Eastham Select Board Greenlights Licenses, Previews Complex Town Meeting Warrant

EASTHAM -- April 21, 2026, Eastham Select Board approves seasonal licenses and previews a complex town meeting warrant with up to six override questions. The board voted unanimously on a slate of licenses including Nauset Ice Cream, Eastham Landing, and hawker-and-peddler permits for Winterbottom and Good Times ice cream trucks before hosting a two-hour public walkthrough of the May 4 warrant led by Town Moderator Scott Kerry. A centerpiece of the evening was the proposed Municipal Water Infrastructure Investment Fund, dubbed the WHIFF, which would redirect 1.25 percent of the town's 3 percent CPA surcharge to generate roughly $600,000 annually for wastewater debt service, with the shift requiring a fall ballot vote and taking effect in fiscal year 2028. Article 4E, a placeholder appropriation for wastewater construction overages, will be indefinitely postponed at town meeting because bids will not arrive until late May or early June, with Town Manager Jacqui Beebe noting a hard June 30 state deadline for the town to confirm it is ready to proceed with zero-percent financing. Petitioner Terry Gallagher introduced a non-binding Medicare-for-all resolution, arguing passage of a pending state bill could save the town $1.5 million annually in employee health costs.