Brewster Voters Adopt First Town Charter, Ban Punkhorn Hunting, Fund Dog Park

BREWSTER — May 15, 2021 — Brewster voters adopted their town's first-ever charter, banned hunting in the Punkhorn Parklands, and approved $185,000 in Community Preservation Act funding for the long-debated Brewster Dog Park at the May 15, 2021 Annual Town Meeting. Town Moderator Charlie Sumner presided over a five-hour outdoor session under a pandemic tent at Stony Brook School, which Town Administrator Peter Lombardi said cost more than $15,000 in direct expenses covered by federal CARES funding. The new charter, two years in the making, passed with an amendment by voter Bill Henschey simplifying the procedure for future charter changes. The dog park funding survived a 151-298 procedural defeat that would have separated it from the broader CPA package, then cleared with a 412-49 final vote. The Punkhorn hunting ban — a 1989 advisory vote had gone 458 to 188 in favor — passed 182 to 173 after a disputed count; a second tally showed 183 to 127 but Town Counsel Jonathan Silverstein advised the original declared result stood. A citizen petition asking the Select Board to push Nauset Regional School District to phase down school choice enrollment to the state average of 1.7 percent failed 75 to 144, with Select Board member Bingham arguing the petition asked the board to exercise authority it does not legally hold.