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Cloverleaf

    This Week In Truro

    Meetings Ahead

    By

    Meetings are held remotely. Go to www.truro-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and open its agenda for instructions on how to watch or take part online.

    Thursday, Jan. 21

    • Climate Action Committee, 10:30 a.m.
    • Cultural Council, 2 p.m.
    • School Committee, 5:15 p.m.
    A surfer enjoys the winter swells and sunshine at Coast Guard Beach in Truro on Saturday, Jan. 16. (Photo Nancy Bloom)

    Friday, Jan. 22

    • Commission on Disabilities, 3:30 p.m.

    Monday, Jan 25

    • Charter Review Committee, 5:15 p.m.
    • Zoning Board of Appeals, 5:30 p.m.

    Tuesday, Jan. 26

    • Select Board, 5 p.m.

    Wednesday, Jan. 27

    • Planning Board, 2:30 p.m.

    Conversation Starters

    Covid-19 Update

    As of Jan. 18, Truro had eight active cases of Covid-19, according to the town website, and 27 total cases, according to the state Dept. of Public Health. Truro has had no deaths attributed to Covid-19.

    Town Water for Pond Village

    The select board has voted to put an article on the town meeting warrant to add $77,670 to the 2022 capital budget to make engineering and cost estimates of extending public water lines to Pond Road and Twine Field Road.

    A year-long controversy over building the Cloverleaf, an affordable housing complex on Highland Road that was approved by the zoning board of appeals on Jan. 14, has brought the water quality problem in Pond Village into sharp focus.

    The problem has been well known for years, said Robert Weinstein, chair of the select board. There are elevated levels of nitrogen in some Pond Village wells, likely caused by septic systems and wells sharing small lots on low-lying topography that gets storm runoff from all the surrounding hills, said Health Agent Emily Beebe.

    Beebe advocated for providing this neighborhood with public water because the water main already goes right by the intersection of Pond Road and Shore Road. Public water would be the quickest and easiest way to solve health problems posed by poor water quality, she said.

    The health agent’s view, however, was opposed by resident Joan Holt, who wrote a letter to the select board telling them that poor water quality is due to wastewater and that is where the town must focus. Holt said cesspools should be upgraded as a first step.

    Beebe said the wastewater problem is a lot more complex than adding town water. But, she added, the board of health did recently vote to order all cesspools be replaced by Dec. 31, 2023 (see story on page 9).

    Stephanie Rein Will Be Walsh Liaison

    The select board on Jan. 12 appointed member Stephanie Rein serve as its liaison to the Walsh Property Community Planning Committee.

    The town bought the 70-acre Walsh property in 2019 for $5.1 million. The mostly buildable parcel represents a rare opportunity to guide the town’s future — a chance to make a difference in housing, open space, recreation, and economic opportunity that may not come up in an entire lifetime, said Rein. That is why, she said, she is so passionate about the topic. It’s one reason she ran for the select board in the first place.

    The liaison has no decision-making role but reports back to the select board information that may be relevant. The planning committee, appointed in October, has not started to meet yet because town officials are still finalizing contract details with facilitator Stacie Smith of the Consensus Building Institute.

    Some may feel sticker shock at Smith’s contract, which provides payment of “up to” $98,000. But both Town Manager Darrin Tangeman and Assistant Town Manager Kelly Clark told the select board that Smith has no intention of billing that much; the figure, they said, represents the maximum she could be paid. —K.C. Myers

    WATERSHED

    Lawyer Is Hired to Face ZBA on Cloverleaf

    Board’s final vote on affordable housing plan expected Jan. 14

    By

    TRURO — On the eve of the expected approval of what would be the town’s largest affordable housing development, a group calling itself Concerned Members of the Pond Village Watershed Community has hired an attorney to represent its interests before the zoning board of appeals and possibly in court.

    The Pond Village group has sent letters to the ZBA critical of the 39-unit Cloverleaf apartment complex; 75 people appear to have signed a Nov. 5, 2020 letter. It’s not clear, however, how many of them are paying for the attorney, Jason Talerman, or whether they plan to appeal the ZBA’s likely approval of a comprehensive permit for the project. Talerman is a partner at Mead, Talerman and Costa, with offices in Newburyport and Millis.

    At the ZBA’s Jan. 7 meeting, Patti Bellinger, who owns a waterfront home on Pond Road assessed at $1.9 million, introduced Talerman, saying, “I’ve asked Jay to represent our interests.”

    Talerman declined to name the people who have hired him.

    Bellinger told the ZBA her group wants the proposed wastewater system at the Cloverleaf to treat the effluent so that, on average, it reduces the concentration of nitrogen to 5 milligrams per liter (mg/L). And, she said, if the treatment system should fail, “We want to make sure that there is a very strong, fail-safe backup plan.”

    “We vehemently support the notion of affordable housing,” Bellinger added, “not only in Truro but at the location that has already been chosen.”

    Bellinger did not return an email or phone call to her office at Harvard University, where she is the chief of staff for President Lawrence Bacow. Talerman said his clients do not wish to appeal the expected approval of the project permit. But, he added, he has no “crystal ball.”

    “If I had an opportunity to work with [acting town planner] Barbara Carboni, I’d love to collaborate with her,” Talerman said. “It would be our fondest desire not to challenge the [approval].”

    The Cloverleaf has been the subject of more than a year of hearings before the ZBA. Carboni, an attorney with KP Law, told the ZBA on Jan. 7 that she was drafting the final language for its decision. ZBA Chair Art Hultin told his colleagues they would be voting on the matter this Thursday, Jan. 14. Abutters to the Highland Road site of the housing development would have the right to appeal in either Mass. Land Court or Barnstable Superior Court.

    More often than not, when abutters appeal a decision, the legal fees to defend the board involved are paid by the developer, Talerman said. But in this case, because it has been so supportive of the project, the town may cover legal fees, he said. Either way, the project would be delayed, which would increase costs to the developer, Community Housing Resource of Provincetown, the town, or both.

    The major issue facing the board is a requested waiver of the town’s wastewater regulations. The ZBA required the developer to use an alternative treatment system, and then required that treatment system to be peer reviewed by another engineer, Mark Nelson of the Horsley Witten Group.

    According to both the developer’s engineer, John O’Reilly, and Nelson, the system is capable of treating wastewater so that it would reduce the nitrogen level in effluent to 5 mg/L. This conclusion was based on reviews of existing systems that are similar in design and use. That degree of treatment exceeds standard Title 5 septic systems, which reduce nitrogen in effluent to 35 mg/L, according to Brian Baumgaertel, director of the Mass. Alternative Septic System Test Center in Mashpee.

    The Pond Village group, however, argues that the pond itself, which their homes surround, already has low water quality and the nitrogen levels in many of the wells surrounding the pond are high.

    Mary Ann Larkin, who lives at 12 Pond Road, said her water was recently tested at 3.6 mg/L. The Environmental Protection Agency’s established limit for safe consumption is 10 mg/L.

