The October 9, 2025 Meeting of the Barnstable Town Council was conducted in person. The public was able to attend in person or participate remotely in Public Comment or during a Public Hearing via Zoom. The public was able to view the meeting on Barnstable Government Access Xfinity Channel 8 or 1070 or in High Definition on Xfinity Channel 1072 or via the live stream through the Town website. Viewers can now watch BGA programming through our dedicated app available on both Apple and Android smartphones, as well as popular streaming platforms including Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire Stick. Town Council President Craig Tamash chaired the meeting and called the meeting to order. Town Clerk Ann Quirk took the Roll Call.  Councilors Felicia Penn and Paula Schnepp joined the meeting via Zoom so all votes were by roll call.

 

Town Councilor Betty Ludtke welcomed Master at Arms and Second Class Petty Officer Gunner’s Mate Brian Morrison to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. Officer Brian Morrison was born and raised in Hyannis, Massachusetts. He now lives in Centerville with his wife, Eren Celozzi Morrison, three daughters, and two granddaughters. He is the youngest of seven children, son to Mary Morrison, a lifetime educator in the Nauset School system for 42 plus years and then St. Francis Xavier Prepatory School for another 10, and George Morrison who is profoundly missed as one of the Town of Barnstable’s well known Auxiliary Police Officers and then parking enforcement officer. He attended the Barnstable Public School system until he graduated from Barnstable High School in 1989. Three days after graduating he found himself at Great Lakes, Illinois in Navy bootcamp. Upon graduation from bootcamp he was stationed on the USS CONSTITUTION in Charlestown, MA for two years. He shipped out to Charleston, SC at the start of the Persian Gulf War, known as Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. After his active-duty deployment and service was completed, he immediately joined the United States Navy Reserves, where he would serve until 2015. During that time, he served as a Navy Seabee and the Chief Security Officer for the Commanding Officer. In 1993, as he was serving in the reserves, he was lucky enough to get hired as a Barnstable Police summer officer for three or four summers. In 1997, he was then hired full-time. During his reserve service duty he was lucky enough to travel to about 65 countries over the years and managed to visit all 50 states in the United States. However he always came back home to good ol’ Cape Cod and the Town of Barnstable. He is currently one of the Barnstable Police Department’s School Resource Officers, Civil Rights Officers, and Community Resource Officers among many other duties. He primarily works out of Barnstable United Elementary School and the Hyannis Youth and Community Center. He has two Associates degrees – one from Central Texas College and another from Cape Cod Community College. He also has a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Western New England College and a Masters Degree in Criminal Justice from Faulkner University in Montgomery, Alabama.

 

President Tamash asked all to remain standing for a Moment of Silence for all servicemen and women who have given their lives for the country.

 

Next was Public Comment which was followed by Council Response to Public Comment.

 

COMMUNICATIONS – from elected officials, boards, committees, and staff, commission reports, correspondence and announcements (will be taken up after the Orders of the Day)

 

Vice President Kris Clark announced that with the Communications section they are inviting two committee chairs  – one from a regulatory committee and one from an advisory committee – to present.

 

Overview of Open Space Committee – Farley Lewis, Vice Chair

Overview of Zoning Board of Appeals – Jake Dewey, Chair

 

President Tamash announced that Town Manager Communications for the period of September 17-October 7, 2025 had been pre-recorded and was shown on our Government Access Channel prior to the meeting. The recorded version of Mr. Ells’s Town Manager Communications may be viewed here and the itemized list is shared below:

