Meetings Ahead
Most meetings in Wellfleet are in person, typically with an online-attendance option. Click on the meeting you are interested in on the calendar at wellfleet-ma.gov for details. All meetings are at Town Hall unless otherwise indicated.
Thursday, Feb. 13
- Nauset Wellness Advisory Committee, 3:30 p.m., Administration Bldg.
Tuesday, Feb. 18
- Open Space Committee, 4:30 p.m.
- Select Board, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 19
- Maurice’s Planning Committee, 4 p.m., online only
Conversation Starters
Sewer District Decision Delays
The select board delayed its vote on a proposed sewer district, expected to be taken earlier this month, saying it wanted to hear how other towns have handled their sewer plans for environmentally sensitive areas. Representatives from Mashpee and Orleans were on the board’s Feb. 11 agenda along with Andrew Gottlieb of the Association to Preserve Cape Cod, who was going to outline some options for innovative alternative systems.
The engineers who developed a proposed sewer district for Wellfleet are expected to answer questions at a select board meeting at the end of February.
The state Dept. of Environmental Protection declared Wellfleet Harbor a “natural resource nitrogen sensitive area” in September 2023. Wellfleet must develop a watershed plan to reduce nitrogen in the harbor. Otherwise, the state will step in and compel properties in the watershed to upgrade to individual innovative alternative systems by September 2030.
The town is looking at sewering certain areas. On Jan. 22, the board of health approved new regulations requiring homeowners outside the planned sewer district to upgrade their septic systems when a home is sold, when new construction adds to living space, following a change of use, or if there is a cesspool.
Select board members Michael DeVasto and Ryan Curley say they want a detailed timeline for the sewer district before adopting the new regulations approved by the health board.
Board member Sheila Lyons said she was frustrated by the delays caused by her colleagues. “They’re not helping with people’s understanding of this,” she told the Independent on Monday. “I don’t know what their problem is. This isn’t the first round here.” The town had already sent a plan to DEP, said Lyons, and the agency sent it back with instructions on how to fix it. She called setting the sewer district just one more step in a very long process.
“If we don’t start, the costs go up, and we lose money,” Lyons said. —Christine Legere