    Larkin’s husband, Patric Pepper, said he had “been told” that the EPA considers water with more than 3 mg/L “contaminated.” Pressed on who had told Pepper that number, Larkin said that her husband was “confused.”

    A group that formed during the review process of the Cloverleaf calling itself “Docs for Truro Safe Water” has put out statements saying that the 10 mg/L standard is outdated. But their work has been questioned by various authorities including Tim Pasakarnis, a water resources analyst for the Cape Cod Commission. He told the Independent on Dec. 17 that he had never in his research found a jurisdiction anywhere that requires a lower nitrogen level than 10 mg/L.

    It was reports of the nitrogen level dispute that caused Marilyn Miller, who lives at 13 Pond Road, to have her name removed from an Oct. 5 letter opposing the Cloverleaf from the Concerned Members of the Pond Village Watershed Community. She said she had not given permission for her name to be there in the first place, and asked Larkin to remove it.

    Asked why she is not opposed to the Cloverleaf housing development, Miller, a former reporter for the Provincetown Banner, said, “I read up on it.”

    HOUSING

    Last-Minute Change Delays Cloverleaf OK

    The developer wants to remove market-rate units from project

    By

    TRURO — The development of the affordable housing project known as the Cloverleaf hit a snag on Dec. 17 that has delayed the approval of the 39-unit plan by the zoning board of appeals.

    The developer, Ted Malone of Community Housing Resource of Provincetown, told the zoning board that the seven market-rate units that were included in the original plan— along with 32 income-restricted apartments — are no longer feasible because of the way the state regulates housing subsidies.

    “The numbers just don’t work,” Malone told the ZBA last week.

    He explained that the state Dept. of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), which assists with securing subsidies for housing projects, doesn’t want more than three levels of income restrictions in a single project. The original plan called for three levels, plus market rate, so people earning 60, 80, and 110 percent of the area median income would be eligible for income-restricted rental apartments.

    Malone asked that fewer specifics be written into the ZBA’s approval of the project; he wants the specific income limits to be left to his and the DHCD’s discretion. All of the units would, he promised, be income-restricted.

    “There’s just a level of detail [in the draft of the ZBA decision] that may conflict with the regulatory agreements drafted by the subsidizing agency,” Malone said.

    The change took zoning board members by surprise.

    “Then, that’s a different project,” said Barbara Carboni of KP Law, the acting town planner.

    She asked Malone to provide a written summary of what he wanted. Art Hultin, chair of the ZBA, reiterated her demand.

    “I’ll caution you, Mr. Malone, it’s got to be clear,” Hultin said.

    “Yes, I intend to do that,” Malone said. “We’ll have something written and clear. I’m just alerting you that this language [in the draft decision] won’t work.”

    The ZBA, which has been reviewing the project for over one year, will meet again virtually on Jan. 7 at 5:30 p.m.

    The ZBA has also not yet voted on whether to allow the proposed wastewater treatment plan. A poll of the board, however, found all but possibly one member, John Thornley, would support it. Malone plans to use an alternative treatment system that treats effluent more effectively than individual Title V systems.

    But neighbors of the project continue to raise objections. Karen Ruymann, of Bay View Drive, said even the town’s health agent doesn’t understand why there is poor water quality in the Pond Village neighborhood.

    Emily Beebe, the health agent, had in a previous meeting talked about a resident whose well water had a nitrate level over 10 mg/L although she has a tight tank. Since all septage is contained within the tight tank, her well had to have been contaminated by something else that no one, including Beebe, knows, Ruymann said.

    “This is deeply disturbing to us, that there is not a really detailed hydrogeological study,” Ruymann said.

    She asked that such a study be part of the conditions on the project. That could be a heavy economic burden for Malone and probably would not stand up to a court challenge, Carboni said.

    Beebe told the Independent that she has not herself seen any recent readings over 10 mg/L in Pond Village. But she took that resident at her word. She lives right on Pilgrim Pond, which catches runoff from surrounding hills and Route 6.

    Hultin said the area has had poor water quality for years, but that is not due to the unbuilt Cloverleaf development. Studies by the Cape Cod Commission and an independent peer reviewer, Mark Nelson of the Horsley Witten Group, found the Cloverleaf wouldn’t affect neighboring wells at all.

    The Truro Part-Time Resident Taxpayers’ Association’s most recent newsletter, sent to members on Dec. 21, associates the Cloverleaf with questionable science by the Docs for Truro Safe Water, whose materials talk about the dangers of “nitrate contamination on living things,” the newsletter states.

    The “docs” derive their name from the fact that all of them have doctorate degrees. They are epidemiologist Ron Fichtner; Dr. Frederick Ruymann, a gastroenterologist; Dr. Robert Brown, a neurologist; Mary Pearl, a conservation biologist; Christopher Clark and Brian Boyle, both engineers; and Robert Simpson, who holds a doctor of social work degree and specializes in behavioral health.

    None is a hydrogeologist.

    SCIENCE

    ‘Docs for Safe Water’ Claim to Be Their Own ‘Peer-Reviewers’

    But authors of report attack the town’s peer-review process

    By

    TRURO — The 40-page “Report on Private Wells and Truro Safe Water” released in September by a group calling themselves Docs for Truro Safe Water has been promoted by critics of the 39-unit Cloverleaf development as a peer-reviewed scientific treatise on how nitrogen contamination of drinking water threatens North Truro. The document has been cited repeatedly in arguments that the Cloverleaf should not be given the waivers it needs to proceed with construction as affordable housing under the state’s Chapter 40B.

    The authors of the report, questioned by a reporter for the Independent about their peer-review process at their Dec. 1 presentation to the board of health, asked to be allowed to respond in writing. The next day, they claimed that they themselves were the “peer reviewers” of their own work.

    “We are all cross-disciplinary peers and jointly reviewed the underlying science to prepare our report and presentation,” they wrote. “We jointly share authorship of the report and the presentation.”

    Meanwhile, a groundwater scientist from the Cape Cod Commission who examined the report said that it misrepresents the commission’s standards on nitrogen.

    A constellation of North Truro property owners has argued that effluent from the Cloverleaf would poison their wells with nitrates. Others, including Truro Health Agent Emily Beebe, say that groundwater quality in the area has much more to do with existing residential systems — septic systems that aren’t properly maintained and antiquated cesspools that dump nitrogen into the ground basically untreated.

    The authors of the “Docs” report are epidemiologist Ron Fichtner; Dr. Frederick Ruymann, a gastroenterologist; Dr. Robert Brown, a neurologist; Mary Pearl, a conservation biologist; Christopher Clark and Brian Boyle, both engineers; and Robert Simpson, who holds a doctor of social work degree and specializes in behavioral health.

