Most meetings in Wellfleet are remote only, but some are being held in person. Go to wellfleet-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch, then follow the instructions on the agenda.
Thursday, May 5
- Housing Authority, 10 a.m.
- Cape Cod Commission workshop, 1 p.m.
- Local Housing Partnership, 4 p.m.
Friday, May 6
- Taxation Aid Committee, 10 a.m.
- Select Board, 7 p.m.
Monday, May 9
- Affordable Housing Trust, 7 p.m.
- Dredging Task Force, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, May 10
- Elementary School Committee, 5:30 p.m.
- Select Board, 7 p.m., Wellfleet Adult Community Center
Wednesday, May 11
- Historical Commission, 5 p.m.
Conversation Starters
The Three Percent
The Wellfleet Select Board opted in February to put an article on the town meeting warrant asking voters if they would like to charge the owners of multiple short-term rental units a community impact fee of one percent.
On April 26, the select board amended that article, so that now the voters on June 11 will be asked to approve a 3-percent fee, the maximum allowed under state law. If the voters approve, the impact fee goes into effect on Oct. 1, 2022.
The community impact fee is designed to discourage stockpiling of short-term rental properties by one owner. Towns that have adopted the 6-percent local-option tax on hotel rooms and short-term rentals can add a community impact fee.
At 3 percent, the fee is estimated to bring in $100,000 to $150,000, which could finance 20 percent of the loan to buy Maurice’s Campground for workforce housing, select board chair Ryan Curley said during the April 26 meeting. “It removes that cost burden to the taxpayer,” he said.
“Originally, I wanted to put this at one percent,” board member Mike DeVasto said. But after a lengthy conversation with interim Town Administrator Charlie Sumner about the budget, DeVasto changed his mind.
Rowdy Crowds
For at least the last five years, Cahoon Hollow Beach has been a source of safety concerns, brawls, and littering. According to Police Chief Michael Hurley, there are not enough police to respond to the rowdy crowds who frequent the Beachcomber bar there.
“To be honest with you, it’s a problem that has just kept on growing,” he told the select board on April 26. The beach is popular on TikTok and other social media, Hurley said. Police counted 300 buses that brought in 4,500 people last July Fourth weekend.
The staff of 15 officers cannot manage the beach and all the other summer calls, Hurley said.
“As the public knows and the board knows, we’re severely short-staffed,” Hurley said. “We have lost our summer program. That is why I have a request for two more police officers at the town meeting.”
Select board members suggested solutions like limiting the number of buses, creating stricter beach ordinances, closing the beaches during holiday weekends, or charging those who get to the beach via town property. These solutions have all been discussed in the past, but there are many workarounds to consider, in addition to the town’s limited oversight of the National Seashore, Hurley said.
“We’re going to do the best we can out there,” Hurley said. —Michaela Chesin
