ORLEANS — Town counsel Michael Ford, who’s been Harwich’s moderator since the 1970s, has never seen or heard of an outdoor town meeting. Nevertheless, he’s scheduled to take his customary seat with the board of selectmen on June 20 when Moderator David Lyttle will call the meeting to order on the lawn inside the running track at Nauset Regional Middle School. At last week’s selectmen’s meeting, Lyttle and th...

ORLEANS – As Nauset Regional High School makes plans for graduation ceremonies in July (see related story), planning is under way for the fall semester. “We’ve already started conversations about next year,” Principal Chris Ellsasser told the regional school committee May 14. “My feeling is we will need a remote version (of instruction), a blended version, face-to-face, and one that does all three. We’re estab...

ORLEANS – Questions about building size, traffic to be generated, and whether the operation is retail or wholesale were raised by the selectmen last week as they discussed the F. W. Webb building proposed for the Underground Mall site off Route 6A near the Brewster line. The board wants to hear more from all parties before making a decision about a discretionary referral of the project to the Cape Cod Commissi...

ORLEANS - There's no word yet on whether picnic lunches will be encouraged, but the selectmen have decided that the 2020 annual town meeting will be held alfresco. The town's annual legislative session will be held outdoors Saturday, June 20, at 10 a.m. in the center of Nauset Regional Middle School's running track.  The open-air session will be postponed if it rains. Town meeting usually takes place in the...

ORLEANS — You might call it the nuclear option. Should the board of selectmen decide to refer the F. W. Webb project to the Cape Cod Commission for review, and should the commission accept, all local permitting would be suspended. In a memo responding to the board’s request for an update on the proposed 38,329-square-foot development bordering Route 6A near the Brewster town line, Director of Planning and C...

ORLEANS — The global pandemic wants a reservation for every other parking space at Nauset and Skaket beaches. Town officials have recommended to the park commissioners that, effective immediately, the beach lots “will be closed once at 50 percent capacity or less based on beachfront availability and discretion of the Natural Resources Manager,” according to an April 30 memo from Town Administrator John Kelly, ...

ORLEANS — In the midst of a pandemic, Principal Elaine Pender told the elementary school committee last week that she has many reasons to give thanks. There’s the feeding program run by cafeteria and lunch program director Susan Murray and “our amazing” Lisa Chappel, the cafeteria manager, who are “behind the scenes producing massive amounts of food every day” for pick-up by families and handing it out in all ...

ORLEANS — When it comes to the future of its former operations center on West Road, the Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank “is really not inclined to work with the town to develop an (affordable housing) project long-term before they can get out of it,” Director of Planning and Community Development George Meservey told the affordable housing trust April 21. Options are still on the table, however. Meservey said...

ORLEANS — The town’s affordable housing trust entered “final negotiations” with Cape Abilities to purchase outright a 1.25-acre property at 107 Main St. that could be developed as affordable rental apartments, trust chairman Alan McClennen confirmed last week. The proposed purchase was on the agenda of the board of selectmen, whose approval is required, in an executive session held last night (April 29). At th...

ORLEANS —  The pandemic, which has altered familiar patterns at transfer stations in Chatham, Harwich, Orleans, and elsewhere, may have prompted dumping in the wilds of the Cape Cod National Seashore. Last week, the Seashore reported construction materials dumped near Doane Rock in Eastham and household trash found at Great Island in Wellfleet. “This is a challenging time for everyone, including the nationa...

ORLEANS — April is proving to be the cruelest month when it comes to town finances. Department heads were asked to reduce spending through June 30, the end of the fiscal year, to ensure a reserve of about half a million dollars to balance an anticipated drop in revenues from local receipts related to the effects of the pandemic. In a letter to finance committee chairman Lynn Bruneau, Finance Director Cathy ...

For weeks, people across the Cape have been hunkered down, ideally at home, as they take personal measures toward eradicating a global pandemic. But that isolation, sudden in many cases, can come with its own set of issues, which is why taking care of one’s mental health is just as important as taking care of one’s physical health. “The mental affects the physical,” said Deborah Ennis, a licensed mental health...