Most 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, April 7
- Board of Assessors, 10 a.m.
- Housing Authority, 10 a.m.
- Rights of Public Access Committee, 1 p.m.
- Cape Cod Commission, 3 p.m.
- Dredging Task Force, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, April 12
- Cape Cod Commission Subcommittee, 5:30 p.m.
- Select Board, 7 p.m.
Conversation Starters
A Permitting Marathon
Charlie Sumner and Brian Carlstrom, who are respectively Wellfleet’s interim town administrator and the Cape Cod National Seashore’s superintendent, signed a notice of intent on March 23 for the approval of Phase 1 of the Herring River Restoration. According to the Mass. Wetland Protection Act, the town is required to mail a notice of this to all abutters within 100 feet of the property line of the restoration project.
On Thursday, April 14 at 5 p.m., the Truro and Wellfleet conservation commissions will be holding a joint public hearing on this matter over Zoom.
In the long run, the Herring River Restoration Project aims to remove manmade tidal restrictions imposed at the Chequessett Neck Road dike and restore tidal wetland habitat in the Herring River floodplain.
For the last two years, the initiative has been lurching through the permitting process, which involves approval from a string of bodies at the municipal, state, and federal levels.
In June 2020, Phase 1 of the project received approval from the Cape Cod Commission. This first step seeks to restore 570 acres of wetland as part of an incremental approach to gradually reintroduce tidal flushing to the floodplain, according to the notification to abutters. More than a year later, this was followed by approval from the Mass. Dept. of Environment Protection with a water quality certification in September 2021. Shortly afterwards, in October 2021, the project received a general permit from the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers.
Up next in this slow march to the starting line: receiving a waterways license from the MassDEP. Applications were submitted last year, according to a press release from the Friends of Herring River. —Jasmine Lu
