CHATHAM – The town clock is in need of an overhaul. Located in the tower of the First United Methodist Church, the clock's four faces can be seen throughout much of the downtown area. That's both a benefit and a detriment. At its height, it gets the brunt of everything that nature throws at the town. “It's clearly above the tree line, so definitely is exposed to all of our conditions,” said Principal Projec...

Selectmen: Focus More On Project Management CHATHAM — Town Manager Jill Goldsmith has proposed a $32,733,626 operating budget for fiscal 2021. Designed to keep the current level of services, the budget is up nearly 6 percent over the current year’s spending plan and includes the equivalent of five new full-time employees. Selectmen praised Goldsmith and Finance Director Alix Heilala for the budget, and se...

CHATHAM – For 13 years, Robert Moss admired the old house at 154 Champlain Rd., where the street bends at a right angle and commands a panoramic view of Stage Harbor. He walked past it whenever he was in town, and often encountered people taking photos or just enjoying the view. “It's just such an enjoyable spot,” he said. Five years ago Moss offered to buy the historic home, known as Starboard Light, and f...

CHATHAM — From the trap dock reconstruction to the long-delayed fish pier observation deck, the town has a host of waterfront projects underway. And selectmen are reassuring shellfishermen that, despite delays, their request for a new upweller building is still progressing. Now located underneath the harbormaster’s office at Old Mill Boat Yard, the aging upweller is key to the town’s shellfish propagation prog...

As we start a new decade, we look back this week at the first 20 years of the 21 st century. Below is our list of the top 20 stories, culled from suggestions by staff and readers. It is in no way comprehensive and certainly not conclusive, but it highlights, we believe, the most significant issues and events of those years.   1. Sharks Sharks have been present, and documented, along Cape shores since ...

Fate Of West Chatham Facility Depends On May Vote CHATHAM – Town officials will begin developing designs and cost estimates for a new senior center at 1610 Main St. after voters at Saturday's special town meeting agreed to accept the donation of the 1.3-acre parcel. The fate of a new senior center will depend on a vote in May on construction funds. Owner William Marsh's last-minute decision to donate the...

by Fred Bennett, transcribed and edited by Doreen Leggett (Captain Fred Bennett, a Chatham stalwart, has seen a lot, done a lot, and caught a lot of fish. Now 82 years old, we asked him to take a look back and inform us as to what fishing life and times were like around here half a century ago. Here is his tale.) In 1964, I started work at Ryder’s Cove Boatyard as a marine mechanic. Observing a few f...

CHATHAM – William Marsh, owner of Eastward Companies, has offered to donate to the town the two parcels of land in West Chatham which have been identified as a site for a new senior center. A special town meeting will be held tomorrow (Saturday, Jan. 4) to vote on acquisition of the land at 1610 Main St. Marsh and the town had agreed on a $750,000 price for the property. But at a meeting with Town Manager Ji...

Thousands said goodbye to 2019 and welcomed the new decade during the town's First Night celebration Tuesday. The Beatles tribute band Studio Two played to a full house at Chatham Elementary School. TIM WOOD PHOTO Beginning with the town photograph at Chatham Light at noon, the festivities encompassed everyth...

CHATHAM – The board of selectmen will do everything within its power to convince the Coast Guard not to remove the buoy marking the entrance to Chatham Harbor. Officials have already been in contact with Senator Elizabeth Warren's office to enlist her help and last week voted agreed to write to Coast Guard brass to stress the need to retain the navigational marker. Selectmen also plan to ask neighboring towns ...

CHATHAM – Todd Hearle, the investor with local ties who purchased the Chatham Squire in May, has added another iconic business to his portfolio. Hearle's Captain's House Operating LLC purchased the Captain's House Inn at 369 Old Harbor Rd. Dec. 17 from James and Jill Meyer, who had operated the historic complex centered around an 1839 Hiram Harding House since 2006. The Barnstable County Registry of Deeds list...

CHATHAM – Voters at Saturday's special town meeting will be asked to endorse a site for a new senior center for the second time in less than a year. Last May, town meeting rejected building a $6.6 million center to house council on aging programs on town-owned land off Middle Road. At the Jan. 4 meeting, which takes place at 1 p.m. at Monomoy Middle School on Crowell Road, voters will be asked to set aside $75...