The Harwich Select Board focused on sensitive legal and labor strategies Monday evening, convening a four-member session to address collective bargaining and town property matters. With Chair Donald Howell absent, Vice Chair Peter Piekarski presided as acting chair, emphasizing a need for efficiency as the board prepared to move into a closed executive session. Piekarski opened the proceedings in the Dawn B. Griffin Room, stating, All right, folks. Good evening. In the interest of time, we're going to kick things off.

The meeting drew a significant roster of department heads and external stakeholders, signaling the high stakes of the night’s non-public agenda. Among those in attendance were Acting Town Administrator Anthony Schiavi, DPW Director Link Hooper, and Steven Cullen, the asset manager for the Witchmere Beach Club. The presence of Chris Tracy, Vice President of O'Neal and Associates, highlighted the session's focus on labor relations, as his firm frequently consults on municipal benefits and risk management. Members Mark Kelleher, Anita Doucette, and Jeffrey Handler joined Piekarski in the deliberations, which come at a time when the town is aggressively managing its professionalization drive and a certified $10 billion property valuation.

The real estate portion of the discussion likely intersects with Harwich’s ongoing effort to clear its 25-Year Infrastructure Wall. The administration has increasingly utilized a $1.5 million Sinking Fund to cash-fund major repairs and bypass debt interest, a strategy that requires careful management of town-owned assets and property sales. This fiscal realism follows the board’s recent overhaul of building permit fees to a 1.2 percent construction levy and the adoption of an FY26 tax rate of $5.69. While the board did not deliberate on these items in public session Monday, the presence of DPW leadership suggests a continued focus on the town's massive wastewater build-out and the $548,000 in cuts identified for the current five-year capital cycle.

The session also saw participation from the Library Board of Trustees, occurring alongside the ongoing search for a new Monomoy Superintendent. Following the brief public opening, the board moved to insulate its specific negotiating positions from public view to protect the town’s bargaining power. Motion Made by A. Doucette to enter Executive Session for the purpose of collective bargaining and real estate matters. Motion Passed (4-0).