Meetings Ahead
Most meetings in Provincetown are held in person, typically with an online-attendance option. 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 are at Town Hall unless otherwise noted.
Thursday, Oct. 24
- Animal Welfare Committee, 10 a.m., Veterans Memorial Community Center
- Board of Assessors, noon
- Library Trustees, 4 p.m., Public Library
- Planning Board, 6 p.m.
Monday, Oct. 28
- Select Board, 6 p.m. (including housing workshop with Planning Board, Community Housing Council, and Year-Round Market-Rate Rental Housing Trust)
Tuesday, Oct. 29
- MacMillan Pier Commission, 6 p.m.
Conversation Starters
Early Voting Hours
There are eight more days of early voting between Thursday, Oct. 24 and Friday, Nov. 1.
Voting hours at town hall are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on most weekdays, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Fridays, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26, which is also the last day to register to vote for this election.
There is no early voting between Friday, Nov. 1 and Election Day itself, which is Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Read to Dogs
The “Hearts and Paws” comfort program is bringing dogs that have passed the American Kennel Club’s “canine good citizen exam” to the Provincetown library on Saturday, Oct. 26 from 1 to 2 p.m. so young people can read to them.
Reading aloud helps accelerate literacy in young learners, according to Psychology Today, but children can struggle with self-esteem or simply lose interest if they can’t hold the attention of other humans while reading aloud.
Trained dogs pay better attention than many humans, however. And if they are judging their young readers, they are extremely good at hiding it.
Lease to Locals
According to an update from Town Manager Alex Morse to the select board, the Lease to Locals program has now helped support 20 one-year leases in residential units that were previously not available as year-round rentals.
Those 20 units have a total of 30 bedrooms and are now housing 35 people. The average rent charged is $1,443 per bedroom, and the incentives for all 20 units come to $220,000, or about $11,000 per year-round lease.
This is a higher participation rate than was forecast, Morse wrote, although there could be a seasonal plateau approaching as winter sets in. “The plan is to request additional incentive funds from the Select Board as needed,” Morse wrote. —Paul Benson
