Harwich Charter Commission Sets Two-Thirds Rule for Capital Plan Queue-Jumpers

HARWICH — May 14, 2026 — Harwich Charter Commission reaches consensus on capital plan supermajority rule at 44th meeting. The eight-member commission, meeting May 14, voted unanimously to accept the resignation of member Lou Urbano and agreed by consensus to leave the seat vacant rather than appoint a replacement this late in the process, citing General Law Chapter 43B Section 7, which permits a commission to continue acting notwithstanding a vacancy. Town Administrator Jay McGrail attended as a guest and told members he was comfortable delivering the budget by the first Monday in February — one week earlier than the current charter requires — and said he distributes the budget simultaneously to both the Select Board and the Finance Committee on the preceding Friday, a practice members said they want codified to eliminate the current two-week lag before the Finance Committee receives warrant articles. On capital outlay, the commission reached working consensus on four principles: the five-year plan rolls forward automatically each year; dollar-amount changes in out-years require no supermajority; items moving within years two through five require no two-thirds vote; but any item jumping directly to year one that was not previously on the plan requires a two-thirds town meeting vote — restoring a constraint that a prior legal opinion had effectively nullified. Commission spending to date totals $2,174.64, all payroll for the minutes taker, against a $125,000 budget; the $38,000 outside consultant contract has yet to generate a second billing because the firm has attended fewer than the threshold number of meetings required.