HARWICH — Approximately 40 people attended the informational community meeting last week put on by town officials and CDM Smith, Inc, the town's consulting engineers, to update residents on the steps necessary to connect to sewers in East Harwich. Town Administrator Christopher Clark called the session an “interactive” one in which town officials would explain the necessary steps that must be taken and provide...

HARWICH — A member of AmeriCorps of Cape Cod will be assisting the town and local conservation trusts with land stewardship projects again this year. Conservation Administrator Amy Usowski said her department, the Harwich Conservation Trust and the Chatham Conservation Foundation has been utilizing AmeriCorps staff services for the past 20 years and will continue the collaboration this year. Ben Cockrell of...

HARWICH — The town plans to move forward this fall with an alum treatment in Hinckley's Pond. The 176-acre water body, the largest pond inside the limits of the town, has suffered several algae blooms and fish kills in recent years caused by excessive fertilization of those waters. Natural Resources Department Director Heinz Proft was before the conservation commission last week with the proposal for an alumin...

HARWICH — The DHY Clean Water Community Partnership legislation approved by the boards of selectmen in Dennis, Harwich and Yarmouth, has been filed in the State House Clerk's Office, and the expectation is it will be promulgated in this legislative session. The legislation, HD 5160, will establish the entity through which a regional wastewater district in the three town's will function as a corporate and polit...

HARWICH — It's been 18 years since the initial Harwich Center Initiative study was done with the goal of bringing economic vitality to the historic village. There have been several additional attempts to revive the effort since then, and selectmen agreed Monday night to make another attempt. “We have several people who have shown an active interest,” Selectman Larry Ballantine said. “There is enthusiasm and I'...

HARWICH — The appeals board has issued a special permit for a reconstruction project on Forest Street that exceeded the extent of demolition on the historic structure and went beyond the special permit initially granted for the project. The property owner, builder Anthony Crugnale, was before the appeals board last Wednesday seeking to amend or modify an existing special permit granted in February to include a...

HARWICH — Police Lt. John F. Sullivan, Jr. has been working in the department since 1988, when he started as a summer officer . Today he holds an honor no other police officer coming through the ranks of the department has obtained: In September Sullivan graduated from the FBI National Academy Program in Quantico, Va. Former Police Chief William Mason and current Chief David Guillemette are graduates of the Na...

HARWICH – The 10 th anniversary of the discovery of the “Piano in the Woods” will be celebrated Oct. 6 at “Piano Daze” at the Harwich Historical Society's Brooks Academy Museum. On the grounds of the museum, three musicians will show off their talents on the piano found in the Bell's Neck Conservation Lands. At the same time, members of the Guild of Harwich Artists will paint plein air on the museum grounds. ...

HARWICH — The Cold Brook project is at about the 50 percent design stage, Harwich Conservation Trust Executive Director Michael Lach informed selectmen in a presentation on the ecological restoration initiative at the Robert F. Smith Cold Brook Preserve. The Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, HCT and the town are working together in the planning, design and permit...

HARWICH — It took three hearings to draw the public into the design debate for the proposed convenience store at the former gas station site in Harwich Center. The message they sent to the historic district and historical commission last week was for the commission to be sure the project captures the “rhythm and elements” of the historic village. Over the past couple of months the commission has been working w...

WEST HARWICH — The historic district and historical commission made it clear that it will not stand for “demolition by neglect” as a way to avoid the town's demolition delay bylaw, voting to place a one-year delay on he circa 1870 structure at 52 Route 28. The run-down building bears a large red “X” placed there by the fire department to note its hazardous condition to department personnel. It is a warning tha...

HARWICH – Robert Perry stared in amazement at his transformed back yard. What had been an area choked with weeds, cluttered with items ready for the dump, and shaded by overgrown saplings just hours before was now weed free, with trash and trees removed, sunlight dappling the freshly raked space. All the work was done by volunteers taking part in the ninth Annual Big Fix, which this year bettered the homes, and l...