WHAT QUESTION 3 DOES

Question 3 asks Yarmouth voters to approve a $35,706,091 library construction project. After a state grant of $13.4 million, the net cost to Yarmouth taxpayers is $22,267,613.

Unlike Questions 1 and 2, this is a debt exclusion — it sits outside the levy limit and expires when the bonds are paid off. But “temporary” in government means 20 to 25 years of additional taxes, starting around FY2030.

Detail	Value
Total project cost	$35,706,091
State grant (MBLC)	$13,438,478 (41.77%)
Net cost to Yarmouth	$22,267,613
Type	Debt exclusion (temporary)
Estimated annual cost	~$2.0 million/year starting FY2030
Tax rate impact	+$0.17 per $1,000
Cost on average home ($710K)	~$120/year
Duration	20-25 years
Finance Committee recommendation	NO (1-4, 2 abstentions)
Select Board recommendation	YES (3-2)

TAX IMPACT CALCULATOR

See the full picture: all four ballot questions combined.

WHY THE FINANCE COMMITTEE VOTED NO

The Yarmouth Finance Committee — the independent body specifically charged with reviewing the town’s fiscal health — voted 1-4 against the library project, with 2 abstentions. This is the only ballot question they recommended NO on.

When the people whose job it is to protect your tax dollars say no, listen to them.

A $35.7 million library in a town that is simultaneously asking for two permanent school overrides and facing a housing affordability crisis is not responsible governance. It is a wish list that someone else pays for.

THIS DOES NOT LOOK LIKE CAPE COD

The proposed library — designed by Oudens Ello Architecture of Boston — is a 25,410 square foot “contemporary” building (their word, not ours) organized into three wings around a wooded basin at 1175 Route 28, South Yarmouth. The town’s own FAQ describes it as a contemporary design with “regional materials” used as context cues.

Translation: it is a modern structure with some wood shingles glued on so they can claim it fits in. Cape Cod has architectural design standards for a reason. Shingle-style, clapboard, cedar shake, pitched roofs — these are not aesthetic preferences. They are the visual identity of our communities. They protect property values. And they exist because voters and planning boards fought to keep Cape Cod looking like Cape Cod.

But when a group of committee members and Boston consultants want to spend $35.7 million of your money, suddenly those standards do not apply. The result is a building that could be dropped into any suburb in America and nobody would know the difference.

$35.7 million and they could not make it look like it belongs here.

THE GREEN ENERGY GRIFT

Buried in the $35.7 million price tag is the cost of making this library “green.” The design specifies solar-ready roofs (south and east-facing, sized for a “substantial solar array”), all-electric building systems (no fossil fuel heating), daylight-responsive dimming, and passive energy optimization. None of these features are broken out as separate line items. The green cost is hidden inside the total.

Now ask yourself: who pushed for all of this?

The Yarmouth Energy Committee — chaired by Mike Duffy — has been pushing solar and renewable energy projects in town for years. Duffy is not a disinterested volunteer. His career is in renewable energy: he is VP of Program Management at Type One Energy Group (a fusion energy company) and previously worked at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), a federal agency whose mission is to promote renewable energy adoption.

Duffy also served as the town’s official “solar coach” for the Solarize Plus Yarmouth program, a Massachusetts Clean Energy Center initiative that promoted residential solar installations. The vendor selected for Solarize Yarmouth — Solar Wolf Inc. — subsequently collapsed, fired its employees, ceased operations, and drew an investigation from the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office after residents accused the company of scamming them.

Duffy is also leading the effort to establish Yarmouth’s baseline energy usage for the Green Communities state designation — which unlocks significant state grants for exactly the kind of green building features specified in this library project.

Meanwhile, Select Board member Dorcas McGurrin sits on both the Select Board (which approved the library site) and the Library Building Committee (which approved the design). The Select Board also appoints the Energy Committee members who push the green standards that increase the project cost.

The Person	The Positions	The Question
Mike Duffy	Energy Committee Chair + Solar Coach + VP at fusion energy company + ex-NREL	A career renewable energy professional chairs the committee pushing green building mandates that increase the cost of every town project. Who is this serving?
Dorcas McGurrin	Select Board + Library Building Committee	Sits on the board that approves spending AND the committee that designs the project. Where is the independent oversight?
Solar Wolf Inc.	Solarize Yarmouth vendor (collapsed)	The solar company promoted by the town’s solar coach scammed Yarmouth residents. AG investigation opened. Who vetted this vendor?

The MBLC state grant program offers a 3% base grant increase for green/sustainability certification and an additional 2-3.5% Green Library Incentive for LEED certification. These bonuses create a financial incentive to load green features into the design — features that increase the total project cost that you pay for, while the grant percentage stays the same.

A career renewable energy professional runs the committee that pushes green mandates. The solar vendor he promoted scammed your neighbors. A Select Board member sits on both the spending board and the building committee. And nobody has published the cost of the green features separately. This is not governance. This is a pipeline.

Sources: Town of Yarmouth Energy Committee roster, Library Building Committee roster, Select Board roster. Type One Energy / NREL per LinkedIn. Solarize Plus Yarmouth via MassCEC. Solar Wolf AG investigation per Patch / Yahoo Finance. MBLC Green Library Incentive per Mass.gov.