All meetings in Wellfleet are remote only and can be watched online. Go to wellfleet-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. The agenda includes instructions on how to join.
Thursday, August 5
- Housing Authority, 10 a.m.
- Bike and Walkways Committee, 10 a.m.
Tuesday, Aug. 10
- Cultural Council, 5:30 p.m.
- Select Board, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 12
- Wellfleet Seasonal Residents Association with Select Board, 7 p.m.
- Zoning Board of Appeals, 7 p.m.
Conversation Starters
Seashore Land Swap
In order for the Herring River restoration to go forward, the town will need to acquire a total of 9.38 acres of land in noncontiguous small slivers from the Cape Cod National Seashore, according to Brian Carlstrom, the Seashore supt. In exchange, the Seashore has eyes on obtaining a piece of the so-called Marconi Landing Strip.
Due to federal law, Carlstrom told the select board on July 27, land that will allow construction of a bridge over the Chequessett Neck Road dike and evaluation of roadways will first need to be owned by the town. The parcels include several small Seashore-owned areas along Old County Road, Bound Brook Island Road, and parts of High Toss Road, and some land on the northwest side of the Chequessett Neck Road dike.
The Seashore wants to trade its land for town-owned land of similar monetary value.
Since this is a real estate transaction, negotiations between the Seashore and the select board are allowed to be conducted in private, so as not to reveal deal-making strategies. But Seashore officials made no secret of their desire for a piece of the Marconi Landing Strip.
This 48-acre parcel, once part of a military base, is within the Marconi Beach area and surrounded by Seashore property. The landing strip is town-owned, but it is land-locked and there is an unclear title that has prevented the town from using it.
The landing strip is the top priority for the Seashore, Carlstrom said.
Second on the Seashore’s priority list is a six-acre lot at “the Gut,” a town landing on Cape Cod Bay by the Herring River. If it were folded into the Seashore land, it would become part of the Park Service’s holdings on Great Island.
Third on the Seashore wish list is land south of Cahoon Hollow Road near Great Pond, a portion of which was an old driving range.
The select board and the Seashore will continue negotiations in private and, when the areas to swap have been decided, they will be brought to town meeting voters for approval. —K.C. Myers
