Meetings Ahead
Most meetings in Eastham are in person, typically with an online-attendance option. Click on the meeting you are interested in on the calendar at eastham-ma.gov for details. All meetings are at Town Hall unless otherwise indicated.
Thursday, Jan. 9
- Affordable Housing Trust, 9 a.m. — meeting canceled
- Nauset Regional School District Transportation Subcommittee, 4 p.m., online
- Nauset Regional School Committee, 6 p.m., Middle School Auditorium
Saturday, Jan. 11
- Nauset Superintendent (Expanded) Search Committee, 10 a.m., Nauset Admin. Bldg. Conference Rm.
Monday, Jan. 13
- Energy & Climate Action Committee, 4:30 p.m.
- Select Board, 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 14
- Conservation Commission (on-site), 8:15 a.m.
- Zoning Task Force, 10 a.m.
- Elementary School Committee, 5 p.m.
- Conservation Commission, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, Jan. 15
- Open Space Committee, 2:30 p.m.
- Planning Board, 5 p.m.
- Nauset Superintendent (Expanded) Search Committee, 5:30 p.m., Nauset Admin. Bldg. Conference Rm.
- Human Services Advisory Committee, 6:30 p.m.
Conversation Starter
No More Dock Work at Rock Harbor
The town’s capital projects committee recently voted not to move forward with continued funding for an extension of the south docks at Rock Harbor. The project had been prompted by the steepness of the current access ramp to the floats, some of which bottom out at low tide.
The committee’s reasons: vessels can’t leave the harbor when the tide is out; handicapped access is not required for the south docks, as determined by the state; and the town has already spent a lot of money on Rock Harbor improvements.
In a letter to the select board on Dec. 12, Shana Brogan, the projects and procurement director, wrote that the town had installed electricity, new docks and floats, and all new pilings at Rock Harbor and dredged the harbor last winter. The state repaved the parking lot, installed a stormwater drainage swale, and replaced the boat ramp.
The select board agreed with the committee’s opinion at its Dec. 16 meeting, freeing up $722,175 that the board then discussed using for work at the other town landings.
Select board member Robert Bruns lobbied for improvements at Collins Cove, which he called a local asset that has been going to waste. The 2020 management plan “told us Collins is the only one that’s really on fire,” Bruns said. “It has to be fixed or it’s going to go away.” Collins landing is the only one deep enough to launch larger recreational boats, 16 to 20 feet long, into Town Cove, Bruns said. “It’s something we want to be looking at.”
Select board chair Aimee Eckman disagreed that recreational boat access is lacking, saying Town Cove and estuary are already crowded with boats in the summer. —Christine Legere
