Editor:

  We experienced a very serious event Thursday, Aug. 27 at the Dive Restaurant in Harwich. My brother-in-law Robert Manning and I went to the Dive for a drink and a meal. The Dive is one of my favorite restaurants in the Cape. The crew is excellent, friendly and the ambiance is very soothing.

My brother-in-law is diabetic. That night his sugar level went up and sent him into a coma. The staff and the clients were very alarmed. The owner of the restaurant, Nicole Cossette, called 911. The Harwich ambulance service gave us some advice on what to do until they arrive. We followed their recommendation: laid him on the floor, lifted his head and put him on his side.

The ambulance and EMT arrived and they took control. They were very professional and courteous. They asked for all the relevant medical details and family status. We provided them with all the information they required. They took him to Cape Cod Hospital and he was admitted. The hospital carried out tests by which time my brother-in-law was conscious. He was kept under observation. He spent the night at the hospital and was discharged the next afternoon.

I want to thank all at the restaurant who jumped in and helped, a special gratitude to the owner Nicole Cossette. I also want to thank the Harwich rescue, EMTs, police and the fire department for their prompt response. Needless to say, Hyannis Hospital ER was excellent in their care and attention to him.

Armen Skenderian

Harwich

Editor:

Thank you to the Chatham Zoning Board of Appeals for listening to the voices in the community who came forward with facts and concerns regarding Meetinghouse Road. The ZBA stood strong in their convictions and common sense and denied the Pennrose permit for Meetinghouse Road.

We can all learn from this process. When we stand together for a common cause (and yes, we all want affordable/attainable housing) a better result will come about. Let’s move forward together to give Chatham an affordable/attainable housing community of which we can be proud.

Our voices were heard and for that we say “thank you.” 

Carol Gordon

South Chatham

Editor: 

I was very relieved to read in The Chronicle about the First Light Group and their efforts to "relight the Chatham Lighthouse."

Every summer when I was a child, my parents rented a house in Chatham near the lighthouse, its bright beam shining in our windows every night, guiding us safely into sleep.

In 1978, as married adults, we bought our home near this historic, iconic landmark and have rested well in the constant assurance of that strong beam lighting up the dark. That is until recently. Now there is no light in the day and too dim a light in the night for the Chatham Lighthouse to live into its purpose.

So please, as Mr. Paretta has said, “Let's relight the light, come together with the Coast Guard and our town and ultimately put back the light in terms of its intensity.”

 Anne Bonney

Chatham

Editor:

Cape Cod has a water problem, and it is time for local and state leaders to stop pretending that incremental measures constitute a solution.

The Cape’s freshwater supply is finite. Groundwater levels are already under pressure from drought, seasonal demand, continued development and increasing water consumption. In Harwich, for example, the entire municipal supply comes from the Monomoy Lens, an unconfined groundwater system that depends entirely on precipitation for recharge.

Yet the response from both the towns and the Commonwealth remains largely reactive: impose seasonal irrigation restrictions, promote conservation, expand sewer infrastructure, study carrying capacity and continue approving additional development.

That is not stewardship.

Sewer systems can address a serious water-quality problem by reducing nitrogen entering the aquifer. But sewering does not create additional freshwater. Likewise, telling residents to conserve water while continuing to increase the number of people, homes and businesses dependent upon the same finite groundwater resource is fundamentally contradictory.

The Commonwealth's Chapter 40B housing policy creates another difficult conflict. While intended to increase affordable housing, Chapter 40B can enable substantial development in communities that have not met the state's affordable housing threshold. That matters on Cape Cod because every additional dwelling represents additional water demand.

The fundamental question is one of carrying capacity: How much development and water consumption can Cape Cod sustain without degrading the freshwater resource upon which its communities depend? Cape Cod needs leadership willing to establish measurable water resource limits, quantify existing and projected demand, account for private as well as municipal withdrawals, and make development decisions consistent with those limits.

Housing is important. Economic vitality is important. Environmental protection is important. But none of them can exist indefinitely without an adequate supply of clean freshwater. The responsible course is not necessarily to stop all growth. It is to establish the physical limits of the resource first — and then govern growth accordingly.

Peter Cholakis

Harwich Port

Editor:

I wanted to thank the members of the Chatham Zoning Board of Appeals who voted against the Pennrose affordable housing project in South Chatham last week.

This project never should have gone as far as it did.  The church knew the land was not buildable, yet the affordable housing trust and select board went ahead in an executive session and agreed to purchase the property anyway. Pennrose is a "for profit" company that absolutely refused to put in a sidewalk for the children that would be living there. They would not put in generators but would only use electric appliances which can't be used during power outages. They would not put in elevators for the elderly or the disabled. What were these folks supposed to do when we lose power, which is frequently? There was no assigned parking and no overflow parking for visitors. No greenspace for kids to play except the ravines. This was a nightmare from the get-go.  

Where are the year-round jobs supposed to materialize for these folks? No pharmacy, no doctors, no food stores, or bank for necessities. Folks only had to listen to the complaints from the folks living in Orleans where Pennrose has a project. If they complain about anything, their lives become unpleasant living there. This is well documented and I sent copies of these complaints to the zoning board. It is unsafe for children and it would only be a matter of time before a serious accident would happen. No one would listen to anyone that spoke against this.  A few members of the former select board just insisted on this and did not listen to reason. The Buckley property should have been approved for Habitat housing from the beginning. Folks want to own their own homes and take pride in them, not pay outrageous rent to a for-profit company. The best thing Pennrose could possibly do at this point is to pull out of Chatham. We should start the process over again.

Judy Patterson 

West Chatham

Editor:

Wow! Interesting editorial in last week's Chronicle (“Means Testing, By All Means,” Sept. 10). Instead of just "taking the win" and celebrating the new wealth tax on summer residents, The Chronicle went on a childish rant about "means testing," which is not even part of the recently approved Residential Tax Exemption (RTE). The paper took the position that even the concept of a means test was an invalid criticism of the RTE and then plunged down a rabbit hole of attacking corporations and big oil. Ironically, the idea of means testing for the RTE is not aimed at what The Chronicle calls "the lower rung," but rather the entirely legitimate observation that, perhaps, owners of $3 million homes don't need a tax break. Readers should note that because of the way the math works, the so-called "break-even" point on the RTE goes all the way up to $12 million homes. Why would the Chronicle not be in favor of such means testing? Hard to fathom. 

Michael Young

Chatham