More than two years after buying Sea Camps, Brewster voters to decide what's next

After many months of discussion and public input, Brewster is ready to ask voters about the future of the former Sea Camps properties — the 55-acre Bay property at 3057 Main St./Route 6A, and the 66-acre Pond property at 500 W.H. Besse Cartway.

Plans for both properties will be voted on at the May 11 annual town meeting. Residents should note that the meeting is taking place on a Saturday afternoon.

"We successfully held town meeting on Saturdays several times during the pandemic. Over the past couple years, we have heard from a number of parents with children that weeknight meetings are a challenge to attend," explained Town Manager Peter Lombardi.

With many important items on the agenda, including the long-term uses of the Sea Camps, he noted, "we wanted to try to maximize the number of residents who could attend and participate."

The 24-item agenda also includes the town's fiscal 2025 operating budget — a $26,523,727 level services plan — plus a $12,477,164 elementary schools budget proposal and $17,019,204 as Brewster's share of the Nauset Regional Schools budget.

Part of the total budget request for the Stony Brook and Eddy schools is contingent upon a $758,091 operating override that's also on the town meeting agenda and will additionally require approval at the polls on May 28. The primary driver for the extra funding is a significant increase in special education costs amounting to 30%, according to Lombardi.

What are the proposals for the Sea Camps?

Two committees, each with 11 residents, have been working for the past 14 months alongside town officials and Reed Hildebrand, a landscape architecture firm out of Cambridge, to develop plans for the Sea Camps properties.

Voters overwhelmingly approved buying the Sea Camps in fall 2021.

Plans for the Pond property call for conserving 56 acres, or 85% of the parcel. They include 1.6 miles of walking trails connecting to the adjacent 41-acre, town-owned Long Pond Woodlands conservation land, an improved gravel access drive, gravel parking areas for ADA accessible beach and trail access, nature-based programs through Mass Audubon and Brewster Conservation Trust partnerships, plus a 10-acre zone reserved along Route 137 for affordable community housing and wastewater treatment.

The Bay property vision includes 2.4 miles of walking trails, conservation of more than 10 acres, a little more than half a mile of biking trails and increased access from the rail trail to the property, Mass Audubon Nature Center and nature-base programs, continued beach and outdoor pool access, a fitness station loop, tennis courts, a playground, community garden plots, picnic and events space at the existing outdoor pavilion, and space for athletic fields, large gatherings and events.

The plan also includes community-use cabins with the potential for arts studios or residencies, pop-up events, and smaller gathering spaces; event and concessions space at the existing boathouse, educational and events space at the existing arts center; interim recreational uses or temporary office, classroom, or meeting space at the existing administration building, reuse of up to seven buildings for seasonal and year-round workforce housing, and an 8-acre area for future municipal uses.

Potential for a new community center on Bay property

The Bay property plan additionally sets aside land for a potential new community center, which is broken out into its own project.

If voters support this part of the plan, the town will seek approval to fund a feasibility study in the fall, which will allow creation of a more detailed proposal for voters to consider at a later date. Based on preliminary estimates the town would need a $36.3 million debt exclusion to design and build a community center.

Lombardi said there has long been interest among residents in a community center, "but it's the largest potential cost."

"That's why the (Bay property) committee was very intentional in setting aside an area for the facility, but they're not saying definitively we will be building a new facility," he said.

What costs are associated with the Sea Camps plans?

If voters greenlight the plans for both properties, Lombardi said the projects would be implemented in multiple phases over the next 5-10 years. Voters would be asked to approve initial funding in the fall, through debt exclusions and other available sources.

According to town documents, the town would need to issue about $20.6 million in excluded debt to fully implement the plans for both properties, except the community center design and construction.

Lombardi noted that voters on May 11 will only weigh in on whether they wish to proceed with any or all of the Sea Camps plans. There are no actual funding requests yet.

"We anticipate if the plans are approved, we would move forward with three rounds of funding," he said. "The first round of funding we would ask Brewster residents to vote on next fall and that would allow us to do the Pond (property) plan and first two phases of the Bay property plan."

Later funding requests are three or four years out.

Even as the town looks at new costs associated with the Sea Camps, it's also retiring about $15 million in debts over the next 10 years.

For more information, visit: www.brewster-ma.gov/cape-cod-sea-camps-properties

What is a Town Meeting?

A town meeting is a gathering of a town’s eligible voters and is the legislative body for many towns in Massachusetts, according to the Secretary of the Commonwealth's website. Thirteen of the 15 Cape Cod towns have “open town meetings,” meaning all voters who live in that town may vote on all matters.

Where and what time is the Brewster Town Meeting?

Town meeting convenes at 1 p.m. at the Stony Brook Elementary School, 384 Underpass Road.

Where you can find the warrant

The warrant is online at Town Meeting/Elections | Town of Brewster (brewster-ma.gov).

Printed copies are available at the Town Hall, Council on Aging, and the Brewster Ladies Library, as well as at Ferretti’s Market, Village Marketplace, Ace Hardware, Brewster General Store, and Cumberland Farms.

Heather McCarron can be reached at hmccarron@capecodonline.com, or follow her on X @HMcCarron_CCT.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Trails, tennis, pool, community gardens plans at Brewster town meeting