Meetings Ahead
Most meetings in Provincetown are in-person, typically with an online-attendance option for both committee members and residents. Click on the meeting you want to attend on the calendar at provincetown-ma.gov for a link to an agenda and details. All meetings take place at Town Hall unless otherwise noted.
Thursday, May 11
- Historic District Commission, 3 p.m.
- Housing Authority, 5:30 p.m., 44 Harry Kemp Way
- Public Pier Corp. Board, 5 p.m.
- Planning Board, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, May 16
- Cultural Council, 5:30 p.m.
- Conservation Commission, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, May 17
- Historic District Commission, 3:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 18
- Board of Health, 4 p.m.
- Zoning Board of Appeals, 6 p.m.
Conversation Starter
A Raise and a Bonus for Lodging
The select board voted on May 8 to raise the hourly wage for this year’s seasonal community service officers from $23.50 to $24.50 and to offer a hiring and retention bonus of $3,000 to this year’s recruits: $1,500 at the beginning of the season and $1,500 at the end.
The 14 seasonal officers handle traffic control and community relations downtown.
“While this money would be paid via employee paycheck, it would be directly in support of their housing costs,” Police Chief Jim Golden wrote in his request to the select board.
“I’ve had two candidates in the last three weeks drop out because they couldn’t find housing,” Golden told the board. He almost lost a third, he added, but that person found housing in Harwich.
Golden said he has long encouraged his seasonal hires to try to find housing together — and that he has a small list of property owners who like renting to his officers. His list keeps getting shorter, he said; one owner dropped off the list this year needing to use the house for family.
Golden’s letter cited “the decline in housing stock, conversions including second homes, and the lucrative attraction of weekly rental income” as causes of the department’s housing struggles.
The select board asked if they could make the raise bigger. Chief Golden said that he could pay the amounts he had requested within his existing budget but that a bigger ask might appear in next year’s budget.
The board voted unanimously for the increased compensation and bonuses. —Paul Benson
