Dennis special town meeting will tackle historical preservation, ambulance purchase

DENNIS — Out of the 24 articles on the Nov. 9 special town meeting warrant, seven seek to tap into Community Preservation Act money to pay for upkeep of town historical sites.

Article 4 will ask voters to transfer $720,000 out of ambulance receipts to buy a new ambulance at no direct cost to taxpayers.

"We usually ask voters to vote on it in annual town meetings, but since there’s a several year wait for it, we’re talking about it now,” said Select Board Chair Christopher Lambton.

Article 17 will ask voters to transfer $1.5 million from free cash into the wastewater stabilization fund, which will offer benefits for the town down the line, Lambton said.

The future of the former Nathaniel H. Wixon Innovation School in South Dennis is dealt with in Article 23 seeking $300,000 for the cost of assessment, survey and testing of the grounds.

“There’s a lot of land there and we need to make sure that we do the right thing with it,” said Lambton. “It is a great piece of property, in the heart of the town, and I think we'll be able to do some great work with it in the future.”

Why do historical preservation plans matter in Dennis?

Among the articles using Community Preservation Act money, Article 5 seeks $41,000 to spruce up Dennis Village Cemetery and Article 6 seeks $28,358 for architectural consultants to repair the Josiah Dennis Manse Museum.

“These articles are kind of showing that the town of Dennis loves its history and old buildings,” said Lambton.  “We're doing a better job of preserving these and keeping them up to date, so that way the historical sites will be with us for decades more.”

The Dennis Historical Commission is planning to build a brand new memorial to the American Revolution. In Article 10, the voters will be asked to approve a transfer of $5,000 from free cash to create a memorial.

“We don't have a Revolution memorial in town yet and so the Commission plans to build a new memorial to keep the history alive,” said Lambton.

What is a town meeting?

A town meeting is both an event and an entity, according to the Secretary of the Commonwealth website. As an event, it is a gathering of a town’s eligible voters, and is referred to as “the town meeting.” As an entity, it is the legislative body for towns in Massachusetts, and is referred to simply as “town meeting.” Thirteen of the 15 Cape Cod towns including Dennis have “open town meetings,” meaning all voters who live in that town may vote on all matters. Falmouth, though, has a “representative town meeting,” where all voters elect town meeting members who then vote on all town meeting matters. The town of Barnstable is governed by an elected town council rather than by a town meeting.

When and where is the Dennis town meeting?

The Dennis town meeting is at 7 p.m. Nov. 9 at the new Intermediate School at 286 Station Ave. in South Yarmouth.

Where can I find the warrant?

For warrant information, go to https://www.town.dennis.ma.us/town-clerk/pages/town-meeting-information

Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Cape Cod Times subscription. Here are our subscription plans.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Sewer, ambulance, preservation expenses on tap for Dennis town meeting