Meetings Ahead
Go to wellfleet-ma.gov and click on the meeting you are interested in for instructions on how to participate.
Friday, June 19
- Wellfleet COVID-19 Needs Response Task Force Community Calls, 10 a.m.
Tuesday, June 23
- Select Board with Emergency Management Team: Covid-19 Updates, 10 a.m.
- Select Board, 7 p.m.
Conversation Starters
Covid-19 Update
As of June 15, Wellfleet had two active cases, four cleared cases, and one death as a result of the coronavirus.
Election Results
In Wellfleet’s 2020 town election on June 15, five incumbent candidates were re-elected, and three new faces will appear on boards.
Ryan Curley will join the select board; he received 232 votes. He replaces Kathleen Bacon. Andrew Freeman and Robin Robinson are the new library trustees, with 274 and 276 votes, respectively.
The incumbents re-elected include Dan Silverman as moderator, Martha Gordon to the Wellfleet School Committee, Christopher Easley to the Nauset Regional School Committee, Nancy Vail as Cemetery Commissioner, and Gary Sorkin to the Housing Authority.
Question One on the election ballot, which asked if the town government should work with state legislators and Gov. Charlie Baker to ensure that spent nuclear fuel at Pilgrim nuclear power station is secured in better quality casks and hardened onsite, and spent fuel and casks are protected with heightened security, received 283 yes and 21 no votes.
Question Two, a nonbinding referendum, asks the town government to fund a universal child care voucher program up to $400,000 annually and to direct state legislators to support Wellfleet in their pursuit of universal children’s education. It received 249 yes votes and 59 no votes.
In 2015, the voters elected to spend up to $100,000 a year to provide vouchers for Wellfleet preschoolers.
Beach Fire Permits
Beach Administrator Suzanne Grout Thomas is investigating ways to allow beach bonfire permits, which are currently banned to prevent spread of the coronavirus. Grout Thomas said that the required paperwork to apply for a permit, which must prove the applicant is a resident or nonresident taxpayer or staying in Wellfleet, is “too cumbersome” to process online. She said she hopes to find a solution by July 1. During Tuesday morning’s select board meeting, member Michael DeVasto said that deciding on a permitting process sooner than later is a priority, because “not allowing beach fires will probably result in unpermitted beach fires.”
Outdoor Seating Galore
The Fox and Crow, Mac’s Shack, the Beachcomber, VR’s, C Shore, the Wicked Oyster, Ceraldi’s, the Pearl, and Herrigan’s Cafe have all been granted an amendment to their liquor licenses from the select board that will allow them to serve alcohol in their parking lots and other areas around their properties. The restaurants will be allowed to begin serving once the fire dept. concludes an on-site visit to each property and confirms that the outdoor seating arrangement aligns with the restaurant’s application to the select board and complies with the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission’s requirements.
No Vacationers at Lecounts
The Lecount Hollow Beach parking lot will be open to residents and nonresident taxpayers only through Labor Day. The restriction passed unanimously at Tuesday morning’s select board meeting after member Michael DeVasto proposed the idea. “If we are really busy and we have access issues, I think with Covid-19 and the sort of stress that local residents and taxpayers are under, we owe them the access to that resource,” DeVasto said. Beach Administrator Suzanne Grout Thomas supported the idea, emphasizing the need for busy working people of Wellfleet to have a beach to enjoy without worrying about vacationers. —Devin Sean Martin
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article quoted Michael DeVasto incorrectly on the Lecount Hollow restriction.
