The Need for Housing
To the editor:
We have a second home in Truro and spend as much time here as possible. My husband’s family has been here since the 1950s, having owned a motel on Beach Point.
All three of my boys worked as lifeguards at Head of the Meadow. Two are now employed full-time on Cape and live here year-round. One lives in our house and probably would not have gotten his job without stable year-round housing. He was questioned about housing several times during his interview.
My other son works for the Nauset Regional School District. People in education do not get rich. He and his girlfriend found winter housing in a summer rental but need to vacate by May 1. Luckily, they both can move back in with their parents. But eventually kids want to get their own places. Where are they going to find something affordable?
The Outer Cape has a severe housing shortage for the average everyday people who are needed to make a town run and serve the people who live there. A small portion of the Walsh property can be used to build a significant number of rental units. They should be limited to year-round living, with no allowance for short-term rentals. It would also be great to see small free-standing homes or duplexes sold with the stipulation there can be no short-term rentals.
We desperately need this.
Linda Eramian
North Truro and Boonton, N.J.
The Competing DPW Plans
To the editor:
If the DPW Study Group’s final plan fulfills the conditions of the original request for proposals to support a safe and efficient workplace, it deserves consideration. At least four issues need to be explored.
First, the study group’s cost estimates seem incomplete. They have conceded that items like sprinklers will cost more than their plan estimates.
Second, going from a conceptual to a final plan that is RFP-compliant could increase the cost. Voters should know this.
Third, both the Weston & Sampson and the study group’s plans propose pre-engineered metal buildings built to code. There’s no difference.
Finally, the study group admitted that it’s how many vehicles need to be stored indoors and at what temperature that determines the ultimate cost. Neither plan provides supporting data.
The town’s ad hoc DPW building committee can help the designers by objectively researching best practices and interviewing other municipal DPWs or similar operations.
What do the DPW Study Group and Take Back Truro envision as the way forward? By statute, designers, builders, and construction managers must be certified by the Mass. Div. of Asset Management and Materials (DCAMM). Are any of the study group’s experts certified by DCAMM or intending to become certified? If not, who designs the project? What would the estimated nine-month delay cost the town? Who pays for the engineering?
Given these questions, perhaps the DPW Study Group and Take Back Truro should support Article 4 to continue engineering the project rather than Article 14, creating a DPW task force for campus design.
Bob Higgins-Steele
Truro
‘Don’t Be Fooled’
To the editor:
I’m amazed lately by how some successful, intelligent people who call Truro home are being used and duped.
Many part-time residents have been fooled by the association that is supposed to represent them. Its board of directors, including vice president Regan McCarthy, persuaded some nonresidents to register to vote in Truro. The town is now spending thousands of dollars looking into the legality of this questionable action.
Ms. McCarthy told the Independent that she is a full-time resident of Truro but votes in New York.
The DPW Study Group has designed a new facility for the department’s current site instead of next to the public safety facility, where the select board wants to put it. Why? The study group’s plan will not fit at the current DPW site as none of their measurements stand up to reality.
Why has so much time and energy been devoted to a “get out the vote” campaign? Ms. McCarthy lives next to the property the select board has decided to build on. Did she enlist others in the Part-Time Resident Taxpayers Association to stop this construction? New Jersey architect Anthony Garrett, the part-timers association president, designed the plans presented by the DPW Study Group. Kevin Kuechler, another study group member, is also a member of the homeowners’ association that Ms. McCarthy belongs to.
If you were building a home, would you trust established contractors to tell you the cost of the project, or would you go with people from the neighborhood, like the DPW Study Group, who claim they could build your home for half as much? Don’t be fooled.
Christopher Lucy
Truro
‘Plenty of Blame’
To the editor:
Alex Brewer writes that the bombardment of Gaza is “an act of revenge, plain and simple” (letter, Nov. 9).
The main goal of Hamas is the destruction of the state of Israel. For nearly the past 20 years, Israel has had to endure regular barrages of missiles aimed solely at civilian targets. In the months leading up to the Oct. 7 attack these barrages intensified, again aimed at civilian targets. Fortunately, most of these missiles either were intercepted or missed their targets — but not all. Add to this the brutal carnage of Oct. 7.
Israel wanting to rid itself of the Hamas scourge is not revenge. We must also recognize that Hamas is complicit in this disaster rained down on Gaza, cynically using its citizenry and essential services as a shield. They knew Israel would respond.
I pray for peace in this region. I know that there is plenty of blame to go around. The citizens of Gaza have endured a regime that has squandered untold resources on violence and terror that could have been used to improve the lives of an impoverished population. Unfortunately, they are now paying a huge price.
For Israel’s part, it is currently suffering the effects of an extreme right-wing (yes, democratically elected) government with a leader determined to stay in power whatever the cost. Sound familiar?
Free the hostages and stop the fighting. Now is the time for all sides to commit to striving for a permanent peace. The difficulties are deep, but let’s stop the rhetoric and finger-pointing and help figure out how to create equitable solutions for all people in this important part of the world.
Russ Braun
North Truro