  1. The Town Manager through the Finance Director has issued instructions to municipal departments for FY 2027 operating and capital budgets. The Calendar Year Town Manager Fee Hearing is planned for November 13, 2025 at 11:00 AM. A workshop with Town Council was held on September 18, 2025, focusing on fiscal policy and revenue strategy. We anticipate the next fiscal policy and revenue strategy workshop to occur in the first quarter of 2026. The updated budget calendar may be viewed here. For information on our fiscal year budgets, please view the Town’s Open Budget website at http://budget.townofbarnstable.us.
  2. The Town recently received its free cash certification from the Department of Revenue. Free cash is the amount of cash in the Town’s treasury on June 30th that is free of any encumbrance within the Town’s operating accounts. This includes cash for the General Fund and all nine enterprise funds. A total of $77 million was certified with $36 million in the General Fund and $41 million for the nine enterprise funds. The Town had a total of $363 million in its treasury on June 30th made up of 63 accounts deposited in 16 different institutions. Cape Cod Five and TD Bank had the largest cumulative deposits of around $60 million each for operating accounts. Rockland Trust has the largest total for investments with $120 million. Overall, around $260 million was in liquid investments. The Town earned around $12 million in investment income in FY 2025 with $8 million allocated to operations and $4 million to Trust funds. The free cash certification will be available on the Town’s website.
  3. The Town’s FY 2024 audit and Schedule of Federal Expenditure Awards were recently completed by the Town’s auditors as required under the Town’s Charter. The delay in completing the reports was due to the auditors undergoing two mergers in the past year. Power and Sullivan merged with Marcum, LLC which then merged to CBIZ. CBIZ has already begun the FY 2025 audit and will be in the Town Hall this month working on the audit. We expect to be back on schedule this year with an expected deadline of December 31, 2025. The audit report will be available on the Town’s website.
  4. In accordance with M.G.L. Chapter 44, §31D I have authorized deficit spending for snow and ice removal in Fiscal Year 2026. The budget for snow and ice removal in Fiscal Year 2026 is $975,000; the same amount budgeted in Fiscal Year 2025.
  5. On September 29, 2025, the Town of Barnstable requested the assistance of Senator Cyr’s office in securing the release of $1.6 million dollars from Chapter 113 of the Acts of 2018 for “improvements to the National Guard Armory in the city known as Barnstable, including, but not limited to, preliminary and final design of expected improvements, hazardous materials removal and construction”. This request comes at a critical time. The National Guard Armory is in disrepair. The Town of Barnstable has allocated almost $4M to perform preliminary design, abate hazardous materials, and preserve the exterior of this historic structure. This infrastructure investment is critical to supporting a historic municipal building to maintain the exterior and interior of the facility towards extension of its useful life and revitalizing the structure into public community space. The additional $1.6 million dollars would provide for further improvements to the interior of the structure to once again make it a prominent public space. We will keep you advised of our progress on the release of these funds.
  6. The Cape Cod Commission is currently updating the Regional Policy Plan. Based on previous Town Council discussion and public input received through various planning initiatives, staff submitted a comment letter on September 22, 2025, on behalf of the Town. The comment letter may be viewed here.
  7. In prior Town Manager communications, I have reported on the fiscal limitations of the State Revolving Fund. The Cape Cod and Islands Water Protection Fund Management Board continues to closely monitor the progress of discussions by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection on this matter. As referenced in my September 2, 2025, Town Manager communication, a letter from Kevin Galligan, Chair of the Cape Cod and Islands Water Protection Fund Management Board, was sent sharing anticipated Cape project costs for the next five years and seeking information on the anticipated capacity of the 2026 Clean Water State Revolving Fund Intended Use Plan. I have continued communications with the Cape Delegation and the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs in support of the proposed Environmental Bond bill. We will continue to advance strategy discussions with the state on this critical funding source.
  8. The Town has completed the 2024 program year for the Community Development Block Grant program and is preparing the Consolidated Annual Performance Evaluation Report (CAPER) for the period of July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025. The Draft 2024 CAPER is available for review on the project website which is accessible from the Town’s website, Planning & Development Department webpage listed under “Programs” as “Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)”. Written comments received on or before Monday, October 6, 2025, will be included in the final submission to HUD.

