Meetings Ahead
Most meetings in Wellfleet are remote only, but some are held in person. Go to www.wellfleet-ma.gov/calendar and click on the meeting you want to watch, then follow the instructions on the agenda.
Thursday, Jan. 25
- Board of Assessors, 9:30 a.m., Assessor’s Office
- Cape Cod Commission Committee on Planning and Regulation, 10 a.m.
- Nauset Regional School Committee, 6 p.m., Nauset Regional Middle School auditorium
- Planning board, 7 p.m.
- Recreation Committee, 4:30 p.m., Recreation Office at Wellfleet Elementary School
Monday, Jan. 29
- Nauset Schools Regional Agreement Subcommittee, 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 30
- Cable Internet and Cellular Service Advisory Committee, 9 a.m.
- Select Board work session, 5 p.m., Town Hall basement conference room
Wednesday, Jan. 31
- Cable Internet and Cellular Service Advisory Committee, 9 a.m.,
- Maurice’s Planning Committee, 4 p.m.
Conversation Starter
Seasonal Residents Raise Concerns
The board of the Wellfleet Seasonal Residents Association wrote a letter to the select board dated Jan. 8 expressing concern over the state of the town and a demand to restore stability in town government.
“The board … has watched with dismay the ongoing pattern of dysfunction within Wellfleet town government,” the letter started. It was read by Susan Reverby during the public comment period of the board’s Jan. 9 meeting.
The letter cited a long list of what it called crises plaguing the town. Those included a lack of stable executive leadership, incivility among members of the select board, morale issues among town staff along with the board’s failure to respond to staff concerns, and the board’s decision “to incur a $4.5 million penalty rather than work cooperatively with a federal government agency to facilitate the dredging of the harbor’s mooring area.”
“We would like to see the Select Board create and immediately implement a plan for restoring a modicum of stability to Wellfleet town government,” the letter said.
Responding to the letter during the select board’s Jan. 16 meeting, board member Tim Sayre said that Reverby had “misquoted the board as approving the payment of $4.5 million for the permit of dredging, which is not true. We said that we are not going to do mitigation at this point, and that we are going to go to the town and let the town decide.”
The Seasonal Residents Association responded in another letter on Jan. 18 that it was “heartened to learn” that Sayre had read the first letter.
“However, we are dismayed that his response was to quibble with a technicality in one of eight bulleted points, missing (or just failing to respond to) the letter’s message about ‘the ongoing pattern of dysfunction within Wellfleet town government.’ ”
In its Jan. 8 letter, the association offered to sit down with the board to explore how the seasonal community could help the town address its challenges. “The offer still stands,” the Jan. 18 letter concluded. —Sam Pollak
