WEST HARWICH – The owners of the former Captain George Winchell Baker house, the historic structure at the corner of Route 28 and Depot Street, have filed plans with the planning board to construct a 7,489-square-foot retail store on the property. Applicant Harwich DG Series LLC did not indicate what type of retail store it plans to develop on the site. The Baker house is presently protected by a one year d...

HARWICH — Thomas Sherry is the first candidate to take out nomination papers to run for a seat on the board of selectmen. There are two seats on the ballot in May and incumbents Julie Kavanagh and Michael MacAskill have not yet committed to seek re-election. Sherry is familiar to Harwich voters after having run last May against Ed McManus for a seat on the board. In a close election, McManus won by a 21 vote m...

HARWICH — The town is looking for a food service business partner interested in leasing the snack shack at Saquatucket Harbor. Town Administrator Christopher Clark was putting the finishing touches on a request for proposals document this week and has an eye on awarding the lease by March 21. Clark went over the RFP with selectmen last week and the board had several questions. Selectman Larry Ballantine wanted...

HARWICH — Officials and citizens expressed mixed opinions about the town moving ahead with a pet burial ground on town-owned land during an update provided to selectmen on the project proposed by the cemetery commission. The pet burial ground and the future plan for the placement of a crematory on the 2.25-acre parcel on Queen Anne Road has fervent proponents and opponents, as was on display during the present...

Ups and downs are often part of the ride when school officials formulate a budget, but the roller coaster took a turn last week that’s likely to upset some stomachs in Harwich. The FY20 Monomoy Regional School District spending plan got a boost of more than $400,000 thanks to an increase in state aid and the likelihood that health insurance costs will hold steady rather than increasing 10 percent as expected. ...

HARWICH — Suggestions to revitalize Harwich Center were clearly stated by the nearly 50 participants in the Harwich Center initiative committee's forum last Thursday. The session focused more on traffic and infrastructure improvements than economic vitality. Residents and business owners in and around the village spoke about the needs for improvements to three key intersections, more parking, better sidewalks ...

HARWICH — The community preservation committee has recommended approximately $825,000 in Community Preservation Act funds be approved in the annual town meeting this spring, including funds for a Red River Beach revetment, Brooks Academy repairs, affordable housing and restroom facilities at Sand Pond. The committee made its recommendations last Thursday night, approving all eight applications it had received....

HARWICH — The affordable housing trust is preparing an article for the annual town meeting seeking to transfer jurisdiction over five town-owned parcels from the board of selectmen to the trust for the development of affordable housing. “I don't see we'll be able to use multiple sites in one year, but it can help with the incredibly important issue of affordable housing over one to five years,” said Town Admin...

HARWICH — The state has put the finishing touches on the Harwich Conservation Trust's Cornelius Pond Woodlands acquisition fundraising campaign with an $85,000 grant from the Conservation Partnership Grant Program. The trust issued a notice a couple of weeks ago that it would be extending the campaign through the end of the month in an effort to raise an additional $75,000 necessary to reach the $850,000 goal ...

WEST HARWICH — Mark Kelleher has been drawn to the waters in and around the Herring River for many years. He's worked in fishing and shellfishing, and now has a new venture, a kelp farm a mile offshore, which is taking advantage of the nutrients flowing from the river into Nantucket Sound. The kelp farm is a first for Harwich. Kelleher admits it is an experiment for him. The part-time teacher, shellfisherman a...

HARWICH – When Monomoy Regional High School Principal Bill Burkhead won 2018 Massachusetts Principal of the Year, there was buzz about where such an accolade would take him. It very well could take him to Stoughton to serve as their new superintendent, as Burkhead is one of four finalists for the position. Burkhead joins fellow finalists Portia Selene Bonner, Superintendent of East Haven, Conn., Schools; John ...

HARWICH — A federal judge has ruled a lawsuit filed by the Conservation Law Foundation charging Wychmere Beach Club with discharging pollutants into Nantucket Sound can move forward. Conservation Law Foundation filed two suits in August, one against Wychmere Beach Club and the other against Wequassett Resort and Golf Club, charging the waterside resorts with illegally discharging nitrogen from sewage disposal ...