Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch.
Thursday, March 4
- Select Board, 4 p.m.
Monday, March 8
- Select Board, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, March 9
- Licensing Board, 5:15 p.m.
Wednesday, March 10
- Board of Assessors, 12 noon
- Local Comprehensive Plan Committee, 1 p.m.
- Recycling & Renewable Energy Committee, 10 a.m.
Thursday, March 11
- Planning Board, 6 p.m.
Conversation Starters
Covid-19 Update
As of Feb. 26, Provincetown had one active case of Covid-19. The town also reported there have been 85 total cases and one death related to Covid-19.
Opposition to Pier Fee Hikes
The Provincetown Public Pier Corp. recently doubled the docking fees for fishermen, whale watch vessels, and charter boats on MacMillan Pier.
Opposition to those fee hikes dominated the public statements at the Feb. 22 select board meeting, with numerous fishermen and others criticizing the members of the Pier Corp. for raising the prices to use the pier.
Fishing boat owner Bob Dutra called the increase “outrageous” in a normal time but especially during a pandemic. He said MacMillan Pier is not well maintained and the “condition is dangerous.” Dutra added that he did not think the Pier Corp. is capable of managing the pier, even with increased fees.
Vaughn Cabral, owner of the charter fishing vessel Cee-Jay, said, “tourists are holding their purses tightly” and fewer of them are going out since state regulations require boat owners to cut in half the number of passengers allowed on board.
The select board may put the topic of the fee hikes, which is out of its jurisdiction and in the hands of the Pier Corp., on the agenda for its next meeting.
“I’ve been puzzled by the fee hikes,” said select board member Lise King. While so many people are trying to find financial support for business owners and residents of Provincetown, it’s a tough time to increase the cost of doing business on the pier, she said.
King asked to put the fees on a future select board agenda and perhaps ask the town’s attorney if the select board has any “leeway in directing the fees at the pier.” —K.C. Myers