Meetings Ahead
Most meetings in Truro are remote. Go to truro-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. The agenda includes instructions on how to join.
Thursday, May 26
- Climate Action Committee, 10:30 a.m.
- Charter Review Committee, 4:15 p.m.
- School Committee, 5:15 p.m.
Thursday, June 2
- Economic Development Committee, 9:30 a.m.
- Conversation Starters
Box Turtles
It’s box turtle season, announced Emily Beebe, the town’s health and conservation agent, at the select board meeting on May 24. The conservation dept. is entering its fifth year of tracking these reptiles and has asked people to report box turtle sightings on its website.
Listed as a rare species in Massachusetts, the turtles are out and about at this time of year, and you may very well see a daring few trying to cross the road. Beebe urges anyone who spots a jaywalking reptile to pull over, pick the turtle up, and move it across the road to safety. “We’ve been able to enlist town staff from every department to help us with this effort,” she said.
“If you’re looking out for them,” she added, “we know you’ll be able to better protect them.”
A Master Planner
The select board voted unanimously on May 24 to approve a request for proposals seeking a master planner to put together a comprehensive plan for the Walsh property, the 70-acre parcel of undeveloped town-owned land by Truro Central School.
Progress on Walsh, said Stephanie Rein, the select board liaison to the Walsh property community planning committee, has been “moving at a glacial pace.” The committee first met in February 2021. Initially, the members had hoped to work with the Consensus Building Institute (CBI) as consultants and facilitators, but it “was not a great fit,” Rein said. “It sent the committee down an unclear path.” After CBI departed, it left a “vacuum with no clear roles,” she added.
The Walsh committee hopes that hiring a master planner will hasten the pace — and, ideally, help Truro move toward having a proposal ready for next year’s annual town meeting. A selection committee for the master planner will be created, composed of the two Walsh committee co-chairs, the town planner and land use counsel, and the health and conservation agent. This group will then recommend a proposal for the master planner to Town Manager Darrin Tangeman, who will take it from there. —Jasmine Lu
