Harwich Select Board Backs Most CPC Articles, Rejects Both Chatham Housing Grants

HARWICH -- March 9, 2026, Harwich Select Board advances town meeting warrant while splitting on housing and rejecting Chatham grants. The board voted 3-2 Monday to recommend town meeting approve a Community Preservation Committee article replenishing the Harwich Affordable Housing Trust, which members said held roughly $280,000 after recent expenditures, while voting unanimously 0-5 against supporting two separate Penrose affordable housing articles in Chatham, with Chair Don noting that a prior contribution to an Orleans project yielded "neither money back nor acknowledgment." Resident Lou argued the trust had previously committed "a million dollars to a project that said they didn't need it" without public discussion. The board also voted 4-1 to support $667,500 in CPC funds for exterior renovation of the historic West Harwich Baptist Church, deferred a vote on artist studio rental rates of $275 to $800 per month at the town's cultural arts building pending review by the incoming town administrator, and heard Harbor Master John Harker's case for a $425,000 custom multi-mission harbor vessel alongside a $65,000 Long Pond boat replacement, with both capital requests held for the following week.