CHATHAM – Despite warnings that delays would escalate costs, concerns about the size and location of a new senior center led voters to reject the $6.6 million project and send it back to the drawing board on the first night of the annual town meeting. Also Monday, voters approved a zoning bylaw that will allow the creation of apartments in single-family homes, which advocates say will increase the stock of mar...

CHATHAM – Saturday is “Free Locals Day” at two museums. As long as one person in a party has a driver's license with a Cape Cod address, the entire group gets free admission to the Atwood House and Museum and the Chatham Marconi Maritime Center, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 11. “It's our way of making the museums accessible to local families across the Cape that might not be able to come otherwise,” said Dani...

CHATHAM – The annual town meeting begins Monday at 6 p.m. at the Monomoy Regional Middle School on Crowell Road. Voters should prepare to settle in for a longer-than-usual annual legislative session covering a number of significant topics, including funding for a new council on aging facility, a controversial accessory dwelling unit bylaw, funding for a shark barrier at Oyster Pond, bans on plastic bottles and st...

CHATHAM – As a way around a 164-year-old state law that prohibits municipalities from contributing public money to private institutions, the town will buy a portion of the Chatham VFW property on George Ryder Road, with the purchase price going toward renovation of the post building. At a single-article special town meeting next Tuesday, voters will be asked to purchase an L-shaped lot around the perimeter of ...

CHATHAM — Town Manager Jill Goldsmith’s job performance is good and getting better. That’s the word from the board of selectmen, which issued her annual evaluation this week. Board members rated Goldsmith on a four-point scale in each of six broad categories, giving her a composite score of 3.89, up from last year’s score of 3.64. The ranking “indicates strong collective praise from the selectmen for her ong...

WEST CHATHAM — Facing sticker shock over what could be up to $1.15 million in additional expenses for enhanced lighting, landscaping and sidewalks, selectmen will not be asking town meeting voters to pay for enhancements to the West Chatham roadway reconstruction project. But they will be asking the state to consider meeting some of the costs. The board included Article 60 on the May 13 warrant as a placehol...

CHATHAM – Nominations are now being accepted for the grand marshal of the town's Independence Day parade. Grand marshal nominees must be a year-round or summer resident who has made significant contributions to the town. The marshal leads the parade and is a position of special honor, the Chatham Independence Day parade committee said in a press release. Chronicle publisher Henry C. Hyora was last year's Ju...

CHATHAM – “Do Your Part – Recycle Smart!” is the mantra adopted by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to promote recycling as part of its overall strategy for addressing solid waste management issues facing the Commonwealth. Others include the 3Rs—Reduce, Reuse, Recycle—and the unabridged 5Rs: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle.  Many Cape Cod residents recycle a portion of their s...

CHATHAM – In 1944, Monomoy Island was a former bombing range popular with hunters and dotted with summer camps. Thanks to its location, it was also a key site along the Atlantic Flyway, the network of coastal areas that serve as stopovers for migrating shorebirds. The establishment of the island—then a peninsula—as a National Wildlife Refuge meant the preservation of thousands of acres of habitat critical to the ...

CHATHAM – When visitors stop by Lighthouse Beach, they often ask anyone who looks like a local about what, for the past several years, has been the chief topic of interest here: great white sharks. Making sure folks get accurate information about the region's shark population is the impetus behind a new program being proposed by the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy (AWSC). Under the “Shark Smart” program, AWSC...

CHATHAM – Perhaps the town's most iconic restaurant, The Chatham Squire, is being sold. Richard Costello and George Payne, who started the Main Street restaurant and tavern in 1968, are selling the business and real estate to Todd Hearle, a Connecticut businessman who grew up in Chatham. General Manager Richard Sullivan confirmed the sale Tuesday, stating that it is expected to be completed by Memorial Day....

CHATHAM — On the advice of the parks and recreation commission, selectmen this week reversed course on a proposal to move swimming lessons to Schoolhouse Pond as a precaution against sharks and seals. But the board is seeking new signs and better communications equipment to help lifeguards keep swimmers safe at Oyster Pond and all other town beaches. On April 8, selectmen voted to have the commission conside...