Prioritizing Housing & SustainabilityGloria McPherson, Chatham’s first Housing & Sustainability Director in the Community Development Department began working for the Town on Monday, August 22nd.
Ms. McPherson has extensive experience in municipal planning and conservation, and community and economic development, most recently serving as the Planning and Economic Development Coordinator for the Town of Barnstable. and pedestrian improvements along Main Street. She served in similar planning positions in Fairhaven, Provincetown and Concord, NH.
Prior to her work in the public sector, Ms. McPherson worked in private sector housing and land development, where she gained skills and experience in project management, design, and construction supervision, including large infrastructure projects. She was responsible for managing diverse land holdings and developing properties for both subdivision and conservation, and considers the perspective she gained while working in the private sector to be especially beneficial for evaluating development proposals and pro formas, as well as guiding developers through the permitting process.
A large part of Ms. McPherson’s work has included community engagement. She is skilled at taking complex issues and technical data and presenting it in a way that is accessible to various audiences and constituencies, which she believes is key to a collaborative approach to problem solving. As a resident of the Cape, she has a deep understanding of our interconnected issues – housing and economic development challenges, the fragile natural resources and limited developable land base, the impacts of tourism and climate change – all interrelated in their impacts on the community.
Please join us in welcoming Gloria McPherson to our team!
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Early Voting Starts TomorrowIn-person early voting begins tomorrow, Saturday, August 27th from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Town Clerk's office at 549 Main Street and continues Monday, August 29th through Friday, September 2nd from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The last day to register to vote, or change an address or political party for the Primary Election is Saturday, August 27th when the Clerk's Office will be open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m
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FD Awarded $65,000 From FEMAThe Chatham Fire Department has been awarded $65,000 in grant funding from the FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program for the purchase and installation of five Digital Vehicle Repeater Systems. This radio equipment will be installed in the department’s two front-line fire pumpers, the quint (ladder truck), and both the Chief and Deputy cars. Additionally, due to a successful procurement process for last year’s grant equipment, $12,000 in excess grant funding was approved by FEMA for use for radio upgrades in these vehicles, making them compliant with the repeater equipment.
Radios are one of the most critical pieces of life safety equipment provided to our firefighters. Every firefighter and every truck are outfitted with a portable radio, providing rapid access to both transmit and receive critical communications that support the department's overall mission as well as an incident's primary objectives. This best practice prioritizes personnel safety by ensuring that incident conditions, actions and needs can be transmitted and received by all personnel operating at an incident. However, the benefits of this practice cannot be fully realized due to the inability for the radios to transmit out of certain buildings or in certain areas within the town. This service gap can be reconciled by installing Digital Vehicle Repeater Systems (DVRS) on the front-line apparatus and command vehicles, ensuring adequate radio coverage at all critical incidents.
Hundreds of national Line of Duty Death reports identify communication breakdowns as one of the main contributing factors. The presence of these radio "dead spots" in Chatham is so prevalent that it is likely that these DVRS units would be utilized daily. While not every response turns out to be high hazard incident, we treat every investigation as such until proven otherwise, and having the ability to communicate conditions, actions and needs is vital to personnel safety and to ensuring our response to the public's needs is adequate. By enhancing on scene communications, information will be able to flow more freely, and every member operating at the incident will have increased situational awareness. By improving situational awareness, injuries, the loss of life, and the loss of property can all be reduced. As an added benefit, both the Chatham Police and our mutual aid partners responding from neighboring towns will be able to utilize this resource, further bridging potential communication gaps during emergencies in buildings where radio communications are currently inadequate.
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Sign Up for Emergency NotificationsIn an effort to provide reliable and effective communication to residences, the Town of Chatham has implemented Smart911, as our emergency notification provider. Smart911 is a high speed notification system designed to make calls, emails, and SMS text notifications to specific people or areas in the event of an emergency. These messages may include information on floods, fires, water emergencies, road closures, missing persons, evacuation orders, weather and other emergencies.
It is important that residence and business owners verify their contact information. Accurate email addresses, landline, and mobile numbers help to ensure, but cannot guarantee, that emergency information will be passed on to everyone in a timely manner.