 

Act on Public Session Minutes: September 18, 2025

 

WORKSHOP DISCUSSION

Special Events / Use of Town Property

David Anthony, Director of Asset Management, and Mark Ells, Town Manager

Mr. Anthony’s PowerPoint may be viewed here.

 

ORDERS OF THE DAY

 

OLD BUSINESS

AGENDA ITEM 2026-014 Amending the Code of the Town of Barnstable, Part I General Ordinances, to insert a new Chapter 48 Stretch Code.

Presented by Jim Kupfer, Planning & Development Director and Barry Sheingold, Chair, Infrastructure & Energy Committee. Brian Florence, Inspectional Services Director / Building Commissioner; Lisa Sullivan, Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER); and Michael Rossi, PSD Consulting, DOER’s technical consultant, were available to respond to Councilor questions. David Anthony, Director of Asset Management, and Sean Hogan, Sustainability Manager, were also present.

During the Town Council discussion, Councilor Matthew Levesque joined the meeting in person.

The item was approved. Mr. Kupfer’s PowerPoint may be viewed here.

 

AGENDA ITEM 2026-035 Appointments to a Board/Committee/Commission: Disability Commission: Christopher Bartley as a regular member to a term expiring 6/30/2028; Planning Board: Catherine Finkenstaedt as a regular member to a term expiring 6/30/2028.

Motion to bifurcate the Planning Board appointment from this item and return the position to the Appointments Committee did not pass.

The item was approved.

 

AGENDA ITEM 2026-036 Reappointments to a Board/Committee/Commission: Human Services Committee: Kimberly Crocker-Crowther as a regular member to a term expiring 6/30/2028; Planning Board: Raymond Sexton as a regular member to a term expiring 6/30/2028; Waterways Committee: Gary Shramek as a regular member to a term expiring 6/30/2028.

The item was approved.

 

NEW BUSINESS

CONSENT AGENDA
AGENDA ITEM 2026-037 Appointments to a Board/Committee/Commission: Council on Aging: Larry Morin as an alternate member to a term expiring 06/30/2027; Conservation Commission: Rob Demelo, as a regular member to a term expiring 06/30/2028; Recreation Commission: Christina Carrington, as a regular member to a term expiring 06/30/2028; Youth Commission: Nina Wang, as a student member to a term expiring 06/30/2026; Zoning Board of Appeals: Manny Alves from an associate member to a full member to a term expiring 06/30/2026; Debra Dworkis, as an associate member to a term expiring 06/30/2027; and AGENDA ITEM 2026-038 Reappointments to a Board/Committee/Commission: Conservation Commission: F.P. Tom Lee, as a regular member to a term expiring 06/30/2028; Peter Sampou as a regular member to a term expiring 06/30/2028; Open Space Committee: Catherine Gulliver, as a regular member to a term expiring 06/30/2028; Farley Lewis, as a regular member to a term expiring 06/30/2028 were referred to a Second Reading on 10/23/2025.

 

AGENDA ITEM 2026-039 Amending the Code of the Town of Barnstable, Part I General Ordinances, Chapter 37, Boards, Committees and Commissions to revise the Appointments Committee and to add a new Zoning and Regulatory Committee of the Town Council was referred to a Public Hearing on 10/23/2025.

 

The next regularly scheduled Town Council Meeting will be held on Thursday, October 23, 2025. The public is able to view through Xfinity High-Definition Channel 1072 (or Xfinity Channel 8 or 1070) or Live Streaming on the Town of Barnstable’s website. Viewers can now watch BGA programming through our dedicated app available on both Apple and Android smartphones, as well as popular streaming platforms including Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire Stick. Real-time public comment may be addressed to the Barnstable Town Council utilizing the Zoom video link or telephone number and access meeting code which will be included on the Agenda. Written Comments may be submitted to:  https://tobweb.town.barnstable.ma.us/boardscommittees/towncouncil/Town_Council/Agenda-Comment.asp. The meeting Agenda will be available on the Town of Barnstable’s website (www.townofbarnstable.us).