Town meeting season on Cape Cod and the islands was in full swing this week with voters from at least seven towns coming out to participate in the distinctly New England form of democracy.
Nantucket said yes to allowing men and women to go topless at both public and private beaches; Dennis took one of its first and most significant steps forward on a 40-year sewer plan to address nitrogen pollution; Sandwich overturned a prohibition on recreational marijuana.
Here are the highlights from meetings on Monday and Tuesday night this week.
Nantucket
The vote on Nantucket to allow women to go topless on local beaches passed by 85 votes, 327 to 242.
Those in favor of the article pushed for equality for women. That included Island resident Marjory Trott. She said women who choose to go topless on the beach will help normalize the female body and promote body positivity.
“People will grow up not expecting some idealized body,” she told her fellow voters on town meeting floor. By normalizing female bodies just like males, Trott said , “little boys don't grow up expecting their wives to look like what they saw on the internet. Little girls don't grow up feeling horrible about themselves because they don't grow up and look down and it doesn't look like what they saw in the pictures."
Others on the floor said that the island has a long history of supporting equality for women and this was a step towards progress.
The town meeting vote still needs approval from the state attorney general’s office, as do most articles that are passed at town meetings.
Those who opposed the measure say Nantucket will get a negative reputation, especially in the national media. That included Steve Roethke, who called himself "an old dinosaur," before arguing against the petition.
“We have to focus on decency and sensibility rather than sensationalism,” Roethke said.
The topless beach discussion was held the second night of town meeting on Nantucket.
About 900 voters came out for the first night, when a large focus of the meeting was on the short-term rental market.
Voters approved a new registry for the vacation rentals, but it barely passed the needed 2/3 majority.
Those supporting the new rules say that short-term rentals have compounded Nantucket's year-round housing crisis.
“How many houses are sitting empty right now because of short-term rentals?” Nantucket resident Robert Bates asked on town meeting floor.
But others like David Werth said the regulations before voters Monday needed more review.
“This commits the police department to provide more resources and be an enforcement agency, which is totally inappropriate,” Werth said. “At some point, the registry is going to be necessary, but that time is not now."
The Nantucket health board will also serve as an enforcement agency, reviewing noise and parking complains raised over short-term rentals.
While the town-sponsored article passed, voters wanted further study on two other articles that would have further regulated the short-term rental market. One proposition would allow only year-round Nantucket residents to register short-term rentals without a special permit.
Dennis
Dennis voters last year decided against funding the design of a town-run sewage treatment plant. Some residents had questions about the proposal, including: what was becoming of a flagging tri-town agreement with Yarmouth and Harwich, and how much the 40-year sewer plan would cost in total.
Last year's vote was a blow to volunteers and town officials who had been working on the town’s wastewater treatment plans for nearly 2 decades.
On Tuesday, town meeting changed directions on the issue. Tuesday’s vote to move forward with the design phase was a big moment for select board member Paul McCormick, whose been working on Dennis’s nitrogen problem for years.
McCormick says the vote signifies that residents want to see coastal estuaries protected.
“The tide has turned — so to speak — on environmental issues, and I do believe the town finally saw that moving ahead with wastewater is a really important thing," McCormick told CAI, when reached Wednesday morning.
The design work for the treatment plant and the first phase of the 4-decade long project is expected to cost a little less than $8 million dollars.
McCormick says it still could be a couple years before pipes are starting to go into the ground and construction begins on the treatment plant. But with the designs, they’ll know more about the total cost of the project.
Eastham
Eastham created two new positions at town meeting Monday in an effort to help an overburdened fire department and better respond to mental health and other 911 calls.
One will be a part-time social worker, while the other will be a full-time so-called "Community Risk Reduction Officer."
Eastham Fire Chief Dan Keane says the new officer will help save time for paramedics by being the first to respond to non-emergencies. He cited an example: “Taking an ambulance crew to go help someone organize their medications,” the chief said. “We can’t afford to have a whole ambulance crew on scene for 45 minutes.”
Chief Keane says the idea is also to be proactive.
"There are certain residents — elderly, mental health issues, etc. — and we go to them frequently," he said. " So instead of waiting for them to call us, we reach out to them.”
Keane says the new officer will be a trained firefighter and paramedic with a salary between $65,000 - $85,000 a year.
Eastham voters also passed a number of articles aimed at easing the housing crisis, like purchasing the Beach Plum Motor Lodge on Route 6, with the expectation of turning the property into housing.
Harwich
Harwich town meeting approved a new agreement to fund elementary school education on Monday, as the town tries to distance itself from Chatham's declining population.
Harwich residents have paid a higher share of the Monomoy regional school district budget, with student enrollment from Chatham dropping.
Under the new proposal, each town would be responsible for funding its own elementary school.
Harwich town meeting endorsed the agreement unanimously and without debate Monday. The town is expected to save about a quarter million dollars a year.
Monomoy school committee chair Meredith Henderson said in a statement that she appreciates the vote from Harwich town meeting.
“Approval of the changes to the regional agreement at Harwich Town Meeting is the first step in providing financial relief for Harwich, while also supporting the much smaller elementary school in Chatham — changes that are a win-win for both towns,” Henderson said.
Chatham Town Meeting will take up the question later this month, and Henderson said she’s optimistic the vote will pass there, as well.
Sandwich, Mashpee, Bourne
Voters in Sandwich on Monday overturned a ban on recreational marijuana sales at town meeting.
Based on reporting from the Enterprise Newspapers, the petition article passed by about 300 votes to 100, opening a pathway for recreational marijuana dispensaries in town.
Voters in Sandwich also rejected a proposal to bring back a ban on plastic water bottles. That was after voting to overturn the plastic ban in November.
Sandwich wasn’t the only town frustrated with the lack of water bottles on store shelves.
A ban Mashpee was set to go into effect in October based a previous town meeting, but voters on Monday decided to overturn that ban on a vote of about 220 to 150.
And in Bourne, all 21 articles on the warrant passed. That included a 73-million dollar budget, and the creation of a new fund that would help restore shellfish habitat.
Elsa Partan contributed to this report
This post has been edited to correct the name spelling of Marjory Trott
