Fifth Annual Meeting of Wellfleet Non-Resident Taxpayers Association
Minutes of August 1, 2005
May Ruth Seidel, President, called the Association s annual meeting to order at 7:30 PM. The meeting, which was held in the Wellfleet Senior Center and attended by about 90 people,was co-sponsored with the Wellfleet Forum. It featured an informational program about the future of the Town with Rex Peterson, Ben Gitlow and Dennis O Connell as speakers, all of whom are members of the Local Comprehensive Planning Committee.
A motion to approve the minutes of last year s annual meeting, which was held on August 22, 2004, was approved unanimously. The treasurer s report, which showed a balance of $6209.69, was also approved.
Report of the Nominating Committee. Sam Frank, chair of the Nominating Committee, presented the Committee s slate of board members and officers to serve terms commencing in August 2005. Other members of the Committee were Moe Barocas, Lila Croen, Karen Holtkamp, Bob Mangiaratti and May Ruth Seidel.
Nominated to serve two-year terms as officers were Aida Donald, President; Sam Frank, Vice President; Jim Hood, Vice President; Lila Croen, Secretary (incumbent); and Curtis Lippincott, Treasurer (incumbent). Renominated to serve two-year terms as Directors were Tom Baratz, David Garrison, Marian Palley, May Ruth Seidel, Marilyn Silver and Mary von Kaesborg. Nominated to serve their first terms on the board were Diane Mangiaratti, for a two-year term; Alice Iacuessa, Jerome Sadow and John Siegel, were nominated for one-year terms. In the absence of additional nominations from the floor, a motion to approve the slate of the Nominating Committee was passed unanimously.
Before handing the gavel to Aida Donald, May Ruth Seidel, expressed her thanks for everyones support and participation during her tenure as President. Aida Donald then expressed the appreciation of the Association for the exemplary leadership that May Ruth has provided, acknowledging her as “our George Washington”.
In the absence of old or new business, Aida introduced Dorothy Altman, chair of the Association s Planning Committee. Dorothy then introduced the evening s speakers: Rex Peterson, Assistant Town Administrator/Town Planner, Dennis O Connell, chair of Wellfleet s Planning Board, and Ben Gitlow, chair of the Local Comprehensive Planning Committee.
Respectfully submitted, August 13, 2005
Lila G. Croen, Secretary
Notes from August 1, 2005 General Membership Meeting
Wellfleet Non-Resident Taxpayers Association
Rex Peterson described several planning initiatives that are underway in the Town. These involve Town staff and volunteers in projects that are attempting to define Wellfleet's path to the future and make the best use of its natural human resources. Among these initiatives are the following:
· Open Space and Recreation Plan. The 1998 plan has been updated and defines goals for acquiring, managing and preserving permanently protected open space within the Town. This plan qualifies the Town for funding under the State s Self-Help Program. $300,000 in grants has recently been received for the purchase of the Rinzler property and the final lot of the Ernst land purchases. The Committee has also recently released a trail guide to the Fox Island Marsh and Box Turtle Lane properties, which is available at Town Hall.
· The final draft of the updated Harbor Management Plan has recently been completed and is available on the Town s website for review and comment. Several meetings have been scheduled during the summer and fall to provide opportunities for community input and comment.
· In December 2004 the Town received final certification of its Pre-Disaster Mitigation Plan from FEMA. The plan reviews the kinds of damage that have occurred during natural disasters such as hurricanes and blizzards, and develops a strategy to lessen their impact before the disaster occurs. The primary source of damage identified in Wellfleet is flooding and the proposals include improving road drainage and runoff, public education and early notification.
· The Community Preservation Act was adopted at the Town election. This replaces the Cape Cod Land Bank, which did not allow for State matching funds. Current estimates are that that Wellfleet should raise approximately $260,000 locally from the surcharge on property taxes, and that this will be matched by the State at 100% for the next 4-6 years for a total of $520,000. These funds can be used for open space, affordable housing and historic preservation.
· Selectmen have been discussing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Town and the Cape Cod National Seashore for the Herring River restoration project. Once there is a consensus on a plan, another agreement will be developed for implementation of the plan and restoring tidal flow to the River.
· A Lower Cape Planning and Development Roundtable has been formed to look at planning and development issues common to Eastham, Wellfleet and Truro. Its next meeting is scheduled for September 20th and 4:00 PM.
· It is hoped that the State will pass special legislation that will enable the Housing Authority to serve as trustees of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Legislation is also pending to extend the tax exemption for property rented affordably to units that pre-existed the AADU by-law. 13 units have been approved so far under this by-law, which means that 13 individuals have found affordable year-round housing at no cost to the Town.
· A $50,000 grant application has been submitted to the State for a Ready Resource grant to carry on planning for the former Catholic Church at 335 Main Street. The funds will be used to hire a consultant who will recommend a combination of uses that will make economic sense for a developer.
· $25,000 has been received for implementation grants from the Cape Cod Commission.
Dennis O Connell then spoke about the process being followed in revising the 1995 Local Comprehensive Plan (LCP). State law and the Cape Cod Commission Act provide that a town may submit an LCP. The advantages of such a plan are that it provides direction for the Town; fulfills some State requirements for charging impact fees, negotiating development agreements and accessing funds from the State and the County; important issues are addressed; and it is a good repository for data.
The current LCP committee was initiated in 2004 and reconstituted in 2005 with Ben Gitlow as chair and Dennis O Connell as vice-chair. The charge to the Committee from the Selectmen (BOS) is that it review the 1995 plan, develop a community vision, coordinate and oversee LCP update and present its findings to the BOS, submit the plan to the Cape Cod Commission for certification, submit it to Town Meeting and recommend how to implement the program. He described the procedure to be followed for approval and certification. The survey that has been conducted of the community is one source of information for the Committee.
Ben Gitlow then presented a summary of the survey results, stating that it is one of many planning documents that the Committee is reviewing. 500 permanent residents and 1000 non-resident taxpayers were surveyed, based on proportional representation of Wellfleet households. Responses were received from 680 homeowners, with a slightly higher response rate from non-residents. For the most part, full-time and part-time respondents expressed similar views about the issues that they viewed as most and least important. Survey results are available on the Town's website and in the library. Ben commented on the results and some of the data was questioned from the floor.
At the conclusion of the meeting Dale Donovan, chair of the BOS, paid tribute to May Ruth Seidel for organizing the Wellfleet Non-Resident Taxpayers. He acknowledged that although initially there was some trepidation in the Town about what the impact of this organization would be, under her leadership it has become a vital and positive aspect of Wellfleet.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:45PM.
Respectfully submitted, August 13, 2005,
Lila G. Croen, Secretary
Wellfleet Non-Resident Ta
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