Falmouth town election to address new fire station, wastewater and radioactive water

FALMOUTH — The town election on May 17 will include contested races for Select Board and School Committee and ballot questions asking voters to OK spending $10 million to build a new fire station and $25 million to overhaul the sewage treatment plant.

Voters will also be asked to go on record against plans by the owners of Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant to dump millions of gallons of radioactive water into Cape Cod Bay.

Who's running for election in Falmouth?

All positions are for three-year terms.

In the race for Select Board, three candidates are running for two open seats: incumbent Douglas Brown, Dianna Mota and Edwin Zylinski II.

In the race for School Committee, six candidates are running for three seats: incumbent Melissa Keefe, Shea Brown-Kirlew, Nancy Kerrigan, Margaret Souza, Michael Heylin, and Mark Mancini.

Town Clerk: Incumbent Michael Palmer will run uncontested.

Library Trustee: Incumbent Kathryn Elder and Mary Fran Buckley will run uncontested for two open seats.

Planning Board: Incumbents Patricia Kerfoot and Paul Dreyer will run uncontested for two open seats.

Town meeting members (Precinct 1): Nine candidates will run for nine open positions: Alfredo Aretxabaleta, Peter Waasdorp, Jr., David Martin, Albert Fitzelle, Richard Latimer, Matthew Waterbury, Thomas Peterson, Virginia Land McGuire, and Carissa Conner April. Of the nine candidates, Aretxabaleta is the only non-incumbent.

Town meeting members (Precinct 2): 11 candidates will run for nine open positions: Charles Rader, Susan Maddigan, Jared Goldstone, Keith Schwegel, Mary Patricia Barry, Gina Marie Torielli, Gerald Potamis, Gary Breitbord, Shannon Sylvester, Wendi Buesseler, and Robert Dugan. Maddigan, Schwegel, and Breitbord are non-incumbents.

Town meeting members (Precinct 3): Eight candidates will run for nine open positions: Anthony Fusaro, Edward Swartz, Donna Hurst, Julie Winling, Michael Palmer, Michael McCarthy, Thomas Walrath, Geralyn Schad. Schad is the only non-incumbent.

Town meeting members (Precinct 4): Nine candidates will run for nine open positions: Robert Baker, Barbara Schneider, Stephen Patton, Scott Thrasher, Wendy Vogel, Kathleen Beriau, Edwin Zylinski II, Tami Chase, Maureen O'Connell. Patton, Beriau, Zylinski II, and Chase are non-incumbents.

Town meeting members (Precinct 5): 11 candidates will run for nine open positions: Janet Azarovitz, Ruth Brazier, Russell Ferreira, Debra Rogers, Michael Heylin, Douglas Brown, Patricia Oshman, Michael Kasparian, Nicholas Lowell, Kevin Murphy, Robert Young. Oshman and Brown are non-incumbents.

Town meeting members (Precinct 6): Nine candidates will run for nine open positions: James Morse, Kathryn Elder, Richard Duby, Andrea Thorrold, Leslie Paolucci, Michael Colgan, Debra Stiffel, Annie Cool, Kurt Stiffel. Duby and both Stiffels are non-incumbents.

Town meeting members (Precinct 7): Six candidates will run for nine open positions: Richard Bradley, Donald Weymouth, Donna Noonan, John Noonan III, Gerard Cogliano, and Tara Valley. Cogliano is the only non-incumbent.

Town meeting members (Precinct 8): 12 candidates will run for nine open positions: John Barkley, Alyssa Pohlman, Linda Davis, Leslie Lichtenstein, Amy Leonardi, Jason Hyatt, Megan Braga, Henry Dick, Sarah Floyd, Kim Comart, Robert Wilber, Laurie Robbins. Wilber, Comart, and Dick are non-incumbents.

Town meeting members (Precinct 9): Eight candidates will run for nine open positions: David DuBois, Clayton Jones, David Haddad, Peter Hargraves, Deborah Winograd, Richard Goulart, Kara Galasso-Garcia, and Frank Geishecker III. All are incumbents.

After the election, any empty precinct seats are filled first by write-in candidates, or by appointment, said Palmer, the town clerk.

The Falmouth ballot questions

Question 1: This question is a Proposition 2 ½ debt exclusion to pay for designing and building a new fire station on Sandwich Road. Voters approved borrowing $10 million for the station at the April 4 town meeting.

Question 2: Voters asked to approve another Proposition 2 ½ debt exclusion to pay for improvements to sewage treatment plant at Blacksmith Shop Road. Voters approved borrowing $24 million for the improvements at the April 4 town meeting.

Question 3: This question would ask the Select Board to communicate with state officials to work against any plans to dump radioactive water in Cape Cod Bay by Holtec Decommissioning International. Holtec is the company in charge of the decommissioning of Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station.

Question 4: Voters asked to approve a charter amendment proposed at the Nov. 15, 2021 town meeting. Article 2 would be amended to support the town’s current method of considering the capital improvement budget at the fall town meeting and the operating budget at spring town meeting.

Question 5: This question would approve a charter amendment proposed at the Nov.15, 2021 town meeting. Article 2 would be amended to consolidate information about the town moderator’s responsibilities.

Question 6: This question would approve a charter amendment passed at the Nov. 15, 2021 town meeting. Article III and Article VII would be amended to clarify the Select Board’s ability to appoint governmental bodies.

Question 7: This question would approve a charter amendment passed at the Nov. 15, 2021 town meeting. Article 7 would be amended to clarify the Select Board’s sole responsibility of determining the size of governmental bodies.

Question 8: This question would approve a charter amendment passed at the Nov. 15, 2021 town meeting. Article 7 would be amended to make sure that the town manager prepares a capital improvement plan consistent with the strategic plan and the local comprehensive plan.

The town election will be held on Tuesday, May 17. Polls will be open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Where to vote in Falmouth

Precinct 1: Town Hall, 59 Town Hall Square

Precinct 2: John DeMello Senior Center, 300 Dillingham Ave.

Precinct 3: Falmouth High School Gymnasium, 874 Gifford St.

Precinct 4: St. Anthony's Lodge Building,167 East Falmouth Highway

Precinct 5: St. Elizabeth Seton Church Hall, 481 Quaker Road

Precinct 6: Falmouth High School Gymnasium, 874 Gifford St.

Precinct 7: Waquoit Congregational Church Hall, 15 Parsons Lane

Precinct 8: Navigator Club, 55 Ashumet Road

Precinct 9: Jewish Congregational Community Center, 7 Hatchville Road

Completed ballots can be returned by mail with pre-paid envelopes received with the ballot OR placed in the town hall drop box located in front of town hall.

Asad Jung can be reached at ajung@capecodonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Falmouth town election to vote on new fire station, sewer plant