    A view of Pilgrim Pond in North Truro’s Pond Village neighborhood. (Photo Nancy Bloom)

    All seven hold doctoral degrees and are recognized scholars. Their report primarily focuses on the evidence for increased incidence of various cancers even at relatively low levels of nitrate in drinking water. The report concludes with a call for the Truro Board of Health to reset local standards for nitrogen in drinking water to half or less of the E.P.A. standard.

    The authors have not responded to repeated requests by the Independent to interview them.

    Fichtner and Ruymann also signed various letters to the zoning board of appeals from the “Members of the Pond Village Community,” including an Oct. 19 letter describing the Docs report as “an expert peer-reviewed analysis.” DocsTruro.org describes its own report with the phrase “Status: peer review.”

    That same Oct. 19 letter attacks the town’s peer-review process of the Cloverleaf wastewater plan. “The process the Town has followed falls far short of any standards or guidance for peer review we can find,” states the letter. “A more comprehensive multidisciplinary peer review process — with experts in public health, drinking water safety, health economics, environmental sampling and monitoring, and ecology — is essential to garner confidence in this complex process and merit consideration for ZBA approval.”

    This passage also includes a footnote, which offers the E.P.A.’s Peer Review Handbook (4th edition) as an example of standards for peer review.

    But the Docs’ own report does not meet these standards. According to the E.P.A. standards, the Docs’ report was not peer-reviewed at all. One cannot both write a report and “peer review” it.

    The first page of the E.P.A. Handbook states prominently: “The goal of peer review is to obtain an independent review of the product from experts who have not contributed to its development.”

    From that same page of the Peer Review Handbook: “Peer review is an in-depth assessment of the assumptions, calculations, extrapolations, alternate interpretations, methodology, acceptance criteria and conclusions pertaining to the scientific or technical work product, and of the documentation that supports them.… It is conducted by qualified individuals (or organizations) who are independent of those who performed the work….”

    Truro’s contracted peer reviewer for the Cloverleaf, Horsley Witten, lists 38 people at its Sandwich office, including two hydrogeologists, three environmental engineers, three environmental scientists, a watershed planner, and an ecologist.

    Tim Pasakarnis is a water resources analyst for the Cape Cod Commission with a Ph.D. in environmental engineering; his graduate and postgraduate work focused on groundwater chemistry. He said the Docs for Truro Safe Water did not reach out to his office for advice, but he would have responded if they did.

    “The Cape Cod Commission does not have a drinking water recommendation, or an alternate minimum contamination level [MCL] for drinking water,” said Pasakarnis.

    The commission has a 5mg/liter site-wide loading standard, but that is not a drinking water standard.

    “There have been a couple of instances in [the Docs’] documentation that have misconstrued or misrepresented the commission’s reports,” said Pasakarnis. “The way [a citation on page 5] is written is not specific enough to be useful for interpreting accurately. It’s just saying a nitrate concentration. It’s not saying what it represents. It does not represent a drinking water MCL.”

    He’s also not aware of any jurisdiction with an MCL for drinking water below 10mg/L, the E.P.A. standard.

    “I can’t say there isn’t one,” said Pasakarnis, “but based on the extensive research that I’ve done, I have not found either a drinking water or a surface water MCL that’s lower than 10mg/L.”   Nor was Pasakarnis aware of a debate about the federal MCL.

    If Truro follows the Docs’ recommendation and imposes a new local standard for nitrate concentrations in drinking water, it would likely be the first jurisdiction anywhere to depart from the federal MCL for drinking water.

    Failed Systems

    People who work on water quality issues — including Pasakarnis; Beebe; Brian Baumgaertel, director of the Alternative Septic System Test Center in Mashpee; and Jason Silva, vice chair of the Truro Board of Health, who is also a septic engineer — frequently bring the conversation back to the same issue: existing systems that don’t perform well.

    “We have 200-plus cesspools, four or five in Pond Village, putting out anywhere from 20 to 200 mg/L, which is shocking,” said Silva. “I’m not seeing people voluntarily changing their cesspools to Title 5 septic, or their Title 5 to I/A systems. People are not reaching into their pocket and pulling out $30,000 because it’s the best thing to do.

    “I also don’t see people routinely pumping their systems,” Silva continued. “I talk to my friends who run septic companies, and I ask them, ‘Have you been doing a lot of pumping in the area?’ They tell me, ‘No, I’m not really getting any calls.’ Here’s a $300 possible fix, and it’s not even being acted on.”

    There is a county loan program that can spread the cost of a septic upgrade over 20 years, said Baumgaertel. But $30,000 is a lot of money, no matter how you slice it. Could town money ever go towards private septic and cesspool upgrades?

    “There are several nonprofits on Cape Cod that have made funds available for people to have retrofits or upgrades to private septic systems,” said Pasakarnis. “There are certainly some towns exploring possibilities for financing this. None of those are in place or established yet, but several are exploring what that might look like.”

    Editor’s note: This article has been revised and expanded for clarity. Due to a copy editing error, an earlier version reported that the Cape Cod Commission’s groundwater scientist had said the “Truro Docs” misrepresented the commission’s findings on Cloverleaf; in fact, he said the misrepresentation was about its findings on nitrogen levels in groundwater.

    This Week In Truro

    Meetings Ahead

    By

    Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to truro-ma.gov and follow the “helpful link” to Truro Channel 18.

    Thursday, Dec. 17

    • Zoning Board of Appeals, 5:30 p.m.

    Friday, Dec. 18

    • Board of Library Trustees, 11:30 a.m.
    • Commission on Disabilities, 3:30 p.m.

    Monday, Dec. 21

    • Climate Action Committee, 10 a.m.
    • Charter Review Committee, 4 p.m.
    • Bike and Walkways Committee, 6 p.m.

    Conversation Starters

    Covid-19 Update

    As of Dec. 12, Truro had three active cases of Covid-19, 18 cases considered recovered, and no deaths.

    Public Water at Pond Village

    The select board will vote at its next meeting in January on whether to authorize an engineering study to determine cost and feasibility of bringing public water to the Pond Village area of North Truro.

    At issue is questionable drinking water quality in this part of town due to the low elevation and inadequate septic systems in the neighborhood. Health Agent Emily Beebe said she spoke this fall with one home owner who lives right on Pilgrim Pond, had a tight septic tank, and still had poor water quality.

    Jarrod Cabral, the Truro Dept. of Public Works director, said all the runoff from Route 6 flows down the hill into this pond.

    “Everything is going into that pond,” Beebe said.

    The town has engaged the Cape Cod Commission to study the area and determine the quality of water. Beebe did not know when the study would be complete.

    But she said, “Having public water as an option is really important for us to do. Developing criteria for who gets town water is something we can look at. But step one is looking at the cost of running a main down there.”

    Sue Areson of the select board said on Dec. 15 she wanted to know first how much town money is available to conduct an engineering study. Because staff did not have a clear answer, the select board agreed to put off the matter until its meeting in January.

