Meetings Ahead
Most meetings in Eastham are in person, typically with an online-attendance option. Click on the meeting you are interested in on the calendar at eastham-ma.gov for details. All meetings are at Town Hall unless otherwise indicated.
Thursday, Jan. 30
- Board of Health, 3 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 3
- Select Board, 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 5
- Community Preservation Act Committee, 5 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 6
- Finance Committee, 4 p.m.
- Zoning Board of Appeals, 5 p.m.
Conversation Starter
Wastewater Treatment Ahead
According to the wastewater planning update page on the town’s website, which was last updated on Jan. 9, the town will request funds for the design and engineering of a wastewater treatment facility and collection system at this year’s annual town meeting on May 6.
“This is a necessary step for us to address the need to reduce nitrogen going into our waterbodies in a community-wide, targeted manner,” the update says. The system is part of the town’s Targeted Watershed Management Plan to reduce nitrogen flow into marshes, ponds, and Cape Cod Bay, required by the Mass. Dept. of Environmental Protection.
This week, the town launched a Q&A series on its social media page meant to bring the most common questions submitted by Eastham residents about the plan and sewer system into view and provide some answers. One post on the page said the collection system would be located at the old DPW site at 555 Old Orchard Road and that, while taxes would necessarily increase in order to fund the project, the town would create “programs to assist residents if they need to connect to the system.”
A community-wide, centralized approach to wastewater funding is “the most effective and equitable solution,” according to the town website. The alternative would be for individual homeowners in nitrogen-sensitive areas to install innovative-alternative systems costing up to $40,000, according to the town website.
Details on funding and financing are expected in the coming weeks. Go to the “Community” page on the town’s website and from there click on “Wastewater Infrastructure” to post your questions. —Parker Mumford
