Part-Time Matters
To the editor:
Re “Truro Part-Timers Worry About Housing and Health,” [Aug. 29, front page]:
Your article quoted a part-time resident advisory committee (PTRAC) member suggesting folks ask the Truro Part-Time Resident Taxpayers’ Association about the differences between the TPRTA and the advisory committee.
PTRAC is a valuable recognition that part-timers’ views, lives, and rights matter. Its members can reflect their own views to the select board about part-timers. This gathering was a good first step for them to become informed.
PTRAC deliberates and acts at its meetings and through the decisions made at town meeting. TPRTA is an independent organization advocating for and representing the interests of part-timers for more than 25 years. We regularly communicate with thousands of part-timers and are active, trusted, and well-informed on part-timers’ concerns and interests.
TPRTA hears from part-timers and other members of the community constantly — whether official, civic, or individually. We address all requests for info and help in real time. We have one annual meeting, occasional forums, and use email and frequent e-newsletters to inform and stay informed. We support community activities and work with other organizations as well. PTRAC is official; TPRTA is a civic community organization.
Your article did not report attendance at the forum: 45 people were present in person or online. Of those, 27 were town officials, committee members, or staff, or nonparticipating TPRTA observers. Only 18 were unaffiliated citizens, some full-timers.
Last month TPRTA released survey results of 665 households representing 1,850 Truro part-timers, as we issued to the select board, PTRAC, and the general public beforehand. Our survey garnered the views of a 100-times-larger cohort of part-timers whose opinions, concerns, and insights matter. It offers PTRAC a valuable “listening” tool while they get on their feet as a committee. Readers can find it at https://bit.ly/3TfXhUG.
Anthony Garrett
Truro and Montville, N.J.
The writer is president of the Truro Part-Time Resident Taxpayers’ Association.
Equal Access for Disabled
To the editor:
Re “Truro and Disabilities Group Can’t Reach Compromise on Deck” [Aug. 29, page A7]:
To provide access to the back deck of our condo at 544 Shore Road, there needs to be enough space for our clients in wheelchairs to come out of the back slider onto the small portable ramp in the photo printed with your article. We had an experienced architect-carpenter build a temporary removable patio extension to the deck that sits adjacent and flush to the current five-foot-wide deck, so that a person in a wheelchair can come down a short ramp and view the water.
I explained this at the Aug. 5 Truro Conservation Commission meeting and apologized for the oversight of not applying for a permit. We did not think a permit was needed for a temporary extension. Several other units at the Bay Beach Townhomes have had small extensions of their decks upon which they place chairs and grills.
The commission decided that we needed to remove the deck by Sept. 1, and that the homeowners’ association should add truckloads of sand to allow for mats on the beach instead of the patio. But the association said we should rake sand from the other units and beach to our unit to level off the area. That is not an option. We are now in a most difficult position. Removing the deck would have an adverse impact on our physically disabled clients who deserve equal access to the deck and beachfront.
We asked to be allowed to keep the temporary extension until Nov. 1. I am hard pressed to see what difference two months will make. We respect the work of the conservation commission, but we feel that the concerns of equal access and the principles of the Americans with Disabilities Act should take precedence.
Jayne Sheehan
Provincetown
The writer is a member of the board of SMILE Mass.
JB’s Character
To the editor:
I just read John “JB” Browne’s obituary written by Tom Recchio in the Aug. 29 issue [page A17] and was moved by the comments of so many who were close to him. Obituaries are rarely uplifting, but his was. Although I never knew him, I now wish I had. The description “the personification of Provincetown” seems more than appropriate.
I’d like to extend my condolences to all who grieve his loss. I would also like to suggest that a longer story of his impact on Provincetown be undertaken and published. It seems to me that everyone could learn a bit more about his character, generosity, kindness, and goodwill to so many.
Donald Lathrop Petry
Provincetown
Letters to the Editor
The Provincetown Independent welcomes letters from readers on all subjects. They must be signed with the writer’s name, home address, and telephone number (for verification). Letters will be published only if they have been sent exclusively to the Independent. They should be no more than 300 words and may be edited for clarity, accuracy, conciseness, and good taste. Longer pieces (up to 600 words) may be submitted for consideration as op-ed commentary. Send letters to [email protected] or by mail to P.O. Box 1034, Provincetown, MA 02657. The deadline for letters is Monday at noon for each week’s edition.