    The engineering study would determine price and feasibility of bringing water to homes in Pond Village. Public water is already being extended from the existing line on Shore Road to the proposed housing development known as the Cloverleaf, thanks to a $1.2 million state grant.

    —K.C. Myers

    CONDUCT UNBECOMING

    Herridge Is Censured by Select Board

    Planning board member says he is going ‘to step back’ and not run again

    By

    TRURO — The select board has sent a letter of censure to planning board member Peter Herridge for violating town policies on honesty, integrity, and civility, suggesting that his actions could place the town in legal jeopardy.

    In communications with the Independent, Herridge had accused town staff of lying to protect their jobs and denigrated affordable housing developer Ted Malone in vulgar terms. Malone’s company, Community Housing Resource, is developing the 39-unit Cloverleaf project on Highland Road in North Truro.

    The select board also wrote to planning board chair Anne Greenbaum, asking that the planning board remove Herridge from the community preservation committee and the water resources oversight committee.

    Herridge, who served as the planning board’s representative on both committees, said on Monday that he had already resigned both posts “for health reasons,” and plans to remove himself from further comments about the Cloverleaf. He said he also won’t run again when his term ends in 2021.

    “I get angry and lose my temper,” Herridge said. “Things that have to do with preserving Truro are very important to me. Things that have to do with overdevelopment have a real emotional effect on me. I’m going to have to step back from it. It’s not good for me, for my blood pressure.”

    Greenbaum did not return calls for comment.

    Herridge has been a vociferous critic of the Cloverleaf project. The letter of censure came after Town Manager Rae Ann Palmer, now retired, complained about Herridge’s comments in the July 16 Independent, in which he called Malone “a little scumbag,” and comments about her and her staff made in an email to editor Edward Miller on July 6.

    In that email, Herridge wrote that Truro town employees were lying about the Cloverleaf project to protect their jobs because they did not “want to get in trouble with the town administrator who is infamous for firing anybody who offends her in the least.”

    He also threatened Miller with legal action if the newspaper did not retract part of a story about the Cloverleaf.

    “In addition to being a medical doctor I am also a lawyer,” Herridge wrote to Miller, “and I absolutely love litigation and publishing lies about a person is an actionable tort.”

    The definition of a lawyer, the select board told Herridge in its letter, is one who is licensed to practice law.

    “As of writing,” the letter of censure states, “you are not licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and therefore should refrain from referring to yourself as a lawyer and threatening to sue people as such.”

    The select board discussed how to handle Palmer’s complaint on Nov. 10 and again on Nov. 17 in closed-door sessions. The Independent obtained the minutes of those meetings, the letter of censure, and the letter to the planning board through a public records request.

    In the letter to the planning board chair, the select board warned that the town could be held liable if there were no attempts made to distance itself from Herridge’s behavior. During the Nov. 10 meeting, town counsel David Jenkins said the town could be sued if it finds there was a violation of its policies and fails to take any action.

    The town charter states that appointed members of committees can be removed by the appointing authority for good cause, which includes conduct unbecoming to the office or reflecting adversely on the town.

    The letter to the planning board also warns that Herridge should be reined in during any discussions of the Cloverleaf or the town could be subject to legal liability.

    Herridge has been called out for making false statements about the threat to drinking water in Pond Village should the Cloverleaf be constructed. Last year, Herridge told the Independent that the Cloverleaf area had the worst nitrogen contamination in Truro.

    “In 2010, six percent of the homes had levels over 5 mg.,” he said. “The town did not check them more recently, but I have, and the levels are increasing. Some homes in Pond Village are over 10 mg. and have gotten warning notices from the board of health.”

    But Truro Health Agent Emily Beebe refuted that, saying, “I’m not aware of any tests over 10 mg. in that neighborhood. There are some readings that are over 3, and a couple over 5. The average in Pond Village of all the samples we could find is less than 2.”

    The chair of the board of health said there had been no warning notices sent to Pond Village residents.

    Resistance to the Cloverleaf remains robust. A letter signed by 114 people in October stated that the proposed septic system may not work, despite two independent evaluations by an engineer and by the Cape Cod Commission stating otherwise.

    “In terms of expressing my opinion on it, I think the people of Pond Village are aware of the danger they might face,” Herridge said.

    Truro Planning Board members are elected, so the select board cannot remove Herridge from the board. The only way to do that is through a recall election.

    This Week in Truro

    Meetings Ahead

    By

    Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to truro-ma.gov and follow the “helpful link” to Truro Channel 18.

    Thursday, Nov. 12

    • Climate Action Committee, 10 a.m.
    • Truro Housing Authority, 4:15 p.m.
    • School Committee, 5:15 p.m.
    • Zoning Board of Appeals, 5:30 p.m.

    Friday, Nov. 13

    • Community Preservation Committee, 4:15 p.m.
    • Board of Registrars, 5:15 p.m. 

    Monday, Nov. 16

    • Bike and Walkways Committee, 6 p.m.

    Tuesday, Nov. 17

    • Cemetery Commission, 10 a.m.
    • Board of Health, 3:30 p.m.
    • Commission on Disabilities, 3:30 p.m.
    • Select Board, 5 p.m. 

    Wednesday, Nov. 18

    • Planning Board, 5 p.m.

    Conversation Starters

    Covid-19 Update
    As of Nov. 5 (latest available), Truro had two active cases of Covid-19, 16 cases considered resolved, and no deaths.

    Cloverleaf Gets Cape Cod Commission OK
    The 39-unit affordable housing development known as the Cloverleaf is close to approval of a comprehensive permit from the zoning board of appeals. The ZBA reviewed the rest of the requested 12 waivers of zoning regulations last week. All have been approved except for one. The ZBA rejected waiving the developer’s performance bond. The board left it up to the town’s attorney and acting town planner, Barbara Carboni of KP Law, to work out an agreement over bonding with the developer, Ted Malone of Community Housing Resource, Inc.

    Meanwhile, the Cape Cod Commission’s staff reviewed the proposed septic system for the project, an experimental system that has been used with success at similar-sized housing projects. The commission report stated that the system, with monitoring, would “yield a wastewater plan staff would consider consistent with regional policy plan water resources objectives.”

    The ZBA will meet on Nov. 12 at 5:30 p.m. to allow the 114 people who have signed a letter objecting to the wastewater treatment plan to discuss the project further. Chair Art Hultin said he does not expect a vote by the ZBA on Nov. 12, but that may come at its next meeting in December. The ZBA is in the position of granting a comprehensive permit to allow the project based on a year of review.
    —K.C. Myers

    AFFORDABLE HOUSING

    Where Cloverleaf Stands After a Year of Review

    Critiques of the project have been plagued by misinformation

    By

    Approximately 2.4 percent of the year-round housing in Truro is classified as affordable. This translates to 27 homes or apartments that are affordable for residents earning up to 80 percent of the area median income — far short of the 110 affordable units prescribed by the state.

