Harwich voters take first step to preserve historic church while adding workforce housing

HARWICH — A church constructed the year Edgar Allen Poe published his first detective story, the first steam fire engine was tested and William Henry Harrison gave the longest U.S. presidential inaugural speech got another step closer to the next chapter in its history at Tuesday's special town meeting.

Voters gathered at the Harwich Community Center approved putting aside $1 as a sort of place marker for town acquisition of the historic West Harwich First Baptist Church property in anticipation of future, private repurposing of the church for workforce housing.

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The church property and the town's role in helping it along toward restoration and a new use was the most discussed of the eight business items on the town meeting agenda.

Will town shoulder church's maintenance costs?

Located at 62 Main St., the Greek Revival church building was constructed in 1841, according to Massachusetts Historical Commission records, though the faith community dates to the mid-18th century. The congregation, considered the oldest Baptist community on the Cape, was formed in 1757 and first met in North Harwich.

There was some concern among town meeting voters about the potential for the town ending up with a rapidly decaying property that would suck up town money to maintain it while awaiting a suitable redevelopment plan.

"We've had kind of a past history with buildings that are acquired by the town and then years later we're still trying to decide what to do with them," Craig Chadwick said during the proceedings.

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But officials stressed the town will hold off on recording a taking of the property with the Registry of Deeds — thus leaving it under the ownership of the First Baptist Church— until a developer has been selected and both a purchase and sales agreement and a development agreement are in place. At that point, the property will immediately be turned over to the selected developer.

The vision is to see the church converted into about 14 workforce apartments, which would be constructed within the existing building while keeping the historic façade intact. A cemetery on the property will eventually be formally transferred to the Cemetery Commission, and the town is also interested in possibly siting a sewer pump station on a small portion of the lot.

Town would turn church over to developer

Town attorney John Giorgio said the town will next issue a request for proposals from developers. Workforce housing is in critically short supply on the Cape. He assured residents the town is not taking possession of the property at this time, and noted the town will require guarantees from the selected developer that "they will proceed with development of that property" before moving forward with any transference of the property.

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He said the building will also be subject to all of the special regulations of the District of Critical Planning Concern in which it is located. The district stretches along Rte. 28 from the town's border with Dennis to the Herring River, and includes more than 20 significant historical sites.

The town meeting's action will also help maintain the historic character of the neighborhood, referred to as "Captains' Row."

Adding housing, protecting history

"The choice tonight is to save a building that is a landmark and that is an essential kind of piece on the face of Harwich, or let it go," resident Duncan Berry said.

He said the private-public arrangement gives the town "the ability to consolidate a ragtag lot" and "maintain a magnificent and important building, retrofit it for the 21st century and keep our village intact."

Giorgio said he thinks it is important for residents to realize the project is "not necessarily for the town to get a lot of money" out of it, as proceeds will eventually be transferred to the present owners. What the town does get out of it are enforceable historic and use restrictions, 14 units of much-needed workforce housing, and a property "that goes back on the tax rolls," he said.

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Answering concerns about the town incurring costs associated with cleaning up the property's title issues, Board of Selectmen Chair Michael MacAskill said the selected developer will be required to take on all title work, in addition to the appraisal.

"We are not asking you for anything other than $1 to save this building from falling in on itself," he told voters, and "to continue the dream of Captain's Row."

Officials also assuaged a concern raised about the potential for a town sewer pump station to be constructed on the site.

Resident Sharon Foster wondered about a pump station going onto a property where the town is concerned about maintaining historical character, noting it defeats the purpose of maintaining the historic character to have a modern facility there.

"This is our welcome to Harwich location, this is the beginning of Captains' Row," she said. "Is it (a pump station) going to be required to have the same historic exterior so that it fits in?"

Water and Sewer Superintendent Daniel Pelletier said if a station is constructed there, it would be designed to fit in, just as has been done with other stations in town.

"We would certainly make this building aesthetically similar to the church or other adjacent structures," he said.

Land purchase ahead of sewer work OK'd

In other business Tuesday night, voters approved a $105,000 land purchase in anticipation of installing dry sewer lines under Route. 28 as part of phase 3 of the town's comprehensive wastewater management plan.

Officials said they want to get pipes into the ground ahead of road improvements and resurfacing the state is planning. The timing is of the essence, they said, since the state will prohibit reopening the road for at least five years after the improvements and resurfacing are complete.

The Finance Committee expects a funding request for the actual construction work will come before voters at the annual town meeting next spring.

Funding to review town charter gets green light

Voters additionally approved spending $75,000 to hire consultants who will review and recommend changes to the town's charter and general bylaws.

Officials expect voters will be asked to start considering changes to the charter and its associated bylaws as early as next spring. Public comment into charter changes will be sought prior to putting proposals before the meeting.

Town will hire manager for museum project

Another $150,000 was approved to hire an owner's project manager to oversee foundation restoration work on the historic Brooks Academy Museum building. The 19th-century building served as a private academy for higher education beyond the elementary level, open both to boys and girls.

The work involves shoring up the building by replacing its 1844 foundation and digging out crawl spaces to incorporate into a larger basement, according to David Spitz, chair of the Brooks Academy Museum Commission. Other work includes new footings, structural columns and beams, among other measures.

The work is needed "so that the building will not continue to slowly crumble," Spitz said.

When the building was constructed, it was built on round Cape Cod stone "which does not do so well" over time, he said.

The project was approved at the annual town meeting in the spring under the capital outlay program for fiscal 2023, but a companion article seeking funding for owner's project manager services was inadvertently left off the final warrant.

Union contract obligation, town surveyor funded

A total of $22,916was also added to the fiscal 2022 operating budgets of several town departments to fund contractual agreements between the town and the Management Employees Association, SEIU Local 888.

Voters also OK'd $65,000 to fund the position of town surveyor, an existing position that was vacated in 2019 as the result of a retirement. Money has not been put into the line item since the 2018 annual town meeting.

Town Administrator Joseph Powers said the town has an obligation, under labor laws, to fill the position. The town has been relying on vendor contracts to get surveying work done during the interim.

Savings in school assessments will lower tax rate

Tuesday's special town meeting ended with news that the town is realizing savings in assessments for the Monomoy Regional School District and Cape Cod Regional Technical High School, which will equate to a lower tax rate for the coming year.

The town went with a conservative budget for the Monomoy district at the spring town meeting. Because of the over-budgeting, voters on Tuesday readily approved reducing the line item by $739,747 from a little more than $28 million to $27.3 million.

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Voters also approved reducing the appropriation for Cape Cod Regional by $183,394 from about $2.1 million to about $1.9 million. The reduction was the result of an unexpected rebate from the regional school district owing to favorable interest rates obtained for funding the construction of the new high school.

Powers said voters can expect further tax relief to come up at the spring town meeting.

Contact Heather McCarron at hmccarron@capecodonline.com. Follow her on Twitter: @HMcCarron_CCT.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Harwich hopes to turn historic church into workforce housing