Most meetings in Wellfleet are in person, typically with an online-attendance option. Click on the meeting that interests you on the calendar at wellfleet-ma.gov for details. All meetings are at Town Hall unless otherwise indicated.
Thursday, Aug. 14
- Natural Resources Advisory Board, 4 p.m., online only
- Local Housing Partnership, 5 p.m., online only
Sunday, Aug. 17
- Shellfish Advisory Board flats walk, 11:45 a.m., Indian Neck
Tuesday, Aug. 19
- Cable Internet & Cellular Service Advisory Committee, 10 a.m., online only
- Open Space Committee, 4:30 p.m., Town Hall basement
- Select Board, 6 p.m., Adult Community Center
Wednesday, Aug. 20
- NRHS Building Committee, 5:30 p.m., online only
Thursday, Aug. 21
- State of the Town, 6:30 p.m., Adult Community Center
Conversation Starter
Septic Reimbursement
Town Administrator Tom Guerino presented a draft plan to the select board on Aug. 5 to increase financial assistance for Wellfleet households that must install costly upgrades to their septic systems based on board of health regulations passed in January.
Wellfleet’s current grant program reimburses homeowners up to $12,500 for upgrades to best available nitrogen-reducing septic systems. Guerino’s proposal would bump the maximum grant to $25,000 and add up to $18,500 more to help with “excess costs” related to installation. The new upper limit would be $43,500 or “50 percent of the system costs, whichever is less,” according to the draft plan.
The select board expressed support for the proposal, although the members were not ready to formally approve it. Instead, the board voted to circulate the draft policy to town department heads — the next step toward approving a policy, according to the select board’s “policy on policies.”
Using the town’s general stabilization fund to pay for the grants, as Guerino proposed to do, would require a town meeting vote, he and select board member Ryan Curley both said.
The new funding support would remain in place as long as there is no change in the current board of health regulations, which require upgrades on the basis of various “triggers” including the sale of a home or any new construction that creates more habitable space. A joint meeting between the boards to discuss amending those rules was canceled in July after three members of the board of health stepped down.
“If the board of health is not inclined to alter their current regulatory scheme, we’ll have to have another conversation,” Guerino said.
Six households were scheduled to request exemptions to the upgrade rules passed in January at the board of health’s Aug. 13 meeting. —Tyler Jager
