There are two weeks to Town Meeting.

CCT will hold its second and final meeting of volunteers (old and new) at Campari’s Bistro, Orleans Road, 4:45 p.m. to 6:15, Thursday, April 30, to prepare for the meeting of all Chatham Concerned Taxpayers who can make it on Monday, May 4th at the Community Center, at 4 p.m. Please come.

ALL CHATHAM CONCERNED TAXPAYERS ARE INVITED TO ATTEND THE ALL HANDS MEETING ON MONDAY, MAY 4TH, 4 P.M. AT THE CHATHAM COMMUNITY CENTER. THE KEY ARTICLES WILL BE REVIEWED AT THAT TIME.

When CCT was launched in early February, we said we were acting sort of like Paul Revere. We sounded the alarm that the extravagant Town taxation and spending of the good times appeared to be going to continue into this time of severe financial stress for many, many residents. We said concerned resident taxpayers had to stand up and make their voices heard if they didn’t want the budget to ballon and their taxes to go up. Like the Minutemen of Lexington and Concord, resident taxpayers have to join the battle.

The time to stand up and fight is 14 days away. All Paul Revere can do is sound the alarm. To win the battle, the Minutemen must come out from behind the trees and fight. Many have said they are afraid to take a position against spending at town meeting for fear of retaliation from town officials and employees. We believe that fear is groundless, but do recognize the fear is real enough. Nonetheless, people will have to speak up, raise their hands and vote. We understand secret votes are rare at town meeting. Courage is called for.

Of course, votes are secret at the May 14th election, at which there will be an important vote to allow the property tax to be pushed up to pay the debt service for the first $60 million bond cost of the sewer.

We believe there will be more spending at issue at this town meeting than ever in the history of Chatham.

It’s hard to pin a number on it, but spending for operations for fiscal year 2010 beginning July 1 is going to be close to $35 million, including maintenance projects. (The operating budget is spread over several Articles, not just Article 6.) Operational spending has zoomed 50% in just nine years and is going up close to 5% for FY10. We believe Article 6 and the related budget articles should be voted down (NO) and the budget sent back to the Selectmen and School Committee to produce a sustainable budget without increasing property taxes or raiding reserves.

Will Article 27, spending for the ill conceived PD/Annex, be killed so that $17 million can be saved? Article 27 asks that re-planning be done for a better police/fire solution and something not so gold-plated can be built. A YES vote on Article 27 to cancel the PD/Annex project is the right vote for taxpayers and townspeople.

As for the $60 million sewer bond issues that will launch a $300-$500 million sewer project suddenly accelerated in hopes of getting some federal stimulus money, each person will have to decide if he or she wants to spend that much money to solve the problem of nitrates in the waterways.

Once that $60 million is spent though, there’s no turning back. Are there effective solutions other than 100% sewering of the town that may cost less? We don’t know. Some say there are. The Town insists there are not.

Bu less than well informed resident taxpayers of the Town have to vote yes on both May 11th and May 14th for the Town to be eligible for federal stimulus money this year, be it $5 million to $10 million or more. There may be more stimulus available next year, but who can say? What will be available in future years is the same low-interest state assistance for wastewater projects there has been since the 1990s.

This week the League of Women Voters will host a discussion on the Warrant articles Wednesday evening at 7 at the Community Center. There will be question time.

ANNUAL TOWN MEETNG CONVENES MONDAY, MAY 11TH, AT 6 P.M. AT THE CHATHAM HIGH SCHOOL, 425 CROWELL ROAD. THIS WEEK YOU WILL RECEIVE THE WARRANT WHICH PRESENTS ALL THE ARTICLES THAT WILL BE VOTED ON.

THERE IS AN IMPORTANT ELECTION THE FOLLOWING THURSDAY, MAY 14TH. POLLS ARE OPEN 7 A.M. TO 8 P.M. IF YOU WANT TO APPROVE THE $60 MILLION BOND ISSUE TO BEGIN THE $300 MILLION SEWER PROJECT, VOTE YES. TO DISAPPROVE, VOTE NO.