Some Provincetown meetings are in-person only, some are remote only, and some are a hybrid where you can choose to participate in person or through a remote link. Go to provincetown-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and follow the instructions on the agenda.
Thursday, July 22
- Public Landscape Committee, Town Hall, 3 p.m.
- Planning Board, 6 p.m.
Monday, July 26
- Select Board, Town Hall, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, July 27
- Licensing Board, Town Hall, 5:15 p.m.
Wednesday, July 28
- Local Comprehensive Plan Committee, remote, 1 p.m.
- Provincetown Public Pier Corp., 5 p.m.
Conversation Starters
Blue Economy Installations to Go
The controversial Blue Economy installations on the waterfront will be removed, after much discussion and a little finger-pointing over who approved them in the first place.
The select board had already voted to take down the installation in the West End parking lot when a second installation — by Bennett Memorial Pier — drew criticism for blocking the view from a memorial bench. Comments on Facebook numbered in the hundreds, and residents vehemently objected to the installations during the public comment part of the July 12 select board meeting.
Many speakers supported Sydney Gallivan Cummings, a resident who appealed to the board to remove the installation by Bennett Memorial Pier. That piece, said Cummings, was erected directly in front of a bench dedicated to her mother, a longtime Provincetown resident who died in 2014. The installation, Cummings said, “completely obliterates any view of the harbor that anyone seated there could enjoy.
“I am looking for help from my community to get this installation removed,” said Cummings. “This wall has greatly diminished the beauty of the area, and in my opinion does little to inform about the water.”
Following the public comments, the select board and Town Manager Alex Morse decided to remove the remaining Blue Economy installations. In total, there were to have been eight in Provincetown, among the 30-plus installations across the Cape and Islands.
Cummings’s sister was told by Bert Jackson, director of community engagement for the Cape Cod Blue Economy Foundation, that the town had approved the locations. But officials were not eager to admit they had done so.
The select board had named the harbor committee as the group that approved the locations, but harbor committee members Laura Ludwig and John Santos said their committee was involved early in the two-year process, then stepped away when they learned that the project didn’t just relate to landings and water access.
“That’s a problem, because the shoreline is their venue,” said Venden, adding that “there are not clear guidelines about what the harbor committee was set up to do.”
Venden added, “There wasn’t a process for where these things went. They were simply installed.”
Town residents “are not interested in supporting Blue Economy at the expense of the natural beauty of the harbor,” Venden concluded. —Sophie Hills.
