Some meetings are in-person only, some are remote only, and some are a hybrid where you can go both ways. Go to provincetown-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and follow the instructions on the agenda.
Thursday, Oct. 21
- Animal Welfare Committee, noon, Veterans Memorial Community Center
- Scholarship & Trust Administration, 3 p.m., Town Hall
- Zoning Board of Appeals, 6 p.m., Town Hall
Monday, Oct. 25
- Select Board, 6 p.m., Town Hall
Tuesday, Oct. 26
- Airport Commission, 2 p.m., virtual
- Licensing Board, 5:15 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 27
- Historical Commission, 5 p.m., Public Library
- Local Comprehensive Planning Committee, 1 p.m., virtual
- Public Pier Corp., 5 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 28
- Planning Board, 6 p.m., Town Hall
Conversation Starters
It’s Official: Selects Like Morse
Town Manager Alex Morse replaced Robin Craver, who lasted only until the end of her probationary period in 2020. That will not happen with Morse.
At his six-month review on Oct. 12, the select board gave Morse a score of 6.427 out of a possible top score of 8.000; that is on the upper end of “meets expectations.” A score of 7.0 or higher means “exceeds expectations.”
Morse came to Provincetown from Holyoke, where he served as mayor for 10 years. He was elected the year he graduated from Brown University. In Holyoke, his performance reviews were “getting elected,” he said.
The select board rated him highest for composure, stamina, willingness to try new ideas, supportiveness of the board, analyzing problems, fiscal management, and his behavior toward the community.
Room for improvement? The board members thought he could be better at managing staff, supervising staff who are working remotely, and long-range planning.
“You have all the right stuff, and you are doing all the right things,” board member Louise Venden told him.
“You are getting things done,” added board member Leslie Sandberg. “Provincetown is moving again.”
Sal’s Penalty: $78K
Sal’s Place owner Siobhan Carew has been in a legal battle with her neighbor Greg Connors for years. This summer, the fight heated up when she continued to serve diners at tables in the intertidal zone behind Connors’s property, even after Mass. Land Court Judge Michael Vhay ordered her to stop.
Vhay issued fines and ordered Carew to pay Connors’s legal fees. On Oct. 15, the judge set that amount at $78,499.80. Carew got the initial sum reduced by $10,321 after disputing some of the fees.
Since granting Carew the permit to serve on the sand in 2020, the select board has stood by her. —K.C. Myers
‘Barracks’ Hearing Oct. 28
The planning board has joined Patrick Patrick in asking the Barnstable Superior Court to either transfer the suit against his workforce housing project, known as “The Barracks,” to the state Land Court, where it would be handled more quickly, or set a December trial date if it remains in the county court.
A hearing on the request is set for Oct. 28.
Four abutters filed suit in July to overturn the permit granted by the planning board. Julie Gray, Alison Gray, Jay Gurewitsch, and John Crowley have also asked the court to determine whether the use of Province Road as an access to the proposed development is legal.
Patrick’s plan includes 28 dormitory-style rooms, with private bathrooms and common kitchens and dining areas. The rooms would be for seasonal workers, but plans call for 15 studio and one-bedroom apartments and a two-bedroom manager’s unit, which would be year-round rentals. The four-acre site is at 207 Route 6.
In their motion to shift the case to Land Court, attorneys for the planning board and Patrick argue that there is a workforce housing crisis in the region.
William Henchy, the attorney for the abutters, has opposed the request to shift the case, arguing that it is a “garden variety zoning matter” similar to other cases routinely litigated in Superior Court.
“The plaintiffs’ witnesses will all be from Barnstable County and will include engineers and architects local to Barnstable County,” Henchy said. The chief justice of the trial court had already denied an earlier request to transfer the case to Land Court in August, he added.
Henchy called the request for a December trial date “unwarranted and prejudicial,” saying it would make it impossible to go through the usual discovery process. —Christine Legere
