Letters To The Editor: Oct. 17, 2024

Choose Housing Sites Carefully 

Editor:

“For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.” —

H. L. Mencken

Lack of housing is among the most complex problems that Brewster has faced, and one easy solution is to use the 10 acres of the Long Pond parcel of the former Sea Camps along Route 137 for 44 housing units, thus taking a major step towards solving the complex problem.

However, these 10 acres are heavily treed, a natural resource for the animals that live there and a protection for the Zone II water resources.  Zone II is the land from which our drinking water may be pumped, including in times of drought. For now, Brewster has high quality and safe drinking water, in part because we’ve protected some of the Zone IIs through conservation, distancing our wells from septic systems. Never before has Brewster chosen to endanger Zone II areas. This is the easy, but wrong, solution.  

But housing is needed. The town is now preparing to investigate other possible sites for housing. Zoning changes, incentives to builders, encouragement of homeowners and businesses to add additional homes, encouragement of year-round housing instead of seasonal, and regulation of brief rentals; these are all complex solutions to a complex problem. All are worthy of consideration.

At the November Town Meeting, please support the efforts to find suitable housing sites for Brewster. Do not agree to destroy vital resources.

Beth Finch

Brewster

Don’t Change Beach Road

Editor:

Regarding the proposal to rearrange Beach Road in Orleans, I remind our voters that a similar proposal was turned down some time ago. The current undertaking is a new tune with the same lyrics.

A rearrangement of the road would be to disassemble a notably attractive feature of Orleans. To change the road, would alter yet another piece of the town’s fabric, helping move us away from the Orleans which has attracted so many people to vacation and to move here.

Safety? Separate sidewalks will allow greater speed for bikers. Sidewalks to accommodate pedestrians and bicycles and now electric scooters are a mixture of increased hazard. If you have seen the speed at which the new electric bikes operate and which we have seen on our existing sidewalks, you must agree that these electric bikes and scooters have become a new element of safety concern.

The narrow, winding and picturesque Beach Road that we know lends itself to careful driving. View distances and vagaries are well known. Proper signage has evolved. Pedestrians, bicyclists and automobile drivers are keen to the risks and generally drive cautiously and at reasonable speeds.

Remove trees, mail boxes and fences, add 1.5 miles of new pavement, guardrails and retaining walls at a cost of well over $1 million and what, trade old concerns for new problems?

I urge you to not only vote this down at the Oct. 28 special town meeting, but also to vote down the $85,000 appropriation to study this, Article 33. We can surely put the money to better use.

Please don’t change Beach Road.

Marc Norgeot

Orleans

Vote No On Question 6

Editor:

A few good reasons for voters to vote no on ballot Question 6:

It is unfair to the voters. There has been no public discussions to guide voters in making an informed decision and no explanation printed on the ballot.  The Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates deliberately bypassed the comprehensive charter review scheduled for next year and instead placed this obscure and confusing question on the Nov. 5 ballot. Major changes in how a public body operates should not be made by placing an indecipherable question at the end of a long ballot. If you do not understand it, it is because you were not meant to.

It is deceptive. Despite being described with feel-good words like “clarity, efficiency, and accountability,” Question 6 will, in the opinion of Barnstable County council, “impact the division of powers between the executive and legislative branches of county government in meaningful ways…these amendments will expand the assembly’s authority to substantially amend the county’s budget from what has been proposed by the executive branch.”

It is a solution in search of a problem. The county’s financials have never been better.  Standard and Poor, in raising Barnstable County’s bond rating to AA-plus, stated that “the increase in the rating reflects our view of Barnstable County’s positive financial profile,” and goes on to praise the county’s “well-embedded financial practices and policies implemented over the last five years.” If it works, don’t fix it!

Supplemental budgets are bad policy. The annual budget once approved should not be amended except in emergencies. The ability of the assembly to periodically add additional spending to the budget — essentially “earmarks” in the form of pay raises and additional staff —  would undo the good work we have done and send rating agencies a message that Barnstable County no longer has its fiscal house in order.

I urge you to vote no on Question 6.

Ron Bergstrom

Chatham

Will Bringing Back Jobs Help?

Editor:

Cape Cod is different; at least it used to be. It was rural, now it is suburban. People who were trusting must now lock their doors. Instead of neighbors helping neighbors, now they sue them. Land used to be an asset, now it is a commodity. Bartering was a way of life, now it is taxable, if even allowed.

The young people are leaving in droves.

People move here, join committees/commissions, set new policies, spew their “new” ideas which become the “new” norm.

 “Wolves” take on many forms. Self-gratification, power, authority, greed, control, recognition, lack of knowledge, or other misguided attempts to “make things better.” Not unlike the effort to make America great again when it was pretty darn good to start with.

Even sheep are smart enough to run from a “wolf.” Not these newbies. Their heads are stuck in the sand where there are no historical facts!

Cape Cod is no longer “the quaint fishing village” where no self-respecting sea captain would build a home even close to the coast. Now, every coastal waterway is lined with McMansions.

The chambers of commerce have made Cape Cod such a mecca for tourists and retirees that young people can’t afford to live or work here, although realtors seem to be thriving.

Maybe they can shift their focus to bring well-paying jobs, and the young people to fill them, back. OMG, then they will want to vote! Oops!

Pete Norgeot

Orleans

Friends Help Support MRHS Arts

Editor:

Many grateful thanks go to Paul Niles and the Friends of Pleasant Bay! The Friends kindly granted funds to Monomoy Regional High School so the following clubs/class could visit the Bay this week to write, photograph, and sketch: Sandscript (our creative writing club), advanced photography, and the National Art Honor Society. The students' work will create a beautiful booklet, also covered by funds from The Friends, that will be placed in school and town libraries in the Pleasant Bay area, as well as town halls. Thank you, Friends!

Lisa Forte-Doyle

Amanda Newcomb

Monomoy Regional High School

Airport Contributes To Climate Change

Editor:

As recent hurricanes, floods and forest fires have announced, climate change is already here. It is not just something to debate for the future while we continue to spew carbon into our air. As last week’s letter from the chair of the Chatham Airport Commission suggested, the results will inevitably be felt in Chatham.

But our local airport commission, with the blessings of the select board, continues to ignore the fact that the airport is part of the problem, not the solution. Climate change is a result of the emission of gasses like carbon dioxide from human devices like airplanes. Aircraft continue to contribute a significant percentage of the CO2 that humans are emitting at a still increasing rate. Many planes at CQX use leaded fuel, banned for cars years ago.

Why should we believe pilots will suddenly become altruistic when they have been fighting the interests of community residents for years? They refuse to honestly seek compromises on noise and pollution. They stonewall about their plans to expand approach paths and cut acres of trees. If they want to support the community, they should agree to ban jets and turboprops from CQX, which is not designed for such aircraft.

It is time to adopt an environmental perspective. Emergency helicopters do not require a hundred acres of treeless and expensive airport infrastructure to operate. We should stop tolerating the airport as a benign hobby and see it as an ecological problem.

 

Carol Bliss

Chatham