Brewster Community Network (BCN) hosted a virtual forum at 6:30 pm on Thursday, April 29 focusing on four articles to be voted upon at Brewster’s Annual Town Meeting at 10 am on Saturday, May 15. Featured articles include citizens’ petitions to ban hunting in the Punkhorn Parklands, to raise the threshold for initiation of private road betterment projects, and to require a 5-year funding plan for operating the town’s proposed dog park. In addition, the article to allocate $185,000 in Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding for the Brewster Dog Park’s construction will be introduced.
Supporters of the petitioned articles will advocate their positions and respond to audience Q&A, and town officials will be on hand to discuss other articles. Confirmed speakers include
- Betsy Smith, lead petitioner of Article 25, which would ban the discharge of firearms and other forms of recreational hunting on town properties collectively referred to as the Punkhorn Parklands
- Donna Cormier, lead petitioner of Article 24, which would require a 2/3rds vote of support from affected property owners, up from the present 50% +1 vote, in order to initiate town-sponsored private road betterment projects
- Jillian Douglass, lead petitioner of Article 21, which would direct the Select Board to create a 5-year plan for funding the dog park’s operation, including waste disposal costs
- Sharon Marrotti, representing the Community Preservation Committee, which voted 4-to-3 in support of contributing $185,000 in CPA funds under Article 8 to help with dog park construction
In addition, Peter Lombardi, town administrator, will review outdoor town meeting procedures and answer questions on other articles on the warrant. Tom Lincoln will speak on behalf of The Dog Park Development Committee which is responsible for bringing the dog park project forward for CPA funding consideration.