CHATHAM – A new task force in Chatham will hold the first of two public forums Saturday to discuss ways to build a sustainable and more diverse community.
The Chatham 365 Task Force was created to evaluate the growing income divide, demographic imbalance and affordable housing shortage of the Lower Cape town.
The public forum will be held Saturday from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. A second session will take place on April 10 from 5:30 to 8 p.m.
Both sessions will take place at the Chatham Community Center.
“We are trying to identify near-, mid- and long-term efforts and be able to implement programs through town government that could help with the sustainability of the community,” said Shareen Davis, a Chatham Selectman and task force co-chair.
Like many communities on Cape Cod, Chatham has been struggling with retaining younger families.
Davis said the task force is using the forums to bring individuals directly impacted, including the 19-45-year-old demographic, together to express their concerns and ideas.
“It’s really important that we start to have people feel more empowered by their community and less disenfranchised, and I feel like this group has been a bit disenfranchised by the process,” Davis said.
The task force and a forum facilitator will ask participants:
- How did we get to the place where it is so hard to live here year-round?
- What are the challenges to living in Chatham year-round?
- What would move Chatham to become a thriving, vibrant community?
Davis said some solutions might require town meeting votes and some could be implemented by the board of selectmen.
“This is about the idea of capturing the feeling and the essence of the community and going forward in this direction,” she said.
The Monomoy Regional School superintendent recently said the town’s enrollment in the school system is down 11 percent this year.
“We seem to be bleeding out here, quickly,” Davis said.
Davis said some families have also indicated that two-thirds of their income are going to housing and childcare.
“That has got to be a big challenge to deal with,” she said. “So if we can infuse or help in some way on the childcare side, maybe that would help with the housing and maybe that will help with some of the other things that are challenging to living.”
Davis said it is about the quality of life in town.
Some ideas that could draw more younger individuals and families into the town include bringing a college into town with a field office, or bringing in more technical businesses.
“We don’t know,” Davis said. “We want to hear from the community.”
All town residents and taxpayers are welcome to attend the forums, along with individuals who work, grew up or wish to live in Chatham.
Free childcare will be provided through the Monomoy Regional High School Community Service Program.
Reservation of your child’s attendance is required. Email [email protected] for more information.
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