    These numbers are important because they represent 83 families who struggle to live here. Who are these families? They are your neighbors. They work for the town, take care of your property, bag your groceries, and provide critical home care services to our seniors and people with disabilities. They pay more than half of their income for rent, living in illegal and unsafe basements, and participating in the “Cape Cod shuffle,” going from winter rentals to campgrounds to friends’ couches.

    Critiques of the Cloverleaf development have been plagued by misconceptions and misinformation. The Cloverleaf property was given to the town with the condition that it be used solely for housing. At least 25 percent of that housing must meet affordability guidelines. The property cannot be used for a public works facility.

    The town received two proposals from developers, one from a nonprofit, and the other from the for-profit Community Housing Resource (CHR). The proposal from the nonprofit developer was approximately $1 million more expensive; it anticipated approximately $1.2 million in assistance from the town. CHR expected it would need approximately $500,000. Any profit earned by the developer is capped, using a formula imposed by the funding sources. CHR has a proven history of successfully developing affordable housing projects on Cape Cod, including Sally’s Way in Truro.

    There was never a playground stipulated in the original request for proposals. The building with 15 units was anticipated in discussions before the release of the RFP as an ideal configuration for seniors wishing to downsize, age in place, and retain some proximity to their neighbors. There is no rental space in Truro that meets the needs of this growing demographic group.

    Initially, preference will be given for 70 percent of the units to applicants who currently live or work in Truro or have children attending the Truro Central School. If Truro residents are not selected in the initial lottery, their application goes into the second general lottery. Recent lotteries in Provincetown and Eastham demonstrate that the overwhelming majority of applicants currently live on the Outer Cape.

    Approximately half the units will be designated for families who make up to 60 percent of area median income (AMI). Six units will be for income levels of 60 to 80 percent of AMI, and six units up to 110 percent of AMI. The remainder will be market rate, with no income restrictions. This income mix reflects the needs of a healthy and diverse community.

    As for nitrates and wastewater, the Cape Cod Commission states that “the wastewater plan is consistent with the Regional Policy Plan’s water resources objective and sufficiently addresses the potential impacts to drinking water resources.” I think we can put that issue to bed now.

    The zoning board of appeals has had countless hours of public meetings on this application, has reviewed many documents, and has heard from the applicant and his staff, third-party technical consultants, and a large number of members of the public. Throughout this process the applicant has demonstrated patience, flexibility, and a willingness to work collaboratively to ensure the best possible outcome. I think that is to be commended.

    Kevin Grunwald is chair of the Truro Housing Authority.

    AFFORDABLE HOUSING

    Cloverleaf Plan Gets 5 of 12 Zoning Waivers

    Proposed development is halfway toward final ZBA approval

    By

    TRURO — The so-called Cloverleaf development, an affordable housing complex on South Highland Road at Route 6, received about half the approvals it needs for full permitting last week, while objections to the plan from neighbors continued.

    On Oct. 22, the zoning board of appeals granted five of 12 main waivers that developer Ted Malone, of Community Housing Resource, must have before construction on the largest affordable housing development in town can begin. The ZBA tentatively approved a sixth waiver, pending a review by a water quality specialist with the Cape Cod Commission (CCC).

    The Cloverleaf project has been before the zoning board for a year. Malone is seeking a comprehensive permit under the state’s Chapter 40B to construct the 39-unit complex, which would be a mix of affordable and moderate-income-restricted rentals, along with seven market-rate units. The comprehensive permit process allows the developer to receive relief or waivers from zoning restrictions that would otherwise preclude affordable housing, as long as the benefits of the project outweigh possible detriments.

    The ZBA members favored granting all the waivers before them during the Oct. 22 meeting. But they referred the most significant and controversial waiver, which would exempt the development from the town’s septic regulations, to a water specialist at the CCC. The hydrologist will conduct a peer review on the proposed alternative for treating wastewater, a BioMicrobics system that has been used elsewhere but is still considered “innovative.” ZBA Chair Art Hultin said the review was limited to 20 days to prevent a lengthy delay in the permitting.

    The BioMicrobics system has already been reviewed and approved by an independent engineer, Mark Nelson of the Horsley Witten Group, who determined that it will treat the development’s wastewater safely and effectively. Nelson recommended that the board grant the waiver.

    Truro Health Agent Emily Beebe told the board, “[The Cloverleaf] proposal would treat the wastewater to a vastly higher degree than anyone else [in the neighborhood.]”

    Still, four of the five ZBA members — Hultin, John Dundas, John Thornley, and Fred Todd — asked for the extra review. Only Chris Lucy did not want to see it headed to the CCC.

    “I just don’t understand why we’re going to continue to review and review and then review the review,” Lucy said.

    Lucy further commented on a report by Beebe that the real culprit causing poor water quality in the nearby Pond Village area has to do with homes that already exist and the old septic systems on those properties.

    “It’s the constant building and rebuilding in the Pond Village area,” Lucy said, “and no one pays attention to the fact that their [own] sewage is poisoning themselves.”

    A group calling themselves the “Members of the Pond Village Community” objected to the project in a three-page letter to the ZBA that was signed by 114 people. One of their main points is that the developer is proposing an “untested, pilot” septic system and that the town is being used as a guinea pig.

    Laura English, who signed that letter, told the ZBA that the Barnstable County Dept. of Health “is only aware of three sites that have one of these systems … and nothing with the same volume as the Cloverleaf development.”

    Earlier in the meeting, the Horsley Witten Group consultant said the system has been tested on a similar property, the 50-unit affordable housing development in Westport called Noquochoke Village. Beebe told the Independent that it was “a very close comparison with the same residential wastewater characteristics.”

    The other waivers granted on Oct. 22 were to allow use of an alternative septic system, allow multifamily development on the nearly four-acre lot, allow the town to issue more than 50 single-family dwelling units in a single year, and to exceed height and floor area limits.

    The waivers that are still pending include relief from the site plan review process, parking requirements, and subdivision regulations, such as size limits for dead end roads, grading standards, and vegetation standards.

    CURRENTS

    This Week In Truro

    By

    Meetings Ahead

    Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to Truro-ma.gov and follow the “helpful link” to Truro Channel 18.

    Thursday, Oct. 22

    • Human Services Committee, 11 a.m.

      There was no waiting in Truro, as Town Clerk Susan Joseph welcomed Carol and Richard Pesiri on the first day of voting.
    • Commission on Disabilities, 3:30 p.m.
    • Zoning Board of Appeals, 5:30 p.m.

    Monday, Oct. 26

    • Zoning Board of Appeals, 5:30 p.m.

    Wednesday, Oct. 28

    • Planning Board Work Session, 1 p.m.

    Covid-19 Update

    As of Oct. 17, Truro had one active case of Covid-19, 16 cases considered resolved, and no deaths.

    Cloverleaf at the ZBA

    Major decisions on the Cloverleaf Truro affordable housing project are expected to be reached at Thursday’s zoning board of appeals hearing.

