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Yarmouth town meeting approves 14 warrant articles including wastewater planning, Route 6A design and PFAS study
Summary
Voters at the Town of Yarmouth’s Nov. 19 special town meeting approved 14 warrant articles covering budget items, public safety recruitment, wastewater planning, Route 6A design work, a PFAS groundwater evaluation and zoning amendments; most measures passed by voice vote or majority.
YARMOUTH, Mass. — The Town of Yarmouth approved all 14 warrant articles presented at its Nov. 19 Fall Special Town Meeting, adopting a range of measures from routine budget housekeeping to multi‑year planning efforts for wastewater and streetscape improvements.
The meeting approved funding moves that included appropriations to maintain the town’s OPEB schedule, a $100,000 pilot to support police and fire recruitment, a transfer to the Barnstable County retirement assessment, fleet equipment for the police department, and an extension of a temporary generator rental at the police station. Finance director Jennifer Mullen reported certified free cash of $11,805,769; if all articles passed the town would spend $4,013,000 from that balance, leaving $7,792,769.
Voters also backed steps aimed at multi‑phase infrastructure and planning: a groundwater discharge‑related planning analysis connected with Phase 1 of the town’s wastewater program (including field investigations and hydrologic work tied to a DEP submittal), and a separate prefunding appropriation from wastewater retained earnings to support future municipal wastewater design and construction. The meeting approved funding to advance pre‑25% design work for the Route 6A Village Center improvements, a roughly $2.7 million construction project the town hopes to coordinate with MassDOT.
Other approved items included partial funding for an irrigation backbone at a new waterfront park with a 1,200‑foot boardwalk loop, an allocation to study PFAS contamination in local groundwater (with point sources named in discussion including Barnstable Gateway Airport and a county fire training facility), and two zoning amendments: one changing the affordable housing payment formula to base the fee on median home price (Warren Group data) and another limiting seasonal employee housing use in HMOD 2 motels to 15% of rooms (April 1–Oct. 31).
Several articles drew extended public comment and staff presentations — notably the school resource officer funding, the police/fire recruitment pilot, Route 6A design, the wastewater planning items and the PFAS evaluation — but votes were taken after discussion and the motions carried as described from the floor. The meeting adjourned after all articles were decided.
The most recent procedural steps: all motions were moved and seconded on the floor and passed by either voice or majority vote; articles requiring a two‑thirds margin (zoning changes) passed by the requisite margin. No formal roll‑call vote tallies were recorded on the transcript for most articles beyond the moderator’s announcement that the motion carried.
