Select Board begins townwide fee review; departments propose increases for disposal, beaches, water and permits

Summary

At the Select Board’s April 1 meeting, town departments presented fee-review proposals: DPW recommended raising the nonresident disposal sticker and beach parking fees; water rates are proposed to rise 8% per year for two years to fund capital projects; community development and building departments signaled fee increases to better cover costs.

The Yarmouth Select Board held an extended discussion on a townwide review of fees, with presentations from Public Works, Community Development, Building/Health, Natural Resources, Recreation, Senior Services, Police, and the Town Clerk. The board framed the exercise as a three-step approach: an initial discussion (April 1), a first public hearing (rescheduled to May 6), and a second hearing (May 13) before any final board action.

Public Works (Jeff Colby, Public Works Director; Roby Whitehouse, Assistant DPW Director; Lori Bridal, Water & Wastewater Superintendent) recommended several targeted changes. For the transfer/disposal operation the department proposed raising the nonresident disposal sticker from about $192 to $250 to better align with neighboring communities; Colby said a town comparison showed Barnstable residents pay around $300. Colby said the town sold “just a little over 300 nonresident stickers” last year and estimated the change would generate roughly $20,000 of additional revenue; staff said a more detailed revenue impact analysis would be provided at the public hearing.

Beach parking was another focus. Colby proposed raising the daily visitor beach fee from $20 to $25 and increasing the weekly sticker from $75 to $100; the resident beach sticker would remain $35 for this season but the department…

Select Board begins townwide fee review; departments propose increases for disposal, beaches, water and permits

Summary

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