ORLEANS — Talk may be cheap and housing unaffordable, but the Orleans Citizens Forum held a discussion Feb. 22 aimed at disproving those judgments. At “New Directions in Community Housing,” five panelists talked about what they've done and plan to do to increase housing options, including where to find the money to finance their activities. Facing an audience of about 90 at the senior center were Katie Wi...

ORLEANS — It wouldn't be much of a stretch for the town to adopt the state's Stretch Code, selectmen were told last week. That step is one of five required to achieve Green Community status as an energy-efficient community, which in turn could unlock hundreds of thousands of dollars in state grants. “Basically, we're already enforcing this code,” Building Commissioner Thomas Evers told the board at a publ...

ORLEANS – The downtown sewer construction project will begin March 5 on Main Street at the entrance to Snow Library's parking lot, DPW/Natural Resources Director Tom Daley told selectmen last week. For two days, library patrons will have to park across the street or in the Nauset Regional Middle School lot above the library. Other changes are ahead for businesses in the downtown area. Daley said Police Lt. Kev...

ORLEANS — The marine and fresh water quality task force heard from the public Feb. 6 on its recommendation that polluted Uncle Harvey's Pond be treated with a mix of aluminum salts to reduce the negative effects of phosphorus there. “This has been a very careful process,” a woman in the audience told the committee. “Not everyone will like your conclusion, (but) it's more dangerous not to do anything... I'd l...

ORLEANS — Kevin Galligan, a finance committee member and president of the Orleans Conservation Trust, is the first candidate to return nomination papers for selectman. He's seeking the seat held by chairman Jon Fuller, who's not running again, at the May 15 election. “I think I've been in training for this post for many, many years,” Galligan said in a phone interview. “I've watched so many selectmen at work...

ORLEANS — The town's science experiment in Lonnie's Pond is one step closer to becoming a self-supporting commercial enterprise. At an extraordinary Saturday meeting, the board of selectmen asked its consultants for a management plan for a private grower to take over the effort in 2019, when three years of town funding will end. Members were encouraged by the amount of nitrogen removed from the pond so far b...

ORLEANS — Imagine that voting has begun on a controversial issue at town meeting. Instead of standing up and shuffling to the ballot box in a long line, as is the practice now for a secret ballot, you just press your clicker to record your vote in an instant. Sounds simple, but many of the devils in the details were aired last week when selectmen met with Town Clerk Cynthia May, Moderator David Lyttle, and T...

ORLEANS — There's a plan to circle the wagons for some good eats in the village center this summer. The town's site plan review committee was scheduled to hold an informal review yesterday (Feb. 7) on a proposal to surround eight picnic tables with six food trucks and a “container bar” on Route 6A just west of The Red Balloon. Specifically, the review focused on Blue Bubbles, LLC's plan to tear down a garage...

ORLEANS — Recreation Director Alan Harrison has proposed a fee schedule for the town's youth sports and summer day programs, which are now free. Harrison told the selectmen last week that the neighboring communities of Brewster, Chatham, Eastham and Harwich all charge for their similar programs and are able to offer more to their citizens. Since his arrival in September, Harrison said, he's talked with pa...

ORLEANS — Mike Nelligan of Powers and Sullivan, the town's new auditors, told selectmen last week that “everything went according to plan” for the fiscal year that ended June 30. “The numbers for the year were pretty much within budget,” he said Jan. 24. “You were about 2½ percent over on the revenue side, and expenses were about that number under. There were good controls.” During the audit, the firm “be...

EASTHAM — A new group of players made its debut on the stage of the Nauset Regional High School auditorium last week, to a round of applause. The men and women were members of the Nauset Regional High School Building Committee, taking a tour of the 1970s complex as part of their inaugural meeting Jan. 22. Superintendent Tom Conrad told students meeting in the auditorium about the work ahead for the commit...

Contract Award Expected Early Next Month   ORLEANS - Two of the three bids to build the first section of the downtown sewer system came in below the estimated construction cost of $2,681,900.   Cape Cod Construction of South Dennis bid $1,917,954.10 and Revoli Construction Co. of Franklin bid $2,279,606.06. The only other bidder was Robert B. Our Co. of North Harwich, at $2,799,307.45.   The bids were opened t...