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.
Wednesday, July 10
- Wellfleet Community Forum discussion on wastewater management, 7 p.m., Adult Community Center
Thursday, July 11
- Nauset Regional School Committee Retreat, 5:30 p.m., Middle School Library
Conversation Starter
Mosquito Money
Everybody knows that it’s a bad year for mosquitoes, even the finance committee. At its June 12 meeting, the committee unanimously voted to transfer $20,000 from the town’s reserve fund to help the Cape Cod Mosquito Control Project get deeper into the area of the Duck Harbor overwash, the main breeding ground in town for brackish-water mosquitoes.
This year’s mosquito problem might not be as bad as it was in 2021, when high tides first breached the Duck Harbor bank, but repeated flooding this winter and spring at Bound Brook Island means that this summer might come close. Town Administrator Tom Guerino said that he has received many complaints from residents in the area, and “It’s going to get worse before it gets better,” Guerino told the finance committee.
According to Guerino, Mosquito Control’s executive director Gabrielle Sakolsky told him that the agency doesn’t have the staff or the funding to get deeper into the overwash area, where the dense brush makes it harder to apply larvicide. Guerino said that the $20,000 will enable the agency to treat more areas.
Guerino said that the town’s reserve fund is currently sitting untouched at $100,000. The finance committee agreed that the transfer would meet the fund’s purpose, which is meant for unpredicted expenses. “A good mosquito is a dead mosquito,” said chair Kathleen Granlund. —Sam Pollak
