Harwich Select Board triples recreation fund cap, cites decade of compliance failures

HARWICH -- February 9, 2026, Harwich Select Board votes to nearly triple recreation revolving fund cap after finance director finds decade of violations. Finance Director Jennifer Loughnane told the board Monday that the Recreation and Youth Department's revolving fund had exceeded its town-meeting-authorized spending limit in eight of the past 12 years, including one year ending with a negative cash balance prohibited under state law; she placed the account on hold when it hit its $175,000 cap this fiscal year. The board voted 4-0-1 to raise the cap to $400,000, pending parallel approval by the Finance Committee, which is scheduled to act Thursday. The board also confirmed a final labor contract with the Harwich Permanent Firefighters Association and a new deal with Fire Chief David LeBlanc, accepted a $50,000 gift from Paul Manning for the Saquatucket Harbor sidewalk project, bringing his cumulative donation toward the project to approximately $300,000, and approved a $93,950 contract with Henry T. Crosby and Son for a Revolutionary War monument at Island Pond Cemetery. Separately, Verizon engineer Randy Doyle appeared before the board to acknowledge that his company installed broadband conduit along several town roads without required approval, and the board voted unanimously to retroactively authorize the work.