Residents can add additional telephone numbers including a cell phone. The address documented must be in Chatham, but the phone number can be from anywhere. Emergency messages can reach TTY (teletypewriter) phones used by the hearing impaired. Please sign up using this link or watch the video below for instructions.
If you do not have access to a computer, you may call the Chatham Fire Department at 508-945-2324 to provide the information.
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Save the Date - Housing to Protect Cape Cod SummitThe Housing Assistance Corporation, Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, Cape Cod & Islands Association of REALTORS, Home Builders & Remodelers Association of Cape Cod and CapeBuilt invite you to the official launch of Housing to Protect Cape Cod on Thursday, November 3, 2022 at the Cape Codder Resort, Hyannis.
The Housing to Protect Cape Cod (HPCC) coalition is a community organizing initiative that mobilizes residents in support of a local legislative platform to foster year-round housing while protecting our critical environmental resources and community character.
At the November 3rd summit the audience will hear from business, workers and a nationally respected economist and the HPCC will unveil its action plan to solve the Cape's housing crisis with real, concrete policies.
For more information about HPCC visit its website. |
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Public Hearing Notice - New Stop SignsThe Chatham Select Board will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, September 13, 2022 at 5:30 p.m. in the large meeting room at the Town Office Annex, 261 George Ryder Road, to consider the placement of new traffic signs: Stop signs- Intersection of Middle Road and Seapine Road
- Intersection of Middle Road and Cove Road
- Intersection of Middle Road and Woodland Road
The signs are of standard size and style and recommended to the Board by the Traffic Safety Committee.
All interested parties are encouraged to participate. |
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Final "Mondays on Main" Hang on to the last bit of summer and come downtown for the final "Mondays on Main" for the season from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on August 29th.
The evening's line up includes Steve Morgan and the Kingfish at 400 Main Street, Pitchfork at Mahi Gold, Club 9 Ball and face painting by Maureen! at Kate Gould Park, Michael DeAngelis at Cape Cod Five, and Slightly Tooned at St. Christopher's Church.
Grab a bite, check out the shops, and enjoy the entertainment!
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Next Select Board Meeting - August 30, 2022 @ 5:30 p.m.All are welcome to attend and participate in our open and public meetings. The agenda for each meeting is posted 48 business hours prior to the scheduled meeting time and can be accessed through the Select Board’s webpage.
Attend in-person at the Town Office Annex, Large Meeting Room. Join the meeting on-line or participate by phone by dialing 1-508-945-4410 and entering Conference ID 203 386 491#.
I. Minutes
August 2, 2022
August 16, 2022 – Joint Meeting with Council on Aging Board of Directors
II. Public Announcements and Agenda Item Requests
III. Consent Agenda A. Fish Weir Permit Renewals – Ted Lucas B. Consider Request to Increase Cultural Council Membership from 5 to 9 C. Special One Day Alcohol Permits; Creative Arts Center, 154 Crowell Road; September 11 & October 16, 2022, 4-5:30 p.m.
IV. Utility Poles Status – Ellen Cummings, Regional Director/Verizon State Governmental Affairs
V. Consider Amendment(s) to Water Conservation Restrictions if needed
VI. Public Comments on Business Agenda
VII. Business Agenda (Board Discussion Items)
A. Monomoy Regional School District Committee (Chatham) Vacancy – Announce and Set Deadline for Applications B. Portion of Town Property at Stepping Stones; Declaration of Surplus for Affordable and/or Attainable Housing and Amendment to the Lease Agreement with Monomoy Regional School District to Exclude that Portion of the Property from Leased Premises C. Acceptance of Donation/Grant for Eldredge Garage Town Parking Lot Project; Agreement D. Options for (Property Tax) Relief to Year-Round Property Owners, Abatements, Exemptions E. Committee Appointment; Energy & Climate Action Committee F. Town Manager Report and Monthly Report for July 2022 |
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The MainsheetThe name of our e-newsletter was selected from submissions by our community.
In nautical terms a mainsheet is the line connected to the boom which allows a sailor to control the speed of a boat. We think that is fitting for an e-newsletter that can be used to quickly send out important information to our community or at a more leisurely rate for less pressing matters. It reflects Chatham’s maritime history, is reminiscent of the front page of a newspaper, and it is a fun play on Main Street, where you go to be part of all that is happening in Town! |
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