    The 39-unit development proposed at 22 Highland Road in North Truro has been before the ZBA for nearly a year. The developer, Ted Malone of Community Housing Resource, has presented his plans and made alterations based on local concerns. Ultimately, Malone must get what is known as a comprehensive permit from the ZBA, which would allow him to construct the project outside of the usual bylaws that govern the size and appearance of Truro buildings.

    On Thursday, the ZBA members are expected to vote on whether to grant waivers to some of the zoning bylaws. Just how those votes go will decide the fate of the project, said Art Hultin, the ZBA chair.

    It is not legally required for the developer to state exactly how many waivers are needed from local bylaws, Hultin said. That information is likely to come out on Thursday, however, when the waivers begin to be decided, Hultin added.

    Among the waivers requested are relief from Truro’s height limit and septic requirements.

    If approved, construction would begin in 2022. Most of the units are reserved for low- and moderate-income renters, but seven units will be “market rate” rentals.

    Community Preservation Deadline

    The deadline for Truro Community Preservation Act fund applications is Monday, Nov. 2, at 4 p.m. Community Preservation grants are made in the areas of community housing, historic preservation, open space, and noncommercial recreation.

    Applications and guidelines are available online at the town of Truro website on the Community Preservation page. Completed applications should be mailed or placed in the town hall drop box on or before the deadline. —K.C. Myers

    Register to Vote Now

    The last day to register to vote on Nov. 3 is Saturday, Oct 24. You can register online atsec.state.ma.us/OVR/. You can also verify that you’re properly registered at that site. You can also register at your town hall on Thursday and Friday this week. —Paul Benson

    CLOVERLEAF PROJECT

    Water Quality Issues? Check Your Septic, Says Beebe.

    Truro health agent points to inspections and testing

    By

    TRURO — Health and Conservation Agent Emily Beebe had a lot of things to say about water quality and the Cloverleaf affordable housing proposal, both in a letter to the Truro Zoning Board of Appeals and at the Oct. 8 continuation of the ZBA’s hearing on a comprehensive permit for the project. Many of her comments came down to one simple premise, however: if it’s well water you’re worried about, look at your own septic system — and your neighbors’.

    “[The Cloverleaf] proposal would treat the wastewater to a vastly higher degree than anyone else in your neighborhood,” Beebe told the ZBA. “Where you should be looking is not upstream at this site, but at what’s adjacent to you,” she added.

    “It’s good to know that folks already have some [well water] test results,” Beebe said. “What you’re looking at now is what’s happening because of your own septic system and your neighbor septic systems.”

    Water quality has come to dominate discussion of the Cloverleaf project, which would include 39 affordable apartments with 68 bedrooms. The Cloverleaf parcel is just shy of four acres. It is upstream of Pond Village, a neighborhood of homes clustered around the historic Pilgrim Pond.

    This blue box stationed at the Chapel on the Pond at 17 Pond Road was the distribution and collection center for water test kits in Pond Village. (Photo Nancy Bloom)

    Water quality in Pond Village is not a new concern. “The Board of Health has long held concerns about the eutrophication of Pilgrim pond…, nutrient inputs to this area, and private wells in general,” Beebe wrote to the ZBA in a letter dated Oct 7. “It is important to distinguish between the concerns noted in the Pond Village letter and the proposed Cloverleaf proposal before the ZBA,” the letter continued [emphasis in original].

    Beebe’s reference to “the Pond Village letter” was about a public comment to the ZBA filed on Oct. 5, which included a cover letter signed by 77 residents who live near the Cloverleaf site and two appendices — one including new private well-water test results, and the other a 40-page report on nitrates in drinking water.

    The water test results may have been obtained through a private effort to distribute test kits based at the Chapel on the Pond in Pond Village. The Independent was unable to determine who had organized that effort.

    The 40-page report in nitrates was allegedly written by seven M.D.s and Ph.D.s in various specialties who have formed a group called Docs for Truro Safe Water. The report reviews new and recent studies on the connection between nitrates in drinking water and various cancers. It argues for a change in the regulatory standards for drinking water.

    Repeated attempts by the Independent to contact the Docs for Truro Safe Water for comment have been unsuccessful.

    The test results described in the Pond Village letter include 11 tests (out of a total of 27) in which the sample had more than 3 mg/L of nitrates, which is the board of health’s threshold of concern, said Beebe.

    “At 3 mg/L, we send out a letter to the property owner and let them know that that level is higher than you want,” said Beebe. “We then proceed with an education piece with the property owner” about mitigation, she added.

    To a great extent, mitigation is about finding and replacing failed septic systems.

    “These plans may include mandatory septic inspection and maintenance … reduction of fertilized areas, stormwater mitigation on public and private ways, and the requirement for private or clustered advanced wastewater treatment systems,” Beebe wrote.

    The developer’s rendering of the Cloverleaf affordable housing project on Highland Road in North Truro.

    “There’s about five cesspools in the [Pond Village area],” said Beebe. “About 8 percent of the entire town is still on cesspools. We have a multitude of triggers to catch those and help them convert to Title 5 systems.” (Title 5 is the current standard for residential septic systems and has been in place since 1995.)

    In September, Truro hired the Cape Cod Commission to do a watershed study of the Pilgrim Pond area. In addition to systematic well-water testing, the study will look at septic systems, runoff patterns, and possible funding sources for mitigation.

    Funding would be welcome, because septic systems aren’t cheap. Brian Baumgaertel, director of the state’s Alternative Septic System Test Center, said a residential system runs between $12,000 and $50,000.

    Most systems are upgraded only when the property is sold. Older houses that haven’t changed hands recently are more likely to have antiquated systems. A review of the Truro assessor’s records shows that the Pond Village area has a good mix of houses that were built or sold recently and houses that haven’t sold in decades.

    The ZBA put off any votes on the Cloverleaf project until its next meeting, scheduled for Thursday, Oct 22. After an Oct. 8 hearing that was consumed almost entirely by public comments, board members indicated they might hold votes at the beginning of the next meeting instead of the end.

    TOWN MEETING

    Cloverleaf Foes Question Funds for Housing

    Transfers to affordable housing trust are ultimately approved

    By

    TRURO — It was a short but not sweet town meeting on Saturday, Sept. 26.

    All 17 warrant articles passed, the weather was balmy, and 243 people (or 12 percent of registered voters) showed up, despite the fact that, due to the pandemic, the quorum had been reduced to 25 by the select board.

    Yet a consistent note of discord kept coming from a minority of voters who questioned nearly every attempt to transfer revenue to be used for affordable housing.

    The meeting, held outdoors on a lovely day on the Truro Central School ballfield, started out with a quick dispatch of eight routine articles in a “consent agenda,” which bundles uncontroversial matters into a single question to save time. The $20 million annual operating budget also passed with little discussion.

