Meetings Ahead
Some meetings in Provincetown are in person, some are online, and some are both. Click on the meeting you want to attend on the calendar at provincetown-ma.gov for a link to an agenda and details.
Thursday, May 19
- Animal Welfare Committee, noon, Veterans Memorial Community Center
- Scholarship & Trust Committee, 3 p.m., Town Hall
- Board of Health, 4 p.m., Town Hall
- Zoning Board of Appeals, 6 p.m., Town Hall
Monday, May 23
- Select Board, 6 p.m., Town Hall
Tuesday, May 24
- Licensing Board, 5:15 p.m., Town Hall
- Cultural Council, 5:30 p.m., Town Hall
Wednesday, May 25
- Disability Commission, 9 a.m., virtual
Thursday, May 26
- Board of Assessors, 11 a.m., Town Hall
- Public Pier Corp. Board, 4 p.m.
- Planning Board, 6 p.m., Town Hall
Conversation Starters
No Road for Oliver
Jeremy Faro, who lives at 67 Bradford St. Extension, has a twin of sorts — an address twin — who lives at 67 Bradford St. (without the “Extension”). Frequently, the two households get each other’s mail. The mix-ups have included pool supplies and furniture.
“But when our election ballots were returned to sender in the 2020 election, this also became a question of voter disenfranchisement,” Faro told the select board on May 9. “What started as an occasional mishap has turned, in the last five years, into misdelivery mayhem.”
To end the rampant postal confusion, Faro proposed changing Bradford Street Extension to Mary Oliver Road. This would serve two purposes, honoring the poet who died in 2019 after spending most of her life in Provincetown, and allowing people to get their own mail. Faro originally took his idea to a traffic hearing in 2019. But the pandemic delayed the follow-up until the May 9 hearing, said select board chair Dave Abramson.
(In case you are wondering, Bradford turns to Bradford Street Ext. after Nickerson Street in the West End.)
Other Extension dwellers admitted they, too, have experienced postal screw-ups. But the majority were against the name change.
The select board received 18 letters of opposition and six in favor, said Elizabeth Paine, the board’s secretary.
Opposition to Mary Oliver Road focused on how inconvenient and costly it would be to change addresses on checks, custom signs, cards, condominium documents, and insurance filings.
“It may cause problems for people to find my business,” said Jeff Epstein, owner of Gale Force Bikes and the Beach Market at 144 Bradford St. Ext. “People have to come find us. I don’t know if you have seen how long it takes to update something on Google, but we could wait a year for people to know our new address.”
The select board voted unanimously against the name change. Many pointed out that it had nothing to do with Mary Oliver, who won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize.
Deborah Grabler, of 83 Bradford St. Ext., said, “We all think Mary Oliver should be celebrated.” —K.C. Myers
