HARWICH — There's a big difference between the amount of money Chatham is seeking to allow Harwich to use its wastewater treatment plant and the figure put on the table by Harwich selectmen Monday. While Chatham was seeking a $9.4 million contribution, the Harwich proposal is for $4.1 million. Selectman Peter Hughes said the higher figure came “before we go the details of their numbers from them.” Wording in a...

HARWICH — “We live in a superficial time,” Massachusetts National Guard Sgt. Jeremy Armstrong told this year's Veterans Day observance last Friday. Lots of people put yellow ribbon magnets on their car bumpers or thank servicemen and women by posting on Facebook. But few really take the time to listen to veterans' stories. “Engage. Ask questions. Listen,” he said. A 2003 graduate of Harwich High School an...

HARWICH PORT — A couple of miles off Harwich Port, school is in session at Harwich High. On Nov. 3, divers inspecting the new artificial reef made from debris from the demolished Harwich High School were pleased to find the site crowded with schools of tautog, black sea bass and cunner. “It was gratifying,” said Mark Rousseau, the artificial reef coordinator for the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisher...

HARWICH — Town officials are seeking $550,000 for alum treatments designed to prevent algae blooms in Hinckley's Pond, and they're hoping the community preservation committee will provide the funds. Town Administrator Christopher Clark said he's hopeful that the committee will endorse the request. Two years ago, citing concerns that the pond has no real public access, the committee voted 5-2 not to support a s...

HARWICH — Zoning bylaws are dry and confusing. They set out a vision for the way land can be developed, but it can take decades before any real change happens. And getting public consensus on a common vision can be maddeningly difficult. New Harwich Town Planner Aly Sabatino said the key strategy for crafting good zoning and regulating land use is two-way communication. Town officials need to help ordinary c...

HARWICH — Though the numbers are very preliminary, it could cost between $130 million and $160 million to replace the aging Cape Cod Regional Technical High School with a brand new facility. Superintendent Bob Sanborn delivered the news to the Harwich board of selectmen Monday, and to Chatham selectmen Tuesday. Officials have been warning for years that the project would be a costly one. “I expected it to b...

HARWICH — The husband-and-wife team of Jack Burns and Lynda Brogden-Burns, best known as the animal control officers in Harwich and Brewster, spend their working hours caring for the towns' furry and feathered residents. In their free time, they're focused on their own rambunctious four-and-a-half-year-old. Aiden is a German shepherd who recently won the coveted Performance Award of Merit from the German Sheph...

WEST HARWICH — On a clear blue morning Tuesday, thunder crashed over the trees in West Harwich. Or rather, the thunderous sound of steel plates colliding as high-flying workmen began disassembling the Lothrop Avenue water tower. It was the beginning of the end for the 30-year-old structure, which survived hurricanes and blizzards and served as a landmark for mariners offshore. It is being dismantled this wee...

HARWICH — The planning board unanimously approved four special permits last week paving the way for construction of the Harwich Port Plaza project in Harwich Port. The board acted after receiving and reviewing a development agreement with abutters to the east and west of the project site. Attorney Michael D. Ford told the planning board last Tuesday that his clients, Paul and Diane Manning, were able to forge ...

HARWICH — The abutters to the fish house on the Herring River, which the owners are seeking to reconstruct and lease as a shellfish nursery, have appealed the recent superseding order of conditions issued by the state Department of Environmental Protection, claiming that the state and town's review process was faulty. Francis and Debra Zarette, trustees of Farm View Realty Trust, purchased the former Lucas fis...

HARWICH ─ When the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released its 2015 graduation rates recently, eyebrows shot up at the Monomoy Regional High School percentage of 76.9. But Principal Bill Burkhead cautions that there is more to that statistic than just a stark number. “I think the low graduation rate certainly was alarming and not something we aspire to, but there's more to that one nu...

HARWICH — Town Clerk Anita Doucette is anticipating a 90 percent voter turnout for the Nov. 8 presidential election, which means more than 9,000 voters will be casting ballots. Early voting is helping to relieve some of the anticipated crowding on election day, but town officials have developed a plan to help mitigate conditions at the polls. It starts with parking at the community center, where voting will ta...