    The agreeable mood turned sour at Article 11, which asked voters to consider transfers from the town’s free cash account. Free cash consists of unrestricted funds from the preceding fiscal year — actual receipts in excess of budget estimates, and unexpended funds from town department budgets. These transfers are routine, but this year, one transfer of $400,000 into the Affordable Housing Trust Fund raised many objections, and it became clear that several people believed the money was earmarked for the 39-unit affordable housing development on Highland Road in North Truro, known as the Cloverleaf, which is still going through the permitting process before the zoning board of appeals.

    Though the select board chair, Robert Weinstein, and Town Manager Rae Ann Palmer said that the money is put into a trust and is not earmarked for a particular project, many voters didn’t buy it. They had watched a Sept. 10 meeting of the housing authority at which members of the authority discussed their intention to ask Palmer to move money from free cash to help pay for the Cloverleaf if it receives the necessary ZBA permit.

    Chair Kevin Grunwald confirmed that the housing authority will ask for funds for the Cloverleaf; this is no secret, he said. He said towns typically provide funding for approved affordable housing developments. Such contributions were part of the original bid submitted in 2018 by the developer. The project needs $600,000 in town funds, housing authority member Carl Brotman said at the Sept. 10 meeting.

    Towns typically contribute to such projects, Grunwald said. The Cloverleaf would be the largest single housing project in town history. Less than three percent of Truro’s housing stock is currently considered affordable under state guidelines.

    The Affordable Housing Trust Fund is where the town keeps money for that purpose; the select board decides how it is to be used. Since Cloverleaf is still going through permitting, contributions to the project would be premature, Palmer said.

    Cheryl Best asked why the town should contribute to a for-profit developer — Community Housing Resource of Provincetown — when it is already receiving federal and state subsidies. Ted Malone, the president of Community Housing Resource, has been both attacked as a profiteer and defended as an unusually civic-minded entrepreneur in recent months. Planning board member Peter Herridge has waged a campaign against Cloverleaf and described Malone in vulgar terms as someone who “will try to sleaze in any way that makes him money.”

    John Slater spoke out against a motion to vote on all the free cash transfers together, instead of each one being considered separately. He said the $400,000 transfer to the housing authority was a big enough ticket to warrant its own discussion.

    Nathalie Ferrier said, “$400,000 is a lot of money,” and that she would like to know the specific use.

    “Let’s call a spade a spade,” said Richard Wood. Clearly, he said, a contingent at the meeting didn’t like the Cloverleaf. “If we have an issue,” Wood said, “let’s not pack this meeting with naysayers. Let’s go to the select board — that’s the right path.”

    The free cash transfer article passed by a show of hands. But the same debate came up again on Article 15, related to putting $150,000 in Community Preservation Act revenues into the housing trust fund. This, too, ultimately passed.

    Raphael Richter, who came to the meeting with his three-year-old son, called the antipathy toward the housing funds “unfathomable,” given the hot real estate market, which is making it even harder for locals to afford to own or rent in town.

    “It’s very offensive for those who live and work year-round in this community,” he said of the opponents of funding affordable housing.

    Grunwald said that 50 percent of the renters in town pay more than 50 percent of their income in rent. They are “housing burdened,” he said. “We are talking about our neighbors.”

    LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

    Letters, September 3, 2020

    From Alan J. Roth, Sheila McGuinness, and Shawn Nightingale

    By

    FinCom Chair’s Conduct

    To the editor:

    You were right to question the Outer Cape’s perception of itself as an “enlightened community” [Aug. 27, Letter From the Editor, page A2], and not simply because an anonymous bigot sent a hate letter to Barbara Rushmore.

    One of Provincetown’s most important public officials, Mark Hatch, the chair of the finance committee, has repeatedly posted hateful and degrading messages on social media. He is a serial violator of the finance committee’s code of conduct, which calls on members to “Remember that you represent the entire community at all times,” not just when sitting behind a dais.

    Mr. Hatch may think he has a First Amendment right to post whatever he wants online. But he has no constitutional right to hold appointive office. That is a public trust. Yet his comments have been met with cowardly silence from the elected leaders responsible for dealing with his misconduct.

    In an enlightened community, one would think the town moderator would take the steps prescribed by the charter to remove an appointee who treats people this way. Failing that, one would hope the select board would exercise its own powers under the charter to discipline him.

    I have repeatedly addressed the select board this summer during the public comment period in an effort to pursue action on this matter. But as though we were living in a small Southern town, they have circled the wagons in a conspiracy of silence to sweep this cancer under the rug.

    As your editorial noted, hateful sentiments aren’t absent here, they’re just “pushed out of sight.” Sadly, we never expected Provincetown’s leadership to be doing the pushing.

    Alan J. Roth
    Provincetown and Washington, D.C.

     

    For Banning Plastic Bottles

    To the editor:

    It wasn’t the islands of plastics floating in distant oceans, the mountains of plastics growing in distant countries, or the close-ups of guts compacted and throats compressed by plastics that made me rethink my pervasive use of them.

    It’s nothing so altruistic; rather, it’s the way microplastics personally affect me. While I appreciate plastic body parts, like knees, I loathe the notion of accumulating particulate plastics in the tissue of my heart, brain, lungs, liver, spleen, and kidneys.

    While scientists work to determine the sources and effects of micro bits of polypropylene and polyethylene found in human stool, I am reducing my use of plastic for my own good — and for the greater good of humans, fish, mammals, reptiles, and birds — at least until scientists can reduce the 450 years it now takes plastic to break down in our environment.

    My family has stopped using single-use water bottles, and, when possible, produce containers. We have successfully eliminated water bottles because it is cheap and easy. Thermoses have come a long way since my cartoon lunch box days!

    Because single-use bottles and caps make up more than 15 percent of total marine waste, Cape Codders now have a chance to address effectively such environmental degradation.

    I ask you to join my family by supporting a Cape-wide effort to ban the sale of noncarbonated unflavored water in plastic bottles smaller than one gallon. It’s simple to do: vote for the bylaw in your town.

    Sheila McGuinness
    Provincetown

     

    A Good Story

    To the editor:

    I am writing to compliment the Independent on its creative and interesting story lines, in particular, last week’s front-page story about spotter pilots by Johnny Liesman. The story was not only informative but very entertaining as well.

    Congratulations on bringing additional high-quality weekly reading to the Lower Cape.

    Shawn Nightingale
    Provincetown

    AFFORDABLE HOUSING

    Planning Board Continues Its Campaign Against Cloverleaf

    As ZBA approval nears, opponents change tactics

    By

    TRURO — Health and Conservation Agent Emily Beebe told the zoning board of appeals last week that the proposed treatment system at the 39-unit Cloverleaf development would reduce nitrogen in wastewater to levels far below what most home septic systems achieve.

    A campaign against the Cloverleaf project waged by planning board member Peter Herridge and others had claimed that excess nitrogen from wastewater would contaminate nearby wells, especially in the Pond Village neighborhood to the west.

