Meetings Ahead
Thursday, Jan. 23
- Economic Development Committee, 11 a.m., Veterans Memorial Community Center
- Planning Board, 6:30 p.m., Town Hall
- Public Pier Corp., 4 p.m., Town Hall
- Recreation Commission, 5:30 p.m., Veterans Memorial Community Center
Friday, Jan. 24
- Local Comprehensive Plan, 10 a.m., Town Hall
Monday, Jan. 27
- Public Landscape Committee, 2 p.m., Town Hall
Tuesday, Jan. 28
- Licensing Board, 5:15 p.m., Town Hall
Wednesday. Jan. 29
- Cemetery Commission, 4 p.m., Town Hall
- Select Board, 5 p.m., Town HallConversation Starters
Green Burials May Be Allowed
The cemetery commission will consider “green burial” at a portion of the Provincetown Cemetery at its meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 29, at 4 p.m. in town hall.
The commission members are going to discuss a change in cemetery rules and regulations to allow the burial of a body so it can decompose naturally, “returning all elements to the earth through environmentally sound practices,” according to the proposed changes in the regulations.
A green burial is done without embalming and the body would be wrapped in a biodegradable shroud and placed on a “natural burial trundle (wooden tray with handles), or in a coffin made solely of biodegradable materials (cardboard, wood, willow, bamboo, seagrass, felt, etc.),” according to the proposed rules.
Green burials would be allowed only in the new part of the cemetery along Alden Street.
The body would have to be interred in a grave that at minimum is four feet deep (as opposed to five for traditional burial methods).
In green burials, even decorations like flower vases on green plots must be made from biodegradable materials.
Parking Attendants Will Remain Human
New parking booths at the McMillan Pier Parking Lot downtown are on the way, but their appearance will not signal replacement of the human parking attendants who are so well known and appreciated by townies and tourists alike.
The new booths will include license plate recognition technology to replace the outdated transponders, which read parking permits on vehicles that have seasonal passes, said Eric Sussman, Provincetown’s emergency management and transportation coordinator.
The new system will still require town staff to operate it, and humans will still be needed to pass out tickets and collect the money from hourly paid parking customers. —K.C. Myers
