Meetings Ahead
Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to truro-ma.gov.
Thursday, June 11
- School Committee, 5:15 p.m.
Tuesday, June 16
- Cemetery Commission, 10 a.m.
- Board of Health, 4:30 p.m.
Wednesday, June 17
- Planning Board, 6 p.m.
Conversation Starters
Covid-19 Update
As of June 9 there were zero active cases in Truro and 10 resolved cases.
New Town Manager Salary
The select board June 9 voted to advertise the position of town manager for the smallest town on the Cape at $160,000, which is negotiable and dependent on experience, said Bernard Lynch, of Paradigm Associates, the consultant hired by the town to help with the search for a new municipal leader.
Town Manager Rae Ann Palmer earns $140,000 currently. She is scheduled to retire in September. The select board will begin advertising for her replacement this week, with applications due July 6.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly gave the advertised salary for the town manager as $145,000.
Annual Town Election June 30
In yet another tricky situation created by coronavirus, the town meeting is delayed until Sept. 15, but the town election will go forward on June 30. Three questions on the election ballot are all overrides or debt exclusions from the limits of Proposition 2½. These questions must be voted on at town meeting as well as at the ballot box in order to be approved.
Usually town meeting is a good time for voters to learn about such costly projects before deciding whether to support them.
This year, however, the election precedes town meeting. The select board members agreed June 9 to try to publicize the questions before the election. But voters will still need to vote favorably again at town meeting on Sept. 15 in order for the spending to receive final approval.
The first ballot question, to buy a $170,000 heavy duty tractor trailer for the Dept. of Public Works, is needed to replace three aging trucks, said Jarrod Cabral, the DPW director.
The second is to raise $350,000 for a new ambulance to replace a 2001 ambulance. Both of these are one-time expenses that would raise the tax rate for a single year.
The third, however, would mean a permanent increase. Voters will be asked to raise $351,904 for the addition of four full-time firefighter/paramedics. Jan Worthington, the select board chair, said these new hires would be “an insurance policy” to provide a rescue squad if Lower Cape Ambulance “goes down,” she said.
Provincetown Fire Chief Michael Trovato has said he wants to cancel Provincetown’s relationship with the regional ambulance service created in the 1930s. This would effectively make both towns hire full-time rescue squads. Though the cord with Lower Cape Ambulance has not been severed yet, Worthington said, “I think the future is that we will be on our own.”
“We need to be prepared,” Palmer said.
Four new firefighter/paramedics would increase staffing on all shifts from two to three people.
Worthington said the select board will try to talk about the ballot questions frequently leading up to the election to educate the public. —K.C. Myers
