Orleans Select Board Reorganizes Under New Chair Matt Runyon, Hears $2.8 Million DIF Pitch

ORLEANS -- May 20, 2026, Orleans Select Board reorganizes under new chair and receives DIF feasibility report projecting $824,000 in downtown economic development revenues within five years. At Wednesday's meeting, the board unanimously installed Matt Runyon as chair, Michael Hermann as vice chair, Mark Matheson as clerk, Kevin Galligan as park commissioner chair and Wastewater Management Advisory Committee representative, Hermann as Community Preservation Committee representative, and newly sworn-in member Mary Wright as Affordable Housing Trust representative. Victoria Storrs of Storrs Associates and Amanda New Miller, director of site planning at MassDevelopment, presented the completed District Improvement Financing feasibility study, confirming DIF is viable for Orleans and projecting cumulative revenues of $824,000 by year five, $2.8 million by year 10, and more than $10 million by year 20 under a medium growth scenario capturing 50 percent of eligible new tax revenues, all without a tax rate increase. Town Manager Kim Newman called the analysis "fascinating" but cautioned the town is not planning to implement DIF in the near-term budget cycle. The board also voted 5-0 to declare personal property at the town-owned 72 Tonset Road as surplus, and unanimously adopted the Environmental Sustainability and Climate Action Omnibus Policy with a commitment to revisit section 11, covering pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers, at the June 3 meeting.