CHATHAM — The town's effort to reclaim more than 3,000 acres of shellfish flats and submerged lands appropriated by the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge has just received some important political support. On Friday, Republican Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker sent a letter to the House Committee on Natural Resources expressing support for a bill filed by Congressman William Keating, a Democrat, which would r...

CHATHAM – The developer of a proposed 14-lot subdivision off Barn Hill Road is willing to talk with neighbors about their concerns with the project, but said some things are not negotiable, such as a 40-foot buffer along the southern property line. “That's a nonstarter,” William Marsh of Eastward Companies said during last week's planning board meeting. The Hunter's Rise subdivision, proposed for the seven-...

About 80 Nickersons flocked to Chatham recently to celebrate three milestone anniversaries during the 120 th annual reunion of the Nickerson Family Association, Inc. At the same time, the Nickerson clan sent an archaeologist and crew into the tangled honeysuckle and grapevine behind the association's North Chatham property to continue searching for the location of the c. 1664 homestead of ancestors William an...

CHATHAM – It wasn't unusual for Monomoy Regional School Committee member Karen Ryder to find herself in the minority in discussions and votes. At times she was even criticized for asking questions and not accepting the recommendations of the administration. To Ryder, one of four Chatham representatives on the committee, that's what a school committee member should do. A rubber stamp was not to be found in her ...

CHATHAM – It's long and complicated, and it's taking the waterways advisory committee weeks – make that months – to review, but officials say a long-awaiting revision of the town's waterways regulations will make mooring and boating rules clearer and easier to understand and comply with. Committee members say they often hear complaints about the inscrutable nature of the current regulations. “I hear it all ...

CHATHAM — Selectmen will soon appoint a nine-member committee to examine the possible uses of the Eldredge Garage property at 365 Main St. “It is clear we are going to have parking as a component at some level. We understand that and we've known that from the beginning,” Selectmen Chairman Cory Metters said last Tuesday. But various other ideas have been floated for the property, including a park, rest rooms...

Having weakened to tropical storm status overnight, José is set to pass south of Nantucket today, bringing gusty winds, coastal erosion and heavy rain. Meteorologists say the experience will be more like a strong fall nor'easter than a hurricane. Because the center of the storm is expected to loop south of Nantucket, stormy weather is forecast to remain in the area throug...

CHATHAM — Town meeting voters next May will be asked to spend around a quarter million dollars to purchase a boat ramp on the Mitchell River. And some of those voters might be surprised to learn that ramp, in use by the public for decades, wasn't owned by the town all along. Just west of the Mitchell River drawbridge, the landing is popular among shellfishermen and users of small recreational boats. The land...

CHATHAM – With support from neighborhood residents, the town's historical commission plans to move forward with a National Historic Register District nomination for South Chatham. Neighborhood residents asked “a lot of good questions” at an informational session as part of the South Chatham Village Association's annual meeting Saturday, said commission chairman Frank Messina. Chad Yates, president of the South...

CHATHAM – Beach nourishment, mooring regulations and parking at the fish pier are among the subjects members of the summer residents advisory committee see as top priorities for the board of selectmen. Chairman Michael Waters presented the board with six recommendations developed by the advisory group over the course of its 11 meetings this past summer. The committee met with town staff, selectmen and committe...

CHATHAM — Selectmen Tuesday moved ahead with plans to draft new bylaws which, if approved by voters, would snuff out any chance of recreational marijuana shops opening in town. Leading the charge was selectman Dean Nicastro, who noted that 57.6 percent of Chatham voters rejected last year's petition to legalize recreational marijuana, though a majority of voters across the state approved it. The new law allo...

CHATHAM — John Payson, who consistently challenged the town's approach to managing drinking water and wastewater, died last Tuesday after a brief bout with cancer. He was 94 years old, and had been doggedly researching water management issues until just a few weeks before his death, according to his family. Mr. Payson was a regular contributor to the development of the town's comprehensive wastewater managem...