Meetings Ahead
Most meetings in Wellfleet are in person, typically with an online-attendance option. Click on the meeting that interests you on the calendar at wellfleet-ma.gov for details. All meetings are at Town Hall unless otherwise indicated.
Thursday, April 24
- Conservation Commission, 1 p.m., Town Hall basement
- Maurice’s Planning Committee, 3 p.m., online
- Wellfleet Community Forum, Meet the Candidates and Town Meeting Warrant Review, 5 p.m., Adult Community Center
Friday, April 25
- Shellfish Advisory Board, 2:30 p.m., South Side of Lt. Island Bridge
- Commission on Disabilities, 3 p.m., online
Monday, April 28
- Nauset Subcommittee on Mental Health, 4:30 p.m., online
- Finance Committee, 5 p.m., Elementary School library
- Select Board, 5:30 p.m., Elementary School teachers’ lounge
- Annual Town Meeting, 6 p.m., Elementary School gym
Tuesday, April 29
- Nauset Regional High School Council, 4:15 p.m., NRHS cafeteria
- Select Board joint meeting with Maurice’s Planning Committee, 5 p.m., online
Conversation Starter
Old Rules, New Enforcement, and an Emergency
The select board’s hearing on temporary changes to the 2025 marina regulations ended inconclusively on April 17, as board members could not decide how to proceed without further input from town counsel.
The hearing came less than a month before the town’s marina opens for the season on May 15. At issue was the enforcement of marina regulations — a change that threatens to displace several commercial fishermen who have for years paid the town to use vacant slips without being formally assigned to those slips.
Harbormaster Mike Cavanaugh said that his job was to enforce the existing regulations — which do not allow using vacant slips that way. He said he sent town counsel three alternatives for consideration to accommodate those who will be displaced, and counsel favored the option to assign newly designated slips by lottery.
Except that the deadline for vessels to enter that lottery was April 14 — several days before the announcement that the rules would be enforced.
Select board member Ryan Curley objected to the regulations’ timeline and lack of clarity. “That is something that should be established through a public hearing to inform those in the public that there’s this opportunity,” Curley said.
Two commercial fishermen who traditionally use those slips, Dave Seitler and Kevin Coakley, asked the select board to find an alternative remedy, given their likely displacement. “This is exactly what I was trying to avoid,” Seitler told the board. “I’ve given so much heads up,” he added, saying he had been asking for clarification of his slip assignment for months.
“We may have to vary a little in the interest of accommodating people who have been operating in good faith,” said select board chair John Wolf.
“The L-pier fire has created an emergency situation down there that throws things off kilter,” said Town Administrator Tom Guerino. The board discussed the possibility of making an emergency declaration that would preserve the status quo regarding temporary slip assignments for commercial fishermen at the harbormaster’s discretion. But Guerino and Cavanaugh wanted to ask town counsel whether such a declaration could allow that accommodation.
The board agreed to discuss the problem again on April 23. —Tyler Jager
