Falmouth Town Meeting: No funding for urine diversion, real estate transfer fee passes

An article proposing the funding of a pilot program for an alternative wastewater treatment option known as urine diversion was top of mind at the Monday night Falmouth town meeting as residents considered 37 warrant articles up for vote in a series of spirited debates.

Town officials and residents gathered in the Lawrence School auditorium to vote on the articles outlined in the warrant, many of which were voted on in one motion without discussion. Article 22, which was the petition to fund a urine diversion pilot program, did not pass.

All other warrant articles were voted through, including an article funding the town’s $164 million fiscal 2025 operating budget and another proposing the implementation of a real estate transfer fee as a stream of revenue for the Affordable Housing Fund.

Falmouth has a representative town meeting, where all voters elect members and those members then vote on all town meeting matters.

Wastewater program

The article relating to funding for a urine diversion pilot program as an alternative form of sewage treatment, which would remove nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater, encouraged roughly an hour of debate before it was voted down by a two-thirds majority.

Supporters of the petition said the program was necessary to combat pollution and freshwater contamination caused by septic systems and ineffective sewering, while those who were opposed it pointed to what they said was a lack of planning and available funding.

Kim Comart, a petitioner of article 32 and founder of the Falmouth Pond Coalition, said urine diversion is effective, inexpensive and ecologically friendly.

“Urine entering our groundwater via septics is by far the single leading cause of the degradation of our ponds, estuaries and bays,” Comart said at the meeting. “I believe we will be making a big mistake if we, as a town, fail to give (urine diversion) a fair test.”

Keith Schwegel, chair of the Falmouth Finance Committee, said at the meeting there were several problems with the program from a planning and financial standpoint.

“First of all, please notice that we did not take issue with the efficacy of urine diversion,” Schwegel said. “We're the Finance Committee, we're not the Science Committee, we stuck entirely to the proposal and the funding and the design of the testing program.”

Transfer fee

An article related to the implementation of a real estate transfer fee to promote affordable housing was passed with a considerable majority vote.

“If we don't find creative ways like this, to add money to build affordable housing, we're going to just be a retirement community for wealthy white people who want to live in Falmouth,” Michael Kasparian, president of the Falmouth Chamber of Commerce, said in the meeting. “That's the direction this town is going in.”

Falmouth has $8.5 million in the Affordable Housing Fund, but Falmouth Town Manager Mike Renshaw said some large housing projects could quickly drain the money. A transfer fee would be a tax on a graduated percentage of a property's selling price.

What else did Falmouth vote on at town meeting?

$187 million spring town meeting

The town spent approximately $187 million at this spring town meeting, according to the Falmouth Finance Committee. The next town meeting is scheduled to be held on Nov. 18.

For more information on the articles featured in the special town meeting warrant go to: https://www.falmouthma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/15990/2024-April-Warrant-Booklet.

Walker Armstrong reports on all things Cape and Islands, primarily focusing on courts, transportation and the Joint Base Cape Cod military base. Contact him at WArmstrong@capecodonline.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jd__walker.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Falmouth town meeting voters pass 36 warrant articles