Meetings Ahead
Most meetings in Eastham are in person, typically with an online-attendance option. Click on the meeting you want to attend on the calendar at eastham-ma.gov for a link to an agenda and details. All meetings are at Town Hall unless otherwise indicated.
Monday, July 22
- Visitors Tourism and Promotion Services Board, 3:30 p.m.
- Select Board, 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday, July 23
- Conservation Commission On-site, 8:15 a.m.
- Conservation Commission, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, July 24
- Affordable Housing Trust, 8:45 a.m.
- Finance Committee, 4 p.m.
Thursday, July 25
- Board of Health, 3 p.m.
- Nauset Regional School Committee Retreat, 5:30 p.m. Middle School Library
Conversation Starter
Stubborn on Paint Stewardship
At the July 8 select board meeting, member Gerald Cerasale said that the board seemed to have compromised by taking no action on supporting the paint stewardship bill, which would create a statewide recycling program for latex and oil-based paints.
After nearly 30 minutes of discussion in which three members of the public supported the bill, the “no action” motion passed 3-2 with board members Suzanne Bryan and Robert Bruns dissenting.
The question supporting the bill had come up on June 17, but the board decided to get more feedback from hardware store owners, painters, or others it might affect. The paint stewardship bill would impose a tax — estimated by advocates to be less than $1 — on new cans of paint.
Kalliope Chute, who manages the Barnstable water quality and hazardous waste program, spoke in favor of the bill, telling the board that she gets more calls to the county’s helpline about paint disposal than nearly anything else.
But board member Jamie Demetri told the group, “This is another small fee that we’re going to be asking people to pay. And I’m not OK with that.”
The paint stewardship bill is currently in the House Ways and Means Committee. The legislature has until the end of month to act on it before the current session ends. —Jack Styler
