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, then follow the instructions on the agenda.
Thursday, Jan. 6
- Nauset Supt. Search Committee, 3:55 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 8
- Nauset Supt. Search Committee, 3:55 p.m.
Monday, Jan. 10
- Dredging Task Force, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 11
- Select Board, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, Jan. 12
- Rights of the Public Access Committee, 11 a.m.
Thursday, Jan. 13
- Cape Cod Commission Committee on Planning and Regulation, 1 p.m.
- Zoning Board of Appeals, 7 p.m.
Conversation Starters
Town Hall Office Hours Reduced
The select board voted Jan. 4 to reduce Town Hall hours to just two days a week and by appointment only the other days of the week. Other town offices can also close at the discretion of the town administrator until Feb. 28.
“Right now, we need town hall to function,” said select board chair Ryan Curley. “There have been positive cases among staff, which affect the functioning of town hall.”
Interim Town Administrator Charlie Sumner said he thinks reduced open hours will allow staff to continue serving the public while remaining safe from Covid-19.
Officer Valli Becomes Sgt. Valli
Officer Jeremiah Valli of the Wellfleet police will be promoted to sergeant.
Valli has been in law enforcement for 17 years, Chief Michael Hurley said. He grew up on the Lower Cape and graduated from Nauset Regional High School, then served in the U.S. Marine Corps before starting his police career in 2004 with the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office while working part-time for the Wellfleet department. In 2009, he became a full-time cop in Truro, then returned to Wellfleet’s department in April 2018.
“He’s an outstanding police officer,” Hurley said. The select board voted unanimously for his promotion.
Trash Collection at Beaches
The town will be piloting a beach trash disposal station to provide baskets to beachgoers who want to pick up trash and deliver it to a bin on their way out. The concept was suggested by Wellfleet resident Peyton Flanagan, a graphic design student who saw a similar system at Head of the Meadow Beach in Truro.
“Growing up here, I saw a lot of trash on the beaches and along the dunes,” Flanagan said. “It would be really nice to pick it up.”
While the Truro DPW builds wooden boxes for bags, Wellfleet DPW Director Jay Norton, who will supervise the program, recommended using plastic shopping baskets with a rack to secure them.
Flanagan volunteered to work on finding sponsors for the clean-up stations. Truro’s program is sponsored by Salty Market.
“We should try it and see how well it works, and whether people return the baskets,” said Mike DeVasto of the select board. He recommended Duck Harbor or Lecount Hollow as the pilot beaches.
Board member John Wolf worried people would steal the baskets. “I have a more jaded view of human nature,” he said.
Member Helen Miranda Wilson abstained from voting. She said she was against the baskets because it’s “just another thing for the DPW to do.” —Michaela Chesin
