Letters To The Editor: March 14, 2024

Who’s Fooling Whom?

Editor:

"Who does not know the truth is simply a fool...yet he who knows the truth and calls it a lie, is a criminal." Bertolt Brecht, German poet.

Edward Fried

West Chatham

Support Animal Protection Bills

Editor:

I would like to tell everyone who cares about animals to contact state legislators and ask them to support the following bills that will ban circuses and traveling shows from Massachusetts that include elephants, big cats, bears, giraffes, and primates: H. 3245, S.2197, and S.2189. If I may, please also ask your legislators to co-sponsor or support the following bill that will ban the sale of rhino or elephant ivory products in Massachusetts: S.519. There are currently no Cape legislators supporting S.519. I respectfully ask you all to help change that.

Lisa Forte-Doyle

Brewster

Research, Don’t Ban, Cultivated Meat

Editor:

I was happy to read supportive comments made by Iceland’s prime minister about cultivated meat. For those who aren’t familiar with the term, cultivated meat is grown from livestock cells, without slaughter. It has the potential to dramatically reduce our greenhouse-gas emissions, pandemic risk and the suffering we inflict on animals.

“Cultivated meat is one of the solutions to the climate challenge,” Katrín Jakobsdóttir said. “The Icelandic authorities are determined to pave the way for the adoption of new solutions in Iceland and we are eager to see the development of [a European Union] regulatory framework for cultivated meat.”

Instead of attempting to ban this new protein, as some American politicians have, our leaders should help advance the technology behind it. For instance, cultivated meat is currently too expensive to mass produce. This can be rectified with increased public funding for cultivated-meat research, which legislators should support.

Jon Hochschartner

Granby, Conn.

Private, Public Road Inequity

Editor:

I am writing this letter concerning the town of Chatham private roads.

For those who don’t know the difference between a town-owned road and a private road, private roads are shared by the owners on that particular street — my understanding is that if you live on a private road, you as a homeowner, own to the middle of the road in front of your property. The person across the street owns the other half.

Along with “owning” half of the road, one must also personally pay for all maintenance of that road.

I was informed by the town of Chatham DPW that there are a total of 651 roads in Chatham. Of that 651, 422 are “private” roads and 209 are “town- (and state?) owned. That means that approximately 68 percent of our roads are private and 32 percent are public.

While some might enjoy “owning” their piece of the road, We don’t and I suspect most don’t. Because along with that ownership is a tremendous burden and expense to maintain the road. The private roads must be maintained or every fall the roads in disrepair get on a list published in The Chronicle that these roads need to come up to standards of the DPW in order to be plowed, sanded etc. during the winter season. I am not sure how strictly that mandate is enforced, but it is published and I see it every year.

I am curious how many of the readers feel there is an injustice in forcing us “private” road owners to pay exorbitant costs to maintain the roads in front of our houses?

We all pay the same percentage of town of Chatham taxes for our town services, so why are residents on private roads who pay the same taxes as public road owners and do not have the luxury of having their roads maintained too?

We never chose to live on a private road. We bought a new house in an established neighborhood and found out later that we were living on a “private” road.

I would be very interested in how Chatham town residents feel about this.

Peggy and Robert Crespo

Chatham

Take Road Flooding Seriously

Editor:

Thanks for detailed coverage of the Cape Cod Commission and Woods Hole Group presentation on potential improvements to stem storm flooding on Morris Island Road. I don’t have an accurate count but it's probably safe to say there are at least 100 homes and condos directly affected by such events. What struck me about the article was the seeming belief that the decision whether to go forward is heavily influenced by probability forecasts of what might happen six to 30-plus years from now. A look backward to projections made 30 years ago might call into question the accuracy of such forecasts. A $3 to $5 million expense should probably be viewed against the associated tax revenue, including the annual increases, as well as the safety of residents. There are no guarantees when it comes to the future, but that is no reason to do nothing. If the associated experts want to take another six to 12 months to study the problem, OK. Thereafter, we need to move forward with the best known fix or else someday we’ll be saying “woulda, shoulda, coulda.” Raising the road by three feet might not be perfect but if there is still say a foot of flooding, just think about how bad the consequences would have been by doing nothing.

Bill Storff

Chatham

Thanks For A Great Season

Editor:

Giving a shout out to the Monomoy Sharks Boys basketball team for a game well played against Bourne on March 5. You played well and with heart. I have enjoyed watching every game this season.

Best of luck next year.

George Dern

Harwich Port

Fundraisers Results: Full Hearts

Editor:

On behalf of the Monomoy Regional High School, we would like to thank the community for their support of our fundraiser for the Family Table Collaborative, Empty Bowls, Full Hearts. Staffed by fifty student volunteers, the evening was a complete success. Organizers Fiona Moore, Ashley Anderson, Sarah Groves, Grace Elizabeth Arnold, and Kristina Tamasco oversaw the organization and donations for the event. It was a district-wide experience with performances by the high school jazz band and chorus and the Monomoy Regional Middle School chorus. Placemats were made by students from Harwich and Chatham Elementary. It was an amazing evening. We would also like to thank our major contributors for their generosity: Captain Parker’s Pub, Dunkin’ Harwich, Pain D’Avignon, Pelham on the Rise, and Stop and Shop Harwich. Thank you, too, for The Cape Cod Chronicle article by Jen Sexton-Riley and the press coverage! We are already looking ahead to next year!

Cheri Armstrong

Monomoy Regional High School