Harwich’s Community Preservation Committee (CPC) faces a significant financial gap as total funding requests for the 2026 cycle reach approximately $2.8 million, potentially exceeding the town’s available reserves. During the Jan. 8 meeting, members deliberated on a slate of 13 applications ranging from historic church restorations to regional housing initiatives, all while waiting for final certified figures from the Finance Department. Chair David Nixon noted that a budget presentation is scheduled for the upcoming Select Board meeting, adding, There's going to be a budget presentation Monday night... hopefully after Monday night, I can get on the board of selectmen agenda and ask for more information regarding the final certified accounts.

Member Mary Maslowski provided what she described as educated guesstimates based on working balance sheets in the absence of official certification. Her analysis showed roughly $1.34 million in undesignated funds, alongside specific allocations of $710,000 for historic preservation and $400,000 for open space. However, the housing bucket currently stands at zero. The state based on 2025 was giving us $348,687. I'm not clear which bucket that goes into for now, Maslowski explained. Kathy Green highlighted the tension between these estimates and the current requests, noting, Our requests this year total about 2.6 million... basically, our requested funds are more than we have in those four buckets right now. John Ketchum expressed caution regarding the use of uncertified funds, stating, I'm not going to agree with it until I understand it... we should be working against the anticipated funds and the fiscal year 2025 certified.

The largest single request of the evening came from John Kerry, who is seeking $667,500 for the exterior restoration of the historic West Harwich Baptist Church. Kerry explained that while the property is currently held in an LLC for liability purposes, he is forming a 501c3 nonprofit to receive and manage the town funds. I started the nonprofit to receive the funds to make it nice and crystal clear to the IRS that the funds should not be hit with an income. Every dollar goes to the outside of that building, Kerry said, emphasizing his desire for a strict preservation restriction to protect the structure’s stained glass and steeple. The goal is the entire thing is bundled up. You can't touch the glass. You can't touch the doors. You can't change anything.

The committee expressed several concerns regarding the Baptist Church's transition to nonprofit status. Green admitted she did not feel comfortable advising the town voters to support 600-something thousand dollars in funds to go to a nonprofit that has no background, suggesting Kerry should be a co-applicant. Maslowski added that the legal details of the preservation restriction would require heavy lifting by town counsel: The preservation restriction has to come from the property owner... we're just going to have to deal with that with the town's attorneys to make sure that it's buttoned up.

Housing requests also sparked debate, specifically a $650,000 application from the Affordable Housing Trust for the 60-unit Penrose project on Queen Anne Road and rental assistance. Brendan Lowry, representing the Trust, explained that $500,000 is earmarked to support the "friendly 40B" Penrose application. The $500,000 is for Penrose. It creates that friendly 40B and makes their application to the state that much stronger, Lowry said, noting the town is approaching the "safe harbor" threshold for affordable housing. However, Green criticized the application as being thin and containing recycled information, pointing out that it failed to explicitly name the Penrose project in the initial description. Ketchum also raised concerns regarding the broader implications of housing density, stating, I'm very concerned about environmental impact of certain projects which could potentially end up being funded by CPC funds.

Regional housing requests for projects in Chatham, totaling $150,000, divided the committee. While Maslowski and Green suggested these were lower priorities compared to local needs, Emily Milan advocated for supporting active regional developments. I'd rather make it real as opposed to waiting for things to come in front of us for our own town, Milan argued. The committee also reviewed environmental and recreational requests, including $138,000 for a diagnostic assessment of Hinckley Pond following a failed alum treatment. Art Bowden spoke in favor of the study, noting, We just can't take one major pond in Harwich and just say, 'Well, too bad.' We've got to find a cure. Ketchum added that the pond is a very critical part of one of the largest herring runs in the state.

The session also addressed several smaller projects, including $114,000 for recreation field irrigation—which Ketchum questioned for its outsized 60% contingency—and $25,170 for shellfish lab updates. Regarding the lab, Green questioned if $5,000 for flooring constituted routine maintenance, while Ketchum argued the project was a valid recreational investment because the shellfish get put out into our estuaries where people go and dig them up.

In procedural business, the committee voted to release executive session minutes from October and November 2025 following a discussion on whether such a vote could occur in open session. Motion Made by a member to release the previously approved executive session minutes from October 16, 2025, and November 13, 2025, finding that confidentiality is no longer required. Motion Passed 7-0-0 with Marcy Mazoski and all other members in favor. The committee also noted that the Historic Commission has designated Linda Ellis as its new representative, though questions were raised about whether she should vote on the current application cycle given her late arrival to deliberations.