In votes early this week, selectmen in Harwich and Chatham threw their support behind a two-town partnership for wastewater treatment. If endorsed by voters at each town's spring town meeting and at a subsequent ballot question in Harwich, the inter-municipal agreement calls for Harwich to pay Chatham $6,675,000 over seven years in exchange for providing a certain amount of treatment capacity at Chatham's wast...

SOUTH CHATHAM – Author Anne D. LeClaire's first novel in 11 years begins with a line that any writer would be happy to call their own: “Every day is ordinary. Until it isn't.” It's such a good line that fellow Chatham author Bernard Cornwell asked LeClaire if he could use it. At first, she declined. But when Cornwell suggested they both dedicate the book that the line appears in to each other, she relented....

CHATHAM – Unless you have direct interaction with them, the men and women who make up the town's fire and rescue service can be seen simply as figures in uniform glimpsed in parades or at the station washing fire engines. That's no longer the case for the nearly one dozen residents who recently graduated from the department's first citizens fire academy. “These are remarkable men and women who you see as an ab...

CHATHAM — In Washington, today's leaders are rolling back regulations to fight climate change, providing a big boost to the coal and oil industries. But in Chatham, tomorrow's leaders are talking about renewable energy. “How many of you believe climate change is real?” State Rep. Sarah Peake asked the seventh graders at Monomoy Middle School Friday. Most hands shot up, and Peake, a Provincetown Democrat, nod...

CHATHAM ─ Malcolm Mitchell might be best known as a key player in the New England Patriots' historic comeback win in this year's Super Bowl, but his proudest accomplishment is sharing a love of reading with school children. Last Friday, the champion wide receiver read from his own book to the excited students of Chatham Elementary School. Brought to the venue through the efforts of the Art of Charity, the sc...

CHATHAM – Mark Bulman sits in the living room of one of two affordable condominium units in his Main Street Village development at 1070 Main St. Aside from a lack of carpet and some bathroom fixtures, the two-bedroom, 1,500-square-foot condo is ready for someone to move in and enjoy the view of Perch Pond from the wide sliding glass doors in the dining room/kitchen. Except, Bulman points out, he's been unable ...

CHATHAM – A decision is expected at the end of this week on whether a Shore Road property can be protected by a rock revetment, a project first approved by the conservation commission in 2014. Approval of a 108-foot revetment at James and Lisa McGonigle's 498 Shore Rd. property was appealed by both the state department of environmental protection and a group of 10 local residents, who claimed the approval viol...

CHATHAM — Saying they are hopeful a legal settlement can be reached with a group of Stage Neck property owners, selectmen last week tabled a town meeting article seeking to reaffirm a controversial 1997 road taking. Following a closed-door session with town counsel, selectmen voted unanimously to indefinitely postpone action on a warrant article which would have confirmed the 1997 taking of easements for por...

CHATHAM – Peter Connick will become chief of a fire department that, it could be argued, is at the top of its game. With a long-awaited new fire station opened last year, a new ladder truck parked in one of its bays and two new engines on the way, and a full staff, “frankly, we're at a really good place now,” said Connick. Town Manager Jill Goldsmith announced Connick's appointment in a memo to the board of...

CHATHAM – Is a rental registration bylaw the right way to collect data about residential water use? That was one of the central disagreements among members of the board of selectmen last week during their first review of a draft residential rental licensing bylaw. Ultimately board members agreed the measure needed more input from both the public and town boards and they decided not to place it before voters at...

CHATHAM – Another round of sewer funding – this time for $31 million – will go before voters at the May annual town meeting. The money will cover the next phase in the town's 20-year wastewater project and include replacement of a section of sewer main downtown that was part of the original sewer system installed more than 40 years ago. Most of the money will be used to install sewers along the Route 137 corri...

BARNSTABLE — After waiting on the edge for years, the legal battle between skydive opponents and the town of Chatham just got a shove. Last week, Barnstable Superior Court Judge Gary Nickerson set a Dec. 4 trial date for the suit filed against the town by the Citizens for a Safe Chatham Airport. Skydive opponents, who were arguing for a preliminary injunction to block the issuance of any skydiving contracts ...