Most meetings are being held in person, but some are still remote or virtual. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting you are interested in to learn about meeting locations and any remote options that may be offered.

Thursday, Nov. 18

• Board of Assessors, 11 a.m., Town Hall
• School Improvement Committee, 2:10 p.m., remote
• Board of Health, 3 p.m., Town Hall
• Nauset Regional School Committee, 6 p.m., remote

Monday, Nov. 21

• Visitor’s Tourism and Promotion Services Board, 3:30 p.m., remote

Tuesday, Nov. 23

• Conservation Commission, 6 p.m., remote

Conversation Starters

Tiny Building, Big Cost

The Rock Harbor Improvement Plan has been derailed once more after bids came in $1 million over the project’s $1.5-million budget. The plan includes a new 600-square-foot harbormaster building and various site improvements.

The town’s architect made cost reductions as recently as September, changing the type of insulation in the harbormaster building to save $10,000. “There’s no fat in this budget,” Town Administrator Jacqui Beebe said on Monday.

Beebe also said she thought the small size of the project had likely made it unattractive to bidders.

The town must now decide what to do with its $1.5 million, half of which is a grant from the Seaport Economic Council. Beebe said one option is to forfeit the Seaport money and save the town’s $750,000 for the dredging of Rock Harbor. Or the town could spend the Seaport money on a reduced project, including new parking and walkways, better drainage, and removal of knotweed from the area.

Select board chair Art Autorino said that picking between those two options would mean “we never get a building.” Beebe said she would look into prefabricated options. —Cam Blair