Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch.
Thursday, April 1
- Select Board, 3:30 p.m.
- Zoning Board of Appeals, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, April 7
- Historic District Commission, 4 p.m.
Thursday, April 8
- Bicycle Committee, 2 p.m.
- Planning Board, 6 p.m.
- Select Board, 5 p.m.
Conversation Starters
Calling for Faster Internet
Scott Van Hove, a certified public accountant with homes in Provincetown and Florida, has, at the last two select board meetings, asked the board and the public to write letters to Gov. Charlie Baker urging him to release $1.7 million for Cape Cod internet infrastructure improvements. The money is part of $1.8 billion included in the 2020 Act Financing the General Governmental Infrastructure of the Commonwealth. It was signed by the governor. But Baker’s office has not released the funds. Contained in the bill is $400,000 earmarked to improve internet speed and reliability in Provincetown.
On March 22, Van Hove said stronger internet service would allow part-time residents like him to “literally bring their jobs with them.”
“But the infrastructure today is not good enough,” he said. “We need strong gigabyte internet access.”
He asked the select board to instruct the incoming town manager, Alex Morse, who starts work next week, to make job creation and internet improvements a priority for his first six months on the job.
“This town needs jobs if it is going to stop the decline of the full-time population,” he said.
Perhaps the biggest help to the economy would be improving internet infrastructure to encourage part-timers to come here full-time, he said. —K.C. Myers
Testing Access at OCHS
The Independent has received periodic inquiries from people who had one rapid Covid test at Outer Cape Health Services since the free testing program began on Dec 23, and then were later told by a scheduler that they could not have another test because they’d already had one.
The Independent asked OCHS about its policy on access to rapid testing.
“We discourage frequent testing for non-symptomatic, noncontact, ‘curious’ individuals, as that is not the intent for the use of the rapid test supply,” said Gerry Desautels, communications director at OCHS.
“If someone has had another possible contact with a Covid-positive individual or presents symptoms, we are happy to provide multiple tests as needed,” he said. “Individuals who request a test for travel, or who make frequent test requests not based on contact concern or symptoms, can be offered the PCR test, instead of the BinaxNOW antigen test, for $110 out-of-pocket.
“We cannot comment on individual circumstances, but we do apologize if there was a miscommunication by one of our staff on access to testing,” he added. —Paul Benson