Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School.
YARMOUTH – An update to the regional agreement for the Dennis-Yarmouth school district will be before special town meeting voters in both communities Tuesday night.
The article, if passed, would make two major revisions to the agreement.
One would split operational costs for the district using a five-year rolling average of foundation enrollment.
Foundation enrollment counts all students in regional schools, along with those who attend a charter school or another public school.
The other would have Dennis cover 35 percent of the cost of a proposed new regional middle school.
The increase for Dennis would be about 6 percent from what it would be in the current regional agreement.
Yarmouth recently agreed to settle a lawsuit against the school district and Dennis, which included the updates to the regional agreement.
The lawsuit had challenged the method used to approve the proposed new regional middle school.
The district put the school to a region-wide vote, bypassing town meetings. The plan passed by just 25 votes, with a majority of Yarmouth voters rejecting the school.
The lawsuit prevented the district from finalizing an agreement with the Massachusetts School Building Authority to secure $44 million in funding for the $117 million facility.
The settlement was finalized just before a Massachusetts School Building Authority deadline for signing a letter of commitment.
The deadline had been extended multiple times. The $44 million in reimbursement funds for the $117 million project remains on hold.
Town officials had said the lawsuit would be dropped if a new regional agreement could be met between the towns and the school district.
A new lawsuit was filed during the summer by a pair of Yarmouth residents challenging to process for approving the new school.
Special town meeting voters in Yarmouth will also be asked to fund a new Department of Public Works facility.
A bid for the final design came in at nearly $16.5 million, which was below estimates of $18 million. Article 2 on the warrant will be amended on the floor to reflect the real cost.
The 38,000-square-foot facility would include workshop and storage space, vehicles and equipment maintenance area and office space.
DPW Director Jeff Colby said the new building would replace four other structures at the current site at 507 Buck Island Road and that an upgrade of the current facility is needed.
Dennis voters will be asked to fund restorations for several town landmarks. Those articles include $343,000 in Community Preservation Act funds for the West Schoolhouse on Whig Street, a $353,000 restoration of the Captain Baker house and barn, $50,000 for repairs to Scargo Tower, $250,000 for Cape Playhouse renovations, and $47,500 for work on the Cape Cinema.
The Dennis Conservation Land Trust is also seeking $400,000 for the purchase of the nearly 14-acre Tobey Farm Woodlands.
Another article would increase the local rooms occupancy excise tax rate for Dennis to 6 percent from 4 percent. There is also an article that would create a Wastewater Infrastructure Investment Fund to cover the costs of wastewater, stormwater or drinking water projects.
Dennis Special Town Meeting is at 7 p.m. at the Nathaniel H. Wixon School.
Yarmouth Special Town Meeting is at 7 p.m. at Mattacheese Middle School.
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