CHATHAM — The Chatham 365 Task Force and the town’s economic development committee have already identified steps the town can take to make itself a friendlier community for young families and other year-round residents. Now they’re seeking assurances that there’s a plan for implementing those ideas. On Monday, selectmen reviewed a list of recommendations it received from the task force in September and an anal...

CHATHAMPORT — In the past 18 years, volunteers have built the Chatham Marconi Maritime Center into a sought-after museum and a leader in STEM education in local schools. Now the nonprofit is hiring its first full-time executive director to help it achieve new growth. Kristen Clothier of Chatham, who starts in her new post on Monday, has an infectious enthusiasm for science education and history. Seated in her ...

CHATHAM – The airport committee has rejected establishing a citizens advisory committee for its ongoing master planning process. Instead, the commission voted 4-1 last Tuesday to continue its chapter-by-chapter review of the master plan and take public comments and questions at its regular meetings. “It behooves us to go through this process as expeditiously as possible,” said commission member Huntley Harr...

CHATHAM – A group of residents unhappy about the choice of land in West Chatham as the location for a new senior center have filed a petition to call a special town meeting to instead investigate an alternative site on Stepping Stones Road. Town Clerk Julie Smith certified the necessary 200 signatures to call a special town meeting. Under state law, the board of selectmen must call a meeting within 45 days of ...

CHATHAM – Before portable toilets were placed along the sidewalk at the Lighthouse Beach Overlook, the most difficult part of David Eldredge's job as manager of the adjacent Chatham Beach and Tennis Club was the “constant stream of people” asking to use the restrooms at the private club. With three portable toilets in place at the overlook from spring until late November, he still gets the requests, sometimes ...

CHATHAM — Ambitious dredging operations, each with their own special challenges, are now underway at two key waterways. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredge Currituck is currently clearing the bottleneck in the Stage Harbor entrance channel, and about a mile-and-a-half away, a private dredge is clearing a channel to Outermost Harbor. At Stage Harbor, crews are clearing away substantial shoaling at the harbo...

Assessment Up In Harwich, Down In Chatham Visiting selectmen in Harwich and Chatham Monday, Monomoy Regional Schools Superintendent Scott Carpenter presented a draft FY21 budget representing only a 2.64 percent increase over the current spending plan, which maintains all existing programs and services. The news was well received by the boards, which had asked the schools to keep budget growth under 3 percent. ...

CHATHAM – Members of the park and recreation commission are interested in expanding opportunities for dog owners to walk their pets on town beaches during the summer season, but state and federal regulations designed to safeguard nesting shorebirds could be an impediment. Currently, dogs are not allowed on town beaches from May 1 to Sept. 15, with the exception of Jackknife Harbor Beach, where dogs can be walk...

CHATHAM – Even as officials begin a study to determine the feasibility of building a new senior center at 1610 Main St. in West Chatham, interest is growing in an alternative location, land along Stepping Stones Road that is now part of the Monomoy Regional Middle School campus. A few weeks ago, North Chatham resident Fred Crimins asked the board of selectmen for an agenda item to discuss the Stepping Stones R...

CHATHAM – Last summer's “Shark Smart” education program at Lighthouse Beach was a success and will be expanded to other locations this coming summer. Marianna Long, Education Director at the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, told park and recreation commissioners last week that while the exact number of people who stopped by to listen to interns talk about great white sharks three mornings a week was not track...

CHATHAM – A variety of projects, ranging from salt marsh preservation to bike path mile markers, have been submitted for funding through the Community Preservation Act. Sixteen proposals, totaling $1,460,050, will be reviewed by the community preservation committee, which is charged with making recommendations on the projects to voters at the May 11 annual town meeting. According to Finance Director Alix He...

CHATHAM – Without intervention from town officials, one of the oldest houses in Chatham and a direct link to founder William Nickerson, could be lost. Historical Commission Chair Frank Messina appealed to selectmen last week to pull together a group of stakeholders to brainstorm ways around roadblocks that could lead to the demolition of the home at 68 Shell Dr. “It's not that we want to break the law, but ...