Chatham Voters Approve $44 Million Budget and $5 Million Senior Center Renovation

CHATHAM — May 10, 2025 — Chatham town meeting approves $44 million budget and $5 million senior center renovation while rejecting two high-profile zoning measures. Voters at the May 10 annual town meeting passed a $44,154,028 fiscal year 2026 operating budget — an 8.19 percent increase backed 9 to 0 by the Finance Committee and approved 365 to 146 — alongside a $5 million renovation of the Center for Active Living at 193 Stony Hill Road, funded entirely from free cash and approved 440 to 88. The meeting also authorized $32 million in sewer expansion borrowing contingent on a May 15 debt exclusion referendum, passing 426 to 75 after a voter amendment to strip grinder pump funding from the article failed 213 to 281. The proposed West Chatham Neighborhood Center zoning district, five years in development by the Planning Board, fell short of the required two-thirds at 253 to 143, and a citizen petition to ban turboprop and jet aircraft at Chatham Municipal Airport received 192 in favor and 166 opposed — a majority but not the required two-thirds. Voters rejected a $59,175 airport capital improvement match outright, 199 to 231, after opponents argued the revolving fund authorized earlier in the meeting already covered the expense, and approved an amendment to the Affordable Housing Trust governance structure 280 to 63, reducing the required number of Select Board members on the trust from two to one.