Meetings Ahead
Thursday, Feb. 13
- Bicycle Committee, 2 p.m., Maushope Community Room, 44 Harry Kemp Way
- Planning Board, 6:30 p.m., Town Hall
- Visitor Service Board, 9:30 a.m., Town Hall
- Water & Sewer Board, 2 p.m., Veterans Memorial Community Center
Friday, Feb. 14
- Local Comprehensive Planning Committee, 10 a.m., Town Hall
Monday, Feb. 17
- Town Hall is closed for President’s Day
Tuesday, Feb. 18
- Conservation Commission, 6 p.m., Town Hall
- Recreation Commission, 6:30 p.m., Veterans Memorial Community Center
Wednesday, Feb. 19
- Historic District Commission, 4 p.m., Town Hall
Thursday, Feb. 20
- Board of Health, 4 p.m., Town Hall
- Zoning Board of Appeals, 6:30 p.m., Town Hall
Conversation Starters
Green Burial Is In
The select board approved green burial on Feb. 10, thereby making Provincetown one of two Cape Cod municipalities (along with Brewster) to offer burial in town cemeteries without caskets, vaults, or embalming.
The private South Wellfleet Cemetery also allows green burial.
The town’s board of health and the Dept. of Public Works have approved allowing 30 plots for green burial in Provincetown’s cemetery in the next few months.
It’s more environmentally friendly because there’s nothing toxic, such as formaldehyde from embalming fluid, leaching into the groundwater, said Dawn Walsh of the cemetery commission. Walsh is a death doula who leads Death Café discussion groups and is currently teaching a course “The Art of Dying” at Winter Wednesdays at Provincetown Schools.
Free Parking for Committee Members
There is a new incentive to join a local board or committee: free parking. The select board this week eliminated the $100 fee local board and committee volunteers now pay if they wish to park at all municipal lots including the MacMillan Pier Parking Lot. In order to take advantage of the perk, volunteers must pay all taxes and fees they owe the town, attend at least 75 percent of the meetings held by their board, and complete ethics training as required by the state. Last year, the town had 210 board and committee members, said Assistant Town Manager David Gardner. —K.C. Myers
