Provincetown
Meetings Ahead
Thursday, Jan. 9
- Bicycle Committee, 2 p.m., Maushop Community Room, 44 Harry Kemp Way
- Economic Development Committee, 11 a.m., Veterans Memorial Community Center, 2 Mayflower Lane
- Planning Board, 6:30 p.m., Town Hall
Monday, Jan. 13
- Select Board, 7 p.m., Town Hall
Tuesday, Jan. 14
- Public Landscaping Committee, 2 p.m., Town Hall
Wednesday, Jan. 15
- Board of Assessors, 8:30 a.m., Town Hall
- Historic District Commission, 4 p.m., Town Hall
Thursday, Jan. 16
- Zoning Board of Appeals, 6:30 p.m., Town Hall.
Conversation Starters
Will Town Manager Pick Agree to Contract?
The big news this week comes Monday, Jan. 13 when the select board is expected to vote to hire Robin Leal Craver as the new town manager. The board met Jan. 6 in executive session to discuss contract negotiations.
The select board voted unanimously Dec. 17 to hire Craver, 59, because of her 19 years of town administrator experience in Massachusetts.
What’s unknown at this point is how much the select board will agree to pay her. The search committee recommended paying more than ever before, up to $200,000 with a $30,000 housing stipend. David Panagore, the last manager, who left in April, was earning $165,353 with a $6,000 annual housing stipend.
Craver, of Webster, held her last job as Charlton town administrator for 13 years, until last fall when she received a $400,000 buyout from her contract 22 months early. Like the search committee that picked her as one of three top choices, the select board ruled that the buyout did not reflect poorly on the candidate. As Craver explained, her decision to leave was related to community outcry over a one-million-square-foot marijuana farm in a former apple orchard. She decided it was best for Charlton if she left, she said, because the vocal opponents of the pot facility had made her a scapegoat, though she had the full support of the select board in Charlton in granting the host community agreement.
Pilgrims’ First Landing Park
The park is on the town landscaping committee’s agenda for Tuesday, Jan. 14 at 2 p.m. at town hall. This could be interesting as the Park — located at the West End Rotary by the Provincetown Inn — is supposed to be landscaped in time for the 400th anniversary of the landing of the Mayflower beginning this summer.
Affordable Units and a Boutique Hotel
Developer Edward Roach wants to construct a three-story building at 30 Shank Painter Road, the former medical office of Dr. Brian O’Malley. The building will have 13 condominium units, four of which will be affordable. The project is being reviewed by the planning board Jan. 9.
Also on the Jan. 9 planning board agenda is further review of developer Christine Barker’s plan to turn the Old Reliable Fish House restaurant into a 31-room hotel with a restaurant and four condominium units at 227R Commercial Street. The hotel will be on the beach and placed on pilings that will turn into a recreational pier extending 264 feet out in the harbor. The ambitious project has already received a variance and several special permits from the zoning board of appeals. —K.C. Myers
TRURO
Meetings Ahead
Thursday, Jan. 9
- Select Board/Planning Board ADU Ad Hoc Subcommittee Work Session, 2 p.m. Town Hall
- Charter Review Committee, 5 p.m., Town Hall
Friday, Jan. 10
- Community Preservation Committee, 4:15 p.m., Town Hall
Tuesday, Jan. 14
- Select Board, 5 p.m., Town Hall
- School Committee, 5:15 p.m., Truro Central School
Wednesday, Jan. 15
- Planning Board Work Session, 2:30 p.m., Town Hall
Thursday, Jan. 16
- Zoning Board of Appeals, 5:30 p.m., Town Hall
Conversation Starters
Winter Election Is Special
Truro will have a rare winter special election this year on Feb. 18 with two candidates running for select board. They are Stephanie Rein, 49, a longtime Truro farmer and one of the founders of Sustainable CAPE, and Karen Tosh, 69, an attorney who specialized in family law and has been living in Truro since 2015 full time. Tosh is a member of the planning board. Rein is on the Truro Cable and Internet Advisory Committee. Whoever wins will serve for only 84 days, as they are filling a seat left vacant by the death in November of select board member Maureen Burgess, who died of a stroke at age 72. Tosh said she will run again in the May 12 election. Rein said she has not decided if she will seek the three-year term.
Booming After-school Program Raises Budget
The Truro Central School proposed budget for the next fiscal year is up 2.33 percent ($732,177) from $5,928,297 to $6,660,474.
The school committee will present next year’s budget Jan. 14 at Truro Central School. The only noteworthy program change is increased participation in the after-school program, said Supt. Mike Gradone.
In the 2018-2019 school year the school department took over responsibility for the after-school program, which had been run by the recreation department, he said. Whereas under recreation there was a nominal hourly fee for the child-care service, the school’s program is free.
“It’s what the school can do to make Truro as family-friendly and child-centric as possible,” he said.
After-school participation has almost tripled, Gradone said. The school expects 30 or more kids every afternoon. He had budged $26,000 for the expense this year, in anticipation of taking over the program. Now Gradone is asking for $41,000 to add staff to cover the additional students.
Enrollment in general this year is slightly up to 115 students.
