trust opened the Hinckleys Pond-Herring River Preserve, which included the “rewilding” of two cranberry bogs on the east and west side of Hinckleys Pond. The 30-acre preserve will increase biodiversity, restore freshwater wetland habitat, improve water quality, and enhance trails allowing people to explore the area, which is connected to the Cape Cod Rail Trail, according to HCT. The preserve also now has a large overlook on the east end of Hinckley’s Pond.

 Harwich voters elected two new members to the select board in the annual town election in May. With Incumbents Michael MacAskill and Julie Kavanagh deciding not to seek re-election, former town clerk Anita Doucette and finance committee member Mark Kelleher won election over a third candidate, Katie McManus. Voters also approved a ballot question establishing a nine-member charter commission, which is charged with studying local government, looking at the function of the town administrator position, the select board, and the make-up of town meeting. Nine charter commission members were also elected.

 Voters approved a $35 million debt exclusion to construct the Great Sand Lakes sewer system at the annual town meeting and election. Voters also agreed to support $9,007,030 for a Monomoy Regional Middle School renovation and reconstruction project.

 It was also a year for change along the waterfront. Harbormaster John Rendon retired after serving 13 years, and he was replaced by John Harker, who brought 22 years of Coast Guard experience to the harbor department. Natural resources Director Don Yannuzzi also stepped aside in 2025 and was replaced by Stephanie Ridenour, a former program and outreach coordinator with the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance.

 The town lost one of its major contributors on the eve of 2025, Albert Raneo. Mr. Raneo served the town in an official capacity for 25 years as elected highway surveyor and appointed director of highways and maintenance. Upon retirement, he immediately dove into a pool of volunteerism, assisting the Harwich Historical Society and Brooks Academy Museum. He also served as an educator and supporter of the vibrant Cape Verdean community in Harwich. His contributions were missed.