    The well water quality in North Truro’s Pond Village has been the subject of concern. (Photo Nancy Bloom)

    While the affordable housing plan has been edging closer to a final vote on a comprehensive permit from the ZBA, with signoffs from technical experts and other committees, the planning board continued to raise objections, with Chair Anne Greenbaum arguing falsely that its approval would go against a 2016 town meeting vote.

    Greenbaum said that town meeting voters had approved only 12 to 16 units of housing at the Cloverleaf. She referred to Article 20 from 2016, which authorized the town to accept state land for affordable housing. (See box.)

    “Things changed and the town issued a request for proposals for 30 to 40 units,” Greenbaum told the ZBA. “You are voting on something different than you voted on at town meeting.”

    While no one at last week’s meeting could recall the history of the project, Town Manager Rae Ann Palmer later told the Independent that Greenbaum’s statement was not true. Palmer noted that the comment accompanying the warrant article mentioned numbers of units; the actual article authorized only the transfer of the land.

    The change in number of units occurred after 2016, Palmer said, when the town received a $1.2 million state grant to extend a public water line to the site. Using town water instead of a private well meant the density of the development could be increased. The select board publicly reviewed and approved the density to be 40 units, Palmer said.

    Greenbaum declined to comment, writing by email, “The board speaks through its written comments and the testimony I was authorized to provide at the public hearing.”

    But Herridge has been outspoken in opposing Cloverleaf. “The thing to do now is to delay in every way possible, because there may be state and federal money available now, but there sure as hell will not be next year,” he told the Independent last month. “My motto is never give up, never surrender.”

    At last week’s meeting, Beebe said the redesigned bio-microbics septic system at the Cloverleaf would reduce the concentration of nitrogen in wastewater to 10 milligrams per liter in the effluent and 9 milligrams per liter at the property line. This is “better than the standard residential Title 5 systems found in the neighborhood of this parcel, including the Pond Village area,” she wrote. “Standard systems typically generate wastewater with nitrate/nitrogen concentration of 35-80 milligrams per liter.”

    Much ado has been made about the Pond Village neighborhood’s water quality. Herridge has said the wells there have high concentrations of nitrogen and have the poorest quality water in town. Thus, he argued, homes there would be vulnerable to high concentrations of nitrogen from a development of 39 units on just four acres to the east, across Route 6.

    Beebe attested to the ability of the septic system to protect the surrounding wells. She also reviewed water quality data in Pond Village and found that 28 wells there had been tested over a 10-year period. The most recent results, she said, showed four wells, or 14 percent of the total, had nitrogen levels exceeding 5 milligrams per liter. (The state safe drinking water standard is 10 milligrams of nitrogen per liter.) Another four wells had nitrogen levels between 2 and 5 milligrams per liter. The rest of the wells recently tested showed less than 2 milligrams of nitrogen per liter.

    Beebe concluded that there are a number of wells with between 5 and 10 milligrams per liter of nitrogen, but “this does not appear to be widespread, or trending generally, as the results that we have show vast variation from one sampling/testing session to another.”

    Cloverleaf developer Ted Malone also received a positive review from the Truro Energy Committee, which had recommended that the Cloverleaf’s 11 buildings be set up for solar panels.

    Malone said his architect has made adjustments to the roof designs so that the buildings could be fitted with solar panels if the funding and rebates are there to make it happen.

    “So, we’re very much on the same page,” Malone said. “We started to meet with the energy committee 10 months ago.”

    Brian Boyle, chair of the energy committee, said, “We’re very encouraged.”

    The next ZBA meeting on the Cloverleaf is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 20 at 5:30 p.m.

    From the 2016 Truro Town Meeting Warrant

    ARTICLE 20: ACQUISITION OF STATE PROPERTY

    To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Board of Selectmen to acquire from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts a parcel of land containing 4 acres, more or less, located near the intersection of Highland Road and Route 6 for affordable housing purposes, and for the purpose of conveyance and/or lease (which may be a 99-year lease), and further to authorize the Board of Selectmen to dispose of said property and grant easements therein for the purpose of developing affordable housing, said acquisition and disposition to be on such terms and conditions consistent with this authorization, and for such consideration, which may be nominal consideration, as the Board of Selectmen deems appropriate; or take any other action relative thereto. Requested by the Board of Selectmen

    Finance Committee Recommendation: 3-0-0 in favor. Board of Selectmen Recommendation: 5-0-0 in favor.

    Comment: This land, located north of Highland Road and east of Route 6 is currently owned by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. The parcel is being made available to the Town under the Governor’s initiative to make State owned land available to communities for affordable housing. It is the goal of the Board of Selectmen to recruit a developer who will build between 12 and 16 units of community and affordable housing.

    LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

    Letters, July 30, 2020

    From Dan Katz, Edouard Fontenot, and Dan Silverman

    By

    Cloverleaf Won’t Help Seasonal Workers

    To the editor:

    Re last week’s two op-ed columns [July 23, page A3]:

    Sen. Julian Cyr, perhaps the best elected official in the state, beats the drum for the Cloverleaf project by citing the lack of affordable housing in Truro and the need of all those folks of color who come here to serve others with money.

    Though surely it’s a commendable sentiment to want decent housing for those who serve the luxury living of others, the fact is that most of those serving the seasonal class are here only a short time and need short-term living space, and those same service folks could not afford even the “affordable” rent required for units at the Cloverleaf. So, though the Cloverleaf may provide nice housing for some who cannot afford market-rate housing in town, it ain’t gonna be for the people of color Cyr mentions.

    Veterinarian Sadie Hutchings, in her op-ed, has finally called attention to the know-nothings who lump all short, shiny-coated, “blocky-headed” dogs in one category of innately vicious canines. In delineating some of reasons a dog, any dog, may bite, however, the doctor forgets to mention that none of the breeds lumped together as “pit bulls” is any more likely to bite than is a dog from any other breed. It’s just that, often, cruel owners of such dogs train them to be “vicious.” No dog, not even a wolf or coyote, is innately vicious.

    Dan Katz
    Truro

     

    Cloverleaf: An Important Step

    To the editor:

    Kudos and thanks to state Sen. Julian Cyr for penning the definitive analysis of what’s going on with the Truro Cloverleaf project.

    We have a chance to make a concrete difference in the lives of our friends and neighbors — let’s not be distracted. Instead, let’s move ahead, confident that our town is making an important step in the right direction.

    Edouard Fontenot
    Truro

     

    More on the Task Force

    To the editor:

    Your article last week on the planning for Wellfleet’s annual town meeting [July 23, page A9] left out the names of some key members of the task force. The online version of the story has been updated to include their names, but your print readers should know that Fire Capt. Joe Cappello, Police Lt. Kevin LaRocco, Assistant DPW Director Jay Norton, and Assistant Town Administrator Mike Trovato have each been an integral part of the planning and they deserve recognition for their contributions.

    Dan Silverman
    Town Moderator
    Wellfleet

     

     

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