“We bottomed out two years at about 104,” he said. —K.C. Myers
WELLFLEET
Meetings Ahead
Thursday, Jan. 9
- Local Comprehensive Planning Committee, 8:30 a.m., Council on Aging
- Housing Authority, 9:15 a.m., Town Hall
- Conservation Commission and Board of Health, 11 a.m., Fire Station
- Police Station Building Committee, 4 p.m., Library
- Building and Needs Assessment Committee, 4 p.m., Library
- Nauset Regional School Committee, 6 p.m., Brewster Town Hall
- Zoning Board of Appeals, 7 p.m., Council on Aging
Friday, Jan. 10
- Conservation Commission, 10 a.m., Town Hall
- 95 Lawrence Rd. Rental Housing Task Force, 10 a.m., Town Hall
Monday, Jan. 13
- Energy and Climate Action Committee, 6:30 p.m., Council on Aging
Tuesday, Jan. 14
- Elementary School Committee, 4:30 p.m., Elementary School
- Community Preservation Committee, 6 p.m., Council on Aging
- Select Board, 6 p.m., Council on Aging
Wednesday, Jan. 15
- Conservation Commission, 4 p.m., Town Hall
- Finance Committee, 7 p.m., Council on Aging
Thursday, Jan. 16
- Herring River Executive Council, 3 p.m., Council on Aging
Conversation Starters
Cottage Colony Conversion
The Wellfleet Housing Authority meeting on Jan. 9 will include many hot-button topics, including a possible bylaw that would make cottage colonies eligible for year-round occupancy. The housing authority had a meeting with the planning board on this, said Elaine McIlroy, housing authority chair.
“It’s one of the things that everyone talks to us about. We found out that people who bought them,” she said, referring to seasonal cottages, “have to find other places to live for three months out of the year.”
The housing authority is also advocating for a new accessory dwelling unit bylaw, which would simplify the requirements to build and rent an ADU. The units can provide year-round housing to people who earn too much to qualify for state-funded affordable housing, she said. Currently Wellfleet’s ADUs must be rented to low-income tenants and the landlord gets a tax break.
While that sounds great, “It’s been a complicated process to monitor them,” McIlroy said.
The housing authority is also talking about 2520 State Highway, a cottage on Route 6 that Charles Amsler sold to the state for the bike path. It had been a year-round rental for years and the housing authority members want to know if the state would continue to allow it to be used or moved. —K.C. Myers
EASTHAM
Meetings Ahead
Thursday, Jan. 9
- Harbor Planning Committee, 4 p.m., Town Hall
Monday, Jan. 13
- Select Board, 5:30 p.m., Town Hall
Tuesday, Jan. 14
- Finance Committee, 5 p.m., Town Hall
- Recreation Commission, 5:30 p.m., Town Hall
- Conservation commission, 6 p.m., Town Hall
Wednesday, Jan. 15
- Planning Board, 5 p.m., Town Hall
- Human Services Advisory Committee, 7 p.m., Police Station
Thursday, Jan. 16
- Affordable Housing Trust, 8:30 a.m., Small Meeting Room, Town Hall
Conversation Starters
Planning Board to Discuss Storage Units at Willy’s
In a hearing scheduled for Jan. 15, the planning board will hear from Barbara Niggel, owner of Goeroe’s Goldens LLC and Stow Away LLC, and attorney Benjamin Zehnder. Niggel seeks a special permit to construct six storage buildings at 4730 State Highway.
The storage building address is the same as Willy’s World Wellness & Conference Center, which Niggel also owns. Willy’s has been closed since Dec. 12 due to “numerous violations” and “life safety concerns,” according to a notice posted by Eastham Building Commissioner Thomas Wingard.
Construction of the six storage units would result in an intensified use, according to Ed Schneiderhan, zoning board of appeals chair. When Niggel presented her case to the ZBA on Jan. 2 speakers at the meeting said the four current storage units are in disrepair and unsightly.
“There is all kinds of trash everywhere and it has never been picked up that I know of,” resident Dave Hobbs said at the meeting. Hobbs suggested the ZBA get a surety bond because he has doubts Niggel will keep the area clean.
Steve Wasby, of the ZBA, said that until Niggel is in full compliance with all the rules of the town, violations that led to the closing of Willy’s are cleared, and the trash surrounding the present storage units is removed, the ZBA should not give her a special permit.
Schneiderhan said the existing units need to be brought up to functional, clean condition.
“There has to be some evidence you have the ability to maintain such a storage facility,” he said.
The ZBA ultimately voted 4-1 to continue the hearing to Feb. 6. While Niggel must go before the planning board, the ZBA is the authority that grants the special permit.
Applications for Shellfish Work Group Sought
The town is looking for volunteers to form a shellfish advisory work group that will discuss, support, and enhance all aspects of aquaculture and shellfishing activities.
The work group will consist of five members that will provide Shellfish Constable Nicole Paine with recommendations on policies, rules, and regulations to sustain and protect shellfish populations and aquaculture operations.
The work group will meet monthly; applications for joining will be accepted until Jan. 31. Those interested should visit eastham-ma.gov and click on “News.”
Committee Appointments
The select board voted to appoint Janis Nogas to the council on aging board of directors and Bob Sheldon to the ZBA. —Ryan Fitzgerald
